The Fate of Xon

The caravan began the last of the last leg of the voyage a couple of days earlier than they had expected. The people in the small towns and villages around the dirt road that lead that last little distance between the border of the Desertland and Lionore hid in their houses at the sight of the tall, dark haired gentleman on a black stallion at the lead of the group. They had seen him before, but they were still afraid of him. The Desertland people had only been friends to the Outskirters for the last ten or so years. And all of that had to do with the arranged marriage between the Desertland prince and the High Seer.



Daniel knew that the fear they were feeling was because they thought that he would back down from the agreement his father had made with Dahlia\'s father and would back out the marriage, but for right now, he didn\'t see anything happening between them but friendship. Though it was a deep friendship that would last ages and would always be the link between their two worlds. They had both agreed years ago that if they ever found anyone else to be with that they would keep the alliance between the Desertland and the Outskirts open. There would be free travel between their lands for as long as they both lived. Shaking his head, he turned back to the road ahead and had to smile for they had arrived in Lionore a day earlier than had been expected.



Daniel headed straight to the Mystic Manor to request an audience with the High Seer for both himself and Igorn\'s family. What he found when he arrived was that the place was in complete and total chaos. There were servants running around opening up every door in the large marble foyer, looking in and digging around before coming out and shaking their heads.



Curious, Daniel caught the nearest servant by the arm. "Excuse me, but what\'s going on around here?"



"Prince Daniel! Oh thank the Goddess! You can help us join in the search for the High Seer. She seems to have disappeared before we went to wake her this morning. We have searched the entire Manor from top to bottom and have yet to find her." The servant took off back down the hall, leaving Daniel standing there, chuckling.



He turned around and walked back out the main door, heading back towards Lionore. He moved through the city, heading west toward the famous Lake Lionore. He walked passed his caravan of people and shook his head, explaining that the High Seer was currently busy and would see to them a little later on. He kept walking, telling them that he had to go meet a friend down by the lake. He walked through the alleys, taking shortcuts that most people didn\'t know about. He made it to the apple orchard and walked towards the far side of the lake. He dropped a few feet onto the banks of the river and walked the five feet to the entrance of the hidden cave.



He smiled down at the sleeping girl where she lay curled on the ground. Her hair had fallen from its bun and lay in a curly mass across her face. He leaned down and brushed it out of her face, giving her a gentle shake. "Dahlia? Come on, darling. It\'s time to get up and get back to work."



She groaned while she slept before realizing that someone was in her cave with her. She woke with a jolt, sitting bolt upright, and hit her head against his. "Ow!" She rubbed her temple while he did the same, then they both started to laugh. It was one of those moments where you know that it shouldn\'t be funny, but it\'s positively hilarious just because of the pain.



She finally regained her composure and jumped at him, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Daniel! You weren\'t supposed to be here until tomorrow! How did you get here before scheduled?" He wrapped his arms around her and squeezed her tight, but didn\'t answer. At one point in time, they had had a crush on each other and experimented with each other, but it was just friendship. Or at least, that\'s the way they pretended it still was.



Dahlia pulled back after a second, realizing just how close they were at that moment. His body heat was too close and his scent was intoxicating. It took her a moment to realize that he had said something. She bit her lip and blushed slightly. "I\'m sorry. I, um, blanked out. A partial vision." It was true, in a way. She had had a vision of something involving bare skin and sweat, but she didn\'t want to mention that to him. Maybe it was just her remembering something.



At the same time, Daniel was feeling the strain of her presence so close to him. He took a deep breath, taking in her scent for a moment, and then repeated what he had said. "I was saying that we traveled through the night with guards at our backs. We thought it would be better to get here sooner than to stay in one place for too long."



She nodded and stood up, grabbing her cloak and throwing it around her shoulders. She went to reach for her shoes, but he already had them and was sliding them gently onto her feet. The feel of his hand on her leg drive to almost to the point of insanity. She felt the heat move up her body and took a deep breath as she realized that this was going to be a very long few weeks. Or rather, few years. Daniel was here to escort her to Flagcord College.

As the heat moved up her leg, she realized that it wasn\'t just Daniel, though he seemed to magnify the feeling. It was Vision from the Goddess. The air was thick with the scent of flowers in bloom. Dahlia\'s hair was whipping around her face and there were arms around her waist. She leaned into the body behind her and sighed, looking out at a city she didn\'t know. It was beautiful, but that didn\'t last long as one of the buildings half a mile down the road exploded. Screams were coming from what had once been a library and there were people crowding the street. Bodyguards broke down the door behind her and Dahlia turned to find that she had been in Daniel\'s arms and he was wearing very little. The guards grabbed her and a few of her belongings and headed out the door. Smoke filled the hallway and there was a fire burning somewhere downstairs. Dahlia screamed for Daniel, but the sound was drowned by the fire bells being rung outside. Smoke filled her lungs and consciousness was lost.



She awoke from the vision with her arms around Daniel, crying into his chest. He was speaking in low, soothing tones. He had seen her in vision enough times to know how to deal with her, but this was not the best way to wake up from a vision in which she and he had obviously been doing something that they shouldn\'t have. She pulled back and stood up, wrapping her cloak tightly around her. "I have to get back to the Manor to meditate."



Daniel nodded, letting her leave his arms, and stood before remembering why he had come to find her. "I have some friends who would like for you to have a vision for them. They have some questions about the future that I think are very important for us all." He knew better than to ask her what she had seen in vision until she had had time to meditate, but with the way she had pulled back from him, he was curious. "What was the vision you just had about, Dahlia? You were screaming my name as if something horrible was happening."



Dahlia didn\'t look back as she walked out of the cave and up the slope to the apple orchard. It wasn\'t until they were within sight of the city. She finally turned and looked at him. "Fire. There was a fire. My guards pulled me away, but they left you behind. I screamed for you because you\'ve been my best friend and closest confidant for the last ten years, and I don\'t think I could live without you."



The last was said in a rush and kind of low, but it was out there. Daniel heard it, but paid no mind to it. He knew what was between them, but he also knew that they couldn\'t do anything with it until they were both ready. Neither one of them were ready to say, \'Let\'s do it. Let\'s rule together.\' They had already joined their lands through their betrothal, but they weren\'t quite ready to give up schooling and their lives away from their homes to rule permanently. There was too much to learn out there, in very little time.



They walked in silence back through Lionore and up to Mystic Manor. As soon as they walked in, everyone took notice of Dahlia and began to chastise her. They took her back to her room to dress her for the audience she was to have with the members of Daniel\'s caravan. She allowed them to drag her into her room, take off her raggedy old black dress and place the white gown of the High Seer. It billowed around her body, clung tight to her chest with diamond beads sewn into the bodice, and gave her the perfect lift to her breasts. It was a dress meant to find her a powerful husband who wanted to be high in the government. The only problem was that she was already engaged and didn\'t need to find a husband. The servants must like to actually dress her up.



She shooed them all away and made her way, alone, to the throne room where she took audience with those seeking her special skills. Her priests were in meditation for the rest of the afternoon so she was just going to have to make due with what she had. Therefore, before she was announced into the room, she made sure that Daniel was there to act as advocate between the world of Vision and their world. It was risky with the way she reacted to him to use him as an advocate, but at the same time, it was better to use him because of how close they were. She was just hoping that nothing went wrong.



Walking into the room after she was announced, she wasn\'t in the least surprised to see the looks of confusion and shock on the faces of those around Daniel. It was completely normal for those who had never seen the High Seer to be a little shocked over the fact that she was a relatively young girl. She thought that it was because of the fact that she was a girl more that to the fact that she was young. The wide eyes and opened mouths of the people had begun to become satisfying to her. She got a little boost from the looks of shock, yet at the same time, it also made her a little sad that so many were stuck in the old ways where it was weird to have a female High Seer.



This group, however, recovered quickly as she sat down on her high throne. She was pleased to see that these people who had rode with Daniel from the Desertland had enough intelligence to accept her position as High Seer quickly. "Who are you and why brings you to Mystic Manor in search of me?"



The obvious leader of the troop, a balding older man, stood, gave a low bow, and spoke in a soothing voice that held only the tiniest hint of wonder and fear. "I am Igorn and this is my family. This is my wife, Pegmalia." He pointed to the beautiful older woman on his left. "The rest are my children and fellow countrymen. We have to ask for you to have a prophecy for us about the fate of Xon once the madness that the Empress is suffering takes over."



Dahlia had figured that was the reason that they were there. She nodded and turned her attention to Daniel. "Prince Daniel, my priests are all in meditation and I need a spotter. Since you know how everything goes, would you mind? It would be a great help and save an hour of waiting."



Daniel smiled softly and nodded, bowing low in the phony gesture that that the had shared for years of being in court with each other. "Princess Dahlia, High Seer of Xon, I would be honored to spot you." He walked up to the dais where she was sitting and laid a hand on her shoulder. "Ready when you are, Dahlia."



Dahlia nodded and looked at Igorn intently. She took the words that he had spoken and dug into the deeper meaning of them. She found the Empress\'s face in her mind as well as that of the mysterious woman of her most recent visions. Picking the Empress over the frightening red eyes of the mysterious woman, she allowed the power of the Goddess to fill her and took the vision into herself. It took a little longer than it normally did because of the distraction of Daniel\'s hand on her shoulder, but she focused and the vision came into focus.



The Empress stood on the highest balcony of the highest tower of the Starlight Palace. She screamed orders to guys below her that made no sense, and they didn\'t move. They knew that look, even from far away, and knew that she was sending them on another goose chase. She looked horrified at the sky, as if seeing something that was there, swatted at what she was seeing, and plummeted to her death.



The vision changed, and Dahlia herself was sitting on the throne of the Empress. Yet she knew that it wasn\'t permanent. Once again, the vision changed and time had passed. There was a beautiful girl with rich blue eyes and shiny black hair walking down the street talking to Daniel and the same group of people that had been in the vision she had had about Daniel, the horse, and the war. She smiled as she spotted Dahlia, running to her and giving her a hug. There were words exchanged though Dahlia couldn\'t catch them before the vision finally settled.



The same young girl from before, though much older now, sat on the throne as Empress. Her subjects around her adored her, loving her for her actions and her good deeds. There were two thrones on her left and another on her right. A young man, sitting on her right, was again the same as from previous visions. Daniel sat in the seat to the farthest left. They seemed to waiting for someone to take the seat directly to her left. That\'s when Dahlia realized that she was moving toward the throne. She sat down and everyone in the world bowed before the four of them. They were equals, no longer Empress and then High Seer, but Empress AND High Seer.



The vision disappeared and Dahlia eyes faded back from white to green. She found herself clutching Daniel\'s hand, realizing that she had pulled herself out the vision. She knew, without having to see it, that the new Empress\'s children and her own children would rule together for generations to come. They were family, but that didn\'t make sense. Dahlia didn\'t have any siblings. Or did she? Did she have a hidden sister somewhere? She tried asking the Goddess and got nothing.



She realized that she had had the vision for the people on the floor in front of her and shook her herself out of her reverie. She smiled slightly, removing her hand from Daniel\'s and laying it softly in her lap. "I have good and bad news. The bad news is that within the next three years, the Empress will go completely insane and fall to her death. I will sit on her throne for a year. Now comes the good news, though I don\'t know who she is, the new Empress will be better than all the others. We will be partners in ruling Xon, no longer separated. Our children and our children\'s children will rule Xon in happiness and joy."



Igorn and his family looked relieved and happy over the news that Xon was going to be okay. She didn\'t mention that until the Empress\'s death, Xon would be a world of war and destruction, that was assumed. But for the moment they seemed happy, until a look of confusion passed across his face. "If you don\'t mind me asking, Princess, High Seer, I thought that the first female High Seer in centuries would have to remain a, um, virgin? Who will be the father of your children?"



Somehow, she knew that this was coming. "The prophecy that put me on the throne said that my marriage to a high power would bring a country that has been separated from Xon for centuries because of a few bad stereotypes, that might I add are completely wrong, back into the limelight. I plan on doing just that ... when the time comes and we are both ready for marriage."



"But, Your Highness, who is this high power? Who will we call King of the Mystics?"



Dahlia sighed and actually allowed some of the exasperation show. She glanced at Daniel to find a smug look on his face. She fought the urge to hit him as hard as she could before turning back to Igorn and his family with their curious eyes. "Well, Igorn, when I was five, my father met up with Christopher the Magnificent and asked him if he would be willing to allow one of his dozen or so sons to be betrothed to the High Seer so that when we both came of age we could bind the Desertland back into Xon. Seeing as his first two sons were already either married off or betrothed to be married off, I was stuck with Prince Daniel of the Desertland."



"You make it sound like a bad thing, Dahlia." Daniel kept his smirk on his face, laughter shining in his eyes. "I thought you enjoyed the fact that you have to marry me in two to four years. Besides, I thought that I had grown on you over the last eighteen years."



"I try not to think about marrying you. And you have grown on me, but you\'re still as immature as when we were in our teens." She turned her attention back to Igorn and his wife and found an odd look on their faces. It looked a little like understanding, which confused Dahlia. "What?"



Igorn laughed a little and shook his head. "Sorry, Your Highness, but Pegmalia and I used to act just like that before we were married. If you want the technical term for it, it\'s called love. You might not realize it right now, but the two of you are in love."



Dahlia looked at Daniel and he looked at her. They had one of those moments where they knew that they were thinking the same thing. They had been in love since they were teenagers and had been caught fooling around in the garden out back. His father had beat him for nearly tainting the High Seer, and her guardian had made her spend nearly a week in meditation fasting in punishment for letting the \'Prince of the Barbarians\' get her into a position like that. They had been forbidden to see each other for almost a whole year, and it had killed them a little on the inside. They had definitely made up for it when he was able to come back to visit her again. They had managed to get away from the Manor without anyone knowing about it and had spent the night together under the stars. Nothing had happened, but it was a night she would never forget.



She turned back to Igorn from her memories and nodded. "We know. But our situations are different. You and Pegmalia chose who you wanted to marry. Daniel and I have to hate that we were an arranged marriage. Or at least, if we show any interest more than just close friends toward each other, they separate us for longer than we can manage. We don\'t want that again."



"Indeed we don\'t." Daniel, too, was remembering their teenage years. He could still remember the way her skin felt under his fingers. He had to stop that line of thought before things went to far and he had to excuse himself. He gave her shoulder a squeeze as he heard the servants coming back and walked down the steps to stand with Igorn. He bowed as the first servant came in to announce dinner. "My Queen, we shall see you on the morrow."



"Please, Prince Daniel, travelers Igorn and Pegmalia and family, stay for dinner. The servants have already made up rooms for all of you for the night." Dahlia knew that Daniel would stay, though all the way on the opposite side of the Manor than her, yet she had enjoyed talking with Igorn and Pegmalia. She would have to think about the visions and the possibility of having a younger sister, but for right now, she wanted a distraction, and they seemed to be perfect for that. "Shall we?"