by M. Dalto
The Councillor was not pleased with Treyan upon his arrival, having disappeared against direct orders to remain, but remaining safely in the palace while Alex went missing was not something Treyan was going to accept. And any consideration of reprimand towards the Crown Prince quickly dissipated once he saw the unconscious Empress in his arms.
The healers had to all but pry her out of Treyan’s grasp once he brought her to up to her room. He refused to have the first place she saw upon waking be a cold infirmary chamber, and no one challenged him. Instead, they insisted he allow them the space they needed to care for her, and asked him, firmly, to remain outside to wait.
He waited, left alone to pace the quiet hallway to wallow in his own thoughts.
His heart had sunk the moment he saw her, the scene of her lying there in Jamison’s arms playing over and over again in his mind. He had never seen her so weak, so faint.
His thoughts were interrupted by the Councillor as he emerged from Alex's room, wiping his hands on a clean cloth. The look on his face was somber, and Treyan soon feared that the worse was to be expected.
He rushed to the Councillor, needing information about Alex, hoping he would somehow be able to explain what had happened to her during the time she was gone. Before he could get a question in, however, the Councillor hushed him to be quiet and led him to a nearby room, closing the door behind them to keep their conversation private.
“What's happened to her?” Treyan pleaded before the door had shut.
The Councillor turned to his Prince with a subdued look upon his face. “The Empress will be fine. She was dehydrated, malnourished, and physically exhausted, but she will recover.”
There was a caution behind the Councillor's tone that made Treyan nervous.
“What else?” Treyan pressed.
“It would seem, my Prince, that the Empress is with child."
Treyan felt his heart in his throat.
Pregnant.
Of course, she was.
According to the Annals, the crowning of the Queen Empress needed to be very specific in regard to timing.
Which also explained why Reylor arrived when he did.
He knew.
Treyan felt his temper rise. He wasn't in the mood for obvious observations and he needed answers. Something was wrong.
As though sensing the Prince’s heightened frustrations, the Councillor sighed and offered Treyan a chair as he took one himself.
“My Prince,” he continued, “I believe the Empress has been...compromised.”
He hated the riddles. “What does that mean?”
The Councillor shifted uneasily in his seat. “I examined the Empress...thoroughly...and it appears...”
The Councillor was obviously stalling. Treyan was losing his patience.
“Out with it, Councillor.”
“It would seem as though the Empress may have been...cursed.”
“What?” He had hoped that he had heard incorrectly.
The Councillor cleared his throat. “There are certain spells—rituals—of the darkest magic that have been known to taint from within, but they haven't been used in over two thousand years. None remain within the Empire, but within the Borderlands—”
“So, it's a spell. Undo it.”
“It is not that easy, my Prince. This magic, it's within the Empress.”
“Within?” Treyan couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
“It is not only the Empress, my Prince. I can sense the power emanating from her very womb. With the timing of her pregnancy as it was...”
“What did he do to her?” Treyan snapped as he stood from his chair and began pacing around the room. His temper was hanging by a thread, and it was his least violent way of calming down, or else he'd have kicked the chair out from underneath the Councillor.
Unflinching, the Councillor continued.
“As I said, I believe the Empress was compromised. Tainted.” He swallowed. “She was violated by this magic with the darkest of intentions.”
Treyan's pacing ceased as his mind worked its way through this new information. “Are you insinuating that Reylor, my own brother, not only kidnapped the Empress, but assaulted her…for a curse?”
“My Prince, please, though she had physical afflictions, there was no evidence,” the Councillor said, trying to calm him. But it was too late.
“For what purpose?” Treyan exclaimed. “And the baby—”
“Babies.” the Councillor interrupted.
“Excuse me?” Treyan blinked.
The Councillor sighed. “Babies, my Prince. Twins. As per the Prophecy, the Empress is pregnant with twins.”
He had heard more than enough. Letting out a scream of frustration, he kicked his empty chair across the room as a fury swelled inside of him like he never felt before.
“Treyan, that is enough!”
Treyan stopped in his tracks. He couldn't recall a time when the Councillor ever raised his voice in the time he knew him, let alone refer to him as his given name.
The Councillor stood to make himself more prominent. “You must not give up hope. There is still a chance.”
“A chance?" Treyan scoffed. “A chance does not erase what has happened to her. A chance does not fix the wrongs that have been done to us.”
“No, but we must maintain a level head. The Prophecy says—”
“Damn your Prophecy!” he screamed as he approached the Councillor, his fists clenched by his sides. “I could have saved her.”
“My Prince, it would have been suicide...”
“I would die a thousand deaths to take what has happened away from her.”
“It was in the best interest of the Empire.”
“The Empire? You think what’s happened to her has anything to do with the Empire?”
As anger overtook his body, he turned from the Councillor, and he slammed his fist into the nearby wall. He knew the fingers broke the moment bone hit the stone, but he couldn't move. The pain in his hand would be minimal compared to what Alex must have gone through.
“Fisc.” The sob that tore through his body had nothing to do with physical agony.
“My Prince.”
With tears in his eyes, he turned to look at the Councillor.
“Maybe Reylor had the right of it after all.”
Without another word, he turned his back to the Councillor and left the room.
27
Alex stayed in her own room while she continued to recover, with the healer visiting on the hour to check on her progress. Treyan remained by her side throughout the day and well into the evening, insisting on being there when she woke. The Councillor continued to assure him that she would be fine, though shaken as could be expected, and both she and the unborn twins would survive.
Treyan knew he could only help with her physical ailments. The emotional scars—those would be Alex's to heal. It was a harsh realization that no matter how much he wanted to make her better, to take her pain away, he would never be able to reverse the actuality of what happened to her.
Of what his brother did to her…
As he sat by her bedside, he considered what he would say to her once she awoke. He knew he needed to be sensitive, but time was of the essence, and the anxiety of the unknown ate at the insides of his stomach. The fate of his Empire—their Empire—hung in the balance. But until Alex woke up, all he could do was concern himself with her well-being. All else could wait—nothing else mattered.
Even as he felt his heart begging—pleading—for her to open her eyes.
It wasn't until the next night's candles had burned halfway to their holders that she started to stir. Treyan put down the book he had borrowed from the library and crouched next to her along the side of the bed.
“Alex?” he asked in a soft voice
“Mmmm,” she responded as she turned her head in his direction. Relief swept over him, but he didn't dare embrace her. He resorted to taking her hand in his, and he gently brushed a strand of her hai
r from her face with the other.
He thought he saw her cringe at his touch, but he was uncertain.
“Treyan?” Her voice was quiet, so very weak.
“I'm here, Alex.”
She slowly opened her eyes, and as her eyes met his, he instantly needed to hold her, to tell her she was protected. It had been so long since he had been able to look into them. She looked so sad and tired.
“Where am I?”
“You're home, Alex. You're safe.”
“Home...safe...” she imitated. Slowly, she pushed herself up into a sitting position. Treyan offered to help her, but she ignored him.
“How long has it been?”
“The suns have set twice,” he responded cautiously. He wasn't sure how much he should pry, so he allowed her to lead the conversation.
She nodded in response. “What about the baby?"
“Babies,” Treyan corrected quickly, and he knew the grin that split his face should feel out of place, but his inner joy overpowered his rational thought. “We’re having twins, Alex, and they’re doing fine. I...”
Her brows furrowed at the news, which stopped him from saying any more. Her eyes looked haunted, her hands clenching the blanket that had fallen to her waist. It was beginning to make him nervous, the tension that seemed to set in her shoulders. This news should have given her some hope, some peace despite everything she had already been through, but now he was more than concerned with her well-being over anything else.
She said no more, and the silence between them grew awkward. Treyan could stand it no longer.
“Alex, I want you to know—”
"Where were you?" She turned to him.
The intensity of her tone made him pause his train of thought. “I've been here, next to you, the entire time.”
“Where were you?” she repeated, and tears were starting to well in her eyes as her gaze blazed into him, searching for answers.
“Alex, I…” He didn't know what answers he could give to help her in what she was looking for, but he'd give them if he could.
“How long was I gone, Treyan?”
He was almost afraid to respond.
“You were gone for a few weeks, Alex. And when we—I—feared the worst, we began to gather at the tree line and—”
“The worst?” she practically screamed.
“Once you crossed into the Borderlands, we had no way of knowing—”
“How many times did you try to cross into those Borderlands to find me?”
“Alex, I was going to—”
“How many times, Treyan? Five times? Three?” Fire burned in her eyes as she continued to interrogate him. “Did you even try once?”
He had to look away from her.
“None, Treyan? Not once did you try to find me, did you? Not a single search party was sent to look for me. You didn't want me saved.”
“That's not true, Alex! You have to understand, the dangers of anyone crossing over into the Borderlands, the ramifications that were set, the threats that were made...” He sounded like a drone, parroting the words of the Councillor.
“The dangers?” Her look was incredulous. “You remained here, safe and sound behind your palace walls, and you want to tell me about dangers?”
Alex held her face in her hands as she began sobbing, her now-fragile body shaking uncontrollably. He wanted nothing more than to comfort her- he needed to comfort her.
“Alex, please...” he started, attempting to put an arm around her shoulder, anything that might help ease her pain.
“Don’t you dare touch me!”
The severity of the force used to push him off of her stopped everything. She climbed out of bed on the opposite side from where he sat, keeping her distance from him as her tears fell and her body raged.
“Do you have…any idea…what he did to me?” she struggled to get out. “What he put me through?”
“Alex, I know.”
“Oh, do you?” she snapped.
“Just let me help you.”
“You've helped enough.”
“Alex, stop this.”
“Stop? Have you not been listening? This is all your fault!”
“That's not true!” he argued, but he felt as though he had been slapped across the face.
“We knew he was considering it! We both saw the dream!”
“I know, I know, Alex,” he tried to reassure her, despite the hesitation in his voice. “But I had no idea about the magic, and the extent he would need to go for it, and what it would mean when he did.”
“He raped me, Treyan,” she said through clenched teeth. “He chained me down and took advantage of me, against my will.”
Treyan paused. “The Councillor says there were no physical signs of assault.”
“Are you calling me a liar?” she hissed. “I even have the fucking scars to prove it.” He looked down to her wrists where the shackles had worn away the skin, but when her hands rested on her belly for an added, painful emphasis, he knew what she meant.
Treyan was about to challenge her, to insist it was a violation of a different sort, but she already walked away from him, towards the door as if she intended to leave. Instead, she was face-to-face with two members of the palace guard who had taken post outside of her door since her return.
They stood silently, watching her, but seemed as surprised to see her as she was to see them, but Alex quickly took advantage of the situation.
To the first, she made a request. “Please take me to the Councillor. There is much he and I must discuss in light of...recent events.”
To the other, she commanded: “Please return Prince Treyan to his quarters, and do not allow him to disturb us while we decide what we’re going to do next.”
“Alex, please,” Treyan pleaded. “You need to rest...”
The guards gave each other a quick glance but followed their Empress' orders. One approached Treyan in an attempt to lead him from the room, while the other escorted Alex away to the Councillor's chambers.
Treyan shrugged away from the guard who attempted to grab ahold of his arm, his gaze on Alex as she was led from the room. She didn't look back towards him once while he watched her walk away from him, with each step shattering his heart into a hundred pieces.
28
Alex dismissed everyone who had once been close.
Or, at least, she tried.
The only one who refused to listen to her was Mallia, who insisted that, as her lead Mistress and her friend, she would not leave her alone in a great time of need.
The knock on the door that announced her arrival one such afternoon was purposefully ignored, and because there was no lock on the bedroom door, Mallia allowed herself in as if nothing was astray. “If you think for one moment I’m going to stand around while you’re wasting away to absolutely nothing, you’re entirely incorrect, Empress,” she said while Alex continued to remain in bed.
Alex wanted to both believe her and hate her for it.
Every day she would come in, pull back the heavy curtains, draw her bath and lay out her clothes.
Alex had fought the efforts for some time, but she knew Mallia had done her no wrong, merely wanting to help her when she could barely help herself, so Alex allowed her the access to her quarters.
Mallia, however, did not overstep those freedoms Alex allowed, leaving the Empress to bathe and dress herself in silence. Often, when she thought the Mistress wasn't watching, Alex would observe her slowly expanding belly with both a silent admiration and bitter hatred.
Sitting on the edge of her bed, she would run her hands lightly over the warm skin, knowing that within grew the next generation of the Empire's royal line.
Or she was incubating monsters.
“There’s a lotion the healer once gave me, to help the skin grow more supple,” Mallia casually offered one day, as she pulled back the curtains. “I’ll bring you a bottle when I come back tomorrow.”
Alex didn’t answer. Instead, she closed her eyes ti
ght at the memory, wanting to cry but tears no longer came. They had run out long before she left Reylor’s castle. There were no more to cry.
Despite the dried tears, however, there still remained an Empire that needed her attention, and she used whatever energy lingered to focus on that.
As if sensing her determination, Mallia continued to offer unsolicited advice and information.
“Treyan and Jamison are heading to the northern villages later this week.” She worked her way around the bed, pulling the duvet up to the headboard and fluffing pillows as she talked. “They’re hoping to increase the efforts to secure the tree line between us and the Borderlands to ensure no one passes through. From either side.”
Maybe Mallia knew it would capture her attention. Whether or not she was aware of Treyan’s promise not to venture near the tree line for his own safety didn’t matter. And whether or not Mallia knew how hard Alex’s heart pounded in her chest at the news, the Mistress’ information was more than enough to make Alex want to ask questions.
But not to her. And not yet.
The day she decided to venture from her room seemed to surprise the Councillor as much as it had her. But she took advantage of Treyan’s absence, despite the distress it caused her, and was not going to allow Mallia’s information to go to waste.
“Why did you allow Treyan to travel north?” she demanded of the advisor once she made her presence known upon entering his chambers.
The Councillor cleared his throat, as though remembering himself and to whom he was speaking before he responded. “They need to make sure the Borderlands are being monitored, Empress, and Prince Treyan’s first order upon your return was to set up patrolled outposts whose permanent responsibility it was to ensure no one crossed through the tree line unnoticed.”
That Treyan would go so far as to instill a royal decree…
“If they do?” she inquired carefully.
“Any minion or mage would be questioned and detained,” he informed her. And then hesitated before he added, “If the Betrayer dared, he would be brought directly to the Palace, immediately placing the Empire on high alert.”