Valerian, The Legendary

201 Parting Gift.

Valerian was in a daze when he saw Morgana smile. He did not expect it to be so mesmerizing. Morgana found his gaze a bit awkward and a slight blush appeared on her face. She turned her face away from his vision and only then the boy woke up from his stupor.

He said, “Your smile is the most beautiful one after my Mother.”

His compliment was genuine, after all, Morgana was still growing and her beauty was not yet at the peak of it. Morgana said, “Thank you.”

Valerian nodded and said, “Now that you can smile, your face does not look as hard or stiff as it did in the past. Try to cover that up back in Centaur. Ameer will not tolerate your recovery.”

Morgana nodded and asked, “Yes, I will do that, but what about the secrecy from the person who treated me?”

Valerian shook his head and said, “Do not worry, that old man is not someone who flaps his lips. As for old man Fallax, he is too busy to care about all this. However, just to be safe, I did tell Archmage Timothy to keep it all a secret and he agreed.”

Morgana nodded, she was worried that her step brother will leak this all back to the Centaur palace. She will not have an excuse to cover this up. If he tried to meddle with her now, and said anything about the beat down, then she had a legit reason prepared to deal with the people.

The thunder falcon did not know about the conversation of the two humans and flew faster through the clouds. By the evening they reached back to the Imperial palace. Valerian dropped the lady off, and said, “This is farewell, I will hurry to the Sapientia border.”

Morgana was surprised by his urgency. Suddenly, she said, “I still had something to tell you.”

.....

Valerian was confused and asked, “What is it?”

Morgana said, “Confidential issue, am I supposed to discuss it here? Who knows where are the ears and eyes.”

Valerian thought for a bit and nodded, before he got off the saddle and moved inside the palace with Morgana. They were headed to her room. During the walk, the Princess was paying attention to the surroundings but her face did not show anything unusual. When they stood at the doorstep Valerian asked, “What is it?”

Morgana nodded and pushed the door open to lead Valerian inside. She looked at the walls of the room and said, “Actually, I wanted to give you a parting gift. I do not know what to give you.”

Valerian was surprised and then he shook his head. He said, “These is no need for gifts between us. However, you reminded me of something. I hope you do not mind. I will be right back.”

That said, the prince did not wait for her to react and rush out of the room. Morgana was surprised but then she quickly began to look around in her room, for something that can be used as a gift. However, she found that nothing she had was owned by her. It was all things that she was given by the Centurion family for keeping up the fa?ade of the renowned princess.

Just when Morgana was thinking of what she should give Valerian, the door was knocked and the prince’s voice sounded, “May I come in, Your Highness.”

Morgana rolled her eyes and said, “Yes, come in.”

Valerian walked inside with a silver fox in his arms. Morgana was confused by this but she still did not speak, allowing the prince to come in and stand closer to her. Valerian said while patting the head of the silver fox, “This is Silk. She is a charm fox, and right now she does not have any magical bonds with any human. However, she does have a blood slave.”

Morgana asked in surprise, “Blood Slave?”

Valerian nodded and said, “Yes, blood slave, this person is completely under Silk’s control. Like a puppet. A few nights ago, a strong person invaded my room by tricking all the guards. However, Silk saved my life by subduing that person.”

Morgana was surprised and the cogs in her mind were already turning. She was smart enough to figure out who could have attacked Valerian. She looked at the prince and the young man said, “I apologize for this incident but your shadow guard, Snare is now a puppet to Silk.”

Morgana opened her eyes wide, as she could not believe what Valerian had just said. Snare was an all powerful bodyguard plus spy that worked beside Jamal the emperor of the Centaur nation. He was so close to the emperor that if he sneak attacked the man, death would be imminent. Does this not mean that Valerian was in control of the strongest weapon in Centaur.

Valerian did not mind her daze and said, “You can form a bond with Silk, and take her as your magical companion beast. The blood slave she has will be under your control then. This can help you stay prepared in case the royal family of Centaur makes a move against you.”

Morgana was surprised and she did not reply, Valerian thought of something and said, “I apologize for taking control of this guy without saying anything. It is just that he entered the room with intention to kill me, and he is a Grandmaster with skills in shadow magic. I cannot take such a person lightly and thus allowed Silk to act.”

Morgana heard his explanation and woke up from her stupor. She said, “No, I was thinking that all this time, you could have killed me, but you did not. Now, you are even gifting this blood slave to me like it is nothing. What do you really want, Valerian? Do not think you can fool me with the excuse of friendship. Even if we are friends, the level of our bond is not deep or strong enough for you to steal the strongest weapon available for me.”

Valerian was surprised at her questions but he was not flustered. He let out a sigh and said, “My aim is to leave the western continent and grow strong enough to find a few things left behind by my parents. I wish to find the truth of my origin and the strength I need for that might be surpassing the fabled Magnum Magister.

To gain that strength, I might have to travel to magical realms and during my travels I cannot leave behind this family of mine to face trouble. The enmity across the continents does not stand much of a chance of sustenance, it is the inside that worries me. At this moment, the centaur is trying to unite the western continent by sparking chaos, but Jamal Centurion, that old fool does not understand that even if he stole the dragon treasure, it will be of now use and before he steals it, he will lose a significant portion of his so-called nation.

Does he think that the people who can hold onto dragon treasures will have no cards up their sleeves? Senile old fool. All this chaos is putting my aunt in trouble. I cannot have this go on for long. So, rather than some old fool, I trust you, as a friend and as someone who knows that cruelty of these royal ones. To sit on the throne and maintain balance.”

Morgana heard his words and she could not digest it for a few minutes, but then she thought, and concluded that if she was in his place, she would have done the same thing. Suddenly, she asked, “Who is your aunt?”

Valerian realized now that he had let out some information about his life, and rather than brushing it off, he said, “Empress Fragrantia is the real sister of my birth mother. She passed away shortly after giving birth to me, and the empress did not know of me till I was bought in the palace by sheer coincidence. Thus, they adopted me.”

Morgana was shocked at this truth. She did not hold any ill-will towards Valerian, but the prince said, “I will tell you now, if you used this information to bring harm to my family. I will kill you regardless anything.”

The princess could sense his hostility, Valerian was not saying it for the sake of it, he was really warning her. Morgana gazed in his cold eyes, and she did not know why, but she walked closer to him and held his face in her palms as she said, “I do not have any ill-will for you. In this entire world, after my mother, you are the only person whom I can relate to. You are the only person that I can feel some sort of connection to.

I do not own anything of my own, all that I have is a tool from the Centurion family. Since you have given me such a precious gift, let me give you something similar as well.”

Valerian was surprised by this sudden closeness and boldness of the princess, and the next moment, the girl leaned down and her soft lips made contact with Valerian’s.