Beyond the Fairy Gate

Chapter 16

Damien

Damien watched John as he looked over the edge of the royal airship. He was watching the ground with a blank expression on his face. In his hand was Nyline's music box, the part that goes into her ears between his fingers as he fiddled with them.

Turning, he looked at his scouts that were all currently sitting around a table looking at them. When they had arrived back at his castle, they had hopped on the closest airship and had set off almost immediately. His father was most likely going to string him up by his toes when he got back, but he had weighed the options, and this had been the best one. Thaul was in the far north, and an airship was the fastest way to get there.

"Poor guy, first he lost his master, then his new charge up and vanished right in front of his eyes; seems like he has some pretty bad luck." Rebecca's eyes were downcast as they went to John then back to Damien as she spoke.

"It's not that he has bad luck," Angelica spoke softly as she shook her head. Ryan looked at her for a moment with a slightly confused expression before he patted her knee.

"John doesn't see it as bad luck. On the contrary, he saw it as an opportunity to pay a great debt back to an old friend." Ryan translated for his mate.

"How do you know that?" Damien's words were for Angelica as he looked at her.

"After we fought with the darkling, he touched my head. That's just the feeling I got; John is powerful. Don't look down on him." It only took a second before a smile cracked Damien's face.

"I don't think that any of us would think otherwise." Angelica blushed and looked down at her hands that were under the table.

"So, how long is it going to take us to get to Thaul?" Jake asked.

"The captain said it would be about 3 hours, so maybe... so an hour or so left?" Rebecca answered, watching Jake as he stood and walked to the edge of the airship, looking down at the land.

"What's our plan when we get there?" Nathan directed his question to Damien.

Truthfully, he wasn't sure what the next move was. Everything had gone so far into left field at this point he wasn't even sure what to plan for next. He hated sending his scouts into situations that he didn't fully understand. However, this was going to be one of those times where his hands were tied, and he wouldn't be able to do much else.

"Since we don't know what the situation is on the ground, I'll have Angelica and Nathan go in first, scout the area and then report back. You two are not to engage in any way. You are simply there to gather information and await orders." With the choice of those two scouts, he knew that Nyline would at least not get mad at them since they were soft-spoken.

"Whereas your plan shows that you have put some thought into this Prince of Dunhill, it is not the wisest plan of action." Damien focused on the older scout, taking his words to heart and knowing that John would have more experience than anyone who came with him.

"Could you explain that to me?" Damien could feel his scouts glaring at John for interrupting their meeting. However, when it came to their lives, he didn't take it for granted to have a senior scout on hand.

"As I told you back in the human world, you are not Nyline's only potential mate. If the other prince has had contact with her, then there is a high chance he will also be there with his scouts. If the scouts end up running into each other, then we'll have a different situation on our hands than just finding Nyline. It would be best if I go in alone. I am from Thaul and know this area like the back of my hand. I can get into the castle and out before anyone, including the other princes' scouts, would even see me." Damien leaned back in his seat at this, lacing his fingers together as he thought and agreed with a good part of his plan. John slid Nyline's music box into his pock while he waited for Damien to speak.