Crown of Beauty and Vengeance

Chapter 41

Chapter 41

As Lyv and Jai walked through the encampment that bordered the city, they turned quite a few heads, especially with Roshan flying overhead, keeping an eye them. However, a few moments later, he spotted another familiar dragon in the distance, let out a happy roar, and flew toward his momma dragon who was settled near a particular tent in the distance.

Even though the two of them kept a healthy distance between them, the looks Lyv and Jai received were curious ones, especially when the crown prince of Dalcaine was walking in with a human female. They quickly realized she wasn't just any human female, though, not with the rumors that apparently spread through the camp.

Queen Guinevere's daughter, one of the most powerful humans to ever set foot in Dalcaine, walked with pride, eyes forward and head held high, and her power projecting around her as if to challenge anyone to come close. She feared because of who she was, they wouldn't trust her.

But with one look from Jai, they quickly knew that wasn't the case.

"At least it won't be hard to find the others," Jai told her, stepping closer as they neared the city's border wall. He pointed toward the large tent with the Ayverian flag waving overhead.

And they were all there, standing around a table with familiar-looking maps laid out, little figurines clustered in two spots on two different continents and others out in the waters of Shoal's Crossing, coming from Escarral. The handwriting and strokes of the pen to create their world on paper was familiar to Lyv, but did the others besides Gideon know who made them?

Destan was the first one to look up, followed by Gideon and Camilla, who were standing on either side of him. Drue was on Camilla's other side, his hand resting on his sword as if he'd just heard news he wasn't too happy about. Thia was close to Gideon's side and had been saying something, reaching over to move the figurines in the waters closer to Dalcaine, but paused when everyone froze.

"Lyv," Gideon breathed, moving around Thia to rush toward her.

In an instant, he had her in his arms, lifting her boots off the ground as he hugged her tightly. He paused when he breathed her in, undoubtedly smelling a certain crown prince's scent intertwined with hers. But he didn't seem to care after that pause, not when she was there and all in one piece.

"You could have at least sent word," Destan said to Jai as he hugged him. Then the younger prince set his sights on Lyv, who had just disentangled herself from Gideon. Immediately, he wrapped her in a hug, pressing a kiss to the side of her head. "Are you all right? They didn't hurt you, did they?"

"I'm fine," she told them all, smiling slightly. "Kalla was very..."

"Very accommodating," Jai grinned. "You know her. She was trying to seduce Lyv by the time Roshan and I got there."

Drue snorted as Thia hugged Lyv then. "She hasn't changed in all the years we've known her. Would you expect anything different from her?"

"We could have been locked in a dungeon, you know," Lyv argued, rolling her eyes as she glanced at Jai. "But instead, I got to get a little information out of her about what's been going on...and she's decided to pull back her people from Dalcaine without even having to be asked."

"So that's what happened," Destan said, looking between the two of them. "We got urgent reports yesterday that all of Blackloch pirates had pulled away and started back for their ships. They left almost immediately."

"She's been being manipulated by someone. She wouldn't tell us who. But they also had people watching her as well...including the male who tried to kill Jai," Lyv told them, glancing back over to the crown prince, to her mate, to the male she wanted to be beside but couldn't just yet. "He's the one who took me as well. But she's pulled her people back and has cut ties with my mother."