Island Shifters: Book 03 - An Oath of the Children (15 page)

And, Felice, Nazar? What did my mother do to deserve her death?

The big cat seemed genuinely remorseful.
Felice was an unfortunate victim. Her eyes were closed to the truth, and because of her position within the
pride, she could have raised others against me.

Baya crept closer.
In this new order of yours, do all who oppose the
mighty Nazar die?

Nazar’s amber eyes narrowed dangerously.
We cannot afford
dissention.

So, your answer is yes. Let all hear of your tyrannical plans!

Baya!
It saddened me to sacrifice the blood of my brothers and sisters in Callyn-Rhe, but they would not listen! We
must grow and learn!
Become better, stronger, smarter!
Why can’t you see that?

Kenley watched anxiously as the two cats circled
each other.

You say that you wish to rule the humans, Nazar, but what do you know of their world?
Can you fight against the magic
they command?
Can you use the tools they
use? Can you sail their ships? Can you speak their language?

Nazar shook his head and growled.
The first humans
were
naught but
animals! Savages!
The difference is
their leaders strove for advancements
while ours
embraced complacency.
In our idleness, the humans
shaped the world according to their strengths!
Why cannot we now shape the world
to our strengths?
We are not mindless
creatures, Baya! We have the
same
ability
to make this world
over
into our image
as the human ancestors of old did!

Baya snapped her teeth toward the Nazar.
You are a fool! All of you! The Draca Cats fought alongside the humans against a tyrant twenty years ago. Now, you will
try to resurrect his evil ways?

Tell me! In the past twenty years, have the Draca Cats evolved? Is anything different today than twenty years ago? One hundred years ago? The answer is, no!

Both cats stopped pacing and faced each other.
Domination is not the way, Nazar.

It is
a start.

I cannot stand by.

I am sorry you feel that way, sister, but I will not shed any
more Draca blood. We will go our separate ways.

No.

The watching Dracas whimpered nervously.

Are you challenging me?

I am.

Come closer then, my sister. I am here!

Baya sprang toward Nazar.

Baya, no!
Kenley shouted
and sprinted forward with the
intention of stopping Baya from a deadly fight, but
her friend suddenly
disappeared into the ground.
Kenley
tried to skid to a stop, but she could not stop her momentum and found herself falling through the air
after Baya.
She shifted and a cradle of air caught her before she would have slammed into the bottom of a deep
pit.
Staggering to her feet, she looked up in time
to see a heavy grate slam
into place
over the hole.

Kenley flew
upward and
grasped the iron bars. With a scream, she tried to move
the grate, but it would not budge.

Nazar’s face peered down at her.
Who says we cannot use the tools of humans?
the big cat snarled.
This grate will hold you nicely until we return.

Nazar! What have you done?

My oath prevents me from harming you,
daughter of Kenley, so I will
be back to release you once we have made our demands known
to
the sons of Kenley in the
place you call Bardot. Try not to think too poorly of me.

“No! Leave my brothers alone!”
Kenley
yelled. “Muuki! Help us!”

Muuki’s head replaced Nazar’s at the grate.

I
am sorry,
daughter of Kenley, but Nazar
has convinced me. The old ways
truly
are gone.
It is time for a
new order.

* * * * *

Samara flung open the windows in her guest chambers and breathed in air tinged with seawater, roasting chestnuts from the vendor in the courtyard
below her room, and—yes,
magic.
Her
body involuntarily shuddered as the seductive haze washed over her.

The Premier had not exaggerated in his descriptions of the addicting scent. Could she continue to exist solely on the draught now that the promised ecstasy of the blood danced tantalizingly over her senses? She could taste it, feel it, touch it, and the anticipation was torturous.

She pushed away from the window with a frown. She was
beginning to regret
her
hasty decision to take the water
people yesterday.
Surely, they would be missed and it would cast the Ellvinians under a
heavy
cloud of suspicion, something she
was ordered
to avoid at all costs.

The Premier’s commands were simple. Assimilate into the society, take
up residence, obtain employment. Then, in a discrete manner, capture and return to Ellvin a manageable supply of magic users.
It was the only way to ensure
the Ellvinians a continual
supply of the blood with the Massans none the wiser. If she allowed greed to seep into
her
actions, the Massans would rise up against them and their first
source
of blood in remembered history would dry up.

She walked over to pour herself a glass of spiced wine and downed the liquid with one swallow. What was done was done. It was time to concentrate on finding out more about these
Massans.

One thing was quite certain—their vulnerability to Ascendency was strong. She needed very little skill to
exert her
power of suggestion
over
them. Unfortunately, that meant that the Shiprunners would
also
have
no trouble holding sway over them.
Most
of the sailors
were still among the ships at
sea, but several hundred were now in the port
city. It could ruin everything if Chandal did not heed
her warning and take
the steps necessary to control
the actions
of his caste.

Her
own
work would start tonight. She convinced the mayor to arrange a gala in her honor this evening. There she would seek out
the
Prince
with the blue eyes
that greeted her at the
harbor.
Once she had him under her influence,
he would
be
only
too willing to
tell
her all
about the political structure, military capabilities and magical skill
of
the island of
Massa.
Aye,
once she had
the Prince
in her grasp, that young man would tell her everything she wished to know, and more.

C
HAPTER
11

T
HE
M
AYOR’S
G
ALA

Kellan pulled on the mayor’s borrowed coat
and adjusted the sleeves. It was snug in the shoulders, but
would have to do. It was
all he had.

He
walked to the full-length mirror in the small chamber room and
grinned.
Tonight, he would see her again. He had not seen
the Ellvinian woman
since
yesterday
and whenever he
thought about
meeting up with her at the
mayor’s gala
tonight, his stomach clenched.
He would ask her to dance as soon as dinner was over, he promised himself, and the image in his mind of her
pressed up close to his body caused him to
shudder.

Idiot!
What was he thinking? He had never even kissed a girl and yet here he was having
bold
thoughts
about a woman to whom he had barely spoken.
If he did not know better, he would think that the woman
cast a
spell over
him.
His father once told him that he
had been the victim of a Glamour Spell
and wondered briefly if
Samara
could be a sorceress.
It would explain why he heard such
poetry
from her red lips while Kane heard nothing of the sort.

Maks
interrupted his thoughts when he
produced
a loud yawn from the corner of the room, blue eyes peering at him through half-lidded eyes.

Kellan walked to the window to look out into
the courtyard
in front of the mayor’s estate. Below, livered servants hurried in all directions, presumably preparing for the gala tonight.
He glanced beyond the
courtyard
and
toward the merchant’s district. Usually, the streets were congested with
pedestrians exploring the
wares for sale
or waiting for
a
ship
to return with loved ones, but
it was
curiously
quiet this
evening.

He
was about to turn back into the room
when his eyes drifted further north to the harbor, and he
sucked in a
surprised
breath.
All of the
Ellvinian ships
were
moored
at
the harbor!
All twelve!

What is going on here?
He remembered giving the
visitors
permission
for six…or maybe it was a dozen, people to come ashore. So, why were
all of their
ships in port? No, not all.
He counted again.
Eleven
ships were docked, but he was sure
there had been twelve
yesterday. Where had the other gone? Back to Ellvin? On another wormwood seeking mission?

A
frightening
foreboding
pierced his
chest
and flowed upward to lodge in his throat.
So much so that the soft knock that sounded on his
chamber
door
twisted
him around in a panic. The floor trembled at his feet with the burgeoning magic
that
instinctively flared
to life.

Maks jumped to his feet.
What is it, Prince?

Kellan
wiped a hand down his face to calm his emotions.
I am not sure, Maks, but be ready. We may have trouble on our hands.

I
have been bred for battle. I am always ready for trouble.
An
excited
growl escaped
his
throat.

Kellan walked to the
closed
door. “Gregor?”

“Yes, Your Grace. You have guests.”

Kellan
slowly
opened the door.
Kane, Jala and Izzy stood just beyond
his guard
in the finest clothes that could be
procured
for them.