He shifted the bag on his shoulder, turning to face an amused Marquis. He snapped, “Look, I’m not joking. Leave me alone.”
Throwing the doors to the Academy open, the empty courtyard splayed before him. Rushing down the steps, he was desperately trying to escape the ghosts of what had happened here.
“Well, that’s not very welcoming. We did travel a long way, you know.”
Adair turned, stalking up to the heir of the Shattered Isles. “I do not care. Now leave me alone, or I will make you.”
Marquis waggled his eyebrows. “I dare you to try.”
His ability roared in response, exploding from him, rushing toward the rover. Marquis grinned wickedly. Adair’s talons rushed forward, about to sink themselves into his flesh, his muscles, his nervous system.
All he met was an iron wall.
The wind howled around them, and Adair found himself encircled in a mini cyclone, his ability scattered to the winds.
Sauntering up to him, the prince snapped his fingers as the cyclone dropped immediately. “Now, where are we going?”
Adair was breathless, his words lodged in his throat. “How did you do that?”
Marquis sported a lazy smile. “Because, like yourself, I am gifted. Different. The sea bows to me, and I control the water. But I can also block abilities, if the occasion calls. Seeing as you were just about to try to either kill me or force me back, that is a perfect example of when I use it.” He faked boredom. “Now, since we are over that, what exactly are you planning?”
Running a hand over his mouth in exasperation, Adair shook his head. It would draw too much attention to try to send him back.
Adair shrugged. “If you slow me down or try to stop me, it won’t end well. I’m going to find answers.”
The prince lit up. “That’s exactly what I was hoping you would say. Back in there, they have their futures paved out, you know? Their judgements made, and their accusations ready. But... you, Adair Stratton, are worth more than their judgements. Crave the adventure that it will bring. I find it quite refreshing.”
Adair huffed, continuing to walk toward the woods. “Isn’t that a bad thing though? My father will likely be killed, my family holding no title or status. My future here has come to a standstill.”
Marquis slapped him on the back. “Then it is up to you to change the course. Seek what you want, not what others want for you.”
He whispered, “I want the truth.”
Marquis nodded. “Don’t we all?”
Adair let his words sink in. “Why are you being so nice to me?”
Pulling at his jacket, the prince replied, “Because the world is changing. Because I know what it is like to be forced into a life you don’t want. Take this situation as a gift, Adair. A gift not to be locked down in the politics of kings.”
Adair picked up his pace, the wind gently tousling his hair. The afternoon was clear and crisp, the threat of autumn on the air. This had been his life, being groomed for court with Emory, with the Faes.
He looked to the forest line, pausing for a moment. His answers, his truth, lay in the depths of those woods. At the heart, where an ancient magic lay dormant. He had always had a fascination for the history and mythology of Kiero. His father had battered against him for years, saying that it was a waste of time to always have a nose in a book.
Those years of research hadn’t been wasted, when a year ago, Adair found a map and instructions to a lair of ancient magic that had been long forgotten. After the Great War had happened and the lost city of Nehmai had fallen, dark magic and creatures were forced to the shadows, never to be awoken again. But Adair had found them.
Pausing, Adair turned to Marquis. “This won’t be easy. Or safe.”
The Prince of the Shattered Isles smiled slyly. “The best things never are.”
Adair stepped through the forest, the coolness of the shade washing over him as he murmured, “Agreed.”
He had always loved how as soon as he passed underneath the trees, it had seemed like he had stepped into another world. One consisting of weathered bark, mossy ground, and above all, mystery.
“Come find us, come find us, come find us.”
The whispers on the wind pulled at his heart, at his betrayal, his pain. Those chilling voices from his nightmare pulled into the heart of the woods.
***
Sweat rolled down his neck, and he rolled his eyes as the prince didn’t stop talking. Marquis quipped at his back the entire time while they navigated the denser part of the woods.
The Shattered Isles had been painted vividly, each word stroking Marquis’s home into life before Adair’s eyes. Of a community that was wild and unkempt, strong and unyielding. One that was united, despite its conflict. Marquis told him about cave exploration and how he could swim for hours, the ocean bending to his demands. Of the merpeople that dwelled in the darker parts of the Black Sea, and the sea dragons, called caines, which took entire fleets down.
Exhaling, the prince caught him off guard as he lifted his eyebrow and asked, “What I don’t understand is how the Faes have achieved such loyalty. What did they do?”
Adair chewed his bottom lip as he hopped over a fallen tree trunk then looked to Marquis. “They were the dreamers in a time when culture, creativity, and equality were being butchered. The Academy was the foundation of that dream, for the desolates, for the people with weaker abilities. For everyone. The people of Kiero followed Roque because they can’t fear him, they can only admire him. How brave he was for standing up to his father, for breaking free of his reign, to start his own.”
“It sounds like you have a different opinion of him.”
He threw up his hands. “I was born at the Academy. Raised
