The King's Queen

Chapter 31

Elizabeth's POV

Yesterday, Jackson had promised to get in touch with Demetri. We needed to find a way to warn CaVaughn about what the emperor was planning.

More than twelve hours had gone by since then, and I was growing more anxious with each passing minute.

Ezra had accompanied me to breakfast again since Luca wouldn't be back until tomorrow. I decided to use the free time on my hands to search for Garrett. I hadn't seen him since the day he brought me here and I was starting to wonder if he was even still here in the castle. He'd fulfilled his objective of taking me here so there was really no point in him sticking around if he didn't have to.

As I strolled along the corridors, exploring the castle, I ended up in the corridor that CaVaughn and I had travelled through during the mission to get Jackson back. The familiar painting of a blonde woman hung on the walls, the eyes seeming to follow my every move. It was a bit perturbing.

Eventually, my wandering took me to a room where a door was ajar. Before I even realized what was happening, someone raced out into the corridor. I took a cautious step back but the blonde girl in front of me flashed me a bright smile before getting over to me in a few steps and enveloping me in a hug, which took me by surprise.

"Elizabeth! I've waited for so long to meet you. I was starting to wonder if we would ever meet."

"Who are you?" I asked after she pulled out of the embrace. Her cerulean eyes sparkled happily.

"Cyrena Damaris at your service."

"So you're the other Origin-the one who teamed up with Malekh and made him a force to be reckoned with."

"That would be me," she acknowledged with a laugh. "Although Malekh has always been a force to be reckoned with, even on his own. I suppose that's why Rose formed an alliance with him."

"An alliance?" I raised a brow.

"You should come in," she invited, walking back into the room she'd come from.

The room was much like most of the rooms in the Spade Kingdom-spacious and elegant, but the walls of this room were decorated with drawings and paintings. Splotches of color stained the carpet around an easel that housed a half-painted picture.

"Something tells me you like art."

"That something would be right." She nodded, glancing at the painting. "It's been like that since yesterday. I can't seem to find the inspiration to finish it. Maybe seeing you will change that."

"So, you said you were waiting for me? Did you see me in a vision of the future or something?" I got comfy in an armchair and she sat across from me.

"Something like that." She hummed. "I saw a vision of you being here with Malekh. You were on our side. That was almost three years ago... its probably come to pass by now." She angled her fingers up like a camera and stared at the canvas through it with a small frown.

"The future can change," I reminded her. "What you see might not happen."

"The future never changes," she mumbled. "The future already exists, albeit in another plane of space. What changes are your decisions that influence that future."

"But if I know what your vision entails, then I can influence my actions to oppose it."

"And as I said before, the future never changes. The future already exists and it will be. You can always change your decisions and your actions but ultimately you'll end up in the future that I see. If I see something, it will happen. My visions are absolute. They've never been wrong before."