by J. Naomi Ay
The Two Moons of Rehnor
Book 9
Treasure Hunt
by
J. Naomi Ay
Published by Ayzenberg, Inc.
Copyright 2012-2016 Ayzenberg, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
230116
Cover Design by Amy Jambor
Photo credits: [email protected] & [email protected]
Also by J. Naomi Ay
The Two Moons of Rehnor series
The Boy who Lit up the Sky (Book 1)
My Enemy's Son (Book 2)
Of Blood and Angels (Book 3)
Firestone Rings (Book 4)
The Days of the Golden Moons (Book 5)
Golden's Quest (Book 6)
Metamorphosis (Book 7)
The Choice (Book 8)
Treasure Hunt (Book 9)
Space Chase (Book 10)
Imperial Masquerade (Book 11)
Rivalry (Book 12)
Thirteen (Book 13)
Betrayal (Book 14)
Fairy Tales (Book 15)
Gone for a Spin (Book 16)
The Firesetter series
A Thread of Time
Amyr’s Command
Three Kings
Exceeding Expectations
Who's Who
Sehron de Kudisha (Senya and/or Ron) - The Emperor of Rehnor
Katelina Anne de Kudisha neé Golden (Katie) - The Empress of Rehnor
Shika de Kudisha aka Steven Golden - The Imperial Prince
The de Kudishas
Karukan de Kudisha - Known throughout history as the Infidel, originally King of Karupatani on Rozari and Rehnor
Merakoma de Kudisha - Senya's grandfather, King of Karupatani
Sorkan de Kudisha - Senya's father, eldest son of Merakoma, Prince of Karupatani
Lot de Kudisha - Sorkan's brother
Pedah de Kudisha - Sorkan's brother
Tuman de Kudisha - Sorkan's brother
Garinka de Kudisha - Tuman's wife
Rekah de Kudisha - Tuman and Garinka's son
Letitia de Kudisha - Rekah's first wife
Carina de Kudisha - Rekah's second wife
Seesi de Kudisha - Rekah's third wife
Pedah de Kudisha - Seesi and Rekah's youngest son
Sara de Kudisha - Pedah's daughter with June of Xironia
The Kalilas
Markiis Kalila - Known throughout history as the Saint, original King of Hahr on Rozari. His descendants became Kings of Mishnah or Rehnor.
Yokaa Kalila - Senya' s grandfather, King of Mishnah
Moira Kalila - Senya's grandmother, Queen of Mishnah
Lydia Kalila - Senya's mother, Princess Royal of Mishnah
Akan Kalila - Lydia's brother, Prince of Mishnah
Loman Kildoo - Illegitimate son of Yokaa and a maid. Upped by Senya to Duke of Kildoo.
Rucia Kildoo - Loman's wife
Berkan Korelesk - Son of Loman and upped by Senya to Duke of Korelesk.
Luci Korelesk - Wife of Berkan, Duchess of Korelesk.
Marik Korelesk - Son of Berkan and Luci, Captain of the ISS Queen of Rozari, Earl of Korelesk.
Elana Cyganus - Wife of Marik, Crown Princess of Cyganus
Angelica Korelesk - Daughter of Marik and Elana, Princess of Cyganus
Petya Korelesk - Younger son of Berkan and Luci, works at SdK, Viscount Korelesk
Marie Cyganus - Wife of Petya and sister of Elana, Princess of Cyganus
Loran Korelesk - Son of Petya and Marie
The Turkos
Taner Turko - Former Lord Chamberlain, upped by Senya to Duke of Turko
Caroline Turko neé Adamson - late wife of Taner
Joanne Psfa-a-a - Caroline's daughter
Sam Psfa-a-a- Joanne's husband
Carolie Psfa-a-a- Daughter of Joanne and Sam
Rory Psfa-a-a- Son of Joanne and Sam
Zem Psfa-a-a - Uncle of Sam
Prologue
Lizwix looked out the window at the clouds that circled overhead. They were a deep ochre color, not quite yellow, but not quite brown either. They swirled and rose high, nearly touching the planet's thermosphere, appearing as if their peaks reached all the way into space.
Clouds of this shape and color portended viscous weather. A tornado, or at least a harsh storm, filled with lightning and hail was most certainly approaching. Lizwix left the window opened a tiny crack and then crossed the small room to open one on the opposite wall. She gathered her blanket and moved to the lowest point in the nest, huddling underneath the soft feathers to wait.
"At least it will be clean in here when it's over." She laughed to herself as the first crack of thunder rocked the tree that was her home.
The air sizzled, and the feathers on her back stood on end as several bolts of lightning seared through the forest, thankfully avoiding her.
The storm lasted for several hours, most of which she lay hoping and praying that it would end soon. During the darkest point in the night, the storm drifted onward, the violence in the skies ceasing as quickly as it had erupted. With the forest now in silence, Lizwix closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep. As every night, her dreams were filled with visions of strange aliens in a faraway world.
While Lizwix slept, the forest floor rippled with a burst from the volcano. Gas and ash was expelled into the now placid pink sky while fields of magma flowed steadily down the side of the mountain in searing red rivers. The ship that had crashed during the worst of the storm lay in the magmas' path, and within minutes it was buried, locking, the man and woman inside for all eternity.
Chapter 1
"Something is bothering me." Katie, the Empress of All Rehnor, tapped her fingernail against the polished mahogany desktop.
It was chipped, the fingernail, not the desk. The desk was immaculate as was everything in the Palace of Mishnah. It was the most expensive and highest quality of any desk that could be found in the Milky Way Galaxy, and it was kept in perfect condition by numerous staff that attended Her Imperial Highness around the clock.
Katie, on the other hand, didn't have a single nail that didn't require some sort of repair. She had a tendency to chew them when nervous and then rip off the uneven edges. No amount of manicures could cure her of this habit.
"What is it?" Luci, Duchess Korelesk asked, not looking up from her tablet.
She was supposed to be working on the weekly schedule but was instead reading a bit of gossip that had just posted in the news. It was about her granddaughter, Angelica, who at fifteen had just erupted onto the Imperial social scene. Luci didn't like the dress Angelica was wearing, which would be more appropriate on a beach with a large towel to cover her up. Instead, here Princess Angelica was shown entering a dance club with some rock star, a young man whom Luci had never heard of and wished she had never seen.
The boy had multiple piercings in his face, and no doubt, on other parts of his body not so visibly displayed. He had a large eagle tattooed across his shoulder, reminiscent of the one worn by the Emperor. It was fashionable for young men to don copies of Karupatani Royal brandings even though they didn't have a drop of Karupta blood in them and certainly, weren't Royals.
Luci recalled how in her youth Karuptas were considered the lowest of the lowliest classes, ranking beneath than the Lighties and Darks on the social strata.
"Hmmph." She sniffed and considered how times had changed, and in her opinion, not necessarily for the better
In the next snap, Angelica and the boy were dancing, although to Luci it looked rather like a sexual act in public. Luci's face tightened as her blood began to boil. She immediately switched off the news,
considering whether she ought to ring her son, and if she did, would that prompt him to do anything about it.
Probably not. Marik deferred to his wife, the Cyganian Crown Princess Elana, in all things that related to raising their daughter. Marik was perfectly happy to spend his time flitting about the stars, commanding one of the Imperial SpaceNavy starships, and visiting his family for only a few weeks a year. He saw his parents even less, usually only when summoned for an Imperial holiday, or an event when all family members were required to be present.
"I'm not sure. I feel something is wrong," Katie continued, interrupting Luci's thoughts as the Empress rose from her desk and went to stand by the windows.
Briefly, she rubbed that ever present knot in the small of her back before clasping her hands and rocking on the balls of her feet. The Empress gazed out at the pounding sea and the alternating waves of gray that made up the gloomy and depressing sky. Periodically, the wind sent down large pellets of ice, or showers of rain that pounded against the windows with a terrible force and then, just as quickly subsided.
Luci pulled her sweater closer about her chest, shivering at the cold snail trail droplets, and the memory of Angelica in that hideous revealing dress.
"Perhaps, you should see a doctor," Luci remarked, noting Katie's hand again on that point in her back.
"What for? Because my intuition says something has happened?"
"No. Your intuition is always wrong in any case." Luci switched her tablet back on because she couldn't give it a rest. "Something is obviously ailing in your spine. I think you need to have it checked out." Now, there was Angelica laughing and in the next snap, mashing faces with the boy.
"I'm married to a doctor. He would know if anything was seriously wrong. On the other hand," the Empress returned to her desk, "I think he enjoys it when I suffer."
"I think he revels in watching all of us suffer," Luci added as yet another vile picture of Angelica appeared. Here, she was with another boy and this one, all partying together. "Marik!" Luci gasped and was just about to push the icon to ring her son when a bit of news flashed by in the scroll on the bottom of the screen. Luci paused and read it. "Listen to this." She stood up and joined the Empress at the window. "A Xironian spaceplane reportedly carrying Ambassador June and her husband, Pedah de Kudisha, cousin of the Emperor, has crashed in the Lyrian sector. The last reported position of the spaceplane was in the proximity of the Lyrian asteroid belt near Lyra II. A freightplane in the area reported seeing a Xironian flagged vessel spiraling toward the Mesozoic planet at a high rate of speed. It is unknown whether the couple's ten year old daughter was aboard the vessel."
"You were saying about my intuition?" Katie raised her eyebrows at Luci. Then, she sighed. "Poor Pedah. Poor June." The two women stood there, helplessly looking at one another for a moment until Katie grabbed Luci's arm and pulled her out of the office. "We've got to find their little girl. She should come back here and live with Rekah and Seesi. If I remember correctly, June didn't have any family. She belongs with her grandparents."
"What if she was on the spaceplane?" Luci asked, following Katie as she swept through the outer office.
"Who?" Shelly asked.
Dr. Shelly Mattson, formerly a professor of Rozarian anthropological studies but now second assistant to the Empress, was sitting at her desk playing Tetris on her vid. She was on level four and needed about twelve of the orange four-block bars to stay in the game. Unfortunately, the only shapes that were dropping were the zig zags.
Luci didn't bother to respond. Instead, she just waved for Shelly to follow which considering her imminent loss, Shelly gladly turned off the game and did.
Once out into the corridor, the Empress turned toward the south, which meant she was heading toward the Emperor's office, in case the women had any doubt. Shelly slowed for a moment, trying to decide if she really wanted to accompany her boss there.
Long ago, in another life it seemed, Shelly had been close to the Emperor. At one point, she considered herself his adopted mother. That was a different time and place, and the Emperor was an entirely different person now.
Back then, he would smile and occasionally laugh. He would converse with Shelly, and sometimes, went to football games with her son, Thad.
In recent years, she had seen him on only a handful of occasions, and that was usually from a distance, despite her proximity to his wife. It was commonly known that the Emperor had a vicious temper which had increased as he aged and grew impatient. Now, even his wife had difficulty calming him, especially when it concerned the problems in his realm.
"Lyra is not one of ours, is it?" Shelly asked Luci who had stepped back a few paces so that both women were following at a respectable distance.
Luci's wide open face was lined with apprehension. "No," she responded. "Thank the Saint it was an asteroid and not an enemy who shot them down."
"I think I need to get back to our office." Shelly turned sharply. "Actually, I was supposed to be off at three today. I need to go pick up Tim from his therapy appointment. Can you make my apologies to the Empress?"
"Oh no, you don't." Luci grabbed Shelly's arm and forced her to march in lock step down the hall and into the first of a series of heavy oak doors. Each one was engraved with the Imperial Eagle Crest and filled with attendants who immediately jumped to attention.
The last door, the one that admitted into the Emperor's private office was opening just as the women arrived. Emerging from the interior was a large, heavy set man with snow white hair and a complexion nearly as pale.
"Madame." Berkan bowed, holding the door open for the Empress. He immediately shut it after her, before turning to his wife and her companion. "Shelly, Luci." He sighed heavily and rolled his eyes. "Another delightful day in the glorious Palace of Mishnah."
"We shall just wait out here," Luci called at the door as if there was any doubt
The office was unusually dark due to the inclement weather. The dark clouds outside and the gray ocean provided no light although the chamber was lined with an entire wall of windows. Only the great hearth, where a fire burned brightly, served to warm the room both in temperature and mood.
A man sat at the desk, his face hidden by the shadows, his feet propped upon the highly polished table top. A bottle of vodka lay empty on its side before him. A cigarette was perched between his fingers as he leaned back in the large chair and exhaled a cloud of gray smoke toward the ceiling. Because the feet were encased in an expensive pair of Cordovan leather wingtips, Katie realized it was her son sitting at his father's desk.
"Shika!" She scolded as she approached. "What are you doing here?"
Shika lolled his head to the side and grinned drunkenly at his mother. "What does it look like? Pardon my manners, Mum. I'd offer you a drink, but, unfortunately, I'm fucking empty." The Prince knocked the bottle with his foot, causing it to roll across the expanse of the desktop, and clatter to the floor.
"Where's your father?" Katie bent to pick up the bottle, her back wrenching from the awful and annoying crick. It riled Katie to no end that Senya spared no mercy when it came to the citizens of his realm, but when their own son was concerned, the Emperor was impotent to chastise the young man's outlandish behavior.
Shika, the Imperial Prince of the Realm, was once an up and coming officer in the Imperial SpaceNavy. Now, he was little better than a drunken pompous ass who expected everyone to wait hand and foot on him. His ex-wife, Hannah, had divorced him after a marriage that lasted a grand total of thirteen months, citing irreconcilable differences, drunkenness, and verbal abuse.
Now, Hannah was remarried, the mother of two children, and still serving in the SpaceNavy while the Prince had been grounded. Shika spent his days on silly make-work assignments in the Palace, or chasing after skirts and the maids that were in them. That is if he even bothered to get out of bed.
Katie had long since given up hope of a grandchild. Frankly, she lived in fear that a maid would present her with one. If that wer
e the case, she wasn't sure whom her husband would kill first, the maid, the child, or Shika. Katie worried incessantly about the situation. It consumed her mind and broke her heart, but there was nothing she could do.
Katie straightened up slowly so the pain would not be so intense. She placed the vodka bottle in the trash and crossing her arms in front of her chest, she glared at her son.
"Did you hear about Pedah?"
"Pedah. Pedah." Shika lazily took another drag on his cigarette. "Do I know a Pedah? Yes, I believe I do. The last of Rekah's many, many sons, the fellow who lies buried in the ground at the base of our illustrious familial totem pole." Shika snickered and spun the Imperial chair around in a circle. "He managed to marry that Xironian babe, the one whom Daddy made ambassador to her home planet. She was hot. Yes, she was. I like fucking Xironian former slave girl chicks."
"Well, they're missing. Their plane crashed this morning. I have a feeling they both are dead."
"Pity. Hot babes should never die."
"Shika!"
Shika laughed uproariously before breaking into a fit of coughs. "Calm down, Mumsy. You were once a hot babe yourself."
"Where's your father?" Katie demanded again while, considering, and not for the first time, that she really did not like her son anymore.
She loved him. Of course, she loved him. Her eyes filled with tears as she watched him cough, yet she now despised this dreadful person he had turned into. It was her fault because she had missed his youth. She was never a good mother even when she was here. She spoiled him rotten and then she disappeared when he needed her most.
Katie choked back the tears and stiffened her spine, hearing her own mother's voice telling her to suck it up. Her son was nearly forty. He was an adult.
"Is he upstairs?"
"Upstairs, downstairs, all around stairs, he is everywhere, isn't he? If only I were as mystical and magical as my wondrous Imperial father. Then, he might let me rule instead of pretend to sit in his chair. I can kill a politician or two. I just can't do it by pointing my finger."
