215Anyway, I hope u like the sequel, n if u haven't read Once and Future Queen, thas alright..i'll write the story so that u can read this without having to read the previous one. I hope u like it though!
Disclaimer: yes, these characters and events r all mine..frm my head. If u want to use the characters, shure, y not...go ahead, so long as u have my permission. It's all kool with me.
K, here's the sequel...
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I felt that half of my heart, no, more than half, had been torn out of my chest that day. Isidore, my uncle, had grabbed my arm firmly as I looked over my shoulder. I watched Eldoris, my mother, stare at me and smile slowly. I wondered why she was not coming with us. It wasn't long before I realized she meant to stay and die with my father, Feodor, king of Knossos, Crete. I cried out and reached for them just as Isidore shut the small trap door. We were sunk into complete darkness, blacker than night, and I heard my little sister's faint sobs. I groped for her hand and squeezed it tight when I found it. Tears fell from my eyes as well and I was not as ashamed as to hide them. Who was here to see them anyway? Eldoris was the sweetest woman on earth and I was sure there wasn't anybody that had met her that did not love her. Except, my birth mother, of course, and my grandmother. I knew how much they hated Eldoris. I was to be there pawn, though their plan failed them. I loved Eldoris and Feodor with all my heart and I could not betray them to the cruel Kalonice and Chloe, but they seemed to have won anyhow.
I began to cry harder as I realized I had lost the best parents in the world. Back in Mycenae, I was known as the bastard son of Kalonice and I had no friends. They did not treat me as a boy, for I was always close to either Chloe or Kalonice. I had no known father until Kalonice brought me to Knossos. That was when I first laid eyes on Eldoris. I thought she was Aphrodite herself for she was very loving and kind and she was always patient with me and, above all, she was extraordinarily beautiful. I did not grieve for my birth mother that she was exiled from Knossos. I did not love her and I could not love her. She was always crying and whining about things and always blaming me for things she failed at. Countless nights she came to my chambers to weep about her love and adoration for Isidore and Feodor and how Eldoris got them both. Then she beat me for it.
I awoke from my memories when Isidore tugged my arm. "Hurry, we must get to the stables, if they have not been torched yet," Isidore's groggy voice came. He wept heavily too. Crouching low so that our backs won't hit the low ceiling, we shuffled our way forward in the dark tunnel, or whatever we were walking in, and we soon saw a light at the end. Far behind us, we heard the cries and chaos of battle.
Encouraged by the light, we trotted towards it and we shut our eyes as we were soon bathed in sunlight. We wiped our eyes of our tears and to adjust to the brightness. I looked upon the field and it was hard to believe that such a peaceful, beautiful land was under the greatest attack of all history I knew of. "Can you hear them?" Calandra's voice whispered softly. Strained my ears and I heard the faint screams and cries of people fighting and dying. "It's horrifying," she added. I squeezed my sister's hand.
"We'll be all right," I assured. Tears fell down her cheeks once more.
"What about mother and father?" she croaked out.
"Hush. We must continue to move," Isidore said in a hushed voice. We nodded and tried to ignore the pains creeping into our muscles. We ran silently towards the stables. I was glad Leda, my baby sister, was still asleep in Xan's arms, Isidore's wife.
We were quite fortunate to find the stable free of the enemy. Though the horses were wild with fear and panic, it did not take long for Isidore and I to coax three of them to do our bidding. My mother's great Egyptian horse, Aswad, came to me willingly, seeking my comfort. He nudged me softly and I nuzzled his neck, my mother's scent still clinging to his hair. I swallowed down the urge to cry and quickly pulled myself up the giant horse. I reached out and Calandra slipped on behind me.
"Xan, I will hold Leda. It will not be wise for you to hold the babe, for you are an inexperienced rider," Isidore said. Xan pursed her lips and nodded, handing over Leda. Isidore took her and swung up on a chestnut mare. Xan struggled to climb upon a nervous brown stallion and we were soon off. Calandra's arms tightened around me and I was excited by the flow of strength and power from Aswad's body. I felt him quiver with life beneath me. No wonder my mother was such an excellent rider! Her horses loved her...
Arrows began to hiss by our heads and I heard Isidore curse, the first time I ever heard him use a foul word. He stalled, waiting for our horses to go ahead of him. "Hurry! We must reach the line of trees before they get any closer!" he shouted. I buried my knees into Aswad, both urging him to speed up and to keep myself from slipping off. The grass blurred beneath us and I looked up when I heard a hawk's cry. My face lit up in a great smile when I saw Doran, Eldoris' hawk, and Adom, my own hawk. They matched our pace and flew with us.
Isidore cried out and I looked over my shoulder. His face grew pale but it was stern and determined. "Go," he mouthed. I did not know what the matter was with him, so on I went. I did not slow down when the trees blurred by as well. Xan was ahead of me and I heard Isidore's horse's hooves thud behind me. We rode until our horses wheezed and blew out foam, snorting out blood. Aswad was strong and was the last to fail. We stopped by a great waterfall I did not even know existed. Only then did I see the arrow sticking out of Isidore's back.
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I was born from the result of Kalonice and Feodor's affair. Kalonice was the princess of Mycenae and the cousin of Eldoris. I spent five horrible years in Mycenae learning nothing but the tactics of how to evil. I feared Kalonice was from Hades' brood. At then, I did not know who my father was. I was as shocked as Eldoris that my father was Feodor, king of Knossos. Feodor, however, was not too happy to see Kalonice back here and I knew Eldoris felt the same. She was exiled from Knossos and she did not come back to bother us for 7 whole, wonderful years. Thus, Eldoris became my new mother, Feodor was my father, Isidore my uncle, and I had a little sister, Calandra, and I was soon to have another little sister, Leda.
Even at my young age, I knew that there was something between Eldoris and Isidore. Perhaps it was some affair of the past, but I did not know and I did not mean to pry for that was rude. I learned of that from the social parties Kalonice went to. It shocked me when Isidore wedded Xan, Eldoris' handmaiden. But what shocked me more was when Feodor announced his succession to me the same day he was doomed to die.
The tears came again and I wiped them away as I watched Xan weeping as she pulled out the arrow from Isidore's back. Isidore made no sound. I wondered if he grieved for my mother's death more than my father's. I brought Calandra to my side, who was weeping, and Leda to my other. I vowed that I would protect them with my life, and I made the vow to my beautiful mother, Eldoris. I did not recognize Kalonice as my mother, even though she was the one who gave birth to me. She was the anything but my mother. For why should I call her mother when she has not treated me as her son?
"Adonis, is mother really dead?" Calandra whispered, looking up at me. I looked into her blue eyes and sighed. I nodded slowly. Her red eyes watered once more and she frowned angrily. She clutched onto my arm tightly and said, "Adonis, make an oath to me now that you will keep until the deed is finished!"
"What is it?" I asked.
"Make an oath that you will kill without mercy whoever did this to our parents!" she cried out, weeping once more. I held her tight as she soaked my chiton with her tears.
"I promise that I will revenge our parents' deaths. I promise, I promise..." I whispered. I heard Xan crying as she dressed Isidore's wounds. She pounded him with nags and worries but Isidore said nothing. I looked up at him and saw that he was hunched over, ignoring Xan. I sighed and it came out shaky. I leaned against the tree and looked up to the sky through the leaves. It all seemed too unreal..like a dream. It was as if I'd wake up and find Calandra smiling down at me and Eldoris walking in the garden with Feodor on their way to listen to the city's cases.
What were we going to do now? Where were we supposed to go? Who are we supposed to turn to? Knossos was under attack by the Byzantines and Kalonice was leading them...how were we to escape?
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AN: yes, I know this chapter is very short, but I wanted to see if you guys liked it or not. If it doesn't go well, I might go at it frm a different angle, maybe through Isidore's eyes or even Xan or Calandra. But I thought Adonis was the best out of the few, since he's not too old and not too young..ehehehe. anyway, I hope u like it! Plz R+R n tell meeh wut u think. Should I change it? Should I add more detail? Wat should I include in the future that u'd like to see? Should I just trash it? Yeah...
K, well, anyway, the next chapter will be up as soon as the I have enough critiques to confirm this story's future. Thanks, ya'll!