Page 1 of Dragons' Bride
1. KIT
Exhausted as I am after riding for days through the woodlands at a pace that even the dragon princes concede is brutal, I’m certain I’m beyond appreciating the scenery. The ocean proves me wrong. When the trees and mountains part to reveal the vast blue abyss, I feel my breath still. The water stretches into forever, kissing the colored horizon while the waves crash against the shoreline as rhythmically as thelub dub, lub dubof my own heartbeat. There is a salt and brine smell that hangs in the air that hugs me from all sides and makes me think of Cyril. Most of all though, the ocean holds the promise of a new world, one I've heard about, but am only now seeing for the first time. A world where anything can happen.
My horse dances beneath me, and I realize I'm still stopped while the princes moved ahead. Hauck circles back to me first. I'm riding on my own now, but ever since the incident with his dragon, he's never far from me. Even when we stop to rest, and I try to give the warriors their privacy, he's always there to urge me back to the group. To remind me that I’m pack now.
“First time seeing this little puddle?” Hauck asks.
“Little puddle? How about we not offend a force of nature that can swallow us whole at a whim?”
“I could swallow you whole at a whim,” says Hauck. “You don't mind offending me.”
“You can't. You'd have to chew.”
He waggles his brows. “I was talking about a different part of you.”
A week ago, I would have turned bright red at that. Now my cheeks heat a little, but as much from annoyance as embarrassment. “I walked into that one, didn't I?”
“Dove into it. Head first.” Hauck reaches down and grabs my reins, which I had managed to drop – fortunately without Quinton having noticed. Quinton doesn't look kindly on such thingsat all, which is not altogether fair. I think that not dropping myself off the horse is already an accomplishment. Especially when the bloody beasts trots.
“Let the horse pick his way down the slope,” Hauck tells me.
I figure out what he means shortly, as the descent turns so steep that I spend most of it praying that my gelding has no suicidal ideations. Once we make it down to the pier, and I can breathe again, I am grateful to see a pair of servants rush up to take our mounts. Another two bring moist towels for us to wash off the grime of the road.
Hauck doesn't wait for me to try dismounting and lifts me out of the saddle, holding me against him while my legs regain their function. Behind me, someone is talking differentially to Tavias. I only catch some of the words, but they appear to be assurances that everything has been delivered and that the Phoenix – who appears to be an esteemed lady of some kind – is ready for us.
“Who is the Phoenix?” I ask.
“Her.” Coming up beside Hauck and me, Cyril points toward the ocean. I see no woman there, only a large ship that bobs in the distance. “The best frigate in the royal fleet. Faster than anything you've seen, and armed for combat to boot.”
“Wait. Phoenix is a boat?”
“Of course not,” says Cyril. “She is a frigate.”
Well, that clears things up. “The way everyone is speaking about it, I was expecting something, well, alive.”
Cyril shrugs, as if he doesn't see how a wooden boat isn't alive.
“I'd keep any less than flattering comments about the ship to yourself,” Hauck whispers in my ear. “Lest you would like to make a sworn enemy of the Massa’eve royal navy.”
“You are kidding me, right?” I twist toward him. Hauck's gorgeous face is serious, his thick lashes stark in the sunlight.
“For once, no,” he says. “You'd be better off insulting the captain's wife than his ship.”
I packed that little bit of insanity away, and follow the princes into a rowboat that’s come out to collect us. It’s such a small thing, barely large enough for the five of us and the pair of seamen at the oars, but marks the real start of this grand deception we are about to play out. For my part that means willingly going the Equinox Trials in place of the now dead Lady Cordelia and helping the pack win the coveted fertility elixir, all while ensuring that no one catches on to the truth: that the princes and I have no intention of ever having pups together. Once the elixir is secured, the dragons will find a nice prophecy-matching blond human with air-magic and breed with her. And I, I will finally get my freedom. I’ll be a slave no more.
All I have to do is cross from the human realm into Lunos and not die.
The seamen push the boat off the shore and pick up the oars, which make a softsplash splash splashin the clear water. Although our two escorts look human, I can tell that they are fae just from the aura of immortal competence they have about them. As we near the ship, they drop the glamor that makes their pointed ears look smooth, confirming my suspicion.
"Can all fae do that?" I ask, suddenly wondering whether there are immortals walking about the human realm every day. I don’t think so, given that the line between Lunos and the mortal realm around here is in the middle of the ocean, so it’s a long journey. But then again, immortals have all the time in the world.
"No, glamor isn’t a universal skill," says Tavias. At the oars, the seamen flinch slightly at the sound of the prince's voice. It is a subtle motion, but enough for me to notice. Just as I notice that neither Tavias nor the other princes pay much attention to it. As if they are all used to people trembling in their presence. Tavias waves his hand toward the quickly distancing land. "But given our destination, we ensured Captain Dane brought several seaman who have the ability.”
The row boat pulls up near the Phoenix's hull, the seamen deftly securing it with a rope. Tavias climbs up the side first, then Hauck and I, followed by Cyril and Quinton. The water seems to stand still for a moment when it is my turn, and when I glance at Cyril, I notice a small glow around him.
I lift a brow.
He shrugs a muscled shoulder, as if he didn’t just tame a bloody ocean with his will.
