Chapter 3 #2
In one swift movement, I yanked a dagger from its sheath and swung my arm up, poised to stab him in the back. But before I could strike, he threw me from his chest, sending me crashing to the cold, hard tiled ground. The knife slipped from my grasp, clattering across the marble floor.
Searing pain exploded through my skull. Icy tendrils shot through my lower back and travelled upwards towards my brain.
“Well, that wasn’t very nice,” he monotonically said, his eyebrows raised as his bottom lip feigned a frown. The stranger shrugged as he walked toward two enormous wooden doors bound with iron, doors that mirrored the entrance to my bedroom.
He thrust the doors wide open, revealing an enormous, embellished throne room packed with hundreds of people. Through my still blurry vision, I clocked a dais at the far side of the room, where three chairs flanked a grand throne.
As the ache throughout my body finally began to fade into an unpleasant dull, I flipped onto my side, wincing as I did my best to take in my surroundings. Everyone in the crowd was gaping at me as I lay sprawled on the ground.
Murmurs erupted throughout as guests exchanged frantic glances, seeking explanations for the spectacle they had just witnessed. One woman gasped, covering her mouth with her hand in shock.
On top of the platform, the man seated regally on the throne glared at the brute who had just thrown me like a ragdoll. Despite the tension emitting between the two, the burgundy-haired man strode toward the dais and settled into a smaller seat to the left of the main throne.
On the opposite side, a hulking man with neatly trimmed sandy-blond hair and a striking older woman with flowing platinum locks studied me intently.
Two gigantic arched windows sat behind the platform, though covered with gaudy swooping navy curtains. At the sound of a horn blaring, the drapes parted, revealing the blazing mid-day sunshine, its warmth filling the space, though I did not feel warm at all.
“Rise!” boomed the authoritative man on the throne.
His hair was auburn, streaked with grey, and fell in waves, resting on his shoulders.
Cloaked in richly textured robes adorned with intricate grey and gold patterns, with baby blue sashes crossing his chest, he exuded a once-commanding handsomeness, but now that beauty was marred by dark circles under his eyes that hinted at older age, long nights, and heavy burdens.
Realizing he was addressing me, I dusted off my gown and nervously approached the three figures waiting before me. Clasping my hands together in front of me, my fingers fidgeted, picking at the dead skin of my cuticles, as the intensity of their stares bore down to my very soul.
Their apparel was utterly bizarre. If I were to describe them, it would be as if I had stepped into a medieval Renaissance fair but with a futuristic twist. The clothing was grand, patterned, and colourful with eccentric silhouettes, tight corsets, dazzling jewelry—a striking contrast against the unappealing garments I had worn on Earth.
The crowd’s whispering grew louder as I ascended toward the throne, and the man seated in the centre seemed all but amused.
“Silence!” he bellowed, his voice echoing through the hall as he pounded his fist against the arm of the chair. Just like that, the room hushed.
Taking in, what I assumed to be, the royal family before me, I couldn’t suppress a grimace and dirty glance at the leather-clad man seated to the left. His smirk only infuriated me further.
The ruling figure followed my leering gaze, shifting his focus to the brute at his side. “Ah, I see you’ve met my son, Prince Glade,” the man on the throne condescendingly noted. “Pay him no mind; he is not the reason you are here.”
The thuggish buffoon is a prince? I thought to myself.
As his declaration hung in the air, I turned my focus back to the king, desperation for any answers or explanations clawing away at my insides. “Where am I?” I blurted out, my voice rising to a higher, screechy degree.
The man’s expression darkened. A line appeared between his brows as he raised his nose to me. “You will speak when spoken to, young lady,” he scolded as a faint vein popped out of his neck.
Although I would never have tolerated such patronizing behaviour on Earth, especially from a man I didn’t know, I was entirely at this person’s mercy. I had no idea where I was or how I even got here. Yet, despite the fiery indignation simmering within me, I nodded in submission to satisfy his ego.
The old man cleared his throat loudly, commanding the room’s attention once more. He stretched his palms upward and inward, and recited, shutting his eyes with a lifted chin, “Praise be to our Goddess Amantius. Let her Light shine through us all, evermore.”
The crowd responded in unison, hollow and reverberating, “Evermore.”
The grey-haired man rested his hands on the throne’s armrest and once again resumed his apathetic demeanour.
His voice roared as he spit into the empty space before him.
“I am King Remaculus Everkain, ruler of all who dwell on the planet Ornath, the strongest and most prosperous planet to ever exist within this universe.”
Another planet? Right. I could handle this, I lied to myself as I clasped my hands tightly together to stop their wild shaking.
As I scoped the king’s right, I noticed the sandy-haired man nodding enthusiastically, as if reciting each of the king’s words to himself, his eyes fixated on mine. To the king’s left, however, Prince Glade appeared disinterested, yawning and absentmindedly picking at his fingernails.
King Remaculus continued, his voice oozing with a seriousness that filled the large room. “You”—he pointed his finger at me—“Last Daughter of Domus, shall fulfill the prophecy decreed by the Golden Oracle two decades ago.”
His incomprehensible speech jolted me from my current fixation. “Pardon?”
Gasps rippled throughout the throne room, and the king raised his palm to quiet the crowd. His peachy wrinkled skin reddened even more so than before, and his chocolate-brown eyes bulged so much that I thought they might even pop out of his head.
“Need I remind you, Last Daughter of Domus, that you are to hold your tongue until allowed to speak?” he chastised as he squeezed his lips together. The king’s jaw flexed and unflexed repeatedly as if repressing the urge to snarl.
I stepped closer to the dais, raising my palms in defence and shaking my head. “I-I’m sorry, but I have no idea what you’re even talking about. This—this all sounds absolutely mad to me. No, not even mad—insane. ‘Daughter of Domus’? W-what does that even mean?”
The crowd erupted into hushed chatter, exchanging bewildered glances as if my confusion had disrupted their expectations.
This time, the king was the one to cock his head to the side as he chose his words carefully. “Domus… It is a dead planet. A lifeless planet on which you were born,” he said, his voice steady, yet tinged with the tiniest hint of apprehension.
Unintentional, hysterical laughter bubbled up from the pits of my stomach. I struggled to control my breathing as my hysteria overtook the space, manically slicing through the silence.
The king turned to the blond giant beside him, his brows furrowed as he shook his head firmly, clearly unsettled by my reaction.
However, he straightened in his seat and continued, ignoring the disastrous mess before him.
“Last Daughter of Domus, you shall wed my son, Prince Jion, and usher in an era of enlightenment and harmony, annihilating the Tenebrae and their malicious schemes to drain the Source Light from every Celestial in this universe.”
My laughter ceased, replaced by a dawning dread. Wait, what did he just say? I turned to the blond man, Jion, and recalled Glade’s words in the hallway.
Betrothed…to Prince Jion.
Jion sat taller in his chair, regal and proud as he nodded in acceptance of his fate.
My stomach churned as I shifted my gaze to the woman beside him, desperate for some semblance of understanding or empathy.
Instead, I was met with the sight of a meek queen, her face illuminated with a beaming smile.
“You can’t be fucking serious.” The words escaped my lips before I could even stop them.
Glade choked on the goblet of wine he had just sipped. Jion’s mouth fell open in shock, and the queen’s expression distorted to one of horror as she clasped her heart in disbelief. The king pinched the bridge of his nose as he did his best to take deep breaths in and out.
“Last Daughter of Domus, prepare yourself to marry in two months,” the king sternly asserted, rising from his throne.
“Wait! I have so many questions!” I called out as the royal family began to disperse from the dais.
The crowd buzzed with chatter as they filtered out of the throne room, but I felt as if the air had been knocked from my lungs. A wave of dizziness washed over me, and nausea swirled in my gut. I scanned the room for an ally, a friendly face, but found none.
Just as despair began to settle in, I spun around and found Jion standing before me. Despite the powerful, intimidating presence he exuded, there was a warmth in his smile that caught me off guard.
He was taller than Glade by at least two inches, yet he shared the same ocean-blue eyes that I assumed was inherited from their mother. In that moment, it struck me how Jion resembled her entirely, not a hint of his father’s features in sight.
“Hello, Last Daughter of Domus,” he greeted, lowering himself into a bow before me, his posture both noble and oddly intimate.
“Uh, Jane. Please call me Jane,” I managed to spout, my voice still shaking. I tried my best to return his gentle smile, but it felt disingenuous as not a bone in my body felt happy to see him.
As Jion stepped back, granting me the space I so desperately needed, I inhaled a deep breath in, an attempt to calm the palpitations of my chest. “Look, I’m going to be honest here, Jion—I have no idea what’s going on.
One moment, I was walking home from work, cutting through the park on Datforth Drive, and I saw this bright white light hovering above me.
The next thing I knew, I woke up in an alien spaceship with two creepy little kids talking to me in my mind. Please, help me.”
Jion’s expression softened, his eyes narrowing with empathy. “You really don’t know who you are, do you, Last Daughter of Domus?”
“Last Daughter of Domus?” I echoed, incredulously.
“No. My name is Jane. Jane Smith. I’m from Earth.
I was born and raised on Earth. Whoever you think I am…
you have the wrong girl. Please, I’m telling you.
You have the wrong girl,” I repeated as I trembled, holding back tears that fought with urgency for release.
“Domus was such a lovely planet,” Jion said, his tone tender yet insistent as he ignored my pleas. “You should be proud to hail from such a glorious place. I’m sorry for what the Tenebrae did to it. But rest assured, we will eradicate every last Tenebrae. Together.”
Frustration and desperation bubbled inside me like a volcano ready to erupt. “The Tenebrae?” I repeated, shaking my head in disbelief. “I have no idea what you’re talking about! I am not some fucking alien!”
Jion glanced around the room, avoiding my gaze, as he searched for any observers.
His lips pinched together before he stammered, “Uh, I don’t know if this is the place to speak of such matters.
” He shifted from one foot to the other, his chin bowed, staring at his toes.
“Look, it was very nice to meet you, Jane. We will speak again soon. I promise.”
As much as I wanted to hate Jion and our so-called engagement, he seemed like a genuinely good man who didn’t deserve my hostility.
Just as he reached for the iron handle of the door, I blurted out, “Wait! Are we really getting married?”
He paused, glancing back over his shoulder. “If you wish to save the universe,” he solemnly whispered, then left without another word.