The Royal Pursuit

by Ruth Ann Nordin

  “I won’t let the wrong person near the technology,” he swore. “I won’t die either, so I can see that promise through to eternity.”

  “I will rule fairly,” William agreed. “History won’t repeat itself.”

  She knew she’d lost her argument. They would do as they wished, and there was nothing she could say to change their minds.

  “I will escort you back to your room. I must speak with Nichols in private,” Pallid told her.

  She reluctantly followed him, deciding it was best to keep quiet. They’d made up their minds, and nothing she could say or do would change them. She would have to bide her time and hope William wouldn’t have a chance to hurt Hathor.

  She couldn’t afford to risk the life of her child. If she did anything to upset either man, they might kill her despite their assurances they would let her live. If she wasn’t pregnant, she would try to escape. She wondered what plan they would come up with about Amanda. She was terrified to find out. As soon as she returned to her room and he locked her inside, she allowed her tears to fall.

  Chapter Nineteen

  The man in white returned to the library where William stared in amazement at the city before him. The man closed the door to ensure their privacy.

  “We need to discuss Ann’s fate,” the man said, deciding not to waste time on pleasantries.

  “What do you want to do?” William asked, not taking his gaze off the city.

  “Let her live.”

  “What is so special about her that you wish to spare her life?”

  “It’s wrong to kill her just because she’s pregnant,” he said.

  William sighed. “Look, I don’t want to kill her, okay? You heard me talking to her.”

  “Perhaps we can allow the child to be born. If we kept Ann here, then she could raise the child here. We can monitor the child’s actions. It isn’t too late to change the future.”

  “It won’t work. Ann needs to rule Raz. She won’t stay here. Besides, if we were to force her to stay here, the Palers will come rescue her. I remember what happened when they came here before. There are a lot of them, and they could easily wipe us out.”

  The man didn’t want to resort to the next option. He had held out for all other options, hoping one of them might be feasible. He’d promised Ann he wouldn’t allow her to die. There was only one way to ensure she remain alive without threatening the future existence of Atlantis.

  “The technology in this city will allow us to perform an abortion,” he slowly stated.

  William’s eyebrows rose in interest. “That would certainly eliminate our problem.”

  He stared at William, wondering why the thought didn’t disturb William as much as it disturbed him. It seemed cold-hearted to do such a thing. He knew Ann would be devastated. The child meant so much to her. He would have to find a way to soothe the pain for her.

  “Is that all you wanted to discuss?” William asked, finally turning to face him.

  “No. I also wondered if you captured Hathor yet.”

  “Oh yes. I have him exactly where I want him. He won’t be alive for long.”

  “What did you do with the others?”

  “I put the Nicals, Athen, and Palers in the cubed prison. Kent and Stacey Russell are still asleep from the sleeping gas I put into the room they were in. As for Captain Reed, he is taking care of the other two men who came with him on the expedition.”

  “You plan to kill those two men as well?”

  “I have to. I can’t leave any loose ends.”

  “It sounds like you’ve thought everything through.”

  “Yes. This time I am well prepared.” William smiled. “I have been looking forward to this for a long time. I am going to especially enjoy confronting Hathor.”

  The man watched as William left the room. He didn’t care much for William, but he supposed the feeling was mutual. He sighed and sat at the desk. He remembered when he used to visit this library and study the many books. He never thought he’d see the day when Atlantis fell. Even more surprising was the fact that he was finally here again.

  He ran his hands along the desk, loving the feel of the smooth surface. No other human was able of duplicating the artistic skill of Hephaestus who designed it.

  His attention turned back to the small mirror. He hadn’t had a chance to use it since Atlantis disappeared from the face of the Earth. He had relied on his memories of what he had seen before its collapse. Fortunately, he had an excellent memory. The six leaders created his capacity for retaining memories.

  He picked up the mirror, wondering what he should check out in this mirror of possible futures. He knew William and Ann shared a romantic past. He also knew she ended up marrying Hathor instead. He wondered what would have happened if she had married William.

  He pushed the letters on the mirror until it brought up the scenario he requested. The mirror displayed an image of Ann who was in her last trimester of pregnancy. She stood in her bedroom, staring out of a window.

  The man pressed start to begin the scene’s movement.

  William entered the room, a look of boredom on his face. “Athen summoned me. He said you wanted to see me.”

  She took a deep breath before she turned to face him. “I heard rumors that you are sleeping with Aphrodite. Is this true?”

  His eyes widened. “Who told you that?”

  “I won’t disclose the source of this information, but I will say the Olympians have banned her from their planet for her actions. She is returning to Earth as we speak.”

  He shrugged. “What if it is true? It’s your fault.”

  She clenched her fists but refrained from going near him. “How is it my fault?”

  “You are a control freak on this planet. You think everything revolves around you. I run around doing your bidding. I don’t make any of the decisions, and no one listens to me because you’re the one they look to.”

  “But that’s your job. I told you that is what the king does. You insisted on coming with me anyway. I tried to warn you this wasn’t going to be a politically equal relationship. Raz isn’t designed for that.”

  “You’ve emasculated me.”

  “It wasn’t my choice. Kathz made Raz what it is today. I can’t change the rules. I must obey them.” She paused. “I have done everything I can to treat you with respect. When we are alone, I am your equal. I haven’t denied you anything you wanted. You have riches stored up in your bedroom. I let you take trips all over this universe. I do what I can to make you happy.”

  “With Aphrodite I am superior.”

  “With Aphrodite any male is superior. That’s how she is. She’ll sleep with anyone given the opportunity.”

  “You never did like her.”

  “And for good reason.”

  “Oh, I’m not alone in this infidelity.”

  She gasped. “I have never cheated on you!”

  “Maybe not physically, but I know you think of Hathor. Late at night, I know you cry because you wish you’d married him instead of me.”

  She looked back at the window, not allowing him to see the tears that welled in her eyes.

  “There’s no love between us. If the child you carry is a girl, you’ll divorce me. I know that. Then you’ll run to Hathor and make him the king.”

  “He would never take me back. Not after the way I rejected him,” she whispered.

  “What was that?” he demanded.

  She quickly wiped the tears from her eyes and whirled around, her anger resurfacing. “Get out! You’d better hope this child is a girl because then you can go right back to Earth. If this child is a boy, I will have to confine you to the prison. I won’t have you married to me and fooling around with all the willing women you find on other planets.”

  “If you send me back to Earth, I will be a nobody again.”

  “Isn’t that how you feel now?”

  “But I won’t have the title of being king or the riches that come with it.”

  “You
should have thought of that before you cheated on me.”

  “You will never be happy,” he promised. “I will see to that.”

  “When you’re out of my life, I will be happy,” she replied.

  The man in white had to see what William meant when he made his promise. He chose to follow the course William made, so the mirror switched to him as its focal point. William didn’t waste any time in following on his promise. He found the location of Hathor’s residence and pounded on the front door of his one-bedroom wood house.

  Hathor reluctantly put his pen down. He stood up from his desk and walked over to the door. He blinked in surprise when he saw who his visitor was.

  “This isn’t a social call,” William announced as he entered the house.

  “What do you want?” Hathor demanded, his tone revealing his dislike for the king.

  “Have you seen Ann?”

  “Not since she married you. I helped the previous queen hand the queenship over to her, remember?”

  “Just checking.”

  Hathor sighed impatiently. “Is there a point to this conversation because I’d like to get back to preparing the lessons I will need to teach your child.” He motioned to the paper on his desk. “As you can see, I am busy.”

  “If this child is a girl, Ann will divorce me. Did you know that?”

  Hathor’s jaw dropped. Then his eyes narrowed. “What did you do to her?”

  “Why do you assume it’s something I did?” he snapped.

  “Because she would never do anything to jeopardize your marriage.”

  “Did you know she would like to be with you instead? Oh, she hasn’t come out and said it, but I can see it in her eyes whenever someone mentions your name in the palace. She asks about you. You know, to make sure you’re doing alright. And you’re right. She won’t dare come see you because it would tarnish her reputation. She wouldn’t cheat on me with anyone, no matter what I did to her. She’s just biding her time until she can divorce me.”

  Hathor’s face grew red with anger. “What did you do to her?”

  William took out the Book of Spells and flipped through it.

  Hathor lunged for it, but William quickly froze Hathor in place. “What I’ve done is nothing compared to what I’m about to do. I’m going to make sure she is never happy by taking you from her. If she’s going to make my life miserable, I’m going to do the same to her. She may not believe it, but I know you would go to her if you thought there was a chance you could have her. I knew you loved her then and you love her now.”

  “What did you do to her?” he yelled though he couldn’t move.

  William pulled out his sword. “Besides committing adultery, I killed the one man she truly loves.”

  The man in white grimaced as he watched William stab Hathor. He immediately pressed the button to stop the scene. Then he cleared the mirror.

  His heart grew heavy as his mind processed the images he witnessed. He should have taken time to investigate the kind of person he was partnering up with when he went to William about bringing Atlantis back on the map. He had just been so excited about being home he didn’t consider the price involved. He knew it was too soon to love Ann, but he knew he could love her if given the time to. He also knew someone else already loved her enough to risk his life for her, someone who would also wait as long as necessary to be with her.

  He put the mirror down and walked over to the large window. He studied Atlantis, marveling at its majesty. He had hoped to bring this beauty to Earth. After what he saw, he realized that for once in his life, he was going to have to put someone else before himself.

  Without another word, he turned and walked out of the room. He knew what he had to do, even if it meant watching his beloved city sink back into the ocean.

  ***

  Second Commander Jaz was the first to wake up in the diamond cube. She banged on it, trying to find a weakness in it so that she and her fellow prisoners could escape, but she couldn’t find one. After five minutes, she gave up and took out her telecommunicator.

  “Leader Paff? This is Second Commander Jaz.”

  “Jaz? Thank goodness! First Commander Zak and I have been worried about you and Guard Falon ever since we lost communication with you back on Lone,” Leader Paff said. “We’ve searched for you but couldn’t find you.”

  “For some reason, this telecommunicator didn’t work on Lone. There must have been some strange interference that we couldn’t detect.”

  “Where are you now? Are you on your way back to Pale?”

  “I wish.” She sighed. “Right now I’m trapped in a large cube. We’re on Earth in a city called Atlantis. I’ll send you the coordinates now.” She typed in the necessary information. “Did you get that?”

  “Yes, I did. What are you doing there?”

  “It’s a long story, but the queen’s life is in danger. We met up with Hathor, but he’s not with us now.”

  “Who are you with?”

  “I’m with Guard Falon, Athen, and five Nicals. We need to be rescued.”

  “I will send out an emergency rescue team immediately. Do you think you will be able to survive until then?”

  “Our chances are good of that,” she said, examining her prison. “There doesn’t seem to be any immediate threat to our lives.”

  “Good. I will gather a team and head out there as soon as I can. Paff out.”

  She ended her transmission and sat back.

  Athen was the next one to wake up. He sat up and rubbed his eyes. “What happened?”

  “Someone trapped us in this cube,” she replied. “They also took Hathor and the Book of Spells.”

  “Did you recognize the person who did this to us?”

  Her mind ran through their capture. Before she passed out, she did recall a familiar face, but it wasn’t a face she had seen on any planet but Earth. “Now that I think of it, yes. His name is William Nichols, and he knew Queen Ann very well in her past.”

  “William Nichols? Isn’t that the same person who almost injected her with the mind controlling chip three years ago?”

  She nodded. “He was exactly the kind of puppet Omin-2 needed.”

  “But how does he remember that Queen Ann rules Raz?” Guard Falon asked, sitting up.

  “That is a good question.”

  The Nicals slowly woke up from their sleep. As soon as they accessed their situation, they gathered closely together, obviously scared. Jaz noted that Athen seemed upset by the way Sando comforted Optima.

  “I contacted Leader Paff and he is on his way with a rescue team to save us,” Jaz assured them. “We shouldn’t be stuck here for long.”

  “Thank goodness our telecommunicators work here,” Falon said.

  “We have to save Queen Ann and Hathor,” Athen said. “Since we know she’s pregnant with the next queen, she will be my priority.”

  “She’s a priority for all of us. We’ll help you save her and the king.”

  “I hate to mention this,” Ruler Dour interrupted, “but the Nicals aren’t able to fight. We have been greatly weakened by the virus, and though we are now cured, our bodies need time to regain our strength.”

  “That’s understandable,” Jaz said. “We will put you on the spaceship as soon as it arrives.”

  “I feel so helpless,” Optima replied. “We were nothing but pawns in that man’s game, and we couldn’t stop him.”

  “You let the queen escape,” Athen argued. “Thanks to you, she’s still alive right now.”

  She smiled at his kind words, her hair turning a pretty shade of pink.

  Jaz settled back and saved her energy for the battle that would soon come.

  Chapter Twenty

  Captain Reed walked up to William, who stood in the room that once belonged to Hades. Hathor, Stacey, and Kent were still asleep on the floor where he had put them. William was tapping the mirror in his hands against his knee impatiently. When would they wake up? Surely, the gas couldn’t have been that potent.
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  “I have killed Stephen and Mark,” Captain Reed said. “They’ve been disposed of so no one will find them.”

  William smiled. “The alibi is set?”

  “It’s perfect, just as you said,” he replied.

  “Good. I hate to leave any loose ends. You will be my vice-president. Oh, and the five million dollars will transfer to your account by tomorrow morning.”

  “Is there anything else you want me to do?”

  William considered the question. He didn’t trust the man who wore white. He was reluctant to get rid of Ann’s child, who would ultimately abolish William’s reign over Atlantis.

  “There is one loose end we need to tie up,” William said. “Ann is pregnant, and I have foreseen that child destroy Atlantis. We have to make sure that never happens.”

  “You want me to kill Ann?”

  “No. I will spare her life since she spared mine in the past. I try to be fair when I can be.” William paused then asked, “Do you know how to perform an abortion with this city’s technology?”

  “It’s easy. I reviewed some of the books in the library,” he replied. “Stephen and Mark didn’t think I could read the language here, but they were wrong.”

  “Of course, the abortion will upset her.”

  “No, it won’t. The Atlantians knew how to wipe people of their painful memories. It was one of their quests for eliminating sorrow.”

  William was amazed at the things the six leaders created in their rule. It was a privilege to follow in their footsteps. “Good. Wipe that memory from her. There’s no need to bother her with minor details.”

  “Yes.” He turned to leave.

  “And Reed?”

  He stopped and looked back at William.

  “I’ll give you another five million for this task.”

  Reed nodded then hurried out of the room.

  William snickered as Reed left. It was incredibly easy to control someone whose primary motive in life was to make a lot of money in a short period of time.