Stella
“What do you mean I’m from hundreds of years ago? That’s ridiculous!”
Eric clapped his hand over my mouth. The clanging sounds from the kitchen paused, then resumed after a few seconds.
“We’re timekeepers, Natalie. We go forward and backward in time to wherever the goddess sends us. This is a long-term mission, but we weren’t supposed to be so visible in the timeline.”
My throat went dry. I didn’t want it to be true, but deep in my heart, I knew his words made sense. No family came for me. I spoke an old language known only by intellectuals. He released me.
“Can we go back?” I whispered. “I want to go home.”
Eric clenched his jaw. “I don’t know.”
That response was unacceptable. My cheeks heated, but I kept my voice low. “Tell me how to return home.”
“The Goddess of Time guides us to destinations inside a vortex. But we can’t do it ourselves, and I’m aware from experience that we must complete our mission before we return.”
My nostrils flared, but I took a deep breath. “Then we need to complete this and find a vortex.”
Eric shook his head. “You don’t want to go back.”
I stopped myself from shaking his shoulders. “Don’t tell me what I want!”
“That’s not what I meant. You accepted this mission, even though it will take years. We’re supposed to set a variation where the kingdoms unite. You asked me to join you.”
“I would never leave my family!” I whisper-shouted.
Eric dragged his fingers through his short hair. “But you believed in this undertaking. We can still complete it.”
I didn’t want to cry, but the pit of my stomach dropped to my feet.
“But I have a child. Or children.”
“You confided in me the goddess ensured their safety regardless if we succeed or not. Trust her.”
I scrubbed my palm over my face. “Amnesia is torture.”
Diedre
The conversation before dinner ran through my mind.
My father paced his study, rubbing his hands together. “We’ve waited for this, Diedre. A real suitor.”
I stepped closer to the hearth for warmth. “But, I’m not old en-”
“Hush. Do as I instruct unless you want to marry Toren of Ruskar.”
I pursed my lips, and my tongue clung to the roof of my mouth. The future leader of the most northern clan was thirsty for violence, and a threat to us if we didn’t give in to his demands. My youth was my only protection.
Father nodded and reached out to grasp my shoulder.
“We need this, Diedre. I don’t want to send you to that frozen wasteland. The current Lord of Ruskar must accept this marriage because it benefits the Northern Clans. He’ll no longer threaten your future. And if the tensions between the northern regions of Damai and Ruskar persist, Astralini will aid us.”
I took a deep breath. “Alright. What do you want me to do?”
My maidservant dressed me in one of mama’s dinner dresses. I wished she was here to offer guidance, but she’d traveled to Damai on a diplomatic mission several weeks ago. The thought of not seeing my mother before traveling south made tears sting my eyes, but I blinked them away. My kohl-lined eyelids would streak.
This dress rested so low on my sternum, between my nonexistent breasts. Mama told me she bloomed late, and didn’t start growing curves until she was seventeen. Still, I hated how childlike I appeared next to girls even younger than me.
I lowered my head and nibbled on the stringy moose meat. My body revolted at the intake, but I swallowed small bites.
The Astralini prince’s green eyes radiated strength. And kindness. He might be a stranger, but I meant it when I begged him to take me with him. I’d risk going with him if it meant escaping a future with Toren the Brute.
“I’ll take care of you.” His words soothed the raging fear running through my blood like ice.
After dinner, father and Prince Fernando left together to draw up the contract of our marriage. My brothers walked me to my room.
“Do I look eighteen?” I asked Michael. He was sixteen and a full year older than me.
Both of them nodded. “You looked good,” Norton piped up. “Though I worried when he mentioned delaying.”
“Me too,” I admitted.
“Do you think you’ll have babies right away? I’d like to be an uncle,” Norton said with a big grin.
“Maybe,” I replied with a fake smile. Mama hadn’t explained how relations worked to him yet, and I wasn’t about to divulge such information.
Michael grabbed my hand and squeezed when we reached my bedchamber.
“I’m sorry you have to marry. It’s not right.”
My lip quavered, but I stiffened my spine. We might argue often, but I loved my brothers, and this marriage protected them as much as me. The Ruskar Clan had no claim to my father’s crown, and marrying Prince Fernando ensured our bloodline survived.
Poor Diedre ☹️