Zoe Thanatos(73)

She felt a crack in her emotional resolve at the implied mention of Evan. For all she knew he had left Terra and was in another world making a life with someone else. There was no guaranteeing he would want to replace Owyn in role and title. Even if there was no one else in the picture, she had no idea whether he’d want a life with her, one where their union   was not an affair but a relationship, a partnership. A marriage.

Julia appeared behind the Queen Mother, her expression that of concern. “Your Highness,” she bowed. “There’s news from the Military Complex. Alcander is requesting your presence at once.”

“Thank you, Julia,” Korina spoke. She dabbed the corners of her mouth with a cloth napkin and rose from the table, her head uncharacteristically bent in reverence to Kyra. “It’s time to write your legacy, Your Highness.”





Chapter 20: Prisoners and Soldiers



Evan couldn’t sleep. It hadn’t been long since Eva and Zoe left for Last City against his better judgment, and the waiting was nerve wracking. Everything was too quiet, even in the familiarity of his and Eva’s residence. There lingered a sense that things were about to irrevocably change one way or another, and he hoped he and the ones he cared for were on the right side of that change. In the meantime he needed a distraction, something to keep his mind from waiting for any word from Zoe or Eva. With the entire city on lockdown it would be difficult to go anywhere or do anything.

Every private residence and public area was equipped with an information kiosk that displayed streaming updates of news from the Crown and around Royal City. Since returning to Terra he had not bothered to power on the kiosk in his residence, assured that between his meetings with the Queen and information compiled from firsthand sources he was up to date on the Crown’s goings-on. Yet, something compelled him then to switch the glass panel on, hoping against hope that there was some news, any news to abate the pit of worry in his stomach.

The kiosk came alive instantly, streams of updates aggregating one on top of the other until the most recent were on top. With his fingers Evan pinched and zoomed in on specific headlines, briefly reading their contents as he moved from one to the next. One piece detailed a partially true account of the King’s kidnapping and how, with the help of highly trained Crown Soldiers, his trusted confidante Evander Nero helped rescue him from danger. There was little mention of the stolen book from the Royal Anthology.

Another announcement proclaimed the gates had been temporarily closed for maintenance, assuring residents that that it was a routine procedure that would not permanently affect their lives. The newest announcement was that the King’s captors had been taken into royal custody and were awaiting prosecution. There was no mention anywhere about Last City, its residents, or anything about Thea Thanatos and the original family. Of course the Queen would never allow such explosive information to be released by way of the information kiosks. Still, even with the carefully crafted announcements it was obvious that a complete story was not being told. He wondered how the Queen would use information about the recent events to her advantage. Though, he could not imagine she would release any information about Thea or the original family.

He thought about Thea locked up behind closed doors guarded by Crown Soldiers, waiting on the Queen to decide her fate. Like Eva and the King said, everyone had a part to play, but what was the outcome meant to be? If Zoe regained the memory of her birthright what would she do next? Challenge Kyra for the Crown? The Queen had her own personal army and Zoe was a virtual stranger to everyone in Terra, excluding the few who knew of her existence. If taking back the throne was her plan how would she do it?

Evan looked up at the information kiosk. The Crown not only had the army, but also controlled the flow of information to every resident, and if they no longer had that control they would be unable to feed half-truths and propaganda to the residents. If they knew the truth would they rise to Zoe’s defense? Would they rally at her back, outnumbering the Crown Soldiers, to help her take back her birthright?

Then there was the other issue sticking in the back of his mind. What happened to the other Thanatos children? According to the King, who was presumably in-the-know because of his relationship with Thea Thanatos, the only known child to survive was Zoe. Her sister and brother were never confirmed to have either died or survived, so the question of their mortality was still unknown. Both were too young to survive on their own, and yet if they were never found where could they possibly have gone? Had a family taken one or both of them in, raised them as their own? Though born into the royal family they were still just children when the Stratons took the Crown, and it was possible that not everyone knew what they looked like. Not even he could remember their faces. He could only recall the name of the other sister, Zara. If she were alive she’d be close to Eva and Zoe’s age. If Zara Thanatos and her brother were alive would they know their true identity? Could they really have lived their entire lives in Terra, forced to honor a Queen whose own family took theirs from them?