Lilac Soul

The strong breeze on your face, the clouds almost entering your mouth, the extraordinary feeling of freedom; For Ksenya, there is nothing more rewarding than flying, especially in the company of Lilix, the most beautiful Drákon in that world. 

The view of the Hartmann Palace becomes increasingly wider as it tilts with the creature in a curve to the right. The house by Luken is certainly a masterpiece rising amidst a majestic landscape.

From above, towering marble towers rise toward the girl, their golden tips reaching the clouds just below her. The domes shine in the orange-pink light of the setting sun of Mávro Potámi, the great capital of the Lýkos Kingdom, creating brilliant reflections that spread across the horizon. As if that weren’t enough, all of the royal architecture is surrounded by lush gardens, eerily planned and meticulously maintained, displaying an abundance of joyful colors and refreshing scents.

From above, the young woman observes the incessant activity taking place in the inner courtyards. Extremely important figures, but now, so small to her, they move like mere ants.

She takes a deep breath, it’s almost as if she can pretend that everything is fine, that nothing much has happened in the last few years. That the last four, particularly, weren’t that difficult.

Ksenya shakes her head and decides to have some fun, at least on her birthday she should have that luxury.

— Lilix, you already know, right? — Ksenya asks with a mischievous smile.

The beautiful violet Drákon growls excitedly.

— Let’s go then!

Both descend with everything towards the gardens, where most of the futile nobles pass by. In a matter of seconds they begin to lift their faces pompous and terrified for both of them.

Ksenya and Lilix are almost reaching the pointy trees, while the nobles, screaming, run from one side to the other. The girl leans the creature upwards again, laughing mercilessly.

And now it’s time for the grand finale. Ksenya stands on the creature and then, watching with amusement the many crying faces, whose exaggerated makeup gradually melts amid tears and grimaces, she jumps away from the drakon, in a beautiful mortal, as if there was no tomorrow.

The screams bring sadistic sincere laughter from him.

The intense breeze hits your back, bringing a feeling of tranquility and lightness. Ksenya opens her arms wide, feeling completely free from everything and everyone. With a dramatic movement, she turns towards the rapidly approaching ground. A few centimeters away, in a spin and impulse, it returns to the skies, flying alongside its shining violet companion.

At that moment, young King Luken leaves the palace doors in order to try to understand the abundant shouting. Ksenya waves to her great friend while smiling from above. No matter how old she is, for her, that will always be funny.

— We got caught, girl!

Ksenya can feel the Drákon having fun with it all.

— I’m going to talk to the princess, see you tomorrow, warrior! — The girl says, pointing down with one hand and patting the lilac creature with the other.

And so, they both say goodbye.

— Hey! — Ksenya screams in a not-so-pretty landing, arriving next to Luken almost in a collision.

The beautiful boy with jade eyes and very light hair holds back a laugh with a smile that seems ready to explode.

— You have to stop scaring my court, violet girl! I thought we were being attacked for the fourth time this week.

Ksenya shrugs.

— I need to have fun somehow.

He shakes his head with an even wider smile and hugs her tightly.

—Happy birthday, Kis.

The girl makes a poorly made reference in a sarcastic response.

— Thank you… what is this? — She notices that the boy takes something out of his pocket and freezes. fearing be a damn engagement ring.

It is a universally known fact that since her arrival in the Lýkos Kingdom, the young king and she have joined diplomatic forces that facilitated agreements with wildling clans on the border. A marriage proposal would win over and recruit even more clans for the imminent war, as most wild groups have an intense adoration for the violet girl.

However, Ksenya definitely does not want a marriage of convenience. Just the idea makes her sick. Besides, a marriage like that especially with Luken would be a mess. The boy’s feelings for her and the high probability that he would be murdered at any moment would make her madly upset.

Luken opens the wine-colored velvet box that she notices with curiosity and distress.

— What else would it be? Your gift! — He takes out a gold necklace with a purple amethyst drakon hanging from it.

Ksenya breathes a sigh of relief.

— My moons, it’s beautiful!

Ksenya tries to take the gift, but Luken escapes from her hands to position himself behind the girl.

— My honors, princess.

— How horrible, Luken! I I am not a princess. — She retorts as the boy brushes aside her short, dark hair.

— I am a king, if I speak it is spoken.

Ksenya rolls her eyes as Luken stands in front of her to look at the necklace on her.

- I loved! — She smiles at the jewel.

Luken stared at him in amazement, he had already given up trying to disguise his passionate gaze years ago, as he always failed miserably. Ksenya, slow as she was, had spent about a year living with the young king to realize what was going on, why on earth he was looking at her with such wide eyes and something like that. And it wasn’t like she hadn’t considered him as a romantic option. Luken was great, beautiful, funny, friendly and above all a good person; By the moon, the girl was slow, but not stupid.

However, something prevented her from taking the idea forward, something that I knew very well what it was, or rather who it was. The idea of ​​seeing Luken murdered simply because he adored her was recurring enough in her mind, she didn’t need to worry about the much greater probability of him being murdered because he was her boyfriend. And besides all that, Luken was great, the best of the boys, but the Ksenya’s bad taste still apparently prevailed.

Anyway, none of that matters. Ksenya is willing to avoid any and all sentimental contact for the moment and perhaps even forever, or at least that’s what she repeats to herself every day. Those damn feelings have done a lot of damage to him lately.

A dozen nobles passing by, waving fake faces and internally cursing her, steal her attention.

— My moons, why are there so many of them today?

Luken smiles mischievously.

- What it was? — Ksenya raises one of her black eyebrows.

- Surprise!

- Countryside?

— I threw a surprise party for you.

She needs a few seconds to process the information.

— Firstly, these fresh people hate me and then, you kind of ruined the surprise by saying that.

- Good, firstly I’m the king, if I like you everyone must like you and, well, sorry for ruining the surprise, I ended up getting carried away.

— Dude, look at me! I’m wearing training clothes and smelling like drakon!

— So what? You are perfect anyway. — The green eyes of the prince, who gives himself so much, shine, following the roll of Ksenya’s violet eyes.

The girl smiles embarrassed.

— Are you sure you’re not exaggerating?

- Never.

She snorts, shaking her face.

— Right, right. I’m going to take a shower and put on some decent clothes first, then I’ll meet you in the... ballroom?

— Throne room. — Luken corrected.

Ksenya’s violet eyes widen when she notices that the crazy king gave her so much importance, to the point of forcing nobles to contemplate her in a place so sacred to that kingdom.

— You’re crazy!

The girl shakes her head, smiling, at the same time that a dark feeling related to birthdays that she tries in vain to dispel arises, and begins to head towards the palace gates. She stops for a moment, remembering someone very important.

— All this madness… was it Yelena’s idea?

— Yeah… she had a hand in it. — The boy admits it.

— My moons, both of you!

*

Hot water falls on Ksenya who likes to imagine that she can wash away all the stress and go down the drain. However, the tense feeling associated with big birthday parties doesn’t seem to be leaving her alone anytime soon. The idea of ​​taking a brief shower disappears and the girl begins to fill her luxurious bathtub.

— It’s okay, woman. — She tries to calm down, especially because the day was mentally peaceful for a change.

Ksenya growls. She had warned the little brat as well as Luken that she would not be able to bear big parties again. But being the transparent person that he was, he had also let slip how much he adored them.

— It’s just a party... — He murmurs, sinking into the water.

A party that would never be the same as before.

Did she really miss the parties or something else?

Ksenya shakes her head and sinks a little deeper into the water.

— Everything is fine…

Suddenly, as if her concerns were heard—which perhaps they were—the familiar chill hits her.

— Shit…

Is that time?! She is clearly too weak to fight now and to improve the situation, completely naked in a damn bathtub!

“Ksenya…” — The voice whispers in his mind.

She struggles to concentrate and move away because, holy shit, that’s all she needed! If the day had been calm until then, the circumstances in which she found herself made up for it horribly.

“Ksenya…” — The voice gets stronger.

— What the hell, get out of here!

A slight mental silence establishes itself, but the feeling does not disappear, which means that she is not alone yet. But that’s ok, the girl can handle it, she kicks him out every day or so. It’s just another hard moment of concentration. She can do it. Today he even had the kindness to come and torment her at the end of the day, there are others when it’s every hour. The invasion is not even that aggressive, only its name has been mentioned for now. There are days when he screams in despair, others when he blackmails her with victims. At the beginning of the blackmail, Ksenya ran out of the palace, willing to return to the Northern Empire hoping to save the innocent lives supposedly at stake. But she knew very well that it was just a trick and that it probably wouldn’t help anyone.

The sensation intensifies and suddenly something that has never happened before terrifies her, the water in the bathtub seems to move and Ksenya is convinced that she hasn’t moved a single muscle. She cowers in terror, covering her torso immersed in the water with her arms.

“Ah… I arrived at a bad time?”

— GET OUT OF HERE! — She screams so loudly that the sensation disappears, but she doesn’t know for sure if it was her doing.

Ksenya runs to change before the sensation has a chance to return. She wears her best dress, black with purple and pink gradient tips, quickly applies cream to her face and then needs to sit on her bed for a while while drying her wet hair and staring blankly at the wall.

The girl takes a deep breath, trying to compose herself and then is surprised to see the time. Hurriedly, she gets up and runs to get her gigantic box of makeup. Ksenya can’t help but smile when she sees the amount of treats the young king makes available to her. As the years went by, the girl became vain.

She sighs, a warm feeling emerging only to contrast with the recent scare.

— Luken, you’re the man... — He murmurs with the intention of distracting himself, feeling for the first time really happy with the idea of ​​the party. — This is where I have to stay, with you... Because, look at the size of this shadow box! Hihi. — Ksenya laughs to herself.

“I could give you a bigger one” — The voice returns with a vengeance along with the shiver.

— Holy shit, get out of my… — His words are interrupted by a sharp scream as soon as Ksenya realizes that he is sitting in his armchair, just a few meters away.

His first reaction is to throw the box towards him, but it simply passes through his body and explodes on the wall. Ksenya’s arms are enveloped by purple power as an automatic response.

— But… what… fuck! — He says, feeling his body tense.

He’s not fully there, his image is darkened and blurred, but the new ability is enough to make the young woman want to spit her heart on the floor.

A shadow rises slowly.

“Yeah, now I could definitely give you a bigger one.” — He says, coldly observing the box smashed on the floor. — “Four years…” — He says, approaching calmly as if he wasn’t desperate to run to the girl, grab her and take her back home. — “... and I finally managed to get almost completely into his head. I’m proud of your skills by the way” — The shadow gives a dark smile that doesn’t disguise its delight at being right there.

— Get out of here, you animal! — Ksenya shouts, sending a purple blast at the blurred image.

The only result is damage to the other side of the room after the purple passes through the body made of shadows.

Ksenya clings to the wall, with nowhere exactly to run. She could try to get past him, leave the room and run through the corridors, but she knows very well that he would follow her and if the monster can now see what is around her that would be a huge problem for the security of the Lýkos Kingdom.

“But it seems that homesickness has weakened you today.”

Ksenya takes a deep breath, swallows the fear that consumes her to her bones and concentrates deeply.

— Get out of my head, freak.

The shadow blinks, weakens, but does not disappear.

“Not this time.” — Behind the dark darkness that covers him, it is possible to observe his sick satisfaction.

He takes another step towards you. A now furious Ksenya furrows her eyebrows and heads out of that corner. A shiver runs through your body when you feel his hand around your arm. He literally holds her. The shadow holds her. He can touch her.

The girl’s eyes widen.

Another evil smile.

“It was difficult, but I managed to improve this power.”

- What do you want? — He asks, trying to sound angry so as not to let his terror show.

Her breathing is completely destabilized, she can feel the strong, icy hand around her thin, fragile wrist.

“Ah, you already know that. But today I come in peace…” — The shadow pauses its dialogue when observing Luken’s necklace around his neck. He touches the jewel with contempt, evidently knowing who it was from. — “Or almost so. Anyway, happy birthday, wonder girl.”

The nickname burns her from the inside out.

“I have several gifts accumulated from the last few years in case I decide to return.”

— Never.

“That’s what we’ll see.” — His bloody eyes challenge her.

Knocking on the door makes her jump in fright.

— Hey, Kis, ready? — Luken’s voice echoes.

- Just a minute.

Ksenya turns to the shadow.

— Can you leave me alone now? — She grinds her teeth. He had never needed to ask before, he had always gotten the job done no matter how long it took to get him out of his mind, but today the guy was simply unbeatable.

“You know my condition.” — The shadow says coldly, looking at the arm he holds with a certain splendor in those red and macabre eyes.

The young woman shakes her head angrily.

“Then I guess we’ll walk through the palace together.”

The girl turns to him, in a mixture of fury, fear and despair, staring into the depths of those eyes of death.

— You said you came in peace today.

He smiles mischievously.

“You have a point. But I decided to think twice.” — The look he directs at the jewel makes her swallow hard, fearing the catastrophe that could happen in moments.

The girl touches the new necklace with concern on her face.

— Please. — She whispers, hating having to beg.

Ksenya doesn’t need to see it to feel the smile that comes next.

“Happy twenty-two years, little prodigy.” — He says before disappearing.

Ksenya needs a few minutes to recover. Some others to put on makeup quickly, because she refuses to suffer with a worn-out face on her birthday, and she’s ready. Or almost so.

The feeling of his hand on her arm is still there when she opens the door and is faced with the adorable young King Luken.

— Oh… hi. — He says, almost startled by his presence.

- All good? — He asks when he notices the paleness on your face.

The girl nods.

- He is sure? — He insists, without swallowing that gesture.

— Yes, I am, I just… I don’t know, I’m finished. You know how I am, always tired.

- Oh yes. But we can rest a little now. — Luken speaks with her eyes half closed, still not fully believing her friend, but deciding not to insist.

The young man extends his arm and they both begin to walk together through the corridors.

The walls, made of durable quartz, display ever-changing holographic projections, showing scenes from the kingdom’s history and symbols of the wolves that protect it. These walls always enchant Ksenya, but today they don’t seem to catch her attention.

Something happened, Luken is sure of it, but he knows there’s no point in insisting. Your much-loved Kis is the most stubborn little being of all. But what happened? He needs to know or anguish will consume him. Seeing her like this without knowing how to help tears him apart. Ksenya had already suffered enough in this life.

— Hey, did you see Yelena today? she asks as they pass holographic sculptures of moving wolves. — I haven’t seen her all day. — The young woman continues, trying to disguise the internal tension she feels so much.

— Not today, but yesterday I spent the whole afternoon with her so we could finish planning today’s appetizers.

Ksenya almost smiles as she shakes her head in disbelief.

As they approach the throne room, the corridors expand revealing the stunning view of a golden-lit Mávro Potámi.

— She must be with Lycan, I haven’t seen him all day either and you know how close they are.

- Probably.

Ksenya watches some security drones pass by the windows and shudders knowing they are anything but protected there, especially now that he has this new ability. The girl simply has no idea how she will stop him from freely walking around the palace and noting all of her weak points.

The doors to the throne room open and a bath of golden light and resplendent wealth is poured over them both. The walls are adorned with wood and gold panels carved with intricate wolf patterns, highlighting the kingdom’s deep connection to these creatures. The Lýkon Kingdom was the first country to deal with wild nature peacefully, thus gaining the trust of the mutant wolves that abound in its territory. Unlike the Northern, Western and Eastern Empires; Its rulers have always aimed for peace and political alliance with the tribes of wild nature areas, rather than attacking them to exploit the multiple, almost magical crystals formed by purple lava, or even simply to destroy them out of fear of their power.

Crystal chandeliers hang from the high ceiling, emitting a soft light that sparkles off the sparkling silverware. At the back of the great hall, the main throne stands out, constructed from carved noble wood and adorned with inlaid jewels, carved in the likeness of none other than an imposing wolf with ruby ​​eyes.

A bugle scares Ksenya.

— His Royal Majesty King Luken Hartmann Second and Her Royal Highness Princess Ksenya! — An employee announces next to them.

Ksenya’s eyes widen almost in collapse, she raises her eyebrows and turns to Luken in perplexity.

—What the…

— I am the king, if I speak it is spoken.

— You’re crazy! What will people think?

Luken shrugs, smiling.

— Who cares? And if you want, you can become a queen too. — He gives her a wink.

Ksenya is not amused as she would be on an ordinary day, not after knowing the extent of her power share.

— Why bring all these nobles to show me off?

— They deserve to suffer a little.

— You have a point. — She responds, forcing a brief laugh. — Anyway, I need to drink something strong after this.

— Whatever you want, birthday boy. — Luken agrees, even though he’s hurt and doesn’t want to move away from her. Something is wrong, but maybe she needs a moment to herself.

The girl walks towards one of the gigantic appetizer tables while hunting Yelena with her eyes and taking the opportunity to breathe a little, without having to pretend to be full and calm. Luxurious rugs, woven with threads of gold and silver, adorn the polished marble floors in your path.

Ksenya takes a skewer of cheese and lobster and, leaning on the large table, looks for the fifteen-year-old blue brat who had already surpassed her height last spring. In the meantime, Luken’s gigantic white wolf passes by to greet her and the girl quickly pets him.

On the walls across the room, huge windows offer stunning views of the surrounding countryside, while dark red velvet curtains add a touch of drama and mystery. Everything is very beautiful in the throne room, but none of that matters much now, after all, where is that little brat? She owes him an explanation, it was clearly the great evil mind behind this crazy idea.

Along the corridors of the room, ancient tapestries are displayed narrating the legends and stories of the wolves that protect the kingdom. But no sign of Yelena and her straight, almost white hair.

— Where did that child go? — Ksenya mutters to herself.

A butler passes by with a tray of exotic drinks, but the girl refuses them, having never really been a drinker. She had only said she was going so she could get away from Luken, look for her sister and freak out in peace alone.

Therefore, as he didn’t find the little pest with fluorescent green eyes, all he could do was freak out about what had recently happened.

— By the moons… — He murmurs. — Hey, you there!

Ksenya makes the butler return.

— Thank you, I’ll keep these three.

Some nobles pass by with judgmental looks.

- What it was? They’re not even for me. — She lies, holding the three colored drinks with difficulty.

The freshloids leave and she snorts.

— Bunch of nosy ones... — She mutters to herself, with a frown, before turning the yellow cup over and coughing horribly in response to the sour taste.

Ksenya needs to lean on the table behind her to avoid falling backwards. As already mentioned, Ksenya had never been a drinker.

But then, what will you do now with he? And that new power? By the moon, she would cause the death of all those people!

Ksenya turns the second cup, which is pink in color and tastes extremely sweet.

It is then that he realizes that Luken is talking seriously to some men dressed in green and silver, royal guards.

Shit, is he here already?

Had he already discovered a hole in the palace’s security? Would he be running through the halls right now? The familiar feeling is not around, but Ksenya no longer doubts anything.

Ksenya downs the last glass, baby blue, perfectly balanced in taste, soft cotton candy for her taste, and walks discreetly towards them.

— What do you mean you haven’t seen him since yesterday?! — Luken gets excited. —Did you really check his room? Because he almost never leaves there and if he does he’s always with... Wait, where are Yelena and Kwame?

Two guards look at each other in confusion and the third, the oldest with gray hair, responds:

—No sign of them either, Your Majesty.

- What is happening? Where is Yelena?! — Ksenya jumps into the conversation without thinking twice.

— Don’t worry, Kis, they must be in a tree house somewhere. — Luken softens his tone to reassure her.

—What are you doing standing there?! Find these three pests! — She shouts at the soldiers.

— Why are you looking at me? You heard her. — Luken adds and the three run out of the throne room.

Thirty painful minutes pass with Ksenya walking in circles, ignoring guests and thinking the worst until the guards finally return with a dark-skinned, yellow-eyed foreign boy, Kwame. He had immigrated to the Kingdom of Lýkon about five years ago with his father, an influential politician from the Central Republic tired of his country’s blind neutrality, had come to participate in alliances with savage tribes and do something about the chaotic scenario in which the world finds itself.

The boy is placed facing Luken and Ksenya. His face has a hint of fear and regret.

— He knows where Yelena and her cousin are, Your Majesty. — Informs the older soldier as he strokes his gray beard.

- And then? — Luken maintains subtlety even in the midst of so much concern.

— Firstly, your majesty, I wanted to apologize. They asked me not to tell, they made me swear and…

— Spit it out, brat! — Ksenya shouts.

— They went on a mission! — The boy spits out the words, his guilty gaze looking downwards.

—Mission? Luken raises an eyebrow in confusion.

— A mission with the rebels.

Ah, the rebels… Crazy people from the south of the country who think that going to war without thinking twice with the trinity of Empires of the North, West and East is a brilliant idea.

Worst of all, Yelena’s incessant desire to do something about it made her go along with these imbeciles. Ksenya always explained to her that going to war unprepared is not only reckless but also extremely stupid. The little brat didn’t completely agree, but he also didn’t dare run away to the south and join the bunch of brainless people. Until… today, apparently.

— Explain this nonsense properly! What mission? Where? What are you going to do? Are they in the south with the rebels?

— I can’t believe it, how many times have I told Lycan that we’re not ready for a direct war! — Luken gets excited.

— Answer me, boy! — Ksenya feels her eyes glow a more intense purple, scaring the boy.

— No, they’re not in the south, miss. I say, your highness. They were… they were…

— To where?! — Luken and Ksenya question together.

— They went to Kefálaio… — The boy speaks quickly with his eyes closed and his face turned away.

Ksenya’s body immediately freezes. Kefálaio, the capital of the Northern Empire, the Supreme Empire.

—Do what? — She asks almost voicelessly, completely shaking from head to toe.

A quick tense silence that seems to last forever is established until the boy spills the beans once and for all.

— Blow up the Elite Academy.

And the bomb was dropped.

Everything suddenly goes quiet, dizziness creeps into your head, and your vision goes dark. Ksenya has to hold on to Luken’s arm to keep from falling to the ground. She looks down, her weak legs and the dark red carpet making her sick. They are trying to say something around her, something probably directed at her, but Ksenya no longer hears anything. The only things going through his head are mind-boggling despair and fear.

After everything he did to stay away, so many years of effort to stay away from the chaos, away from any war or killing, away share… All this and in a second everything had changed. She would have to go back there, back to the center of the freak show, back to a certain someone.