Page 4 of One Last Promise
“She is nothing to me.I have no need to be on her good side.You, however, are a priority.”
“Because you are my father’s right hand man?”It always made me wonder where Xavier’s loyalties lay.Did he care about me because ofwhoI was orwhatI was?A descendant of the light guardian bloodline was a high prize for any Dylin male.
“You know it’s more than that.When your powers materialise, you will finally understand.We could be as magnificent as your mother and father.”
“I am not yours yet.What if I connect with another that I wish to bond with?”
“Alora, you will bond with no other.Zohar has forbidden it.You, sweet Princess, aremine.When you are ready to be bedded, the only male that will be deflowering you isme!”
“I have no choice?”The burning desire to find my own destiny had been playing on my mind a lot lately.Life with Xavier wasn’t what I wanted, but I was trapped.
“We have to strengthen ourselves against the Noxlin.Our wars will have many casualties if we don’t.You have my word: one day, we will take down the Noxlin bloodline together, and we will finally be free of our enemy.”
“I want that, too—more than you could ever know—but wouldn’t I be more powerful if I trained in battle and used my powers with it, as you do?”
“Alora,” Xavier let me slide down his body as I found my feet again, “we have been through this countless times.You are femaleandof direct Dylin bloodline.Your father forbids it.”
“Can’t you make him see sense?”
“Not on this.I don’t want you trained in battle.”
“Maybe I’ll pay my father a visit and see what his decision is!”Rage soared through me.“You don’t make all the rules!”
“He wants to keep you safe, as do I.Losing your mother was enough for him.He won’t risk losing a daughter, too.”
“Perhaps if my motherhadbeen trained for battle, she might have stood a chance against the darkness.”I never understood my father’s refusal to allow females to train in combat.
“Is that what this is about?You think Duska could have fought it?Alora, it was pure darkness that overcame her.It suffocated overtwo thousandDylins in a matter ofminutes.None of us stood a chance.It wasn’t about one-on-one combat.We had to retreat.”
“Did you see her fall?”My voice was but a whisper as we reached the side entrance to the palace.It didn’t matter how many times I had heard this story, I still tried to dissect it in my mind over and over.
“No.The darkness had already taken her.When your father and I searched the battlefields for her the next day, there was no trace of her.The Noxlin must have taken her back to their city as a trophy.”If that was the case, when I was strong enough, I would take the Noxlin city down and bring her body back to give her the burial she deserved.“You have to stop carrying this guilt around.What could a mere princess have done, anyway?Even if you had come into your powers, you are no match for General Nox and the Noxlin royalty.They are the strongest of them all.They would split you in half in a heartbeat with or without your powers.This is why you must leave the battles to me and my army.I will win this war for you, Alora.”
We were back inside the main area of the palace now.A few servants bowed as they walked past Xavier and me.
“Have you thought anymore about who you want to accompany you on your pilgrimage to The Barren Lands?”Xavier asked as we entered the great hall.I was already in search of my father.
“I will be happy with any warrior that you see fit to send with me.”It was still months away, but it was a right of passage for all Dylin females to pilgrimage and pay their respects to Nantu, the moonlight goddess on the sacred mountain.
“I would go with you myself if our borders weren’t constantly under attack.”
“Asking a general to accompany me would be abusing my power.”He gazed down at me, disappointed.
“Is that all you see me as?You’regeneral?”Xavier gripped my arm, pulling us behind a pillar so we were out of view.“Why won’t you let me in?”He put an arm on either side of me, trapping me against his body.“You have no idea how beautiful you are.Every male in this city desires you.”
“Why would that matter to me, when my fate has already been decided by you and my father?I have no choice inanyof this.What about choosing myownfate?”
“Any other female would see me as a great prize.The general of a great army.Second hand to theKing.Why do you torture me so?”
“I don’t do it intentionally.”His grip on me tightened.“I need to get to my father.Let me pass, Xavier.”This conversation would have to wait for another time.I didn’t have the answers for him.All I knew was that I felt nothing for the male in front of me.To me, hewasjust my father’s general.
“Of course,Princess.”He sighed, dropping his arms that had been holding me prisoner.I could feel his eyes on me as I walked away.
Wandering around the Palace, I found my father in the bathing pool with his mistress, Elin.She was a lot younger than him, with tanned skin and long blonde hair.Her eyes were the shade of moonlight.
“Alora, my darling!”my father called when he noticed me.“Why don’t you join us?The water temperature is invigorating.”His short silver hair was glistening in the midday sun as he bathed.Being more than three hundred thousand years old, he looked older than a lot of us, but still had his youthful features.
“Maybe another time.I have only come to ask about the battle training.Have you given it some thought?”Xavier might have said no, but my father had the final decision.I had been pleading with him for months now. He looked towards Elin and then back at me.
