I watched Marcus walk Laelia out of the house through the garden entrance, close to the riverbank to talk privately. I could probably hear their conversation, at least in bits and pieces, if I hid behind one of the bushes in the garden. I fought the urge to actually do it.
I should trust Marcus because he just promised that his love for me won't change. Really? I paced around the house for almost thirty minutes but he did not return.
What were they doing?
Were they even there anymore or did he take her somewhere?
I didn't like his reaction at all to her when she saw us making out. Why does he owe her any explanation? Too bad ex-girlfriend, he doesn't feel the same about you anymore.
Shouldn't he break it off with her if he's so clear about his feelings towards me? Plans change, things don't work as expected, and we move on; she should get over it too.
I was pulling my hair and chewing my nails when Maia suddenly came into the atrium asking,
It felt like my whole world was falling to pieces and everything was spinning out of control. Marcus and I sucked at arguments, and there was no end to them."You are just stretching the truth by a whole damn mile!" He said."Because she's always going to be in your life, Marcus! I will never have this feeling of contentment that you are mine. I am all yours, but you aren't.""I am all yours too! But I can't just push her away. It's not the right thing to do.""So it's okay to put me under this feeling of constant insecurity that you might cheat on me at some point? Be the father to her kids? Be on her side when she needs you? You married me while you were already married to her. How much of the right thing was that?""I never planned to marry you. It was---""But you did! And that's the point I am trying to make. You are telling me that you will never cheat on me, but then you will come back with 'It just happened' kind of an explanation."
Even without stopping much for food and rest, it took us almost nineteen hours to reach the point near the river where Allena saw Marcus and Laelia making out. It was close to midnight and the river looked swollen and angry. We took the alternate path that went through caverns in the dark. I was scared stiff but the men walked their horses through like they did it every day."Most of these caverns run underground, below the river bed. But when the river overflows like now, some of the caves are also flooded." Seamus explained.He was Marcus's other friend that I never met before. Marcus was very good at dividing and delegating his work was what I realized. Conan who grew up near the fortress took care of most of his responsibilities there. Seamus grew up close to Allena's village and was Celtic. He knew these devious routes like the back of his hand. From what Max told me, Seamus also knew how best to deal with the emerging Italo-Celtic folks and their sentiments.
That night at the inn, I got a lucid dream. I was looking at Allena sitting in a class listening to a lecture. She was wearing bright colors all over that screamed the 80s retro style; leggings paired with a teal mini skirt, dandelion yellow blouse, white converse shoes, and a jean jacket. She tied her hair into a high sideways ponytail. Her odd shaped dangly earrings moved as fast as the pen with which she was furiously jotting down notes. What made her look extra cute were those ridiculously over-sized glasses on her face.It looked like the class was being conducted inside a library. The shelves were lined with thick volumes of books that were mostly about the history of Britain; Religion and the Decline of magic: Studies in Popular Beliefs in Sixteenth and Seventeenth Century England, A People's History of England, The Fall of the British Monarchies, and so on.The words on the chalkboard caught my eye. The professor also had a colorful chart with printed tex
If I had to describe the days spent without Marcus in the words of music, it was one of those sad violin pieces playing in the background continuously, blending days and nights together. The kind of sad music that had the power to evoke suppressed feelings, bringing tears to the eye even on the brightest of the days.To make matters worse the days were far from bright where I was. It had been raining cats and dogs from the day I returned. A windowless roundhouse, dark rainy days, and my regretful longing; it made me yearn for the bright Mediterranean sun and Marcus's cheery smiles."It's okay to stay in bed if the morning brings you sadness," Selma said, handing me a hot cup of spiced ginger mead.This drink did bring me comfort, for more like five minutes every time I had it. I missed coffee! The smell of freshly brewed coffee, the taste of the first sip, and the feel of the hot mug on a cold day. I also missed chocolates, french fries, pizza, and what not! I wanted junk food right no
My mind was exploding with questions. Meeting witches and sorceresses always left me with more questions than answers. The sea witch couldn't tell me where or how to find the other opal stone that she talked about. She said it was even possible that it was destroyed at some point. Time travel was only possible with those stones if our souls were tied together in another lifetime, she said.If I come to think of it, it must be several lifetimes. We were together in the Iron age; I saw us in the eighty's and somewhere in the medieval times where I had that baby with another guy; and Marcus saw me in the Chicago suburbs, which means he was somewhere out there too!Did our cursed story end up tragically in every lifetime?What made our souls be tied together?Why and how did gemstones get bound to our souls?Why were we cursed? When? By who?Can the curse be lifted somehow?The minute we came back from our little strol
The druid disappeared through the portal and I followed him slowly. I landed on the cold ground with a thud. The cave was surprisingly dry and there was no dripping sound anymore. The druid was looking at the cave exit that would lead us to the outside.So this was what Max and the others who walked out of the tunnel were looking at. We were so close to emerging out on the other side of the river, and I stopped them to stay the night and take the longer route. They must have hated me for that.I walked to the emerald grotto with perfect looking creamy white steps. I wondered what lied beneath but didn't dare to touch the water. Everything about this place gave me creeps."There is no river outside!" The druid exclaimed."That explains the dry cave, I guess.""I can only see dense forest, and the sun is about to set in a bit. Let's hurry!"He dug into the bag that he brought with him."Hold onto this for a second," He said, handi
After dinner that night, my ego lost the battle against the longing for Marcus, and I sat down to write a letter to him, telling him how much I missed him and how I wished he was here with me.His marks on my skin were gradually disappearing with each passing day; the bruises that he gave me on my arms and thighs were almost healed or replaced with fresh bruises from training with Aiden.We were growing apart with not much to hold on to. I brought nothing with me as a souvenir. I saved his shirt that he tore off during the heated moments but I was so mad at him before leaving that I forgot to pack it with my stuff.With not a picture to look at, not a present to cherish. I remembered then that I did have something from him; the wedding ring, a simple piece of iron that never failed to make my heart leap with joy.But why should I be the one to write to him? He fucked up and hid such a big truth from me. He just let me be instead of coming to get me like S
The house was unusually loud today. Marcus's sudden arrival had my whole family, including the extended members go crazy with whipping out several dishes."He's just one person! And he doesn't eat much at other people's homes." I tried to stop my mom from serving huge heaps of a dozen items.Marcus's forehead creased with a frown. I closely observed his eating habits when we were traveling back from the fortress."You talk like you know a lot about me." He muttered while looking at my mom for more colcannon."So buttery, I love this!" He said, eating it too quickly."Your wife made it." My mom's words made my face turn beet red."It's nice and buttery but a little too salty for my taste. I am not a fan of cabbage."He changed his opinion on the dish.What was he trying to achieve by pissing me off more?"Looks like you are not the only one that's pissed off here," Iona whispered to me."What the hell should he be ma
"How can that be? Billy took them?""Liam Cooper checked them out."Marcus and the Druid had some heated exchange of words about the Druid not telling Marcus about Liam earlier."We were focussed on finding Alyssa's home address back then, not who Liam Cooper was or why he exists, remember?"We went to find someone named Jake, the doctor."You folks are driving me insane. That guy looked exactly like him but spoke perfect English," Jake said, pointing to Marcus."Please ask him about Allena's condition," Marcus prompted him.I was so confused about who this other Allena was if Alyssa was in the alternate world as Allena. How many worlds have these people infested?The Druid translated Jake's words for Marcus, "Looks like she underwent the last surgery and was out of danger. As expected, he is going crazy as to why both Allena and Alyssa are still unconscious. He is also suspicious about who we really are. Alyssa said you were h
Marcus's feet staggered, and I caught him from falling to the ground.She loaded the next one to aim at Marcus again."No! Stop!!"He seemed to be awake but not able to get off the ground. What the hell did she shoot him with? Poison?I ran to stop her but was too late. She took a shot at him again."Stop, don't kill him." My voice cracked when I tried to beg.She grabbed another dart and was loading once more. I reached close enough to attack her, but she pulled out a strange weapon from underneath her tunic and moved toward me threateningly, speaking in a foreign language.But what was she going to shoot me with? She loaded nothing in there. It was too tiny to be a weapon. Was she fooling me?I disregarded her warning and pulled my knife out from my boot while grabbing her hair with my other hand.I heard a click sound and saw her nervous expression before she pressed it again. She was too slow, and I had already
I followed Marcus to the hallway where all the guests were accommodated, including my family. He lightly tapped on a door and stepped in.The windows facing the courtyard were all shut and I couldn't hear a thing. I exited the house through the garden entrance to see if the room had windows facing the river like ours. I scaled up to the second floor and stayed behind the window curtains."It just occurred to me now. No wonder she couldn't visit Chicago." I heard Marcus's voice."If the stones work only one way, how were we able to return then?""I think by one way, it means the place where they can be activated from. We can activate my stone only from here. And hers only from Chicago. We used the portal you created from here to return. If the portal had closed, I think we would have been stuck in Chicago."Chicago, portal, stones... what was he talking about? Maybe they were speaking in a mixed language because most of it sounded like gibb
After the wedding feast, Marcus was beginning to look distracted and stressed again. His eyes wandered around, searching for someone. Who else would he be looking for?"Are you looking for Laelia?"I couldn't hide the anger out of my voice.He made me feel so special that I forgot all about her existence until now."Laelia is not here," he said"Was she not invited? Or did she not want to come?"If I had to attend my boyfriend's wedding, I would probably be a crying mess.He looked at me with amusement."Why do you care?""I don't care. I will take it as an insult though if you stare at her while I am in your arms."He stroked my cheek, setting it on fire, "How can I stare at anyone else?"I was at a loss for words. I should be feeling ashamed of myself. I made such overconfident claims, even said to Marcus many times, that I loved Neill. Here I was, dying to hear such cheesy words from him.Ev
Alternate World TwoAllena's POV"I think he suffers from a personality disorder," I told my mother."That won't stop this wedding. Stop making stories up and look down so that she can do your hair well.""It's true! I know no one would believe me if I told them. He has three different personalities, all different from one another.""And what are these?" Selma asked.She thinks I was already so into him already that his hot and cold behavior was bothering me."The first one is the arrogant jerk who is madly in love with Laelia and doesn't give two shits about me."It was my mother's turn to look amused."Does this girlfriend really exist? Or did you make this story up as well? Where is she? I expected her to dress up better than you and taunt you already. That's the kind of impression you gave me about this imaginary woman.""He must have sent her away somewhere when he got possessed by that second personality of
Alternate World TwoMarcus's POVI struggled to focus on what was important. Things were a mess in Chicago, and I was clueless as to what exactly was going on.Thankfully, the Druid from here was very cooperative. He looked almost a decade younger than the other Druid. I was wary about giving him all the details at once and freaking him out. He was already quite panicked that I knew his time traveler secret.But once I talked to him long enough explaining my situation, and when I told him that an older version of him existed, he was all up for helping and meeting his older self. He wanted to know what he had done differently so far in the parallel universe, and all the adventures he went on.The older Druid definitely went back further in time or lived longer in the past to have aged so much more. This younger Druid was particularly excited about portals to the alternate world, which I had no idea even existed. If they did, it w
I wanted to feel anger or indifference. I just wanted to cry my heart out while in his arms."Please don't leave me," he said.I was so determined to leave until this moment. But now I was wondering if I should leave it for Allena to decide. She knows what has been going on so far, and unlike me, she may already know what she wants. I did not have the heart to say no to him. I also did not have much time left with him.After a long and tight hug, he released me from his arms. I saw him look vulnerable for the first time."I am still learning to love, and I will probably never learn to live without you. Please, stay."His words made me cry more. They also had me realize that I could not leave him in the lurch. What if I forgive him today and Allena tells him to fuck off tomorrow?"I have to tell you something, something very important.""Oh yeah? Me too.""Um... What I have to say is not easy to explain. When I show you so
Something inside me had snapped. His words delivered such painful blows that feelings of hopelessness engulfed me; hopelessness about now and forever.I pushed my way out of the kitchen, with a dozen servants watching the drama. Selma followed me to the room, but I didn't want to talk to anyone for as long as possible. I closed the door and locked it, pretending to not see her.What just happened? How I wished this was one nightmare while under sedation.I locked myself in for the next two days, not caring about Marcus or breaking the curse. Nothing mattered anymore.I knew I shouldn't feel so devastated. We didn't share the soulmate bond. I wouldn't even be here two days from now. It was like getting mad at my Marcus for something Damen did like when he lied to Nyneve. The sorceress said 'about' three weeks. I hoped each day that it was the last day.I guess I already blew up my chance to find the portal and do something meaningful. Ma
They say it's very hard to love something that doesn't need you. But it was harder to stop loving the ruthless version of Marcus, even if he didn't want me.He avoided me at all costs for the rest of the afternoon. He said I had to stay in my room until my ankle healed completely. It would save me from all the back-breaking work for sure, but how was I ever going to get another chance to sneak out of the fortress then?I considered telling him about it, asking him to take me to the cave himself. That was the easiest and safest way. I walked to the training grounds, wondering if he was over there."Where do you think you are going?" Logan stopped me."I am looking for the Legatus.""And why would he want to meet you?""He would very much want to, and that's why I am looking for him.""Get back to wherever you are supposed to be. You don't own this place, so stop walking around as if you do."Huh!"I will go back, just tel