by Ashley West
"Well, no one cared about Earth until the Randoran stepped in."
There was a general murmur of agreement about that, and Kal frowned speculatively. That wasn't strictly true. According to the gossip they sometimes got from those they traded with, there were a good number of people not from Earth living on the planet now. Refugees and criminals, people who had reason to leave their home planets and had found something to keep them on Earth. Kallel couldn't imagine it. Earth seemed more boring than Horu from what he understood.
One of the Queen's staff, a lovely woman draped in furs with hair the color of the setting suns, was standing at the entrance to the fortress when they got there. She was holding a tablet in her hands and clearly trying to keep it from getting wet.
"Very good, very good," she said quickly. "Wipe your feet and follow me. Her Majesty awaits you."
They exchanged looks amongst themselves and did as they were told, wiping their feet and passing through the double wide doors into the fortress. As soon as they stepped inside, their clothes dried instantly. It figured that the Queen would have that kind of tech to keep them from dripping cold water all over the floors.
The inside of the fortress was as lavish as the outside was sturdy. It had been built from stone and had its back to a cliffside that overlooked the river. There was a rumor amongst the guard that there were tunnels carved through the rocks that led to and from the mines so that in the event of some sort of catastrophe, miners could escape to the fortress or the Queen could escape to the river.
Elaborate tapestries hung from the walls, and rough gemstones were set into the walls, glinting in the white lights that lined the ceiling. The warriors were shown straight through to the middle of the fortress, to a wide room that was otherwise empty. On one wall was a large screen that covered the entire top half, but there was nothing else inside, save the door they had come through and another on the wall adjacent.
It was through that door that the Queen stepped, looking regal and strong.
She was getting older now, she had to be nearly fifty. Her skin was the same pale color as that of her people, though it looked like it was softer from less time out in the elements. Her eyes were icy blue and bright, seeming all the more vivid for her bright red hair.
All the Hakkan had hair in varying shades of red and orange, and the legend said that there were fires burning inside of the people that would keep them warm even in the coldest nights on their planet, as evidenced by their hair.
Kamina had hers wound into braids that hung down her back, held away from her face by a circlet on her brow, gold set with a large, blood red gem.
She was just as bundled up as the rest of them, her long dress made from thick material, and a fur was wrapped around her shoulders. Her face barely showed her age, a few lines here and there, and over all she was still beautiful. Some people worried because Kamina had yet to marry and there were no children to succeed her to the throne, but she always had a plan, and so they trusted their Queen.
It was obvious how much the warriors loved her as they filed in and made room for each other, every eye on her as she walked with a purposeful stride to the front of the room. Her eyes were calm as they looked out over the gathered warriors, and a slow smile lit her face.
"My warriors," she said softly, though her voice carried all the same. "It is so rare I have you all before me at the same time."
There was a general murmur of assent in the room because that was true. It wasn't that the Queen didn't have time for them or didn't care, she was just very busy.
"Unfortunately," she continued. "What I call you here for today is not a happy matter."
"See?" someone muttered. "We are under attack."
Someone else shushed them. Kal kept his eyes on Kamina, trying to see if there was any way to interpret what was happening from her facial expression.
She wasn't giving anything away, though, and so they had to wait until she told them what had brought them all there.
"You will recall that a year or so ago, the Randoran went to Earth." Everyone nodded at that. It had been the talk on every planet nearby when they'd found out.
Most races didn't bother with Earth or the humans who lived there, leaving them to sort out their own messes, since they were the ones who caused them. But when the Alva had taken an interest in Earth and had gone there, terrorizing the people, the Randoran had made it their business to help. Just as they had when the Hakkan had been under attack.
Kamina folded her hands together in front of her as she continued. "The Randoran removed the Alvan threat from Earth, fighting as they always do, with honor and skill. The majority of the Alvan force was defeated there on Earth, but they were not wiped out completely."
"Are they coming here now, Majesty?" one of the female warriors asked, her voice hushed.
The Queen shook her head. "No, they remain on Earth, hiding in the shadows and causing problems for the humans. The Randoran feel that they have done their job, and they have other matters to attend to as well, and so it falls to someone else to continue to aid the Earth. It falls to us."
The hushed silence that had fallen over the room while Kamina spoke broke then, and everyone tried to talk at once. Some were clearly opposed to going to Earth and trying to solve their problems. They weren't the Randoran, however much they idolized them as a race, and this wasn't their problem.
Kamina let them talk before she raised both of her hands in a clear bid for silence. "I have made up my mind about this," she said. "We will help, but we will not be foolish when we do. We will gauge the problem first, a scout sent to where the last Alva activity was recorded to walk among their people and decide what the best course of action is. I will not order anyone to do this, but I would like a volunteer."
Kal's mind raced as he listened to the queen speak. Someone would have to go to Earth and figure things out. They'd have to do what the Randoran Champion had done a year ago and decide what to do about the Alva. It would be like reliving a part of history, walking in the footsteps of someone so great that he'd been named Champion of a race of champions. And it would mean getting to explore. Earth was undoubtedly not as exciting as the planet of the temptresses, but it had to be better than Horu. There would at least be new things to see and experience.
"I volunteer."
The words rang out in the room, over the murmuring of the other warriors, and it took Kallel a moment to realize that he was the one who had spoken. They all turned to look at him, some with raised eyebrows, others with amusement on their faces. It was clear that not all of them were surprised that he would volunteer for this. Some of them had known him since he was a child, after all.
Kamina's sharp eyes found his, even through the crowd of other warriors, and she held his gaze for a moment before looking him up and down, clearly trying to decide if he was worthy of this.
Kal didn't know what she was looking to see, so he just stood as straight as he could, head held high. He didn't have anything to be ashamed of, and he'd made a name for himself already amongst the warriors. He'd worked hard for all the time he'd been with them, trying to prove that he was worthy of being a warrior of the Hakkan, and whatever it was Kamina was looking for, he was sure she'd find it in him.
"Very well," she said. "Tell me your name."
"I am Kallel," he said.
"Your house?" She spoke of his family and the house they had all been born into.
"Florinil," he replied.
Kamina smiled at him. "Ah, I recall your father. And your brother served, did he not?"
Kal nodded, smiling back. "Yes, Majesty. Until he was injured and had to step away."
"And now you carry the legacy. Your ambition does your family credit. Come to me tomorrow morning, Kallel," she said. "We will speak of the plan." She lifted her hands once more, looking out over all of them. "You are dismissed. Remember that if there should be a need, any of you could be called to go to Earth and defend the people there as the Randoran once defended us. You s
hould consider it an honor."
And with that, she swept from the room, leaving them alone to think about what she had said.
Chapter Two: The Daily Grind
Monday mornings at Sheila's were always bad enough to make Haven think about quitting. People were terse and rude because they didn't want to be heading to work after their weekends, and they tended to take that out on her and the others who were unlucky enough to pull that shift.
Haven was usually on opening, which meant she got there around six in the morning and made sure everything was ready for their eight a.m. start. It also meant that she got to deal with all the grumpy people starting their commutes with a coffee and bagel or some other baked goods who couldn't seem to understand that they weren't the only ones who had to go to work when they didn't want to.
Usually she was good at not lashing out at people who were rude to her, but when a man in a three piece suit walked in, she nearly lost her battle with herself.
He seemed incapable or unwilling to look away from his phone, and strode up to the counter without looking up. "What kind of coffees do you have?" he asked.
Right then and there, Haven knew how this interaction was going to go.
"We have a few different roasts, sir," she said, keeping her voice placid and polite. "They're all listed on the board there." She pointed behind her, even though the man wasn't looking.
"Read them off to me," he said, and Haven gritted her teeth.
Maria, her coworker who had been on opening with her snorted as she walked behind her, heading to the supply closet, a whispered 'be nice' lingering along with the light scent of her perfume.
Haven swallowed and listed off the different roasts they had that morning, one hand clenched into a fist under the counter.
"Do you have soy milk?" the man wanted to know.
"Yes, sir," Haven replied.
"Almond?"
"Yes. As well as whole milk and two percent."
"What about coconut?"
He still had yet to look up from his phone, and Haven's jaw was creaking from the force with which she was clenching it. "I'm afraid we don't have coconut milk. It's not popular enough to warrant us ordering it." She gave the standard answer that was required whenever a customer demanded to know why they didn't have whatever obscure thing they'd decided they wanted that morning.
The man tutted and finally, finally looked up, eyes glancing over Haven and then up to the board. "Large coffee, blonde roast, and an everything bagel."
"Would you like me to leave room for cream or milk, sir?" Haven asked, ringing him up.
He looked at her like she was stupid. "Did I ask you to?"
"No," she replied. "My mistake."
The man just went back to looking at his phone, barely glancing up again as he passed her a credit card and then accepted his order. It would have been fine, albeit annoying if that had been the end of the interaction, but of course he looked up again, glanced at the tip jar, snorted with disbelief and then took his leave.
"I hope he's late for work," Haven said to Maria as she came back out, holding a stack of napkins that she went to distribute to the tables. "Or gets arrested for texting and driving since he's so married to his phone."
"That's one of the nicer things that could happen if he never looks up from his phone," Maria pointed out.
"Yeah, well. I'm not a monster," Haven replied. "I'm not going to wish death on him. But honestly."
Both fortunately and unfortunately, the morning only got faster from there. Fortunately because it meant that she didn't have time to dwell on every single rude customer, and unfortunately because it meant that she and Maria were rushed off their feet.
It was just the two of them until nine thirty when Christian showed up to help, and by then Monday morning was in full swing.
Chaos and hectic pace aside, it was a routine. The three of them traded off making drinks, taking orders, and cleaning up, supporting each other as the morning wore on.
Sheila, the owner of the place, didn't come in every morning, trusting her employees to run the place without her. And they always managed, even if it was a near thing sometimes.
By noon, two more employees had shown up, and Maria had dashed out to go to her classes. Haven was there until two in the afternoon, and she passed off the lunch rush and college student pile up to the rest of her coworkers.
From there, she had a list of things she needed to do, and a plan to get them done. Grocery shopping needed to happen, she had to call her mother, and then she needed to go back home and pay some bills. After that, she'd work on dinner and watch her favorite show on Netflix before getting in her bed before she had to start everything over the next day.
Haven had never been one of those 'variety is the spice of life' kind of people. She took comfort in order and planning, and doing the same thing every day with a few variations made her happy.
Her friends and her mother, they didn't understand how she could be happy living like she did, but Haven didn't need them to understand. It was her life, and she was going to live it the way she chose to live it. The way that made sense to her.
They knew her by name at the little corner market where she did her shopping. It was the same one she had gone to when she lived with her mother, and now that she'd moved into her own home that was even closer to the market, she went there more often.
The cashiers were all older than she was, but not old old, and they greeted her with smiles and waves as she grabbed a cart and made her way through the front of the market, picking up produce and smelling it.
There was something so soothing about grocery shopping when it was done right.
Her mother always did it wrong because she hated the task, so Haven had been all too happy to take the task over for her so she could do it right. To start, her lists were always made with an app on her phone. It saved the lists so she could go back and see that she'd definitely bought something, and even check the date that she'd bought it on, taking the guesswork out of figuring out what was good in her fridge. Her lists were always precise, formed in order of necessity, so in case she didn't have enough money or they didn't have something she needed, she knew what was most important to have.
And she didn't shop in list order like most people she knew, zig zagging all over the store, picking up soup and then heading to produce only to head right back to the same aisle in order to pick up pasta. That drove her crazy. Haven liked to shop in a circle, starting at produce and then making her way down the aisles and then across so she ended up back at the registers without having to run all over the store looking for something.
It helped that she knew the store so well, and she consulted her list at every section, checking off things as she put them in her cart. Asparagus, check. Avocados, check. Potatoes, check. Clementines, check. And so it went as she moved from produce to the bakery, picking up some ciabatta bread and regular honey wheat and then from the bakery to the meat section, deciding between pork chops and steak.
"I have to say," someone said from behind her as she was examining a package of ground beef for the sell by date. "That you're the most organized shopper I've ever seen in my life."
Haven turned her head and found herself face to face with a man she didn't recognize. He wasn't unattractive at all, standing there in a suit that made it clear he worked in the business district, blue eyes bright under the florescent lighting of the store. His hair was a mess of dark curls, and he had a smile on his face that made him look younger than he probably was. One hand was pushed into the pocket of his pants, and the other was wrapped around the handle of a shopping basket, already laden with things.
"Thank you," Haven said. She didn't know if he'd meant it as a compliment, but she was going to take it as one because she had pride in the way she did things.
"You're welcome," he said. "It's like watching someone on a game show. If being organized was the theme of the show. Something like 'get all these supplies on this list without ever going to the
same aisle twice'. It's thrilling, really."
She narrowed her eyes at that. His tone was jovial, maybe even a little glib, and it made her feel like he was making fun of her. "It's just how it makes sense to me," Haven replied, bagging the ground beef and putting it in her cart before marking it off the list and wrapping her fingers around the handle of the cart. "If you'll excuse me."
Darren always said she was amazing at freezing people out when she wanted to, and whoever this man was, she couldn't tell his intentions. Even if they were pure or whatever, he was interrupting her routine.
She moved past the chicken and then to the left to get pasta, pasta sauce, and soup. The man was still following her.
"Is there something you need?" she asked, voice cool as she added more things to her cart.
"Not really," he replied, sounding amused. "Maybe I just like watching."
"You're aware of how creepy that sounds, aren't you?" Haven shot back. "Stalking is illegal."
"I'm not stalking you," he said back. "We just happen to be in the same place at the same time. That's how markets in the city work, anyway. You always see those people you never really wanted to run into."
She arched an eyebrow at him. "You're right about that."
"Ouch!" He laughed, and the sound was loud in the otherwise peaceful market. "You're not very nice, are you?"
"To strangers who follow me around stores?" Haven said. "Not generally."
He sighed and then held his free hand out to her. "My name is Delton. Delton Lawrence. Now, if you give me your name, we'll be properly introduced, and therefore, no longer strangers."
Delton Lawrence talked like a lawyer or someone who frequently had to talk himself out of problems, and while a part of Haven was amused, a much bigger part of her was already thinking about how behind schedule she was going to get if she just stood around talking to this man.
So she kept moving, and he kept following, trying to get her to give him her name. There weren't enough Haven Searcys in the city for her to feel comfortable doing that, really, because the last thing she wanted was to come home one day and find him at her house. She didn't know why he had chosen to follow her around like she was some kind of oddity, but she wanted to nip it in the bud before it set a precedent.
