Chapter 1 #2
“A mistake was made, and it is our job to fix it. Women should not be hidden away, should not be punished for flaws outside of their control, should be able to choose their partner. And Violencia should not have to deal with the consequences of our actions,” Drago said.
Griffin mulled over the words.
Be able to choose their partner.
It was a sentiment he agreed with, but coming from his brother, it sounded hollow. There was a time he had loved and respected his brother, trusted him with his life.
But not any longer.
Griffin didn’t want to linger on the irony that he was fighting for exactly that, but his decision would force Raven’s hand.
Maverick didn’t appear to like the answer, but he didn’t argue. “I imagine you aren’t going to elaborate. And it appears we don’t have a choice. But we will help.”
“Good. And Julian?” Drago cocked his head.
Julian had remained mostly silent throughout this, his gaze unfocused as he stared at the door Levi had gone through. “Yes, I will remain by her side. But she’s going to want to go after Sparrow. Going to want to find Jayce. And I can’t promise I’ll be able to stop her.”
“When the time is right, that is exactly what she will need to do,” Drago advised.
Griffin’s eye twitched. If there was anyone he absolutely despised in this world, it was Jayce. For failing Raven every step of the way. For causing this entire mess. Griffin was nearly thankful that Anadil had rid him of the literal thorn in his side. Except she had taken Sparrow too.
“Raven’s daughter.” Maverick flipped the page of his notebook again. “The fertility issues. When did they begin? Has there been any indication to determine where they stemmed from?”
Drago coughed, choking on his breath. “Where they stemmed from? Now that is a question that could solve all of our problems. But this all began just around the time people were sent to Violencia, when your country was established nearly two hundred years ago, and it has gotten worse ever since. And then our father was killed, and that enacted the games in our countries and brought with it another slew of anger and distrust. You will find, for how far apart our homelands are, they are quite similar.”
Maverick opened his mouth to speak again, but Drago cut him off.
“When we arrive in Grypheem, I will give you access to our library, to all the information you could hope to possess. It will answer your questions better than I have any hope to.”
Maverick inclined his head in agreement.
Griffin felt the shift in the air as all the men realized that they quite possibly were heading straight into another battle. Another fight for their lives.
And Griffin knew with certainty that the games would be nothing compared to the trials that were yet to come.
It reminded him of a similar time. When he was on his first journey to a new country…
Fifteen Years Ago – Catastro Sea
Less than twelve hours after his father had declared he would leave the country, and he was already on a glorified “dinghy” doing exactly that. The entire vessel was barely twenty feet long and only held himself, his brother, and two other men.
Viktor and Niko.
The moon wasn’t present as they crossed the Catastro Sea, and their boat was in complete darkness.
Griffin had never left his homeland, but he was aware of the perilous journey this had the potential to be. The pirates that harvested this sea for the men enroute to and from Violencia. They didn’t even dare use a motor, simply utilizing the sails to let the wind propel them forward.
Griffin and Drago sat in the cockpit together, Drago at the helm while Griffin rested in the chair beside him.
Griffin had admired his brother growing up, spent more time with him than their father, and it was here that he relied on him again.
Growing up, Drago had always been close to their father. While Griffin was loved, it felt distant as if each encounter was barbed with a layer of separation.
“What if I fail?” Griffin murmured, his attention on the stairs that led below deck. He could hear Viktor and Niko’s snores coming up from it.
“You can’t. That isn’t an option. You must be the change that is needed.
Find out if the rumors are true. If Factions are forming, if there is a revolution brewing.
” Drago released the wheel, leaning back and staring up at the stars.
“When it is time, father will send for you. I will bring you back myself if I have to.”
“How can I do all that? I am one man,” Griffin grumbled. He had not been trained as Drago was, simply using his youth to explore and meet strangers. He was knowledgeable to a degree but not enough for whatever this would be.
“Niko and Viktor will help. They have been in Violencia before. You gather an army. A group of followers who will do anything at your request.”
Griffin laughed at the joke, but when Drago didn’t speak again he realized that his brother was being serious.
Drago brought his attention to Griffin. Whereas Drago’s gray eyes, lips, and face shape were nearly a printed copy of their father’s, Griffin had come to realize he took after his mother.
The woman he had stumbled upon in the Isles of Sacerdos on his first and only visit there.
The one who was chained in a room sobbing, whose bright green eyes had met his for a single instant.
Who had begged him to leave and never return.
He had left, but he fully intended to return.
“How do I gather an army?” Griffin asked.
Drago took a few minutes to respond. “You will find that Violencia is very different, but there are also quite a few similarities. Why do the people of Grypheem follow our father? Sure, he is king, but he also promises change. And within change there is always hope.”
Hope.
The word swirled through Griffin’s mind, but if anything, it left him more confused than before.
How could he, an eighteen-year-old, possibly enact any change? How could he bring hope to a country that he was only just now stepping foot inside? And why him? Why did this have anything to do with him?
“How does this have anything to do with my mother?”
Drago waved him off. “Get some sleep. Tomorrow we will not have time to rest, we must complete that part of the journey hard and fast.”
Griffin wanted to argue, to demand answers. But he wasn’t even sure of the questions to ask.
Instead, he listened to his brother, getting up from the chair and making his way below deck.
Hope.
The single word from before tossed and turned through him as if it were a ball made of glass. Each time it bounced, a bit more shattered away and by the time he laid down on the pallet next to a snoring Viktor he could practically understand his brother’s intent.
He didn’t have to actually do anything, he just needed to put into others that he would.
Because after all, hope might be a fleeting feeling, but the destruction it left in its wake when stolen away was not.