Chronicles of the Forbidden Jewels

“Evrart!” I almost shouted as I call his name, and my feet moved on their own and I knelt as I saw him.

A surge of adrenaline coursed through my veins, heightening my senses. I sat on the ground, carefully placing my fingers on Evrart's neck, and to my relief, I detected a faint pulse.

Thank God he’s alive. However, his clothes are soaked in sweat, and his temperature is high, burning up with fever.

I settled on the floor, gently repositioning Evrart's body so that his head rested on my lap. With a tender touch, I tapped his cheeks, urging him to awaken. Slowly, he opened his eyes, revealing swollen and teary orbs that seemed to have shed an immense amount of tears. It appeared as though he had cried an entire year's worth of sorrow.

Evrart gave me an exhausted smile. “It seems like I’m seeing things again,” he mumbled, and hopelessness is obvious in his tone.

“What are you talking about? It’s me, your older sister, Thyra. Can’t you recognize me?”

“You’re like the seventh Thyra I saw today. What makes you different from the others?”

Seventh me? Is he hallucinating all this time? This is bad, and it’s worse than how I expected things to be.

I assisted Evrart in standing up, supporting his weight as we made our way towards his bed. I couldn't help but notice that he felt lighter than before, a clear indication that he hadn't been leading a healthy lifestyle. It was disheartening to think that the queen and his subjects had allowed him to deteriorate to this extent.

Evrart lost consciousness, and witnessing the neglect and indifference towards his well-being ignited a surge of anger within me. It was infuriating to realize that nobody seemed to care about his condition or take any action to ensure his well-being.

I ran to the door and pulled it open. I felt the gust of wind for a second upon opening it with force, and I threw the two guards with a daggered glare.

“How can you do all these to His Majesty?! Get some towel, basin with water, and call the physician! He's intoxicated and has a fever! You useless servants, how can you call yourselves loyal to His Majesty? How can you stand here and do nothing?!” I shouted at the top of my lungs, releasing the tension from the boiling anger caused by the situation.

The guards' jaws dropped at the sight of me, stunned as if they couldn't believe what they were seeing.

“Your Highness? You’re alive? Have you been in His Majesty’s room all this time?”

"This isn't the time to answer questions. Are you two deaf? Follow my orders! I'll attend to him myself." the two guards ran away – in fear and to respond to my orders.

I returned to Evrart's bedroom and took a seat on the bed. I gazed at him, my heart heavy with worry and sadness.

"Was it like this for an entire month?" I murmured; my voice filled with regret. I let out a sigh, realizing that Evrart had endured difficult days, and I couldn't help but acknowledge the fact that I’m one of the causes of his pain.

──•~❉᯽❉~•──

Evrart groaned when the first beam of sunlight hit his face as I swiped the curtains open to fill his room with light. I felt the heaviness settling in my eyes, reminding me of the care I had taken to cool his body temperature.

I gently wiped a damp towel across his forehead, neck, arms, and feet, hoping to provide some relief. It struck me that this was a familiar routine from our childhood days. Whenever Evrart fell ill, I would be the one to attend to him, nurturing him back to health. Last night, it seemed like nothing had changed.

"Are you awake now?" I asked, and I held my brother's forehead to check his temperature. It's not as hot as last night, but he's still having mild fever. I told the guards last night to call a physician first thing in the morning. When will those useless servants move? Should I do everything myself?

“Thy…ra?" he looked at me with disbelief, and he rubbed his eyes to see if what he was seeing is real. Still in disbelief, I see.

“Do you recognize me now?”

“You’re … real, right?” I hung my head as I heard his question. Please, I need more patience. My blood was already boiling the entire night after seeing how things are in this place. I can't pour it out on him.

"Yes," I sat on the bed next to him and cupped his cheek. "How can things be like this, Evrart? What happened when I was gone?”

His lips remained sealed, and his expression says that he was a world away, lost in thoughts. I want to grab his shoulders and shake him so that he’ll answer me directly, but I held myself back from doing something that will make things worse.

“I'm sorry if I left without explanation. You had a hard time, and it's my fault," I pressed my lips together, holding myself back from crying. Evrart isn’t in his best state of mind yet. I have to be strong for him.

I wanted to hear his voice badly, but he wouldn’t speak. It gives me no choice but to tell him what happened to me first before hearing about what happened here.

“I … I think I killed mother,” he mumbled, and I didn’t know what to feel when I heard it. He held his head with both hands, and his facial expression gloomed. "It doesn't make sense because I saw myself killing her, but I saw her here several times already. Sometimes she was scared, sometimes she was angry. I know father is already dead but I also saw him here before you came."

I was right. He’s been hallucinating. Everything is reflected in his lifeless eyes. But what he needs now more than me are medicines and food. I stood up to take action, but I felt him stop me by grabbing my wrist. I sense the strength in his hold, which is the opposite of what I thought because he looked like he didn’t have any strength at all. I doubt that he ate the day before I got here.

“You’re not leaving me again, aren’t you? You said you were real.”

"I am real. But you need to eat and get medicines. Nobody else will do that but me so let me go, for now, okay? I promise I'll be back in a few minutes."

"No, stay here. I need you more than anything. You know that." his voice sounded like he was now in the right state of mind, but I can't be too sure.

“Alright. We have to talk about everything that happened in the last seven weeks if I counted it right.”

Come to think of it, I lost track of time when I got there because Marrossi has a different calendar system. But I’m sure that it’s more than a month, but not two months either.

“You were gone for eight weeks. Two months, Thyra. Two months." he said, and it makes me wonder if he's in his right mind now. It's confusing because, for a second, he talks sensibly, but the next one is far from reality. Azriel said that by the end of the month, the shield deteriorates, causing Rosrina to fall. But I only witnessed that once. Maybe Evrart didn’t calculate things right. Even so, it’s perhaps close to two months.

“I see. We’ll make up for that. I’ll tell you everything you need to know, but before that, I want to know what happened here first,” Evrart faked a smile as I spoke, but disappointment is obvious in his eyes.

“You’re still after to feed your curiosity instead of mine, even if you’re seeing how much I suffered.”

“What? No! I want to check out on you first, that’s why I’m asking. I want to listen first to what you have to say because I know you need to express your pain. Do you understand where I’m getting at?” by this time, I can only hope that he won’t be stubborn to follow my request.

"When you were gone, I … I lost it. I couldn't accept that you left without a proper word, and it made me feel alone, I couldn't depend on anyone. I lost our father, and I couldn't depend on my mother. If I remember well, I poured my anger on her and since I couldn't stand the idea that it's her fault again, I became cruel to her." He explained, his eyes avoiding mine.

“Cruel?”

"I had her imprisoned, in the worst cell existing. I wanted her to rot there. She was there for five days I think, and I didn't send anyone to feed her with some real food," my eyes widened as I heard his confession. I'm aware of how much he loathes the queen, but I can’t believe he went that far.

“Of course, she’ll hate me. But I didn’t care about that. All I wanted was justice during those times. While she was there, I told the servants to clear her room – for them to remove every detail so that it won’t be recognized as her room. So, what’s left is a simple bed and her floor-length mirror on the wall. The canopied bed, carpets, curtains, and everything that will give her a sense of comfort … I took those all away before letting her return there. Then I also had it announced that the queen is dead, even though she was simply not allowed to step out of her room.”

Evrart paused, trying to recall what happened next.

“But then, I have no idea what occurred to me but I let Marius go into her room. When they came together, the next day there wasn't any trace of them in that room. It's secured and locked, so it's hard to figure out how they disappeared just like that because they won’t make it alive if they used the window to escape. After that day, I began seeing things that confused me about what's real and what's not."

"I heard you married someone," I reminded him since he didn't mention that as if it didn’t happen.

“I’m … married? To whom? If I were, that person should’ve shown some care at least, but I don’t remember anyone who’s checking on me properly. I rarely get visited here, and I didn’t want to leave my room.”

This is insane. How can he not know? Should I check it myself? Jarvis wouldn’t tell me that Evrart married Zenobia if that wasn’t the case. At this point, Evrart might be in need to have his environment changed and let loose. When he clears up his mind, that’s the time we can go back here.

But if it's true that Zenobia's not paying him a visit, where on earth is she, and what is she doing? How can she neglect the king?

“In that case, how about me? People looked for me, didn’t they?”

“I think they have. I remember ordering people to search for you, and whoever finds you will receive a reward – whatever they desire except the throne. Now that you know what you have to know, it’s your turn to tell me everything about you.” He demanded, and I told him everything from the beginning – from the day Corianne called for me for tea that includes poison, how I left the palace at night, how I traveled, the ambushed carriage, my life in Hermine's place and how she attacked me, including my relationship with Azriel.

Azriel. The thought of him felt like rose thorns twined around my heart as though warning me about the feelings I should never have. It’s easy to say that I don’t regret meeting him, and it’s true. I don’t regret forgiving him either. The only thing I regret is loving him.

I shouldn't have gone that far. If I only knew my place, I wouldn't end up hurt. We were both fools who held onto the hope of being together, even though deep down we knew it was nothing more than wishful thinking.

It is common for emperors or kings to have multiple women in their lives, but I no longer wish to be entangled in such affairs.

Helping Azriel in his battle against Eviona and Hervouet would mark the final act of friendship between us. After that, I have made the decision to live my life independently, without him by my side. There are no guarantees of victory, but I am willing to make a significant contribution by sacrificing my life to eliminate everyone on the battlefield. However, I have a strong intuition that I may not survive a second time, as harnessing that level of energy again could potentially cost me my life.

If I manage to survive the war, I anticipate that I will carry the pain of our failed relationship for the rest of my life. Moving on is possible, but emotional wounds can leave lasting scars, and I don’t know how deep those scars could be.

The thought of him alone hurts me.

I can only imagine how much more difficult it would be if I were to see him again. It would feel like a form of self-inflicted shame if I don't gather the strength to heal my heart and become emotionally resilient.

Being here in Eurhyia offers a perfect opportunity for me to heal and regain my strength.

“Were you happy in Marrossi?” Evrart asked, and I doubt that he can see how much pain I’ve been through.

“I’m afraid it’s not the best word to describe it. We love each other, but we shouldn’t. So, I wouldn’t insist. It’s not worth fighting for. It was wrong from the very beginning, and I was a fool for letting myself be carried away. I don't regret forgiving him, because it's the first step to beginning healing. However, loving an enemy … is a different story. If I can only choose to love him as a friend, I would. I can only hope that's the case, but I would lie to myself if I won’t admit that it’s more than a love for a friend.”