by Myra Star
“Would it make you happy,” he spoke without turning back to face her, “if I were to marry Octavia - if I could release you from our marriage contract?”
No!
“I don’t know.” Lily answered as honestly as she could. He nodded, and then without looking back he went through to the bedroom. A few moments later, Lily heard the door close softly.
Now alone, she let the tears cascade down her face. She was near exhausted; fed up with spending her time cooped up indoors, utterly cconfused about her feelings toward Caleb and had a new, near constant unease about Octavia being in the palace.
Out of all her anxieties, her feelings toward Caleb tugged at her heart the most. She was torn; one part of her wanting to be back in his bed again, and the other terrified that one more kiss, one more caress or kind word, and she would be in danger of falling in love with him.
Chapter Eighteen
She had escaped to the garden. It was early morning, with the dawn just breaking over in the horizons to the east and west; later the two suns would converge on their path and fill the already blue sky with their two-fold rays.
Caleb hadn’t come to her room that night. She had looked out for the telltale signs of his slept-in covers adorning the floor of their room, but had found nothing.
For a moment, her traitorous mind had suggested that he might have slept in another woman’s bed, but she ignored the thought. He wouldn’t open her up to such ridicule within his own palace.
She wandered barefoot on the dew-soaked grass, and gratefully inhaled the scent of the fresh morning air, still sweet from the crisp cold of the night.
Unthinkingly she made her way toward the silver mirror in the Cypress trees, not intending to look into its duplicitous wonder and depressing visions, but merely because it was the route she was familiar with.
As she neared the cluster of trees, she heard a voice, female and almost caressing in its tone. It wasn’t Juliette, but it was a voice she was familiar with. Octavia.
She paused, not willing to come any closer less she be overheard.
“The time is right my love…yes, they think they’re following you - it worked well…his defenses are down…that hasn’t worked as I’d hoped, he has a human…the dancer from the bar. No…No! Of course not - I don’t understand the reason behind his madness…of course my love - tonight, come tonight.”
Lily froze. She couldn’t hear who Octavia was speaking to, the voice was too muffled, but it had a quality to it that stirred up the nightmares which in the morning light had ventured back into her subconscious.
They think they’re following you.
She recalled Caleb’s words from last night, the soldiers who believed they had spied Lucifer and sent for back up. How much back up had they sent? If Caleb’s forces were seriously depleted, and the person coming tonight was in fact Lucifer, then Epsilon would fall.
Lily wanted to run immediately back to the palace, straight to Caleb, and tell him what she’d heard. She could hear the rustle of Octavia getting up off her knees and moving toward the Cypress trees. Lily backed slowly behind a large forsythia bush, holding her breath.
A few seconds later, Octavia emerged. She looked around, suspiciously, as if she could hear Lily’s breathing, or had caught a whiff of her scent. Lily could hardly look as Octavia stood in the middle of the garden, intently studying every shrub and tree for signs of life.
Finding nothing, the woman turned back in the direction of the palace. She had just taken the first step, when a large mockingly hooted an arm’s length away from Lily. Octavia spun around, and the bird flew up and off from behind the bush.
The woman, eyes alert once again, stepped toward the bush. Lily held her breath, not daring to move a muscle as Octavia approached.
A thundering, lumbering noise stopped Octavia in her tracks. Both she and Lily turned in the direction of the noise, and Lily saw the scaly head of Heli peer out from behind on of the taller tress and clumsily make her way toward Octavia - squawking and chattering loudly as she did so.
Heli, you are wonderful!
Lily had never been so happy to see the winged dragon, and thanked her lucky stars that she’d made the interruption.
Octavia cursed at Heli and tried to shoo the beast away, to no avail. With an impertinent toss of her head, Octavia marched back toward the palace without looking back.
Lily exhaled a sigh of relief. As soon as the coast was clear, she ran forward and flung her arms around Heli. The dragon cooed with pleasure, and sniffed gently at Lily’s hair.
“I wish I had a treat to give you, you’ve saved the day - but I need to get to Caleb.”
Lily murmured against Heli’s warm scales, stroking her long neck to try and demonstrate how much she appreciated her efforts. Heli snorted in understanding, and Lily ran off across the damp grass to find Caleb.
At the top of the garden steps, she saw the figure of Lieutenant Varga. She hadn’t laid eyes on him since the night of her wedding, but she knew that Caleb trusted him, and therefore she would trust him.
“Lieutenant Varga?”
He looked surprised at her approach, “Lily?”
“I’m looking for Caleb, I need to speak to him urgently!”
“He’s in the briefing room now - I can fetch him for you as soon as he’s finished?” He replied, then, “Are you alright? You look out of sorts - and what are you doing out of your room? It really isn’t safe.”
“I know, I know - but, please, you need to interrupt the briefing, this is life or death - I must speak to him.”
Lieutenant Varga gave her a hard, piercing look before nodding his assent. Clearly whatever he’d seen on Lily’s face was enough to convince him that her urgency was real, and not some mad flight of fancy.
“Wait here - I’ll be right back.”
Lily watched his rod-straight back march off inside the palace as she leant, breathless, against the doorway.
“Well, you are quite the hero.”
Octavia stepped out from the shadows of the ballroom interior. She smiled at Lily, a bleak, sickly sweet smile that made Lily’s blood run cold.
“He’s going to find out what you’re doing,” Lily threatened her, “he will destroy you - you and Lucifer.”
Octavia laughed and clapped her hands together as if she were applauding some great performance of Lily’s.
“Earthling - you know nothing of our power; Epsilon will fall today - it will burn like Earth’s Rome, and there is nothing that you can do about it.”
She laughed at some private joke before readdressing Lily.
“You know - I was disappointed to see you here, but now I think you’ll be beneficial to our plan. Caleb is so wrapped up in you, and your safety, that he’ll never see us coming - and when he does, it will be too late.”
“You’re a monster,” Lily cried out, turning to run back into the garden.
“Not so fast!”
Octavia’s grip was surprisingly strong. She yanked Lily back onto the stone step, and into the doorway of the ballroom. Lily tried to scream, hoping that Heli would hear her, but Octavia covered her mouth with a napkin on one of the nearby tables and smothered it over Lily’s mouth.
She struggled, but it was no use. A moment later, a thick, hard object smashed against the back of her head, and Lily was lost to oblivion.
Chapter Nineteen
“Where the hell is she then?”
Caleb was agitated. He and Varga had returned to the ballroom entrance to find Lily gone, and a broken vase smashed on the stone floor.
“I’ve no idea - I’ll check the garden,” replied Varga, “she’ll be here somewhere.”
“I’ll check upstairs.”
Caleb walked swiftly through the ghostly silence of the ballroom, his footsteps echoing loudly in his wake. He hadn’t gone far when the alarm sounded.
It pierced the morning air with the strength of a thousand horns, almost deafening Caleb and sending loud squawks of birds in terrified flight up
into the air.
They were under attack.
Lieutenant Varga rushed back, “My Lord -”
“Keep looking for her,” Caleb interrupted, “I need her safe. They’re coming.”
The palace ruptured into life; he could see servants scuttling to the basement hollows of the Palace where they had emergency shelters set up - protected by deep, cavernous rock caves that lay below and beyond the palace.
Credor ran up to Caleb as he made his way to the briefing room.
“It’s happening, it’s happening! It must have all been a ruse, My Lord, the emissaries still believe that they are tracking him!”
Credor looked terrified. As well he might; it wasn’t the first time that Lucifer’s troops had come and rained down havoc on a planet - leaving nothing behind but a smoking, empty husk.
“Get down below, Credor - take my uncle with you. And look out for Lily, I’ve lost her.”
Caleb’s heart was gripped by an icy fear; the smashed vase on the floor had been an ominous omen - he knew that something had gone horribly wrong, he just didn’t know what. Could one of Lucian’s men have snuck up to the Palace undetected?
Their advance warning systems for intruders had never in the past let them down, but perhaps they had found some way to breach the atmosphere undetected.
“As is Octavia, my Lord! Your uncle is terribly worried about her - he hasn’t been able to find her all morning.”
Caleb gave a short grown of frustration; this was the last thing he needed.
Credor and Caleb heard shots firing in the distance, and then the sound of marble exploding and scattering. They had entered the village. Caleb prayed that the people were already below ground; secure in their bunkers, miles below the gunfire and destruction.
Credor had scurried off, and Caleb made his way to the front of the palace where his men where waiting, taking orders from the second Lieutenant in Varga’s absence.
Caleb saw that the armies were already divided into two troops as per his earlier instructions in the event of invasion; one already departing to defend the villagers, and another troop surrounding the perimeter of the palace.
He should have been leading the charge on the village. Or standing at the head of his men surrounding the Palace.
Where the hell was she?
Lieutenant Varga appeared as he deliberated his choices. One look at his face and Caleb knew he hadn’t been able to find her.
“I found nothing. His troops are getting closer.”
Caleb nodded curtly.
“I need to - ”
“I know,” replied Varga, “go and find her.”
Caleb went back inside. Once the heavy main door slammed shut behind him, the palace was left in an eerily silence. He made his way up the main staircase, listening intently for sounds inside the palace walls that could indicate her presence.
As he neared the top of the bannister, a sound of cruel laughter perforated the silence. It was coming from below; the place he was standing on the staircase was directly below one of the kitchen storage rooms - a small labyrinth of rooms that were built just below the main entrance.
Caleb hurried back down the stairs, as he neared the entrance to the basement rooms, he heard a soft groaning. It belonged to Lily. His heart hammered in his chest, and a white-hot rage pierced every vein in his body.
His gun was locked and loaded at his side. He retrieved it from his belt and aimed it forward while he slowly opened the entrance door.
The small hallway was empty, and in near darkness. He checked the first two rooms, but they were empty save for boxes of grains and freezer holders. Without making a sound he made his way deeper into the labyrinth, twisting and turning along its route.
Once again he heard sounds emanated from one of the rooms further ahead. It was the murmuring of muffled voices this time, but Caleb couldn’t distinguish what they were saying; all he could tell was that they were both female, and one was most certainly Lily.
As he came to the final door, he shoved it open with his shoulder, his gun unlocked and ready to fire.
The scene that met him as the door flew open made him lower his gun in surprise. Lily was huddled against the corner of the room, blood matted into her hair, looking pale, lost and frightened. Octavia stood above her, a cruel smile of satisfaction directed down at his wife.
She span round as he entered, but didn’t seem at all shocked or surprised by his presence.
“Oh good, you’re here!” She exclaimed, as if she where the host of some kind of macabre party, “I’m afraid Lily’s a bot out of sorts - she seems to think she’s back in Kriolin, such a shame.”
Octavia gave her a look of faux concern, and then turned back to Caleb. He raised his gun and pointed it directly at her head. She smiled.
“No, no, Lord Commander - gun down. Or I shoot her.”
She waved her hand at him; she held a small, easily concealed laser weapon in her right hand, pointed in the direction of Lily.
“Alight,” Caleb replied softly, lowering the gun, “what’s the meaning of this Octavia?”
“My father and I - we want Epsilon,” she shrugged, “you’ve had this planet too long - and the state of ours, well,” she chuckled, “it’s horrific, isn’t it? Lucifer was only too happy to help; he likes Kriolin - and he can have it, if he destroys you and your people first.”
“He’ll turn against you,” Caleb replied, trying to keep Octavia as distracted as possible from Lily, “you can’t trust him.”
“Perhaps not,” Octavia agreed amicably, “but it’s been such fun! Planning your downfall, all of us waiting to see that smug, arrogant exterior of yours come crumbling down - just like your father’s did.”
“I’d advise you not to speak of him,” retorted Caleb, “you’re mortal coil is a short one Octavia - and I promise you will not leave this room alive, so be kind to yourself and don’t say anything that will make your death a slow one.”
“Such histrionics!” Octavia laughed, “the poor orphan man, still missing his mother and father - and the beautiful irony is, you will be meeting your death at the hands of their killer’s son - such a glorious coincidence, don’t you think?”
The death of his parent’s at the hands of Lucifer’s father, the late Lord Arak, was no secret. He had only been twelve when it had happened, the palace under siege like today, the servants screaming as Lord Arak’s hoards came and pillaged their way through Epsilon.
Their armies had fought bravely that day; sending Arak’s armies cowering back to their spaceships, but the damage had been done. When Caleb turned sixteen, he had led a small army, with Varga at his side, to slay Lord Arak. He had returned victorious, but it hadn’t helped the ache in his heart at the loss of his beloved family.
Lily moaned, still half unconscious and clearly in a state of delirium, imagining she was back in the hellhole at the bar.
“Let her go,” Caleb turned to Octavia, his face passive, “evidently you delight in tormenting me - but what’s a mere earthling to you? Let her be.”
“Ah, it’s not what she is to me - you’re right, she’s nothing to me - but it’s what she is to you. I was stunned to find you already married, and to the wretch you rescued from the bar, but I now find that it suits my purposes quite well. A distracted Lord cannot protect his people or his home.”
“Quite right, Octavia.”
Caleb turned slowly toward the doorway. A hooded figure stood beneath the doorframe, dimming the already scant light in the room. His eyes were fixed on Caleb; milky white globes that seemed fathomless in their empty depths.
“Hello Caleb,” his slit-like lips bore into a grimace, “it’s been a long time.”
Lily started screaming.
Chapter Twenty
Those eyes. The eyes that peered into her every nightmare; the half-human stare that felt like it was watching her even in the depths of the bar basement where she was surrounded by only terrified girls after closing hours. He haunted her then, and he
haunted her now.
“Stay away from her,” Caleb’s voice cut through the room, “your fight is with me - not her.”
Caleb.
She wanted to throw herself into his arms, beg for him to take away the horrifying and grotesque vision that stood in the doorway.
“But she is such a pretty piece,” mused Lucifer, “I watched her for hours, for days. Destroying you both will bring me untold pleasures, Caleb - and who are you to stop me?”
“The man that stopped your father - or have you forgotten?”
Lily heard Lucifer hiss; an inhuman sound that bought to mind creatures that slithered on the floor, and holed up in dark places. It was not the sound of a man.
“I will kill her first, oh great son of Epsilon, and I will make you watch.”
Lily stared with horrified, round eyes as he retrieved a weapon from within his robe. It mildly resembled a gun, but when he held it toward her, the object seemed to come to life as if it were an organic, living thing, and the butt of the machinery slid like tar up to his elbow, joining man and machine into a monstrous form.
“Say goodbye, Caleb.”
Lucifer grinned, and the gun whirred to life. Lily closed her eyes, preying that her end would be short. In the next moment she was slammed back against the wall as something hot and heavy lurched into her.
She heard guns firing, and opened her eyes to see Octavia, startled and wide-eyed, slumping to the floor. Caleb’s back was pressed against her body, shielding her with his own.
Lucifer stood before them both. Lily watched with revulsion as his cloudy white eyes started to fill with liquid clouds of blood. Jutting out from his robes stood the handle of an ornate dagger, a single drip of blood running off it and landing soundlessly on the floor.
Lucifer, with a trembling hand, raised the gun again. Caleb shot him before he could pull the trigger, and his body fell backward, slowly and without ceremony, till he too lay slain on the floor.
“Lily, are you hurt?”
Caleb slid his body aside, dropping the gun. His hands slid over her arms and legs, checking that she was all in one piece.