Human Reborn (The Kingdom of Disce #1)

CHAPTER I

BARDOT(S)

“The King is requesting you.”

The curtness in the woman’s voice has me stilling my hand in front of the mystical book I’ve been eying.

I thought I’d gotten over that small reaction last year, but it seems old habits really do die hard.

I’m allowed here and she knows it, but her gaze still narrows on my fingers as if daring them to move.

“Thank you, Kiera,” I give her a small smile and pull the book off the shelf, “I can head back to the castle now if you’d like to inform him.”

Kiera’s cool gaze follows my hand down to the bag at my hip, her beautiful features remaining stoic as I tuck away the pages. She nods without saying a word and turns along the library hall, her long, curled hair swaying behind her back with a perfection I can never achieve.

“Will I inform His Grace that you’ll take the Bell Grove path?” her curt voice beckons me to follow her out of the library, now, “or will you take the Palisades down to the castle?”

I sigh at her tone and consider my options.

I woke up at dawn this morning to take the walk to Bardot’s Library, hoping to grab a couple of books before heading out to the Willow. The plan was to visit the Palisades after that for a late breakfast, but I’d only just reached the second floor of the library before Kiera approached.

The Bell Grove path is the quickest route back to Castle Bardot and would put me in front of the King before most of the residents even began their morning routine, but it’s the path I originally took to get here and not one I’d like to take again.

I’m desperate to visit the Palisades… desperate to see the city atop the mountain.

I need to walk its cobblestone paths and see the familiar faces I haven’t seen in a month.

But the travel is slow and more than double what it would take along the Bell Grove, making me late to an official summons.

“Did he seem urgent?” I ask, catching up to Kiera’s side.

The Discerni woman turns down another hall and nods without looking my way.

“Indeed he did, human.”

“Then you can inform His Grace I’ll be taking the Bell Grove path,” I tell her on another sigh.

“And the book?” her eyes flick to the bag at my hip.

I reach for the strap across my chest and follow it down to my side. “I’ll return it the next time I’m here.”

I always do.

Kiera’s quiet indifference slips for a moment as a small huff of disapproval falls from her lips.

“And when will that be?”

I truly have no answer to give her.

My trips to Bardot’s Library are always sporadic and depend on whenever I have free time at the castle, and seeing as I only got back to the capitol yesterday from a month’s-long journey, I have no idea how long my next trip will be or when I’ll be able to return the book.

“You know I can’t answer that, Kiera,” I reply quietly.

Kiera remains cool and collected in her walk, her irritation hidden well behind another mask of stoicism.

I can still see the guarded look behind her eyes as she stares straight ahead, but it’s a familiar look by now and one I know is best to ignore.

The Discerni of Disce’s libraries aren’t happy with the command that’s been issued on my behalf by our King, and while they may not like that I walk their ancient halls or can never give them a date on when I’ll return their mystical books, they’ll never go against an order given by His Grace.

The two of us walk in silence and follow the rows of bookshelves until they lead us to the main staircase of the library.

The library itself is one of the largest in Knowledge and filled with hundreds of halls, each of them always seeming to whisper in a scolding demeanor whenever I visit.

I really should spend more time in these depths but my travels over the last two years have made that nearly impossible.

Still, it’s hard not to appreciate the beauty of this library when I am here, so I ignore Kiera’s silent sulking and follow her down the steps to the main entrance.

Rows of books flank every wall, while scores of pines, oaks and cedars stand tall in every corner.

Their thick limbs tangle between the shelves like arms protecting the pages from any ill manner, their leaves falling to the floor in such a slow descent that it creates an air of peaceful serenity.

Stained glass windows of gold and green glow from the morning sun, the colors so vibrant that they leave a shimmer within the library that can’t be replicated anywhere else.

Even the double doors centered on the ground floor are just as beautiful, both of them carved so intricately that it’s easy to forget their massive size.

I look up at the engraved wood and smile at the Court of Knowledge emblem that’s centered in the middle: an encircled oak tree with an open book resting at the bottom of the trunk. Both of them groan in greeting, the doors swinging out on their own accord as if sensing our arrival.

“You’ll let him know?” I smile at the small bit of magic and turn towards the Discerni.

Kiera’s eyes glance over my shoulder to the tall oak at the bottom of the library steps. I grin and make my way to the tree before she can, carefully placing my hand on the trunk where the rough wood flattens into a large, smooth slab.

“Alexis…” she sighs.

I can damn near hear the irritation in her voice.

“I’ll leave now,” I step away with a small nod.

The Discerni woman walks to the tree and pulls out a small oak pen from her robe, angling the tip against the smooth wood before she begins to write.

Bell Grove path.

Kiera

“It is done.”

I watch as the words just etched begin to fade, alerting the King of

my travel and estimated arrival.

“Thank you,” I nod, “until next time, Kiera.”

Kiera doesn’t reply, just levels me with a pensive stare as I turn towards the grove. Her brooding look follows me all the way to the small forest until I set foot on the path that will lead me back to Castle Bardot.

My home.

The trail along the Bell Grove is absolutely beautiful, as is the entirety of the Kingdom of Disce.

Our forests are tall and full of canopies of green, and our rivers and lakes are such a pristine blue that they mimic the sky above.

Nearly all of the Kingdom’s lands are surrounded in woods, an ode to the heavy earth element that runs deep in every Discerni’s veins, and there isn’t a single area in our lands that can’t be described as breathtaking or just downright stunning, a true testament to the land we’ve all come to revere.

When the sunlight falls down from wherever it stands in the sky, it shines on the woods and waters and makes the land sparkle in gold, and when the moons are out at night, they both have a similar effect as they cast a silver shimmer over the earth that makes living here absolutely incredible.

Not a single piece of Disce is muted in its beauty.

Not even the grey stone roads or the tan dirt paths that connect the towns and cities.

The dirt path I currently walk on is a small trail barely big enough for two.

It starts at the eastern gate of Castle Bardot and follows north along the Bell Grove, passing Bardot Library as a near middle stop if you’re heading out of the capitol.

The grove itself consists of simple woods of average height that frames the entirety of Bardot, but the full of it acts as a reminder to the castle residents of the truly vast forests that lay beyond.

Yesterday marked the first day of Spring, the greenest the grove and our forests will be all year.

My destination, Castle Bardot, is just as magnificent as the rest of the Kingdom.

The massive residence is nestled at the bottom of the Greenstone Mountain, the only mountain peak in all of Disce.

It’s main entry faces the middle of the Bell Grove and greets anyone who travels along the Great Road to our capitol, the castle surrounded by a town of merchant shops, homes, taverns and inns, all of them acting as a decent-sized welcoming committee for any visitors just passing through.

Past the town is a stunning white rose garden that spans the full length of the castle, each row of green and white so pristine that one can’t help but stop in their travels to admire them.

The castle itself is made from the greenstone of the mountain- a grey stone that hosts various shades of green swirls throughout, while every window and balcony of the residence is made up of a rich, brown wood that’s complimented by lush green vines.

Trees as tall as the Great Forest sprout along every door and provide a real-life canopy to walk under once you’re inside, not to mention the thousands of lanterns of bottled moonslight that shimmer along every wall.

It’s a truly stunning place to live, a beautiful residence that brings so much life to the bottom of the Greenstone Mountain, and while I love every single part of the capitol residence to my core, it’s the city on top of the mountain in which my heart and the heart of Bardot truly lies.

The Palisades.

Thousands of homes of beautiful greenstone with rich wooden verandas follow along the top of the mountainside, some of them carved into the slope while the majority rest on the peak and jut towards the sky.

There’s a main road on top of the mountain that goes on for days, the stone path littered with cottage-like buildings that create an endless maze through the mountain forest that takes years to understand.

There’s shops, schools, taverns, homes, anything you can think of, all of them combining to create the largest city in the Court of Knowledge.

Hundreds of cobblestone pathways carve between the various vendors in every which direction, making the city so busy and heavily populated that it has to be broken into three sections: the Eastern, Southern and Western Palisades.