One Crown & Two Thrones: The Prophecy

by Iseult O'Shea

  At first she was struck down by pain and shame for not having the courage to visit sooner. But in time as the sun shone over the silent and sleeping sanctuary she bent down to the ground and placed a hand upon the stone monument.

  “I’m sorry for not coming sooner,” she whispered to the thin air. “I have been unwillingly flung into the claws of grief and depression and selfishly have been unable to move beyond my own walls.” Eveline, her feet now consumed with pins and needles bent her knees lower to the warm blades of grass, letting her feet settle in comfort under her. The stone monument was simple and on it was Estelle’s name and the dates of her birth and death. “I don’t know where to begin really other than to say that life is a mess, my relationship with Theodore has fallen apart and I am now being hunted down by creatures greater than those who have been hunting me since birth.” Eveline lowered her gaze and laughed at the irony. “And now I am having to make the hardest decision of my life thus far. To stay with my husband despite his betrayal or to part from him and return to my people as you and my grandfather wish.” Above her a wood pigeon flew, the sound of its wings beating filling the still air about Eveline. “So much of what once filled me as a person and woman has faded away with your death, so much that I once loved and enjoyed has simply vanished into thin air. There is no peace within my soul, not even a small measure of peace lingers and I wish you were here to guide me as you always have done. Instead I am alone, within a darkened cave and outside roam a great pack of wolves, edging ever closer to my den. The Eveline that once was before Lagar and Galean wishes to stay here and live a normal life with her husband, but the Eveline now is restless and unwilling to settle. I cannot sleep at night knowing the horrors that my people suffer daily, I cannot settle knowing that somewhere in this great and vast universe is a brother who seeks to bring down a world filled with light. I cannot be content to simply set all of the realities of my situation to the side, simply hoping for a better outcome.” Eveline wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. “Once I had wished so strongly for courage and strength, to both help me socially and emotionally. I am beginning to at last feel the emergence of such tools that have flourished from my ill content and anger. I cannot let my parent’s death be in vain and I cannot stand by and idly allow my brother to wreak havoc upon a once peaceful and prosperous land. I know I have much to learn and much to do but I can do it, knowing that Galean lives has given me the gumption I have so long prayed for.” Eveline looked about the graveyard and watched as a small dove crept amongst the grown over graves. “And that is why I have come to say goodbye. I’m not sure I will ever return to this world when I leave, but I know that you walk in the shadow of my grandfather and that I will meet with you soon in the future. I hope that you can forgive me for leaving Theodore. I pray that you can forgive me for all I have done.”

  “Estelle was a proud woman,” the voice of the reverend said lightly. Eveline looked up from the grave and spotted the minister walking over to her. He was dressed in a simple day suit, his brown hair combed back, tidy and thick. “And even though you are not bound by blood, I can see traits of her in you.”

  “Really?” Eveline asked with wide eyes as she came to feet to stand before the tall minister, whose face was calm as always, his eyes bright and becoming.

  “Really. I have seen it more of late with each day that passes,” the reverend said with simplicity as he waded through the graveyard.

  “All I can see before me is a grey fog,” Eveline replied with a saddened glare.

  “It will take your mind and heart a long time to come to terms with all that has happened, but you are moving in the right direction,” Matthew said with a smile. Eveline searched the ministers face, a small smile forming on her lips as he looked back into her own, his eyes curious and wise.

  “I wish to discuss a matter of urgency with you reverend, if you would be so kind as to give me a moment of your time?” Eveline said with renewed courage.

  “Come let us sit down and speak,” Matthew answered, taking her right hand and placing it upon his sleeve. Together they walked through the graveyard in silence until they came to a nearby bench and sat down. Eveline looked across the graveyard and sighed.

  “I wish to make for Anglesey as soon as possible,” she began, twisting her hands upon her lap with nervousness.

  “I am glad you have come to the right decision I must admit that I have been in a dreaded state of panic all night,” Matthew admitted with a shrug of his shoulders. The anxiety left his body like the seeds of a daisy blown away by the light gusts of summer.

  “I will be going without my husband,” Eveline whispered quietly, her hands stilling and her eyes lifting to meet with his own gaze. “He would have me wait, but I am uneasy about waiting.”

  “Still I do not see why he cannot come with us?”

  “You must be acquainted with the prophecy minister?”

  “Yes I am,” Matthew nodded quickly.

  “Then you know that I have a close friendship with Galean?” Eveline asked with raised brows, long locks of her auburn curls dancing about her fine face.

  “Yes,” Matthew all but whispered.

  “I know that he lives and whilst he lives my husband will not see me return to my world and people out of jealousy and contempt,” Eveline said plainly, her gaze steady and unyielding. “It was my husband that put a blade into Galean’s side and wounded him deeply.”

  “Cael?” Matthew said with a confused expression. “I cannot believe he would maim his own kind that is not like him at all.”

  “As I have explained, he is jealous of Galean and the prophecy and jealousy will drive a man to do things not even he thought possible,” Eveline said with a determined glare. “I, like you have clearly stated, do not have the time to simply wait for matters to ease. I must leave as soon as possible and with you.”

  “Does Theodore know of your plan?” Matthew asked with a concerned stare.

  “No, I have written him a letter stating my explanation,” Eveline replied. “We will be long gone before he reads it.”

  “And you are sure about this?”

  “I have never been more sure of anything minister,” Eveline smiled with certainty. “I must return to my people and with haste. Staying here will only place those who live here in terrible danger and I cannot risk that, I cannot have any more blood upon my hands.”

  “When do you wish to leave?”

  “In the morning if possible,” Eveline replied with a hopeful look. “I am packed and ready.”

  “And if Theodore should follow us to Anglesey?”

  “I am powerless as to how Theodore may react, if he chooses to follow us so be it, but if he chooses to remain then I am saving him from further trouble,” Eveline explained gently. “I have caused him grief and I wish to correct that. I want him to have a better life, filled with happiness and comfort. I being who I am cannot give that to Theodore, if he were to follow me through time and space he will always be in my shadow and Theodore never likes to stand in the shadows.”

  “Our journey will be fraught with danger, which means that we will have to stay off the main roads,” Matthew said with thoughtful eyes. “These knights, they know where we are headed.”

  “So we must travel cross country then?”

  “Yes and that may mean a number of things,” Matthew sighed. “It may mean that we will have to abandon the car and walk on foot, as ancient and uncivilised as that may seem in this day and age. But any trace of our presence will only heighten their hunt, and they are deadly these knights, they have been hunting since the dawn of time.”

  “I see,” Eveline hummed as she digested the information carefully.

  “And your peculiar appearance will not aid matters,” Matthew said bluntly, no malice in his eyes.

  “How can I correct that?”

  “There is nothing I can do to change the colour of your eyes, but you will have to keep a low profile,” Matthew mused, his eyes delicately traces her featur
es with slight awe. “The biggest footprint we can leave behind is you.”

  “It is all rather complicated when one thinks on it,” Eveline whispered, her voice tinted with helplessness as she realised the journey before her would be fraught with peril and uncertainty.

  “Do not give up just yet,” Matthew smiled, laying a calming hand upon her own. “We can out smart them still and get you to Anglesey on time.”

  “You think so?” Eveline asked with wide eyes.

  “I do. Anyway we don’t have much of a choice but to try.”

  Eveline and Matthew sat together in companionable silence, the sun’s rays bathing their faces with warmth.

  “I will miss it here,” Eveline admitted as she lowered the rim of her summer hat upon her head, to keep the sun from her eyes. “I will admit that of late my feelings have not been what they once were, but upon realisation that this will be my last day here I am now filled with a keen sadness to be leaving. I know that if I stay I will not just be putting my own life on the line but the life’s of all the good people who live here, many whose children are away fighting. And when I consider all of these vital elements I feel ashamed that my own feelings are so very grey and down.”

  “The coming of spring masks a great many troubled hearts here in this beautiful town,” Matthew replied kindly, his eyes focused on a small bee that was now filtering between the flowers upon the graves closest to him. “It is sadder still to know as we do that a greater evil, a greater war is coming. A war that will cover this world in darkness, a war that will for the first time since the beginning of earth, unite man.”

  “How strange to think my DNA is a part of all of this,” Eveline said with trembling lips as she plucked a daisy from the grass and swirled it around before her with interest. “All of my ancestry rests within the biology of this planet and others like it.”

  “All of this can only survive if you do,” Matthew said with serious eyes, watching as Eveline twirled the daisy about.

  “I have much to learn reverend and I’m not quite sure where it is I should begin.”

  “You will learn along the way as we all do,” Matthew said with a re assuring smile.

  “Do you think the people of Keswick would look upon me with kinder eyes if they knew who I was? If they knew that their very life’s depended on me?” Eveline wondered aloud, watching a young group of children pass by the church in a fit of giggles.

  “It shouldn’t take the possibility of an apocalypse to make people love you for who you are,” Matthew answered with grave eyes. “That is one of the harder aspects of life. We humans are so very judgemental and despite our attempts to not judge a book by its cover we do just that. But you would be incorrect to think that all the residents of this town are repulsed by you, many of the members of my congregation believe you to be a miracle and how right they would be. Imagine their shock to know that you are their version of Jesus.”

  “How is it that you are a Christian minister when you are quite obviously a non-Christian?” Eveline asked the young minister with an air of interest.

  “If I am being brutally honest, it has nothing at all to do with religion but rather the positon it offers me within the community,” Matthew replied with a slight smile and flush of cheeks. “I am part of the freemasons and I collect information that may prove useful in protecting the lives of vulnerable citizens who are ignorant to the shadows that prey on them. It also gave me the access to keep an eye on you and an eye on the community of Keswick.”

  “But how do you write sermons each week knowing what you do?”

  “All religions have within their doctrines good ethical systems and I use that as a bases for my sermons. I take the stories within the bible and quite literally use them as metaphors,” Matthew said with a raised brow. “I of course serve a God, a true God who is a far cry from the Christian God. But if I have the power to better people within my community then I will try to do so. But never do I enforce religion upon my congregation, I simply try to serve them as best I can.”

  “Are you an angel as well?” Eveline turned her gaze to him, shielding her eyes with her hand.

  “My mother was an angel and my father a minister too, in fact he was the arch bishop of Canterbury which is how I came to be a part of the high order of freemasonry in London,” Matthew smiled with a devilish grin.

  “Was your father a Christian believer?” Eveline enquired with a confused glare.

  “Of course not, but he was given the position in order to claim a place within the high order.”

  “Sounds a little treacherous, those poor people so ignorant to who he truly was and what he truly believed in,” Eveline said rather sadly.

  “He was a good man and took an awful lot of young children under his wings, teaching them and helping them to grow into good young adults,” Matthew said with knowing eyes. “I like to think him better than most Christian ministers.”

  “On that point you may be right.”

  “Heiden does not ask his people to wage war on his behalf and he does not wish for blood to be spilled, he only asks that his subjects obey him and aim to be the best that they can be,” Matthew said quietly. “It really is that simple.”

  “So a non-religious man who serves his community well and who is truly a good subject, will not end up in Hell?” Eveline said with a warm heart.

  “Any subject that lives a good and honest life is entitled to life in Heaven. Those who are cruel and purposefully cause misery among his or hers community are not worthy of such an afterlife and are condemned to live among the shadows. Where would the fairness be in letting them into Heaven?”

  “And how does my grandfather come to such judgements?”

  “Everyone is assigned a guardian, although many are never aware that they indeed have one,” Matthew said as he leaned back against the wall of the church. “These guardians will consort with Heiden and the high council and they will determine the fate of the guardian’s subject.”

  “What if the said guardian is corrupt?”

  “Ah yes well that is where there superior comes in,” Matthew explained, waving his hands about in demonstration. “No judgement can be based on a bias point of view and so each set of guardians will have a superior or superiors and they will also give evidence before the high council.”

  “I see.”

  “So shall I collect you at sun rise?” Matthew asked gently as Eveline readied herself to leave.

  “Yes, but I shall meet you at the end of the lane,” Eveline replied with a sigh. “Cars are noisy and you may awaken Theodore.”

  “Too true,” Matthew said as he rose to his feet and helped Eveline up onto her own. “Well then I shall be waiting for you.”

  “Good,” Eveline said unevenly. “Well then I should go now before Theodore and Mary wonder where I am.”

  “Until tomorrow,” Matthew tipped his hat at Eveline.

  “Until tomorrow reverend,” Eveline smiled, turning on her feet and walking away from the minister. With a quiet sigh, Eveline stopped before her mother’s grave and took one last lingering look before walking on.

  *

  Eveline held her small bible within her hand as she slouched against the wall, staring out of her bedroom window at the glistening lake, now gently bathing in the moonlight. Behind her she could see the flickering of her candle and before her she observed her reflection critically. Her once naive and youthful face had altered in the course of the last six months. The bags beneath her eyes had darkened due to lack of sleep and the constant unfailing need to cry. About her eyes were small lines, a mark of the grief and stress that had encased her heavy heart and soul, unyielding and unwilling to fade away. All the scars of the last six months where not just marked upon her psychological being but her physical being too and she found it a comfort, never would she look in the mirror and be without memory of all that had passed. As the night came to pass, she felt the growing sense of uneasiness fill her, soon she would, not by force walk away from her one
and only best friend and husband. She would break his heart the way he had broken hers, she would be the one who would slip a blade into the very tenants of his heart by will and walk away forever. Her mind was consciously aware of the reasons as to why she was leaving without him. She wanted to give him life and understood that her presence would only suck the very life from him. The jealousy and contempt within her husband’s heart and mind would prove dangerous if he returned to Unas with her and the choice she had before her, to stay or leave altered greatly with each passing conversation between herself and Theodore. She saw the pain and conflict in his once vivid and untouched blue eyes, a pain derived from her, a pain that could not be overcome by her presence and she knew that he would understand her reasons for leaving. Their time as adopted siblings and lovers was based around falsehood and deception. Eveline could no longer deny the timeless and unending love and connection she shared with Galean, no matter the situation or prophecy. Neither could she allow her half-brother to strip her father’s people of freedom and light. She would define the very definition of an oppressor if she simply lived in denial and shut her eyes to the reality of who she was and where she was from. Eveline had found a strength, hidden deep within her, a strength that would help her to overcome her fears of the future and no matter how wrong or unfaithful it was in the eyes of those who surrounded her, that strength lay in her love for Galean, and his love gave her focus and determination. She had known from the first time she had looked up into his eyes that her world would alter vastly and she with it. She felt different now, felt as though she had arisen from a long and arduous sleep, in which her body, mind and heart had been encased in ice. She would never forgive herself for walking away from Theodore, but if it meant protecting Galean and ultimately protecting Theodore from himself, then it was a regret she was willing to bare until her dying breathe.