The witches' kingdom - TOG series

Chapter 11 | Dorian

It had been a month, a whole month since the war that had nearly ended us all. A month of officially being the King of Adarlan. Honestly, I still didn't know how I had managed it. Yes, I know, thanks to all the people I had around me, like Chaol and Yrene, and the Count of Olbia. It had been a tough month. Very tough, but nothing compared to the months before, where surviving each day had been almost a miracle. The palace was practically in ruins, and the city was devastated after the witches' attack. People had basically survived as best they could, and there were hardly any resources for rebuilding the city.

Despite it all, my foolish head couldn't go a single day without thinking of the Witch Queen. Whenever I managed to break free from kingdom councils and the paperwork on my desk, my mind would wander back to her again and again. How was she doing? The last time we saw each other, I thought she wouldn't survive the devastation that losing the Thirteen had wrought on her soul. But yes, of course she would. She was the most incredible warrior I had ever seen.

I spent my days meeting with Mikel, catching up on the city's most urgent issues, and thanked my lucky stars for my magic because reconstruction was so much easier with his help. Chaol was almost always hovering nearby, but he was quite busy, rebuilding the city guard, while Yrene put all her efforts into healing people who had miraculously survived the past few months, organizing the new Torre de Ritfhold, and nurturing her future baby. I felt quite lonely and missed my friends, who were now scattered across the continent. I never thought being a King would be so exhausting.

Nevertheless, every evening, we had a respite, and Yrene, Chaol, my mother and my brother, and the Count of Olbia and his family gathered for dinner in the grand hall, where we talked and released the day's tension. My mother had adapted quite well to the new normalcy and was always with Samira and her daughters. My brother, on the other hand, was still a nuisance.

Whenever she sat beside me, Yrene would ask if I had heard anything new about Manon, and I always gave her the same answer, not yet. I didn't know why, really, but I didn't want to pressure her. She had a long road ahead with rebuilding her kingdom, and I was afraid to chase after her in case she retreated into herself again and shut me out. But at the same time, I dreaded the idea that she might forget me, stop caring, or replace me, whatever we were. But it didn't seem to matter much to her; every night, Yrene would insist again.

"From what the maids have told me, you weren't so shy about asking any young lady out before the war, Dorian. Could it be that the Witch Queen scares you a bit?" she said mockingly. Chaol, by her side, ignored her. It was clear he wanted me as far away from Manon as possible and didn't bother to insist.
"Well, considering she has iron teeth and claws, I might say she's the most dangerous woman I've been around," I said, staring at my plate.

"I'm not talking about that, Dorian. Are you afraid she'll say no?"

"Yrene, dear, could you pass the plate? Lady Sarah and I would like to taste the stew," my mother said from the end of the table. For some reason, Sarah always ended up beside me at dinners or gatherings, and I could clearly see my mother's intentions every time she mentioned her insistently.

After passing the plate to my mother, Yrene, who was on my other side, whispered softly:
"Now you're the King of Adarlan, you can't cower from this, and you have to go after what you want. After seeing how Manon looked at you in the tower before she left, I don't think she would say no to anything."

Her words reminded me of that last time we had seen each other, her golden eyes and white hair, and God, Yrene was right, I couldn't keep avoiding it. At that very moment, one of the Rukhin soldiers who had stayed to train the wyverns flew past one of the windows in the hall, visibly furious with the mount that had taken him where he shouldn't have gone. It was crystal clear to me—I wasn't going to send a letter to Manon; I was going to send a letter to the Witch Queen. I had promised to help her, and the excuse was believable enough to face rejection if she didn't want to see me. So, I assumed my role as the King of Adarlan asking for a favor from another monarch to better handle the potential rejection, and I wrote the letter as formally as I could. I couldn't help but mention that strategically, a balcony had been set up in my new chambers, where a massive beast, which also happened to love flowers, could easily land.

The days after sending the letter were torture, and I couldn't concentrate on anything I was supposed to attend to. To make matters worse, although I enjoyed her company, Sarah decided to be my shadow, and wherever I went, she followed. In a way, I was grateful because it gave me someone to talk to and distract myself from thinking about the possibility of her rejecting my invitation.
Sarah was a young beauty, with shoulder-length dark hair, defined eyebrows, and green eyes that reminded me of Lysandra. She was a few years younger than me, but she was very intelligent, interested in astronomy and physics, and played the violin incredibly well. I enjoyed her company as we strolled through the gardens or rode horses to inspect the most affected areas of Ritfhold. We had practically grown up together until the age of 12, so there was a level of trust that I didn't have with many people at that time.

One week after sending the letter, I had almost lost hope, but one night, while I was reading in my bed and watching the full moon rise through the balcony, a shadow passed by, momentarily blocking the light. I thought my heart had suddenly stopped. I continued to gaze at the moon to see if it had been just my imagination or if something had indeed blocked its light a few moments ago. But nothing else happened. I listened for any sound or change in the air, but when the sadness of assuming she wouldn't come overcame me, I decided to go out to the balcony for some fresh air. That's when I smelled them, and when I looked at the neighboring tower, I saw her, sitting on Abraxos with her long hair and golden eyes staring at me.

"Hello, princeling," a half-smile appeared on her face as she patiently observed my reaction. I was breathless and took longer than I would have liked to process it and respond.

"Hello, witchling. Don't you plan on coming down from that tower?"

"I received a letter from the King of Adarlan because he urgently and desperately needed my presence here to help him with some matters," she said with a mocking tone.

"Well, if you come down, I can catch you up," I tried not to be too surprised when Abraxos landed a few meters away from me, causing the entire tower to shake. I was sure Yrene in her room had noticed and was bouncing off the walls, getting on Chaol's nerves. "I've missed you," I added. And just like that, there was no turning back; in a minute, I had shattered all the shields I had been building for a month.