Royal Affliction (The Anti-Princess Saga)

by Jennifer Marsh

  “Did he have any family? You were the only person that we could connect him to.”

  I wasn’t sure if he had any living family, as I’d never known him in Kortis. “He had no family.” I remembered Pram’s face and his last words of warning before he had died in my arms. I felt tears well up in my eyes. I didn’t try to hide them. I let James see the true emotion that I felt, knowing that it would help my cause.

  James clasped my hand in his own. “I am sorry, Tessa,” he said before releasing my hand and getting to his feet. “We found various fingerprints on his body and in the house that we are still having analyzed. If you leave me your number, I will keep you informed on what we find.”

  “Thanks.” I took the notepad from him, scribbled my phone number down on it, and handed it back. The fingerprints he’d brought up made me nervous because they may have been mine. Why had the stupid DMV needed my fingerprints?!

  “Oh, I almost forgot. We found your car at the Lucky Springs Motel just outside of town. It was crushed pretty badly in an explosion.”

  “Great.” I really didn’t need to be associated with that. “I lent it to a friend about a week ago, though she should have had it back to me by now. That’s probably why I haven’t heard from her.”

  “Uh, huh. Well it’s been impound at the moment but as soon as we can we’ll have it towed back here.”

  “No hurry, I needed more room so I bought another car.”

  James’ phone rang and he excused himself to the patio to answer it. When he came back in I sat up as straight as possible, trying to look innocent and not nervous.

  “I have to go. I may have a potential witness that may help ID a car parked at the house where Brent was found. I will let myself out and I’ll be in contact.”

  Clifton came into the room and held a mug out to me. “He seemed to be in a hurry to leave.”

  “I hope the fingerprints he found weren’t mine.”

  “I’m sure you are not a suspect. He seemed to like you.”

  “Meh.”

  “What if he calls for something other than the case?”

  I shrugged. “I have too many men to deal with as it is.”

  “Deal with huh?” he snorted and tickled my sides.

  “Stop it!” I laughed as I tried to fight him off. “You are going to make me spill.”

  “Never!”

  Coffee sloshed out of the mug as I set it down on the end table. “You’re gonna get it now.” I pounced on him and tickled him back.

  We laughed and ended up rolling off the couch. I landed on top of him. “Whatcha gonna do now?”

  He grabbed the back of my head and pulled me down to his awaiting mouth. The very touch of his lips made me tremble. He was my forbidden fruit and tasted as such. His hands slid down my back, resting firmly on my butt.

  ********************

  We lay on the floor naked, just staring at each other. I could feel his love and devotion for me illuminating off of him with a warm soft glow. I could have stayed there forever just staring into his beautiful, glowing, emerald eyes. But of course, I knew that I couldn’t. It wasn’t just the two of us anymore.

  The front door opened and Kyle, Quino and Kafkus entered holding grocery bags. I pulled myself against Clifton, shielding my nakedness from their eyes.

  “So, he is gone then?” Kafkus asked stiffly.

  “Who?”

  He flashed me a curious look. “Officer Michaels?”

  “Oh, yeah.” Being with Clifton had pushed away everything that had happened prior. “Yes, he left. Hopefully we won’t be seeing him again.”

  “Good. Kyle, will you put the food away, Clifton, Quino and I need to train.” Though he had asked Kyle, it was more of an order.

  “Sure,” Kyle replied before starting to unload the bags.

  I pulled Clifton’s face back to mine. “Will you bring me some new clothes to wear please?” I handed him my golden dress. “And while you are in there, would you hide this dress so that it won’t find its way back to me please?”

  I had no desire of going back into my bedroom, and I doubted that I ever would again. Though the body and blood were gone, the memory of the event would haunt me for some time to come.

  “Of course.”

  Clifton came back into the room fully dressed and clutching a pair of comfy jeans and a halter-top in his arms.

  “I think that I will only send you to get me clothes from now on. You know what I like.”

  He smiled and, holding his sword in his hands, he left. Quino and Kafkus followed behind him.

  I had been shirking my chores since I’d returned. The laundry had been piling up, especially with the help of my new houseguests. I threw some clothes in the washer. My washing machine was small so I was going to have to do a few loads to accommodate it all. Clifton had been doing the dishes on a daily basis so at least the kitchen was clean.

  “Want some help, Kyle?” I didn’t feel like just sitting around and waiting for the guys to return. I wanted to keep busy so that I could keep my mind off of Loach.

  “Sure.” He seemed glad to have some help.

  I rummaged through the bags, interested to see what they had selected.

  “They picked out a lot of seafood.”

  “I can see that. Fish is the majority of our diet. Though, since I have been here I have expanded my tastes.”

  “What is Kortis like?”

  I closed my eyes and pictured it in my head. I felt peace and serenity wash over me as I thought of my home. I got lost in the thought for a moment before describing it to Kyle.

  “I would like to see that.”

  “You know that you can never go there, right?”

  “Why not? I would love to see your home.”

  I didn’t want to be rude, but all species from Kortis completely loathed humans. They thought of them as feeble creatures undeserving of life. I would never be able to convince my father not to have Kyle killed, like I had with Clifton. No human had ever set foot in Kortis, nor would they ever. “Because you would not survive the journey.” It was the easiest answer I could give him.

  “Oh, ok then.” He sounded disappointed and resumed putting the groceries away.

  I wanted to do something to cheer him up, I felt bad about telling him about something that he would never be able to see. “Let’s go do something.”

  “What?”

  “I don’t know…something fun. If this is one of my last nights to live, then I want to have a great night to go out on.”

  He thought for a moment and then his eyes got big in excitement. “How about Sunsplash?”

  “That sounds great!”

  Sunsplash was the local water park. I had only ever been there once. It was a pretty cool place. They had a miniature golf course, an arcade, and laser tag too.

  “Do you still have my debit card?” He pulled the piece of plastic out of his front pocket. “Will you go out and get some swim shorts for my guys? And be sure to pick out a pair for yourself as well.”

  ********************

  Clifton and Quino were both excited about a day out. Kafkus, on the other hand, seemed grouchy at the prospect of fun. No doubt he thought that the time could have been better spent. I ended up convincing him with a little guilt trip I like to call “my last day alive” speech.

  There were a lot of people at the park, but you couldn’t really say that it was crowded. We started off in the arcade with my favorite game, Dance Dance Revolution. I was pretty good at it, though I hadn’t played it much. I seemed to have naturally good rhythm and coordination. I had a hard time trying to get anyone to do it with me but I finally got Quino to give it a try. He wasn’t bad for his first time, he missed some steps but he did put in a good effort.

  “Come on Kafkus, you know you want to.”

  “No, Quartessa. I am quite content with watching you make a fool of yourself.”

  “Fine, Kyle will join me.” I beamed at him with confidence. “Won’t you?”

/>   Kyle smiled wide. “I would love to make a fool out of myself with you, Tess.”

  And that he did. The poor boy had no rhythm at all and he missed almost every step. Though, what he lacked in foot coordination he made up for in flamboyant arm movements. I couldn’t concentrate on the game once I looked over at him and saw him doing a horrible version of the robot. I doubled over laughing, barely able to stay on my feet. I laughed until my sides hurt and tears ran down my face while I was gasping for air. “Alright, that’s enough,” I said once I regained the use of my voice. “I could do with a swim.”

  I lounged in an inner tube next to Clifton as we floated down the manmade river. Clifton lounged in his own inner tube right next to me. He held onto my handle to keep us from drifting apart. Kyle had run into an old friend from high school and was off enjoying hanging out with him. I didn’t mind, I was pleased to see him happy. Quino was off by himself somewhere, I wasn’t exactly sure where. He’d run off at his first sight of a waterslide. And then there was Kafkus, the poor guy. He walked along the exterior of the river, following us and keeping a close eye on me. He just didn’t know how to relax and have a good time. I did wish that he would loosen up a bit and calm down. This was supposed to be a fun day out and all. We were in a very public setting. No Boru would be foolish enough to try anything here, but that obviously wasn’t what Kafkus was thinking.

  A splash in front of me made me open my eyes. Quino, with a big old smile on his face, was holding onto my inner tube, floating along with me. “This place is awesome!”

  “I’m glad that you’re having a good time. Where’ve you been?”

  “I have been down every slide this place has at least a dozen times. Do you think that I could convince your father to have such a place built in Kortis?”

  I pondered that thought. “I doubt it. Fun isn’t really my father’s forte. I doubt whether he has had one day of fun in his entire life.”

  “I like it here.”

  “So do I.” I glanced over at Kafkus. He looked so unhappy, like he was completely out of his element. “Would you try to get him to join in the fun?”

  Quino looked at Kafkus and frowned. “He does not want to, and believe me, I have tried. All he seems to want to do is watch over you. If you want him to have fun, you will have to be the one to make him.”

  I felt an evil grin creep across my mouth. When we went under a bridge, I took the opportunity to slip out of the water unnoticed by Kafkus. I kept my mind blank so that he would have no way of knowing what I was about to do. I crept up behind him while he was scanning the water for me, and with one good shove, Kafkus belly-flopped right into the river.

  He quickly got to his feet in the shallow water and glared up at me, water trickling down his stern face.

  He didn’t find it funny, but the rest of my group found it hilarious. Clifton had flipped over in his inner tube from laughing so hard, and Quino had disappeared beneath the surface so that Kafkus couldn’t hear him laughing.

  I jumped back into the water and waded over to him. “Come on Kafkus, lighten up.”

  “I am not amused.”

  “You didn’t find it at least a little funny?”

  “No.”

  I frowned. I had hoped that it might have at least made him laugh.

  What would Kafkus find fun? I thought for a moment. What would bring out the playful side in the, all too serious, man that I loved? And then it hit me, laser tag. Open warfare would bring him around, if it wouldn’t then nothing would.

  We entered the arena and got suited up in our vests.

  “Do you want to play teams or free for all?” the game operator asked.

  “Free for all,” I replied and cast Kafkus a devious smile. “Don’t be afraid to hit me because I’m so weak and defenseless.”

  He suddenly looked serious and gripped his gun tight. “Princess, after what you just pulled, you are going down.”

  I smirked at him while gripping my own gun. “We shall see about that.”

  Kafkus was a master of sneak attacks. I didn’t see him through half of the game, though I had a feeling that it was him that kept making my vest light up. Finally I spotted him, perched up on a wall positioned like a sniper and taking out everyone that he could. I ducked down behind a short wall. I had him in my sites. I pulled the trigger and saw his vest flash. He jumped down and vanished from view.

  I saw Clifton run by fired a few shots at him. I missed.

  A blur of motion flew at me from out of the darkness and I was slammed against the wall. “So you got me huh?” Kafkus whisper in my ear.

  “I will show you no mercy,” I said as I reached my gun around him, aiming at his back. I fired and his vest lit up again.

  He smirked. “You are going to pay for that, Princess.” He pressed his body hard against mine and kissed me.

  “Whoops, sorry!” someone said nearby. I turned to see Kyle walking away. And then, just as fast as he had appeared, Kafkus was gone.

  I managed to get off a few good shots before the lights clicked back on and the game was over.

  Kafkus, of course, had won the game, though Quino did come in a close second. Clifton and Kyle both tied for third, and then there was me, I was last. I didn’t really care about the score. I didn’t need to be the best at everything. I just enjoyed having fun with my guys and I’d had a lot.

  By the time we got home I was exhausted. I didn’t feel like sleeping in my bedroom, not after what had happened in there earlier. Instead, I crawled into Clifton’s bed, sandwiched myself between Kafkus and Clifton, and fell asleep.

  ********************

  When I awoke the next morning, it was to the annoying sound of the telephone. Clifton and Kafkus slept on, completely undisturbed by the irritating ringing noise. I, on the other hand, couldn’t ignore it. I hopped out of bed and stumbled my way into the other room. Clifton only had one phone, and it was attached to the kitchen wall.

  “Hello…uh…Clifton’s apartment.”

  “Oh, uh, hello. Is Clifton there?” the female caller asked.

  A loud snore from the next room told me that he was still sleeping. “I’m sorry but he is still asleep. Can I take a message?”

  “May I ask who I am talking to?”

  “Uh…” I paused while silently regretting that I had answered the phone in the first place. “My name is Tessa. I am, uh, Clifton’s girlfriend.” I wasn’t sure that I should have told her that.

  “Oh, ok. I am sorry to be a bother, but would you mind waking him please. It is kind of important that I speak with him.”

  The woman sounded pleasant enough, so I did as she asked. “Sure, just one moment.”

  I poked at Clifton’s face. “Clifton, wake up,” I said trying to stir him but not wake up Kafkus in the process.

  He finally opened his eyes and looked up at me. “What?” It came out rude but, since I had just woke him up, I let it slide.

  “You have a phone call.”

  He looked a little confused, as if he hardly ever received them. “From who?”

  “I don’t know, some lady. I didn’t ask. She wanted me to wake you so it must be important.”

  He hopped up and was gone in a flash.

  I stayed behind and silently wondered if I should have just let the phone ring. I felt a twinge of jealously. Who was this woman that was calling my man? I squeaked in surprise as Kafkus pulled me back onto the bed, as I thought he was still asleep.

  “Don’t be jealous, it doesn’t flatter you,” he said with a yawn.

  I giggled. That was what I had told him when he had been jealous of Clifton at their first meeting. He even used my improper, human-adapted grammar. “I can’t help it. I’m supposed to be the only woman in his life.”

  “Ahem.”

  “And in yours.”

  He got out of bed and turned back at me. “You will always be the only woman for me, Quartessa. You always have been.”

  I smiled at him, silently wishing that I could say the
same to him. He frowned, knowing what I had just thought. “You know, this reading my mind thing has its downfalls.”

  “Yes, well…even though you cannot say that I am the only man for you, I know how you feel about me, and I love that. Most men have no idea what their lover is thinking most of the time. I take pride in knowing. It makes us closer, or at least, I think it does?”

  I stared into his shimmering aquamarine eyes, they were sad. “There are no secrets between us, Kafkus. You can anticipate my every need, my every desire. I think that it does make us closer. And even though I cannot read your thoughts, as I stare into your eyes now, it feels like I can.”

  He placed his welcoming hand on my cheek and I closed my eyes and rubbed my face against it. He slightly trembled.

  “What?”

  “You make me nervous, Princess.”

  “Why do I make you nervous?”

  “When you look at me as you are doing now, I know, without listening to your thoughts, that you truly love me.”

  “And why does that make you nervous?” I would think that knowing how I felt would make him happy, not distressed.

  “I do not know, maybe because I have always wanted you to look at me that way. And now that you do…I am afraid that it will not last, like it is too good to be true.”

  I understood. He had waited countless years for me to feel the same way for him that he had felt about me. He was now afraid that my love for him might fade away, leaving him back where he had started: alone.

  “Kafkus, when I made you my Zezka I didn’t enter into it lightly. I knew that I was making a commitment to you as I did with Clifton. Though I share myself between you, you both have my whole heart, and that will never change.”

  “You are too good to be true.”

  Clifton reentered the room looking completely dumbfounded.

  “Who was on the phone?”

  He just stared at me. “My…mother.”

  Chapter Eleven

  “What? I thought she was dead. You told me she was dead.” I’m sure that I sounded a bit hysterical, but I couldn’t help it. My head was swimming with this new information that just couldn’t be true.