Last of the Chosen (Spirit of Empire, Book One)

by Lawrence P White

  She didn’t smile in return. The time had come for Naming.

  “Come here, Michael.” She had him kneel on the floor in front of her and placed a hand behind his head. She could tell he sensed what was coming, and he closed his eyes. He was deeply afraid of this special talent of hers, and she truly could not understand why. For many, to be Tested was an honor. To some it spelled failure, but most refused a Testing if they were not true.

  “Michael, I will not hurt you,” she said softly from inches away. “I promised you I would not force my Touch on you without your consent. I have reason to Test you today. May I?”

  He opened his eyes, looking everywhere but into her eyes. “You Tested me months ago. Isn’t that enough?”

  “This is not in the same category, Michael. My last Testing was not a true Testing. I sought something different. Now, in my official capacity, I must know the truth of you.”

  “What you do isn’t right.”

  She sat back as if slapped. Alexis, still nursing, reacted unhappily, and Ellie spent some time fumbling beneath the blanket to calm her down.

  “You still feel so strongly?” she asked, when she focused on him again. “I sensed your strong distaste of the Touch the second time we joined, but you allowed me a third Touch, willingly. I don’t understand. What isn’t right?”

  “It’s not right to read people’s thoughts, to search at will through their minds. That’s what you do, isn’t it?”

  “In a way. You do not want me knowing your mind? What do you hide from me?”

  “Lots of things! A person shouldn’t know everything about another person.”

  She looked troubled. “I don’t learn everything there is to know about someone when I do this, only that which I seek. And, with the exception of your last Testing which was focused on resolving a crisis, all I seek is that person’s truth. What do you hide from me?”

  “Nothing! Well . . .” He stumbled, searching for the right words and failing. “It’s just not right, Ellie. Some things are embarrassing, like how I feel about certain things, including you. You can’t just go finding out the answers to those things directly. You have to get to know people, find things out like everybody else by getting to know that person.”

  “I see . . .”

  She bit her lip thoughtfully and reached a decision. “Michael, if that’s what you’re trying to hide, you have failed utterly. I do not need my Touch to know how you feel about me.” She smiled as she put her hand behind his head again. “Like everyone else, I know how to listen to my heart.”

  Her look hardened. “For the moment we are not speaking of feelings. Hear me well, Michael Carver. In my Empire the rules are the same, but not for me. In this one area, the Chosen are the exception, the only exception. It’s what I do that sets me apart. Michael Carver, I already sense the truth of you, but in my official capacity, I must not only sense, I must know the truth of you. To do so requires the use of my Talent. We are nearly at our destination. I will have even greater need for you there. If you will permit my Touch, afterward it will be time for you to know the full truth of me as well.

  “Michael, in my official capacity I, Ellandra of the Chosen, command you to look into my eyes. As Ellie, your friend, I ask this of you with love in my heart.”

  She searched his eyes. She had used that very special word again, love. Would it be enough to overcome his revulsion to the Touch?

  She waited patiently until sensing his readiness, his acceptance, then she entered. Flip, flip, flip, get past the fear . . . there. Flip. Yes, he now truly thought of himself as captain of Resolve. Flip. Yes, his attachment to the land remained, but he was settled in his mind on that issue. He had a goal, and it was a flexible goal. Flip. Yes, her cause seemed right and just to him. He questioned, because he had so far only seen the Empire side of things, but until he was convinced otherwise, he would support the Empire, not the Rebels. Flip, flip, flip. She sensed his maleness, as she always sensed the maleness in men and the femaleness in women. She lingered a moment to study. Had she not been Testing, a blush would have found its way to her face. His thoughts were of her, and he was embarrassed to have such thoughts about an alien. Yes, he truly worried about her alienness. It seemed an insurmountable barrier to him, though he was wrong. They were alien in many ways, but not physically. Flip, flip. Earth. Could he find a way to bring Earth into the Empire? What would happen to Earth if he tried? Flip. What was he going to do out here in the Empire? What could he do? Flip. She sensed love, and she was its focus. Flip. Jake, like a brother, a loyal, supportive brother. He had no maleness, he was an it, but he could love, and she sensed Jake’s love for Mike, herself, Reba, and Otis. Flip, flip. Like Wooldroo, he believed in the Empire and would do whatever he could to make it a better place. Flip, and she was done. But she paused. She sensed something from Mike. Flip, flip. He had corralled his fear of her Touch and was sending her a message, a very simple message. His mind focused on the feelings he felt when she was in his arms. She could not return the feeling, her Touch was only one-way, but she could tell he knew when she found his thoughts. She lingered long enough to erase any doubt on his part that she had received the message. While she lingered, she savored.

  She released him, and he sank back on his heels. “Thank you, Michael,” she said leaning forward to kiss him on the forehead. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.” While he gathered himself together, she got up and left the room. She returned soon without Alexis.

  She walked up to him, put both hands up to his face, stood on her tiptoes, and kissed him on the lips. Then she wrapped both arms around his back and buried her head in his chest. Mike waved both arms around uncertainly, still not believing he had been so forthright with her, then he caved in and hugged her back.

  “This is for being my friend,” she said into his chest.

  “Uh, I guess I like being your friend,” he replied softly.

  “And this is for loving me.” She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him on the lips again, a long, lingering kiss.

  “I will work hard to keep you my friend,” she whispered as she looked directly into his eyes. Then she stepped back, holding both of his hands in her own, her eyes brimming. “Michael, thank you for being my friend, and more. Jake, that goes for you as well.”

  She released his hands and turned away, pacing the room without looking at him. “It may not last,” she said sadly. She took a moment for herself, then turned back to face him with dry eyes and a very business-like manner. “Michael, Jake knows the truth of me. You do not. It’s time that you do, even if it changes your feelings for me.”

  “Ellie . . .”

  “No, Michael. Listen. We are about to reenter the Empire. When we do, we will either join battle against the Rebels, or we will immediately become embroiled in affairs of state. Or both. I do not know what has happened during my absence, but I sense my Empire is changed forever. In this, I hope I am wrong.” She looked hard at him. “I am not often wrong about affairs of state. It is one of my Talents. I have the gift of prescience. Do you know what that means?

  “No.”

  “It means I sense the future. Only dimly, not in detail, and not in such a way I could describe to anyone, but I get a sense of whether something will turn out good or bad. That’s all, but it is enough.

  She took a deep breath and said softly, “The Royal Family has fallen, Michael. Moreover, I know now that the vision given to me by Krys foretold their fall. The first words of her vision were, ‘You will be so much more and have so much less.’ The last words of her vision were, ‘a man of dirt will come to your aid.’ You are that man of dirt, Michael.

  “I am going to need people I can trust during the coming troubles to reinstate that family. I need them because of the words of her vision. I am so much more than I was then in spite of having so much less. We have been together for almost a year now. You are brilliant in many ways, but in some you are unbelievably dense. How is it you have not figured out who I am?”


  He blinked at the reprimand. “You’re one of the Chosen, and you’re the mother of the Heir.”

  “True. I am the mother of Alexis who is a potential heir, though she is far too young to be Tested. Michael, if I am the mother of the heir, what does that make me?”

  “What are you getting at?” he asked with a frown.

  “I never lie. Period. I have not lied to you, but I have not offered the complete truth either, as is my right. I told you the Heir is aboard this ship. Michael, our Empire is ruled by a woman, has been for eons. I am the Queen’s daughter. What does that make me?”

  He gulped, realization dawning. “Ah . . . You are the Heir?”

  “I am the Heir, Michael. Alexis may become heir someday . . . my heir.” She paused, searching his face for a response. “This is my ship. Otis is my Protector.” She moved to stand before him nose to nose and said softly, “I am the Heir.” She placed a hand on his cheek. “I hope I am wrong. Oh, I so hope I am wrong, but in my heart I know I am now Queen.”

  The blood rushed from his face and he felt faint. He sent a silent query to Jake, >Help!<

  >I am, I am! Hold on!<

  She took his arm and led him to the couch where she sat down beside him.

  “Who’s helping who?” he asked weakly.

  “It’s a two-way street,” she answered, holding his arm possessively.

  >Okay, you’re fixed, back to your old crabby self,< he heard from Jake.

  He stood up carefully and turned to face the woman who might be Queen, uncertain of himself. “So I can’t call you Princess or Ellie anymore?”

  “We’re not yet certain what has happened, Michael. Besides,” she smiled, “I like being your princess, and I’ve grown to like being called by the name you gave me.”

  “That’s just the problem. Why did you have to tell me you’re Queen, or even that you might be a queen some day? I’m not totally dense, you know. I knew you must be in line for the throne – I just figured you’d been passed over for some reason. Now . . .” he held his hands out to his sides, uncertain. “It changes everything!”

  “I know. I wish it would not, but it does.”

  “How can it not? Look, I know your husband just died and you’re in mourning. I’m also keenly aware of the fact that you and I are aliens to each other. That doesn’t change the fact that you’re not just a princess to me. You’re My Princess . . . Sorry, but I can’t help it. Sometimes these things just . . . happen . . .” he trailed off.

  >Ditto, ditto!<

  “Jake says ditto,” he added.

  “Is he dittoing the sorry part or the My Princess part?” she asked with a smile. She rose from the couch to stand before him. “Michael, know this: in you I believe I have found what I have been searching for my whole life. In you I believe I have found a relationship that I once thought would be denied me forever. I love you, and I know that you know I love you. That does not change the fact that I am now or will one day be Queen. Can you accept a relationship with me that is based on those terms?”

  His heart leaped at her words, but she was Queen. He knew it was not possible for him to know who this woman would be when she was Queen.

  And she wasn’t just a queen. She was the Queen of All Space. He couldn’t even conceptualize what it meant to be her.

  He studied her for a time, then placed his arms about her shoulders. “I love the woman I know as Ellie. Alien or not, I love you. Can I love the Queen? I don’t know. I feel like I don’t know anything about you all of a sudden, except the fact that you’re Queen . . . and maybe just the teensiest bit spoiled. I had planned on getting to know you better, maybe asking you out sometime. You know, just the two of us, when this was all over. How can I ask out the Queen?”

  “I am definitely spoiled. It goes with the territory, and I have paid a dear price to become spoiled. I can’t change the fact that I am Queen, nor would I if I could. It’s my duty.” She paused, searching for the right words, then searching his face for his reaction to them.

  “Michael, I like the sound of ‘My Princess.’ I like being your princess. The right man in my life will be able to see beyond my being Queen. Are you that right man?”

  “I don’t know, Ellie, but I’d like to try.”

  She wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her head in his chest for the second time that day. He responded, and they held the embrace for a long time, gathering strength from one another for the trials that surely lay ahead.

  After a time he said softly into her ear, “Can we forget the queen part for a while? Can you just be My Princess?”

  “We cannot, Michael. Maybe from time to time, but my Empire beckons. It calls to you as well. I have a job for you.” She stepped away from him, took both of his hands in hers, and asked, “Will you kneel before your Queen?”

  Her words startled him. “What? Again?”

  “Michael, Jake, I ask with love in my heart, and I make this request for the good of my realm. Will you kneel before your Queen?”

  How could he refuse a request like that?

  He went to one knee, and she placed both of her hands on his head, saying formally, “Michael Carver, Jake, will you each swear fealty to me?”

  His heart skipped a beat and the blood rushed to his head. Before he knew what he was doing he had jumped to his feet. “No!” he shouted. “What are you doing?”

  She stepped back in shock. “Mike, that is not the right answer! There’s a formal process for Naming.”

  “For Naming? What’s that?” he asked panicked. “Fealty to whom? To what? I’m not sure I even know what fealty means!”

  “Then ask Jake. This applies to him, too,” she said with a trace of irritation.

  Silently he thought, >Jake, what’s going on here?<

  >I’m afraid to tell you, Mike. There is only one place this is covered in the protocols Wooldroo passed on to me. Fealty means ‘absolute loyalty and support to a superior.’ I think she’s offering us a job. If it means more kisses, say yes!<

  >Stay out of my private life, Jake,< he said with feeling.

  >This is all new to me, Mike, but I think it’s our private life. And I like it.<

  >I’ll deal with you later,< he said silently.

  To Ellie, he said, “Sorry. I know you mean well, but I’m not ready to swear fealty to a civilization I’m not even a part of, that I know nothing about.”

  She stepped away from him, biting her lip as she considered a reply. “That makes sense, I suppose.” She gave him a piercing look. “Let me make this clear to you, Michael Carver – there will be no misunderstandings between us on this: I, too, have fallen in love with you despite compelling reasons to the contrary. Equally important, I believe I have, at last, found a true friend in you. You may never know the significance of what I have just said, but to me it is everything.

  “I will be Queen. I believe that I am Queen. In our society there is no higher position. Yet, you are right. You cannot swear fealty to me. I will never command your love. That I promise.”

  She turned away to focus her thoughts on business, then she found an answer. “Our world is changing, has changed. Adjustments can be permitted.” She picked up her communicator and called Otis and Reba to join them. They arrived on the run, together. Mike worried that no one was minding Resolve this close to their destination, but he soon chose to ignore that minor concern.

  “Otis, Reba, you are our official witnesses. Michael, kneel down, please.”

  He started to protest, but Jake interrupted. >Do it, Mike. Just do it!<

  He knelt. She placed her hands on his head and asked formally, “Michael Carver, Jake, will you each swear allegiance to my realm?”

  He looked up at her and she sighed, exasperated. “What now!”

  “I’m not even a citizen!”

  “Michael, I am not a clerk filling out a form here. I am your Queen. I decree to one and all present that Michael Carver is a citizen of the Empire. Now, do you swear allegiance to my realm? Say yes
!”

  >Say yes, Mike!<

  “I do so swear allegiance to you and to your realm, My Princess.”

  >So do I!<

  “Jake says he does, too.”

  Her hands beginning to shake on his head, she said, “Michael, as was foretold, you are the man of dirt. You came to my aid when you could have turned away. Since then you and Jake have brought us some 800 light years without an AI. You have struggled mightily for me. I now ask for even greater sacrifice in my name. Before these witnesses, I knight thee, Sir Michael, Sir Jake. Your word is my command on all worlds of the Empire. Michael, please rise.”

  Mike, confused, rose unsteadily. What was going on here? This was ridiculous, antiquated. He wasn’t a knight! He was just Mike Carver, engineer. Besides, didn’t knights have swords?

  She wasn’t done. She reached into a pocket and removed a gold chain and pendant, then a gold medallion. Otis purred deeply in his throat, and she looked to him in triumph. He nodded his great head and she nodded hers in return. What passed between them Mike did not know, but it was something special.

  She turned her attention back to Mike and explained to him that within the pendant was a very rare and precious jewel. She placed his hand on the pendant, then pressed it tightly into her hand with her eyes closed. When she opened her eyes again, she asked him to brush his hand across the pendant. As soon as he did, it opened and transformed before his eyes into a ball of light. Within the light shimmered a three-dimensional holograph of Ellie.

  “This is my personal seal. Granted only to Knights of the Realm, it is recognized throughout the Empire as unquestioned identification of a Knight. Only the Chosen can produce these, and only you or I can open it. It is active only so long as both of us live.”

  She closed the pendant and placed it around his neck, settling it beneath his coverall. She then pinned the medallion containing her family crest to his chest while intoning, “With these symbols, recognized by all, I pronounce you Michael and you Jake to be First Knight of the Realm. Michael, you should kneel down again and kiss my hand.”