Renegade Words

Two Years Later

Geneve was thankful she was still alive. She spent her days trying to adjust to her current reality. She felt empty, and she understood that would never change.

Anwyn was more than just the world she lived, it was part of her. As a child, she had woven tiny pieces of her soul into the essence of the realm. Few had ever seen Anwyn's spirit before, and no others had manipulated the energy. No one else realized it, but Anwyn was a living thing.

The realm cried out for Genève, drawing her in. She knew if she could get back, she would feel Talon there. She didn’t care what her aunt said. She knew without a doubt that he would be there waiting, if she could only make it home. Adonis was not someone to be trusted. Genève had learned the hard way not to trust anyone. She reluctantly decided to let her aunt live. She needed her so she could start a life somewhere new. She just could not live among all these ghosts. Adonis had already garnered numerous connections, and she may need her again one day.

Just a few years ago, everything had been perfect. She had been so naïve back then. Now, she had nothing. What goes up, must come down.

They say your twin flame is the other part of your soul. This made perfect sense to Genève. The instant she lost Talon, she gave up the part of her capable of love, compassion, and trust. He had been such a good man, it made her want to be better woman, and now all she had left was malevolence. The pain was too much to bear.

In the aftermath, she slipped into survival mode. As her heart hardened, a deep rage simmered within, constantly boiling on the surface. After losing track of her true self, she became darkness. She had a mission and nothing, or no one was going to stand in her way.

Finding a wizard became her obsession. It was the only way, she could think of, to return to Anwyn. it was way harder than she thought it would be. Every day of the week she went to a different shop. She finally got the attention of a powerful wizard named Zeek. She "accidently,"' ran into him entering a store one day. She was getting desperate. She had thought, being a gorgeous woman would be enough to attract someone's attention, but not one of them even noticed she was there. They both stumbled backwards, but managed to stay on their feet. They remained footing and spoke at the same time.

"My apologies, ma'am."

"I am so sorry sir."

and then they did it again.

"Nonsense ma'am, I wasn't paying atention."

"It was my fault, sir I wasn't paying attention."

They said the last part completley in sync. It sounded funny, and they both threw their heads back laughing. The way he looked at her after, she knew he was most definitely paying attention now. 'Yes,finally.' She thought to herself.

"Hey, are you busy right now?" She asked doing her best to paste a sweet smile on her face.

No more than usual. Why do you ask?"

"Well, I am starving, and was about to go get lunch, but l hate eating alone. If you don't think me to forward, I was wondering if you would go too lunch with me?"

"Sure, I haven't eaten yet, and now that you mention it, I am quite hungry."

During lunch she found out where he lived, and she started dropping in to say hello a couple of times a week.

As a sidhe, Geneve possessed magical abilities, abilities that would surpass even the most powerful beings in the human realm. Unfortunately, losing her connection with Anwyn, and her wings, had weakened her powers significantly.

She could still manage to implant suggestions into the average human consciousness--that was how she had built her vast army two years ago after killing her mother and leaving her aunt. The problem was that otherworldly creatures, such as wizards, could not be affected by her mind tricks.

It had to be authentic. She had to make a master magician fall hopelessly in love with her if she wanted his help to complete her plan to rule the land.

It took months to entice him to look up from his experiments and look up he must–he was only three and a half feet tall. After that, it took Genève another two years to con him into proposing.

The kind of love she had for Talon spanned space and time. She had no intention of ever loving anyone else. Her chance of living happily ever after died with Talon, so she may as well marry someone who could help her get home. And maybe some of her brokenness could heal as well.

Genève went to Zeek first thing the morning after he proposed and stood back, watching the tiny man with a mixture of revulsion and excitement.

She put her palm on her stomach and sighed. When he had asked for her hand in marriage, she told him yes without hesitation. Now it was time for her to reveal to him that she was with child.

She was actually excited about the baby, she had never experienced a mother's love She was going to do better than her mother, and although she could never love Zeek she understood he would make a good father. She could have definitely have done worse.

She sauntered toward him and kissed him on the cheek. Judging from the look on his face, Genève could tell that he was excited.

Before she could say a word, Zeek grabbed her hand and said, “I finally figured out how to do it, my love. I knew it was possible! All these years, everyone thought I was a fool. We will see who laughs last.”

Genève forced a joyful smile and looked into his eyes. “That is wonderful, dear heart. Which theory have you proven?”

His lips spread into a childish grin, and he exclaimed, “I can now cross the threshold into the alternate dimensions! Try as I may, I could not comvince the Wizard world that alternate realities exist, and now I need not convince anyone. I can enter them!”

Genève’s eyes grew wide, and her breath caught in her throat. Before she could stop herself, she blurted, “Other dimensions–do you know what this means?

We will rule all the realms. We will have infinite power. All we would have to do is find the rulers in each realm and kill them. We will plan a siege–they will never even see it coming. I could finally go home…”

she found herself rambling, which was not like her at all. She turned around to look at Zeek and was taken aback by the disgust in his eyes. In an instant she knew, things would never be the same. His rose-colored glasses had been ripped away with just a few renegade words.

“You never loved me. You conspired to use me to gain power. Leave my presence, dear heart. I never want to see you again.”

Genève stood up straight and lifted her chin high. She was determined not to let him see that he had hurt her.

When he had informed her that he could move between the dimensions, it had taken her by surprise, and she had let her mask slip. When he had informed her that he could move between the dimensions, it had taken her by surprise, and she had let her mask slip. He broke the engagement off, and ordered her to leave.

Eight Years Later

The boy ran toward the door, but his mother blocked his way. As he fidgeted impatiently, she grinned. She pushed his black hair out of his gray eyes, kissed his cheek, and said, “You may go out and play until lunch, but then you must wash up. Today is your seventh birthday, and tonight we will celebrate.”

He laughed in acknowledgment and dashed out the door without looking back. He had important business to take care of down by the stream.

As the boy traveled, he did not chat with the other children. His mind was focused on getting to his experiment so he could record today’s findings. Although the other kids were nice enough, he had little in common with them.

Once everything was documented, the boy leaned back against a willow tree. He felt his body relax as he watched the tiny fairies dance across the current, lighting up the blue-green water like a thousand fireflies drifting in the wind. He waited patiently, hoping to catch a glimpse of the two unicorns that sometimes drank from the flowing stream.

His mother had taken him to other places in their homeland, but she would always say proudly, “We have the most wondrous and enchanting township in all the region. We will consistently thrive as long as we never lose sight of the simple charm of this place.”

He took those words to heart and regularly noticed the grace that so many people seemed to overlook.

Suddenly he heard a blood-curdling scream from town, and his body became paralyzed with dread. He finally managed to stand up and take a step in the direction of the scream, when he spotted the flames shooting up over the tree line.

The worry disappeared, and in its place came a steely determination. He crept silently toward town, concealing himself behind the trees and the tall grass.

When he had traveled as far as he could without being seen, he noticed that his beloved city was crumbling. All the huts were ablaze, and the townsfolk were chained and being herded into a hastily made prison surrounded by guards.

The boy was smart, so he understood that his only chance to save his mother was to race away. Too young and too small to make any difference right now, if he tried to intervene, he would be caught and become a prisoner with the others.

Before he spun to rush away, the youth noticed a golden chariot pull up. A beautiful woman with long, flowing red hair emerged. Listening to her as she screamed at her guards, the boy mentally cataloged the sound of her voice.

He took his time and memorized every detail about her appearance, then turned and vanished into the woods, silently mouthing, “We will one day meet again–of that, I am sure.”

Orion jumped out of the golden chariot. He was tired from the long trip and wanted to explore. He glanced up at his mother and noticed that she was throwing yet another tantrum.

It made him sad that, at the mere age of eight, he behaved far more grown-up than she did. Once again, he looked to the sky and wished that his father was still alive. He was sure that if his father lived, he would be rescued from his mother’s callous rampages.

Orion peeked around at the destruction, and his heart grew heavy. As a child, there was nothing he could do to save these people, but he vowed to himself that one day he would help this town return to its original glory.

He wandered out toward the forest to get away from his maternal influence, her constant screeching, and the terrified cries of the townsfolk. As he trudged away, he noticed a boy about his age staring up at Orion’s mother with unabashed hatred on his face.

Orion did not want to call attention to the boy, so he shifted around to find somewhere else to explore. As he ambled elsewhere, he looked back and saw the child disappear into the timbers. Orion let out a breath.

He consoled himself by whispering, “At least one boy got away. Maybe there are more that I have not seen.”

As he strode toward his mother, Orion couldn’t help but notice the destruction. The townspeople were being herded into camps that his mother’s guards were hastily put together.

If they tried to escape, his mother, Genève, killed them immediately. So many bodies lie scattered on the dirt road and in the grass that he could not possibly have kept count. The smell of smoke and death permeated his nostrils. His stomach felt sick, and his heart seemed like it would burst from sadness.

He went to his mother as she flogged a young troll with a whip. The troll cried and begged for his life.

“I will go quietly; I will do your bidding-please just stop hitting me.”

Genève looked up with a sinister grin and said, “You disobeyed me. You will die. I will use you as an example so that everyone else will know that I am not to be defied.”

Orion had seen so much pain and death, but this he could not accept. The troll was only a child. He stepped in between his mother and the troll. As the whip snapped, it hit Orion’s arm, and a bloody welt formed.

He stared into his mother’s eyes and said, “Do not kill this child. You have proven to everyone that they must obey you. Look around you, Mother. What is one more body in the scheme of things? I will gladly take his punishment.”

Genève looked at her son with disappointment, but she lowered the whip and pointed at the troll. “Leave my sight. I have spared your life for now. I better not see you again.”

She handed the whip to the patrol standing closest to her. “Orion wishes to be punished to spare one insignificant life. Give him ten lashes on his rear end.”

Orion turned his back toward the guard and felt the first smack open the skin on his back. Lash after lash, he stood with a determined look on his face. He did not cry out or shed a tear. By the tenth lash, his rear looked like raw meat and felt as if it were on fire. The blood flowed freely. He grew more determined than ever to end his mother’s reign of terror. He decided then and there, that he was going to overthrow his mother, as soon as he could. His mother would love to regret this day.