Soren POVIt was a few hours before Ayla finished taking the tests, at first she was learning how the app worked, and she also didn't read things so quickly often. She would just stare at the question for several minutes before answering, and they weren't math questions, but basic logic or text interpretation questions.When she finally finished and handed the tablet to Victor, he opened the statistics and Ayla has the same education as a child, she can read and write, she understands some things and can even do some basic math, but that's about it... She even did a little better when it came to simple text interpretation.This means she has a lot to learn and not only that, I'm going to have to hire special tutors for her. I'm pretty good at governing, but having to explain things like this isn't my strong suit."Great!" Victor said excitedly, much more excitedly than I'd expected. "With this here, I'll be able to help you better and get the right people to teach you."Ayla didn't sh
Soren POV"Well, we know which stone she tuned." Ishtar comments. I try to clean Ayla's ear, but I realize it won't stop bleeding."Get us out of here," I say, and Ishtar looks at me instead."You need to tune your stone..." The sorceress spoke, and I felt Strïth wanted to take over. "Let me hold Ayla." She moved closer.Strïth held Ayla's body tighter."If you don't choose a soul stone now, you'll miss your chance! She's already attuned to hers, you need to find one that's compatible with you and her!" Ishtar said in exasperation. "The longer you delay, the more she'll get hurt."Ishtar then holds out the stone that Ayla had picked up for me. I look at Victor, who approaches and then takes my mate in his arms. The smell of her blood is becoming more intense, and Strïth is becoming more and more uncontrollable. I grab Ishtar's stone and immediately feel my hand burn and let out a grunt of pain, but I look around, hoping to be attracted to something else. Ayla's blood is a problem, as
Soren POVAyla hadn't progressed at all, even though Victor and I had told her several times that she could do things without our permission, she still only did what we told her to.The only evolution was in her reading, she is much better now and reading slightly more complex books, but I think she's making an effort, not because she wants to, but because it's expected of her and that perhaps she'll be punished if she doesn't. Her feelings are distant, and it's hard to understand why she doesn't want to.Her feelings are distant, and it's very difficult for me to connect, it seems that with Strïth asleep it's even worse. Now we're in the living room, Ayla is on her tablet, reading one of the books Victor has chosen, while he and I are playing chess.I feel the air change and become a little heavier and Ishtar appears, with a tired expression but a smile on her face and a little wooden box in her hands. I know all this is going to cost a lot, but it'll be worth it, it has to."That's
Soren POVThe drive back to the castle was practically silent, except for the music Victor was playing. Ayla kept playing on her tablet the whole time, and when I realized she had finished reading something, she would switch to something else.We had to stop at a few places to eat, but usually, Victor would go out and get the food and bring it back to the car so that Ayla could exercise with us for 10 to 15 minutes and ask her to do some exercises.The journey took almost a whole day, which for Victor and me is nothing, but just uncomfortable being in a car, even if it is spacious. I can feel the air of the capital, and it cheers me up at the same time as it worries me. As soon as the castle gates open, I can already see people trying to look into the car and I hear people greeting me mentally.As soon as we arrive, Victor tries to clear the way, saying that we're tired from the trip and that we want to rest, but soon my eyes fall on Lilian and Lily, both of whom are wearing very reve
Soren POV "Tell me honestly, did you want this?" I asked the girlShe swallowed dryly, and I held her chin, forcing our eyes to meet, and then I invaded her mind, she didn't show any resistance and just let me in and what I saw didn't please me, at first she liked Bryan because he was elegant and always attentive to her, but then he started to distance her from other men, fighting when she interacted with other people, he didn't use physical force, but the words of abuse were enough to make my anger almost get out of control. The fear she felt thinking that if she told the truth, no one would believe her and how he only did it in private places, with no one to see...Of course, humans don't know the extent of our powers, even living in the castle, and not all vampires can do what I did, but if she spoke to any of the officers, someone would surely have read her mind.I already had little patience when something like this happened, now that I have Ayla and I know that she was a slave,
Victor POVIt took me a while to get used to Ayla's posture, seeing the way she looked at us, not being able to perceive any change in her expression, and her heart continuing at the same pace...She's like a living doll, both in appearance and in the way she acts, and I can see that everyone gets annoyed as we pass, after all, whenever there's a new human or any other being, they're usually frightened or enchanted.I know that Isaac isn't in his office, he's in the schoolyard, supervising a more advanced class, there are some teachers by his side, the conversation revolving around those who were ahead and those who needed more training. This makes me a little happier, since everyone there will get to meet Ayla straight away."Good afternoon," I said, and the four of them turned to me.I can immediately see their expressions of astonishment when they realize there's a human behind me and then horror, nobody is used to seeing someone like Ayla and I know they're wondering what happened
The Thing POVI'm back in Victor's room, sitting at the table with the tablet in front of me. This Percy Jackson book is really interesting. I know it's fantasy. After all, although the Gods exist, they're not as described in the book. Humans are very creative, besides, focusing on the story helps me forget where I am and now it's my favorite place, inside a book.Instinctively I feel Soren approaching, by his smell and he sits down next to me, I know he's watching me read, it seems to be his favorite thing. His expression of adoration seems sincere."Ayla." He calls me by the name he gave me, but it makes no sense to me.After all, a slave doesn't need a name, but I think it makes it easier for others to identify me. I lift my gaze to look at him."You're going to start your lessons soon, I know Victor has already informed you about the teachers, but there are some things that only Victor or I can ask of you." Soren is more serious. "No one can touch you, not sexually or inappropriat
The Thing POVI woke up, missing something, blinking a few times to understand where I was and to remember what had happened the night before. I widened my eyes, I was missing Soren's warmth, the caress of his fingers and the comfort he brought me.I know it's the bond's fault, his way of bringing me closer to Soren and getting me to let my guard down.I took a deep breath and brought my hand up to my eyes, covering them. Everything is getting complicated, and I know it's only going to get worse.'Do I have enough courage to do the rejection ritual?I found myself wondering, after all, this will only go away once the ritual is done, until then he'll still be affecting me and this bond will only grow.'How much more does he need to destroy my world?I breathed heavily and finally opened my eyes again and sat up in bed, there was no one around, they had probably woken up early and gone to do their duties.I see that there's a breakfast tray on the table, which indicates that they've let
Ayla POVEvery step I take away from the imperial bedroom, my heart races, this is a dream come true, and I still can't believe it's really happening. A part of me is afraid that it's all just a dream and that I'll end up waking up on the cold floor of Julian's pack.The aisles are full of flowers that are typical of spring, as this was the first thing I decided, that the theme of the wedding would be the season when most flowers bloom.In addition, of course, to having the flowers from each of the houses, even those that bloom at specific times... Ishtar had already helped me with this, making sure they were all bright and at their peak.I stop at the window to see how happy everyone is, with the music echoing even as high as I am. Most of them are my subj
Ayla POVThe days passed in the blink of an eye, even though I felt weaker with each passing day, as the amount of auras weighed heavily on my shoulders.The potions that fairies give me are very strong and every time I take them I end up sleeping for the whole period, so I started taking them every morning, as soon as I woke up, because it added to the strength that Ghost was feeding me.It was only because of this that I was able to spend the afternoon and part of the evening with my guests and so many races had arrived, the Castle was lit up with so much happiness and so much diversity.Gradually, everyone got on board with the theme of the wedding, "Spring". The flowers have been hand-picked because they symbolize what we are, there are all the flowers
Victor POVSeeing Ayla interact with the rulers of the Faerie Kingdom is history in the making, and I'm sure the other Kingdoms will be more afraid of how gigantic our Kingdom is becoming.The alliance with the Kingdom of the Fairies is something very unexpected, as well as important because their magic is just as powerful as that of the Kingdom of the Wizards and the Witches. It means that in this war we are taking several more steps towards victory.These revelations add to what Ghost has told us. Of course, we're not happy to know that others can see how our bond is doing and that worries me because when the Kingdom of the Wizards and the Witches arrive, it will be very clear and that will make us targets for attacks.My mate's sadness resonates in my ch
Ayla POVI could feel something different as I approached the Hall of Thrones and when we entered it became clearer why there was music in the air, something like what I've heard in some Soul stones, but this one is different.There are so many different voices and I don't understand what they're saying, but I don't need to, because I can feel the emotions they want to convey and as I looked at the Rulers it became clearer that the music came from them and was made for them.The pain is hidden behind happy, fast notes, with a lively beat that the other fairies follow instinctively, and it's almost impossible to perceive the undertones of sadness and melancholy.The voices want to cheer up their Rulers after a sad event, and I can connect with that because I
Victor POVI let my aura flow towards Soren so that he calms down because Ghost is right and Soren hates it when he's challenged. No matter who it was."You're right, Ghost," I said before Soren could say anything. "We really need to decide on the next in command. A lot of decisions have been put on the back burner by all the situations we've been through."Ayla is feeling guilty because she knows that Ghost only did what we asked, and she thinks she could have done more to help him."But this isn't the place for something like that. I'll arrange a meeting in the afternoon with the Heads of Houses and also with the leaders of the strongest Packs in your Kingdom." I continued speaking.Ghost looked at Ayla intens
Ayla POVI wake up and realize immediately that I'm not in the imperial bedroom and the smell of Ghost is everywhere, enveloping me and my heart squeezes because I had hoped this wouldn't have to happen and I couldn't hold back the silent tears that started to flow.I'm feeling so miserable, simply because I'm not strong enough to regenerate on my own. Then I feel a blanket being placed over me, the smell of Soren and Victor is there, and at the same moment, I feel better.It's as if I had betrayed my mates before, but now it's as if they are embracing me and understanding the situation. In parts, I can't believe I have such good and understanding mates.I lay there for a few more minutes before getting up and looking around; the room has a medieval style a
Ayla POVThe days have passed and more and more I feel my body aching and hurting when I take the potions, but at least I'm managing to withstand the auras of the various types of creatures and beings that are arriving to take part in the wedding.Of course, I don't meet all of them, just the most important ones for now and always in the Hall of Thrones, because there I feel much stronger, and I'm not so affected by the auras.Of course, I'm sleeping more and so the surrounding security has doubled. I always have a few soldiers around me when Victor and Soren aren't around. Even with Ghost present, everyone agreed that this extra security would be better.I didn't pass out in any of the encounters, but I was always drained at the end of them. This shows how
Ayla POVThe meeting to choose the flowers was kind of fun, as there are many types and many ways to create bouquets, and it was a bit difficult to choose the ones that made the most sense for the wedding.Of course, there can't be too many magical flowers, as that would add more weight to my aura and probably hurt me more, so I decided on just two flowers around the Castle that mean many things, the Smeraldo and Selene's Tears, even though we have few Tears, it's still an important flower.The two flowers will even make up part of my bouquet, and it's going to be beautiful, I never thought my life would change so much. After all, I was a mere slave, with no prospect of anything but dying.Living only to serve others, without ever uttering a sound or a word
Soren POVThe meeting with the Heads of House was extremely boring, one of the few things I hate about being Emperor, as these meetings can often go on for days, as each one wants to be better than the other and have the upper hand.Although each House had its function within the Kingdom, the Heads always wanted to have a greater influence. Even more so with Skyler's problem, I need to put someone else in charge of the House of Poppies, but the person I choose will be my third-in-command.For a while now, I've been thinking about putting Ghost as my third-in-command and choosing another leader for the House of Poppies, but the problem is that this is going to cause some strife among my subjects, whether they're Heads of House or not.I know the Lycan race w