“Funny how you all tradedkidnapping forrunning off.” His eyes flashed. “I’d love to know what else you were wrongfully told about my family. My island.”
I froze.
He was... kidnapped?
His smile never wavered as he imperceptibly floated closer.
“If only Tovares could hear that Nalyens were mistaking him forme.”
I slipped back.
The king slid closer.
I felt like prey about to be devoured. There was a darkness to this Everthorn that set my nerves on edge, yet thrilled me at the same time.
“In all my dawns, I’ve never heard of you.” I slipped back again. And found my back against a wall. “If you’re not Tazzias nor his son Tovares. Who in the skies are you?”
The king turned his chin, tapping it as if he were in deep thought.
“Who amI,she asks.”
Jeweled eyes found me in the lit chamber, searching my face through an unreadable expression. A spike of terror lit my blood. I shuddered at the look, suddenly feeling stupid for asking such a brazen question. But how was I supposed to know what I didn’t know? Until now, his very existence outside of this island was entirely unknown. And if he was a twin, where in the stars was the other Everthorn?
The foyer darkened. Drapes rippled shut, completely blocking out the sunlight. Ethèrlamps dimmed as the candles of the chandeliers began winking out. The shadows returned, and whispers began their hushed gossip along the columns of the walls. I shuddered as my curiosity became shrouded in hedging fear.
“Who am I, hm?” the Everthorn King mused. “I am called many things.” A flash of darkness dimmed the light in his eyes. “The Horn of Everthorn.” He slipped closer. “The Ivory Bane.” He drew a hair's breadth away. “The Monster King.”
He grinned wickedly, licking his pearly teeth.
I pressed harder against the wall behind me.
“But to you,” he said, leaning down until his nose was close enough to brush mine. “Tassarion will do, Madame Nahomie.”
His words were easygoing.
The rigidity of his posture and the taut muscles in his neck were not.
“How do you know my name?”
“No one enters my manor without me knowing down to the last detail about who they are.”
Souls swirled around the king. He leaned down even closer, his enormous size both intimidating and tantalizing. I twitched beneath the burn of his gaze.
“You are Nahomie Emélie Namarielle.”
Another flash across his eyes.
“Firstborn of Elder Josèphien and Elderèss Myrlène Namarielle, Chiefs of Okapi Village, Capital of Edenael Island.”
A pulse of his wings once. Twice.
I gulped, my knees wobbling.
“I know you were targeted, hunted, and found by the Ivory Rain.” More souls swarmed him, shrouding us in growing darkness. “My Gargorètti broke you free from their cage; now you’re on the run before they find you.” A beat. “Again.”
The more he spoke, the darker his eyes grew. Something barbaric began contorting his features. His breathing grew ragged. Then, as if wrestling with himself, he seemed to gain some measure of control. He blinked at me, his easy-going nature returning.
That was my cue.
