On the fifth day, they stopped to change horses and get some proper rest in a nice town. Elena was just happy that she would sleep in a proper bed, have her hair washed, and eat something that wasn’t dried meat. The massage in her temples and shoulders was also an additional blessing.
“To be honest, my lady, when I received your letter with the offer to go to the Duke’s estate, I became very worried about you. But I’m relieved, after seeing with my own eyes how he treats you.”
It was a good thing that Mariela had finally joined her at last. There were many days left until they reached Alvor, and she would be a good company to Laila. Besides, now that she was going to a foreign place, the old familiarity and warm feelings from the person who’d been serving by her side for more than six years was something that gave her some assurance.
Not a monster, just not human. The Duke of Alba’s orders weren’t questioned, so the blue-skinned baby was taken back to the camp. Elena did not ask Ivar about the nature of the child until they left the child sleeping safely in Mariela’s arms. (She and Laila fed the baby and took care of him without question, even if the latter looked a bit afraid, making Elena proud of her people).“Do you know what he is, if not human? Is that perhaps the reason why he was abandoned?”Ivar nodded, “I believe the child is a mixed-race, half fairy.”He started unbuttoning his shirt and sat on the bed, looking completely nonchalant after a statement like that.“Fairy?”Did something like th
Elena did not see Ivar the next day either, while she was getting acquainted with all the servants and learned about everything there was to know about the city of Aurora, the most important trading market between Eir and Vallas even in times before the Empire.A trip to the heart of the city, its schools, academy, and orphanage was the first thing on her list. Getting to meet the noble families that lived nearby came second.If the nobles around the capital or down in the south had their apprehensions about the Alba family and Ivar in particular, then it was a well-known fact that the nobles in Alvor just hated him.This duchy was built over the destruction of many old names that used to rule in the north of Vallas, and even some southern
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