Chapter Five: Whispered Warnings
Aliana was escorted to a new cell, seeing as she had escaped her previous one. She noted with amusement that this cell was no different that the other one, just as easy to escape from. But I'll not do that again, she thought. I've made my point, and I think they know what I can do by now. Her guards, believing her to be secure, took up station outside her door; Aliana watched them in silent amusement as they went about their routine.
Suddenly, she felt strangely weary. Her first thought was of a drug or a poison in her systems, until she felt a tingle at the base of her neck. The sight, she realized: the last time she had felt this sensation was before the Imperials had attacked the palace, where she had tried to defy the laws. I must rest. Moving to the bed, Aliana lay down, hands folded on her stomach, and drifted off into sleep.
She saw a forest glade, where old men and aged women sat in a circle around a blazing fire. None of them were speaking, but she could still hear their words.
"The gift of the second sight is a danger to those who do not understand the balance," the oldest of the women said.
"Indeed, but we cannot stop those with the sight from seeing," an aged man countered.
"No, but what if those with the sight try and change the future? All know the dangers of that path." The aged ones nodded in agreement.
"Then let us make laws, for those with the sight. Let us give them warning of what will happen should they try to alter what is to come. Let us give guidance to the young seers."
"So let it be done," all murmured.
She saw the overthrow of the Empire, the liberation of her people. She saw a rebellion on her world, her people divided for the first time in thousands of years. Imperial lackeys whispering poisoned words into the ears of her people, turning them against one another, against her, accusing her of the murder of her family. She saw hostages taken, to force her from the throne that was hers by birth, not by desire. She saw herself, on a funeral bier, borne through the streets of Deneva, to the weeping of many.
Rivers of blood, rising waves of dark red surrounded her, she was drowning in blood. A voice whispered through the deathly stream: Aliana, what have you done?
"I couldn't let them die!" she shouted, fighting to keep her head above the sea of blood. "I couldn't betray my people, my family!"
Aliana, the laws were made for a reason, and you know that well. To defy the laws is to risk greater destruction and death than the loss of any one man or woman.
"You know I meant it for the best, and yet you would drown me in blood! Yes, I defied the laws, but I did it for Deneva. My people needed their king, and you would have had him die!"
And yet, for all your efforts, he still died. Only now, the price is far greater. Your actions may have altered the future, and thousands may die for your good intentions.
"Then let me pay the price alone!" she cried, defiant to the last. "Let no one else suffer for my guilt!"
That will remain to be seen, Aliana Calion. But mark you well, the path you walk is a dangerous one, to you and to those who would follow you. You must not try to defy the laws again.
Aliana woke suddenly, sweat trickling down her face. The cell was as it had been when she had begun her rest, but she felt a deathly cold in the air. The aftermath of the vision, she realized, pulling the blanket off her cot. Wrapping the rough material around her shoulders, she took comfort in its texture, rough and firm rather than the soft and yielding rivers in her dream. Aliana shuddered again, thinking of how she had nearly drowned in blood, whether her own, her enemies' or her peoples' she could not say. The vision had been as much a warning as it had been a guide: should she defy the laws again, many more would pay the price, and Aliana refused to allow it again.
The forcefield in front of her cell was suddenly deactivated, and one of her guards walked through.
"The Admiral wants a word with you, madam. Follow me."