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Lady Mhysra Kilpapan was blessed from birth with a distinguished family, a glorious home and a giant eagle miryhl of her own. Fully aware of her luck, she wants for nothing in life - except a chance to become a Rift Rider. The elite force...
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MHYSRA WOKE TO the sound of voices. They were muffled, but the words were clear, if only her brain wasn't too fogged to understand them. Frowning, she opened her eyes and groaned as bright light stabbed at the ache in her head. She shut her eyes again, trying not to think about the foul taste in her mouth.
"Kirdensk, mir ladai?"
The words meant nothing to her, but the tone was kind, so she cracked open an eye. A beaker loomed in front of her nose. "Oh, thank you." She pushed herself upright, gritting her teeth against a wash of pain and dizziness, and took the drink.
"Nith nagath, mir ladai." It was the Mistrune sailor, the smiling one. What had her mother called him? Tolgoth? Talgath? Talon?
She sipped the water and sighed with relief at the clear, cool taste. She remembered now about the strange butter and sharp apple juice. Something about her breakfast had been drugged, but if this water was more of the same she didn't care. Draining the beaker to wash away the foul taste in her mouth, she handed it back to her jailor with a small smile.
"Thank you, umm, Tal...?"
"Talro, mir ladai. Lar kirdensk?" He waggled the beaker invitingly.
Mhysra nodded. "Please."
Her guard beamed and stumped across the cabin to poured more water from the pitcher. It gave Mhysra a chance to look around. She was in her mother's private cabin on theIlluminai, sparse but elegantly decorated, making the most of the limited space available aboard ship. Loud voices drifted down through the wood: shouts of the sailors on deck relaying the commands of the captain; a conversation between the captain and the pilot in the wheelhouse over her head; sounds of men below, reorganising the cargo; the heated exchange between her mother and aunt in the state room on the other side of the door.
She ignored it all for the moment, more interested in the quiet words being spoken between her two guards. It was the same two men who'd come to her room, the Mistrunan brothers. Talro didn't look so happy now as he clutched Mhysra's drink to his chest, while his smaller, older brother grumbled at him. She wondered what they were saying, but since they stuck to Mistrunan, she didn't have a hope of understanding.
It hardly mattered, as Talro gave a small shrug and shot Mhysra a bashful look before bringing her the refilled beaker. She thanked him again and turned her attention to the angry voices beyond the door, while Talro rejoined his brother on guard duty.
Things were getting loud out there, Mhysra realised and shut her eyes again, the better to concentrate on what was being said.
"And I'm telling you, Lunrai, I won't be party to this!" Aunt Mhylla rarely raised her voice, but when she did there were few who could shout her down.
"And may I remind you, Mhylla, that I never asked you to be." Countess Kilpapan was a woman who prided herself on her control, but even her voice sounded strained in the face of her older sister's anger. "She's my daughter, my responsibility. You're only here because we're taking you home."
