Chapter 19
Cuvera was frantically walking89Please respect copyright.PENANA2BoSgwdgrn
around his room dressed in his wedding attire. If Vander thought his outfit was89Please respect copyright.PENANA9C4n7hy0Xu
beautiful, it had nothing on the crown prince’s. He was wearing a beautiful89Please respect copyright.PENANAhRKbPqCFsm
sapphire colored gown with white trim along the edges. His hair was slicked89Please respect copyright.PENANAFQef4a0GFA
back revealing his forehead and he wore a silver necklace with a sapphire gem89Please respect copyright.PENANAo7PceydBIt
hanging from it. His boots were polished to perfection, which Vander reminded89Please respect copyright.PENANAuNwdPxiXDc
him of that fact so he would stop pacing. He sat down on the bed and held his89Please respect copyright.PENANAaurnrLgMLu
head in his hands. Vander knew better than to talk to him while he was like89Please respect copyright.PENANAhC5gH1Wqkh
this so the two of them sat quietly until Cuvera was ready.
“Do you think my father was this89Please respect copyright.PENANAJBBZLU5l7d
nervous before his wedding?” Cuvera looked up at Vander.
“Probably.” Vander shrugged. “I89Please respect copyright.PENANAPogTnXJ4fE
wasn’t around for it so I wouldn’t know for sure.” Cuvera punched Vander’s89Please respect copyright.PENANA7cxjv2UA2T
shoulder.
“No shit.” He snorted. “I’m asking89Please respect copyright.PENANAXCRT9WRMeD
what you think.”
“Probably was.” He responded. “Isn’t89Please respect copyright.PENANAyPI5yhbNxD
everyone a little nervous when they decide to marry someone?”
“I’m not sure.” Cuvera sighed.89Please respect copyright.PENANA52PZXArjTa
“But I have more pressure than that since it’s political, I don’t want to mess89Please respect copyright.PENANAKs6fbpEV1F
this up.”
“You won’t.” Vander squeezed his89Please respect copyright.PENANAEwOAuKEbsc
friend’s shoulder. “Just remember Kiara is probably more nervous than you are.89Please respect copyright.PENANAiuhSxKFw2Q
She moved into enemy territory to marry a man she didn’t know. If things go89Please respect copyright.PENANAsJ7VWTjLzp
poorly both countries will be back at war. Neither one of you want that.”
“Yeah, your right.” Cuvera let out89Please respect copyright.PENANAoznHTNjbjE
a sigh. He got up from the bed then walked towards the door. “Will you come89Please respect copyright.PENANARqgDjBzFBn
with my to visit mom?” Without saying a word, Vander stood up from the bed and89Please respect copyright.PENANAhRTlHwcrZa
nodded. The two of them left the room with Shea following behind.
The memory of his mother was89Please respect copyright.PENANAIDnsrBCOCf
etched into the garden she left behind, but her body was placed in the Crypt of89Please respect copyright.PENANAPyC36yC072
Queens, located next to the Crypt of King’s deep below the castle’s mausoleum.89Please respect copyright.PENANA2DmNRqBumJ
It was guarded by a crypt keeper who was dangerous as she was scary. Her family89Please respect copyright.PENANAcYFp6ua7J1
had protected the crypts since the city’s founding, and they took their duty89Please respect copyright.PENANAMhwStnZcW3
very seriously. Right now, due to the89Please respect copyright.PENANAWHL4FeCtC0
amount of people in the castle, the crypt was locked by the keeper who was89Please respect copyright.PENANA65IS7qFPb9
standing in front with a shovel in her hands. No one knew where she lived, but89Please respect copyright.PENANAhHR1cB8jV8
many suspected she had a room inside the crypt.
“Prince.” She whispered, bowing89Please respect copyright.PENANAiMHpwd2Pdh
her head in respect. She was tall and broad shouldered but walked with a slight89Please respect copyright.PENANA33RZqtFQNW
hunch. Her skin was pale and had light gray eyes. Her hair hung in strands from89Please respect copyright.PENANA5Jt65RsyQx
her head, but her arms were chiseled from marble. Vander had seen her lift a89Please respect copyright.PENANAbxWlMq4BRt
coffin by herself once before. She was someone you didn’t want to fuck with.
“Hello Crypt Keeper.” Vander89Please respect copyright.PENANAqLgG5KWybT
returned the bow. “I’m here to visit my mother.”
“I expected you to be here today,89Please respect copyright.PENANAccXD119uXu
so I have already tidied up the crypt for you.” she said. “Is the Captain going89Please respect copyright.PENANAYSB9YlKAnT
to be joining you?”
“If you don’t mind.” Cuvera asked.89Please respect copyright.PENANASlGDps7nKE
“He is my guard for the day, so I can’t just leave him.”
“Understood.” She stepped aside to89Please respect copyright.PENANAjXXowlpjD7
remove a ring of keys from her belt. She placed an old iron one into the gate,89Please respect copyright.PENANAS6CmON03NC
he heard a click, then the gate swung open. “If you wouldn’t mind following89Please respect copyright.PENANAlYlQkCdmPD
me.” Vander instructed Shea to watch the gate as the two of them followed the89Please respect copyright.PENANApgsjhUtHim
Crypt Keeper underground.
The first thing Vander noticed was89Please respect copyright.PENANA6IWt48qCBO
the cold air that wafted up from the depths. He always felt something odd when89Please respect copyright.PENANAUG83PTFfLK
he visited, a supernatural feeling that he was being watched. Swallowing his89Please respect copyright.PENANAvaigUxrHZJ
fear, he took up the rearmost position as the Crypt Keeper grabbed a lit torch89Please respect copyright.PENANA7R0ubwF3ul
and led the way towards the Crypt of Queens.
It took them five minutes to come to89Please respect copyright.PENANAFUbdDNDSOu
a fork in the road. Without skipping a beat, she took the path on the right.89Please respect copyright.PENANANZgBB3B5PB
The Crypt of Queens was where all the past and future Queens would be buried89Please respect copyright.PENANASooXdMm24v
when their time came. As Cuvera’s mother was the most recent Queen to die, her89Please respect copyright.PENANAh61ZdFovSM
tomb was the closest to the surface. It was tucked in a little hallway that89Please respect copyright.PENANAmSwg1yMig8
opened into a full-sized room. There were five caskets placed inside, only two89Please respect copyright.PENANARKCvaC8bSV
of them were in use. The casket that was draped with a blue and white cloth was89Please respect copyright.PENANAVDsiyMrbe8
Cuvera’s grandmother, Malcolm’s mother. She had inherited the throne from her89Please respect copyright.PENANAaEPQaXcjXz
father when he died then she married a noble to produce strong heirs. Cuvera’s89Please respect copyright.PENANAjyIbiPDEwB
mother was adorned with a simple cloth marking her status as a commoner. Vander89Please respect copyright.PENANAKbc9g7KyOx
didn’t know the store on how Malcolm and Julie met, but he knew they loved each89Please respect copyright.PENANAFv7D93wVC8
other. He had nearly executed nobles who expressed their disdain for placing a89Please respect copyright.PENANA2Mx552aAxC
commoner in the Crypt of Queens, but Cuvera talked him out of it. She was given89Please respect copyright.PENANAqNjUmdNt8C
a small ceremony before being escorted down below.
“I will leave you now.” The Crypt89Please respect copyright.PENANA2UNpMOXp7o
Keeper bowed her head. “I trust you know your way back up?”
“I do.” Vander said.
“Then I will leave the two of you89Please respect copyright.PENANAJU1t502ybX
alone.” She smiled. “I will also keep anyone else from coming down her until89Please respect copyright.PENANAsaSPT3X94T
you arrive back up.”
“Thank you.” Cuvera bowed down in89Please respect copyright.PENANAyAl5XkT83j
front of the casket then placed his hands together and closed his eyes in89Please respect copyright.PENANApYiPnEDoVD
prayer. Vander didn’t want to overhear his friend’s chat with his mother, so he89Please respect copyright.PENANAkP9dh5hgNY
decided to make himself scarce. He decided to take an impromptu trip through89Please respect copyright.PENANAH9QxWGdRBu
the crypt.
He didn’t want to disturb anyone’s89Please respect copyright.PENANAYz6FF0WNbV
rest, so just stuck to hallways. Eluvian’s were particular about the dead.89Please respect copyright.PENANAtwz6ZQVKzA
Vander had long believed that there was nothing after death, just a black void89Please respect copyright.PENANAUDazvQKOkI
that your consciousness floated in for the rest of time. He wasn’t going to see89Please respect copyright.PENANAqMi4EYTRUG
it himself because once he died his soul would be claimed by Unna and he would89Please respect copyright.PENANAVahwZaMbxQ
be forced, like all the other mindless beasts in her forest, to fight and kill89Please respect copyright.PENANANMelvsVJnS
for survival. Eventually he would lose anything that made him human.
As he ventured further down the89Please respect copyright.PENANAECFluV59a6
crypt, things grew cold. It wasn’t unexpected since he was further underground,89Please respect copyright.PENANABmrkZJxz54
but the rate at which is became cold alarmed him. He turned around to head back89Please respect copyright.PENANAhdZ3F5NI2M
towards the surface, but he found that he was stuck inside of a sealed off89Please respect copyright.PENANA0gk9JQWwvm
room. Mist circled around him, clawing his leg. He heard stone moving on stone.89Please respect copyright.PENANAiuCuZvBi9H
As he turned around, a skeletal hand popped out from the sarcophagus. Bone89Please respect copyright.PENANAq8Br3ORmN6
tapped against the side as a skeleton that had long been since stripped of its89Please respect copyright.PENANAyZfO6ipuyV
flesh popped out. It was wearing a torn cloak that had been nearly destroyed89Please respect copyright.PENANAStQnBM5OAp
along with rusted armor that still clanged as it pulled itself up from the89Please respect copyright.PENANAHU8tCjreXJ
coffin and stood in front of Vander.
Vander tried to move, but the mist89Please respect copyright.PENANA8MpgEsrllT
clung to him solidifying him where he stood. The skeleton opened its mouth then89Please respect copyright.PENANAWzdwY7hpLn
the mist removed itself from Vander then flowed right into the skeleton’s89Please respect copyright.PENANAcIKY1T7OQM
mouth. The mist formed skin on the skeleton and the more it inhaled, the more89Please respect copyright.PENANAbgszPVAmKw
lifelike the skeleton became. The armor became shiny as the cloak elongated to89Please respect copyright.PENANA70BfC3xaH8
its original length. After a few seconds the skeleton became human once again.89Please respect copyright.PENANATKYzd02uor
This was someone Vander recognized, but this man had died thousands of years89Please respect copyright.PENANAnF6a3Lqyty
ago.
“So, you’re Unna’s newest scion.”89Please respect copyright.PENANAsvJOUkf6Bx
The man rasped. He wobbled over to Vander then grabbed his jaw to examine him.89Please respect copyright.PENANA0aodMqcfXt
He muttered to himself as he moved Vander’s head around. “Smaller than the last89Please respect copyright.PENANA3B6YAL7gOP
one, but I can feel strength in you.” Vander smacked the man’s hand away.
“I’m getting real sick of the89Please respect copyright.PENANATyEnPjgfDG
Deities summoning me and giving me cryptic bullshit.” He snapped. “What do you89Please respect copyright.PENANA3RQRDM69yL
want?”
“That is no way to talk to your89Please respect copyright.PENANAIyOepBIE24
predecessor.” The man leaned up against his coffin.
“How is it you are here?” Vander89Please respect copyright.PENANATgqtE7qWjf
snapped. “I was just in the Crypt of Queens and last I check you weren’t a89Please respect copyright.PENANAtjPVVZEugp
queen in your past life.” The man was named Boar, and he was the first Blade89Please respect copyright.PENANAHSNI7UOlGj
elected after Eluvia’s civil war shortly after the murder of the first king. He89Please respect copyright.PENANAsyXQChnsQF
had been the son of the general who had done it.
“I have been given a brief89Please respect copyright.PENANAwyF3IBIeOV
reprieve to talk to you Vander.” The man said. “You have been brought to my89Please respect copyright.PENANANVW6HLMx7o
resting place, but no worry, once we are done here you will be taken back, and89Please respect copyright.PENANALoxfbkm4nV
this will be the last time you are bothered for a long time. The deities are89Please respect copyright.PENANAqgIVZ8SBQQ
losing their powers, they need some time to recover.”
“What’s got them so bent out of89Please respect copyright.PENANASK8Lb3Tr5I
shape that they needed to send you to talk to me?” Vander crossed his arms.89Please respect copyright.PENANAjCNA5u6tuP
“And why have they not told me before now during the numerous times they’ve89Please respect copyright.PENANAQWDN2DVPwD
bothered me?”
“The deities see time as89Please respect copyright.PENANAEBcFNNQYkh
scattered, not linear like us, so sometimes things escape them.” He shrugged.89Please respect copyright.PENANAiaovy8heMO
“Plus, they’ve been busy looking for someone. Imitae, he has been missing.”
“That’s not news.” Vander scoffed.89Please respect copyright.PENANApRR33rnCgx
“He’s been wandering around since the beginning of time after the war with89Please respect copyright.PENANAKUSkWeRrf3
Darkness. Makes sense that they can’t find him.”
“The deities relate to one89Please respect copyright.PENANA1Nsn7C4ZQs
another; they can always feel each other despite the distance. But not now.89Please respect copyright.PENANA0rtK5WtTpe
It’s as if he just disappeared.” Boar explained. “Now the deities are divided.89Please respect copyright.PENANAwTnMUvy7fl
Some have turned on each other.”
“Explains why Veyar was trapped in89Please respect copyright.PENANAq7wRQoNf7n
a storm when I saw her a couple weeks ago.” Vander frowned. “I assume that’s89Please respect copyright.PENANAXy8PI0DPHB
Rolous’ doing?”
“Indeed.” Boar nodded. “I’m here89Please respect copyright.PENANAtUar1M38O3
to tell you something. There is a book within the King’s library, something you89Please respect copyright.PENANA97615E1lVz
must steal.”
“A book?” Vander asked. “What kind89Please respect copyright.PENANAM0xPYrkLmh
of books?”
“You were shown it the last time89Please respect copyright.PENANAW5I8V0Sufs
you were in Malcolm’s office.” He explained. “It’s of vital importance, you89Please respect copyright.PENANAWcJHUPL0yq
must not let your enemies get their hands on it.”
“What happens if I don’t?”
“Then the world will be at risk.”89Please respect copyright.PENANAP2E7gPdZ9O
Boar narrowed his eyes. “You must do this, Veyar demands it.”
“The deities have been nothing but89Please respect copyright.PENANAMRKoReF5uC
a curse.” Vander spat.
“I cannot promise there will be a89Please respect copyright.PENANAeBq3OcjvPP
happy ending, all I know is that everything will end if you don’t do this.”89Please respect copyright.PENANAIcTh7Hvljf
Boar’s voice became serious. “Protect that country Vander, do your duty as a Blade, no matter what happens.” With that89Please respect copyright.PENANAgS92kVZsX0
Boar tapped his shoulder then stepped back towards the coffin. He released all89Please respect copyright.PENANAFMNUJZN6Ps
the mist that he had held before slipping back into the coffin and sliding the89Please respect copyright.PENANAaR8DYJpkCU
top shut.
Vander bolted up from the ground89Please respect copyright.PENANACWiTUCCXyX
with his heart beating in his chest. He looked around and saw that he had been89Please respect copyright.PENANAeY7wvWAOR6
leaning up against the wall just outside of the area where Cuvera’s mother had89Please respect copyright.PENANAKJb2Snu2D2
been buried. Cuvera walked out a moment later with a small smile on his face.89Please respect copyright.PENANAbPf6NmAxG3
Vander contemplated telling his friend what had transpired, but he didn’t want89Please respect copyright.PENANAdcboY9QJuh
to ruin the joy that was plastered on his friend’s face. He didn’t even think89Please respect copyright.PENANAYWVIzD0Uhm
he would believe him.
“Did you get what you needed?”89Please respect copyright.PENANAw3asewXyw4
Vander asked, wrapping his arms around Cuvera’s shoulders.
“I feel better.” Cuvera sighed. “I89Please respect copyright.PENANA3bsbZbihAv
just look forward to tonight once the wedding is all over.”
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“Come, let’s get you married.”89Please respect copyright.PENANA0X31GFsgSY
Today might be hard for Cuvera, but tonight was going to be harder for him. He89Please respect copyright.PENANAudVX1iywGk
had to let someone he knew die when he could do something to save them. After89Please respect copyright.PENANAbq3nEUF6Q6
tonight, he would have nothing to do with the deities and their sick games. He89Please respect copyright.PENANAj6aKSJdw77
was done.