Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 67437 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 337(@200wpm)___ 270(@250wpm)___ 225(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67437 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 337(@200wpm)___ 270(@250wpm)___ 225(@300wpm)
Because it is simply mine now, and with so many under my rule. . .I gave up with naming them all.
Relaxing, I gathered Seraphine into my arms. She rested her head against my chest. Our bodies sank into the plush mattress.
I looked down at my precious queen and worried that she was too tired to stay up a minute more.
I can finish the story later.
“No.” Yawning, she closed her eyes. “Tell me the rest of the story.”
I ran my fingers along her bald head. When I had first captured Seraphine, it had been smooth. Now I could feel the red strands peeking and beginning to grow back. Immediately, I wondered what she would look like with red hair.
She snuggled against me. “Nai? Tell me.”
I smiled and spoke.
Many called Aelarion the Greedy King because he had twenty blood mages as his queens. Most important, his third queen was an ancient sorceress named Reye Lirielle. She was Vorath the Blood-Seer's granddaughter. And she was a blood mage with the ability to wield tremendously powerful spells.
Seraphine opened her eyes and lifted her head. “H-her name was. . .Reye?”
I nodded.
Once we knew all of this, Phinova became obsessed. First, we went to this kingdom as honorary guests. And at a dinner hosted by the Greedy King, we kindly asked Reye for her help. I promised her land, money, and even power.
Seraphine did not lay her head back down as she watched me with wide eyes of shock. “What did Reye say?”
For some reason when Reye looked at Phinova, she refused and would not say why. All we knew was that she absolutely would not teach Phinova anything.
I gently coaxed Seraphine to lay her head back down, returned to tracing my fingertips along her face, and spoke some more.
Phinova was so mad. The entire journey back to Capital City she talked of war. In fact, she demanded I kill this king and his other wives.
Seraphine shivered.
But without my brother. . .I was not confident enough at that time to go to war.
Now I knew that war had been the answer. Had I simply done that, Phinova would have never been trapped in her body for a century and my voice, sight, and hearing would have never been snatched from me.
I swallowed and shook my head.
Due to my refusal of war, we considered other paths.
Seraphine's eyelids fluttered. I could tell she was battling with herself to stay awake.
The next month, I sent a unit of highly-skilled mages to kidnap her.
Seraphine yawned and tried to sit up. “But. . .”
Rest my queen. My power in your body is already using up your energy to strengthen you.
She rubbed her eyes and collapsed back on my chest. “You took Reye from her king?”
We did. The mages found Reye in the Greedy King's garden with the Ebon Vein. They were smart enough to bring the grimoire along with the blood mage.
Seraphine's words were but a whisper, “And her king. . .came to get. . .Reye back?”
He did, but not without trying to kill Phinova in the process, which incited me to become. . .what I became.
“The Quiet King.” Shivering, Seraphine yawned.
Instead of speaking out loud, she weakly whispered in my head.
I knew Reye.
Then, Seraphine fell asleep.
I blinked.
She knew her? But how?
I watched my queen peacefully slumber. Her breaths were steady and slow.
Curious, I slipped into Seraphine's mind, rummaging through her memories and stopped when I saw the Greedy King's queen.
Aww. There she is.
I'd kept Reye in my dungeon for decades, begging with her to help me fix Phinova. It was the only reason why I'd kept the blood mage alive. With all her power, surely she could help me.
But she never did.
At times, she would spit in my face, and the guards would drag her back to the dungeon.
How strange that Seraphine would be in the same cell with Reye?
I pushed my queen's memories away and watched her peacefully sleep. A smile pulled at the corner of my lips.
That's why you could easily learn the spells. You had already been taught by its master.
I wished I could contemplate the strangeness of that coincidence or even the future of our love, but there were other things that would keep me busy today.
It is time to work on getting Phinova back to me.
Many days before capturing Seraphine, I had given out many orders to my men. Now I wondered what had been executed.
Also, there was the matter of the heartbeats I had sensed in the one tent, while Seraphine and I were walking back to our sleeping quarters. None of the vampires' thoughts had slipped to me like usual, telling me that they had put all their energy into guarding their minds.
Sighing, I carefully rolled Seraphine to the side, rose from the bed, and mentally called out for Gwindor.
Yes, master.
Rustling sounded at the tent's entrance.