One Crown & Two Thrones: The Prophecy

by Iseult O'Shea

  “I have been here before, when I was christened,” she said with a smile. As she began to concentrate on the palace a frown formed upon her brow. “Something isn’t right,” she said darkly. “My father’s throne, it has been replaced.” Heiden watched her walk away towards the great throne, made out of bones and laden with skulls at its foot. Eveline came to stand before the throne and gasped aloud, her hand finding her mouth as she took in the repugnant throne made of bones. Behind her she could feel her grandfather’s eyes on her and turned to him with stricken eyes. The palace had changed, the once great and ancient flags had been replaced with black and red flags. Palace guards dressed in silver not gold armour lined the palace and servants, their feet bound by chains meekly walked about with their heads bent. From afar, to her left she heard the distant sound of cries as though coming from below the palace.

  “Come, we do not have time to waste,” Heiden said with authority, waiting for her patiently. Eveline found herself speechless as she tried to digest the terrifying alterations that had taken place within the palace, once so beautiful, filled with light and merriness, now filled with darkness and oppression. She came to Heiden’s side with a depleted look. “Your people have suffered greatly at the hands of their oppressor.”

  “Such anger consumes my bones I can hardly put it into words,” Eveline said quietly as they walked towards the great doors of the palace. On either side of the great doors lay smaller doors that were wide open, letting in a cold draft which filled the palace with a deadly chill. Heiden stopped Eveline before the arched doorway and turned to her, placing his hands on either side of her shoulders.

  “Prepare yourself for what you are about to witness.”

  “What do you mean?” Eveline asked as the cold wind rustled her long hair and brought goose bumps to her skin.

  “What I am about to show you will not be a pleasant sight, but if it can help you to make your mind up then I must show you,” Heiden replied carefully, stepping under the doorway and outside. Eveline felt a wave of sickness run through her at the anticipation of what she was about to be shown. With chilling anticipation she followed Heiden outside, her bare feet upon the grey stone. Before the palace lay a great courtyard in the shape of an arrow head. Down both sides of the courtyard where a great flight of stone steps that led down to another courtyard which overlooked the great city of Caci, which lay to the right of the palace, which was situated on an island which lay in the centre of a great river. A wide bridge connected the city of Caci to the island. As Eveline and Heiden came to stand upon the flight of steps she noticed a large crowd gathered upon the courtyard below, mellow and silent. Eveline suddenly and with a jolt realised why the crowd were silent, a few cries piercing the grey sky above. A dozen or so peasants, men, women and children were hanging from posts that dotted the courtyard below. A sudden urge to be sick overpowered Eveline and her body retched. She bent over herself, clasping her hands to her knees as she bent her head downwards towards the ground. A warm hand fell upon her back and gently rubbed her in a soothing circular pattern. “This is the harsh reality of what is occurring in all three Kingdoms of Calhuni as sickening as it is to witness.”

  “Who would do such a horrid thing? Who could be so cruel? They are innocent men, women and children,” Eveline cried out as she clasped a hand to her stomach, taking in deep breathes, hoping that the wave of nausea would pass. As she tried to control her inner urges she heard a male’s voice from below and froze.

  “Don’t you think it slightly unfair that you get to have your fun and I don’t?” Heidan said aloud in front of the mourning crowd. “You with your pathetic attempt at a revolt and I just standing by watching it unfold before my very undazed pair of eyes.” Eveline lifted her gaze from the ground and sought the source of the voice. He seemed taller and darker than before, he was not as thin as when she had first beheld her him in the garden. Now he was strong and muscular, dark and terrifying, Eveline could only applaud a man who would dare stand up to such a monster, clad in silver and black a great cloak of fur hiding his enormous, athletic figure. She felt herself weaken, how could she ever hope to defeat such a man?

  “Strength does not only lie in your physical body,” Heiden said gently as he kept himself close to her, seeing the disturbed look upon her face.

  “It certainly helps,” Eveline groaned inwardly, the sight of the hangings still causing her to feel ill. “How did he take my father’s throne?”

  “We can discuss that later when you are feeling a bit better,” Heiden replied sternly, not meeting her gaze for fear it would betray him. Eveline did not have time in which to argue, Heidan now beaconed forward a pair of soldiers who were dragging a prisoner along the ground, his aged body broken and torn, evidence of the torture he had endured. As the man was dragged before the crowd, members of the sober audience began to weep loudly as though this man had meant something to all of them.

  “Every revolt begins with a whisper, here and there,” Heidan proclaimed loudly to the weeping crowds, his hands and arms dancing about him in an elegant manner. “But behind every great revolt lies a face, a face that becomes the physical body of such a campaign. Let me enlighten you as to how to ensure your revolt succeeds shall I?” Heidan looked down at the man, his lips curling into a smile. A harsh wind swept across the courtyard, causing the great flags of Calnuthe to sway violently from side to side. Heidan grabbed the man’s hair and pulled his face backwards, forcefully turning his weak body around so that the crowd could see him. “Never deign to give a revolt a face or leader, for if they are caught then your campaign surely falters, for who becomes leader next will set apart the unity of such a cause and create internal conflict that only the true face of the campaign can control.” Heidan looked down into the eyes of the old man. “When the enemy hunts down such a face and catches him then your hopes and aspirations to succeed slip away.” The man let out a cry, his face swollen and bloodied. “Stupid men always believe they must be led by another, well if you need to be led and spoon fed then I shall spoon feed all of you with my Kingship. Let this be a lesson to all who think or believe themselves greater than I, let this message spread throughout all of your treacherous rebel groups, let it infiltrate your ranks and spread terror into all of your pathetic minds. Any man or women believed to be acting against the Kingdom will be executed and their children sold into slavery,” Heidan grappled at his knife as though thirsty. “And to those of you who believe yourself my equal I invite you to stand before me and prove yourself.”

  “Who is the prisoner?” Eveline asked Heiden, who was standing with a dark look upon his face.

  “He is known as Alderforth, once one of your father’s advisors and friends,” Heiden replied, his lips firm and set. “He is the leader of a rebel group that has become a force to be reckoned with lately.”

  “How was he captured?” Eveline asked as she watched Heidan talk on to the large crowd of weeping peasants.

  “Heidan has many cruel and callous men at his beck and call but no one more so than Cenric, the master of spies,” Heiden replied coldly as he turned his gaze towards a man who stood some feet away from them. He was also dressed in black, a great cloak of fur covering his tall form. Eveline let her eyes run over his strong features and angular face. He was dark and terrifying to look at, with a scar that ran across his right eye and down his cheek, stopping just under his ear. “They call him the Eye for two reasons, firstly his physical impairment which has rendered him blind in his right eye and secondly his acute ability to source out a fly, using his specially trained spies and his inhumane ability to not only torture men but to invade their minds. He is one of the most calculating and manipulative men I have witnessed in all my life, which spreads thousands of years in time.” Eveline felt an instant hatred for the man, whose green eye was piercing. He stood perfectly still and quiet like a lion before it pounced, sending a shiver down Eveline’s spine. She had never fully understood how a man or woman could become so cruel and still in this
moment she felt perplexed by the cruelty and perverse sense of enjoyment these men received from human suffering. She turned her gaze once more to Heidan and Alderforth and felt her head ache, she knew what was to come but was so shocked at the submissive nature of the crowd of peasants, how one man could become so powerful. As she closed her eyes briefly she heard whispers within the crowd of peasants and opened her eyes wide to see what was going on. Towards the back of the crowd a young person around Eveline’s age stood upon the wall. Eveline strained her eyes to get a better look. It was a young woman with short black hair, holding a bow and arrow directly aimed at Heidan and Alderforth.

  “An eye for an eye!” yelled the young woman, freeing an arrow from her bow as she spoke. The arrow spun through the air, its noise a thin whistle that claimed the air about it as she journeyed above the heads of the peasants and stabbed the prisoner in the heart. Within the crowd a great furry of anxious cries and yells of victory suddenly erupted as the young woman placed another arrow in her bow as a dozen or so soldiers ran towards her. Heidan looked down at the dead man and threw his body to the ground with disgust. As he stood glaring at the young woman he clicked his fingers. Behind them a cry rang out forcing Eveline to turn her head. A young woman no more than sixteen was being dragged towards Heidan, her once long blonde hair cut and her body covered in a thin layer of cotton, barely covering her body. Her feet were chained and her hands bound behind her back. Eveline stepped away from her grandfather and walked towards the young girl stretching out her hands.

  “We must help her!” she cried out to Heiden who stood still watching his granddaughter try to stop what was inevitably about to happen. “Please!”

  “I cannot stop what has already taken place,” Heiden said with heavy eyes. Eveline stopped before the guards and turned to her grandfather.

  “Why have you brought me here?” Eveline cried out, her body cold and her heart thudding wildly against her chest.

  “I told you why,” Heiden said with perfect calmness. “You wanted to know who sits upon your throne.” Eveline faltered as a young girl, sobbing loudly was brought before the new King. Eveline searched the crowd and found the bow woman, something passed over the young woman’s face as the young girl was forced to stand before the lifeless body of Alderforth.

  “So young,” Heidan whispered into the girl’s ear. “So fresh and so consumed with terror, the smell of it reeks across your skin.”

  “Zala I’m coming!” the bow woman cried out as the crowd began to fight the soldiers that were trying to wind their way through the peasants, trying to reach the young woman who now placed another arrow within her bow, drawing it back. Heidan took Zala by the throat and brought her up into the air above him, her feet dangling before him.

  “Arae no!” Zala tried to call out as her captor tightened his fingers around her slender throat. Eveline heard the arrow pierce the sky, spinning its way over towards Heidan and his prisoner. With incredible agility Heidan raised hid free hand and caught the arrow between his fingers. The crowd instantly grew quiet as did the bow woman who looked on with horror.

  “It would be so easy to just snap your neck right now, but where would the fun be in that?” Heidan whispered venomously, his dark eyes glaring up into the young pair of green eyes.

  “I would rather die than spend another day breathing the same air as you!” Zala said with great courage, her skin beaded with sweat as she tried to keep her body from breaking.

  “What poor sport you are,” Heidan laughed aloud, Cenric looking on with a perverse smile upon his lips. “Why I haven’t even started with you yet, and such entertainment will I derive from you.” Eveline felt her hands tighten into fists and with surging anger she waltzed over to Heidan and swung her hand through the air as though to punch him, instead her hand went through his head and she stood away. “I daresay your sister will enlighten my days and nights once I have sought her out and brought her to her knees before me. Such spirit and courage she has, I wonder how long it will take to suck all of that life out of her?”

  “Eveline come, you have seen enough,” Heiden said aloud, holding out his hand to an unwilling Eveline, who found her feet frozen to the ground. “Now Eveline.” Eveline turned on her heel and made her way over to her grandfather, resting her right hand into his own and falling instantly through time for the seventh time. They fell together, their bodies once more being sucked down through a void of darkness until they both fell through an open door, their bodies hitting the ground softly.

  *

  The smell that surrounded Eveline was familiar and when she opened her eyes she smiled through the tears that fell from her eyes. Such a mixture of emotions ran through her, chiefly anger and frustration. As she rolled herself onto her bottom, she lifted her legs to her chest and bent her head down into the curve of her knees and wept. So much had happened to her in the last few weeks she hardly knew how to digest any of it rationally, never had she openly cried for such a period of time. She sat close to the shore of the lake and felt the warm air touch her skin gently as though nature had wrapped a tender and warm blanket over her. Around her she could hear the summer birds singing and chanting as the beautiful trees swayed to either side of her.

  “During your first summer here you witnessed one of nature’s more horrific events, do you remember?” the gentle voice of Heiden chimed from afar. Eveline sniffed loudly, her stomach rumbling with hunger. She looked up from her knees, her eyes searching for him. He stood some distance from her, looking out across the lake with burdened eyes.

  “I found a bird’s nest,” Eveline sniffed, wiping her face with the material of her gown. “I observed it for two weeks with Theodore, waiting with anticipation for them to fledge.” Heiden turned around and looked over at her with furrowed brows. He looked withered and bent, his physical appearance baring a similar resemblance to Eveline’s mentality. “One day when I came down with Wordsworth I found all four of the babies dead upon the ground, near to the fallen nest. It was the first time I had cried since arriving in Keswick.”

  “I watched you from afar and felt your pain as it cut through you like a cold double edged blade,” Heiden said with sorrow in his voice.

  “You watched me?” Eveline asked with raised brows, her tears beginning to dry.

  “I have always been watching you,” Heiden said with a small smile playing upon his lips.

  “I didn’t see you,” Eveline whispered as she brought herself to her feet.

  “I am all around you Celestine, I am the air that bites at your skin, the sparrow that darts across the sky, the newly sprung buds of spring and the eyes of your wolfhound,” Heiden said, his words broken as though he too felt moved to tears. “I watched you as you first discovered your ability to control things, to make the autumn leaves dance about your feet ever so beautifully. I watched as you healed a young child’s knee, which had been badly grazed upon the ground when you were playing with one another. I watched you sit within the small library, devouring book after book. I watched you follow in the footsteps of your brother and husband, forever in awe of his abilities and good nature.” Eveline stood quietly as her grandfather spoke. “When you cried during the night due to your ever present nightmares, I sat at the end of your bed until you fell asleep. I listened to your prayers, listened to you play the piano and sing and listened to you when you cried out for help, always confused as to why people ran away from you claiming you be a witch.”

  “I never felt your presence,” Eveline said with brimming eyes as she stepped closer to her grandfather.

  “Truly?” Heiden raised his brows, his eyes knowing. “Why did you hold onto your bible so dearly? Because you felt a presence within you, a presence you acquainted with the Christian God. It astounded your very logical and rationale mind to feel something spiritual within, but you were right to believe in it, because I have always been at your side, looking through the eyes of others so that I could watch you grow up into the woman you are now.”

  “Wh
y did you not show yourself to me sooner? Why have you kept all of this other life a secret from me? My mind is ailed with confusion and emotion, how am I meant to take in and register all that you have shown me without falling into the depths of despair? What am I to do now?” Eveline asked with urgency as she came and stood before the great God, still so mighty and terrifying to behold, yet he was her grandfather, her blood and flesh.

  “I will not push your nor force you into action, you need time to come to terms with all that has happened and that may take several months,” Heiden said patiently. “When you awaken, you will be faced with hardships. But if in time you believe your destiny is to go back to your native world and stand up against the hands of oppression then I will guide you.”

  “You will come with me?” Eveline asked with hope.

  “No, I cannot. If you wish to walk down that path then you will have to do it alone, not because I wish to forsake you, but only that I would sabotage your campaign. If you wish to hold the respect of your people and claim back your throne let it be of your own doing and not because you are the granddaughter of Heiden. You want your people to follow you not out of fear but loyalty. Heidan must not be able to reach into your mind, taking whatever information he can find about me in order to use it against you. But I will watch from afar as I have always done.”

  “Estelle always said that you couldn’t expect God to hold your hand all the time, that he gave you the tools in which to hold yourself up,” Eveline smiled. “I understand what you mean, you want me to earn my place upon the throne.”

  “Yes. Your journey will be marked with episodes of darkness but you must face them if you are to become the ruler Calnuthe needs, strong, intelligent and able.”

  “And if I choose not to return to my world?”

  “I will support you whatever your decision, but know that Lagar will never stop haunting you, he will never stop searching for you,” Heiden said with serious eyes. “Whatever you choose you will be forced to change, you will have to become strong enough to stand against those who would wish you to fall.”