Kaltain Kingdom Leiya I walked beside Helion as he led me through the streets of his kingdom. I learnt that it was called Kaltain. As we walked through the streets I noticed the neatness and organization his people showcased. Even the little children played in selected areas and avoided work areas. As we walked by, everyone would stop and bow to their king with wide smiles. It didn't seem like they didn't know him, in fact it seemed like they were used to seeing him in the streets often. I was impressed. He spoke a few words to the people, only when he had to, else he would just wave as he walked by. He showed me to the market. All the sellers had their produce organized properly on a straight line with equal spacing in between each person. That way, there were no clusters and everyone was seen. “Your majesty.” I heard someone call his name from behind and we both turned. A fair, pretty looking maiden walked up to him. She looked so excited to see him but I couldn't say t
Kaltain Kingdom Leiya After spending the whole day walking around almost half of Kaltain, Helion and I finally retired back to the castle. I had never seen the insides of the building before as I have been confined to my bed chambers for months. It wasn't particularly bright or cozy as my father's, it was however huge and properly organized. “Join me at the dinner table.” I heard him say. He walked ahead of me and didn't bother to look back. Saying no didn't feel like an option to me. Whatever I did, I wouldn't want to get on his bad side. I followed quietly behind him through the long, poorly lit halls. Most of everywhere was either almost dark or completely dark. Once we came before two giant brown doors, the guards standing on each side pushed them open, revealing a better lit room than the rest of the castle. I noticed foods of different kinds had already been placed on the table, which made me confused. He said he didn't eat human food but the table was enough to fe
Kaltain Leiya My eyes shot open. Beads of sweat were gathered around my neck and on my temple. It didn't take me long to realize I was having a nightmare. I let out a small sigh as I turned to face the window. The full moon was high up in the sky indicating it was the middle of the night. The horrific images of my dream seeped into my thoughts. My father and mother, lying in a pool of their blood. What was scarier was Nayla lying beside them, also in a pool of blood. Her blood. It sent chills down my spine. I couldn't bring myself to even think she wasn't alive but I knew I needed to be sure for myself. The truth, however bitter, would always be better than living in uncertainty. As I lay in bed, thinking of how I was going to escape Kaltain in one piece, I heard footsteps coming from outside my window. I immediately froze in my bed. Seconds later, the noise came again, this time a little louder. I held my breath, mustered up courage and slowly climbed out of my bed. I ti
Kaltain Leiya I scrambled to sit up the moment my eyes opened. “Relax,” I heard a voice beside me. I turned to discover Helion sitting on a chair a few metres away. I looked around in confusion. Everything looked different and out of place. I noticed things I had not seen before and wondered when they were brought in. "You're in my chamber.” I heard him say and my confusion disappeared. Just then I realized I had a throbbing migraine. Slowly, I relaxed back into bed. “Can you talk?” The moment I heard his question, the horrific images of the night before flooded my mind. “She came into my room last night.” I mumbled. He leaned out of his chair, his eyes fixated on mine, eager for more information on what happened to me. “I need as many details of last night as you can remember Leiya.” His eyes slowly began to take their bright red form. I looked away, trying to piece together the events of the night before. “I, I had a nightmare that woke me up,” I began
Kaltain Leiya “Leiya,” The faint calling of my name penetrated the walls of my mine. It sounded like a whisper. A call from deep within my mind. “Leiya,” This time the voice was clearer and more assertive. It was obvious it wasn't from my thoughts. I slowly opened my eyes. They fell on Helion sitting on his chair. I slowly looked around. I was still in his chamber. “Is that her?” He asked, pointing to the far corner of the room. I noticed the same lady from the market that also came up to attack me, struggling with herself. She had no bounds or chains around her but she just kept struggling violently like she was being held. What was even more confusing was she was lifted from above the ground. I looked back to Helion's questioning eyes. “Yes, she's the one who came up to my room.” “Are you sure about that, love? The only time I've seen you was with his majesty in the market.” She spoke differently, softer, calmer and even nicer. Like a truly different person cau
Valinor Nayla Xerian's assertive voice took everyone by surprise. I let my breath go and turned to look at him with my teary eyes. “I said, stop.” This time he growled at the guard holding the axe above me. The guard did as he was told and stepped away. Xerian rushed to my side, aiding me to my feet. I wasn't sure what was happening but as long as I wasn't getting my fingers chopped off, I was happy. “Xerian what are you doing?” We turned to the king and I noticed he had gotten up from his throne. The queen had gotten up too and so did Katlyn. “I’m saving an innocent person from having her fingers cut off for something she had no hand in.” I looked at Xerian as he spoke with so much confidence. “Xerian you are countering your father's order. The King.” His mother spoke after a brief silence. It was obvious the King king was breathing furiously at the stubbornness of his son. “Mother, you know me better than anyone else. You know that I wouldn't say something if I
Kaltain Leiya I couldn't sleep almost all night. I was repeatedly waking up at intervals. The excitement of being one step closer to my Nayla was enough to give me butterflies. I was up at the crack of dawn, waiting for him to appear in the center of my chamber. Sure enough, he did. “Did you even sleep at all?” he feigned surprise as he walked to the chair. “Yes.” I whispered. “Lies are distasteful Leiya” I immediately fell silent, watching him shake his head. When he walked closer to the window, I noticed a book in his hands. A dark looking, uninteresting book. “Your first lesson,” He announced as he turned to look at me, holding the book with both hands in front of him. “Is to teleport yourself outside your chamber.” He said casually and planted himself onto the chair. He held out the book to me with a straight face. I stared at him, the book and back to him. I was supposed to learn spells from a book? I almost laughed at the idea itself. I shrugged quietly, s
Kaltain Leiya I spent the whole day cluelessly flipping through the old pages of what Helion handed to me. I had no idea how I was supposed to magically figure out what spell was to successfully teleport me out of my chamber. The whole book was written in the language of the spells and I was close to giving up. “How's my student doing?” I rolled my eyes at the sound of his voice. I didn't need him to be here, especially if he wasn't going to be of any help to me. I remained silent, flipping through it's pages like I knew what I was doing. “You haven't touched your food.” He announced like I didn't already know that. I couldn't eat. My father taught me to starve myself of food whenever I had an objective to achieve. That way, he said, your body, soul and mind would work together. Also, I was too furious to eat. “Leiya,” “What?!” He shot me a dead stare that made me realize I had raised my voice. I was so frustrated, I was slowly losing control over my emotions. If I
Valinor Nayla After Leiya left, it took a few more days for Xerian and I to completely settle back into our previous life as prince and princess of Valinor. To announce the returning of his only son and future king, the royal informat was sent to every corner in the entire kingdom. The night we returned, a big fire was lit in the town square. There was loud singing and vigorous dancing. By the next day, King Raslin threw a large feast for the entire kingdom. The castle gates were opened for everyone, both adults and children, to come welcome us. Xerian and I sat on the royal table in the courtroom, waving and smiling to everyone who came. And gifts. The people brought a lot of gifts. From fruits, to vegetables, to meat, to wine, our table was filled with them all. The day after that, the king threw another feast to celebrate our arrival. This time it was not open to the public, only other royals were invited. Kings, queens and their children from far and wide honored his invitati
Kaltain LeiyaHelion immediately let go of me. The fear in Calin's eyes showed he was being completely honest. Kaltain was supposed to be safe. Completely safe. “The forcefield," Helion mumbled in horror. “It's weak, I haven't done the ritual since the last time." My head instantly connected the dots together. Shortly after he performed the ritual, I got myself in trouble with Lyle. He was probably occupied with trying to find me and handle matters of the kingdom. When he finally found me, I left again shortly after.m, taking him in another hunt for me. Kaltain was under attack and it was my fault. Helion turned to me, gripping my shoulders with fear in his eyes. “Go to your chambers and wait for me.” It was more of a warning than an instruction. "No,” I shook my shoulders out of his grip. “Kaltain is also my kingdom.” I mumbled. "I would rather die by your side than hide in my chambers like a coward.”“Leiya," he growled in frustration, running his
Kaltain NaylaXerian made a shocking recovery after a few days. He was able to completely talk audibly, eat without being fed, and walk perfectly fine by himself. He no longer felt the excruciating pain in his stomach when he laughed or coughed. He was also looking more like himself. His cheeks were fuller, his skin was brighter and his eyes were lighter, devoid of pain, worry or anxiety. I could say he was almost like his former self. We were now ready to return to Valinor. He had been looking forward to it everyday since we spoke about it, even happier when I insisted I would leave with him. Which meant I had to speak to my sister about it. Helion was the only one aware I was also leaving. The night before Xerian and I were to leave, I was feeling severe anxiety talking to Leiya about it. Helion overheard my concerns and convinced me to be honest with her. Him and I had formed some sort of relationship while I was at his castle, and I couldn't believe he was the same
Kaltain LeiyaI impatiently walked through the halls in search of Helion. The overwhelming feeling to kiss him passionately grew even worse with each step I took. I was just stepping out of the dinning area when I ran into Calin. The first thing he did was to lower his head in a bow. My jaw almost dropped. “Your majesty." He muttered, before lifting his eyes to meet mine. I was shocked. Shock didn't express it enough, I couldn't believe my eyes. I could swear it was a different person who simply looked like Calin. Calin hated me. Even though he called out Helion's lies about my sister, he did it for his selfish reasons. He did it to get rude of me, and he did. He had no respect for me at all, and now, out of the deep ocean blues, he bowed and referred to me as a royal. With disbelief in my eyes and voice, I tried not to stutter as I spoke. “Have you any idea where his majesty, King Helion, May be?”He opened his mouth to speak, but shut it almost immediat
Kaltain Leiya There was worry behind my sister's eyes when she asked to see the prince of Valinor. I still couldn't believe she was married. It felt strange to refer to him as her husband. Even though she was older than twelve, she was still very young, barely even sixteen. But it was obvious she loved him deeply. I gave her a small nod before turning to the maid who did the strands behind my gown. “Have you any idea where the Prince of Valinor lies?" "Yes, your majesty,” she muttered calmly. "I can take your majesty there.” Not too long after that, we made our way through a flight of stairs, following behind the maid who led us to where Xerian was. We walked for a few minutes before she stopped before a door. The guards pushed the doors open after lowering their heads to acknowledge our presence. Nayla ran up from behind me when she noticed the prince on the bed. I smiled inwardly as I watched her run to his side, nervously looking over him. “Xerian?"
KaltainLeiyaThe familiar walls of the Kaltain castle , the place I had grown to call home, brought tears of joy to my eyes. Helion had to make two more trips after taking Xerian away. He first took Nayla and I, before going back to get Kamael and Cizer. He could only transport himself with two other people.The moment he took my hand, I closed my eyes. When I smelt cleaner and better air, I opened them to find myself back in my room. A smile formed on my lips. I had always dreamed Nayla would sit on my bed, listening to the stories I had to tell, and now she actually was in the room, not as a dream or a thought, but actually standing beside me. I felt a kiss on the side of my head. “Welcome back home." Helion whispered with a smile. In a heartbeat, he was gone. When he left, I noticed the maids that stood by the end of the bed. They lowered their heads when we appeared before them. “They're here for our baths.”I informed Nayla as her excited eyes sc
Archurl Leiya The moment I whispered his name, he dropped the guard to the floor. The cell doors instantly disappeared and I walked right through. His eyes shone with happiness, his voice the most welcoming I had ever heard. “My beautiful Leiya.” I launched myself into his arms. I was just reunited with my sister and now the man, who snatched my heart like the demon that he was, found us just in time. It felt so surreal. Like a dream, like the fairytales you read in a book, except it was real. It was my life and it was happening to me. “I am so sorry for letting you go again," I heard his shaky voice through my sobs. He gently pulled me away, staring deeply into my soul. “I would never do that again." I was too stunned to speak. My heart was going through a rollercoaster of emotions but I knew, I was just as elated to see him. I quietly nodded, with a smile on my face. One of relief and tenderness. Looking into his eyes, all I could think about was how much I had
Archurl Leiya The moment I was thrown into the cell, she flung herself into my arms. Our entire bodies shuddered as we cried uncontrollably, clinging onto each other as if for dear life. Just when I had lost all hope, just when I thought my mother's spirit had abandoned me, all the while she was leading me to her. To Nayla. The emptiness around us didn't matter anymore. Our injuries didn't matter anymore. The bodily pain we felt, we couldn't feel them anymore. The moment took it all away. The unrequited joy of finally being together was enough healing magic for us. It was all the healing we needed, for our souls and for our bodies. We cried and cried. There was so much to say, so much to express, so many feelings all at once, but all that came were tears. The journey that seemed almost impossible, that we had both given up on, it was all worth it. We finally got the courage to let go. We pulled back slightly, just enough to get another glimpse of each other's
ArchurlLeiyaMy eyes gradually opened. The first thing they noticed was the movement of the rocky road. It took me a moment to notice I was being carried over a man's shoulder with a rope tied around my hands and legs. One by one, my brain began to piece together the last scenes I witnessed before I passed out. The sight of Yahn's lifeless body lying in a pool of his blood flashed before my eyes. My heart sank. I began to feel all the bitter emotions afresh. I hastily looked around me in search of the others. I was held firmly, my movements were restricted to just seeing in front of me. I tried to look over my shoulder. As soon as I tried, I felt a sharp horrible muscle pain. I didn't need to be told to look ahead of me. “Put me down!”I demanded with a loud yell, banging my tied fists against his back. I banged and banged, trying to get him to react, but I was getting the wrong attention. Just then, I realized I was being carried through a crowd of amused spe