⚔The Tobaln Chronicles ⚔ || ♛ The Rightful King ♛
The Tobaln Empire has suffered severely from the sadistic, self-proclaimed Emperor Tulin's rule. A thousand years after a 10-year war, Wreiquth is drowning in debt, Iohayreon is losing soldiers by t...
It had spread through the court. Alaina had disappeared. Gwenna Khadfel could hear them whisper about it while she passed through the bustling city. No doubt that when they looked at her they thought she was a horrible guard, letting Alaina disappear right under her nose. She knew that her friend hadn't just disappeared, but had run away. Her cat-like eyes, even though she desperately tried to hide her panic, frantically scanned the court's capital, Aalion, for the Lord's daughter. Deep down, she knew it was no use; that Alaina was well and truly gone. What had set her off—had made her flee from her own home—was still a mystery. She had burst into the throne room and started babbling about some noise that only she had seemed to hear. And Gwenna couldn't help sense that since nobody was going to help her, Alaina had set off on her own to find the answer.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Gods, this had been a bad idea. It had been almost a week. She had been out of food for three days and her water four days. She had run most of the way and, although it wasn't quite upon them yet, the humid, early spring weather had her head pounding. If Alaina was anything, it definitely wasn't a survivor. She should have been dead; should have been rotting by the roadside already. But no, she was still alive, still following Baknor Road. She didn't know where she was going; just that it was away from the Life Court. She tried focusing on the crunch of her feet on the rocky road or on the smell of grass and rain. Anything but how tired she was.
Her tongue was as rough as sandpaper, her mouth so dry that she could barely move it. Her vision blurred, the vast land becoming smudges of green and blue and golden yellow. Her overworked legs buckled beneath her and she came crashing down on the rubble path. Gods, she should've thought this through more; shouldn't have just gathered what she could find then left. As her vision spotted she prayed to Dunris, Goddess of Dawn, that she would wake and see tomorrow. Before her consciousness slipped from her, the sound of hooves drummed in her ear.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
How the lady was still alive, he had no idea. He had almost decided to leave here there to rot, but something made him pick her up off the path and place her gently on the horse he had borrowed . . . permanently. He had taken her with him all the way to Oreth, where he managed to obtain a room at the Twilight Moon inn.
Now he stood in the bathroom, staring at himself in the mirror. He stroked his hand over the foreign beard then turned, admiring the muscular back and arms; a lumberjack, perhaps, but too short for his liking. He was about to remove his pants when a groan from the room behind him made him still. He could see her stirring in the mirror, and when he thought she had gained enough consciousness to understand him said, "Sleep well?"
