The Exiled Gem

Desperate Changes

'You can't do that,' Austin warned, 'you can't help them, Alexandra!'

'WHY NOT?!' Alexandra barked unsheathing Moira and pointing it at him, 'whom should I help, then? You? Whom should I believe? You? Why, Austin?! WHY should I? What did Doveland do with me? How much did I matter? What did YOU do with me?' She snarled, taking a step forward with each sentence and pressing her brother against the beautiful, patterned wall of the room - Moira at his neck, it was unnerving that she was not even an inch shorter than him, 'Don't think I don't know of Alexandra's Curse, King Austin. Of Three Cape Ladies club. Of what you have been doing! Espionage Council - it means something.'

Anger? Anger was a small word for what Alexandra was feeling. She was furious!

Austin opened his mouth to say something else, but Alexandra grabbed his collar. 'Final warning. Final warning. Sit down. Answer.' She hissed, through gritted teeth. Their eyes clashed. Finally - Austin hunched his shoulders.

Alexandra moved back - keeping Moira in her hand. Austin exhaled, 'Ask.' He relented.

'Chronology - full chronology of what happened in Doveland since I - left.' Alexandra grunted, reclining on the cushions and mounting her legs on the table in between the two seats. Austin remained standing. 'Come on, come on, Brother - sit down - this place is all yours!' She offered.

Once again Austin had the look a person had when they were being forced to drink their anger. Then he exhaled, sitting down, 'Espionage Council, right?' He muttered, 'You must know then - what happened. Why don't you just consult your memory?'

Alexandra smiled, 'Well - why don't I ask for your transfer to a detention camp? Or why don't I join hands with Doveland? Simply,' she said, shrugging, 'because I don't want to. Now - I'm rather at the end of my temper. So before I lose it, you should hurry up and answer.'

Austin glared at her for a second, then at Moira. Finally, he broke into speech. 'The one thing you did, thirteen years later, losing your temper - cost Doveland a lot. Exile wasn't harsh enough, according to Sabel. The next morning, at the funeral, we didn't even get to see Nicholas once. She said she wouldn't let his murderers see him. And then - all ties were severed. It left us hankering for power, in short. No big breaks with father, because he was too shaken. No, not because of what happened to you, but because of what happened to Nicholas. He never took your name... ever again.' Then Austin shook his head, 'In any case, no big breaks until... until I ascended the throne ... and I was determined to change things.'

'So you accepted all of Ethoris' demands. And struck a treaty wit-'

'Alliance.'

'Treaty.' Alexandra forced, 'treaty.' She repeated, 'It was a treaty. And with that you changed things. Interesting brother - because you did change things. Sadly, for the worse.' She finished, feeling at once pitiful and spiteful. Foolish rulers were such a bane.

'So,' Alexandra continued, 'you wanted to change things. In that sense - you wanted to strengthen Doveland, isn't it?' Austin nodded, 'So here's a question brother: is Ethoris the only Kingdom in the world?'

Austin frowned again, this time deeper, like he had registered the question was an impetus to something larger, but he couldn't find out to what. When Alexandra didn't give any reaction to his silence, he looked into her eyes directly and said, 'No.'

'No.' Alexandra repeated, removing her legs from the table and leaning forward, 'Ethoris is not the only nation in the whole world. Then,' she taunted, 'why were you hankering for an alliance with it? For ties with it? Look around yourself - you have better Kingdoms. If not Kingdoms, you at least have Vedessa. Why not choose to have a pact with us?'