Across the Worlds

CHAPTER THREE

The female elhen shook herself in her mind, then hurried after the king. As she stepped through the secret passage, the bookshelf behind her immediately closed. She turned around to watch the wall for a minute, which was a door just a few seconds ago. She still felt herself nervous, nevertheless, she turned back to follow Trion.

They passed several rooms and corridors, until they reached a staircase, which led them down. Because this part of the palace hadn’t any windows, lanterns were on the wall giving them enough light. At the end of the stairs there was a door. In contrast to the other entries, this was made from metal, and this pictured the place’s importance.

“Nobody can enter, just me,” explained king Trion, when he noticed the woman inquiring look. He gestured with his head towards four spots on the wall around the metal door, then turned back to her. “If somebodies try to step in, they can experience the most painful death in the universe.”

A shudder passed over Eislyn, while she observed the invisible threats. Hearing the king words, she could figure it out, what kind of weapons hid in the wall. Through the long years the elhen technology developed so much, but their first deathly venenate arrow remained in use. It caused unbearable pain on the enemy.

“I don’t want to die,” she mumbled under her nose, but maybe she wasn’t enough quiet, because she noticed the older elhen’s smile.

“Don’t be afraid.” Trion pushed a button next to the door, and waited, while a screen appeared on the metal surface. It was apparently a scanner, because the king leant closer, and stared at the screen. After a few seconds there was a clicking sound, then the door slowly slid aside. The man gave her another smile, while he pointed into the room. “You have my permission to enter.”

Eislyn was still worried, but when she walked into the secret room, she showed confident. But she barely stepped in, when she stopped, then gawked at the scene before her. It was like an operator centre with several machines, consoles and monitors.

“I built it for emergency,” said Trion, after he closed the door behind them, then he stepped to one of the computer to type something on the keyboard. In the next minute, the computer’s monitor came to life, and showed a live picture about the main hall of the palace. “If something happens, I can operate the planet from here. But not this I wanted to show you.” The king straightened, then started to walk towards another metal entrance. “Come.”

The younger elhen followed the older, and waited patiently, while he repeated the previous opening procedure. It took just one minute, and this door also slid aside. Eislyn curiously peeked into the room, while the king walked in resolutely. He didn’t wait for her, so the woman went after him.

“What’s this place?” Eislyn asked, then turned around to see everything.

She knew, that they’re somewhere down, below the palace, even so, if she looked at the ceiling, she didn’t see it, just the blue sky with the clouds. She stared up, while tried to remind herself, that this can’t be the reality.

“When I want to be alone completely, I come here,” she heard the king’s voice, so she tore away her eyes from the false sky to look at him. Trion stood in the middle of the room next to a big round table. “And because I can watch here anything I want to see in the universe.”

“I don’t understand.”

King Trion motioned towards the stone table, and waited until she joined him, then he touched the marble. Immediately an image appeared on the stone surface – Eislyn could see herself and the king next to her. She didn’t expect this. To be honest, she didn’t expect anything. She needed her every power not to jump seeing herself. Her voice was gone, and her pulse sped up. Fortunately the man clearly didn’t wait for an answer.

“If somebody would be so lucky to enter here, and doesn’t die, couldn’t do this. It’s kind of a privilege.” The older elhen gave her a sad smile. “Currently I am the only person, who can use the Eye.” He touched the table again, and the image changed. “And my heir will.”

Eislyn tried to process the heard information, while she stared at the picture on the stone table. She never saw that before, and she couldn’t guess, where it can be. It was a city, that was sure. There were small tables all over the place with people sitting there, while others rushed by them. The elhen didn’t quite understand, why the king showed her this scene, then her eyes caught a man, who sat at one of the tables. His hair was blonde, and he wore a brown leather jacket top of a tunic like clothes. He seemed muscular seeing his big arms. In a short time, while Eislyn watched him, so many people tried to speak with him, but it was evident, that he didn’t want any company, because he kept his head down all along. Then in the next second, he raised his right hand to his chest. It was the right moment to ask her questions.

Eislyn turned to the king, but he kept his eyes on the picture. His face was emotionless, even so the woman never saw him like this before. Sadness and longing radiated from him, and when he finally raised his head, his smile was pained. Seeing this, crazy thoughts started to twirl in her mind.

“Who is he?” she asked her first and most important question. Eislyn felt in her gut, that this man meant something to the king, and the man’s right hand still on his chest made her suspicious. Is it possible, that he’s… She didn’t finish her sentence. It was too unbelievable.

“I think, you suspect very well, who he is.”

“How?” Eislyn could ask just one question, while she stared at the blonde, then back to Trion.

“I only have to focus with my mind, what I want to see, and it appears on the table, no matter if it’s in the present or was in the past.”

The king touched the surface of the table to change the image, and suddenly Eislyn forgot to breath. The scene spookily bore resemblance with Lady Lyanna’s dreams. There was the stranger in a wierd blue-white-red suit, helmet on his head, and a round shield in his hand. She had an image about Lady Lyanna’s soulmate by her dreams, so Eislyn knew right away, that this man is, who they have been searching for so much years. However Lyanna’s talks weren’t near the reality. It was more. His features, moves, and his whole appearance were much more powerful. And apparently the king was aware of his connection to Lady Lyanna. She stared at the man in shock.

“You knew.”

“Yes.”

The answer was simple, and the woman couldn’t hold back her anger.

“Then why didn’t you…” Eislyn snapped, but then suddenly realized, who she’s speaking to, so immediately cut off her indignant question. “I am so sorry, Your Highness!” she quickly added with her turned down head. She scolded to herself, and she could just hope, that the man won’t strike off her head for her disrespect.

“I had to wait for you.” Hearing the king’s low voice, Eislyn looked up, and see the elhen’s guilty face. She suprisedly recognized his compunction. Before she could say anything, Trion continued, while he kept his eyes on the man in the stone screen. “If I called you, my son probably would notice it, and I want to avoid this with my every power.” He stopped for a moment, while he tapped the table, and the image changed back. “Lord Celebhest served me in many battle in the past, accordingly his daughter is very dear to me. As Steve’s too.”

“Steve?” Eislyn was unable to stop herself.

“Steve Rogers.” The man placed his right palm on the marble surface, and in the next moment images started to flow, so quick, that the young elhen could hardly follow.

As the time passed, she could slowly put the pieces together. In the end, when the last picture remained motionless – the man was in a brown soldier uniform, and he currently stared something or someone, she couldn’t tell –, Eislyn was sure, she could watch his life. And as she processed, what she saw only a few minutes ago, she realized, that there was always a man next to him. Who somehow weirdly bore the same features, as her king. The only one difference was his black hair. Then everything became clear.

“You really know him!”

“Yes.” King Trion nodded, before he took away his hand from the table – the image immediately vanished –, then walked to a bench, and beckoned her too. The older man waited, while Eislyn followed him to sit down, and continued, when both of them took a seat. “I already said, that Lady Lyanna is very dear to me,” he started after that, and the woman tried to patiently listen to him. “When her heart started to yearn for her soulmate, and when I saw, that you won’t be able to find him, I wanted to find him for her. I came here, and thought of him firmly, then figured it out very quickly, that he’s on the Terra. After that I just had to make up some plan, because he was so young back then. I named Lord Celebhest for my second in command, then I changed my appearance, and travelled to Terra.”

“And how did you find him?” Eislyn asked, and was glad, that the man didn’t scold her for her interruption.

“It was easy. Practically when someone was beaten up, it was always Steve.” A smile lingered about the corners of the king’s mouth. “He was always heroic, wanted to help others. And he wanted to be a soldier at all costs. Nothing could hold him back from that, even if he was everything, but not a soldier figure.” Trion paused, and clearly went back to the past in his mind, because his smile turned nostalgic. Eislyn never saw him as emotional as now. “At first, I just wanted to get to know him, to be with him, when his soulmate link come to life, and later tell him his connection with Lady Lyanna, but eventually I became his friend, and he became my friend.”

“He didn’t know about his soulmate?” Eislyn was confused, because she didn’t understand, why he wasn’t aware of this.

“Eislyn, the humans on Terra are mortals,” explained the king willingly. “They live an average length of time life, and because they usually die after seventy or eighty years, they can’t experience the beauty of the soulmate links. Sometimes they meet their mate, but they don’t realize it, instead of they believe, that their love is just powerful.”

“But if they die, and can’t feel the soulmate connection, how can Lady Lyanna feel it?”

“Because Steve not an ordinary man. Can you remember, what I showed you? How skinny young was he?” The woman nodded, and the man continued. “He desperately wanted to be a soldier, but whenever he tried to volunteer, he was rejected because of his medic condition. Then he became part of a super soldier program, and in the end, he was the one, who was selected. He became the first and only super soldier of his country. I assume that’s why the fate chose him. But there were problems, and I had to come home.”

“What happened?”

Trion didn’t answer right away, rather he stood up, and after few steps blankly stared down at the marble stone table. He kept his hands behind his back, and stood like this for a several minutes. Eislyn couldn’t see his face, but his rigid posture implied his changed mood. She wasn’t sure, that she might was the one, who caused this. When he started to speak again, his voice was quiet.

“I know, that this can’t be my fault, even sometimes I blame myself after all.” He turned around, and looked at the woman. Seeing his shining eyes with regret, Eislyn became very curious, what might happened in the past, but she didn’t dare to ask. She could only hope, that the elhen tell her it anyway, which happened in the next second. “We were on a mission, when unfortunately I had an accident, and we were separated. By the time I was able to look for him, he was believed dead.” It was possible, that the king noticed the woman’s surprised face, because he quickly continued. “I just came to know not so long ago, that he crashed the enemy’s plane into the ice, and somehow stayed alive frozen for nearly seventy years. When the humans found him, he was practically ninety-three years old. Then his soulmate link came alive. It was obvious knowing Lady Lyanna pains, and it would be the perfect opportunity to get together them, but at that time Shab became a threat. I couldn’t do nothing. I had to wait for you, because I can’t risk their life. Lady Lyanna is my friend, and Steve too. At least I hope he’s still my friend.”

There were several things, what the younger elhen understood, but there were few, which she didn’t. For example, why was the king worried about his friendship with this man. Probably he suspected her thoughts, because he spoke again.

“Because of my injuries, I couldn’t be with Steve, when he had the accident with the plane, so I couldn’t confute his belief. I’m sure, that he still believes, that I’m dead. Furthermore, at the beginning I didn’t dare to introduce myself as I am, so I came up with a name. Of course after the accident, my real name remained unknown.” The king gave Eislyn a small smile, then motioned to the exit. “I think you know everything, what you have to. Go. Speak with Lord Raven, but not in the city, and in no way in their home. We can’t risk, that my son find it out. Tell him, what necessary, and ask help from him for the journey. He will knows, what you will need.”

“Thank you, Your Highness.”

Eislyn stood, and after a nod towards her king, walked out from the room. But yet from the sill she threw a glance at Trion. The man stood at the marble table, and stared at the empty surface – his face was thoughtful, maybe he mustered the possible future –, then his right hand touched the stone. Before the woman shut the door, she could still see the handsome face of Lady Lyanna’s soulmate.

Notes