Sold as the Alpha King’s Breeder

Chapter 79 : Amassing An Army

Rubbing my eyes, I groaned and sat up.

How late had I stayed up last night? How much had I had to drink?

I rolled over and bumped into Jared. Squinting one eye open, I saw him sitting up in bed, shirtless.

My other eye popped open and I stared at Jared's toned, muscular chest. Sun poured through the window and

made his skin glow.

“Ahh, you're awake." Jared smirked at me.

I pulled myself up and yawned, stretching my arms out to the sides. “What time is it?"

“Almost noon."

“What? Really?" I looked out the window.

“Yeah. The Saboreef Elder asked us to meet him today. We shouldn't keep him waiting."

Jared got up and pulled his clothes on.

My eyes followed his hands as the fabric slid over his muscles, concealing his gorgeous body from view. Sighing, I

got up and put my own clothes on.

Jared and I followed the elder's directions to a Saboreef temple not that far from the village. The elder stood at the

large stone altar, which had several old parchment rolls and tomes laid out on it.

“What's all this?" I asked. I turned the pages in one of the tomes.

It crinkled and felt thin and brittle.

“This is a story that I think the two of you would like to hear." He motioned to me, and my pendant.

Instinctively, I grabbed the locket and ran it back and forth along the chain that dangled around my neck.

“About the locket?" Jared asked, raising an eyebrow.

The elder nodded. He picked up one of the tomes and flipped through several pages.

“Ahh, here we are," he said, tapping the top of the page. “Many, many years ago, a woman came to the temple,

this temple. She was a mystery to us and kept herself shielded under a cloak."

I glanced at Jared, catching the deep crease in his brow. I wondered if he recognized that description. It was pretty

vague, but something seemed to be bugging him.

Reaching out, I took his hand.

He glanced at me. “My mother," he mouthed.

I nodded and squeezed his hand. I hated seeing his handsome features scrunched up like that, like he was in pain.

“This woman came to us with a very simple request… simple, though unusual. She asked for a piece of jewelry to

be crafted from an old, broken artifact...."

The story sounded a little familiar to me. I knew I'd never heard it before, but it sounded almost like the beginning

of another story I knew, like a prequel to something else that had happened.

I kept holding the locket between my fingers, hooking the chain around my chin.

The day I'd composed the song… my mind floated back to that day. I hadn't made it up. The words had come to me

from a dream. There'd been a woman humming that song. I could envision it and hear it so clearly.

She hadn't just been humming the song, though, she'd been singing… singing words....

Gasping, I tightened my grip on Jared, squeezing his fingers.

“Ow," he muttered.

I turned to him, looking deeply into his beautiful orbs, drowning in the depth of his eyes.

“Jared...."

“What is it, Eliza?" he asked, his eyes deepening with concern.

The elder stopped reading and stared at us both.

“The song… I just remembered. It has words."

“Words?" Jared arched an eyebrow.

“Yes… words, like lyrics," I explained.

“What are they?"

I frowned. “Well, I don't remember." Sighing, I dropped the locket and looked at my feet.

“Read this," the elder said.

He handed me the large tome. It was heavy and dusty, making my nose itch when I breathed it in. On the page the

elder had opened there was a poem.

No, it wasn't a poem.

No, it wasn't a poem.

I scanned the words and immediately recognized them.

“This is the song," I whispered, running my hand over the page.

“Draven's curse haunts the darkened realm, the Light Realm is blessed with the key. Follow your heart to your

salvation. To break the bonds of Draven's hate, you must be brave and never falter, the Diadem of Nyx is what you

must take, when you find it you will alter the destiny of Draven's fate. Draven's curse is strong and dark, its force

can bind and wound.

“But the Diadem of Nix can break the spell unbound. Your courage will make it powerful enough to break free from

Draven's hold. Find it in the heart of the Light Realm and break the curse of old."

“Eliza, what does it say?"

I looked up at Jared, my eyes wide. I could barely believe what I was reading. But it was all starting to make sense.

“I think this is the answer to everything we've been looking for. Jared, I think this is how we break the curse!"

Jared's eyes widened too and he grabbed the tome from me.

I was grateful not to have to carry that heavy book any more. Quickly, I brushed some of the dust off my arms.

“The dark curse can only be broken by going to the heart of the Realm of Light," I said as Jared read the words.

“What is the Diadem of Nyx?" he asked, his brow furrowing as he looked up from the book.

“I don't know." I shrugged. “But if we transfer the dark curse to the Diadem, then it won't affect us anymore."

Jared shook his head. He closed the book and set it back on the altar. Turning to me, he grabbed my arms, his

thumb running over the dark tattoos on my arm.

I looked down at the marks and followed Jared's thumb with my own finger.

“Oh, Jared, I almost forgot. With the celebration and the partying, one of the women showed me something about

the marks on my arm."

“What?"

“It is a map of the Realm of Light, of Winter Forest."

Jared smiled and opened the tome again, right to the page where he'd left off. His eyes scanned through the text

quickly.

“The Diadem is located in the Temple of the Moon Goddess."

“It looks like we're going to the Realm of Light," I sighed.

***

*Jared*

Eliza and I were used to making quick travel plans. We wouldn't need long to prepare for our trip to the Realm of

Light.

For the first time in a long time, I felt a swell of hope at thinking we actually had a chance to break the curse, not

just for me, but for Eliza, too.

Did we really have a chance at our happily ever after?

'Jared?'

I tensed, feeling Archer through the mind-link.

'What is it?' I replied.

'Aeris and his men are looking for you. They are looking to make good on their promise to overthrow the Alpha

King.'

'Where are you? We should discuss this in person.'

'I'll come to you.'

“Jared, what's wrong?" Eliza asked.

Her lovely, bright eyes gazed into mine. I had my hand on the small of her back, not realizing I'd stopped walking

while talking to Archer.

“Archer has some news for us. We're going to meet with him briefly before we go to the Light Realm."

Eliza nodded.

I connected with Archer and planned to meet with him on the outskirts of the village we'd helped repair. It had the

lowest population of all the nearby villages, and it was surrounded by wilderness. We could stay secluded and talk

freely.

By sundown, Archer arrived, meeting us in the designated location.

He looked winded and tired, like he'd been working hard and not sleeping well. His clothes were a little dirty and

rumpled. I wondered when the last time he'd showered or changed his clothes.

Sometimes, scouting was a rough business.

“I heard from Abe while I was on my way here," he said, crouching down with us in the large, tropical leaves.

They were great for cover and they were so thick they helped absorb sound.

“How are things going on Abe's end?" I asked.

“They've intercepted Aeris and Hestia. Hestia fled, like a coward, but Aeris has made it clear that he's raising an

army against the king," Archer reported.

“He's really going through with that plan?" Eliza asked, her voice hitching.

“He seems determined. But Aeris isn't going alone. He plans to fetch you, Jared, and soon, very soon. He wants you

to go to the capital with his forces."

Sighing, I bowed my head. “We don't have time for this! It is just nonsense."

“This is serious, Jared. Aeris is making a play for the throne. That's against your family," Eliza said, touching my

shoulder gently.

“Right now, Eliza, we need to form a plan to get out of the Egoren capitol, preferably without being recognized," I

insisted. “A trading vessel would make the most sense. We'd attract less attention than if we went on a passenger

ship."

“Are you sure that's what you want, Jared?" Eliza asked.

I glanced at her. The amount of concern she showed me was a little overwhelming, but I loved it. I took her hand

and brought it to my lips, kissing the back.

“You should go to the capital and side with Xander, show the royal family your support," she insisted.

Rolling my eyes, I shook my head. “The royal family really isn't my concern right now."

“How can you say that? They are technically your family too." Eliza's eyes narrowed at me slightly.

I stood up and pulled her to her full height. Taking both her hands, I smiled gently at her. Moving my hand up her

arm, I traced the lines of the tattoo map.

“Right now, I think we have more pressing matters. You're my family, Eliza, the only real family I have. That makes

breaking this curse my priority."

“Showing the Alpha King your loyalty won't take much time. We can do that, and he probably won't expect you to

stay and fight. I mean, I think it is worth pledging your loyalty, so he doesn't think you're against him and try to hunt

you down later."

Eliza made a good point, but I had no intention of diverting our attention away from the mission we had, the

mission of saving Eliza and myself.

Once I was sure she was curse-free, I could worry about political matters with the Alpha King.

“Eliza, if we really want to break the curse, from this moment on, every second counts. We will need every moment

of that time to find what we're looking for and figure out how to transfer the curse," I reminded her.

Eliza licked her lips slowly and glanced down at her feet. It was a coy, innocent gesture that made my stomach

plummet.

“I know… our time is precious...."

“And if we don't break the curse, then it won't matter who thinks I'm loyal to them." I laughed lightly.

Eliza tried to smile but I could see how strained it was.

“Why don't you write a letter to the Alpha King and explain my position?" I suggested.

“You don't think he could use your support… you know, militarily?" she arched an eyebrow.

“Eliza, the Alpha King has his own army. It is probably the largest army in this realm. I'm sure he can take care of

himself." I put my hands on her shoulders and grinned.

Eliza smiled back and nodded slowly. “Fine, fine."