"How about this one?" Ben suggested, holding up a long standard-issue katana.

"How about a real weapon?" Becky retorted. She picked up what looked disturbingly like a medieval sword.

"You're welcome to a broadsword..." Kai took another of the swords of the rack and flipped it in his hand. He lifted it into a defensive position, pushing against the bare steel in Becky's hand. In a single motion that I couldn't follow with my eyes, he disarmed her and pointed her own blade to her stomach. "As long as you know how to use it."

She frowned and took the katana from Ben. "On second thoughts, I'll go for something a little smaller."

"Whoa there," Alex interrupted. "Firstly, how do you how to swordfight? And secondly, can you teach me?"

Kai grinned, returning both swords to their proper place. "That depends. Do you have several months of spare time? I nagged my trainer into showing me a few things last summer."

"I have five minutes for the basics," Alex said hopefully.

"Well that's easy enough," Kai replied. "The basics of sword fighting are to hit them with the pointy end and do your best to keep your intestines inside your body."

Alex snorted, visibly disappointed. I couldn't deny that I wasn't a little sad as well. Learning to swordfight had been on my to-do list for as long as I could remember. It just looked like a lot of fun.

"Patrol eighty-nine, report for duty!" The bellow came from the courtyard and sounded an awful lot like Zara. Oh damn, didn't we have to do the rest of our training with her?

I sheathed a hunting knife over my shoulder and followed the others out of the armoury. The sun shone on the morning dew, reflecting off the grass in a thousand pinpricks of light. It seemed to shimmer and sparkle as I walked across to where patrol eighty-eight waited.

Along with the hulking Tobias, the moody Eric and the smirking Zara, there were an additional two girls I hadn't met yet. Zara introduced us to both of them, but I forgot both of their names as soon as I'd heard them. I had far more important things to think about, like going out on my first patrol.

"So by ancient Moon Guard tradition, you spend the first shift in the palace. It's our way of terrifying the new recruits. We'll even introduce you to the King, the Queen and the prince– Oh shit, I'd forgotten you were here, Kai. Well, I suppose you can all meet the younger prince and princess, anyway," Zara said.

"Really?" Kai asked excitedly. "You'll really introduce me to the royal family? This is such an honour!"

I slapped his chest. "Stop that. You know she's not talking to you. Personally, I think that if Leah and Logan are anything like their big brother, they aren't worth meeting."

Kai looked genuinely hurt. "You don't mean that."

His eyes were wide and I felt l myself drowning in those hazel pools. No, Sav, damn it. Don't fall for it.

Fortunately, I was spared the need to answer by Becky. "Quit bickering, kids. I want to get going."

"Right," Zara continued. "Just stand up straight when you're with royalty, for God's sake. Try not to show up the guard in front of anyone particularly important. When you're first presented to the King and Queen, the correct mode of address is 'Your Majesty.' Sir or ma'am is fine after that. Use 'Your Highness' for lesser royals, and for high ranking nobility — especially heads of houses — just mind your manners."

I nodded, trying to take that in. It was a lot to remember all at once. Kai didn't seem that worried, probably because he'd been trained for this since birth. And Ben had spent a lot of time at court. For us lesser mortals though, it was quite an experience.

"Do we have to bow?" Alex asked.

"Yes, you have to bloody well bow. Or curtsey, if you prefer. They're the blinking royalty," Eric snapped.

Zara shot him a harsh look. "Practise on Kai if you'd like. I'm sure he won't mind a bit of grovelling."

Eric had meant it as a jibe, but Alex turned to Kai and performed the least graceful curtsey I had ever seen in my life. "Your Highness," he said to Kai's shoes. "Such a pleasure to meet you."

"Make sure you save the arse kissing for Wyatt Rochester," Kai told him. "He's the only one who enjoys it."

"Watch it, princeling. Now get moving. You can talk in the car," Eric growled. Too late, I remembered he was a Rochester himself.

The car we were taking to the coast, a bulky armoured truck with four-wheel drive suitable for the rough terrain in the valley, pulled into the fortress for us to get in. I piled into the back, taking a seat next to Alex. Once we were all inside, the car drove away. We headed west towards the small port where you could find ships to Holyhead.

I felt nameless-numbers-one-and-two staring at me about halfway through the car ride. Just as it was starting to make me uncomfortable, one of them blurted out, "I heard you knocked the Silveryn heir on his ass."

"I suppose I did," I lied.

The other one narrowed her eyes. "Nathan Silveryn has quite a reputation, you know."

"No, I didn't." That wasn't a lie. My friends had all known him by name and Becky even seemed a little afraid, but I had no idea what he had done to earn such recognition.

"Oh yes," the first one said, "there was some nasty business with a group of humans a few years ago. I heard that none of them survived."

How amazingly unsurprising. Although I wasn't quite sure where Nate would have met humans — they'd been gone from the island for years. It was a shifter only zone, as far as I knew. Hopefully, this was just an exaggerated rumour.

"If that's true," I began carefully. "Why was he never arrested?"

She laughed. "His father of course. If you think Nathan is bad, you'd be horrified by Isaiah Silveryn. It's said he's killed werewolves with his bare hands, and far worse. He covered himself in a mixture of glory and gore in the last uprising, smashing the rebel forces into bloody shreds. I don't think anyone would dare lay a hand on Nathan while he lives."

"Oh." That was my vastly intelligent and elaborative answer. I vaguely recognised the name Isaiah, but there wasn't a feeling of dread attached to it. During the last uprising, I had been far too absorbed in mourning Seb to pay attention to the heroes and villains of the fighting. And from what they said, it sounded like he was a bit of both. The kind of man you wanted on your side, just like Nate.

Her dark eyes settled on me. "So what you did in the woods is quite an accomplishment. We should call you Shadowslayer, really. Savannah Shadowslayer."

"I'm actually fine with just Sav," I piped up. "And I didn't slay anyone."

"No," the girl agreed. "But you made him submit on your own. Some people say that's harder than killing a Shadowcat."

I sat in silence for the rest of the journey, contemplating what they had said. It had never occurred to me that making Nate submit with the blood debt might have repercussions. But now, everyone seemed to want to know how a scrawny Fairborne girl could defeat a legendary warrior in single combat. I would quite like to know that as well. I would need the knowledge if we ever fought again, now that the blood debt didn't protect me.

We made the crossing to Holyhead on a small ferry devoted entirely to shipping people and supplies back and forth. Kai knew the entire crew and joked around with all of them. Of course he did. He'd made this crossing a hundred times. But it was my first time, and I couldn't help staring as the steep, pale cliffs of Holyhead Island came into view. They were dotted purple with the early spring heather.

On one end of the island was the palace itself, with white stone walls rising into turrets. It wasn't the largest I had ever seen but it was certainly the only inhabited one. At the other end was a small port attached to a town, where most of the palace staff and men at arms resided. The nobles often had their own bodyguards, as the Moon Guard's protection only stretched so far.

The ferry dropped a small boat near the palace for us to disembark. Eric and Tobias claimed the privilege of rowing. We landed the boat on a small beach of white sand and waded ashore. After that, it was only a short walk up the cliff to arrive, breathless and soaking wet at the gates of the palace grounds.

They were manned by hired men under the supervision of a Moon Guard. At the sight of our uniforms and Kai's royal face, they could hardly open them fast enough.

Zara held up a hand and her patrol formed into two lines behind her. We fell in shortly behind them with Kai leading, as befit his rank. We had been told to choose a leader from amongst us, and he had been the overwhelming choice. I was just glad it wasn't me. Leading had never really been my thing. I much preferred to be the one to whisper in the ear of powerful people.

Then all of a sudden, the palace loomed before us. I felt my breathing quicken in anticipation of what would probably be some of the most pressured moments of my life. One wrong move and I would feel the embarrassment for years.

A pair of warriors opened the large, iron-studded doors. We passed through a beautifully decorated corridor of azure blue, only to reach another doorway. The throne room itself stretched out over a hundred metres. The high ceilings with supported by massive columns and arch, all painted gold. The exquisitely carved walls were adorned with portraits of kings and queens alike. I recognised the scenes of several famous battles as we neared the throne itself.

A man who could only have been Wyatt Rochester sat alone on one end of a marble seat. A deep red cushion was the only colour to decorate the famous throne. The shade reminded me a little too much of blood for my liking.

With dark eyes and greying hair, the king lounged back to watch our approach, a cruel smile on his lips. He looked especially smug at Kai's presence. I became distinctly aware of the two members of the Moon Guard who stood on either side of him, hands on their weapons. Something about their stances told me that even if I was stupid enough to try anything, I would be dead before I could draw a knife.

Zara inclined her head, sinking to one knee. I copied, seeing the other guards follow her example. Kai alone remained standing, his weight sifting backwards. He didn't have to kneel—a crown prince outranked a queen's husband.

"Your Majesty," Zara murmured. It didn't sound like she was all too pleased to be saying it. For the first time, I wondered which house she belonged to. Davengard was looking more and more likely by the second. "May I present patrol eighty-nine for duty."

He blatantly ignored her.

"Son," Wyatt Rochester said mockingly. "What a lovely surprise."

Kai's jaw tightened a fraction. "I'm not your son."

The nobles who surrounded the throne drew in a collective breath. The entire room waited with quiet tension. It seemed arguments were not a regular occurrence here.

"Oh believe me, I know. It's a harmless courtesy," the king sneered.

I rose carefully back to my feet, unwilling to kneel to this man any longer than completely necessary. Becky, Ben and Alex followed, although Zara shot us all a warning look and stayed on her knees.

Wyatt folded his arms and smirked. "Did I say you could get up, girl?"

"No. But then again, you didn't say we could breathe either, and nobody's letting that stop them." Oh freaking great, sassy Sav was back with a vengeance. If I got executed for that little impertinence, I may as well fully earn it.

He raised a thin eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

Kai didn't bother to hide his smile. "No, please, excuse us. It's been a long journey, and I'm sure my mother is waiting."

"She is. Now get out of my sight, you insolent pup."

Luckily for me, his anger was completely focused on Kai. I probably could have called him a fat sea lion and he would have found some way to take it out on the prince. It looked like I wouldn't lose my head today. For now, anyway.

Kai led the way out of a side door and down another long corridor. I could feel Zara pulsing with anger behind me, but it wasn't until we were out of the king's sight that she shoved me into a wall by my throat. I didn't struggle. Zara outranked and outmuscled me.

Although a mane of tawny hair blocked my view of my friends, several low growls told me they hadn't reacted very well. Guessing their leader's movements even before she made them, her patrol blocked them from reaching us. A solid wall of muscle and flesh cutting me off from any chance of help.

"What the bloody hell do you think you're doing?" she hissed at me. It was a rhetorical question, if only because I couldn't breathe enough to reply. "Never, ever talk back to the king, you hear me? Try it again and I'll rip out your throat before you can open your damn mouth. Is that understood?"

Zara loosened the pressure on my throat a fraction and I gulped in a lungful of cool air. "Understood."

She gave me one last hard stare before letting go and stalking off without a backward glance. Her patrol followed in much the same manner. Kai put a hand on my back as I rubbed my neck and winced. "You alright?"

"I think so," I murmured. My friends were throwing dirty looks after patrol eighty-eight.

"That wasn't fair on Sav," Kai muttered distractedly. "I started it."

"She knows she can't discipline you," Ben said.

"It's okay," I promised. "I'm okay."

The prince gave me a small smile. "In that case, I suppose we had better follow them. It's time you all met my mother."