Diana Of Alcotta (Yrsoreth Chronicles 1)

50 ♔ Desperation In Syllables

Just a heads up, you may or may not get confused from here on out. As I've said, some parts of Diana of Alcotta and Lizzie of the North have the same timeline. With that in mind, some events here with few details that may confuse you, could only be answered in Lizzie's story.

If you ask why, because even if it's the second book, Lizzie's story (draft) was written and finished first even before I wrote Diana's story.

So yeah, enjoy the confusion. 😅

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Diana has been meeting with the vassals and the Levichian ships along with sample products to be traded. Aside from her official duties, it was more than a week of silence between her and Xander. The emperor was gone, but nobody batted an eye. As they said, such a situation happened a few times.

One of such was when he disappeared for weeks, and returned, announcing the submission of the Bahazon Green tribes. If not for personally doing espionage and other affairs, they said Xander would be gone in days for Alcotta.

But Diana was afraid of the silence, especially after what happened in his office.

Her response to Alec was still sealed and locked in her drawer. Miryam just had a quarrel with her husband for a misunderstanding. Even things were cleared between the couple, Diana would not risk for the letter to be traced to her son.

On the second day of the second week, the silence was broken. They said the emperor returned at midnight, and the imperial doctor was summoned, as well as the imperial mage.

The emperor was injured, the whispers echoed in the palace. They said that a part of his shoulder was burned. Xander stayed in his chambers just for a day and on the second, he performed his duties, sharper than usual and colder.

It was what she thought when Diana was summoned to his office before she was to depart to the port ceremony. Part of the treaty between the empires was to build a trading ship together. As half owners, a blessing ceremony will be done before building the ship as per Levichian tradition.

The rumors about Xander's injuries must be a lie, as he, sat by his desk like a pristine statue."...Are you alright, Your Majesty?" she asked still.

If his injuries were real, the mage must have cast a spell to cover them. They were an illusion, but the injury was still in the process of healing internally. Although the mages could not heal unlike in ancient times, casting illusion magic was still possible with great effort. A ruler must not appear weak.

Xander smiled. "Diana, what would you do if conquer the Norvillon Duchy?"

She paled. Alec. It was her first thought. Her son and Calenta would be dragged into war.

"I thought so," Xander said, reading her reaction. "I would just destroy everything. These hands... only destroy everything they touch." His eyes had lost the warmth in them. Specifically, he looked resigned. He slid a scroll on the table between them.

"This came for you this morning."

Her eyes trembled at the scroll, tied with a familiar black string.

"This was handed to the guards by the gates," Xander added.

She snatched the scroll and examined the string. It was Alec's.

Levichian children's hair was only cut at the age of six, as a symbol of shedding dependence. This age is when noble children begin their education and commoners were allowed into the sea. Like any Levichian mother, she weaved and roped strips from her old clothes to make a string that tied Alec's hair until he was six. After his hair was cut, the boy wrapped the string on a dagger she gifted him and was never parted with it ever since.