Thalia, a young psychologist with a troubled past is transported back in time, where she must navigate a kingdom ruled by a cunning lord and a melancholic king, all while confronting her own inner demons.
Episodes release every Thursday at 9:00 am EST. This is Episode 4 of 7.
CW: depression, suicide, violence, alcoholism
She was falling, sinking, drowning. But strong arms dragged her out from the angry currents of the surging stream. The king laid her on the riverbank, watching her choking and coughing as she expelled water from her lungs.
“Why didn’t you tell me that you can’t swim?”
Now that she was no longer in danger, Thalia grinned sheepishly, attempting to squeeze the water out of her clothes and hair. “I thought I could, but…”
“We still need to cross the river,” the king said. He walked over to the edge before lowering himself into the cold currents. He reached for her hand. “Come.”
Thalia placed her hand in his and he pulled her in, gripping her by the waist. She gasped as the cold water sloshed against her warm skin causing her to shiver. Thalia had never been one to be among nature, instead preferring the safe predictability of her clean and quiet office.
The two held hands as they waded through the water, Thalia leaning against the king to keep her balance. But then there was a noise rumbling from the distance. It was the heavy sound of boots hitting against solid ground. Someone was behind them.
Thalia’s latest suggestion to the king was to get comfortable with breaking the rules. In order to shed the stifling ‘guidance’ of Lord Malgor, he would need to grow skilled in journeying all paths. Especially those that were forbidden and troublesome. She had thought that the king could start small, spending a night outside the palace. But this small transgression had turned out to be a bigger deal than she’d thought.
King Alexander turned to Thalia and held up a finger to his lips, signaling for her to be quiet. They stood still and listened silently. Now the sounds were growing louder. And it wasn’t just one person but a determined group.
The king cursed. “Let’s get out of here.”
He hoisted himself up on the bank before reaching back for Thalia. And then they were running through the forest, tripping and falling against loose rocks and ancient trees. The world was a blur of green as they raced through the woodland, their feet getting stuck in mud and the threads of their clothes getting caught by the stubborn branches of the unruly foliage.
It was only after they had stopped to catch their breaths that Thalia realized that they were still holding hands.
She gently unclasped her finger from his, nervously patting her hand against the skirt of her dress. “I think we’ve lost them. But what do we do now?”
The king knelt down in front of a tree and started piling a group of leaves on top of each other. He seemed to be making a makeshift bed. “We rest.”
Thalia glanced up at the sky. It was already deepening into a dark purple and the outline of the moon was growing less visible by the second. With no lights to guide their way, it would be easy to get lost among the winding trails and identical looking trees.
The two laid side by side on the cold ground, gazing up at the silver stars. Thalia piled more leaves on top of herself to keep warm. She wished that they could have lit a fire but it would alert the king’s men of their presence.
The king didn’t have to be here. He didn’t have to save her as she was just one of his many subjects. But, here he was, suffering because of her. And for that, Thalia was both sorry and grateful.
“Is this safe?” she asked.
“It’s safer than the palace,” said the king.
Thalia turned her head to face him. “Are you smirking?”
King Alexander laughed. “If it bothers you, then do not give me a reason to smirk.”
“Elara loved the stars,” he said after a moment. “She believed that they harbored the hearts and souls of our ancestors. That if they were the last thing you looked at before falling asleep then your every wish would come true. She loved them so much that she wanted us to name our child ‘Itri’ which means ‘star.’”
“Your child?” asked Thalia.
King Alexander’s eyes shone. “How strange,” he said. “That you are the only one I can share these things with.”
“It is not strange,” said Thalia, making herself more comfortable in the leaf bed. “Lord Malgor, your only advisor, does not seem receptive to such…things.”
The king laughed bitterly. “I have no one. No one, except you.”
“I feel like I am fixing my mistakes when I’m with you,” he continued. He reached down and held her hand. “For you, I can do all the things I was unable to do for Elara. I can gain the courage to start over; the future does not look so bleak.”
As Thalia’s eyes drifted closed, she remembered King Alexander helping her escape the palace in the middle of the night. She remembered the gentleness of his voice as he explained that he’d had to approve Lord Malgor’s cruel request in the moment but that he was always planning to save her.
She remembered the two of them riding horses across a sea of green before they’d had to abandon the animals in order to climb a steep mountain. She remembered the warmth of his hand as they waded through the river. The beating of his heart as he held her close.
Her original goal had been to just help the king overcome his suffering. She wanted him to become competent, to be able to stand on his own two feet. She wanted to cure him of his glass heart. Of his self-hatred and regret. But as things progressed, she found herself wanting more. She wanted more of him.
Thalia knew that she was getting more greedy but did not know how to stop herself. Being the ‘replacement’ of a dead princess was not enough to satisfy her. Although it was a shameful thing to wish, she wanted to take up more space in his mind, maybe even in his heart. But how could she tell that to the king?
Her eye-lids fluttered as nightmares assaulted her in her sleep. She was drowning and so was Princess Elara. King Alexander stood between them deciding whom he should save. After a few moments of contemplation, his eyes rested on Elara.
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