by Jack Whitney
“The Chronicles lie,” Aydra interjected. “These are good people. If you value the crown you’ll one day carry on your head, I suggest you learn respect for them.” She straightened up, looking at Draven again and then back to Nyssa. “You will join us for breakfast,” she said sternly. “You will speak nothing out of turn. You will treat the Venari with as much respect as you show the Bedrani. You will not mock, jest, or talk down to them. And when we are done, you will ride back to Magnice with a message for my brother. Do you understand?”
Nyssa swallowed hard, her apparent confusion written on her face. “Okay.”
Draven pushed off the railing then and started towards them. He looked down the steps and nodded once more to whomever it was down there. “Balandria, see to it our little princess has a seat beside me. And remind the men to be on their best. We’ll have Promised company at our table this morning.”
Balandria came up the steps then and stood smiling in the doorway. “Come, princess,” she beckoned. “I’ll take good care of you,” she added with a wink to Draven.
Nyssa flinched at Balandria’s grasp. “I can walk by myself,” she dared.
Balandria grinned and placed her hands on the princess’s shoulders, nudging them back and forth as she followed her down the steps. “Oh, princess. Don’t think on it. You stumble into the wrong hall here and you’ll be eaten.”
What the rest of their conversation became, Aydra didn’t hear. Draven was staring at her from the deck, the contagious amusement making her shake her head. “What a lovely bunch the four of you are,” he mused.
Aydra sighed and turned back to the bed, Nyssa’s denial about the ships still ringing in her ears. She hugged her chest and stared at the ground. Draven stepped slowly into the room.
“Do you think your prince knew as well?” he asked.
“I’m not sure,” she admitted. “I would hope Dorian would have told me. Nyssa is scared of everything. I understand why she was scared to go against him. But Rhaif… he kept it from me because he knew I would want to send help.”
“Would you have?” he asked.
She met his gaze. “I would have ridden out myself. With my own company,” she promised.
His chest swelled then, and she couldn’t figure out the look he gave her. He looked as though he would reach out to her, but instead he pulled something from out of the back of his pants. She frowned at the black fabric.
“What is this?” she asked, sitting down on the bed then so she could hold it in her hands.
“It occurred to me you’d been wearing the same two dresses for a week now. The men were beginning to complain about the smell. Balandria was nice enough to offer one of her dresses.”
She didn’t know what to smart off about first.
“Okay, first, I do not smell. Second, if I do smell, it is because you have not offered to allow me to wash my clothes. And third, I’m surprised Balandria had a dress to offer. What could she have to do that would require one?”
Draven smiled the snarky smile that she had come to know all too well in the last week. “Perhaps you should take a closer look at that dress and you’ll figure it out.”
She frowned and held it up again. And her mouth almost dropped at the sight of it. It was lace—sheer lace— and was of a slim fitting nature with long sleeves and such a high slit that Aydra was sure her privates would have shown.
“You cannot be—Venari!”
Draven’s low chuckle vibrated the air as he backed out of the room. “I would have thought it to suit you after the dress you wore at banquet,” he mused with a wink. “Make sure you wear that to breakfast.”
“Venari! You—Draven! Come back here!”
She cursed the day as she glared at the dress in her hands once more.
“Fine, Venari,” she muttered. “I’ll play your games.”
“My Queen—”
The sound of Lex’s voice coming up the stairs calmed Aydra’s nerves. Lex bounded into the room, wide eyed.
“Oh, thank goodness,” Aydra said at the sight of her Second. “I thought my sister had been stupid enough to come on her own.”
“I tried to stop her,” Lex said as she crossed the room and hugged her. “How are you? Are you okay? You—” her face furled in disgust and she took a step back “Ugh. Sweet Arbina. Has he not let you bathe since your being here?” Lex held her hand up to her nose. “And look at the state of your hair—” She began quickly looking around the room then for the wash.
“Haven’t exactly been able to help myself to the bath,” Aydra admitted.
“You would think the Venari would be able to contain himself long enough to help you at least get to it. How long?”
“Only a few days…”
Lex raised an expectant brow.
“Okay, so I’ve just been bird bathing since I arrived,” Aydra finally admitted.
“Disgusting. If this is how he treats wounded guests, he and I will have to have a chat.” Lex found the bath behind a door and began drawing the water from the pump tap. “Come on. You can’t go down to breakfast like that.”
Aydra held up the lace dress Draven had given her. Lex’s brows furrowed.
“What the Infi is that?” she asked.
“It’s what he expects me to wear to breakfast,” Aydra answered. “Said it was the only dress Balandria had.”
Lex took it from her hands and then looked around the room. Her eyes fell on the black sheets on the bed, and a small smile grew on her face. “We can work with this.”
When Aydra and Lex made down the rope a half hour later for breakfast, she was met with staring gazes from the other Hunters in the clearing. Raised brows followed her hobbling figure, until finally she reached Draven standing a few yards away, his back turned to her.
Balandria was the first to notice her of the pair. Her brow raised and she smirked.
“Hm… Looks like someone’s not playing your game,” she mused, grinning at Draven.
Draven turned, and both his brows raised as he gave her a full once over.
They’d taken his black bedsheets off and fashioned it into strips, making Aydra a sheeted bodysuit that stretched from her crotch over her left shoulder, and then wrapped around the rest of her hips and torso. She had taken the lace dress he’d given her and merely pulled it around her hips, ripping the top part and then tying the sleeves behind her, fashioning her signature waist cape that she favored so much.
“Are those my sheets?” he asked upon seeing her.
“You literally gave me nude lace to wear,” she mocked. “What did you think I would do?”
“You tore my sheets,” he stated.
Her chin rose, and she fought the smile that threatened her lips. “I’m practiced in ripping things, as I’m sure you are,” she said in a low tone.
His surprise turned smolder, and he chuckled under his breath, eyes darting to the ground and then back up to her gaze. “All right, Sun Queen,” he muttered, the vibration radiating over her skin. “I see you.”
Aydra averted her stare to the widened eyes of her sister sitting down at the long table in the middle of the treeline. “I see you tamed her,” she said with a upwards nod.
He turned fleetingly back to see Nyssa, and then said, “Leave it to the charms of Balandria,” with a smile in his Second’s direction.
Balandria gave a small smirk and raised her glass to him. “All in a day’s work.”
Breakfast proved to be more fun than she thought it would be.
Nyssa sat between Balandria and Draven, and she sat quietly between them, eyes darting around the table nervously as she was the smallest one there. After a while, Nyssa seemed to relax, allowing herself to laugh at some of Balandria’s jokes and speak with her quietly. Aydra caught her eye after a while and smiled back at Nyssa, giving her a quiet wink at the surprise of happiness apparent in her sister’s features.
The Hunters told tales of what awaited them that day, and what they’d found in their nightly patrols. Aydra
laughed as Dunthorne told her his own stories of beasts he’d fought with in his past, another Hunter joined in to tell her of how Dunthorne was not as masculine as he thought he was.
Once, Aydra leaned back in the chair and looked around her, staring at the laughing faces of the free men and women around her, telling jokes at one another’s expense, eating equally with their king. She’d never known such a family of equal people existed. Having been taught her entire life that she was somehow better than the Dreamers in her streets simply because of the Tree she’d been born beneath.
And when Draven attempted to keep quiet, she was told stories at his own expense, to which she couldn’t help but try and memorize so she could use them on him later.
“Don’t think you’re getting out of this, sir King of the southern realm,” Dunthorne mocked. “You haven’t always been so strong and mighty as you think you are.”
Draven’s amused eyes narrowed at his Third, mouth twisting in annoyance.
“Please tell me more,” Aydra begged, turning to Dunthorne at her side.
“Lies,” Draven interjected.
Dunthorne grinned. “What about the time we went to the mountains, and you were caught in Dahrkenhill’s square with your pants down?”
Aydra’s eyes widened, and the amusement faded from Draven’s gaze.
“I need to hear this,” Aydra begged.
“You really don’t,” Draven argued, eyes darkening beneath his furrowed brows.
Dunthorne began to tell the story in grand detail. Draven bit his cheek and tapped his cup on the table as Dunthorne spoke. Dunthorne paused and grinned at Draven when he was done, taking a swig of his drink. Draven launched over the table and tipped it into Dunthorne’s face, causing the water to spill all on Dunthorne’s front. Laughter enveloped the table, and Aydra caught Draven’s pleased gaze. She crossed her arms over her chest and shook her head amusedly at him, watching him shift in his seat as he then turned to Nyssa.
“Tell me princess, are there any embarrassing stories about your sister I should know about?” he asked.
Nyssa nearly choked on the drink she’d just sipped on. “Ah… no. Not really,” she answered. “My sister rarely embarrasses.”
Nyssa caught Aydra’s gaze, and Aydra settled back in the chair, lips smirking at the Venari King before her. She shrugged mockingly at him—
Until Lex snorted.
Aydra sat up in the chair and glared at her over her shoulder. “Don’t,” she warned.
Draven’s smile widened and he settled into the seat, arms crossing over his chest. “Do tell, Second Sun.”
Lex stifled her voice against the cup she pressed to her lips. “I said nothing,” she muttered.
Breakfast continued as that, with laughter and stories all around. Until finally they started to leave the table a few at a time, starting with their duties for the day. Dunthorne needed Draven’s attention on some of the new weapon designs he’d come up with, and Draven delightedly agreed to look at them.
“I take it you can manage to get yourself back upstairs?” Draven asked Aydra as he stood from the table.
“Of course I can,” she affirmed.
He paused, smirking at her as he tapped his cup twice on the table. His eyes traveled to Nyssa beside him. “Princess. Safe travels back.”
“Venari King,” Nyssa addressed him formally.
Draven considered her a moment, and then shook his head before giving Lex an upwards nod. “Second Sun,” he acknowledged
“You’ll send my Queen back in one piece, Venari King,” Lex affirmed sternly as she stood from her chair.
His eyes flickered between Aydra and Lex. “So long as she behaves herself,” he mocked.
Aydra escorted Lex and Nyssa back out to where their horses were soon after the exchange. She told Nyssa to behave, to tell their brothers she was fine. Nyssa hugged her and got on her horse, leaving Lex waiting on the ground.
“You’ll take my sister back to the Village. Keep her safe,” Aydra told Lex. “Please insist to Ash and the rest of the company that I am fine. I am being well taken care of. Draven needs my help with a few things before I can leave.”
Lex’s brows raised. “Oh, he’s Draven now? Interesting,” she mused.
Aydra frowned. “What’s interesting?”
“That a week ago he was Venari King only.” Lex smirked at her. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were growing a soft spot for him.”
“It’s a good thing you do know better then, isn’t it?”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
“WHERE ARE YOU taking me, Venari?” Aydra asked as she and Draven set off later in the afternoon. “What creature is it I should thank for nearly slicing you in half?”
Draven huffed under his breath, his hands tightening on the reigns of the horse as he walked on the ground beside them. “You’ll see soon enough,” he told her.
Night fell a few hours into their journey. The noises of the Noctuans entered their ears, and Draven continued to lead them on foot through the forest. Aydra couldn’t see a thing, but she could feel the creatures moving around them, their darkened cores filling hers.
But it was when she suddenly felt a pain so agonizing tear through her entire body that she heard herself cry out into the darkness.
“Whoa—what is it? What’s wrong?” Draven asked, his hand grasping her leg.
Aydra doubled over and clutched her chest, feeling the pain of the creature radiate through her body. “The creature—what is it? What’s wrong with it?” she asked. “It’s close.”
“I don’t know what’s wrong, that’s the point—”
The loudest roaring cry she’d ever heard bellowed through the forest, and her eyes widened into the darkness.
“The Rhamocour?!” she hissed. “You brought me to the Rhamocour?”
“She’s hurt and scared,” Draven argued. “I cannot get close enough to help her.”
“Get me down,” she begged as the agony of the pain continued to stretch into her bones.
Draven’s hands grasped hers, and he helped her onto the ground. She doubled over on her hands and knees, and vomit evacuated her insides.
“What’s wrong—”
“It’s not me,” she told him. “It’s her. I can feel her pain. It’s—” she fell to her back and allowed her eyes to roll into the back of her head as she felt into the darkness for the beast’s voice.
I feel your pain, she cried out to it. Where are you?
Who are you? came its bellow.
Aydra winced as another sharp pain pulsed her.
I am Aydra Ravenspeak. I can help. Please. Tell me what is wrong.
Not me. My child, it told her.
“—speak to me!” she heard Draven say.
“Something is wrong with her child. It is the child I am feeling, not her.”
A cold sweat broke on Draven’s hand. “How… How do I help?”
Aydra inhaled a deep breath and felt for the Rhamocour again. The Venari King is here to help. Can you flame something so I can see you?
Purple flames ignited the a tree thirty yards ahead of them. And as the light reflected into the darkness, she saw the apple green slitted eyes from the drawing.
The Rhamocour’s long neck rose deliberately, and her horns grew until she was as tall as the tree she stood beside.
Draven stood from Aydra’s side and stepped closer to her, his hands up. He took the sword off his belt and laid it to the ground. The beast’s great talons gripped into the earth, and Aydra heard the deep purr emit from its throat.
A warmth wrapped her entire body, as though the pain of the great dragon had washed away upon seeing Draven. An ache replaced it that made her heart constrict.
The Rhamocour’s love for the Venari King poured through her.
—But another sting of whatever was wrong with the baby cut deep, and the Rhamocour cried out once more. Its great tail slashed the air, nearly hitting Draven. He crouched to the ground.
“Tell
her I want to help,” he called back to Aydra.
Tell him how to help you, Aydra begged.
The egg was damaged by the Ulfram pack. I cannot get him out without crushing him. He will need to cut him from the egg.
“What?”
Aydra didn’t realize she’d said the word out loud. Her body froze at what the beast had just told her. Cut him from it?
The Rhamocour moved, exposing the damaged egg that was suddenly shaking.
Draven turned wide-eyed at her. “What’s she doing?”
“She says you have to cut her child from its egg.”
The remaining color left his face. “What?”
“Exactly what I said. But it’s the only way.”
Aydra made herself get to her feet, ignoring the pain, and she picked Draven’s sword up from the ground to take to him, using the weapon as a crutch. She fell to her knees as she reached the dragon’s head, and Draven took the sword from her.
His hands were shaking.
Aydra’s eyes widened at the dragon before her, who’s head was the size of five horses. The beast’s breaths were short, and Aydra reached a cautious hand out to feel of the great black scales along her face.
Where does he cut?
The Rhamocour explained it to her, and Aydra told Draven. Draven followed her instructions to the egg, and then he paused and met her gaze.
“If I do something wrong, and she eats me, make sure Balandria is crowned King,” he told her.
Her lips pursed at him. “Get the baby out, Draven.”
Draven’s jaw tightened as he stepped up to the moving egg, the top of it coming to his waist. The pain of the trapped child poured through Aydra once more, and she laid her head against the Rhamocour’s nose.
The pommel of Draven’s sword crushed into the egg. Aydra closed her eyes as she heard him ripping and removing the shell delicately from around the beast.
It was only a few moments before she felt a radiance enter her core, a freedom she had not felt before, and she opened her eyes just in time to see it rip itself of the sac, and it flapped its great wings to shake the fluid from around its body.
Draven tried to move backwards and tripped on a rock as the dragon child, taller than he, leaned over him.
