by Myra Star
Normal, everyday scenes, except that all the actors were in period costume, the roads held carts and wagons, not cars, and her earth was as alien to her as this planet.
“This is impossible,” she whispered, “I don’t believe this.”
“This solar system is in a different dimension to the one that you came from; when the pirates took you, you unwittingly travelled through a multiverse - one that allows for no way back, well,” he hesitated, “you could travel back but the radiation would kill you. Fairly swiftly.”
“I don’t want to hear another word,” Lily spun around to face him, “this is utter rubbish - I don’t know what point you’re trying to prove, but I swear to you - stay away from me.”
Lily practically screamed the last few words, her voice sounding foreign to her own ears, so twisted with rage, hate and bile that was bubbling up within her.
She shoved him aside, not caring about the consequences of disobeying him, and ran off into the garden.
Chapter Nine
Caleb thwacked one of the Cyprus trees with his fist and cursed. He shouldn’t have shown her the Aeternum glass; she had seen enough - more than anyone should in a lifetime. To now know that her planet as she knew it did not yet exist in this dimension was a burden that Caleb didn’t know if he himself could bear.
What possessed you?
If he were to be honest with himself, it was to show her that she had no way out - there was no one waiting for her on the other side, there was little alternative to the life she now had. It had been beyond cruel - and Caleb hated himself for it.
He was a monster. He was every insult she’d thrown at him, and worse - no better than the pirates that took her in the first place to do their bidding. Wasn’t he just the same? His methods of manipulation may be less overt and coarse, but it was manipulation nonetheless.
He could hear her sobbing in the garden. He noticed with wry amusement that Lily had chosen the very spot that he liked to frequent when he wanted to compose himself, or when the strategic complexities of battle and Epsilon rule got to be too much.
Softly, stepping quietly on the ground so not to startle her, he made his way to the marble fountain that rested hidden from the main path, covered by swathes of pregnant mulberry bushes.
“Lily?” He questioned softly.
“Go away.”
The hair that lay spread about her shoulders and face muffled her voice. Her head was buried in her arms, leant across the base of the fountain with the fabric of her robes fanned outward.
Had she not been such a picture of wretched despair, Caleb would have stood still and watched the vision before him till the suns rose; she was ethereally beautiful in that moment.
As it was, he stepped closer. Trying to wrack his brains for some words that might bring her comfort.
“Lily,” he hesitated, “I’m sorry. That was too much - I shouldn’t have shown you that.”
“You’re sorry?” she asked with disbelief, “what for - for marrying me against my will? For almost killing a man today because of your stupid pride? Or, are you sorry for ripping away the last small spreads of hope I had left?”
Caleb couldn’t respond.
“Well?” She continued, raising herself up from the fountain to face him, “which one is it?”
Her face was streaked with tears, but her beautiful eyes crackled with a ferocity Caleb had only ever seen in caged animals - those that were as wild and untamable as hot summer storms.
“I’m sorry for taking away your hope. I trust in time that you’ll see it was for the best.”
She laughed at him hysterically, her hands clenched into small fists at her sides. Without warning she lunged at him, arms outstretched. She pummeled at his chest crying out her rage and fear.
Caleb caught her fists before she hurt herself. He held them tightly, one in each on his. They glared at each other - Caleb saw the betrayal and loss in her eyes, and her dreams of taking a dagger to his throat evident in her gaze.
“Stop.”
Caleb pulled her closer, suddenly desperate to calm her and offer her what little comfort he could. Her chest was heaving with the exertion, and his eyes fell to her breasts that rose and fell beneath her robes.
The milky white softness of them, luminescent with the moons glow, called to the same part of him that had driven the decision to rescue her in the bar.
Without thinking, Caleb dropped his head and met her lips with his. She jerked her head backward, but he yanked her back, pulling her forward again. This time she tilted her face up to meet his, and when their lips touched, her reluctance vanished and she sought him eagerly - matching his desire to touch her with a desperation of her own.
Caleb groaned and released her arms. Instinctively, she wrapped them around his chest, holding herself upright against his onslaught. Her lips tasted like the garden itself; floral and dew-soaked, as intoxicating as the delicate scent of honeysuckle that pervaded the night’s air.
He could hear her heart fluttering; the rapid beat of a hummingbird’s wing and just as delicate. Their lips melded together; tasting, exploring, finding solace in one another's warmth as their bodies became frantic to melt together, her body pushing up against his in earnest frustration.
Caleb heard the night call of a Kiterfugam; the dragon beasts that roamed the periphery of the garden. Its call ruptured the surrounding silence, and Lily broke away.
“What am I doing?” She groaned, her voice at once breathless and despairing.
“Is it so bad?” Caleb replied, trying to keep his tone in check - unwilling for her to know how deeply she had affected him.
“Yes!” She shot back, “just leave me the hell alone, I don’t want to be anywhere near you.”
The venom in her voice was wounding, but Caleb stared impassively back at her. She shot him one final glare - as if daring him to say another word, and then fled back to the palace.
He let her go.
Chapter Ten
At the earliest opportunity the next morning, Lily escaped the confines of her room. A servant, one that had refused to speak to her, came to clear away his master’s robes, and Lily slipped through the door unnoticed.
She managed to navigate her way back to the garden, and found the portal once again by sliding through the Cyprus trees. Even without the moonlight, the luminescence and otherworldliness of the silver pool made her heart palpitate with unease.
Even with her body clenched in anxiety, her fingers reached out greedily for the smooth surface of the pool. This time it rippled before she touched it, as if it was beckoning to her - calling her to come and see her home.
She didn’t know how long she sat there; the flickering images showed her a small girl with bright red hair skipping down a cobbled street; an old man, worse of wear after drinking in a tavern, staggered out onto a bright morning sun, seat drenching through his stained vest; a mother kissed her children in wooden beds, her harassed face blossoming with a brief joy. So many stories, and yet not a thing she recognized - yet at the same time it was home, and therefore everything felt warmly familiar.
“Child,” a voice whispered over to Lily from behind the trees, “don’t.”
Lily spun around, but could see nothing.
“Who are you?” She called out.
“Someone that’s spent too long where you sit.”
The voice was old and raspy, and Lily stepped toward the trees, confident that whoever the voice belonged to posed no threat to her. She peered through the Cyprus trees, and found an old woman, her face wizened and cracked with age, waiting patiently outside of the foliage.
“Who are you?” Lily asked again, her voice softer.
“I’m Juliette,” the woman smiled, “I live in the village. You made quite the stir yesterday - I was at the execution.”
Lily nodded. The woman looked at her expectantly, as if she was waiting for Lily to ask her something.
“How do you know about the portal?” She asked eventually, after rec
overing from the surprise that someone in Epsilon was willing to talk to her.
“I found it many years ago. I was no older than you are now, and I became transfixed by what it showed me.”
“Are you from Earth?” Lily asked excitedly.
“No, I’m not,” she raised her eyebrows at Lily’s fallen face, “I come from another planet in this solar system. It enabled me to see the family I left behind.”
“Were you held here against your will too?”
“No - I fell in love with a soldier, one of Epsilon. I came here to be with him, but I left much behind.” The woman’s voice was wistful, full of memories of a life lived and lost.
“I’m sorry,” Lily replied, “that must have been difficult.”
“Don’t be sorry, I don’t and never did, regret it. But that thing,” she waved her walking stick at the trees, “it’s enticing - and dangerous. I wasted months not living in the moment as I was so preoccupied by what that thing showed me. Don’t you do the same.”
Lily sighed. Perhaps the woman was right, what good would it do constantly staring at a world she had no access to, one she wasn’t even born in yet.
“It’s hard,” she whispered, “I feel like I don’t belong anywhere - like I have no home left.”
The old woman nodded, “you have a home here - if you want it.”
Lily wanted to laugh. This planet would never be her home - much less the palace she was being held hostage in.
“How can this be my home when I’m held here against my will?” Lily challenged the woman.
“My dear,” the woman replied, “one does not cross intergalactic universes and dimensions by mistake. You’ll find your way eventually - and ignore Caleb, he’s such a cold fish these days.”
The woman tutted as if she were talking about a mischievous child, not the cold-blooded killer that had kidnapped her and married her, like some crazy sociopath.
“You know the commander?” Lily asked disbelievingly - she couldn’t quite merge the ‘cold fish’ the old woman spoke of with her tormenter.
“Of course I do - I’ve known him since he was a small boy. I used to work in the palace.” The woman shrugged this nugget of information away as if it was inconsequential.
“Come with me - I want to show you the village. I think you’ll like it.”
The woman turned to walk away, expecting Lily to follow her.
“I can’t,” Lily hesitated, “I’m forbidden.”
“Nonsense!” The woman called back over her shoulder, “hurry up - you’ll make me miss the best vegetables.”
Lily meekly followed, speechless.
“There,” the woman pushed an odd-looking root in Lily’s direction, “that’s perfect - as fresh as you like.”
She took a black stone from her pocket, which looked like Onyx, and handed it to the lizard that stood behind the stall. He took it in his scaly claw, muttering something in response, and Lily had to try hard not to flinch.
Not that many of the other villagers had done her the same favor. Wherever she and the old lady had walked, villagers - some human-looking, some not, cowered away from her - keeping their distance, but maintaining a watchful gaze as if she were a walking bomb about to go off at any moment.
“Ignore them dear,” the old woman had said, whenever Lily smarted at their distance, “they’re just curious - they’ll come around eventually.”
Lily had nodded, skeptical. Clearly, they had no tolerance for those from earth, and much less ex-dancers from a seedy gambling club. She felt ashamed, despite knowing that absolutely none of this had been her choice.
“We’ll head over to the pastry shop now, you must be hungry.”
The old woman turned and walked in the direction of more colorful stalls that surrounded the bright marble square. Lily went to follow her, but she heard a commotion behind her and turned to see what was happening.
A huge, scaly beast reared up about a meter away from her. It’s nostrils flared, creating two great caverns of blackness, flanked by large glassy eyes that burnt a bright amber.
Holy shit, it’s a dragon!
Lily felt her legs give way beneath her, and she fell to the ground - without taking her eyes off the beast. Its wings, bright blue and brilliant gold, flew out at its sides and the creature shrieked, loudly - a cry that echoed off the stone of the square, amplifying it to an ear-splitting volume.
“Easy, Heli.”
An all-too familiar voice quieted the creature. From her low vantage point, Lily saw two polished boots emerge seemingly out of nowhere, and stand before her.
“God damn it, Lily.”
The voice cursed loudly. She looked up, and met the cold eyes of her captor, glaring down at her in disgust.
“I’ve been looking everywhere - I thought something had happened to you. What the hell did I say about not leaving the room? Are you utterly incapable of doing what you’re told?”
“My fault, Caleb,” the old woman strut forward, shoving her stick in his direction, “you leave her alone. She’s been through enough.”
She heard him sigh, and found herself wanting to laugh at the gumption of the old woman.
“I should have known you’d be behind this,” his voice was irritated but the anger had instantly subsided, “she’s not allowed out Juliette - for her own sake. I can’t believe you took her here of all places!”
“It was fine - we had a nice time, didn’t we?”
Lily got up off the floor and dusted off her robes, embarrassed that she’d collapsed in fright. The dragon snorted at her in derision, and Lily fought back the edge to punch it on the snout.
“We did,” she complied weakly, “I don’t want to be cooped up all day.”
“Tough.”
His reply was curt, and dismissive.
“Get her home - now,” he commanded the old woman, “I’ll follow. Clearly, she and Heli won’t be bonding anytime soon.”
There was humor in his voice now, as he surveyed Lily’s dusty robes.
He’s laughing at me!
Before Lily could utter a word of protest, her captor had turned swiftly on his heel. Lily had a feeling that the conversation, or punishment, was still to come.
She followed the old woman back to the palace with a heavy heart.
Chapter Eleven
Lily waited in the room. The lizard servant had ushered her up to the room when she and Juliette had arrived back at the palace. Juliette had waved her off cheerily, as if Lily wasn’t on her way to meet a furious madman.
She had opened the door tentatively, but on seeing the room empty she had scurried inside, hoping that she had been mistaken, and that her captor considered the situation resolved.
Moments later, when the door was flung open, Lily realized she’d been far too optimistic. One look at his stormy face and her breathing faltered. She couldn’t help herself; her mind drifted to the kiss last night, the heat emanating from his body, his musky, masculine scent and the firmness of his lips pressed against hers.
“What were you thinking? Are you so selfish that you’re willing to risk the life of another soldier or villager who finds themselves tempted to test my law?”
His accusation stung.
“I can’t stay in here!” Lily stormed back at him, “you can’t keep me locked up here! I spent months in the dark, locked away - I can’t stand this anymore!”
“Do you not understand it’s for your own safety?” He replied curtly, crossing the room to stand as far away from Lily as possible.
“I was fine today - well, until you arrived.” Lily amended.
“You are in danger when you step out from this palace - Lily, I am expecting an invasion any day now; I can’t keep running after you, making sure that you’re not being harmed.”
Lily was confused; this was the first time she’d heard of an invasion, and she still didn’t truly understand why he was so concerned with her welfare - was his pride truly so great?
“You didn’t mention an inv
asion.”
“I didn’t think it concerned you,” he shrugged, “and I still don’t. If you would just do as you were told this wouldn’t be a problem.”
Lily watched him warily. Shadows underlined his piercing eyes. She didn’t know him well enough to say whether they were new or a permanent feature, but for the first time she noticed that her captor had the air of exhaustion about him.
I don’t care.
“You should have said something,” Lily retorted, “I have a right to know if your planet is under attack - if I’m to stay here.”
“Very well,” her captor relented, “a Gliesian - the Lord Commander of a neighboring planet, is gathering an army to attack Epsilon. Our planet is rich in natural resources, the only planet worth inhabiting left in this solar system, and he wants it for himself.”
His words were softly spoken, and she was momentarily distracted from the sliver of recollection his information prompted.
“What do Gliesians look like?” Lily asked, trying to recapture the thought that had escaped her.
He looked at her questioningly, but responded in an off-hand manner.
“Much like us with the exception of white, all-seeing eyes. They typically wear hooded black robes - their armies do, anyway.”
Lily didn’t need to ask further questions. She would never forget those milky white eyes staring up at her from the table where she’d danced. Night after night he’d come, a silent figure that had haunted both her waking and sleeping hours. The mouth that had held no lips, just a thin slit where his mouth should have been, its inside as dark as dried blood.
“I know a man like that,” Lily replied faintly, “he came into the bar. All the time.”
“Do you recall his name?” He asked, his voice edged with impatience.
“Yes,” she looked up, “Lucifer. They called him Lucifer. The devil himself.”
He nodded slowly. The name clearly meant something to him. Lily guessed that this was the same creature that was leading an attack against Epsilon.