Throne of Ash

by Lena Lee

  “Be your what?” My numbness has slowly faded and now my heart was beating slightly more erratically.

  And not because I just learned I was some princess on another planet.

  “This past month I felt a pull, right here.” He placed his hand on his chest. “A tether of sorts. So we left Scintilla and the closer we got to Earth, the stronger it got.” Rex stood then and kneeled before me, the other two followed and placed their right arms across their chests.

  Kyra cleared her throat and gave me an annoyed look. I wasn’t relaying the information fast enough for her and the look on my face was probably freaking her out. I was freaking myself out.

  “They are kneeling before me Kyra… because I am a princess of another world I was kidnapped from, possibly by my father. They tracked me across worlds to find me here on Earth because Rex felt me in his chest.” I shook my head trying to dislodge the absurdity that was this day. It was the craziest thing I had ever heard. “This might actually be one of our enforcer final exams, to test our mental stability. Right?”

  “Princess Mira?” Kyra giggled before looking at me seriously. I cringed at the glint in her eye. I would never live this down until the day I died. “I still refuse to wipe your ass for you.”

  I cracked a smile despite the emotional storm brewing in my gut. Life can change so quickly. I thought toxic spores were quick to change everything, but I was wrong. Aliens flipped my world upside down in less than 24 hours.

  Kyra clapped her hands suddenly as if she had a brilliant idea. “Does this mean you have dresses I can borrow? Can you imagine the look on Theo’s face if we waltzed into training in jewel encrusted ball gowns and heels? Let’s do it!” I was glad that Kyra was infusing this situation with humor, I had none to lend at the moment.

  “You allow her to speak to you like this?” Alex started to rise but I put my hand up to stop him. Wyatt fought a chuckle. At least one of them already sensed Kyra was… special.

  “She’s only joking… something you should try sometime. This is too crazy. First, I am an alien and now I am an alien princess. Get up off the floor.” I might be able to accept the alien princess part, but not people bowing to me as if I were better than them. I would never bow to anyone.

  I examined them carefully as they rose from their bent knees. They were definitely all brothers with vastly different personalities, but none appeared older than their mid-twenties. McCreeper Rex was the most mysterious of the three as he had shown the least of his personality so far, sticking to only the facts and formalities. Although a few times he had seemed overly protective. I would guess he was older than the other two just from the way he carried himself around them. My eyes were drawn to him more than the other two. His face was somewhat square with a rounded jaw covered in stubble. His brown hair fell to the nape of his neck in a slightly disheveled fashion and his eyes were green with small flecks of gold near the pupils. They were slightly hypnotic and familiar, but I tried not to look into them too long, wouldn’t want to get lost or anything.

  Alex, or Stick, was the least likable of the three, but by far had the most groomed look about him. His hair was slightly lighter than Rex’s and was cut shorter. His jaw was slightly more prominent and unlike Rex, his skin was smooth. I could imagine him spending hours staring at himself in the mirror every morning. His eyes were one of his few redeeming qualities. They were amber in color but at the right angle they appeared to have glowing streaks of gold in them. They held a hint of sadness, but that was probably because he was allergic to fun.

  And then there was Wyatt. One of the first things I noticed about him was his blue eyes, which up close had a small ring of brown around the pupil that blended into the blue. His eyes were more serious now, but still held a hint of mischief. His hair fell slightly past his ears and had a slight wave with occasional strands getting into his eyes. He had the most facial hair and sported an extended goatee, but kept it shaved close to his face. He was the fun one.

  I stood and faced them. I had so many questions, especially about being kidnapped. The note left with me said my parents could no longer care for me, but the males before me told a different story. Who had stashed me away? More importantly, where was home? I was holding out hope that this some kind of enforcer test to see how I handled a manipulative situation.

  I cleared my throat. “Where is this planet you… we are from? How do we get there?” Perhaps they had a spaceship that would lead us to salvation. Kyra and I had only read about the idea of them in a book, now they might actually be reality. The idea of another world strong enough to support human life was something we believed as a concocted story to placate the masses.

  Before the planet decided to cleanse itself through tumultuous storms and a vicious wildlife population explosion and subsequent extinction, the search for life outside of our world had been a top priority. Countries band together to find an alternate planet. Scientists had known the pollution and greed had reached a breaking point. Humans could conquer many things but the quest to find another planet to call home had alluded even the brightest of minds. Even a deep pocket book had returned no viable options.

  “Our home is several parallel galaxies away. The royal families have the ability to travel between worlds without any ill effects, which is why we were able to find you. You should be able to create a portal, but it takes years of training to make one to jump across galaxies.” Rex waved his hand in a flourish near my door and a perfectly round circle appeared with swirling blue around the outside of the deepest black expanse. He waved his hand again and it was gone in an instant.

  Kyra and I looked at each other wide-eyed. There was no question now that we were dealing with some serious shit. I was usually fairly calm under pressure, but this was taking it to another level.

  “What do you mean royalty? If I’m a princess does that mean you guys are my-”

  Wyatt cut me off with a snort and laugh. “We are not your brothers or even related. Queen Sienna rules over Ardor. She controls the flow of resources and energy in our lands. We are the princes of one of the other five lands, Zephyr.”

  “If we go with you what is going to happen? Does my- the queen know you have been searching for me? What’s the plan exactly?”

  Kyra spoke up. “If? Life is too short to not take chances Mira. There is not much here for us… if we are going to die at least it will be a good ol’ adventure. Think of it like one of the times we got drunk and-” I cut her off before she could air our dirty laundry to perfect strangers.

  Rex raised his eyebrows in Kyra’s direction and then looked at me with an inquisitive look. I could tell her wanted her to continue but had no way of speaking to her, which I was grateful for in that moment. “We plan to take you to our home first to get some rest and prepare. Then straight to Ardor after we request an audience. Sienna would not forgive us if we kept this from her any longer than necessary. She is unaware we were searching for anyone. Our brother, Rian, granted us permission to leave Scintilla on an exploratory mission as to not raise any questions.”

  I nodded, running my hands over my face with a sigh. “When do we leave?”

  Chapter 5

  The sun was high in the sky after Kyra and I had packed what few possessions we had worth taking. Since we were told our wardrobe would not suffice on Scintilla, we both packed one change of clothes, which were replicas of what we had on. There was mention of gowns and dresses which was laughable since we both exclusively wore tactical pants and tanks with combat boots. We both had only a few sentimental items. I had the bible and a small box that contained crude fashioned jewelry my dad had made for my mom. Kyra had similar items including a few pieces of jewelry from her father.

  We left the brothers in my hovel and made our way towards the center of Blight. We couldn’t just up and disappear without letting our inner circle know we were leaving. They would undoubtedly start looking for us and risk their lives outside the fences trying to find us. We had decided we would tell them we were goin
g on an exploratory trip to find a water source. We probably wouldn’t be granted permission, but when we went missing everyone would just think we were stupid girls. We had, after all, done many stupid things in our tenure.

  We approached the large circular gathering area that was the hub of our community. Currently our wells, food supply, and leader’s quarters were situated in this area. It was heavily guarded by trained enforcers who protected our resources and leader. As we came into view, several enforcers nodded in our direction. Kyra and I were currently in training to become the next generation of enforcers.

  “Where’s Theo?” I approached the head enforcer, Wesley. He was one badass that you did not want to mess with. He was a tough instructor too, we usually needed several days between training sessions to recover.

  “In the fields.” I wish he would show a little emotion, it was scary and unnerving. I don’t think I had ever seen him even crack a smile. Probably why he was head enforcer.

  Kyra and I separated, her staying in the hub while I walked towards the fields, knowing right where he’d be. Mostly corn, wheat, and potatoes made up our crops, but a small section grew other vegetables. Since we didn’t have much water, we were unable to have as large of an area of crops like Felix. We weren’t sure where they got all their water, but I assumed there was a large underground reservoir somewhere or even a large pipe somewhere. There was rain here, but not enough to collect a substantial amount to sustain what they had inside the walls.

  Theo spent a lot of time in the fields when he was worried or had decisions to make. He told me the colors and life helped him focus. They just distracted me, the colors begging for me to touch them and take in their sweet aromas.

  He was kneeling near some corn stalks, pulling weeds from the ground when I approached. He stood with a smile on his face, embracing me tightly before planting a kiss on my lips. “Is everything okay?” His brown eyes examined me, looking me up and down. Typically, I didn’t visit him in the middle of the day. I probably looked tired too, not having slept at all the night before.

  “Everything is fine, Felix has been increasing patrols, so I worried about that all night and didn’t sleep well.” Theo knew I was sneaking into the city, but I had not told him about my otherness. While I trusted him, I wasn’t sure how the leader of Blight would take to special powers.

  Theo was only three years older than me but had proven time and again to be wise beyond his years. When the elders had selected him as the new leader a few months prior after the previous one died, none of our people questioned their decision. Growing up he had excelled at everything thrown at him and had a cunningness about him that would help our people survive.

  “They sent one of those drones over the wall yesterday.” We walked further into the corn, the stalks a welcome shield of privacy. “Wesley was able to shoot it down. It’s probably best if you laid low for a while.”

  We stopped once we couldn’t see any more buildings and he turned towards me with a wicked grin. I knew what that meant and as much as I craved his touch to relieve some of my stress, I was about to rock his world in my own way. He kissed me again, he had lips and a tongue that made my toes curl.

  We weren’t exactly a couple but had been involved for several years in a casual sort of arrangement. I didn’t exactly relish the thought of letting myself fall for someone only to have them die on me, so I kept things at a distance. He didn’t seem to mind, although every once in a while, he would get a dejected look in his eyes when I left to my own hovel to sleep.

  “Kyra and I would like your permission to go on an exploration to find Felix’s water source. I have gathered some intel from the city that there might be a viable place for us wherever their water is coming from.” This might actually be true, but no one had returned when seeking out water sources before. Where water flowed, food would grow.

  He rubbed one of his hands over his buzz cut head. I wanted to reach up and do the same but kept my hands in my pockets. “Absolutely not. Why would you even ask?” His stance changed from casual and sexy to authoritative. “You sneaking into the city is enough, especially since you will not tell me how you are getting in there undetected and stealing shit from them.”

  I stood up straighter almost matching his height. “I only ask out of respect for you, sir.”

  He narrowed his eyes slightly at my jab at him before sighing. “No one has ever returned from trying to find it. I am unwilling to risk it.”

  “To risk it, or me? I’m not just anyone. I have proven to you that I am capable of things no one else is. And I am not talking about greatness in the bedroom.” I grabbed his hand and brought it to my face. “I will return. If things get dicey, we’ll hightail it back here.”

  He searched my face as if looking for more information. “Let me send a few of my men with you.” I shook my head and he frowned.

  “Let’s not risk any of them, especially with The Establishment sending drones over the wall.” They figured out someone from Blight was sneaking in and stealing, there was no other explanation. They usually let us be, although there was a story the elders told of when Blight first was established with refugees that drones had dropped tear gas at regular intervals to try to dissuade setting up the community.

  “I need time to consider your request.” One of the reasons Theo was a great leader was he calculated the risks before making any decisions. He kissed me again. “I have a meeting shortly with the elders, I would love to see you tonight. Do you want me to come to you?” I nodded, a little sad at the fact I was lying to him.

  We walked back towards the edge of the field before I left him with a gentle kiss on his cheek. I wasn’t sure when or if I would see him again. I met back up with Kyra and we walked silently back towards my hovel. We had told the brothers we needed to tie up a few loose ends before leaving.

  As we got closer, Kyra cleared her throat. “Two enforcers are following us.” She was barely audible. I simply nodded. I already assumed that Theo was going to keep a watch to make sure we didn’t leave. He was our leader for a good reason.

  As we entered the hovel, I gave the two enforcers a nod as they positioned themselves in the alleyway, before shutting my door behind me.

  “One more thing before we leave.” I rummaged through the trunk before finding a small piece of paper and a pencil. Supplies were at a minimum here, but I saved small scraps I found for times like these.

  I am sorry. I wish I could explain further to you, but at least I asked first. Please forgive me. I love you.

  I folded the paper and left it on the table. Rex was watching me closely as I placed a small crescent shaped piece of metal next to the paper. My father had made it for my mother. Theo deserved to at least have a small token from me.

  “Now how do we go through this portal of yours?” I grabbed my bag and slung it over my shoulder. We needed to leave before I chickened out. I still felt like I was in some kind of hallucination or dream. My eyes were feeling pretty heavy from lack of sleep too.

  “We will all connect hands and walk through. It will feel like you are floating for a few moments then we will be there.” Rex waved his hand and opened the portal. He grabbed onto my hand.

  “Hold on Kyra.” I took her hand and we stepped into the portal.

  Chapter 6

  It’s hard to describe what being in a portal between universes feels like. At first it felt like being drunk and the world was spinning. Then a feeling of weightlessness overcame me before I felt like I was being pulled into the ground. The trip lasted what felt like less than a minute and then we were in the center of a courtyard.

  My eyes adjusted to the brightness and I looked around the stone covered courtyard. In the center was a multitiered fountain with jets of water sending water cascading down it’s tiled surfaces. The light made the blue and green tiles shimmer like they were precious gemstones. It wouldn’t surprise me if they were actually gems lining the founding. The paths leading from the courtyard were lined with trees and flowe
ring bushes. The fragrance of so much life assaulted my nose and I sneezed.

  “I don’t feel so good.” My attention snapped from the surroundings to Kyra. She was very pale, which was a lot considering she had dark olive skin. Her hand slipped from mine as she pitched forward. Wyatt caught her before her head could hit the ground.

  “Kyra!” I knelt next to her and put my hand on her cheek. Her skin was slightly cool to the touch and felt clammy. The last time I had seen her look so bad was when half of the population of Blight got sick from toxic spores found in the dirt and died. Both of our parents being four of the thousands of dead. “What’s wrong with her?”

  “She seems to be just sleeping.” Alex had his hand against her throat, feeling her pulse, a faint glow coming from his hands. “The portal must have been too much for her. I think she will be fine, but she needs to sleep.” He lifted her as if she was nothing and began walking towards the archways which led into what appeared to be a large estate.

  Wherever we were was a mixture of old and new. The exterior was tan stone while the inside was modernized with shiny marble and glass with chrome accents. We followed Alex who entered a corridor and headed for an elevator.

  “Is this where you live?” I followed them into the elevator. The metal doors slid shut and my pulse jumped as the elevator began moving upwards. Rex took my hand and gave it a squeeze, which instantly calmed my nerves.

  I watched the numbers climb on the display, ignoring the warmth radiating from Rex’s hand in mine. I wanted to pull my hand away and shove it in my pocket, but I physically couldn’t bring myself to do it.

  The display brightly displayed a four and continued further. I had a feeling this place was huge. They had said they were princes. “Is this a castle?”

  My eyes went wide as we went to the fifth floor and the doors slid open with a ding. My brain was processing all of the new input. It had been a while since my brain was challenged with so much new information at once.