Page 18 of Ever Dark Academy: Vol. 3
“You’ve always loved to whittle,” Demos chuckled.
He and Siban still stood at the bottom of the stairs, waiting for the final opening, and the invitation.
Ryder nodded. “I carved these and other things in the palace. I would give the carvings to the Ever Dark and it would incorporate the pieces.”
“That’s amazing,” Grayson said.
Ryder grasped both handles of the doors. They were metal and twisted to look like vines. Ryder drew in a breath. And then he pulled the doors open. Red-gold light flooded them. The light--like that of a fire--flowed out and upwards. A huge pillar of fire streamed into the air signaling everyone.
Weryn had returned. All hail, the Immortal Soldier.
Judgement
Stepping inside the Weryn Palace was like stepping into himself. But the best parts. The parts Ryder wanted to have people see. He curled his hand around Grayson’s a little more tightly, but this time he was the one pulling Grayson ahead. Not too far though. He found himself stopping only half a dozen feet inside of the palace and being overwhelmed.
A huge chandelier made of antlers studded with crystals flooded them with light. He had hunted all of those deer. Every part of them was used from the meat to the skin to the bone to the antlers. Ryder remembered taking such great care to craft and create as much of the palace as possible with his own hands. Animals from the Ever Dark. Carved wood from its vast forests. Shaped stones from its deep quarries. He had gone out and found it all and fed it to the earth so that it could build a home worthy of his Bloodline and one that would honor his king.
“I can feel you in every part of this place,” Grayson murmured, clearly in awe, as he gazed around them.
Ryder sensed Demos and Siban come up behind them and stand in the doorway. Both of them stopped abruptly in their tracks, seemingly staggered by the feeling of this place. It was his place. And it welcomed them.
“I feel as if I am being hugged,” Siban said with a faint, almost disbelieving laugh.
“Brother, it even smells like you in here!” Demos chuckled but his voice was tinged with wonder. “After a shower and when you’ve put on that cologne you like.”
“Thanks for the clarification,” Ryder grunted.
“I love that cologne,” Grayson admitted. “I want to put it on myself.”
Ryder kissed his temple. “You are welcome to it.”
“Can you believe this place? Ryder, your palace is amazing!” Grayson enthused.
He had to agree. To their right was an arched doorway, twelve feet wide and nearly as tall. Beyond it, he could see a large table fit for thirty with massive chairs that had animals carved into their backs. These carvings had been done by his own hands. The table was of polished dark wood. Crystal goblets fit for wine and blood sat before each magnificent chair as if just waiting for the occupants to sit down and drink the night away. The coffered ceiling was beautifully detailed and the huge fireplace was set with wood. There was a spit where animals could be roasted over the fire for when they chose to eat. Or maybe that was to satisfy their human guests’ hunger, too.
For a moment, he imagined himself sitting at one end of the table, laughing lustily, lifting a glass of wine and blood to a crowded table of brilliant, loyal Weryn Vampires. Their faces were so clear in his mind. But no names leaped to his tongue. Though he knew they were real. Had been real.
How many received their Second Deaths in the War? Are there any that still exist and would seek me out?
He dragged his gaze away from the dining table and looked at Grayson. His lover was looking to their left. There was a two-storey sitting area with comfortable-looking leather couches. Fur blankets were thrown over their backs. Wide and deep armchairs in tufted leather with generous footstools all faced a fireplace nearly the length of the room. Logs the size of full trees were burning in the grate.
Pillows large enough for even him to sit on were scattered around the space, many strategically near the fire or by piles of books or the bookcases that extended from floor to ceiling. There was a balcony overlooking the room from what must have been the second floor. Polished beams were exposed against white plaster. He had known some of these trees when they had lived. He had run his hands over their smooth bark before he’d chopped them down. They’d given their lives to live eternally in the Weryn Palace.
“I thought it might be like this,” Grayson whispered as he took in the space.
“Might be like what?” Ryder asked.
Grayson grinned at him. “Don’t you recognize the style?”
Ryder immediately knew what Grayson was talking about. “Your bedroom in the dorm!”
Grayson nodded. “Exactly! It totally makes sense. The place I’d feel the most at home would be here so the Ever Dark recreated a small part of it for me.”
“Not your own palace?” Ryder asked, even as his heart beat harder at the thought that Grayson--Ashyr--loved his palace best. Thought of it as home.
“No, yours. Most definitely yours,” Grayson answered with a slow smile that slid over Ryder’s skin like a caress.
Grayson started to drift straight ahead of them. There was a long, generous hallway that cut through the building towards a courtyard. The hallway was framed by two arching staircases made of stone with wooden railings that mimicked tree limbs. They curled around and over it leading to the second floor. He knew there were bedrooms and other lounging rooms up above. He itched to walk through each room and run his hands over the wood, the plaster, the metal and stone. He wanted to breathe the air and feel the soft as a cloud mattresses underneath his and Grayson’s bodies.
