A Kingdom of Ruin (Deliciously Dark Fairytales Book 3)(86)

“He’s right, Finley, as much as I hate to admit it,” Hadriel murmured.

Yes, he was. He could be lying about the caves, but his point about the rain-soaked wood was solid.

“Fine. Let’s go.”

While the first load of people rowed, the others gathered up the dead guards and carried them out of the way so they wouldn’t immediately be noticed.

“Fuck, this is a lot of trust for me to put in someone who’s spent the last…however many months imprisoning me,” I said as Govam stood at the boat controls, flicking switches and adjusting settings.

“And this is a very precarious position I am putting myself in,” Govam replied, “entrusting my life to the very creatures who have been trying to kill me for a lot longer than the few months you were here.”

He had a point.

When the last rowboat of people had been loaded into the largest boat, Govam glanced at Denski. He nodded and descended to help the guards tie the rowboats to our larger vessel so that we’d take them out to sea with us.

“Clever,” Hadriel said.

“I don’t want to be caught any more than you do, Mr. Entertainer,” Govam replied as the anchor was lifted and the boat cast off.

As we steered away from the castle, I wondered whether we had just walked into a trap. Or maybe, finally, we were on our way back to Nyfain.





TWENTY-FIVE





HADRIEL





I draped my head over the side of the boat as it rose and lurched, climbing up a wave and then plummeting down. No one else seemed to be freaked the fuck out by the violence of the sea. It hadn’t been violent when we came. This definitely couldn’t be normal.

“Princess, a word.”

I wiped my mouth on the back of my hand and struggled to straighten up. That voice belonged to Govam, I knew, the sort of guy who watched more than he spoke. Those types always made me nervous. You never knew what was going on in their heads.

He seemed genuine, that was true enough, but demons were crafty fuckers. He might be trying to overthrow his king, sure, but I didn’t for one moment think he cared what happened to us. We were a means to an end. Then again, they were also a means to an end for us.

“I’m not a princess,” Finley said as she stood a little way down from me, looking out into the night.

Dragons lounged on the decks, tired from the past few hours of frolicking in the air above us. The second we were far enough away from the castle, in the wide sea, they’d risen into the sky and tested out their wings. They’d rolled and swooped and spat fire while some of us would’ve liked a little peace and quiet in which to throw up what little had been in our stomachs.

Govam stood at the side of the ship with Finley, Denski having taken the helm, or whatever they called the magical control area.

Govam spoke in an undertone, so naturally my ears pricked up.

“We are at the point where we need to plot a course.”

Several others looked their way, including the big alpha dragon and intense alpha wolf, both in their skin forms. Calia drifted a little closer too.

“And?” Finley replied.

“Have you thought about where you will go?”

She gave him a searching look as Hannon walked closer and leaned in next to her. He was the thoughtful and deliberate one of the pair. She’d listen to him. Which was why I’d pulled him aside for a talking-to a bit ago, when she was taking a quick nap.

“My duty has always been to go home to Nyfain and tear down the curse.”

The longing in her voice broke my heart. I turned away, a movement that naturally morphed into throwing up over the side of the boat.

I felt a hand on my back. Leala, the woman who never seemed troubled by anything. How the fuck did she do it? She was a rock.

“Of course,” Govam replied, clasping his hands behind his back and standing close enough that she could kill him. He was silently communicating that his fate was in her hands. Good work, crafty demon. “Only, I wonder if you have thought it through?”

“What is there to think through?” Now her tone held a very distinct warning. I was glad he was broaching this subject and not me, and also impressed he didn’t take a step back.

“Dolion’s first order of business when making a deal is to cripple his opponent. I’ve seen your kingdom. It is on its knees. Forgive me for saying, but so is its prince.”

She stayed very still, and now it was just plain stupidity for the demon not to take a step back.

“They can shift now,” she replied slowly. “And I’ve heard that there are more dragons.”

“Young dragons, correct? Inexperienced dragons? And, as I understand it…less-than-effective shifters.”

I sighed and straightened up, using my shirt as a rag this time.

“Love, listen…” I sidled closer, not straying far from the side of the boat. I clasped my hands in front of me and then pulled them apart and braced them on the railing behind me. “You have a kingdom filled with mediocrity. You know that. The shifters who are left are not very powerful or fierce. You’re bringing back a handful that are both of those things, but they’re weak from years of imprisonment.”

Her eyes narrowed. “What are you saying, Hadriel?”

I scooted away a little. “If we show up now and break the curse—which you’ll do as soon as you lay eyes on the master; you won’t be able to help yourself—then you’ll be opening the door for the demon king to bring all his forces in and destroy what little is left. He’ll do it before the master—the prince—can be declared king and take his established place on the council.”