Eternal Conflict - Book 7

by Chrissy Peebles

  “What is it, my love? What did you see?” Victor asked.

  “Us, dead. It’s going to happen, Victor. Just as we told Halldor, my visions are usually true.”

  Horror washed over Victor’s usually brave face, and it was as if the world stopped. My heart grieved deeper than ever before, felt as if it literally ripped in two, and my stomach twisted in a million knots. Then more hot tears streamed down my face.

  “Our beautiful baby will die,” I said, hating the words as they left my lips. “There will be no last-minute rescues this time.”

  “We’ve changed the visions before,” Victor tried to assure me, but he didn’t even sound like he believed it himself. “We have to do something different, something drastic that will change the outcome.”

  “But what?” I asked.

  “We’ll think of something.”

  “My visions don’t lie,” I said grimly, “and we’re running out of time.”

  Troubled, he looked away.

  “I need to meet her,” I said, weeping as I rubbed my baby bump. “My heart aches to spend time with her, to kiss her soft cheeks.”

  Victor blinked away a tear as he gripped my hands. “I love her more than life itself.”

  “I’d do anything to whisper those three lovely words to her in her ear, to tell her I love her.”

  “She knows, my Queen,” he said between sobs. “She is close to your heart now, and she knows.”

  “Oh, Sophia,” I said, “I so wanted to bring you into this world.”

  Victor placed his hand over mine atop my belly. “We love you, sweet little girl.”

  “And you have the most wonderful brother. You will meet him someday, in a better place,” I said.

  Even though it was early in my pregnancy, I’d already grown to love my little one, and the loss was paralyzing and painful. I just wanted to hold her, to meet her, to tell her I loved her. Ethano had won, and I was so angry and pained that it literally hurt to breath. Grief blanketed my soul, and depression quickly dug its claws in, threatening to consume me. A rollercoaster of emotions washed over me, from depression and disbelief to anger and guilt. The whole thing was heart-wrenching on every level.

  Victor held me in his arms as I cried into his shoulder, cries that came from deep within my soul. I fell in his arms, and we were carried down to our knees by intense grief.

  “I’m heartbroken too,” he said. “Yes, I just learned about our daughter, but I already love her with all my heart.”

  “We both do,” I said, sobbing.

  Seeing Victor’s tears only strengthened my cries. There in that lonely cell, we shared our feelings and held each other, trying to comfort one another through the pain that ripped through us. Sometimes we were quiet, just looking at each other, unable to speak any words. I’d never felt so lost before, and I wished my parents were there to hold me.

  Then, the idea came, like a light bulb going off in my head. “Wait! We can go back in time!”

  “What?” Victor asked.

  “Time travel. Liz did it,” I said.

  His lips pressed into a grim line. “That’s an ancient power. It is very dangerous, and—”

  “I know it’s risky, but we lived through it. Charles was furious with Liz, but we had no choice. It may be our only chance now too.”

  “I understand, my love, but you can only go back a few hours, and very few immortals can do it. Charles discovered the power in an ancient immortal tablet on a conquest in Grolia. He then taught Liz to use it. Did she show it to you?” he asked hopefully.

  “I don’t know it. She wouldn’t share it with me, said it’s too dangerous.”

  “Then it’s not an option,” he said.

  Marching echoed in the corridor, the footsteps of dozens of guards coming for us. They certainly weren’t willing to underestimate us or our powers or any chance we might take to escape. Swallowing hard, I squeezed Victor’s hand. The cell door creaked open, and a multitude of soldiers rushed in. My breath hitched in my throat as they gripped me by my arms and led me out to the door.

  “I love you, Victor!” I shouted.

  “I love you, my Queen…now and forever.”

  Using every ounce of my immortal strength, I broke away from the knights holding me and rushed into Victor’s arms, with tears running down my face. “I just have to kiss you one last time.”

  Cupping my face, he kissed me more passionately than he ever had before. For that one little moment, there was nothing else in the world; it was as if those few precious seconds belonged only to us. I drowned out everything around me, tuned out the world that demanded my death. I was there with him, my love, my life, my world. They could kill us, but they’d never take our love away. His kiss meant everything, and he poured his soul into it. I could feel everything as his lips touched mine, from his love to his sorrow, his deep pain over losing the little girl we’d never have a chance to meet here on Earth. I could feel the love he felt for me, for her, for Alexander. He loved his family, and I knew that with every fiber of my being.

  Immortal knights stormed back into the cell and jerked us apart. Victor’s face was beet red as anger consumed him. I screamed, in a full-blown panic. My terrified voice cut through the air. Rivulets of sweat covered my back as we made our way up the corridor. My gaze drifted to Victor; I knew it was the end, the last time I’d ever see my one true love. As that realization struck, the reality that my death was imminent, my heart shattered all over again. No matter what I said or did, my death was about to happen. I sobbed, overwhelmed with grief, and then I screamed at the top of my lungs. I had been emotionally pushed over the edge, punched in the gut. It was as if I was detached from my body, watching from a distance, utterly hopeless and helpless to do anything about it. Is this real? Is this a dream? When will I wake up?

  In my anguish, I pictured Victor, Alexander, Sophia, and me chasing butterflies outside the castle. I thought of my giggling children running, jumping, and playing, with the biggest, cutest smiles on their faces. I was pissed that such a happy family moment was being ruthlessly torn away from me. Anger consumed me, and I let it all out. I refused to go passively, to allow them to kill Victor and me and our daughter. I owed it to them to fight for our lives.

  “This is for you, Sophia!” I cried, then fought those cruel bastards with everything I had. I flailed, thrashed, and kicked a few in the face. Even if they ended up killing me, they would always remember me, the queen who fought for her life. I kicked another in the head as I pondered how we could do something different, something to change the outcome, something to give fate the finger. In the vision I saw, fighting didn’t work, so I needed a different angle.

  “Lana!” I roared. “Lana, Titano, help us!” I screamed their names over and over again as the knights dragged me away. “I saved your life once, Lana!” I yelled. “I’m pregnant with a darling girl. Please save my baby.”

  I blinked and saw Lana.

  A sad look overtook her. “I can’t help you. I’m so sorry. I wish things could be different, my queen.”

  “I ripped off my diamond pennant necklace and wrapped it in her hands. “Please give it to Alexander,” I said, my voice flooding with emotion. “Tell him I loved him. That we loved him so much.”

  Her eyes started to well up with tears.

  I only hoped my baby boy would get my last and final parting gift to him, a gift his father had gotten me for our very first Christmas together.

  Suddenly, so many soldiers surrounded me that I couldn’t see Victor anymore. Everything was a blur, but I could tell we were finally outside, free of those gray walls. As we were led to our execution, I was horrified to see the beheaded bodies lying around, spilling crimson puddles from their necks, staining the stone walkway. My heart leapt into my throat at the grim reality before me.

  Ethano walked up to me and whispered in my ear, “It is always a delight to see you, Sarah. I only wish I could have met your daughter, but I am doing the world a great service by ending her mis
erable life along with yours.”

  “How do you know about her?”

  “I have immortal hearing. I heard you telling Lana.” He sighed. “She would’ve grown up to be just as pitiful as you. On the other hand, I will take great pride in raising your son as my own, and I will make sure to remind him often that his parents were executed for murdering a respected and powerful king. That will only make him love and admire his uncle more.”

  I spat at him. “You’ll never find Alexander. He’s in my world, and you’ll never get near him!” I lied, hoping to throw him off my baby’s trail.

  “Die, Sarah!” he said, in voice so cold and harsh that he sounded like the devil himself.

  He wiped my saliva off his face and walked over to Victor. “Goodbye, Victor. It is pathetic that you are so weak you cannot even save your wife and daughter and so many others you claim to love. I hope that haunts you throughout all eternity, in the netherworld.”

  Victor said nothing but didn’t have to; his hateful glare spoke volumes.

  Ethano smirked, then looked at the prince. “I know your heart breaks for the untimely loss of your father, but I assure you, Highness, that I will spend the rest of eternity trying to make up for this heinous wrong that has been committed against your people. I can’t believe my brother did such a thing. He has never been trustworthy. He is a bloodthirsty, self-serving maniac, and he came here a wolf in lamb’s clothing. He offered friendship when his true motive was to murder your beloved king.”

  As he went on with his bullshit speech, my head was pressed against a stone, with Victor’s pressed down beside me, facing me. It occurred to me then that they intended to take both of our heads at the same time, in one fell swoop of the executioner’s blade.

  “Victor,” I called in my head, “please take me to your dream state. Take me there so I don’t have to feel this. Please spare Sophia and me from this horrible, horrible pain.”

  “Do not give up. As long as we have breath, there is still a chance.” He then rolled his eyes to the side, looking up at them. “Let my wife go!” Victor shouted. “She is with child!”

  “I don’t believe you,” one of the soldiers snapped. “He will say anything to spare his life. Kill him!”

  “Did you not hear Ethano speaking of our daughter? Besides, your healer can verify that I am telling the truth. If you kill me, it will kill her, and our child will die as well. She is an innocent child, an infant who has done no wrong. Does not such a one deserve life? If you so desire, you may kill me the very second Sarah gives birth, but for the time being, you should not taint your hands with the blood of an innocent babe.”

  “Who are you to judge us? You killed my father, you snake,” the prince said, rage flaming in his eyes. “I have no mercy for your unborn spawn. You are so evil, so horrible that I won’t even grant you a priest or the luxury of a cloth over your eyes.” He then looked over at the executioner, a huge man covered in sweat, with a black mask over his head. “Kill them,” he said flatly.

  I felt like my heart was being ripped out of my chest. “I’m so sorry, baby girl,” I said. “Know that your mother loves you with all her heart. I’m so, so sorry I couldn’t save your life.”

  Just as the executioner swung his blade up in a high arc, a lion sprang from the shadows. The creature knocked down the executioner, sending his sword clanging to the ground. I pushed myself off the stone and stood. More lions came and fought on our behalf, and my heart leapt with joy as I realized the shape-shifters were on our side after all.

  Suddenly, one changed before my eyes in a burst of light.

  “Lana!” I said.

  “We can’t hold them off much longer,” she said. “We need your powers!”

  I held up my wrist. “I can’t,” I said, jiggling the bracelet. “Ethano put these on us.”

  Shocked soldiers and knights swung their swords at the big cats, and there were definitely more knights than shape-shifters. I knew that if Victor and I couldn’t find a way to reactivate our powers, we were goners. I looked over and realized that Victor was up and at arms, swinging a sword to hold back the men, while shape-shifters held the knights at bay from the other side. We were okay for the moment, but we were quickly losing ground and sorely outnumbered.

  Lana grabbed the bracelet on my arm and squeezed until it broke off and fell to the ground. That gave me a glimmer of hope that we might actually have a way out of the nightmare. “Get Victor’s off!” I said.

  She rushed over to him and started tending to the magical artifact on his wrist.

  Empowered once again, I threw my hands back and hurled dozens of fireballs at our attackers. The men flew back as the energy balls pounded into them.

  “There are thousands of knights!” Lana said in a panic as she broke Victor’s bracelet. “Can even your powers save us?”

  I shot her a look. “Hell yeah! They’re going to regret every trying to kill my baby.”

  My powers spilled out of me like a flowing river. I pointed at the ground and concentrated on the front line of knights, and they flew back as if a giant hurricane had come their way. Energy poured out of me, and everything around me lit up; I was like a beacon in the darkness. I smiled as I threw volts of yellow electricity on the ground. The sea of knights tumbled, losing their balance, as my powers pelted them in fit of fury. I threw my hands higher in the air, and bright streams of electricity engulfed them, forcing them to take a much-needed nap.

  “I’ve never seen an immortal with such powers,” a knight shouted.

  “She’s the most powerful queen the world has ever known,” another said.

  Arrows flew all around me, but not one of them hit me. It was as if I was made of titanium, and my powers encased me in a protective bubble, a force-field created by my mind. Victor hurried over, and when we held our hands up together, countless volts of electricity broke across the sky. Thunder roared, and the ground began to shake.

  I could sense our attackers’ fear, and they had every right to be scared of us. I could easily turn my power up a notch and kill them in seconds, but I had no interest in that. They were confused, not really enemies, and I couldn’t blame them for buying into Ethano’s well-concocted lies; they were just as much victims of him as we were. As I kept the enemy at bay, a vision suddenly struck me, and the timing couldn’t have been worse.

  In my vision, I let out a long scream. I was sweaty, exhausted, and giving birth.

  “One more push,” a midwife coached.

  Victor held my hand and encouraged me. “You can do it.”

  I pushed and watched as a little body slid out of me. She wailed instantly, screaming out all the air in her little lungs, and her pink arms flailed. The midwife placed my beautiful daughter in my arms. I nestled Sophia in the crook of my arm.

  It was then, because of that vision, that I knew we had done it. We had changed the course of fate, and my baby girl would live. I snapped back to the present, overwhelmed by pure joy and happiness, with tears running down my cheeks. We were destined to be together after all, all four of us.

  Lana was the first to break me out of my thoughts. “Should we keep fighting, my Queen?” she asked.

  “It’s probably best to retreat. We need a getaway plan!” I shouted.

  In a brilliant burst of light, Lana turned into a dragon. Then, in one powerful leap, I jumped on her back, with Victor right behind me. The knights began shooting arrows, but I cloaked us as we flew into the air. The cloaking began to fade, and Victor tried to help, but it was an impossible task. We started to flicker as I lost the connection.

  “We can’t cloak all these dragons,” I said, looking around at all the shape-shifters.

  The group suddenly turned into a flock of sparrows, and I was easily able to cloak them as they flew next to us. It was like going from carrying elephants to kittens.

  Far from there, we landed on a mountaintop. Above the clouds, at that majestic pinpoint, I ran into Victor’s arms. When he spun me around, I laughed. “Is thi
s real?” I said. “Are we really, truly alive?”

  He ran a hand through his hair and then over his face. “My head seems to still be attached, my love,” he said, his face lighting up. “We will spend all of eternity together, and I will never let you go.” He then gently ran a hand through my hair. “When I was faced with death, I didn’t care about my kingdom or my wealth. All I could think about were my wife and children.”

  My eyes welled with tears. “Me too.”

  He sweetly touched my stomach. “Sweet Sophia! We have escaped, little one. You will have a chance at life, and I will be the best father I possibly can be for you and your brother. I’m going to love you, Alexander, and your mother forever.”

  His declaration of love was so touching, so moving that more tears slipped down my cheeks. My baby was going to live, and we would retrieve Alexander after the dust settled. We would be a family after all, and nothing in any world could have made me happier.

  Victor lifted his arms in victory. “I’m going to have a daughter!” he roared, sending the declaration echoing through the mountains.

  Chapter 25

  I walked over to Lana and hugged her. She wasn’t really comfortable with human emotions, but I didn’t care. She’d saved my life, and I was so thankful she’d heard my cry and come to our rescue, at great risk to herself and her own tribe. “Thank you,” I said.

  “With all due respect, my Queen, you can let go now.”

  “I can’t. I am so happy. Thank you so much.”

  “I am in your service forever.”

  “You risked everything for us,” I said. “Why?”

  “You saved my husband from death. The least I could do was save you. You also brought me back to life with the Gold Minerals of Life.” She reached out her hand. “Even more so, you are my friend.”

  “Thank you,” Victor said.

  Her dark eyes blazed. “We’ll fight alongside you, oh great and mighty King, but we also want our forest back, the one we reside in.”