In the medieval times, where the myths we know of were spun from, there was a season of lords and knights, of witches and sorcerers, of magic and spells, of curses and plagues, of love and sacrifices, and of war and blood. Several kingdoms existed, kingdoms spread out far and wide, and having borders that greatly separated them from one another, far into the east and even into the north, where the cold that ravaged there froze life, but still people thrived in these kingdoms.
Many a time, these kingdoms were ravaged, if not by the cold then by the plague, by famine, by war, or by some sort of curse, and many a time some kingdoms crumbled under these; lost and forgotten, and buried under the black sooth of burning flesh and the witches’ cry, and they all did perish, save for seven. The seven kingdoms of the east and of the south.
This is not just a tale of one kingdom, and neither is this a tale of just one man, but it starts off somewhere.
And this tale starts off in the heart of Dragonsbane, where the king, Kade Cragore and his queen, Gwyn Cragore Wixx ruled…
Every day was usually the same in Dragonsbane, it was always the same boring day, repeating itself every time, but today at least would not be so boring. No, today there would be merriment in the castle, today they would have guests and there would be music, and dancing, and new faces, and today she would no longer be forced to see the world through her window. Today, her sister would be getting married.
She twirled from the bed to the window and sighed happily, the sun would set in a only a matter of hours and the main event would begin. She looked down from the window to the open courtyard and she giggled as her eyes took in everything it saw, it was a buzz of activities going on down there as every servant was busy with the preparations, carrying flowers here and there, the food being brought in and the tons of colourful fabrics that was used to decorate the whole place. Lyra bounced up and down while clutching tightly to the window, she was excited and she was hyper, barely having slept a wink last night. She smiled, and shivered in excitement before throwing the robe she had on off her body and raced to the door, pulling it wide open and rushing out of her room. First, she would go see the bride and wife to be, maybe tease her a little and help her get dressed, and then of course, try out some of her dresses while at the same time, dreaming of her own day; the day she would meet her soul mate, her hero and knight in shinning armor and after wards, get married.
Lyra was always excited when ever there was a function at the palace because that was the only time she ever got to meet people. Like literally the only time she had the opportunity to. On other days she would be cooped up in the castle and sometimes, she was never allowed to even go out to the garden, mother had said it was for her own safety but she had seen them allow her sisters go out to attend events they had been invited for, she had envied them but she also believed what mother had said because she never did anything without a good reason and Lyra knew that she was the only daughter that mother really gave all her attention to, whatever she wanted, she got it, maybe it was to console her for not being allowed to leave the castle grounds but Lyra could do nothing about that so she always looked forward to events and parties that happened in the palace.
But this guard over her life would soon end because tomorrow, she would be turning eighteen and there would be another party thrown in the palace for her, tomorrow would be the day she would get to chose her man, her hero and her knight and she would chose someone, only that the person she would chose would not be a prince like how some of her sisters had chosen, she wanted to be like her aunt Jenny, who had gotten married to a knight and a leader in the royal army, she felt like romances like that were heavenly, unlike mother who had gotten married to some important prince.
“Soria!” Lyra yelled as she burst into the room, startling her sister and the rest of the servants who were helping her get ready. She looked around the room and her mouth hung open at the decorations that had been put up, she squealed when she noticed Soria in the most amazing dress she had seen in a long time and marveled at how much it fit her, they smiled at each other and Lyra, without waiting any more time, ran up to her sister, ignoring the maids and jumped on her, bringing both of them crashing down to the bed, there was a rip and a tear and protested screams from the maids but Lyra could only care less. She was just too excited.
“Lyra!” Soria protested, her arms wrapping around her sister. “Lyra, you have torn my dress!”
“Oh,” She said and rolled off her sister then sat up on the bed, giving her sister that puppy dog face.
Soria frowned as she examined the damage done to her dress, the entire left sleeve had been ripped off and there was a huge slit in the dress which came all the way up to her thigh. “Lyra! It took an hour of fitting to get this done and in one swift second you have managed to ruin it!”
Lyra clasped her hands together and looked at the dress, yikes, she had really destroyed this but it was not beyond redemption. “I’m terribly sorry, I was just very…”
“Excited?” She finished her sentence and sighed, turning to face Lyra with smirk on her face. “I didn’t really like the dress anyway and besides, this is just the dinner dress and not the wedding dress, or I would have buried you in this room myself.”
Lyra giggled. “I did like the dress though but is it not a bit too early to be getting into the dress?”
“A bit too early?” Soria stood up from the bed to allow the maids take off the dress so she could try on another one. “Darling, the sun is beginning to set and the guest would be arriving soon, maybe I too am eagerly excited to wait till when it gets dark.”
“And maybe Zaden was too eager as well.” Lyra said and folded her lips to keep herself from smiling but the mischief in her eyes was clear. Soria narrowed her eyes at her and almost immediately squealed.
“He’s here?!”
Lyra nodded and shot up from the bed, grabbing her sister’s hands as they both jumped up and down squealing in happiness, ignoring the dress that she was now stomping on.
“I saw him come into the castle on my way here, looking so dashing in his complete uniform. Ohhh… Soria I can not begin to tell you how lucky you are to have Zaden for a husband.”
“I know how lucky I am,” Soria said, flicking strand of her hair and twirling, a huge grin on her face. “And I know how lucky he is to have me for a wife too.”
“I cannot wait to find my soulmate and get married,” Lyra fell back on the bed, staring dreamily at the ceiling. “I want a warrior like the man you got, not a prince and not a king but a brave warrior who would come take me out of this castle, I am tired of always being locked in.”
Soria smiled and laid down beside Lyra, she sighed. “Can’t wait.”
She was not sure how possible that was going to be, tomorrow Lyra would turn eighteen. Again. Like she had been doing so for the past thirty eight years now and every year she was to turn eighteen, she would be given a potion that would clear two years off her memory, bringing her back to thinking she was still sixteen. Soria did not know how long this had been going on for but it had been before she was born, and according to mother, Queen Gwyn Cragore Wixx, Lyra was not her sister but her fifty six year old aunt who looked like she was still eighteen years old.
At first when she had been told, she did not believe because she thought it was not possible. Sure she had heard stories of witches and sorcerers and she knew that was true but the fact that Lyra was that old? And still looked so very young was something she could not so easily accept, that was until she had seen it the time they had given her the potion to drink, Lyra had woken up the next day, fully convinced that she was only sixteen years old.
Why they had to do that, she did not really know because she was not told the full story but what mother had said was that it was for her own safety and she believed her mother’s every word.
Soria turned to face Lyra and she smiled. “Let’s get ready.”
The castle hall was packed with people who had come to join in the event happening, of course it was strictly only by invitation, but then mother must have invited a ton of people and it seemed that not only the people of Dragonsbane were invited to this event, she could see her Aunt Jenny and her husband and son, cooped up in a section of the hall reserved only for the royal family and by the look on Revvyn’s face, she could tell that he too did not want to be there with his mother and father in their royal restrictions. She giggled when he looked at her with pleading puppy eyes and she signaled for him to come to her.Revvyn was much like her, his mother, Duchess Jenny Wixx Dumieres, always loved to impose her own things on him but Lyra still considered him lucky because they did not live in the castle, his father was Eris Dumieres, Duke of Deltora, Dragonsbane, and for the fact that he was not stuck living his life within the castle walls was one thing she envied abo
The guests in the hall murmured amongst themselves, clustering together and far from the centre where the strange man was close to, the doors and exits were blocked by the men that obviously were with him. They looked strange and dressed differently from them and the aura which they carried was something powerful and mysterious, and something a person would be curious enough to want to find out about, or maybe a person stupid enough to want to entangle with them. Lyra was a curious person.She clutched on to Revvyn’s arm and pressed into his side, all the while keeping her focus on the man. The guests on this side of the hall had now clustered behind them, leaving both her and Rev in clear sight of the man if he should turn to their direction. Somehow it did not make her feel exposed because she had Revvyn standing with her, and yet somehow, it did. She looked up at Rev just as he looked down at her, his facial expression showing both anger and curiosity, it was an expr
It was too early in the morning, only a couple of hours past midnight and nobody was asleep. Nobody could sleep, the whole of Dragonsbane could not fall asleep. The events that had taken place at midnight was still fresh and still caused some of them to shake and worry, some of them like the kingdom’s most recent bride; Soria. After Ryder and his men had left the palace with Lyra, she had latched on to Zaden and refused to let go, scared that they might come back and take her with them. She had cried, her wedding ceremony was supposed to be a memorable one, well, it was but this was not how she had pictured it would have ended. Never had she pictured it ending with Lyra’s kidnap.Zaden sat in the chair beside her bed, holding her hand and stroking it gently as he watched her slowly drift off into sleep, he had carried her upstairs himself after she had been given her a sleeping potion that had been prepared by the queen herself so she could calm down and rest, bec
It was a two day non stop ride from Dragonsbane to Kilead, Astaroth, and Ryder had made absolute sure that they did not stop to rest except at night time. He was in a hurry to get back, his troops knew that he was in a hurry to get back and disturbing enough, the girl had been unconscious throughout the journey. Not like Ryder exactly cared enough about that, just as long as she was still alive, which Xanth had assured that she was, that was all that mattered to him.“Ryder,” Xanth called, puling his horse up closer to Ryder’s as the beasts trotted forward, their heads bobbing up and down as their riders led them on at a slightly slower pace. Ryder turned his head to Xanth, he was one of only a few people who could speak to him so casually.“Hmm?”“She has been unconscious since we left Dragonsbane.”“And still alive?”“Well… yes, but…”“That is all that ma
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