Zoe Thanatos

by Cierlak, Crystal

  The common room was nearly the size of Zoe’s house and just as nicely appointed. Like every other room she had seen so far, the common room was built from glass, concrete and steel. The walls were interchanging panels of glass and concrete, the glass projecting images of a blood-orange sunset over a vast prairie of green grass. Rising concurrent with the setting sun was an even bigger moon, casting its own pale blue light to the land. Great animals were migrating in groups across the landscape, moving from blue to orange, and a few stopped every few feet to graze for food or water.

  A sitting area was partitioned off at the front of the room. To her left there was what looked to be a kitchenette without appliances and a rectangular glass table that could comfortably seat six people.

  Two more large areas were partitioned off, each with seating interspersed between large glass panels. Four doors on the adjacent walls led to the separate bedrooms Eva pointed out. She felt a flush of blood rising in her face as she looked at the doors, wondering which one belonged to Evan.

  “Here, I’ll show you how to work everything.” Eva led her to the kitchenette and stood in front of the tallest cabinet.

  “What is this?”

  “Nutrition Replicator,” Eva answered. “Here, watch.” She placed her hand on the right side of the glass and it came to life with the same white glow Zoe had seen in the Communicator. She watched, waiting for something significant to happen. After a moment Eva removed her hand and smiled at her. “See?”

  Zoe didn’t. “I don’t get it.”

  Eva pointed below to a compartment the size of a microwave that Zoe hadn’t noticed. When she bent to look inside she was surprised to see a plate of shredded chicken, tortillas, beans and rice. She recognized it as the first, last, and only meal she shared with Eva and Evan before they left for Terra.

  “Are you telling me you can think of any food and it will make it for you?”

  “Any food in any world,” Eva smiled. “Try it!” She switched places with Zoe and encouraged her to place her hand where she had on the glass. “Just think of what you want.”

  Zoe reached her hand up and placed it gingerly on the glass. A strange sensation radiated on her skin as the glass lit up again and she closed her eyes. “What is that?” Eva asked after a moment. Zoe looked to the compartment and gasped in amazement.

  “It’s a chocolate truffle!” She picked up the lump and made an appreciative sound.

  “It looks like excrement.” Eva’s nose wrinkled in disgust.

  “Yes, but it tastes divine,” Zoe replied before popping the morsel into her mouth. It was an exact replica down to its velvety texture and decadent flavor. There was no difference in taste that would make her believe it were not the real thing.

  “Okay then, moving on. Let’s get you some new clothes and get your room situated. You must be tired.”

  Zoe was tired, but the awe and excitement of Terra was enough to keep her mind preoccupied. She followed Eva to the two sets of doors furthest to her right and watched as she opened one merely by placing her hand on it. The room was empty. Of the four walls two were concrete, the other two glass. It looked as sterile as it smelled. She looked at Eva skeptically.

  “Don’t worry!” she cautioned with a smile. She placed a hand on a glass panel close to the door and the lights brightened. “It works just like the Nutrition Replicator. Just place your hand here and think of what you want the room to look like. I’ll go get some clothes for you.”

  Eva left Zoe alone in the bright, empty room. Had she heard her correctly? She could think of anything and it would appear? She approached the panel and placed her hand in the same spot Eva had, feeling the same strange sensation on her skin that she felt on the Nutrition Replicator.

  She closed her eyes and thought of home, picturing her own bedroom with her bed and her own belongings. Through her closed eyelids she could see the light adjusting in the room. When she opened her eyes her breath caught in her throat. Apart from the two concrete walls everything was an exact replication of her bedroom, every detail perfect. To her right were the familiar French doors leading out to the backyard, her pool sparkling under the golden violent sunset she had seen so many times before. On instinct she moved to the doors to open them, but found nothing but a glass surface beneath her touch. The illusion was almost perfect.

  “It only looks three-dimensional.” Zoe looked to the entryway and found Eva looking at her, an enormous pile of clothing gathered in her arms. “Let’s get started.”

  The lights inside the common room were on by the time Evan returned, and he figured his sister was back from whatever errand the Queen had sent her on. He was in no mood to talk to anyone though, and headed straight into his private room.

  The quiet Santa Barbara landscape brightened in his presence and a breeze blew through the palm tree leaves with gentle care. Without hesitation he collapsed on the bed, his arm reaching up to cover his eyes.

  The gates were deprogrammed and there was no way to get back to Earth. The thought was like a hard lump in his gut, wrenching his insides to the point of near physical illness. Without any explanation or warning the Queen had summarily ordered to have them deprogrammed. Now any chance to see Zoe again was gone.

  Even if she did have them reprogrammed, there would no telling if or when he would be able to go back. His trips to other worlds had clearly not gone unnoticed by the Queen and she seemed intent on keeping him in Terra.

  Did she have the gates deprogrammed because of him? Gaia was the only universe that had been disconnected; he could go anywhere else without a problem. So why Gaia? Something must have happened to warrant such drastic action. Was it something to do with the Elder woman and the residents of the Last City? Thea mentioned nothing of Gaia or Earth, and had only barely hinted at Zoe’s existence. Something else must have happened that he was unaware of.

  Eva looked at Zoe and nodded in appreciation. With her hair combed back into a sleek chignon and the Earth clothes replaced with a more formfitting and monochromatic ensemble, Zoe Thanatos looked as though she were a lifelong resident of Terra.

  “What do you think?”

  Zoe looked down at her new apparel and felt the silky strands of hair pulled back at the nape of her neck. “Do I look like I belong?”

  Eva laughed and nodded her head. “Yes, you pass for a resident,” she emphasized the word.

  She hoped it was enough to not illicit any unwarranted attention. She knew it was a risk bringing her there to her private residence so close to where the Queen and King lived, but she couldn’t risk putting her in a public residence where she couldn’t keep an eye on her.

  From the corner of her eye Eva could see her Communicator glowing softly from its place on the bed. She walked to retrieve it, but recoiled and nearly threw it down again when she saw who the message was from.

  “What’s wrong?” Zoe asked from across the room.

  Eva looked back at her briefly before holding the device closer, willing her eyes to sharply focus on the message sender’s name. “I have to go out for a few minutes. Will you be okay here on your own?” She cupped the Communicator in her hand and looked to Zoe expectantly.

  “Don’t worry. I’m not going to go wandering off. Just wake me you get back so we can discuss whatever the plan is.” Eva‘s bottom lip receded into her mouth between her teeth. “You do have a plan, right?”

  She shrugged her shoulders. “Maybe I will by the time I get back.”

  Without another word she left the room and closed the door shut behind her. She made her way through the common room, out into the empty Throne Room and across the great hall of the Government Center until she came upon the designated office space specified in the message.

  When she entered the room she spotted the King sitting patiently in a chair. She moved to bow her head formally but stopped when she saw his hands motioning at her.

  “Forget the formalities. We don’t have much time to talk.”

  Evan’s eyes opened at the sou
nd of a small knock on his door. He may have only drifted off for a moment but it had felt much longer. His thoughts had driven him into sleep, words becoming images as he slipped into sleep. The visitor knocked again and he finally got up. The light in the room adjusted fractionally, never brightening to more than an ambient glow.

  He opened the door and saw her, her dark almond-shaped eyes staring up at him. It took a moment for him to realize it was only his mind playing a trick. Without a word he opened the door wider, keeping his eyes down as she walked past him into the room, her hand grazing against his chest as she passed. The door closed silently behind him as he turned to look at her. His head bowed crookedly. “My Queen.”

  Chapter 15: A Secret Meeting

  The empty office was on the small side but comfortable enough to accommodate both Eva and the King. Although why he requested a private audience with her in the first place was lost on her.

  “Your Highness, I’m pleased to see you have returned safely and unharmed.”

  The King shook his head slightly, a terse smile on his face. “Thank you.”

  “I assume this means my brother is back.”

  “He’s with the Queen,” he acknowledged. There was a thread of unspoken meaning in his tone that not even he could hide.

  “Oh,” Eva flustered, unsure of what to say. Her brother’s affair with the Queen was no secret to her, but she never made a habit of talking about it to anyone, least of all the King.

  “Do me and favor and let’s not pretend we don’t know what they’re doing, okay? I didn’t ask to see you because of that.”

  Eva flushed and silently cursed her brother. “Forgive me, Your Highness.”

  “Owyn, Evadine. Our families go back longer than the invisible crown on my head, so let’s leave the formalities behind.”

  She couldn’t remember a time where she had ever had a private conversation with the King. There had never been a reason to. “Eva,” she corrected. “Okay. Owyn, what is going on? Why did you want to meet with me?”

  The King stood from his seat and crossed the room to stand in front of her. “What do you know of Thea Thanatos?” His eyes were intense as they searched hers, as he waited for an answer.

  Eva had to swallow back her surprise so the King would not see that he had caught her off guard. “Not much. I was with the Queen when the Crown Soldiers announced your kidnapping. They reiterated Thea’s message about Her Highness not being the rightful Queen. I know she claims to be a living descendent of the original family.”

  The King eyed her suspiciously. She could see that beyond glaring at her that he was figuring her out, trying to understand her in some manner. “You know much more than that, Eva,” he pressed. “We both do. It wasn’t a coincidence that that particular book was stolen, or that Thea is revealing herself now after all this time. All of that was predicated upon finding the missing heir of the original family, which you have.”

  Eva’s face remained sharp but impassive, defying the squall of thoughts and images that ran through her mind. What more does he know? What is his part in all of this? She raised an eyebrow at him suspiciously. “The missing heir?” she asked, trying to keep her voice controlled and nonchalant.

  The King appeared to be losing his patience, a sign that frightened Eva. She had never seen the King in any situation where he wasn’t completely in control of himself.

  “I know about Zoe.”

  Evan stood in the middle of his room with his arms crossed over his chest, looking expectantly down at Kyra. “What do you want?”

  “I want to know why you’re so upset,” she answered. Gone was the royal pretense. She looked very much like a woman looking for answers.

  Evan shrugged his shoulders but kept his eyes on hers. “What does that matter? I don’t get to question your decisions and I’m not owed an explanation for them.”

  “Is this about the gates being deprogrammed for Gaia?” she asked.

  “Again, it doesn’t matter why I’m upset.”

  “It matters to me, Evander. You’re acting as though it was something I did to punish you. What is so special about Gaia that has put you off in this way?”

  “It. Doesn’t. Matter,” he reiterated.

  “Clearly it does!” she yelled, her voice ringing brightly throughout the room. She turned and walked to the door, her feet coming to a stop with her hand inches from the glass. She turned and looked at him, a pained expression on her face.

  “Whatever I’ve done to make you angry with me, I’m sorry.”

  Evan could see from her expression that her honesty was genuine, and he felt the tightness inside him subside, softening his anger. Never before had she apologized to anyone; as the Queen she didn’t have to.

  “Yes,” he relented. She stopped at the door, turning her head towards him. “I’m angry about the gates.”

  The Queen turned her body around, leaning her back against the door with her hands clasped together in front of her. “Why? You said you had unfinished business in Gaia but didn’t elaborate. What is so important in that other world that would make you so angry with me?”

  “I like it there, “he said. “I like the smell of the outdoors, the fact that I can spend more time outside than in, and the people.”

  The Queen shook her head. “I don’t understand why you would prefer another world to your own.”

  “No, it’s not about preferring one to the other. They’re more alike than they are different and it is those differences that I’m interested in. I like the people there.”

  “People, or one person in particular?” Her hands unclasped and folded in her arms at her chest. Evan could see in her changing demeanor that the idea of there being someone else greatly upset her.

  “Please don’t do this,” he begged. He moved to her with his arms outstretched but she avoided him, turning her body away to create distance. Her eyes widened in her face, her mouth forming a straight line into her cheeks. She looked at him for a hard, long moment, the anger and confusion evident behind her dark eyes.

  “I’m right, aren’t I? That’s why you keep going back, why you never stay here long enough. You share my bed and then leave to go be with someone else?”

  “No! It’s not like that at all,” he protested. His feelings caught him by surprise. His words seemed to genuinely hurt her and just the thought of causing her grief resonated deep within him. He hadn’t considered her much when he left for Earth, or while he was there. He’d always rationalized that the Queen was merely using him, and that he was nothing more than a distraction to escape from a marriage she cared so little for. However, in her expression he could see that he was the one who had been using her. Irrespective of her title she was still the only woman on Terra he had ever cared for apart from his own sister. It went beyond his duty and obligation to the monarchy; he genuinely felt for her.

  “Tell me what it’s like then.” There was still the hurt in her eyes, the indignant demeanor in her posture. He didn’t want to say anything else that would hurt her but knew that lying by omission would only make matters worse.

  “There is someone.” He could see Zoe in his mind, standing on the cliff of Potato Harbor with her hair blowing behind her in the breeze. When he focused on the Queen he could see her expression had fallen, the indignant poise deflating into disappointment. “It was an accident that I even met her to begin with. She took me by surprise,” he said with a faint smile. It vanished when his eyes met the Queen’s. “I barely know her, Kyra.”

  “You barely know her but you want to go back to see her?”

  He nodded slowly. “Yes, that’s part of it.” He watched in growing sadness as the Queen’s eyes shut, tears escaping from the corners of her eyelids and down her cheeks. He stepped toward her, closing the gap between them with two long steps. His hands went gently to her face where his thumbs absorbed the tears as they fell.

  She opened her eyes, her dark irises glossy with fresh tears waiting to fall. She sniffed them back, regaining her
collected composure one moment at a time.

  “If Gaia means so much to you then you should go.” Evan’s thumbs stopped but his hands remained on her face. He focused his eyes on her, trying to see the meaning behind the words. “I, Kyra Straton, Queen of Terra and of the original families, do hereby release you, Evander Nero, from custody of the Crown. You are released for the remainder of your lifetime and are restored to your family name, Nero, of the original families.”

  He could barely manage to speak in spite of the shock that gripped him. She had never once formally acknowledged her custodianship over him and his sister.

  “I’ll have a Transport Engineer reprogram our private gate for Gaia and you can leave as soon as you want.” Her words constricted him, his body stiffening at the sudden and unfamiliar feeling of his freedom. Everything was happening so quickly he wasn’t sure if it was even happening at all.

  “This isn’t what I wanted,” he argued. He looked to her for any indication she might understand him but she merely composed herself, straightening her back and shoulders into the regal stance that physically defined her.

  “I will never be anyone’s second choice.” The strength was back in her voice, the words sounding like a command. She walked past him with her head held high, opened the door, and without a final glance back at him, exited.

  Still caught up in the speed with which she had both freed him and dismissed him, he found he could do nothing more than stare at the door, his mind struggling to process what circumstances their actions would have.

  Eva found a nearby chair to sit in and plopped down ungracefully. She felt overwhelmed by the King’s admission. “How?” she asked breathlessly.

  “You think in my position I’m not privy to certain information?” he retorted.

  “I never even considered,” she trailed off. It was still too much of a shock to learn that the King knew anything at all. She just assumed he merely looked the other direction or lived in denial about most things. What if he really did know about the Queen and her brother all along?