No one else seemed to be troubled by the fact that this duke was much younger than he was supposed to be. Despite his imposing bearing, he barely looked a bit older than Elena herself, how could he be older than the Marquis?
Were all the rumours false? Was this another child of the Grand-Duchess?
Magic?
It was highly likely he was a sorcerer, he was a man from Raeden after all, but this didn’t explain this appearance. She’d met some sorcerers before, and these people had an uncanny bond to nature that gave them the ability to summon rain or make the soil more productive, she’d even heard from some that could heal miraculously the most terrible wounds and illness, but they weren’t any less human. They aged and died, too.
Perhaps this wasn’t enough reason for her to feel troubled, but Elena felt a strong pull towards the mystery of this man, and at the same time an eerie suspicion that she wouldn’t really like to find out his secret.
“Your Grace, your room is ready. You are probably tired from the trip; if you’d like to rest our butler will show you the way there.” The Earl offered when the dinner time was over.
Ladies and gentlemen had to part ways and enjoy the rest of the evening in separate rooms, so Elena made an effort to linger around and hear whatever she could of the conversation before being forced to leave.
“Thank you, lord Valverde. You are a very considerate host.” The duke’s crooked smile did not reflect any satisfaction, though. “However, it’s quite early. Marquis, I heard you are good at playing chess. I’d like to check if the rumors are true.”
“Elena, come here.” His mother called for her, so she could not satisfy her curiosity any longer.
The duke’s eyes found her one more time before she left the room.
“Yes, mother.”
Those emerald green eyes, she’d never seen them anywhere else other than in the mirror. In a weird way, because they did look nothing alike if it wasn’t for the color of eyes or hair, looking at him felt like looking at herself.
Did it mean something?
Tonight his arrival had granted her a bit more of time to avoid the Marquis and her father’s designs, so perhaps she wanted it to mean something, now that she was running out of time to be free.
***
Sleep avoided her that night, too.
Elena ultimately left her bedroom in the hours before dawn and went to the kitchen with the intention of boiling water for tea.
It was a weird habit for a young miss, because all servants were sleeping at the time so no one could do this task for her. However, Elena always found it more peaceful and comforting at those hours when she’d be alone, with no one bothering her.
“Isn’t it interesting that the young miss of the house does the servants’ work with her own hands?”
Elena jolted and her soul almost left her body when she heard that voice, right before the silhouette of the duke emerged from the dark.
“God…” Hands clutching her chest, she needed a moment to catch her breath. “Your Grace… how can you scare me like that?”
He gave her a puppy look that startled her because it did not suit his image at all. For the same reason, it made him look much more like his age… It even made him a bit cute.
“I’m sorry. It wasn’t my intention to frighten you.”
“Yes, it wasn’t…”
“I was just surprised to see you up at these hours.”
“I couldn’t sleep, so I came down to make me some tea.” She explained, “Do you want some?”
“Yes, thank you.” He kept standing by the door, silently following her movements with his glance.
Elena knew her way around the kitchen, but for some reason her hands were trembling, her movements turned clumsy knowing that he was staring at her, and she struggled with lighting up the fire.
“Do you need help?”
In a few strides, he was by her side and leaning on the stove.
“Your Grace, you do housework too?” She pretended to sound impressed, although there was a hint of mockery in her tone.
His answer was to blow fire from his mouth. Elena gasped. The charcoal was scorching hot, and even the water was close to boiling, making the stove completely unnecessary.
“How did you do that?” She asked, dropping the formalities “I’ve never seen that kind of magic.”
“Have you seen a lot of magic?”
She frowned and reluctantly shook her head. “But I’ve read quite a lot.”
“That’s not the same.” He smiled, “and this isn’t the kind of magic just anyone could do.”
Elena did not speak, instead poured the water into the teapot to continue brewing her tea.
Maybe she felt a bit envious, and this wasn’t something she could just say aloud. Yet he seemed to be reading her thoughts.
“You could learn, though.”
“You just said not anyone could do it.”
“I have the feeling you might have some affinity with magic.”
“That’s impossible.”
People from Vallas did not use magic. Besides, others would look at her with horror if she did. Elena was simply a curious creature who wanted to understand how things worked, she wasn’t a fool who ignored the rules of the society she lived in.
“And if I were to teach you?”
She turned to face him, lifting her chin to look at him in the eyes.
“And why would you do that?”
“Let’s say it’s part of my offer if you are willing to take it.” He took the cup of tea she was handing to him and gulped it at one go.
One wasn’t supposed to drink tea in that way, but who was she to teach manners to one of the highest ranking men in the empire?
She raised an eyebrow. “An offer?”
“Marquis Doria has come with the intention of asking for your hand in marriage.” He lowered his voice and tilted his head. “Are you really thinking of accepting him?”
Elena’s grip on her cup tightened to the point her hands were burning. This was the reason why she couldn’t sleep that night and ended up meeting the duke, but why did he care? There was a limit to what she could do to intervene with her father’s decision unless a better prospect appeared in front of him.
Her eyes widened up.
“Why are you mentioning this?”
Earlier that evening, she wondered why he’d come to their manor. A plausible explanation was presented to her, and still, it was hard to believe it.
“I already told you. I want to offer you a better deal.” His eyes were gleaming under the dim lights of the room, and he moved closer to her, to the point she could feel his breath on her cheeks. She shivered. “You don’t have to marry that old man. Instead, isn’t it better to come with me and learn to use your magic?”
“My magic…” That one was funny. She gave a step backward. “Your Grace, I’m a woman of the south, I don’t possess any kind of magic and I don’t know what makes you think I do.”
“I guess we can put it to test right now.”
He seized her free hand, but his touch was softer than what Elena could have imagined. She got distracted by this, and only when he was drawing it closer to his mouth, it became clear what he intended to do.
‘He’s crazy. You are going to die here. Run!’
She knew she had to listen to her instinct, and she would have done so if she was capable of moving.
Fire.
All she could see was fire, making her heart pulsate crazily in her chest, but she could not move or escape it.
‘The doors are locked.’
Elena closed her eyes as he breathed out fire again, and the cup she was holding in the other hand fell to the floor, breaking into pieces.
The duke was a madman, no doubt about that.
Her hand… surprisingly, it did not hurt yet, but she was too afraid to even look at it. “You… we have to call the doctors… my hand…”
“Do you really need a doctor? I don’t think so?” He spoke calmly, gesturing for her to take another look at her hand. “This confirms my theory.”
Contrary to her expectations, it was unblemished. The fire that should have burned her skin and flesh did nothing to her at all.
Raeden looked like a land of fairytales (although, to be fair, all stories of fantasy and magic had come to be true after she met Ivar). It was summer here, but a thin layer of snow covered the ground all the way to Jade City. She could see it all from above, the magnificent views that changed first when they crossed Eir until they landed at their destination, and for the first time she thought about how frustrating it could be for him to ride on a carriage when he could always do this instead. People looked in awe when they landed, but few of them seemed to be afraid. Elena couldn’t help but ask why. “Some people tell stories around here. Their parents must have seen it during the war.” Here, it didn’t matter if he wasn’t really the brother of the Emperor and the Gr
Her father had lost his mind. What did he think would be the result of this? He kept repeating that they couldn’t win, that he wouldn’t let them win, but the commotion was enough to have Danna come into the room, and she grabbed Enmanuel from the behind, pulling him away from Elena and sending him flying towards the room's desk.“Your Grace! Are you okay?”“I'm fine, Danna, don't worry.” Elena swallowed with difficulty, feeling her throat sore. Free to think and use her magic properly, she grew vines that imprisoned her father. She tolerated him for too long. “Call the others and take him to the cell for criminals. He can stay the night there.”“You can't treat me like a mere commoner.”She strode towards him an
Pregnant…“Congratulations, my lady!” Mariela clapped her hands in excitement. “Congratulations, Your Grace!”They kept staring at each other in silence, just waiting until they were left alone in the room.Something like that should be impossible for them, and yet, it wasn’t. Elena wasn’t really human, but the vessel of the Emerald Heart, and someone who could already use the Gift of Life in extraordinary ways in spite of lacking experience and control over her magic.Viviana Lagrave was convinced her son was only born because Elena pitied her and felt sad for the kind of treatment she received as a wife who couldn’t bear a male heir. It seemed far-fetched considering that Elena was only a child and unaware of her powers
Two doctors arrived in the morning, quickly installing themselves in the house that Elena had been staying at those days, and with help of the Black Knights, the place became ready to attend to people in no time. Neither Laila nor Mariela seemed to be really surprised seeing that their mistress and the duke had reconciled and came back with linked arms to tell them of their intention to fix the county.“We’ll open an academy here soon, Miros will work on it so that in the future we can send doctors and sorcerers to the small villages too.”“But for the moment, this is already a great relief to the people who couldn’t get medical assistance after doctor Marin left.”They were at the entrance of the house, ready to leave, when the men from the manor came to see what all the fuss was
There was only one doctor in town, the same who attended the Valverde family, so it was a risky move as her father would learn about it and probably hand her to Ivar. But Mariela (who insisted on Elena staying in the house, her eyes would give her away immediately) came back from the Doctor Marin’s house with the news he’d left town weeks ago.“I went to the apothecary to get something for Laila’s fever, and it seems it’s a very contagious flu. Everyone is getting sick, but there’s no one to treat them. Doctor Marin left because the Earl hadn't been paying him for months, and there were many other lords in the region asking for doctors too.”Her father was a stingy pig.“He can’t be so deep into debt that he can’t pay the only doctor available in town
“Lady Elena, do you really think the Duke would try to hurt you?”Laila voiced this question when they were peeling apples for the afternoon snack, sitting near to the attic windows of the abandoned house they decided to turn into their temporary hiding place. It was quite convenient that Elena was able to grow most things they ate or used to cook, because it wasn’t as if they could go out of town freely these days. The black nights were still looking for them in the streets, knowing that they couldn’t make it very far in just a few hours.Eventually, however, they would give up and look elsewhere.“We’ve only known each other for a few months, Laila. Exactly the same time I’ve known Ivar. Maybe I’m not the one who knows him the best, I couldn’t, in such a
In hindsight, Vivian should have known it from the moment the midwife exclaimed it was a girl. She couldn’t get pregnant before Elena, in the same way she couldn’t carry any of her pregnancies later, as if the whole purpose of having the girl was to continue hiding the Heart.When Milan was conceived, however, she knew that much like her mother before her, her daughter could access that magic. It was because of her misery and Elena feeling sad for her that made it happen.But should she be happy about it?“My mother and her mother before then, for hundreds of years, they lived that kind of life. Do you think I would have been anything else than a slave if they thought I had magic too? My father, the very generous, kind-hearted Baron de Lagos, would have kept me prisoner the rest of my life. The wor
It was bound to be the talk of the town when the daughter of the Earl came back home less than a year after the wedding.“As expected, you are useless. Couldn’t you at least satisfy your husband? You have no shame coming back to this house alone!”“You are reading too much into this, father.” Elena breathed in deep and managed to keep her calm. “I just wanted to make sure my brother didn’t come home alone, and since I have the time to spare, why wouldn’t I accompany him? I didn’t know I’m not allowed to visit this house anymore.”Enmanuel Valderde glared at her, his frown deepening as he tried to find the mistake in her words.He couldn’t come up with anything, and that was the end of it. She instruc
Given that it had come to this point, Ivar decided it was useless to keep hiding the truth.“Come with me,” he said, seeing that Elena wouldn’t move or say anything in response.But she still followed him to his office, walking down the stairs that led to the underground springs.“Why are we here?”“It’s the only place inside that palace that’s spacious enough. So you can see with your own eyes what I really am.”Elena barely had time to grasp what was happening in front of her, as he changed into a large, two-winged black creature so frightening that her trembling legs did not want to move when all she wanted was to step back. Just his head was the size of her whole body.