Mariana couldn't shake the foreboding sense of unease. She didn't know whether to attribute it to the fact that she wasn't home in her room or because she hadn't seen or heard from Lucius ever since the incident. She wondered if he thought about her as much as she did him. She paced around the room for the upteenth time. She was restless. She didn't like the feeling of being trapped. She had mentally counted four days. Four days since she had seen the light of the day. Four days since she last saw Lucius. She didn't think she could take it any longer. Several attempts to leave the room had been futile. She was met with stoic unpleasant guards who only gave her one worded answers. The longest they said was that she couldn't leave the room and that orders were from their majesty.How she longed to leave the room. How she longed to see Lucius. "Lucius...", his name rolled of her tongue in a soft whisper. Like a caress. She gave a long look at her supposed room, her gaze fell on Monalis
It had been eight nights and Pius had heard nothing from neither Fabien nor Cyprus. He suspected that the secret army he had mobilized in search of them would report to him any moment. He still couldn't shake of the feeling that something had gone terribly wrong. The feeling had always been there, only this time, it ate at him more disturbingly.He took a long look around his secret chamber, and mused at himself. He wondered what it would really take to feel like he truly belonged there. He poured his tea and took a long sip, wincing as it burned down his throat. A necessary feeling. He heard a knock. No one knew of his secret chamber except his son and his most trusted soldier. Thorax. The commander of his secret army. His guess was the latter and he desperately hoped he brought good news. He cleared his throat. "Come on in," he ordered.Thorax ushered himself in while bowing to his king, his face grim. " Your Grace, I'm afraid things have taken a wrong turn."His anger building ,
The horses tied to the carriage trudged through the forest at first, then when what seemed like shelter slowly came to view, Thorax tightened it's reins and urged it to go faster. It's gallops in sync with their incessant heart beats. When they got closer, they came to a halt and tied it to a tree, he stayed behind, looking after the horse and carriage.King Pius nodded at him, and went further with his son, in search of the unknown. What should have been a castle with high walls had become a dilapidated shed concealed by the twisted limbs of ancient trees forgotten with time. The air around this dwelling was thick with an ominous aura. They ventured into the abode. They were met with creatures assumed to be werewolves. They roamed the abode with fluidity and ethereal grace. Each one looking more dangerous that the other. Their fur clung with their bodies each strand pulsating with energy. Their claws honed to perfection with their eyes gleaming under the lunar spell.Their snout re
Rays of sunlight cast along the forest leaving a golden hue. As the dawn unfolded, the air still kissed by the night's cool embrace stirred with the promise of a new day. As if aware of the lovers that lay half naked on the floor, the ambient rustle of leaves and the distant singsong sound of the birds a distant melody.Lucius was awake with his elbow propped against his chin. He stared intently at Marianna and he felt his heart ache with love for her. It was impossible to love someone that much. His emotions were in disarray. A mass of contradictions. Love and fear. But majorly love. He was crazily in love with the beautiful woman that lay passion tousled beside him.She was his elixir.A drug he didn't think he'd get enough of. An addiction he didn't want to be free of. She was his redemption. As much as she belonged to another, he had to admit that he had longed stopped seeing her that way. But there this daunting feeling of fear that was eating at him. A residue of their long-live
In the silence of his room, Leonard pondered over the events that had happened hours before, even though seemed to him that it happened a lifetime ago. It had happened so fast. One minute he was trying to subdue Mariana and the next his most trusted and loyal guard appeared in a dangerous stance, ready to pounce on him with looks that shot daggers. Lucius had been loyal to him all his life. He rarely questioned his orders. He had little or no history. All that he could remember of his lineage was that he was a fareaway kingdom that hadn't survived the crises of their neighbouring kingdom. He had been taken as a prisoner and had been brought to Asgaria to serve the prince which happened to to be him.Leonard had never imagined that a day would come where Lucius would disobey his orders, much less stand up to him and stare into his eye with unmasked fury. His eyes had gleamed differently and there was something unmistakably dangerous in those depths. For all that he knew, Lucius had
He was sweating profusely.His heart hammered violently against his chest. The air was hot and humid. He had found refuge in an empty barn he believed was the only place he could be alone to face the devil of what was happening to him.The shadows were threatening to attack and consume him. he could barely make out their figure but he was sure as hell they weren't humans.The rays of light that crept in from the window seemed to be what kept them abay.He was rested against an abandoned wagon that was filled up with hay. It was eerily silent. Beads of sweat formed on his forehead and rolled down his face. When the light from the moon touched those beads, they gave his skin a glistening effect.The light fell over him , revealing the silk white shirt he had on. It was opened at the chest, exposing the rich contours of his smooth chest and his taut muscles. The view came to an end above his navel. His light brown breeches turned deep brown due to the fact that he was sitting on the bare g
~ONE MONTH EARLIER~The atmosphere was cold, despite the fact that the sun was shining high in the sky. Maybe it was because of the towering trees that shielded the lives beneath from the sun's warmth. It could have also been because the sun had just begun to take its place in the sky. Or maybe it was because of the emptiness in Mariana Rosette's heart.Mariana's horse trotted through the quiet woods. Her two companions also followed quietly behind her on their horses. No one said a word.Her white mane suddenly neighed. This caused Mariana to reveal the hand that had been hidden safely behind her dark cloak. She placed her palm on its neck and gently caressed it."Not now, Calliope. Be calm," She told the horse.She moved her dark boots slightly on the dark saddle of the horse. The movement caused her brown riding dress to make ruffling sounds. She ignored it.She threw a short glance at her companions again. They were both of the male species and were old enough to be her fathers. T
Mariana Rosette couldn't forget the gray eyes that she had encountered in the woods. Even as the iron gates of her aunt's courtyard came into view. Even as she examined the elegantly constructed mansion in which her aunt resides. Even as the horses came to a stop and she dismounted Calliope, the thought of those intriguing gray eyes never left her head."We're here Lady Mariana," Quin announced behind her.Mariana nodded and threw another scrutinizing stare at the mansion. It was still the way she remembered it when she visited as a child. It stood on its own in its magnificence. It had a rich mixture of expensive and exotic woods from the best parts of the world as well as bricks that decorated some parts of the wall. The house was the family home of the Romans, her mother's home. The Romans never had a male child and with Mariana's mother dead, every riches that they had was inherited by her aunt, Lydia Roman. Lydia was the same person who had become Mariana's new guardian as her