Page 63 of One Last Promise
“It was scenting you.That’s how it knew you were in the tree.It had been sent bysomeoneto kill you.”Darce touched my face.“I tried to rack my brain, wondering why that beast was sent after you.I noticed a strangelightin its eyes, and then it dawned on me.The palace must have discovered how powerful you’re going to become.Your king and princess must have turned on you, Alora.They might have sent the beast in order to protect themselves from the poweryouwill harness one day.”I had never wanted to tell him the truth so much as I did at that moment.“This is why you should run away with me.I can keep you safe.”
“My kind wouldn’t do that.It’s more likely that I would be forced to bond with a Dylin male.He could extract my power that way.If my king ordered it, I would have no choice.”
“You would beforcedto bond with another?And your kind calls us barbaric!”It was easy to see the fury on his face.“When you sayextractyour power?What do you mean?”
“In our culture, powerful females share their power with males.”
“Why thefuckwould they need to do that?Oh, wait!Are your males threatened by powerful females?Is that the issue?Do you know whatmykind does with powerful females?”Urging him to continue with my eyes, Darce ran his hands down my arms.“We make themleaders.They all have a place of high ranking within the palace.Everyone’s power is theirown.We are allequal.”Darce painted such a perfect world.
“It’s hard realising all the lies my kind have told over the last few eons.It makes me wonder how much more they are hiding.”
“How easy would it be to get your hands on that Elder World book?I don’t want you risking your life, but we might get some answers.Even if you can only study a few pages and describe what you see.”
“I’m not sure.It’s guarded by our seer.What exactly are you looking for?”
“The events that happened before The Battle of False Promise.Have you ever noticed that there are few accounts of what actually happened at that battle or anything before that?It’s over a billion years that isn’t accounted for.What promise was even broken?What were our races fighting over?”
“It was a battle forpower.Lustre could see the greed in Solace’s eyes when he tried to steal Nantu’s power.She went to war before he destroyed Afterlight.”
“Solace told his story a little differently from that.I believe Nantu caused friction between Lustre and Solace, turning them against each other.Noxlindon’tsteal power!”
“You believe Lustre and Solace had once been friends!”That was absurd!
“What?Don’t you think Dylin and Noxlin could be friends?”Darce smirked, pushing his pelvis against mine.“We’re ratherfriendlythese days.”
“We’re different.”
“In what way?”
“Oh, I don’t know, Darce!We justare!”When I pushed at his chest, he rolled, allowing me to collect my clothes.“We shouldn’t be talking about our race’s history anyway.That was one of our deals!I’ll never be able to get my hands on that book.Uri will see me coming.”
“Nantu was Noxlin and fell for a Dylin.You must have records aboutAnwar,Lustre’s general.”
“Who?”I had never heard of him.
“He was the powerful Dylin that tried to steal Nantu’s dark power.Can’t you see it?Your kind twistseverystory.It’sourdarkness they are trying to steal, not the other way around.”
“Darce, I can’t do this right now!It’s too much to get my head around.”Getting dressed quickly, I reached for my boots.
Once Darce had put his pants on, he crouched down and took my hand in his.“My intention wasn’t to confuse you, Starshine.I’m trying to open your mind.To make you understand that both our races arehidingsomething.I’m not saying that the Noxlin accounts are correctorthat the Dylin are not.The only way we might ever find out is by reading the Elder World books.”
“How many books are there?”
“Three, but I’ve heard legends of a fourth.”
“Your race has two and we have one?”Darce nodded, stroking my knee.“Are they even written in a language we can understand?”
“No, but that’s not the only issue, Alora.These books are overfour billionyears old.There isn’t much left of them due to the decay.”Luz had mentioned a similar issue when she had been given access to the book.“It’s okay.We have plenty of time to work out a plan.I’m not going to rush you, even if I do wish you’d run away with me right now.”
“You’ve taught me well.I can look after myself.”As I softly kissed his lips, Darce sighed deeply.
“When you asked me to tell you how to bring a male to his knees...”he pulled back, searching my eyes, “were you worried this male might try to bond with you?”
“No,” I lied, stroking his face.“That was because of his sexual advances.”
“And that’s abetteranswer?Fuck!Alora, please...”
“I’m not saying I’llneverrun away with you.It’s just that I can’t do it right now.” With a shake of his head, he looked over at Loki, Enyo, and Boulder, then stood up, reaching for his tunic.
