by Sophie Stern
Rex looks suddenly nervous, anxious. He looks around, like he’s trying to find a way to escape.
“That’s it, isn’t it?” Gaz says, shaking his head, as if he can’t quite believe it. “We both know if I step foot on Orchid, I’ll be either arrested or forced to take the crown. That’s the whole point, though, isn’t it? You no longer want it.”
Rex shakes his head.
“You don’t understand,” he begins.
“No, brother, it is you who doesn’t understand.” Gaz steps forward and his eyes grow gentle as he looks at his younger brother. How many wonderful adventures did these two have together growing up? How many times did they play together before they realized the politics of the world? How many times did they find themselves isolated and alone with only the other for comfort?
Gaz looks at his brother with nothing but love and compassion.
That’s the Gaz I know.
That’s the Gaz I love.
“I left Orchid because I wanted a better life. Orchid has problems that cannot be solved overnight, issues that cannot be resolved in this lifetime.”
Rex suddenly looks defeated. His shoulders slump forward and he nods.
“May we speak alone?” He asks, jerking his head toward the Orchidian police, and suddenly I wonder whether they’re actually here to escort Rex around safely or if they’re simply here to escort him.
Maybe they’re supposed to make sure he actually leaves Sapphira and returns to Orchid.
“Of course, brother.” Gaz straightens up and turns to the guards. “Excuse us, please.” He motions that he’s going to go past them to his office. The officers exchange looks, and then one steps forward and addresses Rex.
“Your highness, perhaps it would be best if this conversation happened out here.”
“No, I think my brother is correct,” Rex says. “Please excuse us for a moment.”
“I’m afraid we can’t do that,” the other officer says, and I see a mental switch happen for Gaz. Suddenly, he’s not the outlawed prince of Orchid.
Suddenly, he’s the best fucking attorney on Sapphira.
“Gentlemen, perhaps you are not familiar with the Sapphiran proclamation of Altzlei, which declares an attorney may meet privately with his client regardless of police protection.”
The men exchange glances. They have no idea what he just said.
“No offense, uh, Gazley, but I think you, of all people, should understand that the prince of Orchid cannot be left alone.”
Gaz steps forward and lowers his voice so only the guards can hear. I don’t know what the hell he’s saying, but he scares them, and the scent of fear and terror fills the room.
“We’ll just wait right here,” the men say, finally, and take a seat in the lobby chairs.
“Hayden, you’re with us,” Gaz says, and I follow him and Rex down the hall to his office.
“Gentlemen, would you like some tea?” I hear Izzie ask in a sickly-sweet voice, and I’d bet anything she’s going to slip sleeping powder into their drinks.
Chapter 10
Gaz
As soon as we’re in my office, I close the door and turn to Rex.
“Explain.”
“I…”
Suddenly, he doesn’t look like the badass he was pretending to be in front of the police.
Suddenly, Rex looks the way he did when we were just rug rats on Orchid, trying to have fun together beneath our nanny’s nose.
“Brother,” I step forward, placing my hands on his shoulders. “Tell me. Tell me the truth. Please,” I add, although I don’t think I should resort to begging.
Hayden quietly takes a seat in my office, but says nothing. She just watches, and I’m glad she’s here. My heart is still tied in knots after she defended me to Rex. She doesn’t know anything about my past or my life on Orchid, yet she stood up for me completely.
She’s loyal, and I love that about her.
Rex sighs and shakes his head a few times, but then he, too, sits down.
“I just wanted you back,” he says. “I saw you on the news, figured out you were here. The police were on their way to add charges to Trevor’s file and I saw the photograph of his lawyer. I knew it was you, Gaz. You may have changed your appearance, but I’m your brother. I knew it was you.”
“The police obviously know I’m here, too, now. Do I need to run again, Rex? Will you at least tell me that much? Will Mother be sending troops to capture me and bring me back to Orchid?”
“Mother is dying,” Rex blurts out.
“What?”
“She’s dying,” Rex says quietly.
“That’s why you wanted me back. You’re about to be king.”
“I can’t do it without you,” Rex says.
“You’ve always wanted this, Rex. You love power, or have you forgotten? Ever since we were kids, you were always the one who wanted to be King. That was never the life for me, brother, but you were made for it.”
“I need help,” Rex insists. “The people…they’ll know I’m new. They’ll try to take advantage of that.”
“Not if you don’t let them,” I say, looking at my brother. He’s changed in the years I’ve been gone. He still looks young and youthful, but there is a sadness in his eyes now. He’s different, jaded, and now I know the real reason he came for me.
He’s afraid.
When we were boys, I always protected Rex. No matter what happened, no matter what trouble we faced, I protected him. I guarded him and cared for him. Whether he was scared of the dark or there was a threat of invasion, I would watch out for him.
I guarded Rex with my life.
And now he’s asking me to do it again.
Only, this time, I can’t help Rex. Not like that. I have a new life on Sapphira and soon, I will have a wife, a family. I can’t go back to Orchid. Not only do I hate the planet, not only am I unwanted there, but I simply do not want to return. I have responsibilities on Sapphira I cannot set aside, even for my mother.
Even as I think the thoughts, I cringe, but I know my mother does not want me. She never viewed me or Rex as her sons. To her, we were simply heirs, simply people she could trust to pass on her dynasty to.
Well, fuck that.
“You have to be strong,” I tell Rex. “Fierce. I’m not telling you to go crazy with displays of power, but you can’t be scared to stand up to the council. You might be shaking internally, brother, but you cannot let them show it, or they will try to kill you.”
“I know,” Rex says. “They have already tried.” He sighs, and suddenly, Rex doesn’t look so tough. He looks scared, nervous. He looks tired.
He looks young.
“I need you, brother,” he says, but I shake my head.
“You’re stronger than you know, Rex.”
“I do not feel strong.”
“You can stay here,” I tell him, and I see Hayden’s eyes get wide, but she wisely stays quiet. “You can hide with me on Orchid. We’ll kill the police if we have to, or drug them, but you can stay here with me.”
“You’re serious,” Rex says.
“I am serious,” I tell my brother. “You know I love you, Rex. Leaving Orchid never changed my love for you. Although my mother may have turned her back on us, although I may have realized she is a liar and a deceiver, I never stopped loving you.”
“That means the world to me,” Rex says, and I realize how hard these last few years must have been on my brother.
When I discovered how corrupt my home planet was, I chose to step down as heir to the throne. I didn’t want any part in the government that had my father killed. I didn’t want to participate in a community that valued lies over honesty. I didn’t want any part of it.
Maybe that makes me weak.
Perhaps I should have stayed and fought, but at the time, I couldn’t.
I didn’t want that life.
I wanted something new, something fresh.
And then I met Hayden.
She was damage
d when I met her, already broken. The world had already gotten to her and cracked her right on open, but she was still so strong. Her strength gave me strength. Her hope gave me hope. When I met her, I felt lost and alone, but she offered me compassion and kindness when I had nothing else.
Does she even know how much she means to me?
She smiles at me, watching me and my brother speak, silently encouraging me, and in this moment, I realize something.
Hayden is proud of me.
She’s proud of the man I am.
She’s proud of the choices I have made.
Sometimes, a situation is too messed up to save. Life isn’t a fairytale, not all the time, and there are moments when you have to be strong enough to walk away.
I made that choice.
I walked away from my family, from my life, from my planet.
Some would say I walked away from my responsibilities.
I made a choice.
Now Rex has to make that choice.
Will he stay and fight for the future of Orchid?
Or will he follow me?
“A lot has happened in your absence,” Rex tells me. “There’s a growing revolution, brother. The world is different now, albeit still corrupt. You would be a good king, Gaz. You would be a far better, far braver king than I ever would.”
“That is not my life anymore,” I tell him.
He looks at Hayden and then back at me.
“You love her,” he says simply. “You’re going to marry her.”
“I’m going to marry her,” I repeat. “If she’ll have me.”
Chapter 11
Hayden
My heart has been to the moon and the stars today. So much has happened and right now, I can’t quite believe what Gaz is saying. At the same time, it makes perfect sense.
Gaz and I are true mates.
We were made to be together.
“You don’t have to decide right now,” I tell him. “If you need to return to your planet, Gaz, I understand, and I will go with you.”
“Hayden, I just said I want to marry you.”
“I know,” I whisper. “But I can’t quite believe it.”
“Believe it, beautiful girl. I want to marry you. I want to be yours forever. Will you have me, Hayden? Will you marry me?”
“Of course, I will marry you,” I tell Gaz. “But…but Gaz, I mean what I said. If you need to go home, if you need to return to your planet, I understand. I will be there with you. I will be by your side. I will stay with you, Gaz. It won’t be the end of us.”
“Hayden,” he comes to me and kneels before me, taking my hand in his. “There is something you have to understand. I left Orchid because I discovered the truth about my father. There was a plot by some of his most trusted advisors to have him killed. My mother knew about it, too.”
“Why would they do that?” I ask quietly. “Why would they kill him?”
“He believed in a free planet,” Rex says. “He wanted unity between Orchid and the other planets. He wanted us to trade freely. He wanted us to allow new people to inhabit the planet. He wanted diversity, change, freedom.”
“Sounds like Sapphira,” I admit. Our planet doesn’t have the best history when it comes to immigration.
“There are people who believe Orchidians belong on Orchid, Sapphirans belong on Sapphira, and Dreaglans belong on Dreagle.”
“I don’t think anybody belongs on Dreagle,” I mutter, and Gaz chuckles.
“When my father began to speak up about the changes he wanted to bring, he was silently murdered. It was officially ruled a suicide, but I knew better, and when I discovered the truth, I realized that I didn’t want to stay. To be honest, I acted hastily. I was horrified and scared and I was filled with hatred.”
“You were hurting,” Rex says. “I understand.”
“You left your brother behind,” I point out. I don’t know why I feel like it’s necessary to say. Gaz left the planet, but he didn’t bring his little brother.
“I chose to stay,” Rex says. “I didn’t believe the truth. Not until many years later.”
“And now mother is dying, and you’re afraid to take over the planet.”
“I’m not scared for my life,” Rex says. “I’m scared I won’t do a good job, Gaz. I’m not you, brother. I’m not…I’m just not you.”
“Rex?”
He looks at me, perhaps really seeing me for the first time, and I stand up and go to him. Without another word, I wrap my arms around him and pull him close to me. Rex seems surprised, but he lets me hug him, silently offering him comfort.
“I know I’m not an Orchidian,” I tell him. “And I realize I haven’t known you for very long, but I do know your brother, and I know he is an honorable man.” I look at Gaz and smile.
Rex nods, but doesn’t say anything.
“And if Gaz thinks you’re fit to be king, Rex, then so do I. I have a feeling the rest of your planet agrees. Am I right?”
“My mother has made many enemies in her final days,” Rex admits. “And many are ready for a new era of leadership.”
“They’re ready for you, brother,” Gaz says. “I’ve been gone so long at this point that even if I were to return, I fear I would always be the lost prince of Orchid. I would never be the leader they need. There would be so much mistrust, so much fear I would run again, that I would never be able to lead the way you would.”
“You’re a rock, Rex. You’re a rock to your people.” I touch his face softly. He looks so much like his brother that it’s uncanny. It’s incredible, really.
They’re so much alike, and yet so different.
“You can do this, Rex. You’ve got this.”
“How can you be so sure?” His words are low, almost a whisper.
“I was kidnapped years ago. Raped. Tortured. Hurt.” Rex’s eyes go wide as I speak, and he looks at Gaz, who nods in confirmation. “I escaped, Rex. I escaped from my captor, and he was eventually caught, many years later.”
“Why are you telling me this?” He looks pained at the story.
“I’m telling you this because we all have bad shit happen to us, Rex. You lost your father. Then, when you needed him the most, you lost your brother. That had to hurt. You probably felt like Gaz was abandoning you, running away from you, and on some level, that’s true.”
The brothers are silent as I speak, and I know my words are sinking in. My observations might be harsh, but I know that they’re also true. I can’t say whether Gaz made the right choice leaving his planet. Sometimes, the right choice isn’t black or white. If he stayed, he might have been killed himself. If he stayed, I never would have met him. For me, leaving was definitely the superior option.
But Rex might not feel that way.
He might always worry that his brother abandoned him because of something he did, because their relationship wasn’t enough to make him stay. I’m not sure. What I do know is that Gaz clearly cares for his brother and that although their reunion may have been under strange circumstances, I think they have a bright future of open communication and friendship before them.
“I don’t know what you went through when he left, but you both have the chance to change things now. Gaz may never return to Orchid, but you can speak with each other now. You can come visit him on Sapphira. You can send holograms. The possibilities are endless. You don’t have to go back to the way things were, brother.”
“Brother?” Rex raises an eyebrow.
“Rexley Oleandair,” I say. “I believe I’m going to be your sister-in-law very soon, so yes, you are my brother: now and forever.”
Rex hugs me tightly, then, and holds me in his arms for a long time. I have the feeling that Rex hasn’t been hugged in many years, and my heart aches for the lonely man before me.
He doesn’t have an easy journey before him. His road will be difficult and paved with heartache and troubles, but if he’s anything like Gaz, he’ll be just fine. He’ll be brave, and he’ll be fierce, and he’ll be the
king his people need the most.
He can do this.
He can do anything.
Rex steps away from me and looks to his brother. Somehow, he looks more regal than he did even just a moment ago.
“I can do this,” he says to Gaz. “And I will.”
“I’m proud of you, brother.”
“I will return to Orchid,” Rex says. “And I will take my rightful place as king of the planet.”
He will be the king they need, the king they deserve.
Chapter 12
Gaz
When the three of us leave my office, I’m not surprised to find the two Orchidian police officers slumped over in their seats.
“Izzie?” I ask, but she just shrugs innocently.
“Guess they were a bit tired,” she says. “You know how these interplanetary flights can be. A bit of fatigue is quite normal, so I’ve heard.” She sips her cup of tea demurely, and then smiles at Rex and Hayden. “Everyone made up, I see.”
“Of course,” Hayden says, and Izzie smiles at my future wife.
“Good. Glad to see it. Here’s a copy of your schedule for the day, boss,” Izzie hands me a sheet of paper, which I don’t look at because I’m too busy staring at the front door.
“Seriously? What the actual fuck?” I growl.
Trevor is striding toward the building like he fucking owns it. He marches into the room and looks around, ignoring Rex and the Orchidian cops. Instead, he directs his gaze at me.
“You have to help get these Orchidian cops off my back,” he says. “They’re relentless, Gaz. They’ve already been to my house and my office. They said they’re going to persecute me here on Sapphira. They can’t do that. They don’t have jurisdiction!”
“Do you not notice the fact that there are two Orchidian cops right here?” Hayden asks, obviously confused. “Are you that blind?”
Trevor ignores her. “Gaz, what are we going to do? What’s the plan? You need to bring your A-Game to court, Gaz. We’re going to need all the help we can get. Surely you have a plan. That’s what I pay you for, isn’t it?” He laughs nervously.