Assassins of Heretrua

Chapter Eight

Ren and Evelyn were jerked out of their reading by the sound of heavy doors closing as Jacquelyn entered. "What are you two doing? You've been in here for hours."

"Making the discovery of a lifetime," Ren responded.

"Really? What discovery?"

"My brother," Evelyn said, holding up the book. "He was here, in Uchwagna."

"When? Where is he now?"

"I don't know. We've only just gotten into it. But we know he was here, a long time ago."

"How long ago?"

"Remember that king I loved to read about so much growing up?" Ren asked.

Jacquelyn rolled her eyes. "Of course. You never stopped talking about him."

"What was his name?"

"Nikolai."

"What's Evelyn's brother's name?"

"Nik... oh." Jacquelyn's eyes grew wide. "No way."

"Yes way," Evelyn said. "He got pulled here the same way I did, except he got pulled into the past. And he was looking for me." Evelyn hugged the book to her chest. "Ren, he never would have found me. What do you think he thought?"

"I want to know how he worked his way from this situation into becoming king."

"Ren! What about my parents? What about him? He thinks I'm around there somewhere, but I'm not! I'm hundreds of years into the future!"

"The book said he was pulled here two years after Evelyn left," Jacquelyn spoke up. Ren and Evelyn both looked up at her. "How long have you been here Evelyn?" She asked.

"Not even a year yet."

"Which means he hasn't been pulled here yet."

"And yet he's been dead here for hundreds of years," Ren put in.

The three stared at each other, dumbfounded.

"So if there was a way to get back to my world, or even get a message there," Evelyn said, "We could tell him. And my parents. Then they wouldn't have to worry about me anymore."

"If that was possible, think of how much it could change," Ren said.
"That's the point."

"But wouldn't they want you to stay?" Jacquelyn put in. "And if Nik knew he was going to be pulled into this world, would that change his actions so that he didn't become king?"

"And that would change the course of history," Ren said.

Evelyn looked down at the book in her hands. "I guess I'll just have to finish reading this before I make any judgment calls."

"I think that's a good idea," Ren agreed.

"I do too. And I want to read it with you. But we can't do it now," Jacquelyn said. "Someone's here to see you."

"Who?"

"Both of you. There's been an outbreak in one of the smaller kingdoms."

Ren was on his feet in an instant. "What kind of outbreak?"

"I don't know. They sent me to come get you. Said it was urgent."

"Of course it's urgent." Ren made his way to the door. "We can't afford to have things like this happening while we're in the middle of rebuilding everything." Just like that, he was out the door and gone.

Evelyn looked at Jacquelyn. "I suppose I should follow him."

"Probably."

She stood up and sighed. "I feel so helpless. I'm eating up this new information like candy, but it's not making me happy, I'm worried it's just going to make me more miserable. And it's definitely distracting. The last thing I want to do right now is deal with a rebellion."

"He's your brother. You should know what happened to him after you left. If it was me who had been taken to your world, I'd want to know what happened to Ty, even though it would have broken my heart even more than it already did."

Jacquelyn's words hit home. She was right. "That's true. I just hope I haven't hurt him."

"Well, he became one of the greatest kings to ever live, so his life must not have been all that bad."

"Was he ever married?"

"Oh, now, that's for me to know and you to find out."

"That's not fair!"

"I'm just giving you something to look forward to. Now go help your husband keep his sanity in front of the governor of Ligda."

"Right." Evelyn hugged Jacquelyn. "Poor guy can't catch a break. We're trying to tear out the old and put in the new, which means we're building from the ground up. And then this happens."

"Something tells me this is going to be the least of our worries at one point. All part of the job."

"Great." Evelyn pulled away. "I'm going to have gray hair by 25."

Jacquelyn laughed. "Get out of here."