Chapter Twenty Three
“Is the Noxlin in love with you?” Noor asked when we were alone later that night. Knowing that I was going to be portalled to Eallarim tomorrow, she had decided to quiz me for the entire evening.
“Love is a strong word, Noor.” I threw some of our supper towards Loki and Enyo, who devoured it in seconds. “He’s fond of me.”
“The fear on his face watching you with all those noc beasts suggested otherwise. He appeared terrified to lose you.”
“I’m more like a plaything to him, really.” My cheeks flushed, and Noor’s eyes widened. “I mean banter! Nothing sexual! We enjoy teasing each other.” I tried to rebuff as best I could, but heat began rising to my face. I was making it too obvious.
“Alora! What have you gotten yourself into? You do feel something for him, don’t you?”
“It’s best you don’t know, Noor. Uri will be watching my every move. Besides, right now, I have no idea how I feel about Darce.”
“Your sexual awakening! Was it him? Did he ignite it? Alora, he’s attractive—I kind of get it—but he’s Noxlin! Wait! Have you kissed him?”
“Can we please drop it? I need to get some rest and prepare for tomorrow. You’ve interrogated me enough for one evening.”
“Okay, but if you come back from Eallarim alive, I want the full story!” Jumping off the bed, she patted Loki and Enyo before giving them the last of the supper on her plate.
“Thanks for your faith in me,” I snorted, watching her gather her things.
“You know I believe in you, but I’m still going to pray to Holy Ether that this Darce specimen doesn’t lock you up in some dungeon and hand you over to the Noxlin king and queen.”
“My father would declare war if he did that.”
“Your father would declare war either way, if he could.” That was true.
“Sleep well, Alora. I’ll see you in the grand room in the morning.
” I would get little sleep tonight. My head was racing with so many questions.
Would I really be able to portal myself to Darce by bouncing off Uri’s power?
Would I be captured the moment I stepped foot in Eallarim?
Most importantly, what was I going to say to Darce when I saw him?
How would he react to seeing me? Trust Holy Ether.
I chanted that over and over in my mind until sleep finally found me.
****
STANDING IN THE GRAND room, I swallowed hard.
All the nobility had come to watch me enter Eallarim, including the priests and priestesses.
Uri had already run through everything I needed to do.
He couldn’t see any of the interactions with Darce, but knew that I would return in the shadows a few hours later.
“Remember your role, Alora.” My father kissed both my cheeks.
“Uri can see that it will take centuries to gain the Noxlin’s trust, but if you play your part well, we will invade Eallarim at the end of the next millennium.
” That was less than seven hundred years from now. “May Holy Ether and Lustre guide you.”
Uri took a step towards me. “Channel that power, Alora. Take the rage of this Noxlin killing your mother and hold it. Find him in your mind, then claim my light power. It will lead you straight to him. Act shocked when you arrive. He will believe it’s your delinquent powers acting up.
” Closing my eyes, I let the rage inside me build as I pictured Darce killing my mother.
As I began to channel my power, however, softer images entered my head.
The feel of his lips against mine. The yearning in my body when he touched me for the first time.
How I would writhe when Darce brought me to climax.
“That’s it Alora! Take my power! You’ve found him!
” Drawing Uri’s power into my own, I became surrounded with light and was pulled into a vortex.
Squinting as the light dispersed, I gazed into the room, only to be knocked over by Boulder, who began licking me as I lay on the ground.
“Boulder, get off me,” I chuckled, trying to push her off. She was too strong.
“Boulder, what the fuck are you...” Darce stopped in his tracks. “Alora?” His hell dryad finally moved off me. Standing up, I brushed off my royal white dress, trying to act shocked.
“W...Where am I?”
“How the fuck did you get in here?” Gazing around, I saw that I was in a luxurious bedroom.
Dark fabric hung off the walls, and a large, black, four poster bed took centre stage, with a large balcony that had the most stunning view of our two moons.
The room was basked in candlelight. “Answer my fucking question, Alora!” Darce was in front of me, gripping me by the top of my arms.
“You can go to hell, you murderer!”
“Are we really doing this first? After everything I’ve done for you?”
“Let me go! I hate you!” I spat, trying to break from his hold.
“Hate me all you want, but you wouldn’t even be alive right now without me.” I was still struggling in his grip.
“I wish I had died that night!” I spat, pushing at his chest, still unable to get away.
“You don’t mean that.” His face looked pained.
“Let me go!” I was squirming with all my strength but still couldn’t move.
“I don’t have to do anything you say, Princess. You’re not in Dallethas.”
“What?” I gasped, playing along to keep my cover intact. “Where am I?”
“Eallarim.”
“No!” I cried out, acting panicked. “I can’t be! How?”
“I was about to ask you the same thing,” Darce muttered, stroking the side of my face before twisting a strand of my hair between his fingers.
My body burned with the simple touch. “As beautiful as your hair is, Alora, we need to change it. You stand out too much here.” Using his shadows, he ran his hands through my hair, and I gasped when the tips started to turn black.
“It’s not permanent. I can change it back at any time.
I changed your attire, too. Take a look in the mirror.
” He tilted his head to the far corner of the bedroom, where a large, gilded mirror stood.
My feet moved of their own accord. When I saw my reflection, I looked like a Noxlin.
My eyes were a light golden brown, and my hair was as black as night.
My dress had been turned from white to black with a gold trim.
This was impossible! How had Darce done this?
“H...ho...how are you able to do this? This is shadow magic. I thought only bloodlines could...” I stopped in my tracks, realising what I was about to say.
If only bloodlines had light and dark magic, that made Darce.
.. No...it couldn’t be. The reason he could defeat Xavier’s power.
The way he had goaded him. They had met many times on the battlefield.
I took in the surroundings more closely.
The size of the room, the wealth, the large painting that appeared to be of The Battle of False Promise.
This room wasn’t too unlike mine in Dallethas.
This wasn’t a bedroom that belonged to a foot soldier, or even a member of the army. This was a room built for royalty.
“Alora, before you work it all out in that beautiful head of yours, allow me to explain. My friends are going to arrive any minute, and we need to get our stories straight. I will try to get rid of them as quickly as I can so we can talk.”
“Who are you?”
“You know who I am.” He grimaced, running his hands through my now dark hair. “This colour suits you.” He was trying to distract me, but it wasn’t going to work.
“I need you to say it!” I seethed, pushing away from his touch. The light power started to surge through my body. “You reprimanded me for keeping my secret about being the princess, when all along...All. Along...you were...” My power was radiating off me. “Tell me! Who. Are. You?”
“I’m the son of Tamus and Duna,” Darce admitted, soothing the power in my hands with his shadows. “You need to control your light here. Breathe. I can keep you safe from everyone in Eallarim, except my parents.”
“THE PRINCE! YOU’RE THE FUCKING...NOXLIN PRINCE!” My power shot across the room, knocking the battle painting off the wall. Darce quickly diffused it with his shadows, calming my blazing light. His darkness across my skin sent shudders of pleasure through my body. It felt like a gentle caress.
“You’ve heard of my parents then?” he joked. The insufferable asshole was smirking? My fist flew out in pure rage, smacking him square in the jaw. Of course, it had little effect. Darce didn’t even flinch.
“You fucking bastard! I didn’t think it could get any worse. Apparently, I was wrong!” That was how Darce was immortal. He was of the Noxlin bloodline!
“Oh, it’s about to really get interesting,” he snorted, rubbing his jaw. “My friends are going to join us. If they ask, we met on my trip to Ustavar, okay?”
“Where?”
“Just play along,” he sighed, pulling me to his side. “That was an impressive left hook, by the way. If we weren’t about to be interrupted, I would have my mouth between your legs right now.”
“Excuse me? What makes you think that I’d allow you between my legs ever again?”
Darce was about to respond, but his door swung open. Three Noxlin wandered through, two males and a female. They were all giving me a bewildered gaze.
“Darce, are you going to introduce us? You don’t usually keep your latest conquests a secret,” the female quipped excitedly.
She was every bit as beautiful as Darce, with her long, dark brown hair, warm brown eyes, and thin, agile body.
“I’m Nyx.” When she held her hand out to me, I took it, too afraid not to.
The two males were reasonably attractive too, and both were built of pure muscle. One had short, mid-length hair, and the other one’s hair was longer and tied up in a bun. Nyx caught my unease. “Oh, don’t worry about Mrak and Nox. They are harmless.”
“Nyx, I’m the general. I’m far from harmless!” the mid-length haired male snorted, watching me closely. Suddenly, I realised who I was standing in front of...General Nox!