by S. J. West
“I’m sorry he broke your heart,” I tell her. “But, he was never yours to have, Celeste. He was always meant for me. You need to come to terms with that fact before you let your jealousy destroy what’s left of your soul. You’ll never be whole again if you let your contempt for him continue to tear you apart. How would you have felt if Lucas had been killed in the attack with the emperor’s men? Did you really think you could live with yourself if that happened?”
“The emperor assured me no one would be hurt, least of all Lucas,” Celeste says. I know she’s telling the truth but have a hard time believing she would be so naïve.
“You had to know Malcolm wouldn’t let me be taken without a fight,” I tell her, making her face her dark side. “And I think if you’re being honest with yourself, you thought he might be killed in the attack so neither one of us could have him.”
Celeste squeezes her eyes shut, making her tears wash her cheeks with their salty trails.
“I was so angry,” she admits. “I just wasn’t thinking straight. I wanted to hurt him. I guess I didn’t care who else got injured in the process.” She opens her eyes. “Is Lucas all right? He wasn’t harmed was he?”
“The emperor has him,” I tell her, letting go of the front of her robe, some of my anger dissipating. “And I need your help to get him back.”
“What can I do?”
“You knew where we were going after we left here. I need you to tell me where that is.”
“Yes, you were on your way to Rory and Lora’s house. They live in Baton Rouge.”
“What’s the quickest way for me to get there? I have to find Jered.”
“You’ll need to take the teleporter in New Orleans,” she tells me.
“Do you have someone who can take me to New Orleans?”
Since it was somewhere I had never been to before, I couldn’t simply phase there. The thought had occurred to me that I could phase to Barlow’s underground city and use his teleporter, but I wasn’t sure if Levi knew about his hideout. I refused to be the one to bring Cirrun forces to Barlow’s doorstep and place his people in danger.
“I’ll take you there myself,” Celeste says. She turns to look at her girls. “Trisha and Madeline, get my buggy ready and be quick about it, no dawdling around like you usually do.”
The two ladies quickly make their way down the stairs to do as they are told.
Celeste turns to look at me again. “I need to change my clothes. Are you hungry? I can have someone prepare you something to eat on the way there.”
“No, I’m not hungry.”
Celeste nods. I’m sure she understands the situation I’m in isn’t very conducive to generating an appetite.
“I won’t be long,” she tells me, turning to walk down the hallway and enter what I presume is her bedroom.
I decide to wait downstairs for Celeste. She’s true to her word and reappears less than ten minutes later.
She’s dressed rather conservatively considering what she was wearing the first time I saw her when I came here with Malcolm. Her long, red skirted dress still retains the style of 19th century European clothing. The fitted top looks like a jacket with a silky, gold embroidered vest underneath. She slips on a pair of black leather gloves as she walks down the staircase. Her eyes glance in the direction of the door still lying across the lower portion of the steps.
“You’re awfully strong for such a little thing,” Celeste comments, sounding a bit amused. “The door was unlocked by the way. You really didn’t have to kick it in.”
“I wasn’t in the mood to care,” I tell her. “If you’d seen what I have today, I doubt you would have been either.”
Celeste looks at me, and I can tell she wants to ask what it is I’m referring to but thinks better of it. I’m sure she knows anything that would make my mood so foul can’t be good.
I hear the rattle of the buggy come to a stop outside the home. When I look out the empty spot where the door once was, I see a small black carriage hitched to a black horse.
Celeste and I walk out to the buggy just as the girls who made it ready for us get out of it.
Once we’re seated, Celeste clicks her tongue and snaps the reins gently against the horse’s rump to get it moving.
“How long will it take to get to New Orleans?” I ask her.
“Thirty minutes normally,” she tells me. “But, I think I can get you there in twenty.”
She gently flicks the reigns against the horse once more, causing it to pick up its pace.
As we travel down the dark country road, neither of us say a word. Celeste finally breaks the silence with a simple question.
“What did it feel like to have Malcolm tell you that he loves you?”
In spite of myself, I feel sorry for Celeste in that moment. My earlier anger at her has been fully replaced by pity now. I feel sorry for the woman because she gave her love to someone who never could have reciprocated her feelings. It was a fear I had when Malcolm seemed so resolute in denying how he felt about me. When I thought I would have to live the rest of my life without his love, it was like a crushing weight against my heart.
Celeste would never get the reprieve I did. She would always live with the knowledge that Malcolm belonged to someone else. That he gave all of himself to another woman. I very much doubt Malcolm will ever willingly see Celeste DuBois again. Knowing him, he would probably fear what he would do to her after she placed the lives of his son and the woman he loves in danger. Even I had a hard time controlling my temper when I first arrived at her house. I couldn’t imagine Malcolm holding in his emotions very well. I think Celeste knew this. I think she knew deep down inside she would never be in the same room with Malcolm ever again. Perhaps she was asking me this question because through me she could at least know what it felt like to have Malcolm’s unconditional love.
“It was like having a dream come true,” I tell her. “It made me feel whole.”
Celeste nods and averts her gaze away from me, returning her attention back to the moonlit road we're travelling down.
“Would you do something for me?” Celeste asks in a quiet voice.
“What?”
“Tell Malcolm that I’m sorry. I never thought Emperor Augustus was someone who would hurt an innocent child. He always seemed to be so kind. I guess you really don’t know a person just by what the media tells you and what you see in videos.”
Of course Celeste wouldn’t know that the emperor wasn’t actually Auggie anymore. She had no way of knowing that Levi had taken control of my best friend’s body. It was a point I hadn’t really considered until now.
“The emperor isn’t exactly himself anymore,” I say, not daring to tell her the complete truth. “You can’t trust him.”
Celeste nods. “Yes, I see that now.” She looks over at me. “I guess the real question is, can we trust you? We all thought once you and Emperor Augustus took control of Cirrus that the two of you would help us down-worlders. Were we just deluding ourselves?”
“No, you weren’t mistaken in your beliefs,” I tell her. “But the emperor won’t be the one who will be by my side to help fix things. Malcolm will be.”
Celeste smiles, a tinge of sad acceptance on her face. “I always thought Malcolm was meant for greater things. I guess he just needed to find the right person to help him become the man he was always meant to be.”
“We will help you,” I promise her. “We will make things right. You have my word on that.”
“I have no reason to trust you,” she says, “but for some reason I do. I guess that’s the mark of a true leader. You make people who have no reason to trust in your words believe what you say.”
“I won’t let you down.”
Celeste nods, seeming to accept my promise.
The rest of the ride goes by in complete silence. I don’t mind the quiet. I have nothing further to say to Celeste, and she obviously doesn’t have any more questions she wants answered.
As we approach New O
rleans, the city appears like a bubble of light floating within the dark night. I’ve never actually been in a down-world city before. My father never let me come to the surface with him when he visited here, though those occasions were few and far between.
Celeste maneuvers her buggy through the streets, and I silently observe the decaying city we travel through, taking in everything I can. Cirrun guards patrol along the sidewalks in pairs of two, making me wonder just how many of them are still human now that Levi is in control.
I notice some people huddled in darkened alleyways and near corners of buildings sleeping. I stare at them, not quite understanding why these people don't have homes to go to.
“New Orleans is better off than most of the cities down here,” Celeste tells me, obviously noticing my confusion at finding even a few homeless. “Malcolm has spent a lot of his own money trying to keep people here fed and housed. Some people take his offer of kindness and some are just too proud to accept hand-outs.”
“Fed?” I ask. “Why wouldn’t there be enough food to eat?”
“A lot of what’s produced here in the down-world goes directly to Cirrus. The rest of it is used in trade with the other cloud cities. Malcolm has always tried to keep as much as he can down here for us to use, but Empress Catherine seemed to prefer trading our food for things she wanted for herself.”
“That will change,” I tell Celeste. “I have no intention of living off the backs of hard working people just to stuff the royal coffers.”
“Just don’t let your newly given powers go to your head,” Celeste advises. “A lot of people in powerful positions sometimes start out wanting to help those in need, but change their minds when they realize how much work is involved. Sometimes, it’s easier to just let things stay the same.”
“I wasn’t built that way,” I assure her. “I don’t back down from a fight. I win.”
Celeste looks at me, and I see realization enter her eyes.
“You’re exactly who Malcolm has always needed,” she says to me, even though it sounds more like she’s speaking out loud to herself than telling me something I need to know. “I could never be the person he needs to help him save this world the way he’s always wanted to, but you can.”
“It’s what we were meant to do together,” I say, fully realizing how Malcolm and I fit into God's plan for the world. “And we will find a way to do it.”
“Of that,” Celeste says, “I have no doubt.”
Celeste brings the buggy to a stop in front of a five story building which doesn’t look anything like the brick and mortar structures we’ve passed so far. This building is made out of steel and glass, standing out as gaudy beacon of wealth amongst the crumbling city surrounding it.
“I’m sure you won’t have any trouble getting help inside,” Celeste says.
“Once I get to Baton Rouge, where should I look for Jered? Do you think he would be at Rory and Lora’s home even though they aren’t there?”
“I would try the home Malcolm has in the city first. It’s on Highland Road. The guards at the teleporter station in Baton Rouge should be able to take you there.”
I feel my forehead crinkle at this new information.
“How many homes does Malcolm have down here?” I ask, knowing of at least three now.
“He has one in every major city here in the down-world.”
“I knew he was rich, but I had no idea he could afford that much.”
“Oh sweetie,” Celeste says, like she's just now realizing how little I understand about the politics of the down-world, “he doesn’t buy them. They’re given to him.”
“Why?”
“Because Malcolm is like a king down here. I thought you knew that.”
It makes me think of what Levi said to Malcolm at the party the night before our wedding. He asked Malcolm if he thought of himself as the king of the down-world. Malcolm didn’t seem to think so, but I now know how the down-worlders actually feel about him. It's simply further proof to me that God does indeed have big plans for us. Maybe placing the world back on the correct path is that something he said only I could accomplish.
I step out of the buggy and turn back around to face Celeste.
“Thanks for bringing me here.”
“You can thank me by keeping your promise to change things,” Celeste says. “And don’t forget to tell Malcolm how sorry I am for what I did.”
“I’ll make sure he knows.”
Celeste nods and flicks the reigns in her hands again to set her horse on its way down the lane.
I turn to face the Cirrun station and walk towards it to start the next leg of my journey, feeling even more determined to do what needs to be done. Nothing is more important to me than putting my family back together, and nothing will prevent me from making it happen.
Chapter 3
As soon as I walk into the station, the guards standing just inside the entrance bend down on one knee before me with their heads bowed in my direction showing complete reverence. I count seven of them in all within the rather sterile antechamber. I decide then and there that one of the things I will do, when everything is said and done, is change any room that is solid white to a different color.
“Empress Annalisse,” one guard says, daring to lift his bowed head to meet my gaze. “We weren’t told you would be visiting us this evening.”
“I need a teleport to Baton Rouge,” I tell him not seeing any reason to beat around the bush about why I'm here unannounced. “And I need it now.”
The guard immediately rises to his feet.
“Of course, your grace. Please, let me escort you to our teleport pad.”
The other guards remain kneeling, and I say nothing to make them change their position. Once I’m gone, it will be business as usual here for them, and they’ll be able to tell their families and friends that they saw the Empress of Cirrus in the flesh that night. It was something I still wasn’t used to. I didn’t like being placed on a pedestal but, then again, it was that pedestal which would allow me to fix the world I lived in. For so few to live in luxury and have anything they wanted at their finger-tips, while so many went hungry and were forced to work for scraps simply wasn’t right. If you worked hard, you should be compensated for it. If you did nothing, then you should reap the rewards of such a lackadaisical life as well. Things shouldn’t be handed to you just because of who you are or where you live. You should have to work and contribute to society in some way to have things which made your life easier.
The guard escorts me to a glass room similar to the one Barlow has in his underground hide out.
“Please step on the teleporter pad, Empress Annalisse,” the guard instructs.
I step up on the octagonal white pad and watch as he manipulates the control panel.
“Please give my best regards to the emperor,” the guard says just as I teleport away.
I arrive in a room almost identical the one I just left. The only difference is the guard.
“Empress!” The guard says in surprise, stepping away from his control panel to kneel on the floor before me.
I’m really getting tired of having people kneel in front of me all the time. I decide that’s something that needs to be changed as well.
“Please rise,” I tell him. “I need someone to escort me to Overlord Devereaux’s home here in the city.”
“Yes, Empress Annalisse. I'm new here so I don't know where it is, but I'm sure we can find someone who does. Please, follow me.”
I follow the guard out of the room. We pass a few more guards in the hallway, but the quarters are too cramped for them to fall to their knees to show their undying loyalty to me. Though, when we reach the front of the station, the five guards standing there fall to their knees immediately.
“Gentleman,” I say to them all, feeling slightly frustrated, “I never want to see you kneel in front of me again. Is that understood?”
They all look up at me like I just spoke in a foreign language.
“If you must do something to show your respect to me,” I tell them, “simply bow at the waist. The kneeling thing may be what Empress Catherine desired from you, but I assure you it is not something I want done every time I enter a room. Is that understood?”
Slowly, the guards stand to their feet, still looking unsure about my order.
“Yes, Empress,” they all say in staggered intervals.
“Now, I need someone to take me to Overlord Deveraux’s home on Highland Road. Who knows where it is?”
All of the guards raise their hands, and I pick one at random to take me there. I could care less who my escort is as long as I get where I need to be.
The guard quickly comes to stand beside me and places his hand on my shoulder. Before I know it, I’m standing in front of a large home designed in the same style as the one Malcolm had in Lakewood.
“You can leave,” I tell the guard.
Without question, he teleports away.
I don’t bother to knock on the door. I simply turn the knob and find it unlocked. When I step inside, I shout, “Jered!”
Jered suddenly phases in front of me before I can take a second step inside the house.
“Anna!” He says, giving me a brief hug. He pulls back and looks down at me like he’s baffled by my presence. “What are you doing here alone? Where are Malcolm and Lucas?”
“Levi has them,” I say, finding the words hard to say because I feel as though I’ve failed to keep them safe. “We need to talk.”
I tell Jered everything I know. He listens intently and doesn’t interrupt me. The only real emotion he shows during my tale is a small smile when I tell him Malcolm declared his love to me and kissed me. After that, however, he simply listens to the horrific events which transpired because of that first kiss.
“What should we do, Jered?” I ask. “Malcolm said to give Levi what he wants, but I’m not sure he was in the best mental state to make that decision.”
“I understand your concerns,” Jered says gravely, “but Malcolm is right. We should do what Levi wants and worry about the consequences later. This isn’t the first time an innocent’s life has been used against us to get the princes back. But, we’ve always managed to recapture them in the end.”
