As Belladonna would have it, Lady's Kestra bold request of her liking to the King was nothing compared to the strange things that happened afterwards.The invitation for dinner, lunch and breakfast became even more consistent. The time spent in the dinning hall became longer as the King would always want to exchange small talks with her. Lady Kestra was always coming to her, to help with her dress and hair to make she looked even more beautiful before going down to the Dinning Hall. All while she talked on and on about how wonderful the King was.Wherever this was heading to, Belladonna didn't know, nevertheless she kept jotting it all down, hoping that soon she would be able to finally connect all the dots and it would make sense.At a point, with how much care and grand gestures the King was showering her, she had written down Niti's theory as one of the possible outcomes of this strange situation.After all, it was starting to look like he indeed wanted a Queen, a marriage. But it
Had anything strange happened that night?Well...Despite Raquel mumblings and jitterings on their way back from the room like something terrible had befallen them, nothing strange had happened that night.At least none that she knew of."You didn't touch anything, the King doesn't have to know of this. N-no one saw, no one can say they saw. If he... if h-he doesn't ask and you don't tell, that is not lying.""Silence, Raquel. Your incessant mumbling is scaring the Lady." Colin had cautioned and for once Belladonna was grateful for that. Immediately she got back to the King's chambers, they bade her goodnight and she shut the door.She had fallen asleep in fear that something might cease her in her sleep and kill her. Earlier, she had tried to tell them that she had indeed touched a couple of things in the room and even admired a gem, but Raquel had been too wrapped up in her worries and Colin had been too focused on his own questions getting answered, to care about any other answer
For days now, she continued reading 'Heart of Fire', finding it hard to put down, taking it everywhere and not paying so much attention to everything or disturbing her servants with questions as she used to. This wasn't just because of how interesting the book was but because of the King's comments that was thrown here and there in the book. Those were the ones that kept her the most interested. Some of the comments she would argue against, some she would laugh about, and some she would nod her head in agreement, like he was right there in front of her, talking to her as they read the book together. Another thing was that reading his comments made her feel like she knew him. Through the comments, she grew to know some of the things he like, a few things he had done in the past and fewer of the things he hated. Not just that, each of his comment usually ended with him asking about her opinion on what he had discussed and she would reply. Talking on and on like he was right in front o
The whole room busted into flames. There was fire everywhere. Smoke, thick black one. Belladonna struggled, her throat clogged with smoke as she tried to reach desperately for the door before a certain dizziness would take over her finally. All that and worse would have been the outcome of Belladonna's late night reading, had Colin not walked in just in time to combat the situation. Raquel went around and around her, checking her hands, legs, and everywhere to see if she was alright. "No burns, no burns, no burns." "I'm alright." She yanked her hand away from Raquel, not understanding what was going on. She had only woken up because of Raquel's clumsily, worried and loud inspection. "You left that lantern burning all night, my Lady." Colin said, looking back at her. "It must have had a lot of oil." That reminded her. She had not fallen asleep on the bed. What was she doing here? It was then she noticed the floor. She rushed up to her feet immediately. "Oh goodness, what h
Unlike the last time, when she had been lead to the dungeon for her 'gift', this time around, they walked quite a distance around the castle, down to an open field.While they had been walking, the King had involved Belladonna in small talks and the more he spoke, the more she could relate him with the person she had known from all those comments in the book she was reading and the more she felt even more comfortable with him.Till they finally got to the open field where Belladonna had thought the dragon would be but it wasn't.At that moment, the King pressed on a small red gem, carved into a ring that was around his left middle finger. Only the gem of the ring could be seen, the rest of his ring was buried into his leather black hand glove.It was glowing like one of the gems in the so called forbidden room.A flash of something like lighting went through the ring, not long after that, she felt the floor vibrating for a while before the dragon busted out from a opened place in the
"I profoundly apologize for Pamela's behavior today. She is not always like that." He said for the umpteenth time when they got to the door. Belladonna was feeling much better now and she offered him a smile. "Maybe she is not used to meeting new people." He hummed lightly, and once again because of the mask, she couldn't determined what that meant. Was she the first Bride he was introducing to Pamela or was she the number... How many Brides had he even had in the past? She pushed the question quickly out of her mind, remembering their promise of taking one step at a time. Instead, she thanked him for the day. After what happened with the dragon, the King had taken her somewhere else they had talked about in the book, and that was the palace garden. It was the same garden where the Choosing Ceremony had taken place, just that this time around, it was just them and it was all for a different purpose. That was where they had lunch and spent their time just talking about ra
There were tress behind her and within the dark shadow was the vague structure of a man. Before she could even make out anything he was, immediately the dream started crashing before her eyes. She felt a terrible headache jam into her head and she fell to the floor, but instead of falling on the soft cold sand of the beach, it was like as if she fell right through it, into a dark abyss. She screamed in her dream through the weightless fall. Long penetrating screams from the depth of her throat. Then she jerked up, awake. Her eyes shot open, blinking to adjust to the darkness while her chest rose and fell, as her gown clung to her body, wet with sweat. She could almost feel the lingering pain in her head. Almost. "Just a dream." She mumbled breathlessly to herself. "It's not real. Just a dream." She said over and over again before she laid back in bed but she couldn't fall back asleep immediately. She kept on thinking about what had happened in the dream. The man had s
"Who are you?""I already told you. I'm whoseover you want me to be. That one person you really desire to see."She started thinking about everything. Who was that one person she really wanted to see, that one person that it had been so long since she had laid her eyes on them, causing her to miss them so much that she now dreamt of them.Also why was he hiding his face from her?Could this strange man of her dreams be the King?"Are you his Majesty?" She croaked.Then she heard him chuckle darkly.It was clear, like as if she was hearing it for the first time.How had she not noticed this before?That was exactly how the King sounded. His chuckling, it was exactly the same."That is a first.""So you are him?""I am who you say I am."She tried to turn around again but his firm voice stopped her."No! Have you forgotten the last time this happened? Have you forgotten what happened?""Why are you coming to me in a dream if you are him. Why don't you--?" She spoke, her words fast abd
Her stomach rumbled, but it was quiet, and for the sake of her dignity, she hoped that he hadn't heard it. “You don't need the sun, you need food; I know a place.”“Get out of my sun.”“I’ll take you there.” Quickly she was on her feet, his arm along her waist to keep her stable. “Are you even listening or are you just deliberately ignoring me?”“Deliberately ignoring you.” “What? I expect the elderly to behave with more sense,” she jabbed, annoyed with his interference. “There are no elderly here.”In a flash, he is with Arlo. Then before she could tell, they were before a table that must have been prepared for them only moments ago. She was dizzy from the speed but the lovely aroma in the air could not be mistaken; there was food here. She felt Ikrus push her into a chair and she took her seat, blinking to regain her stability and clear vision. When she finally did, she looked around. They were in a kind of glass room with flowers on the ceiling. The table before her was smal
She cleared her throat, changing the topic. “Is my age a problem for you, Ikrus?”He sucked in a deep breath, looking away, still thinking about why he had brought her and Arlo here - still trying to figure out his thoughts. “No. I was merely surprised, that is all.” “I’m not bothered either.” She leaned closer to him, a hair’s breadth between them, catching him off guard with her action. “Don’t worry,” she skimmed her fingers over his hair and he stilled, forcing himself not to move as more of her fragrance consumed his air. “I have always fancied old men.”What?!Old men?!Old men where?!“I’m not old,” he said, clearly offended. “You are thirty-two,” she said as she lay down and closed her eyes. “Exactly. I am not old.”She felt his shadow over her and she sighed, wanting the warmth of the sun on her skin once again. “You are thirty-two… and blocking the sun.”“That is not old at all.” He sounded like he was losing his mind, but his voice was leveled. She shrugged nonchalantly
She turned to him sharply, wheels turning dangerously in her head already to come up with a lie, her lungs clogging with fear, only for her to discover that he wasn't looking at her but at someone else. “Look! Arlo is walking!” He declared in hushed excitement. Aniya rolled her eyes, taking a deep breath of relief, tucking away the poison bottle. He didn't catch her, she could still kill him. “Arlo can walk.”“For long distances like that?” He turned to her, surprised. “Yes.”“Oh.”“In fact, we must redesign the room to accommodate him. He keeps on trying to pull things down.”Ikrus frowned. In a flash, he was holding Arlo who was strongly protesting against being held. He certainly wanted to play on the ground. “How old is the little one?”“Arlo,” she said, emphasizing his name, subtly ensuring that he wouldn't call him “little one” again, “will be two soon.”Ikrus nodded, taking the information in as he easily moved Arlo from one hand to another in his struggle to get down. “H
Aniya told her about the strange lily she found in her coin bag while telling her how she had come by it, although leaving out part of the poison, while watching to see if the witch had told Oana about what she was searching for. It didn't seem like the witch told her anything. “I have seen something like that in my room before,” Aniya said. “I’m scared of what it means and I am afraid—” she looked over to Arlo for the umpteenth time, “of harm coming to Arlo or me.” Oana was very concerned and she said she would tell the Alpha and Luna about it so that they could give orders for the Pack House to be thoroughly searched. Then Aniya asked, “What about last night? Why did the sun suddenly come up and merge with the moon?” She rushed to the window. “Everything seems normal now.”“Elder Superior said it was a result of something that happened in another realm. It is none of our concern; our Realm stays unaffected, and all the portals remain sealed.” Aniya panicked.Another realm? Wha
That night, after they had both eaten, Alaris took Belladonna to a nearby river, where a burning incense was placed on a leaf pad to float away. “It is to let go of the past and begin anew,” he has explained. It was something that helped Belladonna even though she hadn't known she needed it. Her heart felt lighter and with a more positive perspective, she left the river bank.The Belarion Rebellion and the rest of the Cave had fully returned now. Shortly after, Belladonna and Alaris started trying to create the army. They were once again under an open sky. Nyka watched from a distance, just like every one of the dragon people had been advised to do. Her father was right next to her, he wasn't supposed to be here. He was still injured from the torture he had received from the White King’s warriors that had captured him but he was terrified that if he as much took a step from her, the Heir would seize her and kill her. “What do I do?” Belladonna asked, trying to shake off the press
[LYCANS’ REALM]The coins vibrated on the floor, clanking as they added to the slight trembling she could feel around her. Aniya’s heart jumped. Quickly, she dashed to her bed and grabbed Arlo, taking him swiftly into her arms. She could hear a bell ringing from a distance. Voices of terrified people seeping into the air, even with her ordinary human hearing, the building chaos felt loud to her.What was going on? Before she could make it out of the room, though, she felt someone sweep her away, and in a flash, she was in an enclosed space, an arm around her, so that she held Arlo between them. She knew it was Ikrus; with such speed and the feeling of momentarily ease that went through her, it could be no one else. She hated the Matebond for many things but for this little ease that she could feel right now, she appreciated it a little. Even if this relief was a lie that everything was alright, it was better than the sheer terror she had been experiencing.The rumbling continued,
Finally, they were under an open sky.The Moon was full in its glory above them. “It is a perfect night,” Ny'ka said before intertwining her with Belladonna's.“Close your eyes.”She obeyed. “Think of the Bearer, of her grave, of her presence, and connect with her.”The Bearer. Belladonna allowed her mind to roam, remembering the silver-haired woman she would always dream about. She had never seen her face so there was no way she could see that. The image was blurry and soon it was nothing but darkness. “Open the windows, open the door,” she could hear Alaris' voice. Then she remembered her way of sealing the windows and the doors of her mind. So many things were happening in her mind. She could see the path to the castle, down to that room, to that sarcophagus, Then she was back in that room again - with the windows sealed and the doors locked.There was a white beam outside the window and a woman with long silver hair that shadowed her face.“Open the doors and the windows!”
“Don't kill me please, I believe now. You are the Heir, you are the savior. I see it.” Ny'ka begged. They were in one of the underground rooms, away from the people of the Belarion Rebellion and those of the Cave. This was something Alaris didn't want many to know about.“Please, take my life instead and spare my daughter,” Leader Tyrek begged. He knew what crimes Nyka had committed, the Priest told him everything.“You tried to kill me,” Alaris said to Ny'ka who was still on her knees, begging, tears running down her cheeks.“It was a mistake. It won't happen again.”Alaris smiled. “It won't.”He held her wrist and pulled her up, but while he did that, he crushed her bones, and pressing his flames into her skin, he healed her, just like he had seen it happen with Nightshade and that stranger in the Castle during their escape.It was an excruciating moment for Ny'ka and it didn't help that he did it again and again and again…By the time he was done, she was back on her knees, breat
The moment the ambush came upon them, some guards had taken Ny'ka and discreetly escaped from the scene. They were headed to the White King’s Castle to be highly rewarded for bringing to him the daughter of the leader of the revolution against him. They were supposed to take Leader Tyrek along too, but it seemed the guards who had him in captivity had been attacked. There would be much to tell the King upon getting to the castle. While they silently snuck away, Ny'ka found a way to free herself from the bondage and attacked them. She would rather die than have them take her alive; it was looking like that was the only option for her until she felt she had until Alaris' showed up. He descended from the sky with his massive leathery wings and he saved her; he killed the guards and swept her up into the air in his arms. In that moment, she saw what the others saw in him. A saviour.In that moment, something changed. “You saved me,” she said, the wind almost stealing her words away