by K Bledsoe
“I am not disappointed that you are not the princess. Well, maybe a little, but not for me. When you two first went missing, I stayed at the palace to be there when you returned. As time went on and nothing was ever found, I should have left, but by then the king and I had grown close, especially after his companion died. Up until about ten years ago, I was his confidante and I grew to love him for himself and as King.”
Raahi shifted and he tried not to envision her face. He couldn’t bring himself to look and hurried on.
“I am telling you this so that you understand that I wanted to find the princess for Nirav, but not only because he misses her. If there is one thing he loves almost as much as his daughter, it is this world and its people. I don’t want to see that ruined, but if the prince is crowned, I am afraid everything will change for the worse. Now that there is no princess, that will be more difficult… but that isn’t all I wanted to tell you.” He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, determined to get the words out.
“When you showed up at my door today, the only thing I could think of was that I was happy that you were back. You, Raahi, not the princess or companion.” A slight rustling caused him to open his eyes, and he saw she had uncrossed her arms, but he still kept his gaze averted.
“I know you are…were…the companion, and I understand why you didn’t come forward. But we were great together, working to find information about the slave organization, and I am asking you to help continue with that. You are better at uncovering evidence than I am, much better. And maybe we can find something against the prince so that he will never rule.”
He straightened and looked directly into her eyes, trying with all his will to show her his sincerity.
“Stay. As Raahi. That would mean more to me than anything else.” He wanted to say more but forced his lips shut. The silence stretched on, but he ground his teeth together. He’d said enough.
Finally, she spoke.
“I will help to the best of my ability.” She held up a finger. “With the slave ring.”
The breath he had been holding exploded in relief.
She smiled in response.
“But it probably won’t be enough,” she said.
“That’s okay,” he replied. “I’ll take it.”
Chapter Fifty-six
“So where do we start?”
Jonah smiled as he considered Raahi’s question. The connection between them was fragile, but at least she wasn’t angry anymore.
“I know you think I have a plan but—” he broke off as movement on his display screen caught his eye. The council session was over, and people were leaving the Council room. He headed for the computer.
“I need to get back to work.”
“In that case, I’ll do the dishes. Until you come up with a plan.” Raahi grinned as she gathered up the tray.
“Normally I would not allow a friend to cook and clean for me but in this case, I will make an exception.” He gave her a small bow then quickly turned back to the screens.
As he watched the prince head for his rooms, he kept being distracted by the sounds in the kitchen. That clunk would be the tray being washed in the sink. The swish was probably a cloth drying. His attention was quickly brought back to the screen, however, when the prince departed his chambers, having changed into soft loose pants and a lightweight shirt with a handsome embroidered half-sleeve jacket. A triple pulse against Jonah’s wrist heightened his anxiety. Lavan had said if he knew Hahn was meeting someone, he would give Jonah a warning with three pings.
Prince Hahn headed down the corridors, finally ducking into a small conference room on the third floor. There was a man seated at a table who looked vaguely familiar. The prince sat in a chair across the table from him, pulling out some papers from inside his jacket. Jonah held his breath. This had to be it. He raised the volume to catch all the conversation, grateful the meeting was inside the palace where audio was available.
“These,” Hahn flipped the top page to the man. “Are all the guests invited to the celebration. And this,” another paper, “is what I want the cake to look like. Now as for the menu, none of that fancy weird food that people only pretend to like. I want good stuff and lots of it so that everyone is satisfied.”
“Damn!” Jonah tried hard to contain his disappointment, and he finally recognized the head cook in the palace. Without his apron and hair tied back, he looked quite different. A sudden burst of laughter behind him intruded upon his distress.
“Your dangerous prince might just get his way,” she said, still chuckling. “Sounds like a huge conspiracy. Hope everyone can survive the birthday party.”
Jonah felt a quick rush of annoyance, but just as quickly it disappeared. She was right. This was harmless.
“Maybe this time,” he said. “But soon he’ll do something that will make you believe me. Some of the things from his past are quite disturbing.”
“How can someone that young be so conniving? Why would anyone on the council listen to him?”
Jonah looked at her, wondering if he could completely trust her, but a heartbeat later he realized he always had. He pushed his chair back and stood.
“I have some things you need to see. Not too long ago, the prince threatened me, so I felt compelled to hide certain information.” He grunted as he pulled his desk away from the wall.
Raahi snorted. “I think you are overestimating a threat. A life in the palace is pretty sheltered, and I find it hard to believe that the prince even knows about the real world other than what he sees in entertainment vids.”
“You weren’t there.” Trying not to feel slighted at her hint that he was just as sheltered as Hahn, Jonah told of the prince’s interception in the hall and threat. He ran his hand along the blank wall until an open space appeared. “So, I felt it necessary to protect myself. It’s a long story, and what I have will explain a lot.”
Raahi leaned over to look in the hidden space.
“A safe? In your apartment?”
“Stand back, please. This is wired to destroy itself and anything inside if the wrong code is put in.”
The look in her eyes was unfathomable, but she took several steps back.
“If your life is in danger, destroying evidence wouldn’t help.”
“These are copies. I have the originals stored elsewhere to be ‘discovered’ in case of my death.”
Raahi didn’t comment except to cross her arms and set her jaw. Jonah carefully input the code, breathing easier as he always did when it clicked open. He removed several data sticks with independent readers. He shuffled through them carefully, inserted them into their selected readers, and handed them to Raahi.
She uncrossed her arms as she took them and turned toward the couch.
“Just watch. I’m going back to my screens.”
He kept one eye on the prince and one on Raahi. Far too quickly, she switched off the hand-held and tossed it aside with a disdainful snort.
“The prince can’t be older than ten in these.”
“Yes, but you can see his cruel nature…” began Jonah.
“All I see, all anyone will see, is a spoiled child. What youngster hasn’t had moments of selfishness? His public face now is much improved. People will say he has grown up.”
“But I am telling you, he is not improved. I think—”
“Look Jonah. I believe you. I do.” She leaned forward on the couch, elbows on knees. “I am trying to show how he is viewed by the general public, and what they may say.”
Jonah pursed his lips. “I understand. It’s why I need proof. I know in my heart that Hahn is planning a grab for power and even getting rid of the council so that his voice will be the only authority on the entire planet. It’s the only reason he would ask for the scrambler, so he can finalize his plans in private.”
“Why would he ask you for a scrambler if he threatened you?”
“He didn’t ask me, he asked his companion.”
“And you thought of having it fai
l?”
“Actually, that was Lavan’s idea.”
“Really? I find it extremely hard to believe that a companion would turn on—”
“Their bond is not as strong as yo—, the usual bonds.” He had been trying to avoid any reference to Maya, but he knew he couldn’t put it off. “There’s one other tape I need to show you. It will explain—”
“No.” She held her hand up to interrupt. “I can’t watch any more tapes.”
“But…”
“Not now. Maybe later.” She stood and walked to the other side of the room.
He slumped down into his chair, suddenly exhausted. He realized that though he had had so much upheaval and confusion, her emotional situation was probably ten times more painful.
“You’re right. I’m sorry to push. I’ve been throwing all this at you, trying to be convincing with nothing but a gut feeling.” He absently flicked through the screens again, watching Hahn return to his rooms to prepare for bed. So lost was he in despair and fatigue, he barely noticed a hand on his shoulder.
“Why do you care so much?” Raahi spoke softly, as if not wanting to intrude on his thoughts.
“He is not the person everyone thinks he is. He is very good at deception and I need to prove it.”
“Are you sure?”
Jonah looked up at Raahi’s sober face, trying hard not to focus on the touch of her hand.
She swept a hand toward the screen.
“What if he’s only a young teenager who is used to getting what he wants?” Her face softened, and Jonah couldn’t quite read her expression. “Maybe the reason you can’t find anything is because there is nothing to find, and he is maturing beyond those boyish fantasies of power.”
Jonah shook his head, understanding her logic but feeling that was not the case. He stood and took a step back though he regretted the absence of her touch.
“I realize you have seen nothing that proves his ill intent, but I know that he would destroy all that is good in our government. Even more, his own companion feels this and who better would know? Lavan has everything to lose, and yet he is still intent on keeping the prince from ruling.”
She closed the distance again and gave him a penetrating look. “Even so, I will ask it again. Why do you care? What can one person do against such a plan of power if he indeed has the support of many others as you suggested? Why sacrifice yourself? Why not simply let others deal with it?”
He continued to stare, turning over her words, and trying to figure out exactly why he was putting so much effort into this.
“I love the peace we have, not everywhere, but we are mostly prosperous on our world. I love all the good that Nirav has done, and I don’t want to see it destroyed by a greedy, power-hungry boy. But most of all, I love this city, the planet and the people. And they don’t deserve the chaos and deprivations that a ruler like Hahn would bring.”
Raahi brought her hand to Jonah’s cheek, cool upon his flushed face and the approval in her eyes was obvious. Jonah, reacting by instinct, leaned down to gently touch his lips to hers. The soft kiss turned into a lengthy one and her hand slid from his cheek to the back of his head. He pulled her close and all other thought was lost as he felt a warmth rush through him. He tried to pull away, not wanting to take advantage of someone who had been so abused in her life, but she held on to him, matching his passion.
“Raahi,” he whispered, but she silenced him with her mouth on his and he gave in to his desire. Before he knew it, they were in his bed, clothes in various heaps around the apartment and he tried once more to stop, acutely aware of his inexperience. The thought that he might make a fool of himself disappeared when Raahi murmured encouragement, her breath warm in his ear. All doubts washed away as he abandoned himself to the moment.
***
Jonah awoke slowly with the awareness that he had slept deeply. As consciousness returned, so did memory, and he was intensely aware of the woman snuggled in the crook of his arm.
“Awake?” she said as she put her hand on his chest.
He returned her smile and gently took her hand in his. Strange how it was warm now when her touch had always been cool. The smile dropped from his face as he instantly sat up.
“What is it?” she peered at his face, brow furrowed.
He shifted and reached for her right hand as she sat up as well. She started to pull it out of his grip but then relaxed.
There were tattoos on her hand and the wrist as well. Emotions hammered his brain and he tried to stammer out an apology.
“Sorry for what?” she said. “You were pretty good for it being your first time.”
He felt his face burning hotter. “I had no right to…I am sorry…it’s just that I forgot you were, I mean, not Raahi. It’s not acceptable…”
“Stop,” she said, but he continued to babble, leaping out of bed and grabbing whatever clothes came to hand. He froze as her arms went around him from behind and her naked body pressed up against his. He trembled with the effort to not give in but, oh, how he wanted to.
“You have just given me the greatest compliment anyone ever has.” She loosened her arms so that he could face her but wouldn’t let him go.
“Compliment?” He felt stupid.
“You loved me as Raahi; saw only Raahi, not the companion or even a substitute princess. Not as a piece of property to entertain any fantasy but as a person, for who I am. That…that is a first for me.” Now she looked down though her arms didn’t let go.
Comprehension dawned, and awe swept over him as he realized all she was saying, and, more importantly, not saying. He could imagine she had felt like an object, used then sold from owner to owner, but he never realized that she may have thought herself as nobody without the princess to be a companion to. He put his fingertips under her chin and lifted her head to meet her eyes.
“Yes, I love you. You, Raahi.” He kissed her and dropped the clothes he had been holding, and they abandoned themselves to passion again.
***
Repeated faint buzzing woke Jonah from a slight doze. Absently he swatted at the air, his drowsy mind thinking it to be an insect. Next to him came a groan.
“Ugh. Turn off the alarm.” Raahi pulled a pillow over her head.
Jonah chuckled as he snatched the pillow away. “I don’t have that kind of alarm. Besides, no sleeping. It’s already nearly lunchtime.”
Raahi protested the pillow’s absence, but her smile belied her irritation. She flipped over and sat up, modestly pulling the covers up over her breasts.
He smiled back and took notice for the first time of slight tracings of scars on her arms and shoulder. Briefly he wondered what atrocities she had endured. Treatment to get rid of scars was commonplace so her experiences had to have been horrible. He was about to comment, but her smile faltered when she saw what his eyes were following. Feeling she wouldn’t want to talk about it, he instead gently took her right hand and turned it palm up to lightly trace the tattoos with his finger. She shivered, and the smile returned.
“These aren’t true Companion tattoos. There’s more than there should be, like a mirror image.”
“That’s right. They were altered to match each other, more twin-like that way. But how do you know the pattern for me?”
He blushed. “Well, the princess’s tattoo should match mine like it matches yours, I mean like hers matches yours. In my investigations, I looked up the pattern to be sure. Later, the records were sealed so I couldn’t make a copy to give to…” He watched her carefully to gauge her reaction. “To the Baroness, the one who introduced us.”
Raahi didn’t seem surprised. “I see.”
“Companion Lavan was the first to contact her, but I took over due to his naivete and…Lavan!” Jonah scrambled out of bed and began digging through the pile of clothes on the floor.
“What’s wrong?” asked Raahi as she knelt on the bed, brow furrowed.
“That buzzing, it might be Lavan trying to contact me. Aha. He’d found the wris
t comp and quickly scrolled through messages. “Damn! It was him. First the signal that Hahn might be meeting someone. He sent that twice, and when I didn’t respond, he sent a quick text. Risky, Lavan.” He pulled on a shirt and nearly tripped putting on shorts while heading to the computers.
As he scrolled back through the video feed to the time of the first signal, he was vaguely aware of the shower running. Why wasn’t Raahi more concerned? Then he chided himself. He knew she had been avoiding anything to do with the palace, even trying to leave the planet. She must have her reasons, but despite last night, I really don’t know what she is thinking or feeling. Does she miss Maya so much she must turn her back on any reminders?
Jonah had thought that if there was proof she would do something, but now he doubted it. Maybe he could convince her to simply speak out, bring a message from the princess to her people, something, anything.
His attention was brought back to the screen with Prince Hahn in the library with two, no three current council members and another man and woman that Jonah knew were personal assistants to two other members. That was half the council represented. Wait…he zoomed the camera to see them walking into a small annex of the library and turned up the volume.
“As you can see, I have decided on the proper ceremony for my coronation. As it is in a book that is quite old, I invited you to the library for viewing.” They headed into a small conference room and Jonah’s long familiarity to the monitoring system allowed him to quickly switch to the proper camera though it was very small and had a terrible audio pickup. He turned it to maximum volume and input the command for the double recording system which made two copies. He strained his ears.
The group arrayed themselves around the circular conference table, and Hahn flipped open a book, probably a history of past coronations. Jonah groaned. More birthday plans. Maybe he really was imagining things, and Prince Hahn wasn’t out to destroy the government.
Then he noticed Hahn’s hand slip into his pocket. When he glanced at the camera with a grin that was rather frightening, Jonah’s gut clenched.
“Gentlemen and ladies, my fellow supporters. The time has come.” The youngster’s façade was gone, and Hahn stood straight and tall, a quite regal bearing that left Jonah a bit daunted. “In four days, I will be confirmed as the official heir to the throne, and then it will be time for changes. Too long have we been forced to give our time and resources to help those who are too lazy to work. Too long have taxes taken your hard-earned credits. Too long have stupid regulations shackled certain improvements to our way of life.” He nodded at individuals with each pronouncement. “Our king’s health is failing. I have been assured that he will not survive more than thirty days following my coronation.” His smile took on a decided edge. Jonah inhaled abruptly. He knew the king’s doctors had said no such thing. He checked nearly every day. That meant someone else would ensure his death. Jonah fought against nausea but forced himself to keep watching.