One Crown & Two Thrones: The Prophecy

by Iseult O'Shea

  “Even if He does, there is no hope,” the King cried out as he forced his wife forward gently.

  “He can save us. He will not forsake us!”

  “He already has,” the young father said painfully as they finally reached the throne, falling before it. Theodore stepped forward and gazed down at the baby. A strange feeling ran through him, as though he had been on this island before as though he had held the small child within his arms before?

  “I’m scared,” Unyae cried into her husband’s shoulder, holding the young child close to her chest.

  “Do not be afraid Unyae, I am here,” Elieor soothed as he coughed up black blood, wiping it from his mouth with his sleeve.

  “I cannot feel my legs any longer,” Unyae whispered into her lover’s cloak. As though hearing her parent’s cries, the baby began to cry aloud, her small hands reaching upwards as though needing to wrap her arms about them.

  “Stay with me Unyae!” Elieor cried out, placing his index finger into his child’s hand. Theodore knelt before the trio and watched on in horror, what had happened to them?

  “Elieor what if he takes our child?” Unyae cried out, coughing wildly into Elieor’s chest, black blood also spilling from her mouth.

  “He cannot enter the garden,” Elieor said quietly into her long, auburn hair, hair that reminded him so very much of Eveline.

  “There is no one to help her Elieor!” Unyae cried, clutching her child closer to her, despite her strength ailing rapidly. Theodore stood up and quickly strode over to the distraught and distressed man.

  “You must save them!” he said loudly beaconing the man to turn to him. “Please!”

  “They are already dead,” the man whispered, turning his golden eyes to Theodore.

  “Then why am I here?” Theodore urged angrily, turning to face the trio now silent but still moving slightly.

  “You will see.”

  Theodore groaned and turned, walking back to the trio once more kneeling down before them. Unyae let her head fall back against Elieor’s arm, her golden eyes darkening.

  “I see the stars,” she smiled before her last breathe escaped her lungs.

  “No!” Elieor cried out, his eyes also darkening. “Unyae! No!” Theodore felt a tear fall his eye as the young man cradled his dead wife. Soon after, the young King also fell silent, his body falling against the foot of the throne, his head falling backwards. Behind him he felt the presence of the man and turned his head upwards to look into his eyes. The man lay a hand upon his shoulder. A moment later, two balls of ethereal light escaped from the young couple’s mouths and ascended into the night sky, suddenly causing a great explosion of light to fill up the darkness as it propelled itself into the night sky. Soon the light died and Theodore was once more knelt in darkness before the dead parents and crying child. Theodore leaned down and touched the babe’s cheek. Her eyes were round and golden, even in the darkness they shone brightly, reminding him once again of Eveline.

  “I have been here before,” he muttered out loud, suddenly remembering this night. Behind him two lights formed and he turned his eyes. Two men strode up from the water, robed in white. “Galean,” he whispered, his eyes upon the ethereal form of Galean, who now stood beside him. Beside Galean stood a man so similar to himself he almost thought it was him until at last in that moment he suddenly opened a door that had been tightly shut for a very long time and realised that it had been him and that he had been here before. In shock he got up and walked away, his head in his hands.

  “He was right!” he said aloud as Galean picked up the child and nestled her within his arms. “I am not man.”

  “No, you are Cael. You are one of my angels,” God announced calmly, his eyes upon the angels who now strode off, leaving the island in a burst of light. A whole stream of memories infiltrated Theodores mind forcing him to fall onto is knees once more. With each memory that erupted from the once tightly shut chamber within a deep and isolated corner of his psyche, Theodore felt himself revert back into his actual form and being. Galean had been right, he had no human parents, and he had in fact changed into a small boy in order to protect Eveline, the child he and Galean had borne away from this island, this world.

  ‘I am Cael.”

  *

  “Master!” Cael bowed before his King and God, Heiden.

  “Arise child,” Heiden ordered, helping his angel up. “We must return.”

  Together they plunged once more into a current of darkness before they stood once more upon the high altar of St Pauls. Turning he found Galean and opened his arms.

  “Friend!” he cried out, embracing Galean tightly. “How could I not see?”

  “You did not want to see friend,” Galean announced into Theodore’s shoulder. After a moment they detached themselves from the embrace and turned to their master.

  “What happened to her parents?” Theodore asked his master.

  “They were poisoned by her surviving son, Heidan.”

  “Heidan?” Theodore turned to Galean.

  “He is the son of Lagar and Unyae,” Galean explained darkly.

  “But how? Unyae was married to Elieor surely?” Theodore asked his master with concerned eyes.

  “When Lagar killed my wife and sons, he raped my only surviving child, Unyae,” Heiden exclaimed seriously, unmoving and bent, his face shielded from sight by a lingering shadow. “I had sent her to Unas for protection, unaware that she was with child. I had her bound to the garden of Calhuni and there she gave birth to the son of my eternal nemesis; Lagar, Lord and King of Hell.”

  “You did not know this?” Theodore quizzed his King.

  “I was blinded by my grief and she held her tongue, not wishing to cause me further pain.”

  “What happened to her son?”

  “She mothered him until he became too strong, too consumed with rage to be in her presence any longer,” Heiden said darkly. “He left the garden and travelled south to the Kingdom of Ruarr. The Ruarrian King, King Valmor had been executed by the tyrant Islaer, servant of Lagar. Heidan became his protégé until he became too powerful and power thirsty. He had been told of his mother’s marriage to the High King Elieor and the birth of their daughter, Celestine or as you know her to be, Eveline.”

  “He killed her parents didn’t he?” Theodore asked quietly, his eyes travelling between Galean and his master.

  “Yes,” Galean replied seriously. “He had taken the disguise of one of the royal courtiers and poisoned their wine upon Celestine’s name day.”

  “When the court heard of their deaths, Heidan with his army of followers invaded Calnuthe and the city of Caci, taking the throne of Elieor and the Kingdom of Calnuthe,” Heiden said through gritted teeth, turning from his angels and bringing his strong hands down upon the golden table, the force of his act causing the cathedral to shake.

  “And we brought Eveline here for safety,” Theodore added, the cathedral now still and silent as the men ruminated on these terrible and dark thoughts. “She is safe yes?”

  “No, she is not safe. Lagar has entrusted Belem and Lagmar to finding Celestine,” Galean replied, walking to and fro.

  “But how do they know she is here?” Theodore cried out, alarm filling him instantly at the thought of his wife being in danger. His wife he pondered, the words going over and over in his head. As the words rolled around in his mind he suddenly felt his body turn stiff. Angels were forbidden upon penalty of exile or even death to marry any child of their God and King.

  “Lagmar has appointed many shadows within the army and city. When you fell from your spitfire and thus were rushed to hospital, a shadow recognised you at once,” Galean said with much sorrow in his voice. “If he is anything like the others he will have passed on this information to Lagmar who will by now know of Eveline’s existence, especially now that you are both married.”

  At this all eyes fell upon Theodore who suddenly felt afraid.

  “It is forbidden to marry any child of my bloodline,” H
eiden said firmly, coming to stand before Theodore, whose eyes fell to the marble ground in shame.

  “I did not know that I was who I am when I married her,” Theodore pleaded keeping his head bowed.

  “She is meant for another,” Heiden said, his eyes finding Galean whose brows furrowed in confusion. “A man who claims a blood right to Gabriel.”

  At this Galean’s eyes widened in horror. His wife and child, Marsalia and Rosai had been murdered twenty years ago. He had met his wife when he had taken up his commission as an angel, leaving his Father the High King of Meer, the Northern Kingdom beyond the mountains of Calnuthe after the death of his mother. She was his intended and no other.

  “She is my wife,” Theodore said softly.

  “She was never meant to be your wife, but that we cannot change,” Heiden said sadly, knowing only too well the consequences that such a bond would conceive.

  “They will know where she is, I must return to her at once!” Theodore announced, lifting his eyes to his master, pleading him to understand.

  “Indeed you must,” Heiden proclaimed. “You and Galean must bring her here to St Paul’s.”

  “Why here?” Theodore asked, turning his eyes to Galean who shrugged.

  “There are few places in which to hide, St Paul’s is one of several. Bring her here so that she can be enlightened as to who she is,” Heiden proclaimed wisely. “And I must be the source of her enlightenment.”

  “How will we know you are here?” Galean enquired slowly, feeling the heavy burden of the journey ahead.

  “You may call for me, only when she is within this cathedral, do you understand?” Heiden looked at both of his angels.

  “Yes.”

  “The less she knows the better, for her own safety,” Heiden ordered before he turned from his angels. Theodore stepped forward but was stopped by Galean.

  “No,” he mouthed as Heiden was once more eclipsed by white light, thus disappearing and leaving the cathedral once again under cover of darkness. Theodore turned to Galean.

  “He killed my parents.”

  “I know.”

  “I won’t allow him to kill Eveline as well.”

  “I wouldn’t expect you to Cael.”

  Galean watched as Theodore walked about the high altar in his nightdress.

  “What do we do?”

  “We need to meet with Lier before we do anything,” Galean said, his hands clasped in front of him calmly.

  “Before we return to the hospital ward tell me of your father and brothers? Are they well?” Theodore stood before Galean, a foot taller due to the steps.

  “Firstly we are not returning to the hospital it’s too dangerous,” Galean replied his blue eyes bright. “Secondly my brother Beon has waged war upon my father.”

  “Why do you not return to your homeland, you are the heir?”

  “I cannot return until I know she is safe, if she perishes then the Southern Kingdom perishes along with her,” Galean said seriously, running his hand through his blonde hair.

  “What if she does not wish to return to Calnuthe?”

  “That I cannot answer,” Galean sighed, his shoulders heavy with burdens he could not easily sweep aside. “I fear her time spent away from her people will not work to her advantage, especially as her half-brother has taken her throne.”

  “I would think that is enough reason to go back, if not to claim revenge on behalf of her parent’s death,” Theodore said darkly.

  “Revenge is driven by anger and anger can turn a good person into a being that lurks within the shadows,” Galean lectured quietly. “We cannot want that for Celestine.”

  “Why does Heiden not kill Heidan? Surely that would simplify matters?”

  “You forget, Heidan is his grandson.”

  “Who wishes to have nothing to do with the light, who killed his daughter.”

  “We must remember how it is that our God is different from Lagar, what makes Him stand apart from those who serve the darkness.”

  “He is also a God who can be angered and who can wage war.”

  “If Heidan killed Heiden, Celestine may not be so forgiving, she may harbour hopes of redemption,” Galean said quietly, seeing the anger in his friend’s eyes.

  “He is beyond redemption in my eyes.”

  “In your eyes he is, we know not how Celestine will view things.”

  “My wife will want vengeance.”

  Galean and Theodore stood firm, their eyes lingering upon one another, divided by opinion, bound by Celestine.

  “Come we must away,” Galean said after a moment of silence.

  “I need clothes,” Theodore retorted.

  “You shall receive everything you need. Take my hand.”

  Theodore clasped onto his friends hand and closed his eyes as they were sucked into a dark void. With a thud they found themselves in a poorly lit study, filled with books, paper and maps.

  “Still the same,” Theodore smiled, following a quiet Galean out of the study and into a darkened corridor. At the end of the corridor a door stood ajar, letting a little light steep out into the cold hallway. When they reached the door, Galean opened it fully and entered Liers sitting room. Leer sat upon a leather chair in front of a small fire, unmoving.

  “I was wondering when you would both appear,” he said quietly, his brown eyes upon the flames.

  “We are in need of your counsel,” Galean announced, looking around the room with curiosity. Out of the many homes he had been accustomed to visiting, this was his favourite. Knowledge never looked so literal.

  “You wish to know the whereabouts of Lagmar and Belem?” Lier asked, turning his eyes to the young angels, frowning at Theodore’s attire.

  “My spitfire was shot down,” Theodore explained quietly, feeling quite naked beneath the fine nightdress.

  “I see,” Lier said with a slight smile. “I wondered when I would be seeing you again. Of course I had heard of your heroics in the sky, but never did I imagine in all my days that I would see you.”

  “Well here I am,” Theodore opened his arms dramatically.

  “Go upstairs, there you will find clothes. Dress quickly and come back down we have much to discuss.”

  Theodore turned on his heel and disappeared into the dark corridor, leaving Galean alone with Lier.

  “Come sit by the fire, for you are weary and much burdened, Galean son of Ballour.”

  Galean sighed outwardly and took a seat opposite Lier, his hair once raven now grey and fine.

  “Beon has indeed lifted his sword I hear,” Lier said softly, watching intently as Galean’s eyes fell to the flames of the fire.

  “He believes my father killed his wife, Turtha,” Galean replied, crossing his long legs.

  “Of course he does, how else can he carry the guilt of his wife upon his shoulders? Knowing that she had been poisoning your father’s wine,” Lier muttered darkly.

  “She was acting on the orders of a black witch,” Galean said with a glum expression upon his face. “Why Beon fell under her spell still confuses me.”

  “Beon was always moved by power it isn’t that hard to understand his motives, men moved by power hate to stand in the shadow of those greater than themselves.”

  “My parents brought us up as equals, power never entered their equation,” Galean said as he fiddled with his long fingers.

  “They may have wished for their sons to believe in equality but even they knew that such a goal was wishful thinking and could only be determined by the characteristics of those involved,” Lier said with great empathy. “Beon was never a child who took part in the act of sharing.”

  “Even so, I never thought him capable of this.”

  “That he should want what you have? How could you not expect this of him?”

  “I had thought that the fullness of our parents love would have transcended all thoughts of treason and greed,” Galean said, his eyes lifting from the flames and resting upon Lier, who sat forward, placing a frail hand up
on his own.

  “Then you have a good heart, naive at times I grant you, but good none the less.”

  “I feel myself pulled in two directions,” Galean admitted quietly.

  “You sense that you should be both defending your Kingdom and Celestine? There is no shame in how you feel.”

  “My lack of commitment to my people and Dulthe in particular has left them both vulnerable to power driven men.”

  “You and I both know that every heir to the kingdom of Meer spends time in the service of Heiden, it is nothing out of the ordinary Galean,” Lier replied solemnly. “Should you return to Meer? Yes I think the time has come to seriously consider returning if you wish to protect your people and throne.”

  “I will return when Celestine is safe and out of harm’s way,” Galean said with an air of finality. Lier examined the young man’s face, strong and fair.

  “Yet something lingers…,” Lier sighed. “Tell me what is that stirs beneath your calm exterior?”

  “Something that passed between Heiden and myself in St Paul’s,” Galean admitted.

  “What passed between you?”

  “Theodore proclaimed that he had married Celestine,” Galean whispered, leaning forward slightly so that their heads met. At this Lier gasped ever so slightly and placed a hand upon his quivering mouth.

  “He married Heiden’s granddaughter without telling him?”

  “To be fair he had no idea who he was, so we cannot place all the blame upon his shoulders,” Galean sighed.

  “What else occurred?”

  “Heiden exclaimed that Celestine was bound to another, a man whose bloodline can be traced back to Gabriel’s,” Galean whispered, looking around to make sure the coast was clear of any eavesdroppers. Lier sat back into his chair, his eyes on Galean attentively.

  “And you think he meant you?”

  “When he said those words he looked at me directly,” Galean admitted, letting his head fall into his hands, tense and stressed.

  “Interesting,” Lier muttered under his breathe.

  “It is of course entirely wrong that he should presume I am that man,” Galean said with authority. “I wish for no wife. I have had my fill of love. And if he indeed referred to me as that man then he is wrong. Theodore is my best friend and I would never presume to take his wife from him.”