Two Thousand Years

by M. Dalto

  She was too tired to argue. Giving the still-sleeping Treyan one last glance, she nodded and stood from the stool. She ached all over, having fallen asleep with her head on the edge of the bed, and the Councillor gave her a reassuring grin as he offered her his arm.

  She allowed him to lead the way, escorting her away from the infirmary, through the hall of cells, and back towards the stairs that led to her chambers. One of the healers must have returned for the door to the infirmary shut securely behind them as soon as they left. She only gave the infirmary a final passing glance as she let him bring her away from Treyan and back to her room.

  The Councillor bid her goodnight once they arrived, and Alex closed the door behind her after she crossed the threshold. She almost cried in delight as the unseen servants had spread out a small meal for her on the table at the end of her bed. Even though she would have rather thrown herself on the mattress and sleep, the taste of the apple and cheese and wine to wash it down far outweighed the tug of exhaustion.

  Only once her appetite was satiated did she change and climbed beneath the blankets to snuggle into the comfort of the luxurious bed. She leaned over and blew out the candle on the bedside table, and though her mind tugged at her with the panic of what awaited her, as soon as her head hit the pillows, her eyes shut for another night of dreamless sleep.

  13

  Alex woke the next morning with the feeling of being watched.

  Similar to her dream, it was as if someone again infiltrated her subconscious mind, or at least it felt that way from how her heart pounded against the inside of her ribcage. Perhaps Reylor made another attempt, and whatever protection Treyan placed upon her fended him off. She immediately lifted her head and turned her attention to the door of her room. It remained shut, she discovered through the dim sunlight, but she couldn’t shake the paranoia through her sleepy haze.

  Sitting up in bed, she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and began scanning the room, searching for the source of her unease.

  In the bed next to her sat Treyan.

  She immediately sprung upon him, wrapping him in a gigantic hug as a sense of relief fell upon her once seeing him awake.

  He hissed in pain, but returned the embrace, his strong but gentle arms wrapping around her tightly. “Mind the leg,” he murmured. “It still has some healing to do.”

  “Shut up.”

  She didn’t know what disturbed her more: his ability to sneak into her room with a wounded leg and remain there undetected, or the incredible urge she had to pounce on him in a fit of joy.

  His chest was bare, and he had the decency to put on a pair of pants before he invaded her bedroom. Before she realized what she was doing, she was holding his head in her hands and pulled him in a long kiss. He held her close and returned her kiss until she pulled away, which happened as suddenly as it began.

  She stared at him after the realized what she had done.

  His reassuring smile was all he offered in response.

  “Wait. How did you get up here?” she exclaimed. “The healers made it seem like it would take you weeks to walk on it again.”

  “The healers tend to overreact,” he commented as he adjusted himself on the bed. “The Councillor worked his magic, I suppose, though he did tell me I should owe you thanks.”

  Alex felt a slight flush creep over her cheeks. “You were hurt—I couldn’t leave you there alone. Even if I couldn’t help.”

  He brought her chin up to face him. “And for that, I thank you.” He placed another sincere kiss upon her lips, and she lost herself again, never wanting it to stop. Treyan finally pulled back, wincing from a twinge of pain, and only then did Alex realize she had all but climbed into his lap.

  “So, when are you going to tell me what happened?” she asked as casually as she could while she returned to her place on the bed. “Where did you go? How did you get yourself hurt?”

  “I didn’t intend to go out and get injured,” he said defensively.

  “I could have come with you.”

  He laughed at her suggestion. “And what army would you have brought with you to make a difference?”

  “I could have helped.”

  “Not here, you couldn’t have. You’re the Queen Empress. You’re indispensable. There will not be another to follow until we’ve seen our part of the Prophecy through to the end.”

  “What does that even mean?” she inquired but he only shook his head.

  “Your safety is paramount to all else. Why do you think we monitor the Borderlands in the first place?”

  “So, I just sit here, looking pretty, while you go out risking your life for me?”

  “Pretty much.”

  “Fuck that,” she hissed. “I’m not fragile. I’m not a doll.”

  Treyan arched a brow at her response. “You’re familiar with defending against magic then? And retaliating with your own?”

  She glared at him. “I can use a knife.”

  “A cheap pocket knife. How about a dagger? Or a sword?”

  She scowled. She didn’t like where this conversation was going—not one bit. She decided to try another tactic. “Will you please let me know what happened?”

  He shook his head. “It doesn’t matter right now.”

  “It matters to me!” She started to get upset, but she wasn’t sure if it was due to his eluding the question or a sudden sense of helplessness. The realization that she would have missed him if something serious happened also caught her off-guard. She knelt up to keep herself calm, wrapping her arms around herself as if feeling a sudden chill. “Do you think I liked knowing that you could have died and there was nothing I could have done about it?”

  “Who said I was going to die?”

  “Well, I did! That wound was horrible. If the healers hadn’t done something when they did, there could have been infection, fever...”

  Treyan cleared his throat, interrupting her train of thought.

  “What?”

  “Do you really think that this was the first time I’ve ever been injured on a ranging?”

  She hesitated for a moment before answering, considering the situation. “Well, no, I guess not.”

  “And did you really think the healers would have let you remain with them if they believed I was dying?

  “Maybe. No.”

  He smirked at her as she realized how little she helped, and suddenly she felt very foolish for panicking as she had. A moment of silence passed, and she soon sidled up next to him, laying her head on his shoulder.

  “I’m sorry. I just wish I could have helped more.”

  “You were there, and that was enough, though I’d have rather you remove my pants instead of that healer any day.”

  She jabbed at him and he brought her closer to him, laughing as she draped her arm across his bare chest as his arm wrapped around her shoulders. He kissed her hair, and they remained like that for a few moments longer. Alex was more than content to listen to his heartbeat in his chest, that gentle reminder that he was still very much alive, ticking like a timepiece with every breath he took. She very well could have spent the remainder of the day like that, and probably would have had she not begun to feel the pangs of hunger in her stomach while noticing the shadows of the day growing longer across the bedroom floor.

  “What happened?” she asked once more as she looked up at him from his shoulder. One more question before they needed to begin the day.

  Treyan let out an exasperated sigh as he adjusted himself in the bed, obviously uncomfortable as to where she wanted this conversation to go.

  “Why won’t you just tell me?” she asked as she sat up again.

  He looked to her. “Why is it so important that you know?”

  “This is my empire, right? Don’t I have the right to know what’s going on within my borders?”

  “Something like that.” He sat up, favoring his wounded leg.

  She sat in silence as she watched him, waiting for him to continue as she crossed her arms ov
er her chest.

  He glanced at her and sighed reluctantly. “As I’m sure you know, I was on a ranging expedition, checking the Borderlands.”

  She nodded, letting him continue.

  “One of the northern villages reported suspicious activity along their section of the tree-line, and the General on patrol requested my assistance in the matter. I was late on my visit to the village anyway and decided I would make the trip quick to see what I could do.”

  “And?”

  “And I never made it to the village. It turned out Reylor’s minions made camp much further into the Empire than they ever dared before.”

  “Why were they so close? I thought they didn’t cross into our lands.”

  He smiled. “That is a fantastic question. Sadly, I was unable to ask them myself. The moment they saw us, they started attacking.”

  “Attacking you with what, flame throwers?”

  He laughed. “No, in the Empire we survive by brute strength, ancient weaponry, and magic. These minions, unfortunately, could control magic. They were extremely unlike any of Reylor’s minions I’ve come across in the past.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Usually Reylor outfits his scouts with hand-me-down swords and axes and the like. These were his mages. Mages don’t just venture beyond the borderlands to report back—he wouldn’t risk them. Their camp looked as though they had been there for a while, or at least they planned to be.”

  “What could possibly be different now that wasn’t the same before?”

  He looked at her and perked up a brow.

  “Oh.”

  “Indeed. We managed to dispose of them before they sent an orb back to Reylor, but we don’t know how long they had been there before that.” He turned to her and took both of her hands in his. “Which is exactly why you cannot come with me. You shouldn’t even leave the palace walls.”

  “Now you’re saying I can’t go outside?”

  “It would be dangerous and unwise,” he retorted with furrowed brows.

  “For how long? You can’t keep me locked in here like I’m some prisoner!”

  “You are not a prisoner!”

  “Then prove it!” she snapped in return.

  Treyan brought fingers up to his temple and began to rub them in circles. “It is just until we can figure out what Reylor is planning.”

  “I thought you already knew what he was planning,” she countered. “I thought that was the whole point of bringing me here in the first place!”

  He looked up to her at that, and she noticed something flash across his eyes. It was gone in an instant, replaced by something akin to sympathy as he placed a gentle hand on her cheek, making sure he had her eye contact before continuing. “You will never be a prisoner. Ever.”

  She wanted to challenge him further. Hadn’t he taken her from her home, with no way to return? Hadn’t he insisted that she needed to stay, to help him, to help this Empire that she was supposed to rule? Every bit of her wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt, but there was still a part of her brain that nagged at her, telling her something still didn’t add up.

  Reluctantly, she sighed. “Every day there’s one more rule, another added restriction.”

  “Alex, please.”

  There was something in his tone that caught her attention, and the look in his eyes insinuated he understood, perhaps he even felt guilty for it, but even if it was in her best interest, she knew she could handle herself, for the most part.

  She’d just have to prove it to him as well.

  She smiled to reassure him all was well, but she could tell he wasn’t convinced. He ran his hands through his hair and looked back to her, a look of resignation in his eyes.

  “What if I brought you out to see some of the Empire, once my leg is fully healed?”

  “Really?” She blinked. She hadn’t expected him to give in so soon.

  “Don’t get too excited.”

  She scowled.

  “We won’t go far,” he continued, “but it’ll give you a better idea of your surroundings, and your Empire as a whole.”

  She genuinely smiled at that, feeling as though she finally won a battle. “Thank you.”

  “Come here,” he said as he gathered her into his arms. “You will never be a prisoner, and if you ever feel like it’s becoming that way, you will tell me. Promise?”

  “I promise,” she assured him, once again getting lost in his blue eyes.

  “Good.” He smiled.

  As she lay her head back down upon Treyan’s chest, Alex couldn’t help but consider what it would mean to truly remain here, to get to know this Empire. What would be expected of her as its ruler in the time to come, and how far she would need to go to maintain it.

  14

  What would have taken months of healing in Alex’s world only took a couple of weeks within the Empire. When she asked Treyan how it was possible, he explained that in addition to the magic their realm possessed, their lives were so entwined by the power of the Prophecy that sometimes it seemed even time bent to its will. She remained skeptical, but grateful as his health and mobility seemed to improve.

  Still, Alex grew restless.

  Thoughts of home hadn’t dissipated, and she often found herself contemplating the possibility of leaving Treyan when he did, eventually, take her out into the Empire. Though she knew she wasn’t a prisoner, Treyan held true to that word as well: guards were posted along the palace’s walls separating it from the rest of the Empire, and though she was allowed fresh air and the freedom to explore the gardens, that was the extent of it.

  While she waited on Treyan, she continued to distract herself by her daily lessons with the Councillor, which eventually included lessons with the royal stablemaster. Alex reasoned that these could be beneficial to her on the off-chance she managed to escape with a horse. She wasn’t half bad at it either, so long as she was allowed to ride the grey gelding the stablemaster aptly named Chance.

  On one such morning, when Alex made her way to the stables to meet the stablemaster for her riding lesson, did she notice Chance missing from his stable. As well as Treyan’s warhorse, Scarlet, and it wasn’t until she made her way to the training ring, already seeing Treyan astride his mare, that she realized the time had finally come.

  An unexpected smile formed as she approached the Crown Prince. “The Councillor finally gave you a clean bill of health?” she mused as she took the reins of her horse from the waiting stable boy standing next to Treyan.

  “The Councillor had nothing to do with it,” Treyan scoffed as he watched her mount. “I gave myself the approval to escort you throughout the Empire, so that’s what we’re going to do.”

  It was then she noticed the sword strapped to his side, and the travel packs draped over the backs of both animals. “How far are we going to go?”

  “Nowhere near the Borderlands,” he assured her. “We’ll just make a short trip to the nearest village before I take you out beyond the battlefield.”

  She cast another glance at his sword and perked a brow.

  “I don’t expect any of Reylor’s mages to attempt to come this close to the palace,” he informed her as he finished checking the straps on his saddles bags. “But I’m also not ready to take any chances, either.”

  The precaution didn’t bother Alex too much, at least not enough to mention it out loud, but thinking that the threat from the Borderlands could ever come so close made her stomach churn with anxiety, or worse. More so, considering who resided in those lands, and who had already made it painfully clear his intentions were anything but peaceful.

  She wasn’t going to let her nerves get the best of her, she decided as they finally set off through the gates of the training circle, and past the palace’s elaborate rose garden.

  “My mother planted those when she first arrived,” he told her as they sat atop their horses, looking out at the colorful expanse of greenery. “She said she used to grow roses at home, where she grew up, and being
allowed to do so here made her feel more comfortable during her transition.”

  “Did she ever talk to you about it? Her home, I mean.”

  Treyan shook his head slightly. “Very little. She said it was a large city named New York, and she hoped that I would be able to enjoy it one day when I traveled to find my own Empress.”

  “Your father found her in New York, just like you came to me in Boston.”

  A small smile curled his lips. “And he dreamt of her every day until he found her.”

  “The dream,” she began to ask, thoughtfully, as she looked out at the roses. “The Prophecy controls those as well?”

  “It has to,” he said as he eased his horse into a walk. “How else are we supposed to know who’s to lead us into prosperity?”

  The next stop on their tour was situated outside the palace walls and they nodded their greetings to the guards as they traveled through. Once they were both through, Alex finally realized where they were heading. Around the bend, the scene of the battlefield she noticed during her first days within the Empire sprawled before her. He led her along the outskirts of the overgrown field, where centuries of growth fought to reclaim the land that was once theirs. Alex swore if she looked close enough she could see vines and weeds overtaking discarded artillery and armor, and every so often she sensed there was something more human-like to the remains on the field.

  “What happened here?” she asked in a quiet voice, as though to respect the fallen from the battle long ago.

  “Exactly what it looks like,” he said as he reigned in his horse about halfway around the semicircle the destruction caused.

  Alex looked across the field and could see the palace behind its walls, safe and secure from the eeriness of this graveyard. “How long ago did this happen?”

  “The stories say two thousand years ago. Legend says longer.”

  “Who was it?”

  Treyan shrugged slightly as his eyes remained on the desolation. “A scorned second- born who wanted the palace for himself? Or maybe a Crown Prince who wasn’t able to maintain his rightful crown.”