Share
Chapter 28: Spending The Night
Related chapters
The Elf King and His Bodyguard Chapter 29: Ambition And Desire
The bed of a king felt good.Violet woke slowly, stretching her arms out from under the blankets. One foot hung off the edge of the mattress. Pale light streaked the floor, skimming the curtain edges. She sat up, expecting to see Eden's lanky body in one of the chairs. They were both empty.But a hot breakfast rested on the table in between. She walked over on her tiptoes, avoiding the cool floor on her bare feet. Fresh bread and butter with eggs waited for her. The steam filtered through the morning air.Violet tore off a piece of bread, wiping away the butter from her chin. She went to the window, pushing aside the curtains to open the glass. Below, some soldiers were already up, tending to their horses and eating outside. Two were practicing their sword skills. The familiar twang of a bowstring drifted up to her ears. Florian had set up a makeshift target and was coaching five soldiers.More arrows found the target while Violet munched on her scrambled eggs. Two of the maids hovere
The Elf King and His Bodyguard Chapter 30: Greet Your Dead
Eden dragged a thunderstorm behind him.Violet watched the clouds build, swelling with rain. Their dark underbellies marched across the land, overtaking everything. Ahead of the squadron a wall of thick smoke barred their vision. Violet knew this area—they were entering the borderlands—but she hardly recognized it.An unnatural mist, one that Eden couldn't control, wove through the trees, undercutting the smoke and eating the sunlight. Farms sat deserted. Sheep and cattle wandered, abandoned in the panic of Curzon's attacks. Violet wanted to run from it herself—something about the mist stole the breath from her lungs."What is all this smoke?" Violet asked.Eden's face was grim. "Curzon's dead have a habit of torching homes on their way back to Ipsit. The nobles defending the border haven't been able to douse the flames—they think the dead have brought it with them from the grave.""So their fire is as undead as they are?""It looks that way," Captain Augustus said.The three of them r
The Elf King and His Bodyguard Chapter 31: A Blind Turn
Toreva was lost. The blood elves, changed into something deathly by Curzon, had consumed the town. Now, they wanted to consume the squadron."Ride!" Captain Augustus shouted. "Faster!"Hooves stampeded through the smoke and mist. Violet's ears rang with sounds of the chase and the creatures' haunting cries. Her arms ached from firing her bow. Eden was at her side, sweat dripping from beneath his crown, down his temples.They turned a blind curve on the road. Boulders scattered over the dirt. A landslide. Violet's horse jumped by instinct. It landed on gravel, stumbling but righting itself quickly. Eden was right behind her. More soldiers followed. The creatures ran nearly as fast as the horses, speeding through the haze, bloodlust written on their faces."Move!" Eden shouted, on the side of the road, directing the squadron. "Out of the way! There are more behind you!"Soldiers and horses gathered, Captain Augustus directing them, and circled up to form ranks. Their sword and spears wer
The Elf King and His Bodyguard Chapter 32: War Room
Persistent hammers tapped at the inside of Violet's skull. Light kept trying to seep through her closed eyelids. She groaned and rolled over, velvet cushions meeting her cheek. The sharp, spicy scent of cloves filled her senses."Eden, my head is pounding—get that smell out of here," she ordered, trying to bury her aching head in the pillows."Hmm, I thought you'd like it," answered a voice Violet knew even in her stupor.She pushed herself up on her hands to find King Curzon lounging in a chair next to her. He was draped in toffee-brown furs, silver beads braided into his dark hair, and those toxic blue eyes radiating intensity.Memories started returning to Violet—the battle outside Toreva, the blood elves possessed by the souls of the dead, and Eden.Violet jumped to her feet, fighting her spinning head, anger pumping through her. "Where's Eden? What happened to him? Tell me now or I'll make you wish you were one of your corrupted dead."Curzon's eyebrows raised in surprise. "I don'
The Elf King and His Bodyguard Chapter 33: The Favor Of Kings
Ipsit's palace, The Bastion, rose like a spearhead out of the valley the capital city was nestled within. Four wide bridges—fixed on the cardinal directions—sloped down to the city, each laden with green gardens.Violet saw all this from the balcony of Curzon's war room. The gardens had no blooms, only a kaleidoscope of sage, emerald, and olive, freshly manicured. Sunlight pierced through the trees but brought little warmth, even to her high spot in the palace. Ipsit was a cold kingdom, drained of color.The lock clicked open on the door and Violet turned to see two maids enter, dressed in the crimson and silver livery of Ipsit, a tiny wolf head embroidered on both of their left shoulders. One was a redhead with warm brown eyes carrying a pile of dresses over her arms. The other had bronze skin and tightly coiled curls down to her waist. She carried an intricate key on a ring. Violet could see they were both wary of her, just as she was of them. "Come this way. Your suite is ready," s
The Elf King and His Bodyguard Chapter 34: Gilded And Magnificent
Two days passed. Curzon hadn't brought up the subject of joining him since their encounter in the west garden. He simply accompanied her throughout The Bastion's halls, telling her about the history of the palace or recounting stories of him and his younger brother."We stole two trays of meat pies from the kitchens and brought them up here. We ate so fast Atlas had to dart outside to throw it all up again in the north garden's bushes." Curzon laughed at the memory, a wistfulness stealing into his body. "That was the first season in years we had such bounty in the palace. Two little boys hardly knew what to do with it all.""Where is Atlas now?" Violet had asked."He died a year later when the crops failed. Many across Ipsit starved."Violet hadn't been brave enough to ask any more questions about Atlas after that.She didn't want to return to the west garden either. The unseen division between blood and high elf was crumbling around her and venturing back to the place it began didn't
The Elf King and His Bodyguard Chapter 35: A Little Darkness
"Do you want to see what she can do?" Curzon cried.The great hall resounded with cheers. Queen Dalyla and King Caiphas looked uneasy but clapped along with the rest of the guests. Violet wondered where the two of them fit into Curzon's grand plans for just him and Violet to rule the elven kingdoms. He didn't seem the kind to share.Curzon pulled off a glove. "Let us see what The Eye is capable of."More cheering, but Violet hesitated to touch him. Curzon noticed and snatched her hand. Magic poured into Violet. She gasped, Curzon resting her palm against his chest. Violet became a vessel. The magic of death swirled within her, darkening her vision.She stared into Curzon. His soul was bleeding out."What have you become?" she murmured, her free hand passing through the mist invisible to the rest of the hall.It was a breach in the magic she should've found there; a sickened vortex of all the Monarchs' magic he'd consumed. In those charred cracks death seeped in, sending its worst back
The Elf King and His Bodyguard Chapter 36: The Blood-letting
For the first time that night, Violet managed to fade into the background, despite still being in front of the entire great hall. The nobles were getting eager for the night's next event—something Curzon hadn't mentioned to Violet—and no longer required her.The Blood King addressed the room, his voice booming. "Monarchs and nobles, let the Blood-letting begin! The moment you've been waiting all month for! Here are my gifts for your devoted service."The doors to the great hall opened again and two rows of elves walked in single file, each one bearing a different noble family's crest on the right side of their necks. Several more had the wolf of Ipsit stamped on their flesh. All marched to Curzon's red quartz throne.He looked them over, threading through the ranks with an exacting eye. Curzon tipped up the chin of one elf then pushed up the sleeve of another. Violet realized he was checking their veins. Dread filled her."My reserves supply the best as always!" Curzon declared. "Let u
Latest chapter
- The Elf King and His Bodyguard Chapter 50: The Coronation Vows
- The Elf King and His Bodyguard Chapter 49: One Last Thing
- The Elf King and His Bodyguard Chapter 48: Dispelling the Dead
- The Elf King and His Bodyguard Chapter 47: To Be Loved
- The Elf King and His Bodyguard Chapter 46: Having It All
- The Elf King and His Bodyguard Chapter 45: Not What We Planned
- The Elf King and His Bodyguard Chapter 44: Unfinished Business
- The Elf King and His Bodyguard Chapter 43: Meet The Shifter
- The Elf King and His Bodyguard Chapter 42: Fighting On All Fronts
