Enraptured, I remained silent and he took that as a sign to pause.
‘Sure you want me to carry on?’ I nodded and he let out a dry chuckle. ‘But he didn’t entirely leave us without hope. At the same time, he came up with the Prophecy of the Heroines, and in that he predicted that during this dark age, nine women would ascend to become kinds of … deities, I suppose. Above all Kings, they are meant to restore the balance with humanity we lost.’
I could imagine it. It was a fairytale, a hero’s tale, but this was real. This is real. My voice was quiet as I spoke; wrapped up in a story I was so intrigued by. The story of my world.
‘But you don’t believe it. At least, you didn’t.’
He shook his head. ‘Not many did, other than the Athenea – which is both the Sagean royal family and an actual place – and the Sagean people. It was disregarded as rubbish at the time anyway, because it placed women in power.’
I shifted closer, eyes wide with intrigue and slight disbelief, my voice no more than a whisper.
‘But now it’s coming true?’
‘Yes. I don’t want to believe it, but how can I not?’ His question was more directed at himself than at me, so I did not reply, memories of my dream last night still fresh. It’s true. It’s real.
‘The Sage of Athenea found their girl,’ I breathed and broke off in wonderment. My father had brought me up to be rational, but my experience here had changed that. I was ready to believe this, crazy and way-out as it seemed.
‘Do you know who she is?’
He shook his head. ‘The first Heroine? No idea. Nobody knows. The Sage have shut their borders so there is no way into the dimension and no way out. We can’t send messages and they certainly aren’t telling us anything. We have to wait on them to tell us. As usual.’
I frowned. ‘But how long could that take?’
‘Who knows?’ he answered. ‘Days, weeks, months maybe. They’ll bide their time and when they are ready, she will come. She will have to at some point, because she was born to awaken the other Heroines.’
I gripped the edge of the fountain, the cool spray chilling me again and spotting Kaspar’s jacket with water. ‘What do you mean?’
He shut his eyes, sighing. ‘The verses are in order. The first is about the Sage, the second about here, the third about the Damned, and so on. The first explains how the first Heroine must search out each Heroine. As the second is supposedly a vampire, she will come here first, find the second girl and then … well …’
He trailed off, shaking his head.
‘What is the first verse? Do you know it?’ I asked, doubting he would actually tell me.
‘Of course. Everybody knows it, apart from you puny little humans in this dimension.’ I scowled at his reference. ‘It’s far more beautiful in its native tongue, Sagean, because in English it’s been altered to make sense and to rhyme, but you can get the gist of it.’ He leaned back on his elbows, staring up at the starry sky, the words flowing from his tongue as though they had been spoken a thousand times.
‘Her fate is set in stone,
Bound to sit upon the first throne.
The last of her line and a symbol of the fine,
She is the last of the fall; a deity among all.
Her teacher, her love, her lie,
Alone, the first innocent must die,
For the girl, born to awaken the nine.’
He finished and his lips came together, his eyes downturned from the stars now.
‘Alone, the first innocent must die?’ I quoted, feeling the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.
‘Haunting, isn’t it?’ he murmured. ‘Forty-five people will die if the entire Prophecy is true.’
I shivered, the intrigue for the subject fast become an unnerved chill. ‘I wouldn’t want to be that Heroine girl right now.’
He shook his head. ‘Neither would I. It’s not something I would wish upon anyone,’
‘What if it was someone you knew?’
He stood up abruptly, turning back to me, his form blocking the light from the house and moon, casting a long shadow across the grounds. ‘Then may fate have mercy upon her heart.’
When he looked back at me, a second shiver passed down my spine; gone was the amusement and the smirk. Instead, it looked as though just laying eyes on me seemed to hurt him.
‘Maybe we should go back in,’ I murmured, getting up too. I’ve got enough answers for tonight.
‘You’re right. C’mon.’ Together, we headed back in, ignoring the many stares of the onlookers. We were just passing the alcove beneath the balcony when he stopped. ‘Violet, wait.’
I froze in front of him and turned back to find him ducking into the alcove. I was taken aback, but quickly remembered I was still wearing his jacket.
‘Jacket. Here,’ I said, quickly slipping it off and handing it back to him.
‘No, it wasn’t that, but I do need it back,’ he chuckled. He pulled it on and reached into the breast pocket. ‘I have something for you.’
I knew my cheeks were moving from washed out to purple. ‘What? You shouldn’t have!’
He smirked. ‘Yes, I should. Think of it as a sorry I screwed up your life gift.’
‘I didn’t think you showed remorse?’
‘No, I don’t. If I regretted what happened in Trafalgar Square, there’s no way I would give you this,’ he clarified, and from his pocket he pulled a long chain, a pendant – no, a locket – hanging from it.
‘My God,’ I breathed, not believing what I was seeing. My eyes became glued to the tiny, sealed album, watching the emerald stone disappear and reappear again as it spun on the chain.
‘It was my mother’s locket. And inside it contains miniatures of my family. She gave it to me the week before she died and told me to give it to the woman that I felt would keep this family together. And … and I figured that was you.’
My voice caught in my throat. ‘I-I … you can’t!’
‘I can,’ he replied, already moving behind me to fix the clasp.
‘But—’
‘No buts.’
He lowered it over my head, bringing the chain behind my neck. I froze, afraid he might accidentally touch me. He fiddled for a moment and I could feel the locket against my skin, the metal unnaturally cold and not warming as I pulled my hair from underneath the chain.
‘There,’ he breathed, sidestepping around me. ‘Look after it.’
Slowly, ever so slowly, he brushed his fingertips across the emerald, gradually tightening his grip around the pendant. I stopped breathing as he brought the locket away from my skin to his lips. He kissed it.
‘Look after it,’ he repeated and then replaced it, just as I took a single, slow breath. His fingers, as cold as the locket, just for a moment, a second, traced across my skin. But it was long enough. Kaspar met my gaze, the sudden fear I felt bubbling in my chest reflected in his eyes as he turned away and looked past me, beyond the alcove to the doors. I followed his gaze. I knew what I would see.
Standing beside the doors, his eyes darker than the night beyond the lantern-light, was the King.
FORTY-NINE
Violet
I took a step away from Kaspar, clutching protectively at the locket; more afraid he might take that from me than of his actual anger.
‘You just don’t understand, do you, son of mine?’ His words were calm. Controlled. A threat.
‘Understand what, Father?’ Kaspar replied in the same tone.
The King took a few steps forward, bringing himself into the shadow of the alcove. Folding his arms across his chest, he observed his son through black eyes – the only thing that betrayed his anger.
‘The philosophy of look but do not touch.’
A gentle breeze blew across the veranda and through the alcove, stirring my hair. The lanterns swayed, chasing the shadows away and spilling light across both the King and Kaspar. For a moment, I was struck by how much they were alike – from the way they stood to th
e arrogant smirk they shared; even the determined line of their brows was identical.
Kaspar chuckled hollowly. ‘I understand that perfectly. You gave me that lecture earlier. But this is about more than that, isn’t it?’
‘Far more,’ the King answered. ‘I have many reasons, one of them being that you need to take responsibility and learn that your actions have consequences.’
‘I know that,’ Kaspar snapped. ‘I know it far too well.’
A small crowd was beginning to gather on the steps, watching the scene with interest.
‘No, you do not. If you did, you would acknowledge that you must stay away from her.’
The words were out of my mouth before I could stop them. ‘Her has a name.’
His eyes snapped to me, as though he was noticing I was there for the first time. His eyes settled on the locket and I snatched the pendant back in my hand, unsure of his reaction. The chain tugged against my neck, so taut it threatened to snap. The locket itself was still cold in my hand, despite having rested against my warm skin for quite a few minutes. His eyes widened in recognition and I tensed, ready to move, but instead of hissing or snarling as I expected, he spoke with a calm tenderness I didn’t know he was capable of.
‘Miss Lee, may I have the pleasure of the next dance?’
‘No,’ said Kaspar.
I glared at him, knowing he was creating even more of a scene in front of the growing number of onlookers.
‘I don’t have any choice,’ I mouthed back, dipping into a curtsey for the King. With a grimace, he stepped aside. The King was already halfway up the steps and I trailed behind, trying to ignore the stares of the crowd.
The King swept straight into the centre of the room as I passed through the shadow of the double doors. Immediately, the music ceased to play and those who were dancing came to a halt. The crowd sprawled out to form a ring.
So just us dancing then. Great.
The orchestra looked towards the King, who called out a simple dance that I knew from Sky’s dance lessons; even better, it was one that did not involve being in hold. My tense shoulders lowered, only to tighten again when my eyes flickered towards Kaspar, who had worked his way towards the front. He looked concerned.
The ring closed around us, sealing me into its centre. The violins struck up; the babble died, and I curtsied, long and low, whilst opposite, the King remained upright.
The music began; I took a few steps forward, as did the King until we met in the middle, coming within inches of each other.
‘Miss Lee.’
‘Your Majesty.’
We backed away and circled one another, returning to our original positions before coming together again.
‘Do you intend to dance in silence, Miss Lee?’ He took my left hand in his right and again we circled, the distance between us quite apparent.
‘Forgive me, Your Majesty, but I don’t make a habit of making conversation with someone who abhors me.’
He took up my other hand, taking a step back as I also took one back until he brought us together again.
‘But, Miss Lee, what makes you so adamant in your belief that I abhor you?’ We broke, circling once more, weaving between one another and the imaginary couples surrounding us.
I almost laughed at his question, but thought better of it. I swept around, waiting until we were close to speak again. ‘Because you won’t let me near your son.’
Again he took both my hands in his, let go, and then circled me. ‘I have my reasons for that. It is by no means because I loathe you. You simply assume that to be fact, when in truth, it is not.’
I frowned, becoming lost. ‘But I slept with the heir to the throne. Your heir.’
We both took a step towards the other and a step away whilst he chuckled. ‘Do not flatter yourself, Miss Lee. My son has slept with many girls – many human girls. Your scenario is no different. But by ignoring my explicit order that neither of you should touch, you worsened your situation. As you have done yet again this night. It’s a basic instruction, Miss Lee; follow it and I will cause you no harm.’
He brushed past, sweeping in a long circle around me, his eyes constantly burning into my back. ‘It is for your own good.’
He returned to his original position and I skimmed past him, taking my turn to circle around.
‘Care to explain that?’
His grey eyes, duller than a London morning followed me around, burning holes in my skin despite the fact they lacked lustre. They lacked life.
‘That is quite a gift my son bestowed upon you.’
My hand followed his eyes and found the locket, realizing he was not going to offer an explanation, but change the subject instead.
‘Yes, it is.’ I let it rest back on my skin, cool as ever as we continued to dance.
‘It belonged to my late wife.’
‘I know.’
Repetitive as ever, he grasped my hands, rather too tightly as we turned on the spot.
‘You do, do you? So you are familiar with how Kaspar acquired it?’
She gave it to him the week before he died.
‘Because she knew she was going to her—’
He broke off. His firm grip on my hands was tightening even more, like someone who was fighting the urge to break down.
‘I’m sorry,’ I whispered, giving his hand a light squeeze back, unsure of what else to do.
‘You wouldn’t understand,’ he snapped, his face recovering; he almost threw my hands from his grip and broke away, circling me like I was prey. I didn’t take my eyes off him, feeling a moist trail run down my cheek as a few tears escaped.
When he returned to my side and took my hands I answered. ‘My brother died. I understand.’
His head snapped up to look at me and his eyes fell through to black again. ‘No, you don’t. You cannot even grasp understanding. You have no idea what it is like to have to hold back tears so as not to waste them as you do!’
We both froze and I yanked my hand from his grasp – a struggle, because his grip was unbelievably tight. His hand left white marks behind, each gloved finger leaving an imprint on my skin.
‘What?’ I whispered, hastily wiping the tears away and increasing the distance between us.
‘You take those tears for granted child. So liberally you let them fall, but look around. Look at my Kingdom. Here there are men and women who can shed so few tears. You should treasure your own, Miss Lee, before it is too late.’
I narrowed my eyes, ignoring Kaspar whose mouth was slightly agape, watching as both of us abandoned the dance.
‘It will never be too late. I will never join your sick Kingdom!’ I spat, the words out before I had time to think about what I was saying. The crowd shifted uncomfortably and I could see Kaspar cringing at its forefront.
The King took several measured steps closer, closing the distance, dwarfing me. ‘Do not insult me, Miss Lee, or you will come to regret it.’
I took a final step to close the gap between us. Just inches apart, I stood on my tiptoes to meet his glare. ‘I’m not afraid of you.’ An audible gasp swept through the watching room. Shocked, the crowd erupted, the room coming alive at once.
Yet he chuckled darkly. Bending down, he murmured into my ear. ‘No. But you are afraid of your feelings for my son.’
My heels lowered to the floor, everything else motionless. He knows. He knew and he was going to cross hell to ensure those feelings were not returned by his son, heir and Prince. He knows.
‘Everything has a consequence, Miss Lee.’
I took a few shaky steps back, staring at the floor as the music drew to a close, the violins striking one last note. I have to get out of here.
And so I curtsied and fled. Away from the room. Away from the ball. Away from the King. Away from Kaspar.
FIFTY
Kaspar
She walked away, not even lifting her eyes as she hurried right past me, so close I could reach out and touch her. I didn’t. She strode from the room
, head held high but avoiding the gaze of anyone she passed. Disappearing amongst the milling and shocked network of hushed tones, I only just caught a glimpse of her sprinting up the stairs, hands over her face, crying.
‘You may think that I am heartless, my son.’ I jumped at the sound of his voice beside me, muttering in my ear as the crowd gradually dispersed back into a waltz. ‘But truthfully, I am just trying to protect you, and more importantly, her.’
I nodded, wordlessly, recognizing in his gaze a look he saved only for moments when he wished to make an impression. ‘Her feelings for you will only cause her pain.’
With that, he walked away.
Bollocks. That’s what it is. Bollocks. All of this. Duty, and responsibility and consequences. What happened to free will?
‘Feelings’. I knew what that suggested. And what one heck of an emotion that was.
It wasn’t a total surprise: I had long suspected she was attracted to me; it would be hard for her not to be. I knew she had sacrificed her friendship with Fabian for me too. Putting two-and-two together didn’t require a huge amount of effort.
But that. ‘Feelings’. For her to return the sentiment when I have been a jerk all along …
Not that secretly I wasn’t pleased. Just not shocked. No … flattered … and pleased. Beyond pleased. Ecstatic even …
‘I’ve got to tell her,’ I said aloud, as though that confirmed the matter. It didn’t. It wasn’t that easy.