Identity Chapter 12

D R A K

It was midday when Drak finally woke up. His head was spinning so fast it felt like it was actually running in circles—or at least he thought it was. He was actually still sick enough to projectile vomit one more time on his way to the spot by the creek where he should’ve met his friends hours ago. He wasn’t entirely sure what to make of the turn of events. Something big was about to begin, and from what he could tell, he had some part to play—even if that part was merely to stay alive.

The idea of leaving his parents should’ve held some appeal. He didn’t want people to know who he was. He wanted to get out of the shadow of being the youngest child of twenty, but he had never actually considered what having no family would mean and what full detachment would bring, and now he was faced with never seeing them again. So why wasn’t he elated; happy to build his own path? He’d finally gotten what he prayed to the gods for all his life: the chance to be his own man and not heir to the throne and to not be the good queen’s son—to just be Drak.

Revelations Chapter 12

L E O

Leo woke up the next day ready to go. The weekend seemed long, but here he was on the second day, washed and walking to the farm, even though the sun was still trying to creep its way over the trees.

“Already working?” Leo didn’t know why he was so shocked. He knew Danais took his job seriously, but still, the sun was only just managing to shed some light on the fields.

“Yes. I suggest you go out and get to work unless builders are afraid to get their nails dirty.” Leo didn’t even dignify Torak with a glare. If any of Salinor’s people were accustomed to getting dirty, it was the builders. It was a running joke that one could only tell what a Mironian looked like after he washed off the dirt. Leo’s direct dismissal of the comment only appeared to make it even funnier to Torak, so Leo thought it best to leave the laughter behind as fast as possible.

Revelations Chapter 11

D A N A I S

Danais woke up in the kitchen. The smell of beef stew engulfed him as he took his waking breaths. He remembered falling asleep in his room, so he had no explanation for why he was waking up in the kitchen. The only explanation might have been that he woke up to relieve himself and was just too tired to go back to his room—or even refasten his pants, apparently. He quickly adjusted his belt and sat up straighter in the chair.

“So it wakes,” Torak said, as if Danais were rising from the dead. 

“It would seem so, uncle.”

“So you had a good week’s end.”

“I did. Leo is—interesting.”

“Really?”

Identity Chapter 11

“No, class. We will not be hurling anything at him today.” 

“Why not?”

Shalini rolled her eyes. Clearly, using Lynton continuously for spell target practice was a bad choice. Not only were the girls fawning over him, but the boys kept harassing him for men stories. But as long as he didn’t disrupt the class, she was willing to let him tag along. Why he found her classes so much fun having finished his studies was far beyond her.

“Why must you always play with my hair?”

“Am I bothering you, Drak?”

“Yes.”

“Okay then. So you want an apple?” Drak responded by threatening to blow him up. How the second blowing up of the apple was so much worse than the first time, he’ll never know. Tilal was also playing with his hair. She was only half Dani but still found it fascinating, as her hair wasn’t orange or locked.

Revelations Chapter 10

L E O

Having planned to spend a lot more time with Danais, Leo got back to the inn on the mainland much earlier than intended. He had found out that Danais’ regular route included Licol Street, so he had purchased a room there on the way to the farm. Leo spent the time reading and was in the middle of a very tragic love scene when an annoying sound interrupted him.

“Well, you look amazingly happy,” Barton said as he took his seat at the table. One of the servers was already heading over with large mugs of ale, an extra-large one for Leo.

“I had a good day. Short but good. A walk through the market, lunch under the oak tree. Last night we swam. Well, I swam and held him up. He’s of the ‘since he’s Atorathian he’s much better than the rest’ mentality. And he doesn’t know his history.”

“Ah, not this again,” Barton said, feeling the need to gulp down his beer and call the server to fill up another glass. “Not everyone is a serious historian.” Barton gave an unnecessarily pleasant thank you to the serving girl. She gave him that beer for free and told him where she stayed. Leo gave him a glare and a smile.

Identity Chapter 10

C H E R A N N

“This scorching desert heat is unbearable.”

It was a week since they reached a point in temperature change into Mironi and Cherann’s brother was crying like a baby. She found this quite amusing. His rantings were a pleasant addition to her usual solitary thoughts when travelling. She was a chronic overthinker but had learned to wield her mind to better purposes over time. Dent seemed to be able to find something to say about anything—all in the form of complaints. But she could see most of them for what they were: ways to hide his genuine interest in the things she was teaching him.

“We could practice your Mironian again. That would distract you from the heat.”

“Stressing over learning a new language is supposed to be a better option.” Cherann reserved her laugh and waited in silence for what she knew was coming.

Revelations Chapter 9

Leo woke pleased to find himself still with Danais. Danais had a light snore that Leo thought was cute. He was about to get out of bed, but Xan jumped into the bed to give him a message.

“He suggests you take the boy across in the morning rather than spend the day in the city. He also says that Danais likes the large pastries.” Xan seemed to find the second bit of information quite amusing. “It seems he wants to help you but has informed me to ensure you tell no one he’s interfering.” Leo also found this amusing. It was clear that something was going on and others were supposed to let it run its course. But he had no doubt that there would be meddling.

Identity Chapter 9

S H A L I N I

They veered off about three streets in toward Pilal. There was no real goal in mind: just mindless wondering. It was a hot day as always in Mironi, so they decided a mug of chilled ale was desirable—or rather, Shalini just didn’t feel like walking anymore. The two of them settled in at a bar and Shalini found herself just entranced while looking at him. He’d left her to go gamble at a card table with some locals. They apparently loved him just as much as she did. He had a way with people. He was inherently good in a way that even she found hard to be sometimes. And he wasn’t afraid that she could destroy him. That was always a good sign.

Revelations Chapter 8

Leo was walking in late for his own celebration. He thought for a moment that his father would be mad at him for being late. Then he realised had his father expected him to be on time, he wouldn’t have had the musicians ready to play a processional as he entered. And the abysmal burial music they were playing was clearly a sign that his father had interpreted that Leo would be late. Some of his musician friends were trying to stifle their laughter in the crowd. Leo just decided to look straight ahead and not look at his father. He wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of knowing he won this round. There could always be payback another day.

Identity Chapter 8

“Class, this is Lynton from Keldon. He will be staying with me, for—well, I’m not sure. But with me he’ll be. And today he’ll be watching how amazing you behave in my class.” That brought a brief roar of laughter. Though she was pleased, they were generally quite disciplined; it seemed this discipline came along with loads of spontaneous questions totally unrelated to class.

“You’re from Keldon?” Janon asked. This guy had all the size of the mountain people without being too much. A fear that he had. Janon wanted to be big but not crazy-muscular like his people were.

“Yes. The province of Zar.”

“You’re a mix.”

“I’m part Mironian.”

Revelations Chapter 7

D A N A I S

Danais couldn’t believe the morning he was having. After hours in the bathhouse, he had been massaged, oiled and scrubbed, and he smelled like freshly coined money. He felt like he had all the gold and silver one could possess. If this was what being rich felt like, he could surely get used to it. Getting his hands groomed was understandable, but he was having serious trouble wrapping his head around the idea of getting his feet groomed. Keeping the nails trimmed for toe- sucking was okay, but having them soaked and scrubbed, oiled and lotioned just like the hands, seemed a bit much. However, he had to admit his feet were feeling amazing.

Identity Chapter 7

S H A L I N I

Shalini was pleased with the message that all was well and even more with the messages she received from Tork on how well she commanded the situation. They did come out with a few broken limbs and some serious cuts but nothing that wouldn’t heal over time or couldn’t be healed immediately. At least they were all alive.

She was pleased to be waking up next to an increasingly interesting man: Lynton. He was 150 years her junior but still amazing. He had a heart bigger than anyone she knew—and at such a young age, she thought. It even took her a while to finally encompass that amount of care for all things good in the realm, yet he did it so effortlessly. She was impressed. He was only just waking up, and she was ready to bathe.

Revelations Chapter 6

D A N A I S

Danais woke up the next day not sure if the previous one had been a dream—especially the ending moments of the night. Could a Kentai really have spoken to a peasant boy? It had to have been a dream. He was thankful there was no rain after he slept, meaning a dry floor as his feet hit the stone ground. After fully convincing himself that last night was a dream, he went to look out the window, where he saw, in profile, Kale leaning against the side of the window and staring out onto the farm.

“You are awake, young one.”

“So it wasn’t a dream.”

“I’m afraid not. You’ve got a busy day ahead. You should be getting ready.”

Identity Chapter 6

C H E R A N N

“You didn’t waste any time packing,” Cherann said to her brother. “No. I said goodbye to dad. The neighbour will take care of him. He doesn’t look so good. I feel bad about leaving him.”

“You shouldn’t. It was his idea.”

“His?”

“Yes. You only just went eighteen. He knows you have this passion for exploring the world, and he didn’t want you to wait until he died to do so. He said if he goes when you’re gone, at least he’ll die knowing his baby got to experience their dream.”

“He didn’t tell me that.”

Revelations Chapter 5

L E O

“Only just getting back, Barton?” Leo asked as Barton walked to the table he was sitting at.

“Yes. I was forced to stay and see my spell through. I sent a message with Kay.”

“I got it. I was just asking to ask.”

“Where’s Xan?”

“He said his brother was in town. I would imagine he’s gone to find him.”

Identity Chapter 5

C O R T E L L

Cortell was spending his second night home, and as he looked out over the green land of Keldon, he actually felt something he didn’t feel too often: peace. This land had that effect on everyone, which was why he was appalled at the idea of travelling for months. Why leave home, he wondered, when home was providing all that he needed? His brother was such an insufferable good spirit sometimes. Still, he was his brother: the only one out of all the people he knew that treated him like he was normal.

Revelations Chapter 4

D A N A I S

Danais awoke to find himself in the tub being sponge-bathed by his cousin. There was a strange odour in the air, and he had a feeling it was his. After a lengthy and not so enjoyable scrub, he made his way to the kitchen and saw what he thought was Barton’s back leaving the room. Danais grabbed a bottle of his uncle’s home brew and sat at the table.

“I hear you took advantage of not one, but two magicians. You even sang to one of them, and I’ve got one of the best bottles of wine and also one of the best ciders in town on Ice.” Torak had no intention of punishing the boy, but he was still interested in his response.

Revelations Chapter 3

“Yes. I’m unharmed. Thank you,” the boy said,

“You must come eat with us,” Leo said, pleased with the response. Yet again, Danais found himself faced with turning down a magician. He’d only managed to walk off half of his drinks, and now the prospect of having more was upon him. Then again, he was starving.

“Okay.” So he followed them into an establishment he had never been able to go into. He sat at one of the best tables to drink fire orange wine out of a bottle he was sure produced red.

“You put a spell on the wine?” Leo asked.

“Yes,” was Barton’s immediate response to Leo’s question. Leo found no fault in merely changing the colour. If that was what Barton had to do to amuse himself, then it was what it was.

Identity Chapter 4

S H A L I N I

Shalini watched as her students left: glad to see that none of them cared a single bit that they had missed lunch. Regardless of the heat in the late afternoon, she had to admit that there was something peaceful about Mironi. Builders were building everywhere, so they were mostly talking amongst themselves, and the booksellers and shop owners were much more laid back than in any other province. It had to have something to do with the heat; one couldn’t be too overexcited with all the heat that was in Mironi.

Still, this was her home—sandstorms, heat and all. As she approached her favourite pub on Magicians Way—a rather boring name for a street if ever there was one—she came across something that she hadn’t seen in a while. What disturbed her more was that everyone was too busy to help. And the Alliance—what happened to the members that always roamed the free land? Where were they? Instinctively, she sent out a wave of magic that pushed the magician, a Mironian, off the peasant boy he was assaulting.

Revelations Chapter 2

L E O

Leo woke up to find himself in a very comfortable position. Across his chest lay a red haired beauty. She was from his home province, Mironi, named after Miron the God of Good Fortune. The Mironians were known as builders. Their magical talents allowed them to be exceptional at carving stone and wood, but mostly for building purposes. When it came to magical stones of the provinces, they were by far the best at moulding them—some stones only the Mironians could mould. Leo, being a Mironian himself, wasn’t really concerned with that at the moment.

He was more concerned with the woman, the feel of her nipple, and the fullness of her breast on top of his left side. He leant down and inhaled the scent of her hair. It smelled of sweet flower oil: a scent that almost matched the body oil she used which sent his mind reminiscing about the previous night. The sun shining through the window reflected off the yellow stone walls, giving an otherworldly hue to the room. As she woke, she opened her eyes and let out a seductive chuckle at her first vision.