True North [True North series book 1/3]

I tried not to look at Warrian, as I reached my hand out to touch the water. It dented away from my hand the way it had at the shore. Warrian furrowed his brows and bent down to look at the dent in the water.

“Interesting,” he said pensively, “I have never seen it do that before.” I retracted my hand, glancing at him.

“So, will we be traveling by one of those… creatures again?” I asked, before peering back into the dark water again.

“A creature?” Warrian asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I don’t know what it’s called,” I said, “it has a long neck, a black back and a white belly—”

“Thoridor brought you here on a Nixal?!” Warrian called out in shock.

I nodded, ignoring the sinking feeling that question gave me. Was Thoridor actively trying to kill me?!

“How else can we travel through the water?” I asked suspiciously.

“You can ride me,” Warrian said, winking at me before hoisting me into his arms and stepping into the water.

Luckily I had gasped in shock — because that was the last breath of air I had before we shot up from the lakebed, propelling through the water with an unmatched speed. It took just a few seconds until we broke through the surface, and I sharply inhaled the fresh air.

It was still dark out, which made me feel even less oriented, but then I remembered this was what it would be like most days. ‘The dark period.’

Warrian’s muscular torso was between my legs, and my hands were wrapped around the strong, hardened leather scales that made up the armor on his shoulders.

Warrian’s body heat leaked through his armor, and warmed the inside of my thighs. I shifted backward trying to move to a less inappropriate position, confused about the warm feeling that was surging through my body. I had never touched a man this way before — I just never had had the time to even focus on things like that.

I had spent all my time hunting and gathering plants with healing properties. The only times I had even touched the men in my village, it had been to dress their wounds. There had been nothing scandalous about it, and it had certainly not made me feel all warm.

I looked at Warrian’s face, trying to see if he was going through the same internal struggle I was. He clearly wasn’t. His face was the epitome of peace as he softly drifted on the slight waves of the lake.

I pushed myself into a sitting position, using his body as a floating device as I looked around for signs of the shore. I found the tree line in the far distance. I hadn’t realized before just how far we had traveled into the lake to reach the underwater city.

Warrian studied my face. “So are you?” he asked, gently kicking his legs to move us in the direction of the shoreline.

“Am I what?” I returned, glancing down at him.

“Mated to anyone?” Warrian clarified.

“Oh,” I said, nervously averting my eyes, “humans don’t mate. We marry.”

Warrian’s brows knit together. “What’s that?” he asked.

“It’s… a ceremony,” I explained, “you plead eternal fate to someone, and then move into a house together.”

Warrian nodded. “And then you complete the ritual by mating,” he added, “I assume human women still bear younglings, do they not? And they are created in the same way we do. Or does your kind lay eggs?”

I couldn’t help but laugh at the thought. “We do not,” I said, “I suppose the rest of the… ritual… works the same, yes.”

Warrian smirked. “So are you? Marry?”

“Married,” I corrected him. “I am not.”

Warrian looked at me intently. “Interesting,” he said slowly.

I shifted on top of him.

“Why do you think Morai can help you?” he asked.

“Morai…” I said, grateful for the change of subject, “is that Thoridor’s sister?”

Warrian nodded in confirmation.

“The prophecy mentioned blood like the sky,” I explained, “and a female. I figured it was his sister, but I suppose it could be his mother, too.”

Warrian’s face contorted with confusion. “What is the connection between sky-blood and royalty?” he asked.

“Blue blood,” I clarified, somewhat pointedly.

Warrian’s expression told me he didn’t see the connection. “Thor’s blood is red,” he said slowly, “I’ve seen it. I’m sure Morai’s is too — I’m pretty sure all blood is.”

I smiled. “It’s an expression,” I explained, “we say someone has ‘blue blood’ if they are royalty.”

Warrian stared off into the distance. “What about ‘feathers for hands’?” he asked, “she has hands like you and I.”

“I assume that is not to be taken too literal either,” I said, “more like a figure of speech. Featherlight touches, for example, or a gentle heart. The ‘stars for eyes’ part could refer to her being bright-eyed, ready to take on the world.”

Warrian bit his bottom lip. “I suppose,” he said inwardly. His hands grabbed onto my hips mindlessly as he picked up speed kicking his legs. He clearly had no idea about what he was doing to my thoughts.

“Why do you speak about your Crown Prince so casually, if I may ask?” I began, “you call him by his first name — ’Thor’, even, is that a normal thing to do here?”

Warrian laughed. “No, it’s not,” he said, “the formal way to address him would be ‘Sire’, and that’s what his people do. But he’s my friend — we grew up together. His status means very little to me, personally.”

“And why does he sleep in a tent on the main land?” I continued, “that doesn’t seem very ‘royal’ to me.”

Warrian sighed. “He mostly lives in his palace, but not the one we were just in. He camps out on the mainland temporarily sometimes, but he has a Terrestrial palace too. And an Aerial one.”

I blinked slowly, trying to process the information. An Aerial palace. That was probably quite a sight to see.

“So why not just stay in the palace instead of a dusty tent?” I asked.

“Probably because of the Sorael,” Warrian said, and upon seeing my confusion, he continued. “A ritual, performed once every cycle that has three red moons, right after the bright period turns into the dark period. All unmated females that are of age are invited to the Terrestrial palace, and they get a chance to see if they are the Crown Prince’s true mate. Once he finds her, he can make an appeal to the King, challenge him for the crown. I’d assume the palace is being swarmed by females right about now. Thor hates it, but he still needs to hunt, so he was probably just hiding out in his camp.”

Warrian had barely finished his sentence before his face contorted in shock as he glanced up to the sky behind me. Before I had fully registered what was happening, he pulled me underwater.