Chapter 10
CHAPTER TEN
Drayven
“I don’t understand, Drayven.” My father’s voice was weak as he eyed me with panic.
I found myself more and more disgusted with the man the longer I stood in his presence.
I heard Colt scoff as Finias paced back and forth, looking anxious to get the fuck out of this place—and I didn’t disagree.
I had never felt so unsettled at home, and there were several reasons for my discomfort.
The first reason, of course, was that Ama wasn’t here.
But the second was that since the Summit, I had come to so clearly see the truth of what I had been manipulated to believe.
The rose-colored glasses had been shattered, and all I saw at that moment was a room of men and women who were terrified and weak.
“You don’t understand why our commanders are gathering our forces?” I clarified, my voice echoing through the foyer.
“Why are we fighting a battle that is not our problem?” my father pleaded. “Surely the king can get himself out of this, and it works out perfectly because you can rule with that little hybrid bi—“
“I would highly suggest you not finish that statement,” I growled, and my father let out a whimper.
Finias swiftly pressed a knife to his throat and whispered something that had my father turning green.
Good. I looked at the others, knowing that Finias wouldn’t kill him...
most likely. But I did hope he would scare him.
“The House of Runes will not stop with the capital, so if you think you are safe hiding inside these walls, you are foolish,” I leveled evenly.
“I don’t care what you think about hybrids—I will not have you jeopardizing the future of this kingdom and the realm because of your hatred.
If you don’t want to be part of this fight, then go lock yourself away, but just know that your actions will be the future you set for yourself.
A future in which you are known as cowards and traitors. ”
“Drayven, honey.” My mother’s voice was soft as she supported my father, who was sagged against her, looking terrified as Finias left his side, moving in and out of the crowd around us.
Colt seemed to find what he was doing funny, and in any other context, I might have as well—considering he looked like a shark seeking his prey—but I knew this moment was fundamental.
I needed to get them on board, and then we needed to get back to breaking down the walls for Damien’s army.
He had chosen to wait outside, not trusting himself to be in the proximity of the fuckers who had hurt Ama—and I didn’t disagree.
It was just one more good reason that Adrien, Jace, and Nico weren’t here either, and instead were collecting the forces to all gather in Obumbratio. There was only so much bullshit we could hear before one of us snapped.
“Mom,” I leveled patiently, knowing she understood how my father could be. “We aren’t doing this.”
“They aren’t like us!” another voice demanded sharply as I eyed one of the other court members.
“You’re right, they aren’t,” I leveled. “They are better.”
“You can’t mean that,” a second argued, shock filling their tone.
“While you have been hiding away, they have not only left their own kingdom but have come to fight for a kingdom that holds extreme prejudice and hatred for them,” I spat.
“Even now, when they are trying to help you, you turn away because of your pride and stupidity. This is your final warning: you can either help or get the fuck out of the way. Things are changing, and if you don’t like it, then fuck off. ”
My voice echoed through the space, and I could see the shock on the face of every single royal who had tried to groom me to take over the throne.
“They are a weak species,” my father managed, looking ashen.
A familiar voice echoed down the staircase, “To care is not weak, Deacon.”
Zurie.
Ama’s best friend had never been particularly friendly towards me, and with good reason. So as she walked down the stairs, I was concerned about how she would react to all of this. However, I was surprised to find her not only already in armor but glaring at the others with disgust.
“To work towards a better future that isn’t saturated with your bias is not weak,” she spat. “If you turn your back on Pura or ignore what occurs today, I will personally make sure you have no future in the change of the realm to come.”
Well said.
“Have the forces ready outside,” I ordered before walking back towards the door with the others, unsurprised when Zurie followed. I knew she wanted information about Ama.
“Where is she?”
Once outside, I turned to look at the woman and spoke honestly, “After the coup, Ama’s father transported us outside of Pura to a spot near the darklands. We traveled to the hybrid kingdom from there, and as we were returning here with the hybrid forces, Ama was taken from us.”
Zurie narrowed her eyes, “Taken? You let Ama just get taken? Listen, Drayven, you’ve always had your head up your ass when it comes to Ama, but you are also overbearing as fuck—and you just let her get taken? I can’t believe this.”
“Bit more complicated than that,” I grunted.
“Who is this?” Colt asked, frowning.
“Who are you?” Zurie arched her brow.
I breathed out, “This is Zurie, Ama’s best friend. Zurie this is Colt, Finias, and over there—“ I nodded towards Damien, who was striding towards us, “is Damien.”
“That doesn’t answer—“
“Ama’s mates. All of us are Ama’s mates,” Finias answered, smiling good naturedly. “Good to meet you, Zurie.”
This fucker could be nice to her? Was he for real? He suddenly had manners?
Zurie blinked and narrowed her eyes, “All four of you are—“
“There are seven of us,” Damien admitted. “Really long story.”
“I see,” Zurie nodded slowly and eyed all of us. “Okay, well, I will hold off on kicking your dumb ass, Drayven, until I hear what happened from Ama herself. But you’d better get my girl back because if not, you’re going to learn really fast how scary shit can get.”
And then she was gone, using her subset of Reaper capabilities as a ghost to vanish. It was intriguing because she wasn’t considered a hybrid in the kingdom—the dead parts of ghost were accepted in the Kingdom of Death as simply a different classification of Reapers.
“She is sort of scary,” Damien leveled honestly.
He wasn’t wrong.
Shaking myself from the death threat, I glanced at Damien, “Are you good to go knock down the barrier for your army?”
“I can take them,” Colt offered and nodded behind me, “It looks like you have some people to talk to.”
I turned around as they took off, noticing the number of soldiers leaving the castle and how unhappy they appeared. I wanted so badly to tell them to suck it up, but unlike the stupid political bullshit the court played, I knew these soldiers needed to be properly inspired to commit to the cause.
I just needed to figure out how the hell I would do that.
Turned out it wasn’t nearly as hard as I would have assumed.
Apparently, I’d been surrounded by political bullshit for too long because, when it came down to brass tacks, the soldiers cared about the future of the house more than any issues they might have had working with hybrids.
More so, they wanted their families safe, and once I promised to house them in the castle—which I ordered immediately—it appeared the soldiers were completely on board.
Which was good because the more walls that fell, the shorter amount of time we had as House of Runes prepared their counter attack... and I had no doubt that was coming.
After a quick discussion, we had decided to gather all the forces in Mortem because the castle was situated on the higher ground that sloped down towards the capital, providing us a tactical advantage.
The barriers still stood around the capital itself in front of us, but those around the other four houses had fallen, leaving only House of Sin and House of Runes still isolated, which was probably a good thing.
As I looked at our troops gathered, I found myself feeling determined and positive about the outcome of this mission.
Jace’s hybrid army looked prepared, and the militia from each of our houses patiently awaited our commands.
The other princes stood next to me as we waited for intel.
Pandora spoke from behind us minutes later, “It appears they are gathering near the barrier to bring down the wall. I would suggest we move forward to meet and overwhelm them before they have a chance to gather numbers.”
“Let’s fucking do this.” I nodded sharply at Jace’s words, feeling a brotherhood between the seven of us that I knew was more than just our connection through Ama.
It was that, yes. But it was also this war—this battle for our realm’s future.
I think it had all of us considering our priorities and where we would go from here.
I made haste towards the barrier, mounted on my horse as our military moved in a uniform pattern at a steady pace that belied the buzz of bloodlust and energy I could feel filling the air.
It was energizing, but it also reminded me of how little my life had consisted of before I’d come to terms with my feelings for Ama.
Before I’d realized that I could no longer deny the truth of what lay between us—could no longer deny how much I fucking loved her. How inevitable the two of us were.
I hadn’t always thought that, though. For a long time, I’d thought it would never happen. I’d been certain the feelings I had for Ama were ridiculous...
“You’re fighting like shit today...you good?” James asked, hitting me with the blunt edge of the sparring sword. I muttered a curse and stepped back, moving my eyes from where they had been glued to the observation balcony where the king sat watching.
“I’m fine.”
“Clearly not,” my friend said, looking towards the balcony. “Drayven, don’t tell me you’re nervous because the king is here. The guy fucking loves you.” That wasn’t the problem at all, but it was probably better that he assumed it was.
“I’m fine,” I promised.
Three minutes and several jabs later, I was leaning over and breathing hard, James watching me in amusement. “Fine, my ass.”
“Who the hell is up there with Ama?” I finally spat out.
He gave me a bewildered look and turned to glance towards the balcony.
My princess sat next to the son of some fucking half-wit court member who had just been promoted.
I had no idea who the asshole was, but it was very clear he wanted to know who Ama was, and I had no idea why the king was entertaining it, let alone letting the boy join them.
It made me seethe with jealousy, and that wasn’t an emotion I was used to feeling.
I would have loved to blame it on being fifteen, but I knew it had to do with Ama. It always had to do with Ama, and that infuriated me. It was like I couldn’t think around her.
“Oliver? His father was just promoted. Why do you care—“
I was already across the training field on my way to the balcony, and the king watched me with a knowing expression.
I think he knew how protective I was over my friendship with Ama, and I was just thanking the devil that he hadn’t questioned my emotions towards his daughter.
I didn’t make a habit of lying, especially not to Death himself.
“Drayven,” Ama’s father offered a smile, “how are we doing this morning? You seem tired out there.”
“I am, Your Majesty,” I admitted, straightening from the deep bow I’d offered and looking towards Ama. “Good morning, Princess.” I didn’t offer stupid Oliver any greeting.
“Hey Dray,” she offered happily, not noticing the scowl Oliver aimed at me.
My eyes narrowed at the way his hand rested on her arm before she snatched it away, narrowing her eyes at him, but he didn’t notice—he was too busy glaring at me.
I was certain he was pissed her attention was off him, and I couldn’t blame him.
In the shade of the sunny day, Ama looked absolutely beautiful.
She wore a light pink and red sundress, her eyes dancing with a level of relaxed contentment I envied.
How was she not tormented by these insane emotions?
“I know it’s a bit abnormal to ask this,” I looked back towards her father, “but I was wondering if I could borrow Ama’s help. James and I seem to be in a disagreement over which hits count and which don’t. I would love an unbiased opinion.”
Ama’s father’s gaze filled with amusement as he looked towards Ama, who was now nearly bouncing out of her seat.
“I will leave that decision up to Ama—be careful, please don’t run!
” The last part was a concerned plea as Ama practically sprinted away from Oliver, darting out of the observation box and appearing by my side.
She beamed up at me as I presented my elbow and led her across the way towards James, who was offering me a dumb-founded look.
“That was nice of you, saving me like that,” she whispered, offering me a knowing smile. “He was horribly boring, Dray. He kept talking to me about some medals back in his room and how I should come to see them—“ I came to a full stop, inhaling sharply before turning slightly to look down at her.
“Don’t go to his—or any other man’s—room alone, please? Ever—“
“I’ve seen your room,” she pointed out, blinking in confusion and completely unaware of the true connotation of his words at her age.
“But we’re friends,” I hedged.
“And I trust you.” She offered a soft smile. “I get it, Dray. Trust me, I wasn’t going anywhere near there. He totally creeps me out.” Thank the devil for that.
Amassive boom pulled me from my memory of the amusement I’d felt towards the odd coincidence that Oliver had ended up with a broken hand after that. The same hand that had touched Ama.
“Here they come,” Finias sang under his breath, and my eyes widened at the sight.