Sky and Storm ( Warriors of Vis #1)(34)
Now, as he was standing outside the castle gates, watching Storm get all his men ready, he could barely control his need to follow.
“Next time, you’re coming with me,” Storm whispered in Sky’s ear as he hugged him tight enough to cut his air.
“Why not this time?” Sky pouted and looked down, ashamed of his own failure to comply with the Dragon’s decision. How would he be able to follow Storm in battle if this was so hard?
Storm placed his forefinger under Sky’s chin and pushed up until their eyes and lips met. “Because I want you to work on your stamina a while longer. I want you healthy and in top shape. And after that you’ll follow me anywhere I go.”
Sky smiled, shy at first, fuller after a few beats of staring at Storm’s dazzling grin. “I love you. Please be safe.”
Storm nodded and kissed Sky again. “Always. And I have my men to keep my head screwed on properly. Don’t worry about me, love.”
“I will, just like you would.” Sky winked and shoved at his husband’s chest. “Now go before I change my mind and hide in your supply cart.”
It took them a few more kisses and fierce hugs, but they eventually parted. Storm jumped on his steed and off they were. All of them. Storm had taken every available soldier within a half-day’s ride from the castle of Vis. The Montes city states had united in a rebellion against Vis. They were perched up on their mountain tops, well defended and hard to conquer. They posed a threat to all of Vis’s trading routes, so it was no wonder all armies were directed to the rebel lands.
The situation seemed rather strange to Sky. The city states of the Montes region, where two mountain ranges so old they had no other name than the Great Mountains crisscrossed, had not been conquered by Vis. They’d pledged their allegiance soon after Storm had taken control of Vis’s armies. It had been their way to show gratitude after the Dragon had negotiated a favorable trading agreement with Estas. Estas had always made the rules in the region, but after every free land around them had been conquered by Vis, Storm’s troops surrounding the kingdom, Estas had changed their song. They knew they’d be lost if they reached for the vinegar, so they offered honey instead.
The new agreement was fair to everyone trading with Estas, and the city states of Montes prospered from the gold, silver, and ore dug from the bowels of their mountains. Why they would risk losing their peace and prosperity now, rebelling against Vis without as much as a request for negotiation, was beyond Sky’s comprehension.
“Your highness,” a shy servant greeted, saluting him with an exaggerating bow. “Her majesty, the queen, sent for you. She’s waiting in the small council room.”
“Thank you.” He sighed and tried to compose himself. Parting with Storm was difficult. A conversation with the queen was the last thing he needed on such a dreadful evening.
“Sky, wait a moment.”
Sky turned to face Sera who’d stepped out of the shadows of the large corridor.
“Anything to delay seeing the queen.” Sky waited for the old woman to reach him.
“Take this.” She slipped him a small dagger. “Keep it hidden, but within reach.”
“Sera,” Sky tried to give the blade back. “There are no weapons allowed in the throne room, you know that.”
“Hide it well and none will be the wiser.” Sera took the dagger from his hand and concealed it with astonishing ease. “Think of an old woman’s heart and take it. I’ve heard whispers everywhere today. Strangers moving about the castle.”
“You worry too much. I am the Dragon’s husband. No one would be that insane, to attack me in his own castle.”
“It is still his father’s castle. And his wife rules the king’s house.”
Sky tilted his head, his cheerful mood faltering. He might have laughed at Sera’s over-cautiousness, but her words rang true. Storm was gone all of a sudden, after an attack that had struck like lightning, and Sky was walking into the lion’s den. Alone. He squeezed Sera’s hand and walked away, running his hand over the spot he’d hidden the small blade. He might be alone, but he sure wasn’t helpless.
CHAPTER XV
The Disaster
STORM PACED THE HEALER’S tent, his eyebrows creased, his fists held tight against his body. How bloody long could it take for Eagle to wake up? He’d reached their army’s tents at the crack of dawn and it looked like he’d been riding without stopping all the way from Vis. The exhaustion and open wounds on Eagle didn’t herald anything good.
The Dragon’s army had only made it to Ferras a day earlier. The biggest, most influential of the Montes city states had been waiting for them, gates open, leaders kneeling. A weird, yet clever plot had forced the Montes rulers to declare their rebellion. It seemed all heirs of the city states had been abducted, their lives threatened. The rulers had done their part, rebelled on paper, to keep their offspring alive. Yet those who had taken their young hadn’t counted on the honor of the Montes. They had trusted all the epic stories of the Dragon’s murderous rage too much.
The city state rulers knew better, they knew Storm to be a fair ruler. He’d listened to them, and the evidence of the plot had been revealed. A long, drawn out siege of all city states had never happened, hindering, at least partially, the carefully devised abduction plans.