In the topmost tower of Castle Sang, King Davorin looked out into the city below him. The sun was setting behind the infinite blue ocean, but he wasn't the kind of person who noticed those things.
His eyes were set on roofs, streets, and people of Hovania, his pride, and glory.
He had built the city from scratch, turning a small, sprawling port town into a proper city with almost a million inhabitants.
Today had been a long day of meetings, planning, and debating. But he was extremely satisfied with his council. Everything was in place for the upcoming, and hopefully, final attack on the realms of men.
He lifted a copper goblet and drank from it. The blood was still fresh, and he downed it in one go. It tasted slightly tangy as if the person had been eating some kind of citrus fruit the day the blood was extracted from him or her. Soon, he wouldn't need to send scouting trips to get more humans to feed off.
It was true that he had a big stock, over
"You need to leave," Luca said to Marcellus. Scarlett's eyes darted between the two, sensing the hostile tension between them mounting. "Oh, I'll be right out. I just need to speak with Scarlett," Marcellus said, giving Scarlett a smile. "No, I mean you need to leave Arandana. And you should be grateful I'm letting you leave at all," Luca said, stepping closer to Marcellus. "I guess I can say what I came to say even with you here," Marcellus said, shrugging. "We both agree that I have to leave, but I wanted to discuss where we are going." "To find Mimbi and the girls," Scarlett interceded. "I think we need to make a stop before we head straight to where they're probably keeping her," Marcellus said, raising his eyebrows. Scarlett had the suspicion that this had something to do with what happened in the courtyard with the Hova attackers. "No. You said we would go find them," Scarlett said. "The more we wait the bigger
"That's impossible," Scarlett said. "No one can wield lightning." Marcellus began to fiddle with some of the knickknacks on the boudoir, examining the hairpins and accessories that the maids had been so insistent that Scarlett wear to the dinner party the other day. "Hello?" she said a little louder. "Sorry, I was just thinking that we're living in interesting times," Marcellus said, facing Scarlett again. "Interesting? You call everything that has happened to the Karainas interesting? There's nothing interesting in seeing the people you grew up with, cut to pieces and burying dozens in the same day. There's nothing interesting about leaving the place you call home to search for your best friend and children because they've been kidnapped. CHILDREN!" Scarlett began to yell, and she didn't care who heard her. "You really do have a flair for the dramatic, don't you?" Marcellus said with a stoic look on h
After climbing a spiral staircase that hugged the stone walls of the tower, they made it to a circular room that somehow was very fitting for Prince Marcellus. It was full of telescopes, books, and strewn about papers and maps. "What is this place?" Scarlett asked once Marcellus closed the heavy wooden door behind him. "They moved me here from the dungeons. It was just as messy as you see it now," he said, shrugging. "I'm guessing it was some scholar's room and is now the temporary guest room of prisoners they don't want to keep too close to the castle, but also not in the dungeons." He set the book down on a desk whose surface was barely visible because of how much clatter covered it. "Technically, the language is called Faeish, as those who wrote it called themselves Fae. We call them elves because they no longer exist, and they were from a time that Hovania was somewhere else," Marcellus said, taking a seat on the chair in front o
Edda's hand was beginning to get cold despite Luca holding it in his.He didn't know how long he had been sitting on the bed by her side, but he didn't want to let go.She looked asleep, albeit a little pale, as if she was bound to wake up any moment now. But no amount of wishful thinking was going to bring her back. Luca was no stranger to death; he had become a soldier at thirteen and captain of the Golden Company at seventeen. He sat with many a soldier until they gave their last breaths. But Edda was her aunt, and the closest relative he had. Even if they had grown distant throughout the years—she being too busy ruling the kingdom and him with his soldiers—she was family, nevertheless. The door behind him opened and the soldier part of his brain told him he had to turn around immediately. Rule number one: never give your back to a door when you're vulnerable. Especially now when the kingdom was without a monarch. He didn't think anyone would oppos
"There's another reason why I came here," Prince Marcellus said when Luca was about to kick him out of his room."What?""I need to ask you for a favor.""A favor?" Luca raised an eyebrow. "Don't you think sending you off with my men is enough? No, in fact, you should be grateful I'm letting you leave at all.""It's not for me. It's for Scarlett," Prince Marcellus said.Luca felt a pang of jealousy that he hated himself for feeling. Scarlett was going away, possibly tomorrow, and either way, nothing could ever happen between them again. She was a Karaina, or had been one, and would probably never even consider staying here once everything was over. Any other woman could be enticed with being a queen and all the dresses, jewelry, and things they would ever want. Scarlett would laugh in his face if he told her all he could offer her."What?" Luca repeated, this time softening a bit."I'm going to leave behind a letter for he
"I never thought I'd see a coronation," Voty said, as the girls headed towards their rooms. "It was a bit underwhelming, though. I thought it'd be more of a ceremony."Marcellus had left them once Luca left to greet the people who awaited him outside the castle, and they had stood there for a while, not really knowing what to do. So, Voty had waved at the nobles and then scurried out, followed by Pakuri who looked bored, and Scarlett who didn't know what to think of the whole thing."I've had enough of queens and kings for a lifetime. I just want to leave," Pakuri said. "And I want to know things. Like what you did to the Hova." She turned to scowl at Scarlett. "I don't quite believe you knew nothing of your magic.""What? I had no idea. Besides, we don't even know what it was.""You burned four Hova," Pakuri said matter-of-factly, taking a defiant step towards Scarlett.Voty stepped in between the two and gently pushed them apart, giving Sca
The steady creaking of the carriage's wheels lulled Mimbi to sleep several times throughout the bumpy journey, and she dreamed of fire and warmth, trying not to think of where she was and the situation she found herself in.Finally, when it came to an abrupt stop, she opened her heavy eyes with difficulty, only to see Lord Galax stepping out of the carriage. She sat up and the exertion made her dizzy, so she held on to the seat to steady herself. A cool breeze wafted in from the open door, sending chills through Mimbi's body.Lord Galax popped his head inside, startling her."Good. You're awake. We're here," he said, stretching out his hand towards her. She didn't want to take it, so she stood on her own, bending her back to avoid hitting the carriage's ceiling. The heaviness of her legs, however, made her stumble, and Lord Galax stuck his torso in, and outright picked her up by the waist, setting her down outside.Now she understo
The second Lord Galax had left, Mimbi's legs buckled under her, sending waves of pain through her body. She accidentally knocked the table she was holding onto, sending a white vase rolling across the room. It was sheer luck that it happened to roll over the think patterned carpet, or else it would have shattered.She heard quick footsteps running over."Oh, dear! Are you all right, miss?" Lorna stopped when she saw Mimbi on the floor and then ran to her, immediately grabbing her under her arms and helping her stand."Yes, thank you," Mimbi said, but she wouldn't be able to stand for much longer, let alone climb the stairs without feeling excruciating pain."You're freezing," Lorna said once she pulled away from Mimbi.A second later, Mimbi's legs began to shake again, threatening to drop her again."Oh dear, something is really wrong. Can you stand at all?" Lorna said, putting one of Mimbi's arms over her shoulder. "Let me help
Mimbi woke up from the best sleep she had had in a while. She had lain down on the bed after eating the food Lord Galax had gotten her and pretty much passed out, waking up freezing in the middle of the night and crawling under the covers in a daze.It had been such a long time since she had slept on a real bed, with sheets and a soft and fluffy pillow. Somehow, feeling so good made her miss Scarlett and her mother even more. It reminded her of the times when she'd wake up to the smell of food downstairs, and Scarlett and Grina would be arguing about something silly.The sun was barely peeking out from behind the mountains, and she really wished she could go back to sleep. She couldn't remember what she had been dreaming about, but it had been a good dream. And anything was better than her reality now.On the other hand, she was really curious as to why Lord Galax wanted her here. Something was off, not only about the fact that he whisked her a
"We have to stop them," Scarlett said, more to herself than to anyone. She turned, looking at the ground she had stepped on. Every step she took had left a solid piece of glass on the dirt."See, now maybe you'll be good for something," Pakuri said to her in a mocking voice, walking up to her.Voty soon joined them, still holding out her wounded hand. The two kept their distance from Scarlett, but at least they weren't looking at her with fear or hatred. Marcellus stopped next to her, looking out towards the hills."Voty, I'm so sorry. I didn't know... I have no idea what is going on to my body," Scarlett pleaded. "I...""We'll worry about this later. Right now we have to help Luca." Voty smiled at her in her customary sweetly manner."Where are my swords?" Scarlett said."Here's one," Marcellus said picking the Hova sword up from the ground and handing it to Scarlett. It was stained with blood."Whose...""Yo
Scarlett didn't know where she was, but she felt the freezing air swirling around her. She tried to remember what had happened to her, but her mind was blank. Had she fallen asleep? Would she be late for training? No, this couldn't be Karai. It was never this cold here. She tried to move but her limbs didn't respond. Was she dead? She felt her mind begin to recede as if lulling her to sleep, and sleep sounded like a good idea right now. It would be easy, letting go. But just as her mind began to shut down, her field of vision was flooded by a white, blinding light. And she felt... something. As if someone had placed a warm fire next to her or taken her body out to the sun. She smelled something delicious, like sweet nectar. Then she tasted it, and the warm liquid passed through her throat, filling her stomach. One by one the feeling came back to her body. There was solid ground beneath her, and she moved her tongue. The nectar flowed from whatever her lips were holdi
"The inn! It was the inn!" someone cried out as Marcellus grabbed his head. The explosion had sent him flying towards a lamp post. He stood and turned to see where Scarlett had landed, only to see that she wasn't close by. She wasn't anywhere in the street. "Scarlett!" he cried out, lifting a wooden sign to search under the pile on which it stood. This girl was going to drive him insane. They hadn't even left Arandana, and she was already missing. His eyes widened when he saw the house she had thrown up in. There used to be a two-story building next to it, and now there was only one enormous pile of steaming debris in that same place. No, no, no. She couldn't go dying on him yet. He ran to the pile and began to climb, searching for the general spot where he had left her. "Scarlett!" he yelled. "Can you hear me?" "Hova!" someone cried out, and Marcellus ducked just in time to dodge an arrow coming his way. A middle-a
Luca couldn't help but think of Scarlett as the procession slowly advanced towards Hovern's field. The place wasn't a field, really, but rather a garden, where Queen Edda had opened up a conservatory and a museum. That was one of the first things she had done when she took the crown, turning the place into a beautiful place where people could gather to learn about plants and Arandana's history. She was fond of saying that she'd live there if she could, but one of the agreements the council put in place ages ago was that the monarch of Arandana had to reside in the castle. At least, now in dead, that was where she was going to be laid to rest. Most of the Arandanians stood silently at the side of the road, but some were shedding tears and not holding back their sadness. Most of them had arun lillies in their hands. Yes, Queen Edda had been good to them. Luca knew of so many kings and queens who used their citizens as cash cows, taking more
"What... what is that?" Voty said, stammering and sneezing almost at the same time.No one felt the need to answer her question because just as she asked it, hundreds of horses ran out of the smoking ruins in line, heading east. The black and silver flags they carried told them who they were.The Hova."We have to go back and evacuate the city," Xander said, already turning back his horse."What about the people there?" Scarlett made Sunu step in front of him. "Send Frank or the other soldiers. We have to go see if there are any survivors."Prince Marcellus only watched the scene below them with a frown."Why don't you make your prince go stop them? Get out of the way," Xander said to Scarlett.Without saying a word, Marcellus made his horse gallop straight towards the village on fire. Pakuri followed him in her rhea, and so did Voty.The soldiers all began to turn their horses back, and Scarlett wished she could hu
Scarlett met with Voty, Pakuri, and Marcellus in the stables, where Sunu and the other rheas had been staying. The birds looked ecstatic to see the girls again, pecking at their human companions affectionately. Luca hadn't been in the room when she woke up, and she didn't think there was more they could say to each other, so she hadn't gone looking for him either. It was a dismal day; grey and foggy as if the sky itself was mourning Queen Edda. When she met up with the girls, they informed her that the funeral procession was already underway, so it would have been impossible to find Luca, anyway. "I missed you," Scarlett said to Sunu, brushing her white feathers with her palm, and the bird dug her beak into Scarlett's stomach. "They're not a very talkative bunch," Marcellus said all of a sudden, joining the girls on a black horse. He cocked his head to the right, where four of Luca's soldiers sat on their mounts. One of them mo
The previous interruption from the other day seemed to have incited Luca to not take any chances this time. A split second after kissing Scarlett, he was already taking off her clothes as she backed up towards the bed, fumbling with his buckles.He sat her down on the bed and kept kissing her as his fingers moved towards her thighs and then inside of her, caressing her softly and then with more intensity.Scarlett couldn't think of anything but the pleasure he was giving her. Then he abruptly stood and finished the job she had started, taking off his clothes and tossing them behind him.A long while later, they fell asleep in each other's arms, exhausted and sweaty.Scarlett woke up when the sun was beginning to come out, only to feel his hardness close to her back. She turned and climbed on top of him, waking him up."You're insatiable, Karaina," he said to her teasingly, slowly opening his eyes."Well, something told
The second Lord Galax had left, Mimbi's legs buckled under her, sending waves of pain through her body. She accidentally knocked the table she was holding onto, sending a white vase rolling across the room. It was sheer luck that it happened to roll over the think patterned carpet, or else it would have shattered.She heard quick footsteps running over."Oh, dear! Are you all right, miss?" Lorna stopped when she saw Mimbi on the floor and then ran to her, immediately grabbing her under her arms and helping her stand."Yes, thank you," Mimbi said, but she wouldn't be able to stand for much longer, let alone climb the stairs without feeling excruciating pain."You're freezing," Lorna said once she pulled away from Mimbi.A second later, Mimbi's legs began to shake again, threatening to drop her again."Oh dear, something is really wrong. Can you stand at all?" Lorna said, putting one of Mimbi's arms over her shoulder. "Let me help