Since remembering the Dark Mage and what he did to her, Ayla had felt ashamed of the way she screamed and cried and begged each time she had been tortured. Queen Vannya had called her weak and pathetic when she looked at Ayla’s memories. The queen was right; she was pitiful. But seeing the Magic Teacher so... calm when studying her memories made her question everything Sarya told her she had to do. What if she failed? What if Beliar won because of her? Could someone else be the Peace-Bringer? Before he left Ayla’s mind, he looked at another memory. At dawn, the heavy gates that prevented the enemy army from entering Erylas finally gave way after hours of being hit with the battering ram and with magic. Ayla was in her room, on her knees, praying to Addanos that her death would be quick, but that of Galian and her father would be so painful and slow they would beg—beg—for mercy, just like she did so many times. It was around midnight when Galian went to Ayla’s room. She knew why he
The clock on the wall chimed nine in the morning. Plates with the leftovers of Ayla and Rhobart’s breakfast were on the table inside their room. A strong blizzard was howling outside. Kerra was sleeping peacefully in front of the fireplace. Ayla lay on the bed watching the red and orange flames dancing in the fireplace, her head on Rhobart’s bare chest. He was leaning back against the pillows, reading to her from a book written in Old Nordmarian while his fingers were combing her unbraided hair. Ayla barely understood what Rhobart was reading, but nonetheless, she loved listening to his voice. A week had passed since the Magic Teacher arrived at the Fire Monastery. Ayla had spent most of the time either with the Snow Elf trying to find a way to restore her magic, with Milton in the Great Library, or with Atlas and the twins training with the dagger. Rhobart sometimes joined her, but he was mostly busy with the preparations for the war and often met with the chief of the Fire Clan
She put her hand between them and ran her palm on top of his trousers. His cock, his very hard cock, throbbed against her palm. He groaned. “Do you have any idea what you do to me when you touch me like this? When your little fingers—” Whatever Rhobart was about to say got interrupted by a knock on the door. Ayla reached out her hand to grab the duvet. She should have let the drapes loose around the bed. “Go away!” Rhobart growled loudly. “We are not here.” “My King, I am sorry for disturbing you, but the Arch-Mage requires the presence of Lady Ayla in his study,” the voice of a man came from behind the door. Rhobart sighed in annoyance. “Tell him we will be there in a moment.” The man left. “I guess playtime is over,” Ayla pouted. Rhobart chuckled and kissed her brow. “We will continue what we started once we get rid of the Arch-Mage.” After they got dressed and made themselves presentable, Rhobart opened the door. “Kerra, come!” said Rhobart before he and Ayla left the
“Did you?” Ayla wanted to know. “Oh yeah,” Rhobart said. “And they beat me.” Ayla laughed, “They did not.” “They did. But don’t tell them that I admitted it. To this day, I insist that I let them defeat me.” Milton chuckled. “I wish I were there to see the mighty Rhobart defeated by the twins.” “I must say, I was very impressed. Not that I told them. My father saw everything and invited them to his tent. My mother took a liking to them, and soon after that, the twins started training with the knights.” When they reached stairs made of wood, Milton looked over his shoulder. “The pool is at the bottom of these stairs, but please be careful while climbing down. Because of the humidity, moss has grown on them, and they can be quite slippery.” The stairs appeared to be on the upper part of a— “Is this a cave?” Ayla asked as they started climbing down. Milton nodded. “It was discovered after the Fire Monastery was built.” “Interesting,” said Ayla. “Back to the twins, when did th
During the night, Ayla had a strange dream. Rhobart, Milton, Kerra, the Paladins, her, and a few more people she did not recognize were in a building made of stone. The building was mostly in ruins, but four stone pedestals stood in the middle of the floor. Ayla, Rhobart, Milton, and Droyn placed four objects on the pedestals. Moments later, a portal opened, and they entered it. The portal took them inside what appeared to be a very tall cave, but there was no way of getting out of it. Close to them was a path winding up along the wall. They walked on the path until they reached the upper part of the cave. A temple was built inside the wall. Rhobart and the Paladins unsheathed their swords while Milton took out a magic rune. They entered the temple. Magic crystals illuminated the chamber. Eight stone sentinels sat next to two big stone doors, four to the left and four to the right. On the stone doors, seven symbols were carved. Ayla touched one of them, and the stone sentinels came t
Sylvar’s blue eyes turned dark, and he bared his teeth. “Rania is my other half. My n’alxa. I’ve tried to talk to her, but those two Paladins are always in my way. I am trying to be patient, but if I see them touch what is mine one more time....” “If Rania is yours, why aren’t you with her? And why are you still letting those two dimwits near her?” Milton asked. Sylvar looked flustered. “I wanted to take things slow and give her time to adjust to the idea that she will be with me. Human-elf n’alxaes are very rare.” “Does she know?” Ayla asked. “Not yet. Sarya had a vision before I left Arvamel, and she told me about Rania. I didn’t expect the Paladins when I came to the Fire Monastery, and now I am unsure of how to approach her.” “Listen here, you go to her, grab her face between your palms,” Rhobart said while fisting Ayla’s braid. She tried to bat his hands away from her, but his hold on her was strong. “You look straight into her eyes,” Rhobart kept talking while his onyx eyes
Rhobart slept peacefully beside Ayla, his left hand around her waist, his face buried in her hair, but she... she was still awake, thinking about the twins. She felt sorry for the twins, for she knew how big their desire was to find their n’alxa. And then there were Rania and Sylvar. What if Sylvar could not get past the fact that Rania had been with the twins? A pale moon rose above Nordmar. O’neltxero—The Longest Night in the Year—will be in five days during the next Full Moon. Feasts were to be held in the village and the monastery. She and Rhobart would celebrate not only the beginning of a new year but also fourteen years since they had their alxa-lotx ceremony. After the O’neltxero, Rhobart wanted to return to the Warrior Clan and finish preparations for the war. Ayla had yet to find the forgotten book or anything about Uzriel or the prophecy. Knowing what was at stake, Ayla got out of bed, dressed silently, put on a black cloak that Rhobart had purchased for her when they wer
Ayla refused to take the mug from Eude. “I can’t. I might be with child,” she let the twins know. The lack of her monthly cycle was starting to bother her. What if she truly was with child? Eude sat beside his brother and put the extra mug on one of the empty chairs. Hudde drank from his mug. “Rhobart’s seed finally took root, huh?” Eude looked at Ayla’s belly. “The bastard didn’t lose any time! Are you thinking the same thing as I, brother?” “I think I am, brother!” Hudde replied. The twins clinked the mugs and drank all the wine. “We are going to be uncles,” they said cheerfully. “We are going to teach the little prince everything we know.” Ayla never expected to see the twins so happy for a baby that wasn’t theirs. Hudde poured some more wine. “We will take the little prince hunting and fishing and show him how to use a sword and a bow. When he comes of age, we will take him to get his piercings and teach him all about women.” Eude grinned. “We will take him to women befor