Page 10

LILY

With every passing day without food or water, I grew weaker.

I turned away from the sun during the day to protect my skin, but I continued to sweat and lose precious fluids. The nights were worse because of the wind and the invisible waves. Splashes of water would come from nowhere and strike me in the face. It was ice-cold and salty, but it kept me awake.

By the third morning, I couldn’t keep my eyes open.

Every time I thought I would fall asleep, I would splash cold water on my face, and that would keep me awake for a bit.

I wasn’t sure if Wrath was there or not. Sometimes I caught a flash of him, but it easily could have been a hallucination. I continued to check my compass to make sure I was on the right path, but I was surrounded by the constant blue of the sea, the horizon that stretched on endlessly.

I pushed my mind out every hour, hoping I was close enough to feel someone in the skies.

There was nothing.

I suddenly fell asleep, tipped over, and nearly rolled out of the boat. I hit the side of my head, and that jerked me awake. I already had a headache from the dehydration, and now there was a pulse of pain in my head.

“You’re close.”

My eyes opened to see Wrath across from me.

“You’ve come too far to get lost at sea, Lily Rothschild.”

“I—I can’t stay awake.”

“A dragon is close. Hold on.”

“How—how do you know this?”

“Because I know everything.” He looked into the blue sky mixed with white clouds. “Hold on a little longer.”

“Okay…” I held on to the tiller, swaying on the seat from the exhaustion and the pain. I fell asleep for a second here and there and then jerked awake again. Reality was hard to understand when my perception was false.

“A dragon is in sight. Call for aid.”

I was so tired, I could barely find the energy.

Please help me. I’m Lily Rothschild, Princess of the Southern Isles…

Please take me to the castle . I couldn’t find the strength to say more, not even in my head.

I slumped forward, unable to hold on a moment longer, slipping under with exhaustion or giving in to the collapse of my body. I wasn’t sure which.

I know who you are, Zunieth .

I recognized his voice, having heard it in my head all my life. Khazmuda…

I’m almost there.

Tell my father…that I’m okay.

He’s with me now.

I had no water left in my body to shed, but my eyes still misted. “Dad…”

I lay there and felt cold scales touch my skin as they wrapped around my body. Then I was lifted from the boat, a gust of wind in my hair, and I knew I was being lifted into the skies by a mighty dragon whose scales were darker than the depths of midnight.

I woke up when I felt hard cobblestone underneath me. My eyes cracked open, and then I saw people crowded around me. “Water…”

My mother’s pained voice came to my ears. “Give me the canteen.”

Someone cupped the back of my head and helped me drink. I drank it all, felt it splash down my dirty clothes and get all over me. When it was empty, I was still parched.

“Water…”

Another bottle was pressed to my lips, and I drank again, eyes closed, feeling water get all over me. They repeated the action until I shook my head, unable to drink anymore. I should have been starving, but I was so delirious from sleep-deprivation and dehydration that I didn’t notice my hunger.

Strong arms scooped underneath me, and I was lifted from the ground.

“Get the doctor here,” my mother ordered to someone.

I assumed the person who carried me was my father. I fell asleep in his arms and was out until I felt my body hit the bed. The rest was a blur, but I knew I was undressed and then bathed and cleaned before I was tucked into the soft sheets of a bed.

I felt the world rock back and forth even though it was steady, and then I drifted off to sleep.

“Will she be alright?” My mom was normally so fearless and rational, but her voice was heavy with unshed tears.

“Yes.” My father was strong as always, giving nothing to fear.

“It’s been a day. She needs to eat. She needs more water.”

“She needs sleep first,” he said calmly.

“What if she’s not okay, Talon?” She sniffled.

“She will be.”

“How do you know?” They spoke in whispers not to wake me, but I must have gotten a decent amount of sleep if quiet voices were enough to stir me.

“Because she’s our daughter.”

My mind started to stir like the slow ascent of a sunrise.

I became more aware of the world around me, noticed the way I was able to think clearly in a way I hadn’t recently.

My eyes felt a surge of strength, and I opened them to see my old bedchambers, the place where I used to live before I moved out of the castle.

My left hand felt warm, and when I looked down at it, I saw my mother was holding it as she lay beside me. Fully dressed, she lay on top of the bed, dead asleep like she was exhausted from waiting for me to wake up.

I looked to my right and found my father at my bedside, asleep in the high-backed chair, his hand close to mine like he’d been holding it before he slipped under the veil of sleep.

On the nightstand were a couple glasses of water and a plate of bread, pastries, and cookies, stuff that could sit out for days before going bad.

I drank one glass of water and then downed the next.

My stomach was so angry it nearly jumped out of my throat, so I grabbed a pastry and scarfed it down before I ate a few pieces of bread then a couple cookies. Crumbs got everywhere.

Dad was the first one to open his eyes, seeing me brush off the crumbs that got on my shirt and the sheets.

He stiffened in the chair and went on high alert.

“Lily.” He left the chair and sat on the edge of the bed before he pulled me into a hard hug, squeezing me tightly as he rested his chin on my head.

His breaths quickened, and I felt the fast beat of his heart through his skin.

He held me like that for a long time, his uneven breaths continuing.

“I’m okay, Dad.”

It took a while for him to let me go, and when he did, I saw the tears he refused to hide. He opened his mouth to speak, but it seemed too soon for him to form words because he closed it once more.

My mother woke up at the sound of his voice and sat up. “Lily.” She hugged me harder than my father and cradled me close. “Thank Riviana.” She cupped the back of my head and kissed me on the forehead.

It was a joyous and painful reunion. When my brother came into the room and hugged me, it was emotional all over again.

“Do you need anything?” Hawk asked.

“Food,” I said. “As much food as you can bring.”

My father would normally chuckle at something like that, but this time, he didn’t.

“I’m on it.” Hawk left the bedchambers.

It turned solemn once more, like I’d died at sea rather than survived to tell the tale. Neither one of them seemed to want to ask because they were afraid of the answer.

My mother spoke first. “They say that storm in the Great Sea was the worst we’ve ever had. When it made landfall in the Southern Isles, lots of homes were destroyed. Your father and Khazmuda were above the clouds, searching for your mind.”

My father stared at me, his eyes carrying the weight of his failure.

“Honestly, it’s good you didn’t find us,” I said. “I don’t think Khazmuda would have been able to escape the winds.”

“We thought the same,” my father said. “So our plan was to get me to you instead.”

It hurt to look my father in the eye because I knew he meant that. He would have helped me sail that ship out of the storm, and if he failed, we would have sunk to the bottom of the ocean together. Now, my eyes started to moisten as I thought about all the pain I’d put him through. “I’m sorry…”

His eyes shifted away like he couldn’t accept my apology right now. “What happened to the crew?”

I’d been so focused on my own survival the last few days, I hadn’t thought of them. I hadn’t had a chance to grieve or accept what had happened. And now that I was safe and rested, it hit me hard. “I’m the only survivor.”

My mother took a heavy breath. “What happened?”

“We were on our way home when I spotted the storm on the horizon. I told Captain Hartshire that we should get ahead of it and turn west, but he disagreed. A few hours later, we were battling the storm and lost half the crew—including the captain.”

My father said nothing, but spiteful anger was heavy in his gaze.

My mother listened on, mesmerized by the tale.

“We were blown off course and…” This was the part where I should tell my father exactly where we’d ended up, but something made me stop.

My eyes flicked away to other parts of the room in expectation of Wrath, God of the Underworld, but he was nowhere to be found.

“We hit some rocks… we were stuck there. The way we landed kept us protected from the storm, so that saved us. Once the storm passed, we repaired the ship and headed on our way. But that wasn’t the end of it. ”

No, it just got worse.

Both of my parents listened with rapt attention.

“A fleet of warships passed in the night. We raised our sails in the hope they would miss us in the dark, but they spotted us. They boarded our ship, and we fought them off. But then another came. They took me prisoner and killed the others.”

My father’s chin dropped slightly, and his entire face contorted in both anger and disgust.

My mother’s face went pale as milk, like she didn’t want to hear any more.

I put their misery to rest. “Nothing happened to me. I escaped shortly after they put me in a cell.”

My father lifted his chin again, his unease quickly assuaged. “How?”

I still didn’t know how. I didn’t know what Wrath had done to kill everyone on the ship.

“They thought they locked the door, but I noticed it didn’t click when they turned the key.

I was able to walk out, sneak to the back of the boat, and take one of their sailboats.

I dropped it into the water, and they didn’t notice me get left behind. ”