Draevyn’s jaw locked. “Aye,” he breathed, and a smirk tilted the edge of the owl-shifter’s lips. “It was because of Esmyra.”
All of their faces paled.
“Esmyra ishere?” Riven gasped. “And you want to leave? What if they get to her!”
“We can’t leave without her,” Ren chimed in.
“Will you two let the man speak?” Jak snapped, crossing his arms. He gestured to Draevyn with his chin, and they all lifted a brow. “I think Esmi’s already come and gone.”
“She has,” Draevyn admitted. “When I got back to the castle, word had spread that she kidnapped Elowynne, the new queen. Or soon-to-be queen, anyway.”
Alec let out a snort. “Good. Let her face a nightmare of her own for once.”
Draevyn tried to suppress his laugh, but it escaped him in a few breathy chuckles. “Well, on that much we agree.”
Alec’s head tilted to the side, studying him.
Draevyn begged Esmyra not to come back to Lephyrin because velsinyte was now in every corner of the city, but of course she hadn’t listened. Truthfully, he should’ve known better, but he never would’ve guessed the reason she’d come back would be to take Elowynne.
“But,” Draevyn continued, “that doesn’t mean I can let Esmyra kill her either.”
“What exactly makes you think you can even stop her?” Jak said with a smirk and raised brow.
He has a point.
“Well truthfully, I don’t,” Draevyn admitted. “But I have to try. We have to find them.”
A heavy silence followed, but the fury that had nearly erupted into bloodshed slowly began to cool.
“Arguing won’t bring the others back,” Jak said to his crew. “Like it or not, we share common ground with our enemy. And that’s to save Esmi.”
“Do you realize how fucked up that sounds?” Riven gaped.
“Aye, in fact I do. But I think the Phoenix has made it clear where he stands.” Jak turned to Draevyn. “After all, he just betrayed the only family he has left for her.”
The words were like a serrated dagger straight through Draevyn’s heart. But he couldn’t even argue, because he was right. Hedidjust betray the only family he had left and his kingdom along with it.
Again.
Draevyn “The Phoenix” Rowe was now an enemy of Lephyrin. An enemy to his brother and the king, along with his brothers in arms.
“I watched him fight against Atlas,” Jak continued with a shrug. “If he’s lying, it’s very convincing.”
“So, you’re on his side then?” Ren asked, his lip curling a bit.
Jak stormed across the deck and grabbed Ren by the collar, hisbreath heaving in his face. “I’m on one side and one side only. And that’s to do whatever it takes to get Esmyra back.” He shoved away from his friend and turned to face Draevyn.
Tensions were clearly running high for them all.
Ren steadied himself before straightening his already ruined shirt. “So where do we go from here?”
Jak went to open his mouth, but Draevyn beat him to it. “Anchorage Cove.” All eyes swung to him. “It’s south, closer to Maerinys. Maybe while we’re there we can gather more of a crew. Considering I would say we’re quite lacking at this point.”
“Gods, not that awful place again,” Sam said with a sigh, his head lolling back.
Jak shot him a look. “Why can’t we just go straight there? To Maerinys.”
A certain golden-haired sea witch appeared in Draevyn’s mind. “We’ll be killed on sight.”
