Chapter 34 A Rare Occurrence
A Rare Occurrence
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Iawoke at dawn; Anna’s body pressed against mine. At first, I was startled, unused to a woman still being in my bed when I awoke. I watched her, the sheet barely covering her breasts as her chest rose and fell.
Cursing under my breath, I closed my eyes.
I was a fool. The first time I touched her, I knew—I would never be sated of the feel of her body, the taste of her mouth.
I ached just looking at her. It took all my restraint not to rouse her and take her again.
Being so careful was nearly torture—that would not happen again.
The way our everi synced of its own accord was undeniable and it made her irresistible.
Perhaps last night was what she had needed to fulfill the desire we had been letting destroy us.
Maybe that was my mistake. I should have bedded her the night she awakened her everi and been done with it.
However, her remark about wanting to go to Raven Falls planted something dangerous in my mind that both pleased and disturbed me.
A part of me wanted nothing more than to take her to my home and keep her there with me.
I exhaled, irritated at my own irrational thoughts.
There was no way she could ever go to Raven Falls.
I had to keep her as far away from him as possible.
In my world, she could never be my queen—just a slave to be controlled like the rest of us.
If I cared for her at all, I would end this as soon as we returned to Nightfall.
My jaw clenched.
It did not matter what I wanted—she would hate me when she knew the truth. Of course I was cursed to desire a woman I could never be with—the Ryth’enir line demanded it.
Just as it had of my mother.
Still, that first night at Nightfall, when I saw her there, tears streaking her cheeks, I thought I was seeing a ghost. It was still hard to believe that she had come back into my life—I never thought it would happen.
It was clear to me now why everything had unfolded as it did—she was powerful, her own destiny already playing out before her.
Her life was woven through the fabric of this world and the one beyond the rift in ways I did not understand, and yet here I was, about to take her on an unsanctioned tour of the Bloodmist Void.
Perhaps I had been away from The Falls for too long—I could not tell if I was more myself at Nightfall, or less.
It did not matter—what was done was done.
Everything would come to light soon and then she would never see me again.
It was for the best. She would be safer that way, even if she did not know it yet.
I rose from the bed, taking a deep breath.
There had been plenty before her, and none, save for one, ever made me feel like this.
Shielding my mind from my own thoughts, I readied myself for the journey to the Void.
Anna was stubborn and would likely find a way to do what she wanted without me should I refuse.
There was too much risk of her taking off—for now, she was safer if I took her myself.
I slipped from the room, eating breakfast alone.
I asked Ganforth to have breakfast taken to my room for Anna, to which he chuckled and nodded.
I had known him since I was a boy. There was no reason to hide things he certainly was aware of anyway.
Anna’s privacy was safe in his hands—it was his specialty.
“And Ganforth,” I called.
He faced me, his eyebrows raised.
“Would you leave her a note asking her to meet me on the rooftop?” I asked. “And make sure she does not sleep in too long.”
He smiled. “I’ll have her there before Ryth’anor arrives.”
“Why are we up here?” Anna asked, touching the stone parapet of the tower’s roof.
“We will be flying.”
“What do you mean flying?” she asked.
I smirked, glancing up.
“Ryth’anor, come.”
Within a few minutes, he soared across the landscape, his pitch-black wings glistening as he flew. His black and red armor glittered fiercely as he landed on the veranda, the wind of his wings forcing Anna to step back.
“What... What is it?” she asked.
“This is Ryth’anor,” I said. “My Raven Hawk.”
I watched as Anna reached out and touched his feathers. She was hesitant but it didn't stop her.
“I’ve never seen a raven so big,” she said, marveling at Ryth’anor’s size.
“They have been bred for centuries to hold riders. They are talented beasts,” I said.
I held out my hands to allow Anna to climb into the mount.
She pushed off her foot and hoisted herself up.
I mounted behind her and took hold of the reins.
I let my magic flow through my limbs, wrapping tendrils around Anna and Ryth’anor, holding us firmly to him.
Her chest shifted against mine as she took a deep breath and I wrapped an arm around her slender waist.
For a moment, I faltered. This did not feel right—taking her near the bloodmist. The feeling settled deep in my ribs.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, glancing back with a curious look.
I forced a smile. “Just making sure you are secure.”
She wrapped her arms around mine and leaned against me. Feeling her there only made it harder to think, but I took a deep breath and forced my mind to clear. Wraiths rarely ever breeched the bloodmist. I was being paranoid.
“Are you sure you want to do this,” I said.
“Are you kidding?” she asked. “This is amazing. I can’t wait to see the Realm from this view.”
Her excitement was contagious, warming me in ways I did not know were possible. She made me crave being near her. I breathed in the smell of her hair, letting it remind me this was worth vying for. She was worth it.
“Ryth’anor,” I said, “rytun.”
The wind shifted, lifting Anna’s hair from her shoulders as Ryth’anor spread his wings.
We were thrust back as he jumped to the ledge.
Lowering himself, we launched into the sky.
Wind burst all around us as his wings beat us higher and higher.
He was powerful, even amongst other Raven Hawks.
Anna’s entire body tensed as he began to soar, the weightlessness of his descent lifting her against me.
My everi and the mount held up firmly to him but the first ride was always shocking.
Anna’s hands gripped my arm tightly, even as Ryth’anor’s wings began to beat steadily as he soared over the mountains.
The sound of the wind against my ears was soothing.
This was one of my favorite ways to spend time growing up.
Mages aside, the Realm was truly beautiful.
The landscape was imbued with color—golden trails through the mountains created by mages long since passed and flowering trees with luminescent purples and pinks that glowed.
Ruins of ancient places used for some ritual or spell dotted the land below us, their power preserving far longer than any structures in Anna’s world.
Villages of outer-lying mage communities began to come into view and some of the children playing in the fields would look up excitedly at the Raven Hawk, waving and trying to get our attention.
As Ryth’anor carried us high above the lands, I felt when Anna relaxed against me.
Her soft breasts touched my arm as I held her close.
That night with her in the tower had been far more intense than I expected.
I had had moments I thought might feel such a way but had never been more than fulfillment of desire.
Such bliss had eluded me and I wished to stay with her here like this. How I wished I had that option.
As we neared Divide’s Edge, my calm faded. I guided Ryth’anor to a remote, rocky alcove. We would have to enter on foot. I did not need anyone at the gate questioning why one of the Blood Mage Elite’s mounts was in Divide’s Edge as it was certainly a rare occasion.
We dismounted and Ryth’anor was content to be left alone.
Anna and I shared a look as she gazed upon the city in the distance.
“Not exactly a resort area, is it?” she muttered, surveying the barren dirt and rocky features of a dying land. Gray skies stretched until the bloodmist took over.
The Bloodmist Void was clearly visible now beyond the city as we walked the bumpy road.
Anna stared into the shrouded depths with a look somewhere between shock and horror.
The surrounding lands of Divide’s Edge were scattered with abandoned structures.
Some were from obvious aging but others had clearly been destroyed in battle.
What little fertile land they had was poorly irrigated with much of the crops struggling to reach maturity.
Anna was absorbed in her surroundings and stayed close to my side.
As we approached the gate to Divide’s Edge, I instinctively jerked my hood down, ensuring no one would recognize the Prince of the Falls.
The road was busy with traders hauling carts, their horses clacking across the stone and dirt road.
The La’ Thenyen soldiers’ uniforms were worn and tattered.
Most of them sported full beards and wary eyes.
They were in full leather armor, with heavy bows and arrows strapped to their backs.
No one even cast us an odd glance; two strangers passing through was nothing to these war-hardened soldiers.
“Why do they look so miserable?” Anna asked.
“Most of the soldiers here spend long rotations away from home, guarding the Void. None of them want to be here,” I said.
We passed through the market area where stalls offered limited varieties of produce that looked a few days old at best, and stalls stocked with poorly made weapons.
“Get your protection serum!” a vendor shouted in Valyrian.
Anna eyed him warily. I wondered if she understood him.
“What is that?” she asked.
“He is selling vials of some kind of protection enchantment.”
“To protect from the…?” she asked.
“Yes—the wraiths. I imagine that is what he is telling people,” I said. “It is probably mudroot and yesterday’s ale.”