Kaltain Leiya “Leiya,” I heard the soft call of a familiar voice in my sleep. I slowly opened my eyes to see a familiar looking figure standing before me. I could almost say it was Helion. My eyes closed again. I was sure I was having one of those dreams where he returns unharmed. “Leiya,” I heard the voice again. This time, I heard it clearer than the first time. I lazily opened my eyes, rubbing them slowly to get rid of the slumber within them. “How long do you take to wake up?” This time I was sure I wasn't dreaming. I flung my eyes open to see none other than Helion sitting on the chair beside my window. I hurriedly sat up, unsure of if my imagination was playing games with me or he was actually there. “You don't believe it's me?” He asked with a light chuckle. “Not really” I slowly shook my head, rubbing my eyes one more time to be sure I was completely awake. He let out another light chuckle, proceeding to get up from the chair. He walked towards me and
Kaltain Leiya “I think Calin doesn't like me.” It was a childish thing to say but I said it anyway. “Why do you say so?” He asked after responding with a light chuckle. “Well, when you were away, anytime I asked about you, he would always give me a straight answer that doesn't actually answer my question.” He chuckled again. “And when I begged him to let me out of my chamber, he outrightly refused." We had finished breakfast and he asked that I follow him to a room within the castle. “He was simply following my orders. If anything had gone wrong, I would hold him responsible.” It sounded fair but I still was not convinced that his attitude was solely just following orders. We continued to walk through the castle halls until I could barely recognize the castle anymore. It seemed like we were in somewhere new. After a few more steps, I realized I had never been to this place. I noticed a big portrait on the wall. It was the portrait of a woman. I fair, beautif
Kaltain Leiya I couldn't bring my legs to move a step further. The pungent smell of blood filled the walls of my nostrils. Before me, a man hung from the ceiling while his insides were being devoured by two big, ruthless looking dogs. What was even worse was he was alive. For some reason, his mouth was open but he wasn't screaming. His eyes, however, screamed out in pain. Excruciating, dreadful pain. As soon as Helion walked in, the dogs desisted from their meal and walked to his side. They purred around him like cats did, begging for his attention. He gave it to them, rubbing their furry heads and bodies. After a few seconds of running his fingers through their fur, he snapped his finger and they returned to mercilessly devouring the man's insides. “These are my pets.” He muttered casually. “If you're scared they'll come after you, they won't.” He was referring to the fact that I was still standing outside the door. I wasn't scared they would attack me, I was simply
Kaltain Leiya The loud, annoying sound of tools hitting against each other woke me up from my sleep. I slowly sat up, rubbing my eyes to see what was going on. I glanced outside my window to realize it was noon already. The book I remembered reading was lying beside me. I must have fallen asleep while reading. I looked up to find where the noise was coming from. My eyes noticed Helion standing at the center of the room, watching a few men work with tools. On closer look, I discovered they were breaking down the door. “What are you doing?” I mumbled as I walked towards him after I climbed down by bed. “It's about time you got up.” he said as he turned to me. “I'm replacing the door with one you can open.” As soon as I heard his words, every bit of sleep disappeared from my eyes. I snapped my head in his direction. “What?” “Did you lose your hearing in your sleep?” I knew I wasn't expected to respond to that so I remained silent, watching as the wooden door was b
Kaltain Leiya I was still getting used to being able to leave my chamber at will. After it was fixed and working, Helion stationed an extra guard to the entrance, making them two. He said now that anyone could also go in, I needed extra protection. I couldn't understand why he was so protective of me, but I liked it. I was allowed to go into every room in the castle, as long as I could get into it. I got a few strange stares when I walked around without Helion, especially from the kitchen maids. Whenever I tried to say a few words to them, I would get cold replies. It was like they didn't want to even associate with me. I made my way around in search for Helion. He was the only one in the entire castle I could speak to without getting a cold reply from. After a few futile searches, I caught sight of Calin on my way outside the castle. “Calin!” I called out to him. He halted for a second before turning to me. “Do you know where Helion is?” “We address him as his majes
Kaltain Leiya Seconds later, I eased into the kiss and soon enough, I wanted more. He gently jerked my body closer to him, kissing me with so much passion, it was almost impossible to keep up with his pace. When my eyes opened, I noticed we were still in the middle of the hallway. Maid came and went. I knew they noticed us but none of them had the guts to look at us or turn back after they had walked past. I felt a little embarrassed but he kept working his way around my tongue, it was hard to care about our surroundings. His hands traveled behind my neck and into my hair. He cupped my head with his hand, pushing me closer to him, and my lips further into his. To inch closer to him, I raised myself on the tip of my toes. As soon as I did so, his other hand travelled around my waist, softly crashing my body against his. My thoughts were in complete disarray. A part of my head and body wanted more of him. To submit to him my entire being. The other part of me wanted to get away.
Kaltain LeiyaMy eyes fluttered open, unaware I had even fallen asleep in the first place. I slowly sat up. I looked out the window to notice the moon had already taken its place in the sky. Surprised at how fast I fell asleep and how long I slept, I smiled down from my bed. Just then my thoughts went to Helion. My legs voluntarily came to a stop. I thought about our kiss and my fingers traced my lips. I began to feel the passion all over again. The intensity of our bodies brushing up against each other recreated a burning need within me. As I traced my lips with my index finger, I felt them form into a smile. I wanted him, I wanted more of him. I made my way to my door and out of it in search of him. As I walked, I started to feel a faint sensation of hunger. I was torn between requesting for food or continuing my search for him. Outside the castle, I could hear the loud playing of various musical instruments. At once, my attention was diverted. I headed for the
Kaltain LeiyaI tried to stay up until sunrise, but I was unsuccessful. Helion convinced me to go to bed when he noticed I was dozing off in his arms. When my eyes opened, the sun was on its way to the center of the sky. I sat up, stretching my arms and legs. “Good morning sunshine.”I looked up to see him sitting on the chair beside my window. My hands dropped to the bed and I stared at him with a wide smile. I couldn't explain why I was so happy to see him. “Good morning.”I mumbled. His lips formed into a smile as he continued to glance at me. Since I met him, I had seen him smile only a few times, but to see him smile at me, it just felt so good. While we were still staring at each other, my stomach rumbled loud enough for him to shift his gaze down there. He furrowed his brows in a puzzling expression before glancing back at me. I immediately burst into a small laughter.“What's funny?”He asked, genuinely confused.“Your face is funny.”
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