One Crown & Two Thrones: The Prophecy

by Iseult O'Shea

  “How do you know?”

  “There are ways in which to extract the truth without the source knowing.”

  “He may yet tell his master.”

  “Not if he values his own life and new found position,” Matthew answered darkly. Theodore sat back again and sighed, this man so calm like and respectable was more complex than he had given him credit for. “Those within our fellowship are chosen very carefully. We are not all that you see. We must conduct our affairs in manners that may seem corrupt to you, but we do it with good intentions and place no one in danger.”

  “I am not ignorant to the fact that there are many within our kind that also seek power and position,” Theodore murmured bitterly.

  “No you are not,” Matthew said with a knowing look. “However all our actions must be cleared with our superiors before anything happens.”

  “These knights that we all believe to be dead are now clearly alive, may I ask what their intention is?”

  “Celestine of course,” Matthew said matter of factly. “These knights are so powerful their own creator fears them, for Lagar to bring them back from the dead means he is now in serious pursuit of Celestine and will stop at nothing to find her.”

  “And they are where at present?” Theodore asked with frightened eyes, his hands shaking slightly.

  “Of that we do not know yet, this news is only fresh, having only received it myself this morning,” Matthew answered, his shoulders bent and his head low. “But they will surely make for Keswick and that is why we need to get Eveline away from here immediately before it is too late.”

  “She is unfit to embark upon another journey,” Theodore hesitated. “She cannot even get out of her bed let alone walk about her room. And where is it exactly that we would journey too?”

  “Anglesey, it is the only place in which she will stand a chance against these knights,” Matthew pleaded. “She must make for the druids, they can protect her and from their she can make for Ravinston and then to the penrhos delis standing stones.”

  “To pass through the stones and return to Unas?” Theodore asked with a frown.

  “Yes,” Matthew nodded, his eyes curious as they searched Theodores face. “There is no place for Celestine here upon this earth, her identity has been revealed she is no longer safe. The druids can protect her from the knights and the headmaster of Ravinston being a druid priest can shelter you both until the summer solstice.”

  “Eveline will never be able to journey to Anglesey in such little time,” Theodore said with raised hands. “She doesn’t want to return to her world, she wants to build a life here with me.”

  “Theodore may we speak plainly?” Matthew asked with a serious face.

  “I have a feeling you will speak either way,” Theodore replied, running his hands over his face.

  “There is no time now for options, unless you want Eveline to die you will help her make her mind up quickly and return her to her world with swiftness.”

  “And if she still wishes to stay?”

  “I don’t think you need me to answer that, I think you know quite well what will happen if she chooses to stay Cael.”

  Theodore understood the reverends command well and as he closed his eyes briefly weighed up the pro’s and con’s chiefly the death of Galean topping the list of pros. With no prophecy now and no competition with his once great friend there was nothing now to stop him from returning to Unas with his wife when she was better. The path forward was clear, he would take Eveline to the island of Anglesey and would with her pass through the stones of time and aid her in claiming back her throne.

  “I will try my best to alter her mind-set, though it will not be easy she is to put it plainly stubborn,” Theodore said aloud as Matthew finished sipping on his tea and stood up.

  “I am glad you agree with me,” the reverend replied politely. “There is not much time, she will need to be ready within the month.”

  “Again I shall try my best,” Theodore replied as he stood and opened the door of the morning room.

  “Then I shall take my leave,” Matthew exclaimed with a slight smile. “And do not worry the area is secure and Theodore?”

  “Yes?” Theodore replied as the reverend came to stand before the cottage door.

  “I will be coming with you to Anglesey as her grandfather has instructed,” Matthew said with stern eyes as he helped himself to his coat and hat.

  “I see,” Theodore murmured as the minister finally finished putting on his coat and hat.

  “He was insistent that I journey with you both for added security.”

  “That makes sense considering we now have four incredibly powerful knights after us,” Theodore said with a sour smile. “We need all the help we can muster.”

  “I am glad we both agree on that,” the reverend smiled as he bent his hat. “I shall come over in the morning and help Mary with her belongings. Until then I wish you well.”

  “Good day,” Theodore smiled as the minister turned and walked down the cottage path, opening the quaint garden door and turning left walking down the country path and out of sight. Theodore closed the door behind him and sighed heavily. It would be no easy feat trying to bring Eveline out of her period of grief, no easy feat for both of them.

  *

  Eveline could feel the presence of Mary as she entered her room, her warmth radiating about her like a comfort blanket. At first it made her quiver with frustration and then somehow she felt herself soften as the old housekeeper came to place a small bowl upon her bedside table.

  “Look at you child,” Mary chided gently as she rolled back Eveline’s blanket with a sigh. “So gaunt. When did you last eat?”

  “I’m not hungry,” Eveline groaned, closing her eyes and curling her body even tighter.

  “I won’t hear of you not eating, now come I have made you some broth,” the plump old woman said with a stern voice. “I fed you right up when you were ill with the measles do you remember? Stubborn then and still as stubborn now.”

  “I am not a child anymore,” Eveline moaned as the housekeeper gently swept away her greasy locks of hair.

  “You need a good bath too,” Mary went on as she a mother to four grown up daughters pestered Eveline to sit up, placing her pillows behind her back before wrapping her blankets about her waist. “Now that’s better,” she smiled coming to sit down upon the side of the bed, picking up the bowl of broth. “Now I won’t hear another word until you have eaten all of this.” Eveline scowled slightly hoping her appearance would place the fear of god into the homely old woman, but she was to wise Mary, she was not to be fooled and so Eveline obediently opened up her mouth and sipped on the broth. At first she tried to resist the motherly care but in time her eyes softened and her wall fell as the plain green eyes of Mary soothed her pain a little, her motherly affection reminding her of Estelle which in turn brought spikes of tears to her eyes. “Now, now it’s okay to cry child, that’s it let it out.”

  After half an hour of feeding, the bowl laid empty upon her bedside table and her stomach was filled with warmth and she felt the blood in her body course through her with unspoken joy. Eveline laid back against her pillows and watched as Mary attended to the cleaning of the room, humming under her breathe as she dusted, her gaze reverting to Eveline every few minutes as though to make sure she was still breathing.

  “I remember the day you first came to Keswick,” Mary smiled as she began to dust Eveline’s dressing table. “What a stir you caused what with those brilliant gold eyes and your burning auburn hair. You scared all the religious folk into a frenzy. I couldn’t understand why they took such a disliking to you for all I saw was a forlorn child in need of a good home. My own daughters of course were bewildered, your looks being so peculiar and singular. They asked me if the rumours of you being a witch where true and each time I roasted their ears. You were just a child like them and being orphaned as you were you needed comfort not ridicule.”

  “I am not shocked by their o
bservations, I was and am peculiar,” Eveline answered, seeing her own and Mary’s reflection in the mirror. She was shocked at how thin and gaunt she had become, shocked at how altered she looked. With a low groan she furrowed for her jewel and wrapped it within her hand, glancing down at her mother’s ring on her index finger.

  “You were never peculiar to me,” Mary whispered seeing the yellow jewel beneath Eveline’s fingers. “My mother’s generation, well those in high society often thought them that were blessed with auburn or red hair were of the devil. Not I, such stupid ideas they had back then. How could children so innocent and gentle be of the devil?”

  “Children are free of bad blood,” Eveline said with passion as an image of her beloved Belle formed within her mind. “It is we adults who are tainted in blood.”

  “Those who choose to be my dear, not all of us as bad,” Mary smiled warmly. Now finished with the dressing table she turned to the windows and stood for a moment glaring down at the great lake. “It is a fine day is it not? Spring is coming and still our poor boys fight and endless war.”

  “When has man never not been involved in a war of some kind?” Eveline exclaimed with an air of graveness. “As soon as one war is over another erupts elsewhere, our very story of humanity is one long story of war.”

  “Men will never stop arguing or fighting dear, but it is the innocent young men that pay for it with their life’s,” Mary retorted with a sad expression, her hand stilling for a moment as she sighed. “My husband fought in the First World War and never truly recovered from it, do you want to know what he asked me when he came home?”

  “What?” Eveline enquired quietly. Mary turned to her with a cloth in one hand.

  “He asked me what it was for and I had no answer but that it was for the crown and country,” Mary said with a shake of her head. “Still there is no answer that can comfort his restless heart.”

  “Men endowed with power will always want more and at times that means having to sacrifice the life’s of the innocent,” Eveline whispered as she slithered back down under her sheets, her heart and mind beginning to fall into the similar pattern of pain. Mary watched on with a grave face as Eveline curled up into the foetal position once more and began to groan with grief. Healing would take time and Mary vowed in that moment that she would take whatever time available to her in order to help the young woman get back on her feet. “Come now, it will all be alright just you wait and see,” she cooed, coming to sit by Eveline.

  “Nothing will ever be alright,” Eveline wept into her hands.

  “But it will just you wait and see,” Mary soothed, stroking Eveline’s head lightly with her free hand. “Spring is just around the corner and in time you will come to love the rays of the sun once again.”

  “But will they love me?” Eveline wept pathetically, her body shaking with pain and sickness.

  “How could they not?” Mary smiled warmly. “You were created in such a way one would almost think the sun put you together, your hair being so fiery and your eyes so gold. The sun is a part of you child and you apart of it.”

  “I have lost everything,” Eveline moaned as she felt herself soften a little under Mary’s touch.

  “Not everything Eveline, your husband lives and he needs you,” Mary said with sadness. “Together you can bare your burdens as one that is the joy of marriage.”

  “I am a terrible wife.”

  “There is no wife alive that is perfect, trust me,” Mary said with a slight lilt in her voice. “And there are no perfect husbands. Your marriage is still in its early stages yet you can choose to let it grow if you will it, but staying bound to your room and bound to this war of emotions will only separate you both when you need each other the most.”

  “I wish I could believe in your words, truly,” Eveline sniffed as she turned her eyes upwards to Mary. “But if you knew the truth of it all then you would agree with me.”

  “How do you mean?” Mary asked with a confused expression.

  “If I told you, you would not believe me,” Eveline said with a sigh. “If it wasn’t for me, Estelle would still be alive. If it wasn’t for me then none of this would have happened.”

  “Listen to me,” Mary said with an angry expression. “And you listen well to my words for I will only say this once.” Eveline ceased moving and found her eyes cemented to the old woman’s. “You are a beautiful young woman with whom was and is greatly loved and cherished by Estelle and your husband. If you believe yourself tainted then you are wrong, I have watched you grow up and defy all those within the town who would see you gone from this place. You have no bad blood within you, whatever it is you believe you have done to your mother I am sure was not done with intent. I have known and met many a bad person in all my years and you are not one of them, do you understand?” Eveline knew deep within that she could not argue her point and so merely nodded her head in recognition of the housekeeper’s wise words. “Now we may not cure this grief and depression for a while yet but I will not stand by and watch you succumb to it any longer, if not for yourself then for Estelle. I shall go and run you a warm bath and you shall let me bathe you, understood?” Again Eveline knew she could not argue and so merely nodded her head once more. “Good, now I shall be back within the hour for you. Be ready.”

  XX

  Betrayal

  30th March 1941

  Love is whatever you can still betray. Betrayal can only happen if you love…

  John le Carre.

  Eveline sat down upon the piano seat and laid her fingers upon the keys. As she sat in silence she let her mind rewind to that morning in which she awoke to the sound of Galean’s playing and felt a slight smile upon her lips. As her eyes circulated the room she found them resting upon a smiling Belle and a contented Estelle who stood near to the door looking on. A pain, deep and primal hit her square in the heart as it usually did if a memory resurfaced and she lifted her fingers away from the keys, waiting until the pain abated. It had been several weeks since Mary’s moving into the house and with her presence Eveline had slowly found her strength. No her suicidal dreams had no abated and still she cried through the night as terrors and horrors filled her soul. But Mary ever determined tended to her pains and sufferings like a mother and with her kindness came warmth, a warmth that slowly and surely filled Eveline day by day. The problems within her marriage however had not settled and she and Theodore led a separate life most days, only coming together at meal times and on some occasions sitting together before the fire in silence.

  They had discussed the option of returning to Unas with Theodore’s view of the return altered and set. Eveline had wondered if Galean’s passing had contributed to her husband’s change of view but instead of asking him she merely kept herself quiet and alone, spending most of her days in the library simply sitting and staring out the window. Her face was not as gaunt as it had been and it was thanks to Mary that Eveline’s physical self had strengthened greatly much to her displeasure. Spring had come and Eveline ever grave with its display of beauty found herself ever more pained if it were possible by the blossoming of the trees and the growing of the spring grass that flourished over the fields and hills. With the spring came the bountiful birds and creatures, flying north from their winter territories and settling once again within Keswick. Every day was a struggle and she was frustrated with her lack of pleasure and lack of care because there were times in which she tried to fight off the depression but she failed miserably in her attempts to overcome it and she was ever aware of her husband’s frustration with her. It did not help matters much that the reverend seemed set in his ways that they must leave soon, it only exasperated the anxiety that seemed to drive her every minute. She had come to understand one true thing about grief and depression, it was all consuming and it never played fair on the mind.

  “Why don’t you play something?” a familiar voice asked. Eveline did not turn to her husband but merely shaked her head slowly. “Why not? You are a beautiful pianist and t
he house has been quiet without your music.”

  “It would seem almost unforgiving to fill the house with music considering all that has passed,” Eveline said with a soft voice. She turned her golden eyes to her husband and saw for the first time in many weeks a softness, a gaze she knew and loved well.

  “It would seem even more un natural for the house not to be filled with music, mother loved you’re playing so well,” Theodore said with kindness as he came to stand before her, placing a hand upon her shoulder and feeling her muscles tense. “Why don’t you try and if it is too much then you can stop, I won’t press you further.”

  “What shall I play?” Eveline asked with wide eyes. Theodore smiled down at her.

  “Clair de lune?” he replied before gently kissing her forehead, causing Eveline to reel with surprise at his soft touch. “You play it beautifully.”

  “Alright,” Eveline whispered turning herself round fully and placing her fingers upon the ivory keys once more, taking in a deep breathe. Theodore now placed both hands upon her shoulders gently as she began to play, her heart strings rigid and sore. As she played she felt hot tears sting her eyes, the beauty and sadness of the music acting as a soundtrack to all her memories that seemed to unleash themselves as she played on.

  Outside Matthew stopped walking and held onto the cottage gate as the music filled the spring air about him. He could hear her pain in the music, hear her misunderstanding of life and most of all he could hear the love within her the love that had been the root of such pain. To his right a small robin sat patiently upon the brick wall as though also listening to the music as it rolled over the countryside, touching all that it passed. Matthew let his eyes close for just a moment until the music stopped and the robin chirped in delight. As he opened his eyes he spied the robin and gave him a knowing look before entering the cottage garden and locking the gate behind him. Before he rapped on the door it swung open and Mary beamed up into his face.