I tried not to show my suspicion when Sera started talking to me like a long lost friend once more.

"And you know what? Arion simply used his powers and threw the suitor out of the room. Never to be seen again." She sighed wistfully. "And I actually used to like him!"

The slight crease between her brows was seemingly genuine and faking the slow blink was quite difficult for me for it was real.

However, Sera's story regarding the protective streak her brother had towards all her potential partners was information that truly shouldn't have been shared with me.

Again, I resisted the urge to outright question her or give her a look of pure incredulity or befuddlement.

She sighed wistfully and pursed her lips as if in exasperation as the carriage moved along.

Crunching sounds of leaves and branches beneath the carriage wheels was prominent and the route wasn't laid with rocks and pits. The ground was yet to become uneven.

Small animals such as squirrels and minks scurried away from our travelling company. I looked away from the outside world.

I wondered how different Valeryn would be as compared to Celera. Draped in shades of uneventful grey, Celera and its weather truly complimented the vampires. Such rare days of sunlight proved so very convenient for them but to other creatures it was like confinement.

After all the stories I had heard from Sera, I had one genuine question.

So I chose my words carefully, "Have you ever been in love?"

Her eyelids shuttered and she smiled slowly. I observed her reaction.

But it wasn't as happy as she would have probably hoped it came off as. Still...it didn't seem like she was trying to mask her expression.

"No. I didn't love someone the way - " She seemed to cut those words off with a shake of her head. Picking off where she left off, she expanded, "But I had a family I would give my life for."

I couldn't make out when her tone turned light and when dark. It was a mix of symphonies of a song and I was unable to separate the notes like a well woven woolen garment.

But her words sung a note within me, pulling me in.

I wonder what the story behind that is.

Without my prompting, she continued.

"They always had my back. And I....I made a promise that I would have theirs." She looked at me with a fierceness in her eyes.

My chest felt constricted for no reason besides the anticipation of her words.

I slightly leaned towards her, as if really wanting to know her next words as curiosity got the best of me.

Seraphima's gaze dropped to look outside the small window of the carriage but my eyes remained fixated on her.

"There was once a home. A family. A true force to be reckoned with." Her tone was distant and so was the look in her almond eyes.

A lock of ocher hair fell forward as she leaned against the carriage, closer to the window.

A tug of strange longing pulled at the strings of my own heart.

"It was all just sacrifices. And promises. Bonds forged in love never seen before. Loyalty given in blood. Friendship stronger than magic." Her throat bobbed slightly and I couldn't help the prickling feeling behind my eyes.

It became a physical effort to bat away the tears gathering.

A sense of bafflement filled me. Seraphima's words seemed to have hit too close to home.

But I couldn't make out why this emotion felt mine when there was no reason for me to feel as such.

I had been wearing a mask always for the past five years. Yet slowly these people were chipping away at it like a termite with wood.

Her tone was bitter, "And traitors with hearts blacker than obsidian. Betrayal that ran deeper than the Macinn River."

I felt my brows tugging in.

What was she talking about?

It seemed like a story that she was giving me bits and pieces of. I wanted to know more.

She sighed then, a slow but heavy sigh escaping her lips.

Finally I looked out too. Only to find my gaze snagged by the burnt, ashen and blackened piece of land.

I frowned slightly for a mere second before going back to keeping my expression blank.

I had to bite my tongue not to ask her the story behind the Land of Lea.

Yet again, she seemed to have read my mind and started to speak on her own.

Would it be possible that Sera is telepathic?

The thought just came to me considering she seemed to read me so well.

But then she could know what all I thought about her really handsome brother....and that would just be awkward.....

Then again, her behavior with me had been different from the start. I don't know what I'm worth but it has to be a good amount.

"The Land of Lea."

I stared at the said place. It was so very small in the distance but we were coming closer to it with each mile covered and it felt like it was expanding in size too.

My geographical knowledge of Vammal wasn't as extensive as I would have liked it to be and I didn't like the feeling.

"What happened to it?" I asked her with a voice not betraying my curiosity.

"Have you heard of the Great Battle that took place roughly five centuries ago, give or take?"

I looked into her eyes and shook my head. I didn't know anything about it except it had been a battle of great loss.

Sera's lips curled at the corners and she inhaled before pointing towards the place.

"It was beautiful, you know. The Land of Lea. The animals, birds, beings of all sorts that enhanced its beauty made you think you truly were in Heaven. It wasn't a home to everyone though. It served as the anchor, the centre and the place, the court that doled out true justice."

I couldn't agree. At least not with the state the place was in.

"It's real name is Heavantta though." Her eyes twinkled with a mysterious glint. "After the battle, the place was ruined. The ones who gave it its life were scattered away like ash in the winds."

"How do you know all this? I haven't heard of this place at all. Heavantta or Land of Lea." I tried not to make my voice suspicious but it sneaked out nevertheless.

"That's because it was intentional." She arched a brow at me. "Not everyone is....privy to its existence after the Great Battle."

"What about those who did fight in the Great Battle? Wouldn't they remember and pass on the knowledge?"

What I meant to point out was people like Queen Kesla, King Harold, Lucien, Damien, Arion, even Sara herself and so many more should have mentioned and carried on the tale of it.

"Ah." She didn't give me an answer but she smiled at me, the skin around her eyes wrinkling.

I gulped at the emotions rising within me.

She inhaled deeply. "Don't worry, this is all you need to know. For now."

In that moment, I tried remembering how a human slave girl turned handmaiden would act.

But the more time I spent with these people, the less I could find myself fitting the mold I had been living in for the past five years.

Like it was just so wrong.

I cleared my throat, trying not to feel overwhelmed with the new information and sat back in my seat, gripping my dagger for mere comfort.

I looked out of the window on the other side, away from the one Seraphima was looking out of, seeming to be in a mood to stay silent.

I felt the wind on my face, cool and open. I could gulp in lungfuls and watch the scenery fly by.

The falcon of the company we had, flew ahead, scouting the air. 

There wasn't much considering there wasn't a lot of green life in Celera. The territory was mostly barren with little greenery because vampires had no need for food, only human blood.

Arion was riding on his own Fae horse, much to my surprise.

I had thought he would be more like a King riding in glory and comfort but here he was leading the company and riding in the front like a King who interacts with his people, gaining their trust on his own.

It made me.....respect him.

I shivered slightly at the thought, viewing his stormy grey eyes. He looked regal. I could see his back as he rode, muscles flexing even with the cape flying and the crown on his head, russet hair mussed.

I reverted back to seeing other things aside from a Fae King's backside when my back straightened and I scowled slightly.

There was a black wolf whimpering and lying on her side by the tree line.

We had to stop.

Stop and go see to her twisted leg so she would be alright. Her eyes, a yellow color, were staring straight at me and I felt my throat clogging up at the pain in them.

How do I know it's a she-wolf?

I swiveled around to see Sera who's eyes were trained on me as if waiting for something.

"That wolf...."

Sera smiled like it was enough incentive. "Stop the carriage." Her voice wasn't raised yet carried power.

The carriage came to a stop as did the whole company of Fae guards and royals.

Councillor West strode towards us.

I remained impassive, eyes flitting back to the wolf.

"Cara, do you wish to do something?"

The Princess gestured towards the door that had been opened, leading straight to the black wolf.

I didn't think as much and I truly blame my changing personality on these people.

Within a few minutes, I was kneeling besides the hurt wolf, my knees digging into the soft earth.

I stared into her eyes, slowly stroking her black fur tentatively as she whimpered, leaning into my touch and giving me confidence.

I looked at her twisted left hind leg. It was awkwardly bent and bound to have hurt.

I gulped and felt confused for a second.

The pull to go to her....it was so unnatural.

"Well, bring in a Healer!" Sera called put from somewhere behind me and I didn't dare to look behind.

I felt him before I saw him crouch down next to me, storm grey eyes narrowed.

Arion's gaze was intently focused on the she-wolf and he didn't utter a word. I looked at him from my peripheral, almost scared to see exactly how he would react to my actions.

I stroked the wolf again and her yellow eyes broke eye-contact with Arion to look into my jade green ones.

"May I have a look, Your Highness?" A middle aged man asked and I glanced at him.

A bag containing his essential medical items, a face that looked older than he probably was with wrinkles on his forehead and eyes deep set, the Healer bowed towards the Fae King besides me.

Arion stood up, his face sporting emotions unlike Lucien's but they were such that I couldn't even make out what he felt.

"Have a look, Healer." Councillor West had dismounted his horse as well and now stood near us, his beard in need of a trim.

I stood back up too and took a few steps back, seeing how most of the Fae in the company were either eyeing me up or the she-wolf.

I'm not such an artifact. Can't say the same for the wolf though.

The Healer got to work. "It's a broken leg. The pelvis bone is fractured too probably."

"I assume you can fix it?" Arion's words might not have carried out an order but the tone left no space for arguments.

This.

This was the Arion which I would start to know now.

Sera kept a hand on my shoulder, shooting me a smile and I simply kept my expressions blank.

Hot breath fanned across my left cheek and my breath hitched. "What made you think this wolf deserved our help?"

Words whispered not malevolently but rather curiously. I bit the inside of my cheek, hand clutching my dagger.

Before the fear that the people with us would see Arion and I's close proximity had a chance to fester, the fact that it was not Arion but a King in this space who would take careful measures for his reputation, washed them away.

And I knew....

I couldn't answer the question.

Because what would I say? That I had, what, a feeling? A pull? You know, like the ones I've been feeling lately?

Nothing would be enough to make me say such foolish words. And like I proclaimed, I was not stupid.

So I chose to counter-question him.

Because it was as clear as Minsa River's water to me that Arion as the King of Fae would not stop such a big troop of people in such a risky space of nothingness for no reason except that his sister and her Handmaiden wished to take a look at some hurt she-wolf.

No.

There was some other underlying reason I wasn't aware of that made him stop and even let a Healer work his magic on this wolf.

So if I couldn't answer his question, I would put him in the same position.

"What made you stop, Your Majesty? Was it the kindness of your heart?"

The last words weren't meant to be a taunt. And they weren't, but that was the bitter truth of our situation.

As much as I'd like to know his reasons, I'd rather not test my luck.

The Healer's hands glowed over the wolf's hurt structure and small whimpers escaped her animal body. The twisted leg slowly turned into its rightful shape.

Arion's lips twitched and his cloudy eyes finally collided with mine, making the breath in my chest catch.

"Toùche."

We didn't speak more on the subject and the Healer's shuffling to his feet brought us out of our bubble.

"She shall be fine now, Your Highness." The Healer bowed deeply and Arion gave him a nod of acknowledgement.

The Healer scurried away.

Sera was staring at the wolf, a conspirator's smile on her face. The black furred wolf was breathing hard before she lapped up the concoction the Healer had left besides her to ease the pain and speed up the process.

Arion took a step closer but the wolf was suddenly on its feet, a growl ripping from her throat.

Arion rose an unamused brow, unaffected and I gulped.

Was she foolish enough to growl at Arion? After he used an asset of his for her well-being?

Sera spoke, "Stay back, brother. In fact, let's simply leave."

To say that her words confused everyone was an understatement. The guards on their horses gave her veiled looks and the two other Ministers had a crease in their brow.

Councillor West had a thoughtful look but Arion's nod left nothing to be discussed.

General Markus hummed.

I scowled down at the ground.

This was it? But then why save the wolf? And what did Arion gain from this? Why did I want her good and healthy?

Everyone obeyed wordlessly. Moving back into formation.

Would we just leave?

I got the answer when the cry of a familiar dark grey falcon brought our attention to the creature, flapping with an arrow-pierced wing and falling onto the ground, panting and grunting even as the shapeshifter changed into his human form.

And the answer was an ominous No.

    •○•

AN~

Hey, guys, so here's the latest update and I hope you enjoyed! I'm really happy for the support I've been receiving and I just have one request.

Please you guys, if you've read my book so far then please do vote. I have nothing against silent readers because I truly am happy that people are genuinely reading this. Only thing is, the votes show your support to me and my work.

So go a step back, add my book to your library and reading lists to keep getting more updates and-
Please vote! Feel free to comment, follow and let me know your thoughts as well. They really make my day! And please tag the people you think might enjoy the story, I do need the exposure. It'd be very helpful! Pretty please?

I still have my exams but yes, I don't know how I managed to write it down haha. Anyways, till next time then, take care!

~Skyler