Being Empress was too easy.
I had control over all four elements, there were no imminent threats and the love of my life was beside me. Nothing could go wrong.
I looked around happily at breakfast. Everyone seemed so happy. Zeke was grinning as he and Posy talked animatedly. My parents were looking lovingly at each other.
How was life this blissful?
“Are you okay, darling?” Cedric questioned.
I smiled at him. “Of course I am. I’m your wife, why wouldn’t things be okay?”
“You seem...wistful.”
“I guess I am. Things just seem so perfect.”
Cedric chuckled. “Things are always perfect.”
It was strange but something about that statement felt false. How could things always be perfect?
I was probably still feeling weird from my dream. It was incredibly intense. But also meant to be a dream because it simply made no sense. Cedric would
I didn’t tell anyone about my strange wish. I didn’t even want to say the word ‘wish’ at this point. This was a lot to unpack.I always wondered what life would be like if Cedric hadn’t gone down the wrong path. If he had chosen me over the need for power.Now I had my answer. It was almost worse than reality. He manipulated me into giving up my power and birthright. And I willingly did it. Just to make him happy. Because I loved him so much.But he was never going to love me as much as I did him.Was this a pattern? I mean the situation with Penn was similar. I seemed to be much more into this than he was. So would I get my heart broken again? Would there ever be a man who loved me more than I loved him?My eyes fell on Hunter. He smiled at me. He definitely felt stronger for me than I did for him. Maybe I didn’t give him the proper chance. I mean the sex was great, maybe the romance could be too. And seeing as
*Hunter's POV*I groaned as I opened my eyes. My head was pounding like crazy and I was pretty sure I was bleeding.I sat up and looked around. I was alone.Oh no, Zelda! Those hooded figures had taken her!I scrambled up and made my way back to the hut. This was just my luck! Zelda was finally wanting to jump my bones again and she got taken away. I had to get her back before she changed her mind about me.I would get her to fall in love with me, I knew I could. Maybe it wouldn’t come easy, but maybe that’s what I liked about it too. That it was something I could work for.The hut came into sight. When I approached I was shocked to find Oz and Zeke together. It seemed like they were arguing. Then Oz grabbed Zeke and kissed him. I expected Zeke to fight him off, but he didn’t, he gave in.It was a very intense kiss. Huh. They really are in love. How strange.“Duke Ze
*Zelda's POV*When I came to, I was incredibly confused about where the hell I was.I was in a room that seemed kind of similar to my room back home. It was beautiful and gold and the bed was quite comfortable. But how did I get here?“Hello?” I called, getting out of bed.The door opened immediately. I was surprised to see a Minotaur had entered. He had to duck so that his horns could fit into the room. His human torso and arms were in incredible shape. His hooves clicked on the ground as he walked closer to me.“Over-Lordess, what do you need?”“I am not the Over-Lordess.” I declared. “I’m an Empress.”“No, you are our Over-Lordess. We have long awaited your arrival. It is okay. You will remember who you are in no time.”“No, it’s fine. I remember who I am.”“I am Surax. I am here to assist yo
*Zelda's POV*I was thrilled to have my own body back.Of course I felt awful for Dresira and I meant what I said about avenging her. The Aleni would not prevail over Uquix!Surax led me to the prisons. “Can I ask you something?”“Sure Empress Zelda.” He grunted.“Can I have your nose ring?”He stopped in his tracks. “You’re not participating in the Four Trials of the Forsaken Apex, are you?”“Yes I am.” He tossed me over his shoulder and I cried out. “Hey what are you doing?”“Locking you up with your friends! You are here to steal from us!” Surax bellowed.“No, no! I don’t want to steal! If you could just give it to me willingly that would be amazing!”“No. You seek the most dangerous power, we cannot help you Empress Zelda!”We entered the prisons.
It didn’t take long for Cedric and the Aleni to find something shiny.Oz offered up a gold necklace. It looked familiar, but I couldn’t put my finger on why.“No!” Hunter exclaimed. “That’s a family heirloom, you can’t give that to them! We’re supposed to give these to our sons.”Right. Hunter had an identical one. I had seen it hanging on his neck all the times we were in bed.“I have a new family now.” Oz sneered. “A family that doesn’t demean me every chance they get and see the value in me.”“Exactly.” Cedric patted his shoulder. “We’re your family now, Oz. And you’d do anything for your family right?”“Of course, Chief.” Oz gave Surax the necklace.Surax took it as another Minotaur removed its nose ring.“Thank you very much.” Cedric grinned. “Now we may go
This was about to get confusing.The me that was on top of...me gasped too. Her eyes widened and she scrambled up. I did the same. We circled each other, taking one another in.I took a step closer and so did she. I reached out my right hand and her left hand moved to meet it. When our hands touched we gasped and jumped back.“Who are you?” We chorused. “Empress Zelda. No you can’t be.”“Can we talk one at a time by chance?” I asked.“Sure.” She answered.“How are we the same?” I questioned.“I’m not sure.” She admitted. “I’ve never seen anything like this.”I studied her closely. It literally was like looking in a mirror. I could not find a single thing that was different about her. Her hair was loose and curly like mine. We were even wearing the same dress.“So what are you doing here?&rdq
“Here?” I asked. “What is here?”“The Mirrored Realm. We are merely shadows of the people you are. But if we get out of here we can be real. We can be more than just counterparts and clones. We can have real lives.”“El! No...you can't! We can’t stay here!”“Neither can we!” She exclaimed.. “It’s hell here! Getting only pieces and snippets of what goes on in your lives is tortuous! We want to live for real. Is that so much to ask?”“If what you’re saying is true then yes! We’re not meant to be here, El. This isn’t our realm.”“I don’t care. We’ve waited so long to escape and now we finally can. Sorry Zelda, but I’m finally getting out of this place.”“Wait!” Zeke cried. “We have a journey to complete.”“And we’ll complete it for you.” Alder said confid
“He sure did a number on you.” Posy whispered, examining my arm.“Zel, why didn’t you just tell them?” Zeke asked softly. “You didn’t have to be tortured.”“I couldn’t let them win.” I muttered. “I’m-we’re the only ones who can save Uquix. They never could. They weren’t really us. And Uquix comes before anything else.”“I’m sorry I didn’t save you earlier.” Penn hung his head. “I was trying-”“It’s okay. Everything worked out. We faced ourselves and we’re not stuck here.” I stated.“Are you in pain?” Hunter asked, holding my other hand and kissing it.“I’m fine.”Cedric approached us. “Can I clean the blood off your arm?”“Um...I guess.” I answered slowly.“I kind of owe you.”