Two Thousand Years | The Empire Saga #1

Chapter Fifty-Two

The end of September remained unseasonably warm as Alex pushed the stroller through Boston's Public Gardens. She left Crystal alone with Treyan, who hadn't woken up since they moved him from the kitchen floor to Alex's bed. Crystal said he had a fever and that she would do what she could to bring it down, but the wound on his back was refusing to heal, and that was what caused the most concern.

She immediately offered to bring him to her hospital, but Alex refused. He wasn't of this world and the last thing she needed were more questions about who he was and where he came from.

She was deflecting enough from Crystal as it was.

Glancing up, the sun had made its way around another cloud, peppering the walk with shadows through the leaves. It still surprised her, seeing only one sun in the sky, as if two were all she had ever known— as if this life was nothing more than a fantasy, and the Empire was where she truly belonged.

Maybe it was.

The most she could glean about the differences in time was that where it had only been a day within the Otherrealm it was almost a year within the Empire. Crystal never received the note Alex sent, which made her heart ache with both sorrow and relief.

It also meant her parents may not have received their letter either.

And if they did, a part of Alex would be grateful for it.

The less they knew, the better. She'd have to leave again, sooner than later.

She and Treyan still had a son to retrieve.

A Betrayer whose life they needed to end.

Time was running against them.

A year and a day.

The longer they took to return, the older Lexan would grow. How much of his life would she miss while he was within Reylor's possession?

And Treyan...

If anything happened to Treyan, Reylor would find himself wishing she was never brought to the Empire.

That same unending rage over what he had done coursed through her, and her hands gripped the stroller tight as she looked down at the sleeping baby before her.

Sarayna.

Crown Princess to the Empire.

Never before had a princess been born to the Queen Empress and Crown Prince.

The twins were princes. Every time.

Part of her knew this was Reylor's doing. Whether he planned it or not, Sarayna was a part of his curse.

Which made Alex want to protect her so much more.

And that need to protect her daughter tore her in two.

Remain in the Otherrealm, try to live a normal life, or return to the Empire where she knew Sarayna's presence would threaten her very existence?

It was a difficult decision, and one she couldn't make on her own.

She needed Treyan.

She needed him to wake up.

Together they needed to decide.

Because it was their Empire. And their family.

Their vengeance the moment time, the Annals, and the Prophecy allowed.