by J. Naomi Ay
"That would be so good of you, Jerry." There I was getting all teary-eyed again. "It's so nice that you're willing to help instead of writing him off as if he were already dead."
"Are you saying I am?" Thad asked.
"Yes," Gina snapped.
"Well, you know what, Duchess Kalika-hahr? Nobody asked you. Go stick your head back in your bottle."
"I'd rather stick my bottle up your ass."
"I'd like to help you out, Gina. Here, let me open the window."
"Sit down, Thad," I snapped. "I've heard enough from the both of you. If you can't get along, then one of you go sit in another room."
"I will," Thad volunteered as the attendant bent down to pick up all our empty glasses. "Hey, sweetheart," Thad grabbed her wrist, "I'm going to need some service in the Owner's Suite."
Gina made a screeching noise and picking up her glass, she tossed it right at Thad's head.
"Ow! What are you trying to do? Wipe out the other half of my face?"
"Whatever it takes," Gina snapped.
"Stop it!" I screamed. "I can't stand this."
"It's alright, Shelly," Tim mumbled softly. "It's better they fight it out than hold it in."
"What did you say, Admiral?" Jerry asked.
Tim opened his eyes and looked at all of us. "I said, it's better they put all their cards on the table then keep sweeping them under the rug. You two have some issues you're going to need to resolve; otherwise, you're going to have to call it quits. I won't have you doing this to your mother."
"Thank you, Tim," I sniffed as Gina and Thad sat back down.
"I'm going to make you all a deal," Tim continued. "I'll try Dr. Quack Moonbeam's suggestions, but I don’t want to hear anymore fighting over me by anyone, and that includes you, Shelly."
"But Tim…"
"No, Shelly. I don't want you hanging around all day and night any more. You need to quit hovering. You need to get a life. Go get another job. You've got to stop worrying about me and get your mind on something else."
"You can't be serious," I gasped. "You need me."
"You need something else," Tim insisted, before turning to Jerry. "Right Doc? Tell her to go back to work."
"It might be a good idea." Jerry shrugged. "We'll see how Tim does with some treatments. Maybe even a few hours out of the house will give you a new perspective."
"But what can I do? It's been years since I worked."
"Actually," Thad smiled, "I know the perfect job for you."
"What? Where?"
"Let me make a call." Thad stood and taking his cell, he walked to the back of the plane. "Hey Berk," we heard him say. "Is Luci still looking for someone else to add to Her Imperialness’s' staff? Yeah? Well, I've got a suggestion. Actually," Thad turned and winked at Gina, "I've got two for the price of one."
Chapter 20
Berkan
We were hurrying through the courtyard, and I was attempting to keep an umbrella aloft over Madame's head even though the wind kept trying to take it away. The rain was pelting us sideways, and streaks of jagged lightning crossed the sky. I glanced up as a particularly large bolt lit up our destination, Madame's office in the Big House.
"Has HIM returned?" she asked just as a clap of thunder shook the ground upon which we were traversing.
"I don't think so," I called, though my words were taken by the wind.
Luci was yelling about something, complaining most likely. I didn't respond but instead made myself look extraordinarily busy managing the umbrella.
Another bolt of lightning seared across the sky behind us, as we all ducked in beneath the eaves of the building. The doors were opened by the guard as a retinue of servants immediately descended upon us to take away our wet cloaks and my useless umbrella.
"I am as wet as a fish," Luci cried, shaking out the long sleeves of her gown. Indeed she was thoroughly soaked. Her hair hung in long red tendrils down her back and across her shoulders. "I've lived here in Mishnah for more than forty years, and I must say that every year, the weather seems to deteriorate more. Why do you think that is, Berkie? Are we entering some sort of new ice age?"
"Yes, dear. It's called winter. The climate changes, and it gets cold and wet outside."
"That's not what I meant," Luci replied sharply. "You don't have to treat me as if I were an idiot. I think I shall go home and change my clothing as I am sopping wet. Can you manage without me for a bit, Madame? I shall only be five minutes."
"Take ten minutes, Luci, or twenty even." Madame waved Luci off. "In fact, go take a hot bath and relax for an hour or two. Berk, did you have your meeting with the Xironians yet? I'd like to hear what they had to say."
"Yes, Madame,” I began, but Luci interrupted.
"I'll be back quickly, Madame. There is so much work to catch up on, and we simply must get all of our affairs in order before the new women join us. I don't know how I shall possibly teach them everything there is to know and continue to do my own job as well."
"They'll be fine, Luci," Madame said. "Shelly and Gina are very bright, and they'll catch on to everything quickly. You don't need to worry about this now. Come on, Berkan. Let's go into my office and talk about what we can do for Xironia."
I nodded to the guard and held Madame's office door open. As I did so, I noticed Luci's gaze linger uncertainly on me. She narrowed her eyes, watching me distrustfully.
"Go dear," I said tenderly. "You mustn't catch cold." Then, I followed Madame into her office and soundly shut the door.
We were alone again. I stood by the door watching as her slim body glided across the floor as lithe as a cat.
She sat down in her chair and surveyed her desktop. Reaching for those reading glasses, she gazed up at me with her deep blue eyes, a hint of a smile on her ruby red lips.
That was all the invitation I needed. My soul quivered and sent my body lurching forward across the room in her wake. I couldn't help it. It was insanity, I knew, but it wasn't my head that was leading this charge.
My pathetic heart had been apprehended and was now dictating the terms. It had aligned itself with one of my appendages and between these two fierce organs, my brain's battle was utterly lost.
"Katie," I gasped, or perhaps I even begged. I held out my hand as if offering my entirety on a platter.
"Berk?" Her eyes narrowed, her nose wrinkled in a fetching way. "What's going on with you? We've known each other for almost thirty years."
"Yes, yes we have." I came around her desk and reached for her hand, pressing it against my chest so she could feel my heart thumping. "I have just come to realize after all this time, I think of you beyond just a friend."
"Uh huh," she nodded, apparently shocked speechless for a moment by my confession. She swallowed hard, her eyes still bulging. "Are you feeling okay? Are you having palpitations?"
"I am. Indeed I am. My heart is positively thrashing into overdrive as I gaze upon you with eyes that have previously been hooded. I think of you, Katelina. In fact, I think of you all the time, every day, every night, especially the night. You are consuming me, my darling. I am a merely a stick of wood in your fire."
"What?" She pulled her hand away and peered at me over the rims of her glasses. "I don't even want to imagine what that looks like. Knock this off and go sit down. I want to hear what's happening in Xironia."
"Xironia, yes." I sighed, whilst taking the seat known as the former Lady Caroline's perch. "Xironia reminds me of Minestronea, which is a soup that I adore as much as I adore you. It also rhymes with Abolonea, which is snail, but has a beautiful shell, as beautiful as you."
"Duke Korelesk!" she snapped and rose to her feet. "Are you ill?"
"Yes, yes! I believe I am," I cried. "I am love sick." I leapt to my feet.
"No, you're just sick. Is this a joke? Did Senya put you up to this? Is he here?" She ran frantically about the room. "Senya? I don't think this is funny!"
"He's not here, Katie," I insisted, following her. "He didn't put me up to a
nything. In fact, he warned me to stay away, but I can't." I caught up with her and reached for her arms. "I can't go on like this. I don't love Luci anymore. I realize now, I never have. It's you I love, my Queen, my Empress, my own Katelina." Then I felt it, that excruciating pain that began in my most vulnerable spot, raced up my spine and straight into the very center of my brain, where it proceeded to send a veil of blood descending over my eyes.
I fell to the floor as my legs buckled beneath me. I crouched into the fetal position to protect whatever remnants remained of my family jewels.
"Crap!" Madame cursed. "I think I broke my kneecap." She fell back on the arm of the sofa, her face red, her chest heaving. Somewhere, in the air above our heads, a faint and airy laughter could be heard. "Bastard," Madame hissed, stroking her knee.
I would have responded, although I didn't think the epitaph was intended for me, and at that moment, I still couldn't catch a breath, let alone speak.
"Uh, Mom?" The Imperial Prince Shika opened the door and peered inside glancing first at the desk and then at the two of us in our various states of distress.
"Berkie!" Luci bolted in, shoving the Prince aside. "What's the matter with you?"
"Shika!" Madame called. "Come help me up." She struggled to one foot, clutching her knee. Slowly, I began to lift myself too, though stars swirled around my head and I was numb below the waist.
"Did you fall, Berkie?" Luci knelt down and pulled my head against her chest, nearly smothering me in the folds of her large bosom.
"Yes," I mumbled and considered that my nose was actually in a fairly pleasant spot. "The mouse, it returned, you see."
"Oh no," Luci gasped, clutching my head harder. "Did you scare it away this time? It won't come back, will it?"
"No. I dare say it shan't ever return."
"Oh, you're so brave, Berkie." She petted my hair.
Indeed I was, I agreed, although I didn't tell her so.
"That must have been one huge mouse," the Prince chuckled, as he helped Madame to her feet.
"It was a rat," the lady growled. "Next time I see him, I'm going to catch him and skin him alive."
Chapter 21
Tuman
I was standing next to myself watching my chest rise up and down as the respirator forced air into my lungs and kept me alive. Two IV poles stood by my side dripping fluid and medicines into my veins. A monitor, which was mounted in the cabinet over my head, showed my heart beat as steady but slow. Periodically, a blood pressure cuff would hiss and then with a gasp of air like a sigh of relief, it would release again.
My brother gazed down at me for a moment and then went to stand next to my wife, who sat in a chair reading a trashy romance novel on her tablet. Pedah reached over and pulled a strand of Garinka's hair then, gently poke her arm or ran a finger down her back. She shooed him away as if she were swatting at a fly, not once taking her eyes away from her book.
My son paced the room, going in and out the door to fetch coffee or a snack. Occasionally, he stood in the hallway speaking loudly on his cell to one of his wives. More often than not, his voice grew sharp and impatient with the poor woman who had been so misfortunate as to marry him. I watched him, studying him at an angle I had never before seen and it occurred to me with great surprise how much he resembled my brother.
"He does, doesn't he?" The air around me stirred in a warm gentle breeze and there Senya was, materializing out of nowhere. His presence was oddly comforting. I reached out for his arm.
"I don't want to die, Senya." I pointed at my prone body and tried to speak reasonably. "I'm not ready yet. I'm not so old. There are still so many things I wish to do in this life. Please. You can heal me. Wave your hand and make me well."
"Ach, brother." Pedah yanked again on my wife's hair. "After all you have seen, this is still your choice?"
"Of course it is." I sighed and sat down on the bed. My wife glanced up briefly, her eyes flickering from my body to my soul, but returning to her book, which was obviously more compelling than either of us. "I do not wish for my grandson to die. Yet, he is one of seventeen, is he not? I have already five great-grandchildren. Am I not important to them? The rest of these people," I waved my hands in the air, "I am sorry for them but why should I sacrifice? I don't know those humans from Rozari. My life has nothing to do with any of them."
"Nothing at all." Senya frowned and shook his head. "They are all strangers. There is of course my son, but he is virtually unknown to you. You have no reason to give up your life for his."
"You could save your son," I accused him. "You could prevent everything and still I could live. Why must I make a choice between this way, or that? I certainly have no interest in that planet Xironia. I don't care what happens to it or its people."
"You don't even know where it is," my brother pointed out.
"That's right."
"You do not wish to choose then," my brother concluded.
"No." I crossed my arms in front of my chest. "I want him to fix everything and heal me. After all I've done for him, I believe I deserve at least that."
Senya raised his eyebrows, and his silver eyes flashed in my face.
"I didn't realize we were keeping a tally of what has been done on one's behalf. Well then, Tuman, I shall indeed take the matter into my own hands. Let us go to Xironia, which as you say, means nothing to you. I shall demonstrate what happens when the choice is left up to me."
Senya turned and that breeze blew across me again, but this time it wasn't warm and gentle. Instead, I was chilled to the bone. My brother held out his hand.
"Come, Tuman. This is the consequence of your choice."
A bit hesitantly, I stood and took my brother's arm. We followed Senya from the room through the door to where my son stood yelling into his phone. Upon crossing the threshold, we found ourselves on an unfamiliar city street. It was covered in gray pavement and crowded with vehicles that travelled on wheels. There were buildings rising high above us on either side, and more concrete areas where many were walking.
Some of those that passed wore the collars of the enslaved and some were tethered together with leashes. High above us on top of a building, a giant vid displayed some men dressed in fancy uniforms. They nodded their heads and smiled at the people, occasionally lifting a bejewelled hand to wave.
"Lovely planet," Senya commented, and I turned in the direction of his voice. He was sitting on the stoop of a building and smoking a cigarette. His appearance shocked me for a moment for he looked as he had when he was young with long black curly hair and dark sunglasses, dressed in jeans and a black leather jacket. "Those up there," he pointed with his cig, "the rulers. They are standing on a balcony at the Palace not far from here. They are celebrating their recent re-election. They shan't be celebrating long, although they don't know that yet. I despise politicians." He breathed a cloud of smoke into the air. "What do you think, Uncles? Shall I warn them, send my ships in to create all sorts of havoc, or just end this charade quickly by killing them all right now?"
"Kill them," my brother said. "They have enslaved good people for centuries. They are evil and deserve to die miserably."
"How can you say that?" I gasped. "They are a government duly elected. Hasn't your policy always been to let the people decide?"
"It has," Senya agreed, standing up and stretching. "However, the election was a farce. General Verneyus was sent to appeal to my good grace. Unfortunately, he didn't make it. What would you prefer I do?"
"Give them a chance," I demanded. "A warning. Don't just kill without giving them the opportunity to mend their ways."
"What sort of warning?" my brother asked.
"How about this?" Senya offered, and instantly, the sky filled with dark clouds which began to rain.
"Rain?" My brother frowned. "You can do better than that."
"Indeed, I can," Senya replied as the rain turned red. The people passing us gasped and cried out, trying to cover their heads as they were quickly soaked in blood. Ev
en the rulers on the vids stared up with disbelief as they too were doused as if they were bleeding. "The skies are hemorrhaging everywhere," Senya chuckled. "I've always wanted to do that."
"Haven't you done that before?" my brother asked. "I seem to recall…"
"It makes a nasty mess, doesn’t it?" Senya interrupted, silencing my brother. "Do you think they understand now?"
"No," Pedah replied. "Perhaps you ought to send them a few more hints."
Out of the gutters great rats arose, attracted by the bloody rain, or perhaps summoned by Senya. Black flies followed the rats and landed upon the people who tried to wave them off to no avail. A man ran right in front of us, several rats attached to his legs, his hair and arms fully hidden by the flies. Two slave men followed him hesitantly, each free of the vermin as it seemed only the owners were the ones attacked.
"Go ahead," Pedah called to them. "Remove your shackles and run away."
Both men looked at him for a moment and then did as he said.
"That's enough!" I yelled. "This is sickening and perverse. Go back to negotiating diplomatically with their government. Bring in your ships and threaten with your guns. That is more civilized than this."
"Is it?" Pedah scoffed as Senya raised his hand yet again, turning the bloody rain back to water.
The skies roared with thunder, lightning and hail shot down in all directions, sending the few who remained on the street running for cover.
"Stop it!" I screamed and stomped my feet. "Don't do this!"
"But I've only just started," Senya laughed. "I've got at least six more tricks in my bag. You are probably correct in that they are too dense to take my hints. I'll just kill the rulers. That way we all shall avoid a bloody prolonged war. Pedah, do you want to pick who shall be first? How about the tall one on the left?"
"Alright." My brother shrugged and as he did so, the man on the vid began to clutch at his throat.
He gasped and choked, his face turning blue. There was a commotion on the screen as the others realized what was happening, before the vid went dark and silent.