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 about him and she would do anything to leave the castle, she even, on more than one occasion, tried to convince mother to allow her go live a while with the Dumieres, even though Lyra was sure that her Aunt Jenny, would be even more strict about her than her mother was, still she would accept that if it meant that she would be allowed out of the castle, but mother would hear none of that.
She was not to leave the castle and if there was a function happening in the castle, she was not to leave mother’s sight. She smiled and sighed, thinking of all the parchment she had hidden away in her dresser up in her room, containing detailed mappings of the castle, including the underground tunnels and the secret passage ways and the numerous escape plans she had in her head and wishing that she had a glass of wine in her hands right now but mother would kill her if she was seen drinking that stuff. There was just too many things she was not allowed to do and sometimes it frustrated her but she chose to be patient. She would be eighteen and she would be married soon - that was her only source of console now. She would be married soon.
Her gaze moved from Revvyn who was now making his way towards her, to her mother the queen, Gwyn Wixx Cragore, and she almost immediately looked away, she chose not to focus on her piercing gaze disapproving of her interacting with the other guests but rather wanted to enjoy her evening instead, this was the one time in months she had been allowed into an event in the castle and she would not be spending it restricted to one section of the hall as a royal in their high and mighty esteem. Revvyn got to her at the same time that the announcement began. The bride was stepping into the hall.
The music slowed, the lights in the hall dimmed and everyone’s attention was on the bride. Lyra gasped and so did a few other guests; Soria was an epitome of beauty, the peach dress she had chosen was just her fit, she wore her hair down and only a single head piece, her smile was the only makeup she needed. Lyra’s heart swirled and she could have sworn that Zaden’s did too because he exhaled loudly and he could not keep himself from grinning and… was that a tear in the corner of his eyes?
“Beautiful.” Revvyn whispered into her ears and she nodded in approval.
“Truly beautiful.” She sighed and then turned to him with a narrowed gaze. “Speaking of beauty, when are you getting married Rev?”
“Ohh no, not you too.” He groaned and rolled his eyes, causing Lyra to laugh.
“What? You are a twenty two year old man, and you have not found your supposed soul mate yet?”
“Mother breathes down my neck at every given chance she gets, she collects every invitation and forces me to attend them. Every single on of them.”
“Maybe your soul mate is not in Dragonsbane.” She shrugged her shoulders and Revvyn looked at her like she had just spoken in some foreign language. She smiled and pinched his chin. “Just think about it.”
He seemed to ponder on that for a while and then shrugged his shoulders too. “I am a man, I could get married at whatever age, just look at my father, he did not get married that early, his soul mate…” He said, emphasizing on ‘soulmate’ and shaking his head. “…did not grow up fast.”
Lyra almost roared with laughter but held herself, the hall was mostly quiet now and the only people talking were the priest, Soria and Zaden when they needed to.
“So maybe…” He continued. “…my soulmate has not turned eighteen yet.”
“Well, I would be eighteen tomorrow…”
“So you’re my soulmate then?”
“What? No! Shut up.” She cautioned him, both of them grinning. “Anyway, I would be eighteen tomorrow and then I would get to meet with my soulmate, he is going to be a warrior…”
“You know you cannot decide that.” He interrupted her. “Whomever you connect with is your soulmate, be it a warrior or a prince or just a guard.”
She narrowed her eyes at him and frowned. “You mock me.”
“Whaaaatttt….. me? Nooooo…..” He dragged the words, looking away from her but the grin on his face told the truth that he was mocking her. Lyra smiled and with all her might, stomped on his foot.
Revvyn yowled in pain and everyone turned to him, including Lyra who had scooted a little away from him and now looked at him like she did not know why he would suddenly be loud. Revvyn folded his lips, scrunched his face and brought his face down.
“Yes son?” The priest asked him and he looked up to the man, a confused look on his face. “Do you have a reason why these two should not be together?”
Revvyn chuckled nervously and shook his head. “I love you Soria.”
She laughed and so did Zaden, then the crowd joined in too and soon everyone’s attention went back to the couple. Revvyn shot Lyra a death stare, he could still feel the pain in his foot and he could only imagine the look on his mother’s face right now, he was surely not going to hear the end of this. Lyra smiled and wiggled her eyebrows at him which caused him to scoff and smile and shake his head at her childishness before he hopped away to take care of his aching toe.
The ceremony was quick, much quicker than she thought it would be and she wondered if it was already midnight, her twenty year old sister was almost married, tomorrow she would be eighteen and soon it would be her getting married, the thought of it excited her, causing chills to run down her spine and she giggled, wanting to just jump up and down with joy. She saw Revvyn making his way back to her and she grinned at him, wanting to twirl in her happiness until she noticed what he had in his hand. He came closer and tapped her shoulder like she was not already aware of his presence, then passed a goblet to her.
“I cannot take wine Rev, I’m not allowed to.”
“Ohh, this isn’t wine. Aunt said to give this to you.”
“Aunt? Like my mother?”
He nodded and shifted his body away slightly so that she was in line of sight of the queen and he pointed to where her mother sat. Lyra looked in the direction which he pointed in and she saw her mother smile and nod her head for her to drink it. Lyra’s eyebrow rose up in question as she eyed the vessel in his hand and the dark purple-looking liquid within it, wondering what it could be. Surely she knew it was not poison, it could not be but she could not help being cautious, she took the goblet from Revvyn none the less and brought it to her lips just as Soria and Zaden were announced as husband and wife.
“Congratulations!” A voice boomed from the far end of the hall just as the doors were thrown wide open and a group of savage looking soldiers casually walked in, some grinning maliciously while some had on a straight face. The unexpected intrusion shook Lyra and caused her to drop the goblet after having only drank a mouth full of the liquid. She turned in the direction as the other guests to see who had been so loud and arrogant to interrupt just as they shuffled to the side, clearing a wide path for him.
The man made his way from the back of the hall to the middle, not for once paying attention to the guests but looking straight at the new couple to the royals who were now on their feet. He didn’t smile when he walked up to them.
“No need to be frightened, I have only come for my bride.”
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
He didn’t know why he was feeling restless.Ryder stood outside the front door, looking up into the sky. He took in a deep breath and let it out heavily. The army of Rocheveron and the ruckus they were causing at the Eldham border, he had be quiet about it for long, and that was what fueled their courage. He was not one to be quiet but he had other things to deal with, other things more important than going there himself to quiet things down. He believed in the capability of his soldiers there, Rocheveron would never be able to take control over Eldham no matter the number of attacks they staged.He looked down to the horses ready in front of him, he had a little free time in his hands now, so he could spare to go to Eldham, his presence there would settle a lot of things without him having to lift up a sword. Most of what distracted him from going there had been settled now and top on that list had been Lyra. And speaking of Lyra, that dress she had worn today f