Read Online The Quest (The Hidden Realm Book 5) by A. Giannetti - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: A. Giannetti
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standing there. Handsome and unfailingly kindhearted and attentive to her since the loss of her husband, Merula had never given any sign that he wished to be more than her friend, but he had nonetheless captured her fancy. Now, observing the intensity of emotion in his eyes, Alypia immediately mistook his agitation for a softer sentiment.
“Has he summoned me to declare his love?” she wondered to herself, her heart beginning to palpitate wildly.
“I have come as you requested, Merula,” she said rather breathlessly, bestowing a warm look on him to encourage any declaration of love that he might be prepared to make. Merula took her right hand into his left, but to Alypia’s disappointment, he merely pressed a small vial into her palm with his right hand rather than drawing her into his arms as she had hoped.
“I have been concerned for Anthea’s health since you confided that she does not sleep well,” said Merula, his voice warm and concerned. “This physic comes highly recommended. If she were to take a small draught in her wine tonight, I have been assured that she will fall into a deep sleep.” Lightheaded from the firm contact of Merula’s strong hand and the nearness of his handsome face, Alypia unquestioningly closed her hand on the vial, touched by his concern for her cousin. “I will come late to her apartment tonight to ascertain the effectiveness of the potion,” continued Merula. Alypia’s heart began to throb again when Merula said meaningfully, “If she is well asleep, we may pass a few moments together in private.”
“I will await your arrival,” replied Alypia eagerly, her fine, gray eyes gleaming with anticipation.
“It is done then,” thought Merula with a sense of relief after Alypia left. “The tiresome hours I spent cultivating the friendship of this vapid woman will bear fruit tonight.” Later, as the hour for sleep drew near, Merula doused his leather boots with the second potion that Torquatus had given him. As he crossed his threshold, bound for Orianus’s palace, Anthea’s shade was just returning to her body after leaving Elerian in Iulius.
“My time as a shade takes a toll on my body like any other magic,” she thought to herself, for she felt unusually tired, as if she had performed some great exertion. “I would do well to rest a bit before I set out for Iulius,” she decided. “I am better served to leave late, in any case, when everyone is wrapped in the warm embrace of sleep.” Near her bed, on a small stand of ebony inlaid with silver, she saw the glass of ruby wine that Alypia placed there for her each night to help alleviate the restlessness which afflicted her when the sun went down. Taking up the glass with the strong, slender fingers of her right hand, Anthea drank a small portion of the ruby liquid before lying down on her bed. For a moment her eyes remained open, gleaming with excitement and anticipation as she pictured her reunion with Elerian when she met him on the plains near the eastern pass through the Nivalis. The journey, alone through hundreds of miles of dangerous, unpopulated lands which she must make to bring about that meeting, caused her not a moment of unrest. Then, weariness and the potion that she had unwittingly drunk dragged down her eyelids. Instead of the light, half-aware sleep she had become accustomed to lately, Anthea found her consciousness slipping into a state of oblivion where all thought ended. When Alypia quietly entered Anthea’s bedroom a short time later and saw her cousin sleeping, her heart was glad, but she was also puzzled when she noted that Anthea was still dressed leather hunting gear instead of nightclothes.
“She must have fallen asleep before she could change,” thought Alypia to herself. “At least she will rest for one night, thanks to Merula’s potion,” was her satisfied thought as she spread a coverlet over Anthea after taking off her soft leather boots. While she was thus occupied, a tall,
“Has he summoned me to declare his love?” she wondered to herself, her heart beginning to palpitate wildly.
“I have come as you requested, Merula,” she said rather breathlessly, bestowing a warm look on him to encourage any declaration of love that he might be prepared to make. Merula took her right hand into his left, but to Alypia’s disappointment, he merely pressed a small vial into her palm with his right hand rather than drawing her into his arms as she had hoped.
“I have been concerned for Anthea’s health since you confided that she does not sleep well,” said Merula, his voice warm and concerned. “This physic comes highly recommended. If she were to take a small draught in her wine tonight, I have been assured that she will fall into a deep sleep.” Lightheaded from the firm contact of Merula’s strong hand and the nearness of his handsome face, Alypia unquestioningly closed her hand on the vial, touched by his concern for her cousin. “I will come late to her apartment tonight to ascertain the effectiveness of the potion,” continued Merula. Alypia’s heart began to throb again when Merula said meaningfully, “If she is well asleep, we may pass a few moments together in private.”
“I will await your arrival,” replied Alypia eagerly, her fine, gray eyes gleaming with anticipation.
“It is done then,” thought Merula with a sense of relief after Alypia left. “The tiresome hours I spent cultivating the friendship of this vapid woman will bear fruit tonight.” Later, as the hour for sleep drew near, Merula doused his leather boots with the second potion that Torquatus had given him. As he crossed his threshold, bound for Orianus’s palace, Anthea’s shade was just returning to her body after leaving Elerian in Iulius.
“My time as a shade takes a toll on my body like any other magic,” she thought to herself, for she felt unusually tired, as if she had performed some great exertion. “I would do well to rest a bit before I set out for Iulius,” she decided. “I am better served to leave late, in any case, when everyone is wrapped in the warm embrace of sleep.” Near her bed, on a small stand of ebony inlaid with silver, she saw the glass of ruby wine that Alypia placed there for her each night to help alleviate the restlessness which afflicted her when the sun went down. Taking up the glass with the strong, slender fingers of her right hand, Anthea drank a small portion of the ruby liquid before lying down on her bed. For a moment her eyes remained open, gleaming with excitement and anticipation as she pictured her reunion with Elerian when she met him on the plains near the eastern pass through the Nivalis. The journey, alone through hundreds of miles of dangerous, unpopulated lands which she must make to bring about that meeting, caused her not a moment of unrest. Then, weariness and the potion that she had unwittingly drunk dragged down her eyelids. Instead of the light, half-aware sleep she had become accustomed to lately, Anthea found her consciousness slipping into a state of oblivion where all thought ended. When Alypia quietly entered Anthea’s bedroom a short time later and saw her cousin sleeping, her heart was glad, but she was also puzzled when she noted that Anthea was still dressed leather hunting gear instead of nightclothes.
“She must have fallen asleep before she could change,” thought Alypia to herself. “At least she will rest for one night, thanks to Merula’s potion,” was her satisfied thought as she spread a coverlet over Anthea after taking off her soft leather boots. While she was thus occupied, a tall,
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