Sacrifice of the Septimus: Part 2 (Afterlife saga Book 7)

  Other items included scatter pillows in every colour, shape and size all positioned around a low hexagonal table that only stood a foot high. All of its feet were carved in the shape an elephant’s head and this was where she wanted me to sit. I did as I was told as I didn’t think it wise at this juncture to piss her off even more, not if I was going to try and convince her not to kill me.

  I sat down amongst the pillows and anyone walking in now would be fooled into believing we were just about to have a friendly chat over some freshly brewed tea and cake…or at least that’s what that plate of soft looking sugary bread looked like because for all I knew it could have had razor blades hidden inside it!

  “You know I envy you in a way.” Sophia surprised me when this was the first thing out of her mouth and I couldn’t help but reply with,

  “I highly doubt that.” Deciding to cut the ‘time warp’ bullshit here and just be myself.

  “You don’t believe me?” she asked almost acting insulted.

  “No, why, do you like having everyone trying to kill you?” I responded sarcastically.

  “Ah, well that is a misfortune indeed. But alas no, I was referring more to your freedom to love, something my brother unfortunately does not have the privilege of,” she said lifting up her long skirt and gracefully folding her legs, coming to sit down opposite me.

  “And you think being sold into a King’s harem as a slave is freedom to choose?” I asked her, trying no doubt in vain to get her to see life through the eyes of a mortal living in the real world.

  “Correct me if I am wrong but I believe that didn’t happen to you, that you were in fact rescued from getting raped to death,” she snapped but my come back was even better.

  “Yes and imagine my luck when finding myself no better off being sat opposite my death now, because either way, there are people determined to kill me because of that freedom to love you speak of.” Sophia didn’t have much to come back at with this but simply growled at me.

  “So I ask you…do you still think I am free?” Sophia tore her gaze from me and looked down at the floor deep in thought.

  “I think you are free enough to make the right choice,” she said and after giving it sometime she finally looked back up at me.

  “And that choice you speak of is walking out of here and leaving your brother.” At this she laughed once and it wasn’t exactly what I would call a joyful sound.

  “By the Gods no. I am afraid the time for that has long passed. No, no, my brother is so besotted with you that it would be no use if you ran,” she said waving her hand around as though we were merely discussing the weather.

  “You think he would find me?” I asked raising an eyebrow at her.

  “Oh, undoubtedly,” she agreed but this was when her demeanour started to change. Sophia was always so regal looking in this time, holding herself up tall and straight, even given how small she was around her brothers. If anything, seeing the way she had run at Vincent had been a shock but now, with the way her shoulders seemed to slump in defeat, I knew she was at least finding this hard. Or so I liked to think when she released a big sigh.

  “It is true that I have never seen him like this or looking so happy. And if circumstances were different then I may have even thanked you for it at one time. But we do not live in a different time…” I had to hold back from muttering ‘no shit’ at this point but thankfully she carried on before I had the chance.

  “We live in this one and in this one I find myself the unfortunate task to act on what is best for my people and you my dear, are not what is best for my people.” Wow, way to suck it to me right in the gut, Sophia.

  “You don’t hold back do you?” I commented making her laugh, for real this time.

  “Not usually, no. I am afraid I don’t have that luxury in my position.”

  “Can I ask you a question?” I boldly asked my soon to be murderer.

  “I guess I don’t see the harm in it, as we have a few minutes yet,” she said shrugging her shoulders after giving my death a time frame.

  “Have you ever been in love?” Now this question certainly threw her off as she seemed to do a double take.

  “It would not matter if I had been or not.”

  “Oh I beg to differ with you there, for I think it would matter a great deal. If you had ever experienced love, like I doubt you have, then what you are about to do would not come so easy to you.” I said calling her out and by doing so, it obviously made her angry. She banged her fist on the table making the little golden cups shake and the tall silver teapot rattle.

  “You think this comes easy to me!?”

  “You said it yourself that you have never seen him this way or looking so happy, yet you are still prepared to take that all away from him, just because of what you think you know of the future.” I told her, trying to get through to her before I was forced to tell her the truth in order to save my life.

  “I may not know much about love but I know that nothing is without its sacrifice!”

  “And you, what would you be willing to sacrifice to achieve the same goal? Would you give up that kind of happiness so easily?” I asked pushing her for an answer.

  “I would give up everything for my people!” she snapped, standing up in her outrage.

  “Then are you saying that your brother is unworthy to rule his people because of the choices he makes?”

  “I did not say that!” she shouted and I knew I had her caught in her own net.

  “No, but you will be by killing me and taking away his choice!” I snapped back getting angry myself.

  “He is blinded by you! He cannot see the truth of his actions with you standing in his way!” At this I laughed and said,

  “And now you are saying your brother is weak in the shadow of a woman!”

  “ARGH!” Sophia had no come back other than to let her rage build and get the better of her.

  “You are merely trying to prolong your life and trick me into letting you go.”

  “I am not trying to trick you into anything, I am just trying to get you to see sense and to realise that you too have a choice. You can kill me and devastate your brother or you could have faith and see what the future holds, as you may find it not to be as dire as you think.”

  “You want to be queen, is that it?!” she said quickly turning my argument back on me and using some deluded quest for power. I jolted back in my own outrage and said,

  “I couldn’t care less about becoming queen and sitting on a throne!”

  “You lie! Why else would you try and convince me to let you live out your days by my brother’s side. If it was merely to spare your life, you would be trying to convince me to let you go and get as far away from the palace as you could. For that would be the smarter choice, for if all I wanted to do was be rid of you, it would make sense to convince me of such.” This made me furious as she still hadn’t got it!

  “What and you think he is the only one who can fall in love!” I shouted back banging my own hand on my side of the table. Now this bit of news did take her back and for a moment she was silent. Had she not thought my love for him would be even the slightest possibility?

  I wondered in that moment whether I had finally got through to her but when she shook her head at the floor and said softly,

  “Then you will die a tormented martyr.”

  “Better to die a martyr than to live a thousand lifetimes knowing the one I loved was cruelly taken from me by my own flesh and blood!” I shouted back placing both my hands on the little table and leaning forward. Sophia looked back at me utterly enraged and was panting because of it as we continued our showdown. Looking at her now was like looking at Sophia’s evil twin and it was hard to put them together, let alone go as far as saying they were the same damn person!

  “By the Gods I should first rip out your tongue for daring to speak to me that way!” I laughed again and said,

  “And what, you think someone intended on murdering me in cold blood deserves my resp
ect!? Get a clue! You’re angry because you know what I say is true!” At this she snarled at me and turned away, knowing she had no come back once again. Was I really wearing her down?

  “Tell me, for I am curious. How do you think your brother is going to react to the news that you killed me?”

  “Ha! You’re a fool if you think I would ever let him find out.” Oh so her plan was finally coming out.

  “Oh and you don’t think he will simply put two and two together when he knows you pretty much forced your brother’s hand in letting you bring me here.” At this she huffed and just waved her hand around the air, as she paced the room.

  “All he will know was that I was trying to get to know you in an effort to please him.”

  “What, even after Ranka tells him that you attempted to have me killed once before, is he really going to believe that you had so much of a change of heart in only one day?!”

  “My brother will trust in whatever I tell him to believe.”

  “Oh please! You are deluding yourself if you think that is true. He told you himself to stay away from me, and now here we are drinking tea at a knife’s edge!” She snapped her head back to glare at me and said,

  “And how do you know that?!” I had to think for a second as I couldn’t exactly tell her the truth.

  “He told me himself.”

  “You lie!”

  “Then how would I know, if it was not he who told me?” I waited a minute for this to sink in before carrying on,

  “He even expressed to me how he didn’t trust you and told me to stay clear of you.” Okay so this was all a bare faced lie but right now, fighting this battle of wills and doing so where the prize for winning was my life, then hell yeah, I was fighting with my own claws!

  “I don’t care what the consequences are, for I will not be swayed any longer!” Okay, so this sounded like it was backfiring pretty quickly! I knew now for certain that I wasn’t going to get through to her, that much was obvious. So it was time to play my last and only trump card…the truth.

  “Alright Saphira, have it your way. Time to…”

  “NO! I will hear no more of what you have to say!” Sophia shouted and then snapped her fingers. I rolled my eyes to express my frustration but this quickly turned into panic as the long piece of fabric around my neck started to tighten. I instantly made a grab for it and managed to get a few fingers in there before it could strangle me completely.

  “Li...st...en…to…me,” I said trying in vain to get her to just let me say a few words but she simply tightened it further, making it almost impossible to speak again. I pulled down as hard as I could, trying to give myself even an inch in which to draw breath but the most I could manage was a centimetre at best.

  “Stubborn girl! Even to the last few breaths you wish to fight with me and your will to survive. Um…maybe you do love my brother after all, as you say you do. At least it has to be said, I do admire your courage and bravery,” she said leaning forward and letting her other side come forth.

  “I want you to die knowing what we truly are, my brothers and I. I want you to see what it is you give your life for in the name of love!” She snarled cruelly as she tightened the scarf to the point it was cutting into my neck.

  Seeing her this way didn’t shock me as I had seen it many times before, which meant her sadistic slitted grin didn’t last long. My eyes may have looked panicked but that wasn’t at the sight of Sophia’s demon, it was merely in the face of death and something deep inside of me wanted her to know the real me she was killing. So drawing in all of my strength I pulled even harder, straining my neck muscles and those in my arms, trying to get just the tiniest bit free.

  “It’s a shame really, I had really wanted you to just drink some tea and die painlessly from poison but like you and my brother, I guess it was never meant to be,” she said picking up her cup and drinking back her own tea after tilting it my way to toast me,

  “Here’s to immortality.” This was when I finally managed to pull it back enough to utter three tiny words…

  “I…am…E…lec…tus.” The second the words escaped me the scarf dropped from my neck and Sophia launched over the table grabbing my hand,

  “What did you say?!” she shouted shaking me and trying to get me to say it again but I couldn’t say a word for coughing. I was desperately trying to drag air back into my burning lungs, barely keeping myself from passing out as it was, let alone speaking.

  “WHAT DID YOU SAY?!” she screamed and then suddenly her eyes widened in panic and her hand flew to her neck.

  “Wh…what…have…you done?” she stammered out as she continued to clutch her neck as though she no longer knew how to breathe. Then before I could do anything her head hit the table, knocking over the cups and spilling tea over each side of the hexagon. She looked dead! My hands flew to my mouth as I couldn’t believe what I was seeing…

  Was Sophia really dead!?

  I sucked in a deep ragged breath, having no clue what to do or how I would explain any of this when Draven found out. But worst of all, fearing for my friend, the Sophia of the future, who was still out there somewhere and I was just praying that having her other self die in this time didn’t affect her now? What if she just disappeared!

  “Oh shit, oh shit…she must have drunk from the wrong cup!” I said on a gasp thinking she had drank from the one intended for me. However, I wasn’t given long to think on this as a familiar voice spoke up from behind me…

  “No, she drank the right one.”

  Chapter 59

  Doppelganger Ambush

  I could barely believe my ears as I must have been dreaming, for it couldn’t be…could it? The figure slowly walked up to stand next to me and looked down at the body of a princess sprawled out over the table like one of her stuffed decorations. I looked up at her and gasped, needing to see for myself. The woman suddenly whipped off her head piece and said,

  “Man, I was such a bitch!” I think other than passing out from shock, my mouth dropping open was the right first response and then the second was to shout her name…

  “Sophia!” Then I threw myself in her arms and hugged her close. I had been so worried about her!

  “Thank God you’re safe!” I told her making her laugh as she hugged me back.

  “I think I should be saying the same about you,” she said nodding down at herself. I followed her gaze and this was when panic set back in.

  “Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God.” I couldn’t help but repeat this over and over knowing what had just happened.

  “Calm down, it isn’t that bad.”

  “Isn’t that bad, Sophia, you just poisoned yourself!” I said looking back at her in astonishment.

  “Well yeah I did, but she deserved it.” Sophia responded as though we were talking about someone else that was currently sprawled out on the table.

  “She deserved it? Jesus Sophia, you killed yourself!”

  “Now let’s not go that far.” she said holding her hands up in her defence.

  “Well, is she dead or not?” I asked edging closer to see if I could see signs of life.

  “Uh…I’m not really sure,” she said squatting down next to herself.

  “You’re not sure!” I shouted close to losing it.

  “Calm down, let’s just think about this sensibly and…” Sophia was saying just as two people burst in the room.

  “Don’t you lay a hand on her you bitchnugget!” Pip shouted stumbling into the room as her and Ranka looked to have been fighting to see who could get in the room first. They both righted themselves, scowling at each other before taking in the crazy scene in front of them.

  “Nice of you to join us,” Sophia commented with a smirk and hand cocked on her hip. Pip did a comical double take which turned into a triple take.

  “I uh…okay this is so not the party I was expecting to crash.” Pip said, whereas Ranka took a more logical approach.

  “There are two of you?” Okay so when I said it was m
ore logical, what I really meant to say was blindingly obvious!

  “And the prize for the ‘No shit Sherlock’ award goes to…oh and wouldn’t you know, Captain Obvious here!” Pip said sarcastically dragging out her words. Ranka turned to her and said,

  “I don’t know of this Sherlock.”

  “No but give it a millennia or two, Mohawk.” Pip said patting her on the back.

  “Okay, so if you two are finished bonding over there, can we move on please?” Sophia said nodding to her other self. Pip then shook herself and said,

  “Pluck a turkey! It is good to see you home, girl!” And then Pip came over to Sophia and gave her a big hug, then she turned to me for a fist bump and said,

  “Glad you’re not dead again.”

  “Me too,” I said and then laughed when she said,

  “But buck me off your back and shit on a stick, you have more lives than a damn cat!”

  “She’s right you know,” Sophia said agreeing.

  “…Any later and you would have been one dead Keira.” I hugged Sophia again and said,

  “Thank you for saving me…well, from yourself.”

  “Speaking of dead and bitches, did you really kill yourself?” Pip asked and Ranka stayed in the background looking as though she was still trying to figure out what the Hell was going on, which kind of made four of us.

  “I don’t think so.”

  “Let’s check,” Pip said lifting Saphira’s head back by her hair and when her wet open mouth twitched she dropped her head, making it smack back on the table with a deafening thump. Our own Sophia groaned, folding her arms and Pip just shrugged her shoulders and before she could say it, we both said it for her,