Beginning's End

by M. Dalto

  That was until she turned the corner to the hallway that led to her bedroom, to find Reylor pacing before her door, hugging the shadows.

  “What are you doing here?” she hissed in a low whisper as she hurriedly approached.

  The sound of her voice instantly stopped him and he turned to face her.

  “Alex, I’m sorry...I—” Reylor stopped and looked at her hands. “What’s that?”

  She almost forgot the map. With a growl she looked up and down the hallway to be certain no one was watching before she pushed him through the door to her room, locking it behind her.

  “This isn’t the time, Reylor,” she murmured as she walked past him, avoiding his red stare. She placed the papers on her small sitting table before gathering her night clothes from the armoire.

  “I know,” he confessed, his gaze drifting between the discarded paper and the Empress, “but we are leaving tomorrow and if I didn’t get the chance to say goodbye now—”

  “Don’t talk like that,” she snapped.

  He looked at her and sighed, running his hands through his loose blond hair that looked darker in the dim light. “I know. I know I shouldn’t, but we are going in blind.”

  “Not entirely,” she corrected, pointing to the rolled-up parchment on the table.

  Picking it up and looking it over, Reylor turned to her. “Crystal gave this to you?”

  Alex nodded as she began removing her shirt. She was weary and tired and didn’t care that he was there. He had seen enough of her body at this point, and she wanted to go to bed. “Does it look correct?”

  “It is hard to tell—it has been awhile since I have been there, but the layout of the castle is as I remember it, and the guard rotation is what I would expect...”

  “Do you think you can use it?” she asked, hopeful. Any bit she could contribute was something.

  “I do,” he said as he looked up to her. “Thank you.”

  The words made Alex’s cheeks flush in the candlelight, but she nodded.

  “Do you think Crystal can be trusted?” Reylor asked quietly as he returned his gaze to the paper.

  “I don’t know,” she said honestly. “Were you able to contact Lexan?”

  “No,” he said with a sigh. “Not since my last attempt. I am uncertain if something has happened, or if he is avoiding me.”

  She slipped on her nightgown. “What if Crystal is right about everything and is telling the truth—what if Lexan did what she is claiming?”

  “Then I raised him much more poorly than I thought.”

  She looked to him as she removed her pants and tossed them aside. “I don’t want him harmed, Reylor.”

  “Neither do I, but I can only do so much.”

  “I don’t think Sarayna will allow anything to happen to him, despite everything else.”

  “Let’s hope,” he huffed as he lay back in the chair, his eyes returning to hers, though she noticed his casual glance of her nighttime attire. “Will you be alright here?”

  “You mean without you, Treyan, or anyone but Jamison to protect me?” She smirked as she took the chair across from him.

  Reylor almost seemed to cringe. “I meant alone. With her, but now that you mention it...”

  “Jamison will be here. I will be fine.”

  He held her gaze a moment longer before asking, “Have you seen him?”

  At that Alex dropped her eyes to the hand drawn map on the table, not needing to ask whom he was referring to. “He was with Crystal before I saw her, and in the gardens the other night when I went for a walk but...he’s not happy.”

  “It seems that is a common theme lately,” he muttered.

  “If you’re asking whether or not he’s visited me in my bedroom, the answer is no.” She felt almost defensive, as if she needed to defend her own honor.

  “If he did?” he inquired carefully.

  She thought for a moment before answering. “When you both return, we will figure this out. Perhaps there is a way—”

  “Alex,” he groaned, knowing where her train of thought was heading.

  “If your mother was able to do so—”

  “Look at how that turned out!”

  “Would you prefer I just tell you no, Reylor?” she asked quietly, though she felt a piece of her heart break at that thought. “With Treyan alive, he has a say in this now. I can’t just...”

  “Can’t what, Alex?” Reylor coaxed.

  “Leave. Crystal wants me to leave with her—to return to the Otherrealm,” she informed him softly.

  That had him sitting straight in the chair as he turned to fully face her. “Will you?”

  Alex didn’t have an answer for him.

  “Alex,” he whispered as he stood and approached her chair. “You would leave? Now? After everything that’s happened. After everything you’ve been through?”

  She felt tears begin to sting her eyes as she lifted her chin to meet his ruby red gaze. “Perhaps it’s everything I’ve been through that would make me want to leave in the first place.”

  The pain cut across his features, and she felt a tear escape down her cheek. “You’d leave all of us behind? Your own children?”

  “You?” she added before he could get the words out.

  “If I may be so selfish, yes.”

  “There is no need for me here in the Empire. I don't need to be here anymore, Reylor. With Jared coronated, it’s time for him and Sarayna to step up and begin ruling. I’m a hindrance, I’ll be in the way.”

  “Where is this coming from?” he gasped.

  She just shook her head because she didn’t have a reason. At first, she felt at a loss when Treyan was gone, but Reylor brought her out of that. Now, with Treyan back, and Crystal’s arrival, with Jared coronated and Sarayna ready to take her place…even with Saratanya along the sidelines, why was Alex truly needed?

  “Promise me one thing,” Reylor said as he broke into her thoughts.

  She raised her eyes and let out a hoarse, “what?”

  “Wait until we return.” The Empress could hear the plea in his voice. “Let us retrieve the Annals and come back. We’ll talk and see where that leads us, but please...don’t leave before I can truly say goodbye.”

  “We already said we weren’t going to do that.”

  He let a small smile grace his lips. “Promise me, please.”

  At those words, she nodded. “I promise.” Alex didn’t know what she wanted to do, but she would allow them to complete this task, and then they would have the chance to talk. Perhaps later one of them could convince her, or maybe she was right that she needed to leave and let the rest of them carry on.

  It seemed a better alternative than breaking one, or both, of their hearts.

  “Thank you,” he breathed, and leaned in to place a kiss on her forehead, right upon her Mark, often forgotten yet never gone. He hesitated as if he was going to make a comment but instead returned his attention to her. “Will you see us off in the morning?”

  “Of course I will,” she whispered.

  “Good.” He smiled slightly. Reylor’s eyes again drifted to the map on the table. “May I?”

  “Please...”

  He grabbed the parchment and rolled it between his hand before he stepped back to give her a small yet ceremonial bow. “Sleep well, Queen Empress.”

  “Good night, Lord Steward.”

  His smile curled into a smirk and Alex noticed the gleam in his eye, but he left her room without another word.

  Alex watched him leave, watched the door click shut behind him, and wondered if she would ever be able to leave him behind.

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Morning came much sooner than Alex would have preferred, but she was up at the dawn’s first light, assisting in the final preparations with the rest of them. None of them looked any better rested.

  Treyan and Jamison stood by Treyan’s horse, the Crown Prince undoubtedly giving the Captain final instructions. Sarayna and Jared stood by Saratanya, thei
r horses saddled and packed as they walked them towards the stable’s exit. Reylor was already mounted and waited for the rest outside. From where Alex stood, she swore he was still reviewing the hand drawn map she had given him the night before.

  It was her daughter that had caught her attention, however. She needed to speak to Sarayna before they left. There was too much left unsaid between them, and it couldn’t wait until they returned—it would eat her alive inside.

  The Empress strode to where they were making their exit, calling out to her daughter when she was certain she would be able to hear her.

  Not only did Sara look up at Alex’s arrival, but so too did Jared and Saratanya, both with equal confusion upon their faces.

  “Can we talk?” Alex asked her daughter, ignoring the questioning looks from the others.

  Sara assessed her mother, but then handed her reins to Jared before nodding to the stable exit. “We don’t have much time,” she informed her unnecessarily. As if Alex was unaware of what was happening around them, but with a nod of both greeting and apology to Jared and Tanya, she followed her daughter and led her from the stables towards the gardens that ran alongside them, avoiding Reylor altogether.

  The morning was cool, and Alex was not dressed for it, clad only in a thin linen shirt and leggings, and wrapped her arms around herself against the chill. Sara, ready in her riding leathers, walked beside her as if nothing bothered her.

  For a moment Alex had to wonder if anything did.

  “What did you want to talk about?” Sara asked once they were deep in the gardens, far enough away from the palace and stables to keep anyone from listening to their conversation.

  “I wanted to say good luck.”

  “We needed to come out here for you to say that?”

  “No,” Alex admitted, “but I wanted to make sure we had the chance to talk before you left.”

  “We had all of the last week to talk,” Sara reminded her.

  Alex let loose a sigh, trying to keep her temper. “Will you at least have the decency to tell me why you didn’t let me know your father was alive?”

  Instead of looking at her mother, Sarayna watched the rising suns upon the horizon. “Reylor should have told you.”

  “I’m not talking to Reylor right now—I’m talking to you.”

  “I wanted you to hurt,” she hissed as she turned to face her. “I wanted you to feel the pain that I knew my father was going to feel when he returned, only to find that you had already forgotten him.”

  “I never forgot him, Sarayna,” Alex informed her daughter with almost as much venom. “Not a day went by that I didn’t think of him.”

  Sarayna snorted at that. “Could have fooled me.”

  “He was dead! I watched him die—in my own arms! I knew no better.”

  “You’re right—you didn’t.”

  “You didn’t know either! You didn’t bother to ask when you returned! You just assumed, and you went ahead and concocted this ridiculous plan and instead of hurting just me, you’ve destroyed all three of us”

  “So fix it,” Sara snapped. “You made this mess.”

  “Did I?” Alex challenged.

  Sarayna glared. “If you’re looking to place the blame elsewhere, don’t look at me...”

  “No, but you can right your wrongdoings. Take this time away and think about it. Try to find peace.”

  “Me?” Sara asked incredulously. “I’m not the one fucking the brother of my dead husband.”

  Alex didn’t flinch but the rage began to build in her dark eyes. “We are going to set something straight. I am still your mother. You are still my daughter. Treyan is your father, Reylor your uncle and Lexan your brother.”

  Sarayna folded her arms and allowed her mother to continue.

  “I love your father. I love your uncle. I love your brother. And I love you.” Her voice wavered but she continued. “I don’t want anything to happen to any of you, but I need your help.”

  “What do you mean?” Sara asked carefully.

  “I need all of you to come back to me,” she confessed softly.

  Sarayna furrowed her brows in question.

  “I don’t know who’s going to try to be adventurous, or stupid, or the martyr, but I want you all to come home. I don’t care about the reasons; I don’t care about the situation—get that damn book and come home.”

  “What about Lexan?”

  “I don’t want him to be harmed, Sara.”

  “But...”

  “I know. His actions were not appropriate, especially if what happened to Crystal was truly by his hand but...if there’s any way of saving him, we’re going to have to be the ones to do it.”

  “Who would want to cause him harm?”

  Alex shook her head. “Treyan is unpredictable lately, and I don’t know how Jared would feel if he discovered what Lexan tried to do. Does he know?”

  A flush crossed her daughter’s cheeks and she shook her head.

  “I know—for certain—that Reylor will not cause him harm...and for that reason, I need you to work with him. Get him out of there alive, Sara...and when you return, we will figure the rest out.”

  For a moment Alex thought she would argue with her, but her daughter nodded. “When we return,” she echoed.

  “Thank you, Sarayna,” Alex breathed, and wrapped her daughter into an unexpected hug.

  About as unexpected as the hug Sara gave her mother in return.

  She didn’t know how long they embraced until Jared called from the distance.

  “It’s time to go,” he announced, though the tone of his voice made it evident he felt guilty for interrupting the moment between mother and daughter.

  Sarayna, however, quickly released her mother and nodded to her intended. “We’ll be there in a moment.”

  Alex heard the sound of boots on gravel while Jared walked away, but she kept her eyes on her daughter. “Be careful, Sara,” she whispered.

  “Always.” She smiled at her reassuringly and began walking along the path leaving the gardens.

  Alex watched her daughter—her grown daughter—walk away from her, and she tried not to think that it could be the last time she saw her. Shaking her head clear of the thought, she followed her daughter slowly, taking a deep breath as she too emerged from the gardens.

  Jared was just getting up on his horse as Jamison held the reins out for Sara. Saratanya was speaking quietly with Reylor, but it was Treyan who approached Alex, appearing ever the Crown Prince upon his mighty steed.

  She looked up to him, running a gentle hand along his horse’s neck. “Ride well, Crown Prince.”

  “Protect the Empire, Queen Empress,” he responded formally.

  She flicked her gaze up to him. “You all return, you hear me?”

  “All who matter,” he replied.

  “Treyan—”

  “Our mission is to retrieve the Annals, Alex—at whatever cost.”

  “Retrieve the Annals then, but then you leave. You come back.”

  His blue eyes merely looked to her, but he said no more as he clicked his horse into a gallop and began his trot along the path that led to the main road away from the palace. Sarayna and Jared followed, with Saratanya behind them. It was Reylor who lingered, holding up the rear, giving her one final glance and a nod before following the rest of the party.

  Jamison took up his position next to her, silent as they watched them ride away and over the horizon.

  “They’ll come back,” he assured her. Ever the optimist.

  “They’ll have to,” she whispered. “Or we’re all fucked.”

  She gave Jamison a knowing glance before she turned on her heel to return to the palace to begin her first day of running the Empire all by herself.

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  The party moved slowly through the lands of the Empire. They had agreed that the best way for their large group to travel with minimal detection would be to stay as quiet as possible for as long as possible so they kept t
heir horses at a slow canter, or walked them when they couldn’t. They kept off the main roads to avoid detection, but it was going to take them double the time.

  Sara hated it.

  She just wanted to talk to somebody, it didn’t matter who. It could have been Reylor for all she cared. Just someone she could use to distract herself from the constant plaguing thoughts in her own mind.

  The last time she had been to the Borderlands, her brother tried to take her by force and she watched her father die. Sarayna was in no rush to get there anytime soon.

  Reylor and Treyan both decided, though curtly, that they would take at least two days to reach the cabin on the outskirts of the Empire. Using the wooded forest and outcroppings around them, they would avoid the villages and towns as best as they could, stopping only on the rare occasion if they ran out of supplies. Otherwise, they would keep to themselves.

  Treyan wasn’t leaving anything to chance, and Reylor seemed to be in agreement with his decisions.

  Sarayna didn’t know if that should concern her or ease her nerves.

  As they traveled, she observed.

  Treyan and Reylor rode side by side ahead of her and Jared, with Saratanya holding up the rear. The brothers in front of her couldn’t have been more different, both in appearance and how they carried themselves upon their horses. How her mother couldn’t make up her mind still boggled her. Treyan was the father of her children, was he not? Treyan never harmed or threatened her, Treyan never deceived her, and yet, the Queen Empress was still uncertain as to who she wanted to spend the rest of her days?

  Sara just didn’t understand.

  The thought drew her attention to her own intended at her side. For someone who had never ridden a horse before, Jared was doing incredibly well. Of course, Sarayna hadn’t ridden a horse until she arrived in the Empire. She wondered if it was something genetic, or carried in the blood of the Empireborn. Or perhaps it was the magic of the Prophecy that allowed them all to sit astride their horses without fearing they were going to break their necks.