One Crown & Two Thrones: The Prophecy

by Iseult O'Shea

  “Your presence tonight brings with it great peril, this you know?”

  “My father tells me that I am selfless and honourable as a great King must be,” Galean said as he entered the holy altar, his eyes blinking quickly as though nervous. “I have lost a great many precious things thus far in my life, if I must be selfish and claim some time with her then I care not for the consequences.”

  “You must look upon her with great regard,” Gabriel said as the young prince passed him by, coming to stand before Belle first.

  “I do.”

  Gabriel attached the chains once more to the railings and turned, folding his arms in front of him as Galean kissed the child’s forehead tenderly. He placed a hand upon her cheek and looked down into her peaceful face and let forth a barely audible cry.

  “So young and innocent to have had to look into the very eyes of Lagar himself,” he said quietly as a tear fell from his eye and stained Belle’s cheek, the water rolling down her face and dripping onto the stone table. “Will she remember?” he turned to Gabriel who shook his head.

  “No she will not remember all that has past,” the angel said softly. “When she awakens, she will return to her parents, return to a normal life.”

  “She will be safe from him?”

  “She will be guarded until such a time as she is able to guard herself,” Gabriel said with a nod. Galean brought the thick rug that lay across the child up to her neck, tucking it in around her slight frame.

  “I have something in which I would like to ask,” he announced to Gabriel, his eyes refusing to lift from Belle.

  “Yes?”

  “May you give me a few moments with Eveline, alone?”

  “I’m not sure it would be safe,” Gabriel said with a frown.

  “Please, I will leave immediately, never to return,” Galean pleaded, his hands trembling. “This I promise.”

  “How will I know you will not break your promise and seek her out?”

  “I give you my word.”

  Gabriel saw the honesty in Galean’s eyes and nodded before turning and leaving the high altar, only turning once more when he came to the side door. With a sigh he exited the Abbey and closed the door behind him, leaving Galean alone.

  *

  Galean stood like stone upon the ground before Eveline, who was so peacefully laid out one would have thought her dead. Her auburn hair fell about the stone table beautifully, thick tresses neatly placed over her shoulders and chest. A golden blanket lay across her frail body and her hands were clasped together upon her stomach. She looked like an angel, her skin fair, her lips pale and her eyes unmoving. His chest grew tight and deep within him, the heavy storm clouds began to dissipate as he looked upon her face with a mixture of love and guilt. He took a step up so that he stood over her.

  “My bounty is as boundless as the sea, my love as deep; the more I give to thee, the more I have, for both are infinite,” he whispered softly, his right hand resting upon her own entwined hands, surprisingly warm and soft. “Can you hear me?” he asked quietly, his vivid blue eyes searching her face for any sign of life. Nothing moved and no words were spoken in reply. “I thought you dying,” he spoke on, unafraid of the silence and in need to converse with Eveline. “When I returned to my native land, I found no peace in the moon and no comfort in my home. My heart could not rest knowing you were injured so and when I lay upon my bed, my eyes refused to close, your face infiltrating my gaze, your words penetrating my weeping heart.” Galean swept aside his long locks of disgruntled hair. “As the sun began to rise over my homeland I heard a lark sing out and rose from my bed, broken and bent and when I walked to my window I found the lark sitting upon a branch, singing to another lark close to him,” Galean smiled weakly at the memory. “I felt as though it were a sign that I should return to you. And here I stand, stripped of my strength and courage, a mere man, weakened and aggrieved. How my subjects would smile and jest to see to me so low as to think myself unalive because a woman lies dying. How ashamed would the great Greek and Roman Gods would be to see me beg and plead for you to awaken,” Galean closed his eyes briefly before opening them once more. “It is a pain I know only too well, a pain I wish to never feel again. When we sat in the shelter that night, I said to you that I had no heart to give. I lied. The moment I first beheld you, I felt my heart beat again and when you pressed your hand to my chest, it was though you had breathed life into me once more. I have been wandering through a vicious winter’s storm and your touch, your true touch was like the first ray of spring, melting away the heavy and bitter snow that threatened to turn my heart to ice.” As he spoke he felt Eveline’s hand tremble ever so lightly and looked away from her face. “My love?” he whispered in vain, his eyes trailing themselves over her hands, chest, heart and throat until finally they came to look upon her unyielding face. “So still, not even your chest rises as you breathe, your breath so…,” he placed a finger upon her lips. “So faint and soft.” As he spoke, the abbey filled with a silver light as the moon shone through the great east window. “And your skin, pale and sickly bares only a hint of warmth,” he touched her cheeks with the back of his hand. “And then there are your eyes, so very gold and deep as though a thousand suns lingered within them. Now they are shut to the world like those of Venus when she sleeps,” he traced her eyes gently with his index finger and felt his heart shudder and his throat fill with pain. Galean cared not for his need to speak of her in poetic form, for there was no other way in which he could behold her. He wanted his words to seep into her heart, mind and soul so that she could awaken, so that he could drench himself in her beautiful gaze before leaving her for good, never to return, never to look upon her again. For married and bound to another she was, and such was the river that divided them that any attempt to cross would only lead to either one of them being washed away. He would have to be content with this and all the precious moments they had shared with one another, he would have to feed off their memories until he rendered himself upon the steps of death. For even as he embraced the lips of death would her own replace the cold and dark kiss. “Won’t you awaken for me so that I may drown myself within your gaze once more?” Galean turned his head away in shame. “Pitiful are my words, you are not mine and my love no matter its purity is a curse.” He looked up at the great window and drew in a breath as he beheld the outline of the moon, full and bright. “Even the moon jests at my pain.” Galean, his eyes weary and sore let the tears fall, let the shame and guilt swirl within his heart at his poetic words of declaration. “If I could stay and watch you from afar I would,” he whispered softly. “But I am bound to my duty, bound to my people and land. To be here as I am is selfish and dangerous, for outside shadows encircle us like a group of wolves encircling their prey, ever patient and cunning.” A great knock shook the Abbey once more as he spoke, heralding him to stiffen with fear and anguish. Galean’s grasp of Eveline’s hands tightened slightly as the echo filled the church.

  When at last it fell silent he turned again to Eveline. “When I first beheld you as a babe, crying in the arms of your dying parents my heart had already pledged its allegiance to you unbeknown to me, even as my own family lay dying in place of you. Your mother looked up into my eyes and told me to place the tip of my little finger into your mouth to calm you as you were teething.” Galean lifted one of her little fingers and stroked it lightly. “Even as they lay dying, their thoughts were not of themselves but of you. Your father held your mother in his arms as she whispered to me my name and smiled before drawing her last breathe. I did not how it was that she knew my name until I had been told about the prophecy and that it was her that had seen our future,” Galean smiled as he stroked her finger gently, instant comfort and relief flooding his body. “Then when I first beheld you as you now are, a rare and beautiful woman did I understand your mothers smile. They knew that you and I were bound to one another.” Galean wiped his eyes with the sleeves of his coat. “But it was too late when I arrived, you were bound a
nd married to another who happens to be my greatest of friends and ally. Now our friendship has withered and decayed because our hearts love the same.”

  Galean lifted his hand away from Eveline and dipped it into the pocket of his long coat, taking out his mother’s jewelled necklace. For a moment he simply looked down at the yellow jewelled star and felt it warm his skin.

  “When we kissed, my parent’s necklaces glowed for the first time in all the years that I have had them,” Galean exclaimed as he held the necklace up before his eyes, spinning it about. A ray of silver light hit the yellow diamond causing it to erupt with a majestic glow. “It is said that if the possessor of one of the necklaces calls out for their other, the necklace glows and guides them to their twin. Seeing as though I must leave you, never knowing if you are safe then I must..,” he closed his eyes in pain. “No…, then I wish to give you my mother’s necklace so that if you need me, I can hear and find you.” Galean gently unclasped the necklace and wound it about Eveline’s elegant throat, clasping it once it had been positioned into place. With gentleness, he positioned the yellow jewel under the edge of her gown so that Theodore could not see it and take it from her. “Even touching your fair skin seems ungodly and wrong,” he chided to himself, his being warped by love and conflicted by loyalty. “I promised you that I would never touch you whilst you are bound to another and you in return asked for a parting gift, a kiss,” he smiled broadly as the memory of their first kiss struck him like lightening. “And such a parting gift it was, still the remnants of that touch pierce my soul.” As Galean spoke with profound sincerity he heard the gentle sounds of raindrops as they hit the abbey roof, strengthening with each passing minute. He looked upwards to the ceiling and closed his eyes as the sound of the rain heightened. Time was passing like water under a bridge and he knew that Gabriel would return soon. “I must leave soon and without a trace,” he said aloud to Eveline and Belle. “If I am seen then there will be no way out without having to face Lagmar and if that should happen then I am afraid that this will be the last time in which we see one another. He is stronger than I and my killing of his son has not faded from his memory, he will not let me live out the night without one of us dying.” Galean felt a surge of nausea besiege him as he suddenly realised how foolish it had been of him to come. “My father and brother will not be able to stand against Beon alone. Gabriel was right, I am a fool and my foolishness can only lead to misfortune.” With an anxious frown, Galean ran his fingers through his thick mass of hair. As the abbey filled with the sound of the falling rain, he turned from the great window and bent his head low over Eveline’s. He gently lifted her head and body so that he could hold her close to him. With trembling fingers he swept away the slight strands of auburn hair that softly danced as a cold draft sifted through the great church. He held her close and felt himself again ache deeply, his throat burning with grief and his eyes welling with hot tears of anguish. Quietly he bent over her head and touched her lips with his own, warming them and teasing them to life. Tears fell onto her eyelids as he lifted his lips away from her and kissed her forehead lightly before kissing her cheek and nose. “I pray that we will meet again soon and will live in hope of that day,” he said through a whisper.

  *

  Gabriel entered the abbey vaults and found the great prince of angels standing aloft, upright and silent. His great wings of gold were gently folded close to his body as he stood watch over the young guardians who lay asleep within their white wings, like bats hanging upright from the ceiling. Gabriel looked over the two dozen or so guardians before his gaze fell to the sleeping form of Cael, who lay upon a stone tomb, his features troubled and his body curled into itself. Michael followed Gabriel’s gaze before turning his silver eyes back to his friend.

  “Can you see into his dreams?” Gabriel asked Michael as he walked over to Cael’s sleeping form, casting out his left hand and spreading his fingers.

  “His dreams are dark and troubled,” Michael replied quietly as he watched Gabriel hover his hand over the young angel’s body. “What are you doing?”

  “Soothing him,” Gabriel muttered. “Though I doubt he will allow me to soothe him, stubborn as he is.”

  “You should be upstairs guarding Celestine and the child,” Michael exclaimed with furrowed brows. “Why have you come down to the vaults?”

  “I have not left them alone old friend,” Gabriel said with a serious tone.

  “Who stands over them?”

  Gabriel whipped his hand away from Cael and turned to Michael. There were four levels within the hierarchy of angels, he was known as a dominion, a silver winged angel. Michael was one of the twelve knights, a golden winged angel. The twelve knights of Heaven were among the royal council, they were the oldest of angels and there powers vast and great. Gabriel was a level lower than his superior, Michael. He was only four thousand, seven hundred and twenty six years old unlike his friend who was over six thousand years old. No matter their age and difference, both angels had been lifelong friends and together they had formed a great and formidable army of white winged guardians. And yet, he knew that Michael would insist that Galean return with him to Heaven to account for his actions against Lagman. Dominions were the great judges of Heaven and ruled over a great judicial system that made all who pledged their allegiance to Heiden accountable for their actions. Gabriel knew that Heiden would not condemn Galean to death, for he played a pivotal part in Celestine’s present and future. However he would have to stand accountable for killing Lagman, who had been on trial for his part in the great slaughter that had killed Heiden’s wife and three sons. Heiden had wanted to make an example from Lagman and had been stripped of that right due to Galean. He understood his descendants grief and need for vengeance, but the legal system was strict for a reason, it had been created so that all would be equal, so that no one could deem themselves greater than another. Galean had over stepped the mark and though he had been ordered to find Lagman and bring him back to face trial where he most certainly would have been condemned to life, he instead had killed the demon and stripped all those who had lost loved ones of the right to have justice. If he was brought back to Heaven, he would be placed before all those he had angered and it would be up to them how he was punished. Gabriel knew that Galean’s return to Heaven in chains would only weaken the campaign to aid Celestine in her quest to regain her throne and defeat not just her enemies but the enemies of all those who walked in light.

  “You know who guards Celestine,” Gabriel said with a knowing look.

  “Then you know that his journey here is in vain? I am bound to bring him back to the high council,” Michael said with a severe look. He spread his wings slightly with frustration. “Why should I let him go?”

  “You know why friend,” Gabriel argued firmly. “If he returns to Heaven then our cause is in vain, he is needed in Meer. A great war threatens to tear apart the Northern Kingdom and if it falls into the hands of Beon, then it will fall into the hands of Heidan. Our hope in Celestine regaining the south will be in vain if the North falls, you know this. You know what will happen if Heidan finds the garden and is crowned.”

  “Only those bound by the blood of the Kings can be crowned in Calhuni,” Michael said with a disgruntled groan.

  “If Heidan takes blood from an heir and drinks it then he can be crowned,” Gabriel said with pleading eyes as he came before his friend. “There is one who shares the blood of Celestine’s father, one with whom Heidan is seeking. His name is Elion and he is the son of Lady Turin, only sister to Elieor.” Michael’s brows deepened as his eyes filled with trouble. Around them the vaults became quiet and chilled as though in response to Gabriel’s admission.

  “How do you know more than I?”

  “I am Galean’s ancestor and he has spoken with me at length of the problems facing the three Kingdoms of Calnuthe and Meer. Being an ancestor and mentor of the Prince he has pledged his trust in my council,” Gabriel said with a slight smile, of all the descenda
nts he as a silver winged angel had counselled and mentored, Galean had been the most pleasant to nurture, coming to him as a young man who had suffered greatly from the loss of his mother. It had not taken Gabriel long to observe the greatness within Galean, he was a rarity among men. He not only wielded strength, intelligence and wisdom but kindness, compassion and love. Gabriel had never before met a more worthier man than Galean which was why he defended and protected him so. He knew that if Galean were to become Celestine’s betrothed that the Kingdoms of Meer, Calnuthe and Heaven would be revived, in a way never before seen. But so much stood in the way of Gabriel’s hopes and aspirations and if he and his kind did not find a way in which to free Galean of his transgressions, then everything they had held onto so tightly would begin to slip away, like dust filtering through their fingers.

  “Gabriel?”

  Gabriel blinked away his thoughts and breathed out a sigh of exasperation.

  “Without Galean, Celestine’s future becomes darker and with it the future of all living things,” Gabriel said with weary eyes. “I believe Galean has redeemed himself of his actions, he is not a man who believes himself invincible, and he acted out of character but was moved by grief and anger. When have we not been moved by the same emotions?”

  “We created a legal system so that all would be equal before Heiden until proven otherwise,” Michael answered darkly, his gaze sweeping the vault for any sign of life. “If I do not abide by the laws of our people and God then I am the embodiment of corruption, I am the pillar that stands between what is right and what is not. We are tasked with ensuing the legal system stays true to its routes and our laws, if any being takes the law into his or her own hands believing themselves above it then we have failed in our duty.”

  “You have to ask yourself if it is worth it,” Gabriel pleaded. “I will stand in his place and receive his punishment if it means he can return to his father and people and stay alive so that all our hopes and ambitions may come about.”