The cold fever didn’t go away until he woke up, well past noon the next day. The space on the right side of the bed was empty, any trace of Elena’s presence was long gone.
“Who did this to you?”
Few people had ever sounded so sincerely concerned about his well-being, and he almost felt guilty that he couldn’t be honest with her (which seemed like it would be a constant in this relationship).
Putting on a shirt, and grabbing some clean clothes from the closet, Ivar walked out of the room and made a slow descent to the hot springs underneath the palace. On his way there, he asked Bolton about Elena’s whereabouts and learned that she’d gone outside with her personal maids and the baby, who apparently needed to spend long hours out
The man dressed in grey was a sorcerer, the one who brought the storm upon them. Elena sensed it as soon as she stepped out of the carriage, looking around their attackers and the situation they were in. “Your Grace, don’t…” Whatever Vicente wanted to ask of her, Elena didn’t hear him finish, because he passed on on her feet. She clenched her fist, trying to control her trembling. It wouldn't help if she let them see her fear at the moment. One of them grabbed her arm forcefully, and Elena tried in vain to push him away. “Who are you?” “You will have your answers soon enough.” The leader, a tall man with the most ordinary appearance, smirked as if he’d already won. “Sir, what do we do with the other girl in the carriage?
“I did say there was something I wanted to show you.” He whispered, brushing his lips against hers one last time before letting her go.She followed him with her gaze as he walked a few steps towards the bookshelf on the bookshelf closest to his desk, and opened it as if it was a normal door.“Is this supposed to be some kind of secret passage?”“Not really. It’s more like a convenient entrance to keep some areas of the palace for myself, but if someone came looking for a secret passage, it isn’t that difficult to find, don’t you think?”He stepped into what looked like a rather long staircase that descended in a spiral and kept one of his arms stretched towards her, an invitation for her to follow him to this u
All she knew about death was that it was unforgiving.Her mother died during childbirth, so she never really had any memories of her, and didn’t think much about her absence. But she was five years old when her father died. He caught some rare disease in the cornfields, and one morning he just didn’t get up from bed.“Laila, you should be an obedient girl, listen to your grandma and grandpa, okay?”At the moment she had not understood he would fall asleep and never wake up again.Her grandfather had been a knight once, when he was young. He’d survived the continental war, but his leg got severely hurt and Earl Valverde sent him home some meager silver coins. He wasn’t able to find a job afterwards and that was why, after
Nothing ever changed in Alvor, except that it was more prosperous and magnificent every time one came back to take a look, and when he visited these lands Miros had to acknowledge Ivar’s ability to choose his people. According to his mother, it wasn’t always like this. During the times before the war, long before he or Saray were born, this was considered the wasteland of the two kingdoms, which was one of the reasons that made it a frequent hiding spot for magical beings who were unlucky enough to be born outside of the limits of Raeden.“Lord Miros, this is a surprise.”His brother’s right-hand man was waiting at the gates of the palace. If it really was a surprise, then Jean’s inexpressive face certainly didn’t reveal it. He’d been like that ever since they were children.
At first, she had not thought much of it. Ivar killed them and she felt relieved. Why should she feel sorry towards the people who had wanted to cause her harm? It was only as the days passed by that the image was imprinted in her mind, and the gravity of it sank in. No one deserved to die in such a horrific way. If she did not care about this, did it make her the same kind of person as her father? Her father, who would have let her burn alive… There was also the fact that she was able to take away that sorcerer’s magic. During the first days, Elena was able to feel it, different from her own and tingling through her body. Later, it just became a part of what was already hers. It scared her to know what it meant that she could steal the magic residing in other living beings. Neither Ivar nor Miros could provide an answer for that phenomenon, and when sh
Elena recognized Cain as one of the knights who guarded them in their trip to Alvor. A handsome young man, who couldn’t be more than thirty-years-old, with tanned skin and dark brown hair. But half of his face was marred with an unnatural black that seemed to be spreading from his chest to the rest of the body. “The blade cut isn’t deep at all, so he probably did not worry about it at first. But it was poisoned, and this poison isn’t common at all.” Miros explained to her. It was only the two of them and the unconscious Cain in the room, as the doctor had just left saying there wasn’t much he could do for this patient, and the twins were waiting anxiously outside the room. “I want to help, but I don’t know how I could be of use... you know I haven’t learned much about healing yet.”
Miros made her practice with a junco that had a broken wing, but when the bird started to make a strange noise and move awkwardly on the bench, Elena stopped.“I don’t think I should be practicing on living creatures yet.”It was cruel. She was starting to reconsider her opinion of this young man, and understood how someone of his age could be in charge of overseeing the academies of the empire.“You’re not going to make progress with dolls, so just do your best if you don’t want to hurt this little one” Her brother-in-law was firm in this teaching method. “It’s not only the intention, and it’s not only that your magic has to flow from your core to your hands to the person you intend to heal. You have to be careful not to infuse the other with too muc
Elena thought it was impressive how quickly Princess Tiana’s countenance changed from the entitled smirk to an uneasy look in her pale face. “I’m afraid I have no idea what you are talking about, Ivar.” “You don’t? Didn’t Sir Abelon arrive with you today?” Now, judging by the short moment of disbelief that flashed through Tiana’s eyes, right before she settled on anger, and how calm Ivar appeared to be considering that a man from the princess' side was caught on the very first day, another suspicion rose in Elena’s mind. “Jean found him snooping around his office. I was forced to cut his hands and tongue.” He didn’t blink when he revealed this violent punishment, and it still sent shivers down to her spine.