Brantley took in a deep breath. "This is the world of Lore Dawn. One mistake and you are gone. Every immortal is at war with the other one. That's the power play of this world. It's crazy. As for Gayle—he didn't know that his wife is a sorceress. He thought she was a werewolf. It was a shock for him. When he came to meet her at the Arc of Orinico, all of his people were abducted along with him and brought over here. While Gayle was released because he was her husband, the others, including Neal, are thrown into dungeons in the castle's basement."

"Shit! So much connivance!" Dawn blurted with anger. She couldn't believe that Sedora had hidden her true identity from her husband. "Why didn't he ever come to know about her? I find it hard to believe that he didn't know about her at all!"

​​

"Dawn, Sedora is the queen of illusions! What do you expect? Do you think that in Silver Mansion there are all werewolves?"

Dawn's eyes widened. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"There is a sorcerer amongst you who has been stationed ever since Sedora got married to Gayle."

"Oh. My. God!"

"This all had been planned from long back. Do you think that Sedora would leave even a single stone unturned to not make it happen?"

"Gayle was a victim of her illusions?"

"Not only Gayle, even her sons. Why do you think that Daryn and Caleb were always so worried when she was around?"

Dawn's mind scurried for some coherence.

"Their mother created illusions around them just to experiment on them. They were like her personal lab testing specimens. If it were for her, she would have taken them with her to this place, but because of Gayle's insistence the children got to stay back with their father."

Dawn shivered. "This is all so twisted Brantley…"

"The Lore is twisted. Over here everything that looks simple is perhaps the most convoluted." She felt bad for Gayle. That man deserved to be happy.

"Don't get overwhelmed by the facts. You have to focus on the contest. Rest assured, I am there with you and so is Ileus."

The information that Brantley gave her was too much to process. A headache was beginning to form. She so badly wanted to be with Daryn. If only he could come and hold her once, she would get recharged. She bit her lip and stopped her tears from falling out when she remembered how Daryn had pressed his head against the woman and hadn't even given her a paltry look.

Brantley ran his fingers through his hair. "Now that you know everything, you forgive me, do you?"

Dawn's expressions changed to that of a smile. "How can I not forgive you Brantley? I wish you had said it earlier to me. I wouldn't have attacked you… So many misunderstandings…" She didn't know if she would be able to rectify her mess.

Brantley held her hands and squeezed them warmly. "Oh no! I don't have any regrets as to what happened in the past. Whatever happened was destined. That was the only way it could have occurred."

Dawn gave him a benevolent smile. "How do you know so much about our family?"

Brantley pursed his lips in a thin smile and said, "Once I came to know about you, it became my duty to track you and see that you were safe. It's just that I could never reveal myself to you or tell you anything, because that would have meant hampering with history and nature—and that's something, which the Lore people are afraid of. Those who aren't, turn to the dark side."

"It's so complicated…"

"It's complicated…"

"There are a lot other things that are still unraveled. I won't be able to tell any of them to you, but always remember one thing, whatever I will do, it will be for the safety of my mate. Always!"

Dawn smiled. Then suddenly she asked, "Did you have a hand in me becoming a neotide?"

"Hell no!" he exclaimed. "That is one thing even I would like to find out." Brantley got up and went to sit on the chair, feeling relaxed. "And I don't know how to say, but your becoming a neotide was a blessing in disguise for me."

"What do you mean, Brantley? That thing changed my life. It was horrible!"

"I agree, but if you hadn't become a neotide, do you think you would have been able to sustain Daryn's mark, his claiming bite?"

Dawn flushed.

"Most humans would have died. Don't you see all the changes in your body?"

"I do… but that doesn't mean that I should have been bitten!" she snapped.

"I agree."

"When I go back, if I go back, I will find the person who did this to me and take my revenge!"

"And I will help you with that," said Brantley with so much genuineness that Dawn felt relaxed.

"I wish Daryn was here…" she said and rubbed the back of her neck. Fatigue was making her eyes go heavy.

"Ileus has gone to find him in the palace."

"Woah!" Dawn's eyes widened with excitement. "That's risky!"

"Trust him and his antics. He always has something up his sleeve. That young boy is a prankster! His parents are pretty worried about him always!" Brantley laughed.

Dawn sat straight in her chair. With all that had happened a few hours back, would Ileus be able to get him here?

"Why don't you lie down on the bed? You must be very tired."

"I am…" she replied. She walked to the bed and lied. Brantley covered her with the blanket.

"Do you want water?" he asked.

Dawn chuckled. "You can be a good nanny."

Brantley poured water for her in a glass and said, "Trust me Dawn, I can be. You don't know how much I am dying to see that little baby. Would you believe if I tell you that I feel strongly connected with her even as I am here and she is yet to take birth?"

Dawn gaped. "But she is yet to be born. She needs to have a face for you to feel that connection…"

He gave the glass to her. "No Dawn… that presence is more than enough… I have waited two millennia for her…"

Dawn stared at him. Did she see moisture in the eyes of this king? She gulped the water down and lied back.

---

The Norhall castle was built in a way that it had four towers surrounding it. At present Ileus was sitting on the roof of the main castle and his gaze was drawn up far above him to the spires of the tower on the west. There were no lights in the entire structure except on the highest floor, which might be having the royal apartments. He had investigated likely places in the castle but Daryn was nowhere. And now he had to investigate the towers.

He brought his fingers to the talisman that he was made to wear before entering the kingdom of Ixoviya and tried to yank it out, but it wouldn't come off. It had kind of glued to his skin. He gritted his teeth. He had to teleport to that place and he couldn't use all his powers. Every time he used his magic, his energy depleted to a great extent. He knew this was Sedora's style of absorbing his powers. If he stayed for too long in Ixovaya, she would suck up a lot and be even more dangerous.