Eye on Orion

by Laura D. Bastian

  “If Shander actually had good intentions, why tell you to take me away from my bodyguard?” I asked.

  He didn’t have anything to say in response at first, but eventually said, “Perhaps he knew your new bodyguard would follow your wishes to shirk your duties?”

  I huffed in indignation. My head moved slightly. “I did not shirk my duties. Shander is a threat, and my father sent me here. How did Shander get back into the palace?” I demanded. “The king banished him.”

  “He was never banished.” He frowned.

  “Shander is trying to take over the kingdom for himself.” I clenched my fist, excited that I could do that much. “He's been trying to cause dissension and undermining the king's rule for a while. He was banished when he tried to force me to marry him. The people should have been told not to trust him.”

  “The people have no concerns with Shander.” He looked confused for a moment. “They think he is a logical person to step into power if your father dies before your return. He has been the king's counselor. In fact, many people are upset you are missing instead of ready to take your place as their queen. I wouldn’t be surprised if they ratified a law that would allow him to rule without you.”

  If that was true, why would Shander send this guy for Amira? Why not just let the people vote him in? “Why did you come instead of him?” I asked.

  “I was told to come find you and return with you as soon as I had you, and we could get to a good spot for Traveling.” He glanced at me as he pulled onto the freeway.

  “Where?” I asked. How long did I have to convince him not to kidnap the princess? There were few cars on the road, being a section of I-80 that wasn’t used frequently.

  “The Salt Flats.”

  So it was true. The Salt Flats allowed them to Travel easier. They were less than two hours away. Not far, but not an immediate concern. I needed to get him to stop and give me time to convince him not to take Amira, or me really, back to Rommader.

  “Shander is a terrible tyrant. How can you possibly obey his wishes and return me to him?” I asked, throwing as much disgust in my voice as possible.

  “I…” he didn’t finish.

  “Tell me your name,” I commanded.

  “Ryad Mynar, Your Highness.” He bowed his head.

  I tried to fold my arms across my chest, but I could only lift my hands just a fraction of an inch. Instead I mustered up as much confidence in my voice as I could. “Ryad, as your princess, I insist you stop this car, and we will discuss your options.”

  “I can’t do that. I was told to return you to Rommader.”

  “I can’t Travel with you now. I don’t have my medallion.” I insisted.

  “Why would you ever take it off?” he asked.

  “It does not matter. You will have to return me to my home here so I can get it.”

  “And have your bodyguard attack me?” He snorted. “I don’t think so. I will take you somewhere safe for now until I can get back to your place and find that medallion.”

  I could let him try to do that. Jai would be there with the real princess and would stop Ryad from getting the medallion. Jai would probably even capture him then find out where I was. But if I didn’t get home within an hour, my parents would get involved, they’d contact Jai, find I was missing, call the police, and get them involved, potentially causing Jai and Amira all kinds of grief, especially if Ryad did something weird or alien-like. No, I’d have to get out of this on my own, and soon.

  I took a deep breath. “Return me to the theater and we can discuss this with the others who are with me.”

  “I don’t think I want to return to your bodyguard and ask for his forgiveness,” he said with a strange tone in his voice.

  “Why! What did you do to him?” I demanded. My voice trembled. I didn't know if it was from worry or rage, or a strange combination of both. I twitched my fingers and found I could move them a little more.

  “I followed him into the lavatory and incapacitated him. He went down, and I hurried back out to find you.” He shrugged.

  “What!” I was now more worried for Jai than for myself. I tried to reach Ryad, but my hand only inched to the side.

  “I didn’t think I could get away from him if I took you in front of his eyes,” he told me as if trying to justify himself. “Not without killing him.”

  “You better not have hurt him,” I threatened. I was completely useless like this. What had he done to my body? My head was able to turn slightly now, but not by much. My muscles didn’t hurt or even feel different, but I was almost paralyzed.

  “I have been trained in combat and know how much force to use. I'm sure I made him angry. And then I took you on top of that. Maybe it would be better if you just ran me over with this automobile on your way back.” He snickered. It was a strange sound coming from him. I couldn't believe he could joke about it.

  “Don’t tempt me,” I said. “Just turn around and take me back, and I will protect you from Jai.”

  “I can’t do that.” Hesitation crept into his voice. “I am under orders from Shander to return you to Rommader immediately.”

  I jumped on his indecision. “Who are you loyal to?”

  “What?” My question seemed to take him off-guard.

  “Who are you loyal to?” I repeated. “You call me Your Highness. You speak of my father, the king, with respect. You almost seem a little afraid of Shander. Who are you loyal to?”

  “I am loyal to Rommader,” he said.

  “Then why are you trying to force me to return because Shander has sent for me?” I pressed. “You know my father is still in command and that Shander has usurped his power. You are committing treason by kidnapping me.”

  He seemed shocked at the idea and started speaking in his own language.

  “English!” I shouted.

  He stopped his strange words and looked at me like I was nuts.

  Trying to distract him from my un-princessly outburst, I said, “If you return me to Rommader, Shander will force me to marry him and then take over the kingdom. Shander would destroy the peace and prosperity of Rommader if he ruled. Please return me to where you have taken me from.”

  “Princess, you are overreacting. Shander can’t be that bad. He was concerned about your disappearance. The king’s health is poor. You should want to return to see your father before he dies.” Ryad looked at me like I was heartless. Amira never let on that she was worried about her father, but she must be horrified to realize he might die while she was gone. Would she return faster if she knew he was close to death?

  Ryad shook his head when I didn’t say anything. “Shander is doing what he can to help the people accept King Chark’s passing. If you were back, it would do much to ease the concerns of the people.”

  “I’m not going with you,” I said.

  “Princess, I hate to break it to you, but there is nothing you can do to stop me. I have been given an assignment, and I will fulfill it. You will have to get over your selfishness and come back to do your duty.”

  I sucked in a breath at his insult. And it wasn’t even me he was talking about. I didn’t think anything he said about Amira was true. Shander was evil. I knew he was. And somehow he had convinced this guy he was right. He wanted Amira for something sinister, and I wasn’t going to let Shander get her. He could easily have the kingdom if he just left her here on Earth. The people would just assume she took off and never planned to return.

  I fought against my own paralysis. My muscles twitched, as if almost getting the signal to move. Without turning my head, I looked around the car trying to figure out how to get free of him. Opening the door with my body like this was impossible. And jumping out while traveling this fast would be suicide. If I could get my body to respond, I could do something. I looked at my seatbelt. I was secured tight, but so was he. But if I could unsnap his and somehow get ahold of the steering wheel... I swallowed hard. Could I do it? Was I stupid enough to do something like that?

  It had been
five minutes since he had paralyzed me. It took another five for my muscles to return to their normal use. I felt the return of control in a quick shudder as if my nerves let out a breath they’d been holding. I didn’t make any sudden movements, or Ryad would know I was mobile again. I didn’t try to argue him out of his plan any more. I just stared straight ahead and ignored his attempts at conversation.

  He shrugged and turned the radio on. After pushing the scan button a couple times, he finally stopped on my favorite station. He didn’t try to sing along, but nodded his head in time to the music. I inched my fingers closer to his seatbelt.

  I glanced out the side-view mirror, hoping there would be no cars behind us. The tiny light in the distance I had noticed earlier was gone. If I did it now, no one would see it and I could get away from him.

  I placed my finger on the red button of his lap belt just as the song ended. I hesitated, not wanting him to hear the click. I sweated out the next three minutes of commercials and waited until a loud song returned. The first one after the commercial break was perfect. I took a slow cleansing breath, sent a fast prayer for my safety, and pressed the release.

  Ryad didn’t seem to notice anything. I sighed in relief, took a fast breath, and lunged toward him. I yanked at the steering wheel with my right hand while clawing at his face with my left. Ryad screamed at me to let go, but it was too late, the car had swerved off the side of the road. He slammed on the brake and yanked back at the wheel, trying to return to the road, but I pulled even harder. I didn’t want him to make us roll. If we went off the side of the road and hit the ditch or even slammed into the concrete barrier, we’d be much better off than if we rolled.

  I dug my fingers into the flesh of his cheek and ripped hard. He screamed in pain and let go of the wheel. The car spun around backward. When I thought he wouldn’t grab the wheel again, I let it go. I didn’t want to be leaning over the wheel when we hit. I struggled to sit back against my seat and managed to get in place just before we hit the embankment with the rear of the car and came to a stop. My head slammed against the headrest just as the airbag exploded.

  Dust billowed around the car and filtered through the headlights. We were at a forty-five degree angle to the road, facing east on the westbound side. I jerked my head to the left to see what had happened to Ryad. He was leaning against the window, unconscious. I smelled blood and saw a light trickle from his head. Was he dead? I reached over to feel for a pulse on his exposed neck and placed my finger on the artery there.

  Relief hit me when I felt it. I saw him breathing slowly and hoped that meant he’d be all right. I didn’t want to be caught here with him, so I climbed out of the car. My heart pounded hard enough I felt it in my ears. I stumbled a couple steps until I managed to get my feet under me. I climbed the embankment to the road and started running back toward home. We were miles from town. I needed to find help. If Ryad died in that accident, there would be police involved. I had no idea if their bodies were different than ours, but if they found something odd about him, then there would be all kinds of problems. My fingerprints would be all over the car, leading them back to me, and then to Amira and Jai. I gulped back the tears that came, and ran.

  Chapter Twelve

  Found

  I ran until I couldn’t anymore and then jogged. I slowed to a walk to catch my breath and then started running again. The adrenaline that had gotten me through the kidnapping and the crash was gone, and I felt nauseated. I shook it off and tried running again. A car in the distance gave me hope. I could wave them down and get some help. I stopped running and bent over for a moment to catch my breath. I sucked in air and coughed ’til I thought I would puke. When the car got closer, I started waving my arms.

  As they slowed down, I worried about what would happen when they called the cops. How could I explain what I'd done? I was sure they’d arrest me for trying to kill him. I stopped waving and wrapped my arms around myself. The car pulled over to the side, the tires slipping as the driver braked hard, and came to a stop just in front of me. The headlights hurt my eyes and I squinted through them trying to see the driver.

  The door opened and Jai jumped out of the car. My legs couldn’t hold me any longer, and I fell against him just as he reached me.

  “Holly!”

  I gripped him around the chest and held tight. He wouldn’t call the cops. He would help me fix this. I cried against his shirt and mumbled incoherently.

  “Holly. What happened? Where is he?”

  I loosened my hold only enough to point in the direction I had come from. I peeked back toward Ryad’s car and saw the headlights off the side of the road.

  Jai held me close to him, and I finally felt safe. He walked me to the passenger door and tried to put me inside. I knew I should get in the car, but I couldn’t let go. Jai placed his large, strong hands on my arms and rubbed them softly.

  “It’s okay. We need to get you home.” He looked down at me.

  “No. We have to go get him. I don’t know how bad he’s hurt.” I finally loosened my hold on him and took a step toward Ryad.

  “We should leave him and get you safe. We’ll have to go hide Amira.”

  “No. The cops would find him and a huge investigation would start.”

  Jai nodded and convinced me to get in the car.

  “How did you find me?”

  Jai pulled the car back onto the road and approached the wreck. “I recognized him just before he knocked me out. I figured he’d try to take you to the Salt Flats to Travel back home.”

  I stared at the lights in front of me that got brighter with each second. Jai pulled onto the shoulder and got out of the car. I quickly followed. I had to see if Ryad’s condition had changed. Jai motioned for me to stay back while he approached the car. He looked into the opened side door.

  Turning to me he said, “What happened?”

  “I made us wreck.”

  Jai looked me over more closely. I waved off his concern. “I’m okay. I had my seatbelt on.” I choked on the last word.

  Jai walked around to the driver’s side. He opened it slowly, body poised to move. He caught Ryad as he fell out of the door. Ryad didn’t move or make a sound. Jai checked him over and when he finished he said, “He’s still alive.”

  “Will he be okay?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Can you Heal him?”

  Jai looked at me like I was crazy. “Why?”

  “You can’t let him die.”

  “Of course I can. He kidnapped you. He works for Shander. He’ll try to take Amira back.”

  “He still doesn’t deserve to die,” I insisted. “Besides, if he’s dead then the police will find out, and they could discover something alien about him.”

  “Not if I dispose of the body.”

  “Jai!”

  “I take my responsibility to protect my princess very seriously. I will not let anything happen to her if I can stop it. I can end this now.”

  “No.” I shook with rage. “You can’t do that. Bring him with us. Find out what he knows. But don’t kill him.”

  “Fine. But I will not Heal him. If he dies on his own, then so be it.”

  I sagged with relief and watched in amazement as Jai hefted Ryad over his shoulder and carried him to the car with ease.

  “Holly, could you open the door for me?” He nodded to the back seat.

  I rushed forward and opened the door. Jai bent over and placed Ryad carefully into the back. Jai removed the Traveling medallion from Ryad’s wrist and tucked it away in a pocket.

  “Do you feel up to driving?” He looked me over.

  I shook my head. I didn’t think I’d be able to do anything right now but keep myself from crying.

  “No problem.” Jai reached in the front door and pulled the switch for the trunk. He rummaged around back there for a minute and came back with something in his hands. He reached in and used a couple of zip ties to hobble Ryad. It didn’t look comfortable at all. His right wrist was
connected to his left ankle and the left wrist to the right ankle. I hoped Ryad would remain unconscious for the remainder of the night.

  Jai led me to the passenger door and helped me into the car. He walked around to his side and started to climb in before I remembered something. “Wait.”

  Jai looked at me.

  “Blood and fingerprints.”

  Jai nodded and returned to Ryad’s car. I climbed back out, not willing to stay in the car with Ryad alone. I watched as Jai took off his shirt and did a thorough wipe-down of the inside and outside of the car. I racked my memory, trying to make sure I hadn’t touched anything else, but was pretty sure Jai got it all. He walked away from the wrecked car toward his. I couldn’t help but admire Jai’s bare chest as he approached.

  He looked at me with concern. “Holly, are you okay?”

  I stared at him, confused at his question.

  “Holly?”

  “Huh?”

  “Are you hurt?”

  I shook my head. “I don’t think so.”

  “Are you sure? You look a little dazed.” He threw his bloodied shirt on the floor of the back seat.

  When I realized I’d been staring at him half-dressed, I started laughing. I couldn’t help myself. It sounded almost like a cackle. I knew I was having a delayed reaction to the shock of the kidnapping and the accident. Jai must have had some inner freak-out radar because he gathered me into a hug. I burst into tears.

  “Shh,” he whispered as he held me. I felt him kiss the top of my head, and I nearly melted. My body shook as I cried. Jai didn’t say a word, just held me as I let it all out.

  Taking my hand in his, Jai looked me over closely. “May I Heal you?”

  I nodded and immediately felt a warmth flowing through my body, starting at my hands as if Jai was searching for what was wrong. He looked into my eyes as he did it, and when the warmth reached my neck, Jai took one hand and placed it on my shoulders then gently moved his hand slowly up the back of my neck. The stiffness I hadn’t recognized before immediately left, and I felt more at peace than I had in a long time.