by Devi Mara
Gol nodded. “Observing. About two thousand years ago, the Raena king lifted the ban on interaction with Earth.”
“Where does the nonviolence policy enter into it?”
“The queen’s sister, mother of the man killed, was also the general of the army. After the destruction of the people who had killed her son, she went mad and later died. The queen decried that no more violence be done.”
Edric nodded. “So, why now?”
Gol looked away. “Abigail Ashley.”
“What does she have to do with this? Abby is innocent of any wrong doing.”
“The Raena do not want to harm her.”
“Then, what do they want? She has done nothing.”
“It is not what she has done, Edric. It is who she is.”
“And who is she?” Edric felt as if he were on the precipice of something. He was not sure he wanted to know the answer. His father gave him no choice.
“She is their queen’s daughter.”
Edric slowly sank to the floor. “Why did you not tell mother?” he asked quietly.
“She has already accepted your mate as the future queen of Ghadrik. I did not have the heart to tell her it was impossible.”
Edric jerked his head up to look at him. “What are you saying?”
“Ghadrik needs a queen. Abby will become queen of her own people. You cannot leave your people without a queen.”
“It sounds like you are telling me I cannot bond with her.” He met his father’s eyes and saw the answer there. “I cannot be without her, father.”
“You are a prince, Edric, and a prince always puts his kingdom first.”
Chapter Fifteen
The Dawn Light
“We are at our most powerful the moment we no longer need to be powerful.”
-Eric Micha'el Leventhal
It had been weeks. Weeks of missing Earth, missing Ghadrik, but mostly missing Edric. It was only Queen Kaleen’s words that kept her on Raen. Edric would not want her when he knew the truth. As much as she wished it did not affect her, the words sent a shot of pain through her heart every time she thought of him. It had all seemed so simple when she was just a human.
Kaleen had been kind, but clingy, in the days following Abby’s decision to stay. She made a show of presenting her daughter to the high council, a group of elderly men who peered at Abby like something from the bottom of a shoe. The Raena palace was grand, the throne room full of colorful tapestries, but it felt sterile and bland. It was nothing like the sharp edges and raw beauty of Ghadrik.
In Ghadrik, walls were veined with exotic metals, allowed to run free across the expansive spaces. It was unstructured and weapons were the decorations. She could not imagine a tapestry hanging in the throne room of a Ghadrikan queen. As she stood at one of the windows, the door opened behind her.
“Your Highness?”
Abby glanced over her shoulder, mentally sighing. “Just Abby is fine.”
“Your mother requests an audience with you, Princess Abby.”
Of course she did. “Fine.”
Abby did not bother correcting the title. The same girl had been escorting her around for days and she refused to call her by her first name. Still scowling to herself, she followed the girl from the room and down a long hallway. As she glanced around, she sighed. Every hall looked the same.
The girl led her to the library just off the throne room. Kaleen opened the door before she could knock, a bright smile on her face. Abby smiled back weakly. The smile faded when she saw the rest of the room. The high council sat around a central table, the leader of the group staring in her direction with narrowed eyes.
Abby glanced at Kaleen. “What’s going on?”
“We are discussing something which pertains to you. I felt you should be included.” That the council did not went unsaid.
Abby nodded. “What’s the topic?”
“War,” the council leader said. He gestured for the rest of the members to stand, as Abby approached the table with Kaleen at her side.
“What about it?” She did not miss the downturn his mouth had taken, so she was unsurprised when he cleared his throat importantly.
“Raen will go to war with Dorn.”
“We have not made our final decision, yet,” Kaleen said, when Abby opened her mouth.
Abby scowled. “And why exactly are you planning to go to war with Dorn?”
“They are responsible for injuries to a member of our royal family,” the council leader said.
Abby frowned. “I’m fine. Besides, King Gol is the one who got me out of the situation.”
Kaleen shifted next to her. “Were you not of Raena and Dorn lineage, you could have died from your wounds.”
“The king’s second is responsible for all that happened. Thus, King Gol is responsible.” As the council leader spoke, the other members nodded in agreement.
Abby felt the seed of irritation blossom into full blown anger. “If you want to get technical, your queen is responsible for what happened.”
“I beg your pardon—” the council leader blustered, but she cut him off.
“Had she not left her child on an alien planet to be raised by another species none of this would have happened.” She ignored Kaleen’s quiet gasp. “So, just turn that around. Put the blame where it belongs.”
“You ungrateful—”
“Enough!” Kaleen yelled, cutting off the council leader before he could finish his admonishment.
Abby blanketed the room with a scowl. “I want no part of this.”
The council leader rose to his feet and glared at her. “I think your presence is no longer needed.”
Good. She left the room without looking back. She had only been walking for a few minutes, when she heard footsteps running toward her from behind.
“Hey!”
It was Candace. Abby glanced over her shoulder at her and kept walking. “Yes?”
“I heard what you said.”
“Okay.”
“You were out of line,” Candace said.
Abby stopped walking. “Excuse me?” She slowly turned to face the other woman.
“You had no right to talk to your mother that way. She—”
“You know what? Let me just stop you right there. That woman, Kaleen, may have given birth to me, but she is not my mother. My mother died.”
Candace scowled at her. “You are being unfair.”
Abby snorted. “Unfair? What’s unfair is your sister trying to make me fit her idea of me. What’s unfair is your sister taking me from where I was happy and about to be bonded to the man I love.” She knew her voice was rising in volume, but she did not care. “What’s unfair is your sister dumping me on Earth in the first place!”
Candace raised her chin, glaring at her through narrowed eyes. “You are an ungrateful child.”
“You can think what you want.” Abby turned and started to walk away.
“I am not finished talking to you.”
“Well, I’m finished talking to you. I want to go back to my planet.”
“You are on your planet!”
Abby paused. She looked out the window to her right at the unfamiliar landscape and shook her head. “There’s nothing here for me.”
“You are going to be queen. Perhaps, you should start acting like it.”
She knew Candace meant queen of the Raena, but her mind went to Loreet and Ghadrik. “I don’t want to be your queen.”
“You have no choice.”
Abby raised an eyebrow at the smug tone. “We’ll see.”
She turned back the way she had come, walking past Candace without a word. She felt the other woman’s eyes on her back, before she fell into step behind her. They walked in silence until the doors to the library came into view.
“What are you doing?”
Abby ignored the question, shoving open the doors without knocking. The council leader was standing at the end of the table, self-important smirk on his face. It turned to a frown upon seeing her
. She did not care. She cast Kaleen a quick glance to see her looking more curious than upset.
“What is the meaning of this?” the council leader demanded.
“I’m abdicating.”
The room fell silent.
“I beg your pardon?” the man sputtered.
Abby glanced around the room at all of the shocked faces. It did not escape her that many barely hid their pleasure at her announcement.
“I’ve thought it over. I don’t think I was cut out for this. I want to go home.”
“But Abigaia—” Kaleen began.
“Don’t try to change my mind. It’s nothing against you, Your Highness. I just want to go back to Earth.”
Kaleen let out a shaky breath, but nodded. “I understand.”
“This is highly irregular,” the council leader blustered. “I will not accept it.”
Kaleen rounded on him. “You do not need to accept anything.”
Abby blinked at the vehement defense from the quiet woman. “I’d like to leave as soon as possible.”
Kaleen looked back at her and she saw the resignation. “I’ll take you.”
Abby glanced at the others who were still watching silently. “Thank you.”
Movement near the door drew her gaze and she watched Candace exchange meaningful looks with Kaleen. Candace motioned for Abby to follow her from the room and as the door shut behind them, Kaleen began speaking in the musical Raen language.
“She loves you, you know.” Candace glanced at her from the corner of her eye as they walked.
Abby nodded. “As much as she can without knowing me.”
“I hope you’ll give her a fair chance in the future.”
Abby paused, just inside the front door to the palace. “What?”
“And I want an invitation to the bonding,” Candace said.
“What makes you think he still wants to bond with me?” It was not likely, now that he knew all of the complications.
“You are no longer in line to the throne,” the other woman said simply.
“I’m still part of the royal family.” She looked away. “That makes it a political issue.”
Candace hummed thoughtfully. “I am sure that will stop him. The Ghadrikan who threatened war on Earth when you went missing. I am certain he will stop at the thought of politics.”
Said that way, her concerns sounded silly. “Really?”
“I would also like an invitation.”
Abby jumped at the sound of Kaleen’s voice. “I’m not abdicating for him,” she felt the need to clarify.
Kaleen stared at her for a moment and nodded. “I know.” She moved to stand next to her. “Shall we?”
Abby nodded. “I’m going back to Missouri.”
“I know.”
“I doubt I’ll ever see Edric again.” She saw Candace smirk from the corner of her eye.
“Of course not,” Kaleen answered. She strode away, leaving Candace and Abby to follow behind.
When they stood at the portal, Kaleen turned and handed her a small black box. It had four glowing lines, each of a different color, intersecting in the form of an ‘R’. Abby looked up at Kaleen.
“The blue line at the top is for Earth. Alfred Ashley’s garage to be specific. The green line joined to it is Ghadrik. The long, red line is Raena. Simply tap either end of the line and the center.”
Abby nodded. “What about the yellow line?”
Kaleen pursed her lips. “Dorn.”
Abby almost laughed at her pinched expression. “Alright.”
“Your things were not destroyed,” Candace said, fishing a key from a hidden pocket. She held out a plastic tag with a small key attached. “To the storage facility near Alfred Ashley’s house.”
Abby took the key with a smile. “Thank you.”
Candace waved her off. “Pleasant journey.”
Abby watched her walk away, an amused smile tugging at her lips. “She’s an interesting person.”
Kaleen nodded. “Yes.” She turned to look at her and her face became solemn. “You can come back at any time.”
“Okay.”
“I mean it.”
Abby sighed. “I appreciate the invitation.”
The other woman looked at her closely. “But you will not accept it.” At Abby’s silence, she smiled. “Then, I will have to visit you.”
Abby just barely managed to keep her eyes from widening. “I’m going to go.”
Kaleen chuckled. “I look forward to seeing you again.”
Abby started to turn away and changed her mind. She threw her arms around the other woman and squeezed her gently. After a moment, Kaleen relaxed and returned the embrace.
“Thank you,” Kaleen whispered in her ear.
Abby pulled back and smiled. “Thank you.”
She felt Kaleen’s gaze on her, as she turned and walked to the portal. She did not hesitate, stepping into the portal and the airless seconds between Raen and Earth. The portal dumped her out in the middle of a dusty yard. Most of the grass was gone and what remained was in dried clumps. It was home.
Abby regained her balance and glanced around. Not much had changed in the past couple years. The two story farm house still needed a fresh coat of white paint. Just west of the house, a ramshackle building functioned as her father’s garage. Three cars sat to the side waiting to be fixed. Even from her position, she could hear the wail of an electric guitar on the old radio.
She made her way across the field strewn with old car parts to the front of the garage. Alfred stood with his back to the door, his blue jean shirt untucked on one side and covered in machine oil. His top half was buried under the hood of an old Chevy. She smirked.
“My carburetor’s been making this god awful sound. You think you can fix it?”
Her father’s head popped up so fast he smacked his head on the underside of the hood. Cursing fluently and clutching his head, he spun to face her. The moment he caught sight of her, he fell silent. His eyes moved over her slowly taking in her armor.
“You let your hair grow.”
Abby could not help it. She laughed. “Oh, dad. Don’t ever change.” She hurried across the space between them to hug him.
He hugged her back immediately, squeezing tightly. “Missed you, Bebe.”
Abby smiled at the familiar pet name. She pulled back to look him in the eye. “I’m sorry I was gone so long. I…”
He shook his head. “I know why you left. You were right to go. I was in a bad way after your mother…” He fell silent.
“It’s not your fault, dad.”
He smiled sadly, his blue eyes crinkling at the corners far more than they had the last time she had seen him. “It is, but that’s okay.”
She watched him walk over to the truck and grab his rag off the top of his tool box. “What’s wrong with her?”
“Just changing the spark plugs.”
“Can I help?”
He sent her an amused look. “You sure you remember how?”
Abby snorted. “I was in the city, not dead.”
…
He waited for Abby to return. She never did. His father watched him closely the week he stayed on Dorn. When he could no longer take the pitying looks, he returned to the palace on Ghadrik. His mother was not much better. Through her own fury at her mate, she found time to mourn Abby’s loss. Two weeks after Abby left, he packed a small bag and walked away from the palace.
He spent the first day hiking deep into the forest, beyond the land of the grazers and into large predator territory. The trees grew close together and it was simple to build a crude platform in the canopy. When the animals passed by and the hunt was on, it was not quite so difficult to not think of Abby. But when the sun set each night, the starlight barely breaching the trees, it was impossible not to dream of her.
He was not sure how long he stayed in the woods, only that one day his father approached him in the middle of a hunt and gave him a stern glare. He stood panting, his knife still w
et with blood, cursing himself because killing the urbat only made him think of Abby, when the sound of a throat clearing pulled him from his thoughts.
His head snapped up and he sneered. “What do you want?”
“This behavior is not becoming to a prince.”
Edric laughed humorlessly. “You think I care what you think of me.” He scoffed and dropped to his knees to begin skinning the animal.
“Your mother is concerned.”
He knew he should care, but he could not summon the energy. “Tell her I am well.”
“And are you?” Gol asked imperiously.
Edric sent him a dark look. “Do I not look alright?”
Gol was silent long enough that he looked up again. “Why are you here?” He gestured to the forest. “I am fine. I do not need company.”
“She will not come back.”
Edric flinched. He scowled at his work, making a particularly vicious cut. “You think I do not know that?”
“Your plan is to wallow out here in the forest, then? Perhaps, get yourself killed with this idiocy? Would that please you?”
Edric leapt to his feet, throwing his knife to the side. “You know nothing of it!” He fought to regain control over himself. “Just go. Leave me in peace.” He started to turn away, leave the kill for later collection, when his father spoke.
“You are wrong. You think you know the truth of my bonding with your mother. That it was a political move.”
“Was it not?” Edric spat. His patience with the man was quickly fading.
“No, it was not. I have loved her since the moment I saw her. When my father sent me to spy on Loreet’s kingdom. He underestimated her. She was young and presumed to be naïve, but she was a fierce warrior even then.”
“What is your point?” Edric demanded, curious despite himself. His mother never spoke of the arammu bond.
“I was a visiting dignitary, ordered to sabotage the Ghadrikan queen or lose my precarious hold on the Dorn throne. I made a choice.”
“To con my mother into a treaty.”
Gol surprised him by smiling. “The treaty came decades later. I bonded with her when our kingdoms were still at war.”
Edric frowned. “Why have I never heard of this?”
Gol gave him a one shoulder shrug. “The truth is an elusive creature.” His smile slowly faded and he stared at Edric intensely. “I should tell you to forget her, to leave well enough alone, but I know you will not.”