A Ballad of Beasts and Brothers

1. One

From the moment I first laid eyes on Ilaria Shaye Kitarni, I knew she was going to bring me nothing but trouble. In a moment of sheer dumb luck, she fouled up months” worth of work. She stabbed my brother, sank my ship, and ensured our journey through Bava was taxing. Not to mention we had Soul Eaters nipping at our heels, which resulted in having to rescue her from the Necropolis in the Lava Underground. And now, she”s giving my uncle shit. I should be ecstatic she might talk her way onto a ship and sail home to Midori, so why am I afraid I”ll never see her again?

When Eris and I were tucked in the servants” alcove in the Golden Palace, I was so consumed with figuring out where Bastian had disappeared to that I hadn”t noticed anyone eavesdropping. It wasn”t until I heard Nyx grunt that I slithered around the corner to see a dagger plunged into his chest. Even though I”ve seen Nyx stabbed more times than I can count, it never gets easier watching him agonize in pain. He used to ask me or Finn to pull whatever weapon had been wielded against him out of his body – daggers, spearheads, arrows, you name it – Nyx has probably had it protruding from his flesh at one point or another. But these days, he”s so used to handling his own injuries that once his Midorian attacker stabbed him, he grabbed the hilt of the knife and pulled it out of his chest. Blood oozed down his leathers, but as always, the wound slowly stitched back together.

I knew my little brother would be fine, so I turned my attention to his assailant. Without thinking, I snatched a golden candlestick and hit her against the back of her head. She dropped to the floor, and as I approached her, her eyes fluttered closed. Crouching down, I put my fingers to her neck to make sure she was still breathing but once I realized who I was staring at, I knew for sure our mission had been compromised. Months of reconnaissance; weeks of hiding in Midori, avoiding detection by soldiers, counting down the days before we could fulfill the orders my uncle had given us and return home, were all for nothing, because crumpled at my feet was Princess Ilaria Shaye Kitarni, heir to the Golden Throne and the Beast of Midori”s fiancé.

She”d seen too much, heard too much, and I made the split-second decision to kidnap her. We might have failed in assassinating Bastian, but we could use her as a bargaining chip to lure him out. A trade could be made, a life for a life; to get the princess back to Midorian shores, Bastian would have to give himself up. It might be a longshot and could start a war with our longstanding enemies, but if we left her to inform her parents and her menace of fiancé what she witnessed and overheard, there would be war regardless. Better to have something to hold over them, to keep them in check, and to be the one wielding the heavier sword than to be the ones who were groveling for their mercy.

Eris checked the back of the princess” head to make sure there wasn”t any blood. I could tell she”d grown fond of the Midorian, even if she didn”t openly admit to it. I knew the second Eris took on the role of her lady-in-waiting that she would form a bond with the future queen. The Hydran can”t go anywhere without making friends with someone. I hoped her charisma and charm would help us once the Midorian woke up on our ship, because we were going to need all the help we could get.

Realizing time was of the essence, I slipped my arms underneath the princess” neck and knees and hoisted her up against my chest.

”You didn”t have to hit her so hard.” Eris popped up from the floor, fury blazing in her eyes.

”I didn”t mean to,” was all I said, and I meant it. I didn”t mean to knock her unconscious. I only intended to stop her from escaping and alerting the guards a few levels below us of our presence. Being captured and left to the benevolence of the Midorians wasn”t on my list of things to do.

”Her room is this way.” Eris started walking down the hall but stopped and turned around when I said, ”I”m not taking her to her room. She”s coming with us.”

”What?” she hissed. ”Atlas, we can”t take her! Kidnapping her would be a declaration of war.”

”And if we leave her here to tell them about the Tronovians who plotted to assassinate her fiancé, they”d declare war on us.”

”You don”t know if she realized Tronovians -”

”She got a good look at Nyx. There”s no mistaking him for anyone other than a Tronovian. We”re fucked either way, Eris.” I glanced over my shoulder at Nyx. He was no longer bleeding and seemed to be in good spirits twirling the gold-hilted dagger that had been lodged in his chest minutes ago. ”Nyx, what do you think?”

My brother reluctantly looked up at me, clearly more interested in the blade than what Eris and I were debating. ”I say we take her,” he finally said, holstering the knife in his belt alongside the others he insisted on carrying with him. ”She can be a good bargaining chip.”

”My thoughts exactly,” I nodded and turned to a hesitant Eris. ”Are you in agreement or not?”

She sighed, clearly conflicted, but bobbed her head. ”Agreed.”

”Let”s get to the ship before any other Midorians take us by surprise.”

I carried the princess down the castle halls, through the unpatrolled gardens and the sewers, until we made it to the abandoned cove where Finn was manning our boat. With her resting against my chest, breathing softly, I felt something I hadn”t before. I was drawn to her. She was beautiful to be sure with her long brown hair and olive skin, but there was something deep within me, festering in the pit of my stomach, that made my heart race.

At the time, I thought it was partly anger for failing our mission, and partly nerves for kidnapping the Midorian heir the night before her wedding. Now, I realize she possesses the magic that rivals my own. Perhaps it was her magic calling out to mine – perhaps it was her soul that touched me, but either way, I knew once I picked her up and held her that I didn”t ever want to put her down.

When we reached the ship, Finn was confused, and borderline outraged with how the night turned out and was firmly against us kidnapping the princess.

”Too late to turn back now,” was all I muttered as I stomped down the few steps to go to my quarters.

For three months I lived in this tiny room and counted down the days until I could go home and sleep in my bed. I loathe the water and avoid swimming at all costs, so living on a boat, constantly feeling the sloshing of the waves, had me itching to never step foot on another boat again.

I tapped my bedroom door open with my foot and laid the princess in my cot. It wasn”t the most comfortable thing in the world, but it was better than throwing her in the cellar where our food supply had dwindled to almost nothing. We”d be lucky if we made it back to Tronovia on what little we had in that pantry.

I turned to leave her so she could rest but stopped at the threshold and twisted back to stare at her. What was it about this woman that had me questioning myself and my decisions? It was like she called to me, and I answered, willingly walking to my ultimate demise.

A hand clamped down on my shoulder and I flinched. No one had ever gotten the drop on me like that. What the hell was going on?

”Finn wants to know if we should cast off,” Nyx said, back to his fully regenerated self.

I nodded. ”Keep an eye on her,” I instructed, closing the door behind me and making my way back up the steps to give Finn his orders.

For an entire day, I waited impatiently for her to wake up and when she finally did come to the upper deck, my breath was nearly snatched from my chest. She was feisty and stubborn and even though she should have been afraid of us, she never cowered before us, never once showed us an ounce of fear. She did what most people couldn”t. She surprised me, and it was at that very moment when I knew I”d follow her to the gates of the Underworld if she asked me to.

When she sank our ship and had us traveling on foot through the Bavan jungle, I was furious. But I was far angrier with myself for underestimating her resolve to escape us. A mistake I wouldn”t make again. Even though she had several opportunities to escape us, to abandon us, to choose Vesper over me at the ancient temple, she stood by my side, and even put herself between me and certain death on the docks in Kongar.

And now, I”m waiting in Starnborough, pacing like a caged animal in the foyer, hoping and praying, I see her face again. All this time, I saw her as a pawn in my scheme to capture Bastian. Little did I know she was the one pulling all the strings.

”Atlas, I swear to the stars above and seas below, if you don”t quit pacing like that, I”m going to punch you square in the jaw.” Nyx”s voice snatches me from my memories and draws a narrow-eyed glare from me.

”I”m not pacing,” I hiss. ”I”m stretching my legs.”

”Well, can you kindly not stretch your legs anymore?” He chews on a toothpick as he leans against the wall. ”It”s grating on my last nerve.”

I stop, hands clutched behind my back, and stare at my brother. ”Is there something else you”d rather me do?”

”Literally anything else.”

”Smart ass,” I mutter, fighting the urge to start pacing again.

”She”ll be alright,” Ronan chimes in. He”s sitting on the onyx stone steps with his legs outstretched, looking more like a lounging cat than the next King of Tronovia, but he”s right. If anyone can hold their own against Uncle Soren, it”s her.

”It”s been hours,” Nyx groans as he stands up straight to crack his back. ”How much longer is this going to take? I didn”t intend for my entire day to be spent like this.”

”And what else did you have planned?” Ronan asks, taking a bite of an apple he seemingly pulls out of thin air.

Nyx”s eyes widen. ”Where”d you get that?”

Ronan smiles as he takes another bite, the juice dripping down his chin. ”You know I”m always prepared with a snack. One never knows if they”ll be waiting awhile for their next meal.”

”Tell me you have another one.” Nyx marches toward our cousin with incredible speed.

”Alas, I do not,” Ronan sighs dramatically. ”Maybe next time you come to Starnborough, Cousin, you will remember to bring something to munch on.”

Nyx isn”t wrong. We”ve been waiting for almost three hours for even a whisper of what”s going on in the throne room. I”ve never known my uncle to take his time in these sorts of meetings. He prefers handling business quickly and cordially before returning to his books or strolling the gardens. Either things are going extremely well between him and the princess or they”ve gone horribly wrong, and she”s being hauled off somewhere without my knowledge.

The very thought that she could be in danger sets my soul ablaze. I keep my face as calm as possible, not wanting to alert my brother and cousin to what I”m actually thinking.

”One would think you”d be excited to get the princess off your hands, Atlas,” Ronan teases. ”But here you are, pacing, knee bouncing, as if you desperately want to see her again.”

Clearly, I”m not doing a good enough job of appearing unbothered.

”Maybe Nyx is right,” I dodge his accusations and rake a hand through my hair. ”Maybe a snack would do wonders right about now.”

”Oh, well, here.” Ronan digs into his jacket pocket and fetches another glistening red apple and tosses it to me.

”You said you didn”t have another one,” Nyx fumes, eyebrows furrowed.

”For you. I didn”t have another one for you.” The wicked gleam playing across Ronan”s lips is enough to draw a smirk from me.

”I hate you.” My brother huffs, plops down opposite of Ronan, and glares at him.

Before our cousin has a chance for rebuttal, my uncle appears at the top of the grand staircase. My heartbeat quickens when I see he”s alone. A thousand questions zoom through my mind, but the only one that matters is:

”Where is the princess?” The question slips, drawing three sets of eyes.

My uncle smiles as she comes up from behind him. ”Shaye and I have had a wonderful chat. That being said, she is welcome to stay in Tronovia for as long as she likes,” Uncle Soren says, before his eyes latch onto Nyx who hops up from his lounged position. ”Nyx, I have decided that you will be the princess” personal guard during the entirety of her stay. If anything happens to her, I will hold you personally responsible.”

Nyx”s eyes widen. ”Me? What about Atlas?”

”Unlike you, Nephew, both of your older brothers already have employment. You, however, do not and could use the lesson in daily responsibility. Especially seeing as you left quite the mess at a local bar the night before you shipped out to Midori.”

Nyx closes his eyes, tilts his head upward, and groans. ”Shit.”

”And since I paid for the damages, I expect you to pay off your debt.”

”Yes, sir.”

”Good,” uncle nods in approval. ”Now that that”s settled, if you need anything else, anything at all, Shaye, let me know.”

She smiles and my heart flutters. ”Thank you.”

Uncle Soren narrows his eyes at us. ”Keep your wits about you.” He turns to make his way back up the stairs but stops and circles back. ”And I expect to see you all at the Harvest Fest.”

”We”ll be there,” I reassure him.

”Good.” He motions for his son to follow him. ”Come, Ronan, we have much to discuss.”

Without a second”s hesitation, Ronan trots up the steps, passing Shaye at the mid-way point. He stops, grabs her hand and kisses it. Whispers and giggles are exchanged, and when she smiles at him, my heart feels like it will cave in. I lurch forward, but Nyx smacks a hand against my chest, keeping me glued in place. Once my cousin releases her hand, he chases after his father and disappears from view.

The second her eyes meet mine, I feel a sense of relief rush through me. She”s not sitting in a cell. She”s not being hauled to a ship set for Midori. She”s not being held here at the castle, a prisoner without the title. She”s safe.

”It”s about time, Kitarni.” Nyx slips his arm around her shoulders and tugs her into his chest for a hug. Part of me is jealous that I can”t do the same thing, but I maintain a healthy distance, since I know she prefers it.

”Since you”re my bodyguard, does that mean keeping me fed falls under your job description?” she teases. ”Because I”m starving.”

”Me too.” Nyx releases her from his grasp before heading toward the entrance. ”I”m sure Finn is already preparing dinner.”

”Perfect.”

As the two of them make their way toward me, I turn alongside them to walk out of the foyer and toward our awaiting carriage. ”What happened in there?”

”I made a deal with your king,” she says nonchalantly, and for some reason, my heart drops to the pit of my stomach.

I gently grab her arm and force her to face me. ”What kind of deal?”

”Your king will grant me access to Calmara and the School of Magic.” By the look on her face there”s more she”s not telling me, but I”m not one to back down from confrontation.

”In exchange for what?”

She nibbles her bottom lip and I know she”s contemplating how honest she should be with me. I”ve seen that look so many times over the last couple of weeks, I”ve lost count. One day, she won”t hesitate to share things like this. One day, I”ll be the one she runs to with every good or bad piece of news.

”If it turns out that you are right about Bastian and he releases Drogon, I agreed to fight beside your king, if war breaks out.”

”Fight?” My heart skips a beat, and my breath hitches, leaving a constricting ache in its place. ”You don”t know the first thing about magical warfare. You”d be killed on the front lines.”

”That”s encouraging,” she wrinkles her nose.

”I”m not trying to be mean, but that”s the reality of your situation. If you set one foot on a battlefield, you won”t make it off. It takes years to master one”s magic and you”ve been aware of yours all of two weeks.”

”Then let”s pray my instructors know what they”re doing.” As if that”s the end of our conversation, she turns to my brother and says, ”If I don”t eat soon, I”ll become very unpleasant.”

”That”s it?” Rage builds within me at her nonchalant attitude. ”You hope your instructors know what they”re doing?”

She whips back around, narrowing her eyes with one dark eyebrow arched. ”Did you honestly believe I would walk into that throne room and not make some sort of deal with your king?”

”All leaders make deals, Princess, that concept isn”t lost on me,” I sneer back. ”Do you even realize what you promised him in exchange for some training and access to some ancient records at the library? Your life! You offered him your life!”

”It”s mine to barter with, is it not?”

I slap a hand to my forehead, battling the increasing urge to slip my hands on either side of her face and kiss her, hoping she understands that I”m not trying to dictate her actions. I”m trying to keep her alive. Because unfortunately, even though I”ve managed to control myself, I have feelings for her and the last thing I want to see is her lying dead on a battlefield due to her lack of skills and preparation.

”Maybe it would have been better for you to take him up on his offer to sail back to Midori,” I say more to myself than anyone else. Although it is nothing more than a mumbled whisper, she clearly hears what I say based on the surprised, teary-eyed glare she flashes my way. ”Princess, I – ”

She lifts a slender hand up, choking whatever words I was going to fumble on next. ”Is that what I should have done, Atlas? Just hopped on your uncle”s ship and sailed back to Midori?”

”I didn”t mean it like that -”

”Oh, then how did you mean it?”

I sigh, stroking my fingers through my hair, trying to give myself a second to think through my next words carefully. I”m always calculated when dealing with people, only saying what is pertinent and keeping my personal feelings out of it. But with her, I either upset her or open up too much and let a vulnerable side of me be made known. And honestly, I”m not sure which I hate more.

When I don”t immediately answer, she scoffs, rolls her eyes, and stomps out the double doors to the buggy. I take a deep breath, look up to the ceiling, and muster the strength to keep my hands to myself while enduring what will most likely be an intense ride home.