Teal read through the night, under watch from the Empress' personal guard. She slept and her servants went about their night chores which weren't many to enable the Empress to get enough rest.

At some time near dawn, he finished. It wouldn't be long until the new day would begin. He moved to sit on the window seat and gazed at the slumbering city below lost in his own thoughts. Eventually, the Empress rose and refreshed herself. Her maids entered and she dressed, and only then did Teal raise his head, his eyes bloodshot. At some point in those early hours, Teal had dozed off.

The Empress patted the table indicating for Teal to join her. Ragged and exhausted, he sat in the opposite chair. Her features were lined with worry.

"Has the Emperor returned?" he asked bitterly. He ignored the food that was lain out before them even though he had not eaten since his midday meal the day before.

"Not yet. Scouts arrived early this morning informing us they are on their way after deeming it safe enough." They were quiet as a servant poured them both some tea. "So, now you know the truth about the Lombock," she said, eyeing him.

"Yes," he said firmly. His life was changed.

"So, Nala was right," The Empress said, picking up her tea cup. "A long time ago, the Lombock ruled the entire world. They were able to control our minds somehow. The bond in the old Kindra Tale wasn't an innocent bond out of love as we had originally thought. It was a way for them to control us. They were said to be evil, cruel and the human race were their slaves. They controlled how we lived. We did their work for them. They tortured, raped, sacrificed and ate us. When people tried to revolt, they were slaughtered."

Teal didn't respond. He was still trying to digest what he had read.

"As a last resort, our ancestors sought advice from the highest Denroin monk and they agreed to cast a spell on the Lombock," The Empress carried on as if recalling the facts was enabling her to understand and remember them. "The Denroin archives say the spell manipulated the shapeshifting power the Lombock already held. It connected the Lombock to the souls of the tigers melding them together as one. They believed the soul of the tigers were stronger than humans and therefore, the tigers would be able to stop them from their cruel ways. Therefore, the Lombock did not disappear due to their natural food supply running out. They have, for all this time, still been present, but their souls and bodies have been shifted and melded with the tigers."

Teal waited as she took a mouthful of tea. He had read the same words but to hear them spoken by another person churned his stomach. It made it all too real.

"By the law of nature, the Denroin monks told the people that they couldn't kill all of the Lombock outright, in fear of retribution from the Gods. So, instead, when the human and Lombock connection was broken, only the royal family were slaughtered in a hope to increase the chaos that was suddenly spawned onto them.” The Empress paused. “Except there's you, isn’t there? You with your black and silver hair dictating your royal lineage."

Their eyes met over their tea cups, and Teal saw the Empress take a deep breath as if she was worried about what she was going to say next.

“The Empress Dowager told us she knew you were of royal lineage.”

Teal gasped and pulled back. “You all knew!?”

"I must have come from somewhere," Teal agreed.

Their eyes locked viciously, anger quickly replacing the shock in Teal's features. They had known of his lineage for several days and they had not disclosed it?! Even Jale had known! Teal's leg bounced in agitation and unable to remain seated, he rose suddenly, his chair falling backwards on the stone floor. "Why didn't the Emperor tell me he knew I was of royal descent?"

"I believe the Emperor was waiting for the Midsummer Festival to be completely over before he told you."

"Really? And do you really think the Emperor would have told me what the Lombock had done all those years ago? Why are you telling me this? Don't you fear my retaliation? Don't you fear the Emperor being angry at you for telling me?"

Emotions, complicated and ones that ran deep, flickered over the Empress' face. "As I said before, I hope that by telling you, you will forgive us. That you will be appreciative of what I have told you. It is up to you on how you act. This information is out there. What if you had found out years later, what is written on the scrolls? Then how would you have reacted? You could have killed us all!"

Teal laughed, but it wasn't a humor filled laugh. "You're already trying to make predictions about how I would act! Do I seem like a person who would go through the whole palace and kill everyone?"

"I don't know," the Empress said, looking up at him worriedly. "Would you?"

"No! I wouldn't!" Teal shouted, drawing close attention from the Empress' guards. The guards on duty took a step forward, hands going to their scabbards. Teal immediately lifted his hands in an indication of peace. "I won't hurt her," he told them.

The Empress lifted her hand and indicated she was safe. Her guards however, remained close.

Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.

“All I know is that we're all to blame. I take responsibility for that, for my people anyway. I have more to tell you, Teal." She rose to her feet and dared to approach. "All the powerful kingdoms took responsibility in casting this spell over the Lombock, and we all took a piece of the key to ensure that they did not come back."

"The so-called medallions?" Teal asked.

"Yes." She drummed her fingers over the table. "Nala's scroll said there were four. The Empress Dowager also mentioned something similar. That a vital key went missing."

"There was so much that I wasn't told," Teal said flatly.

"I'm telling you now." Her head turned to the painting lying on a bigger table a short distance away. Following her gaze, Teal stood up and walked towards it. The Empress joined him.

"It took a while to get here," the Empress told him. "It was in the castle on the island I took refuge in. This is a portrait of my family."

Teal's fingers grazed over the oils until they rested on one spot. A man, grey in his temples but also with the fire of red like the Empress', was wearing a medallion.

"One of your family members had a medallion?"

"Yes," the Empress confirmed. "And do you know who else has one?"

Teal turned to face her. "Who?"

"Prince Yernal."

Teal drew in a ragged breath. "Is that why he was here, in your room yesterday?"

The Empress eyes narrowed. "He was here," she confirmed simply. It appeared that was all she was willing to share concerning Prince Yernal. "He wears it, did you know? Although, I don't know if he knows what it means."

Teal looked back to the portrait. "You did fear my retaliation, didn't you?"

The Empress locked eyes with him. "Yes." She paused. "Our ancestors were responsible."

Teal didn’t respond to her statement. "What about the other two medallions?" he wondered out loud. "Nala's scroll said that two of the medallions disappeared down a trading route to another world? Do you believe this?"

The Empress sighed. "The Empress Dowager also mentioned this other world. It appears she really does have a wealth of knowledge regarding the Lombock. I honestly don't know what to make of this notion of there being another world."

Empress Crael turned to another large scroll and unravelled it next to the painting. Inside it revealed a large map of the world. "Nala stated that the four key empires and kingdoms banded together to stop the Lombock. The Brandeen Kingdom, The Talbecan Empire and the Keglar Kingdom. The fourth one, I'm not familiar with it and it is not on this map."

Teal looked back to the scroll and shook his head. "I have not heard of another kingdom either."

"All I know is," the Empress said, turning to face Teal. "Your royal family must still exist. The spell the Denroin monks cast only covers a certain area of the world, our area of the world. Some of the Lombock escaped the reaches of the spell when it was being cast. Within the spell's area, its powers fall on them. Once they are out of its reach, the Lombock are once again, Lombock. Your family, your people, are out there somewhere."

Teal sighed and leaned heavily on the table. His eyes scanned the length of the table, taking its contents in again. They flickered back to the sight of something familiar. He glanced again and tried to hide the frown on his face. It was another scroll.

His scroll.

The same one that he had carried for two and half week's to deliver to the Emperor. The one that Brelan had given to him. He had held it in his hands on many a night and wondered what its contents held. It was his, he realized. It had the same stain of blood on its edge from when he had saved Cokrin that very first night.

What was it doing here? How had it ended up here? Had the Emperor given it to the Empress? But it had been blank! Nothing on its surface.

Teal leaned closer, and his eyes widened when he saw that the surface of the scroll had been scratched revealing words underneath. They were written in words he could not read. Another language?

Teal swallowed down his confusion. He turned to face the Empress. The original reason for why he had returned to the palace alone resurfacing. He dared to ask. He had to. "Empress Crael," he said softly. "Who is the Hummingbird?"

She had wandered off, and her head turned sharply at his question, so completely unexpected it was.

"Is this Hummingbird business related to the people who attacked Lana?" Teal pressed.

The Empress didn't look at him, lost in her own thoughts and just when Teal thought that the Empress was not going to respond at all, she spoke loudly and clearly across the room.

"The Emperor does not know that I am aware of the Hummingbird," she said. "We all make mistakes, Teal. The Emperor made one, a long time ago."

Realization dawned on him. "You know who the Hummingbird is. Ultimately, you told me all of this because you feared I would leave and not help the Emperor?"

The Empress smiled. "Help him, Teal, and I will travel back to my homeland personally, dig up my father's grave and retrieve that medallion for you."

A horn rang out across the air cutting through their conversation. The Empress returned to the archway, and Teal joined her. Down below, they spied a group of riders approaching the residents' entrance. The Emperor and his personal guard had returned. Teal assumed that Jale would be among the men as well.

The Empress smiled, genuine and full of love. Her hands went straight to her stomach, rubbing it gently. "So wonderful to see my men return safely." The Empress turned to face Teal. "Please forgive the Emperor for not telling you sooner. Both he and Jale are so happy with you being in the palace. We will go greet them in the courtyard."

Teal and the Empress descended the stairs together. The Empress' pace was slow so by the time they had reached the main hall of the central building, the Emperor was already storming across the hall to reach her. Teal stood slightly back while the Emperor embraced the Empress, concern embedded into his features. Jale and Ralen were with him along with his personal guard. Once he had ensured the Empress was safe, the Emperor turned his attention to Teal.

"Thank you," he said. "For making the journey first. My men did find some of our enemy's scouts in the forest. They were killed before they could pass on any information. We made our journey then. That is why it took us so long."

Teal smiled although it was somewhat forced. "Does Lana fare well?"

"Yes," the Emperor told him. "She traveled back by caravan and is already being taken back to the Purple Jade Palace."

"You must be tired from your journey," Teal said. "I think you and the Empress have a lot to discuss."

The Emperor looked at the Empress questioningly.

"Teal is right," she said, taking the Emperor's hand. "There is much to talk about. Jale should also join us."

Teal turned once the Emperor and Empress began their way towards one of the exits of the main building, arched doors that led out to the garden beyond. Jale also walked past Teal, Jale's hand breezing past his, a worried look on his features. Could he see the truth written on Teal's face? That Teal now knew the truth and that the Emperor had been withholding such information from him? That Jale had been withholding such information from him? It hurt. It hurt deeply to be lied to, to be treated in such a way.

Teal didn't respond to Jale's gesture. Instead of following them into the garden, Teal turned and walked the opposite way.