Govam stood at the side of the ship with Finley, Denski having taken the helm, or whatever they called the magical control area.
Govam spoke in an undertone, so naturally my ears pricked up.
“We are at the point where we need to plot a course.”
Several others looked their way, including the big alpha dragon and intense alpha wolf, both in their skin forms. Calia drifted a little closer too.
“And?” Finley replied.
“Have you thought about where you will go?”
She gave him a searching look as Hannon walked closer and leaned in next to her. He was the thoughtful and deliberate one of the pair. She’d listen to him. Which was why I’d pulled him aside for a talking-to a bit ago, when she was taking a quick nap.
“My duty has always been to go home to Nyfain and tear down the curse.”
The longing in her voice broke my heart. I turned away, a movement that naturally morphed into throwing up over the side of the boat.
I felt a hand on my back. Leala, the woman who never seemed troubled by anything. How the fuck did she do it? She was a rock.
“Of course,” Govam replied, clasping his hands behind his back and standing close enough that she could kill him. He was silently communicating that his fate was in her hands. Good work, crafty demon. “Only, I wonder if you have thought it through?”
“What is there to think through?” Now her tone held a very distinct warning. I was glad he was broaching this subject and not me, and also impressed he didn’t take a step back.
“Dolion’s first order of business when making a deal is to cripple his opponent. I’ve seen your kingdom. It is on its knees. Forgive me for saying, but so is its prince.”
She stayed very still, and now it was just plain stupidity for the demon not to take a step back.
“They can shift now,” she replied slowly. “And I’ve heard that there are more dragons.”
“Young dragons, correct? Inexperienced dragons? And, as I understand it…less-than-effective shifters.”
I sighed and straightened up, using my shirt as a rag this time.
“Love, listen…” I sidled closer, not straying far from the side of the boat. I clasped my hands in front of me and then pulled them apart and braced them on the railing behind me. “You have a kingdom filled with mediocrity. You know that. The shifters who are left are not very powerful or fierce. You’re bringing back a handful that are both of those things, but they’re weak from years of imprisonment.”
Her eyes narrowed. “What are you saying, Hadriel?”
I scooted away a little. “If we show up now and break the curse—which you’ll do as soon as you lay eyes on the master; you won’t be able to help yourself—then you’ll be opening the door for the demon king to bring all his forces in and destroy what little is left. He’ll do it before the master—the prince—can be declared king and take his established place on the council.”
She straightened up, clearly frustrated. “The deal was that I would allow Dolion to take me to his kingdom to buy Nyfain time to prepare our people to fight, then I would come back and we’d protect what was ours. You agreed. You helped plan this!”
“Yes, love. I know that. But then I realized how many of those buggers there are—and that the demon king is willing to lose any number of them to get what he wants. We’ve been shortsighted. We do not have enough people. We don’t.”
“I will not abandon him, Hadriel. Besides, where else would we go? It’s home to more than half the people on this ship. Then there’s the fact that Dolion’s going to storm Nyfain’s castle after he figures out I escaped. When I’m not there—”
“The demon king will have no leg to stand on,” Govam cut in. “He can’t kill the prince. The curse forbids it.”
Finley stared at Govam in mute rage, torment, and frustration. It was clear she didn’t know what to say.
“What will likely happen,” Govam said in a tone that could only be described as delicate, “is that he will torment the people like usual, bring in more of Sonassa’s kind, and post his people throughout the kingdom to make sure you cannot get back in. He will lock the portals and fortify the place as best he can to keep you from Nyfain. He won’t be able to stay there long, though. He’ll need to get back to his kingdom or risk trouble. But he can leave loyal ambassadors high in power to oversee matters.” He paused for a moment in the sudden silence. “This situation seems new and unfamiliar to you, but this is the way demons have operated for centuries. They dominate and control so they can steal and bleed a village, town, city, or kingdom dry.”
“I’ve taken all his prisoners. What if he kidnaps more?” she demanded.
Govam didn’t speak for a moment. “Then you will have excellent grounds to go to the council and demand an audience. Given you, yourself, have been in that prison, and you have Dolion’s former guards to testify on your behalf…”
“Except we won’t be able to get back to Wyvern if he closes the portals. We’re running out of time to break the curse.”
“We can get you back in,” Calia said softly, holding her sister’s hand.
Finley looked at them like she was seeing them for the first time. She shook her head.
“You need an army at your back, Finley.” Micah got to his feet on the first try, which was pretty miraculous considering the rolling and pitching of this accursed boat. “You need a host of dragons to scrape those filthy demons from your land. I know my people will join me in helping you. It isn’t even a question. Not only because they will want vengeance, but because you are a dragon, and we help our own.”
“But what if there’s been some mistake, and I’m not really a dragon?” she asked in a small, helpless voice.
Suddenly I felt like a real asshole for sabotaging her plans.
“Then we will fight for you anyway, because without you and yours, we would have died in that prison,” said the sickly dragon—Beelax or Exlax or something—and I was surprised he was jumping on the gratitude bandwagon after bitching and moaning during our escape.
“My village loves fighting,” Vemar said, his eyes sparkling with mirth or madness or probably both. “They will want to help a fellow dragon.”
“We will stand with you.” Weston stood up, and I caught a wobble in his stance as we hit a wave. That made me feel better. “I don’t know what shape my old pack is in, but I will petition the new alpha for aid. I will ask that they help me find vengeance. First to free you, and then to scour the demon king and all his filth from this world.”
I pointed at Govam. “Present company probably not excluded. Offense likely meant.”
“It’s been sixteen years, milady,” Leala said softly. “Waiting another few weeks won’t affect them nearly as badly as if we go in without enough support and get killed or worse for our efforts. We’ve just escaped. Let’s make it count when we go back.”
“You too, Leala?” Finley asked, her face falling.
“Me too, Finley,” Hannon chimed in, delivering the final blow. That guy sure had good timing. “You’ll be more help to the prince, and our family, if you can shift. And we absolutely need more people. I had no idea how outnumbered we were until I saw their staff and all their guards. And that was just a portion of them. If he mobilizes against us, this was all for nothing.”