by Joseph Pryce
AKUNA
The prince walked out onto the open terrace. A happy bashful plastered across his face from the time he spent in Serenah’s presence. The black marble stone terrace had an impressive panoramic view of The Majira Rainforest. The massive colourful jungle trees were tall enough to provide the entire villa with an enjoyable and pleasant privacy. Akuna walked around the long infinity swimming pool with its blue azure waters glistening in the sunlight and leaned up against the terrace’s stone railing. He stopped to admire the magnificent view. The kings of Summerhill and his son were provided the largest and most luxurious villa in the conference complex. Every aspect of the large house had been hand crafted with the utmost exquisite details.
What a magnificent woman that Serenah is! Akuna remarked to himself.
He felt a twinge of guilt when his mind flashed on a hot fantasied image of he and the queen locked in a naked embrace. He did not want to dishonour his feelings for Tamanni Uhuru but he could not deny the attraction the he felt for Serenah either.
Is it possible for a man to have feelings for two women at the same time?
The good mood he felt quickly evaporated the moment he heard his father enter the terrace. Akuna had never felt comfortable in the king’s presence. Never. Not as a child nor as a young man.
Shaka stonde across the pool area and imperialistically took up position beside his son. He rested one of his large hands on the terrace railing. The king’s royal ring bearing the family crescent glinted in the mid-day sun. He studied his son’s face long and hard before speaking.
“You disappointed me in that meeting, Akuna. Gambolt would have done a much finer job”, he finally said.
A crestfallen Akuna swallowed a lump in his throat. It seemed no matter what he did it was never enough to please his father.
“Whatever do you mean, father?” He stammered.
“You made our realm appear week by allowing that whelp Khon and the pharaoh’s fat sister run roughshod over you”, his father replied. “If your brother had not come down with a bout of white fever, he would been here to attend the conference with me and not you”.
One of the villa servant-droids rolled out onto the terrace on it’s roller track. “Does the king or prince require any refreshment?” The droid asked politely.
“Nothing for now, droid”, the king replied testily. “Deactivate until you are summoned”.
“Of course, your majesty”, the droid quickly replied and rolled away.
Shaka returned his attention back to his son. “I have decided to amend my last will and testament in the event of my demise. Gambolt and Gambolt alone will inherit the throne upon my death. If his death happens to precede my own, then the powers of my throne will pass to Grand Vizier Thoth and the Royal Senate”.
Akuna was too shocked to even know what to say.
Why is he doing this? Was all he could think in his mind. “But father? Why? What did I do to displease you so? I am your son and rightful heir!”
The king’s face was a mask of iron. “You are not fit to rule, Akuna. This is something that I realized even when you were a babe in your crib. Your heart is too soft”.
“That is not fair, father!” Akuna protested. “I have done nothing but what you have commanded me to do. It has always been thus!”
Shaka immediately waved away Akuna’s protests with his hand. “I have spoken. There is nothing more to discuss”, and he left Akuna alone on the terrace.
SERENAH
The villa reserved for the ruler of Ocean Imperial and her brother was every bit impressive as the Summerhill’s suite. Serenah’s well-toned brown body was stretched out on an ergonomic patio chaise lounge chair on the villa’s decorative sun deck. The chair’s computer sensors automatically read the queen’s body structure and adjusted itself accordingly to offer the maximum comfort. Serena wore a sleek one piece white bathing suit that hugged her curves and she happily drank in the sun’s hot rays that bathed her skin. Her thoughts drifted contentedly to her time spent with Akuna.
I am acting like a silly teenaged girl. She chastised herself with a hidden smile. I am ten years older than him.
But nevertheless, Serenah felt a flush of heat reach her skin when she thought of Akuna’s broad back and large hands. It was the first stirrings of attraction to any man that she had felt since Djimon’s death.
Juliana who happened to be standing nearby noticed the glow on her queen’s face. “You appear to be in a very good mood today, my queen”, she commented.
Serenah glanced at her constant companion and personal bodyguard with a smile. “What do you think of Prince Akuna, Juliana?”
Juliana had known Serenah her entire life and knew that how much the queen valued her opinion. So she made it her business to always be as truthful as possible. “The prince of Summerhill seems to be a sturdy individual, your majesty”.
“But he strike you as a trustworthy individual? After all, our two realms have been at odds for centuries”.
Juliana gave the question some thought before replying. “Yes, my queen. The prince definitely came across to me as a man with great integrity”.
Serenah leaned back into the lounge chair and raised her face up to the shining sun. “He does carry himself with a good deal of maturity”, she replied. “For someone so young”.
“Who are we talking about now?” She heard Khon ask from behind her. He was standing at the terrace entrance holding a tall glass of champagne. The villa’s service-droid stood obediently behind him carrying the gold plated bottle of champagne.
Serenah felt her heart sink and the good mood she was in disappear just as the sky darkened when the sun dipped behind a large cloud.
I did not realize that he was still in the house!
The queen was not in the mood for any of Khon’s contentiousness today. It seemed that these days her brother only lived to torment her about any minuscule matter that entered his mind.
“Hello brother”, she greeted him and sat up. The lounger instinctively re-adjusted itself into a sitting position to accommodate her.
Juliana bowed at Khon. “Your nobleness”, she acknowledged him.
Khon ignored the humoid and stood over his sister with smirk on his lips. “Who were speaking of just now, little sister?”
“Juliana and I were discussing Prince Akuna”, she answered. “How it seems to be quite levelheaded for someone so young”.
“He struck me as an empty-headed whelp”, Khon snorted. “Why King Shaka would allow that boy at the helm of such an important meeting is beyond me”.
Why must he always be so negative all of the damn time? She growled to herself. “I thought that Prince Shaka was quite competent and handled himself very professionally”, she replied out loud.
“Of course you do”, her brother sneered back. “I saw the way the two of you exchanged looks”. He drained his flute of champagne and impatiently motioned to the droid for a refill.
Serenah’s brow furrowed and her thick brown lips tightened with displeasure. “Remember whom it is that you address, brother. You forget your place”.
It became obvious to Serenah that Khon was more than slightly inebriated. She watched him finish another glass of champagne in one swallow and signal for another.
The Rajah bowed mockingly at Serenah. “My humblest apologies, your wonderfulness. I beg your forgiveness”.
Serenah glanced over at Juliana and dismissed her with a slight nod. The humoid bowed at her queen and walked off the terrace.
“A bit early in the day to be tipsy is it not, Khon?” The queen asked testily.
Khon ignored his younger sister and drunkenly slopped hi body down into the empty lounge chair beside her.
“This jungle city is too damn hot! I miss the cool ocean air in Blakfalls”, he complained.
“We have only been in Sunburst for two days, Khon. You complain too much about everything”, Serenah retorted. Upset now that Khon had stolen away the good mood she was in.
“T
wo days is too long to be in this sweat box of a shit city”, he replied.
“What do you want, Khon?” Serenah asked him with grit in her voice.
Khon signalled to the droid to once again fill his glass.
“Whatever do you mean, little sister?” He asked cheekily.
“You would not have come out here if you did not have something on your mind that wanted to discuss”, she knew her brother only too well.
“As a matter a fact, there is something that I wished to discuss with you”.
Serenah turned to look Khon in the eyes. “And what is that?”
“There are twenty-one plasma plants worldwide. Of those twenty-one plants, Summerhill controls eleven of them. Ocean Imperial six and Sandstorme has five”, Khon answered.
“What of it?” Serenah questioned.
“Based on this damn peace treaty that you signed. We should use it to our advantage and push Summerhill to transfer ownership of one or more plants to Ocean Imperial”, Khon replied.
“And what is the purpose of asking for that, Khon?”
“Because this so called peace treaty cannot hold, Serenah!” Khon bellowed. “The Three Kingdoms have been at war for far too long and thus it will always be!”
Serenah stood up from her lounger and glared down at her brother. “You are wrong, Khon! Dead wrong! Nothing stays the same forever. The times are changing. And either we change with them or get left behind! I refuse to be left behind by anyone. Do you understand that?!”
Khon drained his glass and waved the droid over for a refill but Serenah snatched the glass from his hand and flung it over the terrace.
“No more drinking for you”, she told him strongly. “Tell Juliana that I have retired to my bedroom”. Serenah stormed off the terrace and entered the house leaving Khon alone with the service-droid and half empty bottle of champagne.
TRANE
Trane sat alone at the bar in his mother’s brothel. A half empty bottle of rum sat next to the tumbler he held in his hand.
I have been drinking a lot more since Heiro’s been gone. He thought soberly and poured himself another drink.
It was deep into the night and The Platinum House was closed to business which was a perfect time for Trane to meet with Inspector Wescroff. The tall green haired Hannix knocked on the glass entrance door from outside.
“Open doors, please”, Trane said a lout. The house central computer recognized his voice and did as he commanded. The front door slid open silently to allow the inspector inside.
“How are you, Trane?” Wescroff asked casually as he pulled off his long black trench coat and tossed it on an empty barstool. He took up the seat beside the young outlaw.
Trane snatched up an empty glass from behind the bar and poured the inspector some rum. “Where are we with the investigation, Wescroff?”
The law enforcement officer downed the rum in big swallow. “That is good shit”, he growled in pleasure.
“Glad you like it. It is from Sandstorme”.
“They make the best rum over there”.
Trane was not in the mood to make polite conversation. “So where are with the investigation?” He asked again.
Wescroff informally poured himself another tumbler of rum but this time took his time to enjoy it. “Not much to to tell you, Trane. I have a few leads out there on the street but nothing has come back so far on who murdered Heiro”, he replied between satisfied sips.
Trane banged his fist on the bar top in frustration. “All the money that I have paid you up until now, Wescroff and you still have nothing?!”
Wescroff shrugged with nonchalance. “What do you what me to say, Trane? Your friend was killed in Woolner Village. Central Division does not have any operable digi-cams in that part of town. There were no witnesses and no clues left at the scene that gave me anything to go on. And Heiro had a lot of enemies. A lot of angry husbands of the wives he was sleeping around with”.
Trane angrily grabbed the lapels of the inspector’s blazer. “What are you saying to me? That Heiro was blasted to death by some woman’s cuckold?!”
Wescroff calmly pulled the young man’s hands away from him and laid them down on the bar. “What I am saying is that without some sort of clue to go on. It may take me some time to figure out who killed your friend”.
Trane nodded in understanding. It finally dawned on him what Wescroff really wanted. He got up from his stool and walked around the bar. There was a small trap door built into the floor. He lifted it up to reveal a hidden safe. The safe’s scanner instantly read his bio-rhythms and popped open. Inside of the safe were neatly piled stacks of colourful credit chips. Trane pulled out four stacks and closed the safe.
“This is enough credit to pay for your three daughter’s university education for the next four years”, Trane told Wescroff and dropped the stacks at the inspector’s feet.
Wescroff looked down at the stacks in disbelief. He had never seen so much currency in his life before. He crouched down and quickly picked up the credit chips and stuffed them greedily into the pockets of his trench coat.
Trane whipped out his blaster from behind his back and stuck it into the inspector’s neck as he was pulling on his coat to leave. “You find out who killed my best friend, inspector and you find out soon. Otherwise I do not give a shit about you being a law enforcement officer. I will make sure you die the same way that Heiro did”.
Wescroff knew that Trane was serious by the look in his eye and decided to hold onto his tongue. He nodded his consent and slowly backed out of the brothel.
ANATH
She rode the king the way that he liked until he climaxed with a thunderous grunt and exploded his seed inside of her.
“The Creator be good, girl”, he exclaimed. “I swear that you will give me a heart attack one day!”
The young girl slid off Shaka’s body and snuggled close beside him in the bed. “I am happy to serve you well, your highness”, she said comely.
Bornu reached for the golden flagon of wine that sat on the night stand. “Is the boarding house to your satisfaction?” He asked the young maiden.
“Yes, your highness. I have everything here that I need. It is actually quite exciting to be in Sunburst City. I have never been here before”, she replied.
King Shaka climbed out of the hotel bed and stretched his big body. “Do not leave this room without my permission, Anath. If the queen were ever to find out that you were here. I am afraid that you would not make it back to the capital in one piece”, he laughed and climbed into the sonic shower.
“Or course, my king”, Anath replied submissively. “I would never do anything against your wishes”.
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One hour later Anath was seated across from Grand Vizier Thoth in a small cafe on the other side of Sunburst City. As far away from the conference centre that one could get.
Instead of his usual garment of long flowing robes, Thoth was dressed in plain grey jumpsuit. Anath had on a pair oversized black sunglasses and black hooded dress to better hide her face.
“Are you quite certain that you were not followed, my dear?” Thoth asked her cautiously. The cafe was a small intimate place perched on a high cliff that overlooked Sunburst Lake.
“Yes, Grand Vizier”, Anath answered. “I was extremely careful. I followed your instructions to the letter”.
“Very good, my dear. Now tell me what you have learned so far”, Thoth steepled his fingers together and leaned forward across the table.
“King Shaka does not trust the pharaoh from Sandstorme nor his sister. And he has no love for the queen of Ocean Imperial nor her brother either”, Anath told the Vizier in confidence.
“Does the king plan to take any action?”
“He told me after we had finished with our sex. That he is thinking now that the peace treaty has been signed, that this would be a good time to launch an assault against Ocean Imperial”.<
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“And why is that?” Thoth asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Because there guard would be down. And he believes that Ocean Imperial would be an easier target than Sandstorme. He thinks that Queen Blakstorme is weak. He does not respect her”, Anath replied.
Thoth took in Anath’s information with a silent nod.