ENCHANTED WORLD SERIES BOOK 2: TEMPTING THE DARK KING
Chapter Six

Lyrah didn’t know what was going through her brother’s head. She was desperate to stay at the Black Fortress, not because of her mate but rather of the mission that sent her there in the first place and amidst all that desperation, she managed to blurt out that King Rhol was her mate. The expression on his face as well as his commanders was enough to almost make her collapse onto the floor and wail like a baby but what was done was done. She expected Lord Mage to burst into a violent frenzy with this information. She expected him to plant his fist on the wall, throw his head back and roar like the way he always did when he was furious...but none of that happened. All he did was look at her for the longest time. He looked at her as if it was the first time he was seeing her. It was as if he couldn’t make up his mind whether he should be upset with it or mortified but one thing for was for sure, he didn’t like it one bit.

After being directed by one of the Jinn warriors to another room, Lord Mage carried her and placed her softly on the bed before he left the room without even a back glance. Lyrah never worried when Lord Mage reacted but when he didn’t....it made her very nervous.

“Oh, Lady Lyrah!” Leah came into the room with yet another tray of hot steaming food. She placed the tray on the side table and started wringing her hands together with a very stressed and defeated expression on her face. “Are you alright?”

Lyrah nodded to the worrying helper. “I’ll be fine but I need you to go into the infirmary and make sure that King Rhol is alright.” In the middle of all the action, Lyrah managed to deplete are energy bank again and all she could do was watch helplessly at everyone coming and going from the room.

“Yes, my lady...but the first priority I have is to you. You have not eaten all morning.” Leah noted.

Lyrah rolled her eyes. “I’ll be fine.”

“The faster you eat, my lady, the faster I can go and check on King Rhol.” Leah coaxed lightly with a nervous smile on her pretty, pixie-like face.

Lyrah sighed. No matter how worried she was, she still needed to take care of herself too. Plus, even though the mate pull was very strong between her and King Rhol, she needed to be in her sane mind when it came to negotiating with him once he was better. “Fine.”

Leah smiled with satisfaction as she picked up the tray and headed towards Lyrah’s bed.

The evil-tainted poison raging through Rhol’s body corroded everything in its wake. The pain made him fall in and out of consciousness to the point he wondered if he were ever going to survive it. He could hear light chanting, something unfamiliar...something Mage.

The chanting was followed with waves of electrical pain as energy sizzled through his body. Were they trying to destroy him! Strange shrieks and moans filled his mind. It was as if he was slowly approaching insanity. Curses of loath and retaliation, words of obscenity and pure hatred clouded his mind. Images of blood and death flashed before him with evil gloats behind them, somewhere in that dark corner where not even he wanted to tread.

One moment, he was struggling to remain conscious, the next moment he found himself in the middle of what looked like a hallway. It was cold and damp and the breeze carried on a musty and moldy scent of decay. The walls were high with bare brick-works and the algae grew in the spaces between the bricks. On each side of the hallway was a series of arches which led to total darkness. Murmurs came from darkness within the arches.

What started out as quiet ticking like that of a clock suddenly turned to the knocking of heels on the wet stone floor. Something or something was approaching him. Rhol rolled his shoulders but his tattoos didn’t even so much as slither to show awareness. Strange, he thought as he reached for his blade and found it missing too.

The closer the knocking came, the louder and hissing voices and the moaning in the darkness became. A silhouette appeared before him. The outlines of the body was indeed a female. She stopped in front of him, somewhere where no light could illuminate her face. There was a familiarity in her appearance yet he could sense darkness around her than rattled his insides with fear.

“The great Dark King Rhol, son of Uzrel. Fancy seeing you here.” She purred lightly.

Rhol frowned. “Where is here?”

The female spread her hands and looked around. “Here? You don’t know where you are? I thought you were quick minded.”

Rhol felt his anger rise and his hands curling up into fists. For someone reason, this female in front of him irritated him so much. “Who are you?”

The female chuckled lightly and stepped into the light. Rhol found himself dumbfounded. The female in front of him looked exactly like his mate, Lyrah, yet she wasn’t. There was a cunning look in her eyes, something Lady Lyrah never had. Even the way she spoke, it was more of seducing him but that was one thing that was far from Lady Lyrah’s thoughts...so, who the fuck was this wearing Lady Lyrah’s skin.

“What are you?” He gritted his teeth.

Lyrah looked surprised for a moment. “What am I? Your mate, that’s what!”

Rhol shook his head. The resemblance was unbelievable but she definitely wasn’t Lady Lyrah. She was something evil and slimy. “No, you are not. Now tell me what the fuck you are or I will not be held responsible for my actions!”

Lyrah watched him for sometime before she bit into her lower lip and asked. “Are you sure you are in the position to threaten me? You don’t even know where you are and you think you can stand there and tell me your bullshit?”

Rhol growled and took a warning step towards Lyrah.

“Oh don’t growl at me.” She said irritably. “I’m the only person who knows the way out of here.”

This was the time when Rhol really needed his tattoos and when he looked down at them, he was stunned to see the black ink oozing down his hands and his tattoos disappearing. “What have you done to me!” He snarled.

Lyrah chuckled maliciously. “Not what I have done, but rather what have you done to yourself. You don’t want to accept your fate. You condemn what your father did with every fibre of your soul yet you have not asked yourself why he surrendered to the Dark Energy.”

“He was weak! He should have known better than to allow his greed and weakness over rule him!” Rhol barked taking one more step towards the evil being wearing Lyrah’s skin.

“You are the weak one Rhol...you always need someone to carry your burden for you and in this lifetime it is your father. You have never asked yourself why the Dark Energy is more prominent here than any other Realm. This is the origin of everything. Remember the story of Aidan and how he forged an army so strong that it needed the entire enchanted world to put it down? Even after they defeated Aidan, no one was able to defeat the dark Energy and do you know why? Because you can never destroy energy, can you?”

“Why are you telling me all this?” Rhol demanded. “Who the hell are you?”

Lyrah tilted her head to the side and sighed. “I am telling you all this so that you realise your destiny, so that you understand the responsibilities you are carrying, so that you become more powerful than ever. I know you hate you any form of weakness...the the one weakness that you loath the most is your mate. I can promise you that I can rid you of that weakness but you have to do something for me.”

The thought of Lyrah being destroyed made bile boil up into his mouth. His heart twisted in his ribs and every fiber in his body screamed in retaliation! A low growl reverberated from the deep pits of stomach up to his throat. No one dared threaten his mate like that! “I will bathe in your blood if you so much as touch a single hair on her head!” The warning came out in a malicious hiss that could make anyone skin hairs stand up in alert!

The evil being pouted and crossed her arms. “And I thought we were making progress--”

“Rhol.” A deep male voice came from one of the dark arches on the side.

Rhol turned to the new intruder. The male stepped out of the dark and stood sturdily in front of him. It was the Lord Mage. “And what the fuck are you supposed to be?”

Arrogant as usual, Lord Mage quirked his eyebrow at him. “Why are you wasting your time in this dark hole. You need to return at once.”

Rhol felt like he was about to lose it. He didn’t know what to believe anymore. He didn’t even know where he was. “Why should I trust you? The last time I checked you have frying my insides with your energy.”

“It’s because I have been trying to get rid of her.” Lord Mage pointed to his sister.

Evil Lyrah rolled her eyes. “So much testosterone! Rhol, you shouldn’t listen to him. He is looking for a way to get rid of you. Wouldn’t it be great to be the only male pure-blood royal in the entire enchanted kingdom, Lord Mage?”

“You need to leave King Rhol alone. Stop plaguing his mind with nonsense.” Lord Mage answered casually and turned to Rhol.

“The poison that seeped in you when the tainted Jinn attacked you has left some residues of dark energy in your body. She is the residual image of the Dark Energy. If you follow her, you will be lost to us and we will have no choice but to destroy you.”

Even though the circumstances didn’t allow, Rhol found himself smirking at the Lord Mage. “You could try destroying me, Spell-binder.”

Lord Mage sighed lightly and shook his head. “Come back to the real world.”

“Are you still listening to him?” Evil Lyrah interrupted. “Do you trust the male who is doing nothing but bring grief into this world? The man who single-handedly ended the peace that reigned for generations and now there is nothing but bloodshed, hatred, tears and fear?”

“For the imitation of Lyrah, you sure are a piss poor actress. If I didn’t know any better, that is the last thing Lady Lyrah would say about her beloved brother. It makes me wonder just what being you are, trying to spread your evil through me.”

A cunning grin appeared on Evil Lyrah’s face her eyes suddenly flashed black and went back to normal. “Oh, you will find out sooner or later. I can see that this is not working today...but I will not give up on you. I will be back.” she raised her hand up and was about to touch Rhol’s face but suddenly the Lord Mage grabbed his arm and pulled him into one of the dark tunnels.

Rhol’s body felt weightless as he was sucked deeper and deeper into the darkness. It was peaceful there. There was nothing but sheer bliss and no more pain or worry...well at least for a shot period of time. The chanting began again and more of that hot white energy was zapped into his body. The evil voices that were once laughing and gloating about the blood and hatred were now scream in pain, begging for mercy from the pure energy.

Rhol felt like he had been helplessly lying there for centuries enduring the pain from the Mage. Malicious thoughts began to cloud his mind again. Just wait until he got out of there, he was really going to have it out with the Lord Mage and prove just who was the alpha male between them!

Fuck! The energy burnt every cell of his body, leaving him feeling like he was taking a joy-ride through the fires of Hades.

For the next two days, several Mage flashed in and out of the Black Fortress grounds since Muriel didn’t allow the ancient spell down now that Rhol was gravely wounded and unable to prottect them. While the Mage healers Vincent and Constantine did their best to remove the same poison that had once tainted their own king’s blood and almost sent him to an early grave, Zach and Lord Mage concentrated on getting Lyrah better.

She was up and walking in no time but Rhol was still unconscious.

“Dark magic leaves behind the worse of evil residue.” Muriel sighed lightly when she managed to trace Lyrah who had found her way around the fortress to what looked like a library. It was a very cosy room with volumes upon volumes of books dating back to the time not even she remembered.

“But King Rhol is a strong warrior. He will make it.” Lyrah assured the heavily pregnant female Mage.

Muriel hummed lightly while nodding. “He is stubborn too and I doubt he would want to leave this world so soon when there is still so much to do. I’m glad the Mage are doing all they could to save him.”

“They are only doing that because he is my mate.”

Muriel turned to Lyrah and smiled softly. “The Lord Mage has a strong and wise heart. He also has a strong sense of justice. I doubt he would be saving King Rhol if he didn’t feel the male was worth saving...even if he was your mate.”

Lyrah’s head lifted up from the book she was blindly scanning and realized that it was true. Tyran always needed a very good reason to act on something. She didn’t understand the love-hate relationship the two males had but what she knew was that none of the males loathed the other.

“Take the two males as this world and the enchanted world. While both worlds are in each other’s way, one world can not survive without the other.” Muriel chuckled lightly as if reading Lyrah’s mind. “And they sure have egos as big as the two worlds!”

Lyrah managed a sad smile but her heart hurt as if someone had slashed it with a black cold blade. Her heart and body were already mourning for her mate. Just two days away from him and she was already very anxious.

“It’s strange though...” Muriel frowned pensively as she rubbed her belly with light finger strokes.

“What is?”

“With all the Mage flashing in and out of the Fortress yards and using so much energy within the fortress, I would have expected the evil to be drawn out once more and for the past two days, I haven’t felt it.”

“Me too.” Lyrah nodded. “Could it be that the Lord Mage had destroyed it completely when he destroyed that Jinn?”

“Well, I couldn’t say it is completely gone because we still don’t know where it came from but what I can say is that the fortress is safe from it. I never thought there would be a day when I had to device a spell that would keep that kind of strand away but now that I know, I need to get working.”

“I can help you.” Lyrah volunteered.

Muriel nodded. “That will be great! I can’t use a lot of my energy because the baby is sucking up most of if anyway!”

“For a woman who once served my father, you sure took your time procreating.” Lyrah stated.

Muriel grinned as if she remembered a private joke. “Zax, my mate, is terrified of bringing a child into the world. By that time, there was no stability between the Realms. I guess it was when the Dark Energy was still taking root. King Aidan was still a very good man and the Ghouls were a civilized race of beings, a cross breed between the forest Nymphs and the Mage called the Bachu’anes; the Shadow Dwellers...but everyone felt there was something wrong with the world.

“I moved away from the Realm of Spells right after the birth of the Lord Mage. Before that your mother Sapna, was always uneasy and I had to stay beside her, but once she gave birth to her son, we both understood that at last the one to bring the world to rest had finally arrived. I watched from afar as the Lord Mage was raised and groomed for that faithful day when he together with the other kings and queens defeated the Dark Energy and trapped it deep in the bowels of this world.

“It took a while for Zax to actually believe the world was safe again before he agreed to have a baby...and now, it feels like it is about to start all over again.”

There was sadness and regret in Muriel’s voice.

“We will be alright.” Lyrah tried to reassure her but she too needed to convince herself because she could hardly believe what she was saying.

The sound of boots coming their way made both women stand up was a tall and very handsome Jinn warrior entered the room. His hair wasn’t as midnight blue as the normal hair color for the Jinn but it was blue-black. Lyrah watched as his amber eyes melted into liquid gold as he looked at Muriel and immediately knew who he was.

“King Rhol has awoken.” He announced softly.

Lyrah jumped up and good bade her goodbyes to Muriel before she rushed out towards the infirmary. Her heart throbbed in her throat. She hadn’t seen him for the past two days. All she wanted was to see that fallen-angel face of his and hear his beating heart and making sure that his body was still warm...all she wanted to do was to make sure that he was still alive and of this world.

Several Mage were chatting idly outside the infirmary and some Jinns was stationed around to make sure their unwanted guests were behaving. Lyrah breathed in hard and approached the door. The Mage turned to her but didn’t say anything. They bowed quickly and moved out of the way but not before she saw the dazed looks. None of them still believed that she has been mated to the Jinn King. Lyrah clasped her small fingers on the doorknob and opened it. She passed through the infirmary towards the private rooms right at the end. The healers stopped murmuring when she passed. The silence was deadly.

As she got closer to the Jinn King’s room, she heard the deep voices muffling inside. She recognized her brother’s voice and Drake’s. There was also a voice that she once heard but couldn’t place it anywhere.

Zafrina was standing outside the room together with another Jinn warrior. His skin occasionally glowed in a pale blue haze. They both turned to her and inclined their heads before their moved to the side and allowed her to enter.

When she opened the door, all the males inside stopped talking and turned to her. The Lord Mage straightened up, bringing his body to full height, Drake managed a sheepish smile. Yosurn, King Rhol’s brother took a step away from her and Rhol himself just stared at her.

He was alive...relief went through her like a tidal wave and she had to grab the back of the chair next to her to stop herself from collapsing to the floor.

“You look well, Lady Lyrah.” Drake slowly inclined his head to her.

Lyrah managed a small smile and nodded but didn’t take her eyes off Rhol. “I have been well.”

“You still have at least two days worth of rest before you can move around.” Lord Mage stated crossing his large arms over his chest.”

“I’m not doing anything big with the little energy that I have, I’ll be fine.” Lyrah assured him.

“Nice to see you again, Lady Lyrah.” Yosurn inclined his head to her.

That was when Lyrah actually turned her eyes to someone else. “Lord Yosurn.”

“Alright, everyone get the hell out.” Rhol growled. “I need some alone time with my mate.” He purposely emphasized the mate word and had both Drake and Lord Mage cringe.

Lord Mage grunted. “I’ll be just outside the door...if you think to try anything with my sister.”

Rhol grinned maliciously at the Lord Mage, his tattoos hissing at him. “Whatever keeps you warm at night, brother-in-law.”

Lord Mage snarled. “Brother-in-law my ass!”

Rhol snapped his teeth at him. “Bend over and let me pay my deepest respect to it.”

“Stop it!” Lyrah exclaimed. “The both of you! Just stop it!”

Both King Rhol and the Lord Mage turned to her and had to swallow back the growls. This is what happened when two males with power got together. Each one wanted to show the other just how big his balls hung!

“Please leave...I’ll be fine.” She told her brother who refused to budge.

Lord Mage took a moment then sighed and walked towards the door. Before he reached it, Lyrah quickly grabbed him and hugged him then placed a kiss on his cheek. “Thank you for everything.”

Tendons jumped on Lord Mage’s cheeks as he brushed the strands of hair from Lyrah’s face. “One wrong move from him and I will not hesitate to destroy him, am I clear?”

Lyrah nodded and Lord Mage together with Drake and Yosurn left the room.

When the door clicked behind them, Lyrah turned to the large shirtless male in front of her. She watched in amazement as his tattoos calmed down and turned violet. She swallowed hard as she looked at him. His eyes were intense. Eventually he rested back on the pillows and one corner of his mouth turned up.

“Come.”

Lyrah snapped out of the daze that she was in. “What?”

“Come closer.” his voice thickened.

Lyrah swallowed hard again and managed to get her feet working. She took one step forward then another until finally she was beside him. Without a warning, Rhol’s thick arm snaked around her waist and pulled her to him.

Lyrah gasped sharply when she found herself perched on his lap. Heavens his body was scorching hot!

“Oh, you are burning up!” She stuttered.

“A little present your brother left behind.” Rhol answered.

Lyrah struggled against him as his hand scaled up her leg and hiked up the skirts of her dress. “What are you doing?”

“Sit still!” Rhol growled in warning.

But Lyrah couldn’t just sit there and have his hands scale up her body like that even if he was her mate! “Stop!” she tried pushing him away but ended up tumbling over him.

Rhol seized the opportunity of locking her hands together over her head and pulled her body closer to him. The heat radiating from him threatened to scorch her skin away. It also awoke places she would have liked to remain sleeping.

“Don’t struggle...or I will end up doing more than just look at your healed wound.” He purred thickly, promising wicked action if she didn’t comply.

wait, what? “My wound?” Lyrah repeated like a parrot.

Rhol quirked his eyebrow at her. “Why else would I want to see up your skirts. It’s not like we want that sort union between us, is it?”

That sort of union...did that mean that there would be no intimacy between them? That was good right? It meant that they would just concentrate on business. “Right.”

“Right.” Rhol repeat as his hand slipped under her skirts again.

Lyrah had to bite back a moan because the hot palm left her entire body quaking and clenching, greedily wanting the touch of its mate. Desire fused into her blood-stream and left her light-headed and a little too hot for her own liking. Her eyes snapped towards Rhol’s. Was she the only one who was feeling this? Was he doing this on purpose.

Rhol parted the skirts away revealing her white creamy skin on her thigh. His eyes strayed towards where his fingers lightly traced the three pink lines that were almost healed. Lyrah hardly felt pain. Just a few more days and the lines were going to fully disappear like they had never been.

Rhol loosened his grip on her hands as he became more immersed in studying her wound. Lyrah discovered that during the time she was struggling with him, his tattoos had entangled themselves around her arms, soothing her like the way they were the last time.

“Are you in pain?” he asked her, his concern very much notable.

Lyrah shook her head. “No. In a few days’ time I will be fully healed.”

“Are you able to travel back home with your brother now?” He asked her.

“Yeah but I’m not going anywhere.”

“Lyrah...” Rhol turned to her.

Lyrah shrugged her shoulders. “If you don’t listen to me then I have no choice but to stay here and make you understand.”

“What is there to understand?” Rhol rested his head back on the pillows. “I thought I made myself clear when I said I didn’t want to get involved.”

“But you are already involved. I mean, you almost died from that abomination. We don’t know if that thing has already escaped into other parts of your Realm or other Realms but know that you are as responsible to get rid of it as me.” Lyrah managed to sit up but as she was about to slip off Rhol’s lap, the tattoos solidified and held her in place. “And for once can’t you control your tattoos?” she struggled against them.

He shrugged his broad shoulders and placed his hands behind his head. “They have a mind of their own—just like I do. I don’t want to involve myself with either the Lord Mage and anyone else in this Realm. I will deal with my own problems, the rest of you find a way to deal with yours.”

“I don’t believe you are this cold hearted, Rhol--”

“Don’t speak of me as if you know anything about me.” Rhol gritted his teeth. “The past fews days that you have been here does not, in the slightest, give you a hint of what I am.”

“You are not a bad male, Rhol. You are all about justice, just like my brother. It doesnt matter which side you fight for, all you want at the end is justice.”

Rhol was silent for a moment. “I want you to leave with your brother tonight. You are no longer welcomed here.”

Lyrah’s eyes widened. “What?”

“Leave my Fortress, leave my Realm and never return. I don’t want you here.”

Rejection. Rhol had once again rejected her and his words tore into her soul like cold angry claws. The tattoos wailed at that statement and held her closer.

Rhol snapped and shook his shoulders until finally they let go.

“You should get going.”

Lyrah didn’t expect each moment she got rejected by her mate would hurt especially if it was Rhol they were talking about but her heart mourned for his closeness when she got up and walked away. She held her head up high and didn’t want him to see just how much of his final rejection had hurt her but deep down inside, she there was sorrow that she got rejected and that she couldn’t accomplish what she had come to do and also regret that she had been stupid enough to allow her body to recognized the mate who didn’t want her and so she was going to live a life of misery because of it.

Without another glance at King Rhol, Lyrah walked out and closed the door quietly behind her.

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