The Heirs of Death

16.1 Elayda

ELAYDA

The sky was still a canvas of black paint when I woke up, occasionally dotted with few specks of stars, most of them hidden behind thick clouds. Even the moon was not shining as bright as it had done the night of the ball as though the entire world was dimming.

We walked fast down the secret tunnels of the Ether Palace, rushing so Leon and I could make it to the Shimderian Forest before dawn broke--through the magical gates lining our way. They would propel us through time and space, crossing dimensions in blinks just as we'd done through our journey, once we were out of the castle.

I had woken a few hours prior, the sky dark as I slept through all of yesterday and into a few hours before daybreak. It had been a shock, opening my eyes to see someone seated on a cushioned chair that was moved from the end of the room and placed right in front of me. And seeing Leon soundlessly asleep, reclined on that chair as though he had been guarding me all night long until sleep stole him.

Perhaps it was the easiness that came with rising after a good amount of sleep that made want to tease the Shadow and give him a taste of his own game. Thus, I was at his side in seconds, trailing soft kisses down his cheek and brushing my fingers against his scalp.

He was never a heavy sleeper so it took me only a couple of brushes before I felt strong hands gripping my waist. I was one lucky soul that he didn't throw me to the ground and had a knife on my throat, instead I laughed it all before I kicked him out of my room, saying we should change and seek the king.

Of course, he'd winked as he got out. But now, as he was a step behind me in the humid and narrow paths, I felt like I was melting all over again, what happened this morning only seeming to fuel that fire.

Father was swift, guiding the way only illuminated by a fireball not larger than my fist. I had nothing on me past the clothes on my back and the two tubes containing the water—Blest
Tears, Ramos had called them—we had filled back in Arelesia. Whatever we needed next would be provided from within the witch's forest, be it cloths or information.

We took another turn and crossed, fast-paced, the distance that led to the end of the passage, a gentle ray of light that flickered grey brushing around the hole. We slid from the opening in the rocks, breaching that magic that seemed to shatter dimensions like the one I'd crossed when I entered the Prelius Chateau, and were met by the Court Leader.

Leon and I both stared at the men in front of us, at the silence that clouded them, at the pain lacing their features. And then, in a blink, my father's arms were so tight around me they could have broken my bones. I returned the embrace, head falling on his chest.

His pulse was thundering, his magic hissing and trashing in his veins to send us back to his room, to hide us from the world, from that end he was trying so much to save me from. I felt burning tears slide down my nape as they dripped from his cheeks, and my arms locked harder around him, keeping him the closest I could. Hot, fat tears pooled in my eyes, some clinging to my lashes, some escaping and tainting my face.