I know.
I never realized how irreplaceable a mother’s love is. Now that it is gone, I am terrified. I feel so alone and unsheltered. Is that silly at my age?
No! Of course not. Kenley swallowed back tears of her own when she thought of how devastated she would be to lose her mother. Her confidence, her strength, her sense of well-being, were all gifts from her mother, and Kenley only had to look into the eyes of Kiernan Atlan to know just how much she was loved and cherished. She vowed never to take that relationship for granted ever again. I know I can never replace what you shared with Felice, but you have shelter with me, Baya, always and forever.
Kenley buried her head in Baya’s soft white fur and held her friend tightly. They remained locked together in silent solace for a very long time.
When, a shadow passed over Kenley, she looked up. It was Muuki.
We should be going, daughter of Kenley.
He was right. After almost two days of trailing the renegade Draca Cats, they were very close to finding them and could not afford to delay. For reasons Kenley did not understand, the Draca Cats went directly through the busy Elven capital of Sarphia instead of taking a more circuitous route. Mercifully, the cats did not harm any of the citizens, but simply passed through and headed west. To find their oath holders, she knew. The Kenleys. According to Muuki, Nazar needed her family to be his voice of rule.
Kenley let go of Baya and searched for the words that would convince her to carry on, but the Draca Cat lurched to her feet without prodding.
Their journey resumed and the day continued wet and humid. Kenley’s shirt was soaked through to her skin and her feet ached from the hours of walking. Her legs, covered with mud up to her knees, began to shake from the exertion and she longed for rest, but knew they could not take the time. Not when they were so close.
Around a sharp bend on the Elven made path, Kenley pulled up short when she smelled a sharp, pungent odor.
Baya! What is that scent?
Fresh blood.
Again?
Her eyes swept the rainforest for any hint of a predator, and then Kenley saw them up ahead on the trail.
Dead Moshies.
The Draca Cats have been through here, Baya said. They left the Elves alone, but the Moshies were not so fortunate. I cannot say I am saddened by their deaths.
Kenley cringed. The blood feud between the ape people and the Draca Cats was not something she understood well, only well enough to know that there was nothing she could do to change it. Bitter animosity on both sides had kept the hostility brewing between the two races for many long years.
The band of Moshies lay scattered and broken across the rainforest floor. Kenley looked down at the humanoid face of one Moshie as she passed. She had never seen one of the fabled creatures before, but knew they existed from the stories her father told her as a child. When he spoke of them, it was always with a fond smile for their prankster antics and close tribal ties. The Moshies were childhood monsters for most Iserlohn children, but for Kenley and her brothers, they seemed more like long-lost friends.
It saddened her to see the brutal scene, but she also knew it was just as likely that the Moshies initiated this fight instead of the Draca Cats.
Let us hurry, Muuki said. The Dracas will most likely stop at the big river to drink and rest. If they do, we will be able to catch up to them there.
They never discussed what they would do when they found Nazar and his followers, but Kenley would allow Baya to take the lead. This was her fight.
It took another hour of hard travel to reach the Illian and discover that Muuki had been right. The Draca Cats were spread out along the river and waiting. Waiting for what? Did they know that they were being tracked?
A male Draca Cat with a fresh scar across his muzzle stepped forward as Kenley, Baya and their much smaller group emerged from the Puu.
I expected Muuki and the others, but I must say that I am very surprised to see you, Baya. He nodded toward her. And, you, daughter of Kenley.
Kenley did not remember ever meeting this Draca Cat before, but he obviously knew her from her previous visits to Callyn-Rhe.
Murderer! Baya roared. I name you a murderer, Nazar!
Nazar did not back down and answered her roar. If that is what you wish to call it! I killed my jailers, yes! I did not want to kill them and tried peaceful ways for many years, but Moombai clung to the old ways. He was not a good leader for the Draca Cats.
And, Felice, Nazar? What did my mother do to deserve her death?
The big cat seemed genuinely remorseful. Felice was an unfortunate victim. Her eyes were closed to the truth, and because of her position within the pride, she could have raised others against me.
Baya crept closer. In this new order of yours, do all who oppose the mighty Nazar die?
Nazar’s amber eyes narrowed dangerously. We cannot afford dissention.
So, your answer is yes. Let all hear of your tyrannical plans!
Baya! It saddened me to sacrifice the blood of my brothers and sisters in Callyn-Rhe, but they would not listen! We must grow and learn! Become better, stronger, smarter! Why can’t you see that?
Kenley watched anxiously as the two cats circled each other.
You say that you wish to rule the humans, Nazar, but what do you know of their world? Can you fight against the magic they command? Can you use the tools they use? Can you sail their ships? Can you speak their language?
Nazar shook his head and growled. The first humans were naught but animals! Savages! The difference is their leaders strove for advancements while ours embraced complacency. In our idleness, the humans shaped the world according to their strengths! Why cannot we now shape the world to our strengths? We are not mindless creatures, Baya! We have the same ability to make this world over into our image as the human ancestors of old did!
Baya snapped her teeth toward the Nazar. You are a fool! All of you! The Draca Cats fought alongside the humans against a tyrant twenty years ago. Now, you will try to resurrect his evil ways?
Tell me! In the past twenty years, have the Draca Cats evolved? Is anything different today than twenty years ago? One hundred years ago? The answer is, no!
Both cats stopped pacing and faced each other. Domination is not the way, Nazar.
It is a start.
I cannot stand by.
I am sorry you feel that way, sister, but I will not shed any more Draca blood. We will go our separate ways.
No.
The watching Dracas whimpered nervously.
Are you challenging me?
I am.
Come closer then, my sister. I am here!
Baya sprang toward Nazar.
Baya, no! Kenley shouted and sprinted forward with the intention of stopping Baya from a deadly fight, but her friend suddenly disappeared into the ground. Kenley tried to skid to a stop, but she could not stop her momentum and found herself falling through the air after Baya. She shifted and a cradle of air caught her before she would have slammed into the bottom of a deep pit. Staggering to her feet, she looked up in time to see a heavy grate slam into place over the hole.
Kenley flew upward and grasped the iron bars. With a scream, she tried to move the grate, but it would not budge.
Nazar’s face peered down at her. Who says we cannot use the tools of humans? the big cat snarled. This grate will hold you nicely until we return.
Nazar! What have you done?
My oath prevents me from harming you, daughter of Kenley, so I will be back to release you once we have made our demands known to the sons of Kenley in the place you call Bardot. Try not to think too poorly of me.
“No! Leave my brothers alone!” Kenley yelled. “Muuki! Help us!”
Muuki’s head replaced Nazar’s at the grate.
I am sorry, daughter of Kenley, but Nazar has convinced me. The old ways truly are gone. It is time for a new order.
* * * * *
Samara flung open the windows in her guest chamb
ers and breathed in air tinged with seawater, roasting chestnuts from the vendor in the courtyard below her room, and—yes, magic. Her body involuntarily shuddered as the seductive haze washed over her.
The Premier had not exaggerated in his descriptions of the addicting scent. Could she continue to exist solely on the draught now that the promised ecstasy of the blood danced tantalizingly over her senses? She could taste it, feel it, touch it, and the anticipation was torturous.
She pushed away from the window with a frown. She was beginning to regret her hasty decision to take the water people yesterday. Surely, they would be missed and it would cast the Ellvinians under a heavy cloud of suspicion, something she was ordered to avoid at all costs.
The Premier’s commands were simple. Assimilate into the society, take up residence, obtain employment. Then, in a discrete manner, capture and return to Ellvin a manageable supply of magic users. It was the only way to ensure the Ellvinians a continual supply of the blood with the Massans none the wiser. If she allowed greed to seep into her actions, the Massans would rise up against them and their first source of blood in remembered history would dry up.
She walked over to pour herself a glass of spiced wine and downed the liquid with one swallow. What was done was done. It was time to concentrate on finding out more about these Massans.
One thing was quite certain—their vulnerability to Ascendency was strong. She needed very little skill to exert her power of suggestion over them. Unfortunately, that meant that the Shiprunners would also have no trouble holding sway over them. Most of the sailors were still among the ships at sea, but several hundred were now in the port city. It could ruin everything if Chandal did not heed her warning and take the steps necessary to control the actions of his caste.
Her own work would start tonight. She convinced the mayor to arrange a gala in her honor this evening. There she would seek out the Prince with the blue eyes that greeted her at the harbor. Once she had him under her influence, he would be only too willing to tell her all about the political structure, military capabilities and magical skill of the island of Massa. Aye, once she had the Prince in her grasp, that young man would tell her everything she wished to know, and more.
CHAPTER 11
THE MAYOR’S GALA
Kellan pulled on the mayor’s borrowed coat and adjusted the sleeves. It was snug in the shoulders, but would have to do. It was all he had.
He walked to the full-length mirror in the small chamber room and grinned. Tonight, he would see her again. He had not seen the Ellvinian woman since yesterday and whenever he thought about meeting up with her at the mayor’s gala tonight, his stomach clenched. He would ask her to dance as soon as dinner was over, he promised himself, and the image in his mind of her pressed up close to his body caused him to shudder.
Idiot! What was he thinking? He had never even kissed a girl and yet here he was having bold thoughts about a woman to whom he had barely spoken. If he did not know better, he would think that the woman cast a spell over him. His father once told him that he had been the victim of a Glamour Spell and wondered briefly if Samara could be a sorceress. It would explain why he heard such poetry from her red lips while Kane heard nothing of the sort.
Maks interrupted his thoughts when he produced a loud yawn from the corner of the room, blue eyes peering at him through half-lidded eyes.
Kellan walked to the window to look out into the courtyard in front of the mayor’s estate. Below, livered servants hurried in all directions, presumably preparing for the gala tonight. He glanced beyond the courtyard and toward the merchant’s district. Usually, the streets were congested with pedestrians exploring the wares for sale or waiting for a ship to return with loved ones, but it was curiously quiet this evening.
He was about to turn back into the room when his eyes drifted further north to the harbor, and he sucked in a surprised breath. All of the Ellvinian ships were moored at the harbor! All twelve!
What is going on here? He remembered giving the visitors permission for six…or maybe it was a dozen, people to come ashore. So, why were all of their ships in port? No, not all. He counted again. Eleven ships were docked, but he was sure there had been twelve yesterday. Where had the other gone? Back to Ellvin? On another wormwood seeking mission?
A frightening foreboding pierced his chest and flowed upward to lodge in his throat. So much so that the soft knock that sounded on his chamber door twisted him around in a panic. The floor trembled at his feet with the burgeoning magic that instinctively flared to life.
Maks jumped to his feet. What is it, Prince?
Kellan wiped a hand down his face to calm his emotions. I am not sure, Maks, but be ready. We may have trouble on our hands.
I have been bred for battle. I am always ready for trouble. An excited growl escaped his throat.
Kellan walked to the closed door. “Gregor?”
“Yes, Your Grace. You have guests.”
Kellan slowly opened the door. Kane, Jala and Izzy stood just beyond his guard in the finest clothes that could be procured for them.
“Thank you, Gregor.” The three children filed in, leaving their own guards outside with Gregor. Jain made his way over to Maks, and Kellan could hear them having a conversation but tuned it out. Instead, he turned to the expectant faces of his brother and friends. Was he being paranoid? He once again caught a glimpse out the window of the tips of the Ellvinian masts. No. He was not. “I want us to stick together tonight,” he told them. “Keep an eye on the Ellvinians and let me know if anything out of the ordinary happens.”
“You mean like everyone bowing and scraping to them, their entire fleet now moored at our doorstep, and Kirby Nash turning back the three hundred soldiers he ordered to Northfort? That out of the ordinary?” Kane asked.
“What?” Kellan shouted. “He turned them back?”
Kane went to the window and looked out. “Not only that, there is not a single Iserlohn soldier left in Northfort.”
“What? That’s impossible, Kane!”
“Unfortunately, no.”
“What are we going to do?” Jala asked.
Kellan looked down at the two girls and an overwhelming desire to protect them coursed through his body. Even though Jala was older than him by three years, the dominance of his earthshifting made him a natural born leader and it was purely instinctual for him to take control.
He took Jala’s hands in his. “Do not let Izzy out of your sight tonight.” He squeezed tightly. “Promise me that.”
“I promise.”
Despite the age difference, the two girls were the same height and they looped their arms together.
Kane turned from the window. “Galas are not for me. I am going to go to the waterfront to see what I can find out. You would be surprised by what can be learned by hanging in the right shadows.”
“Take Haiden,” Kellan said.
He shook his head. “No, but I will take Jain.”
Kellan was not entirely sure if he liked the idea of his brother out there alone, but had no other choice. Kane was old enough to make his own decisions. “All right, but take care, brother.”
Kane nodded and slipped out of the door with Jain.
Kellan held his elbows out to Jala and Izzy. “I guess it is up to us, then. If you will have me, I would be honored to escort you lovely ladies to the mayor’s gala.”
The girls took his arms and they exited the room out into the large balconied hallway. As the ranking authority in Northfort, Lars Kingsley’s estate was the largest in the waterfront city and included at least thirty guest chambers, a formal ballroom and servant quarters that were home to over one hundred people.
Kellan glanced over the railing at the antechamber below and skipped a step in horror. He had seen the ships, but the sight of the party below spilling over with Ellvinians made his mouth go dry.
Chandal and Samara requested rooms for a small personal entourage, but there had to be a few hundred Ellvinians downstairs at the gala.
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“Demon’s breath,” Jala swore, and at that moment, Kellan had never felt so afraid, so young, and so ill equipped to handle a situation. Intuitively, he knew the island was in danger, but his feelings were at odd with the smiles and laughs of the Massans interspersed among the Ellvinians. Kirby Nash, speaking to an Ellvinian male, waved up at him with a broad smile on his face. Kirby was Captain of the Royal Guard. Diligent, mistrustful, and guarded were just a few of the words he could use to describe the Saber, so if Kirby was smiling and at ease, why did Kellan still feel such an overriding sense of doom?
“Remember what I said,” he told Jala. “Stay together and do not let Izzy out of your sight.”
Jala nodded and they descended the stairs as their names were announced to the crowd.
Garland and candlelight decorated the antechamber and ballroom beyond. The smells of roasting venison and sweet pies drifted enticingly through the room causing Kellan to realize just how long it had been since he had last eaten. The strains of a buoyant lilt from a pan flute accompanied the soulful timbre of a minstrel as he sang of love and romance, and Kellan wondered when the mayor’s servants had time to put together such a lavish fete.
He clutched Jala and Izzy a bit closer as he stepped off the stairs and navigated the crowd, anxious now to find Kirby and find out why he turned back the Iserlohn soldiers.
Every time he thought he spotted the blond curls among the sea of black, an Ellvinian stepped in his way to block his path forward and he lost sight of the Saber Captain. Kellan growled in frustration when another tall guest appeared out of nowhere. “Good evening, Prince,” the dark Elf greeted and leaned in close to Kellan.
Kellan automatically moved back. As a Prince, he was not used to people being this close to his person. “Good evening,” he replied uneasily.
The Ellvinian walked past and Kellan could have sworn the Elf smelled the back of his head.
Island Shifters: Book 03 - An Oath of the Children Page 8
