Chapter 28 A Grace I've Never Noticed

Chapter 28 A Grace I've Never Noticed
🐝Elias🐝

The Curse Bearer was gone…just like that. He disappeared the same way he appeared, just that his presence still remained as the living storm. His image is already carved in my heart. His laugh still rings in my heart and ears, it sounded as a jagged slash across my already troubled heart.

I stood motionless, my legs shaking and vibrating against the worn board of the room, even though I felt the vibration could only be heard by me. No matter how hard I try to conceal my fear, I know Seraphina's watching with an awk eye and she could tell.

The heavy air reminds me of his presence. I exhaled sharply, my body had now felt lighter, relieved from the pain of the curse. It felt like the pain never existed, I guess that was one of the effects of the magic.

My eyes drifted toward Seraphina. She was in the same state, she had her eyes fixed on the shards of the Sunstone. Now she knows it's the fake one, she couldn't possibly be terrified because it's broken. The only thing that should be on her mind is how to get the real Sunstone back.

The silence in the room only made The Curse Bearer echo louder in my mind. “Who is watching who?”

I clenched my jaw. What did it mean? The question wasn’t rhetorical. I felt it like….it was a needle pressing against my spine. I don't know how games are played in their world of magic but I know for sure someone's going to be playing dirty.

The top on our list now is to have the Sunstone back in our possession. I need it, I need the soothing relief it always brings whenever I'm in pain.

I was starting to realize with every past event we've come across and had to conquer,I realized how much I didn't know, how much I couldn't see.

I had been so focused on measuring her power, thinking to which extent she can go without the Sunstone, that I hadn't begun delving into the forces we'd have to summon to break the curse. A part of me was beginning to admire her…her strength, even in shock, even with the gear pressing down on her, she carried herself with a grace I hadn't allowed myself to notice before.

“Elias.” I heard the smooth voice cutting into my train of messy thought.

I turned to see her, straight-backed, shoulders squared, hands resting lightly on the edges of the bedpost as she sank down onto the bed. Her eyes were clear, despite the turmoil. That was one side of a female I'd never seen in recent times.

“We have to move,” she said, almost matter-of-factly.

The arrogance in her tone irritated me, but more than that, it provoked the tension coiled up in my chest. I wanted to argue, to remind her that the threat of The Curse Bearer still out there was not over, and that we were vulnerable without a plan—but the look in her eyes made me pause.

It made me more infuriated,my gaze becoming sharp despite that it wasn't intended. I couldn't help it. That was the same look on her face when she mocked me.

A whole king of the Aethelgard kingdom. I'll repay her equally for everything she does to me. I promise.

“Move?” I said finally, the word clipped with authority. “We cannot move without horses. Or a proper route. Do you understand? Charging forward blindly—”

She interrupted me with a faint, mischievous smile, one that always managed to unsettle me. She moved toward our belongings, picking up the bags with ease, as if the weight of the world had no hold over her.

“You know it's always fun to see you clueless when I do my things,” she said lightly, gesturing for me to follow.

I shook my head but fell into step behind her, soldier and king in one, yet I couldn't help but listen to her despite my dual role.

The hallway before us was an unending one. It was the same I had always walked through,but it felt like I had walked a mile yet I hadn't gotten to where I was going. The air as we passed was chilly, which I assumed was the fading presence of the assassins. Since I came across Seraphina, I've gotten used to thinking magic-like. I relate everything to magic, because these things do not happen in the real world I live in.

She said her powers are limited,but I see the mystical creatures taking over my Kingdom.

When we reached the Common area of the inn,it was a mess. No single soul was reminded. Everyone had fled when the assassins left, tables were overturned, chairs scattered. It definitely looked like a crime scene.

Seraphina's boot and mine scraped the worn wood and it was the only sound except for the faint sound of birds chirping from afar. Seraphina moved with precision,no doubt if she should go in the left direction as we walked away from the inn.

Two corners later, and I saw my guard in the same uniform I had always seen clutching the reins of the horses we began the journey with. So this was it, he hadn't been in the inn with us the whole time. This was what Seraphina had planned that she made it look like a mastermind plan.

They were in perfect shape,even the one Seraphina had rode, its leg had gotten back in position.

The guard lowered his head hastily as we approached. He had to bow down in shame.

He's failed the kingdom.

We come to a halt in the same space as them. I raised my look from the horses to the guard again. “Hkw should I repay you for your kindness.”

Instantly, the guard let go of the reins and fell to his feet, his nose touching the ground.

“I plead refuge, Sire.”

I suppressed the urge to scold him for cowardice and climbed my horse, muscles still aching from the earlier blows and the Curse Bearer’s strange healing touch. I could already feel Seraphina's weird gaze on me.

“Are you ready?” I asked, glancing down at Seraphina.

She let out a quiet sigh, then as if she realized she hadn't done something. She lifted her left hand in the air, curling it delicately in the air while her other hand was found on her stomach rubbing it slightly. But that wasn't the main deal. Before me, faint golden runes shimmered into existence, weaving together into a floating, luminous map.

It hovered in the space between us, and drawn into the map were a tapestry of terrains, valleys, and landmarks that seemed to pulse with an almost living light.

She pointed to two glowing figures—their forms flickering slightly in the golden aura. That characterized the being.

“That’s where we are,” she said, tracing the path we had taken with a deliberate motion. Then, with a long sweep, she indicated the distance ahead. “And that’s how far we still have to go.”

I stared at it, disbelief forming in my mind. The journey was still farther than I had thought. I loved that she brought a map…or created a map out of nowhere. If she should have asked me to lead the way, I don't know the middle of where I am even though this is my Kingdom. This was a part I've never heard my people talk about.

I tightened my grip on the reins, my knuckles whitening. My eyes flicked to Seraphina as the light of her magic faded.

She looked back at me then, a faint spark of amusement in her eyes that did nothing to ease the storm of responsibility and anxiety crashing through me. If I am to watch her… then the gods must forgive me, for I might already be the one being watched.

“Keep close,” I murmured, though the words were more for me than her.

She gave me a small, almost imperceptible nod, a mischievous lift of her lips. That same look that always told me she had plans of her own, that she wouldn’t be cowed by my warnings or my caution.

I got comfortable with the horse’s movement. I allowed my mind to wander, just briefly, to the Curse Bearer’s last words. Unlock your full magic… who is watching who… more than useful without the Sunstone.