Hovering.
Waiting.
With a flick of my wrist I let them loose. The guards went down like flies as the small ice daggers embedded themselves strategically in their legs. I left only Berzaan standing amid his fallen guards, who groaned and tried to stand up.
The insufferable nobleman grinned at me. “You missed.”
“I never miss,” I snarled as I gathered more magic from the air around me and shaped it into a tiny tornado that spun in a frenzy, lifting Berzaan up within it. “And if you ever whip or harm any of your slaves again, Berzaan, I will return. And next time I will not be so forgiving.”
Berzaan screamed, cried, and flailed as the tornado flung him around and around, carrying him out to sea.
Rhea ran up to me, her eyes wide as she watched her tormenter carried away in a funnel of air, screaming until the night wind swallowed him up. “What will happen to him?”
“The air funnel will eventually die out, and it will drop him somewhere in the middle of the Sea of Shadows,” I said, shrugging. But from the corner of my eye I could see Berzaan’s lackeys getting into a boat to rescue their little lord. The air funnel would drop him into the sea once they got close. Berzaan would be fine—a little wet, but I was sure he would think twice before he mistreated any of his slaves ever again. “I hope he can swim.”
For the first time since I had met Rhea, the little girl grinned, her eyes lighting up with mischief. She clasped my hands in hers. “Thank you for everything you have done for me.” She looked around at the other slaves Penelope was busy tending to and getting settled onto the ship. “For us.”
My eyes moistened. “Anyone would have done the same.”
Rhea shook her head. Her fierce little chin jutted out with determination, and she spoke with conviction. “No, not everyone would have risked their own lives for a group of slaves, Aurora Firedrake. You are truly worthy of the name Dawnstar. Because of you there is still hope for this world, and I will make sure everyone knows it.”
The Pirate Prince
Dawn was already showing its light as we readied for our journey ahead. The merchant agreed to take Rhea and the freed slaves to Galdor, the only permanent city in Rohron. Penelope did not know the merchant well, so she also sent one of her spies with them to make sure they got there. But I wasn’t taking any chances with Rhea’s life. I spoke with the captain myself and explained in no uncertain terms what I would do to him if anything happened to Rhea and the other freed slaves. I think he got the message, especially when I showed him who I would send to hunt him down if something happened to go wrong.
The captain gulped visibly and scurried back to his ship when Tristan turned his icy gaze on him.
Cade arrived with two griffins.
“Where’s Snow?” I asked as I hugged him and then climbed on a griffin behind Tristan.
Cade swallowed. “I couldn’t find her when Tristan sent the summons. There was no time.”
I wondered where Snow was. Usually she knew when I needed her and she turned up.
Nedora was just a speck in the distance as we left the eastern coast of Brandor. The hot dusty city gave way to a vast desert that stretched all the way to the city of Sanria on the western coast of Brandor. Penelope and I concealed our group with glamour as we flew lower than we had before. The griffins’ keen eyes scanned the landscape for threats, and Tristan was on high alert. The wind whipped through my hair and battered my face as I gawked at the glistening sand dunes that shifted and sparkled in the midday sun, giving way to a massive canyon that stretched out into the distance.
We crossed a wide river with a few farming settlements and villages along its banks. I spotted high walls rising on the other side of the river near the lake as we passed the town of Bron. Most of Avalonia’s cotton was grown in this area, and the Brandorians took full advantage, setting the prices for trade across the realm. Brandorians were famous for being ruthless traders, the emirs obtaining most of their wealth in this way. They were a community of merchants, rich in resources and controlling all the trade routes between the east and west. The Brandorian mines were famous for copper, jade, quartz, and most importantly gold, making them one of the richest kingdoms in Avalonia.
The enormous fortress of the Emir of Sanria rose up as we neared the city that lay on the western coast of Brandor, nestled in a cove on the eastern shores of the Stardust Sea. The Red Citadel towered over the port, perched on a cliff like a huge bird of prey overlooking the deserts that stretched out behind it as far as the eye could see.
We removed our fae glamour as we flew over the city and landed in the courtyard of Santino’s home. The pirate prince was already there to greet us as we appeared in their midst. Standing beside him, looking radiant as ever and dressed in a sheer chiffon gown, her golden hair cascading down her back, was my aunt, Serena Silverthorne.
Familiar scents of orange blossoms and wild myrtle wafted toward me as I jumped off the griffin and ran to my aunt. She clutched me in her arms as I hugged her. It was so good to see her again. In the short time I had known her she had been like a mother to me, and it had been so long since I had seen my family. My time in Neris and at the Academy of Evolon seemed like a lifetime ago. But somehow, wherever I went, it was always Silverthorne Castle that
