Regret and Betrayal

Prologue,

Part I

FROM THE BEGINNING

In the Beginning There Was the End of Solitude...

The sky wore a sinister cloak for the battle, it swam above them showering tears of shame that it could have saved those the Earth had lost. The Earth shone a stoned crimson as the dark force of light ahead claimed the lives of King Azrael's army. The death continued until a new hope arrived, a gap in the protective wards of the twelve foot wall. Then the remainders of his army fought their way into Aztarophe's secluded lands. Days in battles such as these would cause any man to lose their reason, but the silence on the grounds of your enemy would steal any man's sanity.

The fragile peace was greatly disturbing though the radiating light of the castle in the foreground would have created a serene atmosphere, had they not been at war. They ascended the stone cold staircase and crossed the threshold of the immense Iron Gates. They were now in the gardens of Aztarophe's castle. The night radiated off of the sharp bushes that dawned the path to huge oak doors. However, that was not what the King was concentrating on. Rather on the fact that the dark wizard was in his territory overlooking his labor and its current success. He was deeply engrossed in it in fact the only thing, or rather person that seemed to be catching his attention was the presence of the young woman that stood before him, exuding in a lightened glow on the east wall to the grounds. At first he thought he was delusional and that the battle had finally gotten to him. But the woman looked a lot like...

***

"Maleyna, what are you doing here?" Aztarophe looked at the woman who had now appeared in front of him interrupting his view on his current masterpiece. How had she gotten there?

"I've come to ask you to stop this." Maleyna stood grounded without movement on the immense wall that circled the castle. Though the wind blew with great strength her raven hair remained still and her eyes a deep sea of blue pleaded for mercy.

"You know I cannot do that, your husband started this it is up to me to finish it." He spoke with certain finality in his voice that saturated his words.

"Leave Azrael out of this, we both know this has nothing to do with him." Her anger amused him.

"This has everything to do with him." Disgust filled his mouth as he spat out his words. "And you, with all you say that you stand for. How dare you come here after what you have done to me have you no shame?" He was aware that his words were breaking just like his heart if he owned such a thing, but if he didn't then why did that area of his body pulsate whenever she came near?

"Shame in what exactly? Loving Azrael, loving my husband?" She laughed, but it subsided almost immediately. "Or not loving you?" There was ice in her tone.

Aztarophe's face soured at her comments. "What do you want from me Maleyna? Because I would rather you to leave and not darken my mood anymore than it is. There is only so much that a man can take when it comes to you and believe me... I've reached this far from slicing your husband into oblivion." He held out his arm and distanced his thumb and index to show just how far.

"But you wouldn't do it would you?" she answered knowingly, predicting his answer.

He paused despising his frequency of letting her see that she got to him in this way. She seemed to be the only person that could make him stop and think. He hated it as most of the time he was always sure of what to do.

At that moment his messenger and most trusted friend appeared at his side. "Aztarophe." He bowed his head in respect then he paused for a second after witnessing a woman, someone he had known since he was a child. "Maleyna," he said acknowledging her, and then tore his eyes away to continue in the conversation. "Sire they have entered the castle grounds."

"Thank you Zacharin." With that Zacharin left.

"Zacharin," Maleyna called to him hovering off the wall and following him as he walked away. How she was able to do this she didn't know, but somehow she was and whether or not she could explain it she didn't care.

"Yes?" He reluctantly turned to face her.

"Can't you talk him out of this?" she pleaded.

Aztarophe stared at him reviewing his change of face as she approached him. Although he could not hear them he knew she would try to get to him through Zacharin. Perhaps it was because of their friendship long ago. When Maleyna had ruled with her brother as Goddess to the Earth they were great friends before she gave up everything to be with a mortal. They had waited for her to come to her senses, but she never did.

***

Though from the look on Zacharin's face that friendship was long forgotten, glancing first at Aztarophe he stared away from her.

"I do not take requests from those who betray others." He glared past her determined not to look into her eyes. "They mean nothing to me. If they wanted help, then they will have to help themselves as I sincerely regret ever knowing them." He spoke with no tone in his voice, empty, like that of his feelings for her.

"How can you say that? Zacharin it's me." She was holding on to him now steering him into her eyes, she could not get him to look at her any more.

"No, it's not you." Now he glared at her piercing through her oceanic eyes. It was still such a strange sight to see deep blue surrounded by white skin and ebony hair. "You left the day you decided to leave me and your brother behind to sort out the imbalance you created in nature, hence our current situation." He raised his hands in the air to signify the damage she had caused. It was true though; if she hadn't left Aztarophe would not have gotten so angry. She would never have done that for him and he knew that, so his hatred for Azrael would not have grown so intense and Zacharin would not have joined Aztarophe in his quest against him.

"I did not cause this Aztarophe did but if you are intent on blaming me then -" She touched his hand and instantly he pulled away with a distant look on his face. When he came back there was pain in his eyes as if not wanting to believe what he was seeing. He looked at her and the pain grew, but his voice was still empty.

"I am not intent on blaming you I am blaming you because you did cause all of this, I saw it Maleyna. You neglect to remember that I am a diviner and I can see why all this happened... and what will happen." His last words stung him and he swallowed hard. Maleyna understood that he had seen something that he did not want to see but could never change.

Still looking at him she stared into his eyes. "You speak to me with such hatred in your voice. Do you despise me for wanting to be happy, is that what this is you hate me for leaving you? If so then I do not blame you I cannot, but though you speak of me so..." She turned him vigorously so that his eyes met hers and she stared deep into them. "Zacharin, your eyes betray you."

Zacharin broke free of her grasp and stalked off into the darkness. The drowning sensation that his visions brought upon him he had habituated himself to. The pictures were gone but the image of her dead body still scarred the insides of his eyelids. When he opened them they were still there. What hurt the most was that there was nothing he could do about it, what hurt even more was the fact that he wasn't supposed to care. But he did. He should have told her but she didn't deserve to know she had to pay, didn't she? These were the times that he despised his gifts. He still loved his friend but she had left so suddenly and neglected him. How could he forgive her after all she had done? Though after everything he had just seen how could he not?

***

"Aztarophe you have to stop this, if not for me then do it for yourself."

"Maleyna, have you not noticed that I am actually enjoying this?" He looked out once more at the retrenchment of Azrael's army. He had won. He smiled evilly at the cowards as they ran away.

"And if you end up killing Azrael, what about that?"

"Well I must say that, that would be an added bonus," he said sarcastically, but he didn't look at her, he wouldn't give in. He was still convinced that she was trying to distract him. "He would be out of the way and all would be right with the world." He wore a look of bland amusement.

Maleyna was silent for a moment, there was obviously no way of getting him to retreat. He was still killing a lot of Azrael's men even though the battle was now over. "If it makes you happy, but understand this would you rather have me love you for granting mercy than for killing my husband?" It was all she had to bargain with there was no other way. Behind her there was a sound like a struggle, the sound was coming from the direction where Zacharin had stormed off. But there was nothing there.

His curiosity got the better of him. "Maleyna you do not love me why would you even bring this up?" She turned back to face Aztarophe who was looking at her incredulously.

"Because if you do this for me then there may be a chance that I will go back to my brother and become what I was once," she said to him looking as if she were about to sell her soul.

***

Lies, what you use to find the truth

That was the night he had pulled back, causing his power and strength to greatly deplete and allowed Azrael to beat him. All in vain as Maleyna had lied to him and the example he had set had made no difference to her. He knew this; he knew that she still would not love him, that she still would not leave Azrael, and that she still would not care. Yet he continued anyway knowing he would come close to dying if he did.

The sky was brightening with every minute that passed by and the wizard watched the sunlight playing against the trees on the outskirts of the castle grounds. He was both tired and incensed, but strangely placated. The battle had been a great disaster, he had been defeated and his strength had been greatly depleted nothing else had he wanted to hear. The clouds were circling high in the sky promising a darkened day of despair and tragedy, and such a day he would make it. The King had to pay for how he had demeaned him. Fore he had lost everything his power, his glory, his Kingdom, and his only love. The King would pay; he would feel the loss of his heart just like Aztarophe. Even if it meant that he would lose his only love forever.

When Maleyna had asked him that night whether or not he could kill Azrael, he began to think that he couldn't because he would rather see her content than be with him and poignant. However, if he had to kill him now he did not necessarily have to do it literally. He would rather see her dead than see her with him. As he had thought that night every man has a breaking point.

Be he mortal or not.

Now he thought of Zacharin who come to think of it had apparently been avoiding him. He was afraid that his loyalty may be slipping so he called to him. He could sense the messenger that Azrael had sent for Maleyna, though most of his power was now non-existent there were still small things he could do. Blast her for making him so weak. She must have known this would happen. Then again so would Zacharin, but they had made a deal some time ago that he would not share what he saw in his visions. It would not be right to ask.

"Yes Sire?" He said as he materialized into the room.

"Zacharin, where have you been?"

"Getting ready for your request Sire what else?"

Aztarophe made his way to his black marble desk which stood in the center of an immaculate circular room. On the desk stood the basis of his plan, he picked it up and ran his fingers along the edges of the stone. As blunt as it looked it could have torn apart skin. Suitable, as that was what it would be used for.

"So you have seen this and what will become of it?" he said holding the stone in front of him, so Zacharin could see. They had agreed that it was not right to ask, but there are ways of getting men to talk of their own accord.

"I have, but only last night." he said, vividly remembering how it was supposed to be used he suppressed a shudder. - He felt his hands behind his back, the same hands that had delved into Azrael's mind seconds after leaving Maleyna to extract his memory of that evening. He had found him near some of the bushes staring at Maleyna going back to the wall where Aztarophe had been viewing the war. How well it had worked he did not know as he had no clue to how much Azrael had seen. - And after some hesitation, he continued cautiously, "And I am ready to do what I have to." Even if it means that I have to betray you, he thought, hands tightening behind his back.

"So you understand the importance of it?" Aztarophe said, pushing further.

"Yes, and you too must understand why I cannot tell you the outcome."

He sighed in defeat, "Of course... Rebecca," he called to his daughter, "I need you to do me a favour."

Rebecca walked in as elegant and as beautiful as she always did. It continuously surprised Aztarophe at how much she looked like her mother, even more so to her obvious liking of her father's work. Aztarophe had a son also but it was always Rebecca, his dear sweet Rebecca that continued to shine a spotlight in his heart.

How he missed her mother, it was a shame he had to kill her. Sometimes it was hard to raise a girl by yourself.

"Yes father," she answered, trying hard to avoid Zacharin's eye but failing miserably.

"I need you to go with Zacharin for a while." Zacharin turned away, unable to stop the expression of betrayal that showed on his face.

"Is something the matter, what's going on?"

"Nothing is wrong, besides us losing a battle to a mortal of course." She moved toward him to comfort him.

"So we lost a battle?" She cupped his face in her hands staring into his eyes. "But what of the war?" she smiled.

Aztarophe looked proudly upon his daughter. "The war has just begun my child, but I myself cannot do anything for it until my strength returns to me. Can you go with him or not?" Up to now she had not answered him.

She turned to look at Zacharin; he continued to peer out of the stained window.

"Why are you sending me away? I want to help."

"You will be I have no intention of sending you anywhere. As usual your brother refuses to have any part of this, not that he would have been any use."

Rebecca smiled. "Thank you father, I will go as you wish."

"Good, now King Azrael is having a banquet in lieu to his recent victory. I plan to infiltrate this with your help. Do you want to help me?"

"You need not even ask."

He sighed with a smile. "Zacharin shall take you there after you retrieve Maleyna from her home, from there you shall take over her role and then after she sees you and her husband together, she will come to me."

"Break her from the inside will you? Very decent," said Rebecca nodding.

"Yes well," Zacharin began, finally coming away from the window and his constant state of silence, "she was never really good at keeping things inside was she?" He smiled hoping they wouldn't see past him.

***

King Azrael watched non-chalantly as the Sun permeated its life back into his vast land; everything was as it should be and the feast was just a day away. Soon he would be with his wife Maleyna and they would be celebrating his victory over the dark wizard Aztarophe. His messenger had gone to retrieve her so the feast would not begin until she arrived. He was glad of this, as there were some questions or rather one that he had to ask her.

Everything was perfect, but thoughts in the back of his mind were saying otherwise.

He couldn't help but wonder if everything was too perfect. In all his time on the throne and his rivalry with Aztarophe, Azrael had not known him to step down especially if he had lost a battle even if most of his strength was non-existent. There had been tales of men, brave men who dared go against the great dark wizard, but none had lived. Very few of their men had escaped with their lives. What they spoke of, dark times of no hope was truly something every man feared. Though somehow he, a mortal King of noble blood had defeated him.

***

Preparation

"Are you sure you want to go through with this?" Zacharin was crunching through the autumn leaves on the ground, each step feeling like bones snapping beneath his feet.

Rebecca eyed him curiously; he seemed even more on edge than when they had left her father. Seeing him like this made her rather uncomfortable as she was always told he was the leader of her father's men. That, she had hoped meant that he was brave and strong and such, right now he looked like it was all a façade and truly inside he was scared.

"Your inability to relax disturbs me Zacharin; anyone would think you were losing your nerve out here. Something I have never witnessed personally, but it is troubling all the same. Humour me, do you find it in yourself to not get me killed?"

"I promise nothing, not that you can be killed anyhow. By the way, a man and woman in the woods in broad daylight, hmm, if I were a villager strolling through Ebininus Bridge woods at this time of the day I would probably think that we were up to no good." He watched her suggestively.

She returned his gaze moving closer. "But we're not up to any good are we? Without the risk of sounding extremely adolescent, I would say that we are up to very, very bad things." There was the sound of a snapping twig nearby; they both ignored it staring at each other.

"Speaking of bad things, do you mind?" He moved toward her covering their remaining distance in one small, silent move. "Maleyna wears her hair out, always has, she likes freedom." He undid the pin that held her hair up in a bun.

"If you don't mind my saying so," she began, allowing him to fix her hair. He had both arms just over her shoulders now. She changed her appearance morphing into Maleyna's shape, "it was her want of freedom that got us into this mess was it not?"

Zacharin stopped for a while looking again at the face of his once best friend. "I guess so," he said, turning into the messenger from his vision. "Now, what is my name?"

Rebecca sighed heavily in annoyance, "Christian, you are a member of Azrael's personal army and you are also his best friend," she reeled, rolling her eyes. "I'm not that forgetful, unlike some people who can't even pick up a piece of parchment and scribble down a few words."

He sighed; he knew this was coming, eventually. He opened his mouth.

"Don't even begin to tell me 'You had a battle to fight,' I won't believe a word of it. I am not my father; I cannot be swayed by your charms." She crossed her arms and turned away toward the tree.

Zacharin let out a small laugh. "You were the first time," he said quietly, almost to himself.

But she had heard him. She gasped loudly, turning from the tree and uncrossing her arms slowly. "How dare you!" Her fingers spread out wide; he could sense the electricity flaring from her, as well as the sparks that erupted from the tips of her fingers. He had better calm her down; the real Christian would be here at any moment.

"Okay, okay I'm sorry alright?" He held his hands up in defeat. "I should have owled, or um sent a message or any other form of communication they have now alright I'm sorry." The sparks died down. She leaned against the tree. "But hey look on the bright side of all this."

"What bright side? She's driven my father crazy, my brother has locked himself away until it has all subsided which means I am the one he constantly looks for and you - all you want to do is please my father. I feel so alone."

"Sometimes being alone is all you need. But err... hey! You wouldn't have met me if she hadn't wanted all that freedom." He smiled at her.

Rebecca eyed him with mirth. "I hardly call our acquaintance a bright side."

"Well I wouldn't exactly call it dull either," he said, a smirk threatening his face. "But polish the dull side and look at it from there if you regret it that much." He mocked a wounded heart and pretended to be hurt. Her head was still down. He heard something behind him.

"That's not what I meant-," she began but was cut short, Zacharin had leaned forward and was kissing her intently, pinning her against the tree they were hiding behind. She was lost in the sensation of kissing him, her arms wrapped around him. It wasn't until a man's voice broke the silence did she realise someone was on a horse looking down at them and the reason he had kissed her in the first place. Despite herself, she felt rather angry at this.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here in the dark of Ebininus bridge woods?" said the voice, looking down on this man dressed in the king's army's attire with amusement.

"I don't know Christian, it looks like someone got lost and is now up to no good, being very, very bad."

Zacharin stopped kissing her abruptly. When he opened his eyes she was already looking at him quite peeved, he chose to ignore this shocked at what he had just heard.

"There are two of them?" he whispered.

Rebecca's face turned to confusion; she just nodded at his question. Zacharin turned to face the two men on horses. He observed them with shock and surprise. They were laughing at having just caught one of their men in the woods with a woman, probably from the village. But they stopped the second they saw the two lovers' faces. One was Christian, the eldest of the two dressed in his clothes. The other was the Queen, and the wife of the king they served, both of which were making out in the woods.

Zacharin's eyes went from Christian to his friend.

"What's the matter?" Rebecca asked him quietly.

"There aren't meant to be two of them, in my vision I only saw one."

Rebecca, irritation slowly rising once more said, "Well you couldn't have looked very hard could you, seems like you can't do anything right."

Zacharin spun to face her so fast she could have sworn he were about to fall. "You're father only sensed the presence of one messenger also, care to doubt him as well?" he said angrily. She opened her mouth to retort but thought better of it.

Their heads snapped to the foresaid messenger who had now fainted off of his horse onto the ground.

"You - you killed him! The king will have your heads for this!" Christian's ally began to turn his horse.

"Not if we get his first."

"Now what do we do?" Zacharin asked.

"We'll just have to kill them both."

"What?"

"Hello, he's getting away!" Rebecca pointed out.

He waved his hand indignantly toward the man now galloping away. "What do you mean 'We'll just have to kill them both,' what do you think this is a slaughter house?" Nothing happened.

"You missed! How could you possibly miss he's right there!" she said, as if he hadn't said a word. "Oh honestly."

She shook his hand a little as if warming it up then waved it again. This time the man flew of his horse hitting a nearby tree, killing him instantly.

"So you have to warm it up before being able to use it." She held his arm analyzing it. "Well that explains a lot of things." She looked up at him grinning mischievously.

He removed his hand not believing what she had just done with it, as if she were about to break it. "Do you mind not using my arm as your personal killing tool?" Rebecca shrugged walking over to the real Christian's unconscious body lying on the ground. "Far be it for you to get your own hands dirty," he said following her with his eyes.

"Speaking of, what shall we do with him?"

"Oh 'why don't we just kill him too,' that seems to be a very popular request."

Rebecca rolled her eyes. "Wasn't that the plan?"

He sighed, "Well let's go to the bridge there's a better view from there anyway."

Silence between them, they charmed him so that he floated inches off of the ground until they reached the canyon of Ebininus Bridge Woods.

"So what, do we just throw him over?" Zacharin asked.

"I don't know I've never done this before."

"You, the daughter of the most powerful wizard on earth and you've never killed a man before?"

"Oh no, I've killed before, it just never had to be done to look like a muggle accident. What about you? You work for my father; you've never killed a muggle before?"

"Many. I've just never had to kill them like this he's unconscious, where's the fun in that? I prefer to face them."

"Oh, well I can fix that." She put her hand on the man's head and muttered something under her breath; Christian fell back to the ground, hard and instantly he awoke. "There you go," she said standing up.

Zacharin rolled his eyes. "Thanks."

At the sound of his queen's voice Christian looked up. "My lady? What - what are you doing here out of the castle, and who was that man you were with and -,"

"Shh, be calm Christian, it will be okay get up." She stood over him in front of Zacharin. "You must know by now, the man I was with, it was you." She talked with such a sweetness in her voice it was almost unthinkable that she was the spawn of one of the most evil men in the world.

Christian looked at her, disbelief in his eyes. "Me?"

Zacharin stood behind her now, the exact replica of Christian himself. "Yes, you were helping me." Christian looked in horror and Zacharin smiled malevolently. He couldn't describe it but there was always a certain excitement in addition to the hunt, where the fear was the best thing to see in a victim's eyes. "But don't worry," she said aware of Zacharin's presence behind her, he put and arm around her waist. Christian's eyes snapped back to his queen, unfamiliar with the look in her eyes he began to back away from them. "I don't need you anymore, you can go now." She held out her arm with Zacharin's and lightning shot through the tips of their fingers, his white, hers green. They intertwined and twisted together hitting Christian square in the chest. He fell backwards over a rock into the canyon, his screams of pain and fear echoing until he hit the ground.

After a while Zacharin broke the silence. "You see, now wasn't that better than just throwing him over unconscious?"

***

"My lady?" Zacharin entered the castle to find Maleyna waiting at the fireplace, staring into a portrait of her husband. He caught the eye of his beloved friend.

"Christian, what news? What of my husband?"

"Your husband is well my queen, and he requests your presence at the banquet tomorrow. We must leave now if we are to reach in time."

"Very well I shall go, let me get my cloak." She swept past him eagerly to get to the stairs.

"I shall wait for you here ma'am," he said watching her go up the stairs to her quarters.

The castle was dark, quiet and empty having most of the occupants gone into battle with King Azrael. The silence was creepy; he looked around wondering how someone could live in a place like this, so dead and empty of life. The walls were a bleak shade of grey and they echoed the light from the lamps bizarrely against the walls. When it came to surroundings, he was always weary because of what he was; he constantly had to look over his shoulder. This time when he did he noticed someone was watching him.

"Maleyna? I mean - My Queen is something wrong, that was fast." He looked at her peculiarly, something was different.

"Mmm," she said, raising her eyebrows and nodding. She was circling him now watching how he stood, eyeing him with mischievousness. She was holding back a grin, as if she knew something he didn't.

"Is something the matter?" he asked. The looks he was getting from her made him very uneasy.

"Mmm hmm," she nodded. "My Queen, my lady... ma'am?" She began to laugh. "For Merlin's sake Zacharin have some pride in you. I hope you address me in that way when I'm her." She chuckled.

He shifted and sighed in anxiety, "You won't get to be her if I break your neck, what are you doing here? I told you to wait by the horses."

"There are people outside, if they were to see me what would I do? What could I possibly say? 'Yes I'm the queen of this castle, but I'm trekking around in mud and horse filth because my aim in life is to ruin all my clothes, my friends and their neighbour's lives, and to stuff up any chance anyone may have of being happy' I don't think so."

But Zacharin wasn't listening; he was looking at her eyes. "What's wrong now?" she asked irritated that he wasn't listening, but pleased nonetheless that he hadn't heard her little outburst well enough to question her.

"Your eyes." He moved towards her in the leisurely way he did that made her knees go, squinting to see them properly as if he had missed something.

"What's wrong with them?" she said leaning backwards.

"Nothing..." he smiled awkwardly. "But they're green."

"So?"

"Maleyna's eyes are blue, deep blue."

"Again, so?"

"Azrael loves his wife, do you really think that he wouldn't notice they've changed colour?"

"But I like them green," she said in a huff.

"I couldn't care less if you liked them orange change them." Rebecca glared at him in anger. "Now," he said sternly.

With a heavy sigh Rebecca blinked, her eyes changed from emerald to sapphire.

***

The path to Destruction

They rode until the sun rose the next day, and then they continued through the woods on foot. Just as dusk fell the lights of the camp set out along the horizon.

"Do you wish to stop my lady at least to rest your horse?" he asked the Queen as she stopped beside him.

"Yes, we are almost there a rest may be adequate," she replied.

Zacharin nodded, "If you'll excuse me ma'am." He turned to walk away.

"Where are you going Christian?" she called after him, curious as to why he would leave her there in these god forsaken woods.

"Nature calls me ma'am," he said sounding slightly shy and choosing his words carefully.

"Oh, well, go ahead," she replied, cheeks going slightly red from her embarrassment.

Zacharin made sure he was a good way away for Maleyna not to hear him. "Rebecca," he called quietly.

"What happened to my queen?" He turned she was leaning against the tree he had just passed. He hated it when she snuck up on him like that.

"You're not posing as her yet," he said indifferently.

"So what do you call this?" she said, displaying her current state with her arms, "A past - time?"

"I'd drop that attitude if I were you; you don't want to give yourself away now do you?" he said, slightly guilty of it moments later when she looked to the ground. He knew she was remembering her promise to her father. "Are you ready?" he asked her.

"Yes," she sighed. "I don't see why we can't just kill him and have it over with." She looked up into his eyes as if asking if it would be okay if she did that instead.

"Well that would be an awful career decision for me now wouldn't it? After all I work for your father not you." He smiled at her. "Besides, he doesn't just want him dead, he wants to hear him scream." Rebecca smiled. "Now go." She apparated to the camp.

It all started here.

~~~~~*~~~~~~~*~~~~~~*~~~~~~*~~~~~~*~~~~~~*~~~~~~*~~~~~~*~~~~~~*~~~~~~*~~~~~~*~~~~~~*~~~~~

Prologue,

Part II

UNTIL THE END

And in the end there was the beginning of peace...

She ran until she couldn't move any more then she collapsed at the edge of the bridge of Ebininus Woods. If it weren't for her dress her knees would be raw. How could he do that to her? How could he embarrass her like that?

Damn him.

She sat there for a while just crying over the images of her husband with another woman. The casual way Christian just led her in without the decency to even pretend to be surprised. She supposed that they all knew what he was doing even the inhabitants of the castle. The thought of being so ignorant created a flood of tears; she was surprised she could hold anymore.

"You really loved him didn't you Maleyna?" said a voice from behind her. She turned; it was the last person she expected to see.

"What do you want Aztarophe? Please just leave me alone." She did her best to strengthen herself, to keep herself from breaking down when he was around her. She failed miserably, face in her hands she wept uncontrollably.

Then he did something else that surprised her even more, he held her. She looked up at him through her hair and she remembered how she hated him. Even before she had met Azrael she had refused him so many times when he had asked for her hand in marriage, so focused on choosing her own path. It was so perfect, Azrael loved her and she was living her own life, not just the life her brother had chosen for her to lead. But she had forgotten one thing, something that Aztarophe had warned her against from the beginning. After everything when you stripped him down, if you remove the love, remove his smile, his promises to stay with her for eternity; if you stripped him down to his very core Azrael was still just human, and in being so he was prone to lying and cheating. Eventually he would die, and even the promise of eternity would break his oaths.

"Is there anything I could do?" he asked her sweetly, what was wrong with him? He had never acted this way to her before. It was nice, after what she had just seen. But it did nothing to soften her mood.

"Why are you asking? Did you have something to do with this? The fact that I'm here running away from my husband having sex with some whore I don't even know. The fact that you're here to comfort me in my time of need. You must have something to do with this; it's too much of a co-incidence." Biting back at him was the only way to hide the fact she was beginning to cry again.

"He did what with whom?" He sounded so unaware of the situation it made her wonder. If he had felt anything in those words, he hid his anger of her calling his daughter a whore very well despite himself.

No there's no way he would've been able to do that, he hasn't got the power for it anymore.

"You mean you had nothing to do with this?"

"To do with what? I was at home and I felt great pain, as you know I am very good at that. I knew it was you so I came. I had no idea, I'm sorry. But at the risk of sounding extremely adolescent, 'I told you so.'"

She looked into the darkness, a weak smile creeping on her lips. She then realized she was standing looking down on him, and then she turned away again. I'm smiling? How can I be smiling now?

Aztarophe sat on the rock just next to her, when she turned away he took a small dull looking stone out of his pocket and placed it on the ground, making it look like it had always been there. The wind blew on the bridge and her hair swept up around her, that glowing presence all over her returned again and her eyes that had once glistened with tears had dried instantly. She looked like she had looked once long ago, standing on the edge of somewhere high looking around at her creation and smiling faintly signifying her pride. It was then he fell in love with her all over again. It was now or never.

"You know Maleyna-" he began.

"I wish he was dead." She hadn't moved, if he wasn't looking at her he would have sworn that someone else had spoken.

"Pardon?"

"Can you do that for me?" she said turning, casting a look upon him that made him wonder if she was serious. "Can you kill him?"

"No I cannot." She turned to hide her disappointment in his answer. "Far be it to say I would gladly do it, but the truth is I haven't that kind of power anymore." She bent her head and he knew she was remembering why.

"Oh." Her hands tightened.

"But there is something else I can do."

Her head turned immediately. "What?"

"I know that you still love him." Her head turned back to the vast darkness of the canyon. "The fact you asked me to do that is evidence enough." He stood up next to her and joined in with her surveillance. "But if you want, I can get rid of your pain."

She looked up at him, trying to decipher what he could possibly mean. "What do you mean by 'get rid of?' you can't just get rid of pain it's against the laws of the gods, we were meant to live with it its nature's way. I should know." True, living with gods as well as being one meant you had to know the rules. That was part of the reason she wanted to leave.

He bent down to pick up what looked like a blunt stone and ran his fingers along it. "Not with this, at least this way you can still be with him."

"I don't want to be with him," she said, tears threatening her eyes once more.

"Yes you do." He raised her head with his hand to see the tears glistening from the moonlight on her cheeks. "You wouldn't be crying if it weren't true, you wouldn't be here and it wouldn't hurt so much. This way you can live with him, you can even witness what you saw tonight and you won't feel an inch of pain."

Maleyna looked at the dull stone; oddly enough it was shaped as a strange looking heart. "Why're you doing this for me?"

"Because I know how it feels to be in love with someone so badly that it hurts when they don't see you, and when you can't hear them call you name without it being laced with disgust. You end up blaming other people; you end up blaming even the person you're in love with for not seeing what is in front of their eyes." A smile of mirth crept up on his face, half hidden by the dark cloak around his head you could've missed it if you didn't look at him. "Then you realize you only have yourself to blame." He paused, the smile gone, in a way some of the things he was saying were true. "But by then, it's too late and you've lost every chance you could have possibly mustered with them. That's why I'm doing this, because when you love someone as bad as that, sometimes you have to put your own feelings aside to make them happy."

She looked at him searching for any kind of malice that he could not hide behind his words. There wasn't any, he was telling the truth. She took the stone from out of his hand smiling somewhat at him, "What do I have to do?"

***

The beginning of her end

She watched them walking around the courtyard toward the lake at the bottom of the hill. Laughing and holding hands as usual, and in the grounds of the castle of all places where she was sure to see them. Why was he doing this? What had she done wrong to deserve it, how long had this been going on? Had she been ignoring him, did he feel like she wasn't expressing her feelings for him? It was driving her insane, if she found out the answers to her questions maybe their marriage was worth saving and she'd know never to make the same mistake again. But as it was now, he would just walk around acting like she was none the wiser. The servants even, they would aid the girl in her requests, and then bring Maleyna things that she didn't ask for even though they said she did. Sometimes she would even hear them calling the harlot Maleyna or Queen, the cheek! She didn't look a thing like her! Either way she was sure to go out of her mind asking herself questions all day that she was sure never to get the answer to. She was so caught up in her thoughts she almost missed Azrael running back up the courtyard calling her name. He was making his way back into the castle, but this time he was alone. She felt the hard stone in the pocket of her robes; she seemed to be carrying it everywhere. Of course nothing Aztarophe gave her would be good, but the idea of it was growing on her. She did love her husband very much and maybe he being with another woman was all she had to sacrifice for him to be happy, just as Aztarophe had done for her.

She remembered the look in his eyes half hidden by his cloak but still unmistakable. He was in love with her, she knew this and she was only beginning to realise how bad it felt to not be loved in return. How horrible it felt to have their presence everywhere around you with the pain of knowing you cannot have them anymore, having to fight a losing battle for a prize that became increasingly out of reach. Even time couldn't erase a pain like that. Maybe that's the reason why he gave it to her, because he knew that pain and couldn't hate her enough for her to feel it also.

She tried to imagine living with Azrael, screaming inside when he held her the way he held his mistress. She imagined the hate that she would feel toward him, and the jealousy toward her. No she could never live with that. She pulled the stone out of her pocket.

***

"What the hell do you mean you've fallen in love with him?" Zacharin could not believe his ears.

"Exactly what I said, I'm in love with Azrael and he is in love with me." Rebecca almost screamed it out, it was the third time she was made to repeat herself. It was getting annoying, especially since she had been dragged away from Azrael while they were walking. She was sure he would be getting worried by now.

"The man thinks you're his wife, what the hell is wrong with you? He doesn't know you're the daughter of his enemy; could you possibly be anymore unaware? Are you doing this to annoy me?"

"Yes Zacharin, because you are the one priority in my life. Why does everything have to be about you? No-one ever pays any attention to me unless I'm doing something they don't approve of. Just tuck me in a corner until you're ready for me. How selfish! I do not worship the ground that you walk on or any other person. I am my own person that deserves love and I will not have it ruined by those who couldn't see it when it was in front of them!" She was out of breath by the end of it, but sustained herself when she saw him looking at her.

"Are you quite done?"

"Did nothing I just say stick at all, you do know that you have just proven my point."

"I asked you, are - you - done?"

"Yes, I am, not that it matters at all, no-one ever listens anyway."

"Good." He grabbed her hand and pulled her towards him. If she thought that he was going to respond to her little outburst she was badly mistaken as he apparated seconds later.

***

Good, she had taken the stone from him. Now it was just a matter of time before she actually used it. It was about six days when he gave it to her on the bridge but she had not used it at all, did she even plan to? Maybe Rebecca was losing her touch.

That couldn't be it; she always did the job supremely well. Maleyna's outburst about her proved that. It must be something else. If anything was wrong Zacharin would tell me immediately.

Just then a strange man materialized into the room, accompanied by Maleyna. She looked around confused and then spotted Aztarophe sitting at his desk. Instantly she slapped the man on his face and yelled at him, "Why did you bring me here do you honestly think he can stop me? You are so selfish!"

"Would you please just calm down for Merlin's sake!" The man, who up to now had still not informed Aztarophe as to why he felt the need to trespass onto his property, seemed to feel quite at home. Dressed in the king's army attire and all he addressed his Queen in a very informal way.

But then he began to transform himself and before he even made it to his true self Aztarophe knew it was Zacharin, but why had he brought- oh.

"Father, tell him to leave me alone! He hasn't stopped following me around for a week, if this keeps up I will not be able to do what you requested of me." He shifted a little to hear what looked like Maleyna call him father, it was quite strange.

"Sire, will you please recognize the fact that if I wasn't there she'd be doing things that even her mother would not have requested of her."

"Urgh, you are so sick."

"Me Sick?" Aztarophe witnessed the two of them, arguing like brother and sister. "You're the one who claims to be in love with the man."

"She what?" Aztarophe had been silent the whole time, but he felt now was a good a time as any to step in.

"She says that they are both in love, I tried to point out to her that he thinks she is his wife, but she doesn't seem to understand this. She thinks her love life is more important than anything else."

"Is this true?" Aztarophe asked his daughter.

"No father of course it's not." He sighed with relief. She on the other hand turned toward Zacharin. "I have never thought nor will I ever think that my love life is more important than my father's work. You should know, I learned from the best after all." Zacharin looked at her harshly, warning her not to continue. But he knew that look, and he knew that tone. She wasn't stopping until she got vengeance.

"What does she mean by that Zacharin?" And now he had her father to deal with. He didn't know what to say, or where to start.

Rebecca eyed him with an evil smile, watching him squirm was all that she needed. Even she wouldn't wish her father's temper on her enemy.

"I didn't mean anything by it father, not in that way anyway. The amount of affairs he's had, I'm surprised that he gets his job done at all."

"Well Zacharin is not my concern Rebecca you are, you will not see the king any-." He clutched his chest; it felt like it was being ripped open. Zacharin, who had been looking elsewhere, had turned instantly when he heard Aztarophe stop in mid-sentence.

"Father? Father! Are you alright?" Rebecca rushed to her father's side changing back to her true self, now was not the time to be looking like Maleyna.

Zacharin ran to his side too. Aztarophe had always treated him as a son; it became a natural thing to care for him as a father.

"Sire, is there something wrong?" Aztarophe looked at him gratefully; even his own son would not have rushed to his side that way

"It's alright I'm fine. Honestly I am well; it's just one more of the drawbacks of losing so much power. The spells that you cast become bound to you and affects you more when you don't have the skill or the power to subside the pain." They looked confused, they had never heard of that before. Catching their looks he reassured them, "It was just a law made by the 'You - know - what - that be to prevent mortals from messing with the magicks."

"Are you sure?" they said simultaneously.

"Everything is fine please let me be." He composed himself as they let go of him slowly and leaned on the edge of the large black marble desk.

He watched them both with concern on their faces. It was sweet that they cared, he would have expected it from Rebecca but Zacharin hmm... if he could have chosen anyone from the endless men that had come after her, he was sure Zacharin would have caught his eye. Hmm. But that was for another time.

"Sire?"

"Father?"

"Pardon? Oh yes, um well it looks like everything is coming together."

"What do you mean?" There was perhaps a little more concern in his voice than Aztarophe would have liked.

"Maleyna has used the stone." Rebecca's face changed slightly but not as much as Zacharin's, he left the room.

Aztarophe watched him go with curiosity and Rebecca knew any moment he would delve into Zacharin's mind, as he was well capable of doing.

"I'll go," Rebecca said following him out, she left her father wondering behind.

She followed him through all the hallways that twisted and turned. Living here for so long meant that he was able to do this without getting lost, as they were designed to do so to those who trespassed. She knew where he was going, to the one place he knew Aztarophe wouldn't be able to sense him, his quarters. It was fitted by Aztarophe himself with a special metal that blocked all magical waves so that no magical force could break into his mind, being a diviner meant you were the target of many wizards in search of great power. Over the past weeks when he wasn't around her he spent most of his time here, where he could be at peace. When she had found out what he was she began to realise why he was so reclusive, why he acted as if the world were on his shoulders, because he had to and because it was. Seeing into the future meant everything, it meant that the lives you saw were the lives you knew you may not be able to save. And seeing that for so many years, especially when you're on the side of evil meant that you were the cause of their death. That was why he was practically running, her father could still sense things, pain, love, regret, betrayal.

She heard his door slam ahead. If she didn't get there on time it would be charmed shut.

She found him sitting by his window, staring out at the moon. As his door shut he turned even though he knew she had been following him. He guessed her father probably sent her.

She rounded the bed and sat next to him on the shaded side of the window sill.

"What are you doing here; you should be with your father planning things." There was sadness in his voice.

"Yeah, I don't want to do this anymore either," she said, showing her face.

He looked at her skeptically, "Who gives you a choice?" He laughed mocking her decision

"I give myself that choice I'm going to tell him, as soon as I get back I'm going to tell him."

"Why, because you love him?" he mocked with laughter.

"Why do you feel the need to keep questioning my heart, anyone would think you were jealous."

He snorted, "What's to be jealous of?"

She slapped him hard on his cheek; his hand went straight up calm the stinging. "What was that for?"

"If I have to tell you, you don't need to know." She got up to leave. "I just came to see if you were alright, after that little escape act you pulled just now. You know, the one where you thought my father wouldn't see your discomfort, yeah well he's onto you."

"What about you?"

"Well after you turned me in I can't exactly hide anymore. I'm glad actually, no need to lie now." She turned and opened the door but found it slamming shut just as it left the frame. "What are you doing?" she said as she turned to face him. His arm was just over her shoulder holding the door shut.

"I don't want to do this, I never have, I've been trying to get someone else to come with me but I didn't think it would be you. Oh well, come on." He held her and de-materialized instantly.

***

No pain to release her

She ran through the woods looking for something, anything to hide in or behind. They were all after her, she had killed the guard and there were witnesses. There was only one person that could help with this and it was the same man that had cause her to kill him in the first place. She could hear them behind her; suddenly there was road in front of her. Quickly, she ran across and entered the other side without fault. She had created these woods years ago she knew them as the back of her hand; they would never be able to track her there. But being mortal had its drawbacks as she had discovered already, but apart from that she always seemed to be out of breath. She leaned against a tree to catch her breath, both hands on the trunk. There was blood on her hands; she had to get out of this somehow. She had just killed Azrael's best friend Christian and for what? She was not even sure he knew anything. It felt strange killing him, as if the blade had not gone through. There was very little friction when the blade went through his chest, but what did she know she had never killed anyone before.

As she bridged the canyon, she felt the scattered stones shuffling as she ran across the rock bridge. Aztarophe's castle was on the other side of the woods if she could just get there...

"There she is!" she heard behind her, surely enough they had found her through the darkness of the wood. She was out in the open now and vulnerable to their weapons. She made a dash from the centre of the bridge to the recluse of the dark wood beyond. The body of Azrael's men had only been ordered to capture her and not harm her, but she had just killed their friend there were no exceptions when your best friend is killed, especially when it was Christian their leader.

***

"Well that was quite a show," Rebecca said as she approached Zacharin.

He looked up, "Is she gone? I wasn't sure, how long have I been here?"

"Too long, I just got here when I saw her running out. Those guards are pretty ruthless when you catch them on a bad day." Then Zacharin noticed something of her appearance.

"Why are you yourself, you shouldn't be walking around like that." Truth be told, he actually preferred her that way.

"Well, if Maleyna is busy killing you. How can Maleyna be busy fetching guards, hmm?" She watched his face turn suddenly understanding what she meant.

"Not that it did much; she didn't take out the stone. Help me up." He held out his hand, it was covered in blood.

"Ah, ha," she laughed, "No. There is no way I'm getting my dress ensaguined because of you."

He sighed, "Fine, but let's hope she doesn't do to your precious King what she did to me." He stood up, his imprint of blood still on the ground. "She needs to kill again; it's the only way she will take it out. Question is who should the lucky person be? She obviously didn't care enough for Christian, though he was Azrael's best man at the wedding..." He became lost in thought, whilst focusing on his clothes and realising army attire was not as comfortable as it looks and transfigured back into his usual clothes leaving the pool of blood on the floor.

Rebecca watched it; she had always wondered what it would feel like to be killed. But being immortal fixed that to a stale mate. Sometimes when her father would kill she would be there too to watch what he did, to learn what he did. Maybe then when she came to power eventually she would have knowledge of how things should be run. When she watched people die it was always the same, almost a ritual. They would plead her father would laugh, and then they would be killed without him even batting an eyelid. If anything she was angry at them, for not wanting something that would inevitably happen anyway. Why would they be so selfish to deny the privilege of being able to die? She had always wondered how it felt. The only way to really know would have been to ask him. "How did it feel?"

He looked at her after scourgifying his clothes. "How did what feel?"

"Dying," she said simply.

"Well I didn't exactly die," he said, unsure to where this was going.

"Yeah I guess so." She sounded a little disappointed to his answer.

"Well don't be too heartbroken," he said sarcastically.

"No that's not what I meant, it's just - well I've always wanted to know how it feels to - well, feel I guess that's the way I should put it. I've seen it enough times before, watched the life slowly ebb away. I sometimes felt a little envious I suppose."

"Why envious? Because they were dying and you weren't? Well, at least now I know what to get you for Christmas."

"No."

"You are the most complicated person I have ever met, did you know that? You standing there telling me that you're envious that other people get to die and you don't, do you have any idea how ludicrous that sounds?"

In response she just allowed herself to fall to the ground with a thump, she just sat there fighting back tears. Zacharin had never seen her cry before; it was quite the privilege actually. The angry princess crying before him, if her father could only see her now...

"Come on we need to get you home, before your father sends out a hunting party. Plus I need to think."

"He doesn't need to send out a hunting party for me, he knows where I am. If I'm with you he doesn't care."

He laughed at her comment, "Not for you, for Azrael, you're out late and he's preoccupied with Maleyna. If I were your father, who thankfully I'm not, I'd think you were with him and personally I'd kill the bastard too." He held out a hand to help her up.

***

A place to retreat to, place to learn the truth

She entered the castle unable to feel her legs anymore and collapsed as soon as she reached inside the castle wall. The hunting party had stopped at the gates; apparently something was preventing them from entering. They continued hurling insults and threats at her until something; or rather someone this time stopped them. She looked up when they paused wondering what has caused them to stop so suddenly. When she turned to see what they were looking at, she came into contact with the castle's owner.

"Are you alright?" he asked as he held out a hand for her.

Considering her position at the current state she took his kind gesture and allowed him to help her up. "They're after me," she said as he held her firmly.

"We should have known, only the Dark Wizard's whore would have killed Christian, just wait until the King hears of this! Then his orders will not be to only capture you!" Was among the things she heard as Aztarophe walked her inside.

She had never really paid attention to the walls in the castle before, mainly because when she was there she'd be fighting tooth and nail to get out. But in all honesty, it was quite tasteful. The walls were not as bleak as they were in Azrael's castle, they were not as cold. The warmth that the lamps brought was quite comforting despite her predicament. They passed a few doors before he opened two large doors to a warm room with a fireplace crackling under a large portrait of a man that watched her with softened glare, but a glare nonetheless.

***

Zacharin materialized quietly in one of the corridors with Rebecca next to him. Very little of the men in Aztarophe's army had had Zacharin's training. Eventually when he had entered Aztarophe's realm he was asked to join in his army as his gifts, unlike many of the wizards of his time, were ones to be reckoned with. Very few had mastered the arts of being able to have both skills of apparition and materialisation at the same time. That was just another part of him that made him wanted by other Dark Wizards out there. He was trained to fight, and fight he did until the end. He was extremely loyal, as he was brought up to be. He had been staying with Aztarophe since he was Seventeen, shortly after Maleyna left. Since then Aztarophe had seen him as a great asset to his cause, and so took him on as a special case that he would mould to suit him. All these years Zacharin had kept to his oath.

But he had not counted on the one thing that would betray his trust, his heart.

They walked through the passages without sound, eager not to be heard by any of the guards that did their rounds at this time. Of course it was their home and they had every right to be there no matter what time it was, but with what they were planning they had no intention of being asked by Aztarophe what they were doing, and having him read their minds to find out. That just wasn't an option.

As they rounded yet another corner, they saw something that almost scared them. And it was heading in their direction. Aztarophe and Maleyna were walking towards them. Quickly, they ducked behind a corner and waited until they passed.

"What the hell is she doing here?" Rebecca asked.

"How am I supposed to know? It's your father why don't you go and ask him?"

"Because it would look a bit suspicious, Azrael's mistress turning up in Aztarophe's castle. It would surely ruin all of his plans of domination and I am not one to willingly go into his fiery temper."

"And what do you call what we are doing? Soothing it? I think when we have accomplished our plans -,"

"Your plans you mean, I'm just here until you fail then I deny all involvement."

"Either way his plans are ruined, so really it wouldn't matter." Zacharin realised something. "Why haven't they passed yet?" They cautiously glanced around the corner, they were gone.

***

"What's happening to me?" Maleyna asked as he sat her down in front of the fire. Her hands had been clenched into tight fists, she hadn't even realised. She opened her hands seeing where her nails had dug into her skin. They were numb with cold.

Aztarophe had left her to stand by the window looking out into the gardens, he was feeling quite guilty of what he was doing to her, but then again she had brought it upon herself. In a matter of days she would be consumed by the power of the stone and then she would be his, Azrael wouldn't know what hit him. Subconsciously he smiled with the satisfaction of getting his revenge on Azrael not noticing Maleyna's stare. He didn't turn from the window when she had asked her question, but the second time she asked he heard, as she had walked towards him with a questioning look of the smile he was giving to his garden.

"Aztarophe, what is happening to me?" she asked again.

He snapped out of his reverie and looked at her, but the smile did not leave his mouth. "Lives are consumed by mixed emotions and feelings." He turned away from the window and made his way back to his desk, sitting behind it in his chair.

Confused at this evasive answer Maleyna followed him. "I asked you to remove them; you said you could take them away." She was almost pleading.

"No." He looked up at her through the darkness of his hood. "I told you I could get rid of the pain. I do not recall however agreeing to get rid of the feelings that brought pain." Maleyna watched him and saw in his eyes what she had been looking for that night on the bridge but could not see. She had listened for the malice behind his words; he had evidently masked it well.

She sighed deeply into the chair opposite his own at his desk, now she knew what he was doing, but it was too late he had tricked her. "I've tried to end it you know, my life, I tried but I couldn't."

"I know," he said, she looked up at this, had he been watching her? "I saw. As I said lives are basically consumed by feeling and emotions and the repercussions that those feelings bring. You spend most of your time trying to figure them out and the rest trying to dull the pain. Without them to take up that time you will have, shall I say... a lot of life to spare?" He had started smiling again.

She leaned forward in her chair, amazed at what she had just heard. "So what, are you saying that I'm immortal... again?"

"Yes," he said candidly, "in a matter of words. That is until you're killed."

"But if I'm immortal - immortal beings cannot be killed; I know this from first hand experience."

"You are immortal Maleyna that is after all what the spell is about; as long as the rock remains intact it will remain so. But know this; mortals were blessed with many things. Things that they take for granted everyday. You as I had feared from the beginning have become one of them far too fast. You undervalue the small yet greatly important things in life. That is what is happening to you. You swam in your emotion of love forgetting that pain is what made you feel it in the first place. Without it, as you ever so slowly are finding out, you will not be able to find the strength to release the others. It is the most important emotion of all, now you will never be able to let go, and you will want to die." A smirk crept up on his face once more, and she sank back into her chair watching him.

She had tried to end her life, when Christian had walked in interrupting her. He told her something about Azrael and she went crazy asking him questions about the affair. Naturally he claimed he knew nothing of it, but she couldn't let it go, she wasn't able to, she was so jealous and crazed with anger that all she saw were lies and deceit from all of the inhabitants of the castle. That was when she had killed him. Aztarophe was right, after that she did want to die but when she tried, nothing happened. That was when the other guards had come in demanding an answer, their best friend and commanding officer had been killed and they were going to get.

Being royal did not matter if she tried to go back there, Queen or no, she was dead.

"You tricked me," she said, it was barely audible.

"I gave you what you wanted didn't I?"

"You said that you were in love with me, how can you be if you do this?"

"I do, I love you with all my heart. But I can never have you, I know that now. You will neither love me nor will you know the extent of my love for you."

She snorted, "Evil cannot love."

"Oh you believe so? And yet, you hold my declaration against me when it suits you, why?" He looked at her arrogantly, knowing he was right. There was silence.

"Hmm, it's amazing isn't it? How moments like these show us who we really are? Me, that I am willing to do anything to keep myself sane. And then there is you, who once claimed on your wedding day of all days that you were willing to accept all of your husbands strengths and faults. Yet the moment he shows one of them you cannot accept it." He looked thoughtful at this and blinked when he heard her response.

"This is different."

He laughed, "How? He is showing a weakness for women, a fault many men have acquired over the years."

"I love him Aztarophe; I will always love him no matter what he does."

"So you say, but as you've found out it takes suspicion not proof to destroy trust, the basis of love. Although I suppose that definition of love is missing in your records."

"You cannot do this to me," she said wavering, soon enough though tears bean their streamline down her face.

"Why not, because I love you? No. Or because you will never love me. No, I cannot blame you for free will. You have chosen to live a life of pent up frustration, jealousy and envious intentions. What will come of that I don't know as I have never witnessed your talent of self control. How long you can hold on for I do not know, if you can hold on... I do not know that either, but what I do know is that even though you possess such great power no spell, incantation or supernatural force can stop the actions caused by a human emotion as strong as yours without means of release.
You can delay them but they will only grow stronger, try to fight it and it will only grow stronger, you cannot stop them."

"There must be a way," she whispered to herself. She tried to get up to leave and do just that, but the force of the stone was too great and she fell. To her surprise Aztarophe did not offer to help her up.

"There is one way." He held out his hand to her. "One way to stop all of this and relieve you from those feelings you have inside. You know how." His hand stretched lower.

She looked at it. "Why?" she said through gritted teeth, the power it had was amazing. She looked up into his pale green eyes. "Why did you do this to me? I can't take it anymore, it's like a prison I hate it."

He pulled his hand away as if offended. He turned away disgusted. "You chose him." Was all she heard, he had barely made the words understandable. When he turned around there was a great hurt and hatred in his eyes. "You chose him then and you still choose him now, after everything." He couldn't believe it, after all the planning after what Azrael had done. She just wouldn't, couldn't stop loving him. "It is true what they say, love is a curse." He looked at her, the malice grew. "Therefore a curse is what you shall bear. You will wear it until you love it!" The anger soared from his mouth in shouts of fury. Then he stopped and laughed quietly, bringing his voice down to an arrogant whisper he crouched down till he was eye level with Maleyna and spoke directly into her eyes. "Either way he will lose you. And if I cannot have you, neither will he." He stood up and waved his arms in a leisurely manner, and the room changed suddenly into her bedroom at Azrael's castle. Footsteps were heard everywhere, if she were caught she had no idea what they would do to her. "Oh no Maleyna, I did not do this to you, you brought this upon yourself."

The door opened and Azrael walked in, his cheeks were stained with tears. He froze as he saw his wife lying as if beaten on the ground. There was blood on her hands. Maleyna looked up, Aztarophe was gone.

"So, it's true." Was all he said.

***

When it all became too much...

She stood by her dressing table hoping that he wouldn't lie to her anymore, she opened the drawer and saw the dagger Azrael had given to her for her birthday a few years ago.

"Maleyna what are you talking about? What woman? The only other woman that lives here is my mother. Why don't you start answering my questions-,"

"Stop lying to me, for once just tell me the truth, who is she?" Tears streamed down her face for the thousandth time in a week.

"I don't know what you're talking about." She screamed.

She took the blade and drove it into his ribs, remembering how she had given up everything just to be with Azrael. The pain of her power being drained from her by her brother, how he had warned her but she hadn't listened.

Only for Azrael to stop loving her. To betray her heart.

The heart that was now laden with stone cold jealousy, regret and hatred. Hatred that now pushed the dagger, delving git deeper into his chest as she felt the bone scraping against the steel. The life in his eyes slowly ebbed away and he fell to the floor pleading for an explanation to this lunacy. Azrael stared deep into Maleyna's eyes, she was watching the dagger stealing him away to death. When she did look up she saw his eyes locked on hers entreating for an end to this madness, asking her... why? He looked innocent, truly innocent. She stared at him long and hard and suddenly a great remorse flooded her head and... her heart. She could feel the stone beating and scraping alongside her organs. What had she done? She had just killed the only man she had ever loved. She sat there looking over his body, mourning what they had. He touched her hand, holding it as if he understood. How could he? But he always understood, that was one of the reasons she loved him. Right there and then she knew that he loved her. She placed her head by his heart right next to the hilt of the blade.

She could hear it, every beat in unison with her own. A pulse of stone, a kick in the gut. It slowed and slowed, and then it stopped. His grip on her hand tightened for a while causing her eyes to squeeze shut it pain. Pain, something she hadn't felt for a long time, something she had no right to judge. Her hand was released completely. She opened her eyes and looked at his, but they were already closed shutting her out.

The wind blew through the window, causing the laced curtains that hung to the ground to sweep up at the rings. All the windows were open and the breeze blew through her dark hair to the sweat on her scalp, her face and her arms causing a cooling sensation.

She pulled out the knife once again feeling the bone grinding against the steel of the blade. It felt sickening and her hands shook as the blood slid off the tip crashing into a pool unto the cold, hard lifeless ground.

Without him, how could she live? Without love. She couldn't.

She looked at the dagger and touched the blade, his blood was no longer warm. No longer did it run with life but with death. And now she could not follow him there as he had always promised she could. The spell was cast by a very powerful wizard.

As long as the rock is intact you will remain immortal

But that was just what he was, a wizard. Any spell that they cast on objects must be cast with a wand. It's the way of the wizarding world. And most spells cast by wands can be rectified with two simple words. Without thought she plunged the dagger into her heart.

"Finite Incantatum!" It was her last resort.

It felt as though her heart was being ripped open, there was nothing but pain as it spread out through all her veins. All the pain that had been suppressing her emotions for so long, making her angry and jealous, making her kill. Tears streamed down her face as the words burned from the beginning to end of her, destroying all remnants of the stones power. But there was something else, something that felt familiar. A hidden power that she could taste behind the pain of the spell. It was her. Her power from before, when she was a God. That must have been why it had taken so long, why she could do all those things she could not explain. It must have been why she had felt those feelings so strongly, the stone was feeding off of her power deep within. After all the heart is the source of all things deep within us. She smiled at this and welcomed it, for now she could truly be free and she could feel it washing over her more and more.

***

Into hiding they go

"When Maleyna left her brother to rule on his own, she had asked that all her powers be taken away from her, so she could live in peace. Nonetheless, he must have known that she would have needed it, so he stored a morsel of it deep within her. That way she could use it whenever she really needed to. Aztarophe had not counted on this fact, though in hind sight he should have become aware of it when she had appeared to him so suddenly without explanation on the castle grounds," Zacharin explained. They had waited outside Aztarophe's doors hearing everything they were saying, when they disappeared there was only one place that he would have taken her, home.

"The stone has apparently done its job flawlessly, by suppressing all of her feelings without any chance of release. What Aztarophe was counting on was her not being able to control them; as she is not used to all these feelings at once." He weaved his way through the corridors of Azrael's castle, but they were too late. Maleyna had already murdered Azrael in a craze of her own jealousy; the stone feeding on the power she had no knowledge of. He walked toward her slowly aware of Rebecca's ridged body behind him. She had stabbed herself. Suddenly something moved, Azrael's hand was moving. He was alive.

When she had taken out the stone in her heart, she'd broken it, not knowing that as soon as she did, the stone would liberate all of the power it had fed on, in one blasting surge of energy. It was so powerful that it brought Azrael back to life, even after she had killed him.

"What - who - what's going on?" He sat up and looked down on his wife's dead body. Zacharin was holding her hand, as he did he felt something gin it. A piece of stone, very small about the size of her fingernail, where was the rest of it?

"Rebecca, look for the rest of the stone."

"The rest?"

"Just do it."

They searched for a while ignoring Azrael's cries of anger to them for telling him what happened to the stone. Consequently from not getting his answers he had come after Zacharin with a blade that lay on the ground. But as he was about to touch him he was propelled into the air and slammed hard against the opposite wall of the room, rendering him unconscious.

"That smart little..." He looked at the pebble like size of the stone he held in amazement, it was covered in blood. Which he guessed had to be Maleyna's.

"What just happened?" Rebecca asked.

"She's cursed it, no harm can come to it. It protects itself so now..." He laughed at the cleverness of it all. "Now your father can't get to it. This is perfect, just what I saw."

"What you saw?"

"Yes, among other things, come on." He grabbed hold of her hand and de-materialized from the room.

***

Into the future

That was over five hundred years ago, when that plan too, had failed due to his naivety. And he was only now feeling the increase of his power. Zacharin and Rebecca had taken into hiding. The blood that covered the stone watched over them and shielded them from Aztarophe, so he could not find them even if he wanted to. Azrael had lived to tell the tale of his wife but eventually he had remarried and died peacefully in his sleep, his daughter and trusted friend had disappeared and Maleyna was gone. Forever.

But the years rolled on and their souls moved on. And his chances of revenge were always close but never followed through as there was always something missing. Until now five hundred years later after centuries of reincarnating himself into the most powerful and well-known family he could find, he consequently found not only King Azrael reincarnated as his nephew, but that Maleyna had been reincarnated as his own son's love interest.

Not only that but Zacharin had come out of hiding, to find this member of the family and the new version of Maleyna. He must have had a vision of it, he may not be in the loop anymore but he wasn't stupid, these people he was after were the one's that could break the loop and send Aztarophe right where he had been cheating. Hell. Not that he got very far as Aztarophe got to Zacharin first. Things couldn't get any better.

But every silver lining has a cloud:

Only problem was, after years of noting down their history, especially their family history, the two of them were not exactly what you would call... acquainted.

He looked over at his desk. At the four pieces of stone a-waiting their completion. Over the many years that he lived he had gone on many travels, collecting them all and finally fusing them into more manageable pieces. Now that he had Zacharin he could find the whereabouts of his daughter and the blood concealed stone to fit them together, he was so close he could taste his victory. Soon Maleyna would be back and he could make her his, the world would be theirs. But he needed the two of them to be together to be able to make the stone function.

So the only problem facing him now is how would he get her reincarnation away from his son, and get them both together?