Two Thousand Years

by M. Dalto

  The look of sheer disappointment on her face caught Treyan’s attention, and he brought her into his arms, wrapping her in a hug. “I didn’t say that.”

  Her resolve began to waver as she snuggled into his shoulder. Was this a fruitless endeavor? Were they putting too much at risk?

  She had the Mark. That had to mean something.

  Pulling away from Treyan, she turned back towards the Annals.

  “I wonder…”

  “Wonder what?”

  Before she could answer him, as though the book had read her mind, the pages fanned forward and, once again, stopped on their own.

  Now they were both curious, and stepping forward hand-in-hand, they peered over at the pages of the tome.

  Herein Lies the Prophecy of

  Queen Empress Alexstrayna

  &

  Crown Prince Treyan

  * * *

  It was their Prophecy.

  But it was blank.

  38

  “I absolutely forbid it!”

  “It’s not yours to forbid, Councillor!”

  Alex stood at her seat, the frustration rising within her.

  “Empress, as advisor to the Empire, I cannot allow the Queen Empress—or the Crown Prince—to willingly leave the safety of the palace to engage the Betrayer. The Crown Prince’s brother or not, he is still the enemy!”

  “Councillor.” Treyan stood, his tone even as if attempting to distill the tension before the situation escalated further. “The Empress and I have talked about this, at length, and we believe this is the only way that we’ll be able to infiltrate Reylor’s castle and apprehend him.”

  “What will become of him?”

  “He will return to the palace, and we will put him on trial for the crimes he has committed against the Empire.”

  The Councillor looked between the two of them. “No. I cannot allow it.”

  Alex wanted to scream again, more than ready to begin citing every book and history reference they came across in their research, when Treyan cleared his throat.

  “Councillor,” he interjected once again. “There’s something else you should see.”

  He stood next to Alex, silencing her with his eyes while he motioned to her forehead. She quietly questioned his motives but nodded. Treyan pulled back Alex’s well-placed hair to reveal the Mark upon her forehead to the Council.

  The Councillor’s eyes widened immediately with recognition. “The Mark of the Empress? The history books have only referenced to it as a myth, a legend.”

  “It appears as though the history books were wrong,” Treyan retorted.

  “How?” This was the quietest the Councillor had been rendered since Alex could remember.

  “Saratanya,” she answered plainly.

  He looked to Alex. “Tanya?” He cleared his throat. “When did you meet the Queen Empress?”

  “Let’s just say we had a heart to heart on my deathbed.”

  The Councillor took his seat.

  “So, it’s true, but the Prophecy?”

  “As of right now, we don’t have one,” Treyan interjected. “It’s blank. We checked.”

  “Which means we have a story that still needs to be written,” Alex concluded. “And if we’re to risk anything for the good of the Empire, now is the time to do it.”

  The Councillor looked to them before he steepled his fingers and looked at them with his brows furrowed. “I will need some time to consider this. In private.”

  “Of course,” Treyan bowed, taking Alex by the arm.

  “Thank you,” she added with a nod of her head.

  Alex watched the Councillor, waiting for his acknowledgement, but he appeared almost distraught and lost in his own thoughts before retiring to his quarters as they had left.

  “Do you think it was enough?” Alex asked Treyan as they walked from the Councillor's chambers. “I'd really hate to have to steal a Key from them to get this done.”

  Treyan shook his head. “You saw the look in his eye. He knows something about this Mark and I think that's our leverage.”

  “Perhaps it's time we began our next research project.”

  They reached the doors to the library and were about to enter to start their tasks when the sounds of someone following them down the hall made them pause.

  “Empress?” the Councillor inquired.

  Alex cast a sideways glance to Treyan before turning to face him. “Yes, Councillor?”

  He hesitated slightly. “The Key will be prepared within the suns' cycle.”

  An odd sense of relief swept over her. They had won this battle, and soon it would be time for the next.

  This was going to work.

  “Thank you, Councillor,” she nodded, trying her best to keep her composure. “The Empire will remember this.”

  Nodding, he turned on his heel and quietly retreated down the hallway.

  They silently watched him as he turned the corner, and once he was out of sight Alex let out a celebratory cheer, wrapping Treyan in a hug, and before she could stop herself, her lips pressed to his.

  He returned the kiss instinctively until he realized what she had done and the promise they made. He pulled away to look at her, giving them both a moment to pause and consider what just happened. A silent agreement passed between them as he looked at her and she back at him, and she wrapped her arms around him, tighter than before, as their mouths met again for a deep, longing kiss. It took the handle of the library door to jab into Alex's lower back to make her realize their current location was not the most ideal for their intended endeavors.

  “We should go somewhere else,” she insisted in a breathy whisper as his lips moved to her neck.

  “Why? You don't want me to take you before the very book that brought us together in the first place?” he purred into her ear.

  “Not exactly,” she giggled as his breath tickled her lobe. “The paper cuts would be a bitch, and I'd feel like that damn book was watching us.”

  He chuckled at her reservations and brought his face back to hers. “Fair enough.”

  He kissed her again and, hand in hand, they continued to Treyan's chambers to further celebrate their victory.

  The door was barely shut before they began removing the other’s clothes.

  The trail of discarded garments led from the door directly to the bed, where they quickly continued from where they last left off.

  Treyan had his reservations, despite his own desires. His concern was for Alex’s emotional state as much as the well-being of the twins, but she assured him she was fine. This was something that she needed—that they both needed—and he didn’t need to worry about twins so long as they went slow.

  Slowly they went, taking their time to again familiarize themselves with the other’s body again.

  When they made love that night, they were not only making up for the time they had lost, but they knew that there was a chance it could be their last time.

  39

  At six-months pregnant with twins, Alex was still able to tie her own boots, and the boost of confidence in her ability to care for herself was exactly what she needed before she set out on her inevitable quest. She put on black leggings, a loose-fitting black shirt, and tied her hair back into a ponytail. Looking at herself in the mirror in the foyer of the palace’s main entryway, she was as ready as she’d ever be.

  “I think you’re forgetting something.”

  Treyan startled her as his reflection stood silently behind her. He had left earlier to ready the horses for the trip north. They agreed that he would bring her as far as the tree line, to ensure she at least made it that far before she would be out of his protection. She would have been lying if she said she didn’t agree, so she would allow him to accompany her that far so long as his presence didn’t bring too much attention to the task at hand. This mission was clandestine to the rest of the Empire, so they would need to avoid the barracks as much as possible and enter unseen from either side.

  She re
turned to admiring herself. “And what would that be, My Prince?” He had been adding to the list of his personal rules and restrictions since the Councillor gave them his approval: that she was to rest when she felt tired, that she was to drink water constantly. She was to get in and get out as soon as possible and remember the outlying goal was to retrieve Reylor for his crimes and to not exact her vengeance without him.

  A part of her wondered if the last restriction was for his own benefit.

  She expected the list to grow until they parted at the tree line.

  He stood behind her, a whole head taller, and wrapped one arm around her shoulders while the other presented her with a black silk-wrapped item

  She blinked at him through the mirror, and he held the parcel out for her to take it.

  She unwrapped the gift carefully, and in her hands, she held a knife—not the useless kitchen knife she stuck in her garter on her wedding day, but a real, master-crafted weapon.

  Its hilt was wrapped in heavy black leather, and its silver blade was smooth and sharp. Inlaid into the pommel was a dark blue gem, similar to a sapphire, and its balance was perfect within her grip.

  “Where did this come from?”

  “Well, I saw the knife they took off of you after the wedding ceremony. I’m almost afraid to ask why you had it in the first place.”

  She rolled her eyes in his general direction. “It wasn’t for you. It was for protection.”

  “From what, a steak?”

  She glared at his reflection.

  “Anyway, I figured if you’re going to carry a knife, it might as well be a sharp one.”

  She sheathed the blade. Holding the weight in her hands was a comfort she thought she wasn’t expecting.

  “Thank you,” she said sincerely, as she tried to attach the knife to the belt of her pants. Tried, and failed miserably, for as she balanced the belt and the dagger between her hands, she unceremoniously dropped both to the floor at her feet.

  “Shit.”

  She glanced up to see Treyan already watching her, amusement dancing across his features. Before she could either ask for help or admonish him for laughing, he moved towards her, picked up both the fallen knife and the belt, and reached around to help her with the buckle. When he had finished with the final loop, he pulled her shirt back down over her and she again assessed herself in the mirror. Between the loose garment and her large belly, the knife was completely concealed from view.

  “Just make sure you don’t stab yourself when you need to use it, alright?” he teased as he straightened.

  Alex could tell he was trying to make light of the situation, but by the tone of his voice and the look in his eyes, she knew Treyan was scared. A lump caught in her own throat as she tried to ignore her own doubts.

  She turned around to face him, a reassuring smile on her face. “I’ll be okay.”

  He pulled her close and wrapped her in a tight hug before she could finish her sentence.

  “You better be,” he whispered into her hair.

  The Councillor waited for them in the stables prior to their departure. There was one more item of business to address before Alex could go anywhere.

  “The Key.” The Councillor presented them with a box that contained a delicate-looking hair comb of swirled silver filigree and diamonds.

  The exact same hair comb Treyan had given Alex on her coronation day.

  Which had returned to her embedded within the skull of her murdered mistress.

  Alex shied away from the morbid sight, clutching to Treyan's arm as the bile in her stomach began to rise.

  The Councillor only sighed. “Please calm down, Empress, it is only a replica. Nothing more.”

  “Or is it?” chided Treyan into her ear.

  Alex jabbed him in the ribs.

  “Empress, we needed to use something that Reylor knew to already belong to you,” the Councillor confirmed. “It is not unheard of for the Empress to maintain a sense of decoration, even in riding clothes.”

  Alex still remained unconvinced, but Treyan picked up the comb and approached her. “I don't want to see this coming back on your corpse, you understand me?”

  Biting her lip, she nodded and bent her head down so that Treyan could insert the accessory into the hair next to her ponytail.

  “All I need to do is find somewhere hidden to leave this, so it can't be found, and then I just wait?”

  “Something like that,” Treyan confirmed. “Look for some place against a wall. Fireplaces are ideal. They make porting easier to gauge.”

  “Once it's planted?”

  “You have to wait for the next full moon. As soon as it reaches its apex, both ends will activate.”

  “The full moon should be on the rise tomorrow night,” the Councillor explained. “We've calculated it so that there is just enough time for you to enter Reylor's castle, find the appropriate destination, and remain hidden until the moon is at its peak.”

  Alex nodded. “Okay, well it looks like we don't have any time to waste.”

  “Best of luck, Empress.” The Councillor bowed. “We await your quick return.”

  They rode out in silence, each left to their own thoughts not only about the journey ahead, but about what would happen after.

  While Treyan concerned himself with the dilemma of ever seeing his wife again, Alex focused her thoughts on logistics. This was not the first time she needed to get herself into a place she didn’t belong, she reminded herself, though sneaking into a bar while being underage was much different than sneaking her way over enemy territory. She would try to remain within the tree line for as long as she could, at least until she came upon the pathway through the Borderlands that she trekked before…

  She quickly stopped that train of thought.

  This was not like before, she assured herself as her hands clenched tighter around the reins.

  This time she would not be a victim, and for Reylor’s sake, she hoped he remained well out of sight until it was time to send him through the Key.

  They hadn’t discussed her plan to get him through the Key, and Treyan hadn’t exactly asked for specifics, either. He only instructed her to bring him back while she remained safe. He trusted her to handle the rest.

  Now, if she could only trust herself.

  The suns drifted through the sky as they rode on. It was dusk by the time she could see the tall overgrowth of the tree line in the distance, and almost another hour before they reached the edge.

  They both remained upon their horses as they stared at the mile-long stretch that lay before them, trying not to think about what was beyond.

  Eventually it was Treyan who jumped from his horse, and taking Alex’s reins from her, he assisted as she climbed down from her saddle. Nothing was easy about pregnant horseback riding, she decided as she stretched her already sore back.

  And here she was, about to hike through the woods at night to infiltrate the castle of the Empire’s most dangerous enemy.

  What the hell was she doing?

  Treyan was helping her with her pack before she could have second thoughts. Sufficient food, water and supplies were within to last her three days. It would be enough.

  It had to be.

  Once he finished fastening it above her belly and across her chest, he let out a sigh and placed his hands on her shoulders, leaning his forehead to hers.

  “That Mark really is warm, isn’t it?” he commented softly.

  She smiled as she closed her eyes. “I told you.”

  He returned her smile and kissed the Mark gently before meeting her lips.

  She wrapped her arms around him and returned the kiss deeply until they both knew it was time for Alex to depart.

  Giving her one last kiss, he looked deep into her eyes. “I love you.”

  She knew what he was doing, and her resolve began to waver as tears welled in her eyes. She wrapped her arms around his neck one more time.

  “I love you.”

  “You better keep my
babies safe,” he ordered as he rubbed her back through the embrace. “Or else.”

  “Or else,” she promised.

  Treyan brought his hands to her belly in a silent farewell before he kissed her again, knowing that he could remain there with her all night, but there was a more important task at hand.

  He turned back to the horses, tying the reins of her horse to his saddle, and vaulted up into his own. With one final glance over his shoulder, he quickly galloped away before his emotions further betrayed him.

  Alex watched him ride until he was out of sight before she turned around and embarked on her own journey through the overgrowth towards the Borderlands.

  40

  Though not yet full, the moon gave Alex enough light to navigate the overgrowth of the tree line, where she would remain until the suns rose to begin the day anew. She treaded carefully, knowing that one false step could cause her serious injury, or worse, so she was mindful, and she took her time. Her adrenaline kept her moving forward, and as it kept getting darker, it felt as though her feet were the only part of her that remained stable.

  She was uncertain as to how much time had passed. For all she knew, she could have been walking for hours. Her plan was to circle around far enough to arrive on the stable’s side of the castle, and if her instincts were correct, she would soon arrive at the base of the mountain that provided the backdrop of the castle. From there she would sneak into the stables and wait. She tried not to think about any other details, but only that she get there, and get there fast.

  She crept among the underbrush, careful of the upraised roots and hidden sinkholes. Her boots had caught a couple of times, and had she been moving any faster than her over-cautious pace, she would have tripped herself and found herself in a dire predicament. Luckily, she was able to catch herself when she was rendered off balance, and thanks to the extent of the overgrowth, was able to support herself on nearby trees as often as she needed.