Chapter 19
Cuvera was frantically walking88Please respect copyright.PENANAZB9KfCURK1
around his room dressed in his wedding attire. If Vander thought his outfit was88Please respect copyright.PENANAzeRVAIWlki
beautiful, it had nothing on the crown prince’s. He was wearing a beautiful88Please respect copyright.PENANApEJvPvFIVY
sapphire colored gown with white trim along the edges. His hair was slicked88Please respect copyright.PENANAsWtuCOs29q
back revealing his forehead and he wore a silver necklace with a sapphire gem88Please respect copyright.PENANAqhsbGexjRz
hanging from it. His boots were polished to perfection, which Vander reminded88Please respect copyright.PENANAkMvKQn8xlO
him of that fact so he would stop pacing. He sat down on the bed and held his88Please respect copyright.PENANAV3pvWN8LBn
head in his hands. Vander knew better than to talk to him while he was like88Please respect copyright.PENANASliHY2kQFM
this so the two of them sat quietly until Cuvera was ready.
“Do you think my father was this88Please respect copyright.PENANAP7DJt0EFWs
nervous before his wedding?” Cuvera looked up at Vander.
“Probably.” Vander shrugged. “I88Please respect copyright.PENANAxKZNpOzyNd
wasn’t around for it so I wouldn’t know for sure.” Cuvera punched Vander’s88Please respect copyright.PENANAmkqhiRJXmj
shoulder.
“No shit.” He snorted. “I’m asking88Please respect copyright.PENANAzAkEogLLj7
what you think.”
“Probably was.” He responded. “Isn’t88Please respect copyright.PENANALWSxejdkuv
everyone a little nervous when they decide to marry someone?”
“I’m not sure.” Cuvera sighed.88Please respect copyright.PENANACuG9ODrOEN
“But I have more pressure than that since it’s political, I don’t want to mess88Please respect copyright.PENANAwULxnZ5dDG
this up.”
“You won’t.” Vander squeezed his88Please respect copyright.PENANA3HKWpiCXSZ
friend’s shoulder. “Just remember Kiara is probably more nervous than you are.88Please respect copyright.PENANAeDmGugwwEH
She moved into enemy territory to marry a man she didn’t know. If things go88Please respect copyright.PENANAnWL4m9Jmgt
poorly both countries will be back at war. Neither one of you want that.”
“Yeah, your right.” Cuvera let out88Please respect copyright.PENANAsdvrYMNcUS
a sigh. He got up from the bed then walked towards the door. “Will you come88Please respect copyright.PENANAa55qCGhmHh
with my to visit mom?” Without saying a word, Vander stood up from the bed and88Please respect copyright.PENANAuHlUInczbi
nodded. The two of them left the room with Shea following behind.
The memory of his mother was88Please respect copyright.PENANA1cFkNz1Crh
etched into the garden she left behind, but her body was placed in the Crypt of88Please respect copyright.PENANAQGcSrMHIW8
Queens, located next to the Crypt of King’s deep below the castle’s mausoleum.88Please respect copyright.PENANAaIG3fsehJr
It was guarded by a crypt keeper who was dangerous as she was scary. Her family88Please respect copyright.PENANA2mb9BeQKqB
had protected the crypts since the city’s founding, and they took their duty88Please respect copyright.PENANAKDQSSzjbMZ
very seriously. Right now, due to the88Please respect copyright.PENANAylHfEZYw7s
amount of people in the castle, the crypt was locked by the keeper who was88Please respect copyright.PENANAn7kBXE73xC
standing in front with a shovel in her hands. No one knew where she lived, but88Please respect copyright.PENANA3HAv9qMRCK
many suspected she had a room inside the crypt.
“Prince.” She whispered, bowing88Please respect copyright.PENANAl06SsQaKP7
her head in respect. She was tall and broad shouldered but walked with a slight88Please respect copyright.PENANAg15r6sd4g3
hunch. Her skin was pale and had light gray eyes. Her hair hung in strands from88Please respect copyright.PENANADKl8TFmJcP
her head, but her arms were chiseled from marble. Vander had seen her lift a88Please respect copyright.PENANA8ZoxSSdZZC
coffin by herself once before. She was someone you didn’t want to fuck with.
“Hello Crypt Keeper.” Vander88Please respect copyright.PENANAy9p0kMRqau
returned the bow. “I’m here to visit my mother.”
“I expected you to be here today,88Please respect copyright.PENANA4ZtA48Id2w
so I have already tidied up the crypt for you.” she said. “Is the Captain going88Please respect copyright.PENANAs6MFFv7Ezc
to be joining you?”
“If you don’t mind.” Cuvera asked.88Please respect copyright.PENANAo3V1ZrgDnm
“He is my guard for the day, so I can’t just leave him.”
“Understood.” She stepped aside to88Please respect copyright.PENANA4Cbl5rpG6F
remove a ring of keys from her belt. She placed an old iron one into the gate,88Please respect copyright.PENANAdYQU4zYlbU
he heard a click, then the gate swung open. “If you wouldn’t mind following88Please respect copyright.PENANA3Hn7E3ervY
me.” Vander instructed Shea to watch the gate as the two of them followed the88Please respect copyright.PENANA7FZHCc2RJm
Crypt Keeper underground.
The first thing Vander noticed was88Please respect copyright.PENANAwi5b5Q1rQI
the cold air that wafted up from the depths. He always felt something odd when88Please respect copyright.PENANAmW3Yh9UF0K
he visited, a supernatural feeling that he was being watched. Swallowing his88Please respect copyright.PENANAjIfdNnBS0g
fear, he took up the rearmost position as the Crypt Keeper grabbed a lit torch88Please respect copyright.PENANAffQ1CsnHmm
and led the way towards the Crypt of Queens.
It took them five minutes to come to88Please respect copyright.PENANA3Fe7vEB0UY
a fork in the road. Without skipping a beat, she took the path on the right.88Please respect copyright.PENANABI9kTv00D6
The Crypt of Queens was where all the past and future Queens would be buried88Please respect copyright.PENANAS5SXJ7lwqj
when their time came. As Cuvera’s mother was the most recent Queen to die, her88Please respect copyright.PENANAVrMroTCwNL
tomb was the closest to the surface. It was tucked in a little hallway that88Please respect copyright.PENANAPCdYoije6K
opened into a full-sized room. There were five caskets placed inside, only two88Please respect copyright.PENANAJ8d6pQZW7x
of them were in use. The casket that was draped with a blue and white cloth was88Please respect copyright.PENANANBYDkU02Aa
Cuvera’s grandmother, Malcolm’s mother. She had inherited the throne from her88Please respect copyright.PENANA9H67zk3iCL
father when he died then she married a noble to produce strong heirs. Cuvera’s88Please respect copyright.PENANAFidwIravN3
mother was adorned with a simple cloth marking her status as a commoner. Vander88Please respect copyright.PENANA7GXaCnzF8N
didn’t know the store on how Malcolm and Julie met, but he knew they loved each88Please respect copyright.PENANAcLCptZDjd5
other. He had nearly executed nobles who expressed their disdain for placing a88Please respect copyright.PENANAVDgcNY2Lip
commoner in the Crypt of Queens, but Cuvera talked him out of it. She was given88Please respect copyright.PENANAzQkF0SG2K2
a small ceremony before being escorted down below.
“I will leave you now.” The Crypt88Please respect copyright.PENANAssSbhWi7ul
Keeper bowed her head. “I trust you know your way back up?”
“I do.” Vander said.
“Then I will leave the two of you88Please respect copyright.PENANAaRValzp41u
alone.” She smiled. “I will also keep anyone else from coming down her until88Please respect copyright.PENANA1SA8V1dfE0
you arrive back up.”
“Thank you.” Cuvera bowed down in88Please respect copyright.PENANAaC1wnp9mSC
front of the casket then placed his hands together and closed his eyes in88Please respect copyright.PENANAvFOFrHrKeA
prayer. Vander didn’t want to overhear his friend’s chat with his mother, so he88Please respect copyright.PENANA6VFCPW6Aok
decided to make himself scarce. He decided to take an impromptu trip through88Please respect copyright.PENANADNiIvIJjJ4
the crypt.
He didn’t want to disturb anyone’s88Please respect copyright.PENANAh0ZkoqkzBW
rest, so just stuck to hallways. Eluvian’s were particular about the dead.88Please respect copyright.PENANAj0OKyP4qyx
Vander had long believed that there was nothing after death, just a black void88Please respect copyright.PENANAoxIdrv61B1
that your consciousness floated in for the rest of time. He wasn’t going to see88Please respect copyright.PENANAfOgznYVzqN
it himself because once he died his soul would be claimed by Unna and he would88Please respect copyright.PENANAD0VTVfyfl4
be forced, like all the other mindless beasts in her forest, to fight and kill88Please respect copyright.PENANAMLwWCtjCiz
for survival. Eventually he would lose anything that made him human.
As he ventured further down the88Please respect copyright.PENANAsdZcYEACBV
crypt, things grew cold. It wasn’t unexpected since he was further underground,88Please respect copyright.PENANAfU2dUIx4VY
but the rate at which is became cold alarmed him. He turned around to head back88Please respect copyright.PENANAARTnhMl3jK
towards the surface, but he found that he was stuck inside of a sealed off88Please respect copyright.PENANAJhReifKIcc
room. Mist circled around him, clawing his leg. He heard stone moving on stone.88Please respect copyright.PENANA6nVWMHYkLg
As he turned around, a skeletal hand popped out from the sarcophagus. Bone88Please respect copyright.PENANAljjh1cyngO
tapped against the side as a skeleton that had long been since stripped of its88Please respect copyright.PENANAqjlQFEXWFd
flesh popped out. It was wearing a torn cloak that had been nearly destroyed88Please respect copyright.PENANAI4c1jqSmxS
along with rusted armor that still clanged as it pulled itself up from the88Please respect copyright.PENANACkkxWpfHQS
coffin and stood in front of Vander.
Vander tried to move, but the mist88Please respect copyright.PENANAs4SGd5AE10
clung to him solidifying him where he stood. The skeleton opened its mouth then88Please respect copyright.PENANA8FKZqZWwnH
the mist removed itself from Vander then flowed right into the skeleton’s88Please respect copyright.PENANAHGdl5xzJdt
mouth. The mist formed skin on the skeleton and the more it inhaled, the more88Please respect copyright.PENANAhupicaRtwT
lifelike the skeleton became. The armor became shiny as the cloak elongated to88Please respect copyright.PENANAIMoRmkDhEM
its original length. After a few seconds the skeleton became human once again.88Please respect copyright.PENANAkLo6AHjwAr
This was someone Vander recognized, but this man had died thousands of years88Please respect copyright.PENANATc2xAUcybn
ago.
“So, you’re Unna’s newest scion.”88Please respect copyright.PENANA56Q95yLeCz
The man rasped. He wobbled over to Vander then grabbed his jaw to examine him.88Please respect copyright.PENANAI24whGrbTx
He muttered to himself as he moved Vander’s head around. “Smaller than the last88Please respect copyright.PENANAAUxQ2aIAL1
one, but I can feel strength in you.” Vander smacked the man’s hand away.
“I’m getting real sick of the88Please respect copyright.PENANAMF2JrHoMw5
Deities summoning me and giving me cryptic bullshit.” He snapped. “What do you88Please respect copyright.PENANAF1uUSiIB7V
want?”
“That is no way to talk to your88Please respect copyright.PENANA95x5Ned8pq
predecessor.” The man leaned up against his coffin.
“How is it you are here?” Vander88Please respect copyright.PENANA0Efq8ghz9e
snapped. “I was just in the Crypt of Queens and last I check you weren’t a88Please respect copyright.PENANA1mJk6Zf0Il
queen in your past life.” The man was named Boar, and he was the first Blade88Please respect copyright.PENANAT8cX2O7ESv
elected after Eluvia’s civil war shortly after the murder of the first king. He88Please respect copyright.PENANAYPPQ1crdzt
had been the son of the general who had done it.
“I have been given a brief88Please respect copyright.PENANAcvxN1vk0jb
reprieve to talk to you Vander.” The man said. “You have been brought to my88Please respect copyright.PENANA44shqwVaHK
resting place, but no worry, once we are done here you will be taken back, and88Please respect copyright.PENANA78j5feAQ47
this will be the last time you are bothered for a long time. The deities are88Please respect copyright.PENANAdxpGMEamR2
losing their powers, they need some time to recover.”
“What’s got them so bent out of88Please respect copyright.PENANAnQ0FN50bx4
shape that they needed to send you to talk to me?” Vander crossed his arms.88Please respect copyright.PENANA5fErZV2OOK
“And why have they not told me before now during the numerous times they’ve88Please respect copyright.PENANAwqbIgyAUYo
bothered me?”
“The deities see time as88Please respect copyright.PENANA893hroHEm1
scattered, not linear like us, so sometimes things escape them.” He shrugged.88Please respect copyright.PENANAdpjXi06o38
“Plus, they’ve been busy looking for someone. Imitae, he has been missing.”
“That’s not news.” Vander scoffed.88Please respect copyright.PENANA8AUbqBpGCM
“He’s been wandering around since the beginning of time after the war with88Please respect copyright.PENANAP5m0SQOqHn
Darkness. Makes sense that they can’t find him.”
“The deities relate to one88Please respect copyright.PENANAmsGZNsLc8V
another; they can always feel each other despite the distance. But not now.88Please respect copyright.PENANAc2SwNFSpHV
It’s as if he just disappeared.” Boar explained. “Now the deities are divided.88Please respect copyright.PENANAPdI24riCwH
Some have turned on each other.”
“Explains why Veyar was trapped in88Please respect copyright.PENANAvoe402zvNZ
a storm when I saw her a couple weeks ago.” Vander frowned. “I assume that’s88Please respect copyright.PENANAVkb8v7FeHc
Rolous’ doing?”
“Indeed.” Boar nodded. “I’m here88Please respect copyright.PENANACwTVbB2giQ
to tell you something. There is a book within the King’s library, something you88Please respect copyright.PENANAlG2iI9d8nQ
must steal.”
“A book?” Vander asked. “What kind88Please respect copyright.PENANArUOepaiIDx
of books?”
“You were shown it the last time88Please respect copyright.PENANANo9JkGwaN0
you were in Malcolm’s office.” He explained. “It’s of vital importance, you88Please respect copyright.PENANAe1wbkl5C97
must not let your enemies get their hands on it.”
“What happens if I don’t?”
“Then the world will be at risk.”88Please respect copyright.PENANA1zhWnFKh6w
Boar narrowed his eyes. “You must do this, Veyar demands it.”
“The deities have been nothing but88Please respect copyright.PENANATuMcgAhN0S
a curse.” Vander spat.
“I cannot promise there will be a88Please respect copyright.PENANAQUZgoZrl10
happy ending, all I know is that everything will end if you don’t do this.”88Please respect copyright.PENANAxNYihKCRlm
Boar’s voice became serious. “Protect that country Vander, do your duty as a Blade, no matter what happens.” With that88Please respect copyright.PENANAlgJDE7ygpb
Boar tapped his shoulder then stepped back towards the coffin. He released all88Please respect copyright.PENANAGCW3ocTsJx
the mist that he had held before slipping back into the coffin and sliding the88Please respect copyright.PENANAC6Tx3wpTUC
top shut.
Vander bolted up from the ground88Please respect copyright.PENANAHRpcvzCHxS
with his heart beating in his chest. He looked around and saw that he had been88Please respect copyright.PENANAL3EhLy3Dsu
leaning up against the wall just outside of the area where Cuvera’s mother had88Please respect copyright.PENANAOA44yNmyGd
been buried. Cuvera walked out a moment later with a small smile on his face.88Please respect copyright.PENANAbfK4tIqah1
Vander contemplated telling his friend what had transpired, but he didn’t want88Please respect copyright.PENANAGToVgJ9FpB
to ruin the joy that was plastered on his friend’s face. He didn’t even think88Please respect copyright.PENANAVhkxPxrCpt
he would believe him.
“Did you get what you needed?”88Please respect copyright.PENANAx4Ykeplh3D
Vander asked, wrapping his arms around Cuvera’s shoulders.
“I feel better.” Cuvera sighed. “I88Please respect copyright.PENANAtcbLQH1mi5
just look forward to tonight once the wedding is all over.”
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“Come, let’s get you married.”88Please respect copyright.PENANA9poPPb8dEC
Today might be hard for Cuvera, but tonight was going to be harder for him. He88Please respect copyright.PENANA88dr0LHqUG
had to let someone he knew die when he could do something to save them. After88Please respect copyright.PENANAaAKum0gtkT
tonight, he would have nothing to do with the deities and their sick games. He88Please respect copyright.PENANALR2mzOE2H1
was done.