(13x Featured, Award Winner)
She is ruthless. She is scorned. And her blood? The darkest shade of blue.
***
When Queen Aravena basically life-threatens Gunderson, an evil merchant, to find the best warrior candidate in just a day, she doesn't know h...
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Warning: This chapter contains graphic description of violence. Reader's discretion advised.
Aravena
It was like the first time I had laid my eyes upon him. However, memories of the past clashed with the present more than once as I let my eyes roam over the King of Garland.
Seafoam eyes that used to reflect naive arrogance now held restrained coldness.
The tall and lean man now turned taller and bulkier.
Clean-shaved chiseled face now had the shadow of a dark beard.
The only thing that had remained constant was his light brown wavy hair and love for anything black.
Even now he was wearing a long black trench coat with a heavy black cape draped over his shoulders, a turtle-neck black shirt, black leather pants, and heavy black boots. The only color that adorned his whole appearance was his sharp, pointy ruby-carved gold crown.
"My apologies for the inconvenience, King Master." The male servant in a white shirt trembled beside him.
Donnovan did not give him so much as a glance before turning to the crowd. His face was a neat mask of a blank expression.
"Such a marvelous performance deserves applause, don't you think?" A ghost of a smile graced his lips as his deep baritone voice rumbled. "Ladies and lords, please show Queen of Ravendale and her companion proper appreciation for their effort."
As if they had just broken out of a trance, the crowd roared with thunderous applause and flooded us with compliments, left and right.
His eyes never once met mine as he turned around and disappeared in between the throngs of people.
I couldn't help but smirk at the way he played the field to his favor in the name of helping us.
Well, the war had only begun...
***
For the rest of the night, Valendard and I met with various dignitaries from all around the realm.
Valendard played the crowd much better than I thought. From proper greetings to perfect steering of conversation. He was an enchanter on a mission.
I also noticed how some people wanted to scope out gossip from our somewhat intimate dance. Good thing was that they seemed to get less and less concerned with our sudden appearance at the ball of Garland.
Valendard even kept giving me discrete glances and smirks enough to let me know it was a part of his plan as well.
This man could scheme like a devil!
When food was served, men and women had separate sitting arrangements although the tables were parallel to each other.
Garland cuisine was well-known for their spicy Perocoute, some kind of protein extract from lambs' bone marrow, and red wine in many events and celebrations. This ball was no different.
