The Raven and the Dove (The Raven and the Dove #1) - Kaitlyn Davis Page 0,80

way across the bridge before the first scream even erupted.

A moment later she knew why.

A burning ship blinked to life on the horizon. Angry, sweeping flames cut through the mist as the wind whipped into sails that were little more than tattered shreds. Yellow sparks of aero’kine magic were laced through the gusts. Two of her king's crew followed him, already lifting their hands, tugging at the elements. The yellow flares in the mist brightened as the air became a tight vacuum, sucking the ship in. Buckets of water rose over the hull, sparkling with sapphire hydro’kine magic, and splashed the fire to soak it. By the time charred wood banged against the dock, little more than smoke and embers remained, but the damage had already been done. One survivor leaned over the side, coughing to clear the smoke from his lungs, hardly able to breathe. No others were in sight.

“King Malek,” the man wheezed, relief flooding his exhausted gaze.

“What happened?” the king called. A gangplank was hastily fashioned, and he climbed aboard. Cassi floated behind him, unseen by all except her king, who undoubtedly still sensed her presence.

“Dragons…” The survivor’s voice trailed off into a fit of coughs. The side of his face was covered in rising blisters. She couldn’t tell his clothes from his skin, as they had melted and fused beyond reckoning. His body trembled with something beyond pain—adrenaline was the only fuel he had left, and even that was quickly fading.

“Are there others?” her king asked as he pressed his palm to the man’s chest. The air around his fingers sparkled with the golden force of his magic, the most powerful type of all—aethi’kine, the ability to bend, warp, and even heal spirits.

“I don’t— I’m not—”

The man passed out before he could say any more.

Her king turned, still funneling his power into the stranger’s broken body as he yelled to his crew below, the lot of them pushing their way through the gathering crowd to get to their ruler. “Search for survivors. Bring them to me. And you,” he said, turning to look up at the spot where Cassi lingered, “return to the princess and remember what it is we’re all fighting for.”

Cassi hovered above him for a few more seconds, watching as the man’s burns began to smooth, as his breath became more even, as the ache across his features eased, as her king used his magic to restore him.

I don’t care what he says. Lyana deserves the truth.

She’s the queen.

She has to be.

But by the time Cassi returned to her body in the floating world above, all that had happened below felt like little more than a dream. When her eyes opened and she turned her head, her friend was curled on the other side of the mattress, one ivory wing cradling her head like a pillow and the other covering her body like a warm blanket. The words died on Cassi’s lips. She’d lived in the lie for so long, she wasn’t sure how to end it, what to say, how to explain.

So, she closed her eyes and went to sleep, wondering what the morning would bring.

34

Lyana

The Sea of Mist was endless. At least, that was how it seemed to Lyana.

For the first few hours of the long journey, the opaque mantle stretching beneath her had been mesmerizing. Every pocket of thinning fog made her breath catch. Every flash of orange made her heart race with excitement. She studied the thick mist as though it were a puzzle to solve. Was that flare of light a dragon? Was that spot of blue the ocean? Was there land or only fire? Did Vesevios wait somewhere in the swirling wisps of gray?

She ached to snap her wings and dive headfirst, plummeting through wind and air, but she didn’t. Not out of fear, but out of duty—a concept that was far more frightening than the fire god would ever be. A concept that began to monopolize her attention as her adventure turned a little, well, tedious, if she were being honest.

The hours stretched.

The scene did too, on and on and on.

The questions of awe and wonder slipped away.

Her mind wandered, and wandered, and wandered…to places she really wished it wouldn’t as her gaze darted to the front of the flock, where the prince and his brother flew side by side, so similar they could have been twins. So why did only one of them make her nostrils flare with barely contained fury? They’d both lied. They’d