THE GENERAL'S DISGRACED HEIR

One such branch, the Maven Coven, pulsed with fervent devotion to Nyxalia. Within its ranks, a woman named Thalassa held a singular, desperate wish. Day and night, she proffered prayers to the sovereign, her voice echoing in the halls of the coven.

Witches were forbidden from birthing daughters through conventional means, so they relied solely on Nyxalia\'s capricious grace, the sovereign shaping and breathing life into babies sculpted from the earth itself.

But for Thalassa, this blessing remained a cruel mirage. Tirelessly, she crafted clay forms, each representing the child she longed for. Her pleas to Nyxalia were heartfelt, unwavering, yet the silence remained, a deafening echo in the cavern of her yearning.

Despite her unwavering faith and the endless procession of sculpted hopes, her prayers fell on deaf ears, leaving her in a desolate wasteland of longing and despair. The echo of her unfulfilled wish would soon ripple outwards, setting in motion a chain of events that would forever alter the fate of the coven.

The salt-laced wind whipped Thalassa\'s hair around her face as she knelt on the sands of Aeloria, her brow furrowed in desperate supplication. Days bled into nights, her hands working feverishly, molding clay into the perfect form of a child. Each prayer she whispered to Nyxiala tasted like ash on her tongue – a bitter reminder of unanswered desires.

One day, a shadow fell across the sand. She didn\'t need to look up to know who it was – a being of otherworldly beauty with eyes that mirrored the endless sky. Terranon\'s child.

The child of Terranon observed her relentless prayers to Nyxalia.

"Do you mock me, child of Terranon?" Her voice raspy with frustration, Thalassa finally broke the silence. The air crackled with unspoken tension.

His reply, delivered in a voice that resonated with the calm of a thousand dawns, only fueled her ire. "Why would you assume that, daughter of Nyxalia?"

"Do not play games with me, heathen," she spat, her voice raw with barely contained anger. "These are sacred rites, not entertainment for your amusement."

A faint smile played on his lips. "And why would I find amusement in a beauty I\'ve witnessed countless days in a row?" His words, laced with unexpected admiration, caught her off guard.

Thalassa scoffed, a dismissive "Tsk, do as you wish" escaping her lips. Stubbornly, she returned to her prayers, the clay baby cradled in her hands, a symbol of both hope and despair. The tension between them hung heavy in the air, a new wrinkle in the tapestry of her nightly ritual. She couldn\'t deny the strange tug within her, a mix of irritation and a dawning curiosity about this observer.

The relentless sun beat down on Thalassa, her body a wilting lily on the unforgiving sands. Days bled into a feverish blur as she sculpted and pleaded, her prayers echoing into the vast emptiness. Finally, her strength gave way, crumpling her onto the sun-baked earth.

A shadow fell across her. Before she could react, the child of Terranon materialized beside her, his presence a cool oasis in the scorching desert. A waterskin dangled from his hand.

"Drink," he commanded, offering it to her lips. Weakness stole her voice, her parched throat a wasteland. With a sigh, he knelt beside her, a flicker of concern in his otherworldly eyes.

He pressed the waterskin to his own mouth, the act oddly intimate. Then, a cool touch on her lips, the sweet taste of life forced down her throat. A jolt of energy coursed through her, the fog in her mind clearing. The sudden intimacy – their lips a bridge between her despair and his intervention – sent a jolt through her.

With a burst of returning strength, she recoiled, her teeth sinking into his soft flesh. A crimson stain bloomed on his lips, a stark contrast to his calm gaze.

"What heresy is this?!" she spat, the taste of blood metallic on her tongue. "My body is an offering, a vessel for Nyxalia\'s grace! Yours to touch only in dreams, heathen!"

He wiped the blood with a detached elegance, his voice a steady breeze. "You were fading, daughter of Nyxalia. Compassion demanded action."

"Compassion? I didn\'t ask for your pity!" Her voice, though regaining strength, held a tremor of something else – a dawning awareness of the strange pull he exerted on her.

"Your request is irrelevant," he countered, his eyes locking with hers. "I offer what I see fit."

"Touch me one more time, and I will have your heart," Thalassa threatened.

Thalassa glared, her defiance a mask for the turmoil within. She clutched the clay child to her chest, a shield against the confusion and the unwanted spark of curiosity the being had ignited. Her hand trembled as she resumed her prayers, the sand beneath her knees a silent witness to the storm brewing within.

The moon, a pale sliver hanging in the velvet night, cast an ethereal glow on the tableau of Thalassa\'s fervent prayer. Beside her, the child of Terranon, a statue sculpted from starlight, remained motionless. Hour after hour melted away, the biting cold of the Aelorian night slowly leeching the warmth from his otherworldly form.

Thalassa, fueled by desperation and the flickering ember of hope, barely noticed the chill creeping into his presence. Finally, with a soft thud that echoed through the emptiness, he too succumbed, collapsing onto the unforgiving sand.

A scoff escaped her lips, brittle and laced with derision. "Such theatrics, heathen," she murmured, her gaze fixed on the sliver moon, a silent testament to Nyxalia. Her voice, hoarse from hours of chanting, resumed its vigil, her hands shaping clay as prayers spilled from her parched throat.

Dawn bled across the horizon, painting the sky with streaks of rose and gold. Only then did Thalassa acknowledge the stillness beside her. A flicker of unease sparked in her chest, finally forcing her to tear her gaze from the heavens. Her breath hitched as she saw him, the child of Terranon, still and pale against the sand.

Hesitation gnawed at her. Duty, devotion, and a prickle of something unsettling warred within. Bending low, she pressed her ear to his chest. A faint, erratic thud sent a jolt through her. Before she could process it, a whisper escaped her lips, a desperate plea for forgiveness directed at the silent heavens.

With a shaky hand, she brushed a strand of his hair from across his face. Embers of warmth, a blessing bestowed by her Sovereign, pulsed beneath her skin. Tentatively, she curled closer, sharing her own warmth with the still form beside her.

A tremor ran through him, followed by a shuddering breath. His heartbeat, once faint, began to pick up a steadier rhythm. As the color slowly returned to his face, Thalassa felt the weight of his gaze upon her.

His eyes, the color of twilight, met hers. A flicker of surprise, then a slow, hesitant smile played upon his lips. He reached out, his hand hovering near hers. "Thank you," he murmured, his voice a husky rasp.

Thalassa recoiled instinctively. "Do not presume," she snapped, her voice laced with something that wasn\'t quite anger. "My body belongs to—"

He cut her off, his voice gentle, yet firm. "Wouldn\'t this be a sign, then? A twist of fate? That we, so different, met beneath the gaze of your Sovereign?" His hand, warm and surprisingly human, enveloped hers.

Thalassa\'s breath hitched. Was this a test? A message from Nyxalia herself? Before she could voice the question swirling in her mind, he did something unexpected. He leaned in, his breath warm against her cheek, and brushed his lips against hers.

The world seemed to tilt on its axis. A jolt of something foreign, a spark of something forbidden, ignited within her. She wanted to pull away, to protest, to scream at the blasphemy. Yet, as his lips met hers, a wave of heat washed over her, melting her resolve. For the first time in her life, Thalassa, the Daughter of Nyxalia, surrendered.

Pleasure and lust, a foreign concept for Thalassa overtook her. He cupped her breasts firmly shaping them to the desires of his heart. They both shared their saliva embracing one another as if there was no tomorrow. The morning was filled with Thalassa\'s moaning as the child of Terranon tore and thrust her starving pussy feeling her with his cum to the brim.

Time, once marked by the rhythmic rise and fall of Thalassa\'s prayers, now flowed in a different current. Her fervent pleas for a child of clay faded, replaced by the quiet hum of shared laughter and the rhythmic hammering of love building a home.

With the child of Terranon by her side, she sculpted a life on the very shore where their impossible connection blossomed. Walls rose from the sand, a testament to their bond, each stone imbued with the warmth of shared dreams. The House of Maven, her coven, once a source of solace, grew distant, a memory whispered on the wind.

Yet, the ripples of Thalassa\'s defiance reached the coven walls. months bled into years, marked only by Thalassa\'s silence.

The air in the House of Maven grew heavy with concern and a simmering fear. They sent a delegation, a small group of sisters cloaked in worry, to unravel the mystery of their wayward daughter. Were answers to be found at the edge of the world, where sand met sky, or would they only discover a love story blooming defiantly in the shadow of their disapproval?

The sisters, burdened with the weight of the coven\'s expectations, embarked on a journey that would not only test their loyalty but also force them to confront the unyielding power of love that defied even the most sacred traditions.

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A/N This is a bonus chapter to thank Sil3nt_1 for the massage chair.

please send your gifts for more bonus chapters on either the backstory of character leads, the novel \'Trial of Valor\' or just smut..hehe

happy reading yall