Dmitri smiles when he sees me.
“You have twenty minutes, Prince Dmitri. It is late for visitors,” the guard says shutting the door behind him.
Dmitri glances about the room before asking, “How are you taking the recent events? I know you were close to Zadie too.”
“It is sad, but there is nothing I can do to change events.”
“Perhaps,” he says.
Before I can offer him a seat or ask how he is, he crosses the room and wraps his arm around me pulling me flush against his chest.
“Um, hello,” I say looking up at his face. A blush creeps up my cheeks.
“Hello, princess.”
City of Deception
He bends down and presses his lips against mine. Pull- ing me closer, he kisses me deeper than at the lake. He parts my lips and searches the corners of my mouth as his hands lower to the small of my back.
I wrap my hands around his neck and ignore the heat rising in my body. When he pulls away, I am breathless. Ducking my head, I try to hide the feelings he ignited. There is no hiding how passionately I feel about him if he sees my face.
I wonder if the prince hasn’t given me one of the love spells my mother taught me to make.
My heart feels like it will break free of my chest. Even as I enjoy the warmth running through my veins as his hands rest on my back, I know this is wrong. This goes against everything and everyone.
Placing my hands on Dmitri’s chest, I push him away. “We can’t do that again.”
He looks confused and maybe a little ashamed. “I thought you felt the same.”
I take a deep breath to steady my nerves. I want noth- ing more than to reach out and pull him close again. I want to wrap my arms around his neck and be his, but I can’t. I’ve thought about our moment in the gardens, and though I love him, Universes do I ever, I cannot give up on all I once stood for. Love is fickle, but my mission and the revolution are not.
“I’m soon to be married. You should respect your brother’s wishes, or at the very least, not kiss his bride-
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to-be until I find a way to end my engagement with him. Besides, this is a day of grieving for Zadie.”
He smiles playfully. “And what about your wishes?
Those matter far more to me than my brother’s.”
I glance down as I wrap the robe tighter around me. “You need to go. There’s no denying that I feel something for you, but I will not allow those feelings to sway me. I have important things to do, and my feelings for you com- promise that. So please, if you care for me as you express, you will leave and no longer show any signs that there is something between us. Perhaps later I will be free to show you what I feel, but not now. If I could, I’d let the world know I care for you, but we both know that can’t happen right now for many reasons.”
He doesn’t get angry or try to change my mind. In- stead, he takes a step closer. His eyes aren’t filled with hurt, but rather are full of passion. For a moment I think he might kiss me again, and my breath catches at the thought.
“My brother plans to leave this week for the Isles, and you are to go with him. There, I hope you’ll change your mind about who to trust. I’ll never betray you, unlike my brother.” He takes a step back and says, “One day you’ll see what I mean, but for now know that I love you and that won’t change.”
He walks to the door and leaves before I can respond.
City of Deception
Several questions dance through my mind as well as hope that I find a way to stay with Dmitri. I’m leery to dream that I might one day be allowed to love him openly.
And the other pertinent question is what is the Isles?
s
Later that night, I go to the bathroom, and upon re- turning find a cloaked figure sitting on the edge of my bed. I choke back a scream as I recognize the fiery hair.
“You and theatrics! You scared me witless,” I repri- mand.
Then I remember who she reminded me of, and hold my tongue.
“I take it you’ve figured out my identity?”
I nod. “Either you’re Vera, or you share an uncanny resemblance.”
“And what do you think of this?”
“Why fake your death? How could you let Dmitri get injured out of grief for you?” I ask.
Fury fills her features. “Dmitri deserved those scars.
As for my death, I didn’t fake it.”
Now I’m sure she’s insane. You can’t die and live. Not even the Royal scientists have that technology.
“I know it sounds crazy, but I did die. I remember…re- member being killed. The snowmobile crushing me, then darkness. Four days later I awoke in a doctor’s office. The doctor who filled out the death certificate noticed some- thing different about me. Instead of my body shutting
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down over time, it started to change, and that’s why my skin is like this. It may be due to the amount of time travel I’ve done. Maybe the more you do it, the more your body changes? It’s a pure miracle, and I believe the God above wanted me to fix all the problems I started.”
I’m surprised she believes in the old religion, but don’t broach the subject. “Why didn’t you tell anyone?”
“I did. The rebels know I’m alive. I’m one of the lead- ers.”
“You? A leader?” I ask surprised. How did a crazy, de- clared dead First end up in that position?
“I would try to explain everything, but now is not the time. At least not in this future anyway.” She acts as though that should be enough explanation for why she is alive. She takes my hand, and I try not to cringe at the touch of her flesh. “I need to show you something.”
She pulls on her cloak as she says, “If we are stopped by anyone, you must talk. No one can recognize me.”
I still can’t believe the dead princess, Dmitri’s fiancée, is here in the present. I’m looking at something improba- ble.
“Dmitri will want to see you,” I say. A selfish part of me wonders what her reappearance will mean for Dmitri and me.
Again, fury fills her eyes. “He is a monster, you fool. Everyone tells you, but you deny every time. One day you will pay like I did for believing he was innocent.”
“What did he do? He is no worse than Ivan.”
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She pauses and looks at me with pity. “I guess it takes a monster to destroy a monster.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean you and Dmitri would be perfect for each other under other circumstances. Now come. It’s time you learn a little about your past…and your future.”
s
She leads me down multiple sets of stairs and through hallways. After a few minutes, we reach a closed door. Two guards stand on either side. We start forward, but they stop us.
“You aren’t allowed to let anyone enter,” a guard says. “I will soon be Empress. Let me through.” I hate play-
ing the power card, but it makes people listen. “And your friend?” the guard questions.
“If you have a problem, report me to Ivan. Either way, move aside before I complain to Ivan about how you an- gered me. He doesn’t like when people anger me.”
The guards reluctantly let us enter. I wonder if they will report it to Ivan. I’ll need a reason to be here if they do.
Vera turns on the lights and pulls me towards a weird contraption in the corner. It’s at least seven feet tall and cylindrical. Every piece is made of new, shiny metal.
The room is about the size of my apartment and several tables covered in mechanical equipment sit in various
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places. A layer of dust covers every inch of the room ex- cept for a small pathway from the door to the machine.
“This is where I built the time machines. This was my lab on this planet.” She glances at the worktable in the middle of the room. “It’s the same as when I left.”
“I don’t understand how you’re here.”
She takes my hand. “Come, I’m taking you to eighteen years ago in your village.”
Before I can stop her, she touches the bracelet on my arm, and the room disappears.
{ 33 }
Chapter 33
HEN THE DARKNESS DISSIPATES, we stand out-
side of my house, but it looks different.
“Be quiet,” Vera whispers, pulling me along.
I follow her to the front window and look in. My mother stands by the stove cooking, and a man sits a few feet away at the crude table. The man is not my stepfa- ther; that much I can tell even with his back to the win- dow.
My mother turns so that I can see her face. I try to move away from the sight before me, but Vera keeps me in place.
My mother looks twenty years younger. She smiles at the man before reaching down to place a hand on her swollen belly. The man stands up and returns her smile as he wraps his arms around her and glances down at her belly.
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Vera took me to before my birth. The woman through the window is undeniably my mother and she is pregnant.
So, the man is…is my father.
Beside me, Vera gasps softly. I turn to see what the matter is, but look at the window when the man moves so that I can see his face. I plan to memorize that face, but pale when I realize who it is.
General Hardcastle stands in my house kissing my mother.
But, no. No. No. No.
I know what my father looked like. His dying face is implanted in every corner of my memory.
Or is it?
The more I try to recount the more I realize my mind has made his face fuzzy over the years. What I can recall, he had dark hair and smelled of dust, machine grease, and apples.
“What is this?” I hiss.
My mother and the general look towards the window as if they heard something. Vera tugs on my arms, and we disappear.
We reappear moments later in the familiar halls of the palace, but the halls aren’t the same as they were minutes ago. They’re painted gold and blue.
“Is the general…?” I can’t finish the question. Vera nods. “I thought it was time you knew.” Tears fill my eyes. “He’s dead. I killed him.”
City of Deception
She pats my arm. “That is what he wished you to be- lieve you will have to ask him the details, but the guilt you have lived with was all a lie. Your poison didn’t kill your father.”
“You know how he died? Or was supposed to have?” “Yes, I do. Liam- I mean General Hardcastle- and I
were once close. We are leaders of the revolution, but what he envisions is not the same as me. Time travel al- lows me to stop him.”
“How long have you known my father?”
She laughs. “Forty years give or take a little. I was a brilliant scientist before I was engaged. I knew your fa- ther before I ever met the Royals.”
“But…But you’re not…?”
“I’m not forty. Time travel can save a timeline as much as it can destroy it. Because of time travel, I have saved lives, but in turn, mine was destroyed.” She sighs. “Time travel is dangerous, and I messed things up. You are the one to either fix all this mess or the one to keep it as it is.”
I laugh. “Other than killing the Royals, little rests on my shoulders.”
“You are so wrong, Natalia. This whole revolution is about fighting a future dictator, as you know, but my time travel devices put this person in power. I did this and now pay the eternal costs. The future keeps changing every time I try to fix it, and in ever future no matter what, you are the only constant. You’re the one who makes it into
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every future. You can find a way to change time so that the people have a better life free from tyrants.”
“If you can travel through time, why not shoot the dic- tator now? Isn’t the point of the rebellion to kill this dic- tator now? That’s been my mission all along.”
“The only thing the rebellion is concerned with is grooming you to take your position to stop the dictator when the time is right. You will be closer than any of us to the future dictator. You choose our fates, not the rebel- lion through their actions.”
“So, my job as part of the rebellion is still to kill the future dictator,” I say.
“Your mission is to stop the future dictator, but it is also to set time straight.”
“So, what? I use your devices and go meet this dictator and fix everything?”
She shakes her head. “It’s much more complicated. I can’t change the future to what it needs to be because the future dictator knows how to manipulate time too. Every time I change the future, they change it too. You were an information processor because you foresaw the dictator’s moves. Now you will predict their next move through time. By using time travel, they ensure a safe and powerful rule for themselves.”
“Let me try to guess what they will do then.”
She shakes her head. “Your mission is already in jeop- ardy because you’re in love.”
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I grit my teeth infuriated she knows. “I will kill him when the order is given.”
“Love is the strongest motivator. It’s what drives the future dictator, not power or loyalty.”
I ask her a question that has been bothering me for a long time. “How are the Mersiovskys connected to the dic- tator?”
She hesitates before saying. “One of the princes will take power, and while he is to be feared, it is his wife who is the dictator. Subsequently, depending on the outcome of the future, not only the prince’s wife, but also his chil- dren are threats.”
My jaw literally falls. I try to find words, but I’m speechless.
“Few know the dictator is a woman. I suppose it is sur- prising,” she says.
“I’m to kill the Mersiovskys so she has less chance of gaining the throne? No marriage means no ruler. Is that why I’m to marry Ivan? So, his wife can never be a dicta- tor?”
“Something like that.” She looks away when she an- swers, something that I’ve learned is never a good sign. Is she lying about this?
“Couldn’t I kill that prince? Or kill her? Why must they all die?”
“That I cannot answer. When you receive your orders, you’ll know. I’ve said enough already. Your father will skin me when he finds out what I’ve told you.”
Alexa Mackintosh “Does he know who I am?”
“Yes. He has helped protect you from suspicion during
your time in the palace.”
I turn when I hear footsteps coming down the hall. Vera doesn’t seem fazed, so I don’t move out of sight. She lowers the hood of her cloak and steps forward as an el- derly woman and two little boys run around the corner.
The one boy, maybe four, stops and steps behind the woman while the other boy, eleven or so, runs to Vera. She gets down on her knees and opens her arms. He plows into her and knocks her backward as she wraps her arms around him.
“You’re getting too big for me,” she says.
“Apologize for acting so ungentlemanly, Ivan,” the el- derly woman chides even as she smiles.
Ivan?
The blood drains from my face. This boy is my fiancé and the other boy…I glance his direction and realize he must be Dmitri.
“Sorry, Angel,” Ivan mumbles as he crawls out of her lap. I glance to Vera to see why he calls her that, but she gives no indication.
“How have you been since I was here a few weeks ago?” she asks him.
He shrugs. “The Emperor took your gift away.” “Why did she take it away?” Vera asks.
City of Deception
“He says I don’t deserve gifts. I should be happy I’m here and not expect anything else from anyone,” he an- swers.
The Emperor treated him like this? At such a young age? The Emperor was supposed to be Ivan’s guardian since the Mersiovskys are long lost cousins of the late Royals, Ivan’s parents.
“Do you need to do anything, Nu
rse Cadoff? I can watch the princes for five minutes,” Vera offers.
“The Empress doesn’t want me to let Dmitri out of my sight. If you could watch Ivan for few moments while I change Dmitri into dinner clothes, it would be helpful,” the elderly woman says.
“You wouldn’t mind staying with me and my friend for a few minutes, would you, Ivan?” Vera asks.
He shakes his head enthusiastically.
“We’ll be here when you get back,” Vera says as the nurse turns to go.
“I’ve no doubts, dear. You’ve never let him fall into trouble under your watch, which is more than I can say. Ivan’s a good child, but he has quite a mind of his own. The Empress dislikes how much he voices his opinions at such a young age,” the nurse says.
When the nurse and Dmitri are down the hall and out of sight, Ivan starts to talk. He tells Vera random things about his week, and how Dmitri told on him anytime he did something wrong. It is clear he does not like new par- ents.
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“Did you have more medical tests this week?” Vera asks.
He scowls. “The Empress says I’ll have them until I’m much older. They all hate me.”
Vera sighs as she shifts positions. She turns him around to look into his eyes and says, “No matter what anybody says or what happens, I will always love you, Ivan. You will survive this, and one day you will take your throne back.”
He remains sitting in her lap and rests his head against her shoulder. Though he’s so young, he looks exhausted.
Vera looks up at me. “Ivan has never had a life as simple as you believe. He’s felt immeasurable pain, and one day you will see if he shares his past with you. As for Dmitri, he’s no innocent. Dmitri and Ivan have always been ene- mies, and the rift grows every day. If you value freedom and justice, stop caring what happens to Dmitri.”
City of Deception (The White City Series Book 1) Page 23
