Prince of Shadows

Chapter 3

A bit of a forward here...

This is the first chapter where we're not with Kendall in her head.

Instead you're gonna see someone else's thoughts for today since I suck at keeping a deadline... 

(This is Valentina's POV)

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Lucius was throwing a fit again. Metaphorically and literally. There were broken stools and pots and bottles everywhere. I could sense his anger, red hot and making my vision blurry.

Was this kind of magic worth it? 

He'd been chasing some kind of power for months, using my tribal powers and his runic magic to conjure up something... bigger. I didn't know what. 

"Lucius," I called, from one side of the room. He was in the corner opposite me, sulking like a little five-year old. 

He flicked his hand towards me, whispering something. I was pulled to him, like something had attached me to him with a rope or chain. 

"Lucius,"

"What?" He spat, green eyes alight with rage."What is it this time?!" 

There was something burning in the small of my back. It felt as if a hot poker was stabbing me there, but not piercing the skin. 

Lucius watched me writhe in pain with uncaring eyes, the way someone would watch a dying horse. Amused, maybe, but not concerned. Not willing to help. 

"Valentina,"  His voice was soft, threatening even. "Beautiful, trusting Valentina. What was it that I said to you when we first met?" 

"'Be careful who you trust'," I quoted. "'Trusting someone could be the last decision you ever make'." 

"And you trusted me, didn't you?"

"Yes, I did." The pain was there, receding slowly. Then, suddenly, it was back, all at once. "Make it stop," I croaked. 

"Levàni." He waved a hand and I tumbled to the floor. 

Somehow, in that moment, Lucius had looked tragically beautiful. He'd always had that quality, though I'd never seen him in such a rage like that before. Malice had amplified his jagged edges and made him look pitiful. 

"We both made a decision, trusting each other," He continued. "And you betrayed that trust last night." Lucius got up, circling around me. 

"Betrayed your trust? Lucius, I --"

He parted the hair on the back of my neck to reveal a tiny burn shaped like a pair of wings, flowing up into the sky as feathers fell off. "The Skai. Their village is a few miles south of here, is it not? You left me in the middle of the night and come back with this brand on you. Did you really think I wouldn't notice?" 

"The Skai are my people, Lucius." 

"And yet you blend in so well with the royal Yelians around you." Lucius's fingers found their way down to the dual burns on my back. 

Sometimes the burns felt like lost arms. On a good day I could wiggle what was left of my wings. 

"They were gold," He murmured, tracing the stubs of my wings. "When the sun shown on them they would look like every color of the rainbow mixed together." 

"Evectei," He whispered. My wings felt like they were whole again. I was able to fly through the skies once more. 

I looked around, crestfallen. The were an illusion, created to trick me into doing someone else's bidding. Lucius's bidding. 

"Are we going to continue?" I asked, eager to get off the topic of my-long gone wings. 

Lucius continued his circle around me. I stood up to meet him. 

He kissed me. His fingers wound their way around me until his left hand found the still-sore brand on my neck and his right found the scars of my wings on my back. 

His emotions were in turmoil as he kissed me, a yes and a no and a right and a wrong all swimming around and confusing each other in his mind. 

I kissed back, hoping to calm his head and my nerves. My heart was pounding the whole time as if I was a kid again. Facing Yelian soldiers and flying for the fist time. 

There was a hard knock at the door. 

"Lord Cyprian! Lady Valentina!" 

"Come in!" Lucius called as we pulled apart. 

A maid entered, holding a letter in her hands. 

"What is it?" I questioned. 

"An invitation," The maid replied. "'You are hereby invited to the wedding of Princess Anastasia Lucretia Sabina Augustine of the Yelian Empire and Lord Sebastian Claudius Salvatore of the Ceirann Province on the twenty-eighth day of the spring season, in the Yelian capital of Aurean'." 

Lucius and I exchanged looks.

Perfect. 

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Translation Guide: 

"Levàni" -- to free; emancipating or releasing from capture

"Evectei" -- to fly; simulating flight or creating an illusion 

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Author's Note:

Sorry for the late update! (At least it was up on Wednesday this time!) 

Valentina's not a character we're not going to see as often as Kendall or Julian, but she will be important later

-Mags