The Shadow Queens Wrath

******************NOTE******************

This is

PART 3

of the Literotica original by Jmanchu, A Ballad of Light and Darkness which features the chapters 7 to 9 of the story. As a story where wars are a major part of the setting expect bloody battles, wars, savage duels, political intrigue, assassinations, etc. There will be violent content throughout the entirety of the story. Themes of assault and non-con, fended off or otherwise, will be there as well. Be warned.

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A Ballad of Light and Darkness

Episode 3

A Matter of Lost Love and a Battle for Honor

Wicked Queen of Shadows' Wrath

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Chapter 7:

Distant Memories and Lost Love

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The morning sun peered through the clouds in the sky and cool winds blew through the castle garden. Bits of morning dew formed in the grass and birds chirped from the verdant trees. Drops of sweat fell from Dante's perspiring face as he diligently worked his usual practice of sword forms after his strength conditioning with a large stone he had found nearby.

He held a wooden sword and went through each block, each cut with trained precision as he effortlessly moved around with balanced footwork. After finishing the final form of his practice he put down the wooden blade. Dante dropped down into a push up position to begin his cool down exercises.

A soft clearing of the throat was heard nearby, and as Dante finished his first set he looked to his side. Camille, Lord Kyle's wife waved with a friendly smile as she rested a hand on a nearby tree. She carefully lifted the hem of her dress to keep it from touching the wet ground as she made her way onto the stone steps of the garden.

"Hey," Camille gave a coy lean of her head as she looked at the young man before her.

"Hey," Dante looked away as he swung both arms out and in to keep his chest warmed up for his next set.

The brunette looked down shyly before she grinned. "It's been a while."

"I guess," Dante answered.

"Yeah..." Camille stood with an arm holding the other behind her back. "You're looking well."

"Hm." Dante stretched out his chest one last time before he began another quick set of pushups.

Camille kept her eyes on Dante as he pushed through his exercises with timed huffs on each rep. "How have you been?" She rested her head to her other shoulder as she looked at the young man with interest.

Dante got up with a squat and stood up to stretch again. "Fine."

"So..." Camille tapped her arm with a finger as she glanced to her side. She looked back with her coy smile as she slyly walked over by Dante with deliberate, catlike steps. "You've gotten bigger since I last saw you in Red Marsh... You've always been so strong as long as I could remember you, even back when we were children in Azure Valley. But you look so different now. You seem so... grown up."

"Do I?" Dante stepped into a stretching lunge.

"Yeah," the brunette leaned on one side with her lower body as she grinned. "You look just like him. Like Corrin." As he stood up she playfully tapped his shoulder with a shy smile.

"Huh." Dante sank into another lunge with his other leg.

"Yeah." Camille gazed longingly at the young man. She looked once more to the ground. Her mouth opened as she tried to think of something else to say. "Do you remember how you would always protect me whenever we played in the valley? You and Bruno would." She smiled.

"Yeah... back when we were kids." Dante stood up and he fell silent. He gazed at Camille as her smile turned wistful.

Memories of Azure Valley came forth. He and Bruno once played with the other children in mock wars and duels in the valley. The two of them had even braved the forests near the village along with Camille who sometimes joined in their adventures. But those days were long gone. Azure Valley was gone.

Dante's stare turned distant as he remembered Bruno's bloodied body crumpled on the earth with the light left from his eyes. The village was turned to a grave site of smoldering flames and black smoke that fateful day when the dark elves attacked. The young warrior narrowed his eyes as the vivid image of that smiling bastard who was once family to him conjured up in his mind. That snake brought death to everyone he knew, that traitorous bastard who killed his father with that sadistic grin. Dante took a deep breath and looked up to the sky as he focused on clearing his mind of the painful memory.

Dante spoke, "That was a long time ago."

"Yeah..." Camille gently nodded her head. After a moment of silence she spoke. "So... You've gotten famous. Champion of Light. I've heard of some of your adventures." The brunette's smile turned sly with a head tilt as she looked at the young warrior with interest. "I'm impressed." She playfully poked his shoulder again as she kept her gaze on Dante. The touch of her fingertips lingered for a little before she let them trace the definition of his arms with a little bite of her lower lip. Dante glanced at Camille with a raise of his brow as she pulled her hand away and demurely tucked her arms in neatly behind her with a little giggle.

"Are you?" Dante finally responded

"Mhm," Camille rocked on her heels with an energetic smile on her face. "I mean... you get to see the world on your grand adventures."

Dante shrugged, "I wouldn't call them grand adventures, but yeah I have explored the world a little."

Camille's smile widened into a bright grin. "You must have so many amazing tales to share of the different parts of the world you've seen, right? Are the islands of Qul'thalas as beautiful as people say it is? I hear the marids there are giant folk made of water... Is that true? Is the ocean really as big as they say? I hear that the waters expand out so far that you can't see any lands beyond the horizon. Oh, and is Nairub all sand like I hear? You must tell me. Please?" The brunette giggled; she leaned in with both arms up in front of her chest and a twinkle in her eyes.

"Let me think about that. I'd say that Qul'thalas is... peaceful? When it's not storming at least." Dante scratched the back of his head. " It's warmer there and you can smell the salt in the air. The people there live in a city built on stone walkways over the sea next to the islands. The marids are guardian spirits with magic bodies of water that live inside sanctuaries in the islands. Nairub is all desert dunes and the days there are hot with the sun strong on you all year round. It's dry, it never rains there and there are palm trees. And when you sail far enough in the ocean all you see is water everywhere and no land in sight for days, months sometimes."

"Wow... That sounds amazing," Camille leaned in with twinkling eyes full of wonder. She stood back upright and meekly held her arm. "I'd love to see that one day, just go exploring the world and see all of its wonders, if I could."

"Maybe someday," Dante shrugged.

"Maybe..." Camille looked down. "I... sometimes wish I could get away from it all."

Dante stood quiet before he looked over at the young brunette. "Does Kyle treat you well?"

"He's..." Camille sighed. She paused with hesitation, her mouth opened as if she wanted to admit something but she shook her head. "He treats me... well enough... well mostly..." She looked down to the side and rubbed her arm. "I mean, I live comfortably enough, so I can't really complain too much, but... I don't know... I just..." She trailed off and sighed once more. Camille became quiet for a moment as she stared at the ground by her feet. "So... Dante, with all your grand adventures and your fame... you must have certainly met your fair share of girls..." Camille glanced with a sly little smile at Dante. "Have you anyone special in your life?"

The warrior raised his eyebrows nonchalantly as he smirked. "Why do you ask?"

Camille shook her head and bit her lip. "No reason... just..." She sighed. "Never mind..."

"Well... I have met girls throughout my travels... I won't lie," Dante shrugged. Camille meekly nodded her head in silence as she looked away.

"Good for you..."

The young warrior glanced at Camille as he continued, "My duties and travels have kept me busy. So, no, I have not had the time to settle down or find someone like that in my life."

"Oh... I see..." Camille's eyes lit up for a moment before she looked over the corner of her eye with a certain hesitation. "Um, Dante? I... wanted to ask... Do you ever wonder what life would have been like if things were different...? If... things never ended between us...? Do you miss..." Her eyes flickered before they centered with an imploring gaze on Dante. "... us?"

The young warrior took a deep breath in. "Why?"

Camille hugged her own waist. "I was just curious... I... I know that things did not end well between us when I left North Frischia with my family... And I... well..." The brunette fidgeted as hints of tears formed from her flustered eyes. "I just sometimes think about us, our time together when we lived in Red Marsh... I..." She trailed off as she looked back up and carefully brought her arm out to Dante. Camille hesitated as she gently touched the arm of the man before her. "I'm sorry for the way things ended, Dante. I really am..."

The young warrior narrowed his eyes; that autumn day when they were still young teenagers was a fateful one. The two of them were in their usual rendezvous spot in the forest near the village of Red Marsh in North Frischia. The vibrant green of the leaves were already turning their beautiful orange and red colors for the fall time; they littered the ground as many had already fallen off the thinning branches. The chill autumn breeze had blown around them. Camille had been distant that week. Something weighed heavily on her mind, but she wouldn't tell him what troubled her regardless of how much he had asked. That day she told him they had to talk. That day his heart shattered.

"Please don't be that way, Dante. Please, understand. It's what my father decided is best for me."

"What's best for you? So your father can marry you off to some rich or noble prick for status? Someone like that pompous ass Ron or that entitled bastard Kyle? That's what you want!?"

"It's not like that at all! I love you Dante, I always will, even if you don't believe me right now. But you have to know this just couldn't work out. You have your sick mother to take care of, and you know that my father doesn't approve of us. Our lives are just too... different. It's best for both of us to just live our own lives. We have to grow up sometime."

"So, this was all just some child's game to you? Everything we were?"

"No! Stop it! It's...! It's complicated... alright!? Wait, Dante, where are you going!? Wait! Please!"

The week after he had avoided and ignored her, though she tried to talk to him every chance she could. On the final morning before she was to leave for East Frisch, he sought her out. He didn't know what he had wanted to say, but he needed to see her at least one last time. He happened upon the bodyguards of Camille's father, Guiseppe of Tera, instead. They tried to threaten and drive him away, but the situation escalated from his stubborn refusal to leave. He found himself in a struggle between himself and Guiseppe's bodyguards. Being not nearly as trained at the time he didn't last long, although he had broken the nose of one and dislocated the jaw of another. The last sight he remembered as he laid in the ground and succumbed to darkness was Camille trying to rush in crying, begging for them to stop beating him as her father held her back.

The young Dante had awoken bloodied and alone hanging by the shoulders and waist off of a tree branch. He spent all day there before a sympathetic villager finally released him from his bonds. Later that cold night Dante visited the former rendezvous of his once lover and him. The chill winds that blew during that starlit night had stricken his injured body with pains and aches, but he ignored them. All he could feel was the memories weighing his broken young heart down and the painful hole it left in his chest. And he knew crushing loneliness.

"That was years ago," the young warrior distantly looked straight ahead of him. "I've moved on. So it's alright." He touched her arm as he glanced at her.

"Oh... I see. That's... good..." Camille let her hand drop and lowered her chin as she fell silent. After a moment she perked up. "Oh, um, how's your mother doing, by the way?"

"She's with my father."

Camille's eyes wavered before she quietly looked down as her lip quivered with a pained expression written across her face. She held her hands to her chest. "I'm sorry..." She whispered.

"Don't be." Dante made a reassuring smile at Camille. "She's... in a better place."

"When did she...?" Camille looked up at Dante.

The young warrior crossed his arms. "Years ago."

"I'm so sorry."

"It's life. The healer said there was nothing that could be done."

"No, I-I should have been there for you," Camille trembled. "I should have..."

Dante rested a gentle hand on Camille's shoulder. "It's alright."

The young brunette rushed in and embraced the warrior tightly. Dante stood still for a few moments before he finally let himself give a hold of his own. He did not know what he was doing but it felt right at the moment. Camille's small hands pressed against his back as tears fell down on her cheeks.

"You hate me... don't you?" Camille whispered.

"No," Dante whispered. "I don't hate you."

"I'm sorry..." She cried with her head down; her body trembled as she pulled her arms to her own chest.

"Shh..." The young warrior pulled her back in and gently rocked her upper body in his embrace. "It's alright." As Dante reassuringly hushed her, Camille meekly accepted his embrace and rested her dainty chin up on his shoulder.

"Dante..." Camille whined as she reached up and held Dante's neck for support. She pulled his head in and pressed her nose against his as she sniffled. Her lip quivered as she looked at the young warrior's lips as he trembled fighting with the same desire and temptation. They looked at each other without saying anything...Their childhood love in Red Marsh, their intimate moments in the forest together years ago just the two of them talking, kissing and exploring their love all surfaced in both the warrior's and young lady's minds.

Hesitation and want filled Camille's eyes before she dared herself to lean in slowly and press her lips against his. Dante opened his mouth as their lips lightly rubbed against each other. Camille delicately stuck out her tongue and Dante answered her with a gentle swipe of his against hers. The young warrior rested his hand against the back of her head as he locked his mouth to hers. After a few moments of their passionate embrace they broke their kiss and Camille let out a panting sigh before she rested her head against his. "I've missed this so much..."

"There you are," A recognizable gravelly voice called out.

Camille jumped and pulled away from Dante's hold. Behind them was Jarn who casually made his way into the garden entrance while scratching his side.

"I-I should go," Camille wiped her tears and hastily made her way across the garden. She stopped to look over her shoulder one last time at Dante with longing eyes before she left the garden.

Jarn put his hands on his broad waist with a side gaze as the young brunette passed him before he turned back to face Dante.

"Hey Jarn," Dante pulled on his head to stretch his neck to the side.

"Boy, did you forget what we talked about when coming here?" Jarn's eyes were firm.

"What?" Dante raised his brows.

"You told me you'd stay out of trouble," Jarn crossed his arms. "Whatever fool's game you're playing with that girl, a

local lord's

girl no less, you had best stop now. We don't want another scandal on our hands. Did you already forget what happened at Nairub?"

"I'm not playing games," Dante sighed. "It's not what it looks like."

"Not what it looks like?" Jarn grunted. "It looked to me that you were about to do something stupid, something incredibly stupid like seducing a local lord's wife. You gave your word, boy."

Dante shrugged, "Okay, fine I'll stay on my best behavior."

Jarn furrowed his brow in silence for a moment before he finally answered, "Don't make light of this. I should not have to remind you of what's at stake here. Your thoughtlessness can ruin everything, you damned fool."

"Jarn, I won't do anything foolish. I won't compromise the relationship between us and the king of this land. I understand how important this is." Dante met Jarn's gaze.

"You had best not forget that," Jarn sighed before he pointed with his thumb behind him. "Anyways, I came to find you and let you know that King Byron wishes to meet us in the banquet hall. Sage Marlon will be arriving any moment. There's food as well."

Near the entrance of the garden Sir Philippe stood resting against the castle walls. As Dante and the dwarf made their way towards him though, he hid. He had followed Dante earlier in the morning and watched him. The proud knight had shaken with silent fury; how he so badly wished to pay back the Leonian for the humiliation he had suffered the day before during the feast. Perhaps he would draw out the anger of that uncivilized animal, he thought. He could make him overstep his bounds, issue a challenge in front of witnesses, and make that Leonian rightly pay for his indignity. The proud knight would show that vagabond criminal who was the superior between them. But that charlatan had King Byron's favor so such a plan was risky.

Lord Kyle, however, was certainly on the knight's side against the Leonian so it was best he waited for a better opportunity. Patience was a valuable virtue any great warrior should know after all. The young lord hated the bastard as much as he did. They could work together and plot to take him down, to discredit him and run him off from the land in shame.

He hid before when he had seen the lovely young lady Camille come out towards the garden. What was she doing here, he had wondered. When she and the Leonian began talking he had cautiously made his way forward curious to hear what they could have been talking about. He hadn't dared to get any closer and he couldn't quite catch their conversation. Sir Phillippe's eyes narrowed as Lady Camille and the vagabond embraced. The way they held each other there was intimate. It was too intimate. His eyes widened as they kissed. A devious smirk crept on his face.

So you would encroach on a lord's wife? Oh, you swine. I have you now...

Sir Philippe slunk back and quietly made his back into the castle.

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Chapter 8

A Matter of Honor

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The banquet hall was mostly quiet as Dante finished the bread and finely cooked fish. He sipped beer from a drinking horn. The alcohol from the bready drink wasn't as strong as he'd liked but it was filling. Jarn sat next to him as he helped himself to another serving of biscuits brought in by a servant. A middle aged dark haired man in fine purple robes with arcane symbols etched on the gilded borders, sat at the table with King Byron along with Lord Victor, Sir Jean and Sir Philippe as they ate their breakfast.

King Byron spoke after finishing a tender piece of steaming fish filet, "Now that we are all here I would like to introduce our guests of honor and get this meeting in order. Sage Marlon, I'm sure you've heard of our guest here? Sir Dante here who has agreed to champion the cause of ridding the lands of the darkness that has been plaguing us, this is our esteemed Sage Marlon." The fat lord gestured at the man in purple robes whose discerning eyes stared at the young warrior. "Our esteemed Sage Marlon has confirmed the cause of these problems with the evil that has been more present in these lands."