by Penny Knight
I rub my face. “You didn’t say that before.” I can’t keep up with all the lies.
“I did not want you to be scared. I told you to be careful and to not trust them. Look, see what they have done to you.”
Her voice is rising the more emotional she is getting.
“Them? You forgot your place old woman.” Broderick’s vicious tone shocks me.
She did throw him across the planet, or close enough. I’d be pissed, too.
“I’m not scared of you.” She looks to him with disgust.
The silence from everyone in the room pulls my gaze up and to Leo.
His eyes are on me again.
I don’t know who to believe.
Both have lied.
I hold my amulet in my hand and Leo’s words come back about control.
I squeeze it harder and my eyes shut. But what Leo did, Franziska was right to worry.
I’m so confused.
“Look, how about we let Elita rest.” Livvy comes up behind, rubbing my back.
“Yes, at home, let’s go.” Franziska doesn’t give up.
I can see Leo go to speak.
“No.” I beat him to it. I don’t want him to answer for me even if it is the same one. “Franziska, we are staying here. Livvy is right, I’m tired.”
She goes to argue, but ultimately when she assesses me, her eyes soften. I look a mess, I don’t need a mirror to know this.
“Then we stay.” She folds her arms.
“Who else knows?” Leo questions Franziska.
“I no answer you,” she spits.
“I know you know who I am. And you know what are within my rights.” His face, as always, gives nothing away. No emotion at all. This is the Leo I first met, but it’s a lie. I have seen him now. The one night we had, when we were just man and woman. Or, was that a lie?
“Maybe everyone needs to calm down a bit.” Livvy tries to ease the warring tensions.
“I know exactly what you people are capable of. That’s why I will never endanger anyone. All you need to know is the high council knows we are here.”
This doesn’t make Leo happy, at all. “So, what you’re telling me is it’s no longer a secret Elita is carrying the new heir? That due to your big mouth, you’ve put her life at undue risk, with all the rats that are swarming in your council.”
Livvy scoffs at his remark. In agreement?
She gets warning eyes from Franziska.
Whatever Franziska is saying, it’s fast and with vicious intent in her language.
What is even more surprising is Leo answering in the same language, their voices rising.
The bickering is childish, but shockingly scary. I have seen firsthand what these two are capable of.
“Stop arguing.” I try to be heard. But they are impenetrable, the more Franziska uses her arms while she talks, the itchier Lucas and Nadav are. Resting their hands on their guns, tracing the trigger. “Stop!” They don’t listen.
“She said fucking stop!” Livvy yells and stomps her foot. Instantly the overhead sprinklers turn on. Cold water sprays down hard and fast. Never in all the years living here had the sprinklers ever turned on. I thought they were for show as the building was so old.
I was wrong.
They work, and they work well.
Quickly Franziska rolls off some words and with more effort than they were turned on, she turns them off.
“Oh my god, sorry, sorry, sorry!” Livvy apologies, lifting her wet shirt to wipe Franziska’s drenched face. Obviously, that doesn’t work. “Shit.” She turns and faces everyone. “Sorry, just...” she waves her hands. “Just go back to how it was before.”
Like magic.
Well, with actual magic. Beads of water ball and rise from our saturated clothes. Mystical and beautiful, starting off slow as water is sucked out of our hair, the furniture, everywhere that was touched by the downpour. It zips back up into the sprinklers with a whoosh and we stand as we were.
Dry as a bone.
“Whoa!” Topher says what we are all thinking.
It was truly the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen. “Yeah, whoa.” I am awed. “That was amazing, Livvy.” I turn to her smiling.
But my smile falls when I see her on the ground. Her face is terrified looking up at Franziska.
“What was that? I never know you do that?” Even Franziska sounds astonished.
This seems to panic Livvy. “No, it was an accident. I don’t know.” She quickly gets to her feet.
Why is she so worried? I thought they were all witches?
I survey the room, seeing if this isn’t normal for anyone else. Leo watches both Franziska and Livvy with trained eyes. Lucas is pulling his rifle over his shoulder checking its damage. Nadav is assessing his clothes, his eyebrows raised as he feels over his dryness. But Broderick has his eyes solely fixed on Livvy with furrowed brows, white dust all over him. Huh. It really was back to how it was.
“You are very powerful.” Leo says to Livvy.
She shakes her head violently.
Franziska quickly grabs her arm. “We need to talk. Now.” She doesn’t wait and Livvy doesn’t protest. She takes her past the open kitchen to our small outdoor patio.
What a day.
Using my elbow, I slide open the door balancing the tray of tea outside. I need to check on Livvy. It was a weird reaction, and something doesn’t feel right. No matter what their differences are, I know Franziska to be fair and giving. She opened her home. Whatever reason she had; she was the one who made me feel safe as a little girl. I knew I would eat. I knew I could close my eyes peacefully at night. And it was because of her.
I do the only thing I can to ease the tension. Brew her favourite herbal tea. She always says it’s meant to relieve anxiety and stress. Always making sure I’m fully stocked.
Now I must ask, is it magic? Does this brew she gives me really and truly relieve stress? I don’t remember using it much, it tastes like crap. And I thought it was just one of her hobbies she liked. Herbs, crystals, and oils.
“Are you ok Livvy?” I place the tray on the outdoor table. “You, too?” I smile at Franziska pouring her some tea. When the aroma filters to her, she looks to me and nods. With a simple smile, she accepts the tea and sits back in her chair.
It worked, and she hasn’t even had a sip.
I must remember to drink more of this.
“Oh, I’m so sorry about what happened.” Livvy apologises again, “I hope there wasn’t any damage.”
That makes me laugh. “Don’t worry, it’s fine. Believe me, it was a lot worse yesterday, even with the flooding.”
“What happened that was worse than that?” She takes a sip of her tea.
I exhale. “It’s too long of a story, and ultimately irrelevant. I’m still pregnant.”
“Yeah, I can see. I was back home when Evie had the vision. I came straight here.” She puts her teacup down. “When did you get involved with an Immortalie, let alone King Leonidas?” She sounds astonished.
“I didn’t even know they existed until a couple of weeks ago. And since when can you turn on and off water with a little stomp of your foot?” I raise a brow at her.
She closes her mouth.
“Elita, Elita.” Franziska moves from her chair to come and sit with me on the chaise. She grabs my hand and holds them in hers. “I so, so sorry. I fail in my job to protect.” She bows her head down. She looks distraught
I look to Livvy for an explanation, and her pained expression watches her.
“You didn’t fail me at all.” She looks up. “You gave me a great life when I had nothing. You saved my life. How could you ever fail me?”
Shaking her head, her tears fall.
I freeze at the sight. One that I have never experienced from such a strong woman. Weakness was not that common in the house. And to Franziska, tears are weak.
“The child, the child.” She squeezes my hand. “The prophet was right, my sweet Elita. But it is not then, it is
now. What I said before about the devil rising on the tallest hill. It was not back with my ancestor. It is now. The Immortal King has impregnated you with what will ruin us all.”
Her wailing sets me off.
Mouth agape, the cool wind hits my sweating body and I shiver. Or maybe I’m convulsing. I don’t know. I’m stuck on her words.
“Stop. No.” Livvy comes to me and pulls my head to face her. “Don’t listen to that. We don’t know that for sure.”
“No more lies.” Franziska wails.
If this is not a lie, is she saying the devil is inside me? A demon? What does that mean? Leo surely would have told me if it wasn’t human. Would he? Oh my god, all the possibilities.
It’s hard to breathe let alone think. I take a few deep breaths.
“No, stop.” I swallow bile. Franziska continues to cry. “I said stop crying and listen.” Whatever she has kicked off in me feels feral and untamed. “You can’t just tell me I have the devil inside me and that’s it.”
“No, my dear, that is not it.” She scoots over. “Come,” she whispers. “You need to leave here and come with me. We will fix this.”
Fix this? I look down at my belly and even though this is just day two, I’m pretty big now. Most of my growing will be done when I’m asleep, but I have still been getting bigger through the day at a noticeable pace.
“How can you fix this?” What could she possibly mean? She really must think I have what she says inside me. If that’s the case, then why would she help me?
My face falls.
She doesn’t mean help me with giving birth, and most probably not raising the child.
I stand abruptly.
“You mean you want to kill my baby?” I don’t recognise my own voice.
“It’s not a baby,” she says with fear.
“Stop.” Livvy pleads with her. “Stop this, this is Elita. She is our family. And that’s her baby.”
“You need to go. Liv, you need to get her to go.”
“I’m sorry, I know, yes.” Livvy says. Already trying to help Franziska up.
“I can’t leave you alone again. I failed once.” She tries to shoo Livvy off.
“She loves you Elita.” Livvy pulls Franziska towards the door. “I will try and talk to her, but she is so set in her beliefs.” She says, dragging her inside.
Franziska is now speaking in her natural tongue fast and furious. I watch through the glass doors. No one touches or approaches them as they leave. Broderick opens the door for Livvy and follows them out.
Leo is not looking at me, this time. His looking down.
And he is ready to kill. I don’t need to ask.
He heard everything.
There couldn’t be a worse time to be called by the OMNI. I flick the black card with the same mark Elita bears in my hand. One word etched in the back. Lycurgus. A message from my father. I am needed for a meeting. Now.
The witches have gone but have added to the growing list of problems that need to be taken care of. Working with the Divinians is common, especially the high order. But the common practicing witches still bear grudges from past crimes from centuries ago. The hatred is bred and taught to the next generation and so forth, never really uniting all species like the OMNI was meant to do. Hence why they have thought us the devil. To them we created the war on witches that ended in countless years of hunts and deaths. The truth is, it was a lot more political than that. And the workings of one man that wanted to get back at a witch that killed his children.
Cyrus. Milan’s father and the ultimate leader of The Uprising.
The old woman, the one who raised Elita when she was a little girl speaks to me with such hatred. Yes, I may deserve it now but there is no doubt in my mind that is how she would still behave, regardless.
Nadav approaches cautiously with one finger on his earpiece.
“Sir, Elita is on the roof wanting to be alone. What do you want to do?” I look at the time on my watch, it’s just past three. Why is she even awake?
“Leave it to me.” I stand.
I leave through the front door and use my strength to jump, latching onto the windowsill, then push off landing on the roof. Elita and three soldiers stand before me.
“Oh great.” She throws her hands up.
I nod for the men to leave. They follow instructions immediately and they exit through her room.
She sighs heavily, walking past me towards the edge of the building, resting her elbows on the ledge and leaning her head on her hand. Gazing into the distance.
For the first time since the morning I destroyed us, we’re alone.
“We need to talk.” I stand beside her.
“I don’t know if I can.” She keeps her eyes on the bridge over the river.
“I have to leave for a bit.”
“What, why?” She snaps her head to me. Catching us both off guard. She corrects herself fast. “I mean, you’re the one saying how important it is you’re here. Then you just leave?” She shakes her head.
“I have no choice.” I want her to know it all. I want her to understand how we got here. “I have been called to the OMNI.”
“Oh right, yes. You’ve mentioned them before. You also said that you didn’t know how the prophecy is completed. So really. Who knows where you’re off to, or if there really is an OMNI? Whatever that is anyway.” She turns her head back to face the water.
“I did not lie. The prophecy to walk in the sunlight, I don’t know how that will come to fruition.”
“How can you not know? Why wouldn’t this big and powerful OMNI just tell you and get it over with?”
“That’s not how it works.”
This time she turns to me. “What does that even mean? I don’t understand Leo, and you speaking in riddles isn’t helping. You said that the prophecy was for the sun power, remember?”
I remember her term, yes.
I nod. Grateful she is even talking to me.
“So, what is this?” Her hands hold her tummy where our child is growing. “You said nothing about this. But you knew, didn’t you? You knew this would happen the other night.”
I nod, “I would never have forced you to do anything you didn’t want to do. You kissed me, remember?”
Her eyes narrow at me, but it’s the truth whether or not she likes it.
“I didn’t know I was going to get fucking pregnant from it though. You used me. You used me to get what you want. Don’t play it down now and act like you care.”
“I do care.”
“Stop.” She holds her hands over her ears. “Stop, I don’t want to hear that crap, please.”
It’s not crap, but the truth, she just doesn’t want to hear it because she doesn’t want it to be true. It will be harder to keep the hatred she has for me intact.
“Elita, I am over two thousand years old. I have lived since birth knowing I would be King of the Immortalies. Just like our child inside you now will be King. When I was a young human man, all I lived for was to train and learn how to rule. Once I was reborn with immortality, I was thrust into the role. It’s then that I learnt about you.”
“Me?” she looks confused.
“Yes. Having a child as an Immortal is not uncommon. It used to be common practice for Immortals to breed with female humans as much as possible to produce more of us. For one child that could survive the trials.”
“Trials? That doesn’t sound good.”
“No, it is not. But it’s the only way to be reborn as Immortal. Majority of attempts ended in death. That’s why it’s uncommon now for an Immortal to be reborn.”
Her arms wrap around her stomach protectively. “So you mean this baby will have to go through that?”
I nod, “But not for a long time and he will have the best training imaginable. He is fated to be King.”
“Well, what if it’s a girl?”
“He will be a boy, and he will succeed through the veil.” I repeat the Oracle’s words.
She rubs the back of
her neck hard, looking to ease whatever tension is there. Her eyes welling up again as she squeezes them shut for a few seconds to blink the tears away.
“For me though, there is only one way for that to happen. You.” She exhales a deep breath now coming back to me with full attention. Waiting for what I am to say next. She’s listening. I don’t deserve it. How can she even stand to look at me, let alone hear me out?
“It’s been thousands of years and I have followed the Transit of Venus around the world. They do not happen often, but often enough for me to believe this would never happen. It’s the only time the ritual was destined to work.”
She doesn’t bring up what the witch says. Nor do I. The notion so offending it will just anger me again.
“Why would you not tell me this?” She shakes her head.
“And what would you have done? Agreed?”
“Obviously not.”
“Yes, and the next Transit of Venus is in 105 years. I would never know if you would exist again for me. I have a duty Elita. I had no choice.”
“You say that a lot,”
“It’s because it is true.” The nagging of time running out presses with the sun soon to rise. I need to go see the OMNI and be back before that happens. “Why are you awake?” She should be resting. Her body looks frailer, eyes looking sunken. The baby taking its toll on her.
She scoffs. “Why do you think? Because the doctor has said once I sleep, my body will expand and hurt like hell. That is pretty fucking terrifying, especially when people are telling me it’s a demon king. And no, do not even go there right now.”
I bite down on my words and crack my neck, which is still pulsing with all that was wrong with that sentence. I address what I can.
“Did the doctor not give you anything for the pain?”
“Yes,” she says. Calming the blood flow and releasing my tension. “He gave me some weird brown elixir that I’m meant to accept is going to help me. Drink without question, and fingers crossed I wake up tomorrow. Hopefully without a tail. Add that to all the information that’s being thrown at me and you wonder why I can’t sleep.”
The words hit unlike any before. The enormity of the trust I am asking from her. To be thrust into this complicated world and only be given a couple of weeks to bear the burden of this responsibility.
