Island Shifters: Book 03 - An Oath of the Children

I
SLAND
S
HIFTERS

B
OOK
T
HREE

A
N
O
ATH OF THE
C
HILDREN
 

V
ALERIE
Z
AMBITO

Copyright © 2012 Valerie Zambito

All rights reserved.

Cover
Art
by Nick Deligaris

www.deligaris.com

OTHER TITLES BY VALERIE ZAMBITO

Island Shifters - An Oath of the Blood (Book 1)

Island Shifters - An Oath of the Mage (Book 2)

Island Shifters - An Oath of the Children (Book 3)

Angels of the Knights - Fallon (Book 1)

Angels of the Knights - Blane (Book 2)

Classroom Heroes

ISLAND SHIFTERS
SERIES
REVIEWS

“From this book’s first paragraph, I was hooked until the very end.”

“I have to say it has been a very long time since I read a book and got goose bumps!”

“I was swept away by the colorful characters and brisk pacing of the book, almost compelled to keep turning the pages as Zambito’s action-packed story carried me along.”

“Without a doubt, this is, by far, the best book I have ever read in my entire life. As someone who has read over 780 books in the last 20 years, that’s saying something.”

Table of Contents

Prologue

Chapter 1 - The Departure

Chapter 2 - Crones and Crows

Chapter 3 - A Proposal

Chapter 4 - Growls in the Night

Chapter 5 - Blood thirst

Chapter 6 - Betrayal

Chapter 7 - Baya’s Sorrow

Chapter 8 - Birthrights

Chapter 9 - Dangerous Waters

Chapter 10 - The New Order

Chapter 11 - The Mayor’s Gala

Chapter 12 - Immunity

Chapter 13 - Trapped

Chapter 14 - Blood Supply

Chapter 15 - A Tightening Web

Chapter 16 - Predator and Prey

Chapter 17 - Up in Smoke

Chapter 18 - The Island of Ellvin

Chapter 19 - Shattered Innocence

Chapter 20 - Gifts

Chapter 21 - Bloodbath

Chapter 22 - The Feast

Chapter 23 - Gooseberry

Chapter 24 - An Arrow Through the Heart

Chapter 25 - First Blood

Chapter 26 - Surrender

Chapter 27 - A Beacon of Hope

Chapter 28 - Dark Legacy

Chapter 29 - An Arrow Through the Back

Chapter 30 - The Short Stick

Chapter 31 - Battle at the Gates

Chapter 32 - An Oath of the Children

Chapter 33 - Calm Before the Storm

Chapter 34 - Airstrike

Chapter 35 - Release From Darkness

Chapter 36 - The Return

Ruling Nobility of Massa

About The Author

P
ROLOGUE

The boy knew
he would be punished.
That much was certain. All that remained to be seen was
what form it would take.

A tremor of fear raced up his spine as he ran, and he fought back the urge to cry.
The
Shiprunner
had been very clear in his instructions to deliver the letter unopened
and without haste
to the Premier.
Anyone with sense would have done just that, but
curiosity got the better of him, and after
examining the rolled parchment, he
felt
confident that
he
could
manipulate the wax
seal
back into
shape so
that
it
would
appear
undisturbed.

He
had been
wrong.

Even he could see that the Premier would know immediately that the letter had been opened.

Clutching the damning evidence tightly in one hand, his anxiety propelled his steps faster as he
raced
through the streets of Ellvin.

Papa
often warned him that his inquisitiveness would
get him into
trouble, but
surely, his father
could
understand how
all of the gossip
in the villages
had built his hopes so.
With
worry
for
Mama
weighing on his mind,
the temptation
had
proved too much.

Despite the
reprisal
sure to be handed down on him
from the Premier, a
surge
of excitement
coursed through his body as he recalled the written
words
of
the missive.
The rumors
were
true.
People from far away were coming to the island to meet
with the Premier,
and
they were bringing precious
wormwood
plants
with them.

The boy shook his head in disbelief.
Bringing
them here
to the island!
Maybe now
Mama
will be able to take the draught she so desperately needs.
He knew there was a long waiting list for the meager supply of wormwood left on the island, but if these new visitors brought enough,
it was
possible that his
mother
could be moved higher on the list.

With renewed hope, the boy ran
faster, dodging around carts and pedestrians,
his long black hair flowing behind him.

If he was going to suffer lashes for opening the letter, he did not need to add any more by being late.
Pumping his arms furiously, his small feet kicked up a trail of dust from the dirt road leading to the Premier’s
compound. Passing through the
caste
villages
along the way, he did not stop, even when friends of his called out
for
him to join in their game
of
marbles.
With a
curt
shake of his head,
he
pushed on.
Not just because of the lashes, but because he wanted
Mama
well again and the sooner the Premier received the letter, the sooner the foreigners would come.

“Letter for the Premier!” he shouted out as soon as he descended on the front gates
of the
compound. He
waved the parchment in his hand at the
two
Battlearms standing guard.
“Quickly now, let me in! Important letter for the Premier!”

One of the
slender guards
on duty
thrust
his spear out toward
the boy
in
order to stop him from advancing further.
The other
reached out and
rang a
large, bronze
bell.

The Premier’s Adjunct, his
white
tongor
flowing
around his ankles, strode across the courtyard to the gates. He grabbed the iron bars and peered
imperiously
down at the boy.
“What is it?” he asked impatiently.

The boy held the note up. “A message for the Premier,
sir!”

The Adjunct
pushed his spectacles higher on his nose with one finger and
looked at the rolled parchment, but made no move to take it from him. “Is it from
the ships?”

“Aye, sir.”

“Very well, come with me.”

The
fighter
opened the gate to allow him passage.
“Maybe
I could just leave it—”

“You heard me, boy,” the Adjunct snapped.
“Now come along.”

With a resigned sigh, the boy followed behind the Adjunct, renewed trepidation making his feet feel
as though
they were
made of lead. He had never been
to
the Premier’s compound
before.
In truth, he was not even a messenger. He just happened to be
playing at the docks when the
Shiprunner
grabbed him by the
back of the
neck and ordered him to deliver the note.

He looked
down
at the wax seal in one last desperate
glance
to
determine
if there was anything
he could do to
fix his mistake, but there was nothing.

Swallowing
back his fear,
he
climbed
three flights of stairs behind the Adjunct
and then followed him down an
opulent
arched corridor
with
large curved
windows
lining
the
sides. The hallway
reminded
the boy
of a tunnel, only this tunnel
held
magnificent tapestries, vases, and golden statues
the like he had never seen in his entire life. He tried not to gawk, but it was impossible. The value of the items in this hallway could probably feed his entire
caste
for a year.
It always puzzled him
why
moneyed folk
purchased meaningless trinkets when they could buy more practical things like food and tools
and, of course, the draught. Did the Premier not
realize
that
many
people on the island were struggling to feed their families
and
to get their names on the lists?
The boy shook his head. If
he
was the Premier, he would sell all
of these items and give
the
profits to the
people that needed it the most.