There were any number of paths along the way Evan could have taken to avoid the decision before him. He could have bypassed the Ventura Harbor and Santa Cruz Island all together that day and never met Zoe. Eva may have still come for him, passing along the message from the Queen and King that his presence was required, but it wouldn’t have been because of a stolen book. Thea Thanatos would not be enacting a plan to throw the Stratons off the throne, Owyn would still be King, and he would likely continue to be the Queen’s lover, having no reason to be freed from his technical imprisonment.
But there would be no Zoe.
If he never told her who he was or where he came from, she would be safe. Although, catching her and subsequently revealing his identity was how he started the path to knowing her in the first place. If he had never caught her, she would have succeeded in killing herself.
He could have insisted she never go to the Forgotten Gardens and instead taken her home. But it wasn’t his choice to make and he couldn’t very well deny her the chance to reclaim something that was fundamentally hers.
Regardless of if he had never met her, her path would always lead to Terra. She was, after all, as much of it as he was. The fact of the matter was that even if he had not taken that boat ride, saved her life, or even met her all, she was still a part of him. They had grown up together, were linked through their families, and always destined to be in each other’s lives one way or another.
Maybe all paths did lead to one place: stuck in the middle of a war between two families. His own family had already suffered greatly because of a war for the Crown of Terra. He couldn’t handle the death of anyone he loved. And yet, without tremendous sacrifice, the very lives of those he loved would be over.
“I always hated your mother. When we were younger, about the same age as you and Kyra, we were in love with the same man: Damon Nero. He was just as handsome as Evander is today. Strong chin, green eyes, a very passionate man with whom I shared many wonderful memories. I never particularly liked her before we were in love with the same man, so you can imagine how much we mutually despised each other after. Eventually we all grew up and apart. Damon fell in love with and married Calla, Thea married Zopyros, and I met my husband.”
The woman sighed and then sat for a moment in silence. Only the rhythmic beeping of the machines Zoe was hooked up to made any sound. They were alone for the first time ever, The Heir and The Usurper.
“I always doubted whether I had truly killed the great Thea Thanatos. Even as I sat on the throne with the Crown of Terra securely on my head I knew she was somewhere in the world, biding her time. Of course, I never imagined she’d one day find you. You were the only Thanatos child unaccounted for and I just assumed she or Zopyros had sent you away to another world, never to be found again.” She sighed again, the sound contemplative. “If only you knew how many Crown Soldiers I sent out into other worlds to find you.”
“Of course, I had no real interest in the Thanatos children at first. Your brother Zarek was easy enough to get rid of. His age made it easy to change his name, construct a new identity and export him to another world. I have it on good authority he’s lived his generation quite comfortably in a family of mineral excavators in a nearby world. You have to admit it was kind of me to spare his life so generously. Then again, I’ve always had a soft spot for children. Your sister especially. Even as a child she was fit to be Queen. Not that Thea would have ever ascended her to the throne. I had hoped my own daughter would ascend after me, but the disease she inherited from my husband’s side of the family took her as it had him.”
She sniffled solemnly but did not cry. Korina Straton never cried.
“It was easy. I’d already changed the identity of one Thanatos child, why not a second? Zara was still young enough to adapt to the change. It took a while for her to recognize the name as her own, but she did, and eventually she was Kyra Straton. Imagine my surprise to learn she had grown to love a Nero. Just like her mother before her.”
Korina shuffled in her seat, adjusting her position while crossing and uncrossing her legs.
“You may think there is a whole life for you here, but there isn’t. If you had only stayed away in whatever universe you were sent to, none of this would have happened. But that doesn’t mean anything has to change. My nephew’s treason had provided me with an opportunity to correct a mistake I’d made with your sister a long time ago. I should have known all along she’d had her heart set on Evander, but my motivation was political, and for that we’ve suffered. I won’t make the same mistake again. My daughter is Queen, she’ll have the husband she always wanted, and the King of Terra will, for the first time in our history, be a man worthy of the title. You, on the other hand, don’t belong here.”