Shia could not believe her ears. ‘How could he?... How could he think of sleeping together in such a light and impersonal manner?...’ she furiously contemplated as she began to step outside. It also sounded as if he was expecting it to be some kind of business transaction. “Indeed... The way that most royals think can be quite revolting!” Shia muttered under her breath as she tried to quicken her stride.
Shia furiously slapped away the opening of the tent and would have stomped farther, but she immediately jumped when, just a few steps away from the tent, she was greeted by a throng of servants who all quickly gasped and curtsied when they saw her.
“Our heartfelt greetings from the Royal Kitchen, My Lady,” one of the woman at the head of the procession said, “We come bearing the royal dinner for you and for the Imperial Highness. May you enjoy it immensely!”
Shia could see that several servants and helpers were carrying numerous piles of different-sized pla
“You did not take it,” he repeated while pointing his fingers outside. Shia could not quite understand what he meant. He repeated his gesture and pointed outside the tent to the direction where the servants have just left. His voice sounded even louder and more matter-of-factly than before as he spoke, “I proposed to you by the river side, remember? You said yes, so now you are wearing it.” Shia’s mouth hung open in utter surprise at the make-believe story she is hearing. She realized how ‘thoughtful’ his majesty really was of her. Seeing how he had put this ring on her while she was passed out, he might have already assumed that Shia will meekly follow his absurd idea just because he is the prince and he can get away with it. Now that they were alone, Shia only wanted to do either one of two things: slap his face one more time or punch him in the stomach for putting on a ring on her finger without her consent and assuming that she will agree to be his make-believe f
By the time that Shia had finished her bath and walked back into the bedroom in a fresh set of warm and clean clothes, his majesty – Langrion – had already been sound asleep at his side of the mattress. This made Shia heave a sigh of relief. Although the prince already mentioned that he did not mean to use the words ‘sleeping together’ in a shameless manner, it might all be empty words as far as Shia was concerned. On top of him being a prince and probably getting all that he had ever desired in the world, Shia must admit that his face and his body are quite tempting to look at. Therefore, it won’t be surprising if he had always his way around several women at this age already. Who knows, right? Royalty or not - holding a man’s hand in the night might lead to one thing or another if Shia isn’t cautious enough. With this thought in mind, Shia placed her prized dagger underneath her pillow where she could easily reach for it and forced herself to get some sleep.
Shia’s heart beat went wild when she saw the blonde and gruff-looking head of the Imperial Guards emerge from the bushes opposite of where she stood. He then charged straight to Marmie. Shia was feeling quite stunned herself, but her quick instincts kicked in. She did not think twice as she hurled herself in front of the girl who was too wracked in fright to avoid the knight’s apparent attack. “No!” Shia screamed on top of her lungs. She tried to pull out her dagger from inside her boots, but it was not there! Shia bitterly remembered that she had left her precious dagger safely underneath her pillow inside his majesty’s tent. She had no choice but to come forward from the bushes unarmed. Praying hard that the sword of the blasted knight would miraculously miss her somehow, she tried to shove the girl’s body away from the attack. The knight, Lord Bragford Fincher, saw her come in haste between him and the servant girl. Their eyes met instantly, and sh
Langrion looked back at the silver streaks of hair that framed the face of the wide-eyed girl, Shia, who was crying her eyes out in front of her with such compassionate eyes. She had asked him a series of questions that pried at his own morality, making him feel how useless he had been as a prince and as a cursed one all these years... Honestly, he didn’t know which ones of her words had pierced his heart most painfully – the fact that she thinks that he likes or even enjoys deciding on the fates of people or the fact that she thinks he is her family’s cold-blooded murderer. Either way, her words had positively stung his spirits so badly that he did not know how to respond to her. He had quite definitely run out of words. The girl, however, was unfazed as she continued to press on.“Aren’t cursed ones people too?...” she said. Perhaps these ones were the hardest words to swallow in Langrion’s opinion. Utterly speechless, Langrion started to hold he
Shia returned to the tent where he found the prince still calmly sitting down on the small table with his food still untouched. It looked as if he was waiting for her to come back, which she did sooner than anyone would have expected. Shia eyed the back of the prince’s dark hair suspiciously. It did not look like he was even a bit alarmed about the news that Marmie turned up dead just a few hours after the ruckus at the kitchen and before she was to be taken to the Capitol. Shia slowly sat down and joined him on the breakfast table with her brown eyes intently fixed on his majesty’s face. “Aren’t you going to ask me what I saw?” she inquired. “I have no need for that. They will soon make a report of what happened,” he said rather coldly. Shia felt a little confused as to how the prince could easily go from being sensitive and delicate to being stiffly cold, heartless, and unfazed in a heartbeat. She tried to look at him straight in his rig
Concealed behind a thick collection of leaves and bushes, Shia stealthily and silently awaited as Lady Khailis set up the materials she needed to build Marmie’s supposed funeral pyre. She had been sitting in hiding for at least half an hour now. The new encampment was a hundred miles away, but thankfully, the overgrowth of trees along the way had helped Shia get to her destination faster. The hanging bridge that the trees had made for her combined with her fast feet helped her to get back to the old camp in just a matter of minutes. Earlier on, Shia had seen Lady Khailis put on the wood and the fuel and proceeded to light up the funeral altar. However, just as Shia had suspected, no physical body was ever placed in its core. Only the woods crackled softly as the bonfire continued to blaze. Shia spotted a thick blanket rolled up on one side where Lady Khailis kept her horse and some of her other belongings. She would only need to get a little bit closer to
Shia felt speechless. ‘It’s him!’ she thought excitedly. As far as Shia could remember, he – this tall, red-headed, muscular man – was the actual stuff that made up her father’s stories and legends! All of her father’s tales were just about how good and great this commander was and how he had rescued him and formed a friendship with him when he was just a small lad in Tightwater. Now, Shia cannot believe that she is face to face with the great commander of the Red-Headed Knuckles himself. Shia could not stop grinning from ear to ear from her excitement. The great commander took Shia’s right hand and acted as if he was about to give it a kiss. Before this could be done, however, Shia felt an arm come around her back while another hand snatched her hand from the commander’s grip almost immediately. “She is not the one I told you about, Sir Rus. She is my wife,” the prince exclaimed in an icy, formal tone. Almost simultaneously, Shia an
Shia stared in horror as the dark, inked figure of a bird – a heron, perhaps – became more and more pronounced at the left side of his highness’ bare chest. She would have remained in trance if she did not realize that Prince Langrion’s left eye has started glowing fiercely in time with the appearance of the marking in his body. “Cover your eyes!” she began to frantically shout at Lady Khailis, and the girl heeded her instruction immediately. Shia began removing his majesty’s mask, and saw that the menacing red glow was starting to become fiercer and fiercer despite the physical contact she had with the prince. It has also started affecting his majesty’s other eye, making him look more like a monster instead of a person. Shia’s heart beat began to escalate even further. ‘What the hell is happening?!’ she asked herself. The figure on his chest started to turn blood-red as well. Without a thought, Shia began weaving a dome of vine to separate his majest
“Ugh, I absolutely hate boys,” Khailis said in disgust as she threw her sweaty gauntlet onto the floor.Shortly after, Khalis heard a shriek. She gasped as she realized who it was she had just injured.“Gavil, Gavil, I’m so sorry! Were you hurt?”A black furry cat sat by the floor, rubbing his bum with his tail due to the accident she had just caused.Khalis has often gone home in sulky moods before, but this was the first time he was ever hit by him, and as a result, his feelings were deeply hurt.Khalis picked him up like a baby and put him at her lap, stroking his sleek, black fur and patting his behind apologetically. “Was my Gavil hurt? Were you injured?”Gavil whimpered some more, not because he was hurt but because he was sad and lonely. Even before Khailis went out today, Gavil had stayed in this spot because it was the most comforting place in her room. Every day, Khailis went
“Are you coming tonight?”Danterion placed his arms around my waist as I tied the last few knots of my dress. He repeated his words when I did not speak.“Are you coming again tonight, Fina?”I did not answer because I didn’t know what to tell him. This was the third night that I had come here on my own and sought him. I had been feeling rather sad and empty lately, but Langrey came back in town today, and I agreed to meet him at the same, old place. True, I had been deliberating in my mind if today would be a good time to call everything off between us, but how could I possibly know how things will turn out? How would I know if I needed solace and comfort again after I break up with my childhood sweetheart and his own twin brother today?I shook the thought away from my head. I am a bad, bad person, I know; I had been seeing Danterion for half a year now behind his brother’s back. Although Langrey and I had a long hist
Silver roses bloom only for a week once every five years – their life spans are too short and too far apart but also far too sweet to be fully ignored. These flowers are like one’s childhood love – a memory that came too soon but rarely leaves. Tristal Mariana Andry, the Grand Duchess of the Noble House of Andry, sighed deeply. At age sixty and mostly bedridden, she had become more and more prone to melancholic spells, especially when it came to remembering her past. Today, she had been in reverie once more as she faced a seemingly daunting task. It was the first time she had been out of her room and in a party. It was also the first time in decades that she had chosen to speak to Caldwell again – the present king of Gaulane and her past lover. The details of her last communication with Cal, as she would lovingly call him ages ago, had already slipped away from her mind, but the memories of their first encounter loomed as fresh as yesterday for her. It all started fr
“I, the new sun of Gascone, swear to dedicate my life into the service of my people. I swear this oath in the name of my father and my forefathers before me and in the name of the holy gods and goddesses of Teotroly!” Everybody cheered as the new king took his oath. They gazed at his ocean blue eyes, and they were taken aback by the honesty of his words and his demeanor. They welcomed him and his new queen with open arms. Shia looked back at the dignified man’s jet-black hair and mesmerizing blue-eyes with awe. She was proud and happy at what he had accomplished so far. It had been four months since the battle between them and Sirion has ended, and in those four months, he had been able to recover by and by. During the battle that left half of the castle in ruins, the last clear vision in Shia’s mind was that of Sirion plunging a sword in Danterion’s body – the body that hosted him – just after claiming that his death will fulfil what he had lon
As soon as Shia cut through the kraken’s tentacle, she found herself falling helplessly down. She screamed. She had forgotten the fact that she could not fly. She was really a useless goddess. Thankfully, the feeling of falling suddenly stopped, and Shia was turned upright by an invisible force. When she craned her neck to see who it was that helped her, she spotted a familiar face. It was Marmie, and she was staying some distance away, manipulating her fall. Almost instantaneously, a cry emerged from up above her, and she saw two flying entities swoop down into the center of the kraken’s head where Sirion was. Finally they came! Gilyan and the Commander were perched at Chibi’s back, and a black winged puma, who could only be Gavil, went into the courtyard to help them. “Sirion,” Shia shouted. “Let Danterion go! It’s over! You are outnumbered!” Sirion simply laughed at her, seemingly unfazed. “Do you think you and your puny friends could kill
Darkness covered the sky as birds from all direction converge towards the courtyard where Gavil, Chibi, and Marmie had seen Langrion go earlier. “Come on, let’s go and help Shia now. She had been taken away by some monster, but I think she’s nearby,” Khailis remarked as she tried to stand, but Gavil held her tightly by the shoulder. “Wife, you stay here with Goddess Eily. The rest of us will go.” “Wait, no! How can I stay here? There’s no action here! Plus, I’m fine, don’t worry too much,” Khailis said, beaming with energy. “You’re not fine. We might lose our babies, and I don’t want to lose you too... Ever!” Khalis looked back at Gavil’s glistening eyes. For the first time since he had met him, he saw him shed tears... Ah, she had almost forgotten! The blood of knighthood runs so strongly in her veins, but first and foremost, she was a mother now and a wife to someone who deemed her precious... She couldn’t possibly be as bold and car
“Just a little bit more, my lady... Please...” Gilyan have not begged anyone saved the God of Darkness for years. He didn’t have to before this. He became a free man because of His Darkness, but now, he found himself in a predicament where he would kneel down and kiss the earth if he could just get his wish. He didn’t know how many hours they had been buried down there. He tried his best since earlier to get help from above. However, he could not sense any living being, or was it perhaps because his magic was weak and limited? Earlier, the goddess who was with them revealed something about him that he felt had some semblance of truth. “All who can wield powers have the imprints of divinity in them, and you, in particular, given that strong sense of power, I’d say you must be a candidate for a god.” He had believed those words. After all, he had seen how his powers had gotten out of bounds even without the God of Darkness’ permission.
Langrion could not believe it! His wife almost died. If he was just a second late, she would have perished! She surely wouldn’t have survived! A heart beat ago, he swopped as fast as he could towards the open fire burning at the castle’s courtyard. He had seen it countless of times before, looking like a candle far-away in his own tower. He heard the pleas of the cursed ones like him, begging, screaming for help, but his uncle never did give his mercy at any of those times. As such, Langrion feared those flames for a long time. He felt like they were the cause of his torment. He should have died with those people accused of being cursed a long time ago. He should have been the first to burn, but because he was a prince, he survived. He lived until his present age of twenty one years old... That’s right. Today is his twenty first birthday, and today, he just turned curseless. The mask on his face fell as he snatched Shia away from the burning flames th
Langrion and Gavil, together with Chibi and Marmie, wasted no time travelling to the place they needed to go: the capital city of Gascone – Gaulane. “I can take us there easily, Prince Langrion,” Marmie said during the dead of the night a few second before they ascended in the air. Marmie was on Chibi’s back while Gavil had already transformed himself into his beast form – an enormous, black feline with wings like an eagle. “How,” Langrion asked. The last time he checked, Marmie’s powers involved controlling things with her mind. Can she also create voids like Galahad? “With this,” Marmie said, pulling away her sleeve from her left hand. There was a tattoo that looked like an eye with feathers reaching on both sides. “This was installed by the Ancient Evil when he controlled me... when he controlled us. We were supposed to use it once we have fulfilled our mission. Although I was not conscious at the time he was controlling my thoughts, I remembered it well i