Shia took a final sip of the aromatic cup of tea that Lady Edelfina had served. She had never been a tea drinker, but this tea tasted like heaven. It had actually helped quell the headache she had been suffering due to the amount of guiding stones in the Capitol. She reminded herself that she should ask Lady Nanris for the supplier’s contact before she leaves.
Out of all the people in Gaulane, Shia had been so surprised to get an invitation from Edelfina. It was no secret that they do not get along. The way that her beautiful emerald-green eyes flashed sharply at her and the number of times she would twirl her curls violently whenever Shia was around showed the deep animosity that ran between them.
She actually thought that Edelfina would be the first person to laugh at her fate. After all, she was present at the library when she sought Prince Danterion’s help to escape the king. However, this lady from a well known noble house sent out a letter asking for her presen
The world shifted dangerously under Shia’s gaze. Perhaps this served her right. She had been so flustered when she cornered Lady Edelfina earlier that she had failed to determine the actual amount of poison that her own body could handle. The truth was that she had half-wanted to die back there. Lady Edelfina’s proposition seemed reasonable. Death would have been the best route for her. By the gods of Teotroly, she will wed the king in two days! What can she do to stop it if not just die? She and Khailis had already thought of a plan, and although Khailis had assured her that it will work, she was still doubtful. She wanted to see Langrion so badly and tell him that help was on the way. She had tried talking to the king about it, but he was pensive about this and did not give her any answers yet. It looked like he was half-expecting her to propose something indecent, but even out of desperation, she couldn’t bring herself to do so, so she simply walked out of him at
Danterion let Shia sleep for a few minutes before attempting to wake her up again, but it was futile. He couldn’t let anyone know what had happened so far in account of Edelfina, so he could not do anything but to let her lie peacefully on his lap. He looked back at her face and saw that she had grown a little paler and thinner since he had last spoken to her at the library. He could still recall her brave countenance at that time as she said her words: “I will forget your sins if you help me free Langrey and Khailis and expose the truth about the king.” She looked like a person who would never give up on her convictions once she had set up her mind to do it. If she was like Nana in terms of tenacity, who had never wavered to decline the advances of his uncle even after so many years, she would never retract her decision to take revenge against her family’s killer. However, here she was – a girl whom his brother had be
Shia had mixed feelings as she sat by the table for lunch that day. Because of her inability to control herself in front of Lady Edelfina, she had lost not just the whole afternoon to sleep yesterday but had been aggrieved when she remembered that her wedding with the blasted king was quickly inching itself forward. Really, the pressure of fleeing and breaking away from everything was building up inside of her. “Shia, you can’t crack under pressure,” Khailis said, exasperatedly to her early that morning. Khailis had deliberately tried to wake her up before the start of the day by stripping her blankets away, making her feel extremely cold. Although dazed by her actions, she was grateful. Time was running out for them. The sooner she gets out of bed, the better. The morning time flew by swiftly as they entered Mage Silas’ void and practiced wielding swords. A part of the deal that Shia made with the king was that Khailis wasn’t permitted to carry a sword anymo
The room was small, dark, and musty. The stench of vomit and urine also hung heavily in the air. A small window, about the width of two palms, illuminated the place and nothing more. The floor seemed to be covered in hay based on how people’s boots sounded upon them. It seems that there aren’t any chairs, beddings, or even a wash basin in Langrion’s side of the room. Shia’s squinted her eyes. She couldn’t see Langrey directly, but she knew someone was sitting down to the ground in front of her. In an instant, the figure rose, and grabbed the steel bars that had separated them from each other. As Shia’s eyes became more adjusted to the dark, she could see a towering familiar figure. She looked at his face. Despite the lack of sunlight, Shia could see how gaunt his Langrey had become. Beads of sweat were pouring down on the prince’s face, and his hair was messy. She wanted to cry to him and shout his name, but she couldn’t. She needed to do what she has to do.
Langrion picked up the ring Shia had thrown down against the hard floor of his cell. The ring on his fingers felt unusually warm, or was it because Shia had just worn it? He turned it around and saw that it matched his mother’s signet ring in appearance, but that signet ring was hanging securely around his neck. He had carried it with him ever since the day Shia had given it back. Even after spending a night together with Shia, he did not give it back to her because he was waiting at the right time to propose to her, and she knew that Nana’s death wasn’t the right moment. Now, he starred back at the duplicate ring she had tossed to him eagerly. He was perplexed. Where did this ring come from? Also, why did she give it to him? Under the dim lights, Langrey was surprised to see that he could make out the figures in its insignia. Unlike his ring, there was only the figure of a single heron at the left upper corner of the cross. Then by and by, Shia’s words earli
Dawn crept in quickly for Shia. She barely slept as she thought of the things they needed to do today. On the other bed next to her, Khalis, presently acting as her lady-in-waiting, stirred. “Shia, it’s time.” Shia nodded. The plan needed to be executed at a specific hour before the wedding. The help that had been promised to them won’t be available until that time came. If they were too early or too late, the king might be able to sense that they plan to escape and stop them. They didn’t want to risk it. “I’ll check on the void with the mage. You go ahead and get dressed. You need to be present for breakfast and get ready for the wedding ceremony. I’ll be back after breakfast.” Shia nodded. She hoped in her heart that Langrion remembered the codes they had talked about when they were riding at the back of Gavil’s wagon a few weeks before. She also hoped he had enough sense to use the ring to open up a portal. Otherwise, they’d have to proceed
By the time that the great bell of Gaulane chimed twelve times, the preparation for Shia’s wedding had been complete. The servants had donned her into the dress his majesty had picked for her the day before. They had braded her hair upwards, revealing her long, slender neck and had decorated her hair with flowers and jewels of every kind. “Please add more pins to my hair,” Shia requested. “It’s already well secured, my lady.” “It’s alright. I just want to make sure it’ll not fall. Please add more.” Thankfully, the servant had consented to her request. They added more metal pins to her hair. If her hunch was right, she would need them badly today. After the servant finished fixing her hair, Shia tentatively looked at her reflection at the mirror. She looked like an exquisite porcelain doll – a soul less, lifeless caricature of beauty, which perfectly fitted the position of a queen to a vile old king like Caldwell the First. Satisfied, S
Shia’s eyes weren’t deceiving her. The figure descending from the void was Langrion! “Let her go!” He stuck a sword at Sirion’s hand, but just as Sirion had said, human weapons have no effect on him whatsoever. The sword slid from his body, as if his skin was covered with an invisible shield. Although the attack did not hurt Sirion, it helped to loosen his grip on Shia’s ankle, enabling Shia to crawl quickly away from him and stand on her feet. “What a surprise! You’re still alive! You are one lucky insect,” Sirion spat. “Sending an assassin to kill us while we were inside a monster’s stomach weren’t enough! Try harder, brother!” Langrion made another attempt to slice away Sirion’s body, but his sword just grazed smoothly in his stomach. “Insolent fool! Do you think your feeble attempts can beat a god?” Activated by the ash-colored cursed one staying closely by Sirion’s side, the possessed bodies suddenly started to clo
“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