The Crown Prophecy

by M. D. Laird

  The next day Eve was walking through the streets of Manchester with Calab. Her guards were loitering nearby, remaining close enough to sense danger, but more relaxed in their duties with Calab present. She preferred shopping in Lycea to Arkazatinia. She liked the anonymity—no one knew or cared that she was a queen. She still ventured into the towns to shop in Arkazatinia to support the community, but as a treat, she took herself to Lycea.

  The streets were busy with people grabbing last minute Christmas gifts and despite the icy chill in the air; Eve could not help feeling happy about being there with Calab. He had been much easier to get along with since the disastrous supper that had left her with bruises that she had spent weeks trying to conceal and had to explain away as injuries from training to those who noticed. It was far from ideal, but she was glad that it had led him to open up to her and had cleared the air between them.

  “So, do you visit all the shops even if you have no intention of making a purchase?” Calab asked.

  “It’s called browsing.”

  “Is browsing looking at lots of things you don’t want in the hope of spotting something that you didn’t know you wanted?”

  “Yes,” she said, smirking at him and taking his arm. “Where would you like to go?”

  “This is your trip, Your Majesty. I am merely your humble servant.”

  “If you require any of the latest fashion essentials then now is your chance.”

  Calab snorted. “Didn’t Wilde say that ‘fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable we have to alter it every six months’?”

  “He did, but that won’t stop me indulging now and again.”

  “You can learn a thing or two from the fashion industry,” he said. “Gracián and Machiavelli themselves could have learned a thing or two from the fashion industry—they are the masters of manipulation.”

  “This should be good.” She sniggered. “Do tell.”

  “Ah,” he said, “ever the cynic. Who, other than a master of manipulation, could convince millions of people that they love something one year and loathe it the next, have them want to pay a premium for it and have them convinced that the more they pay, the better they feel? And all is achieved without killing anyone or threatening anyone with imprisonment or death or Hell.”

  She giggled. “I just bought that dress because it was amazing, not because anyone convinced me.”

  “Keep telling yourself that.” He smirked. “As I said, people like to be manipulated. I would wager that you’ve even looked for fashion tips so you can learn what you are supposed to like and what you are not. What do they call them? ‘What’s hot and what’s not’?”

  “You’re just mean.” She laughed.

  “Well, I am a demon. That’s kind of the point.”

  She smirked; then said, “I just have to buy one more gift, and then we can have lunch if you like. There is a great used and antique book shop nearby that we could visit after lunch.”

  “Genevieve?” he said softly.

  “Yes.”

  “Did you commission those libraries for me?”

  “You have a library, Calab.”

  He narrowed his eyes. “You know what I mean.”

  “You think I invested large sums of public money in a project to provide you with satisfying employment?”

  He sighed. “I guess it sounds ridiculous when you put it like that.”

  “I wish I could say that was completely untrue,” she said, casting her eyes forward to avoid looking him in the eye and revealing her shame. “I have thought there should be libraries since my first visit to the cities of Arkazatinia, but it was requested by the civilian representatives at the CRM. However, once it was agreed, I immediately thought you were perfect for the position as head librarian. I thought it would be good for you and I wanted you to have it,” she paused momentarily before continuing. “I pushed the alliance to have the project started quickly because I wanted you to have the job and I didn’t even think about offering it to anyone else. I still want you to have it, but I feel bad about it. It was a selfish decision.”

  He took her hand in his and squeezed it. “This is what happens when you are friends with your subjects,” he said.

  “I know,” she said, “I will be more careful from now on.”

  He nodded. “Thank you for the offer,” he said tenderly. “Unfortunately, I am too selfish to refuse it on principle—I’m not entirely un-demonic.” He grinned sheepishly. “But I will do my very best to run them well, and I will find my staff by a fair method.” She gave him a tight smile.

  “What on earth is that thing?” Calab asked her over lunch.

  “It’s a Lego Millennium Falcon,” replied Eve, eying the large box she had purchased for Will on the floor beside them. “If you’d watch Star Wars then you would know.”

  He grinned. “It says age nine to fourteen, isn’t the guardian a little older?”

  “He will love it,” she said, sipping her wine. Her smile faded as she continued, “He knows there is something more than friendship between us, he guessed as much at the Christmas party.”

  “That’s my fault, I shouldn’t have asked you to dance,” said Calab apologetically.

  “It’s okay. He didn’t say much, though. I don’t know what he thinks.”

  “What did you tell him?” She eyed him awkwardly, wishing that she had not brought the subject up.

  “I told him that I had wanted something to happen between us before I was with him, but I was happy with him.”

  “What did he say?”

  “Nothing,” she lied.

  Eve spent Christmas Day at her parent’s house. She had enjoyed a visit from Will who did indeed love the Millennium Falcon and had the perfect place for it next to his Lego Death Star. He had bought her a beautiful early edition of Peter Pan and Wendy. Though he did not say so, she wondered if he bought it because she was the girl who would never grow up and he was the boy who would be left in the human world to get old.

  I’m reading too much into it.

  Will was as warm as always, though she could not help feeling a little awkwardness between them since the Christmas party. She felt she should say something to him. But what? She just could not find the words. The visit to her family was filled with the same mix of joy and awkward lies and was over all too soon.

  Calab was in her room when Eve returned to the guild, she grinned at him as she laid her presents on the table.

  “What are you doing here?” She chuckled.

  He flashed her mischievous smile. “I’ve brought you a Christmas gift.”

  “How long have you been waiting?”

  “Long enough to watch Episode IV on your disc player thing.”

  Her grin widened. “Really?” she asked. “What did you think?”

  “I was a bit confused,” he said. “I suppose I can see why you like it. I’ve never watched a moving picture in its entirety, so I struggled to keep up.”

  She beamed at him.

  Who would have guessed watching a movie could make a fierce demon seem so vulnerable?

  “You need more practice. I have a gift for you too.”

  “You do?” He gave her the smile that she loved. “It’s my turn first.” He handed her a gift bag, and she pulled out a female garden gnome that had her hair and eye colour and was reading a book. “I painted her myself.” He grinned.

  “Thank you, I love her,” Eve laughed. “Now my turn.” She handed him an envelope. He opened it, removed the thick parchment, and read the calligraphy upon it.

  “Did you write this?” he asked.

  “It’s not Blake, I know—”

  “It’s beautiful.” He smiled, blinking away a thin silver line from his eyes. Eve bit her lip to prevent it from trembling. She thought he might like it if she wrote a poem for him, but she hadn’t expected him to be moved.

  Training continued in the New Year with swordplay. Even though Eve found offensive moves e
asier than hand-to-hand combat, she also found it easier to get hit and far more deadly. Still, she enjoyed the training, though she kept her fingers crossed she would not have to use it for real. She felt anxious when she realised this was unlikely to be a possibility.

  Over the weeks, she did improve and managed to get a reasonable grasp of the basics and was ecstatic to knock her opponent out of the ring during a sparring match. The end of February saw the end of their intensive training with the instructors although there was no decrease in the intensity as the Impærielas still had to train on their own and still met the instructors weekly for more advanced training. The hominem organised the Impærielas into companies of melee combat, ranged combat and a mixture of both although all members would be equipped with each weapon. The companies were named Sabre Company, Ballista Company and Partizan Company respectively as these were standard names throughout the alliance. Eve was not surprised to be allocated to the ranged weapons company. The hominem gave her the rank of general which, she presumed, had more to do with her being the queen and less to do with her military prowess. Below her, and a slightly more sensible choice, the rank of captain was given to a young male named Acsan Lexas. Each company was led by a lieutenant and broken into smaller teams led by corporals.

  Their equipment had also arrived and Eve could not wait to try everything on. She was not fond of the colour, in fact, she was sick of the sight of it, but out of respect for the Impærielas, she had ordered their clothing in midnight blue. However, she had asked for their leather to be black as a subtle sign of allegiance to the rest of Arkazatinia and because she did not wish to wear any more blue shoes. She donned the thick pants and shirt, high leather boots with knee guards, and a long, armoured-panelled jacket with the official Crown seal of the lynx stitched upon it. She fastened the leather chest plates with a sturdy metal over-plate in place and added the leather and metal shoulder guards. She then buckled the vambraces to her wrists and added the ammo and weapon sheaths. She sheathed her longsword, twin short swords and several daggers at her sides, strapped the crossbow and the bow to her back, and raised the armoured hood of her jacket.

  “Woah,” Will remarked. “You look like you’re in Assassin’s Creed.”

  “I love it,” gasped Eve. “I hope I don’t get desynchronised. I don’t think I can carry all these weapons, I can barely move, and they weigh a ton.”

  “You need to start lifting weights,” Will laughed. “I do hope you never have to use these. The thought of you in battle terrifies me.”

  “Me too,” she said. “It seems real now I have my gear. I’ll have to train in it and get used to the weight I suppose. If I am to go to battle, I don’t want to go with fewer weapons.”

  Will approached her and slipped his arm around her waist and pulled her to him. She slipped her arms through his and rested her head on his chest.

  He sighed. “I wish this wasn’t our life.”

  “I know,” she said sadly. “Perhaps you can train with me. I could use the help now the hominem have reduced our sessions.”

  “Anything to help keep you alive.” He chuckled, though Eve could sense an undercurrent of anxiety.

  Eve had never seen Will in combat before. She knew he had trained from being a small child but did not expect him to be so proficient. He handled a sword as though it was an extension of his body and parried all of her advances with ease. She could barely block his attacks. Her forearms burned as she defended each blow. Will did not let up and rained the blows against her. He lunged for her and feigned an attack on her left side. She anticipated his motion and blocked as he struck her right side. Sweat ran down her forehead as she tried to prevent each of his advances until he span one hundred and eighty degrees and walloped her on her right side sending her backwards into the dirt with his sword pointing at her heart.

  He removed the blade and helped her up. She panted to catch her breath and wiped the sweat from her brow.

  “You did pretty well,” he said. “I didn’t go easy on you, and you blocked really well.”

  Eve frowned. “If that had been a real fight I would be dead,” she said miserably. “I didn’t even get a single hit in.”

  “Don’t be so hard on yourself,” he said, offering her a bottle of water. “I’ve been doing this a lot longer, and I didn’t take you out straight away. You’re actually pretty good. If you can increase your strength and your speed, you will find it a lot more natural. Come on. Let’s take a break from melee and work on ranged.”

  They headed across the training ground towards the targets. The targets had been set up at a range of distances including a few tricky ones in the woods that were far away and difficult to see.

  “Shit,” exclaimed Will, looking at the three bolts Eve had pierced through the bullseye of the targets in the woods. “They weren’t exaggerating when they said you were a natural. I was nowhere near.” She grinned and used a pair of vice grips to pull the bolts free before they headed back to the training field to practice with the bow. “You have definitely nailed range,” he said, pulling the arrows from their marks. “You must be the best shot in Ballista Company.”

  Eve’s cheeks flushed red, and she smiled. Sometimes she felt she dealt with criticism better than compliments. “I just need to get better at melee.”

  Eve and Will continued to train together every other day. She had never worked so hard and was exhausted after every session as he stopped the training at regular intervals for conditioning and made her complete rounds of push-ups, pull-ups, deadlifts and sprints.

  “You are brutal,” she gasped as she dropped to her knees at the end of the first week.

  Will laughed and pulled her to her feet. “It will be worth it. You’re stronger already.”

  She had to admit that he was right and she was already noticing a difference after just four sessions. She just hoped that Will did not kill her off before she had a chance to improve her melee skills.

  Eve was glad of the break from training even if it was only to attend the CRM. She arrived at the Guild of the Crown early with the hope of visiting Calab in the library first. The library had been open for three weeks and Eve was thrilled to find the foyer busy with many people from different orders using the facility.

  Calab could not remove the beam from his face at the opening ceremony of the Library of Eurasia. Eve had been there to cut the ribbon and officially handed the keys to a very giddy demon who could not contain his excitement despite having worked in the libraries cataloguing and shelving books for the six weeks previous. He was no less excited at the ceremony for the Library of Laurentia the following day and maintained the same heightened level of giddiness for the Library of Laurasia.

  There had been some debate whether to open a library in Laurasia due to their recent grievances with the Elion, but Eve was keen not to treat them differently and had written to Lord Caius to inform him and ask his opinion on the plans. She had received a sharp reply stating that he still had no interest in matters of state, and as long as his payments did not increase, she could do what she liked. None of the Elion had attended the opening ceremony though Calab had reported that many had used the library since it had opened.

  Eve found Calab shelving returns in sci-fi and fantasy.

  “Good Morning, Mr Librarian,” she announced.

  “Your Majesty,” he said with a grin and gave her an exaggerated bow. “What a pleasant surprise.”

  She laughed and cursed herself as it came out as a girlish giggle. “I wondered if you have the time for a cup of tea?” she asked, trying to regain her composure.

  “Of course.” He grinned. “Let me finish up here.”

  A short while later, they were seated in Calab’s office. He removed some his heavy ledgers from his desk and set a tea tray in the space he had created.

  “How are you Calab?” Eve asked, sipping her tea before reaching for a biscuit.

  “Better,” he replied, lifting his own cup. “The librari
es are the best thing you could have done for me, Genevieve. They are keeping me very busy.”

  She gave him a gentle smile. “I’m glad, Calab. Although it is a shame if you never have time to read anything.”

  “I always make time to read. I’ve just finished this.” He pointed to The Picture of Dorian Gray atop a pile of books on his desk. “I’ve never asked you why you like this so much.”

  She blushed. “It’s embarrassing.”

  “You have to tell me now, I’m intrigued,” he said, giving her the smile she loved. How could she resist?

  “Well,” she started, suppressing her blush, “when I was younger—in my teens—I imagined that I would never fall in love and I would never allow my heart to rule me. I insisted I would always let my head make the decisions. I always saw love and relationships as being all compromising, sacrificing, and making yourself miserable to keep someone else happy. I loved this book because Oscar Wilde is a genius of wit and because I loved Lord Henry’s cynicism. I likened myself to him and shared many of his views on relationships, on marriage and on life.

  “Obviously, I failed miserably though sometimes I still wish I could think that way. I would like not to be ruled by my heart. You probably think I’m a hypocrite as that is what you told me, and I wouldn’t accept it.”

  “I don’t think you’re a hypocrite,” he said. “Listening to your heart is what makes you human.”

  “It made me irrational and angry. I would rather not be that way.”