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
At the mere mention of Edelfina’s name, Langrion’s mouth hung open. “Listen, about Edelfina -” Before Langrion could finish what he was trying to say, however, Khailis and Marmie waved their hands towards them. “Hey, lovebirds, is this place alright? Should we set up our camp here?” Khailis yelled from the top of the clearing, just a few feet above them. “I think it’s okay,” Shia responded to them. “Let’s go ahead and help set up camp,” Shia said, dragging Langrion’s hand along as she walked faster towards Khailis and Marmie who had reached a clearing in the summit. Langrion could only scratch his beard with his remaining hand. So, Shia was still misunderstanding the relationship between him and Edelfina. He must make this misunderstanding clear as soon as possible once he gets another chance to talk to her. After they had chosen the perfect spot, everybody set up for work at the camp. Shia made vines and plants appear from the earth,
Langrion unfastened the cape in his back and laid it against the ground. “W-what are you doing?” Shia said. Her heart was beating faster in her chest. What on earth was Langrion thinking of doing here, of all places? Langrion stroked the top of Shia’s head and moved his lips closer towards Shia’s left ear. “Let me prove to you that I love you, Shia. Let me show that I love you until your heart is content...” Even without hearing Shia’s answer, Langrion had already started to kiss the length of her neck gently. The kisses travelled down to her clavicle and into her left shoulder. He lingered at her skin a little bit more intensely, leaving a slight red mark at the back of Shia’s neck. Her insides began to tighten into knots. She was so nervous, she wanted to faint. Without a thought, Shia waved her hands and mentally instructed the shrubs to create a soft bed of leaves underneath Langrion’s cape. She made the trees bend down, enabling the
‘Angry’ was an understatement if one was to describe Caldwell’s feelings on that day. Like he had suspected, his lovely bride was a no-show at the Grand Cathedral. What’s worse, his most important prisoner had escaped the heavily guarded cell he had slaved away for many years to build, and it was almost destroyed by a fire into smithereens just within minutes. No, he was not just angry. He was furious! Fortunately, he had saved face by not announcing his wedding to the public on that day. He had only made private arrangements with the bishop, so if something like this should happen, he could contain the news more effectively. True enough, he only needed to murder the bishop, some clergymen and a handful of servants to keep everything at bay. The only thing he hated was that no one had seen how his young bride had left with her lady-in-waiting, and no one could also tell him how his cursed nephew had escaped when his cell had caught fire. Their
Lady Edelfina woke up with the dreadful news. “My lady, the king – he’s dead!” Talita exclaimed in one breath. For a second, Edelfina’s body trembled in shock. That was such sudden news! However, it was only a mere second of thought. The next thing she had felt was utter delight. “The king... is dead? Are you sure?” She couldn’t help but smile as she clasped Talita’s sleeve. The king is dead! That vile, stinking, rotting garbage of an old man is dead! What great joy! “Yes, my lady. He was found dead in his study this morning. The Royal Inquisition is currently investigating the cause.” “I see... I’m sure he died of natural causes, given the shock he received yesterday...” Edelfina stated. Indeed, yesterday was also a joyful event. Edelfina had left the castle early on the day before to fret somewhere. She didn’t want to bump into that Andry girl in her wedding dress, and she wasn’t invited to her uncle’s wedding. Not that she c
Is Danterion making a cruel joke? Did Edelfina hear him say his words correctly?... She did not have to ask him to repeat his sentence. He pulled her arms gently upwards and made her look at his face while saying in a low voice. “Come on, you’ve got to go... You’ve got to go right now...” “W-what?... Why?” She was afraid that the man with violet eyes would come and face her, but it was her Danterion – her lovely Danterion with his soft, ocean-blue eyes that held her up. “The Ancient One, I cannot stop him... He will send you to prison no matter what I do...” Danterion’s face was pained and anxious. She had never seen this side of him before. The Danterion she knew had always been cool and collected. Even when he would receive severe punishments from his deranged father in his youth, he didn’t show any emotions like this... But now, how come he looked so fearful? Suddenly, his words became clearer to her as he repeated them, shaking her
“Why does my back feel so cold?” Shia mumbled. Langrion dared not to speak. He simply put his cape around her back and rested his arms on her tightly, shielding her from the chilly morning wind. “Just put this on for the meantime. It’s still very early. You might catch a cold.” he quickly said. Thankfully, she wasn’t able to catch the guilty look in Langrion’s eyes. After helping her take a quick bath by the river, he offered to close the back of Shia’s dress for her, but to his surprise, he saw that almost all of the buttons of her dress had fallen away. He didn’t really know how, but maybe it had something to do with him the night prior. He couldn’t just bring himself to tell Shia that she was missing more than half of the buttons, especially at the lower parts of the dress. “It’s alright. I’ll get changed at the tent. We’ve prepared some clothes beforehand. It should already be at the tent,” Shia said, smiling back at him. The two of them c
“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