His Forsaken Luna-Chapter 74: Nighttime Stroll

The crisp night air, the crunching of snow beneath our boots, and the concealment of darkness welcomed me after my feverish state moments ago. At first, I didn’t accept Kharis’ magick gem to warm me against the bite of the cold. I needed to cool down my oversensitive skin and the heat that was cursing me.

The cold was precisely what I needed to stay clear-minded. Now that I was away from Theo, I kept replaying what happened between us. There was nothing wrong with it, but a part of me felt guilty about Eryx. Even though we could only just bear each other’s company, I felt terrible for almost mating with the Alpha Prince and then jumping into bed with Theo.

I hadn’t even been suffering from my heat after Eryx until I was cuddling with Theo, and I could feel his arousal. It then called to my own and... I shook my head, clearing my thoughts of my slave. Leaving him behind like that also made me feel bad.

Goddess, I’m such a mess. I glare up at the moon, hoping to shoot some of my self-loathing to her instead. But she hid partially behind the clouds.

I still don’t understand how I am affected by this heated state. I don’t have a wolf. Unless I really am cursed, but is this something that has come to me through genetics, or has someone actually cursed me? Were curses even real? That fairytale book would probably state they are.

My next sigh was loud, and I felt the weight of Kharis’s stare fall on me. I was shaking by this point as well; the chill was a little too much to bear now.

"Here," Kharis handed me a small gem, which I curled my hand over and kept in my pocket. The warmth was instantaneous. Although the cold air felt tighter in my lungs and whooshed out in clouds from my lips, my body stopped shaking, and I could walk without the cold ache that usually followed.

"Did you want to talk about it?"

"Hmm?" I look up at the Southern Were, whose expression has softened. We’d strangely been in a comfortable silence since leaving my palace. Strange because it should be uncomfortable and embarrassing after what he’d witnessed from the other side of the door.

"You have sighed four times already on this walk. I know far too well how maddening it is to be interrupted."

"It..." I sigh again. "I know it is for my own good. I am just wondering what is wrong with me... Don’t you hate me? I have insulted your Prince in doing so."

Kharis threw his head back and burst into laughter. "Oh, I don’t care about that. You lost yourself in the heat of the moment and forgot I was around. At least it was me that discovered your little... dalliance with the slave. If Faidon was on watch tonight... I’m sure your doors would have been busted down by now."

I shiver in response to his words. Kharis offered me another gem, believing it was because of the cold, but I declined it. Is he really so nonchalant about all of these?

Or is he looking out for Eryx? It would ruin the Alpha Prince’s plans if anyone did discover me in bed with Theo.

"You said you would answer my questions..."

This time, it was Kharis’ turn to sigh, and his chest deflated a little. "That I did. So... what secret are you desperate to know first?" His voice was full of jest, but I knew it did not come to him easily.

"The gems... are they enchanted? How do they work?" I ask, holding the gem out of my pocket to stare at it in the dim moonlight.

Kharis’ head whipped back to look at me, his hair bouncing a little from the action. "You’re asking about the gems...?"

"Why is this something Northerners know of as well?" I curse under my breath, wondering just how little I really know. I thought reading all those books would help. But venturing into the world would certainly teach me more.

Kharis shook his head like he couldn’t believe this was what I wanted to know. Maybe he shouldn’t judge. This could just be a warm-up question to see how far the guard would go to answer my questions. I’m not a fool to believe he would really answer, giving away Eryx’s and the kingdom’s secrets.

"It is not common for Northerners to know of. If they did, I’m sure our borders would be invaded more for the gems." I tilt my head at his words, waiting for him to continue explaining. "The gems are not enchanted, although maybe witches did enchant them in the rocks long ago..."

"Witches?" I halt and stare up at him. "You believe in witches..."

Kharis frowns at me peculiarly. "They are no longer of these lands, and if there are any left, I’m sure they would remain hidden."

Witches... I stare off into the dark night, recalling the book Sverre sent me had mentioned something about witches. But all fairytales mentioned them. They were children’s books, villains used as a means to teach the young to obey or else a witch might cast a spell upon them.

"What do you know... about the Creatures of Lore?" I glance at the Were, observing his expression and looking for signs that he acknowledges the term.

"Creatures of Lore?" We stand there staring at each other, each trying to decipher the other’s expression. Kharis was surprisingly hard to figure out. He always had a relaxed, carefree expression on, and now he looked amused. "You do not wish to ask about my Alpha Prince and instead wish to speak of tales of old."

Tales of old.

"I will ask about Eryx, but as our deal has no expiration time or date, I assume you will answer me when I like," I shrug nonchalantly even though I feel a little rotten for behaving in a manner towards Kharis. I liked him, and I really shouldn’t. I should be on my guard, especially against those who could easily bring me down.

Kharis stated he wanted me away from Theo for both of our sakes, but he, too, like the Prince, could blackmail me as well. Damn my cursed body.

Kharis chuckled, his eyes alight in amusement as he stared back at me. "How very Fae of you..."

Fae... Fairies... The High Fae mentioned in that book. What does he mean by that? It’s very Fae of me?

"What do you know of the Fae?" I ask, my voice dropping like we shouldn’t be speaking of such things in the open, and I step closer to him.

Kharis speaks in Solfyran, staring at me in pity then says in Isa. "The North really has lost its way if the Princess knows little of them. They are not merely tales to scare children. The Southern tribes retell their tales as a means of warning. If they ever rose again..."

A squawk interrupts Kharis’ ominous speech. We glance up at the wall to my right, and a crow swoops over it and lands on the ground before shifting into its human form. "Sverre?!"

He’s gasping for breath like he’d flown as fast as he could. "Seek shelter! The palace will be-"

An explosion rumbled further down the wall, splitting the stillness of the night like a jagged crack of thunder. Fiery embers burst in the air with the acrid scent of burning stone, charred wood and the faint metallic tang of blood.

We’d dropped to the ground in response, and from the snow-blanketed floor, I looked up from behind my hands, shielding my head, to see a figure stepping through the rubble of the wall, flames licking the ground, creeping forward like a path.

We were under attack.