Time's Mistress

we are the royals

Chase stormed into the tea room. The doors banged against the walls as all eyes turned to him and his panting tearful form. The king and queen looked at him in silent shock, wondering what had happened to make the normal stoic guard so out of character. He looked up after catching his breath to the royals and some of their council that lingered drinking tea and talking gossip.

"My royals, I come bearing the news of our lifetimes. Your children have returned."

They all looked at him in question. "What is so important about that? Sae and Cassidy come back once every few months," the queen asked.

"No royals, all of your children have returned." He empathized as a tear ran down his cheek. He pleaded with his eyes for them to understand. The queen gasped then, finally realizing what he meant. Tears sprang up in her eyes.

"Iris," was all that she could say before she put her hands over her face in shock and to try to cover her tears. There was a collected gasp over everyone else as silence fell over the room. The guard nodded in confirmation at her. The royals stood then. "Take us to them." He nodded. Finally, after years, the family would be reunited.

******************

"Come on, Iris," Cassidy said. "I'll show you to your room. It's been kept the same since you disappeared. Only the most trusted servants were allowed in there to keep it clean and dust free.

They walked down the hallway towards the east wing of the family's grand home. White travertine title made the floor while the walls were painted a light beige. There were photos lining the walls on both sides. Their steps could be heard almost echoing down empty halls. Was it always this quiet and empty Iris, thought to herself.

This place is quieter than the lab she escaped from. It was almost eerie in a way. "Why is it so quiet here? It doesn't seem normal in a place like this, I would imagine."

Cassidy sighed before speaking. "Before, this place was very lively and happy. The city was always happy and bustling, too. But once the news of your disappearance spread, everything changed. Our parents and our family, followed by the city, all started to fall into a mourning and depressed stage and haven't been able to come out. But once you are ready, everything will start to reawaken again. The city will go back to its former glory, and we will finally be victorious in our mission."

Iris looked at her with curious eyes. Why was everything so dependent upon her? It seems as if the world was on her shoulders before and that it would become that again. They stopped in front of a door before Iris could start to question why things were like this. But instead, she looked up at the door. It was black, with golden designs carved into it. It reminded Iris of the marks on her body. "What is this door?"

"It is your room. It has been kept as you left it, sister." Iris put her hand on the black knob and started to turn it before she stopped.

"Can I enter alone? For some reason, it feels as if going in alone would be best." Cassisdy looked at her younger sister in slight displeasure. "I know that you wish to spend time with me to make up for all of the years that we were apart, but Cass, I feel as if I need to enter alone. At least for this time. Maybe I will be able to recover some lost memories." Cassidy sighed heavily with worry. Her eyes glanced at Iris's missing arm, then went to her face.

"I guess I can understand if it may help you to recover a piece of you. But I will wait out here in case you need something. I will stay close to you, Iris." Iris nodded at her in thanks before turning the knob and walking in, closing the door behind her.

Iris sighed as she put her back against the door. Finally, she was alone to think and figure out what everything meant. She needed this. She looked around the room and only saw shadows since the lights were out. She pushed off of the door and went to find a light source. She found nothing in the room. How can there be no light in this room? There had to be something. She felt around for a while longer before she sighed. If she had been her from before, where would she put the lights? She huffed and decided to look for a curtain to open to give light. After feeling on the wall, she felt what felt like heavy material. With a little bit of force, she drew the curtain open and gasped at the sight in front of her. She felt her eyes start to water for an unknown reason.

In front of her wasn't a window; it was a door to what looked like another world. She took a couple of steps and was reaching for the door knob when the door to her bedroom flew open and hit the wall. The noise startled her, and she spun around, ready to fight.

"Mom, I told you that she isn't ready. She needs some time to herself. " she could hear Cass in the doorway.There was a woman standing in the doorway with tanned skin and dark brown hair. Her brown eyes twinkled in surprise and happiness. Behind her stood a tall man. He was probably over six feet tall with a muscular build. He had midnight black hair and a hard face. He reminded her a lot of Sae. But at the moment, his dark eyes also reflected the same as the womans'. She saw the pair's eyes wandering over her frame, and they both stopped on her missing arm. Tears welled up in the woman's eyes, and she saw the man fail at containing his tears. She looked at Cassidy in question, who had an apologetic look on her face.

"Mom, dad," Cassidy paused. "I didn't get the chance to tell you because you forced your way through the door, but first, Iris lost her arm. Second, she had no memory of anything before we found her." The king and queen turned to look at Cassidy in shock. How could their daughter not remember anything. So she has no idea who they are, none of them or even herself? The queen turned back to Iris.

"Is this true, Iris? You really have no memory of anything nor anyone?"

Iris looked them over with patient eyes, waiting for the situation to hit them fully. She nodded her head in conformation. "The first thing that I remember is waking up in a tank, floating in sort of liquid in a dark room with my arm missing."

The queen started to sink down before her husband caught her in his arms. His dark eyes scanned over her, pausing on her arm that he couldn't see the full damage of. Then he looked into her eyes as his saddened when he saw no recognition in them at all. Not only that, but she also had two different colored eyes now. Before, her eyes were unique, but now they were different colors.

"What did those demons do to you in your time with them?" She shrugged.

"I have no idea. Apparently, I've been sleeping all of these years according to them before they had an untimely end." The king raised his brow in question at her. She only shrugged again.

"And your arm, do you know what happened to it?"

"A demon told me that his master cut it off in a fight because he was trying to kill me. Apparently he wants me as a sacrifice to raise the dark lord or some bull like that. But I harmed his master and now he is permanently disfigured and is in hiding while they start to search for me again. That was all I got out of him before my temper got the best of me and killed him."

"And your weapons?"

"What weapons are you talking about?" Iris took a step closer to him in curiosity.

"Your double axes and your short sword."

"I have no knowledge of these weapons."

"They are your weapons that you found while you were out on a mission years ago. They were blessed by the gods and chose who they wanted to be their bearer. You were the one that they chose to use them." Iris scratched the back of her neck. She was unaware of any weapons.

"I don't know of any weapons. This is the first time I've heard of them. But they sound important to me. So get me whatever information you can find on them, and I will work to make sure they are returned to me where they belong."

"Then you are also unaware of your children then as you refer to them."

"What children? I was also unaware of this. Who is their father then?" Her head was starting to spin with all of this new information. Her father lightly laughed.

"They are not actually children; that is just what you call them because of how precious they are to you. None of us understand why, but you have a habit of taking in strays." His voice fell a little with that as if it was in distaste or disapproval.

"Do you disapprove of this choice? I hear it and see it."

"We've had quite a few disagreements in the past, but you always ended up doing what you wanted. Even as a child, you were very headstrong and refused to listen to reason."

She could feel the tension between them in a volatile sort of way. She wondered just what they argued about. She knows about that story that her brother told of how she had no interest in that man, and suddenly she did. Maybe he was the one to press her into it. He seemed like the type she was starting to figure out.

"I remember Sae telling me a story about how I had zero interest in no-one, and then one day, I suddenly had interest in this man, Joel." She saw a glimmer in her father's eye at the name.

"Yes, what about him? You are to be married as soon as possible to him, and only then will you take over the throne."

"I will not marry him. I have no interest in him, and I don't feel he can be trusted." Her father's face turned a bright red as the queen stood up straight. She turned to calm her husband. But before she could speak, he started almost yelling at her.

"We are not going through this again, Iris. You will allow Joel to court you before marrying him and taking the throne. He is our top warrior, and he is the one that I approve of. We will not allow you to fill our positions without a male partner of my choice. We've already been through this. " Sweat started to cover his forehead as his anger came out. So that's probably why she is going to marry this man. For the throne and the approval of her father. But the only problem is that She would see them dead before he was ever able to get that close to her. Iris knew that her words were true, and she felt that those were the ones that she should trust.

"I don't know what you said to me before to make me agree, but that won't be happening this time around. I will do as I please, and there will be no changing of anything." She narrowed her eyes at the king.

"You will not talk to your father and your king that way. You will bow to my will no matter what."

She chuckled then. "Would you rather I kill the man? I would love to do it with my bare hands then." The king clasped his fists.

"That is enough, father," a deep voice said behind them. She looked to see Sae standing there. "That is enough. We barely have her back, and you come here and start fighting with her. She doesn't even know who you are or what has transpired in the past, yet instead of trying to form a better relationship to start, you revert back to your ways within seconds. You can not force your will on Iris. She is a grown woman, and she is also different. She will not do as you want she will do as she pleases. Mother, please take Father to calm down, and we can have a conversation tomorrow." The queen gave a longing glance to her daughter before dragging her husband away. Sae sighed. "He will never change, it seems." He turned to Iris and Cassidy then. "Are you alright?"

She nodded. "It seems like we have a rocky relationship." Sae made a small smile, but nodded his head.

"He always wants things his way or no way. And you always do things your way." He chuckled a little bit.

"I'm sorry about all of this Iris. They barged in before I could stop them."

"It's alright. It feels like there were a lot of things that weren't exactly good before I was taken." She stopped and looked at both of her siblings. "He was referring to my children. What did he mean by that?" The other two siblings looked at each other and smiled.

"They are your animals." There was a pause. "The room behind the glass door is where you keep them. And they've been waiting for you for a long time."