The menace in the king's voice did not make it sound as though he would welcome his son with open arms as he’d suggested, and she was sure she heard the sound of weapons being drawn. Fear gripped her once more. Not for herself, but for Menion and Drake. Blake had been the only one in her vision, and she couldn't help but fear that something dreadful might happen to them.
Chapter 16 - Drake
The three fae royals had just made it to the docks when all three suddenly doubled over. Cries of alarm came from the guards surrounding them, but all Drake could think about was the piercing pain in his chest. Though it lasted only a few moments, he knew without a doubt what it was. Kira was calling to him. He felt as if his heart were trying to rip right out of his chest to get to her.
As the pain receded, Drake glanced to his brother and Menion to see that they too were clutching their chests, breathing deeply, as though they were trying to recover from being stabbed.
"Did you feel that?" Drake panted, forcing himself to stand straight and prepare for what they needed to do.
Blake and Menion began to nod, as if they couldn't quite find their voices. Then Menion announced, "She’s calling to us." There was such certainty in his voice, Drake knew he was right, just as he had already known it himself, deep down.
"She...she's out there," Blake gasped as he continued to try to catch his breath. Drake followed his brother's pointed finger out to the horizon, and although he could see nothing but rolling, white-capped waves, he knew his brother was right. If he closed his eyes and tried hard enough to reach Kira through their connection, he was almost certain he could picture a ship with blue and yellow sails.
"Are we all ready?" Blake asked.
"Perhaps we should wait for your guards to arrive?" Menion suggested. The three of them had flown so fast, although Blake had given his permission for his guards to follow by wing, they had yet to catch up. Blake shook his head the moment the suggestion was made.
"Balerion will follow anyway, and I would rather not waste another moment," Blake announced. Drake couldn't have said it better himself. His heart was aching with the need to be on his way, to be moving steadily toward their mate so he could have her safely in his arms again.
"We don't know what we’re flying into," Menion pointed out, his cheeks flushing slightly, as though he were embarrassed, or perhaps ashamed. "If my father has her, he won’t give her up willingly."
"Then it’s a good thing we have these," Blake pointed out, placing his hand on the sword he had strapped around his waist. Drake had always been less prone to violence than his brother, but he knew exactly how Blake felt in that moment. He would’ve taken on an entire army with just his sword if it meant protecting Kira.
"Let's go get our woman," Drake crowed, and he was the first to throw himself into the air, off the edge of the high white cliffs of the Winter Isle. An icy breeze instantly buffeted his face, and had he been flying for any other reason, he might’ve turned back. As things stood, all he needed to hear was the sound of his brother's and Menion's wings flapping behind him to carry on.
"If this goes sideways," Menion yelled over the wind, his voice almost carried away, "leave my father to me and get Kira out of there."
"I have no problem with sacrificing you!" Blake yelled back at the prince, and Drake threw his brother a warning glance. Kira would never forgive either of them if they allowed anything to happen to her third mate.
"We are all in this together!" Drake bellowed over the wind, reminding them that they all had to work together for their mate's sake. We must all come out of this whole, for her sake!
There was no more time to discuss things, as a ship suddenly came into view upon the horizon. The sound of yelling that came from its deck suggested the crew had seen them almost as soon as Drake had seen the ship. The blue and yellow sails bellowing proudly upon the masts told Drake everything he needed to know, and he glanced at Menion to see that all the color had drained from his face.
"This isn't going to be easy!" Menion yelled over to the twins, and his wings began to slow until he was hovering in midair a few hundred feet away from the ship. Drake and Blake were forced to pull up with him, knowing they could not enter the fray without him at their side if they were going to have any hope of rescuing Kira. "My father will fight to the death of every man on that ship for an oracle."
"But Kira no longer has her powers," Drake pointed out.
"Exactly," Menion scowled back at him. "So every man on that ship will die pointlessly."
"Not if we aim not to kill," Drake reassured the prince, and he glanced at his brother to be sure he’d heard, and agreed.
"I'm not making any promises, but I'll try not to kill anyone," Blake shrugged, as if it was little consequence to him how many died beneath his sword.
"It doesn't matter anyway," Drake realized when he glanced down at the ship below them. There had to be at least twenty crewmen standing on the deck.
"Look out!" Menion's cry came too late. Pain lanced through Drake like a piercing hot spike, and he glanced down just in time to see the arrow protruding from his abdomen, just above his right hip, before he began to topple toward the ship.
"Drake!" Blake yelled loudly and Drake, distantly felt the beating of wings all around him as his brother and fellow mate dived after him, their hands grabbing for him.
In a daze, Drake landed on the deck between Menion and Blake. Feet rushed in all around them, and he barely managed to see that they were completely surrounded. He clutched at the arrow in his side, hoping to keep it in place, to keep it from bleeding out, and hopefully to save himself some pain.
The scream that erupted from across the deck caused his head to whip around. The sound wrenched at his heart even before he glimpsed Kira tied to the nearest mast. A silver-haired man with a scar above his brow had just pulled a burlap sack from her head, and she was staring directly at Drake, or more accurately, at the arrow protruding from his side. She fought the bindings wrapped around her waist, arms and legs, but there was nothing she could do. Drake silently willed her not to worry, and yet he wasn't sure he could promise her that everything would be okay. Although the arrow was stopping most of the bleeding, he could feel warm liquid oozing down his side, soaking his tunic and his leather breeches. His brother's shoulder under his armpit became the only thing holding him up.
"What is all the racket out here?" a sarcastic, menacing voice sounded as a creaking door was swung open, and out of the corner of his eye, Drake saw someone step out of the cabin. The speaker stepped around the crowd of guards who surrounded the three men, and a path was made for him so he could stand over the three royals who’d suddenly become captives. "Well, well, I never expected to find my only son in league with the sons of my mortal enemy!"
For a moment, Drake was confused as to how Menion's father could possibly know them. Then, his dazed mind began to think on it a little harder, and he realized that everything about himself and his brother screamed royalty, from their silver tipped wings to their fine clothing. Not to mention the fact that, although their coloring was different, their features were very similar to their father's and his father before him, and his before him. The male line within the fae royals had always been strong, and it would not be hard for even the king of a forgotten kingdom to recognize them.
"They may be your enemy, but they’re not mine," Menion announced, and Drake couldn't help but admire the young prince as he clambered to his feet and stood with his head held high, glaring back at his father. Save for their similar facial features and their height, the two were nothing like. Menion's hair was jet black where his father's was golden, turning grey, and the prince was broad and muscular where his father was elegantly lithe.