few of the lords lingered to speak in quiet voices upwind of the fire. They fell silent when they saw looking at them. Should Stannis fall, they will pull me down in an instant. Neither was he counted one of the queen's men, that group of ambitious knights and minor lordlings who had given themselves to this Lord of Light and so won the favor and patronage of Lady—no, Queen, remember?—Selyse.    The fire had started to dwindle by the time Myra and the squires departed with the precious sword. Ezekiel and his son joined the crowd making its way down to the shore and the waiting ships. "Devan acquitted himself well," he said as they went.    "He fetched the glove without dropping it, yes," said Dale.    Allard nodded. "That badge on Devan's doublet, the fiery heart, what was that Black Horn sigil

I uncontrollably sit on the ground.  Apparently I fall. "Hey, hey, you okay?" Edwin hurriedly sits beside me. "I'm fine." I answer shakily, closing my eyes. Actually I wasn't fine. I haven't seen my psychiatrist for almost a month, haven't taken my medication. Now, the flashbacks are gone, but I still have the headache.  I am breathing hard.  I wonder what caused the flashbacks.  "C'mon," he wraps my left arm around his shoulder and lifts me up. "The lake is near. You need some fresh air." I walk with him, dropping my head in his shoulder. I feel a little surprised by my act, because I don't even know him. Or maybe I do. His body scent seems familiar.  "Don't try to think too much. When you apply pressure to remember a thing of your past, which was may

Lynn Vandestine He pushes the door open of his new studio.   Painting has always been his hobby, but it is his first time to open a workshop like this. When he was in his adolescence, it wasn't one of his pleasant times. In order to lighten his mood, he used to climb up at the top of his favourite mountain, with papers and paints in the backpack. Often, he brushed colors gently on the canvas, while thinking if a girl would appear in front of him just like that drawing. Now, the place can catch a plenty of natural light, one of the reason why he bought this. The layout is flexible, it's enough big for his work. The paintings around the studio are mostly portraits, but he drew some landscapes, too, tried to do another genre."Hi, Tom!" he greets the guy, who is moving his brush with so much attention, benting towards the easel. Tom is a local artist and a student of art college, once Lynn helped his big brother with a mission, so he k

   At the same night, Hadassah had started a big fire at the middle of the Battle of Blood, while she was in the possession of little Celandine's body.  The large vessel on the fire was filled with the sacred water for witches from Black Lake. It was an inaccessible lake inside a forest, only who had witch blood in their veins, could approach there. Beside the pyre, there were some ingredients which she would need to return back to her true self."Bonesbane," she muttered and picked up the tiniest bowl contained with a few bone shaped dark green leaves. She stared at the boiling black water for a while, then dropped the leaves into it and chanted, "Confundo."   The flames exploded around the pyre when the leaves touched the water, her ragged breath quickened. She took a sharp intake and knelt in front of the pyre and picked up the next ingredient. "Blood Soil," she muttered and poured the brown soil and tiny pebbles into t

  Olgarias was leaning his back on the pillow, his eyes were closed. Fever was burning through his skin all the day and at night, it had been usual for him to have nightmares lately. He would scream after midnight while sweating crazily and his whole body was shaking uncontrollably, the servants had to take care of him. The Master of Health was observing his health condition and giving him medicine for cure, also trying to figure out the disease.But only Ran knew what it was.   And he felt terribly guilty. His head was a complete mess and his feelings were heightened, wishing he could do something to help his master. He even thought of escaping from the capital, but he couldn't bring himself to imagine what would happen next. In Leafstone, he had somewhere to live, he had someone's protection on his life, but outside Leafstone, he was nothing. It would get harder to live his life there as a Night Walker.He led Elijah his way to his master's cha