AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Hundreds of glittering stars shone down upon the city, gleaming like shattered diamonds. My jaw dropped in confusion. In Veladis, I needed to be in the astronomy tower at midnight, sometimes even needing special telescopes to see the stars, but it was the middle of the damn day, and I could see them all perfectly.
“So, you can see it, then?” Bennett asked hopefully, looking at me with as much adoration as I was at the kingdom below.
I gaped at the mysterious world before me, stopping every instinct in me to start running towards it.
“Holy shit, I knew it!” He laughed and picked me up, spinning me in a circle.
“Bennett—” I didn’t even know what to say. I was truly at a loss for words.
What is this place? How come I’ve never heard of it? Why isn’t it on any maps? Why do I feel so drawn to it?
“Welcome to Vesper, Rhia.” He set me down gently, never taking his eyes off me for a second, even though the most captivating world spread out before us.
???
“I will try to explain everything the best that I can while we make the journey down the mountain and into town,” Bennett said, grabbing my hand and guiding me down the mountain. “But things will become clearer once you hear from the people themselves.”
As we began our descent into the kingdom, I couldn’t keep the swarm of questions in my mind from captivating every part of me. My legs were practically on fire from the steepness of the trek, but I hardly noticed the burn.
“I know you have many questions,” Bennett said, “so we can just go one at a time down the list. Ask as many as you like.”
My thoughts were jumbled, and I had so many questions I had to think about which one to even start with. “Well, I guess my first question would be, how come I’ve never heard of this place before, and why were you so relieved for me to be able to see it?”
“The reason why you have never heard of Vesper before is because no one knows it exists. Except for the people who live here, of course, and those who were born here. I had a hunch that it was possible you were originally from Vesper. I mean, you have Artis blood, so that was a big indicator—”
“What does my craft have anything to do with this?” I interrupted, not having the patience to wait for all my questions to be answered.
Bennett smiled softly, as though knowing all of the answers to my questions satisfied him somehow. “Well, let’s just say that Artis blood doesn’t run in short supply here.”
We continued down the mountain, the air getting warmer as the wind blew slightly, creating a soft breeze.
“How many are there then?” I asked eagerly.
He shrugged. “Don’t know exactly.”
“How can you not know?”
“Because this is a kingdom of over one hundred thousand people, Rhia, and probably two thirds of them have Artis blood running through their veins.”
My jaw dropped. “That—That doesn’t make any sense,” I stuttered. Artis blood was an extreme rarity, it was a blessing from the stars themselves. I mean, everyone knew that, right?
Bennett sighed before he continued his explanation. “I know it’s hard for you to comprehend because you grew up in a completely different world, but Artis blood isn’t rare here, it’s actually fairly common in my kingdom. Life and Shadow Crafters, as well as those of mortal blood, roam our streets together freely and in harmony.”
“Your kingdom?”
We walked in silence for a bit, soaking in the weight of that statement. The crunch of leaves and twigs were the only sounds, aside from my racing thoughts.
“Yes, Rhia. Vesper is my home. It is my kingdom.”
“What about Veladis? You’re the heir to the throne! What about your people?” Even as I made that argument, something in me felt awkward about voicing it. I felt weirdly uncomfortable defending Veladis, even though I just recently discovered Vesper.
“Veladis is not my home, nor are its people my people.”
My head was spinning with the information. I was learning too much too fast, and all of the dots finally started to connect.
“So, all this time,” I whispered, “you weren’t in Vicinus, you were here in Vesper? That’s why no one could recognize you in the city. That’s why—”
“I never got your letters. It’s why I could never contact you—”
