by Emerson Fray
Chapter 9
The next morning Ren awoke to Naomi swinging open her curtains. For a brief second she thought she was back on Earth, hiding away in the library to avoid Naomi’s constant mothering; it had only ever felt as if she was getting information to give to Maks anyway.
Ren groaned and leaned onto her elbows, pushing her hair back.
Naomi smiled wide at her. “Time to get up.”
“What time is it?” Ren questioned. She looked at her watch on the nightstand; the small glowing green light told her it was far too early to be awake. The orangey glow of sunrise only confirmed the early hour.
“It’s time to get breakfast,” Naomi announced. “You have a busy day ahead of you; you and Elian.” She wiggled her eyebrows, probably excited about waking Elian up. Ren had never been able to get her brother up before at least eleven, unless he’d already been up all night with something else.
“Why?” She’d been free to sleep as long as she wanted before, why change now? Ren glanced at the door and caught Sheridan peeking inside, a small smirk on her face. Ren squinted at her.
Naomi waved the Sotarian inside. “Come on in, you’re involved in this too. Especially after last night.” She gave Sheridan and Ren a knowing look, a hard stare that told Ren she knew exactly what they did when they disappeared from the festival. It wasn’t anything bad or shameful but still a blush crept onto Ren’s cheeks. Why was she feeling so…happily embarrassed? She thought she would describe the strange flutter in her chest as ebullient, even.
Sheridan came inside and stood close to Ren’s bed, the scent of the forest drifting off her. Ren wanted to send her away, because having anyone see her in bed wasn’t something she enjoyed, especially after just waking up.
“What’s going on?” Ren asked Naomi.
“Your father, His Grace,”—she rolled her eyes, just a small gesture to what she thought of Maks’s new title—“noticed you went missing last night.”
Ren glanced towards Sheridan, unable to meet her gaze and only able to find her knees. Of course he’d noticed; there was no way the Princess could leave a festival in her honour without being noticed.
“So he’s punishing me by waking me up before dawn?” Ren questioned. She sat up and pulled the covers higher as she prepared to fall back onto her pillows. Naomi wasn’t about to let that happen and swiped the covers away quickly. “Hey!”
“By making you run drills,” Naomi revealed. “Sort of.”
With a groan Ren fell onto her pillows, the chill of the morning sinking into her skin. “This again? I’m not in high school anymore, Naomi. He can’t keep doing this. I’m not going to run laps around the manor.”
“I did say ‘sort of’, didn’t I?” Naomi looked to Sheridan, but she never acknowledged one way or the other. Naomi didn’t bother waiting for her reply. “Maks wants you to do a little training with the Sotarians to learn their fighting style. It isn’t the same as on the scows you know.”
Ren rolled over, reaching weakly for the blankets and finding them just an inch out of reach. She wiggled her fingers at them, but it didn’t make them magically jump towards her. Naomi was still careful and pulled them further away with a scowl. Ren asked, “He wants me to fight with the Sotarians?”
“He wants you and Elian to learn some of their moves and practice on your own time,” Naomi replied.
“Then we’ll have a bit of defence if they attack.”
“When they attack,” Sheridan stated, her tone much too casual. There was no strain in it, no hint that she was holding something back. It made Ren sit up, knowing Sheridan was so sure they would be attacked again.
“I’m capable of handling an attacker,” Ren informed the room. “I’ve had training back on Earth.”
“You’ve had formal training, with rules and boundaries,” Sheridan replied, crossing her arms. “You fought for nothing. Here we fight for survival.”
“To kill you mean.”
Sheridan’s jaw tensed. “Sometimes that’s what survival means.”
The answer was true, Ren knew that, but she didn’t want to accept it. It was the same answer Maks had always given her, the same one everyone always gave throughout history and the answer that the Monarchy always fell back on. She didn’t reply, making Sheridan arch her eyebrows at Ren, daring her to try to argue.
“Can I at least eat first?” Ren questioned, arms crossed just as tight as Sheridan’s.
“Eat while you watch,” Naomi suggested. “Now come on, we need to find your brother.”
Ren huffed, growing more and more annoyed by this sudden demand from her father. By the demands of the Monarchy and Novae. “Have you tried his room?”
“Yes,” Naomi answered. “Do you know if he’s been hiding anywhere in the manor?”
Shaking her head Ren shooed Naomi and Sheridan from her room. She got dressed quickly, despite the tempting thoughts to take her time; she didn’t want to make everyone else wait just because she was mad at Maks. When she stepped out of her room Naomi handed her a power bar and asked if she would help search for Elian.
“I’ll just try calling him,” Ren said, pressing a finger against her watch. It stung a bit over the bite, but not having it on made her worried, especially after venturing so far last night. It didn’t matter how safe she was with Sheridan, Sheridan couldn’t handle everything…could she? Ren scrolled through the few numbers she had before finding Elian, and dialed.
“No satellites,” Naomi said with a grimace.
“I’ll switch it to short range then,” Ren said with a shrug. It was something her brother had installed onto her watch; it let her talk to anyone else with a communicator without the use of a satellite. It wasn’t breakthrough technology, or even new actually, but it made finding people easier as long as they had the same modifications on their watch. So far she’d only used it with Elian. She didn’t understand why it wasn’t installed on every communicator. The Monarchy put too much faith in their satellites.
“Hey, Elian,” she said, “are you there?”
Sheridan watched her, a small sparkle in her eye as she marveled at Ren’s technology. Was this really so strange for her to see? Maybe it was. Ren wanted to show it to Abetha later, just to see what she would say.
After a few seconds Ren almost gave up as worry sank into her stomach. But then her watch fizzed with a connection and Elian’s voice came through. “What?”
So he is working on something then, she thought. “Where are you?”
“In my room, why?” His voice echoed a bit, as if he were in a tunnel.
Ren looked to Naomi, who furrowed her brow. “Just wait there, we’ll come to you.”
“We?” he asked. Ren snapped off the short range communicator and headed towards Elian’s room. Naomi led the way, her hair swaying with her hips and heels clicking against the marble floors. Naomi chose to avoid walking on the carpet, while Ren chose to step lightly upon it. Ren knew how much Naomi liked that people could hear here coming; it gave her a sort of joy to think about the fear her subordinates had at her arrival. Ren was certain it was the only reason a high-ranking scow officer would wear heels on duty. Glancing back Ren realized Sheridan was actually walking beside her now, no longer trailing behind like a servant. When Sheridan caught her staring she quickly looked away. Ren was eager to analyze the change in her Sotarian. Was she starting to see Ren as an equal now that they’d bonded?
Knocking on the door to Elian’s room gave them no answer, and after another few knocks Ren thought she might have the wrong room. Naomi might have led her there but she still worried that she’d actually forgotten which room was her brothers. They’d already felt so separated since getting to Novae; Ren wouldn’t be surprised if Elian had moved out of the manor already.
Naomi opened the door.
“Wait,” Ren argued. She’d always hated entering a room uninvited, even if it was her brothers. Naomi ignored her and wal
ked in, dragging Ren and Sheridan with her. “We can’t just—fine.”
“Elian?” Naomi called. “Your highness?”
Ren wrinkled her nose at the title even if it had been used sarcastically. There was no reply and Ren could barely see any evidence that Elian was even living in his room. He must have been truly caught up in something.
Searching the room she found it was much like hers, but where she had mahogany he had some kind of lighter wood, with white accents to go with the marble. She liked it better, and thought it looked a lot less dreary. Less…breakable. Her eyes fell on the closet.
With a sigh she walked over and swung the doors open, revealing her brother to the others. He jumped and threw a sheet over something, his latest toy. “Jeez, don’t you knock?”
“We did,” Naomi replied, hands on her hips. “How long have you been up?”
Elian shrugged. There were large bags under his eyes, but he didn’t seem very fatigued. His face lit up with a smile, making Ren smile too, and Naomi despite herself. That was the effect Elian had on people. Ren glanced at the slight scowl on Sheridan’s face, and decided maybe it wasn’t everyone as she’d originally thought. “Are we doing something with the people today? Another party?”
Ren rolled her eyes and moved aside so her brother could leave the closet. He shut the doors behind him, successfully hiding his project. Naomi said, “Something like that. Are you hungry?”
Elian looked around the room in thought. “Not really.”
Naomi nodded and went to move on when Ren interrupted. “When was the last time you ate? And how long have you been in there? All night, I’m guessing.” Copying Naomi’s power stance, Ren set her hands on her own hips.
Ren watched Sheridan from the corner of her eye as Sheridan surveyed them in action. Sheridan seemed awfully interested in what she was doing this morning, and amused by it. It made her feel like Sheridan thought she was a child trying to play grown-up.
“I wasn’t in there all night,” Elian groaned. “I started out here, and then had to move in there to see better.”
“You see better in the dark?” Sheridan asked, squinting at Elian.
“I do with my projects,” Elian replied with a wicked grin. “So, what are we doing today? Or did you just come by to feed me?”
Standing on the front lawn, Ren found she couldn’t even snack on the second power bar Naomi had given her. She was with her brother, and after not holding a conversation with anyone for very long she thought she should be happy. But instead she felt miserable; her “training” involved watching two men beat on each other. It was barbaric.
Sheridan hadn’t been lying when she’d said Ren fought with rules and how different that was from Novaeans fighting techniques. Two Sotarians danced in front of her, displaying their footwork to the royals in hopes of teaching them a thing or two about how to move. All Ren learned was that she didn’t want to be in a fight with a Sotarian.
Not only were all of them bigger than she, they were faster too. On Earth she’d been able to use her size to defeat an opponent, but here that wasn’t going to be the case. Here she didn’t know what she was going to have to do, except hope she was really lucky.
“Are we going to be doing this every day?” Elian asked, chowing down on a plate of eggs Ross had brought him. Ren looked at the ketchup-coated eggs in disgust, questioning how her brother could ever eat something while watching such a battle.
“Maks would like you to study the fighting styles on your own, as well as with a Sotarian,” Naomi said, her hands clasped behind her back. “That way you’ll be prepared should anything happen.”
“According to some that isn’t a question,” Ren stated, looking towards Sheridan. She didn’t stand with Ren anymore, and watched the fight from the sidelines; Ren thought she might be next to display some sort of tactic.
“She’s right you know,” Elian argued. “I mean, you were already attacked once.”
Ren spun on Elian. “You don’t even know what she said!”
“I didn’t need to be there to know what she said,” Elian replied. “I know all the ways people get under your skin and she is doing all of them perfectly.” He pointed his fork at Sheridan.
Flinching back, Ren couldn’t stop her eyes from going to Sheridan. “What do you mean?”
“You’ve never gotten along with people like her,” Elian said through a mouthful of egg. “She doesn’t say exactly what’s on her mind, she values physical strength over mental, and she clearly enjoys ordering you around.”
“She does?” Naomi questioned. “When has she given you an order?”
“She hasn’t…exactly ordered me around,” Ren said slowly. But like Maks, Sheridan had a way of giving silent orders that Ren wasn’t always aware she was following. It was hard to explain to someone like Naomi, since she was the same type. They gave orders without even knowing it. “And not all of that is true—she has good moments.” Like last night.
Ren expected her brother to snort, or to laugh, or just shake his head but he froze. He swallowed. “Good moments?”
“She values mental strength just as much as physical,” Ren said, thinking back to last night when Sheridan had shown her the lake. She wanted to tell Elian and Naomi about how sweet Sheridan had been to show it to her, and how Sheridan had told her she needed some magic in her life, but suddenly in the light of day it felt very silly. If someone had said that to her back on Earth she would have thought it was a line. But when Sheridan said it, in the glow of the lake, it was something more. Maybe, she thought, it was because she showed me another side of herself.
When she noticed Naomi and Elian were staring at her she hardened and shouted, “Not everyone is like Maks you know! And I don’t follow everyone’s demands.”
Elian slowly took another bite, contemplating her words. Facing the fight again she studied the light footwork of the Sotarians, taking in how their muscles moved beneath their skin. Would she ever be able to move that fast? She thought she’d have to train all day, every day to accomplish it.
“It looks like many of the old Earth styles combined, doesn’t it?” Naomi asked. “Maks has already suggested sending a few experienced Sotarians to train the men on the Stormbringer, and maybe all of the Monarchy.”
“So they can fight more pointless battles?” Elian laughed and set his cleaned plate on the ground. Ren winced as the fragile porcelain clinked against the stone but nobody else seemed to care.
“What do the Sotarians think of that?” Ren asked.
“They’re all very willing to help,” Naomi replied, her voice tightening. Ren wasn’t sure if it was because her words were a lie, or if she was simply annoyed with Ren’s attitude. Ren had already noticed Garret’s eyes constantly narrowing when she asked questions around him. She almost expected him to say, “A princess must be seen and not heard” whenever she opened her mouth. Thankfully he wasn’t around right now to hear her. If that happened Ren knew that Naomi would be even angrier than she was and would happily smack the smile off of his face. Ren would pay to see that spectacle.
“So,” Elian continued, “when do we get to go in?”
“You aren’t joining,” Naomi said with a chuckle. “Study only.”
“That’s not really my strong suit,” Elian argued. “I need to learn things hands on, Ren does all the books and watching.”
“You learned the basics of quantum mechanics from a book,” Ren pointed out.
“And I learned the rest elsewhere,” Elian retorted. “So, I want to challenge the small one.”
Naomi and Elian looked to the battling warriors. “Which one is that?” Naomi asked.
Elian shook his head. “I don’t know.”
“Why not face Sheridan,” Ren suggested, “that way she’ll go easier on you.”
“How do you suppose?” Elian turned to his sister, eyes wide and just a little too blank. She thought he might pass out soon.
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“Because I’ll ask her to.” Ren walked to Sheridan, planning on making sure she only used one tenth of her strength against Elian. Even that seemed like too much with his current state of mind. She’d rather get him into a bed than into a fight.
Sheridan turned her head towards Ren as she approached. “You shouldn’t stand so close.”
Ren glanced over at the men as they danced around each other, only throwing a few strikes in each direction. Though they moved so much she didn’t think they were ever more than two feet from where they’d originally started. One smashed a hand into the others chest, making Ren wince. “Elian wants to ‘challenge’ you. Informally.”
“A challenge?” Sheridan said with a smile. A bemused smile, a confident smile.
“It doesn’t look like he’s slept in a few days,” Ren went on. She rubbed her hands over her face, feeling as if she had been the one who hadn’t slept in so long. “If you could just show him a couple of moves I think he would be satisfied.”
Sheridan took a deep breath, maybe finally thinking that Ren and her family were more trouble than they were worth before she nodded. “I’ll go easy on him.” She let out a heavy sigh.
Ren nodded. “Thanks.” And as she started walking back to tell Elian the news, he was already running into the flattened grass circle the other two Sotarians had created. They stopped fighting immediately and gave small bows to him. He gave a sloppy salute back. Sheridan stepped up and told them to take a break.
When Ren made it back to Naomi she couldn’t stop herself from asking the question that had been on her mind for so long. “Have you noticed anything odd about the people here?”
“Not really.” Naomi shrugged. “They’re just not that advanced; it’s normal they would seem strange.”
“That’s not it,” Ren murmured. “It’s something about the way they talk; it’s like one moment they’re acting proper and the next they’re more normal. More like Earth.”
“It’s starting,” Naomi interrupted, and completely ignored Ren’s comments; it wasn’t like her. Ren missed the times when Naomi had been her confidante in all aspects of her life. Now that they were on Novae, and under the constant watch of Maks and the Monarchy, things couldn’t be like that. Ren wondered which part was the act and which the truth.
So she took a deep breath and prepared to watch her brother learn to fight, taking her questions and trying to bury them deep down inside. Elian had never taken any sort of classes before; he was always able to tell Maks when he didn’t want to do something. So Ren expected sloppy footwork and disorganized attacks. Just as Sheridan and Elian put their fists up, Elian wavered and fell backwards.
He passed out cold on the ground, and Sheridan met Ren’s eyes as if to say, “Really?”. Ren shrugged.
“I said he hadn’t slept in a while,” Ren stated. Tomorrow she would have to have a conversation with him about controlling himself, no matter what he was working on.
Naomi and Ren sighed as Elian started to snore.
