This Is My Kingdom Come by Megan Rees (red white and royal blue hardcover txt) 📕

“Hurry.” a harsh voice snarled that sounded like a Demon, of all things.

“We’ll make it look like a suicide. I can give the dramatic sob story tomorrow to say that the poor child felt so unworthy and let-down that he simply went over the top and stabbed himself. No one will suspect a thing or grieve for long; well, maybe that waitress, but otherwise life will be perfect without that little flaw in my perfect line.” Stefan explained menacingly.

“Soldiers surrounding place. No escape for cowards.” the Demon grumbled.

“That’s good,” Stefan replied. “Now, time to owe Anna a favour.”

Oscar had heard enough.

Quick as a flash, he kicked off the blankets and pulled the trigger, making Stefan scream out in agony as he collapsed to the ground, clutching his shoulder. It would heal, but for now it was a good distraction for Oscar to climb out of the window.

“Get him!” Stefan roared between his screams.

The Demon – whom Oscar recognised as the dog-Demon he’d seen earlier – licked his lips hungrily and leapt for him. The Prince didn’t have a moment to attack, so he jumped from the windowsill and allowed himself to fall, hoping he’d land somewhere decent.

He let out a small curse as he landed on something leather, but then realised his trusty horse had caught him. The dark brown stallion whinnied nervously as Oscar petted his neck. “We need to get moving, Broken. That Demon is faster than I previously expected: head down to the café as fast as humanly possible.”

Taking the order, Broken broke into a swift gallop and headed out of the castle gates down the high street, his speed gaining rapidly with every stride. Oscar was proud of the young horse, as he had been a sickly foal rejected at birth, hence the name ‘Broken’.

The two arrived at the café in no time at all, where Oscar quickly dismounted the tired horse and banged on the door frantically, hoping that Matilda was up late rereading her newspaper.

The door slowly opened to reveal a rather tired-looking Evelyn in light blue pyjamas, her dark blue eyes lighting up as she realised who it was. “Hi, Oscar! It’s great to see you, but can you please come and find me when it’s daylight? It’s nearly eleven at night!”

“Please, Evelyn. This is important. Just hear me out, okay?” Oscar pleaded desperately.

The ginger haired waitress straightened up a bit and stared him dead in the eye, biting her lip anxiously. “What’s happened?”

“Stefan’s working with the Demons. He literally just tried to kill me and make it look like suicide. I had to jump out of the flipping window because he set this Demon on me!” Oscar relayed back. “He’s playing a little game of manhunt now: I won’t have the advantage of hiding much longer.”

Evelyn’s face went to a pale mask of genuine shock. “Oh gosh, Oscar. You’d best come in – I’ll wake Matilda and alert her of what’s happened. She’ll contact someone who can help, find you a place safe from-”

“I haven’t got time for any contacting. I need to get out of here straight away,” the Prince cut her off. “I can’t stay here knowing that Stefan is out to murder me. That Demon will track me down in a matter of hours unless I flee.”

“Matilda says the only place you can go is Nighthollow.” Evelyn murmured softly, not meeting his gaze.

Before Oscar could perhaps offer some comforting words to his friend, there was a chorus of screams and angry shouts. A young woman ran down the lonely street screaming a simple sentence at the top of her lungs. “Demons have broken into the Kingdom!”

Evelyn’s dark blue eyes became urgent. “You have to go to Nighthollow! It’s the only way you’ll get out alive!”

“But the Demons are attacking the Kingdom!” Oscar argued. “I can’t abandon my people in this time of need!”

“Open your eyes and see that you can’t always be the knight in shining armour! You have to leave, Oscar! They’ll kill you if you don’t!” Evelyn screamed at him.

Oscar’s brown eyes darkened. “I’m already sentenced to death.”

“You just escaped from death. You can’t go back and give yourself up meekly. Just lay low for a few days until this all calms down.”

“I can’t be a coward. Stefan was already going to prove me a coward by faking my suicide, so I must be strong and fight alongside my people. I know I won’t be King, but I’m still the Prince.”

“I’m going to force you to go whether you like it or not. If I have to knock you unconscious and drag you by your ears, then I will.”

“You’re so stubborn, Evelyn.”

“One of the many flaws in my personality. Now come on, before those Demons find you!”

Oscar followed his ginger haired friend back behind the café to a small block of stables, where Evelyn tapped her knuckles swiftly on the first door. “Flack?”

A whiny and a bang against the wooden door made Evelyn sigh. “Sorry buddy, but we need your skills for the long trip. I need you to take Oscar to Nighthollow.”

A light grey horse head poked up and snorted at Evelyn, rising to her feet and revealing long feathery wings. Flack was one of the few Pegasi in the High Kingdom, being one of fifteen belonging to residents amongst the Kingdom and one of four mares. The other Pegasi were dotted round the Pureblood world in small numbers.

“Flack will be able to take you to Nighthollow with no problems,” Evelyn assured the Prince, flashing a nervous smile. “She’ll get you there faster than Broken can, so I’ll look after him while you’re gone. Just promise me you’ll stay safe and try to convince the Purebloods of Nighthollow to help us. Though they are just a sanctuary, their numbers are large and their fighting force is strong. They could help you take back the Kingdom.”

“I’m not the convincing type usually. Besides, the Demons outnumber us by a ridiculous amount: even with Nighthollow siding with us, they’ll win quite easily, especially if the army are on Stefan’s side too.” Oscar sighed, giving Flack a pat on the nose as Evelyn led her out. His friend shook her head at him. “The only ones you’ll need to convince are the four who survived the trek to the Land Of The Lost. Even if Nighthollow refuse participation, they will be able to speak with the Moon’s Children, the Winged and perhaps the Skyriders. They encountered all three on their journey. If they were able to save their own home, I think they are capable of saving our Kingdom.”

“They won’t help me in an uprising so soon after loosing their friend. I don’t want to take them into another battle where they could loose someone else.” Oscar pointed out, mounting the Pegasus.

“Just go, please!” Evelyn begged. “May the Phoenix guide your path on the road to recovering our Kingdom!”

Before the honey-brown haired teenager could even say goodbye, Flack took to the sky rapidly, away from the High Kingdom and away from the place he had called home his entire life.

“You still awake, Ash?”

Ash lifted his head up from his sketchbook towards one of the bunks near the window, where a boy a little younger than him was staring straight at him with narrowed grey eyes. Closing his sketchbook discreetly, Ash nodded. “I’m having trouble sleeping. I’m not used to the calm and welcoming atmosphere of the cabin.”

“I’m sure you’ll eventually settle back in,” the boy assured him. “Anyway, where did you go after dinner? I saw you go into the woods and I’m not sure exactly what went on.”

“That’s none of your business, Nick,” Ash responded airily. “Keep your nose out of my affairs and stick to your own.”

Nick shrugged. “Whatever. I was just curious. For all I know, you could have murdered someone else with your supposedly deadly powers.”

“If you’re trying to annoy me, it’s not working.” the brown haired boy grumbled.

“Were you out doing naughty things with the cute blonde girl?” Nick guessed.

“You’re twelve. You shouldn’t know what naughty things go on,” Ash pointed out sharply. “And for the record, the cute blonde girl you were referring to is called Luna. I’ve known her since I started training.”

“Way back in the dark ages, then?” the younger boy teased. “Besides, that girl is pretty. I don’t know how she hasn’t got a boyfriend. If I knew her a bit better, I’d ask her out myself.”

Ash stiffened. “Someone already did ask her out and she said yes, so I think you should respect the boyfriend.”

Nick let out a little gasp. “Wait, you’re dating her?”

The older boy did a slow sarcastic clap. “Extra brownie points going straight to Nick Letten for stating the obvious.”

“It’s not obvious, though! I don’t think even Atlas knows, and he’s one of the most knowledgeable guys here!”

“Atlas does not need me to deal with. He has undying grief for Rune on top of everything at the moment and we are not on good terms. I suggest you rest that weary little head of yours before it explodes from over-thinking.”

“But I’m not tired.”

“Hard cheese. Go to bed, for goodness sake.”

“Not until you do.”

“Nick, I’m three flipping years older than you. You’re still young and need sleep. Just-”

Ash was cut off by the sound of an ear-deafening crash and a sound that sounded like a horse neighing. What on earth is going on at this time?

Nick disappeared under his covers and fished out a torch. “Let’s go and investigate!”

“Fine, if it’ll shut you up.” Ash grumbled, getting out of bed and slipping quickly into his trainers while grabbing a dagger, motioning for the twelve year old boy to be quiet as they snuck out of the cabin. For all he knew, a Demon probably got lost and crash-landed in Nighthollow. It was always a possibility.

Once they were both outside, Nick turned on his torch and waved it about until he abruptly stopped when he saw the ghostly silhouette of what seemed to be a cloudy-grey wing. “Do you think it’s one of the Winged?”

Ash shook his head. “That wingspan is too long to be one of the Winged and my theory of it being a Demon has gone out of the window too. I think it would be wise to check it out.”

Careful not to wake any other sleeping Purebloods, the two boys made their way over to the crash site cautiously, making sure that nothing was following them. If a Councillor or one of the younger members of the community had heard them, both Ash and Nick would be in serious trouble.

Nick shone his torch down into the ditch where he’d seen the wing and let out a gasp of astonishment. “Look, Ash! It’s a Pegasus!” he exclaimed brightly.

Ash stood over the ditch, frowning. “The Pegasus won’t have travelled alone here. It hasn’t got a reason to. Its rider must be under it or somewhere in Nighthollow,” he pointed out. “I’ll lift it out of the ditch and see what happens from there.”

Concentrating on the slightly alarmed Pegasus, Ash found the strength to lift the mighty horse about five feet into the air before gently placing it down on the grass. While Nick ran over