Bridgeworlds: Deep Flux

by Randy Blackwell

  9

  To be King

  Myles’ first night as a King, thankfully, had come to an end. The entire evening had been ceremony. Catalina had made sure to communicate how impressed she was that he had been able to pass himself as one of them. She showed him to the King’s quarters. And made herself at home sitting on one of his the ornately designed sofas by the fireside on a rug made of the skin of an arctic animal that Myles was not familiar with. Myles found that the maid had thrown out his old cloths. He had someone clean them and bring them to his room where he fished through the many pockets taking all of the items out. Catalina looked surprised at how many things he had hidden in his outfit.

  Myles threw his hands up in frustration, “See why I was upset that they threw it away. And now they want me to wear this buffoon’s getup? Well I need a tailor in here tomorrow cause I will not wear an outfit without hidden pockets. Myles reached to the back of his neck. Hair used to be there. “And it was too far! Way too far, letting them cut all of my hair off. I feel naked!”

  Catalina approached him. It was obvious that she was fighting a smile but as long as she was fighting it Myles would not say anything. “Dear Myles, my King,” she said gently placing her arms around his neck and looking deep into his eyes. Her eyes get me every time. Then she said, “I promise I will make this up to you after our wedding tomorrow.”

  Fear struck Myles. Tomorrow? This is too fast. I have got to run. Myles looked in either direction for a quick escape forgetting that he could teleport away at any moment. And then he remembered. Yes, I can be out of here and never have to deal with this again. But before he could think of where to go she slapped him, not hard like one of Kasey’s slaps. No, Catalina was gentle and more feminine than Kasey. But it still stung. She turned away from him and then walked away.

  “Leave me then you fool. You forget that I can read your every thought. Go and never come back. Be the irresponsible gambler, the fool, the joker, the liar, and the cheat. But do not stay here one more moment pretending that you will accept responsibility. You have the choice to be a child or a man and I see what your heart truly desires,” she said with much pain in her voice. She did not turn around or look at him.

  Myles looked at her. How can I leave her like this? She is very beautiful. And she is right. I always run from responsibility. I always take the easy road. But this woman… She would love me for who I am… the good and the bad. And she needs me. If I leave, I abandon her and her Kingdom to ruin. It would not be obligation to love her, it would be… right.

  Myles knew she heard every word he thought but she still did not turn around. He cleared his mind like a white noise drowning every thought out. Then he approached her and put his arms around her. He felt her body slump beneath his arms as she sighed. “You would love me. Even knowing my most horrible thoughts. You would love me still and you would marry me and accept me as your King. I don’t pretend to understand why you would do these things. I don’t know what it is that you see in me but I hope it really is there. I am not a good person, and you know that. But if you would marry me, I would spend the rest of my life… trying to be a good man and a man you can respect.”

  She turned to him with tears in her eyes. Myles kissed her on the forehead and said, “Catalina, it has been a long day and we have an even longer day tomorrow. Let me have some rest. Tomorrow we have a wedding and a honeymoon to begin. I have a special trip planned for us but I will need my rest. “

  She closed her eyes and hugged him tight. “I know the man you will be. I see it in you. I’m glad you haven’t left and I hope you will be here in the morning.”

  She kissed him and then shut the door behind her. After he heard her walk down the hall he turned and walked back to his things. Myles grabbed his pipe and his tobacco. Then he sat by the fire and puffed away. Can I be this man she sees in me? Every time I have tried I have failed and because it wasn’t what I really wanted. So the question is, what do I want?

  IGNACIO WALKED THROUGH ANOTHER PORTAL he had found in the maze and it led him to a land with a winter climate. Of all of the weapons that he could have chosen he picked a sniper rifle. If Myles Callaghan was here then Ignacio would not fail in killing him. He would insure it by putting distance between him and Myles. None of his tricks would work against a sniper rifle. Ignacio had failed to teach Myles a lesson back in Venice. If Ignacio failed at this mission the Don would kill his brother and each time he failed a family member would suffer the consequences. Ignacio would not fail. He would kill Myles Callaghan and save his reputation.

  He traveled through the dark snowy mountains for several days. There seemed to be no civilization on this world until he came across a community of small cabins in the middle of the woods.

  Ignacio watched from a distance through the scope on his sniper rifle. He observed the people of the small village and the surrounding area. None of them had a blemish on them and for a small village in the middle of the woods on a mountain the houses were nice. The people wore nice clothing. As Ignacio watched he observed that they were readying their horses and preparing wagons for a long journey. It seemed that all of them were leaving the village.

  He waited until later in the day, if you could call it "day". It was always cloudy. Finally they had left and Ignacio began to sneak into the village to look for food and weapons but there was none. He thought that was odd as he did not see any packed into the wagons either.

  But as he investigated the village he found in the nicest home there was a scroll with a broken seal with red wax on it. The message of the scroll was: "As your new King, I summon you to the palace at Pathos. Come, join the royal family in the wedding of a millennium as King Myles Callaghan marries Princess Catalina Salazar." It was signed with a sloppy signature but Ignacio could make out most of the letters spelling 'Myles Callaghan'.

  He smiled. Lady Luck seems to be smiling on me tonight, Myles Callaghan. Ignacio took one of the horses remaining in the stables and followed the tracks of the villagers in the snow. Ignacio was not a great tracker but the villagers were taking no pains to cover the horse shoe prints in the snow. He followed the tracks to a valley surrounded by mountains with one path between them. From each of the mountains he could see caravans traveling for the same opening. He followed the caravans at a distance. If they saw him they would likely be frightened by his appearance.

  After two more days travel east he had followed the caravans to the palace and surrounding city of Pathos. Far from the palace and city, Ignacio set up the sniper rifle and he decided that he would camp there in the snow and wait for the perfect moment to strike.

  MYLES COULDN’T SLEEP THE WHOLE NIGHT. He wanted to figure himself out. What drove him, why he acted the way he did, and what he would actually do verses what he said. His conclusion was that Catalina had seen things about him he had never noticed. She had figured him out in moments when in the past he had prided himself at being a mystery to women. At the age of 18 he ran away with the circus. He never stopped to think of why. The excuse for him had always been that there was more to get out of life than his family could ever offer. But really he saw the responsibility that his father had taken as town sheriff and had seen his older siblings take over the farm when they became “of age” to do so. Farm work was a lot of responsibility and he felt the weight of it pushing on him as he was becoming old enough to run the farm as his oldest brother had just gotten married and his older brother was going to college. Myles knew he was next in line. It was time to go. He thought about things long ago all the way to his responsibility as one of the founding members of the Magi. He had left the Magi to “recruit” but the truth was he couldn’t wait to get away from the tower. He had never planned to come back. With his track record could he really be a married man? Could he hold the heart of another and not break it as it seemed had been his nature in his past relationships with women? He thought back to Gabryil’s words, “In order to get Mrs. Right you have to be Mr. Right.” Myles was in no way Mr. Right. But he ha
d some skin in the game. She was beautiful and did indeed bring out a good side of him. She made him want to be a better man. Weather he was capable of it was an entirely different issue.

  There was a knock on his do. “Come in,” he said. It was as he had guessed. A maid had come in to fit him for his wedding garments. But trailing behind her was Carn.

  Myles smiled. What does this viper want with me now? “Welcome, brother,” he said. “Not yet, there is yet a little more time before that. But I came to congratulate you on winning my father’s approval and my sister’s affections. I also came to warn you that I am a King’s man and I will serve you without trying to depose you as long as you always do one thing.”

  Myles raised an eyebrow, “And what is that?” Carn was practically glaring at Myles, “Make my sister happy. If you hurt her, I will become your worst enemy in the whole Kingdom. And to be honest, despite your power to teleport yourself I could likely have you dead within the hour if I so wanted it.”

  Myles reverted to jokes as he always did when nervous, “Dead within the hour. Now what kind of wedding would that make for? I’m hardly dressed for a funeral.”

  “Indeed,” said Carn and then he turned and walked out. Myles was all prepped for the wedding. He was ushered out by a crowd of servants. He walked in the snow. Icicles hung from the castle some as large as he was. The blue sun cast a reflection upon the snow as the red one hung just above them. Myles looked around and there were thousands of vampires who had come from all across the land to witness this union. Who had they gotten word so fast?

  There was no priest or holy figure there waiting to marry them. In this culture one stood with his mate and simply declared his/her love. Myles reached her and his breath was taken away with how radiant she was. She wore all white which even amongst the snow made her look heavenly. She grabbed his hand and began making her promise turning to those surrounding them.

  “My King, I promise to give you my life and my heart. I will seek out your enemies and have them destroyed. I will bring you alliances and I will be an inspiration to your people. I love you and our love will last for an eternity. Our love will be written of in the history books and it shall be an inspiration to the world.”

  Myles smiled, “You are the love of my life and you will be an inspiration to me to be a good man. I will strive to give you everything your heart desires and I will always be there for you. I will give you my heart as none before has had it. I promise to protect you and be a stable force in your life.”

  They kissed and there was much cheering. Flowers and confetti and something similar to rice were thrown. Myles and Catalina were transfixed in that moment, kissing and soaking it all up. Then Myles felt a pain in his back shooting through his chest.

  He looked down and there was a bullet hole through his chest. He had been shot in the back and it had gone straight through him and into Catalina. He looked at her in shock and with concern but she was naturally ok. She had told him that there were only two ways to kill a vampire… beheading or direct sunlight. She didn’t even look in pain. But there was a look of terror in her eyes.

  Voices cried out but they sounded muted to Myles. He had been shot directly in the heart and there was so much blood on the snow now. He was not sure what was being said but Catalina spoke frantically with Carn who at first was angry but after Catalina spoke he sounded more of concern.

  Lying on the cold snow Myles could feel the warmth of some kind of powerful energy building next him where Catalina sat. She radiated with light all around her. She had told him how vampires could take feed on the emotions of others but he had never seen it done. She took all of the emotion and desperation that was inside of him and converted it into raw energy. She absorbed all of the shock from the other vampires and even the anger from her brothers. It all filled her and she glowed with it. Not like a Miyka… light exploded all around her.

  Myles began to fade. Darkness was closing in on him. He felt panic and remorse. He clung to life with all he had. But then Catalina took all of that energy and poured it into him. It killed him. Myles stopped breathing but he was still alive. His body stopped all of its processes and entered a solid state almost as if his insides were petrified and preserved. He was dead but felt more alive in this moment than he ever had. The ecstasy of the emotion he was being fed was incredible. All of his own emotion, all of her emotions, and the shock of all of the vampires gathered was poured into him. When all was said and done Myles knew what he was. He was not only a vampire but he was their King.

  IGNACIO SMILED. Myles Callaghan had paid part of his debt with his and his wife’s lives. Ignacio needed to make sure that the rest was paid too. He made his way into the castle. It was easy with all of the chaos outside. Every guard had run from the castle to the location of the wedding just outside of. He slipped in and made one of the servants tell him where the Kings chambers were after which he cut her throat. Then he slipped into the King's chambers and grabbed the jewels that Myles had taken out of his coat the night prior. Ignacio had found the jeweler and confirmed that Myles had converted the money to rare jewels so he knew exactly what he was looking for.

  As he turned to leave, the wife was there . I killed her. I watched the bullet go straight through them both. Yes, there was a hole where the bullet had gone through her clothing but the flesh was healed completely. Ignacio raised his pistol only to drop it. She is in my head, taking control of my body. Ignacio sat right there on the floor. Then he put his hands under his legs. She was not afraid of his visage. She was cold anger. Ignatio’s mind was on overload. She was playing his entire life in fast forward not only for her own benefit but Ignacio could see it too. She wants me to know. Fear came over Ignacio. I’m going to die.

  She shook her head. She bent over and looked him directly in his crocodile eyes. “No Ignacio, I am not like you. I do not kill out of fear. I am no murderer.” She took the jewels that he had dropped on the table to grab his gun and stuffed them in his pockets. “You are going to tell your Don that Myles’ debt is paid…” She walked over to a chest at the side of the room and took a very large diamond out of the chest and stuffed that into his pocket first. “… with interest. You are going to convince him that Myles is still alive and protected by a force unlike anything he has ever come up against. You are going to convince him that it is in his best interests to leave Myles alone and never to send anyone here again.”

  “And what if he won’t leave Myles alone,” Ignacio replied. Her gaze got colder. “Then you will do what you do best. Kill him. Then you will take his place as Don and you will protect the secret of Myles’ location.” It was not merely words or a suggestion. There was power to the words. They took hold of him and became part of him. Ignacio got up and bowed his head. He left the castle grounds determined to get back to earth and deliver the message he had been instructed to give the Don.

  Ignacio made his way through the thick snow and over the mountain to the tunnel he had exited from. There, waiting for him, was Charli. Can no one I kill stay dead?

  He was about 40 yards from there when he saw her leaning against the inside of the brick tunnel watching with glinted cat eyes and waiting for him. He lay down in the snow and began to set up his sniper rifle. But even as he began to set up, the barrel of the rifle bent back towards him. The walking talking cat of a girl approached him. As she got closer Ignacio was lifted into the air. “I killed you,” said Ignacio.

  She smiled, “I guess that leaves 8 lives left.”

  “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t kill you right now,” she said dryly. He reached into his pocket and grabbed a ruby. Then he tossed it in the snow in front of her. She bent over to look at it and smiled again. “I will need more than that. But it’s a start.”

  “I got nothing more I can give. That was my portion, the rest I have belongs to someone else,” he said.

  “Give me information then. Myles Callaghan, is he linked with Omar?” “Yes he is. We found out about the portal by sending someon
e through the one that Myles went through. He came back months later but insisted he had only stepped in for a moment and then came back through. There was a news story on Dr. Omar Metzger's disappearance the same day. The Don was approached by a man named Haylale. He made all of the connections for us between Myles and Omar and he told us that Jack's team was planning to go into the portal. I infiltrated Jack’s team to find him. Going with a team with a scientist was the best option for us. I found him and shot him but I am told he is still alive,” he said.

  “Then the job isn’t done,” she said. Ignacio shrugged. “It is. I got the money back and a warning to give to the Don. That should be enough for the Don to realize he would be wasting resources if he went after them.”

  “So you didn’t kill Myles Callaghan?” She gave him an intrigued look.

  He shook his head. “I killed him as much as I killed you but apparently an assassin’s job is much harder on other worlds.”

  “Which way is the castle?”

  He gave her detailed instructions on how to get there. She approached him with a feral look in her eyes. “Let me give you one more thing to remember me by.” He felt his body go stiff. She was holding him in place with her telekinesis in case he thought of trying something. She took her claws and raked the across the right rise of his head down the left side of his crocodile snout. The gouges were very deep.