Aurelius looked up. A young woman sat in the cell across from his. She had short blonde hair and eyes that burned with fury. Something about her seemed familiar.
"Who are you?" he asked.
"Does it matter?" she said coldly. "We're both going to die."
"I'm Aurelius."
"I know who you are," she said. "Commander of the First Order. The king's pet. Though that doesn't mean much now."
Her voice was full of hate but he noticed it wasn't directed at him.
"What did you do?" he asked.
She was quiet for a long time. Then she spoke without looking at him. "I tried to kill someone who needed killing."
Days passed in silence after that. Aurelius paced his small cell thinking about how everything went wrong. The woman just sat in her corner staring at nothing.
On the second day, he tried again. "What's your name?"
"Seraphina," she said finally after a moment of silence.
"Who did you try to kill?"
Her laugh was sharp and bitter. "The High King's Advisor Victor."
That got his attention. "Victor? Why?"
"Because he murdered my family," she said simply.
"That can't be right," Aurelius said. "Victor might want power, but he's not a killer."
Seraphina looked at him with cold rage in her blue eyes. "How would you know? You only see what he wants you to see."
On the third day, she told him more. Her father had been a lord who didn't like Victor's ideas. Victor had put fake evidence in their house. Her parents died while she watched from the crowd.
"I was twelve," she said quietly. "Old enough to remember everything. Old enough to swear revenge."
Aurelius felt sick. If she was telling the truth... "Why didn't you tell the king?"
"Tell him what? That his advisor is a liar? You think he'd believe some nobody over Victor?"
By the fourth day, Aurelius started believing her. The pieces fit too well. Victor's rise to power. How certain nobles had disappeared over the years. Always legally and always justified.
"He's been planning this for years," Seraphina said. "Getting rid of anyone who might stop him. I wasn't the only one who tried. I was just the only one who got caught."
"But the proof against me," Aurelius muttered, talking more to himself than her. "My own man said I was guilty."
"Tortured probably," she said simply. "Victor's good at breaking people and making them say what he wants."
On the fifth day, Aurelius asked to see the king. The guards laughed. On the sixth day, he tried again. Still nothing.
"He won't see you, will he?" Seraphina said when she noticed how quiet he had been.
"No," Aurelius admitted. "The guards say he's too hurt to face me."
"Victor's poison runs deep," she said quietly. "Once he plants doubt, it's hard to dig out."
By the seventh day, Aurelius finally faced the truth. Victor had played them all. The king. The nobles. Even him. They'd all been pieces on Victor's board.
"I should have seen it," Aurelius said. "The signs were there."
"Don't blame yourself," Seraphina replied. "He's had years to perfect his lies."
"Not everyone fell for it," Aurelius pointed out. "You saw through him."
"Only because he killed my family," she said. "Hard to miss someone's true nature when they murder everyone you love."
A loud crash cut her off. Then shouting. The sound of steel on steel echoed through the stone halls.
Aurelius jumped to his feet. "What in the hells?"
The guard at the end dropped his dice. His hand went to his sword as more battle sounds came from above. Men screaming. Armor clanking. Weapons ringing against each other.
"Someone's attacking the palace," Seraphina said. She pressed against her cell bars, listening hard.
The guard looked terrified. He kept looking between the stairs and his prisoners like he couldn't decide which was worse.
"Let me out," Aurelius commanded. "If the palace is under attack, you need every sword you can get."
"I have orders to keep you locked up," the guard said his voice shaking.
"Your orders don't matter if we're all dead," Aurelius shot back. "You know who I am. You know what I can do. Let me help save the king."
A huge crash shook dust from the ceiling. The guard jumped like the stones might fall on him.
The fighting sounds got louder. Someone was winning up there, and it didn't sound like the good guys.
The guard's nerve finally broke. He ran to Aurelius's cell and opened the door. "If you betray me, I'll hunt you down."
"You have my word," Aurelius said as he stepped out.
The guard gave him a sword. It wasn't his usual blade, but it would work. "Her too?"
Aurelius looked at Seraphina. "Will you fight with me?"
"Against Victor?" She said with a wicked smile on her face. "I thought you'd never ask."
They ran up the dungeon stairs together. The palace halls were chaos. Dead guards lay in blood pools. Tapestries burned on the walls. The coup had started.
Aurelius's heart pounded as they ran toward the throne room. They had to reach the king and protect him first before they find out who was behind all these if not Victor.
But they were too late.
King Aldric knelt in the middle of his throne room. Blood ran from a cut on his head. And Victor....Victor stood behind him with a sword at the old man's throat.
"Well, well," Victor said when he saw them. "The great Commander Aurelius. I thought you were safely locked away."
"Let him go," Aurelius snarled. "Your fight is with me."
"My fight is with everyone who stands in my way," Victor replied. "The king is weak. He lets demons kill our people while he talks with elves and fairies. He cares more about being liked than being strong."
"He's a good man," Aurelius said.
"Good men get people killed," Victor spat. "Time for a real leader. Someone who puts humans first."
King Aldric raised his head. Even facing death, he looked noble. "Aurelius, my boy. I'm sorry I doubted you."
"Too late for sorry," Victor said. He pulled the sword back.
"No!" Aurelius charged forward.
Victor drove the blade deep into the king's chest. Blood poured out as the good man's life left his eyes.
Rage exploded in Aurelius's chest. He threw himself at Victor with wild fury. Their swords clashed in a deadly dance. Victor was skilled, but Aurelius was better. He'd always been better.
He drove Victor back step by step. His blade found holes in the traitor's defense. Soon Victor was bleeding from many small cuts.
"You killed him," Aurelius roared. "You killed the best man I knew."
Victor stumbled and fell. Aurelius's sword point pressed against his throat. One push would end this. One movement would pay back his king.
"Do it," Victor wheezed. "Kill me. Become the monster you think I am."
Aurelius raised his sword. Justice demanded Victor's death. The king's blood cried for revenge.
Pain suddenly exploded between his shoulder blades. Cold steel went through his heart from behind. He looked down to see a sword point coming out of his chest.
He turned slowly. Sir Marcus stood there, but something was wrong. His face was pale and his hands shook. Sweat covered his forehead despite the cool air.
"Marcus?" Aurelius gasped in pain. "Why?"
Marcus's mouth opened but no words came at first. His eyes jumped to Victor, then back. "I... I had to," he whispered. His voice cracked. "You don't know what he... what he can do."
Fear filled Marcus's eyes. Raw terror that went deeper than any torture.
Seraphina screamed his name as Aurelius fell. She tried to reach him but Victor's men held her back.
Aurelius dropped to his knees. Blood filling his mouth as his vision went dark at the edges.
Victor stood and brushed dust off his clothes. "You always trusted too much, Aurelius. Too noble for your own good."
Darkness closed in. Aurelius felt his life slipping away like water through his fingers. All he could think about was Mileena's face.
If only I could go back, he thought desperately. If only I could fix this.
A voice echoed in his dying mind. It sounded old and tired.
Would you trade anything for a second chance?
"Yes," Aurelius whispered with his last breath deriliously. "Anything."
Light exploded behind his eyes.
[CONQUEST SYSTEM STARTING...]
[CHECKING HOST...]
[SOUL MATCH FOUND]
[OFFERING DEAL...]
Words appeared in his fading sight. They pulsed with their own light.
[WOULD YOU TAKE THE POWER TO CHANGE YOUR FATE?]
[WARNING: ALL POWER HAS A PRICE]
[YES/NO]
With the last of his strength, Aurelius focused on one word.
Yes.
[DEAL ACCEPTED]
[STARTING REGRESSION...]
[WELCOME TO YOUR SECOND CHANCE]
The world exploded into white light. Then Aurelius suddenly felt warmth. Then silk sheets against his skin.
His eyes flew open.
Mileena was above him again. Her beautiful face was red with passion. Her body moved against his in that same slow rhythm as she slowly pumped his cock slowly. Her auburn hair fell around them like a curtain.
But this time, he could see blue words floating at the edge of his sight.
[CONQUEST SYSTEM ON]
[HOST: AURELIUS MORALES]
[REGRESSION: SUCCESS]
"Mileena," he gasped. His hands gripping her waist tighter than before.
"Yes?" she breathed. Her eyes were closed as she lost herself in what their bodies were doing.
"What time is it?"
She opened her eyes and looked at him strangely. "Just past nine in the morning. Why? Are you expecting someone?"
Looking at her Aurelius realized something. He was back to the day it all started, and any moment now the guards would come barging inside to get him which meant he had few minutes to go.
Few minutes remaining. He had few minutes to talk sense to the king. Few minutes to stop Victor. Few minutes to change everything.
And this time, he wouldn't fail. He jusy couldn't.