“That it is, Princess,” he says.
More people have woken up, and some begin to come out of the other ships. Everyone looks confused, and finding the King and Kataline in the middle of all the ships, as they’ve landed in a circular formation doesn’t help anyone understand things any better.
Aunt Nar comes to meet them as do I. She asks, “What is going on, Your Highness?”
My father looks at her and waves his hand, gesturing for all to gather round. “I have a confession to make.”
I take Kataline’s hand, and she looks at me. “Kerr, did you sleep well?”
“Um, not sure. I remember nothing,” I tell her. I place a kiss on her cheek. “Do you think you have that under control now?”
She nods and smiles. “I do. I have been waging a war inside my head, but I won out in the end. It is the dark one who slumbers in the warm liquid now, and I plan to keep it there.”
It seems as if all have woken up and gathered around us. My father raises his hands above his head as if in surrender. “I have done an awful thing, and I will accept any punishment the royals deem appropriate for the crimes I have committed.”
I place my hand on his shoulder. “Father, perhaps you and I should talk in private about this matter.”
He shakes his head and pats my hand. “No, son. It’s time to come clean.” He looks back around and his eyes land on Nar who stands near him. “I had my brother kill the Queen and then because of my hate for what he did, I took him to another planet and dumped him. I have no idea if he’s even still alive. I highly doubt it.”
My ears cannot believe what they’ve just heard. “No, Father. Please tell me that’s not true!” My head spins with the news, and I can’t feel a thing. Numbness has enveloped me, and this cannot be real.
A hush falls over the crowd, and Nar’s hand flies back, and she delivers a sound slap to his cheek. “Hexultan!”
My father’s face turns with the force of the hard slap, and he leaves his head down. “I completely understand if you all wish to string me up and take my life right here and now.”
My knees feel weak, and I feel Kataline’s hand on my back as people murmur around us. She looks around and says, “May I remind you all that the capital and palace have been taken over and every man and woman we have is needed to help getting it back.”
I nod and look around. “The Princess is right. We can deal with the King once we have control back and find out who is behind this uprising.” I look at my aunt. “Okay, Nar?”
Tears have welled up in her blue eyes. “How could you, Hexultan?”
My father shakes his head. “I have no excuse and will offer none. All I can say is my head wasn’t right at that time.”
This is too much for me to deal with right now. I can’t handle the takeover and this horrible news.
How could he do such a thing?
My father loved my mother. It’s impossible that he really did that. Impossible!
Kataline reaches out, takes his hand in hers and then looks out at the crowd. “I am here to tell you all that evil resides in every one of us. The King let it rule him for a short time, and he is willing to pay the price whatever that may be. I would like to remind everyone, vengeance is not ours to take. Keep that in mind as you think about what is the appropriate action to take with this man. For he is just a man though he has a great title. He is flesh and blood like we all are. He is weak as we all can be. He is human.”
Nods and whispers come from the crowd, and then I say, “You can be assured there will be consequences. For now, though we must form a plan to get our planet back under royal control and going in, to battle the rebels with the King in shackles is a terrible idea and will surely lead to our destruction.”
My father looks at me. “Son, whoever is in charge there wanted me killed. Don’t you recall? They will kill all who help me.”
I clap my father on the back. “I have my doubts they can do that now that Kataline has regained herself. And to be sure about something, I want to take Kataline back on the ship and do a little test. I have a theory about what’s happening to her, and I think the ship has everything to do with it.”
I take my wife by her hand and lead her back to the ship everyone has come out of. As we enter her hand goes to her head, and her body falls against my side. “Kerr!”
I stop and look into her eyes and see little bits of gold streaking through them. “What’s happening to you?”
“Take me back out, quickly, the voices…”
I pick her up and run back out of the ship. When I look into her eyes, the golden streaks are gone. “Okay, it’s definitely something on the ship that activates something you have on you.”
My father points at Kataline’s wedding ring. “Take that off and go back in.”
I take the ring off her finger and hold it in my hand. Then lead her back inside, and nothing happens to her at all. She looks at me with surprise. “You mean that’s all we ever had to do to stop that!”
I nod and open my hand to look at the ring that belonged to my grandmother. “There’s something in this ring, and something is planted on this ship. Whoever took over certainly had a lot of access to the palace because this ring resided in my mother’s jewelry box for years now and nowhere else.”
My father’s eyes travel to my wife as we walk back out to where everyone else is. “We have limited weapons with us. Only the paralysis staffs that have enough charge for only one kill each. That will never be enough. But Kataline may still have her powers.”
I point to a large tree branch with little yellow flowers growing all over it. “Kataline see if you can make only the flowers fall off that limb.”
My wife looks at the tree limb, and a few flowers begin to fall, she blinks a couple of times, and the flowers burst into flames. She smiles, and the flames go out.
Then she holds her palm out as she looks at the limb and it’s as if she’s ripping it from the main beam and it flies through the air, landing fifty feet away from the tree.
“Yes, I still have my powers. The process that happened in me allowed them to come forward. I assume that as long as I use them now and then I will keep them,” she says then turns to look at the others, some of whom have their hands over their mouths in shock and surprise.
“I think she should lead us in, Kerr. You and I can stand behind her and the rest behind us.” My father taps his long finger against his temple. “I’d like to see if she might be able to protect us all as well. Can you be a sport and see if she can stop someone from getting to you, Kerr?”
I motion to three of our biggest guards. “Can you come forward and draw your staffs?”
They do as I say and I look at Kataline. “Don’t let them get to me, Baby.”
With a smile, she says, “Not a problem.”
I hold out my arms. “Come at me, boys.”
The three rush toward me as Kataline stands behind me. They get within a few feet, and it’s as if they hit a wall. They all fall back and one lands on his ass.
They try again and move around me in a circle, testing the whole perimeter. Kataline laughs. “He’s protected completely. No one can get to him, even overhead or underneath him.”
My father claps his hands. “Fantastic! Do you think you can protect us all?”
“I can,” she says and then takes my hand. “We should get going, don’t you all think?”
With one loud cheer from the crowd of royals, guards, and staff we form a somewhat formidable group. And with our secret weapon, we should be able to regain control and oust the new leader. The time has come to battle, and we are ready, thanks to my award!
Chapter Forty-Two
Caleb
Allied With The Alien
“Your Highness, we need to get you someplace safe. The surveillance at the port just showed us the whole group of people who were on the ships of the Armada are grouped together in formation. The King is alive,” I say as Emerald hurries to help the Queen get ready.
She was in a deep sleep, and we had no choice but to come into her bedchamber to see if she was okay. A half-empty glass of the purple drink she seems to have around her at all times sits on the bedside table.
“I will leave you to help her, Emerald. Please hurry, Love.” I leave the room and go to gather the people I’ve managed to scrape together from the Earthlings and the few guards who were left here.
At a meeting late last night, we came up with a plan to hold the palace if for some reason the King wasn’t killed as the Queen had ordered. I will have a few men at intervals take out key guards who are known for their superior combat skills.
The guards who have worked with the others for many years are less than keen on helping to kill their co-workers and friends. This will not be an easy war, and I have tried to talk to the Queen about it, but she won’t listen to reason.
Though her son, himself, is in danger she’s so dead-set on the King’s death she’ll risk killing her only son. I’ve found it hard to back her, but over-throwing her at this point could mean my head once the other royals find out what I’ve done.
So I ready myself to make one more attempt to talk to the Queen and explain how much better this could all be handled.
Emerald finally walks out with the Queen who is clad in a regal purple, flowing gown that goes all the way to the floor. Her crown upon her head makes her look like the pictures of her in the great room.
After I bow, I say, “Your Majesty, if I could have a word.”
She waves me off. “I need my morning meal first. I can do no thinking until I have that.”
“They have landed, and your husband still lives,” I blurt out so she can get a grip on what’s going on and there is urgency.
She stops and looks at me. “She didn’t kill him?”
“She?” I ask.
“The new Princess. Kerr’s wife. She was supposed to kill him. It was all very well planned,” she says as she looks confused.
“How do you know this?” I ask.
“I fixed the ring. I placed the hardware on the ship. It was all working. She took the power from the entire Armada. She did all she was directed to. How could she not kill him? That was her main directive. Her main one. How could she have not done that?” She looks pale and seems to be swooning.
I run my arm around her to steady her and look at Emerald. “Help me get her to the room I set up for her to go to in case of an emergency; this is one.”
My wife nods and moves under the Queen’s arm helping me hold her up. “Your Majesty, may I ask why and how you involved the new Princess in the death of your husband. And did she knowingly agree to this plan of yours?" my wife asks her.
“She was unaware. Completely unaware,” she says and then her body begins to shake. “I don’t want to see him! I can’t see him!”
“No matter what, you’re back in control, Your Highness,” I tell her. “Let the royals help you decide what the King’s punishment will be. Once they all get here and see you’re alive and you tell them your story and how he used his brother in his plan, they will deal with him.”
The Queen looks at me. “You don’t understand. The Princess will destroy us. She has the ability to destroy us all. It has to be that she has such a dark side that she wants to rule now. She will kill us all to get what she wants.”
A chill runs through me as one of the guards runs into us as we go down the long corridor to the hidden room I’m taking the Queen to.
His face is ashen as he says, “We have some footage of the group after they got off their ships and they seemed to be discussing something. The sound was out. Anyway, there was a young woman with long dark hair. She stood by the Prince and King, and she seems to have powers.”
I ask as I move the Queen along and he follows, “What did she do?”
“She made flowers burn on a tree and then twisted the huge limb off and tossed it. It seemed as if she was only using her mind. Then it looked like she created a force field around the prince as a few of the guards tried to attack him, but they acted as if they were hitting an invisible wall.”
Emerald laughs. “Perhaps it was all staged to frighten us.”
The Queen shakes her head. “She is capable of that and so much more. We are doomed.”
“We’re not doomed,” I say as I open the door, though it doesn’t look like a door at all, but a long mirror framed in gold.
Ushering the Queen inside, she takes a seat on a comfortable sofa I had put in here, and Emerald sees the food on a shelf and goes to get some for her.
“I’m leaving Emerald here with you, Your Majesty. She can keep you company and make sure you’re okay. I’m going to try to end this with no bloodshed.”
I walk away, but she grabs my arm. “Kill him for me, Caleb. Please.”
Emerald stops what she’s doing and comes to my side. Her arm goes around my back, and she leans her head on me.
My heart pounds and there is just no way I can take the King’s life. None of us can. She doesn’t seem to realize the punishment for such a thing.
I weigh my words before I speak, “Your Majesty, I understand you don’t wish to see the man and I can make sure that doesn’t happen. But I will not be able to take his life as he is a royal, and that is punishable by death. This is my wife by my side, and I very much want to live for her.”
Dejection fills the Queen’s face. “No one will kill the man for me. I can’t understand. He did a terrible thing, yet no one sees it fit to kill him.”
Suddenly she looks around, and I see her eyes go wide. I take her hand. “Your Majesty I placed none of that purple liquor in here. This is a time when you have to keep your head.”
“You don’t understand, Caleb.” Her hands are shaking, and her mouth is twitching up on one side.
“I do. Your son will be here soon, and he will want to see you, I am sure.” I pat her back and look at Emerald. “I will be back to check on you before they make it to the palace. You cannot leave this room from the inside. Someone from the outside will have to let you out.”
“I’m imprisoned in here?” the Queen asks as she looks up at me.
It’s sorrow that covers her face. She seems to think I’m against her. “You are not imprisoned by any means.” I kneel in front of her and take her hands into mine. “Your Majesty, please understand. There are better ways to handle this than with the death of the King.”
“But I don’t want to ever see him again,” she says.
She reminds me of a child unable to understand things clearly. I have to wonder if the drink has taken parts of her mind. People are about to die because she has turned her anger at her husband for his evil deed into a vendetta the others aren’t even aware of.
“Leave everything in my hands, Your Majesty. Everything will be right before you know it. Your reign is stable. I will make sure of that.” I stand, and her eyes follow me.
“You will?”
I nod, and Emerald moves to my side. I wrap an arm around her and kiss the side of her sweet head. “I’ll be back soon.” I look at my wife. “In the cupboard there is a box of donuts for you, my sweet. I had Blarto make them just for you this morning.”
With a giggle, Emerald skips to find the food for the Queen and takes the box out. “Care for a nibble, Your Highness?”
The Queen shakes her head. “My appetite is gone, child.”
An uncomfortable tightness forms in my stomach, and I walk away from the women. I close the door behind me and have to wonder what happened to the Queen.
Jared meets me at the front entrance. “Everyone is at their stations. The first report has come in. They all walk behind the dark haired woman. It’s assumed she’s the new Princess, Kerr’s bride.”
“I believe the reports are correct. I heard the same woman did a couple of amazing things. Does she walk alone in the front?”
He shakes his head. “She’s flanked be Kerr to her left and the King to her right. Nar and her family are right behind them from what the report sa
ys.”
“I’d like to get to the Princess first before they arrive here. I think she might help the Queen see reason.” I motion to my father who walks slowly toward me. “Father, my equine, do you know where he is?”
He nods, turns back and shouts at another one of my brothers. I look at Jared. “I have no wish to bring war to any of these people. They have no idea of the pain, agony, and horror that will follow them the rest of their lives. The ones who live that is.”
My black equine, Jasper is brought to me, and I jump into the saddle and speed away to meet the group that went to Earth for a wedding only to return to their home where everything has gone awry.
Please let them allow me to approach them without annihilating me!
Chapter Forty-Three
Kataline
Allied With The Alien
I halt the procession as a man on a black horse comes towards us at full speed. I look at Kerr. “Should I deal with him?”
My husband squints and holds his hand to cover his eyes from the suns overhead. “No. That’s Caleb. Allow him to approach us.”
Kerr waves his hand high in the air. The gold cloak falls away from his arm, revealing the large bicep. My knees go weak, and I heat in regions best left un-thought of at this tense moment.
A man with amber waves of thick hair rides up to us and quickly gets off the steed. He bows in front of us. Then his eyes fall on me. They’re deep green, and he’s extremely muscled for an Earth man.
“I am Caleb, and you must be the new Princess,” he says as he smiles.
“I am. And your smile is an odd thing to have at a time like this,” I say.
“Sorry.” He holds his lips in a tight line. “You’re right. Things are not well at this moment.” His eyes dart to the King, and I instinctively place a shield around him to protect him from whatever the man may have planned.
Kerr asks, “Can you tell us what the hell is happening?”
Kerr: Paranormal Sci-Fi Alien Romance (Àlien Mates Book 1) Page 25
