One Crown & Two Thrones: The Prophecy

by Iseult O'Shea

  “How beautiful they are,” she whispered, touching them lightly with her trembling fingers. “Where did you come by them?”

  “They were my mothers,” Galean explained as he brought the necklaces forth from his shirt, seeing the colour rise in her cheeks at such an intimate touch. “She was the daughter of a great lord, who happened to be a lord of dragons.”

  “There are dragons within your kingdom?” Eveline asked with curious eyes.

  “Indeed, they are the last of that race,” Galean smiled. “When my grandfather died, my mother became the Lady of the dragons, though to be fair she never used that title, it just didn’t suit, so she was known instead as the Queen.”

  “So does that mean that you are now the Lord?”

  “I am and have been since I was fifteen, the year she passed away,” Galean answered roughly, the pain of her death still present. “She had these two necklaces made for herself and my father. The jewels come from the Dragna Mountains in the north where she was born and where the dragons live. The then living King of dragons, Nunya breathed over the two jewels.” He touched the jewels tenderly. “It is said that those in possession of the jewels can hear one another’s call.”

  “And can you?” Eveline asked as Galean placed his mother’s jewel in the palm of her hand.

  “I saw it happen with my parents but nothing ever occurred between myself and my wife,” Galean said with grave eyes. “But my mother and father’s love was great.”

  “As was the love you and your wife shared,” Eveline said gently, handing the jewel back to him, her fingers softly closing his fingers about the necklaces.

  “My mother was always the parent I would run to for comfort and wise words,” Galean said, his heart suddenly in his mouth. “With all that lies before me, I sometimes find myself lost amidst the chaos. My Kingdom may fall into the hands of my brother and to ensure that it does not, I must take away his life. I’m not quite sure if I am up to the task. I am even more afraid that those who look upon me with a kind eye will either find me weak or will say I am a tyrant.”

  “Who is to say that you must kill your brother in order to save your kingdom? Why must death always be the answer? A good man once told me that when you rid a tyrannical system of its leader they are easily replaced. Instead you must rid the system of it ideology, in doing so you make the leader weak and isolated, his followers will follow another ideology that better suits their purpose. Your challenge is to appease their notions,” Eveline said with furrowed brows. “To kill your brother would wound your nature and though a King must be firm and just on behalf of his subjects, he must not fall prey to the darkness that can and does ensnare so many Kings and Queens. Rid not your brother of his life, but the ideology that drives him and his followers to believe that you are inadequate and that you represent a Kingdom they feel they do not belong too. Make them believe that you are the rightful heir that you are a man to be followed and they will fall away from your brother like flies. For not all men are in want of power and position, many if not most only wish to have bread and water upon their table at the end of the day. To feel safe and secure and to know that their voice, little though it may be is worth something. Can you give it to them?”

  “My Kingdom, my people are not as evolved in political philosophy as this world is,” Galean said with frustration. “That is not to say that there are not those that seek modernisation, only that they are a great deal behind. Before my father took the throne, Meer was governed in a similar manner to Rome, power rested in one man alone. But now, power is equally distributed and though the King still has a final say on matters, he is greatly influenced by his council. But I am not ignorant of the fact that it is easy to topple a King, for one man with all that power can only stay so high due to those that keep him elevated. Many within my council see my killing Beon as a great victory, others as a defeat against the steps taken to create a better and more equal legal system and society. We must be the ones to set the example.”

  “Do not kill your brother, merely put him before the law and let him be tried by those who wield and distribute the law of the land. You will not be seen as weak if you are abiding by the law you so greatly support,” Eveline said with heated eyes. “Let the law and the people decide his fate. He had walked away from all that you and your father have created to ensure your people have a better life. Your brother knows this and is obviously willing to place his life on the line. The question you must ask yourself is this – would he be so willing as to spare your life?”

  “I hope that there is still love within his heart, that he can still remember the happiness we all felt in each other’s company before life became complicated,” Galean sighed. “But he has hardened in such a manner that I do not recognise him. The men in the north are still inherently blood thirsty and many spit on the new legal system. No, my brother would kill me with pride, he would not spare me nor would he gain me the right of a trial. But does that mean that I would be justified in killing him?”

  “No because you are not ignorant of your morals, but maybe you are too evolved considering your educated mind which has been greatly influenced by your time amongst the people of this world,” Eveline said with a slight smile. “You will know what to do when the time comes. I trust you will know what to do and I will never see you as anything but honourable and true.”

  “You will make a fine Queen,” Galean whispered as he bent his forehead down to meet her own.

  “I am no Queen Galean,” Eveline said quietly as she let her eyelids fall, allowing her soul, mind and body consume the moment of intimacy between them.

  “Theodore will be wondering where it is you have gotten to if you do not return hastily,” Galean said as though awakening from some dream.

  “Speak not his name for it only initiates the reality of my predicament, instead let me simply keep my eyes closed and my head bent, let time still itself so that I may keep you here, where you belong,” Eveline whispered, her hands softly placed about his neck.

  “To keep ourselves frozen in this moment would go against the breath of life itself and life I wish you to entertain,” Galean said as he pulled his head away. “I want you to promise me that you will live fully and without regret on my part.”

  “I can never promise to betray the feelings I have for you,” Eveline argued lightly, her eyes once again filled with tears.

  “Your promise will enable me to hope in the prophecy, to hope in the future. Say you will promise me?”

  “Fine I shall promise to live fully,” Eveline said as a tear fell from her eye. “In exchange for a parting gift.”

  “Anything you wish?”

  “That your lips touch my own, that the night fade away to be replaced with the day,” Eveline pleaded as their noses touched one another. “Let your lips imprint themselves upon my soul, giving me the will to draw breathe until next we meet.”

  “To kiss you would be to betray your husband and your honour,” Galean said with a deep breath as he subconsciously licked his lips in anticipation.

  “Haven’t our souls and minds already pledged their troths to one another? Cannot our lips too pledge their troths to one another?” Eveline said with widened eyes and flushed cheeks. “If only ever once, then once shall be forever.”

  “I am afraid that if I kiss you I shall never be able to leave your side again,” Galean murmured, his voice faint and his breathe rasping.

  “Let not your mind be led by logic,” Eveline smiled. “Just this once.” She reached up and whispered into his ear. “And thank you for the bible.”

  Galean tilted her head up and softly brushed his lips against her own, cold and icy. At the touch a great glow radiated from the jewels within his hand, encasing them both in a bubble of golden light, their feet leaving the ground as they ascended into the air, oblivious to everything but the feelings that bound them to one another.

  *

  Jophiel stood by the window and looked out onto the street, her arms folded. Behind he
r she heard the door of her room open and turned.

  “Jophiel?”

  “Theodore leave me,” Jophiel said with distain.

  “It was his decision to leave,” Theodore said as he came to her, touching her waist lightly. Jophiel stood away from him quite abruptly.

  “Don’t touch me!” she said in a hushed whisper. “I am not yours any more than you are mine.”

  “He wanted to leave,” Theodore lied. “I could not stop him.”

  “Why don’t I believe you? Why would he leave at this very moment and not tomorrow when more appropriate?”

  “He felt he was no longer useful,” Theodore pleaded, cautiously stepping backwards as her firm eyes penetrated through him.

  “No longer useful? Are you having me on? We need all the help we can muster or have you forgotten that your wife is dying?”

  “Of course I haven’t forgotten!” Theodore shouted. “It plagues my every moment knowing that she is mere hours away from perishing.”

  “Then why are you standing here trying to explain yourself? Go and stop him you idiot!” Jophiel answered loudly, her fists curling into balls. How could she love this inherently selfish man? She felt sick to the pit of her stomach at the thought. What had happened to him? Why had he altered so much and for what reason?

  “No,” Theodore said quietly. “I will not stop him.”

  “All because of a prophecy?”

  “Yes because of a prophecy,” Theodore groaned.

  “And why do you think yourself so high and mighty Cael? Did you not kiss me two nights ago? Are you morally better than Galean? Or are you riddled with guilt?”

  “You kissed me back!”

  “Yes and how I regret it with every fibre of my being, to lower myself to kissing you when your wife lay dying,” Jophiel turned and walked away, anger coursing through her like a tidal wave of destruction. “Never have I hated myself more than I do in this moment.”

  “And you hate me too?”

  “I am sickened by you Cael,” Jophiel said quietly, lifting her gaze to his own. “You were never this man, never morally corrupt and selfish, well not to this extent at least. Jealousy and pride have dismantled the man you were, the man I fell in love with. I would not be in the slightest bit shocked if Eveline fell in love with Galean, he is a better man than you and treats her with respect. Why does everything have to be about you?”

  “It isn’t all about me,” Theodore whispered his voice laced with a sudden vulnerability as though his eyes had been opened and he had seen the horrid creature he had become through the eyes of the only woman who ever truly understood him. “You don’t know how I wish things could return to how they were.”

  “You mean when you were Cael or Theodore?” Jophiel asked bitterly.

  “When I was a man exempt from jealousy and pride,” Theodore replied, turning from Jophiel and walking to the window, looking down onto the street. “When I was worthy of you and worthy of my friends.”

  “You can still be that man if you simply rid yourself of the cloak of jealousy,” Jophiel soothed. “If only you could see how Lagmar and Belem have infiltrated your heart and caused chaos to reign over your rationale self.”

  “Eveline?” Theodore whispered aloud as his wife suddenly appeared on the steps of the house. Jophiel came to his side and looked on with surprise.

  “What is she doing?”

  “I have no idea,” Theodore said as he watched his wife cross the road and enter the park. Theodore turned quickly.

  “Theodore be careful,” Jophiel warned as she followed him out of the room and down the corridor. Theodore rushed down the steps, followed closely by Jophiel and opened the door, running down the steps. With haste he and Jophiel crossed the road and entered the park.

  “Where is she?” Theodore whispered to Jophiel as their eyes scanned the area.

  “I don’t know, come let us go this way,” Jophiel pointed before them. Together they made their way through the park, snow falling heavily about them.

  “She will catch her death out here,” Theodore said protectively as he took of his jacket and handed it to a shaking Jophiel.

  “Thank you,” Jophiel whispered lightly. “Look! Is that her over there with…is that Galean?”

  Theodore stood motionless as he observed his best friend and wife, moulded together intimately in discussion under the cover of the bandstand. Theodore made to move but was stopped by Jophiel.

  “No,” she said forcefully. “If he is leaving then let it be.”

  “How can you say that? She is my wife!”

  “And if she had seen you kiss me? What then? Are we not also perpetrators of the same act?”

  “I will not stand by and watch him take my wife from me!” Theodore said with feeling, his eyes wide with horror and pain. “I will not allow the prophecy to be initiated.”

  “Theodore they are not doing anything untoward,” Jophiel whispered, her voice dying away as she observed the couple as they leaned in to one another, their mouths touching. A beam of light erupted from within them and encased them in a great golden light, their bodies hovering above the ground as they kissed. Jophiel felt Theodore’s muscles tense beneath her touch but so was so engulfed in awe that she couldn’t find the words to express what was occurring right before their eyes. After a moment the light broke apart as did the couple. Theodore watched as Galean picked up his case and abruptly turned from Eveline, walking away into the night without looking back. A cry rang out, a pitiful cry that struck at both Jophiel and Theodore as Eveline bent over in pain, watching Galean walk away forever. Jophiel felt her pain and wiped away a tear. “Come Theodore,” she said simply, urging him to turn and leave. Theodore was speechless as he turned from his crying wife and let Jophiel guide him back through the park.

  *

  Ada, Bram and Peter waded their way through the thick mass of people, their eyes scanning the rooms for anything suspicious. To their left they saw Jophiel and Theodore enter the house, both a little grave.

  “Wonder what’s wrong with them?” Peter said to Ada as passed the dining room table.

  “They are always having fights,” Ada said as he heralded Bram over with a wave of his hand.

  “Everything as it should be?” he asked Bram who was wearing a rather dashing grey suit which highlighted his blue eyes perfectly.

  “Nothing strange or suspicious as far as I can see,” Bram answered as he picked up a biscuit from the table and shoved it into his mouth.

  “Where is Eveline?” Peter asked with a frown. “Wasn’t she down here twenty minutes ago?”

  “Yes I saw her with Theodore and the others in the morning room,” Ada replied nervously as he scanned the crowd.

  “Maybe she was too tired,” Bram said with a shrug. “And had to retire?”

  “Maybe,” Ada sighed. “Let’s go and find Theodore and Jophiel.”

  Nicholas and Jacob stepped into the reception area and glanced around.

  “Can you see them?” Nicholas asked Jacob, both taking a glass of champagne from a waiter.

  “Cael and Jophiel are in the dining room with Ada, Bram and Peter,” Jacob motioned with his eyes. Nicholas turned his gaze to the dining room.

  “And Galean?”

  “Not here,” Jacob said with dark allure in his eyes.

  “Doesn’t matter, once he learns of what is to come this night, he will follow like a sheep to the slaughter,” Nicholas smiled dangerously as they entered the dining room. Jacob with ease took a tray of champagne from a waiter, handing it to Nicholas who sat it down upon the table. Jacob reached into his dinner jacket and took out a bottle. Both checked that they were safe before spilling the contents of the bottle into the glasses of champagne. When finished, Nicholas went in search of the waiter. When found he whispered into his ear.

  “Make sure they drink from these glasses,” he pointed in the direction of Theodore. “If they don’t, you shall.” The waiter nodded in submission, his body changing and his eyes dazed. Ja
cob came to Nicholas’s side and both watched on as the waiter came to the group and handed out the champagne with shaking hands. As the angels sipped from their glasses, the quartet began to play Shostakovich’s string quartet number eleven in F minor, evoking an atmosphere of darkness.

  “Let the games begin,” Jacob smiled as they made their exit from the house.

  Part Two

  †

  Of Light & Darkness

  XII

  Valley of Shadows

  What was holiest and mightiest of all that the world has yet owned has bled to death under our knives; who will wipe this blood off us? What water is there for us to clean ourselves?

  Friedrich Nietzsche.

  Mary awoke abruptly from her unconscious state of sleep as the loud noise shook the Georgian house. Sitting erect in her bed, she gasped as her door forced itself open, a cold and unyielding gust of air sweeping into her room. Freezing with fear, she brought her Egyptian sheets up to her shoulders and sat very still, listening intently with her eyes wide and her heart thudding violently within. Her eardrums rang out with the throbbing sound of her heart as the room began to fall prey to silence once more, the cold air still ventilating the air about her with malevolent intent. After several minutes she began to draw in deep breathes, feigning to calm her tense body, the hairs on her skin still standing tall and erect as though suspicious of foul play. As she fought against the fear that trickled up and down her fragile frame she found heat beginning to run through her veins, warming the tips of her fingers and toes. There was no light in which to bring comfort to the terror that still lingered. Mary closed her eyes tight and sought any streams of courage within before opening them once again and climbing out of her four poster bed, carefully tip toeing over to her chair in which to find her heavy nightgown, shrugging her body into it whilst also slipping her slight feet into their slippers.