One Crown & Two Thrones: The Prophecy

  “Come in,” she exclaimed, taking in a deep breathe.

  “It’s only me,” Jophiel announced as she entered. Eveline observed her friend who looked stunning in an emerald green dress that fell to her calves. “You look beautiful Eveline!”

  “As do you,” Eveline smiled as she rose to her feet to clasp the hands of Jophiel, her eyes bright and endearing.

  “I love your earrings!”

  “They were a gift from Theodore to mark our engagement,” Eveline said with a thud in her chest. Her husband had done nothing that could ever justify the heightening feelings she had been harbouring for his best friend, she was a cad and ever more so a liar. No she had not openly expressed how she felt towards Galean and neither had he, but the pain she had felt from awakening from their kiss had been unbearable on top of everything else that was currently happening to her both internally and externally.

  “Shall we go downstairs now? They are dancing,” Jophiel said with a genuine smile. Eveline curled her arm within Jophiels and let her friend guide her out of the room, closing the door with a slight click.

  “It must have taken you hours to perfect those victory rolls,” Eveline said as the descended the stairs, beautifully decorated with garlands.

  “About two hours if I’m being honest,” Jophiel laughed as she gazed down at the heavy mass of people. “Your own hair is very Grecian.”

  “I have always had a preference for Grecian attire, especially during the regency era,” Eveline admitted her chest tightening as guests looked up from their conversations to take in the two women. “It is a secret actually, but I adore everything about the regency era and wished greatly to travel back in time to have a taste at what life was like.”

  “You mean the cream of society I hope?” Jophiel laughed deeply as they now made their way through the heavy crowd towards Theodore, Mary, Estelle and Belle who were in the large morning room, gathered in a large circle before the fireplace.

  “Of course as wicked as that may seem, I am not ignorant to the real horrors of life during the regency period,” Eveline blushed slightly. “It is a silly notion really, most likely a direct consequence of reading too much Austen.”

  “I have a great affiliation towards Jane Austen and completely understand your curious and inquisitive notions.”

  “Theodore once brought me to Jane’s house you know in the village of Chawton near Alton?”

  “I have been several times with like-minded women,” Jophiel smiled, as they came before the group. Theodore turned and stood motionless as he took in both women. Eveline watched as his eyes settled a little longer upon Jophiel and felt her heart pain a little before his eyes moved to her face.

  “My dear you look stunning,” he announced politely coming forward to kiss her lips lightly. “Jophiel, you too look radiant.”

  “Thank you,” Jophiel replied with lowered eyes, guilt rushing through her veins. Eveline felt Theodore’s arm wind about her waist gently.

  “You are wearing my earrings,” he whispered into her ear, causing her skin to tingle slightly.

  “They suit my dress,” Eveline smiled as Belle came to her taking her hand and forcing her away from the group.

  “Belle what is it?” she asked the child whose eyes were filled with untold worry. Theodore let go of Eveline and walked away to where Jophiel stood, leaning into her with adamant eyes. Eveline watched the pair for a moment before gathering her wits.

  “Galean, he has gone to his room with a head ache,” Belle announced quietly as they came to sit upon the window seat.

  “Why does this bother you so child?” Eveline said with grave eyes, wrapping an arm about Belle who she had rarely spent time with in the last few weeks.

  “He said thank you to Mary for letting him stay here,” Belle whispered into Eveline’s ear.

  “He did?”

  “Yes,” Belle said with anxious eyes, her nose twitching. “Is he leaving us?”

  “No, why would he?” Eveline lied, comforting the child with a hug and a kiss.

  “You said he was leaving soon.”

  “He is, he has to return home to his family Belle.”

  “But not tonight?”

  “No not tonight,” Eveline said with assurance, her eyes darting to Theodore and Jophiel who were talking with serious expressions. Jophiel turned quickly from Theodore and left him by the fireplace, walking away into the crowd of merry guests. “Have you had your glass of milk yet?” Eveline asked Belle.

  “Yes,” Belle replied as she observed the couples now taking their places in the centre of the room for a waltz. “Estelle says I have to go to bed in thirty minutes.”

  “She’s right, it’s nearly eight,” Eveline whispered gently as the dance began. The guests were mainly older friends of Mary and young guests were scarce.

  “I wish I could dance too,” Belle sighed deeply with a yawn.

  “Well why don’t you ask Theodore? I’m sure he would love to share a waltz with you,” Eveline smiled warmly. “Come let us find him and ask shall we?”

  “Oh yes please,” Belle beamed as she bounced down onto her feet and followed Eveline around the edge of the room until they found Theodore looking sourly out of temper, his arm nestled upon the heart, his eyes upon the fire.

  “Theodore? Is everything alright?” Eveline asked her husband with concerned eyes. Theodore turned with surprise and looked down at Belle.

  “Yes of course,” he lied. In truth he had just found himself in an argument with Jophiel over his conduct with Galean, but he wasn’t about to tell Eveline who would surely seek him out and beg him to stay.

  “I saw Jophiel walk away, did you argue?”

  “No she just needed some air,” Theodore lied with a lowered gaze.

  “I heard that Mr Edwards has retired to his room with a headache, I do hope he will be okay.”

  “Don’t worry about Galean he can take care of himself Eveline,” Theodore said sharply. Eveline held his gaze for a moment before agreeing to let his comment slide for the sake of Belle.

  “Belle wishes to dance, would you care to be her partner?”

  “I would love too,” Theodore exclaimed much to the joy of Belle. Eveline stood back and watched as the pair made their way to the floor. Theodore scooped the child up into his arms and whirled her around much to the pleasure of the onlookers who cooed and sighed at the tender sight. Eveline stood close to Estelle and watched on, her eyes suddenly darting to the stairs.

  “Galean?” she whispered under her breathe as Galean made his way down the stairs with a case, dressed in his day clothes. The rest of the guests were oblivious to his presence as he quietly slipped through the crowd, making his way towards the door. Instinctively she began to follow him through the crowd until she came to the door and opened it. Snow was falling and a cool breeze entered the reception area. In the distance she could see him walking through the park under the gas lamps. Eveline looked behind her quickly before darting out into the cold night, closing the door behind her and making her way down the steps. The street was lined with cars but empty of life as she crossed and quickly made her way through the arch of the gates. Lifting up the hem of her pleated dress, her skin crawling with goose bumps she began to run after him. It didn’t take long for her to reach him. “Galean! Wait!” she cried out, her lungs burning with tightness. Galean stopped but did not turn, his back bent and his right hand tight about the handle of his suitcase.

  “Eveline you shouldn’t be out here in this weather,” he said aloud, keeping his back to her.

  “I came to bring you back,” Eveline replied, her breathe whistling about her in a cloud of icy molecules as snow covered her hair and skin lightly.

  “Then you have come in vain,” Galean said as he turned slowly to face her, his face grave and his eyes sad. “I won’t be returning with you.”

  “Why?” Eveline asked gently, stepping towards him slightly.

  “I am going home, where I am needed,” Galean stated, keeping his
eyes from her direct gaze, his heart already consumed with love, as beautiful and graceful as she was, gowned in deep red.

  “So soon?”

  “I am no longer needed here.”

  “Who told you that?” Eveline asked with a confused expression, her lips trembling as the heat from her body began to slip away.

  “No one,” Galean lied. Eveline stepped closer to him and laid a hand upon his cloaked arm. “I told you that I would be leaving after the ball.”

  “I did not think you meant during the ball.”

  “I didn’t want to create a fuss,” Galean said as he forced his gaze upwards, finally meeting her own distressed gaze.

  “You could never create a fuss,” Eveline smiled. “I am the one creating all the fuss.”

  “Eveline you need to return before you catch your death out here,” Galean said with a sternness in his usually calm voice.

  “I care not for death but for you to return with me,” Eveline pleaded, her golden gaze widening.

  “Please understand me when I say that I cannot,” Galean said with urgency. “You are safe and will be well looked after.”

  “How can you lie? I am in the clutches of death and you think me well?” Eveline said with a flash of anger.

  “My being near to you will only cause more pain, pain you don’t need or deserve,” Galean returned kindly, his brows furrowed.

  “Your leaving me when I need you the most will only consume me with pain,” Eveline whispered wishing he could understand why.

  “You have a husband Eveline,” Galean said with knowing eyes as he gently laid his hand upon her own. “He should be the man you need and want at your side, not me.”

  “But we are friends are we not?”

  “You know we are,” Galean said, his voice etched with pain. “But our friendship has taken another meaning and I cannot allow that.” Eveline bent her head in submission of his statement, her eyes wet with tears.

  “I know I shouldn’t ask you to stay, how can I? I have as you say a husband,” Eveline cried quietly. “And yet it is not the voice of my husband that brings me back from the dark abyss in which I find myself, it is you. And I know how wrong it is, trust me I know.” Eveline pressed her free hand against her heart in desperation. “My mind urges me to stay away from you but my heart pleads with me to keep you near in spite of myself.”

  “Eveline, you are bound to another and I being once the husband of a woman I loved with all my heart can understand why it is that Theodore wishes me gone from you,” Galean said with calmness as Eveline forced herself to stop crying, ashamed and dismantled. “Whatever truth lies in the prophecy, if true it is, then can we not hope that it may bear fruit at such a time when we can openly feel towards one another?”

  “Such a time I fear will never come,” Eveline whispered tensely. “For you are leaving me to walk among the earth of another world, a world I have no hope of finding.”

  “You don’t know what the future holds Eveline,” Galean said as he released her arm from his own to take of his heavy coat. “But you must stay true to Theodore, the guilt of loving another man whilst being married will sully you and follow you around like a shadow cast over your heart until you’re dying breathe. And if love is what we feel for one another, then let it be innocent and right. I could not love you under any other circumstances even if it meant that I wait a hundred years for you.”

  “My heart will break,” Eveline said through muffled sobs. “I feel it break as we speak.”

  “You are stronger than you give yourself credit for Eveline,” Galean said as he wrapped his heavy coat about her, keeping hold of the lapels as she stepped even closer to him.

  “I have never felt stronger than when I am with you.”

  “Your strength has nothing to do with my presence and everything to do with you,” Galean said quickly as he wiped a stray strand from her pale face. “And strength you will need if you are to pull through and make it to the other side.”

  “And if I die?”

  “Don’t speak of death, it is a mask you shall never wear not whilst I breathe,” Galean said harshly as he cupped her face in the palm of his cold hands.

  “You will be gone, how will you know if I live or die?”

  “A heart always knows, no matter the distance, no matter the situation,” Galean said with certainty. “Trust me when I say that I will know if you live or die.”

  “What can I say to change your mind?” Eveline asked with desperation as her hands lay upon his chest as his blue eyes held her own, wild locks of his thick golden hair falling about his face.

  “If I loved you as I do then I would go, if I loved you any less then I would stay,” Galean soothed. “To love someone is to put their own interests before your own. I wish to see you better, to see you live out your days with your husband who as you have told me many times is your best friend. You married him, remember why.”

  “I thought no other man in this world could understand me as he did, but now I know that was untrue,” Eveline said with chattering teeth. “And I know that his heart is also torn between Jophiel and myself. It is a cloud of complication that I fear will never disperse.”

  “It will lighten greatly with my departure. Eveline I do not wish to be the man that steals you away from your husband, no matter his intentions towards you and Jophiel,” Galean promised aloud. “No matter the feelings between you and I, please try to understand that I am helping you, that if I can give you anything, anything at all it is peace of mind.”

  “Love is not rationale,” Eveline mused aloud as snow began to pierce her hair, drenching it in water. “When I married Theodore, I married him for all the rationale reasons. Now I know that it is a feeling greatly disconnected to the rationale mind. I have always prided myself on my rationale and logical nature, never one to fall prey to my illogical and irrational urges.”

  “Here come over to the bandstand before you fall victim to pneumonia,” Galean ordered, taking her hand in his and guiding her over to the Victorian bandstand. Together they stood moulded within each other for warmth and comfort.

  “How the gaze or touch of a hand can break the ice of rationality within me is a complete myth, it is greater than the love or wonder I feel at the hands of nature, deeper and truer than the blossoming bud of spring,” Eveline spoke with a serious and melchonalic expression. “ I see the mechanisms of nature and my logical mind is set at ease, but when you walk into a room or your eyes find my own, it is a though a volcano which has been ever present within my soul has been brought back to life and at times, I feel it will explode and I will shatter.”

  “That volcanic explosion can bring with it not just relief but great harm, for love should be like the blossom of spring and not the eruption of a volcano which can bring with it death and terrible consequences,” Galean lectured as he touched her cheek lightly.

  “Then why am I reminded of a volcano?”

  “Because you are a married woman and to love another is against all that you believe in, it is against your nature, your rationale mind, your morals and principles,” Galean said as he took in a breath. “And so you sense the danger lurking within, the danger that opening that vessel of love to me can bring. Your rationale mind urges you to walk away, but as is always with love it feeds not from the mouth of rationality but the mouth of the irrational and illogical. It has the ability to not only strike life into the bud but to strike fire into the hearts of man. It can bring down a nation like the love between Helen and Paris. It can be the root of all that is good and pure in this world or the root of all that is corrupt and unrepentant. I wish the love between us not to be the latter, I wish it to be good and without prejudice.”

  “How can it be so, for my married heart loves another, have I not already given up my morals and principles? Have I not betrayed myself?” Eveline pleaded as there breathes mingled, their hands entwined between them, Galean’s suitcase case at their feet.

  “It is for that reason that I must go
,” Galean urged unapologetically for he could not regret the love that blossomed between them, she had without knowledge given him life and hope. “I love you because of your morals and principles, on top of your gentle nature and educated mind. I would not for the world comprise all that makes you who you are. I am grateful enough to simply know that your heart beats in tune with my own. Such hope and life that seed of love can give is greater than any other gift a human being can offer.”

  “I’m frightened,” Eveline whispered. “Frightened of myself and the future.”

  “I would council you to not keep your fears to yourself, let those that care for you know what it is that unsettles you so,” Galean said with kindness, his long fingers stroking the insides of her palms. “You are not alone, even if you feel you are, know that you are not.”

  “Love is like spring,” Eveline sighed. “It is here one minute and then it is gone the next.”

  “But it gives way to the summer?” Galean quipped with raised brows.

  “I know, but there is something so beautiful, so very startling about the spring, everything is coming to life,” Eveline said with an air of grace and tranquillity. “The summer is proceeded by autumn in which all things must wither away.”

  “I will not wither away Eveline, I will be standing upon the horizon always casting my gaze out to you,” Galean said quietly as the snow swirled about hauntingly. “Though you may not see me, you will know I am near.”

  “And yet I must say goodbye.”

  “Yes, for now.”

  Eveline could find no words, she simply nestled her hand upon his heart, feeling a jewel beneath his shirt. Shyly she opened his shirt slightly and found her gaze settling upon two brilliant yellow jewels in the shape of two stars.