The Family Crown (Cursed Wanderers Series: Book 2)

Chapter 2 - Gathering the Will

Chapter 2

Gathering the Will

This was my first time in a plane, so it was also my first time out of a plane, therefore it would have been the perfect opportunity to just kneel down and kiss the ground theatrically. Unfortunately, my level of freaking out outweighed my desire to entertain myself.

I wasn't going to lie here. I was freaking out. I probably looked like some kind of frightening wild animal as I made my way down out of the plane, whipping its head around, scared of everything around it. I was waiting for someone to attack. And that someone could totally be me.

My father and Hugo looked like they knew where they were going so I just followed them. The wind was chilly and my arms wrapped automatically around me, not just from the cold though.

I thought we'd be heading down to a port, but I quickly realized they were heading in the wrong direction and towards somewhere completely different.

"A bar? Are we really going to a bar?" I asked, as Hugo pushed the door to the small building with a sign in front that read Midnight Pub.

"The ship to Avalon doesn't run all the time. It'll only leave in about two hours. We have to wait for it," Matvei answered.

"And this place is the best place to get an idea of what's going on at court," Hugo added, holding the door open for us.

"People tend to open their traps when they're drinking," my father said.

"I'm not even legal," I reminded them.

"Legal age's eighteen in England," Hugo said.

It's like no one ever listened to me. "Yeah, and I haven't turned eighteen yet. Next month."

"Well, that just means you'll have to get shit faced another time," Hugo answered, and headed inside, clearly done with me.

"Oh the poetry you sing sweet Hugo," I mocked him from behind.

Unsurprisingly, he just ignored me.

Sighing, I followed the two men.

I didn't want to wait anymore to get to Avalon. I wanted this to be over with already. In the best scenario possible, we'd already be on our way to Avalon, and I'd talk with my mother the second we walked in and then we could just go back home before the sun set.

I didn't want to stick around.

This was all a bad idea. Why did I agree to this? Life was good enough back home, decapitation of my friend aside. I was finally beginning to have a good life. What was the point in stirring the shit pot?

Hugo and Matvei headed to a table and we all sat down. The lighting sucked, the chairs were mismatched, the table was still covered in little crumbs of food, and the whole place smelled like stalled beer and old men's sweat.

What a swell place.

The barmaid, a girl with a pixie cut that looked like she was in her mid twenties came our way and asked with a smile, "What can I get you guys?"

"Just give us each a pint of your sweetest, weakest cider," my father answered for us. She nodded and headed back to the bar.

When she was out of earshot I hissed a, "Underage? Remember?"

"Stop being a narc," Hugo mumbled.

I fake gapped at him. "Oh god, coming from you, that's just precious."