CHAPTER 34: THE EXORCISM
He tried to fix his employees with a glower. But they continued to make him the source of their humor behind carts and wagons, snickering at his taped fingers and disheveled appearance. Ruven hated himself for trusting them. For trusting them enough to vent about the unnatural meeting he had with you. At first, they sounded like they believed it. But by the time the sun peered over the skyline and the liquor drained from their bodies, the tradesman had become less of a leader and more of an object of ridicule.
To the best of his ability, Ruven tried to dismiss the memory of you as a consequence of his inebriation. Yet, your eyes - both inky and aureate - and your devilish voice had him cowering like he was a child learning of the boogeyman for the first time. Luckily, the male saw the lifting of the curse as a chance to restore his honor. All he had to do was capture you, the eldest Ivory Paladin, and the Starquill familiar that tormented his drive of success for years.
While Ruven sulked by the foreshore, the forger and the Countess made themselves useful by running through their plot to cage whatever was left of the beast of Caspon's Lake when you arrived. However, despite the progress they made, Uzner could not help but feel perturbed by your lengthy absence.
"She'll be alright, you know." Akira muttered, breaking the momentary stillness. She grinned faintly when the male snapped his gaze from the lake to her, looking baffled and rouge. "(Y/n) was destined to do this."
"Destiny? Pfft, don't hale that into this. We know what your intentions are."
" . . . Pardon?"
"Nothing."
"Nie - I want to hear what you have to say. What are my intentions? Enlighten me."
The forger shrugged, casting an idle gaze over his map of Orlion. "I'm just saying . . . this is not about bringing balance or protecting your people. This is about the coins. And you would rather your own sibling plunge into the deep end than have to do any of the dirty work."
"Are you out of your mind?! The reason I sent her out there is because this is her mother's mess. And no one but the Ivory Paladin could undo a curse as potent as this one-"
"Perhaps. But I have a feeling that even if (Y/n) wasn't the Ivory Paladin, you still wouldn't care," Uzner grumbled, jealously. His icy features tore through the woman's cool resolve. "Because you don't see her as your sister. You see her as an opportunity."
Akira's mouth fell slack. At some point, she opened her lips to rebuke his accusations but a lookout-trader wrested the silence with a rather peculiar proclamation. "Sir, the waters are falling back!"
Ruven furrowed his brows, unhappy with the amount of undeserving attention his mate gained. "What are you goin' on about? It's noon. The tides are supposed to be high."
"I - I know but just . . . just look!"
Although the exchange was only between the two, the rest of the trope, the forger, and the Countess approached the shoreline in curiosity. The trade leader followed his employee to the edge of the waters and noticed how, with every step, the lake retreated to the skyline like a snail stumbling on grains of salt. While most spectators came to a halt, Ruven carried on for a few more meters and fixed his gaze on the horizon. He waited and watched - scouting out movements in the distance. But then, as if to cater to his keen intuition, a miasma of thick air billowed towards the beach.
"She knows," he mouthed in disbelief. As realization dawned upon him, the trader turned to his employees and shouted his throat dead. "She knows!"
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Wayfinding | Aaravos x Reader |
Fanfiction"Forged by the stars, but heir to the night." ____ Black or white. Humans or elves. Good or evil. They see life as if it were something dichotomous. You are expected to live as one thing or the other. Yet, more often than not, you seem to find your...
