Erson leaned heavily against her, but didn’t protest being guided through the curious onlookers.
They set him down into an overstuffed and comfortable chair. He continued to clutch the black bag to his chest.
Julie kneeled down when Trall hurried out.
“Erson? What did you do for me?” she asked gently. Was he talking about her abduction?
His brow creased and he shook his head as if trying to clear his mind. She rose and sat in the seat next to his and watched as he struggled to lift the strap of the bag over his head.
“If I give you this, will you love me, Julie?” He thrust the bag at her. She had no choice but to take it, or it would have dropped, and it was weighty.
She held it for a moment and shook her own head with a frown. “Gifts can’t buy people's affections, Erson. I’ve already forgiven you and your brother for what you did, so there’s no need for this.”
“No, no…I saw you…I knew you were special. I’m a fool not to have known…you love him.”
Julie sighed. “You found the Empress, Erson. You did what you were meant to do, and now I have a better life living here on Ario. So, don’t worry so much.”
“No!” he barked, startling her. He grabbed her upper arms, shaking her. “Wrong, it’s all wrong! That…that thing is not the Empress… This, you…open the bag!”
Julie swallowed, trying to hide her shaking hands. She pulled open the flap and reached into the bag.
Her fingers encountered a round, smooth object which made her fingers tingle. She gasped, yanking her hand back. What was it? She dove back in, curled her fingers around it and pulled it from the bag.
“By the Four Galaxies. Is that...?”
Trall returned and stood in the doorway.
“The Song Krystal, I stole it…” Erson dropped his head into his hands. “For you, Julie. He promised you would love me if I did it. He promised me I could have you, but I knew, when I saw you with the Emperor…you would never love me.”
“Then, what is in the Palace, if this is the real Song Krystal?”
“He made me swap it with a fake. It only shines for that…that…thing.”
“Who is he? And who is about to marry the Emperor?” Trall closed the door and moved into the room.
“Lord Ractor of the Shadow Realm. He promised me…me…well, you.” He grabbed Julie’s hand, a wounded puppy dog look in his unfocused blue eyes.
Julie pursed her lips, yanking back her hand, feeling nothing, but disgust and anger roiling through her, realizing he was the cause for her pain and the humiliation she suffered.
Trall drew in a deep breath, letting it out slowly. “This is not good, if a fake Krystal is in the Palace and a false nightingale sings. The barrier between the Shadow Realm and our Realm of Light will be torn apart and the last war between the shadow and light lasted a thousand years. It nearly destroyed everything until the Krystal was found and the very first nightingale sang. How could you be so stupid as to jeopardize our peace, our very existence?”
“For love?”
“No, this was for your own selfish gain.” The barely restrained anger in Trall’s voice was clear. He took a menacing step toward Erson, his four fists clenching and unclenching as if he wanted to hit the Flaxian.
Julie’s head spun and she struggled to make sense of it all. “So, we have to get this back to the palace.”
“More than that, Julie, not only do we need to get it to the palace, but we also need the nightingale. Without her, our world is lost. Sing!”
She glanced sharply at Trall “After all this, you, you can’t still think I’m the—”
“Sing, Julie! I believe Orin has been right all along. Sing and prove you are what he believed.”
She swallowed and drew in a breath, letting the words and music come from her heart.
Many nights we prayed, with no proof anyone could hear…
In our hearts a hopeful song we barely understood…
Now we are not afraid, although we know there’s much to fear…
We were moving mountains long before we knew we could.
There can be miracles, when you believe, though hope is frail it’s hard to kill.
Who knows what miracles you can achieve when you believe.
Somehow you will… You will when you believe…
In her hands, the Krystal glowed brighter and brighter. Her voice trailed off and it still glowed. She stared at it with disbelief, her heart pounding loudly in her ears. The realization hit her with the force of a falling meteor.
I really am the nightingale! Orin was right all along.
Trall sighed heavily, his gaze on Julie. “You know what this means?”
Excitement, dread and a few other mixed emotions made her feel light-headed, remembering her harsh words to Orin in the alley.
“Julie is the Emperor’s new Nightingale…” Erson whined, his face drooping in self-pity.
“More so, I’m no longer going to be a song bird and tavern girl.”
Julie bolted to her feet with a renewed sense of purpose. “We have to get this to the palace and stop the wedding.”
Mik burst into the room. “Trall, we’ve…holy mother! Is this the Song Krystal?”
“Mik, take care of the tavern, and keep this idiot here.” He pointed to Erson, who now slumped sideways on the seat.
“Julie, put the Krystal into the bag. We’ve got no time to lose.”
* * * *
Duty felt more like the weight of the universe on his shoulders. What should have been a time of joy and celebration felt more like a funeral—his. The blow Julie rendered with her flat rejection of him refused to heal. Thanks to the gaping hole in his heart, empty bitter feelings took residence. Two days, he spent in solitude, refusing even Drango for company. Only when the servants came to prepare him for the ceremony did he let anyone near him.
It was time to take his place by the Krystal altar, where they would be joined for the rest of their lives. Orin swallowed down the bile he felt rising at the thought of touching the woman he would wed. Why did his father never tell him it would be a possibility he could be revolted by his bride?
He glanced at Drango as he exited his chambers dressed in his silver and blue wedding robes. Drango’s blue face scrunched in a worried frown. “Did you find anything of interest?” he asked with a glimmer of hope.
Drango shook his head. “I could find nothing, no background at all. It is almost as if she doesn’t really exist.”
“If she doesn’t exist, then why did she make the Krystal shine?”
“I’m sorry, your Majesty.”
Orin clapped his hand on his friend’s shoulder. “No. Thank you for doing what you could. The rest is up to me now, to make the best of this…situation.”
How he would do this, Orin didn’t have any clue. For a ruler and a commander, for the first time in his life, he never felt so hopeless or lost. His future looked bleak without his heart and his heart would always be with the soft, brown-eyed Earthling.
He closed his eyes, drew in a deep breath, but all he saw was her face, the memory of her sweet scent, so clear in his senses.
“Your Majesty, everything is ready. They await your arrival.”
Orin glanced up to see Cular, who was officiating the wedding, along with the other councilors waiting to escort him, like guards to his execution. He nodded and followed along behind them. Drango and the formation of Verkin guards took position at his back and they walked the palace corridors.
Excited chatter rose when they entered the grand hall; Orin moved forward to take his place at the center of the dais by the Krystal Altar to await his future bride.
Drango moved off as the officials took their places. Melodic music filled the hall; the crowd settled when the main, double doors lined with gold and shining prelenium swung open wide. Matika, followed by ten attendants, strode through.
Her white and gold dress clung to her body. Some would think she is beautiful, her dark eyes shade
d with smoky, glittery, grey powder as if trying to give herself a seductive look. To him, it only made her look sinister. Orin kept himself rigid, so he wouldn’t shudder with the thought of having to touch her intimately.
She held her chin high and proud while she walked the distance, and then climbed the steps to stand by his side. She smiled at him and Orin looked away, instead focusing on Cular, who came to stand before them ready to start the ceremony.
From the corner of his eye, he noticed Drango lift his Nikcom 800, talk into it and listen. Then, Drango motioned to two of his guards. Orin’s tension mounted when Drango briefly glanced in his direction before racing out of the side door of the main chamber.
What was going on?
“Peace to peace and song to song, with the joining of the Nightingale to each Emperor, the darkness will forever be held back.” Cular nodded. “The Song Krystal and all those present will now bear witness to the holy joining of this couple.”
Cular turned to Orin first. “Do you, Orin, Emperor of Ario and the Four Galaxies of Harmony, take your nightingale to be your wife and Empress? Do you swear to treasure, protect and love her until the time of your last breath?”
No! His soul screamed. He paused longer than necessary, struggling to bring himself to say the words. They are just words, they mean nothing.
He cleared his throat. “I, Emperor of Ario and the Four Galaxies of Harmony, swear to take my nightingale…”
“Stop the wedding!” bellowed a loud voice.
Orin froze and gasps of shock rang throughout the hall. Everyone’s gaze turned to Trall, racing into the great hall from the side entrance, followed closely by Julie and Drango.
“That thing is not the true nightingale!” Julie darted around the men, coming to a stop just before the Song Krystal altar.
He never saw a more beautiful sight as Julie, her cheeks flushed from running, her chest heaving and her hazel eyes sparkling.
“Your Majesty, you have been tricked.”
“Tricked?” Confusion filled him. “How can this be so? What’s going on?” His gaze swung to Drango.
“Hear them out.”
“She lies! Shut your mouth, little tavern rat! How dare you interrupt. Arrest her!” Matika snapped, anger blazing in her gaze.
Julie’s fierce glare rounded on Matika, “Give it up, I know your game and it’s not going to work. I have proof they…” She pointed at Matika. “…switched the real Song Krystal for a fake one, so it would only glow for her.” Julie held up a bag.
Matika screamed and launched herself at Julie. Orin moved quickly, grabbing the woman around the waist before she reached Julie, hauling her back. She turned on him and he felt the malice pouring off her body in waves. He took hold of her wrists before she scratched out his eyes.
“Show me this proof, Julie, quickly.”
From the bag, she pulled out a glittering Krystal. Nearly everyone in the room saw it, and gasped in astonishment.
Trall stepped forward. “Erson Weston switched it when it was taken to their home to test the human women. Erson came into the tavern drunk and confessed his part. It seems the Shadow Lord has been pulling a few strings to stop the real nightingale from being known and to have the Song Krystal destroyed.”
Drango voiced the question they were all thinking. “They look identical. How do you know which is the real Song Krystal?” “That is a fake!” Matika hissed. “My Lord, please—I am your true nightingale, not this piece of trash.”
Disgusted and angered at her words, Orin shoved the woman at his officials. “I knew there was something wrong with this female. She is an agent of the Shadow Lord—I felt the darkness.”
“It lies. The Earthling lies! She holds the fake Krystal!” shrieked Matika.
“Your instincts as to who was your nightingale were right all along, your Majesty.” Trall spoke softly. “Go ahead and sing Julie, show him.”
Julie cradled the Krystal like holding a precious infant. Orin's chest swelled with new hope it was true they were all fooled by the dark forces at work. Julie's smile was one of utter adoration when she met his gaze.
‘Hold me, touch me, let the love come rushing through me.
I’m yours with every breath I take, forever and ever.
Hold on to love, 'cause deep down that’s what we’re made of,
Never let go for my heart's sake…
'Cause my heart belongs to you…”
The Krystal in her hands glowed brighter than the one on the dais Matika made shine. The pure light called to him, just as the woman holding it did.
“Julie…” Her name became a reverent prayer on his lips, all his pain swept away, replaced with the fullness of the love coming from her words and heart.
She did love him! He stepped towards her. The need to touch her, pull her into his arms and kiss her was so powerful he didn’t how he refrained from doing it.
Cular stepped forward. “Your Majesty, how can we be sure which is the real one?”
“I know, I can feel it, this—” he gestured towards Julie, “—is the true Krystal.”
A dark anger curled in his gut when he now realized how he and his court were played for fools. A cry of pain rent the air and Orin swung around to see both his councilors stumble, blood soaking their chests. Makita somehow produced a blade and stabbed both men.
In a blur of movement, she raced towards Julie, her eyes wide. Matika struck her across the face with the back of the blade before anyone could intercept her. Julie crumbled to the floor and Matika snatched the Krystal from her hands before she fell with it.
A dark fury raced through Orin faster than the speed of light. He launched himself at the piece of vile evil, determined to end her life for daring to harm his Julie.
Before he reached her, she threw the Krystal to the ground, shattering it into a million pieces, and threw back her head. Oran landed on his feet, knocking the dagger from her hand and wrapping his hand around her throat.
“You’re too late!” she wheezed, her eyes changing to a blood red. “My master comes.” She cackled a blood-chilling laugh.
Cries of distress echoed through the great hall, and the ground rumbled, a darkness fell over the palace.
Trall rushed to Julie’s side when Drango moved to pull Matika out of Orin's hands. She didn’t fight; Drango quickly cuffed her. More guards raced forward.
“The barriers are broken!” Cular cried as Orin dropped to his knees beside Julie and Trall. Unable to stop himself, he brushed back her hair.
“Is she all right?” There was a nasty cut on her forehead.
“She breathes and will be fine.”
The ground rumbled again and a dark mist spiraled and formed in the center of the room. People shrieked and scrambled in panic seeing the armies of darkness pour into the room.
“The Shadow Lord comes! We are lost without the true Krystal!”
Orin ignored the fear in Cular’s cry, meeting Trall’s own angry gaze at the way Julie was hurt.
“I charge my Empress into your hands. Get her to a healer and guard her with your life.” Trall nodded, gathering Julie into his four arms and lifting her, carrying her from the hall.
It was time for him to do what he was born to do—lead his people. The Song Krystal may have been destroyed, but he had a strong army.
“We are not lost Cular, not while I rule my galaxies. I am Emperor and protector of my people.”
Drango handed him a sword and a miniaturized pulse cannon. “The men are assembling as we speak,” he whispered to Orin and stood by his side. Orin nodded seeing more palace guards flood into the hall and the people rush out in a mad panic.
Orin turned and faced the masses assembling. If they wanted a war, a war they would get.
A tall, dark man in a black robe came through in the middle of the army flowing into the palace. Orin instantly knew who this was, by his glowing, red eyes, and the way he tilted his angular head, meeting Orin’s gaze. Even from this distance, Orin felt the power ema
nating from the creature.
Ractor, Lord of the Shadow Realms. All he needed to do was cut off the head of the serpent, and the rest would die also.
“It’s so nice to be back.” The Shadow Lord’s smile could have made the bravest of warriors shudder in fear, but Orin wouldn’t be intimidated, He would never cower in fear.
Orin stood firm, walking around to the first step and facing the assembling mass without fear. He glared at Ractor. “I give you this one chance to leave now, Ractor, or face the consequences.”
“I think not. Your kingdom is weak, you don’t have the Krystal and this realm is now mine for the taking.” Ractor strode confidently forward, his minions parting before their master.
“Not while I draw breath will you ever take my kingdoms.”
“Well then, we can’t have you continuing to breathe then, can we?” Ractor gestured to his army, his sinister smile turning deadly. “Kill them all and bring me the head of the Emperor!”
Chapter Fourteen
Throbbing pain and the pounding in her head made Julie groan. She felt weightless, yet secure at the same time.
“Julie, are you all right?”
That was…Trall’s voice. She forced her eyes open and struggled to focus, only to realize Trall was carrying her against his muscular chest. What happened? Why did she feel like an anvil was dropped on her head?
It suddenly played back over in her mind like a bad horror movie. The fake nightingale hit her.
“Easy, you’ve had a nasty knock to the head. Orin ordered me to take you to the healer and protect you.”
“What happened?” She glanced around to see people scurrying about with a look of fear on their faces. Soldiers whooshed past at a dead run, large alien weapons strapped to their belts.
“Matika destroyed the real Krystal. It ripped a hole between our realm and the Shadow Realm, and then the Shadow Lord came through and the grand hall is now a battle zone.”
“What? But where’s Orin?”
“Still in the hall, leading his army.”
Breath seized in her chest. He was going to fight with the army. “No!” She struggled in Trall’s arms. “Put me down. I have to go to him, I have to help him.”
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