Chapter Ten

Dark Ages, Spring 1459.

Albu’s betrayal took us by surprise, and after that fateful day, where he tried to take me down, I had to go on a few expeditions; I had to hunt him down and also the ones who helped him plot against me. So, I left for a month or more at a time; it was a hard feature leaving her behind; she was my haven, the one who kept my demons at bay, but I couldn’t take a chance in bringing her with me, as she asked many times.

I found a distraught Alizandra when I got back from one of these campaigns. And she was having night terrors, something she had never had before. Worry ate at me. Maybe my demons had found their way to her, I didn’t know, but something was wrong, very wrong.

“Wake up, draga mea,” I said, gathering her in my arms. “Wake up.” I kissed all over her face, trying to appease her distress. She was swimming in sweat and her breathing was difficult. Then those lavenders fixed on me, glinting with unshed tears, and that itself crushed my heart. “What’s wrong,