All Chapters of The Birthright Series: Chapter 181 - Chapter 190

'WHAT'D YOU DO THIS TIME, Kass?' Aswaran soldier Oomoth said loudly, making everyone twist to look.Kassie flushed. 'This time? I didn't do anything!''She tried to pick up a mernoyd baby,' the goblin with the broom helpfully put in.'Are you mad?' The centaur grinned when she glowered at him.'No! I haven't seen them before.'Oomoth tsked and beckoned to her. 'Come have a look then.'On the way to the handrail Kassie spotted Cat and Leseach making their way over and stopped to greet them both first, then they joined Oomoth and the others who watched the water below with grim eyes.'Have you seen them before?' Cat asked Leseach.'No,' the Northerner replied, staring at the waves. 'We don't often get them in our waters.'Kassie listened while watching the waters breaking away from the ship, the motion quite mesmerizing and she forgot for a moment, until the sleek bodies rose up with the bow wave. A sudden hush came over all those watching.Perhaps something like these had insp

SCRUBBING THE DECKS, THE NEXT few mornings gave me a chance to properly meet some of the other allies. It also helped to work out some of the morning gloom that hit, especially now when each night in my dreams I tried to persuade him not to go on that fated morning run. His lips and touch, the feel of his body beneath my hands felt gloriously real in those dreams. Somehow it seemed that if I stopped him leaving for the run, then I'd wake and find him here.Sloshing the long-handled brush back into the bucket of soapy water I yanked it out and slammed it to the wooden boards, focusing on the task while I tried to distract myself from the dreams.Those dreams scared me, he felt so absolutely real in them yet when I woke I could feel the sense of him drifting from my memory. Like wisps of spider web floating away in the breeze my mind appeared to be building a wall over the memories, pushing them further away and making them that bit more unreal. Yes, the dreams scared me because I didn

THE SHIP ROCKED AS RUMAL and Rashid studied the large map of the Southern territory spread out over the table before them. The sway of the ship when he was beneath tended to give Rumal a queasy stomach. He glanced out the high rectangular windows, focusing on the horizon while waiting for his body to settle.'Cavalry training,' Rashid unnecessarily said.Right, thought Rumal and he glanced at the map, considering. He preferred to go upstairs when they practiced. 'Why don't we work on this later?'Rashid glanced up and smirked. 'Stomach getting to you?'Rumal gave him a narrow look. They rolled the map up and headed to the top deck. When Rumal stepped through the hatch behind Rashid, the Lieutenant jerked to a halt then made an odd fumbling side step. Stretching his neck to see what confused Rashid, he spotted Leseach striding their way and saw the plain look of longing on Rashid's face before he concealed it.With a snigger Rumal elbowed past the man and quietly jibed, 'Stomach

I'VE HAD ENOUGH, SIAN THOUGHT ironically. Stop the ride I want to get off.It felt truly bizarre to think of what lay ahead. Part of her accepted the task, understanding what risk and danger stood before them. The other part of her felt completely detached like they acted out roles in a strange, surreal play. Sian's mind varied from wanting to scream and panic, to hide under the covers and refuse to come out; to wanting to stick a motor on this bloody boat, get there, deal to the bitch and go home.The frustration at the contradicting thoughts made her flip over in bed and huff a sigh out. Beside her Daron lay silent and she watched the moonlight flickering on the ceiling, reflecting off the water. I know Alek and Yakov are dead, she thought in an attempt to get her head in the right space. Tears welled in her eyes while she stared at the low ceiling of the berth bed. I know we head to a war zone, I know we will fight Jenviet and I know we have to win.Then why doesn't it feel lik

AT THE VERY BOTTOM OF the trunk I found a tiny drawstring bag. Setting aside the clothes I'd sorted through, I reached for the bag and sat back against the trunk while I worked at the knot in the drawstring. Untangling the cord, the thick fabric opened and I tipped the contents out on my palm and felt my breath catch.The green tourmaline winked in the light from the windows and the diamonds sparkled as the thin silver chain threaded through the ring slipped over my wrist. A piece of paper with scrawled writing I instantly recognized was wrapped around the white ring band. With trembling fingers, I carefully undid the paper and smoothed it out on a knee.For luck, my love.When had he done this? I swallowed hard while tears welled up, and slipped my engagement ring on, ignoring the chain for the moment. I remembered putting it on the dresser at the castle after mentioning I shouldn't wear it. The beautiful tourmaline brought back so many things and I forgot the task at hand, sitting