Chapter 9 - THE FUTURE THAT LIEDEthan stared at the photograph.
He could see himself standing beside the Sun Gate.
Adrian was behind him.
A dagger gleamed in the prince's hand.
Ethan felt sick.
"He's going to kill me."
Roland stepped closer.
"Then we must not allow that future."
King Edward looked toward the screen.
"Can it be changed?"
Ethan hesitated.
"I think the photographs show possibilities."
Roland frowned.
"Possibilities?"
"Not necessarily things that have to happen."
The knight studied him.
Ethan continued.
"Every time we learn something important, the image changes."
Edward nodded slowly.
"Then perhaps the future is responding to our choices."
Ethan looked toward the phone.
"Exactly."
He remembered how the images appeared.
The princess.
The ruined throne hall.
Adrian.
The broken crown.
Now his own possible death.
Each photograph seemed designed to push them toward a decision.
But what if the images were not predictions?
What if someone was sending them?
Ethan opened the phone's photo information.
The file had no normal creation date.
No camera details.
No location information.
It had appeared without being taken.
Ethan felt cold.
"Someone is controlling this."
Roland frowned.
"What?"
"The photographs."
Ethan raised the phone.
"They're not coming from my camera."
Edward stared.
"Then where?"
Ethan looked toward the ancient symbols on the throne.
"From the Sun Gate."
Roland stepped backward.
"Can the gate communicate through your device?"
Ethan nodded.
"Maybe."
He remembered something Eleanor had told him in the modern world.
She sometimes heard voices through electronic devices.
A radio turning on by itself.
A television displaying strange symbols.
A phone receiving calls from unknown numbers.
At the time, Ethan assumed it was coincidence.
Now he wondered whether the gate had been reaching through time.
Edward looked toward the phone.
"Then who is sending these images?"
Ethan hesitated.
There were two possibilities.
Someone trying to help them.
Or someone trying to manipulate them.
He looked toward Adrian's face in the photograph.
The prince had been traveling through time for decades.
He understood the gate.
He knew Eleanor.
And he had a reason to bring Edward into the chapel.
Ethan whispered:
"Adrian."
Roland nodded.
"He wants us to follow the photographs."
Edward stared.
"Then we refuse."
Ethan shook his head.
"Not exactly."
The king frowned.
"What do you mean?"
Ethan looked toward the screen.
"If Adrian thinks we believe the pictures, he'll expect us to act a certain way."
Roland listened.
Ethan continued.
"We can use that."
Edward leaned forward.
"How?"
Ethan took a slow breath.
"We let him think we're coming."
Roland frowned.
"But we don't?"
Ethan shook his head.
"We find another entrance."
The knight looked surprised.
Ethan continued.
"The chapel ruins in my time have several underground passages."
Roland stared.
"How do you know?"
"I explored them before the portal opened."
Ethan showed them a photograph of an old stone tunnel.
Roland leaned closer.
His expression changed.
"I know that passage."
Edward looked toward him.
"What?"
Roland nodded.
"It leads beneath the royal crypt."
Ethan felt hope.
"Then we can reach the gate without entering through the chapel."
Edward stood.
"Prepare the horses."
Roland bowed.
"Yes, Your Majesty."
But Ethan stopped him.
"Wait."
The king turned.
"What?"
Ethan looked toward the phone.
The screen had changed again.
The photograph of Adrian disappeared.
A new image appeared.
It showed Princess Eleanor.
She stood inside a modern room.
Her face was pale.
Her eyes were filled with tears.
And she was holding a handwritten note.
Ethan enlarged the image.
The note contained only four words.
"DO NOT TRUST ETHAN."
Ethan froze.
Roland stared.
King Edward slowly turned toward him.
The hall fell silent.
May you like
Then the king asked:
"Why would my daughter warn me against the man who claims he can save her?"
