Remembering Something Important
“Quitting already, King Urzic?” a mysterious voice echoed.
King Urzic recognized this voice. But before lifting himself out of bed, he made sure Lynera was fast asleep and covered properly underneath the blankets. He slipped out cautiously while making sure he maintained the silence.
“Aren’t you supposed to be in Irista Nation?” Urzic asked as he dressed himself with a fancy nightrobe.
“I’m actually on my way back tonight; thought I’d say goodbye first.” The voice came from a figure hiding well in the corner of the room. The cool purple light of the two moons revealed a hand smooth enough and slim enough to disguise their gender. Even their voice was too neutral to discern anything apparent.
“What do you want?” Urzic maintained his distance, but placed himself squarely in between Lynera and the evening guest. Clearly there was something else to this visit other than just a midnight greeting.
The figure made an audible sigh. “Always straight to the point. You know, you could use a little humor, considering the amount of stress. Oh, right. Your plaything’s already handling that one for you.”
King Urzic’s blood boiled at the word plaything but he immediately tempered his anger. It would not do well to let his emotions dictate his actions. Ill-equipped for a fight, he could only rely on his words and hope this person—who, even after all their visits, refused to identify themselves—didn’t come here to tie up loose ends.
“Too soon?” taunted the strange guest.
“If you have nothing else to say, leave.” Urzic gripped his nerves to a deadened calm. He had the same training as every other Lord Knight, had fought his own battles, and had proven himself as far as physical and mental combat was concerned. Mingling with those with power was standard fare for him.
There was silence.
For a while.
Until the evening light of the moon diminished into blinding darkness. The meiyal torches snuffed themselves out. Behind him, Lynera’s figure vanished. And King Urzic Lasterfol was alone, sinking deep into the void. He felt the grips of the abyss closing around him like a gigantic fist, contorting his limbs into whatever angles they were forced into.
“You’re still not finished, Urzic Lasterfol.” The voice sounded different now, guttural and reverberating in deafening echoes as if the depths themselves spoke to him. “Do not take me for a fool. The orbs made it safely to Central, and the little Princess didn’t get as much as a sniff of it. She’s far too busy mourning over that useless servant of hers.
“But you, don’t even try running away. Go soft and cuddle with that filthy whore of yours for all I care, but do not think for one second that I’ll let you out that easily. If you leave or die, if you fail this, I’ll make sure that she-vork suffers hell and high water for a million years in an expanse of her lifetime. I’ll cut her up and assemble her again with hands on her feet and head on her ass. I’ll disfigure her so much not even a fragment of her sanity will remain.
“I’ll make her remember only one thing, Urzic Lasterfol. If you fail this, she’ll know you’re the reason for her eternal suffering.”
King Urzic shot up from his bed like a spring released from tension, waking up from the nightmare. He turned quickly, and a breath of relief escaped him.
Lynera was there, sound asleep. Her face as calm as still water. He stared at her for a long time. His hand moved on its own, touching a fragment of hair.
A dangerous thought crept into his mind that evening. He realized for the first time in his life, he finally cared for someone. For the first time in his life, he found someone he valued more than Vyndival. For the first time in his life, he stayed still for so long and stared at someone for so long, but never got tired of it.
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For the first time in his life, he snatched a kiss so filled with affection and care, that the simple touching of their lips sent electric emotions from his head down to all parts of his body.
And for the first time in his life, he fell asleep with someone’s face so intimately close to him.
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The movements finally stopped. His kiss was trembling. So delicate and so different from any sort of affection and abuse she’d taken and enjoyed before that it took all her effort just to keep her body from reciprocating out of shock and pleasure. She could feel the warmth radiating from his face so close to hers.
Her memories have returned, but there were far more confusing things in her mind right now.
Lynera, the plaything of Urzic, found the very same man sleeping not even an inch away from her. She kept perfectly still, afraid that any simple movement might wake him up.
Just like how still she kept herself underneath the pressure of the stranger that visited them in the dead of night. Whoever that was, they knew she was awake and chose to ignore her. And when the darkness fell, she had seen them even with her eyes closed.
Oppressive. Vile. Suffocating. She’d felt those before, back when the Western Sanctum collapsed from a Nightmare Invasion.
That stranger. That thing. It was a Nightmare. She was sure of it.
A chill ran up her spine. She felt like a child, seeking safety underneath her blankets. But the thought of that Nightmare standing right behind her crept on her mind like a menace refusing to subside.
“Don’t worry. I’m here for you,” Urzic’s voice called out.
For a second, Lynera thought he was awake, or worse, her trembling woke him up. She stared at him, waiting for his eyes to open, but he only breathed and snored slightly. She poked his cheeks, then pinched it when he didn’t react. Then she smiled when Urzic grabbed her hand.
She found herself returning the very same kiss she received that night. One out of care and affection.
Her heart pounded with so much strength she was afraid that even Urzic might hear. She never dreamed of falling for someone like him. She wanted to be wooed with flowers and promises and dreams of castle-like stories.
Urzic may have forgotten, but Lynera remembered it clearly.
They’ve met before, back when she was nothing but a peasant, tending to the fields with nothing but a sunhat to shield her head and felintine ears from the sun and uncomfortable clothing that forced her tail to coil around her thigh underneath her muddied trousers.
Out of nowhere, the once-young Urzic had called her out and commanded her to love him. Back then, she had no knowledge of what Monarch’s Law was, but then again, she had found the command awkward and out of place. The young Urzic had escaped the situation before things got out of control.
That memory stuck to Lynera.
It was the one thing that remained to her when she lost everything. The one thing she clung onto desperately. And when she finally caught Urzic’s attention, she fulfilled that command even without the Blessing forcing her to obey.
Then again, could it be the Blessing’s working making her believe that she loved him out of her own free will? Lynera had this inkling thought creeping inside her the entire time.
Until all her memories returned to her.
As an apprentice to be a Mother of the Void, one of the highest authorities in the Order of the Void, she had studied every known information about the Blessings of Brymeia. Even the Law of the First Monarch couldn’t make such an absurd command. It defied the secret teachings of the world herself.
The knowledge removed all her doubts, and her desires for Urzic only swelled. The prospect of her memories potentially assisting the King in this inevitable economic breakdown filled her with new resolve.
But she needed time. Most of her entire life had been taken from her in a blink of an eye and then instantly returned to her in all their entirety. They were a complete mess; jumbled fragments that led from one story to another.
Joys, sufferings, horrors, triumphs, trials, glories, and many more chapters of her life fighting for a chance to be seen in her mind’s eye. Faces, names, places, events, and many more that she knew flashed in quick succession. Books and quotes and other references twisting themselves into incomprehensible loops.
The trainings and the skills she gained in the Order of the Void—a boon that returned along with her memories—were the only things preventing her from getting a headache and a meltdown.
For now, she needed to sleep. Spend this night close to the one she had chosen to be her eternal mate.
She allowed her troubles to slip away; allowed the threats loom over her ignored and unheard. The embrace of her love and the promise of sweet dreams beside him kept her secure as she held on to one fact that would be key to everything. It wasn’t trauma that caused her to lose her memories.
Someone took them.
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