Time's Mistress

Schemes and scares

Joel sat on the side of the practice field with his focus on his thoughts. He had been contemplating what to do about the situation with Iris. It had taken him so long to convince her father to allow the union between the two. And even longer to start to get on Iris's good side where she had given him the time of day just be near her. He had even almost stolen a kiss a time or two. If only she had not moved her face for his lips to land on her cheek. She should have been his by now, in every way possible.

He had worked so hard, only to start from scratch again. And those damned siblings of hers were always there to block him at this moment while Iris recovered after her long absence. He was not one to normally resort to magic, but he may have to go to that creature to get a charm to give her a push in his direction. He was shaken out of his thoughts when he heard the murmurs of some of the soldiers.

"Did you hear, guys? The princess has returned. The servants in the palace were chatting about it. They said that she was different from before but just as kind. There have been rumors that she returned, but no one has been able to prove it."

"Does this mean we will finally know what happened all of those years ago? Our finest warriors plus the princess all just disappeared into thin air. It's a miracle that the princess has been found after all of this time. We were all sure that she was dead."

"Are you sure that it's the princess that they found and not a demon in disguise?" The small group laughed.

"Do you really think a lowly demon would ever be able to impersonate our beautiful and strong princess? That would be impossible. Just her strength alone is unmatched. And don't forget to take into account her presence. Every time she walks into a room, there is this unexplainable peace and warmth that fills everything it touches." They smiled at the guy.

"Still got a crush on the lady, I do believe Jace." He blushed and looked down quickly.

"Stop playing. We haven't even seen the princess to know if all of this is true or not." They nodded.

"Yes, but," They stopped their conversation as the royal trumpet player sounded over the field. Everyone looked towards the sound.

The sound stopped as a tall man spoke. He was one of the royal family's personal guards that stayed in the palace."I need you all to rise and stand in formation. We have an unofficial surprised inspection of our troops that are here today. You have 5 minutes to get ready." The man walked away and left the troops to get ready.

The group of soldiers looked at each other in question. They haven't had a surprise inspection in years. Just the regularly scheduled ones. They saw everyone else looking around in question before the command registered. The leaders jumped into action, calling their squads to line up rapidly. They had to nail this.

After the squads all fell into formation, they waited in silence. Everyone was waiting to see who would appear for this inspection. Truthfully, they hadn't had a surprise inspection since the princess disappeared ten years ago. After that, the entire city, including the warriors, fell into a lull where they just went through the motions. Inspections were done once every two weeks to make sure the troops were good in case they got sent beyond the citywalls. That also hadn't happened since the disappearance of the princess. Everything seemed to revolve around her for some reason. But it seemed that she was also the one who brought strength and energy with her.

The wind blew, creating a strange hot chill in the air. Before the horn sounded again, the soldiers felt it. It was a wave of intimidating energy that swept over them. Even Joel, in the front of his regiment, felt it. He held back the shudder that seemed to come from his soul. He hadn't felt power like that in ages. He forced himself to swallow hard when his mouth suddenly went dry. This power was different. He had never felt something with this intent before. It was almost to the point of being overwhelming. He forced himself to look forward as a collective gasp was heard among all of the soldiers.

Descending down from the watch tower where the royals usually came to over see training were not just one or two of the family. It was three. The siblings were united with Iris in the front. She wore black pants that cropped at the ankles with her mid high heeled boots that were donned on her feet. Her shirt was cut off, exposing her toned stomach that was covered in the anicent ruins of her people with power. The sleeves were long, down to wrists, but were cut at the shoulder. The black shirt held the royal crest in gold and red colors over her heart. Her hair cascaded down her back in waves that blew behind her. Her two different colored eyes looked over the crowd of warriors in calculation. On her right was her sister Cassidy, wearing similar clothing to her sister but with a slightly softer face. And her brother Sae was on her left, looking tall and foreboding with a neutral, almost bored expression on his face.

They walked down together and started walking past the squads of troops, eyeing them over meticulously before moving on to the next ones. They stopped in front of Joel and his squad. Iris looked him over particularly hard. Joel swallowed hard and looked to the siblings. Their faces remained neutral and unchanging as he looked at them in question. Iris took a step closer to Joel as she started speaking in his ear, so only he heard.

"I know who you are, and I know what you want. You did not succeed in the past life and you will not succeed in this life. If you wish to continue down this path, it will only lead to your demise underling. Remember your place." Just to emphasize her point, she released a small wave of her energy on the field and felt the collective shudder of the troops that surrounded her. Joel felt himself grow angry at her words. He reached out and held her by her arms.

"You will not get away from me. No matter how many lives it takes, I will have you." She raised her eyebrow at him as she felt the marks on her neck heat up. She felt it race from her neck to her arms and flow to where his hands touched her. He released her with a gasp. He looked between his hands and then her. That was when he saw it. There were twin energies around her neck, dancing together. There was a light and dark one. Joel's anger increased. How was this possible. That woman was locked up and sealed. Nothing could reach her. So, how did Iris have those marks again. They had somehow managed to appear on her again.

That was the only reason that she was able to be revived because of the connection that those two shared. As long as one is alive, the other will always be reborn to complete the other. But it was impossible for her to be marked! Joel looked at her with hatred in his eyes.

"I will have you. As long as she is sealed, I will have you. Even if I must kill her like you were killed." Iris felt her anger grow as her power spiked. She took a step closer to him. The energy slightly glowed around her body, giving that godly look. She grabbed Joel by his neck too quickly for him to react. She pinned him on the ground.

"If you interfere with my affairs, I will personally kill you like I should have done before." She pushed some of her energy into him through his neck while her grip tightened. She gasped as she absorbed some of his energy, seeing snips of his memories. They were from before and now. She controlled her impulse to scream in anger at what she saw. She picked Joel up and threw him across the field, slamming against a tree. The soldiers stood around them in shock. They had broken formation to gather around the scene unfolding. They had known that before the princess had disappeared, she and Joel had been betrothed. But it seemed that that might not have been the case anymore.

"If you ever come near us again, I will kill you as you stand." Her power radiated out, almost the people in her immediate area shuddered. "You forget your place, Joel. You are the pawn under my feet. When I command you to do something, you will do it. And if my command is not carried out to my satisfaction, then I will have your head on a stake for all to see with a smile on my face. You are nothing. I will always return to whom I belong, and that will never be you. Now stay down if you know what's best for you." She stood over him. Her power glowed around her, showing how much a God she really was, even if she wasn't complete yet. Her face showed only her disdain for the creature in front of her. She would make sure she got her point across this time.

Joel looked up at her rage. He would never give up. She would be his, even if he had to kill her again......

Iris walked away with her siblings back to the front line of the battle field. She started speaking to the troops.

"In my absence, it seems this army of mine has become complacent and lax. That will be no more. We have a war to finish, which means, you all need to be prepared for combat. But all I see is a field full of dead men. So starting tomorrow, we will have training at 4am sharp. You will be trained by me. And that is an immediate command. Even the leaders of these squads will join. Everyone better get ready, because there will be no mercy for anyone." She looked over everyone. Her eyes fell on Joel who was leaned up against the tree. She smirked at him evilly. "There will be absolutely no excuses for missing unless you want to be punished by me." She turned and walked away with her siblings in tow. She was beyond angry at the few memories that she picked up from Joel when she touched him.