Page 145 of The King's Man
‘I admire you, Jann. You’re very strong. And I love you.’
The words made my heart sing, and suddenly that launch into the air wasn’tquiteas painful as it might have been. Which was a good thing, because the night to come was only going to hurt more.
50.Welcome
~ JANN ~
Hours later with the moon still high in the sky, we were within sight of Braventhall, something I wouldn’t even have known if I hadn’t been there before. The Centaurs had some kind of mindfuck magik they used to grow the forest into what they needed. Their homes were trees, not cut or broken, butgrowninto rooms and around windows.
It meant their villages were very difficult to find because they weren’t merely camouflaged, they were part of the forest. Only the main city, Braventhall, could be spied from a distance, and even then only if you knew what to look for—the tallest tree in the forest with a massive branch that extended out over the rest of the canopy in a line parallel to the ground. It was a platform the Centaurs used to train their young to launch into flight.
The moment I could make out that dark line over the trees, I was washed with relief. My body was weakening. At least here I could do something productive while resting.
‘Block your ears,’I sent to Diadre.
‘What? Why?’
‘I have to make a call so they know who’s approaching and that I come in peace. It’s… loud.’
Diadre shrugged, but lifted her hands to place them over her ears, her shoulders hunching suddenly when I put my fingers in my mouth and gave the extremely high-pitched whistle the Centaurs would recognize as the call of a Neph Ambassador. A Nephilim of power, but approaching without aggression.
From this distance I could make out movement around that central tree immediately. The guards had likely already noted my approach before I called.
One of the Councilors would fly out to greet me so I could give the greetings, introduce my mate, and request a nest for the night. The Centaurs would take great interest in Diadre, but they were impeccably polite. It was one of the points of contention between the Neph and the citizens of Kyrion Vale—while both our peoples were strong warriors, the Centaurs found our waysunrefined.While we found theirs pompous and overly bureaucratic. But today I wouldn’t complain. I needed the rest, and I needed to keep the Centaurian Council happy so they’d listen.
Two more large shapes left the central tree and flapped towards us. Then a handful more. I frowned. Usually the Centaurs were happy to let us come to them. It was possible they’d recognized me personally and wanted to offer formal welcome. But I wouldn’t have expected that, especially with rumors of the political upheaval within the Neph. The Centaurs had no time for what they deemedthe fickleness of man.No matter that Neph were only half-human.
But then the moonlight glimmered on the coat of the first of the shadows that had launched when I whistled. One sharp look revealed the silhouette of a massive Centaur Stallion, young andstrong, turning broadside and flapping to keep himself relatively still in the air while he raised his arms and—SHIT!
It was instinct that kept us alive in the split second before that bolt tore through the air exactly where we’d been a moment before.
Seeing the Centaur draw his bow, I tucked my wings and dropped several body lengths towards the ground, Diadre shrieking as my heart pounded and my back screamed when I had to snap my wings wide to catch us before we plummeted directly to the earth.
I wobbled as my wings caught the air again, and swooped up and around, then gave that whistle a second time, and a third, frantic for them to understand that I came in peace and—
“Hold on!” I shouted, grabbing Diadre to suit my own words and looping in the air as a second bolt came singing through the air and I back-flapped—pain singing through my back—turning and flying with the wind in the opposite direction from Braventhall.
Demonstrating her discipline, Diadre did exactly as I’d instructed her back at the beginning if we ever came under attack while in flight. She flattened her arms to her sides and straightened her body, but kept her joints supple to move with me and create as little air-resistance as possible.
Panting, my back screaming, I held her to my chest, bellowing now, roaring at them to stop shooting—what the fuck were they thinking?!
But to my horror, they kept coming after us, their bows armed and a chorus of roars making their intentions clear.
The flight was harrowing—I continued evasive maneuvers as quickly as I was capable, whipping up and down, turning in the air, my wings wrenched into ever-tighter turns as I tried desperately to out-fly those bastards.
They were bigger and stronger, but with their extra bulk and large bodies, not as agile in the air. Carrying Diadre reduced my advantage, as did my exhaustion, so I watched, cursing, as they split up and spread out, herding me through the air, driving me away from the City, but towards each other.
I’d just taken yet another climb high into the sky in an effort to get above them and make it clear I was leaving so they might turn around, when a Centaur exploded from the trees below and I was forced to snap my wings wide to stay our course and desperately attempt to turn. But three things happened at once.
First, something in my back gave, and I cursed as pain shot up the right side of my spine.
Second the stallion—who was only fifty feet away—drew his bow and aimed.
I tried desperately to turn and change course, but my right wing didn’t want to give resistance, and my body was so weary. I knew I was too slow, too clumsy in the sky. As I desperately tried to turn, my heart screamed and I instinctively pleaded with God to somehow keep us safe—as Diadre’s hand shot out in a single snap, like a whip.
In slow motion, clawing at the air to shift our course, I watched the blade spin out of her grip and whip through the air—straight for the Centaur’s broad chest.
There was a furious roar as I finally turned us around. I didn’t know if she’d hit him or it was his frustration at being thwarted, but I didn’t have time to think, because one of the others chasing us had used my distraction to push himself higher in the sky, increasing the reach of his bolt, and had already drawn his bow. Luckily my clumsy turn brought me around to face him in the moment.
