The Shadow Fades Before The Light

3

•Note•

I'm glad that you guys liked the book so far and I really appreciate your support❣ Also, new book cover!

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Luxanna was patiently waiting at the couch, slouched and head engulfed in boredom. It's been hours since they met each other and she felt bad for dragging him along with her mess. The truth is, she wasn't even trying to run away from her family. She just doesn't wanna spend another night locked up in a spacious fancy room knowing a lot of things are going around the kingdom. She thought as of now, she needed a distraction from all of this. She shifted her feet against the soft pillow as she scanned around the place. Two bookshelves with labels on it, a nice wooden center table, some pots with nonnative plants, scrolls and pouches barely placed on the small cabinet beside the shelves. From her perspective, it looks like an attic but it would be disrespectful to him if she would say that aloud. To her, it was at least a decent place. It calms her nerves to see simplicity on sight instead of fancy organized place that makes her sick even by touching the walls. Here, there's so petricite walls or mage seekers around. Just her and... him. She realized that she hasn't one bit thought of asking his name when it should be the first question whenever you meet a stranger. But she doesn't want to further soil the family's reputation. With all the speculations, she'd done everything wrong to make the whole kingdom go against her with a reason.

She stood up from her seat and walked along the bookshelves, hoping she would find something that might obtain her interest. Then a cyan book with golden linings on the edges sitting at the corner of the shelf catches her attention. She pulled it gently and examined the features of it.

"A journal?" She mumbled.

Her fingers glided along the hard cover before opening it, out of her instinct. She found a ruby necklace that seemingly, somehow, familiar to her but she literally had no idea of it. She lifted the jewelry from the book and dangles it slowly. In each turn, the ruby sparks beautifully. Mesmerized by it, she caressed the hard stone with her fingers. Then she saw a faint light shining from the inside. She had never seen such artifact, even from books. She doesn't remember seeing an odd structure from the history books she have read before. Her eyebrows as she looked deeper onto the stone. Somehow she felt like the jewelry was calling her and her magic recognized it. For a brief moment, she heard the door slammed open as she dropped the necklace on the book against the couch. The stranger appeared from the doorstep carrying a bunch of plastic bags and a paper bag.

"What are you doing?" He asked in an insulting tone.

He walks in before kicking the door and make his way on Luxanna's. He dropped the bags as he looked at her, squinting his eyes with suspicion before reverting to where she dropped the book barely hidden from the pillow.

"Did you attempt to look into the jewelry?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." She pouted, avoiding his gaze.

"You shouldn't peak on other people's property. Especially-" He walks over the side and lifts up the journal in front of Luxanna's face. "Oh! It's a journal."

Luxanna rolled her eyes and rose up from her seat then glanced at the plastic bags.

"What are we cooking?"

"What do you mean by we?"

"Oh shut up." She hissed as she walked into the kitchen.

The blonde-haired boy followed behind her with the plastic bags in his arms. Luxanna grabbed a stainless container from the glassed cabinets. As she turned around, the boy's hand gripped against the container with cold eyes.