Zoe Thanatos (32 page)

The woman sighed and then sat for a
moment in silence. Only the rhythmic beeping of the machines Zoe was hooked up
to made any sound. They were alone for the first time ever, The Heir and The
Usurper.

“I always doubted whether I had
truly killed the great Thea Thanatos. Even as I sat on the throne with the Crown
of Terra securely on my head I knew she was somewhere in the world, biding her
time. Of course, I never imagined she’d one day find you. You were the only
Thanatos child unaccounted for and I just assumed she or Zopyros had sent you
away to another world, never to be found again.” She sighed again, the sound
contemplative. “If only you knew how many Crown Soldiers I sent out into other
worlds to find you.”

“Of course, I had no real interest
in the Thanatos children at first. Your brother Zarek was easy enough to get
rid of. His age made it easy to change his name, construct a new identity and
export him to another world. I have it on good authority he’s lived his
generation quite comfortably in a family of mineral excavators in a nearby
world. You have to admit it was kind of me to spare his life so generously.
Then again, I’ve always had a soft spot for children. Your sister especially.
Even as a child she was fit to be Queen. Not that Thea would have ever ascended
her to the throne. I had hoped my own daughter would ascend after me, but the
disease she inherited from my husband’s side of the family took her as it had
him.”

She sniffled solemnly but did not
cry. Korina Straton never cried.

“It was easy. I’d already changed
the identity of one Thanatos child, why not a second? Zara was still young
enough to adapt to the change. It took a while for her to recognize the name as
her own, but she did, and eventually she
was
Kyra Straton. Imagine my
surprise to learn she had grown to love a Nero. Just like her mother before
her.”

Korina shuffled in her seat,
adjusting her position while crossing and uncrossing her legs.

“You may think there is a whole
life for you here, but there isn’t. If you had only stayed away in whatever
universe you were sent to, none of this would have happened. But that doesn’t
mean anything has to change. My nephew’s treason had provided me with an
opportunity to correct a mistake I’d made with your sister a long time ago. I
should have known all along she’d had her heart set on Evander, but my
motivation was political, and for that we’ve suffered. I won’t make the same
mistake again. My daughter is Queen, she’ll have the husband she always wanted,
and the King of Terra will, for the first time in our history, be a man worthy
of the title. You, on the other hand, don’t belong here.”

She stood. One-by-one the wires
plugged into the chamber that housed Zoe’s healing body were pulled out,
machines beeping incessantly at every absent power supply. As the last wire was
pulled the beeping stopped and was replaced by the sound of a flatline.

“It’s really too bad you went to
all the trouble to get here only to die.”

Evan sat alone in the common room
if his residence, deep in thought. Just outside the doors the Throne Room was
filling with Residents from Royal City and beyond, each invited guests of the
Crown to witness a historical occasion. The Queen would be addressing her
people, putting to rest the gossip and giving an official account of the latest
goings-on of the Crown. There hadn’t been such royal fanfare since Kyra’s
coronation and wedding ceremonies, and the announcement of her betrothal prior.
These occasions didn’t come around often, and when they did they were big.

At the end of the day he would be
in a different residence, with a different life all together.

A loud knock at the entryway
startled him from his thoughts. Without hesitation the doors opened and a line
of Crown Soldiers proceeded into the room. They were each in dress uniforms, with
Hector and Alcander bringing up the rear of the formation.

It may have been his imagination,
but he thought he saw them each bow their heads before him.

“Her Highness is waiting for you in
the Royal Residence. We will escort you to her now.”

He did as instructed, not taking a
second look around at the place he had called home for most of his life. In the
Throne Room a great partition had been built to create a barrier between the
entrances to the residences and the throne itself. He couldn’t see over the wall
but he could hear the sound of dozens of Residents talking excitedly amongst
themselves, all likely wondering what was happening on his side of the barrier
and behind closed doors.

The walk was short and soon he was
in the royal residence. The Queen’s ladies were in their usual purple gowns
with their hair piled high above their heads, running about making sure the
Queen had everything she wanted. As he was escorted through the room many of
the ladies side-eyed him, knowing smiles on their faces as they passed by him.
When they reached the doors of the Queen’s private residence the Soldiers
stopped, forming two parallel lines on either side of the entrance. Hector and
Alcander each took a door and opened them wide, waiting to close the door
behind him.

The Queen’s private room was much
quieter than the one that preceded it. There were no Crown Soldiers or any of
the Queen’s ladies. The Queen herself was nowhere to be seen. He didn’t know
what to do with himself.

“Evan, is that you?” she called
from an adjoining room. He knew the layout well enough to realize she was in
the powder room, likely dressing and putting on the finishing touches before
addressing the Residents.

“Yes,” he called back.

She emerged from the corner, a
brilliant sight in a floor length gown in a shade of green that reminded him
surprisingly of Gaia. The dress sparkled under the lights and her smile radiated
beautifully, lighting her face considerably. For a moment he was completely
lost in the sight of her, forgetting why he was there to begin with and
remembering the Kyra he had come to love in his own way. In that moment she
wasn’t the Queen, but the woman he had shared an intimacy with.

“I’ll take the look on your face as
a compliment,” she laughed. “Here, help me with this.” She handed him a
rectangular black box that was much heavier than it looked. She opened the lid
and smiled as she looked down into its contents. He peered over the lid and
into the box and saw two golden crowns, one for the Queen, and one that
belonged to the King. She picked up the first and held it up to him. “Would you
do me the honor?”

Evan set the box down on the bed
with great care before taking the delicate golden tiara from her hands. She
turned so her back was to him. Her hair was gently pulled back to the crown of
her head, elongating the form of her neck down into the bodice of the gown. He
lifted the crown up above her head and placed it back down gently so that it
rested on her head, the gold contrasting against the deep brown of her hair.

She turned around and smiled at
him. “What do you think?” she asked. She had never looked more beautiful.

“Her Highness is always beautiful,”
he said before dipping his head forward in a bow.

“That won’t be necessary,” she
said. She took his hand and led him to the bed, taking a seat beside him. They
had spent so much time there before in the privacy of her residence, especially
in the bed. It was difficult not to think of their shared times together when
she looked as beautiful as she did in that green dress.

“Look, I know everything has
changed for both of us. For everyone, really. I can’t imagine how disappointed
you feel knowing that Evadine went behind your back to aid Thea and Owyn.” She
squeezed his hand in her own. “I’m just as shocked as you are to learn of his
betrayal. We expect so much more from our families, and even more from the
people we love. That being said, I can’t deny how happy I am that you’ve
decided to stay in Terra.”

It wasn’t as if he had a choice.
With both Evadine and Zoe in Terra there was no reason for him to be anywhere
else. Kyra didn’t need to know that the woman he had told her about was the
very one lying in a chamber in a Reproduction Unit. Like Eva and Owyn said,
everyone had a part to play, and he was merely playing his.

“Evadine has always been like
family to me and while her transgression is not minor, I’m willing to overlook
it for the sake of our relationship.” She smiled as though she genuinely
believed what she was saying. Even if it were true, he knew that Evadine would
have balked at the suggestion. Still, it was difficult to tell with Kyra what
was real, and what was not. He had no doubt that her feelings for him were
real, but couldn’t help but wonder what his sister’s fate would be otherwise.

She continued. “Evan, you’ve always
been loyal and faithful to me. That’s more than Owyn could ever do. And I think
you know by now how I feel about you. How I’ve always felt about you. I love
you. You can’t begin to imagine how much light you brought into my life. I was lonely;
in a passionless marriage to a man I could barely stand. And then you changed
that.” It was the version of Kyra he loved the most. Not the Queen, but the
Woman. What could he say? 

“Evander Nero, you’re the man I
choose to be with. And if you’ll do me the honor of choosing me as well, I
would love nothing more than to make you my husband, and the King of Terra.”

Eva sat alone in a cell deep within
the Military Complex, wondering how long she’d been there. Dull light
illuminated from thin strips of glass in otherwise concrete walls. A blunt
headache in the back of her head was forming from the constant adjustments her
irises were forced to make. There was barely enough room to stand so she sat
with her legs folded, alternating sides to avoid the loss of blood flow to each
limb. It was difficult to remain hopeful in such bleak surroundings.

Had she heard Hector correctly? Did
he really find Zoe ‘nearly dead’ in the Forgotten Gardens? When Zopyros sent
her back to Royal City Zoe was fine. What happened in so little time that
rendered Zoe ‘nearly dead’? Could it have been some kind of trap? No, that
didn’t seem likely. No one apart from Thea and Owyn knew who Zoe was, and she
doubted anyone else would go to such elaborate lengths to incapacitate her.
What would happen to her now that she was in the custody of the Crown? Was that
part of the plan all along? The King only said Zoe would know what to do,
nothing else. Had Thea anticipated such a turn of events?

Poor Thea. She’d spent half a
generation planning for her lost daughter’s return and now it seemed as though
she wouldn't even get the chance to see her one last time. She couldn’t imagine
any scenario where Thea wouldn’t be put to death. From everything she witnessed
the Queen Mother would see to it that Thea was gone, and for good. She wasn’t
likely to fail a second time.

It didn’t seem right that the Queen
Mother could get away with her crimes. Her only real source of power was the Crown
Soldiers, her ‘paid thugs’ as Thea had aptly named them, and without them she
would never have managed to usurp the Crown from the Thanatos family. And to
think that the Residents of Terra just collectively accepted the new paradigm
of a royal army. From her observations of other words she knew that what set
Terra apart from them was its peaceful nature. One power hungry woman had
changed the entire history of their world just by militarizing it.

Zoe was the key to making
everything right again. As the rightful heir to the Crown of Terra she was the
best candidate to lead the charge. If she could rally the Residents into
action, to fall behind her and stand up for Terra, the new regime could
certainly be toppled. Terra was changed once; it could be changed again. They
just needed their champion.

Nearly dead
. She couldn’t
possibly have come all the way to Terra just to die. It had to be a part of the
plan. Zoe would wake up and be in a Reproduction Unit, undoubtedly surrounded
by Crown Soldiers. What then?

And what about Evan? By the looks
of things he was still in the good graces of the Queen and Queen Mother, and
that seemed to keep him safe. But with Owyn stripped of his title there was a
vacant seat on the throne, and Eva knew Kyra well enough to know that she
wouldn’t let it stay empty for long. Would Evan accept a proposal to be the
King? To be her
husband
? Could he make that sacrifice in spite of his
feelings for Zoe?

She heard a sound from outside the
cell. Was it her imagination or did it sound as though someone were approaching
the door? She locked her eyes on the solid steel door and strained her ears,
hoping to hear even the faintest ruffle of fabric. A soft succession of
footsteps grew in volume before stopping. Someone was just outside the door!
She drew her knees up to her chest and lifted her torso until she was sitting
on the balls of her feet. A clinking metal sound reverberated throughout the
small room before the door opened, light pouring in like a bright sun that
burned her eyes. By the time she adjusted a pair of hands was on her arms.

“What’s happening?” she asked as
she tried to recoup her senses.

“You’re being released,” a
gruff-voiced Crown Soldier replied.

“What do you mean?” She could
barely keep up with the tugging and pulling, her limbs aching from the sudden
increase of blood flow as she was forced into a standing position. Pins and
needles pricked at her feet with every step as she was guided from the room and
into the bright light.

“The Queen has ordered your
release,” the second Soldier replied.

The Queen
? But that could
only mean…
No,
she thought.
Evander what have you done?

“Zoe! Time to wake up, Little
Princess.”