Starkeeper of the Fractured Crown

Mark huffed and rolled his eyes dramatically. “Anything,” he corrected with as much attitude as he could muster up. “No records oranything.”

Cole chuckled, despite his mood, and took a spot next to me.

I saw Trick eye him with a glare that would drop most men, but Cole ignored him, used to it.

I did my best to breathe, to not let on that I was as angry as I was, but I knew for a fact that Trick had to have heard the entire thing.

Pride. It was myworstattribute.

“Anyway,” Mark went on, “so Odiss, this other pirate, said to be related to Aragone, no proof, was traveling the Aragone Sea towards what is now that continent with nothing on it.” Mark leaned towards Trick, raising a brow. “You know the one?”

Trick nodded. “I do.”

Mark turned to Cole.

Cole smiled. “I know of it,yes.”

Mark nodded and straightened. “He was looking for this rumored City of Power. It’s legend, not real, but might be real. Kyra said we’d go there some day and search for it when I get older.”

I felt Trick’s eyes on me but kept mine on my food. I couldn’t be sure if it was real or not, but if it was, it would be interesting to go and see. I couldn’t even imagine what kind of secrets a place like that would hold.

“Odiss wasso closeto getting to that part of Caduto, like he could see the shoreline, and thenboom!” Mark shouted, throwing up his arms. “The ship disappeared. I think it got taken by the sea creatures. The ones no one talks about because they don’t want to admit that there’s actuallyanotherNightwalker species out there.” Mark gave Cole a pointed look.

I set my fork down, trying to hide my smile. It was made easier by the small headache that started to bloom behind my eyes again. It had only gone away during the short amount of time I had managed to sleep, I had hoped it would be gone for good, but there it was.

“Might be more,” Mark shrugged, leaning back in his chair and picking up his fork. “No one has actually explored the sea so you should keep that in mind.”

“Me?” Cole asked, eyebrows lifting into his hairline. “Why me?”

“Because you’re the High General,” he answered as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Mark looked over to Trick and scoffed. “This guy.”

Trick tried for a smile, but it was far from reaching his eyes.

Cole frowned at Mark’s attempt at teasing. “Alright,alright. What happened next?”

“Then,” Mark went on, looking up to the stars, “and this is where it gets good, the City of Power, whoever lives there, sent up this signal right where the ship went under. That signal was so bright and so powerful, it left a group of stars in the sky.” Mark searched for a moment, leaning over the table, trying to see the whole map I had drawn. “There,” he finally said, gesturing into oblivion.

“Apparently, he was the first and only person to ever get that close to that specific shore. They wanted to honor him, but after the War of Ruin when everything split and the oceans drifted in the wake of the Staff explosion, it ended up right above Perinix, in the center of it. It was a cool story. You guys should read it.”

“I already have,” Trick finally said just as Mark took a bite.

He beamed, but at a warning look from me, his response was silenced. Nobody could talk with food in their mouth, not even in response to the High King.

“Kyra?”

My brows furrowed and I turned towards the front door at the familiar female voice, finding a pair of familiar blue eyes. The woman looked terrified this time.

My headache grew, and it felt as if something was pushing at a wall in my mind, pushing and pushing and pushing.

I shook my head, blinking hard only to find her eyes again.

The woman walked forward as if she had a mission she had to accomplish. “My name is SerienaVellacore. The laws of the Veil limit me, but I’m trying to do what I can. Listen to your dreams, I’ve been pushing them through for years, they’re important, you have to talk about them. He’s coming, Kyra. He’s coming. They know him, you all do. He’s coming and you need to prepare or there is no hope. For anyone.”

Before I even had time to comprehend what had happened, she was gone.

“Kyra?”

I rubbed my temples as I turned back to the table, the three boys watching me carefully.