Two Thousand Years | The Empire Saga #1

Chapter Six

The color drained from Alex's face as she stared at the dress in front of her. The details were exactly as she remembered them, even down to the shine of the refracted light off its embroidery. Her hands began to shake as she crinkled the material in her grasp, and she knew something was wrong. There was no way a dress from her dreams could be in her hands. It was impossible, even more so if she was wearing it. It didn't belong to her, but to his mother. His mother's wedding dress. Was that his mother she saw in her dream?

Treyan didn't seem to notice her distress, not as he continued as if talking of the weather. "—the wedding. Of course, I have to ask you first, and who knows when that will be."

Alex whipped her head toward him, now only catching bits and pieces of his conversation. "Wait. What are you talking about? Who's getting married?"

"Oh...we are," he responded nonchalantly, as if she had just asked him for the time. He turned and walked back toward where she stood at the armoire, standing uncomfortably close. "Did I forget to mention that part?"

"Yes. Yes, you did. Now, wait a minute." Alex began backing away from him, placing her arms in front of her in an attempt to keep him at a safe distance while panic washed over her. "I did not sign up for this. Any of this. It's bad enough, you stealing me away from my apartment—unwillingly, I might add—and now you're telling me...?"

"None of us signed up for this, Alex," he informed her with furrowed brows. "If there was any choice involved in this, things would be a hell of a lot easier."

He took a step toward her, and another, as she retreated in time with his approach. "I'm sorry that these things surprise you, but we have been over this: you are the Queen Empress, and I am the Crown Prince. It only seems like the natural progression of events to me."

For a moment she remembered her dream again. She thought about the dress and the ring—and the pregnancy. Her thoughts drifted, turning dark as she recalled the nightmare she didn't want to remember: the darkness, the vulnerability—

The eyes.

She looked at Treyan, remembering those eyes, so similar to his, and panic set in. She swore the walls were closing in around her, and she felt her breath catch in her throat.

But still, he continued.

"Not to mention, do you truly think you would be able to run this place all by yourself?" He smirked as he took another step toward her and tried to reach out and touch her, maybe even grab her. She sidestepped out of his grasp and turned, running past him and out of the room into one of the many halls of this foreign place, her injured foot be damned. The last thing she wanted was him touching her, if not anywhere near her.

She heard him calling after her, but she increased her efforts to move as far away from him as possible. She didn't know where she was or where she was going, but she knew she needed to keep moving. She needed to find a way out of this mess.

Alex hurried blindly past unfamiliar doors and intersecting hallways, ignoring anyone she may have run past in her haste to get away from Treyan. She ran for what seemed like an eternity before she finally came upon a sprawling staircase. It was a dark descent, but she surmised anywhere that led down was one step closer to the exit. Looking behind her to make sure she wasn't being pursued, she rushed down the staircase.

Deeper she descended, one step at a time, then two at a time, faster and faster until she was certain she had to be more than halfway down. Wasn't she? As she went to take another step, the searing pain from her injured foot, forgotten in her haste, surged up her leg and she lost her footing on the stairway. Down she went, spiraling toward the foyer at the bottom of the stairs. The world spun around her as her body plummeted and she lost her bearings by the time she landed on the marble ground. Her hip made impact first, and she was able to cover her head to deflect any serious damage, but the impact knocked the wind from her. She didn't dare move as she tried to calm her heart from exploding out of her chest.