by Emerson Fray
Chapter 2
Ren sat on the bottom bunk of the military issued bed, still unable to believe the news. Rule over a planet? Seriously? She didn’t think it would be possible, especially when her father would much rather be rampaging across the universe than sitting on a throne.
“Knock, knock,” Elian called from the other side of the door.
Ren took a deep breath and let out a sigh. “Come in.”
The door slid down to reveal her brother’s grin. “Only a few days until we’re there.”
Ren raised her eyebrows. “Great.”
Elian fell onto the bed beside her. She barely bounced under his weight. “Aren’t you excited?” he asked. “I knew I would get to keep the planet.”
“We aren’t keeping the planet,” Ren argued. “Something isn’t quite right here…don’t you think so, too?”
Elian shrugged. “Nah, unorthodox, sure. Weird, yes. But wrong? No. I discovered a planet that our ancestors owned—therefore it is ours.”
“They named a star,” Ren said as she stood, “that doesn’t give us the right to own the planets that orbit it. Those papers don’t have any legal claim,”—she laughed at how ridiculous it all was—“the stars that were named all those years ago by people with fifty dollars aren’t even registered in the archives. They didn’t actually name anything. And what are the chances that the planet you find ‘belonged’ to our ancestors?”
Elian sat up fast. “Fifty dollars? That’s all it took?”
Ren took a deep breath and rolled her eyes. “Yes, that’s all it took. But don’t you—”
“Would you not ruin this for me?” Elian asked, suddenly serious. He stood, hands in fists at his sides. “Stop trying to take away everything good from me. You always do this; if anything nice happens, anything amazing…you just ruin it! Can’t you just be happy for once?”
He threw his hands it the air and stormed out, not even letting Ren reply. She gaped at the door as it slid shut, unable to find any words. Finally she mumbled, “I don’t ruin everything.”
She was a realist, not a pessimist. And this didn’t seem good or real. But the more she thought about what the Monarchy might be hiding, the more she felt like the conspiracy theorist she was always called.
Elian’s words echoed in her head. Can’t you just be happy for once?
With unsure steps, Ren walked out of her room and kept going until she found Maks. He was on the command deck, but it wasn’t him sitting in the middle chair giving orders to everyone around him; he was standing at the back, watching.
“Maks,” Ren said. It was odd to see him at the back, and with the way the soldiers kept glancing at him they thought so too.
He faced her. “You shouldn’t be here,” he scolded, without reason. Ren knew it was because of her motion sickness with a Drop, but part of her still wondered if it was because he didn’t want her there. It was hard to tell with Maks.
“Can we talk?” she requested.
Maks nodded but didn’t move. Ren glanced at the surrounding crewmembers, the ones that used to take commands from her father and give him fearful looks. Now they seemed suddenly focused on work, no longer checking on Maks. She couldn’t tell if any of them might be listening now.
“Maks, is there something else going on here?” she asked. She’d never been very good at beating around the bush; straight to the point always seemed easier.
“You never did like to accept gifts,” Maks said, his voice vibrating through the room with ease. He’d never had to try to sound commanding, he’d been born that way. Her grandfather used to tell her that the day Maks was born was the day he stopped being the man of the house.
“It’s not that,” she argued, “it’s just—since when does the Monarchy send people like us to rule over a planet? And why would said planet be so willing to let us step in?”
Maks didn’t say anything for a long while, his blue eyes focused on the Drop in front of him. Finally he took a small breath and said, “Just be grateful for this Ren. You’ve got what you always wanted now.”
Ren flinched. “What’s that?”
“A life to spend reading,” he clarified. As he looked down at her Ren’s blood ran cold and she froze on the spot. Maks moved to walk around her, but as he passed by his shoulder brushed against hers. “Isn’t that what you’ve always wanted? Why are you questioning it?”
He walked out of the room, sounding exactly like Elian.
Ren gripped her hands together and began to wonder if her worries were even reasonable. She didn’t know how long she stood there for, but she was only brought out of the dark hole her thoughts dropped her into when Garret appeared.
He bent over to look her properly in the eyes, a curious expression on his face. “Princess, are you all right? I heard His Grace had words with you.”
Ren blinked. “His Grace?”
Garret straightened himself. “Ah, of course I suppose you could also be referred to as such—I thought you might prefer Princess.”
“I prefer my name,” she muttered.
“It is your title, now,” Garret argued with a smile. “You look worried.”
Ren nodded. Garret was the last person she should voice her worries to, because he would most likely say the exact same thing as Elian and Maks. She bit down on her tongue to stop from saying anything, because another scolding about how wonderful this situation was was not what she wanted. And if it were Garret scolding her she wouldn’t be able to stop herself from smacking him.
“I read you have difficulties with anxiety—Ren,” Garret said. “There are many medications in the infirmary if you wanted to take something to relax.”
Ren flinched back with a gasp. “How do you know about that?” She hadn’t even told Elian or Maks about her diagnosis two years ago. She’d been working hard at pretending like her mild anxiety diagnosis didn’t bother her, and did everything she could to keep it from her family. Ren shook her head, feeling like an idiot; of course Garret knew, he was the Monarchy.
And so are you, Ren reminded herself bitterly.
“It’s nothing to be ashamed of,” Garret said. "There are plenty of medicines to help.”
Ren shook her head. “I don’t want to take medication; it gets too hard to think, makes me feel wrong.”
“Kind of like going to Novae?” he asked.
Ren didn’t want to hear anymore from Garret. Who was he to try and calm her nerves? He was part of the Monarchy; an agent they sent to watch her and her family on their trip to Novae. Someone to advise them on what the Monarchy wanted.
Garret seemed to sense her thoughts. “I’m only here to help you and Maks and Elian,” he said. “I report directly to the King—nobody else.”
Ren nodded in understanding, but still held onto her suspicion. “Well, if that’s the case don’t tell him about anything.”
Garret nodded in agreement. “Of course, Princess.”
Without much left to say, Ren retreated back to her small cabin. It wasn’t anything like her large apartment back on Earth; there were no books, no notes strewn about and she didn’t even have her computer. Her only access to anything off of the Stormbringer was through her watch, and it was most likely heavily monitored now. Maybe it had been ever since Elian discovered the planet.
A knock at the door drew Ren’s attention away from the tracker on her wrist. She managed to lift her eyes up just in time to see the door slide open, and Maks’s right hand came into view.
“Hi Naomi,” Ren said.
“Hey, kid,” Naomi replied. “I heard you were having some trouble adjusting.”
Naomi sat down beside Ren, prepared to give one of her typical “chin up” speeches. She’d been giving them to Ren ever since Ren decided to go to university rather than join Maks and the Scows.
“I’m not sure if I should tell you anything anymore,” Ren sniped. “After all, you might run to His Grace with it. Like you
always do.”
“I told you years ago,” Naomi argued, “that anything you told me stayed with me. I never told your father a thing that didn’t have to do with your schooling.”
Ren’s jaw tensed. “How long did you know about all this?” She could see the silver and gold sun that hung on Naomi’s wrist, something she’d never paid any attention to before. Ren wondered how loyal Naomi was to the Monarchy, and exactly what her job was if it wasn’t being Maks’s right hand.
“About a day before you found out,” she confessed. “I wanted to tell you, but I thought it might have sounded better coming from Mak—His…Grace. Ren…I couldn’t say anything.”
Ren took a deep breath and let it out, eyes shut. “I know.” Rationally she understood, but she was still mad.
Naomi raised her hand and gave Ren a loving pat on the back. “It’ll get easier when we arrive. Until then, I brought you something.” She stuck two fingers in her mouth and let out a shrill whistle. Immediately Ren’s door fell through the floor and two privates brought in a large box.
“What’s this?” Ren questioned.
“Some books,” Naomi revealed. “I thought you might want something to read on the trip; after we arrive on Novae and get settled we should be able to order some more in. And not just from Earth; other planets too.” Her gums showed as she smiled wide.
Ren grinned, despite herself. As the privates set the boxes in front of her she opened them and picked through the books, excited about the coming hours. At least now she had an excuse to stay in her room and avoid anyone on the ship.
Naomi crossed her arms. “I’ll leave you to it then.”
As she left Ren called, “Thanks.”
Two days later Ren finally ventured out of her cabin to find Elian. He hadn’t talked to her since their fight, and she was feeling guilty. If he wanted to do this, she wasn’t about to ruin it for him. She vowed to push her fears and worries deep down inside of her, and trust the Monarchy as her father had. After all, they were going to a planet to rule it and not as slaves.
She hoped. The thought had crossed her mind more than once, but she knew there was no way the Monarchy would enslave one of their officers so easily. There was no way Maks would be enslaved so easily.
As Ren walked the corridors in hopes of finding her brother she instead found Maks.
They stopped in the hallway, each of them staring the other down. “Hi,” Ren said, breaking first.
“Good morning,” Maks replied. “Haven’t seen you around.”
“I was reading,” she said.
“Of course.”
They each stood there, waiting for the other to say something. Ren wasn’t sure what her father was waiting for her to say exactly; he’d never waited around before. She figured it had to do with him being out of command, no longer able to access the restricted areas of the scow, let alone fly it.
Any officer that walked by hurried their pace, sensing the hostility between Ren and Maks. They were more similar than she liked to admit, and neither of them would ever back down in an argument; it usually ended with a mutual leave.
“Have you seen Elian?” she finally asked.
“He was getting breakfast three floors down,” Maks replied. And with that answer he started walking away. Ren thought of talking to him, maybe asking what he thought of everything but she already knew what would happen; he would shut down and tell her to work through it at all costs.
No time for feelings on a scow.
Ren found the closest elevator and stepped in before her father rounded the corner. The bright cylinder was large enough to house four people, and thankfully she was the only one going anywhere. She clicked a few buttons and with a flash of white light she Transported three floors below. The smell of hash browns made her stomach growl, but when she spotted her brother across the room she forwent the food and took a seat next to him.
“I’m still mad,” he said, not even bothering to look up from his food.
“I know,” replied Ren, “I’m here to apologize.”
Elian looked up at her, one brow cocked in disbelief. “So you’re happy we’re going to a new planet?”
“I said I was here to apologize, not announce my insanity,” she said. “I’m not happy that we’re leaving our home, or all the people we’ve known, and all of our things without even being given a choice. But I’ll accept it, if it will make you happy.” It wasn’t like Ren had many friends back on Earth anyway.
Elian scooped up a mouthful of eggs. He seemed to be taking his time to think of what to say next. “It can’t be all bad. I mean, we’re going to be the royal family, right? We’ll be awesome leaders.”
Ren thought of all the battles Maks had gone into and didn’t think he was fit to be a King. A warrior yes, but a King? She didn’t think he’d be able to make the kind of decisions a King needed to make.
“Totally,” she lied, giving her best fake smile.
Elian lit up just like he used to when he was a child. Ren hadn’t ever realized just how deep his desire for power truly went, and she didn’t understand it either. It was a lot of responsibility they were taking on, and everyone but her seemed to be far too easygoing about it. She almost forgot what she was worried about as her brother wrapped her in a breathtaking hug.
“This is awesome,” Elian squealed. “I bet you won’t regret it; Garret was telling me about some ancient buildings the Monarchy found on the planet. They’re looking to get scientists there to do some studies, and I’m going to be helping track down what kind of technology could have cloaked the planet—so it isn’t like our entire lives will be left behind.”
Ren skipped right over the ruins. “The planet was cloaked? By the natives?”
Elian shrugged and took a bite of his toast. With a full mouth he said, “No idea. But the entire planet vanished for hundreds of years—it obviously isn’t natural. Although they are bringing some biologists to check out any unidentified plant life…”
Stealing a piece of bacon from her brother’s plate, Ren listened to all he had to tell her about Novae. By the time they had finished breakfast, Ren found that some of her worries had quelled. Part of her was starting to warm to the idea of venturing onto a new planet, filled with unknown possibilities and history.
And history was the one thing Ren could understand.