The girl was pretty, yes, and she had this alluring look of innocence in her eyes but she did not pose a threat to her. Or, did she?
She scoffed and looked over her shoulder, down the hallway from where she had come, her mind went back to the girl, the… Lyra, and the scene of Ryder holding her so close to himself. She had noticed the look of fear in the girl’s eyes, but she had been unable to tell what look Ryder had on his face at that time because he had his back towards her. She took in a deep breath and turned her head forward, no, the girl had nothing on her. She walked on.
Iris Nyx was Lord Ryder’s betrothed, his bride to be, his near equal; as she liked to think and his exact replica in character. She was as ruthless and as cold as he was and they took ultimate pleasure in exerting their dominance, but Iris loved to be the one to show off more.
At four hundred and ninety eight years old, she was only sixteen years younger than he was an
Lord of Astaroth.He had held that title for centuries now, it was what had built him, it was what had made him this way, it had shaped him into the ruthless tyrant that he was now, as the unyielding and irrational ruler of this vast empire. Heavy is the head that wears the crown, and the crown of Astaroth was the heaviest of the seven kingdoms, but Ryder never complained, he never did to anyone, and not because he did not have anyone to complain to or anything to complain about, but because he was him, he was Ryder Axeris d’Croix, he was Lord Ryder Axeris d’Croix of Astaroth, he had made a reputation for himself and he was more than capable of dealing with whatever came his way, and he had done exactly that throughout the years without falter.All until now. All until the burden of the year of Osyron had been placed on his shoulder, and heavily too.“What troubles the ruler of Astaroth?”Ryder had heard and he knew who had spoken,
It hurt.More than how she felt it did, it hurt. Terribly.This castle was a hostile place and she despised it here because she was being held here against her will forcefully, and the people who kept her here did not treat her like she was of any importance to them, yet they would not let her leave. They did not make her into a servant but she was a prisoner, but a prisoner of what? They would not tell her why she had been brought here and they kept talking strange sometimes. She, a princess taken from Dragonsbane and brought forcefully to Astaroth to come do what exactly?She knew that no one, in their right mind, would take someone away forcefully from their kingdom, to bring that person to another kingdom just to be kept in the castle. Maybe if she could find out why they had needed to bring her here, then she would have a reason. Had she been a peace treaty? Was she the price Dragonsbane had to pay to ensure peace between them and Astaroth? But since she ha
She was woken up early. It was the first time since she had gotten here that she was being woken up and bathed and dressed by the servant girls like she was being prepared for something, an event? Kind of like how she was used to being treated back in Dragonsbane. But then unlike Dragonsbane, she never wore such clothings as it was not custom there. She was, most especially not used to it, but then she also knew better than to complain now.“Tezani, this dress?” She asked the servant girl whom she had come to know and like among all the others.Tezani turned to her, having in her hand a beautiful, well fashioned sandal. She smiled at Lyra and pulled her to sit in front of the mirror so she could fit her legs into the sandals. “You have been in Astaroth for days, and this will be the first time since you came here that the family would be having breakfast together, Lord Ryder himself has asked that you be present.”She mouthed an “oh
He didn’t know why he was feeling restless.Ryder stood outside the front door, looking up into the sky. He took in a deep breath and let it out heavily. The army of Rocheveron and the ruckus they were causing at the Eldham border, he had be quiet about it for long, and that was what fueled their courage. He was not one to be quiet but he had other things to deal with, other things more important than going there himself to quiet things down. He believed in the capability of his soldiers there, Rocheveron would never be able to take control over Eldham no matter the number of attacks they staged.He looked down to the horses ready in front of him, he had a little free time in his hands now, so he could spare to go to Eldham, his presence there would settle a lot of things without him having to lift up a sword. Most of what distracted him from going there had been settled now and top on that list had been Lyra. And speaking of Lyra, that dress she had worn today f
The autumn sky was fiery.They rode with only escorts, seven other men on horseback at full speed north east of Kilead. They had left the castle that morning and had been riding for hours now, Xanth had let go of the amount of time they had been riding, but the chills in the air and the orange sky told him that it was nearing evening time. None of the men riding with him knew where he had in mind that he was going to, not even Xanth, he had not bothered to ask when they had left the castle because it was Ryder’s hobby to go riding occasionally but this one bothered him a little because they had been riding head on and Ryder didn’t have the slightest will of turning back.They had just passed the outskirts of Kilead when Ryder pulled his horse to slow down and so did the rest. They had passed the last village only minutes ago but they were so far away that they could not even see the smoke rising from the chimneys. They were still in Astaroth, but had left t
He was rocked from his slumber.But not the kind of rocking that puts you to sleep or gently woke you up, it was the kind of rocking that shook you awake, uneven and loud.His eyes slowly opened and the first thing he saw was the roof of a carriage, a carriage he was in. He groaned and sat up, his head ached and his body trembled from the inside. He opened his palms upward and noticed his trembling fingers, slowly he clenched them into fists and took a deep breath in. The sun was up and very bright, shining in hot through the windows but it came with a chill in the wind, promising of an early winter season. He sat a while in the carriage, trying to gather whatever strength he could conjure from within him before he pounded his fist on the side of the carriage twice.It came to a halt almost immediately and Xanth ran to the carriage door, just as Ryder flung it open. His body was weak, he could tell and Xanth could sense that too, he placed a hand on Ryder’
She slept still and her breathing was calm.All night Ryder had remained awake, watching over her and pacing, a lot of things swimming through his unsettled mind; the dreams, the visions, the woman he kept on seeing that troubled him, and now, seeing Lyra in his dreams only added to his confusion. He knew there was something wrong with him that triggered these visions, they had started the year his parents had gone to war against the kingdom of Erstonia and they had been frequent ever since but never had they been this disturbing, and it never weakened him. Just a bad dream.And the dreams had stopped, up until thirty eight years ago when it came. And then now, again.“Still nothing?” He asked Xanth for the umpteenth time, coming into the room. It was now way past noon and Lyra had not woken up since last night.Xanth shook his head. He stood, leaning a shoulder on the wall while watching the maids clean her face and arms with moist towels. &l
She was back in Dragonsbane.She knew this because she recognized the castle, it was a place she had grown up in and lived for most of her life. She was back in that strange, dark hallway and had the cringe that she was not alone. It made her shiver, and caused a chill to run down her spine. She hated this feeling.“Lyra…”The voice that called to her was masculine but she saw no one in the hall, it was just a long and empty passage way that echoed every sound that it could pick up. She stretched out her hand and reached for the stone walls in the darkness, they were cold to the feel but she still held on to it as she could not see a single thing in here.“Red is a dangerous color on you, Lyra…”That voice again. It sounded all too familiar and it caused her to feel a prickly sensation in crook of her neck. She placed her hand which had caught on the coolness from resting on the stone walls, there to soothe it.