The Days of the Golden Moons (The Two Moons of Rehnor, Book 5) (13 page)

Chapter 24

Katie

“Come,”
they said and pulled my hands.  I was about to step from the dock, through the
mist and into my father’s boat, which beckoned me from the golden lake.

“No!”
Senya cried and grabbed me about the waist.  “No! No!”

“Come
with us, Sister,” the men called, their honeyed voices sweet and tempting.

“No!”
 Senya held me fast, pulling me back even as they pulled me forward.  “They are
not who you think they are.  They are not your brothers."

"We
have come to take you home.”

Instantly,
it became hot.  The golden lake steamed and then erupted into flames.  My
father’s boat exploded into a blaze before my eyes.  The fire ate at the sails,
turning them from cottony white to thick black ash.  The ash plumed upward as
the wind took it, stoking the flames, spreading them from the water to the dock
on which I was standing.  The dock turned liquid like molten gold lava, searing
my feet, spreading the fire throughout my body. 

I
pulled my hands away from the strange men who themselves had turned into dark red
creatures.  The fire continued to lick at my skin curdling and burning it as I
watched helplessly in horror.  I screamed as my flesh melted away, my bones
charred and turning to dust, my body disappearing even as I stood there.

“Stay
with me,” Senya called and pressed his hands against me, restoring my flesh and
healing my skin.  I wrapped my arms around his neck, clutching him tightly as great
dark wings took us from this place, back into the mist and the gentle fog which
cooled us and saved us from the burning fires.

“Now
you understand why I hate water,” he said.

I
opened my eyes a tiny crack and my head pounded.  My vision swirled, and my
stomach heaved though it was empty.  I shut my eyes again tightly.

“Just
a moment, Madame,” a voice said and a second later the swirling stopped.  “I’m
going to adjust your meds a little bit.”  My headache immediately started to
subside. 

“That
was hell.  Where am I now?” 

“You're
in the infirmary in the Mobile Command Center, Lass.”  I recognized Reggie’s
voice.  “Got yerself banged up a bit, you did.”

“A
concussion, Madame,” the first voice replied.  I could see him now.  He was a
nurse.

“Senya?”

“HIM
was here a few hours ago,” the nurse said.  “He said you'll be fine.  You’re to
get some rest and eat something more substantial than berries.  When you feel
better, you are to return to the village.”

“Are
we still in Karupatani?”

“Yes,
Madame,” Reggie replied.  “We're set up in the landing area.  Telix and Lanaka
are here with me just in case you need anything.”

“Do
I have hands?”  I held them up and looked at them.  They were scratched but not
burnt, all fingers intact.  Reggie and the nurse exchanged glances.

“Do
you feel like some dinner, Madame?”  The nurse frowned at the monitor above my
head and adjusted some settings. 

“Definitely,”
I cried.  “I'm starving.”

The
next day I was feeling much better, so I got out of bed.  I showered and dressed
and then headed back down to the village as I had been ordered to do. 

I
didn’t want to run away again.  Frankly, I was tired, and I ached all over.  I
was definitely too old for this.  Besides that, something had happened to me
beyond a concussion.  Every time I looked at my hands, I saw the flesh burning
and then Senya placing his own hands upon them and restoring them to normal. 

Maybe
I had eaten some poisonous berries which gave me hallucinations, compounding
the concussion.  Maybe they had dosed me with Vicodin, not realizing I was
allergic.  Or maybe, there was something else weird going on.  I wanted to
speak to the Evil Emperor and see if I could find a trace of the Senya that I
had imagined rescuing me from the burning lake. 

If
I did find him, if he was really there inside, I was resolved to chip away at
him until I could get that façade to crumble.  Then maybe, if I was lucky, I
would get my husband back.

The
house was quiet as I entered though I could hear muffled voices from the office
upstairs.  I headed to the kitchen and looked in the fridge, taking inventory. 
Eggs.  Lots of them.  At least this much hadn’t changed.  Also, there was an
untouched casserole of some kind of mystery meat, berries, apples, milk and
mineral water. 

Taking
out some eggs, I set them to hard boil, and found what looked and smelled like
mayonnaise and a fresh loaf of bread in a bread box.  In short order, I had four
egg salad sandwiches, one of which I practically inhaled standing there.  The
other three, I put on a plate and along with a bottle of water, I headed
upstairs. 

I
entered the office as if this were something I had been doing every day for the
last ten years, glancing briefly at the men's faces on the vids suspended from
the ceiling.  I didn’t recognize either of them.  One raised his eyebrows as I
came into view and the other looked a bit taken aback.  Ignoring them, I set
the plate of sandwiches down on the desk next to the netbook upon which His
Imperial Majesty, Emperor of all things Rehnor and otherwise sat pounding while
both of the vid men attempted to converse with him. 

“Lunchtime,”
I whispered, turning on the desk lamp as the room was rather dark.  Then I
left.

I
spent the rest of the afternoon chatting on the vid with Shika, my mother,
Caroline, and Luci who had arranged a quick presser. 

Sitting
on the sofa in front of the fire, dressed in my Karupatani best, I gave a quick
interview, telling all and sundry out there in vid land, how wonderful it was
to be back in the Empire and how HIM and I were enjoying our reunion by having
a quiet little vacation here.  I deftly defrayed their questions and smile
noncommittally like the best politician.  Luci applauded me when we are done.

“Good
show, Madame,” she cried.  “You remembered exactly how to handle them, and your
Mishnese is much better than before.”

“You
and Berk really need a vacation too.”  I insisted before I signed off. 
“Promise me no more pressers or anything until we get back to the Palace in a
few weeks.”

“Oh
no worries,” Luci said.  “We're off to our estate in Korelesk.  Fancy that,
I've never even seen it!  This should be quite fun.  Oh and no worries about
your mother either.  I've given her your Andorian servants Noka and Kira, and
they will take most excellent care of her.”

“Perfect,”
I replied, certain that my mother would get along fabulously with a couple of
blue, three-breasted Andorian nurses who had previously worked in an insane
asylum.  “Goodbye Luci.  Enjoy your vacation.”

It
was raining outside again.  I could hear it pattering on the rooftop and
splashing against the windows.  It had gotten very dark too, and the trees were
leaning as the wind blew through them.  I watched them from the couch where I had
not moved since the presser.  My legs ached, and for a moment I rubbed these
old scars.  I had no memory of where they came from but knew it had something
to do with the spaceplane accident. 

I
should have gotten up and made dinner, but I was too tired.  An old Karupta man
came in at some point and asked me in Mishnese if I wanted anything to eat.  He
brought me some of that casserole which I had previously shunned but heated and
hungry, it wasn’t that bad.  He took some upstairs as well and returned a while
later with empty plates and glasses.

“Would
you like anything else, MaKani?” he asked, and when I said no, he bowed and left
the house again. 

The
fire burned down to embers reminding me of the burning lake hallucination.  I
tried to put it out of my mind, but it was always there and as hot as it had
been in that dream, the memory of it left me cold in the marrow of my bones. 

Curling
up on the couch with a blanket, I considered going back upstairs.  I was a
little surprised and disappointed that Senya hadn’t come downstairs to greet me
all day.  After being gone for nearly ten years, we still hadn’t even said
hello. 

Maybe
I was delusional after all.  Did I really think that feeding him was going to
change things?  He was the Evil Emperor no matter how many egg salad sandwiches
I put in front of him.  Maybe Senya really was gone.  I stared into the dying
fire until eventually fell asleep.

When
next I awoke it was early morning, around dawn, and the rain still pummeled the
rooftops.  For a moment, I wasn’t sure where I was, and in the shadowy grey
light of the living room and I couldn’t remember why I was here either.  This
confusion didn’t last long though. 

Pulling
myself to my feet, I headed upstairs.  The bedroom was empty, the bed made and
unused.  Across the hall, I quietly pulled upon the door to the office.  The
desk lamp was on as I had left it the afternoon before and Senya was asleep
upon the sofa, covered in a blanket, snoring softly. 

I
turned out the light and then I studied him in the dark shadows of the room. 
He looked older with lines around his eyes, too.  His beard had a fair amount
of grey, no, not grey, silver.  His hair was mostly black still, except for a
band of shiny silver near his temples. 

Leave
it to Senya to grow silver hair.  The rest of us got old and grey while he turned
silver and even more beautiful. 

I
never was a match for him.  I was now as I had always been plain old Katie Anne
Golden while he was as he had always been, this extraordinary creation.

His
breathing shifted and grew quiet.  He was awake.

“Sorry
to bother you,” I whispered and headed out of the room. 

I
went into the bedroom to freshen up.  Another delightful day in Karupatani was about
to unfold.  Sitting down on the bed, I considered my options.  I could go back
to Derius.  My beach shack was probably still vacant although they might have
turned into a tourist attraction with a big sign pointing down the beach and
reading,

“Here was the home of the former Empress Katie before
she got sentenced to eternity in the Tower.”

Alternatively,
I could go back to Mishnah resigned to my fate.  If the Evil Emperor wanted to
lock me away in the tower, I had no choice but to accept it.  The handwriting
was clearly on the wall.  He would rather hide in his office or sleep on a sofa
then come downstairs to greet me.  He didn’t even bother to thank me for making
his favorite lunch. 

Obviously,
he didn’t want me around.  Any thought of him coming to rescue me from Hell’s
fiery water was clearly a figment of my overactive imagination and concussed
brain.  Maybe even, I had been bitten by the talking snake and didn't realize
it. 

I
was destined to be locked away like other ancient mad Mishnese Queens and come
to think of it, that just might be the best place for me.  I suspected the
Tower doors were probably the only ones that my bracelets were keyed to open.

A
shadow fell across the room and I looked up to see him standing in the doorway.

“You
do not have to stay here.  You may go back to Mishnah today if you wish.”  He spoke
formally using the royal pronouns. 

“Do
you want me to go back, Sir?” I replied, equally as formally and rising to my
feet. 

I
considered kneeling but decided against it.  The way my knees were creaking, I
might not be able to get back up.  At the risk of getting a window pane in my
skull, I defiantly stood.  I had nothing to lose at this point anyway. 
Frankly, the window pane might be a better option than the Tower.

“What
I want, and what you do is not necessarily the same thing, Madame.”

“Well,
I guess the same can be said for what I want and what you do, Sir.  Clearly I
did not want to be shut away in an insane asylum for eight years so that you
could take over the galaxy in my absence.” 

“That
was not my choice,” he said evenly. 

“Well,
whose decision was it, Sir?” 

“At
least you were asleep, Madame,” he replied.  “I was awake.  Every moment of
every day, I was awake and living through it while you were blissfully unaware…”

“Of
my own name.”  I finished for him.  “How could you do this to me?  I thought
you loved me at one time.”

“I
told you to stay.  You left me.”  He turned and limped across the hall.

“What
the hell happened to you?  Why are you limping?”  I raced after him, but the
door slammed shut in my face.

“Senya!”
I yelled and pounded on the door.  “Senya!  Open up!”  I pushed the door open. 
That was dumb of me.  It wasn’t even locked.  I stormed into the room anyway.

 He
was leaning on his desk breathing hard and clutching his leg.

 “Are
you alright?”

“No!”
he snapped.  “Do I look like I'm alright?  Kari-fa!”