The Days of the Golden Moons (The Two Moons of Rehnor, Book 5) (8 page)

“Katie,
this is ridiculous,” my brother declared later that evening.  “How many people
do you have living here?  A dozen?”

“Only
Luci lives in the house,” I said.  “Everyone else is in the command center. 
What's it to you anyway?”

“Mom
cannot handle the constant chaos and mess!”

I
looked around.  The place was spotless.  Not only were the Imperial Guards
maintaining the yard, they were keeping the house up far better than my mother
or her cleaning service ever did.

“What's
really bugging you, Allen?” I asked.  I was sitting on a chaise out on the
deck.  Luci had been here too, but when Allen arrived, he sent her back into
the house.  Now she was watching Judge Julie and yelling at the defendants to
the great amusement of my mother.

“How
can you be here squatting in Mom’s house when you have so many other places you
could go?”

“I
told you,” I repeated slowly.  “I gave up the Takira-hahr house.  I don't have
anywhere else to go.”

“Come
on, Katie, I'm not stupid.  I see what’s going on with Alliance and the
Empire.  Half the planets that used to be in the Alliance now belong to the
Empire.  Don’t tell me, you don’t have a few dozen palaces on every one of
them.”

I
sat up and looked at him squarely.  His grey hair was falling in front of his
eyes, and he needed a shave.  He looked like my father, but not as good
looking.

“Is
everything okay at home, Allen?  How's Stella?  How come she hasn't come down
to say hello?”

He
snorted.  “To put it bluntly Katie, she hates you.  She thinks it's not fair
that you have so much, and all we have is a dinky house up the street with half
a mortgage still to pay off.”

“Do
you need money, Allen?”

“No.
 No!  I'm not asking you for money.  I'm just asking you to go away and let us
go back to our lives and pretend you and your Emperor don't exist.”

“Ok.” 
I looked at my hands.  “I love you too.”

“That's
not what I mean,” he said, throwing his hands in the air.

“Allen.”
 I reached for his hand.  “I want you to be happy.  If Stella wants a castle on
Talas or wherever we have one, I'm sure I can give it to you.  Hell, you could
even come to Mishnah and live with us there.  When I go back, that is.  If I go
back.”

“Mom
won't go.”

“Well,
maybe Luci and the chef will convince her otherwise.”

“She
hates space travel.”

“She
hasn't been on one of our spaceplanes.  It's not like the kind Mom and Dad took
when they went on their honeymoon trip to Mars.  Maybe we'll even go back in a
starship.  At the rate people are joining us here, we'll need one to get us all
back.”

“I'll
think about it,” he said.  “I'll discuss it with Stella and Mom.  How big is
your place in…uh…Mishnah?”

I
laughed.  “It’s big.  Trust me, there’s room for everybody.  I just wish dad
could have seen it.”

“I
bet he would have liked to.”  Allen looked away for a moment.  “He was always
so proud of you.  I know you tried to come see him.  He knew it too.”

“Thanks
Allen,” I said and looked at the lake, at my Dad’s old sailboat that sat
forlornly unused and unloved at the dock.

“So
what are you really doing here?”

“It's
complicated,” I replied.

“How
long are you going to stay?”

“That
too is complicated.”

“Okay.”
 He stood up.  “I'll let you know what Stella says.”

“Why
don't you bring her to dinner and we can talk about it more.  Luci loves to
brag about palace life.”  I smiled at him.  “Of course, she's not under house
arrest like me.”  I rattled my bracelets.

“Why?”
 He pointed at my wrists.

“In
lieu of locking me in a tower, I suppose.  The Emperor got pissed off when I
dissed him and ran away.”

“This
is your husband, the brain surgeon, right?”

“Right,”
I nodded.  “One and the same.”

“Did
you know when you got married about all this?”  He waved his hands at the sky.

“I
knew about Rehnor.  I didn't know that Rehnor would come to mean half the
galaxy.”

“You
know, Katie, there's a good divorce attorney in dad's old office.  Maybe you
want to talk to her?”

“Ha,”
I coughed.  “Divorcing a king is a lot more difficult than standing in front of
judge and complaining that he is a dickhead.  It’s not going to happen, Allen,
unless he wants it to.  He writes the laws.”

“So
you'll stay here,” my big brother decided.

“For
a while and then I'll go back.”

“Why
Kate?”

“My
son's there,” I shrugged, “And even though my husband turned into the Evil
Emperor, I still love him.”

Chapter 17

Tuman

“Hello,”
I said to the boy sitting on a rock.  He had a long branch in his hand, too
long for his small body, and was using a too small blade to clean off the
bark.  “What are you doing?”

“I
am making a spear,” he replied.  “I'm going to kill something and bring it to
my mother for dinner.”

“That's
a very good idea.”  I set down my satchel.  After nearly thirty years, I had only
this one bag of belongings.  “Have you a spearhead?”

“I
will,” he said.  “My brother, Lot says he will give me one if I do this first.”

“Ah,”
I nodded.  “May I show you how to hold the blade a little better so you will
not cut your fingers?”

“I
won't cut my fingers!”

“Ay
yah, of course you won't.  But if you put your thumb here instead it will be
easier.  Yes?”

“Ok,”
he agreed and continued to work.  I sat down beside him and watched his careful
cuts.

“What
is your name?” I asked.

“Pedah
de Kudisha,” he replied, not looking up from his ministrations.  “I am cousin
to the MaKennah, the Great Emperor.”

“Ah,”
I nodded again.  “How fortunate for you.  Have you met the MaKennah?”

“No,
but I have seen him.  I have met Shika.  Shika and Tuman said they will take me
riding next time they come to visit.”

“Who
is Tuman?”

“He
is my eldest brother but his mom is Letitia and my mom is Seesi.  Tuman is at the
University now.”

“I
see.”  Rekah had been very busy.

“Who
are you?”  The boy looked up now and studied me curiously.  He had the same quizzical
look of my brother Pedah.  He even had the same cowlick on the back of his
head.  The look of him filled my heart with joy.

“Who
do you think I am?”

“I
don’t know.  Are you a chief?

“No.”

“Are
you a prince?”

“I
suppose I am.”

“Hmmph.” 
He snorted and went back to work.

“I
am your grandfather and my name is also Tuman.”

He
glanced up at me warily.

“Are
you certain?”

“Mhm,”
I replied.  “Positive.”

“Does
grandmother know you are here?”  He raised an eyebrow at me so like my brother
Pedah would do.

“Not
yet,” I said.  “Do you think I should tell her?”

He
furrowed his brow and appeared to consider it.  “Maybe you shouldn't tell her,”
he advised.

I
laughed at the words of this funny child.

“May
I kiss and hug you, grandson?”  I asked.

He
thought for a moment.

“Ok.” 
He inclined his head to me, and I was allowed to kiss the top of his fine black
hair and put an arm briefly around his shoulders.

“Are
you going to stay here now?” he inquired.

“For
a few weeks.  Then I must go to Rozari with the MaKennah.  When I return, I
will stay forever.”

“Ok.”

I
rose to continue my journey toward the village. 

“Do
you know where I might find your father?”

“He
and Uncle are shoeing horses today,” the boy replied, once again absorbed in
his work.

I
walked across the meadow rather than the village for fear of encountering my
wife whose wrath would undoubtedly be severe for having been gone for so very
long.  It was a beautiful day, and the valley looked as I had always remembered
her.  I was glad to be here again.  The wind and the water sang a welcome song
to me.  The horses in the meadow nickered their greetings.  A pair of eagles flew
overhead, and it was as if they too were welcoming me home. 

Heading
to the horse barn in search of my family, I discovered there a tall, strong man
who could only be my son.  He was speaking sharply to a horse who did not wish
to hold still.  The horse was a magnificent stallion, easily nineteen or twenty
hands with a coat black as night.  My brother's grey head emerged from the
withers of this beast and he scolded my son for not holding him tight. 

Since
when did my brother ever shoe a horse?  He never dirtied his fingers in the work
of the Karupatani in all the years that I knew him.

“Why
we ever let Tirikla breed is beyond my understanding,” my son said.  “How many
more mad horses must we reckon with?”

“Is
this Tirikla’s son or grandson?” I asked, leaning upon the fence post.

“Grandson,”
my son replied, hardly glancing at me.  “But the second Tirikla was just as
terrible as the first.

“And
does this one belong to the MaKennah as well?”

“Ay
yah,” my brother replied, having successfully attached a shoe.  “A crazy horse
for a crazy man.  This one has not been ridden by him yet.  He has no time or
interest in horses these days so this one will wile away in the pasture,
causing all sorts of havoc and breeding yet more just like him.”

“At
least he will have shoes,” I remarked.  “Does the MaKennah wear shoes now too?”

“Less
often than this horse,” my brother laughed.  He wiped his hands on his apron
and came to stand by the fence.  The horse kicked up his heels and bolted out
into the pasture, grateful for having been released.

“What
will you do now?” my brother asked me, his eyes upon the horse and the Blue
Mountains in the distance.

“I
have been ordered by Madame to accompany HIM to Rozari,” I replied to which my
son looked upon my face with a puzzled expression.

My
brother smiled and nodded.  “It is good,” he said.  “And how is my daughter?”

“As
crazy as HIM,” I responded.  “And the horse.”

“My
father?” my son gasped.  “And you know the MaKani?  You’ve spoken to her?”

“Indeed,
I have for how else could she have commanded me?”

“Did
she come back with you?” my brother asked.

“She
went on to meet with the rulers of the Alliance and the planet Rozari.  From
there, she would go to Earth to visit with her mother.”

My
brother grasped a blade of straw and placed it between his teeth.  He rolled his
eyes as if in thought.  “Her mother?  Her place is not with her mother but with
her husband.”  He chewed upon the straw and then spat it out.

“You
are welcome to tell her this,” I said.  “Perhaps you will find yourself commanded
to Rozari along with me.”

“Ay
yah,” my brother snorted while my son stared at us with wide eyes and open
mouth.  “Better you than me, brother.”  Sorkan clapped me about the back.  “And
better you now deal with that shrew of a wife which is yours.”  He pointed at
the woman trouncing across the meadow heading straight toward us.

Ah,
my Garinka.  Not quite the beauty she was thirty years ago, but then neither was
I. 

“There
you are,” she announced, and all of three of us were uncertain as to whom she spoke. 
“And when is my roof going to be patched?  How many more days must I deal with
the constant drip drip drip of water falling into my bedroom?  Here, it has not
even rained for more than a month and what am I to do when the autumn comes,
and the rain will be every day?  Surely, my roof will fall in because you are
too lazy to spend a few moments repairing it?  Who shall I move in with then,
hmm?”  She looked squarely at me as if she was not entirely certain who I was. 
Then her eyebrows rose.  “Well now, you can fix it can't you?  And when you are
finished with that, the door to Rekah's old bedroom is squeaky and needs oil. 
The stove pipe in the kitchen has gone rusty, and there is too much smoke when
I turn it on so perhaps it has a hole.”

“I
need to go to Rozari with the MaKennah in three weeks,” I interrupted.

“Then
you have three weeks to fix everything,” she replied.  “Always the MaKennah. 
Your whole life has been dedicated to his son,” she pointed accusingly at my
brother, “When your own son is left to produce eighteen children and seeks yet
more women to satisfy him.  Had you been home he would understand what a
marriage is and just because he is another one of you de Kudisha princes
doesn't mean all women of Karupatani are his to enjoy.  It is about time your
brother dealt with his son and you with your own and your many, many grandsons who
no doubt will grow up to be just like the lot of you.  At least Lookah was
raised right, thanks be to me of course.”

“I
will return as soon as I am able.”  I tried to get a word in while she took a
breath.

“You
had better,” she said, taking my arm and pulling me toward the village.  “And
where is that little Rozarian woman?  Why does she not deal with him?  Why must
you accompany him to Rozari when she is from there?”

“She's
not Rozarian, Mother,” my son called after us.  “She's Human from Earth.”

“Still,
why does she not tend to him?  She is certainly capable of tending to
everything else.  She could even patch my roof I believe.  Have you met her,
Tuman?  What did you think?”

“I…”

My
wife continued sharing her thoughts, and I wisely chose to close my mouth and
let her.

In
three weeks’ time, I was aboard an Imperial spaceplane again, and this one was
taking me to a starship.  My wife cried when I left, so I held her and reminded
her, I would be back soon.

“Did
you not say that last time?” she protested.  “And here you are gone nearly thirty
years?”

“I
didn't say that last time,” I insisted.  “I didn’t say anything.  This time,
however, I promise I shall be back soon.”  I kissed her, and we were as if
thirty years had not passed.

On
the starship, I was met by Taner.  He bowed to me and then I was surprised
because he hugged me, as well.

“Welcome
home, Prince,” he said.

“Tuman,”
I replied as I did last time we met.  “I am simply Tuman, and you have no need
to bow to me as your title out ranks my own now.”

He
laughed.  “I shall kiss your feet if you can accomplish that which none of us
has been able to do.”  We walked toward the stateroom in which I would stay
during our short journey.

“That
being?”

“Turn
the Evil Emperor back into our friend Senya.”  He smiled as if this were a joke
though we both knew it was not.