With a group of unlikely allies, Alethia must become an unstoppable force to let go of her haunting past and save the Four Kingdoms.
Two years have passed since Queen Liliana broke the Peace Treaty with the Gera Kingdom and began a deadly war. Howev...
A/N: this chapter hasn't been edited yet so I apologize in advance for any glaring grammatical/sentence structure errors! I wanted to publish it for your reading regardless of that! Enjoy :) Don't forget to vote and comment your thoughts!
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731 days after Queen Liliana's conquest of the Gera Kingdom
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The motion of the ship swayed with the violent, jerky motions of a drunken pirate—a motion Kai had put to an end the moment their flushed faces and haughty laughter appeared on the deck. With a simple flick of his wrist, the men slumped onto the wood, embracing a darkness like the one that clung to his heart with the mannerisms of a parasitic.
Kai's dark cloak flapped in the vicious wind as waves of water crashed into the anchored ship. He could only assume the pirates had been on shore to drink themselves silly for whatever outlandish reason that was beyond him.
Usha would understand why these men insisted on loading their bellies with ale until they collapsed. At the nostalgic memory of the dark-skinned girl who'd stolen his heart with her mischievous grins and infectious laughter, Kai let out a long sigh.
Night was enveloping the ship and a misty fog clawed its way across the sea. Damp water wetted his face and Kai licked his lips, ignoring the salty aftertaste that coated his tongue in the process. Another storm was coming, but this time, it would take more than the Tartians to stop it.
He could only do his part, as it was his duty to assure this plan went exactly as it should. Balancing the level of intervening and observing was a careful dance that left Kai tiptoeing on the edge of repeating history. Lucky for him, he was always good at dancing.
Now, he stood, basking in the moonlight that grew stronger with each passing second, far from the tight rope that him and Usha used to practice routines on. The thick band of silver on his middle finger burned from the number of men he'd put to sleep. Kai clicked his tongue as exhaustion raced through him in an impressive game of cat and mouse. He wrestled with the feeling, attempting to push it down rather than allow it to overcome him.
He must complete what he came here to do and return to the buqa ouras for his next assignment.
His last assignment.
Kai's jaw tightened as he walked across the floorboards to the captain's cabin. Each step let loose a clacking noise as his heeled boots disrupted the ship's normal melody. His magic swirled within him, bringing forth noises of swords rasping against each other, deep voices chuckling, orders called for lookouts and landings, and scuffling boots that occurred when a storm rocked their deck anew.
This ship held enough memories that it was sickening to hear them all. Kai rubbed his piercing along the roof of his mouth until he drew blood.
His patience was thinning. Being amongst such merry energy that stunk of good times and bonding moments made him realize how much he longed to return home—to return to the one person who could give him all those memories.
