Page 9 of One Last Promise
“Only bond for love.Do you understand?Trust your heart.It will glide you to the one who is deserving of you.I have a feeling you are going to save us all.”
I called out to my mother as I awoke, reaching into the vast nothing.Tears trickled down my face as I stroked the golden daisy chain bracelet on my wrist.Whenever I dreamt of my mother like that, I lost her all over again.
I got dressed alone instead of calling for my maids.Noor would notice my traitorous tears when I joined her for breakfast if I didn’t pull myself together.
She, along with my father and Elin, were in the breakfast room as I wandered in.Noor gave me a questioning look as I took a seat next to her.Elin didn’t so much as look in my direction, and continued to pick at her plate of fruits and cheeses.
“You arrived back rather late with Xavier last night, Alora,” my father bellowed down the table at me before sipping on his drink.“What were the pair of you doing?”He had eyes and ears everywhere, which was frustrating.I couldn’t do anything without him finding out about it.
“I was trying to convince him to train me.”
“Not this again!Alora, we have been through it!I willnotallow you to train!You are the Dylin princess, and much too valuable.”
“Are you more worried about losing me as a daughter, or is this about your bloodline?”He slammed his fist down on the table in anger, which made Noor and Elin jump.
“It’sboth!You are my daughterandmy bloodline.Without you, if I died, the power of the light would flow to the next deserving line.Do you want that for us?Toendour bloodline?We have been ruling for over a billion years!We are descendants from Lustre, herself!Our blood is the purest of our kind.That is why I could channel all the power when your mother died.You would risk our entire race with a weaker ruler.Of all the selfish things that you choose to do, risking your own race is the worst!”I’d heard all of this before: that I was immature, selfish and spoiled.Since my mother’s passing, my father seemed to take his pain out on me.This was all about his bloodline, though.I could see it deep in his golden eyes, but he was too cowardly to admit it.“What more do you want from me, Alora?This bitterness has been eating away at you since we lost your mother.Why do you have such a need to become a warrior?”
“I want to train so I can take down the Noxlin that killed her.”My father’s eyes widened in shock.Perhaps I should have explained this to him from the start, but as tears stung my eyes, I knew I hadn’t been strong enough to admit it back then.“I do not wish to be bonded or promised toanyone.I want to be in control of my own fate.My destiny is to take down the Noxlin bloodline.”
“That’s a big ask.You have already been promised.I need you to continue my line.”My father strummed his fingertips on the table, looking between Noor and me.“You haven’t even come into your powers yet.Do you have any idea what you are asking of me?”
“All I ask for is time, Father.Xavier’s advances towards me muststop.He’s acting as if he has already won me.I am Dylin royalty, am I not?As the King, I can’t believe you’d allow yourgeneralto treat yourbloodthat way.”
When anger flared on my father’s face, I knew I had chosen my words wisely.“I will talk to Xavier.”Elin moved to whisper something in his ear.Her thin, agile fingers caressed his cheek as she spoke.“Elin has an idea that might work.To test your strength.”It wasn’t ideal that the idea had come from my father’s mistress.Elin had proven to be untrustworthy with the way she wormed herself into his bed when my mother had died.I had once considered her a friend, but she had used me to gain access to my father.Zohar listened to her more than me these days.She had a strange control over him.I motioned for him to continue as I looked between him and Elin.“You leave for your pilgrimage next week.If you wish to test yourstrength,you will accept.If you complete your task, I will deem that Holy Ether thinks you are worthy to be considered for training.”
“I accept,” I replied in a heartbeat.
“Wait,what?Zohar!”Noor choked out.“She’s not ready.Luz needs...”
“My word isfinal!”My father cut her off.“If you want to be a warrior so badly, Alora, let’s see how you get on in the Barren Lands.Complete your pilgrimage, and we will talk again when you return.This is myonlyoffer on the matter.”
“You’ll have to keep your wits about you, Alora.”Elin’s stare was cold as she looked at me.Her eyes were almost a smokey white.“There are all kinds of creatures in the Barren Lands.With onlyonewarrior to protect you, I hope your powers begin to manifest.”
“Elin, I’m not sending my daughter out to die.Xavier will see that she has the strongest warrior to accompany her.No harm will come to her.This task is about completing her pilgrimage early.When she does, Holy Ether might praise Alora with the gift of her powers.”
“Oh, of course, my king.I wasn’t implying that Alora would be in danger.I’m only telling her to keep her wits about her.”
I ate the rest of my breakfast in silence, drawing out the noises around the table.
“Have you gone insane?”Noor grabbed me by the arm as we made our way out of the breakfast room once I had finished.“Are you trying to get yourself killed?”She was right.I was nowhere near ready to face the pilgrimage to pay my respect to Nantu, the moonlight goddess, but I had no other options.Proving myself was the only way I could take control of my own fate.
“I can’t sit back and watch you all risk your lives against the Noxlin.I have todosomething.This might help manifest my powers.If I’m allowed to train, all female Dylins might get the chance.”
“Don’t pretend that you are doing this for anyone but yourself.This is about revenge.You forget that I know you, Alora.You can’t take on theentireNoxlin army.With or without powers, you wouldn’t last a minute.You have no idea how intimidating and powerful they are.”
“We don’t know what powers lay within me, yet, Noor.Uri has already foreseen that I will be the most powerful Dylin that has ever been.I’ll burn them all to the ground.You have my word that I won’t save a single one of them.I’ll make the Noxlin scum pay for what they did to us.We are a powerful race.We might be peaceful and kind, unlike our barbaric enemies, but we have great magic, too!Lustre is always with us!”
“You don’t have to win this war single-handed.I understand that they killed your mother.We are all behind you.All I’m saying is do not do anything rash.Make sure Xavier gives you a strong soldier to accompany you in the Barren Lands.It’s the place of nightmares.I still wake up in cold sweats sometimes when I dream about it.”She had completed her pilgrimage two hundred years ago, once her powers had manifested, and didn’t sleep for over a month when she returned.
“I know what I’m doing, okay?”Noor gave me a questioning look before sighing.“At least with me gone for a few months, it means you’ll have more time with Lito.You two looked really cosy last night.”
“Donotchange the subject!”she snapped.“We better go and see Luz so you can tell her thegoodnews.”Luz was going to scold me, I knew it!
It was starting to dawn on me what I had gotten myself into.Five days.That was all the time Luz, Nell, and Noor had to prepare me.
