“The real question everyone has to be asking is whom does Legacy Prime support in this?” chimed in Mara. “The Princess is in a tough position here. She’s stuck having to choose between a Legacy which has been riddled by tragedy, who was originally supposed to join her Legacy when Kimlee Evenstar married Prince Porthan, mind you… or to defend the Legacy she’s currently engaged to and the one set to inherit the Empire. I, for one, am curious as to what she’s going to say.”
“Beyond the official statement that was released through the office of the Royal Secretary, I doubt we’ll hear anything,” replied Hayz. “As is typical with Princess Glorianna, she has no real stance on anything outside of Ancient technology. She’d rather sit up in her tower all day or run off to backwoods planets for months at a time than actually do anything of substance. What we just heard from the Directory is the closest thing we’re going to get from the Empire’s leadership on this issue.”
“Clazzon?” Beale asked. “Any thoughts on this?”
“I once accidentally swallowed a bug while paragliding with my pet gumphabeast on my way to save the lives of sick orphan children in the wilds of Qualarhumpoor,” Clazzon said, his voice smooth as silk as he expertly swished around the drink within his glass. “It was disgusting, yet oddly delicious. Much like this story.”
“Insightful, as always. Thank you panel,” said Beale. “Next up, the weekly lightening round. This, is Bury the Lede with Grimsby Beale. Impartial. Even-keeled. And mostly accurate. More with the panel, after this.”
Anna switched the station as the program went to a commercial. Yet more people who think I’m a hollow crown, she thought bitterly. She was seriously starting to question her decision to gain access to the Imperial Intelligence Agency’s surveillance network. Before she knew what everyone was saying about her, she at least had a shred of self-esteem. But as soon as she was able to listen in on people’s conversations and learn what they really thought, it became painfully obvious that outside of her appearance, not too many people had very good things to say about her.
In their more candid moments, the members of the Directory made it obvious they still thought of her as a child. They looked at their time spent in meetings with her more as a babysitting duty than anything else. All but Casgor, who never seemed to speak an ill word about her, for which Anna was grateful.
Then there were the Elder representatives, Junior representatives, and other Legacy members within the capitol. They’d make jokes about her. Dismiss her. Say rather rude things about her that would make Anna as embarrassed as she was angry. But most of all, it was obvious none of them really respected her.
She didn’t even want to think about the things she’d heard among the typical citizens on the streets of the city. None of them seemed to think of her as a leader. Some were respectful of her position. Some were enamored with her beauty. Some were jealous of her status and celebrity. It was after listening in on an hour long critique of her choice of dress to the State Dinner by a group of snooty schoolgirls, that Anna decided she needed to take a break from spying on the common folk.
And then, the whole Evenstar debacle happened.
When Chief Alabaster had briefed her on the situation, she was horrified. She’d known Eudox Evenstar most of her life. She couldn’t believe he’d been killed as he had. And then, of course, there was the fact that Jack had been there and played a role in saving the lives of both Kimlee and Amadeus. All heroics aside, she was just glad he was alright.
She’d asked Alabaster to keep her updated on the progress of the investigation but had gotten a strange feeling from him, as though he were holding something back from her. She had few enough people she trusted, the last thing Anna needed was a Chief of Intelligence who was hiding things.
Anna had never been one to pay much attention to the news before, but she was beginning to learn quite a bit as she watched the reports surrounding the attack on the Evenstars. Her constant exposures to the news cycle, coupled with her private viewings of the daily operations of the Empire’s politicians, were starting to give her a better picture of not only how her Empire worked, but also what was going on within it. She’d previously been unaware of the Evenstar’s offensive proposal and the Skyborn’s opposition to it. From all appearances, it seemed to be quite an important piece of legislation – one which could make or break the Empire, according to most analysts.
That meant she felt the need to know everything she possibly could about it.
Anna brought up the surveillance feed menu on her datapad, searching for the cameras assigned to watch the Evenstars. She looked at the cameras that were in the Redwater tower, cycling through them until she found the one that was surveilling Amadeus.
She watched as the archived feed came up on her wall display and Amadeus took call after call with various council Elders. She listened in on his conversations as he tried to hold his coalition together. Anna noticed how tired and haggard he looked. She felt bad for him. She, too, knew what it was like to lose one’s parents. She remembered looking out the shuttle window as Regalus Prime exploded, crying in Shepherd’s arms at the loss of her family. She couldn’t imagine what it would be like actually to witness the death of one’s loved ones, up close, as Amadeus had.
Anna cycled through the recorded footage to see if there were anything interesting to be seen before moving on. She paused the recording once Jack appeared. She couldn’t help but smile when she saw him on screen. Of course you’d come to see how they were doing, Anna thought. You know what they’re going through, too.
Anna listened in on their conversation. She missed having Jack around. It was conversations like the one he was having with Amadeus that helped her get through losing Shepherd. She wished she could have him around more, but she knew if she gave in to that desire, it would only cause trouble. She didn’t feel she could trust herself around Jack. Her feelings for him just ran too deep.
Anna watched as Amadeus and Jack left the Evenstar apartments. She cycled through the surveillance cameras, following where they went. Finally, they arrived in a hallway where Jack parted ways with Amadeus, and entered a room.
Inside that room was Kimlee Evenstar.
Anna frowned. She felt bad for Kimlee’s loss, as well, but her sorrow was muted. Her relationship with Kimlee had always been a complicated one. Back when Kimlee had been engaged to Anna’s brother, Anna had looked up to her like a big sister. But after Porthan died, Anna felt like Kimlee resented her. Kimlee would always try and show her up at public events by being more grandiose or extravagant to try to take the attention away from Anna. In their social interactions, she’d tease Anna in a playful way that was nothing more than polite passive-aggressive mockery. But worst of all, Kimlee enjoyed the kind of freedom Anna could only dream about, and she seemed to squander it. Kimlee might have been jealous over Anna’s position, but deep down, Anna was the one who was truly jealous. If she had the kind of freedom Kimlee enjoyed, she could run off with Jack on his spaceship and never look back.
Anna watched as Jack and Kimlee spoke with one another. Then, her eyes widened, her chest tightened, and her breath caught in her throat.
They were kissing.
Anna just stared at the screen, her mouth having dropped open slightly in disbelief. A confusing jumble of emotions raged within her. She felt sick, she felt betrayed, and she felt sad. She wanted to look away, but for some reason, she just couldn’t.
That should be me, she thought. I should be the one kissing him. Not you. Me.
Anna’s vision blurred as she suddenly realized tears were welling up in her eyes. She quickly wiped them on the back of her hand, feeling foolish for reacting as she was. After all, she’d been the one who had pushed Jack away. She’d been the one to make it clear they could only be friends and nothing more. She had no right to be upset that he was moving on, and she knew it.
Anna shut off the display and got to her feet. Agitated energy was racing through her body, and she paced around the room to he
lp try to work it off. Images of Jack flashed into her mind. The way he’d looked when he came to talk to her behind the bleachers on Earth. The way the sunlight had caught his light brown hair as he’d made his goofy attempt at asking her out. The way he’d laughed and joked with her as they drank milkshakes at the Burger Shack. The way he’d appeared, as her hero and savior, when she opened her eyes after surviving Zarrod’s attack on the Ghost Planet. But most of all, the way he’d gazed at her on the overpass the night they’d snuck out, as he’d leaned in to kiss her.
And among all those wonderful memories, now she had the one of KIMLEE EVENSTAR with her tongue in his mouth burned into her brain!
Anna stopped pacing, her body tense. She turned and gazed out the window, her light reflection on the glass showing a piercing scowl plastered on her face. She knew she shouldn’t care. She knew she should be happy that Jack had found someone else – someone he could actually be with.
But if she shouldn’t care… why was she so angry?
Mourdock gazed intently at the small, ghostly white ball of energy that hovered over his palm, its surface turning in upon itself and erupting like flares from the corona of a star. He struggled to keep it manifested. It felt queer, as though a part of himself were outside his own body, detached, yet still connected.
“Be careful,” cautioned Hasatan. “Manipulating one’s own lifeforce can be dangerous. Should you lose control of it, you could expel your very spirit from your body.”
Mourdock closed his hands around the small, ghostly ball of energy and felt it enter back into him, feeling whole and normal once more. “I don’t like this,” he said. “It feels wrong.”
“We’ve discussed this, my young apprentice,” said Hasatan. “In order to fight the Deathlords, one must use their powers against them. Only through mastering Servurchur can one hope to defeat a Deathlord in battle.”
“Then why doesn’t Master Cormac teach it to all the Warrior Paragons at the Conclave?” asked Mourdock. “Why do I have to keep it a secret?”
“Because it is not something people would understand,” Hasatan said. “Though the Conclave encourages one to free one’s mind, there is some knowledge they fear to have widely shared. Servurchur is unique in that it is mastery over the consciousness of others, as opposed to one’s own. To gain control over another’s soul goes counter to everything the Paragons stand for. It is about learning how to enslave others and bend them to your will rather than about freeing them. I only agreed to teach you what I know of it in order to give you an edge in battle against the Deathlords. I would not want you to share the same fate as Paragon Shepherd suffered.”
Mourdock sighed. He knew what his teacher was telling him made sense, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that his training in Servurcher was opening up doors that might better be left closed. “I wonder how Jack did it…” he said.
Hasatan raised an eyebrow. “How he did what?”
“Defeated a Deathlord Supreme,” Mourdock replied. “He doesn’t have any training at all, and yet, he won the fight.”
Hasatan frowned. “Despite the Earthman’s many virtues, I suspect that he merely got extremely lucky. When push comes to shove, luck beats skill every time.”
“I don’t know about that,” muttered Mourdock thoughtfully. “You should have seen him when those assassins attacked me at the club. And his rescue of Kimlee Evenstar? That’s more than mere luck, Master.”
“And yet, it is not skill, either,” Hasatan replied. “Do not get me wrong. I see much potential in the Earthman. But in battle, one does not rise to the pinnacle of their potential. Rather, they fall to the level of their training. That knowledge which becomes ingrained in us will always appear when we need it most. But it must be discovered, learned, and incorporated first. Should the Earthman ever get into a fight, a real fight, he would not have the training required to survive it. This is why you are better than him. You train. He improvises. Luck is fleeting, but skills are everlasting, and only fools rely on luck to win. You have no cause to be jealous.”
Mourdock frowned. “It’s not about being jealous,” he said. “I just feel like he has something I don’t. Something I’m missing. I don’t even know how to describe it, but he’s got this… purity to him.”
“Purity?” Hasatan asked, curiously.
“Yes,” replied Mourdock. “It’s inspiring, you know? He’s so independent. He doesn’t seem to care what other people think, he just does what he believes is right, not because he’s supposed to, but because he knows it’s the right thing to do. He didn’t have to chase after me when I was fighting those assassins. In fact, because of his feelings for Anna, he would have benefitted if something had happened to me. But he came anyway. He had my back, when it would have been easy for him to simply leave me on my own. I can’t help but admire him for that.”
“Your admiration is understandable,” Hasatan said. “But the Earthman does not possess anything you do not. You, too, are pure, Mourdock. You are superior to everyone around you, including the Earthman. And you have not yet even begun to scratch the surface of your potential. When you ascend to the throne, you will be an Emperor. And when you finally free your mind, you will be akin to a god. Admire the Earthman, if you must. Be friends with him. But never, for one second, believe he is better than you. Like everyone else, he is your subject. By his very nature, he will always be inferior to one such as yourself.”
“Isn’t there danger in thinking like that?” Mourdock asked. “I feel as if believing I’m superior to everyone sets me apart from them. It makes me feel… distant.”
“Only because you are still coming to grips with your own power,” Hasatan said. “Your destiny is Legacy Prime, Mourdock. And every Emperor who has ever sat the throne has felt distant to those he rules over. But you cannot be a mere man when you shoulder a responsibility such as that. This is why family is so important. Your family will make you feel whole. The Princess will make you feel whole. She will be your equal, your partner, your one true love. And as long as you have her, you will need no one else. That will free you to rule as you must. That will free you to be the man you need to be.”
Mourdock smiled at that. The thought of Anna set his mind at ease. Then, to his surprise, the door to his training room opened, and robo-servants escorted the subject of his thoughts, herself, into the room. “Anna?” said Mourdock, shocked at the sudden visit. “What are you doing here?”
“I… I wanted to see you,” Anna said, biting her lower lip nervously. She glanced at Hasatan. “May we have a moment in private?”
Hasatan nodded. “As you wish, Your Highness,” he said, before leaving the room.
When they were alone, Mourdock looked at Anna curiously. “Is everything okay?” he asked. “What do you need to see me about—”
Suddenly, Anna rushed up to him, grabbing his face and kissing him deeply. Mourdock was taken aback at first, but quickly recovered, wrapping his arms around her and kissing her back. He felt his heart start to thump and the blood quicken in his veins. Oh, how he’d longed to kiss her! How he’d dreamed about it for what felt like an eternity! He almost couldn’t believe it was actually happening. Finally, Anna pulled back, still in his embrace, and looked down almost like she were ashamed of what she’d done. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.
“For what? For kissing me?” asked Mourdock with a warm smile. “Do you have any idea how long I’ve waited for that?”
That made Anna smile. “No, I’m sorry it’s taken me this long to do it,” she said. “It’s just… I’m sick of it, Mourdock. I’m sick of feeling like I have no control over my life. I’m tired of the fact that everything has to be so structured and formal, especially between us. I just… I want to get married!”
Mourdock felt his heart leap at her words, and he couldn’t keep himself from grinning broadly. “So do I!” he replied. “And in two more years, we will be!”
“No,” said Anna shaking her head. “Now. I want to get married now.”
&nb
sp; Mourdock’s eyes widened in surprise.
“I’m sick of waiting,” Anna said. “I’m sick of being alone. I hate that I don’t have someone I can love and who’ll just love me back for who I am instead of what I am. I want… I want to start our life together, Mourdock! I want you to be my best friend, and my husband, and my partner so we can start ruling the Empire together, side by side.”
“Anna,” said Mourdock with a smile, “nothing would make me happier than to run off to the High Pontiff right this instant and make you my wife… but the marriage contract states that you cannot be wed until you turn 18…”
“Forget the contract!” said Anna in exasperation. “Don’t you love me?”
“With all my heart!” replied Mourdock. “But any marriage outside the bounds your family set will not be recognized and would void the contract entirely. I’m not willing to risk losing you to some stupid legal loophole!” Mourdock could tell his response upset her. “Maybe we could go to father,” he said. “See if he could speed up his efforts to get the contract amended?”
Anna shook her head. “It would have to be ratified by both Councils and approved by the Directory,” she replied. “Even if any amendment were to pass, it would most likely take well longer than two years by the time it did.”
Mourdock frowned. “You know, we don’t have to be married for me to be your best friend,” he said. “We could spend more time together, if you like.”
Anna broke away from his embrace and hugged herself, disappointed. “Until you’re needed in the Rim again,” she said. “Then I’ll be all alone once more.”
Mourdock sighed, sadly. “I… I don’t know what to tell you,” he said. “I want to marry you more than anything, Anna. But we have responsibilities… rules we have to follow…”
Earthman Jack vs. The Secret Army (Earthman Jack Space Saga Book 2) Page 45
