Of Blood and Angels (The Two Moons of Rehnor, Book 3) (14 page)

“You just told me to go away!”  I screamed
and slapped him across the face.  He didn’t stop me.  He didn’t even try to
stop me so obviously he was guilty.  My hand hurt, his cheek was red where I
hit him and still he just stared at me.

“Why do you not trust me?” he asked quietly.

I started to cry.  “Because you didn’t
call me for two months and now you are telling me to go away.  Because after
two months you haven’t even kissed me and you’re acting like you don’t even
want our son.  What am I supposed to think?”

He took off his glasses and pressed his
thumbs against his eyes.  “I don’t know what day it is.  I don’t know what time
it is,” he said hoarsely.  “I don’t know when it was that last I slept.  Nearly
three hundred thousand people work for me on four planets.  Nearly a billion
people are depending on me to straighten out the disaster that Rehnor has
become.  I can’t think straight because my bloody beta protein levels are too
high all the time and now I am a bastard because I am not overjoyed at the
prospect of a son who will be forced to inherit this same fucking mess that I
am in.  Do you really think I would wish this on anyone especially my own son?”

“I never thought of it that way,” I
whispered.

“You never thought because you never
think!  You just pretend that if we ignore it all, it will go away.  It’s not
going away, Katie.  It’s front and center right now!”  He bolted to his feet
and began to pace the cabin, rubbing his temples as he did so.  “Bloody fuck, I
need to fly out of here.”  His hands were shaking and his eyes were flashing
erratically.  “You want to be a Starship Captain, then you had better go back
to space and be it soon because it’s all coming.”

“What are you talking about?”

“The Empire!” he practically screamed. 
“The bloody fucking Empire of Rehnor.  Did you really think it would be just
Rehnor and Andorus?  You can’t fly around being Captain Katie for Alliance when
half the Allied planets will fall on their knees before me.”

“Senya?  I don’t understand anything you
are saying!”

“Kari-fa, Katie!” he stopped before me and
grabbed my arms as if to shake me.  “I don’t understand why He did this.  I
don’t understand who he is.  Is this my punishment because I am as my brothers
claim?”

“What brothers?  You don’t have any
brothers!” I shrieked, fearing that Senya was out of his mind.  “He’s our
baby.  That’s who he is.  This is what happens when you make love without
contraception.  You don’t need God’s help, Senya.  It’s natural!”

“You don’t understand,” he cried and fell
to his knees, still holding my arms.  He pulled me against him and laid his
head upon my breasts.  “You don’t understand.” 

Then, he wanted me.  His hands grabbed at
my tunic, tearing it off me, reaching for my large aching breasts and sucking
hard on a nipple.  He pulled me down to the floor beneath him and shoved up my
skirt.  Briefly, he touched my swollen belly, pushing my legs apart to taste
what lie below.  I wanted him too.  I pulled at his hair and cried his name
when all of a sudden a face appeared right in front of us.

“Good God!” I shrieked.

“Loreck ila kafari me kyrani,
Dickon!"  Senya roared and pushed himself off me.  I scrambled for my
tunic, shoving my skirt back down and pulling the tunic on over my head.

I quickly buttoned up and knotted my
hair.  Then, as composed as I could possibly be under the circumstances, I sat
back down in a seat and reached for my cell, activating the Universal
Translator.  Nonchalantly, I plugged in my ear bud and pretended I was
listening to music.

“I am so terribly, terribly sorry for
interrupting you, Your Royal Highness,” the man cried, looking even more
embarrassed than I felt.  He was an older guy with giant thick glasses and was
wearing one of those fancy robes from the Palace.  “Captain Loman said you were
traveling with Her Royal Highness so I was wondering if perhaps you were
traveling here?”

“Not at the moment.”  Senya lit a
cigarette.  He started pacing the room again and rubbing his temples.  His
voice was hoarse and I could see he was weary.  “We are going back to Rozari as
you know from my schedule.”

“Yes, Sir,” Dickon replied calmly and
watched Senya pace with a sort of parental concern.  “I thought perhaps you
might change your schedule in light of the hearing.”

“I am dismissing that hearing,” Senya
said.  “I am dismissing the whole case.  Did I not tell you this already,
Dickon?"

“Yes, Sir.  Well, unfortunately, the
Supreme Court believes that they are the ultimate authority in judicial matters
even if they do affect a member of the Royal Family.  Being that two members
were involved…”

“I will speak to the Chief Justice now.”
Senya sighed.  He stopped his pacing and took a long drag on his cigarette, all
the while rubbing the back of his neck with one hand.

“Yes, Sir.”  The screen went blank for a
moment.

“Come here,” I beckoned.  “Let me give you
your migraine massage.”  He came over and sat down on the floor in front of me
so I could reach his shoulders.  I started to knead and press the tightly
knotted muscles in the back of his neck and shoulder blades. 

“What's going on?” I asked.  “What court
case?”

He shook his head.  “Nothing important. 
Just one aggravation after another.  I am sorely in need of a massage elsewhere
having been interrupted so abruptly.”

“I’ll do that too as soon as you finish
your call,” I whispered into his ear as the screen lit up again and now Captain
Loman, another gentleman, and Dickon all appeared.  Captain Loman raised his
eyebrows at Senya on the floor.

“Your Royal Highness.”  They all nodded to
Senya.  “Madame.”

“The hearing and the entire case against
Her Royal Highness, the MaKani, has been cancelled,” Senya said.  “I have
already communicated this to you, Lord Justice, have I not?  I am very
distressed that you appear to be disobeying my order.”

I moved my thumbs up in circles beneath
Senya’s ears.  Hold on, I thought, I am Her Royal Highness, the MaKani, aren't
I?  Was somebody suing me?

“Well, Sir,” the Lord Justice cleared his
throat and spoke.  “I am sorry you are distressed but cancelling the case is
simply not something that you can do.  I am sure you are aware that the law
trumps all men including those designated as our rulers.”

“Mr. Yakigri,” Senya said and turned his
head a little, indicating that I should work on the left side now.  “I am
disbanding your court.  You are no longer Chief Justice.”

All three men on the vid opened their
mouths.  I gasped too.

“You are not a dictator," Yakigri
stated.  “You cannot do this!”

“Actually, I can and I do,” Senya
replied.  “Thank you, Kate.  That will be enough.”  I removed my hands and he
clambered to his feet. 

“As far as I am concerned,” Yakigri
continued, narrowing his eyes at us.  “This case and all cases against you and
your Human still stand and I will hear them in my court.  I will do everything
in my power to see that you never become King of Mishnah, Sehron de Kudisha. 
The biggest mistake King Yokaa ever made was allowing you to be conceived.”

“Does your chest hurt, Mr. Yakigri?” Senya
inquired, taking the seat next to me and pulling out his netbook.

“What?”

“Your chest?  It hurts now, quite
painfully, does it not?”  Senya opened his email client and didn’t ever bother
to look up at the vid.  I did though and I watched Yakigri clutch his chest and
his face turn grey.

“You have four blocked arteries,” Senya
said, finally deigning to look up at the man.  “Your fifth is 90% blocked, as
well.  If you do not get to a hospital immediately, you will have a massive
heart attack and you will die.”

“That's a lie,” Yakigri gasped.  “My heart
is fine.”

“No, no.  “Senya shook his head.  “You
have quite a severe case of arterial sclerosis.  Too many cigarettes.”  Senya
lit his own cigarette and took a long drag on it.  “Too much booze.  Too many
fatty foods.  Too much stress.  You should have taken better care of yourself,
Yakigri.  You only get this one life.”

“Senya!” Loman snapped.  “Stop this!”

“Loman, call the gentleman a medic before
he dies there in front of us.  Dickon, you heard me.  The Supreme Court is
disbanded and all Justices are dismissed.  Within twenty-four hours, I want
dossiers on all elected and appointed judges and magistrates everywhere in
Mishnah.”  Senya blew out a cloud of grey smoke, obscuring his face for a
moment.

“Will there be a new court, Sir?” Dickon
asked quietly.

“Yes, but for now, all justices will be
appointed by me.”

“We shall have a court of Karut savages,”
Yakigri coughed clutching his chest.

“No,” Senya shook his head.  “We shall
have a court of judges who are principled, moral and adhere to the law above
all else.  I have no tolerance for politicians and fools like you.  Too bad you
couldn’t know that when you became Akan's lackey on the bench.  That will be
all Yakigri.”  Yakigri’s face disappeared from the view.

“Did you kill him?” Loman demanded.

“No,” Senya replied.  “I have promised my
wife to try to refrain from killing people and breaking things.  Did you summon
a medic for him?  He has got only about ten minutes.”

“I'm doing it,” Loman grumbled.

“Oh, and Loman,” Senya added.  “Do not
tell me again to 'stop it'.”

Loman looked up and stared at Senya.  His
eyes flicked to me.

“Your Royal Highness,” Loman nodded,
lowering his eyes and bowing his head.

“Sir, do you wish to discuss the budget
proposal for the Dark Continent now?” Dickon asked brightly as if he were
oblivious to what just happened.

“Later,” Senya replied.  “Ring me later.” 
The vid went dark.  Senya turned to me.  I didn’t feel like doing any more
massaging.  In fact, I was chilled through my bones.  He lifted his chin and
nodded toward the stateroom in the back.  “Go take a nap.”

When I woke up, the spaceplane had landed
on the runway outside our house.  I returned to the main cabin and grabbed my
bag.  The pilots and flight attendant emerged and stood by the door.  Senya was
in the same seat I had left him in and was still working on his netbook.

“Ring Berkan and Thad,” he ordered the vid
and a moment later a very hassled looking Berkan appeared.  There were people
around him as if he were in the midst of a meeting.  Thad was in his office
drinking a soda.

“Your Royal Highness,” Berkan said, bowing
his head and nodding to me.  “Madame.”

“Hey Ron, what's up?” Thad called.  “Hi
Kate.”

“I have had a thought on the propulsion
system,” Senya said.  “Berkan, get the engineering team together for a meeting
as soon as I arrive.  We're going to rework the entire process.”

“Ah, seriously?” Thad moaned.

Berkan rubbed his temples.  “Ok,” he
sighed.  “When are you coming?”

“Thad, I will come get you now.  I need
about an hour in my office and then we will depart Rozari.”

“Ok, boss,” Thad said.  “Got my bag packed
as always and ready to roll.”

“I just got a text from my dad saying the
case against Katie has been dropped,” Berkan announced.  “In a manner of
speaking.”

“The whole Supreme Court has been
dropped,” Senya replied.  "In a manner of speaking."

“Yeah, well, that's what they get for
trying to go after Katie for murdering Akan,” Thad laughed.  “They just didn’t
know who they were messing with."

“They are finding this out now,” Senya
replied softly.

"My dad also said not to piss you
off."  Berkan looked at his cell. “You seem a bit unstable.”

"Oops," Thad said.  "Better
get my feet off the desk and sit up straighter."

Berkan sighed again.  “Are you unstable,
Senya?”

“I am always unstable, Berk.  Everyone
should be advised not to piss me off.”

The vid went dark again.

Senya turned back to his netbook and then
a moment later looked up as if he just remembered I was there.

“Do you wish to come?”

I shook my head.  My heart was stuck in my
throat.  When I ransomed Akan's guards, he was so angry I thought he was going
to kill me where I stood.  He had never yelled at me like that before, he had
never spoken to me in that tone.  I thought it was because of me and what I had
done.  It was my fault.  I blamed myself.  Now I could see that it was him.  He
was turning back into the evil prince right before my very eyes.  He was not
the least bit unstable.  He knew exactly what he was doing and why.  And now,
because Akan was dead because I had killed him, Senya was already ruling
Rehnor.

“No, thank you, Sir,” I spat and threw my
bag over my shoulder.  “I don't want to go there.” 

I walked off the plane into the dark and
empty house.  Even though it was warm outside, the house was cool like a
mausoleum.  I went up the three flights of stairs to our bedroom and threw my
bag on the floor.  I could hear the spaceplane lift off again.  I climbed under
the blankets and stared out at the beach.  Five years.  That's all we had and
now Rehnor had claimed him again.  It made me incredibly sad.