Handsome Men Blow (Handsome Heroes Book 4) by James Cox

Author:James Cox [Cox, James]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Evernight Publishing
Published: 2014-09-25T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seven

“It’ll be here in forty-eight hours,” I shouted so that everyone who gathered could hear. The crowd consisted of dozens of villagers. We were all standing under the sun as it climbed across the sky. No clouds were in sight, but I knew just over that huge row of mountains lay a silent beast in waiting. “This area may be flooded. It may have no danger at all, but I rather you all brought your precious items and remained in the palace. A home can be rebuilt, a life cannot.” The saying was one I heard from my father’s lips many times.

There were a lot of murmurs and whispers among the crowd. It was Desa who came forth, smiling. “Thank you for showing such kindness, Your Highness. We will gather what we can and join you in safety.”

I nodded, smiling at her. Her eyes strayed to my horns but quickly returned to the crowd to give orders. “I want every guard to help them.” It was an order to Dent who nodded and tried to hide his scowl. When I spun around Shay was smiling, as was Norcon. Rykna was just staring at me crossing his arms. I wondered if I was ever going to soften him up.

“How may we help, Your Highness?” Shay offered.

“Get Rykna to smile,” I muttered.

Norcon snorted. “An impossible task.”

Rykna just kept silent and followed us.

“And what about you, Norcon?” I glanced at his back. He still hadn’t told me his story. “What about your...wings?” What color had they been? Would they ever grow back? I had never seen a man with wings, but now I longed to witness it. A man flying in the sky above the chaos of civilization. I climbed the small hill and started walking toward the pond I saw when we first arrived.

Norcon’s smile faltered and then fell altogether. “There was a war on my planet between two factions of my people.”

“I know about war,” I muttered, stopping to place a hand on his bare shoulder.

“We did not learn from our violent past and when the war finally ended, both sides were near extinct. Those with wings were branded as unfit for the new world.” Norcon’s shoulders trembled as if a shiver had run up his spine. “I hid them for as long as I could but eventually was discovered. For my betrayal, they were...removed and I was sentenced to prison.”

I stopped and stared at him. The pain he must of felt, the terror. I reached out and pulled him for a hug. I don’t think he was expecting that because he tensed up and just stood there. “How did you become a slave?”

“Another long story,” he said, reaching out to touch my cheek.

It was a romantic gesture that shot my worry down despite that horrific story. I kept walking. He survived all that only to become a slave. How could I possibly leave him here when I fled? He would be stuck with the real king. However, I couldn’t possibly store Shay and him as well as myself away.

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