Black Star Light

Chapter 3

He nodded thoughtfully again, and I, unable to stand it, just as quietly asked:

— Dinar, why are you here?

A quick glance of blue eyes... and I remembered that they were gray, turning blue only when Grahsoven was angry.

Well, I wasn't in the best mood either.

For Ajana? she asked with a sarcastic grin on her lips.

There was no answer.

After that, the former ruler of Dallaria rose heavily, returned the chair to its place and, heading for the door, threw over his shoulder:

- Good night, Kat.

But before the door closed behind him, I still said:

“I hope you had good nights in the Dawn World, especially when you spent them with your wife.”

He froze.

I regret what I said...

Dinar is gone. Without turning around.

And I remained sitting, uncontrollably drawing conclusions. So, he remembers. I don’t know what exactly, but at least he remembers me and my name ... This is a definite plus, but a minus ... there were enough minuses. For example, I knew exactly where he slept - and it was not a room allocated to him, it was Ajana's bedroom. In addition to the knowledge that they sleep together, her embarrassed smile was enough for me every time I saw Dinar, her flushed cheeks ... on the Free Islands, morals reigned free before marriage, so no one condemned ... Well, except for me. However, these lovers did not care about my feelings. My feelings in general, in principle, few people were interested ...

Darkness slipped from my shoulders, partly lay down on the table in front of me, looked anxiously, frightening with scarlet slits in my eyes. For some reason, the Darkness reminded me of Lokar... I don't even know why, but suddenly I realized very clearly - they are devilishly similar. Gloom and Lokar. Surprisingly similar, especially when you consider that Lokar in translation from Elar will be the Shadow. And by the way, the shadow of Anrahar, the prince of this very Shadow, was talking.

“Tell me,” I leaned forward and touched the face of Darkness with icy fingers, “is there a chance for you to find a voice?”

Gloom screwed up his scarlet eyes and shook his head negatively.

“But the Shadow of Anrahar spoke,” I pointed out. “And Lokar said the same.

Gloom looked at me intently, and then the rune "Higher" was created from his tattered dark-created body. And I realized that I was intrigued.

Are you superior? she asked, hoping least of all for an affirmative answer.

But Darkness, to my sincere surprise, nodded. How interesting.

“Mi-i-i-ir,” I called cautiously.

A familiar huge eye appeared at the same time. I shuddered as soon as Sataren stared at me with one eye, and I thought that I would never get used to this surrealism.

“Mark claims to be a former Supreme, is that possible?” I asked.

Sataren changed his eye from a fish eye to a dragon eye that flashed scarlet silver and said, “That is a fact. The dark ones were able to drink essences. Drinking, bind to blood and pass on to the legacy.

“I was very pleased with the part about “were capable” in this phrase,” I said nervously.

The darkness smiled with an eerie scarlet smile, the world laughed distantly, it seems that it had involuntarily made a mountain collapse somewhere, but I thought about the higher ones. Having calmed down, the world said: “I weakened both the dark and the light as best I could. It was easier for the Light Ones, for the Dark Ones, the strength turned out to be fueled by other entities.

“But, as I understand it, the essence of Caesar remained in my world,” I said thoughtfully.

The world didn’t answer, I guess they just didn’t know, but if you think about it, then “bind to blood and pass on to inheritance.” The dark legacy of Caesar awakened already in the Dawn World, perhaps at the same time the Shadow, that is, Lokar, came to him. And Caesar, in some way I don't understand, managed to endow his heritage with the ability to see everything that happens in the world. I wonder how?

"What do you want to see?" the world asked.

“What Caesar did to Dinar,” I answered with the utmost honesty.

But the thoughts were already moving on, much further. For example, I know that when Dinard came into this world… he would still remember what he was after, and somehow designated it for the higher ones. And no Caesar. What is the difference between opening the way to the world?!

I didn’t have time to think it out, Sataren answered: “I don’t see it. Can't see. The son of this world hides events. Lots of events."

I looked intensely at the eye, the eye answered me with the same intense look, then apparently conveyed what I could see - how Dinara was being dragged into a prison cell, followed by Caesar with icy calmness and the vision was filled with darkness.

As I sat, it was so good that I remained sitting.

The next picture is a Caesar, in just trousers, slowly approaches a mountain stream, squats down, stretches out his fingers to a stream flaring up with a blue flame ... and the vision is flooded with darkness!

"Source of Ehea," Sataren said nervously.

And I understood what the world wanted to say - Caesar was slowly but surely seizing control of it. Caesar... Well, three hundred years of experience, unbending will, absolute self-confidence - it was to be expected in general.

Rising, she walked around the table, took out a crystal from the cache arranged in the wall, and, activating it, returned to her place at the table. Crystal facets, pushing the space, opened my eyes to the bedroom. Our bedroom with Caesar, now completely empty. And everything would be fine, but I set the opening point of Caesar himself! Which means...

— Sataren, Caesar is not in you! I understood instantly.

The eye blinked in surprise, rolled back, apparently completely withdrawing into itself, and quickly returned, confirming:

"He is not in this world."

In the next moment, I rushed to Ajana!

She grabbed her cloak, slammed the secret panel shut on the way, rushed out of the reception room, tried to slip past the guards, and was suddenly stopped abruptly. The guard, whom I tried to rush past, grabbed by the wrist, jerked it towards him, in the twilight the blue eyes of the former Dallarian ruler flashed, and at my very lips it sounded:

- Don't be stupid.

I froze, holding my breath and frightened looking at Dinar, and not understanding, desperately not understanding what was happening.

“Just a question,” he suddenly said, hugging him, “would you love me even when I was old?”

I was silent, looking at him in shock.

“Even after I slept with your sister?” There was pain in his voice.

His breath practically touched my lips, his fingers squeezed his wrist tightly, but carefully, the body, the strong body was no longer a guy - a man, it seemed red-hot to the limit, and tense to the same limit.

“Once I was young and stupid, stupid enough to let Ice Light take away the only thing that was dear to me. Since then I have mellowed. And grew up. Go back to your room, Katenok, just don't stay up as usual until midnight, or even until dawn, and stomp to sleep. Not thinking, not remembering this conversation, and continuing to suffer. Questions?

What I knew instantly was that he didn't spend the night at Ajana's. Every night he spent here, guarding my doors! Otherwise, how would he know what time I go to bed and how long I sit over the documents.

"Go," and his fingers on my wrist slowly, reluctantly, as if he was forcing each of them, loosened.

She glanced nervously at the second guard, who stood looking out into the night, not moving even to draw a breath.

"Stasis," Dinar explained simply.

I would have agreed with him, only my shoulders were instantly shrouded in darkness, and I realized something unpleasant:

“It became known not only to me that Caesar left this world.

I did not begin to add the main thing - one of the dark ones is approaching, otherwise the Darkness would not have appeared, in an effort to protect me. And one of the most frightening thoughts was that Qyar had managed to block Eheya. I don’t know how, I’m not sure that Caesar would have shared his knowledge with him, but he managed.

And I'll have to deal with it.

Wrapped up in a shawl from Gloom, I stepped onto the threshold and stopped on the steps, observing an amazingly beautiful phenomenon - the Prince of the Night Terror was descending to MY island descending along the black steps marked with scarlet luminous contours. In his left hand was a huge bouquet of bright scarlet magical roses, which, losing their petals, lit up the night with a ghostly scarlet glow, the second hand, apparently, was holding the staircase itself. Behind him, a black cloak fluttered in the wind, crimson eyes sparkled with anticipation.

- That is, Caesar fell down for a long time, right? — sitting down on the steps of my own tower, I sarcastically asked.

The radiant smile of the now handsome dark prince spoke for itself, and it spoke out clearly in favor of the correctness of the stated guess.

“And you decided that the time has come to hit on the orphaned empress of light,” sarcasm is our everything.

“Catherine, my love, you must admit that your existence in this human swamp looks more than strange,” Kyar replied, continuing his indulgence.

Yes, something, but we were both tongue-tied.

- Swamp? I patted my eyelashes sweetly. “Well, you’re right, we certainly should do something about it. How about starting with a passionate kiss?

The last word almost sounded like a threat, and the dark one would understand it, but no.

Descending imposingly, Akyar came up, squatted down in front of me, passing the bouquet and looking into my eyes, softly, but with a distinctly felt steel notes, said:

“Catherine, I am not Adras, giving away my power in the name of saving a dying humanity is definitely not my style. And you, with all your undoubted talent, can hardly manage to extract from me everything that you undoubtedly desire.

“Undoubtedly,” I said.

But since the bickering was already somewhat fed up, she asked bluntly:

And where is my husband at the moment?

The smile of the dark became wider and more meaningful.

“I didn’t ask about your dreams and aspirations now,” she firmly put some in their place.

Some stopped smiling instantly.

“Two options,” I continued, “either you betrayed him, leaving him to be torn to pieces by that bunch of higher ones led by Ugnar…”

“Agnar,” Kyar gently corrected, smiling again.

- Ugnar! I decided to stand my ground. - Or they just left it somewhere, outside the Lower World, sclerotically forgetting such a sweet concept as betrayal in principle.

For a few seconds, the dark one studied me with a gaze of crimson, glowing in the dark eyes, like hot coals, then his smile became clearly far from the actual concept of a smile, and Kyar confessed:

- The first.

Awesome! Just awesome!

I took the bouquet, brought it to my face, inhaled the scent of night roses, and honestly admitted:

“If I were you, Kjar, I would hurry away from my swamp, and with the maximum possible speed, because the Caesar will return. And as far as I know, he will return quickly.