Prophecy
Royalty

I could feel the soft earth stuck to the bottom of my bare feet.

It was the way I liked everything around to me to be. Wet. Mushy. Under my feet.

From the faint hints of yellow and orange that bordered the jagged horizon, I could tell that daylight was approaching.

Day. The opposite of darkness, silence, and night. A time for light. A time I hated. The upside was that I didn’t have to spend it pretending to be a stupid, powerless human. That chapter of my life was over.

It had been a few weeks since I’d gone home. I spent most of the time wandering around the brushes of the Blue Mountains. I needed time to think. There were so many questions and so little answers . . .

How the hell did I get it wrong? Why would he choose her over me? Their union wasn’t even supposed to be possible. He’s a Lune, that should stand for something? Why was he betraying his clan to marry an inferior, worthless, ill-bred Corona?

Love?

There was no such thing in our clan.

The tangy scent of fallen coffee beans permeated the morning air. As I brushed, past the hardy shrubs, drops of dew, the only good thing about morning, flicked unto my skin causing a new rush of freshness to breathe over it. I dashed past the final line of coffee trees into the processing plant run by my father.

The old fool was about seven hundred years old now, but he was just as sharp and manipulative as he’d been when he killed my uncle to accede to the throne. We usually moved around a lot, but for the past two years, we’d spent our time in Jamaica.

I didn’t know why he’d chosen this stupid fleapit of an island to live on. Whenever I asked, he would give some vague response like; 'It is for the safety and continuation of our clan or better yet, an even vaguer reason, ‘Fuck off,’ Well, he didn’t actually say curse, as, despite his extreme malevolence, he chose to stick to less crude words, as he wouldn’t “debase his lips to speak the crude vernacular of those inferior to him,” but it was neither here nor there to me. Shit was still shit, no matter what you called it.

Old fool.

I opened a small trap door under one of the giant washing vats in the factory. No one had arrived to work as yet, so I’d chosen this route. I flicked on the light not that I needed it to see, but it came more out of habit. I came upon a metal door that had a sign that read: No Entry by Unauthorised Personnel. A deterrent and final warning to those stupid enough to enter.

I heard the approach of footsteps coming from two opposite directions in the tunnel. It wasn’t human or even shifter; it sounded more like an animal. I turned around to stare into the red eyes of two angry Rottweilers. I hissed and turned back to the door. One of the dogs charged forward and was about to lunge at my throat. I turned quickly and landed it a kick in the gut. It flew a few paces up the stairs letting out a single whimper when it landed.

“What are you doing? Is this what you are getting paid for!” I yelled. The other dog had stopped the barking and sat quietly at my feet, with his nose touching the ground.

“Omayra, it was only a joke. There is not much to do in these parts. But we are sorry.” said the tall, bulky Lune coming back down the stairs.

“I am not exactly in a joking mood, Dmitri. If we wanted clowns, we would have started a circus.” I looked at the other animal. “Vitali, I was expecting more from you.” I replied sharply and then shoved the door open and slammed it shut.

“She must not have gotten the guy, probably had to kill him.” I heard Dmitri whisper from the other side.

“I can still hear you, idiot.” I barked back at the door. There was silence on the other side.

I hated this place. I had no privacy. Although in retrospect, I really did wish that I had killed Thorn Rose. It would have definitely eased my misery.

I stalked past the living room and headed to my quarters. I needed a bath. The springs that ran through the hills were nice, but I didn’t have soap, and water could only do so much. I hopped past the open door of my father’s study. I was not in the mood for giving explanations today.

“Omayra, you are home.” I heard him say quietly from the room. Sharp old bugger. I turned around slowly and headed back to his study.

He was not alone. Nafadres was also seated in one of the huge black leather chairs beside my father. He had joined our group about seventeen years ago and in a short space of time had become one of my father’s most trusted advisors. However, there was just something about him that always seemed off to me. I didn’t trust him. His green almond-shaped eyes followed me as I entered the room. They didn’t waver for a single moment as he scanned my haggard appearance.

“Omayra,” he said simply to address me.

“Nafadres,” I responded. I tried to hide the displeasure in my tone for my father’s sake.

“So dear, how did your little mission turn out? Did you get what you want?” asked my father. His wide smile deepened the creases around his eyes, forehead, and mouth.

“Excuse me,” said Nafadres getting up from the chair. It was about time he left.

“Leave the door open,” said my father as Nafad was about to close the door. The man gave a slight bow and then moved away from the study. “Well dear, tell me how it went? Did you get him?”

“He is already engaged.” I answered sullenly.

“You know that I have the power to change that situation very quickly,” he said more seriously.

I plopped down into the chair that Nafad was in. “I don’t think that even you have the power to undo this one father.”

“What do you mean Omayra?” he said it as if I’d insulted his authority.

“I mean, that the traitor is marrying a damn Corona.” I laughed cynically.

“Well that can’t be right,” he stroked his long silver beard thoughtfully. “How do you know that the girl’s not one of us?” he leaned forward instinctually to hear my reply. I leaned back as being so close to him just felt wrong.

“Because I threw her into a furnace and she emerged unscathed and started hurling fire in my direction. I had to reform to escape being burnt alive.” A look of worry crossed my father’s face. I hadn’t seen him look this way in years.

“So it is true, Mond’s prophecy. . .” he whispered softly.

“What was that about Mond?”

“Nothing, nothing,” he said absently and stared off into space. I waited for his mind to return to this century. “Omayra, what is the full name of this Lune fellow?”

“Thorn Rose,” I stared at him incredulously as he repeated the name quietly.

I saw him grab a pen and a piece of paper, where he scribbled down the name. I watched him with curiosity as he seemed to be rearranging the letters. “Esor North... I wonder.” he spaced out again. What was wrong with him today? Guilt for his coup and eradication of his brother’s family? Too late for apologies. Centuries late.

This was just too weird. In all my three hundred fifty years, I’d never seen my father react so strangely to a name. “Father if I may be excused. I have been out long and am in dire need of a bath.” I didn’t understand why was he saying the name of the former royal family? Something was going on and I wanted to know what it was. I unfolded my legs and was about to get up.

“The name of the girl,” he said taking up the piece of paper and crumpling it within his fist.

“Pardon me,” I turned to him.

“The girl,” he said loudly. He sounded angry but I detected a bit of fear in his tone.

“I have already been burned, nearly to death, recently. I do not deserve the fire of your wrath. But the Corona’s name is Summer Dayse.”

“I apologise my fair one," he said calming down. “Tell Nafadres that I need to speak with him now. It seems like we will be paying Mr Rose and his family a visit very soon.” he tossed the paper ball into a nearby bin.

“Yes father,” I nodded before I left the room. I met Nafad coming out of the library. He had probably heard everything that was exchanged between father and me, as over the years I’d learned that when father said to leave the door open, it was code for ‘listen in to the conversation.’

“Nafad, father wishes to hold council with you,” I said nonchalantly and continued on to my room.

“Thank you,” he replied before moving on. I gave him a slight wave without looking back.

Three hundred years of being treated like a child was too much for one person to take. I couldn’t wait until my father died so that I could finally rid myself of some of these mud gut, eavesdropping, cockroach-brained drones around me. It would be nice to have privacy for a change and besides, I think that the title of Grand Lune would suit me just fine. I smiled.

I pushed my room door open and the scent of fresh pine needles greeted me as I entered. I inhaled deeply. I loved the scent. It reminded me of the pine forest where we’d lived for years before moving to this God-forsaken hovel.

I buried my face in the smooth green silk covers of my bed. The smoothness of the cloth reminded me of the days I used to spend just lazing away on the stretches of soft moss that lined the ground of the arctic tundra.

I placed my arms under my head and gazed absently at the ceiling. “Mond’s prophecy,” I whispered. I’d vaguely remembered hearing about it, but I still don’t see why father would be worried. After all, we were shifters, not sorcerers. He had his reasons, and from what I could tell from his reaction, they were probably good ones.

I sprang off the bed and walked over to a fish tank in the middle of the room. I tapped at the glass, causing the small silver fish to swim away. Father had given me a lot to think about. One person’s fears might be another one’s delight, and I fully intend to make a party out of this one.

I took up a small portion of the fish food from a brown bag lying beside the tank and sprinkled it at the top of the water.

“Things are about to get more interesting around here.” One of the fishes seemed to stop eating and looked in my direction. I smiled softly and moved away from the tank.

Things were indeed going to be different. Royally different.