P R E V I O U S L Y
"Long time no see, our future Queen?" he smirked smartly, his gold hair glinting. "We've come to take you back home, Edwina."
ONE FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK CITY, THE U.S.
EDNA TREMONT
I PAUSED FOR JUST THE smallest fraction of a second, then I used my might and gave the grey eyed man a hard kick where the sun didn't shine. He groaned the instant my knee made contact with his groin.
"Edwina, listen, it's me, Eric!" he shouted, but I tried to sprint off, snatching the glass and spilling the drink on the strangers as my survival instincts kicked in.
"Edwina!" the blue eyed woman protested, even as the glass shattered under her feet.
The older man had not moved even once, watching me with a wistful smile as I stumbled to my hobo. Fumbling around among the contents, I hurriedly looked in it for the handy little pistol, a licensed weapon I'd gotten exactly one year ago. I felt a hand close around my neck as if to choke, and I turned, raising the SP101 to his temple.
"Who are you and what the fuck are you doing in my apartment?"
"You're hurt, Amphitrite!" exclaimed the blonde one, whose name was probably Eric, pressing a finger to the scar on the woman's temple where the glass had grazed her skin.
"Put that down, daughter," said the older man, and I felt the cold touch of his hand around my neck get tighter.
"Get your hand off me before I call the cops," I said calmly, directly aiming my gun at his heart.
"Edwina, just listen to me-"
"This is a licensed .357 Mag which will go off the moment I press this trigger, sir," I inched closer, the creak ringing in the silence.
"Wait a minute, Lord Tremayne, let me speak to her," said Blondie aka Eric, and I turned to him, pointing it to his head.
"Watch your steps, mister!"
"Wait," he said cautiously, looking at the older, red headed man. "Let her go."
"Looks like you have some sense," I observed, "now take some more steps back and show yourself out, please."
"Edwina, just give me a minute to explain-"
"There is no one by that name here."
"Just let me-"
"Didn't you hear me the first time, bastard?" I shouted. "Get the hell out of my apartment!"
Eric threw back his head and laughed suddenly.
"You haven't changed one bit, you know? There was this time when you could have sworn the roof off Dilston Castle," he chortled.
"Excuse me? Did I not make myself clear the first time? I don't know you, so get the bloody hell out of my penthouse!"
He put his hands up, freezing where he stood, yet the look in his eyes was desperate, pleading, pleading me to listen to him.
"All of this just for one week, father!" the sky blue eyed woman snapped at the elder man. "Look what you've done, look at her!"
"Amphitrite, it was for the best. You know it was," he scolded her, sea blue eyes glinting.
"Lucius Tremayne and Amphitrite LeVane! I asked you to go stand by the door!" Eric sternly motioned to them with a furious gesture. "Let me deal with her."
"Deal with me - deal with me, mister? Who do you think you are?" I snapped.
Amphitrite and Lord Tremayne walked to the door. For a moment I hesitated as to where to point my revolver, but decided to keep it aimed at the younger man - he seemed to be the one in charge.
"The way out is through the door," I said curtly, not taking my eyes of the strangers.
"Okay, look, woman," Eric tried again, "they won't move from there unless I tell them to - but you need to listen to me-"
"Need to? And explain to me why in fucking hell do I need to listen to you?"
"Just -" he sighed. "Just - just give me fifteen minutes. Fifteen minutes. Let me explain."
"Ten," I snapped. "You have ten minutes."
He wasn't going anywhere till I heard him out, might as well enjoy a bit of thrill on my last day alive.
"Very well," Eric said, exasperated.
"It is seven thirty-" I pointed to the ancient grandfather clock hanging from the ceiling. "You have until seven forty. And after I hear you out, you will walk out of my apartment, is that clear?"
"But you have to come wi-" Amphitrite began, but Eric shut her up with an authoritative glare.
"Listen to me first?" he asked, I nodded helplessly, gesturing to the couch. Eric sat down on the well used leather, leaning on one of my favorite tasseled cushions. I took a seat opposite to him on the other couch.
Suddenly, painful agony ripped through my body once again, catching me out of nowhere, as I nearly tripped again, doubling over my knees. Heart thudding loudly, I gasped as the fiery pain began to burn through my chest.
There was a sudden movement as Eric jumped out of his seat, put his hand on my arms, slowly helping me get up, walking till I was firmly perched on the sofa, a moment later, the woman was holding a glass of water to my lips.
There were tears in all three of their eyes as I panted, trying to catch my breath, clutching at the armrest. My hand was shaking so badly, I couldn't even hold the glass.
I didn't want to die.
"Gods," I wheezed, clutching at my chest as a fresh wave of pain began slicing through me, white hot and burning in its intensity. The woman was begging me to drink the water. Someone was holding me up. There was a comforting hand on my shoulder as I gulped it down.
"Go," I whispered. "You don't need to see this-"
"Eric..." the woman pleaded. "You need to do it now."
"Look at how much pain she's in, Lord Tremayne! Just for such insane whims of yours!" Eric darkly snapped at the older man, who was holding up my shoulders, his eyes full of sorrow.
"Please," I whispered again, blinded by the pain. "Just go, leave me alone. Please. Take anything you want - take everything if you are thieves. Just let me live my last few hours in peace-"
"Eric, this was the best for her! Once she becomes the Queen-" the older man tried to explain, futile, moving his hands about.
"Look at her, father!" the woman gritted her teeth. "Just look at how much it's hurting her."
"Amphitrite, this was the only way of protecting her till she ascended," the redheaded man said softly.
"My sister doesn't need any kind of protection, father! What have you done? She is dying!"
"She won't be! Listen, once you give the cure to her..." the other man began, but stopped mid sentence, as I calmed down a bit, the pain subsiding. Slowly, I wiped the sweat off my face, hardly noticing the conversation which was going over around me.
"Your heart troubling you?" Eric asked with sadness on his face, brows knotted in concern.
"I - I'm - wait - how did you know?" I looked at him in horror, shock freezing every part of me as realization dawned. How did this stranger I'd never seen before know that is was my heart giving me this pain?
He looked at me sadly, toying about with a curious little crystal bottle in his fingers.
"Edwina, who do you think put you in this condition in the first place?" he asked, voice too loud in the silence.
How in hell did they know?
"Who are you?" I asked, and my fingers curled around the trigger of my revolver once more.
"I'll tell," Eric said, "just hear me out."
"Edna? Edna? Your name's Edna?" Amphitrite was hovering around my hobo and was curiously examining my identification card.
"Put that down!" I shouted at her, making her flinch. Then I turned to the the rest of the two men. "What do you want with me?" I asked, exasperated.
"Edna. Edwina. Ed - wi - na..." Eric muttered to himself. "Of course, of course. It really is you, Edwina."
"Just tell me what you fucking want from me!" I hissed, raising the gun once more.
"Look, look! Just sit, I'll tell you everything! " Eric raised his hands, yet his grey eyes were full of mirth as he looked right into the barrel, decidedly unafraid. Humoring me. He was humoring me. As if not the slightest bit afraid of what would happen if I pressed the trigger.
"Okay... see," he began in a slow voice as I settled myself, rigid and alert. "You have a heart condition that you are unable to cure, right?"
"No matter how hard I try," I spat.
"Well, you see," he told me. "There is a simple explanation behind all this, but for that, I need you to be as open minded as possible. Can you do that, Edna?" he asked, using my name as a sign of goodwill and understanding.
"Alright," I agreed. "Simple explanation behind what?"
He took a deep breath, looked at the other two, who nodded encouragingly to him.
"You see, Edna, your life has been a lie."
"Excuse me?
"Edna, you are not of this world..." he tried to elaborate.
"What?"
"You have been living here for fifteen years, is it right?" Eric asked. I nodded. "The truth is, you have just spent a week of your real life here, in reality. Not fifteen years."
"But I have been living here for fifteen years!" I protested.
"Look -" he said, "think of the two realms as two different time frames. Time travels in a different rate in both of them. In your life here, fifteen years have passed. But with regards to where you come from, only a week has passed since someone last saw you."
What? This was getting ridiculous!
"See... your real name is Edwina Tremayne."
My jaws dropped in shock.
Edna Tremont. Edwina Tremayne.
"See," Eric raised a hand to stop me from interrupting. "All of us, even you: we come from a place called Endollon. It has different... dynasties of gods. Called Houses - like different royal families."
"Houses? Like Game of Thrones? Lannister, Stark, Baratheon?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," Eric cut me off, eager and impatient to explain.
"Then explain," I tapped my foot.
"So... see, as I told you, there are six different royal families. Now, there's one thing you need to know about the royal families. They are gods. They are immortal."
"Gods?"
"Yes," he said confidently. "Each and every one of the gods has a specific job. A power, if you will."
"So you're an immortal?" I asked. Eric chortled.
"I'm am immortal, he's an immortal," he pointed to the older man. "She's an immortal," he pointed to the woman, and finally the finger pointed at me. "You," he said, "are also an immortal."
"I?"
"I'm the god of seas and oceans," Eric continued. "She is the goddess of rain. That man-" Eric pointed to the older man with the reddish brown hair and greenish blue eyes, "he is the god of the land and soil. Wait, you need proof," he laughed.
"The fuck, mister? If you destroy any of my possessions..."
Eric frowned, as if hurt by imagining the heinous crime of damaging my possessions.
"Can you see the ocean from here?" he led me too the window and pointed outside. The silvery grey blue waves were visible from here.
They suddenly disappeared.
"You emptied the damn ocean?" I shouted.
Eric grinned.
"Did I?"
The water was back in place, lapping away merrily at the shore. A moment later, the room was filled with water to knee height at a wave of his hand.
"My home!" I screamed.
"Don't worry," he grinned, and the water went away at once, everything dried back to normal. If it were not for the fact that I was about to die anyway, my heart would probably have skipped several beats.
"Look at this, Edna," the woman called Amphitrite motioned to the window.
A heavy downpour suddenly started at once, sky overcast, sheets and sheets of rain falling down in buckets.
She suddenly raised her hands - making the rain stop, drying away the streets as if it had never happened.
A rueful smile.
"That's - that's enough!" I hissed. "I don't want any of these magic tricks." My eyes were betraying me. How was this possible?
"You don't?" Eric asked, confused.
"Is this the part where you tell me I'm destined for a greater cause and have to marry some dark, brooding king and give him precious babies because I'm the only one who can have them? Because I'm buying none of that crap!"
"Destined for a greater cause you most probably are, but marrying and all? Nope."
"What do you mean by most probably?" I probed. A sudden memory came back, something I'd nearly forgotten. "Why... you called me a future Queen?"
"Okay... I'll tell you everything," Eric said, now smiling to himself. "Now you see, the gods have a King and Queen. Called Cosmo and Titania."
"But the King and Queen of the gods are Zeus and Hera!" I interrupted. The man smiled and Amphitrite laughed.
"A lie," she giggled, "concocted by mortals to connect their lives to the gods they worship. There are no Zeus and Hera."
"But Mount Olympus?"
"Does not exist," Eric said. "The world of gods is called Endollon. Not Olympus. And the laws governing Endollon are a hell lot different than this imaginary Olympus."
"Really?"
"Now coming back to Cosmo and Titania," Eric continued, "they've been King and Queen for a very long time... loads and loads of millennia."
"So?" I asked. Eric smiled a lot without any reason, and he did so now knowing that he had my full attention.
"So now, you see, they wish to retire from their duties."
"Stop being King and Queen?" I whispered.
"Yes. Cosmo and Titania want to let themselves reincarnate as mortals because they are fed up of the immortal life."
"But who takes over their duties then? Who rules Endollon?" I asked, now genuinely curious. "And how can a god become mortal? You can't kill a god!"
"A natural law in our world balances out powers in case an immortal dies. And daggers made of an extremely rare substance called Bloodstone can kill a god if plunged right into the heart. Other injuries sustained by it are also lethal. A Bloodstone injury never fades. Its scars remain on your body forever."
"Never fade?" I gulped.
"Never."
"So look, about Cosmo and Titania giving up their duties," Eric tried to get my attention. "Now that they are leaving, they need new rulers. So they have decided to elect out not two, but three rulers. Monarchs."
"Why three?"
"Lesser chances of hijacking power, more efficient in settling internal disputes. It won't allow just one person to take all the glory and control the other, and they will be less likely to make mistakes."
"And when they decide things by a vote, there will be no stalemate," Amphitrite added.
Bloody clever.
"So?" my voice was hesitant.
"So," Eric continued. "Cosmo held a sort of election. To decide on the rulers. The fourth generation of gods - fifteen cousins - would all be tested and three rulers would be selected from them."
"But why the fourth generation?"
"All of them, you see, are ridiculously powerful. Even more so than their forefathers. Cosmo hates his direct offsprings and their children, because they argue and fight too much. But he is quite fond of his great grandchildren, the fourth generation."
I looked at him in a new light, suddenly curious.
"One of us," he said softly. "Controls thunder, lightning and storms. Winds and electricity as well."
"What? You mean all this electrical power in the world comes from him?"
He beamed. "Yes. Another one of us," he pointed to himself, "can manipulate any form of water."
I raised my eyebrows.
"You're a show off, Blondie."
He ignored the insult, going on.
"Some others can manipulate nature - shape trees and forests, or create animals, or regulate the divine constellations. Another one can control fire and volcanoes. And so on. So you see, it made sense for the rulers to be selected from these fifteen cousins..."
"But how did they test those fifteen cousins?" I asked.
"There are three rebel states called Elleria, Azura and Rentis in our world. They are hot headed people, very difficult to handle and rule, most of them give you hell," he snorted.
"So Cosmo had you all try ruling it?"
Eric smiled again.
"Yes. He gave all the cousins a chance. Each one had twenty years allotted to them. In that time, they had to rein in the rebels and prove their expertise in ruling, and the whole of Endollon would see how they handled it. Three centuries went, and finally, a week for counting the votes of all the people of Endollon."
"And where the hell do I come into this? If you're thinking I'm some kind of immortal, you've made a huge mistake. I'm just Edna."
"There's no mistake, Edwina. Did I not tell you about the cousins? You," he theatrically pointed me, "are the cousin that controls fire."
Le gasp.
"No way in hell! There's a mistake."
"Let me explain where you come into all this-" Eric said. "Now you... your Trial was the last."
"Trial?"
"That's what they are called. The Monarch Trials. The one to determine the rulers."
"Okay, so what?" I asked.
"Okay... now you see, when your turn came to rule, you did a very clever thing. You decided to use the river flowing through the states very economically. Seeing that you control fire, you used the waters and turned them to steam - you began to use it to power mills, build up factories. You are one of the older cousins, the others were slightly inexperienced. You knew how to rule because you ruled your castle back home side by side with your father-"
"Er-"
"-he gave you a lot of independence - the sort men have. He taught you to fight, he taught you politics. And your beauty drew up several offers of marriage but he shook them all off, waiting for the right person to offer you his hand-" Amphitrite beamed. "So when your Trial came, the twenty years you ruled were perfectly handled."
"And that," Eric continued briskly, "was a magnanimous feat. More so because your turn came last, after two hundred eighty years of others ruling. The rebels were extremely weary and fought against you in the start. We will throw out the foreigners, they chanted when you stepped foot into Elleria. Azura declared war on you, and the land of Rentis made fifteen attempts to assassinate you."
"And then," said Lord Tremayne, "you asked them for three years to prove yourself."
"And in those three years, you began your project with the rivers. Almost instantly, the people stopped rebelling when they saw that what you had managed to do was actually for their benefit," Amphitrite finished.
"That feat of yours," Eric said, "almost certainly secured your position as one of the three rulers for people were very, very impressed. A woman so secured and strong in a position impressed Endollon, Cosmo and Titania to high heavens."
"But there are few who do not like a woman to rule," Lord Tremayne continued, "and they got extremely jealous of you, and knew that if you secured a spot, their own offsprings would miss out on one."
"Enemies?" I questioned. The men looked at each other, and Eric nodded.
"House Rotavelle. The head of House Rotavelle is Emerick, Cosmo's younger brother. He had expected the position to be passed on to him, yet Cosmo waved him off. Emerick is a coward and a cheat. He wanted you dead so that one of the spots would be cleared. They wished to see their own on the throne. Your cousin, Favian Rotavelle."
"And how the hell do you expect me to believe all this?" I crossly asked.
"This," Eric held up the crystal bottle in his hand.
"This what?"
"Your father was so worried that you would be killed by the Rotavelles, that he sent you to the mortal world to keep you safe till the result came out."
"The hell? With a disease that cannot be cured!"
"But it can be cured," he said, showing me the light bouncing off the cut facets of the crystal. "This," he whispered, "will restore you to full health."
"Give me that," I lunged off my seat, but he held it back, fists clenched tightly around.
"No," he said.
"There is a catch, isn't it?" I sighed.
Of course, because life just couldn't let me live.
"Once you drink this, you will be cured. And then we will take you back home, to Endollon. But before that, we will take away all your memories of this life, and give back those of your old life. It will all come back to you."
"It will be as if you just woke up from a deep sleep. Everything will be back to normal," Amphitrite explained.
"But," Eric said, a queer look in his eyes. "We need you to drink this willingly, else it will not work."
My fists clenched too tightly.
"This - this was a - this was some sort of game to you, wasn't it? Like a lock and a key?"
"Look, I-"
"I am not finished!" I argued. "All this time here, I lay here, dying, do you bloody know how much pain I've been in? All this so that you could give me that medicine to cure me when you wanted, dangling it in front of me so that I would do as you wished!"
"See..."
"All this time, just so that you could bring me back when you wanted to, and here you let me get poked and prodded, every living minute!"
"Please!"
"Why?" I yelled. "Why me?"
The other man softly spoke.
"Edwina, it was for your protection - all for your protection. Because once you get elected as Queen, no one would lay a hand on you! But till that happened, you were not safe! You would most probably be assassinated at night. The Rotavelles would have dangled your head in front of Cosmo!"
"All that pain was just to ensure that you bring me back!" I snapped. "Give that to me!" I shouted at Eric, trying to reach the bottle but he held it up in the air where my fingers could not come up to.
"Edwina," he said angrily. "I've been as patient as I can, but now, enough is enough."
"I'm... give it!" I protested, picking up the revolver again.
"Look," he snapped. "If you so much as press the trigger by one inch, I will drop this bottle to the floor and without it, you will die in a matter of hours."
"So I-"
"Either come back with us to take your rightful place in Endollon, or refuse to drink this and die. Even though you are a goddess, in this mortal form, without this cure, you cannot be saved."
"We will erase your memories, then give you the potion, and take you back. After that, we'll restore your old memory. You won't even know that you were gone for a week," the other man said.
Eric coolly asked, "are you going to agree calmly or do I have to-"
"So there are just two things I can do? Agree and get cured or refuse and die here?"
Eric narrowed his eyes. "Yes, Edwina," he said through his teeth. "This was the reason you got this sickness in the first place, so that you would accompany us when the time comes."
"And when Endollon is safe for you," Lord Tremayne added.
"Who are you?" I asked him suddenly.
His eyes and face softened.
"I am your father, Lucius Tremayne," he said softly.
"You?" I hissed. "You did this to me?" I turned to the woman. "And who might you be?"
"I'm your sister, Edwina," she kindly told me, the light blue eyes full of care and concern. "I'm Amphitrite Tremayne-"
"But-" I motioned to Eric, "he called you Amphitrite LeVane-"
"That's because he is Eric LeVane," she softly replied. "He is also our second cousin."
I glared at him.
"You - you are married to my sister?"
He rolled his eyes.
"Decisions, Edwina," he clapped his hands. "Are you going to decide? I believe you have hardly two more hours before the god of death comes for you."
Death waits for none.
"How are you going to go to this other world?"
Lucius Tremayne proudly took out a little box enameled and set with diamonds. I peered to look inside as he opened it with a flourish. There were three rings inside: a bronze one set with rubies, a platinum one embedded with pearls, and a gold one set with emeralds.
"There are three dimensions. This one, Endollon, and Seattoria," he explained.
"Dimensions?"
"Dimensions. Or worlds. Or realms. Whatever you wish to call them."
"What's in Seattoria?" I asked, and all three people immediately gave a soft gasp, averting away their eyes.
"There's - er - gold, lots and lots of gold-" Eric said, caught unaware. "Look, time is running out, okay? Have you made up your mind yet?"
"Look," the other man said. "These rings are the only ways of immortals accessing the three dimensions. Each one is made of some ancient magic that draws it to the place. This one," he picked the gold ring, "takes us to the mortal world. This world. This," he showed me the platinum one, "will take us back to Endollon."
And that last one to Seattoria.
"How did you get those?" I asked suspiciously, and he exhaled sharply, closing the box.
"Cosmo had them. Then I asked him for them, giving the reason. He is quite fond of you, very impressed by what you did. So he lent them to me to use them for your protection."
"And the results will be announced by him in two days," Eric said. "Which means you are coming with us back right now."
"I - wait!"
He tapped his foot impatiently.
"My patience wears thin."
What was I going to do?
I looked around the room, at the remnants of my life before I passed away in a few hours. The god of death comes for you in two hours, he had said.
But I didn't want to die.
And I would give anything to live.
"Alright," I said. "Do it."
All three faces brightened up, and Amphitrite smiled kindly at me. "Come, sister," she said, taking my hand and sitting me down on the couch, making me lean back on the cushions, taking care not to make sudden movements which could cause me any more pain.
"Alright," Lucius said, rolling up his sleeves. "I will take away your memories of this life first, then you will drink the potion to cure yourself. We will go back to Endollon and then give you back your old memories. You won't remember a thing of this world, I promise."
"And no one has noticed my disappearance back home?" I asked tentatively.
"No one," Eric assured. "Your Trial just ended around ten days ago. Anyone who thought you might be missing would automatically assume that you have just been letting your hair down and relaxing."
Oh God, I was really doing this. And feeling stupid. Very, very stupid.
I just nodded. I wanted the pain to go. Any life would be better than this pain.
"Fine then," Eric nodded to Lucius. "Let us begin."
• • • • •
Lol, hope this chapter answered your questions! Was it too much information? Do let me know :) Who do you think will become the three rulers? Do you think our girl stands a chance? Oh, and please vote if you enjoyed!