Heart of Radiance | Eternal Bonds: Book 3

Prologue

The corridor was empty and dim, lit only by the  moonlight that shone through the windows that lined the left wall. Silence hung in the air like a shadow.

But the silence was broken by the sound of boots. Someone was walking down the corridor.

It was a man and he wore a black shirt and black pants. His black boots had been responsible for breaking the silence and his dark brown hair was neat and tidy, as always. His coal coloured eyes took in his familiar surroundings as he made his way down the corridor.

He stopped in front of a set of double doors and entered a massive library. It wasn't as grand as the one he was used to in his home, Cygnus Keep, but it was impressive nonetheless.

This library was designed to look like a tree. The walls looked like tree bark and carved into them were bookshelves. The ceiling was painted with leaves and was reminiscent of a canopy. In the middle of the room, there was a large pillar that had been painted to look like a tree trunk. At the bottom of the tree trunk pillar there was a fireplace. He saw the flames dance in the fireplace and felt the warmth flow into the room. In front of the fireplace were a couple of couches and three armchairs. And sitting in one of those armchairs was a woman with blonde hair and green eyes.

The man froze. He had come here to find a book to read, but had instead found himself disturbing the Queen of Faeries.

Tatiana.

She looked up from her book when she saw him and smiled.

"Come here Gabriel," she called out.

Gabriel walked over to her and stopped a few feet from her chair.

"I didn't mean to disturb you," he told her.

"No, no," she told him, "It's good that you're here."

"About that...why am I here? I mean...why did you summon me?" Gabriel asked.

Tatiana sighed.

"I suppose it's time I told you," Tatiana told him, "My sister Nysa is gathering forces and marching here, so we could have a civil war on our hands. I want to resolve this peacefully, which is why I summoned you."

He raised an eyebrow at her and she continued, "You're the most well versed in other cultures and you're a vampire, which means you have some interest in who sits on the Faerie throne. Please Gabriel, help me end this conflict peacefully and diplomatically. My people are still reeling from the destruction that the League of Light caused them. They can't handle a war. Not now."

He thought about it for a moment.

It was true that, among his siblings, Gabriel was the most well versed in the cultures of other factions, but that didn't mean he was able to  mediate between two conflicting parties.

He had never done that before.

Damien had always been the mediator. He always knew how to resolve things peacefully. Gabriel assumed that is was because Damien was the oldest and dealt with sibling squabbles on an almost daily basis. Starlene and Stefan were usually at each other throats quite often and it usually started with Stefan making an inappropriate joke. But it kept Damien on his toes.