Tagan's Child

by ammyford1

  Just as I finished rubbing cream into the backs of his legs, one of the bodyguards leapt in front of us. Both Toby and I looked up in surprise. Three boys had been kicking a ball about nearby and the ball had come flying in our direction. The bodyguard intercepted it and threw it back. He spoke to the boys sharply. His tone struck me as a little unnecessary, they had only been having a bit of fun. The group of boys quickly moved away. I frowned at our overzealous bodyguard and he looked back at me, his face expressionless as he reassumed his position on some nearby rocks. Was this close surveillance really necessary? Our minders for the day had obviously been well briefed. The King wasn’t taking any chances with Toby’s safety.

  Toby returned to his hole and was starting to make some headway. My thoughts drifted to Bazeera’s palace and an image of Ahran strapped to a chair, beaten to a pulp. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. After witnessing what Bazeera’s men had been capable of, the King had every reason to protect his grandson so rigorously. However, what bothered me more, was that the image of Ahran battered and bruised made my heart ache for him. I sat on the picnic mat and watched Toby’s progress. What kind of sick and twisted woman felt like that about her sister’s killer? I felt so confused. Perhaps some strenuous exercise might help. “I’m going to have a dip,” I said, getting up. “Are you coming?”

  “No, its okay,” he said, without looking up. “I’ve just got to… dig… a bit… deeper,” he said realising his hole wasn’t quite deep enough to conceal him.

  I ran into the cool water hoping the contrast in temperature might shock some sense into me. I shivered as I glided into breast stroke position and then powered out some front crawl strokes. After ten minutes of considerable exertion I made my way out of the water not sure I was feeling any better. Toby was hunkered down in his hole, surveying the landscape for any potential threat.

  “You’ve done well there.”

  “Yeah,” he said as he stood up looking around for his spade. “I’m just going to make more of a mound around the edge,” he said distractedly. “Can you see my spade?”

  “There,” I said, pointing to a handle sticking up out of the pile of spoil he had created.

  He retrieved it and carried on digging and I smiled at his determination.

  I dried myself off, feeling energised after my swim but my feelings for Ahran showed no signs of improvement. I sat down in frustration. Maybe avoiding him was not the solution. Maybe I should give him the chance to explain. Isn’t that what they sometimes did back home when the perpetrator was given the opportunity to apologise to their victim? Perhaps that would give me some closure and I would be able to move on. But the thought of facing him sent my stomach into all sorts of contortions. No, staying away from him was the only course of action for now. I sighed and picked up two buckets and another spade.

  “Hey, how about putting some turrets on your defence?” I suggested, making my way over to Toby and handing him a bucket. We set about filling them with sand.

  “I know your stay here so far has been new and exciting but how do you feel about staying here more long term?” I said, striking up the conversation about Toby’s future.

  “I don’t know, I guess it would be alright if you lived here too.”

  I sat back on my heels and stopped what I was doing. “I’m not sure I can do that Tobes.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because I’ve got the shop to run and friends back on Earth.”

  “Can’t they come and visit you here?”

  “No one back home can ever know about Ramia.”

  “Why not?” he asked.

  “You need to understand that it would be very serious if our government, or anyone for that matter, were to find out about Ramia. No one at home knows that a race of superhumans exists, it would only be a matter of time before they would travel to this beautiful world with all the amazing things it has to offer and that is something Ramians absolutely do not want. It would probably cause some kind of war.”

  “What like World War III?”

  “Maybe,” I speculated.

  “Oh.” The implications of what I was saying began to dawn on him.

  “Nor can anyone find out about you. You are very special because you are half human and half Ramian, you have special abilities that scientists back home would be very keen to find out about. Everyone would want to be like you, to run like you, to never get sick like you. You would never be able to live a normal life again.” I didn’t want to scare him but I wanted him to understand the gravity of the situation.

  “So I’ll have to stay here then.”

  “For the time being, yes. But I hope one day, when Bazeera is no longer a threat, you will be able to come home to visit.”

  Toby started to cry. “So I won’t be able to see Adam and my friends at school and Auntie Audrey?” he asked through his tears.

  My heart went out to him. He had been torn from everything and everyone he knew. I put my arms around him. “You will be able to one day, I promise. And for the time being you’ve still got me.”

  “But you said you won’t be able to live here.”

  “Probably not, but I will be able to visit as often as I can.” I was trying to offer him anything that would comfort him. “And you’ve got two grandparents that love you very much, that’s something you don’t have at home, and I’m sure that you will be able to have Mungo here.” I wasn’t sure, but I would have promised him the world if it made him feel any better.

  “You have an incredible future ahead of you Toby. I pulled away from him so I could look into his eyes. “You are going to be King one day, imagine that. You will have so many opportunities and new experiences that no child on Earth will ever have. You mustn’t be sad you should think of yourself as very, very lucky.”

  It was at this point that it struck me. Toby was far better off in Ramia than on Earth. What more could someone want for a child? It no longer seemed to matter whether he would come back home, the best thing for Toby was for him to build a new life for himself here. I would have to learn to live a different life too. One where I wasn’t his guardian, I would relinquish that responsibility to Halsan and Leylana and somehow I would build a life on my own. On the one hand, I felt happy he had such a wonderful life ahead of him, but on the other hand I felt more scared than I had ever felt before. I would be completely alone.

  Toby’s tears subsided whilst I fought tears of my own.

  “I suppose I could make new friends here.”

  “Yes of course you will,” I said, struggling to contain my emotion.

  “But I won’t be the fastest runner at school anymore, will I?”

  I laughed as a tear dripped down both my cheeks. “You never know,” I said, sweeping a curl away from his face.

  “Don’t cry Auntie Sophie.” I hugged him close to me. My own future didn’t look nearly so bright.

  “I’m hungry, can we have some food now?” he asked, pulling away.

  “Yes sure,” I replied, using the palms of my hands to hastily wipe away my tears.

  “Let’s see what we’ve got shall we?” I said as breezily as I could. I opened the lid of the picnic basket. Unsurprisingly, there was an array of delicious food, cold meats, mini pies, fresh fruit and the most sumptuous looking mini cream cakes, carefully packaged in their own individual boxes. “One thing’s for sure, you’ll never go hungry here,” I laughed.

  Toby tucked in and I managed to eat some fruit.

  I looked across at my beloved nephew and had an epiphany. I wasn’t losing him, I was allowing him to become what he was destined to become. It would have been selfish and wrong of me to stand in his way. Katie always wanted the best for him. This way wasn’t he getting more than she could have ever dreamed of? As for me, the one thing I had come to realise was that life never stood still. One of life’s certainties was change. It was only pessimists who thought change was always a bad thing. Maybe my life would turn out better than I feared.

  I watched Tob
y tuck into a well filled roll. I felt as if a big weight had been lifted off my shoulders, I no longer had to worry about what would become of Toby or fret that the only family he had was me. Miraculously we had discovered a warm and loving family, who not only happened to be well-placed but were royalty. It was the stuff of dreams. Okay, the fact they were super-human presented some problems, it’s not every day you discover your long lost relatives are from some master-race who live on a completely different planet but hey, that’s what life is. Unpredictable. What mattered was that whatever happened to me, Toby would never be alone and that had settled one of my biggest fears.

  Toby laid down on the rug next to me. “I’m stuffed.”

  “I’m not surprised, it’s not that long since we ate lunch,” I chuckled.

  I settled down on my front.

  “Ooh that feels good,” I said, enjoying the feel of the sun on my back, I closed my eyes. I was starting to feel more relaxed than I had felt in a while.

  “Auntie Sophie?”

  “Mmm,” I responded without opening my eyes.

  “Did you have an argument with uncle Ahran?”

  I sighed and propped my head up on my elbow.

  “What makes you think that?”

  “The night you left, you looked really angry and then I saw uncle Ahran and he looked really unhappy.”

  Kids always understood more than you gave them credit for.

  “We...we had a disagreement.”

  “Is he your boyfriend?”

  I snorted. “No, he’s not my boyfriend.”

  “When he took me to see his farm he said he didn’t expect me to understand but he was sorry, what did he mean?”

  “I’m not sure what he meant.” What was he apologising for? Did he feel responsible for me leaving or was he saying sorry because of his role in Katie’s death? I felt angry he’d said anything to Toby, he was a smart boy and saying something cryptic like that was bound to have him asking questions.

  “I wouldn’t mind if he was your boyfriend, if that’s what you are worried about.”

  If things had been different, I would have appreciated Toby’s blessing, but unfortunately, after what Ahran had done, we could never be together.

  Chapter 30

  When we arrived back at the palace Leylana was there to greet us at the door and looking relieved we had returned in one piece. “Ah! There you both are, I was beginning to wonder where you were,” she said.

  I understood how she felt. I knew what it was like to say goodbye to someone never to see them again. I bet a day never went by without her thinking about her son and what might have been. I knew I would always wonder whether Katie would still be here if Toby hadn’t gone to that party. Leylana had found a grandson she never knew she had and he was all she had left of her son, she wasn’t going to let him out of her sight easily.

  “Did you have fun?”

  “Yeah,” Toby replied

  “We had a lovely time and thank you for the picnic,” I said.

  “You are welcome. Halsan has gone to the stud but will be back at seven for dinner. Please feel free to use the sauna and pool and relax in the meantime.”

  Staying here really was no hardship. “Yes that sounds nice. Would you like to join me?” I thought it might be nice to get to know her a bit better.

  She looked a little taken aback by my suggestion. I think the idea I might want her company hadn’t occurred to her and she hesitated. “Yes, I think I will,” she replied, accepting my offer.

  “Toby, are you going to join us?” I asked.

  “No thanks, Sulaan is teaching me the Ramian version of chess, I’ve beaten him twice already,” he said with a big grin.

  Leylana and I laughed.

  “Sulaan is a sore loser,” she said. “I’ll meet you at the pool in twenty minutes?”

  “Er, okay, although I’m not sure I know how to get there,” I confessed.

  “I’ll show you Auntie Sophie,” Toby said with exaggerated patience.

  He made me smile.

  When I was ready, he escorted me to the pool and then left to challenge Sulaan. The pool room was beautiful. It had a huge vaulted glass ceiling and exquisite murals of reclining Greek gods, goddesses and cherubic children dancing in circles adorning its walls. It was like being transported to the Uffizi in Florence. I still had my swimsuit on from the beach so I took a shower to wash off the sand. The warm water smarted on my skin. I had caught a little bit too much sun. I picked up a white fluffy robe, one of several hanging by the shower, and made my way back to the pool. I draped it on one of the reclining sun loungers and slipped into the water, it was cool against my hot skin but it felt good. I started to swim lengths. The last time I’d been for a run was before Toby was kidnapped, I hadn’t done any regular physical exercise since then and I could feel it in my muscles. Visiting Toby would be a good opportunity to regain some fitness, I thought to myself. I settled into a fairly swift pace and was reminded how therapeutic exercise could be. When I exerted myself I was able to clear my mind and quieten the constant chatter in my head, not to mention that when I was gainfully occupied it stopped my thoughts straying into dangerous Ahran territory.

  I glided to a halt at one end as Leylana came into the pool room, wearing a scarlet swimsuit and matching sarong around her waist. She was a beautiful woman with a to-die-for figure and wouldn’t have looked out of place in a Miss World competition. I’d be more than happy if I looked like that at her age. No wait, I would never look like that at her age, I would look old and wrinkly. Now that was a depressing thought.

  Leylana entered the pool and began to swim gracefully.

  “The water feels cool.”

  “It’s nice. I had a bit too much sun today.”

  “You must be careful, the sun is strong here and your pale skin will burn easily,” she warned.

  Our voices echoed around the pool room as we spoke and swam.

  “Its winter back home and we didn’t have much of a summer this year so it must be two years since my body has seen any sun,” I said. “What are your winters like here?”

  “We don’t really have one. The rains come for about six weeks and the temperature drops then, but mostly it is dry and warm.”

  “So you never have snow?”

  “Not here. It’s different up in the mountains of course.”

  I swam a few more lengths and by the time I had finished I was out of breath. “I think that’s me done,” I said, climbing out of the pool.

  Leylana was still gliding her way through the water not showing any signs of tiring. “I’m just going to do a few more.”

  I retrieved my gown and wrapped myself in it before sitting down on one of the two recliners. I picked up a magazine from the coffee table between the two chairs and started to flick through it. It must have been the Dinaran equivalent of Homes and Gardens and I marvelled at the beautiful homes displayed in it. They had a Scandinavian look about them and all were tastefully furnished with gardens that bore a distinct resemblance to some of the show gardens I’d seen at the Chelsea Flower show.

  Leylana got out of the pool and put on one of the robes. She came and sat on the recliner next to me. “That feels good,” she said. “I like to swim.”

  “Yes me too.”

  “I hope your stay this time has been a little less traumatic than last time.”

  For a moment I thought she was referring to mine and Ahran’s parting of ways but I guessed she meant the search for Toby. “Yes, not an experience I would like to repeat in a hurry,” I confirmed.

  “You have great courage, Sophie, I’m not sure many Ramians would have done what you did.”

  “Ahran was an able bodyguard.” No matter what I thought of him now, he had saved my life on a number of occasions and I would always be thankful to him for that.

  “From what he told us, you did a good job of taking care of yourself,” she said.

  I quickly repressed the feeling of conceited happiness the thought of Ahr
an’s admiration stirred. “I didn’t have much choice. I think Toby was the bravest one of us all.”

  Leylana nodded in agreement. “He is a remarkable little boy. You and your sister have done a very good job of raising him.”

  Her compliment made me feel self-conscious. “I’m not sure I can take any credit for Toby’s good upbringing.”

  “You do yourself an injustice, Sophie, Toby talks of you with great love and affection.”

  After much self-doubt about whether I was any good as a parent it felt good to be told that.

  “Tell me, what was his mother like?” Leylana settled back onto the recliner.

  I pictured Katie and couldn’t keep the smile from my face. “She was a very kind and caring person. She pretty much brought me up. When my father died my mother went to pieces and found it very difficult to cope with two children. It was my sister who made sure my nose was wiped and my school uniform was ironed.”

  “You must miss her very much.”

  “I do, I still can’t quite believe she’s gone.”

  Her eyes took on a distant look. “Yes, I don’t think you ever get over the loss of someone you love.”

  “You’re right.” I hesitated. “Katie may not have known your son for very long but I think she loved him. I could never quite forgive him for leaving her with a baby but for some reason she never held it against him. She would never have a bad word said against him.”

  This pleased the Queen. “Tagan was... ‘charis-matic’, is that the right word?”

  I nodded.

  “Yes, he was very charismatic. Ever since he was a little boy he was always popular and had lots of friends although he and Ahran were inseparable. They used to make my hair go grey at the things they got up to.”

  I smiled inwardly. I couldn’t imagine Leylana ever having grey hairs but I understood her sentiment. It was easy to picture two adventurous boys making camps, climbing trees and getting up to mischief. I was beginning to realise I would never be able to avoid Ahran here, the King and Queen thought too much of him, and so, just as I was coming to terms with Toby’s future, I was also becoming more resigned that, sooner or later, I was going to come across Ahran. I could never forgive him for what he had done but I could learn to accept that many people thought highly of him and that avoiding him was going to be nigh on impossible.