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
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
The crying girl found comfort in the old lady's arms."Mama Juana, why is Mother mad at me again?""I'm sorry, Elena, it's because your grandmother didn't educate your father properly."The Earl vented his anger to his wife, and the Countess followed suit and vented on their 8-year-old daughter. It had been the same way even since Elena was old enough to walk.Although it was also understandable that after ten years her son was frustrated by the lack of a legitimate heir to the House Valverde, it still didn't justify his reactions towards his wife, who had just suffered another miscarriage, or their only daughter.“Mother said it’s my fault.”She should have been
The sound of the wind hitting the walls and the whistling of the windows had always frightened her since she was a little girl. It had been raining for hours, and apparently, it wouldn’t stop. She just wanted the roaring noise of thunder and rain to be gone. How could she still be afraid of such things at seventeen? It was simply a storm that would soon be over. The daylight was long gone, and a single lamp’s dim fire illuminated the room, but nothing out there could hurt her. There was nothing in the darkness that could hurt her. On nights like this, Elena would have gone to Mama Juana’s bedroom and seek comfort in her embrace, to fall asleep peacefully by her side. She covered herself with a blanket and her whole body shook with cold. Maybe it was a good thing she was exhausted, although her brain insiste
“Elena, today you should go and buy yourself some suitable clothes for your brother's birthday party.”“Yes, mother.”“Mother, I also want to go for a walk.” The boy asked, pulling his mother's skirt “Can I go with Elena?”“It will be next time, Milan. Today is too cold, if you go out you could get sick.”Not cold enough to stop Elena from going out, though. The clear line Vivian Valverde drew between her two children couldn’t be more evident if she tried. And Elena knew her mother wasn’t really trying… it was just easy for her to forget about her eldest daughter, who’d caused her so many tears in the past, compared to the child that brought her happiness.
Unexpectedly, Elena returned home that day with a new personal maid. If her mother wanted to object, but the words did not come out of her mouth once she realized that her daughter had been alone for more than a week because she had forgotten to place a new person at her disposal, at least temporarily until Mariela came back.“This is much better.” Elena approved of the appearance of the girl now that she’d taken a bath and changed into clean and warm cotton clothes. “Laila, go with Nancy, she will show you the kitchen, and you will ask the manager to prepare a snack for us.”Training her to work as a personal maid in a noble family’s home would secure the girl’s future, and it was better than other strenuous labor out there. If Laila stayed by her side, Elena might even be able to teach her to read.
“It’s the Duke of Alba, my lord,” Vega spoke in a solemn voice. “He is waiting for you in the hall.”The shock was clear in everyone’s expressions after the butler mentioned the identity of the new visitor, and only at that moment did Elena recall the man she encountered at the door of the Made’s shoe store. She had not mistaken the coat of arms after all. That gentleman was too young to be the duke, but surely he was someone related to him.“The Duke of Alba? How can it be?” The Earl Valverde was already on his feet. “Excuse me, Marquis. I have to attend this matter at once.”“Of course, of course.” The Marquis exchanged glances with his daughter. “Who would have thought we’d get such distinguished company.”
Ivar breathed in the fresh air of the riverside that marked the entrance to the County of Valverde. The children of Vallas called it winter, they said it was cold. That was because they had no idea what true winter was like. He’d been born in the deadliest freeze, one that took the last remnants of magic in Raeden and also took his parents’ lives.This, the rain and cold winds in Vallas was just earth trying to find balance after a millennium without its heart. Or perhaps it was another sign that he was running out of time to find it.In her letter, Saray assured him that this woman, the daughter of the Earl, was the key to find what he was looking for. His sister was never wrong when it came to her dreams.The carriage stopped.“Aghh!” Someone ou
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 e