Two thin men dressed in clean black suits walk down the staircase. My eyes lock on the second, his face is hollow and his brown hair is slicked back from his forehead. His emerald eyes land directly on mine and I feel as though the wind has been knocked out of me.
“We’ve got a lot of catching up to do,” his familiar voice echoes through the room, the same voice that has been echoing in my dreams since I was a child.
My voice echoes over Alexander’s, and in unison we say, “Father?”
My eyes flicker from my own father to Alexander’s. Both of them are standing in front of us, healthy and alive. I bring my gaze back to my father’s face and I watch him smile. His joyful eyes linger on me until his face shifts to a worried glaze as he focuses on someone behind me. I turn over my shoulder and see he’s staring at Molly. I glance back to my father and his face has gone pale.
“What is she doing here?” His words are panicked and he yells, “She can’t be here!” Two guards who had been silently lining the back wall walk up and grab Molly’s thin arms.
“Stop!” I say, making myself speak over the shock of my father being alive. “We rescued her from the tunnels under Sard.”
“She’s working for King Renon, I’ve seen it in my visions,” my father says, walking through our group and straight to Molly.
“No, I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Molly begins to say and nervous tears fill her eyes. The two guards begin to drag her from the group and my father follows them.
“Leave her alone!” I shriek and start to run after them but my body freezes mid-stride. By someone’s gift, the guard I assume, my feet are stuck to the floor. I watch as my father places his hand on Molly’s forehead. “What are you doing?” I yell at my father.
“Removing the memories that King Renon had planted in her head,” he replies. Molly screams in protest, her cries echoing in the stone room.
My father lifts his hand and her head drops limp. Slowly she lifts her head and scans the room confused. Her eyes land on my father and her breath comes short.
“Where am I?” her small voice questions.
“You’re in Libertas, Molly,” I say and find my feet able to move again. I run to her and put a gentle hand on her shoulder. She looks at my hand and steps back from my grasp. She spins around the room as if searching for something.
“Where’s King Renon?” Molly questions, slowly backing away from us. “Where’s my brother?”
END OF BOOK ONE
