The Two Kings (Afterlife Saga) (130 page)

After Libby had come to say goodnight along with Hilary, which was still hard to get used to but nice, I decided to call it a night and hope for better things to come tomorrow. I even smiled at the thought of waking up to Draven by my bedside. It was a long shot, I grant you
,
but not an impossible dream. I plaited my hair so it hung like a rope down my back and got dressed into some light, grey pyjama bottoms and a vest top to match. After brushing my teeth and washing my face, I put my painting against the wall to dry after laying down an old towel so as not to get paint on the carpeted floor.

Once in bed, my mind started to drift quickly into a world of Draven Dreams. I found myself in the past looking in on the Draven of a different time. He wasn’t wearing clothes as such, more like layers of cloth draped over his impressive shoulders, with a solid brass coloured, breast plate covering his chest. This then tied at the waist with leather wound round and round, all of which held symbols in some kind of metal. There
,
by his thigh
,
hung a huge sword almost the length of his leg and his wrists were cuffed with thick, studded leather, one arm bound in strapping right up and over his bicep. His hair was longer but tied back with black cord giving him a harsher appearance. He looked like a brutal warrior stood upon the base of a throne made of carved stone. He had his arms crossed over his chest making his muscles bulge and the leather stretch f
urther to accommodate them. Damn
, he looked so powerful I almost cowered away.

I looked about the room and saw I was in some sort of throne room. It reminded me of the Temple but it was longer, like a great hall. Stone pillars the width of thousand year old trees, spread evenly down the room. The ornate ceiling loomed miles above me making m
e feel like an insect fallen in
to a pit of snakes. My eyes scanned my situation and thankfully I realised no one could see me. I was cloaked head to toe and hidden in a dark alcove away from all the people in the room, which were centred around Draven. He had never looked more like a King than at this moment.                      

“Let him come forth!” Draven’s deep voice boomed out the command making everyone in the room twitch with fear.

“Yes my Lord
,” s
aid a servant that bowed deeply before him. I arched my neck to see around the people that hid my view of the great doors at the end. They were the size of a two stor
e
y building and were made from dark mahogany. Great golden bars crossed over each other that l
ooked to be a locking mechanism
. The servant walked back towards them and slowly they began to open flooding the room with a blinding light. I was the only one now squinting my eyes which made me wonder if I was the only human here. At some point I was losing the knowledge of this being an actual dream. It felt too real. I could even smell the sandstone floor, feel the sweat beading down my forehead and taste the salt in the air. It felt like I was near the sea and I had the greatest urge to run for the doors and find out. But then a dark, tall figure emerged in the opening, casting the longest shadow along the floor and that urge quickly turned into finding out who this man was. The light was too bright behind him to make out any features yet
,
so like everyone else I had to wait.

He walked head held high as though he was on the same level as Draven and when the King spoke I knew he was likely so.

“My friend, I welcome you. I was told of your coming and hope our alliance will fortify through the centuries.” Draven said looking pleased at the sight coming closer to his throne. 

“That is a likely prospect indeed
,
my King. You have my loyalty as I am sure I will gain yours
,
”
s
aid a voice that I was sur
e
ly mistaking. It couldn’t be...could it? He got closer now and his long, hooded cloak floated around him like black liquid. I had started to move through the crowd and
gave up all chances at being un
seen. I
,
and the figure before Draven
,
were the only ones who had their hoods concealing their identities and I wondered who would be the first to reveal themselves. I just didn’t care now, as I pushed past bodies in my way getting to the front of the crowd. Murmurs and frowns left behind me in my wake as finally I came to the front and saw just how close I was to both the men that stood facing each other. I made it there just in time to see the hooded figure raise the cloth from over his head. The man’s face
was
now in full view
and
I couldn’t help the scream that erupted from deep inside of me. It was a noise of sheer terror that echoed off the great walls and amplified it tenfold.

“NO!” I screamed out as I saw both Draven and Lucius turn to source the outburst in the crowd. I was very aware of the people around me moving back so as not to be associated with me. Draven looked furious as he stormed over to me shouting a command I didn’t understand. It didn’t take long to guess what it had been when I was seized by both arms. I looked to my sides and found two huge guards dressed in thick armour holding me secure.

“How dare anyone display such insolence in my presence!” He shouted in my direction and at that moment I wondered if the theory was true, if you die in your dream do you really die in real life? Was this the end, was I going to die at the hands of the man I loved before he even knew me? My heart beat wildly in my chest, I thought it might hit the floor before he reached me. I started to struggle in a feeble attempt to free myself but the pain that shot through my arms quickly put a stop to that motion.

Draven was at me in seconds and now looking down at me as an enemy not as a lover, his size seemed twice as big. He looked ready to crush me and one of his hands was at the hilt of his sword ready to unleash it. By this I was shaking with fear. His face was more tanned than I was used to and he wore a lot more facial hair covering his flexing jaw and tight mouth with a black shadow. His deep set eyes were onyx black, edged with their powerful purple ring. His eyebrows knitted together in a frown I was very used to, making him look as hard as granite. I gulped down a hard lump when he spoke again.

“Show yourself!” I jumped slightly when his face shot forward only inches from mine. He was trying to see underneath my hood that covered my face down to my lips but got frustrated
,
so without a further thought my hood was ripped back and my identity was revealed. This time it was Draven’s turn to jump slightly and he took a few steps back.

“It can’t be! Impossible!” He said
,
almost panicked. I looked up slowly watching my own eyelashes lift as I met his eyes. He looked like I had struck his heart with a knife and took a step forward to plunge it in further.

“What matter of power is this?
” He demanded to the room as if waiting for someone to own up to the prank. I tried to move once more
,
hoping to run away and wake up with
my neck still in one piece, while
Draven was turning to scan the room for answers. The guards gripped my arms tighter and when I let out a yelp in protest, Draven turned back his attention to me shouting once more.

“Let her go and don’t ever touch her again!” He ordered his guards
,
who didn’t need telling twice. The
y
dropped their hold and stepped back like the others in the room.

“Do you speak?” His question was abrupt and rude but I wasn’t about to argue on etiquette. I didn’t know what to say or if to say anything at all. Maybe playing dumb was the best course of action, although I’m not sure Draven was going to accept this.

“Let me put it another way for you little one, if you refuse to speak then there are other means to loosen one
’
s tongue, so I will ask
only once more...Do you speak?
” He had lent his head down so his words only entered my ears and it was enough to make me respond. I nodded five time
s
in quick succession which brought a scary amusement to his lips.

“Good, now you will answer my questions. Who are you?”

“I...I am...” I was just about to say my name when Lucius interrupted us.

“My Lord, might you let me deal with this one, I believe she has been spying in on a time which is not her own
.
” The sight of him made me move backwards. He now stood next to Draven and the diffe
rences in the two were like Yin
and Yang. Draven was the bigger out of the two but not by much. Lucius looked as I would have imagined him to look as the person he was first known as...He looked like Judas. His hair was much longer with a full beard that was the colour of straw blonde, highlighted streaks made by the sun. His eyes knew me and I shuddered as they burned into me.

“You know of this girl?
” Draven asked as he ignored my
moving slowly further back.

“I have foreseen this one and she will cause you great pain my Lord, you must have her destroyed
.
” His words penetrated me like electricity. I came alive with hate filling my veins and flooding my senses.

“He Lies! You cannot trust him, he will betray you Draven! He wants me to hurt you and he will kill me in order to achieve it!” I shouted out making Lucius hiss and Draven growl.

“And how exactly will killing you hurt me...unless Lucius
,
you know something I do not?” He turned to look Lucius in the face and was met by a dark grin. I decided then to risk everything and say the only words I knew he might listen too.

“If you kill me like he wants you too, you will be killing someone, who
m
you yourself has named to be Electus
.
” I said the word meaning “Chosen”
in Latin hoping it would still have
meaning in this time. Draven’s gaze left Lucius to stare at me like I had said the words he longed for.

“Then
it
is true, my time is now and I shall finally have her!” Draven reached out to grab me but the arm he touched started to simply fade away. The most painful sight was watching the horror on Draven’s desperate face as he realised what was happening. Lucius placed a hand on Draven’s outstretched arm and spoke too softly for a Demon from the pits of Hell. 

“No my friend, I am afraid the time is not now. The time has come to put an end to this historical play of mine and claim her for myself
.
”

Draven pushed Lucius back and rushed to me to take the remaining part of my body in his arms. It was a strange sensation. Like being washed away with the tide, I was trying desperately to stay afloat. Draven’s face looked down at mine as though my eyes were the last thing to vanish. His last word was the last thing I heard before I woke....

“Please...”

“Draven!” I shouted as I bolt
ed
upright in bed. I looked around the
room for any signs of the dream, any sight of the warrior King but my room looked as I had left it. Everything that was
,
but the dark figure that stood watching me from the corner behind my door. I froze like small prey at the sight of the hunter.

“I am afraid not my dear Keira
.
” That voice! The voice from so many of my nightmares was here now, in my room! This couldn’t be real...I had woken up hadn’t I?

“Lucius!” I said
without asking.

“Of course, who else would go to such lengths as I, to get to you
.
” He moved from the shadows and I half expected to see the same Lucius from my dream. I was wrong. He wasn’t wearing a long cloak now hiding his body. It was strange to see him looking casual. He wore dark trousers, a dark red T-shirt and a long black jacket that went to the floor. It split in three around his legs to allow for the movement that brought him closer to the bed. He looked well groomed with hair slicked back by fingers and a clean shave to reveal, smooth pale skin. He had sharp handsome features, a high nose and square jaw with staggeringly beautiful eyes. It pained me to accept these facts as I hated him more than I could muster up the words.

“If you were hoping for someone else then that hope is wasted, he is not going to come and save you as you may think. Tell me Keira, did you like my little trip down memory lane? I think that day would have been far more interesting with you in it
.
” He sat down on my bed like we were old friends having a chat instead of playing cat and mouse.

“How did you..?
” I asked in a whisper. He smiled as he seemed to be enjoying the level of control he had gained over me.

“It wasn’t without its difficulties I can assure you, but I had to gain access into your mind somehow. You have a mind like I have never known, even Dominic’s mind I can control but so far that has been the hardest...well up until you that is. You have certainly been a challenge but I knew I would eventually break you.” He trailed one cold, white finger down the length of my cheek and I shuddered.