The Lore's Illusion

Prologue

King Duncan Malik's eyes darted around the marble room. It was empty save several chairs in which he and his father-in-law sat. The wooden oak door on the other side of the room seemed to mock him as the voices of women chattered from behind it. One of the midwives yelled, making Duncan jump. They hadn't told him or retired King Hassan the situation, but one of the women had said there was a complication.

Duncan knew how many women made it out of childbirth alive, and the odds weren't in his wife's favor. Especially with the complication; whatever that was.

Next to him, Hassan put a hand on his shoulder and gave him a small smile. "She'll be alright," he assured. Duncan ran a hand through his long, dark hair. He was the king of Baloxalon, the kingdom formed when Balon and Baxalon agreed to become one nation. Duncan was Baxalonian by blood while his wife, Stefanie Felon, was Balonian. Balonians were the wealthy, upper class Guardians while Baxalonians were considered savages.

That's why their marriage had been so successful in joining the kingdoms. A princess falling in love with a savage. Duncan tried to appear as a Balonian as best he could, but he couldn't change his blood. He still wore simple clothes, grew his hair long, and did manual labor although he didn't have to.

"I don't know what I'll do if she's not," he whispered, putting his head in his hands. His love for Stefanie ran farther than the east was from the west. They'd been through so much together. In his youth, King Duncan had been a monster. Slowly, he'd become a righteous young man—but he'd still been a savage charged with a thousand crimes. Stefanie's father had loathed him for what Duncan had put their family through during the civil war, but now he was accepted as a member of the Felon Dynasty.

But he'd never forgotten where he came from: the cruel halls of King Andrew's palace where he'd witnessed death at an early age. He'd seen his mother go insane, seen his friends killed by his heartless father, and he'd been beaten because Andrew had found it fun to lash a whip across the back of his only son.

But amidst all the pain and heartbreak, he'd found love in Baxalon. The people absolutely adored him because he'd been strong enough to stand up for them when no one else had. His life had turned out so much better than he deserved.

A midwife stepped through the wooden door, a bright smile on her face. Duncan and Hassan both stood, but Duncan wouldn't remain where he was. He pushed past the midwife and entered the room where Stefanie lay on a thin bed. She clutched a newborn infant in each arm.

Twins.

Stefanie smiled weakly at Duncan as he knelt next to her. "A boy and girl," she told him, handing him his new son. He kissed the boy's small head, and then the lips of his wife.

"I love you, princess," he whispered, burring his face in her soft, dark curls. Although she was queen, he still called by the name he'd given her when they'd been younger. He pulled away after a second and cradled his son. "Your call, darlin."

Stefanie smiled. "We said Jason or Jade, didn't we?"

"Or . . . Jason and Jade?"

Stefanie smiled even wider and hugged her infant daughter close to her breast. "I bet you never thought this is how your life would turn out. It's funny how much things can change in only a few years."

Duncan couldn't agree more. He went back outside with Hassan while the midwives took the infants to dress them and clean up Stefanie. He was in mid-conversation with Hassan when Duncan's eyes caught a midwife slipping through the wooden door with one of his children cradled in her arm. His voice died when he locked eyes with the woman's crystal blue irises.

And he knew then his life had been too good for too long. It was too good to be true, he'd thought, and now he knew why.

"Hey!" he hollered, pushing past Hassan as the woman's sly walk turned into a sprint. Her hips swayed to the sides as she ran, just the way they always had. Brown waves fell down her back, swishing as she went. Her narrow build was just the same, only she was a lot taller than she had been so many years ago.

"Joselyn!" Duncan yelled, turning a corner after her. His boots slid across the marble, but then he was sprinting after her. She was a Tor infected witch who'd never forgiven him for taking her only chance of survival from her.

Joselyn had kicked off her shoes and was running through the marble halls with the child clutched tightly to her chest. She turned another corner and Duncan followed a few seconds later, only to stop in his tracks. His eyes fell to the baby boy lying on the marble, blood spilling from a crack in his skull.

He wasn't crying. He wasn't breathing.

Duncan dropped to his knees next to the child and looked up at the witch standing several yards away from him, her hands free of the babe's burden.

"Oops," she laughed. "Clumsy me." A smile pulled across her thin lips. "Duncan, I vowed to make your life a nightmare. I've just been waiting for the right time to destroy everything you love just like you took everything from me. Consider this a warning."

Duncan clenched his jaw, his eyes hardening as anger surged through his veins—all the anger he'd ever kept inside him. "You witch!" he growled, springing to his feet and launching towards her. Her body slammed against the marble wall, his trapping her against the stone. "Why won't you let it go, Jose?" His dark blue eyes ignited with a fury unlike any other—a fire to burn away the tears. "Why won't you let it go?!"

Joselyn's eyes looked dead, and yet they were also laughing at him. "You killed me by taking Daphne. She died because she was weak enough to fall in love with you. She was my only hope. If you take my infection, I'll forgive you and leave your family alone."

He stared at her, his chest heaving. "If I took your Tor infection, I'd be killing everyone who shares my blood and the blood of the one I gave myself to. That's a lot of people, Joselyn."

She smiled. "Then, it looks like your life is about to become a living Leleh." And then she vanished into a puff of black smoke that reeked with the metallic scent of magic.

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...will be continued.