Arrival - 8 Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Dragon-The Search

October, 1004 A.D.

tI had only recently turned twenty-four. I was just graduating from the Arching unit of Havengrove city, under my father, Drakul. But, much to his dismay and disappointment, I didn’t want to be an archer or hunter for our great nation.

tNo, I wanted to be a healer.

tMy dragon hunting ancestors must have been turning over in their graves.

tI began reading books on healing methods, learning from different travelers. It w0asn’t until I met someone at the Woodworking station that anyone told me of who I should really be learning from.

t”Healing, hm?” A young, black-headed man asked me. “Go to the city Library. There is a young girl there, who is from my clan. She should be able to help you.”

t”What is her name?” I asked him.

t”Her name is Kassiel, of the Ash clan. She’s already world-famous for her healing techniques. I’m sure she’d be happy to take on an apprentice.”

t”Thank you, Mr…..”

t”I am Garin, of the Ash clan. She’s a cousin of mine. Just tell her who you are, and that I sent you. She’ll get right to helping you.”

tI bowed lightly. “Thank you, sir.” And I rushed off to the library.

tI searched and searched, looking around the library, each librarian giving me a different location to try.

tI was beginning to think that I’d never find this woman, until I crashed hard into someone carrying a large stack of texts.

tI was frantic to help her pick up her things. “I am so sorry! I was just searching for someone, and I wasn’t paying attention to where I was-” I stopped short when I stood and saw her face.

tShe had a beautiful face.

tShe was short, much shorter than myself.

tShe had long, bouncy, wavy strawberry blonde hair pulled back into a messy pony tail. Her wide, almond-shaped eyes were a bright teal color, with a mossy green around the pupils.

tHer cheeks were flushed, and her skin was dark, a nice, fleshy tan color underneath her long sleeved gown and apron.

tAnd then she spoke in a voice that had my heart pounding, and I couldn’t even focus on what she was saying because of how beautiful her voice was.

t”Who are you looking for, sir?” She asked softly. When I didn’t respond, she gave me an odd look. “Sir?” She asked.

t”Oh!” I snapped out of my daze. “I am looking for Kassiel, of the Ash clan. Garin told me that I could find her in here, and I desperately want to learn under her to become a healer.”

tHer smile was dazzling, her teeth bright white and her full lips a beautiful rosy pink color. “You have found me, then,” she laughed in a tinkle.

t”You? You’re Kassiel?” I asked. “I’ve been looking for you for hours!” I said, relieved.

t”Oh, well, I’m glad that you were finally able to find me, um….”

t”Dragon, of the Huntsman clan.”

tShe startled, looking shocked. “Huntsman clan?” She laughed. “Shouldn’t you be off somewhere hunting in the forest? I am quite sure that master Drakul must be very displeased if one of his relatives is in the library!”

t”My father has already accepted that I desire to be a healer, much to his dismay and displeasure.”

tShe jolted again, and gave a frantic little bow. “Oh, my lord!” She smiled. “I am so sorry, I didn’t realize that you were master Drakul’s son. You are a nobleman, I am so sorry that I didn’t realize who you were and show you the proper respect!”

t”Oh, please,” I said, waving it off. “I’m not worried about that.”

t”I would be very honored to take you as my apprentice, and tutor you on everything that I know,” she smiled.

t”It is an honor to meet you then, teacher,” I said, bowing lightly to her. And we both laughed at the irony that I, a nobleman, was bowing to someone who was not of noble birth.

*

December, 1006 A.D.

t”Oh, my lord!” She cried, throwing her head back softly as I raked my mouth across her bare chest.

tI smiled against her flesh.

tI knew that what we were doing was wrong. I knew the sacred elven creed. I knew that it wasn’t right.

tI knew that there were consequences.

tBut she had pulled me to her, telling me that she could wait no longer. And at her desperate pleas, I simply wasn’t able to deny her.

tOur wedding was only days away, now. But she had to have me then, right then. Something had happened, one of her friends had died and she’d been so upset and lonely….and I’d been around….and it just happened so fast that neither of us could control ourselves.

tWe were young, in love.

tWhat was the harm? We were to marry in only a couple short days, anyway. Surely it wouldn’t hurt…right?

tKassiel had taught me much in the time that we had been together. She had taught me everything that she knew about healing, had me read all of her texts….

tI’d even published a book with all of my newfound knowledge, with her help, of course.

tKassiel’s long, heavy waves of ashy blonde hair bounced as she straddled me, rocking atop of me, and I shuddered beneath her from the beauty of it.

tA light sheen of sweat graced her features, making her glow in the light of the lanterns spaced around her cottage.

tHer cheeks were pink with embarrassment and her body’s work on top of mine. Blood pumped through her hard, her body flushing.

tHer heavy, wavy hair bounced and bounced….

tConsequences….

tShut up! I told my thoughts. I didn’t want to think about that. I wanted to enjoy my fiancé’s beautiful, warm, wonderful body.

tYou must face the consequences of your sins….

tSilence! I told myself again.

t”Oh, lord Dragon!” She called my name as I flipped her over, continuing on through the thoughts plaguing my mind. “Yes! Yes, take me!” She cried.

tShe shuttered around me, throwing me over the edge, and I cried out the release.

tLittle did I know that a guard, one who had been in love with her for so long…had come to see her that night, to ask her to reconsider her marriage to me, to ask her to leave me for him…..and had found us and what we were doing.

tNeither of us noticed his presence outside of her window, and neither of us noticed when he ran away to tell the king of what he had witnessed.

*

tBeating on the door woke us the next morning.

t”Kassiel of the Ash clan!” We heard voices. “We know that you’re in there!”

tKassiel told me to hide, and quickly rushed to answer the door, dressed in a robe. “Yes, guards?” She asked, her voice shaking.

tI startled. Guards? Why were guards here?

t”We got a tip from someone who had come here last night to talk to you that you were being intimate with someone out of wedlock.”

tI heard her sharp intake of breath. “That’s a lie!” She cried, her voice shaking.

tI couldn’t show myself. If I showed myself, mussed and sweaty, they would know that she was lying.

t”Then you won’t mind coming with us to the city’s medical building to be tested, will you?”

tI could practically feel her body shaking. “Why, of course not,” her voice was unsteady.

t”Come with us, then.”

tThey took her, and once they were gone, I finally came out of my hiding place.

tIf they found out…. if they found out that she and I had…. been intimate, then…..

tThen they would execute her.

tThey would execute her publicly, in the town square….

tFear struck through my heart.

tYou must face the consequences of your sins.

tLater on, that evening, I would go into the city, along with all of the other adult citizens, all of us being summoned by the king, to watch the guards execute Kassiel for being a fornicator.

tDivine punishment to the impure.

tThe king would speak to me privately, to inform me that I was to be spared and that I would take her place as the city healer.

tAnd as they would force her chest over the chopping block, in the indention of the block where the ax would sever her head from her shoulders, she would glance up at me to my place in the crowd.

tAnd I would cry, as she gave me a small smile, and the ax would swing down and decapitate her…. for being with me.

tAnd I would curse the king and become angry and bitter, lashing out verbally against him and the city, and I would be publicly beaten for the audacity of such actions.

tAnd I would sit in a jail cell that night, and weep desperately into my cot as my mother and father tried to comfort me, looking at one another desperately as I sobbed.

tAnd no comfort would come to me until the day that I delivered a baby girl out of the womb of my mother’s best friend.

*

August, 1082 A.D.

tIt was only a few days after Darah had been executed, and everything had been kept quiet, kept only between me, my parents, and the King of the city.

tI had promised Darah that I would take the infant girl and raise her, in her stead. The king had reluctantly agreed. But it was proving more difficult than I could have imagined.

tI had rushed home just before the execution, as Darah prepared the girl’s things to come live with me, and prepared a basket with blankets and swaddling next to my bed. I would have to get her a bedroom ready soon enough, but for this stage of her life, I could simply keep her in the room with me.

tIt was not as easy as I would have imagined, and I grew a fond respect for mothers once I had an infant living under my roof.

tI was able to feed her with cow’s milk and, when that would not satisfy her, deer blood. I had to feed her often, and I had to keep constant vigil over her. Any time I left the girl for even a moment, she would scream as if her life completely depended on my being physically present at her side at all times.

tI sighed. Sure, she depended on me…. but was I prohibited from eating, or bathing? I couldn’t take the girl with me to the washroom, that just simply wasn’t proper.

tMy mother was able to come and stay with me for the first few weeks, getting the hang of things, thankfully. I certainly needed the help.

t”I remember it like it was yesterday, when you were a baby,” my mother told me offhandedly one morning.

t”Was it this difficult?” I asked her.

tShe laughed, pulling her dark, almost black hair into a bun. “At times, yes. But you will see, this time will pass quite quickly, and you will miss these days when you look back at them. I know that I do.” She kissed my forehead as I rocked Kysael. “She is quite beautiful.”

tI smiled. “She is. A very charming baby. If only she were not so fussy.”

t”She misses her mother,” my mother told me. “I’ve seen it a couple of times before, at the orphanage.”

t”The orphanage…?”

tMy mother smiled. “Yes, I go there and visit the children sometimes. Newborns, in particular, have a hard time adjusting to the outside world without the comfort of their mothers. They can sense the difference. They eventually grow to accept the love and comfort of others, but it is a difficult process for them.”

t”I….I didn’t know that,” I told her softly.

tShe nodded, stroking Kysael’s soft tufts of hair. “She will grow accustomed to it, my son. Just give her time. She just doesn’t understand where her mother has gone.”

tTears stung my eyes and my blood boiled with leashed rage as I thought about where her mother had gone and why, but I pushed down the lump in my throat and cuddled Kysael’s small, tiny body into my chest, and she snuggled into the warmth.

*

September, 1083 A.D.

tKysael was just over a year old, now, and she was toddling around everywhere. It was almost impossible to keep her clean, and it was even harder to keep her out of everything.

tShe was very active, and spent most of her time latched to my legs.

tThe King had allowed me to be very lax in my job, but I was going to have to go back full time, soon.

tMy mother and father had agreed to help me take shifts in Kysael’s care.

tBut the girl could hardly stand to be away from me, and cried almost every time I was out of her sight.

tShe was just now beginning to speak, and I spent my free time helping her sound out words, learning colors and shapes and letters.

tShe was growing. And I felt that Darah would have been proud of her daughter.

tKysael’s brother was around often, but he was staying in between his uncle’s home and their grandparent’s home, as their grandparents knew what Kysael truly was. Darah had left letters for them, and told them that I was to have primary care for Kysael. As it turned out…they had no problem with that whatsoever. They were not cruel to Kysael, but they certainly saw her as the reason for their daughter’s untimely death.

tAnd my mother had been right, as it turned out, and the difficulties of Kysael’s newborn days passed quickly. And as I looked back, I couldn’t believe how fast she was growing.

tI thought about the future. What would her future hold? What kind of woman would she turn out to be, under my raising?

tWhat kind of life would she have in this city?

tWhat kind of influence would she have on the world?

*

December, 1101 A.D.

tKysael looked beautiful as she came down the aisle toward me, her body shaking the entire time. I was hyper aware of every single muscle spasm, each nervous glance she made. I looked at her, and saw her as the child that I’d raised through the years, to the young lady that she had become…that I was about to marry.

tYears of following her, being devoted to her safety and protection, helping her through difficult times….it still hadn’t prepared me for this.

tDespite my vow to do so if she couldn’t find a husband, I still hadn’t really gotten used to the idea in its complete entirety.

tIn my recollection of Kassiel, I could see, truly see, the resemblance. It was uncanny.

tTheir hair was almost the same color, Kysael’s a little more wheat than strawberry considering how much more time she spent outdoors than Kassiel had. Kassiel had been blessed with a beautiful, light strawberry blonde hair color with shimmery streaks in it. Kysael’s had the barest hint of strawberry in her hair in the right lighting, because her mother Darah was auburn haired. Kysael’s hair was a shimmery silver with wheat and strawberry blonde streaks, more rather.

t But their faces were the same shape. Their eyes were the same shape.

tTheir body structure was similar. And I was overwhelmed by the hidden away feelings that were forced to stir through my heart by my own thoughts.

tYes, Kassiel and Kysael were truly alike. Both of them fierce in their own ways, determined, strong, stubborn.

tBut this wasn’t Kassiel.

tI forced myself to be aware of that, even as I saw the black onyx hairpin holding back part of Kysael’s hair, that hairpin that Kassiel had favored deeply…and smelled the sweet perfume radiating from Kysael that Kassiel had been so fond of.

tNo, this wasn’t Kassiel….but it was close…uncomfortably close.

tKelose’s assassin knife brought me back to myself, though, strapped to her hip in proud representation of him.

tAnd I remembered that, though she had feelings for me…this was hard on her, as well.

tSince she had met Kelose, it wasn’t I whom she had intended to meet at the end of her march down the aisle. No…it was Kelose.

tI knew that she had grown very fond of him, and that she had been prepared to live the rest of her life with him, so intent on doing so that she began the Soul Bond with him.

tI knew that this was going to be painful for her.

tWith nervous glances and shaking hands, we repeated our vows after King Emron.

tAnd then…then, it had come time to kiss her, to make it a lawful, binding marriage….

tAnd, for some reason, I hesitated.

tOnly moments later, as our lips met to seal the union, something changed. It wasn’t so hard. One of the hardest parts was over.

tAll that was left was the bedding ceremony. Kysael expressed to me that she wanted the intimacy, wanted to have me. I had known it, already, the way that she looked at me. I knew she wanted me. And she deserved that. The women of our race were taught from an early age that the wedding night was important, special, that they should long for it and want it. And even if Kysael hadn’t been expressly taught that, it was completely natural for a young woman to want to be freshly bedded by her husband. It was instinct.

tI knew that we would be forced to consummate in front of the king, anyway. I knew that she wasn’t entirely pure, since she had started the soul bond with someone else and she had given oral relations to Kelose, but her body was still pure.

tBut she deserved, for once in her life, to be able to experience what it was like to be one of our people. This was right, in the sense that it was what we deserved. It was holy. It was honorable, in our new marriage. I reminded myself of that.

tWhen we had reached our home, we had both been nervous, of course. We had started kissing, despite my irritation with the king….and gradually we moved ourselves to the bedroom.

tAnd as her body became bare to my eyes, I felt my heart quicken.

tShe was beautiful, with a perky, rounded chest and wide, full hips, and lean legs that were muscular from years of running.

tHer body was well toned, her abdomen flat and lean, actually meatier than I would have anticipated. With her clothes on, she looked as if she were much tighter skinned than she was, but there was an attractive amount of flesh on her hips and belly. I wouldn’t call her chubby by any means, but she wasn’t a muscle machine, either. Her body was littered with scars, but that only served to give an air of strength and courage about her that made her even more appealing.

tAnd then I saw something that had me flushing, my head spinning at her…consideration. She truly had been thinking of me, of what would be pleasing.

tShe was a good wife already. She had considered my feelings. I worked over her body until she was ready, and I inspected her briefly, nodding in a barely perceptible way against her thigh, letting her know she was safe. I didn’t know why, but I had this sense that she was afraid she wasn’t pure. Whether because of the Soul bond, or because of her race, I couldn’t be sure. But I gave her that simple assurance before I climbed my way up her body and made my way inside of her.

tI barely noticed when the king took the sheet out from under us, showing the proof that we had legitimized our union to the people, and I continued making love to her, losing myself in her. I lost myself in her far easier than I had ever thought possible, and in an extremely distant part of my mind, I wondered if I didn’t have romantic feelings for her, after all….

tI could hear her breath quicken and she suddenly clenched, tightening around me and throwing her head back, her mouth open and her chest heaving with airy gasps as she reached her peak. I followed closely behind her, the overwhelming heat of our union and my sudden flood of desire and feelings for her too much to bear any longer. I released everything that I had into her, giving her something that I hadn’t thought that I would for many, many years. It certainly wasn’t my intention to lose myself enough to release myself and empty myself inside of her body.

tSuddenly, we felt the ground shake beneath our feet, and we were startled out of our consummation. We dressed ourselves and ran outside to see everyone running for their lives, proclaiming that our city was under attack.

tKysael’s eyes were angry and frightened. I knew she was angry, and I could hardly blame her. The exhilaration of our releases left us quickly, and I didn’t notice at that moment that my scent had overtaken hers, starting to form inside of her and take root. My mind was too frazzled with what was going on to take note of it in that moment.

tI begged her to escape, to run away or evacuate the city with the women and children-and only after kissing me, her hair whipped out of its bindings as she took off into the direction of the battle, and I’d called out her name, trying to stop her.

tBut her Wraith speed was superior to my own, and I could not catch her.

tI’d rushed to the battlefield myself, looking for her everywhere, worried when I couldn’t find her…. when I got too distracted in looking for her, and a Darkelf managed to pin me beneath him, stabbing me through the chest.

tI could honestly say that I had never been so distracted that way, before. I had never let an enemy get the better of me like that. Kysael had certainly worked her way into my heart more than even I had realized. I tried so hard to force the enemy off of me, but I was too distracted.

tI’d cried out in pain, of course. Never had I suffered such a severe injury. To make matters worse, my arms were about to give out on me, almost letting the Darkelf decapitate me, when Kysael ran up and dispatched him. Her body was fluid and graceful in its movements, and I idly wondered how she had known where to find me. We were not bonded, only married and freshly consummated. Her senses of me didn’t make sense. Perhaps it was my blood…?

tAnd as I reflected on it now, in the present tense, perhaps it was her fresh connection with me through our newly conceived life that we’d made together, that had told her where she could find me.

I went back to my reflection of the past events…

I watched with sorrowful, horrified eyes as her body fell, eyes wide with shock, as she saw herself kill another person for the first time. I could see the heavy weight that it added to her, the burden that it placed on top of her already mile-high stack of burdens.

tShe snapped out of her daze quickly, coming and feeding me her blood, promising that she would not allow me to die. Her blood was both sweet and bitter on my tongue, and my body felt as if I were being drowned and boiled alive.

tSomething was different.

tI’d never tried her blood. It was unnatural.

tShe went on to fight more, and when Grimoir was killed defending her, I watched in fascinated horror as she ripped the man’s throat out with her fangs, his blood running down her chin and onto her white tunic that had been meant for travelling for our wedding night.

tAnd I finally healed and was able to keep fighting alongside her.

tI’d watched the Darkelf in charge, the only one in the color white, who stood a good ninety-five or so inches tall, towering even over me, as he stared at her with fascinated, lustful longing. My blood boiled. How dare he look at her that way, she was mine!

tI was startled at my own thoughts, but I pushed it out of my mind as I watched him take one more glance at her before he and his troops escaped.

tOur people cheered as we drove them out of the city, and out of our borders.

tAfter the battle, I escorted her home.

tI felt different. My desire to protect her was stronger, and I had a new desire, a desire to serve her that had not been there before the battle. Something had changed. I felt…. more attached to her.

tI wanted to do anything for her in the moment.

tAnd that’s when I smelled it. It was so faint, so slight, that it was barely perceptible. It was so easy to miss, to overlook. But in that moment, I smelled my scent inside of her. I knew what that meant.

tWe had made a child.

tFear, but unquenchable joy sprung forth in my heart. I had not intended to have children with her until we absolutely had to. I knew that the king would use them to breed strong soldiers in the future, and I wanted to protect her and our children from that fate.

tI was afraid, because I wasn’t ready to be a father. Not a true father. I had practically raised this girl, and now I held this strange new sense of feeling for her that I couldn’t explain and I didn’t understand why it was that I was feeling this way.

tBut something inside of me, something primal in my heart of hearts, was so pleased and proud that this amazing, strong, fierce young woman would mother my children. That her body could, in fact, take my seed and form fresh life with it. The fact that her body could take something so basic from my own, and transform it and nourish it to become our offspring…

tIt gave me the strangest and most shocking of primal desire and pride that I had ever felt, and I had never been more turned on than in that moment.

tAnd I made her uncomfortable, with my newfound lust for her… and she sent me to my room. The thought was humorous, almost. She scolded me as if I were a child. But I felt compelled to obey her, oddly.

tMe, despite that I was her husband, now. I thought that it would be best for me to be away for a couple of days after that.

tThe day after the war, we had an entire day to remorse all of our fallen comrades in arms. Funerals took place. No feasts, no music, no songs. There was nothing but sorrow. I decided it would be best, considering all that had happened, to give Kysael some space.

tAnd I needed some space, as well. My odd lust for her was something that I wasn’t comfortable with. Who knew how I would react to her if I saw her, now that she was carrying my seed in her womb.

tThe War Council gathered the day after that, two days after the war. The king had arranged for an emergency meeting. The meeting lasted for a while, going over future battle strategies, things we could have done better, more organized. And it was getting later into the night.

t”We have one more matter to discuss,” the king said after a few hours. “We have an opportunity to appoint Kysael of the Cedar-the Huntsmen clan-a member of the Royal War Council to reward her for her services.”

tThere were surprised and angry whispers, but Vintice silenced them.

t”That girl killed twelve Darkelves, all on her own. She is not even an adult, yet. For someone of her age to hold that much power, we would be foolish not to consider her as a valuable addition to this council. She is already on the Hunting Squad Council. She is already a direct servant, a weapon if you will, to the King. Promoting her to an all-out Royal War Council member is what should be done.”

t”Vintice is right,” my father said. “I believe that she would be a great asset to us.”

t”I do not trust that vile creature!” The leader of the Hellebore clan shouted. “Not after what she did to my son, Kelose.”

t”We are all aware of your personal grudge against her, father,” Showyn spoke up. His voice was annoyed, yet amused. “But Kysael is loyal, powerful, and smart. She took on a full-fledged Wraith on her own, and then she proved her loyalty again by taking on the Darkelves. She has proven her loyalty and her worth each and every time she has hunted down our enemies for the Assassin Association, hunted down meat for our vendors. Your personal vendetta against her is irrelevant.”

t”I say we have a vote,” I said. “That way, it will be fair.”

t”I agree,” said King Emron.

tBefore we could begin the vote, the door to the War Chamber was burst open, and a messenger came running into the room.

t”Y-Your Highness! You must come to the throne room at once!”

tAll of us quickly filed out of the War Chamber, making our way quickly to the throne room, following the messenger.

tThere before us stood a Wraith man, and several uncomfortable guards. He was not short but not overly tall. He had long, pitch black hair pulled back into three braids down his back. He had an onyx, spiked crown on his head.

tHe turned to face us, and I jolted when I saw Kysael’s eyes and Kysael’s markings. I knew who he was immediately, as did my father.

tMy father and I met each other’s eyes, giving small nods.

t”Bow,” a servant with the Wraith said.

t”And who are you,” King Emron spoke to the Wraith in charge directly. “That I must bow to you?”

t”You ignorant woodland scum! You shall show more respect for the crowned prince of the Wraiths or we will have your head on a spike!” The servant shouted. Emron startled, giving his attention to the Wraith prince before giving a slight bow.

t”What might I do for you, crowned prince of the Wraiths?” Emron asked.

t”King Emron,” he spoke, his voice soft like velvet and full of underlying authority. You could just hear from his voice how utterly powerful he was. “I was made aware of the existence of a child, an unknown child to me, a young woman. She would be about twenty now, with markings just like my own. Where is she?”

tI spoke up. “Who are you to her? What do you want with her?”

tHe smiled a thin smile. “I am Moserre, Crowned Prince of the Wraith City of Lykra, and I would like to meet her. I do not mean her any type of harm. I was simply told of her existence and wished to meet the girl myself. Where is the woman who birthed her…? Darah? She can prove to you that I am being true.”

t”I am….sorry, my Lord,” I said softly. “But Darah is no longer alive.”

tHis eyes widened, and he looked away, a small blush on his face, looking as if he were lost in thought. “Oh, I see. That is quite a shame. She was such a beauty, such a fiery spirit. But it can’t be helped now. Then…can someone take me to the girl? I vow to you all, my intentions are nothing but honorable.”

t”How did you hear of her?” The king asked.

t”The girl had a run in with one of my servants, and he told me about her. I wished to come and meet her for myself, to see her. It is with a heavy heart that I hear of Darah’s untimely demise… Had I known about the girl’s existence, I would have seen to it that she’d been brought to Lykra, to be with her own people.”

t”When would you like to see her?” I asked.

tMoserre looked at me, then. “Would you take me to see the girl now?”

t”Now? Why ask me?” I asked, surprised.

t”Because you immediately jumped to question my intentions when I asked about her before. She is obviously very important to you.”

tI nodded. “And you promise that you intend no harm for her?”

t”I give you my word. Now, please take me to see her.”

tI nodded, and we left the palace and made the journey to our home, taking about an hour’s time.

t”How do you know the girl?” He asked me along the way.

t”I am the one who delivered her out of her mother. I swore an oath to protect her from that day forward. And I am the one that has raised her.”

t”I see. And when was it that you began to let her feed from you?”

tI smiled. “A few years ago.”

t”And when was it, now, that you drank her blood?”

tI startled. “Well…” I sighed. “When I was stabbed, on the battlefield. She thought that feeding me her blood might save me from dying…and it did.”

t”I am glad to know that she has someone whom she is so close to, then.”

t”I have always been there for her. As her friend…and now, as her husband.”

tHe looked at me in a new light, and smiled at me. “I cared deeply about her mother. I am glad that such a blessing came from such a horrible night. Alas, had I known that Darah had died, I would have come to retrieve the girl. She is royalty, afterall.”

t”She has…. had a very difficult life,” I told him solemnly. “As soon as her identity was revealed publicly, she was exiled to the outermost part of the city to live in seclusion, alone. I did everything that I could to protect her and take care of her, but I was forbidden to live with her. But she scratched her way up from the very bottom, earning the king’s trust, and she was permitted to enter into the city and to marry. I had already vowed to marry her, since no other clan was willing to take her. I did it to protect her. That poor girl has suffered immensely.”

t”She wouldn’t have with my people. My people…they would have welcomed her. She is one of us. I would have ensured that she’d had the royal treatment.”

tWe continued on, and finally, we reached my cabin.

tHe sniffed deeply, and began looking around, smelling the air more.

t”What is it? What is wrong?”

t”She is not here. The scent that is so concentrated in this area, her scent…. its fading. She hasn’t been here in at least a couple of days…. her scent is similar to my own, but a little sweeter, more feminine.” He paused. “And….there is the scent of a dark, foul aura…. I see.”

t”What?” I asked, getting concerned.

t”A Darkelf has been here. His scent and hers lead off in that direction,” he said, pointing toward the South, toward Barrenwilds.

t”She was captured!” I cried.

t”What do you plan to do?” He asked.

t”I’m going to put together a team to hunt her down and rescue her!”

*

t”You expect for me to give you clearance for a rescue mission? And you request for our only blacksmith, Vintice, our best healer, being yourself, and our best hunter, Drakul, to accompany you?” Emron asked, exasperated.

t”Your highness, please,” I pleaded with him. “She killed a considerable amount of Darkelves by herself, with no help. She has proven her loyalty to this city. I beg you. We were only just married! I have to get her. And… And she is freshly conceived with my seed, sire. Please.”

tHis eyes were full of sorry, but his body showed only exasperation. “Dragon, we are still recovering from war! There are still dozens of injured families, warriors…. you are the best healer in this entire city.” He threw up his hands. “We cannot afford to spare three vital people, who are all three also members of the Royal War Council, to save one girl. Even someone as strong and loyal as Kysael, and even…even if she is carrying your child. I am sorry, but I cannot authorize your request. We still have many in critical condition, Dragon.”

t”King Emron, if we don’t at least attempt to rescue her, given her strength and loyalty to this city thus far, how do you think that will look to the Prince of the Wraiths, Kysael’s father, who has come all the way here just to see his daughter? If we don’t try to rescue her, that could potentially create problems with our alliance to the Wraiths. And we need that alliance, your highness. They live just outside of our borders. They could slaughter us all without a second thought.”

tEmron stroked his chin, a contemplative look on his face. Then, he groaned and sighed deeply. “Fine. But you will tend to all of the critically injured first, at the very least, before you dare to set foot outside of this city. Is that understood?”

t”Yes, your highness.”

*

tAfter attending to the critically wounded, I rallied the people that I needed for the mission, and had them to meet me at the outer wall gate.

tHowever, there was….an unexpected person there, talking to the others as I approached.

tHe looked at me darkly. So, the others must have ran into him here and told him what was happening.

t”You are doing a splendid job of taking care of her, Lord Dragon,” he said in a dangerous tone. “You promised me that you would protect her!”

tI groaned. “I don’t have time for this, Kelose.”

tHe mounted his elk. “Then let us talk on the way to Barrenwilds, then.”

tAs we set out, I rode my moose to be beside of him. “There was nothing that I could do, Kelose. He ambushed her in our own house after I took her home. I don’t have special powers that make me capable of smelling or sensing that there was someone in there, and she asked me to go to my room, to leave her be. What was I supposed to do?”

t”You weren’t there for her, Dragon! You could have checked on her before now!”

t”I thought that she wanted space!”

t”That is a joke! Kysael has never truly wanted space, she wants someone to be clingy and close to her! Never in all of the years that I have known her, and the time that I was seeing her, did she ever want space.”

t”She has changed a lot since she was with you, Kelose.”

t”That may be, Dragon. But I can assure you, she did not want space.”

t”And what if I had been there?” I asked. “He would have simply killed me. He is more powerful than either me or Kysael. He overpowered her easily after she killed twelve Darkelves in battle, Kelose. Do you think that I would have been any different? At least I found out only two days later, and have rallied a search and rescue party for her! What else do you want from me?”

t”I want for you to do better!” He shouted. “What you’re doing isn’t enough. You aren’t doing enough for her!”

t”I’m not doing enough?” I asked, astounded. “I have devoted the last twenty years of my life to that girl’s happiness and protection! I raised her, Kelose! I have saved her more times than you know. I vowed to marry her when she was but an infant. And I have married that girl, for heaven’s sake! And now, she’s carrying my child! Hours old, but it is still there, freshly rooting inside of her womb!” He startled; his golden eyes wide. “If I had been there, he would have killed me, and we wouldn’t have an armed rescue squad on its way to save her. I am the one who convinced the king to allow us to go save her. I am the one who has let her feed from me every single time she thirsts since you haven’t done it for her for the last two years!”

tSurprised gasps from the group, and Kelose looked away, his cheeks tinged pink.

t”Do you have any idea how hard it is to have someone profess their love for you? And you see the knowledge that they know you don’t have those feelings? To see that crushed look on her face?” My voice cracked. “And to still openly give and give to her despite it all! And now, new feelings are coming into my heart for her and she’s gone!”

t”I….Dragon, I-”

t”Let me ask you something, Kelose. Are you angry at me because I’m the one who has her now and you don’t think that I am good enough for her? Or are you angry at yourself because you are the one who ruined her future with you in the first place?”

tHe stuttered. “I-I”

t”You are blaming me for something that I had absolutely no control over, Kelose, when what you are really upset about is that she is no longer yours because you pushed her away. I have put my very life on the line just to take care of that girl. What have you done?”

tHis eyes sparked with fury, but his face was solemn. “You are right. I hate myself for what I put her through. But she is not the only one who got hurt, Dragon. She hurt me, as well.”

tI sighed. “I know that. I suppose that things worked out for the best…even this. There has to be a purpose for what is happening, even as we speak. Everything happens for a reason. Now, let’s go and save my wife.”

*

tIt was ten days later that we arrived at the edge of the desert in which the city of Barrenwilds lay, and it was a barren wasteland. It had been twelve days since Kysael had been captured.

tIt was nighttime when we began to approach the city gates, and I could see Kysael in a bird cage up hanging from the bottom of a high cliff, way above our heads.

t”Sure, because we can definitely reach that on horses,” Kelose said with sarcasm.

tMy father rolled his eyes. “We won’t need to…if my son will just do what he needs to do to get his wife back home,” he said with heavy implication.

tI knew that he could sense it, just as I could. I could feel it in my spirit-there was a wyvern holed up in a nearby cave.

tMy father wanted for me to use my Spirit to summon it and to get it to come and help us. And he also knew that I didn’t want to use that power.

tMy father had been the Legendary Dragon hunter, but unfortunately…once the head of the clan has a son, the head can no longer use that power, and it is passed to the son.

tMy father could no longer use the power and wield it as he had in his youth.

tBut I could.

tDespite the fact that I didn’t want that power, I sighed. I knew that I had to, to save her. Even if I could somehow climb up the cliffside to get to her cage, I couldn’t break the door or unlock it.

tI would have to have a way to open it.

tI glanced wearily at my father. He nodded. “You know what to do, boyo.”

tI looked back up to the cage hanging from the cliffside.

tI closed my eyes and concentrated. I felt my spirit leave my body even as my vocal cords let loose the sacred Spirit Song of my clan, my Spirit singing even as I left my body, and travel to where I felt the presence of the wyvern coming from.

tIt didn’t take long for my spirit to find his cave in a cliffside nearby, and he startled and sniffed the air deeply, searching for me.

tHis eyes found me much more quickly than I would have anticipated, and he prepared to attack me before my spirit entered into his mind.

t He fought hard to throw me out, and I could see his memories in my mind.

tCoal…the Lord of the Ice wyverns. He was also Prince Mafrien’s personal mount, and I had to give the Darkelf prince credit where it was due, that was no easy feat.

t”I need for you to help me,” I told the Wyvern. “I didn’t come to tame or kill you. I just need assistance.”

tHis deep, smooth voice rumbled in my mind. “A Dragon Hunter. I haven’t come across one of you in a few centuries. You would dare to enter into my mind simply to ask for me to assist you?”

tI looked at him somberly. “I had no other alternatives. If I had, I wouldn’t be here.”

tHe gave me a long look, calculating my words. “You will simply try to tame and force me if I do not agree and I refuse to be controlled like some puppet. What is it that you need?”t

tRelief soared through my soul. Ice Wyverns were much calmer and more collected than their other elemental cousins, and I was thankful that he was being cooperative with me. “I need help breaking my wife out of a cage off the side of the cliff, and brought down–safely–to me,” I told him.

tHe nodded. “Child’s play.” He slowly brought his large form to stand, and I left his mind as my spirit led him back to where my body and the others sat waiting.

tMy body glowed with lavender aura, and the others watched in awe, my father in pride, as the wyvern that I had summoned broke the cage from the chains that held it to the bottom of the cliffside, and flew it down to us with great speed.

tMy heart raced at the cry of shock and fear that escaped my wife’s lips, and as I saw her body, rage boiled my blood. She was naked all except for a blood-stained white cloak.

tPausing to gaze at her for a long moment, he moved suddenly and the door to the cage was ripped open, nearly torn off of the hinges. As the wyvern moved out of the way, my body brushed past him quickly to enter into the cage and to get to Kysael.

tI took her into my arms, and she thrashed against my hold, as if she weren’t aware that the danger had passed.

tMy heart tugged painfully in my chest. She didn’t even understand that she was safe, now. As if her mind hadn’t registered it.

t”Kysael,” I said in a soothing voice, healing her head. She stopped thrashing immediately.

t”D… Dragon?”

tAnd then she leaped up into my arms.

*

January, 1102 A.D.

tIt had been nearly a month since we had returned to the city.

tKysael had occupied her old bedroom in my home…our home, and yet she had not come out of her room for anything short of needing the toilet.

tShe needed food, or else she and the child would die. They may just die anyway…but she was my wife, and I needed to take care of her. I was an elf of my word, and I had taken vows with her.

tI got tired of watching her mope through the crack in the door. I knew how she felt, and she continued to send me away.

tAnd finally, I’d had enough.

tI burst through the door, only to be interrupting her during a bath.

*

February, 1102 A.D.

tThings had gotten a bit better since I had spoken to Kysael about her…. circumstances.

tHer belly was truly showing now, and there was no way that she would leave to go outside. She would barely leave her room, and I kept an eye on her through the crack of the door.

tI brought her water and anything else that she needed, and I continued to allow her to feed from me, of course.

tAs the time went by, I could feel the pull of the Blood Bond in my soul, begging me to serve her every need.

tIt was frightening, a sense of devotion that I’d never had before.

tAnd I had already been devoted enough to follow and watch over her, to be there for her in almost every moment….so that was truly even more frightening to me.

tAnd as her belly grew, so did her body…and so did her needs.

tSince the child was predominantly of the Dark Realm, it gave her quiet a hard time, inside of the womb.

tKicking her hard, hard enough to even render her unconscious. I began to wonder how the child would behave once it was born. I was angry. Not at the child. I knew it wasn’t the baby’s fault. I was angry because from the moment that I had smelled the conception of my seed inside of Kysael, the instant that I had known that she was carrying a part of my own life-force inside of her… I had been filled with so much love, so much hope.

tBut now, in my child’s place, there was this dark child, waiting to be unleashed upon this world.

tI hoped, for both of their sakes, that it could be influenced for good.

tAnd as time continued on, Kysael’s needs also grew.

tThe child was only one fourth Wraithling, so Kysael required actual food to sustain the child.

tThe child, thankfully, did not seem to share her frightening appetite for blood. Never had Kysael required food to sustain herself, but now she did.

tShe would tell me what she craved often, and I would go and get it for her, seeing as she couldn’t leave.t

tI didn’t know what Kysael was thinking.

tWe needed to get out of the city, and quickly. I could only hope that the child would not resemble its father’s appearance…or there would be no hope for it.

tIt was one night, near the end of February, that I was sitting with Kysael by the fireplace, watching her absently stroke her large belly.

tHer body had grown round, round with life inside of her. Despite the pain that the child caused her, Kysael had grown fond of the child and was glowing with happiness at the prospect of being a mother, despite her fears. Despite the pain from the loss of the baby that she had actually wanted.

tShe had waited many years for a chance at motherhood, so I couldn’t really blame her for her excitement.

tHer hair had grown out some, as well, from being just beneath her ears to now, reaching her shoulders. She smiled, and her hand ran across her belly each time the child kicked her, even as she winced in pain.

t”I hope that…giving birth won’t be too awfully painful,” she whispered. I looked at her eyes, giving her my attention. “I…am still not completely recovered,” she said, and I understood what she meant.

tMafrien had ripped her badly, injuring her internally. It bothered me, that I wasn’t able to heal her completely.

tBut….It was all I could do to heal her through her clothing. I couldn’t just make her get naked to heal her.

tThankfully, I’d been able to heal her throat completely, and her cuts and bruises were all but forgotten.

tBut that was one place that I simply couldn’t heal so easily, considering the circumstances.

t”I will heal you when I deliver the child, Kysael. And if it gets to be too much, I can deliver the child the same way that I delivered you out of your mother’s womb. I had to forcefully cut you out of her, through her stomach. She did not give birth to you vaginally.”

tShe looked at me, and she smiled. “It shouldn’t be long now, I suppose…considering how much the child has grown in this short amount of time.”

t”Yes, you are right,” I said, still observing her. I couldn’t stop myself from watching her. She looked….so…. different.

tHer face was a little rounder, as was everything else on her body.

tShe was not toned and lean anymore. Her hips and thighs and even her chest had gotten larger.

tShe looked older.

tAnd as her face got rounder, wiser, she reminded me even more so of Kassiel. I shook the thought from my mind.

tIf I kept on comparing the two….my thoughts would lead me down a dangerous road of feelings that I wasn’t prepared to feel for her.

tI was already well on my way to feeling things that I hadn’t ever intended to. It didn’t need to delve even deeper.

t”Dragon? What will your role to this child be?” She asked me suddenly.

t”I honestly do not know, Kysael. If there is any resemblance between the child and its father, I would not be able to play that role in its life. I wouldn’t look anything like the child, in that case.” I thought for a moment. “And we are still unsure of whether or not Mafrien will use this child or not. Perhaps he won’t…. I hope that he won’t. But if he does want the child, then I am certain that he will not allow me to play any sort of role in the child’s life.”

tShe nodded. “Can you please help me? I want to move to lie down.”

tI stood and went over to where she was sitting, and helped her to stand, helping her slowly make her way to her room.

tI helped her get into her bed, and I covered her body with a blanket. Her eyes were bright with thirst, and I held my arm out for her.

tShe took my arm hesitantly, and numbed the spot of her choosing before latching in. I relaxed, taking a deep breath in and out.

tIt was almost a comforting feeling, now.

tCurious as it was…. I actually liked to feel her feed from me. It was warm, a floating feeling. It eased my mind, now.

tAnd that thought somewhat startled me.

tWhen she had finished, she kissed the spot. “I love you.”

tI sighed, and stroked her hair. I could feel the sting of tears in my surely sorrowful eyes. “I know.”

tShe looked away sadly, and I felt guilty. I knew that wasn’t the answer she was hoping for. It never was.

tI pulled her chin to look up at me. “I am sorry. I have gone to great lengths to care for you and give you what you want, let you feed from me, kissed you, I have fed from you…I have even married you. But I don’t feel comfortable claiming a child that isn’t my own, particularly not in a situation where the father could come back at any point to take the child. And especially not when the father murdered my own offspring to force his own upon you. I am sorry.”

tShe smiled sadly, a lone tear running down her cheek. “You have given me more than I could have ever hoped for, Dragon. You have given me more than anyone else, more than I could have even imagined from a man of your stature…or any man at all. And for me…. that in itself is enough. You don’t have to love me the way that I want. You’ve done more than enough.”

tShe pulled me down and placed a soft, closed mouth kiss on my lips. Not in a romantic way, but just out of the love in her heart.

tI was thankful when she didn’t begin writhing in pain because of the mating mark on her spine.

t”I want for you to be happy, as well,” she said softly. “You have done nothing but give to me. You should do something for yourself.”

tI hugged her. “I do something for myself every time I give to you, Kysael.”

tShe cried. “That shouldn’t be enough for you. I wish that you would take for yourself. Take something. Anything. Anything that you want, anything that I can give you.”

tI laughed softly. “I know nothing of greed with you, Kysael. I don’t know how to take.”

t”I just wish that I could do something to give back to you.” She stroked my arm in a heated way, a husky tone coming over her voice. I sighed.

t”You have nothing to give back to me, Kysael. And its not necessary, though I do appreciate the gesture.”

t”You’re right. I am just being foolish.”

tI kissed her forehead. “You are just being honest. You love and desire, just like anyone else. You are not above emotion. And I realize that I have…always been very giving and open to you. I have always done everything I can for you. And I realize that you could command me to do anything, and I would not be able to deny you. I understand that I am under Blood Bond with you, and I am not capable of refusing a direct order.

t “But I implore you, not to use that to ‘give back’ to me. You are mated to someone else, no matter how unwilling you are in the situation. I am so sorry.”

tShe sobbed brokenly into my chest as I leaned down to hold her.

*

March, 1102 A.D.

tI began to read. I began to research, searching for any way to get Kysael out of this mating mark.

tThere had to be something, surely.

tAnd as more and more of my research became futile, I began to get frantic about it. Kysael was so desperate to be out of his grasp…

tHe was even calling to her through the mark, now.

tHe was giving her disturbing dreams, making her think about him in ways that she wouldn’t naturally.

tMaking her desire, even crave his touch.

tShe would become physically ill at these thoughts, considering all that he had done to her.

tShe had been feeling drawn to return to Barrenwilds, and it was a struggle each day for her. I knew that she was afraid.

tI woke up one night to find her gone, and found her out in the forest, as if she were walking to him in her sleep, even. When I was finally able to get her to snap out of it, she vomited and cried.

tI finally decided to go to one place that I preferred not to go to. It was the place in which I had met Kassiel, my former fiancé, for the first time.

tThe former fiancé who was dead because we were intimate before our wedding, which had only been a couple of days away.

tShe was dead, because of me. Not that it had been only my idea to be intimate, but I had known better and I still allowed it. I allowed her to die.

tAnd I had first met her at this place, the place that I had strove not to go to ever since her death.

tBut there was only one person in this city who might be able to help me, and unfortunately, he worked at this place of dread for me.

tArkasil, the keeper of knowledge, at the city library.

tI arrived there, and even as I stepped into the building, I could see phantom images of Kassiel around the library, doing her research for her medicines and healing techniques….

tAn assistant led me to the office of Arkasil, and even I was a bit nervous.

tArkasil was not a very sociable man, and he was the eldest living Nae, or Woodelf, in the world, at over a thousand years of age.

tAnd I had never been able to meet him before.

tHe was coughing as I entered into the room.

tI cleared my throat, and he looked at me. “Ah, young Lord Dragon, it is good to see you.”

tI startled. “Pardon me, sir, but shouldn’t it be that it is good to meet me, not see me?”

tHe chuckled. “I remember when you would come to the library to see the young Ash Clan healer. You could hardly stay away from this place.”

tMy body felt aflame. He knew of Kassiel and I, even though our “relationship” was kept on a very quiet level. Not many people had known, at that time, that we were in a relationship at all. And still not many people knew, though I supposed that I should have expected this man to know of it.

tAfter all, this man was the holder of knowledge.

t”Yes, Lord Arkasil. It is a pleasure to meet you, sir. I have come to seek out your help.”

t”For the young hybrid girl, I presume,” he said smugly, and I nodded. “I see. Yes, I know that she has gotten herself into quiet a horrible situation. She was marked by the Darkelf Prince, young Mafrien of Barrenwilds. And she is currently expecting a child from the Prince any day now.”

tI startled. “How do you know all of this?”

t”Where do you think that I get all of my knowledge from, young one? I am the keeper of knowledge because I have the gift of insight and foresight. I already know what the girl’s future holds, as well as that child’s future. And I can assure you, it is going to be a long, hard road and she, as well as yourself and others, are going to suffer through the entirety of it. That girl is cursed.” He sighed. “I already know the answer, but I will ask for courtesy’s sake. Now, what are you here to know?”

tI bowed. “Is there any way that I can break the Mating mark on her back?”

tHe stroked his long beard. “Ah, yes, there is one way. But it is not currently possible to do. It may be, in the future, however.”

t”What is it, my lord?”

t”Only someone whom she has begun the Soul Bond process with prior to the marking can break that mark. And as I recall, she was in the first of the three stages, the body bond.”

tI nodded. “Go on?”

t”She has to seek out the young assassin and complete the Soul Bond with him. Only that can possibly completely remove the Mating mark from the Darkelf prince. Even his dark magic is not powerful enough to overcome the Soul Bond.”

t”What about a Blood Bond?” I asked.

t”Oh, I am well aware of your Blood Bond service to the girl as well. And unfortunately, no, you cannot break the mating mark. He used his magic to override that because he was aware of your Blood Bond to her.”

t”What? How?”

t”He saw her feed you her blood to save your life, and how you behaved toward her afterward when you were bringing her home, unbeknownst to you both.”

tI grabbed my head with my hands, my balance unsteady.

tI could not believe how much he knew….how aware he was of everything. Truly, this was the most powerful of all of the Woodelves that I had ever met.

tPerhaps not physically, given his age, but his sheer power of knowledge made him seem invincible to me.

t”Listen to me, young lord.” I gave him my attention. “Fate is a funny thing, a fickle thing. The Darkelf Prince never pulls away from war, and he never spares those whom he has set in his path of destruction. Yet, his interest in this girl has caused him to do so. Perhaps, young healer, perhaps it is not she who is under his control, but rather he who is under her control.”

tI considered that. He could be right. That would explain why he was looking at her so intensely on the battlefield, why he would want her in the first place. Perhaps she did hold some control over him.

tGreater forces were at work here, in any case. I remembered how he had stared at her on the battlefield, how he had passionately kissed her before releasing her back to us…

tAnd I remembered how unbearably uncomfortable that made me feel, how upset and enraged I had been over it.

tHow irrationally furious, even more than anger, I had felt to know that he had touched what was supposed to be mine…

t”You have feelings for the girl,” Arkasil said. “And though you claim that you do not, and believe that you do not want to have those feelings…. you do, nonetheless. You married her before you knew, didn’t you?”

tI huffed, shaking my head softly. Then I nodded. “I’ve only just realized it.” I sighed. “But I do not understand those feelings. I raised her. And I do not know if I only feel those feelings out of my Blood Bond to her, out of my servitude…. or if I truly have feelings for her.”

t”Either way, there are feelings there all the same. Whether it is influenced by the bond or not, or the marriage or not…you care for her deeply. And from what I sense from you, you have had these feelings buried deeply in your heart, hidden away, for quite a long time. Perhaps, young one, the Blood Bond with the girl simply rose those feelings to the surface, hm?”

tI took in a deep breath. Perhaps he was right about this, too. He had been right about everything else. “I just…. I don’t want to have feelings for her, not romantically. I have never looked at her that way.”

t”Are you certain of that?” He asked, and I thought for a moment.

tNo…..he was right, there had been rare moments where I had looked at her as a woman, and not just as family. There had been instances, where I had looked at her and remembered my vow to marry her, and thinking that perhaps it wouldn’t be so unpleasant of a thought.

tI sighed, and he continued. “She will need people like you in her life to complete her destiny, of that I can assure you. She will not always be looked down upon. The girl has a great journey ahead of her, a very important role to the world. Her path is only beginning. She will need for you to continue to serve and protect her throughout the rest of this journey.”

tI nodded. “I have always, and will always, be there for Kysael.” I bowed. “Thank you, Lord Arkasil of Knowledge.”

t”I truly hope that the road will get a little easier for her to bear, soon. She is too important to the future of this world to let her fall into darkness and despair.” He looked at me. “Through all of this, keep one thing in mind: That girl is destined for a very important role in the future. I sensed that the day she was born. She will rise to be a warrior of great power.”

tI knew that he was right; I had sensed the same thing when she was born.

tSomething big was coming. What, when and how was unknown to me. But one thing was certain;

tBig things were going to happen in the future.

t”And one last thing,” He said before I left. I met his eyes, and his gaze was serious. “The baby that the Darkelf prince killed was not the only child that you will father with Kysael.”

tShock flooded my heart. Did that mean that we would actually get all of this straightened out, and Kysael would, in fact, be freed from Mafrien’s mating mark after all?