ICE

140. A Simple Joke

LYTH DID NOT return that night — at least not in person. The moment that the sun kissed the horizon, a sliver of crimson colored magic appeared. It darted through the royal library like a fly, zipping past the overflowing bookshelves toward where Vyses sat. Ravenna was seated across from him. She glanced up from the book in her hands, scowling as the magic darted in front of her face.

"What on earth is that?" she asked crossly.

Vyses didn't answer. Instead, he reached out and caught the sliver of magic within his hand. He squeezed it tight. His fingers slowly opened to reveal a perfect sphere of crimson floating just above his palm. The air above the sphere shimmered and a small Lyth materialized, his red-tinged eyes focused on Vyses.

Ravenna's eyes widened. She lowered her book and leaned forward in her seat, watching Lyth carefully.

"We have reclaimed both towns," he announced. His voice was calm and collected. "There are ice soldiers stationed within both, however I do recommend that you send more our way soon. If another attack takes place, I am not sure how long we will be able to survive."

"Were you able to find out anything about the attacks?" Ravenna asked him.

"I interrogated some of the villagers," Lyth answered. He simply stared at them, his expression blank. "The attacks were led by a single individual. The villagers said that they only saw a mere glimpse of him though. I am currently working on gathering more details."

"I appreciate you asking around," Ravenna told him earnestly. "Please continue to find out as much as you can. There may be some villagers who aren't comfortable yet speaking out."

"Do not be afraid to use magic if you have to," Vyses added.

Ravenna glanced at him, her brow furrowed with confusion. She wasn't entirely convinced that magic was necessary for something like that. Vyses simply ignored her gaze and said, "We will send more soldiers to you immediately."

Lyth nodded. His small body began to fade away. "If I find out anything more, I will reach out and let you know."

Vyses squeezed his palm shut and the crimson colored magic vanished. He lowered his hand and heaved a small sigh. "Well, that was somewhat informative," he said.

Ravenna tapped her fingertips against the table in front of her. "An individual," she mused. "I wonder who it could be."

"I wonder as well," Vyses said. He stared at her intently, his wine colored eyes cold and calculated. "Do you think that it is a random villager?"

She shook her head. "I am not sure," she answered honestly. Her mind immediately went to Mylo — who was supposedly traveling to the outskirts of the kingdom with the other Blood Knights. However, she was not sure that Mylo would murder a bunch of Imperial guards. They were humans.

It could have been a statement against her rule, though. No one aside from her advisers and Vyses knew that she had planned to abolish the Imperial guards. As far as the rest of the kingdom knew, the guards were still at her command.

"Maybe it's just Caelan," she joked. "Having returned from the dead to punish us for our actions."

Vyses narrowed his eyes at her. "That is not even funny to joke about," he said sourly.

She rolled her eyes at him. "I thought it was pretty funny," she muttered under her breath.

He shook his head with disgust and stood. He pushed his chair in and crossed his arms over his chest. "We will need to send Lyth reinforcements by daylight," he said. "I am going to work on some adjustments to the armor spell that I created for your ice soldiers. It should hopefully make them even stronger."

Ravenna heaved a sigh and stood, holding her book tightly within her hands. It was another book that Mylo had recommended she read — an older spellbook that discussed more taboo magical subjects, such as necromancy and mind control.

She simply bid Vyses a goodnight and started to make her way through the maze of bookshelves, toward the door. It did not take long before she found herself standing in her new bedroom. At night, the massive glass window created an entirely different atmosphere. Instead of brilliant evergreen hills filled with wildflowers, it depicted a darker, more sinister painting that was filled with shadows and unfamiliar shapes. The crescent moon was partially hidden behind tumbling storm clouds. Snippets of moonlight danced across the white stone floors and walls.

Ravenna crawled into the massive bed, her book in hand. She had been avoiding sleep since Eoin's death. She was afraid that she would dream of him. She was afraid that she would have to face him and face her actions — despite their potential interaction only being a mere dream. It terrified her. A tremendous amount of guilt sat within her stomach. It had been nested there since Eoin's death. There was nothing that she could do to ease it.

She busied herself with the book in her hands. She read the open pages in front of her repeatedly, struggling to retain the information written on them. It had something to do with a necromancy-based spell. Something about communicating with loved ones. At least, that was about all that she could make sense of.

Waves of exhaustion crashed through her. She found her eyelids growing heavy, as if her skin had been replaced with lead. A scowl morphed her features as she did her best to focus her eyes on the book in front of her.

It wasn't long however before she succumbed.

That night Ravenna dreamed of Caelan.

~

I know this is a bit of a shorter chapter. I am going to post another one this weekend to make up for the lack of updates recently! I really appreciate your continued patience with me! 

I hope that you all are safe, healthy, and having an awesome week so far! Thank you so much for continuing to read and support this book. I genuinely cannot express how much I appreciate you all!! You are honestly the best!! ❤❤

ash ❤