Someone’s gentle touch roused Mel from her deep slumber and she twisted and turned, a frown forming on her face when the hands wouldn’t stop shaking her. She wanted to swipe her hand at whoever was disturbing her when a voice that wasn’t Annie or any of her maids filtered into her ears.“Mel?”‘Oh…’Mel’s eyes, already glued shut, took great effort to open and when she did, she blinked, the blurriness fading as her eyes came into focus, looking at the young girl she had feasted with last night.‘Ah. Now I remember. I followed them for the hunt.’Nora’s lips twitched with an apologetic smile, sorry for waking Mel up because the young woman was clearly displeased.Mel sat up and rubbed her eyes, a little groggy. “Morning,” she greeted Nora.Nora smiled with a slight nod, returning the greeting, “Good morning, my Lady.”Mel instinctively glanced at the side of the makeshift bed to find the bowl and towel gone.“Ah. I spread it outside on the tent roof to dry,” Nora shifted from her knel
Mel stood at the edge of her bed, her heart hammering in her chest as she listened to the soft trickling of water from the bathing chamber. Her husband was in there, sitting in the large wooden bathtub, and probably running his large hands through his wet matted hair from the sound of it. It had shocked her the moment this idea came to her head, and it had equally surprised her just how alluring it was listening to the dripping water and imagining Bjorn's huge frame in the basin taking up most of the space.Mel took off her night robe and neatly folded it on the bed, crossing her arms across her bosom as a fluttering wave flourished from the base of her stomach. If this were her room back at home, there would be a mirror she could look into to affirm she appeared alright. Mel shook her head. What was she thinking? This was her home now…She tiptoed to the door and stopped, her chest swarming with a strange feeling. What would Bjorn think of her? How would he react? He had mostly been
A dark figure flashed past the long unwinding hall of the castle, followed by two others in swift pursuit. Mel laughed, her dark hair flowing as she ran around a corner, dodging past stunned servants and eyeing several doors alongside each wall to find an escape route that would lead to an eventual hiding place."Young Mistress!" came the exhausted cries behind her but she ignored them.The stairs came into view and Mel rushed downstairs, leaving a huge gap between herself and her chamber maidens. More servants darted out of the way, not at all surprised by Mel's carefree attitude. Her chamber maidens chasing after her had become a routine the young lady of the castle was fond of, and what good would it do to help them when the young woman was an exceedingly fast runner.Mel found a door and pushed at it, slipping into a bright room and closing the door shut behind her. She turned around and listened closely with her ear pressed against it, her heart hammering in her chest. Soon enoug
"She may not agree. I can't—"Her brother, Anton, cut in, "You never put her consideration into this matter when you offered her to the Orions. Now that they need their dept repaid, why are you hesitating?""We just need time… persuade her."Anton scoffed. Mel could imagine him flinging a hand at the air, one of his annoying gestures. "Persuade? I know what you're thinking, old mad! She's passing twenty-two soon. Which man here in the kingdom would be interested in wedding a woman past her prime? Drag this out any further and not only might we incur their wrath, but your daughter would also be unable to find a suitable spouse for the rest of her life!"Mel stepped away from the doors silently, dumbfounded as she tried to process the ongoing conversation. What did all of this mean? She had lived most of her life in the castle and its surroundings. It hadn't dawned on her that there was a certain age girls were supposed to be wed. Was that why all of her friends were with husbands? From
"Choice? No choice?" Mel froze. There was something about her brother's demeanour that rooted her to the spot. "Please, at least tell me so I can understand," she whispered.Anton's jaw shifted as he ground his teeth. He cast a quick glance around the chamber.Mel swallowed the lump in her throat and let go of Anton. Taking a step back, she turned around to face the busy servants and she clapped her hands twice, catching their attention. "Excuse us."At her words, the maid stopped what they were doing and scrambled out of the chamber, shutting the heavy doors behind them and leaving the two siblings alone.Mel crossed her arms across her chest and shifted on her feet, eyeing Anton in expectation. "Go on." She nudged her shoulder in his direction. "Speak!""We received a missive from the North, the Orions." He watched her, monitoring her pensive mood closely. "When, Anton, when?" Mel pressed, digging her nails through the sleeves of her light dress into the flesh of her arms. Anton's
"You all must not like me much for me to be hearing of this just now."Harriett started, nearly jumping out of her own skin. "No. No. That isn't true. I… I didn't want you to worry—""Well done, you've achieved what you wanted. Now I'm set to leave, unprepared for what I'm to expect. You must be happy now.""Mel—""Just leave. I don't want to talk to anyone." Mel turned away, giving her mother the cold shoulder.Harriett remained standing still, devastated. Her lips quivered once more and she covered her lips with a thin hand. "I understand."Mel watched her mother leave the room and her heart sank. She remained sitting in a daze, staring off into space as more servants came in scuttling about and running in and out of her dressing room with folds of fabrics in hand as they packed her things and set out the garments she was to wear."My lady," Anna, the older of her two chambermaids whispered at Mel's ear, snapping the young woman out of her reverie.Mel looked around the mess that wa
The Sprite kingdom was the only nation in the whole realm with people born without a connection to spirit animals. They were more in tune with nature itself rather than the beasts of nature. Their lands were the most fertile out of all lands in the realm and the Sprite kingdom was not just the largest nation, it was among the most powerful. They were very good gardeners, and a variety of plantations grew bountifully on their lands.Just like other nations, there were several regions or clans within, which were headed by a clan leader each. The only thing that other nations had was their ability to use attributes belonging to powerful creatures. These were their spirit connections. The strongest clans with the tightest spirit connection were able to transform into their creatures, partially or fully. This, however, didn't stop Sprite from being one of the reigning nations, as they had control over plant life, and this was something the strongest Sprite clans could manipulate at their f
Eustace had apparently turned out to be Mel's mother-in-law and this panicked her to some extent. But the old woman's good graces, soft countenance, and charisma set Mel and her whole family at ease. Although her brother, Enmel, was somewhat aloof, he didn't have much of a presence. The castle received the guests from Orion with morbid curiosity. While Eustace and Enmel were tall and slender-figured, some of the Orions that came to rest in the castle were huge.This left Mel questioning what her husband would look like, but she was too shy to ask the old woman, and Eustace didn't say much about her son. The reason they had taken such a long time to get in contact with Urn in regards to the union was that they had encountered a few inconveniences on their end. That aside from the fact that some of their men had to go deep into the woods to hunt for rare creatures and materials that only appeared during a certain time frame within the span of every few decades.Eustace apologized for t