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

The man suddenly coughed and his eyes flew open, clutching the right side of his rib cage which he was laying on. His face was screwed up with pain.

Ash curled his lip. “Who the heck are you, and why are you here?”

“I need your help.” the man managed to get out between grunts of pain.

“Why didn’t you just go elsewhere, then?” Ash retorted. “I’m sure someone else would be enthralled to help you. I’m currently not in a good mood because a certain someone disturbed my beauty sleep.”

The man’s brown gaze lifted towards Ash hopefully. “Please, sir. My friends told me I’d find help here with the four surviving saviours – the ones who brought back the Phoenix’s Treasure.”

The younger teenager raised an eyebrow. “We’re tired and grieving. Come back when we haven’t got so much on our shoulders.” he snapped fiercely.

“You don’t understand!” the man pleaded, his pain threshold clearly increasing. “I will die unless you help, and so will my people!”

“What Demon Drink have you been consuming? Whatever it is, it’s some pretty strong stuff,” the Pureblood replied curtly. “And for the record, I don’t take kindly to helping strangers. I’ll help you out of the ditch, but then I’ll bid you on your way. My people don’t like trespassers, especially weird ones like you.”

Once he lifted the stranger out of the ditch thanks to his powers, he pulled out a sword from his belt and clutched his side with the other hand. Ash could see he was trying to put on a fierce face but failing miserably. “You children are so ignorant. You really have no idea who I am, do you?” he remarked, his voice wavering a little.

Ash pointed his dagger at him warningly, a shadow passing over his dark green eyes. “I couldn’t give a care to who you are, but I wouldn’t mess with me. I’m one of the best-skilled Purebloods for my age in Nighthollow and also not badly injured. I’ll overpower you easily.” he replied coolly.

Nick poked his head up, his brown eyes widened with horror. “Don’t do it, Ash!”

“You should listen to your friend, buddy. Things could get messy if you decide to actually fight me. I’ve been training since I was four.” the trespasser responded smugly, a weak sneer crossing his pain-stricken face.

“That’s impossible,” Ash snapped back, taking a large step forward with his dagger still pointed threateningly at the stranger. “The legal age is seven.”

“That may be the case for you, but that rule doesn’t apply to me,” he went on. “I am the-”

He suddenly spluttered a cough and collapsed to the ground, clutching his right side and allowing his eyes to shut. Ash placed the dagger back into his coat pocket and crouched down, poking the stranger’s face. “Get Cynthia, Nick!” he yelled over to his cabin-mate. “We need to find out who he is!”

“What about the Pegasus?” Nick inquired.

“Just leave her be. We need to get this guy to Cynthia so she can find out whatever is wrong with him. I’ll interrogate him further tomorrow to get some answers. I don’t trust him, but he clearly has a story to tell.”

When Oscar eventually opened his eyes, he found himself in a small bed with a damp cloth on his face. He could vaguely remember the events of last night, but his brain felt fuzzy and he couldn’t think straight.

Once he managed to sit himself up, he realised the horrific pain in the right side of his rib cage was gone. The only thing that hurt now was his head. What on earth happened to me last night?

“Alas, our sleeping lion stirs,” an elderly female voice chuckled. “How’s your head?”

“Hurts a bit, but nothing much,” Oscar responded with a yawn. “Where am I, if you don’t mind answering? And what happened yesterday?”

“Why, you’re in Nighthollow of course!” The woman couldn’t help expressing a laugh. “You crash-landed here on your Pegasus. Two of our trainees spoke to you and brought you back here when you collapsed. Your Pegasus is out the back with my old pony and I believe one of the boys who found you yesterday are bringing some of his friends to question you. It’s about something you mentioned in the discussion?”

Before the Prince could reply, he heard a door open and a few voices.

“So he’s here?”

“Yeah, Nick and I dragged him here last night. He weighs a ton!”

“Thanks a lot for that super-useful information, Ash.”

“No need to be rude, Atlas.”

Atlas… that name rings a bell! Oscar realised, thinking back to the newspaper article he’d seen the other day at the café. He’s one of the young spokespeople for the Nighthollow Council!

The elderly woman shifted her way slowly away from Oscar and in the direction of the voices. “Councillor Ravener, Councillor Wilde, Mr Chase and Miss Bird,” she addressed them formally. “I take it you are here to speak with the stranger?”

“Well, duh!” a female voice responded sharply. “Why else would we be here?”

“Right this way, then.” the old woman went on airily, ignoring the other girl’s comment.

Oscar felt a little wary as the old woman returned with the four people. They had the memories of many battles dancing in their eyes; Oscar was no fool to what they had experienced. Nighthollow were frequently attacked by Demons, so the majority of the population had fought in battle.

“Hello there,” a black haired boy began cautiously yet politely. “My name is Atlas Ravener. I am a newly elected young spokesperson of the Council.”

A glum-faced girl with shoulder length brown hair stepped forward next. “Clarissa Bird.” she announced simply with a slither of ice creeping into her voice which made Oscar shiver a little.

“You already know me from our delightful encounter last night, but you probably don’t know Luna Wilde,” Ash commented, gesturing to the young girl beside him with wavy blonde hair. “Like Atlas, she’s also newly elected to the Council.”

“I already knew of their status. My friend who ran the café where I’m from showed me the article announcing it,” Oscar admitted before turning to Atlas. “The little one who died was your sister, wasn’t she? I give you my condolences.”

Atlas sniffed and didn’t respond, so Luna answered gravely for him. “Yes. However, I think it would be best if you didn’t bring it up.”

The Prince shrugged. “So. Question me.”

“What is your full name as well as your current position?” Ash inquired, perching on the corner of a desk next to the door.

“Oscar Herring. Exile from the Pureblood High Kingdom,” Oscar answered airily. “My friends directed me because I need your assistance.”

Clarissa narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “I don’t believe you. Those of the High Kingdom don’t usually come crawling here for help.”

Such nice people. Oscar remarked privately, not meeting eye contact with the young hostile girl as she continued to glare at him with fierce blue eyes. “I completely refuse to believe you until you give us proof!”

Ash suddenly fumbled around in his jacket pocket before revealing a smooth grey stone which he clutched in his hand tightly. “I could use this Seeing Stone to discover that for myself, or I’ll just throw it at his head to see what happens. I personally prefer the latter.” he commented coolly.

The elderly woman immediately stepped in front of the Prince. “No harm shall come to him here. I think it would be best if you all left him to rest for the morning and perhaps come back in the afternoon – the poor sap doesn’t look ready for all your accusations.”

Luna shrugged, not looking too bothered. “Okay. I’ll go and check in on Cody: I haven’t seen him this morning and I’m wondering if he’s still asleep.”

“I’ll come with you,” Ash offered lightly. “Life does get boring when you’ve been kicked off the training program.”

As the group were herded out of the room by the woman that Oscar still didn’t know the name of, the Prince found himself suddenly drifting off to sleep as if he’d been given some sort of drug.

~

“Mama? Mama?”

Cody was desperate now. He had been having nightmares about his Mother for two weeks now and feared something bad had happened to her. Sure, he loved Luna as his older sister, but now Mia needed him. He had to save her.

He had quietly slipped out of Nighthollow early this morning before most of the people in his assigned cabin were awake. Cody only had little legs, so he had figured out that he would have had to leave early so he wouldn’t be wandering around the streets of London at night where the werewolves were liable to attack him. He knew that Celeste wouldn’t attack him, but he still had to keep his wits about him.

The blonde haired child was trailing down a long alleyway, avoiding getting caught in the gaze of the Normals as they trekked up and down the streets. He didn’t want their attention or gifts like they would probably give him; his only mission was to reach The Lodge.

“Cody? What are you doing here?”

Cody spotted a tall pale-skinned teenager with wavy brown hair running over to him with a slightly concerned look upon her face. Celeste!

“Are you here alone?” Celeste inquired, narrowing her eyes. “It’s not safe here. I had to save two Normal children that were attacked by my Pack two nights ago and I don’t really fancy getting Luna to hate me because I can’t keep command over my werewolves.”

“I’m going to find my Mama!” Cody declared. “Which way is The Lodge?”

“I’m not letting you go near her, Cody. She is a bad influence on you. Return to Nighthollow before you drag out the entirety of the population there out into the Normal world where things could go horribly wrong,” Celeste ordered sternly. “I can’t believe Luna let you come here alone! She knows how dangerous it is!”

“I came here myself without a word!” the seven year old retorted. “I’m going to continue searching whether you like it-”

A sack was suddenly pulled over his head in mid-sentence, plunging him into darkness. He let out a shrill scream as he felt his wrists and ankles being bound by rope which scratched his skin harshly. “Celeste!” he screeched desperately as he tried to wriggle about to free himself. “Help me!”

Cody could hear Celeste attacking someone in her wolf form, but then he heard a gunshot and a yelp of pain which made him scream. “Celeste!”

He kept on screaming her name even as he was dragged away and thrown into the back of what seemed to be a car. His cries were eventually drowned out by the sound of the engine as the vehicle drove away from the alleyway and towards a new destination.