Page 74 of Darkness Births the Stars #1

CHAPTER

THE GOLDEN DAYS OF LYRHEIM

Rada

L ies only gave birth to more lies. A harsh lesson I learned all too quickly.

Even the ones I convinced myself I was only telling for the good of others.

Perhaps those most of all. Deep down, I knew what I was doing was wrong, a new sense of caution creeping into my every interaction with Aramaz.

I feared it was only a matter of time before he uncovered the truth, and I dreaded his reaction.

Ironically, it wasn’t my behavior that aroused suspicion, though. It was Belekoroz’s. But then, given his usual prickly nature, the mere absence of his constant glares and barbed comments was unusual. Especially to the one who knew him best—his brother.

“I’ve never seen Belekoroz as content as he is since working together with you,” Aramaz commented one day, when we were alone in his study after a Council meeting.

The room was bathed in the warm, golden light of the afternoon sun, casting long shadows on the polished wooden floor.

“My love, you are an enchantress. Who would have thought my brother would be so taken with you? ”

“It was as you said,” I forced out, the words catching in my suddenly dry throat. “He appreciated someone giving him a chance.” My voice sounded strained, even to my own ears.

My betrothed’s blue eyes twinkled good-naturedly as he handed me a glass of wine.

It was a new drink, made by the Elves from the sweet grapes growing on the hills of southern Lyrheim.

I took a gulp of the crimson liquid to gather my thoughts.

It tasted delicious, like the essence of summer tingling on my tongue.

“Indeed. But then, who could resist your charms for long?” Aramaz’s smile deepened as he stepped around his desk, reaching for a lock of my hair and twirling it around his finger.

The gesture was intimate, almost possessive, and sent a shiver down my spine.

“I must ask you to employ them once more. He seemed a bit reluctant to share the remaining locations of the gates to the Other with us.”

“They are in the north. He considers it his domain,” I answered softly, setting down my wineglass. My stomach was churning with sudden unease, a cold knot forming in its pit.

“Mmm.” Aramaz’s hand trailed down my arm, pulling me to him. My head came to rest against his chest.

At other times, I had cherished the solid, reassuring warmth of him against me. Today, a sickening feeling overcame me of being trapped like a bird in a cage, with no possibility of escape. His scent, a mix of pine and something crisper, like the bite in the air before a storm, enveloped me.

“Perhaps you need to be more convincing. He won’t be able to deny you.”

Panic swelled within me. He could not mean…

I tensed in his embrace, my muscles tightening in an involuntary urge to flee. “I don’t think he really…” I started, my voice trembling as I wondered what exactly Aramaz suspected .

The king’s next words made my heart seize painfully, as if gripped by an iron fist.

“Oh, I know he desires you.”

A disbelieving sound left my lips.

Aramaz’s tone remained eerily calm as he continued. “I guess the two of you are more alike than it seems. Both… passionate.”

Oh, lyr . He knew. I closed my eyes, bracing for the fury, the hurt, the accusations that would surely follow.

But his body stayed relaxed against mine, his breaths measured and even.

It took all my courage to glance up at him.

To my astonishment, I found no condemnation in his expression, only faint amusement.

“You are not angry?” I asked, my voice barely audible. I searched his face, desperate to read his thoughts, to find any hint of the tempest I expected.

“Why should I be? I love you both. And you both seem to find joy in this.” Aramaz cupped my face with his large hand, the warmth of his touch almost soothing. A soft smile played on his lips, but there was an edge to it, a hint of something darker. “And it doesn’t change things between us.”

A sudden sharpness entered those blue eyes I thought I knew so well, turning them into icy shards. His hold on my jaw tightened, bordering on painful. A gust of wind rustled my skirts.

“This is only something physical, yes?” His lip twitched. “A passing curiosity.”

A curiosity I was indulging in thoroughly.

Just yesterday, I had gone to the Other with Belekoroz and he had pleasured me with his mouth until I was close to delirious.

His fingers tangled in my sweaty hair when he took me in the mud afterward, my control disintegrating so far that my powers left scorch marks all around us.

He was surprisingly fond of ensuring my pleasure before seeking his own release.

Not for any selfless reasons, I suspected.

No, he craved the feeling of mastering me, of turning me into a begging, moaning mess eager for his every touch.

And I loved it. Loved letting all restraints fall away, all inhibitions evaporating like smoke, only fire remaining. This curiosity had become an addiction.

I struggled to keep my face controlled as I answered Aramaz. “Of course. It changes nothing.” My words hung in the air, a fragile shield containing the storm brewing inside me.

It seemed to be enough. With a satisfied nod, Aramaz released me and stepped back to his desk.

“We should probably not tell Belekoroz about this conversation,” he remarked, refilling his wineglass.

“He might interpret it the wrong way.” His gaze found me again, his expression serious. “As a deliberate deception.”

I stood there, feeling like a petitioner before him, my mind racing to make sense of his words while he calmly sipped his wine. I had expected rage, disappointment, disgust—anything but this. It left me floundering, unsure how to react.

He was right, of course. It changed nothing.

I was still his betrothed. By the will of the Allfather, I was to be his queen and rule by his side.

But the thought of Belekoroz, of the passion we shared, gnawed at me.

How could something that felt so real be dismissed as irrelevant, a mere distraction?

You shared more than your body with him, an accusing whisper echoed through me.

This was the moment to be truthful with Aramaz, to repay his generosity by revealing everything.

Yet a part of me resisted, a persistent instinct warning me to be cautious.

The weight of my secrets pressed down on me, making it hard to breathe.

“You don’t want me to stop working with Belekoroz, then?” I asked, my voice barely steady. An attempt to deflect and buy myself time.

“The situation is quite delicate,” Aramaz replied, sorting through a stack of parchment on his desk without looking at me.

His tone was firm and self-assured, the same one he used when persuading me to take his position on Council matters.

“While our recent successes have been satisfactory, there remains much work to do to accomplish the will of the Allfather. The threat of the Kritak must be eliminated. Permanently. And that would be much easier with Belekoroz aiding us rather than hindering us at every step.”

The room seemed to close in around me as the tension between us grew. For a moment, the rustling of parchment was the only sound. I couldn’t take it any longer—all these hints and allusions, all this dancing around what he really wanted from me.

“You want me to continue to sleep with your brother?” I didn’t even attempt to keep my disbelief out of my voice as I stepped up to the desk, leaning over it to catch his gaze. “To keep his mind off any thought of rebellion?”

The enormity of the request, the cold logic behind it, made my heart pound with a mix of apprehension and anger. The words hung in the air, a challenge I couldn’t take back.

Those blue eyes met mine, still calm, like the surface of a frozen lake.

“That seems like the wisest course of action, doesn’t it?” One blonde eyebrow rose in aloof amusement. “I’m surprised you haven’t asked when I found out about your little secret.”

I bit my lip, finally understanding why Belekoroz found his brother’s air of superiority so vexing.

The king’s next words made me freeze in renewed dread.

“I searched for you after the Lyrnight. When you vanished, I first thought you needed another moment to yourself. But then you didn’t return, and I started to worry. Imagine my surprise when I realized where you had gone.”

But that meant… I could hardly breathe, captured by those bright ey es. Something fierce and scorching suddenly raged within them, something that nearly scared me in its intensity. A thousand questions raced through my mind. What had he seen? Why had he waited so long to confront me?

“I don’t think sleeping with my brother is such a chore for you,” Aramaz continued, the fire in his eyes deepening, his mocking tone reminding me disconcertingly of his brother. “In fact, the two of you seemed to enjoy yourselves quite a lot.”

Light, that answered my question. Whatever he had witnessed, it had been quite enough. My cheeks burned at the thought that Aramaz had likely watched every single moment between Belekoroz and me that night. How I had moaned and cried out in complete abandon as he took me. How I had begged for more.

Another question flashed through my mind, sending a wave of nausea through me. “Did you talk with the Allfather about this?” I forced myself to ask, my voice no more than a rasp. What would our Maker say if he knew how far I had fallen?

“No. I think we both agree that we should not bother the Allfather with such inconsequential matters.”

“No. Of course not.” My relief was too overwhelming for any further protest as the king deftly changed the topic, his calm mask firmly back in place, assuming my silent acquiescence to his plans.

But did I truly have a choice? No. I had to be grateful for Aramaz’s apparent understanding.

So I held my tongue, aware that this was far from over, sensing an ominous undercurrent of something deeper than the reasons he had given me.

Much later, back in the safety of my own quarters, I realized I had never considered telling Aramaz that his brother had planned to kill me. Not once. Another form of deception I had learned to use: the lie of omission.