Sky and Storm ( Warriors of Vis #1)
Alina Popescu
CHAPTER I
The Curse
SKY’S HEART FLUTTERED when he first spied the five riders making their way downhill. They looked like ants crawling in his general direction, but Sky knew they were men on horseback heading straight to his family’s manor. A smile tugged at his lips as his long fingers gripped the cold, white stone balustrade.
Sky loved his chambers. Private, spacious, opening into the most beautiful balcony the manor had, treating him to a breathtaking view of the hills and valleys of his homeland. It provided the best vantage point than the towers on either side of the gated front wall if he wanted to spot visitors. Nothing thrilled Sky like having guests, even if they were only his parents’ elderly friends. Talking with them made him happy beyond belief. There was always something to learn from those visiting. News, ideas, life experiences he lacked.
As the riders approached, Sky recognized their banners. His heart sank. His mouth dried up, his breathing became labored and he felt tears threatening to break the barrier of his eyes. He shook his head, leaning on the railing and trying to steady himself. No, this couldn’t be. It had to be a mistake. The Dragon had no business sending his riders to Sky.
He took a few clumsy steps back and fell onto the oversized sitting pillows he’d piled up on the balcony. He looked up, watching fluffy, milky-white clouds running away from the riders. Even they knew they should fear the envoys of the Dragon. Sky closed his eyes, a tear falling down the side of his face, over his earlobe and down his neck, tickling him and making him shiver. He wanted to wipe it away but found he couldn’t move. The fear was paralyzing.
No, it can’t be. He gripped his long blond locks with both his hands. He pulled as hard as he could and pain fired up his body. Word of the Dragon’s decision to marry had reached them weeks earlier. Rumor had it the Dragon and the King would discuss it, then send riders carrying the flaming red banners to fetch the lucky young male the Dragon had decided on and bestow numerous honors upon his family.
Sky had never for one second thought he’d be the Dragon’s choice. Even now, as the battle cries of the riders were close enough to be heard, he still tried to convince himself they were there for a different reason. A summon to a ball or some business with his father, surely. Yet he knew they wouldn’t use those scary red fighters for such small matters.
It can’t be me. My family is not important enough.
Sky sighed, covering his quivering lips with his hand. He had made a snide comment about marrying the Dragon being a curse during the last feast his parents had organized. Who would want to marry that beast? The one thing that didn’t surprise Sky was that the Dragon had chosen a man. He’d probably break a woman in two on their wedding night. It was said the Dragon was huge. A mass of muscle moving about, spreading promises of pain and bloodshed.
Sky squeezed his eyes, covered his ears and yelled, but when he stopped, the shouts of the riders as they passed through the gate were proof enough he wasn’t dreaming. This was real. They had come to fetch him. Or maybe his sister? The flicker of hope was gone before really sinking in. She was twelve, hardly ready for marital life. He snorted, imagining that scared little kid facing the mountain that was the Dragon.
Sky heard the rapping of the hoofs on the stone paving the alley to their front door. He heard his father’s name being called and let out the breath he was holding, allowing himself to hope this was a whole other matter. Sky rolled to his belly, covering his head with one of the pillows and only came up for air when his survival instincts took over. Judging by his mother’s excited squeals, this wasn’t going to be good news.
He heard his sister running up the stairs. She stopped in front of his room, knocked and called his name. Sky took a few deep breaths and walked to his door, yanking it open. His sister stumbled in, then caught herself and wrapped her skinny arms around his waist.
“No, they can’t have you,” she yelled, hot tears staining his white shirt. Sky smiled at the sudden show of affection that replaced her usual snorts and hisses and her awful habit of sticking out her tongue.
“It’s all right, honey.” He unclutched her arms from around his waist and scooped her up. She immediately hid her face in the crook of his neck and his long blond locks, crying even harder than before. Sky dragged his feet across the dark corridor and then down the stairs, rubbing her back all the while and whispering comforting words in her ear.
“They say he’s a brute. What will he do to you?” she whispered, caressing Sky’s long neck.
“He won’t do anything to me, he’ll marry me and become my husband.” Sky forced out a chuckle. He wondered, though, in how many pieces he’d be broken by the end of their wedding night. Cruel, addicted to inflicting pain, harsh, violent, taking baths in fresh human blood … those were the rumors flying around their kingdom. Or was it an empire now? The gods knew the Dragon had been running around, conquering other kingdoms left and right.
The Dragon had won his first battle shortly after turning sixteen. It turned into his first won war, his first subdued nation, and later into a spree of bloodshed and head after head bowing to him. Six long years of battles and young lives lost to his thirst for conquering the world. After expanding this territory tenfold and Vis becoming the richest country known to man, the Dragon had come back to his parents and announced his wedding. The entire kingdom had been waiting since then, most pitying the poor soul he’d choose.