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Thank you so much for understanding!!!!
And it’s okay, life’s gotten super busy for me too!
You can use the same link as before to read my old stuff, just know that you’re gonna have to use the chapter titles to find your way around my book, cuz the book now “starts” on chapter 7 since I added chapters in the beginning.
If you want to read my new stuff, here’s the link for that: https://editor.reedsy.com/s/wCiJ5qw
Lukas&Livia
#Lalbert
Sef&Chase
#HOTTOLINE
LEFSE FOREVER!!!!!! <333@acancello (GURL U ALIVE?!?!?!) @esther-c @freed_and_redeemed @grcr @anyone-else
I may or may not have done something unexpected.
So you guys remember Jraldath????
Turns out….Lilitu’s dad is Jraldath.
And Jraldath is also Hanna’s father.
So Lilitu and Hanna are half siblings.
And Lilitu is kinda sorta, part Pythonos.
(please don’t hate me…..)
Lukas&Livia
#Lalbert
Sef&Chase
#HOTTOLINE
LEFSE FOREVER!!!!!! <333Heyyyy….so I remember that you were helping me with writing at one point (and I’ll admit I wasn’t the most open to criticism, so I apologize…I was going through a hard time of doubting myself, and getting frustrated that it wasn’t good enough)
I was wondering if you’d like to take a look at it again, since I’m kind of scrapping the beginning and starting over.
If you don’t want to or are busy, that’s totally okay!!!!
Lukas&Livia
#Lalbert
Sef&Chase
#HOTTOLINE
LEFSE FOREVER!!!!!! <333I know I already heard about this, but still!!!!
GIRLLLLLLLLLLLLL
WHAT A TWIST!!!!!!!
hehehehe….
i CoUlDn’T hElP iT!!!!!
Lukas&Livia
#Lalbert
Sef&Chase
#HOTTOLINE
LEFSE FOREVER!!!!!! <333Woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, waittttt.
WHATTTT???
I seriously love that idea though!!! It adds a totally different dynamic!
Write what should not be forgotten. — Isabel Allende
YEAH BUT IT MAKES IT MORE DEPRESSING…..
Lukas&Livia
#Lalbert
Sef&Chase
#HOTTOLINE
LEFSE FOREVER!!!!!! <333I knowww, but I still love ittt 😂
Write what should not be forgotten. — Isabel Allende
Well that’s good I guess lol
Lukas&Livia
#Lalbert
Sef&Chase
#HOTTOLINE
LEFSE FOREVER!!!!!! <333@freed_and_redeeemed @esther-c @grcr
First chapter of my new version!!!!! WITH the twist!!!
And yes, Jraldath and Selena used to be Paynes….hehehe
It was a dark night-clouds moving from the west blotted out any light from the twin moons, and tendrils of fog curled around the two lone figures drifting through the streets of Lir.
Selena held the small bundle against her chest, shielding the infant from the bitter cold. She strained her ears to hear the sound of his shallow breathing, but nothing could be heard above the wind’s mournful cries. She tried to ignore how still her son was in her arms, how weak and frail he was. Instead, she focused on placing one foot in front of the other, towards help.
They first noticed something was wrong the morning before, when the child refused to eat. He lay on his back in his crib, unblinking eyes staring at the ceiling, his small body racked with chills and his skin damp with sweat.
Selena had waited, hoping it was just an illness that would pass, but the child grew progressively worse.
They had waited for cover of darkness, when all of Lir was asleep, before daring to venture to the Estrello district where they might find a doctor.
Selena’s pulse beat wildly in her ears. What if they were refused help? Paynes were hated by the people, despised and treated like dogs. It would be a miracle if even one willing doctor in this great city would be willing to serve a Payne for a fair price.
But Selena would not give up. With one arm, she drew her cloak more snugly about her narrow shoulders.
Her son would live. She gritted her teeth. He would.
Jraldath held the lantern higher, straining to see through the mist that blanketed the town.
“Not much further now,” he said, more for himself than for Selena. Just a few blocks more…and their son could have a significantly higher chance of survival. That is, if they weren’t turned down at the door.
If his son died…he banished that thought from his mind, instantly. He couldn’t afford to even think of that.
The two trudged on in silence, nerves frayed too thin to formulate their thoughts into words.
***
Kratos awoke to his wife shaking him awake.
“What is it?”
“It’s those cursed Paynes,” Odessa muttered, anger flashing in her violet eyes.
“Send them away,” Kratos mumbled, turning over in bed.
Odessa shook her head. “What do you think I’ve been trying to do for the last twenty minutes? They simply won’t leave!” she paused. “It’s their son.”
Kratos sat up, giving a great sigh, summoning a beam of light from the stars to illuminate the room, light pouring from his hands like a river. He slipped out of bed and padded to the front door, shivering against the cool draft.
Even before he opened the door, he smelled it, and almost choked.
“Haven’t they heard of a bath?” he whispered, trying not to breathe the air through his nose. However, the idea of the foul odor traveling through his mouth almost made him gag. Bracing himself, he opened the door.
Two Paynes stood before him- a man and a woman.
The woman’s dark hair spilled down about her shoulders, and her eyes looked warily at Kratos’ glowing hands. She held a small child out to him, hesitantly, as if she didn’t want to let him go.
“What do you want?” Kratos said, tersely, trying to breathe through the stench.
“It’s our son,” the man said.
“Well, I don’t have all night! Hand him over,” Kratos snatched the child from his mother’s arms, ignoring the fear in her eyes.
He surveyed the child’s still form, calling more light to shine on his face.
Every breath came in rasps, and the boy’s face was flushed, his eyes unnervingly staring at Kratos, as if looking right through him, unblinking.
Kratos felt dread settle over him when he realized what disease the child had.
“Well?” the Payne demanded, drawing the woman closer to him.
“He has Dierdre’s Curse,” Kratos handed the child back to its mother. “You might as well take him home and make him comfortable, as I’m not about to waste my time trying to revive a Payne. He’s too far gone to waste any treatment on him.” he fought back a smirk at the horror that came into the woman’s eyes. “I don’t suspect he’ll last until morning.”
“Curse you, Kratos!” the man hissed, reaching out as if to grab Kratos by the throat. But Kratos only laughed, sending a surge of light directly into the man’s eyes.
The woman let out a small cry as her husband collapsed to the ground, clutching his face and crying out in anger and pain..
The Payne sprang to his feet, gripping the door frame for balance, every inch of his face filled with loathing.
“There’s nothing I can do,” Kratos said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
The man spat at Kratos’ feet, and grabbed his wife by the shoulder, stalking away into the night. Kratos curled his lip in disgust as he watched the two depart.
“Good riddance,” he muttered under his breath.
***
Jraldath pulled Selena close to him, feeling her shuddering sobs against his body.
He felt like joining her—weeping for his firstborn son that would never reach manhood.
But he had to be strong.
Be strong for both of them.
Selena held the child in her arms, cradling him gently as her tears rained upon his pale face.
He was still breathing, but it was labored and his pulse was weak.
Jraldath clung to that hope. He was still alive….maybe Kratos was wrong…but he knew it was futile.
Kratos was right. It would be a miracle if his son lived to see the sunrise.
Kratos. The name, the sight of the callous doctor forever burned into his mind, filled Jraldath with so much hate that he thought he might explode.
He fed his grief to the monstrous anger inside of him to divert him from the pain that could stab like a knife.
Anything to keep from hurting.
“What are we going to do now?” Selena wept.
What were they going to do? Jraldath buried his head in his hands, the unanswered question pulsing in his mind.
They could not return home—for giving up now seemed to make their loss more acute.
“We will not give up,” Jraldath echoed his thoughts.
“Where will we go?” Selena looked up at him with the brokenness of a small child. Jraldath cradled her face, pressing an open hand against her cheek and wiping away a tear.
“We’re going to someone who will actually help us, Selena.” He turned away, his hands balled up at his sides, trembling with anger. “We’ve prayed. We’ve waited for the Great One to deliver us, but where has that gotten us?” he shook his head, beginning to pace. “I’m tired of waiting for Him to do something. No, it’s time to take matters into our own hands.”
“You mean-” Selena looked up, eyes wide.
“Yes, Selena. We’re going to join the resistance. The Pythonos.”
***
“Do you ssswear to ssserve the Massster, as long as you shall live?” a hooded Pythonos held a twisted blade out to Jraldath. The room was lit with torches, ominous shadows flickering across the stone walls.
Jraldath took a breath, and looked at Selena. Though her eyes were filled with uncertainty, she glanced at her son in her arms, and nodded.
“I do,” Jraldath bowed his head, taking the knife. He stepped past the Pythonos and approached the large throne. The man seated on the throne had a certain presence about him, a presence that made the hair on Jraldath’s neck stand up. Something about him filled his very bones with a fear that made him want to claw at the walls that imprisoned him, searching for a way of escape. But he stayed his fears and held his arms up before the throne.
With shaking hands, he dug the blade into the tender flesh of his palm, wincing as it laid open the skin.
“I give myself to you, my lord.”
He let the blood fall on the stone at his Master’s feet, and then it was over. He was one of them now.
A sudden euphoria took over Jraldath, his heart racing. He was a Pythonos.
“I am looking forward to you and your wife joining my ranksss,” the Master hissed, nodding as Jraldath bowed at his feet. “I have big plansss for you, young one,” he laughed, the sound filling the room.
But Jraldath scarcely noticed.
“Yesss, Massster,” he said, his voice now indistinguishable from the dark man on the throne.
***
Jraldath eyed his son with contempt.
“He’sss an ugly one,” he remarked, looking at Selena.
Had her eyes always been that color? He wondered. Her eyes were completely black, like endless voids staring right through him.
It had been hardly a full day since they had sworn fealty to the Master. Already Jraldath could scarcely remember why they had joined, and neither could he remember what life was like without serving his Master.
He looked down his nose at the motionless infant that Selena held. Now her arms held him as far away from her body as possible, as if she didn’t want to touch him.
“Yesss,” she said, her voice like a snake’s. “He won’t live until morning,” she spat.“We should do away with him now; end his misssery.”
“I’ll take him to the Farnbron Brook,” Jraldath took the child from Selena. “It will be a ssswift death.” he laughed, now a harsh rasp at the back of his throat. “Better than sssuffering.”
“Take him,” Selena turned away. “He’ll only be a hindrance. No one wantsss a child in the ressssistance.”
Jraldath placed the child at the water’s edge and looked upon his son’s face one last time. And then, before the last of his humanity prevailed, he turned and walked away, leaving the child in fate’s hands.
Lukas&Livia
#Lalbert
Sef&Chase
#HOTTOLINE
LEFSE FOREVER!!!!!! <333
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