The Days of the Golden Moons (The Two Moons of Rehnor, Book 5) (22 page)

“She
promises she’ll come see y’all as soon as possible,” Caroline cried hurrying
out the door.  “I'll make sure that we keep you busy seeing the sights in the
meantime.”

“Let's
go take a walk on the beach,” Gina suggested after we were stuffed to the gills
with dessert.

“Great
idea,” Janet agreed.

“Oh,
no, no,” Noka said as we all stood around trying to figure out which hallway would
take us outside.  “No one can go on this beach.”

“Why
the hell not?” Tim growled. 

“The
beach is closed, Dad,” Thad replied, leading us back to our building.  “We can wander
around the gardens here instead.  Tomorrow we can go walk in Old Mishnah.  It's
quaint now if a little bit touristy.  We can take the full guided tour, and you
can hear all about how Ron raised himself on the streets until he was twelve.”

“You
can even visit the shrine to his old mutt dog,” Kira remarked.

“But
we can't go out on the beach now?” Gina whined.

“The
beach belongs to HIM,” Kira smirked.  “Nobody goes out there but Them.”

“But
why?” Gina protested.

“The
beach is secured,” Thad said.  “It is the only place outside of the Big House
building and Karupatani where Ron can go without a security contingent.  He
can't even come over into this building.  It's just a beach, Gina.  I’ll buy
you one at home.  If you can’t wait, we can take a speeder and go to a public
beach tomorrow.  I think there’s a half way decent nude one just north of here.”

“Do
you always have to be such a smart ass, Thad?” Gina asked.

“That’s
Lord Thad to you, Lady Thad,” he replied and reached for her.  She squealed and
raced into their apartment. 

As
I climbed up and into our huge bed that night, I wondered what it must feel
like to be surrounded by security at all times.  I thought about Ron with his
bare feet up on his desk, smoking a cigarette with only me and Janet to bother
him.  I recalled all the times when he stood listening to a patient, nodding
his head and assuring everyone  of them that he could fix whatever was wrong. 
I remembered him too as Senya, the first time I saw him huddled in the corner
of the hospital room, the rose bud he made for me out of his shoe lace, his
delighted expression when I bought him some new shirts and a sandwich for
lunch.

“What
are you thinking about,” Tim mumbled instead of snoring.

“Senya,”
I said.

“HIM?”
Tim harrumphed. 

“No,
not HIM,” I replied.  “Just Senya.”

We
took the Old Mishnah walking tour and visited the streets that Ron grew up on. 
We left a dog biscuit at the statue of Brownie the Mutt.  We visited the new
site of the Old Mishnah Sainted Ladies Orphan Home. 

Located
on one of the poshest streets in Old Mishnah, a former tenement building had
been converted to a beautiful adoption facility.  Next door, the adjacent
building served as a temporary residence for children and families being
treated at the nearby SdK hospital.  Both establishments were owned and
operated as charities by a formerly Sainted Lady named Meri.  I don’t know why
she was considered formerly except that she had discarded her wimple.  She
still seemed pretty
sainted
to me. 

At
the end of the tour, we stopped in a gift shop and everyone purchased
I love
Senya
buttons.  We all wore one except Tim who bought one that said,
Kiss
me, Kate
. 

Caroline
accompanied us and pointed at a huge poster on the wall of the gift shop. 
“That's my husband Taner,” she said.  “The man right behind HIM.  The boy in
the blue ball cap is Luci's husband Berkan.”

“Taner
looks so young,” I remarked. 

“Why
was Ron's arm in a sling?” Jerry asked, staring up at the poster.  I was
looking at the others which seem to span Ron's life from about twelve to sixteen
and then again after he was already on Rozari and running SdK. 

“He
had been shot a few weeks earlier,” Caroline said.  “One of several
assassination attempts.”

“He
never smiled,” Gina says.  “Even as a boy he didn't smile.  Look at that one!”

“That's
a pretty hot looking horse,” Janet smirked.

“Okay,
I'm going to tell you a secret,” Caroline whispered conspiratorially. ”

We
all bent in closer.

“Katie
told me that when she was 13 and he was 16, he materialized in her bedroom, and
they…you know.”  She winked.

“He
materialized?  What the heck does that mean?” Janet asked.

“Some
kind of inter-dimensional travel or something,” Caroline replied.

“Can
you imagine having that pop into your bedroom when you were thirteen?” Gina sighed.

“No
wonder you never stood a chance, Jerry,” Thad laughed.

“I
guess not,” Jerry shrugged, “But, that's okay.  I won in the end.” 

He
smiled at Janet.  She smiled sweetly back at him and reached for his hand.

We
went back to the Palace with enough souvenirs for a lifetime.  As we were
walking to our building, there was a bit of commotion in front of one of the
other buildings.

“What's
going on?” I asked Caroline.

“Ka...Her,”
Caroline laughed.  “Is saying goodbye to some dignitaries.”

“Can
we go see too?” Gina begged.

Jerry
was craning his neck, but unless he had x-ray vision, I'm sure he couldn’t see
anything from this distance.

“Everyone
will be gone, and she will be back in her office before we can even get over
there,” Caroline replied.  “I'll check and see if she has time to meet with you
tonight.”

“It
sounds like she's as busy as HIM,” I remarked.

“Almost,”
Caroline agreed.  “They just got back from a month's vacation, and then she instituted
some new rules, so a lot of time has been cut from both of their schedules.”

“What
kind of rules?” Janet asked.

Caroline
led us back to our rooms.  “Well, she makes sure HIM doesn't have any
appointments before 7AM, and she makes him eat breakfast, lunch and dinner. 
She sits there and watches him do it because if she didn't, he wouldn't.”

“Let
me guess,” I said.  “Before this he was living on cigarettes, coffee and
alcohol.”

“You
know him well,” Caroline chuckled.  “She also makes him quit at 9PM although
sometimes they run late still.  It's been great for us though.  Up until a few
months ago, Taner would drag himself to bed around 2AM and then drag himself up
again around 6AM.  He's too old for that, and he's had heart issues although funnily
enough, all of that has just disappeared since he came back from Rozari.  Taner’s
really feeling much better now and it helps that he can actually get a full
night's sleep most nights.”

“Ron
always had a tough time realizing that us mortals can't keep up with his
schedule,” Thad commented.

“That's
the truth,” Caroline agreed.

“And
he was always high maintenance,” Janet smirked.

“That's
for sure too.”  Caroline nodded.  “I used to be so jealous of Katie.  Not
anymore.  Now I know I got the better end of the deal.”

“Me
too,” Janet wrapped her arm around Jerry.  He blushed like a school boy.

“He
is so hot though,” Gina said dreamily.  “Especially now.”

“Yeah,”
all the girls sighed.

“Can't
compete with Emperor Superman.”  Jerry looked at Thad and shrugged.

“I
don't even try,” Thad replied.  “I’d rather be Batman anyway.  Or Aquaman.  He
could do this cool breathing underwater thing.  Green Lantern was okay too.”

“Thad!”
I sighed.

The
next few days we did more touring of Mishnah and even went south to the Dark
Continent.  We weren't allowed to go to Karupatani even though I desperately
wanted just to fly over.  Karupatani as Thad had said was secured so that HIM
could wander around it safely and that meant no one was allowed to be there
unless they lived there and that included all airspace.  We did visit a few
beautiful beaches for Gina's sake and the SdK campus which Thad proudly showed
us around. 

After
about five days, we were content just to stay in the Palace, sleep late, dine
in the various dining halls, wander the gardens and galleries and just enjoy
life.  I spent nearly all of my time in the galleries, reading the histories
and staring at the portraits of the Kalila Kings.  My previous studies had gone
only as far as Markiis' grandchildren.  Mishka who settled Mishnah and his
descendants were all hanging on the walls just waiting for me to discover them. 
I took pics and recorded copious notes to share with Kenak who was far too
feeble to come on this trip.  He would be so excited to hear about it though.

“It's
amazing how all these guys are related to Dr. Ron,” Janet who had come with me
remarked.  “I guess we really knew so little about him.”

“I
knew some of it,” I admitted.  “But not most of it.  Like the Senya tour, I
knew nothing about any of that.”

“You
think Katie knew?”

“No,”
I said.  “I know she didn't.”

When
we arrived back at our suites, Kira informed us that Katie had invited us to
join her for coffee and dessert after dinner tonight.

“You're
going to be going to Their suite,” Kira said.  “So dress nice and mind your
manners.”

“Will
HIM be there?”  We all asked anxiously.

Kira
shook her head.  “No.  He's busy tonight.”

“I
heard that Her Imperial Highness has scheduled a dinner party in the Crystal
Ballroom on Saturday night, so I suspect you'll all get to see HIM then.”  Caroline
smiled.

“That's
so exciting,” Gina squealed, and we all rushed off to an early dinner and to change
into our nice clothes.  Gina bought a traditional Mishnese dress and Janet, and
I wore cocktail dresses from Rozari while the men all wore suits and ties.

At
eight, Noka and Kira returned to shuttle us to the secured building where the
Imperial residences were.  Not only did we have to pass through the security
guards, we also had to pass through retina scans and hand prints.

“This
place is locked up tighter than a bank vault,” Tim mumbled.

“It's
a marble, crystal and gold prison,” Jerry commented and then added with a nod.  “I
knew about it.”

“You
knew about what?” Janet asked as we walked up the marble staircase.

“This
place,” Jerry waved his arms.  “Katie more or less told me, and I promised her
I would lie about it at her court martial.”

Tim
harrumphed loudly.

“Fortunately
she never made it to her court martial,” Jerry said to Tim.  “So I never had to
lie.”

“This
way, please.”  Caroline indicated as we reached the top floor.  We passed more
security guards and went through another set of invisible scans before we were
finally emitted into the Imperial Suite.

“Well,
look who's here!” Katie cried as we walked in.  “Shut the door Kira so I can
hug everyone and not get locked in the tower for it.”  She rushed forward and
wrapped her arms around me.

“Hi
honey,” I said and burst into tears.

She
kissed Tim's cheek even though he was acting like an old fart, but I saw him
smile and show her the button he bought.

“Dr.
Moonbeam,” she called and wrapped her arms around Jerry’s neck, hugging him
tight.  Both of them started to cry.  “I'm so happy for you two,” Katie grabbed
Janet, and the two of them went at it like they were long lost friends.  Thad
and Gina got hugs too and then Katie invited us all out on her patio for a
chocolate buffet and drinks.

“You
made this all yourself of course,” Janet said as we admired the gourmet spread.

“I
ordered it myself,” Katie offered with a smile.  “Our kitchens do a much better
job with chocolate than I can.  Help yourself everyone.  Lady Kelli will take
your drink orders.”  She pointed at another woman dressed in the same gown that
Caroline and the other staff were wearing. 

Katie
wore a similar cut Mishnese silk gown but in a shimmering white gold and a rope
of pearls around her waist.  Instead of the KdK broach, she had a fabulous
diamond necklace.  A diamond studded clip was holding back her blonde curls. 
She also wore thick gold cuff bracelets around each wrist.

“So
I want to hear everything,” she said, sitting down on a chaise.  I sat down next
to her and gazed out at the beautiful ocean and the two enormous moons that
shown gold above it.

“This
place is absolutely perfect,” I declared.  “Is the weather always this
wonderful?”

“Not
at all,” she laughed.  “It rains and snows and sometimes it’s downright
miserable.  You just came at the very best time of the year.”

“Hell,
I've been here when there was golf ball sized hail, tornadoes, rogue waves,
hurricane force winds, and six feet of snow,” Thad said, taking a bottle of
beer from Lady Kelli.  “Of course Ron was usually causing all that.”