The Dragon's Kingdom

How did he manage to hide this?

"Hello," A female greeted, though with her accent it sounded more like hee-low.

She waved from the deck before gracefully jumping over the side, catching onto a ladder and climbing the rest of the way down. The rest of the crew seemed content to let her do whatever she wanted. Some completely ignored her, while the others glanced over before continuing their work.

Sel and Casi moved together, stepping in front of all of us. The change rolled through them, their limbs stretching and shifting. They both towered over us now, black veins a stark contrast against their skin. It had been quite a while since I had seen a fully shifted male and not felt fear. Fia leaned close to me, a support just in case I needed her to help keep down the fear that would normally be suffocating me.

"Hello," She repeated, now that she was only a few yards away, "Are you okay? Your faces are weird now."

Casi let out a low growl at the insult, while Sel's shoulders shook with silent laughter. Aslin peered around the tall males a move that my brother would definitely not approve of. Deciding I should step in before anything escalated, I moved around our knights, examining the cheerful female who was rocking back and forth on her heels awkwardly.

"Why are you not wearing shoes?" I finally asked, surprised considering how many layers she was wrapped up in.

The strange female scuffed her feet against the cold stone, her toes already red and angry. Her skin was a golden brown, most likely caused by time spent in the sun. Her eyes were a striking hazel. Blue, green and brown swirling together, rich brown hair cascading down around her shoulders all the way past her hips.

"I have my reasons." She said confidently, her lips quaking in an effort to fight back her smile, "So, who are you?"

"Who are you?" Sel countered, black eyes narrowing at her as though he hadn't broken into laughter at her earlier comment.

"I am Entha, daughter of Susana." Her chin was still tipped up into the air, like her words held great power and meaning.

I felt my own lips twisting into a smile against my will, "I am Maeve daughter of the King Rasten."

Her lips popped open, eyes widening so comically that Sell burst into another bout of laughter. Casi straightened beside him, black eyes seemingly growing impossibly darker as he glared at Entha.

"Glad to meet you," She bounced happily, "Where are all the people? We have nothing to do or see here. It is very boring."

"Is it?" I nodded thoughtfully, glancing back towards my sister who also seemed amused by her antics, "I am so sorry to hear that."

"It is alright," Entha shrugged, "Have you met Aldon and Izaak yet? They are very handsome, no?"

"I suppose so," I shifted uncomfortably. She didn't need to know that Knox had been invading every dream I've had since he arrived here. "So what are you doing here?"

"We sailed here with the Dradans." Her brow rose as if to say isn't that obvious? "So, you are lycans, yes? That is why you have the weird faces."

She gestured to Sell and Casi, drawing another bout of laughter from the shorter male.

"Yes," I agreed, "What are you? We don't have a lot of other species here. Aside from the witches of course, and the occasional wolf, but they don't like to be disturbed."

"Wolf?" Her brows furrowed, but she shrugged off her confusion, "I am Bandorai."

"Bandorai?" My sister stepped forward, her eyes lit up with interest, "What is that?"