Page 8 of On Wings of Blood

He glanced at me. “All mortals are blightborn. You clearly aren’t a vampire. But there are... differences. You aren’t an ordinary mortal. Your ears for one. They’re unusual.”

I touched a finger to the tip of one ear, feeling the point. I looked at his. “Yours are round.”

“All of ours our round,” he said, gesturing to the soldiers in front of us. “I’ve never seen pointed ears like yours. They stand out.”

“Is that all? So I was born with red hair and odd ears! And that’s a reason to kidnap me?” I said, my voice beginning to raise.

“There’s more,” he said slowly, his eyes holding mine. He looked up and down my body and despite myself, I felt my cheeks turning red. “Other aspects of your appearance.”

I bristled. “Like what?”

“Besides, I didn’t kidnap you,” he said, turning around to mount his horse once more. Apparently this conversation was at an end. “You were neveryoursin the first place.”

My jaw dropped. “I beg your pardon?”

“You belong to Sangratha. You belong to any highblood who sees fit to take you. As Lucius said, it’s an honor to be noticed by one of the Blessed Blood.” He smiled, his lips tight. “Youshouldbe honored.”

Sangratha. Apparently it was the name of this land.

Part of me longed to ask this so-called prince other questions. Such as his name. Or the meaning of the places that lay ahead of us on the three islands. What were they? Were we going there?

But I decided our hostile banter had gone on long enough. I licked my lips, already chapped from hours of walking without water or respite, and walked on in silence.

As we skirted around the edge of the city of Veilmar, soon enough it became clear where our real course lay.

The island in the center of the three. The castle of onyx stone.

CHAPTER 2 - MEDRA

The castle was called the Black Keep. A rather uninspired name.

I heard the men whispering around me, speaking the words almost as if they were holy. Soldiers marched past to line up in formation and made sure to give me a wide berth, casting only curious glances my way.

Behind me, the prince rode calmly. Clearly he was not intimidated by the sight of the massive fortress we were approaching. He’d been here before.

We passed over the black iron bridge. I could feel it swaying slightly beneath us. Under our feet lay the open sea, rolling and churning as if it were angry at our presence.

Ahead of us, a gate stood open and beyond that, the doors leading into the keep.

One by one, the soldiers took up places on either side of the doors, until finally, it was just myself and the prince in the center of a long aisle of his followers. A quiet descended over the troops as we entered the courtyard.

Lucius stepped forward, bowing low. “I shall announce you to the hall, Prince Drakharrow.”

The other man nodded. “Keep it brief. Skip the titles. Everyone in there knows me already, Lucius. The only time I’m called ‘prince’ is outside of Bloodwing, after all. It’s a stupid formality.”

Lucius blanched a little. “But... protocol dictates...”

The prince suddenly snarled, his teeth biting forward and clamping down. Beside him, I gasped and flinched.

Lucius stumbled backwards. “The most meager of titles, my prince. The barest,” he promised.

The secretary hurried ahead of us.

The prince’s hand gripped my arm. “I’ll take the chains off now. Don’t get any ideas. There’s nowhere to run.”

I didn’t reply, simply watched as he took a key from his pocket and unlocked my bindings.

As soon as I was free, he began to stalk towards the keep.

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