Crimson Reprisal [STOPPED FOR NOW]

III | His Queen

LYNA

"What's the matter, Myras? You look down today. Did the rebellions trouble you again?" The Queen questioned with compassion as she slowly massaged her King.

They were alone. Without fail, the King had always allocated his precious time for his lovely queen every nightfall. It was in the King's bedchamber. Candles lit warming up the night like a bonfire, creating a lovely tension around the atmosphere.

"No, my Queen. It is not them," with a deep soothing voice, King Myras Auburn replied. It was undeniably obvious that the King was bothered by something as his brown eyes stared in blankness towards the direction of his bookshelf. There were dozens of written diaries and books in the King's bedchamber and it was said that Myras had read every single one of them, even knowing the content of every book at the back of his palm.

"What is it?" The Queen asked as she traced his vision down. She stood up and headed towards his sacred bookshelf. "The Fate of Goblins." Queen Lyna picked up a dusty red book from the shelf, thinking if she had known what the King wanted. But she was wrong.

"No, not that, but the one on the left," Myras replied with a tone of forgiveness. Knowing the King, it was uncommon for Myras to touch his books on the left, thus sparking Lyna's curiosity. Lyna reached out for an ancient mahogany book and gave it a careful blow. Dusts danced across the ray of light as she wiped the cover of the book to read the title. "The Last of Magic."

"How did you guess it?" The King asked with peculiarity, acquiring the ancient book from Lyna's hands with the upmost precaution.

With a gentle cough, the Queen cleared her throat, while flipping through her mind. It was heard everywhere, from the guardsmen to the knights, to the squires, even to the servants. Living as a royalty, having ears around the bricks of the castle wall was a necessity to survive. The Queen was not one who slandered but getting informed with the latest news was crucial to her livelihood.

"I heard about the rumors. The bloodcrawler with an undying horse attacking the castle. Is that true?" Lyna sat down next to Myras and placed her hand on his virile chest gently. Her ruby hair was so long that it could sweep the dust from the floor when she sat.

"I can't believe it's time. After all these generations of peace, it has finally come to an end," Myras whispered solemnly to himself. "The Rogs have not forgiven us for what we have done. The Carnelians toyed with the Gods of fire and now... we're caught in the winds, hexed by the forgotten mages. Curse the Alorians to the Rog Hells! It's the peace of Amor... No... It's the peace of the Sevi Lands they are tormenting with."

Although Lyna was an Auburn, she had Carnelian blood flowing beneath her flesh. A princess from Alora, a minute chess piece temporary resolving the tension between the two kingdoms since the age of ten. Lyna had moved to Amor, destined to be Myras' wife. It was not her choice, but she chose to believe that she truly fell in love with her King.

"It was not their fault. Stop blaming them for it. There was no way Kane would agree to free those labors. Besides, the heat and power were the reason why Alora stood strong and united the Sevi Lands. Without them, men would shatter," with a tint of salt, Lyna jabbered, almost in the cutest yet aggressive way ever, as she expressed her disagreements to her King. It was uncommon for Lyna to do so, as she had always been that delightful agreeable wife who every man could have ever dreamed of marrying to.

Myras fell silent as his attention was captured by the book in his mighty hands. Ignoring what was spewed from his precious lady's mouth, he let out a mild sigh and closed the book prudently like ending an epic speech. With his face suddenly trembled with angst and his eyes diluted into the blur, he tried to carry on what he had started. The King looked her in her shiny blue eyes and spoke with a gentleman yet cold voice, "There's only one way for a bloodcrawler to appear. The fall of Alora."

The bloodcasters? Lyna questioned in her heart. Not many women in the Sevi Lands knew about them as they do not read. She was special, however, living in a castle for the most of her life, she was granted by the Rogs the opportunity to read, gaining wisdom of the tales and the elders of the world throughout the history of men.

"You can't be certain about it. Maybe it was the remains from the past, a lucky one that the sweepers missed, living deadly for centuries," Lyna hypothesized while she took the book away from the hands of the King. Gentle but yet a firm grip, the King had always been gentle. Although he was old enough to have his kids to take over this throne, his heart had always remained a youthful adolescent, at least in front of Lyna. Unfortunately, he never had any offspring in his lifetime, not a single one.

"It is recorded that the last sweepers ever known became vicious hunters, riding on sabers roaming around the Sevi Lands. It's impossible for them to miss one throughout these centuries," the King mentioned heavily as he lifted his golden cup to take a sip of wine.

"Well, the last bloodcrawler recorded was nearly a millennium ago," the Queen uttered with her zephyr-like voice. Flipping the pages carefully, Lyna used her gold-coated nails to guide her vision of the literature. In a gentle tone, she read, "In fact, many believed that they had never existed. The Sevi who wrote this was mad, living in his imaginations."

"I'm afraid not," Myras uttered with despair. "You would have believe the tales if you've seen one. Fire burns in their bloody eyes."

Lyna opened her mouth but found herself at a lost of words. Her tiny lips dried up, not knowing what to say anymore.

"We shall pray to the Gods of fire, and beg for mercy. That is all we can do. Although, I don't think the Rogs stand by our side this time," Myras said solemnly.

"May the Rogs protect us," Lyna chanted.

"May the Rogs protect us," Myras echoed as they placed their fist on their forehead and closed their eyes, embracing the energy from the Gods of fire.