Prologue - Menion
The smell of sickness clung heavily to the air, surrounding the prince of a long-forgotten kingdom. With head bowed and hand clutching the that of his mother tightly, Menion cried his final tears, a silent vow upon his lips to do whatever it would take to make her well again.
When he lifted his head once more to look at the frail woman before him, he could barely recognize her. Save for the jet-black hair that was so like his own, she was a far cry from the glowing, vibrant woman she’d been just months earlier. Treatment after failed treatment had left her close to death’s door, and Menion was sure it wouldn’t be long before their time ran out.
“I will not allow it to end this way, mother,” Menion vowed, giving her hand a gentle squeeze in the hopes that she might return the gesture. He longed for her to open her grey-green eyes, only a shade darker than his own. He longed for her to look at him and tell him all would be well, just as she had when he’d been a child. Yet he was a child no longer, and there was more he could do than sit about and wait to be consoled.
Steeling himself with the knowledge that her condition would only worsen if he did nothing, Menion forced himself to release his mother’s hand and stand on legs he hadn’t used for several hours. He leaned down and pressed his lips to her forehead. The cold sweat that beaded there was one of the last signs of life the Queen of the Forgotten Isle had in her. Using his sleeve to wipe it from his lips, he vowed, “I will find a cure, mother, I promise you this.”
With that, the prince hurried from his mother’s sickbed, where he’d sat for weeks, whenever he wasn’t in the library researching possible cures for her mysterious and quite sudden illness. It was to the library he would go now. He would collect every scroll and book he could need to help him on his journey, and then he would waste no more time. He’d learned enough to get him to where he needed to be. Or so he hoped.
He was busy shoving all his research into a large duffel bag, along with a few other supplies, when the sound of someone clearing their throat made him look up. As he did so, his father stepped into the library, his arms crossed over his chest. The expression on his face told Menion exactly what he should expect. He was clearly in a foul mood.
“Menion, what are you doing?” the king asked. He was wearing his silken robe and fine slippers, obviously just having come from his bed, and Menion suddenly realized it was the middle of the night. King Dunston was a tall, broad fae, with the first signs of grey in his golden hair, hinting at his tender age of almost two hundred years.
“You know exactly what I’m doing,” Menion responded, returning to his work. He had little time to waste.
“It’s the middle of the night, Menion, can’t this wait until morning?” his father asked. There was concern, and perhaps a little doubt, upon the king’s face. He had little faith in his son’s quest. “We will talk about this in the light of day, before you go gallivanting off.”
Menion shook his head and vowed, “I’m going to find the oracle.”
“She has been lost to us for years,” his father protested with a deeply furrowed brow. The pain on his face told Menion everything he needed to know on the matter. It was no secret that his father had been deeply affected by the loss of the court’s oracle many years ago. “You’ll never find her.”
“I will.” Menion protested, slinging the bag over his shoulder, narrowly avoiding his trembling wings, already fluttering to carry him to the docks. “I have to.”
Chapter 1 - Kira
They were coming for her. Kira knew it the moment her vision ended. It might’ve lasted a moment or several hours, but however long it had taken hold of her, it didn’t matter. She felt the same exhaustion she always did.
The vision had not been entirely clear, but it left her certain of one thing: there were three men coming for her, at least two of them brothers. That much was true from the small snippets of conversation she’d caught and the surroundings she’d seen. The clearings, glades and mountainside of her vision had been all too familiar. They’d been her surroundings for the last seven years; seven long, lonely years in which she’d spent most of her time in the four wooden walls of her cabin at the top of the highest mountain of the Winter Isle. She’d been safe there. Though she knew instantly that she was safe no longer.
“Well, Rudy, it looks like we aren’t going to be alone for much longer,” Kira sighed, stifling a yawn as she reached down to pet the small adolescent fox who’d snuggled into her side after she’d collapsed on the floor of her cabin. She tried to ignore the way her head was pounding, and instead ground herself in the feeling of the fox’s fur against her palm. The fox let out a small, anxious whimpering sound, almost as if he understood what she was saying. “Perhaps we should leave.”
She discarded the suggestion almost as soon as it crossed her mind. Kira knew all too well that Fate would not change its course no matter how hard she tried. She’d long since given up hope of changing anything that happened around her. What was written could not be changed, and Fate’s pen was always working. The three men would come. Kira knew it, just as she knew she would be waiting for them when they arrived.
“The question is, what exactly do they want from us?” Kira sighed, giving Rudy a good, long tickle behind his ears. Rudy no longer seemed interested, only nuzzling closer to her, curling up as if he were ready for sleep.
Kira chuckled to herself and picked up the little fox in her arms to carry him to the bed. It was only midday, and yet sleep was all Kira could think about. Her visions left her so tired, it was impossible to do anything but give in to it. Her limbs were heavy as lead as she dropped down onto the simple wood-framed bed and allowed the little fox to lie upon her chest before she pulled the threadbare blankets over them both.
“Perhaps it’s time we put an end to our solitude,” Kira yawned, her chest tightening at the thought of coming face to face with another living being after so many years. Her only friends had been little Rudy, and the odd rabbit or mountain goat that chanced upon her cabin, since she’d found her place there several years earlier. “After all, we do need new blankets.”
That was an understatement. Almost everything in the cabin was threadbare, broken and in dire need of repair. Even the roof leaked whenever it rained heavily. Yet she’d made do with what she had, and she’d survived this long. Whatever fate decided to throw at her next, she knew she would survive that too.
“It looks as though we have until the next snowfall,” Kira warned Rudy, trying to focus on the parts of her vision that were clear, “then we’ll see where Fate takes us.”
Whatever these hunters wanted, she would not give it to them easily. She’d fought too hard for her freedom to have it taken away from her now. She cringed, remembering her escape from the court of King Dunston and her journey across the forbidden sea to the Winter Isle. It had been a long and arduous journey, much like her existence in the mountains, which had seemed like her safest option all those years ago.
As she closed her eyes, willing sleep to take her, she couldn’t help but look upon the faces of the three men who were coming for her. One, a plain fae with jet black hair and mossy green eyes, though quite handsome. The two others were clearly brothers due to their sharp features, similar builds and the way in which they carried themselves. Their most striking differences were the colors with which their hair was streaked; one had charcoal hair with crimson streaks, reminding Kira of flames, while the other’s hair was streaked with white strikes of lightning. Each man had a set of magnificent wings, the likes of which Kira had only ever seen upon the backs of the royals she’d served for most of her adult life.
Sleep had almost overwhelmed her exhausted mind when one final image of the three men suddenly flashed before her eyes. It was there only an instant, but left an imprint like none other before it. She found herself surrounded by the three men, their hands touching her, all gripping at her as if they could not bear to let her go. And yet she did not feel fear or the desire to escape. Instead, all she felt was pleasure.
Chapter 2 - Drake
“Maybe we should turn back!” Drake called to his brother, who was several paces ahead, climbing the sheer mountainside as if his very life depended on it. The brother kings had been climbing for what felt like months, though it couldn’t have been more than a couple of days, searching for the one thing they both wanted more than anything in the world: answers.
“No!” Blake called back over his shoulder. Drake groaned inwardly. “We’re close. I can feel it. Can’t you?”
“Feel it?” Drake laughed harshly before beginning to cough, the sheer coldness of the air beginning to burn his lungs. He pulled the scarf up from around his neck to cover the lower half of his face. “I can’t feel anything in this cold!”