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Chapter 60: Follow The Leader - Valeria
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A Queen Among Darkness Chapter 61: Testify - Valeria
It’s not long before we come to a stop and for a second I fear trusting an unexplained ball of light was a really dumb fucking move. “There’s a wall, but it’s not dirt, it’s stone,” she says. I reach my hand out and feel in front of me, and sure enough the wall is smooth. I feel the wall start to silently move back and a crack of light streams into the tunnel. I peek through the crack and can see a giant hall of some sort. The room is filled with women with sparkling flecks of gold covering their skin. From what I remember Izzy telling me, these must be irshiusts. Some of them are surrounding something, and it’s not till some of them shift that I notice what, or who, they’re surrounding. It’s Izzy! My heart begins to thunder furiously in my chest and every impulse in me is telling me to run to her, but I force myself to stay in place. Looking closer I can tell something is wrong. Her gorgeous olive skin looks grey and sickly, I can see her hair sticking to her face, but she’s not sa
A Queen Among Darkness Chapter 62: Coming to Blows - Isolde
Even with all the arguing, I was certain death was inevitable at this point. I never in a million years thought Valeria would find a way to sneak into the most impenetrable fortress on earth, bringing with her the Empress of the nagata – something I’ll have to get details on later – all just to save me. I rejected her and yet she, a human, managed to come all this way for me. I’ve never had someone go to such lengths for me. I never questioned her love, but there’s not a chance I ever will after today. But Manon couldn’t let me be happy for five minutes. Well, she’s certainly shown her true colours now, but she made the biggest mistake of her life. Poisoning me is one thing. Trying to kill Valeria in front of me? This bitch is mine. I step around Valeria feeling more invigorated than I have in a long time. I knew the Gold Snake that every nagata Empress is blessed with has healing abilities that far surpass anything a makkari can do, even a Priest or Priestess. Their healing is seco
A Queen Among Darkness Chapter 63: An Ascension - Isolde
I push my magic forward with all my might, feeling as though I’m trying to push through solid steel, but I only feel her magic give a fraction before it pushes back at me. “You’re pathetic. You can’t protect them; you can’t even protect yourself. Hiding away for centuries, too scared to face me. To face your failure. You’ll die as the only High Priestess to never ascend. You’ll be erased from history, and I shall rise a Goddess,” she says maniacally. I tune her out and continue to channel everything I have into my magic, but I feel my feet begin to slide back against the marble. “Just give up, Isolde,” she mocks pushing her magic towards me with all her strength, “I have an endless supply of magic at my disposal. My power is infinite. I have everything, what do you have?” She gloats. Her words have images filtering through my mind like a Rolodex being spun out of control. Images of happy moments shared with my family, followed by the flames that burned them alive. Images and memorie
A Queen Among Darkness Chapter 64: It's Over - Isolde
The moment she’s out of sight I feel my body relax and finally, I feel like I can breathe again. I turn around and can see every irshiust in the room walking towards me, but my eyes are focused on the most important person in the room. Valeria stands only a few feet away and yet those few feet have never felt so distant. Her eyes meet mine and I feel everything fade away. As if in sync, we run to each other, wrapping our arms around each other. I bury my face in her neck and breathe her in. She feels like home, but the electricity from our touch is painfully muted, and I know I am to blame. “You came for me,” I whisper. “Of course I did, I told you I will always have your back,” she says, squeezing me tighter. I take a deep breath and squeeze her in return, but sadly she pulls back out of my hold. Her eyes harden and she punches me harshly right in the arm. “OW!” I exclaim, grabbing my arm. “If you ever reject me again I will personally kick your voluptuous ass, do you understand m
A Queen Among Darkness Chapter 65: Rebuilding - Isolde
With slow measured steps I walk through the ash and charcoal debris of what was once my home, the only piece of it left intact being the library, still preserved by my magic. Smartest decision I ever made. “Are you okay?” Valeria asks as she comes over, placing a hand on my shoulder, “You can rebuild it, can’t you?” I nod, “Effortlessly, but that’s not the point.” “I know,” she says softly, wrapping her arm around me, “Did you ever rebuild your family home?” She gently asks. I shake my head, “I couldn’t. I would have never been able to step foot in it again. It would have been too painful.” She nods in understanding and gives me a squeeze, “You don’t have to rebuild it if you don’t want to. We can go somewhere else,” she suggests. “I want to do this. This is our home,” I say as I squeeze her hand on my shoulder, “I won’t let her take that from me too.” I step out of her grasp and bring my magic forward, instantly it flares around me like an ignited flame, and with ease I push m
A Queen Among Darkness Chapter 66: Soaking Away Troubles - Isolde
After dinner we see everyone off and Valeria races upstairs while I clear the table. We still have a lot left over so I’m packing it away in the fridge. I hate wasting food. As I make my way upstairs I stop at the portrait of my family that hangs next to the landing. I walk over and look up at the faces of my family and gently run my fingers across the canvas. “I did it,” I say with tears in my eyes, “Took a long time, but I finally got justice. I can’t take all the credit though, wouldn’t have been possible without Valeria. You’d have really loved her,” I smile. I’m sure it’s just in my head, but for years when I looked at this portrait, the faces of my family looked sad, but now… I swear they look happy. I make my way to the bedroom and when I step in I can’t seem to find Valeria. “Val?” I call out. “In here!” I hear her call from the bathroom. I make my way to the ensuite and open the door to see the bath running as Valeria pours some purple liquid into the stream causing bubbl
A Queen Among Darkness Chapter 67: Mending Bridges - Isolde
I couldn’t sleep a wink. One would think now that I have nothing to fear or worry about that I should be able to slip into the best night's sleep of my life. I suspect anyone who would think that has lived a very easy life. The fears that kept me up at night may be gone, but that defence inside me is still up. I spent all night watching Valeria sleep peacefully in my arms, terrified if I let my eyes close, I’d wake up only to find myself back in that cell awaiting my execution. I know everything is over and the truth is out there, and soon every makkari will know the truth, but it hasn’t sunk in as much as I thought it had. You don’t live in fear for two centuries and lose all those survival instincts in mere hours.It wasn’t so bad though. Watching Valeria sleep, knowing she’s safe in my arms helped relax me, while simultaneously filling me with guilt. She won’t tell me just how much pain she’s in from my rejection, not that I blame her. She puts on such a brave face and it’s eating
A Queen Among Darkness Chapter 68: Marking Ceremony pt 1 - Valeria
This past week has been terrific for my self-esteem. Not that I needed a self-esteem boost, but it never hurts. Tweedledum has been our personal servant and I have loved every minute of it, especially since he couldn’t use his magic as much as he liked. Welcome to being a human! To his credit, he has done a fantastic job at preparing everything for our marking ceremony. I haven’t been allowed outside to see the final touches, and I’m dying to. I tried to peek out the window, but Arthwin magically removed the window entirely, which was a dick move. I’m finishing getting dressed in my old room while Izzy gets ready in our room. It’s nice that there are some human traditions that overlap, like me not being able to see Izzy before the ceremony. I can’t wait to see her, I know she’ll look stunning, but this is the longest we’ve been apart since her capture, and I don’t fucking like it. Izzy has been staying close, and I think it’s because she noticed that I still have pain from the reject
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A Queen Among Darkness Chapter 67: Mending Bridges - Isolde
