SHEY THRUDESH-VO
SEVEN
An icy wind tugged at Shey’s clothes, tangled his hair, and chilled tears at the corners of his eyes as he rode on the back of Megumi in her dragon form.
They raced from the Omari clan across open waters, away from the Isle of Stone.
White-capped water stretched out unbroken in front of them for several miles before the battleship came into view.
It said a lot about how widely the dragons patrolled the area near their home. There would be no sneaking up on them.
He glanced over to his right, where an enormous black dragon with wings of fire soared. Caelan sat on Drayce, looking perfectly at ease, while Shey had Megumi’s ridge of spikes along her spine held in a death grip. Of course, Caelan had far more experience riding with a dragon than Shey did.
On his right was a dragon that was slightly smaller than Drayce, but his scales were a shiny pearlescent white that glinted and sparkled in the midday sun. There was something so very elegant about Nori’s dragon that took Shey’s breath away. Or that could have been the bitter cold wind.
Much to Haru’s chagrin, he’d been left behind. He was accustomed to being at Nori’s side for all meetings, serving as both an advisor and protector. However, he didn’t put up much of a fight considering the trouble he was still having with the Goddess of Nightmares’ powers.
Rayne was far more vocal in his displeasure about being left behind.
However, approaching a warship with more than three dragons was not a good idea.
As it was, they were struggling not to present themselves as an immediate threat.
Besides, unless things had changed greatly since Rayne and Eno left Stormbreak, the Federation of Order had declared war only on Caspagir and the dragons.
Erya had not officially been dragged into this mess… yet.
But considering Caspagir and Erya’s long-standing alliance, it wouldn’t be long before Erya joined the fray.
For now, Caelan and Shey were hoping to keep the situation from escalating.
Two destroyers followed a short distance behind the battleship as support, but that didn’t mean there weren’t more approaching that they couldn’t see.
Sadly, Shey couldn’t say that he felt much concern for the dragon.
He’d witnessed firsthand what they could do in battle, and he was sure they could handle whatever New Rosanthe or the Federation wanted to throw at them.
The problem foremost on his mind was that the quickest route to the Isle of Stone from the east was past Caspagir and the capital of Sirelis.
Had these ships paused to bomb his home on their way to harass the dragons?
As they descended with the plan of landing on the deck of the battleship, one of the large cannons fired off a pair of shots that went wide of the mark.
The dragons didn’t even need to divert from their current flight path.
They were just warnings. And yet, Drayce still roared as if they’d shot at Caelan.
Flames curled around his open mouth to lick the sides of his face.
“It’s a warning shot!” Shey shouted at the dragon.
Caelan shook his head and smacked Drayce on the back. At least he hadn’t shot fire at the ship, but it was a good warning to the New Rosanthe sailors to watch themselves with Caelan. Drayce had a hair trigger.
They dropped lower, and Caelan lifted a white flag, letting it flap wildly in the air as they approached, showing that they were only drawing near intending to talk. This wasn’t an attack.
Shey held his breath and squinted against the bright sun. For several seconds, there was no movement on the deck. They could see sailors watching them, guns lifted and ready to fire. Finally, they lowered their weapons. The noses of the cannons dropped, so they weren’t aimed at the dragons.
As soon as the men on the deck retreated toward the bridge, the dragons finished their descent. Caelan hopped off Drayce when they were still several feet in the air and landed with ease. Shey waited until Megumi got him a touch lower and jumped off. He was athletic, but he still wasn’t a god.
Megumi, Drayce, and Nori appeared a moment later, shifting from dragon to human before a single claw could touch the deck.
The massive ship was still racing to the Isle of Stone, cutting through choppy waves and rocking heavily under their feet.
Shey stumbled, trying to regain his balance.
Nori and Megumi rocked with him, while Drayce dropped to sit on his ass in the middle of the deck with a low moan.
Caelan smiled at his fiancé, his expression softening. “Babe, you don’t have to stay.”
“Of course I have to stay. How else am I going to protect you? Oh gods, I hate boats,” he finished in a pained groan as he clutched his stomach. Shey had forgotten that Drayce got terribly seasick anytime he was on a boat. Apparently, the reaction to the bobbing and rocking was immediate.
“How are you going to protect me as you are now?” Caelan reached out and ran his fingers through Drayce’s messy blond hair. “Fly around. Check out those other two destroyers we saw. We’ll keep our discussions on the deck.”
“I’ll protect your boyfriend,” Shey offered.
Drayce threw Shey a dark look, but it was hard to tell if he was disgruntled or just seasick.
“Fiancé.” After that grumbled word, Drayce pushed to his feet and jumped over the side of the ship.
A second later, he soared up into the air, his fiery wings spread wide as they carried him up into the open sky.
Caelan sighed, and his shoulders slumped. “Thanks. When he offered to accompany me, I didn’t even consider the fact that he can’t be on a boat without getting sick.”
Shey glanced at Nori and Megumi, who were pale. Clearly, it wasn’t just a Drayce thing—it was a dragon thing.
“Let’s try to keep this brief,” Nori suggested, his voice tight.
Shey nodded and led the way forward to the center of the ship.
The armed seamen had still lingered on the deck, watching them, with their hands gripping their weapons.
As they came to a stop, a man in a black uniform with several medals pinned to the front and a complicated hat charged down the stairs from the bridge.
This had to be the captain. Three more officers fell into step behind him and followed as he came to the center of the bridge.
“By order of Chancellor Rati Feng, I must inform you that you are trespassing on sovereign soil by landing on the F.O.S. Reprisal without prior authorization. This is an act of war and—”
“Look, Captain…?” Caelan waved a hand, waiting for the man to supply his name.
“Hawley,” the captain barked.
“Great. Captain Hawley,” Caelan ground out the name, and Shey felt as though they were already treading on thin ice in terms of Caelan’s patience.
At a guess, the king didn’t care for anyone shooting at his grandfather or fiancé. He also had a dark history with New Rosanthe, and Shey could guess the man would prefer to see the entire kingdom burn into nothingness.
“We have been hearing some disturbing reports regarding New Rosanthe and Damardor, and we thought—rather than letting this escalate straight into war—we would come here and have a civilized conversation to get to the truth of the matter. You know, instead of just killing everyone first and sorting out the rotting corpses later.”
Nori cleared his throat, and Caelan snapped his mouth shut before taking a step back. Yeah, maybe they should have grabbed Rayne and left Caelan behind.
The old dragon took a step forward and offered a shallow bow of his head.
“I am Omari Nori, head of the Omari Clan and spokesperson for the Isle of Stone dragons. This is my advisor, Omari Megumi. You have spoken with King Caelan Talos of Erya. This is Crown Prince Shey Thrudesh-Vo of Caspagir. We are here to have a calm conversation.”
Captain Hawley hadn’t enjoyed an easy life.
Scars and pockmarks riddled his face from a life that was hard fought, and his attitude didn’t seem bent toward making his continued existence any easier.
His fat upper lip, already split from an old, poorly healed wound, curled into an ugly sneer, and his dull brown eyes lit with unholy delight.
“How convenient that the Order’s three greatest enemies have gathered themselves together for easy capture.”
The air around Caelan crackled. “New Rosanthe may try to repackage itself under a new banner, but it sounds like you’re prepared to commit the same old war crimes.
It wasn’t enough to slaughter the queen of Erya while under the banner of truce, but now you’re threatening Erya’s new king as well as the heir to the Caspagir throne and the leader of the dragons. ”
Shey reached out and placed his hand on Caelan’s stiff shoulder, trying to calm the man, but that was easier said than done.
While Caelan had killed the military leader who’d ordered the death of Queen Amara in a battle, that didn’t mean the wounds caused by New Rosanthe were healed.
Caelan had lost both of his parents, and his kingdom had been usurped that day.
Shey knew he wouldn’t be anywhere near as calm if their roles had been reversed.
“Captain Hawley, I think it would behoove us to remain calm and sensible. Let’s not escalate matters further. We have heard that Damardor and New Rosanthe have combined to form the new country of the Federation of Order under Chancellor Rati Feng’s leadership. Can you confirm this information?”
The captain grunted, and a few of his officers whispered behind his back, but it was hard to read from their expressions whether everyone thought this was a good or a bad development.
Right now, Captain Hawley was giving a good appearance of being a stout company man, ready to support whatever decision the new chancellor made.