The Veil of Darkness
Chapter 313: Finding Answers (Part One)

Chapter 313: Finding Answers (Part One)

Just like it was predicted previously, it did finally snow early in the morning - the first snowfall of the season, covering the world under a white and cold blanket.

And while all the green leaves of trees, bushes, and flowers had disappeared, everyone was surprised to see the vines still growing as healthy as possible, the only change was in their color as the leaves had turned snow white while vibrant blue colored flowers bloomed on them.

Annalise and the people around her soon fell into a routine of training and improving while also searching more information about the dark energy.

The meeting of alliance call took place in the Midnight Realm as scheduled and to everyone’s relief, all the rulers agreed to combine their forces to face the upcoming war and fight against the dark energy. At the same time, it was also planned to install protective barriers around all the realms and kingdoms.

Even though these new barriers/wards couldn’t compete with the ancient wards of Seelie Realm and Midnight Realm, they would still prove helpful against sudden attacks from their enemies.

As for the dark energy, it had been laying dormant ever since the night of attacks. Their enemy had gone silent after wrecking havoc in their world for a short while .

One particular evening, Annalise’s mind kept thinking about a certain question. When she was finally unable to keep it inside, she ended up asking - "Why do you think the dark energy attacked all of sudden and then disappeared completely?" Her gaze focused on her husbands as she waited for their response.

It was Valerius who answered - "At this point, we can only assume the reasons. Personally, I feel like the one behind it was either trying to test us... or distract us."

As Annalise pondered on what he just said, she found herself agreeing with both of his theories, either of those two could possibly be the reason behind the attacks.

"If their purpose was to test us, they definitely know by now that we are least prepared for any sort of war. But if it was to distract us... I wonder what they are up to..." Annalise muttered as she tried to think of what their enemy was plotting behind the scenes.

The silence stretched on for a while before Annalise stood up from her seat and gathered the history book and the diary from where they were sitting on a wooden table nearby.

"Where are you going?" Damien asked as his eyes followed her every moment.

"The past couple of weeks were so overwhelming and busy that I never got the chance to finish reading these. So, I’m planning to finish these tonight. Let’s see if I can find something." Annalise answered as she turned to face her husbands.

"You are always busy these days." Kenric muttered under his breath while staring at his hands as if he was talking to them and not her.

"Huh?" Annalise looked at the Third Dark Lord in confusion and waited for him to explain exactly what he was implying with his words.

Kenric let out an almost frustrated sigh before he spoke - "I’m saying that you seem so busy these days that you barely have any time for us."

"But... aren’t we spending everyday together?" Annalise asked in confusion while tilting her head to the side and looking at her sulking husband.

Kenric let out another frustrated sigh but didn’t say anything this time. Instead of him, Damien spoke - "Ignore him, Princess. He is just craving your attention and can’t handle the fact that you are thinking about spending the night while reading those rather than his company."

The smile that immediately bloomed on Annalise’s lips was inevitable. She pursed her lips to keep herself from smiling while also nodding her head in understanding.

Taking small steps toward Kenric, she approached the Autumn Prince and bent down to place a soft kiss against his cheek. Without giving him enough time to recover from the shock and react, she hurriedly shifted toward Damien before placing a kiss on his cheek too.

Thankfully, the Shadow Prince just accepted what she was offering and allowed her to move away from him and toward Valerius. The Winter Prince, who was standing next to the window, lowered his face to receive her kiss against his cheek and gave her a warm smile in return.

Once she was done kissing all three of them, she stepped away from them and moved toward the door, but before exiting the room, she turned to face them for a moment and whispered - "I hope to have the three of you as my companions tomorrow night instead of some books."

She didn’t wait to see their response and hurriedly fled from the room, but her shared mate bonds with her husbands told her that they were feeling quite happy with her request.

* * * * *

Annalise found her way to Esmeray’s house and as she stepped inside once the door opened to let her in the house, she found the man once again sitting in the living area while deep in his thoughts.

"I don’t recall today being your practice session day but since you are already here and I don’t have anything else to do, I can give it a thought." Esmeray said as his gaze followed Annalise who took her seat opposite him.

"I’m not here to train." Annalise responded as calmly as she could despite the storm that was raging inside her.

Esmeray arched his eyebrows high as he observed her carefully before finally speaking - "You are again here to find answers."

Annalise didn’t respond because he wasn’t asking a question. They both knew that he had guessed right.

The two of them remained silent for next couple of moments which made Annalise feel anxious. She had so many things to ask him and if he again refused to tell her anything, she would be at a complete loss.

"Alright. It’s not like I can run from you forever." Esmeray said while letting out a dejected sigh. "Today, I will answer all your questions."

The expression of pure shock that took over her face was hard for Annalise to hide. She wasn’t expecting him to even agree to answer even one of her questions, let alone all.

"Go ahead. Ask whatever is troubling you." Esmeray added when she didn’t spoke for a while.

Taking in a long and deep breath to collect herself, Annalise asked the first question - "What’s with the recent attacks of dark energy? What was their motive?"

Esmeray sighed while he relaxed in his seat and picked up a dagger from nearby wooden table while he answered - "The dark energy gets powerful the more chaos and misery it causes. Since the amount of dark energy available outside the Seelie Realm is limited to very small extent, it keeps getting weaker when it doesn’t get enough nourishment. Despite what you want to believe, those attacks were only to replenish the dark energy and make it stronger."

Annalise took her time to digest the answer. It seemed like she and others were on a complete different track than the actual truth.

After staying silent for a while, she asked her next question - "How long before they will be able to take down the wards of Seelie Realm?" She dreaded the answer because something kept telling her that the enemy was way closer to their goal than they all believed.

A little twitch appeared on Esmeray’s lips as if he was impressed with her questions. He stared right into her eyes as he answered - "Maybe... you only have this winter to enjoy a peaceful life. If everything went along with their plan, the end of this season will also bring the end of this world."

Annalise was frozen in her seat as her ears and brain registered the words and the meaning behind them. She had no clue how long it took her to pull herself together and continue with her enquiry. "Why are you helping them?"

Esmeray let out a sigh as if he was totally unimpressed with the question. "I have already told you, Annalise, I’m not helping them... I’m just not stopping them."

"It’s the same thing. You not stopping them is the biggest help you can provide them with." Annalise stated the fact as she stared directly into his deep eyes.

"I have my reasons." Esmeray stated almost as if he was trying to defend himself.

"What could be a good enough reason for you to help your mate’s murderers?"