“What’s going on?” whispered Benny.
“Time to man up.”
“Me?”
“No, silly. Me.”
The dragon returned with an over-dressed young woman. “Your Majesties,” and she bowed her head.
“My guess is that you already know what tonight’s gathering is about.”
The woman stared defiantly at Egg. “I do, Princess.”
“And your position on the matter?”
“I am opposed.”
“Shocking.” To the gathering she said “Please. If I may have your attention,” and they all gathered round. “Before I discuss my ideas, I have an announcement. I have decided to make Rap’tor and Kru-Ella official ambassadors of the Court of M’earth,” and she began to clap her hands. Everyone felt obliged to join in. The two new ambassadors just stood there – frozen in place. “In their new capacity, they will be leaving on a tour of all one hundred planets in the Federation. They will spend at least one month in each location to observe the culture and scientific developments of each world and will report back to me what they learn.” She raised her flute. “Let’s wish them a good voyage since they leave at first light,” and everyone did.
“I object,” growled the dragon.
“I have no intention of leaving,” complained the woman.
Before Egg could respond, Benny stepped in front of her (just in the unlikely case there was violence). “The Royal Princess has spoken and you two will obey. If you are not gone in the morning, I will strip you of your titles and banish you from Aerianna. Do I make myself clear?” He stared at the two until they broke eye contact.
In the silence that ensued, you could hear the collective heartbeats of the hundred or so guests.
The dragon spoke first. “I have reconsidered my position on the matter before us. I do believe that I can fully and enthusiastically support it.”
“Me too,” blurted the woman.
“What say you, wife?”
“No.” That answer shocked her husband. It was so out of character for Egg not to be charitable. “Agreeing under duress is meaningless. I want you two to go over there and sit. Say nothing . . . just listen. Understand?”
They mumbled yes.
“Go,” and they slithered off. To the rest, she said, “I apologize. I was hoping to conduct this meeting in a little less confrontational manner. Over the last two years, I have had the privilege of meeting all of you . . . getting to know some of you quite well.” She smiled mischievously and continued. “My husband and I both agree that most of you are very nice,” she emphasized the word ‘most’ with an even bigger smile. The crowd responded in kind.
“If I can generalize my opinion of this collective group, I would say that you are intelligent, kind, caring . . . and bored.” The first three adjectives elicited nods of approval; the last, startled glances.
K’oral, a sea serpent on friendly terms with Egg asked, “Why do you say that, Lady Eloise?”
“I mean the term in a much more grandiose way. You are bored because you have achieved so much less than you are capable of. Let me demonstrate. I need a volunteer. I warn you first that you might find this a bit embarrassing.”
No one deemed it wise to raise a hand or a talon.
Egg laughed causing the tension in the room to dissolve. “Don’t blame you. So, I’ll pick one . . . no, I’ll pick two. Rap’tor and Kru-Ella please come here.” All eyes turned toward the two ‘outcasts’. “Come on, chop-chop.”
The two slowly and reluctantly did as they were told.
“You three,” and Egg pointed at a group of humans, “clear the table.” They did as they were told. “Now you two get up there.”
“You wish me to stand on a table?” Kru-Ella was horrified.
Pointing at the same group that had cleared the table she said, “Hey guys, help her up.” To Rap’tor, she added, “Need help?” and offered the dragon her hand. The rest of the guests sniggered.
After the two ‘volunteers’ were in place, Egg said, “Ladies first. Cruel-Ella (purposely mispronouncing her name) please tell your peers the three most important accomplishments in your life.”
“Truly?”
“Yup.”
“Very well.” She gave the question a moment’s thought. “My coming of age party was the envy of everyone here, my Spring Soiree is still being talked about, and the dinner I hosted for the Prince’s grandparents will never be equaled.” She finished with a tilt of her head as if taking a small bow.
“How exciting. Your turn, Rap’tor.”
He named three inane accomplishments, spread his wings, and bowed.
“So, if I can summarize . . . generations of wealth and privilege, education, and training, and that’s your crowning achievements in life.” To the rest, she said, “Ask yourselves, at the memorial service after you die, if your family read off similar . . . accomplishments . . . as reason your memories should linger in the minds and hearts of those you leave behind, will you be happy? Will they actually remember?” The scorn in her voice was evident and the others looked away.
“Get down you two,” she commanded. On impulse, she decided for little more theatrics. “Ring, tend to my suit.” The guests had all witnessed the transformation at the wedding but, come on, you can never get enough of this stuff.
Egg leapt on the now vacated table. “I’m the luckiest person in the known universe. Having the opportunity to be Flying Girl was . . . is . . . a miracle. So many odd things had to come together for this to happen. But it did and I’m proud to say that I tried to make the most of it. I’m not going to bore you by repeating what you already know about the accomplishments of the Hameggattic Sisterhood. However, I do want to ask you a question. Think of your life as it is now. If the flying suit suddenly became yours, do you have the spirit, the will, the desire, the strength of character to be selfless and use it to help others? Or would you hold parties and strut around pretending to be something you are not – at least not in your heart?”
She let that sink in . . . waiting for someone to ask her what the heck she was driving at. Thankfully, K’oral did. “Lady, what can we do?”
“The reason I called this gathering is to convince you our society needs to change. You represent the ‘haves’. Those two miles below us are the ‘have nots’. I want to change that.
I ask that you all consider the following plan. First, each of you will informally adopt a village or a part of a larger city to mentor. As such, you will get intimately involved with the lives of your new charges. Their success in life will be yours. Their failures will also be yours. You will be judged accordingly.
Second, each of you will do community service one week in four. That means working in the schools, the hospitals, in shops or fields . . . and experiencing firsthand the nature of the lives these people live and using that experience and your imagination and intelligence to improve their lot.
Finally, talk amongst yourselves and share ideas. Discuss what worked and what didn’t. Make this service a point of pride for yourselves. Prove that you are worthy of all the gifts that life has given you. I promise that this will be an incredibly rewarding experience.”
Kru-Ella was determined to be defiant to the end. “That is not what nobility does. It is an abomination.”
“Your royalty came from the great deeds of your ancestors. All you did was to inherit the wealth they earned. Put it another way – you are royal by an accident of birth not by right of accomplishment. It’s time you gave something back to society. Let’s work together to improve the lives of the less fortunate. It’s time that Aerianna set an example for the rest of the Federation.”
“But what gives you the right to make these changes? Your only claim to power is that you married the Prince.”
“Don’t be a complete idiot,” bellowed an angry Benny. “This woman saved all of us from Mobius. She was nine years old at the time. Nine. Years. Old. What were you doing when you were that age? I, for one, was learning t
o be a stuffed shirt. In retrospect, it is embarrassing to remember.”
“And if others refuse, will you also send them on a tour of the Federation?”
“No. If you are so selfish that you can’t share the gifts you have; if you are so small of spirit that you can’t bring yourself to help the less fortunate . . . you are free to leave and resume your meaningless lives.” She turned to Rap’tor. “That goes for both of you. You aren’t worthy to represent this world. I rescind your ambassadorships.” Turning again to face the crowd, she finished with, “For those who believe as I do, I invite you to stay and we can continue this discussion. Your input is invaluable to me as I certainly don’t have all the answers. For the rest, you are free to leave.”
She turned her back and exhaled loudly as the adrenalin finally left her body. Benny put his arm around her. “Nicely done.”
“You think so? I don’t. I probably just made about a hundred enemies for life.”
“I disagree. Look,” and they both turned to face the gathering. No one had yet left . . . not even Rap’tor and Kru-Ella.
Chapter 11 – Queen for a Day
The End of the Following Year
It was one of those times that when you look back on it, you wonder how it went by so quickly. For Egg, so many great projects that she had started were all coming to fruition. It amazed her that each one was more successful than the last.
It began with the technological breakthrough that Serenity and her team of Skotti, Jax’x, and K’ssss had achieved . . . the anti-grav device to float another city.
Their presentation was to an audience of concerned individuals. Kon’dor, Tron the Chief Archivist, Kommander Khan from Splendora, BreeZee who was never far from her Sky’lord, along with Egg and Benny – both at Meggy’s request. Inexplicably, Egg had also invited Rap’tor. His transformation from an adversary to a champion of Egg’s plan between royals and citizens was nothing short of a miracle. Skotti had also asked that Grex and Aero join them since they had been involved with the research.
Jax’x began the presentation. “Let me start by showing you a little demonstration.” She bent down and picked up an apparently heavy metal plate and dropped it none-too-gently on the table. “Watch,” and she nodded at Skotti who activated a controller sitting on the table in front of him. A moment later the plate levitated about a foot in the air then returned with a clang to its place of rest. Everyone clapped.
Everyone but Egg. “Cheater.” All eyes turned to Lady Eloise. “She’s using her Amber Heart power to do that.”
“I told you she wouldn’t fall for it,” complained Jax’x.
Sparky shrugged. “It was worth a shot.”
“Sorry, I don’t understand what’s going on.”
“Kon’dor, Jax’x can control . . . reality . . . by using the power in that amber heart necklace she wears. It’s a long story; suffice it to say that the power is very limited.”
“Be that as it may, why were you trying to deceive us?”
“To distract you.”
“I don’t understand?”
“If everyone would look out the windows . . .” and they all rose and did just that.
To their surprise, the structure they were in was now about one hundred feet above the ground . . . just sort of hanging there.
“Sorry about that everyone,” said Skotti. “The initial lift off the ground can be a bit rocky and we didn’t want you to take notice.”
“You did it. You actually created an anti-gravitational device,” exclaimed Tron. “Is there a limit to how much you can lift? Or how long it can stay aloft? Or how high it can go?”
“No, forever, and not much more than the two miles that Q’umulus floats above Aerianna. Remember that gravity is inversely proportional to the square of the distance from the gravitational source. In this case, whatever planet you’re on.”
“Can you take us through the physics?” asked Kon’dor.
“Yes.”
“No.” And that was Egg. “You boys and girls can take all the time you want to get into the minutia of this incredible discovery.”
“Rediscovery,” corrected K’ssss.
“That’s just a technicality. You guys are amazing and we all congratulate you,” and they applauded. “Let’s talk about some more practical aspects of all this. First, the technology belongs to the people of Aerianna. Unless my Queen overrules me, I will hereby lease it to the Sky’lords in return for a treaty of perpetual friendship. That would include the sharing of scientific discoveries and cultural exchanges. Anyone care to argue?”
“You are being far too generous,” said Khan.
“Not at all. What value do you place on friendship? I think it’s . . . it’s priceless.”
“Well said.”
“Good. Next, since the Sky’lords now have a source of income from the treaty with your southern neighbors and since you will need a great amount of labor to build this city, I suggest hiring us.”
“Meaning?” asked Kon’dor.
“Meaning our dragons. They are incredibly strong and can transport whatever materials it takes from the ground to the sky castle. We have many capable young men and women just itching for a new career and a little excitement. What say you, Rap’tor?”
“It would be a boon to us. I would offer my services to coordinate the venture. However, you should also consider humans and serpents. The former can be expert craftsman and the later are well known for their scientific and engineering skills.”
“On behalf of the Sky’lord nation, I accept. You and I can meet later to discuss the details,” said Khan.
“Thank you, sir.”
“So, there’s only one more point to cover,” declared Egg. “What will you call your new city?”
“It has already been decided,” answered Kon’dor. “We will call it the Citadel of L’elle.”
*****
The ‘noble’ class had begun its implementation of Egg’s plan. Unfortunately, it didn’t go well at first. About half of the young men and women participated with enthusiasm. The other half felt pressured to do what was right. Their reluctance all but poisoned their relationship with the very people they were meant to help.
And the outraged citizens felt insulted.
At an emergency meeting of the Citizen’s Council they demanded to know why Egg was forcing the Royals on them – those arrogant no-nothings interfering with their daily lives and their livelihoods.
Naturally, Lady Eloise was ready for their anger.
Actually, no.
She was beginning to realize that her good intentions required diplomacy on both ends – those forced/encourage to give and those doing the receiving. She wished Meggy was here to witness this – not to help but to show her that she, Egg, was obviously no diplomat.
Benny was with her and he was growing increasingly angry at the reaction his wife was receiving. He went to stand and demand quiet, but Egg held him back. “Let them vent.”
“Why?”
“It will tire them out.”
So, for the next hour, everyone tried to talk at once – raising their voices to be heard over the person next to them. The Royal couple just sat there and pretended to listen.
Finally, Egg told her husband, “Now you can get their attention but do it nicely.”
“I am always nice.”
“Don’t make me start laughing. These people will think I’m making fun of them and you may need to drag me to safety.”
“I shall be nice . . . however, I may need to yell.”
“Don’t be silly. Sing that song I taught you.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“If I used the earth term ‘whacko’, would that be appropriate in describing you?”
“Absolutely. Now sing.”
“I dislike you intensely.”
“No, you don’t. You love me intensely.”
He had to smile. Then he stood, cleared his voice, and began to belt out “Take me out to the ball gam
e, take me out with the crowd; Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jacks, I don't care if I never get back. Let me root, root, root for the home team,
If they don't win, it's a shame. For it's one, two, three strikes, you're out, at the old ball game.”
Egg was right – they all went deathly quiet and listen to the baritone voice of the Prince. He was quite good. When he finished, Egg stood and started to clap. A moment later, all those with hands began to join in.
“Thank you. Thank you. That is very kind,” and the blue man bowed his head then sat down. “All yours, Gracie.”
“Now that you all had the chance to express yourselves, it’s my turn. If I ask someone a question, please let that individual answer. Everyone will have an opportunity to say their piece. I want to apologize. It was my notion to get the Nobility involved for two obvious reasons. First, they need to contribute to this world. Sitting around eating fine food and dressing like pretty dolls isn’t going to cut it anymore. Does anyone want to argue with that?”
No one did. In fact, they all grinned and nodded their heads.
“For half of them, they are doing something they find rewarding. For the other half, they still need to be convinced. So be patient. Remember, they’re only Royals. What do they know about working folks like you?”
And the grins turned to laughter.
“The second reason is that each person here, and each person that you represent, will now have a fulltime mentor to turn to if there is a problem whose solution requires additional resources. Remember, they aren’t here to tell you what to do. Far from it. They are here for you to tell them what YOU do. As I said, some of them will prove to be very adept from the get-go. Others will need your help to learn their new responsibilities. Once we iron out all the kinks, these new teams will prove beneficial to everyone.”
“But that woman you sent . . . I’m not allow to tar and feather her, am I?” asked a man.
“What woman are you referring to?”
“Kru-Ella.”
Egg laughed. “I really, really want to give you permission but I won’t. I will, however, replace her with someone that you can work with. And that goes for all of you. I’ll replace anyone that isn’t working out well. But please . . . for me, give them a chance.”
Gracie - Box Set #6, Part 2 of Ever After [an Egg and the Hameggattic Sisterhood novel] Page 20