Lesker
The previous night with Kohra both excited and scared me. She was dominant and curious, using and exploring my body as she saw fit. I was powerless to stop her, not like I wanted to. The experience brought me something I hadn't felt in a long time; completeness. It was weird.
I traced the places the mark were formerly situated, feeling the completeness slip from me. I wanted those marks. I couldn't tell her that but it saddened me. I hoped what happened the previous night would happen again but I knew not to keep my hopes up.
During the training, Jayar noticed my absent mind and put more pressure on me. His eyes were unreadable but his body language showed he was annoyed. When he almost cut my hand off using his sword, I snapped at him.
"What the fuck?"
"If you were in a real fight, you would've died. Forget about the queen taking your virginity and focus"
"You could've said that instead of trying to amputate me"
"Do I look like a fool to you?"
"Might as well be one"
Our 'spar' got fiercer from thereon. He was bullying me with his superior strength and expertise but I was having none of it. I used my smaller size to my advantage and managed to bruise him. In return I got cuts almost everywhere. My body and hands were aching. He knocked the sword out my hands and pointed his at my throat.
I glared at him and he pointed the sword closer, drawing blood from my throat.
"That's enough Jayar. Let him be" I heard a voice say from the ceiling. A female descended from there and landed in front of Jayar. She had a smirk on her face, one that I saw intimidated Jayar.
"Princess Sephira, this doesn't concern you" Jayar retorted.
"I could make it my business though. Would you want that?" she says, her smirk widening. He doesn't reply, just grits his teeth.
"I thought so. Now scram. I have words for this one" she commands, pointing to me. Jayar growls and leaves the training room. The princess looks at me and starts to examine my body.
"No marks? How? I thought.......Hmm, she must've healed them. You smell nice" she comments.
"Um, thanks?" I say, more like a question.
"I'm Sephira, Kohra's half sister. I also happen to be the royal interrogator" she says, extending a hand. I shake it and introduce myself. Sephira looked nothing like her sister or her mother. I guessed she looked more like her father.
"I've been down there for almost six months now so I couldn't make your wedding. My sister sent a message to me so I just had to come check you out. You're cute. Do you enjoy torture?"
"What?"
"Wait, mother says that's a personal hobby. Do you know what a sadist is?"
"Yeah. Someone that tortures other people for fun and pleasure"
"Aww, you're smart too. So, how do you define a masochist?"
"Someone that enjoys being tortured....."
"Yes, yes.... So, Lesker, would you define yourself as a sadist or a masochist?"
I choked on my water. She pat my back while I coughed, a gentle smile on her face. It crept me out. I immediately want to run away.
"Uh, I should really go. I have research to complete. I'll see you later"
"Oh, you're running away. You're not very brave, are you? But you're not scared of me"
"Should I be?"
"I don't know. Everyone in the palace is. I torture people for a living you know"
"Granted that is scary, why would I judge you based on what you do? I mean, I'm a scholar who studies the gods. I'm not in the best position to judge you"
"Hmm, you're not wrong. You're an interesting person Prince Consort Lesker. I'll be seeing you around" she says and portals away.
I don't dwell too much on it. I went to the royal library to continue my research on the gods as I found some interesting texts the day before.
It was a text on how the modern gods ascended. Not much was known on the original gods and texts on them were rare. As much as I'd want to study them, there isn't much on them. All the known and unknown texts on the ancient gods were owned by big organisation and kingdom vaults. I could ask for them from the Queen but I doubt she'd give me nay. They were priceless after all.
The text I found finally gave me the breakthrough I needed on my research. It was how the gods were formed. A god is simply a mage with a divine spark. With the divine spark, they were able to tap into an energy that was far greater than magi, divine energy. This made them invisible. After overcoming their mortal tribulations, they then became gods, able to stand above the masses.
There was a place in the text that mentioned a way of ascending that didn't require a divine spark. It involved a lot of ingredients that were like myths or some that were outright inhuman for a ritual.
Some ingredients like the heart of the person that you cherished the most in life.