Unfathomable Chance

by K T Munson

  “Who are you to address a prince of the House of Lith?” he demanded.

  “You will address me in the manner that pleases me,” Diana said before she could help herself. “I will not abide your disrespect. Why have you taken this man?”

  “Disrespect?” he said, looking closer at her. “You are not worthy of my respect.”

  “Do not be a fool, Jimil,” Dimar said and jutted his chin towards her wrist.

  “Bearer,” he said, astonished, and bowed to her in respect. “You should have announced yourself.”

  “And lose the pleasure of seeing your true self?” Diana retorted. “I think not.”

  He turned an ugly shade of green. “It is time you took your place.”

  “You disrespect me further by refusing to answer my questions,” she said as her companions caught up with her and crowded around behind her protectively. “So I’ll ask again. Why have you taken this man hostage?”

  “He has broken the rules,” Jimil explained, trying to be courteous to her despite his clenched jaw. “Only the oldest can vie for your hand.”

  “Fortunately, that honor doesn’t fall on you either,” Diana replied. Ruby had told her about Jimil and Dimar’s oldest brother. “I have use of him.”

  “He has a home planet and cannot be your guardian,” Jimil pointed out smugly.

  “I don’t play well with those who take my things,” she declared, her hand balling into a fist. “I will remember this day, Jimil of the House Lith.”

  “I am under orders from my eldest brother,” he countered, unamused. “If you have problems with his orders, take it up with him.”

  “You inform him I want my advisor returned unharmed.” Diana defied his gaze by returning one just as sharp. “I am a lonely human and need the honor of an advisor from an influential house. Tell your brother that if he wishes to submit his hand, he will return my advisor.”

  Jimil glanced back at Dimar, surprised, before nodding with a locked jaw. “Your message will be delivered.”

  Nihal growled when they left. Diana glared after them. Her eyes met Dimar’s. There was shock in them, but also gratitude. When they were out of sight she let out a sigh and faced her group of misfits, who were waiting expectantly.

  “You aren’t the same girl I found,” Maura said with a smile. “Every day you are more like the Empress you will become.”

  “Do you mean it?” Kal Zed asked from Adom’s arms.

  Diana felt guilty, but she couldn’t trust anyone with the knowledge she had about the former empress or that she might not become the empress at all. Instead, she pressed her lips into a smile. Forcing herself to look happy and normal; she would tell them only what they needed to know.

  “The Heart of the Cosmos and I spoke,” Diana said plainly. “I understand what I am supposed to do now.”

  Chapter 26

  Diana peered over her cards with narrowed eyes. Inspecting Maura, Sora, Adom, and Kal Zed in turn, she watched for any betrayal of emotion on their faces. Kal Zed started licking his paw. The room was tense.

  Sparing a glance at her hand she turned to Maura and asking, “Do you have a queen?”

  “Ish-Da!” she yelled, throwing the queen on the table.

  Diana exclaimed happily before collecting her queen and set the pair of them down on the small pile before turning her attention back to those in the room. Kal Zed was always a very frustrating player. He only seemed half interested, and a being half interested doesn’t give away much. Even if he liked to eat fish, he wasn’t much for the card game.

  “Kal Zed,” Diana said, sure that the others did not have her card. “Do you have a king?”

  He licked his paw unmoved, pausing only to say, “Go fish.”

  Diana groaned and picked up a two from the pile. She hated that he never had to look at his cards but kept them all in his head; she made a mental note never to play poker with him. Even if she seemed unhappy about her turn ending, she wasn’t sad at all. Kal Zed had suggested they do something to remind her of home, and Sora had asked to play a new game. She had always loved Go Fish as a child—though playing it with her brothers had sometimes turned into an argument, or at least a tickle fight that eventually turned into a brawl.

  They were on the way to the center of the universe, her new home and the place where she hoped to find some answers to the mystery surrounding Katali’s death. Behind them, in Dimar’s ship, were the three androids. Dimar had ordered them to follow her if he were lost or captured. Apparently, he had surmised Jimil would not stop searching for her.

  Rocky had been kind enough to have a deck made for her. Apparently games are not fun for androids, so they declined to play. Grim kept covering the cards with dirt, so they sent him to help Nihal check their inventory. The rest of Maura’s crew, less two who had left because of the fuss Diana caused and the fact that Maura kept her on board—remained up front to the run the ship.

  Grim appeared in the front and made a noise that Diana heard translated to “We’re here.”

  Diana tossed her cards down and stood.

  “What about our game?” Sora complained.

  “Adom has ten. I doubt anyone will catch up,” Diana said, walking towards the front. “We’ll play again.”

  Maura stood as well and so did Adom. Both followed her to the front of the ship, trailing behind her like shadows. Part of her had wanted to stay with the androids. Diana felt strangely more comfortable with them, but Kal Zed had insisted. Though she couldn’t believe it, she would miss Roddy.

  Out the window was a planet carved out of the stars. It shone a teal blue. As the ship approached she asked, “Is it mostly made of water?”

  Kal Zed padded in next to her. “It is,” he said, “though it doesn’t have the same composition as the water on Earth. Everything is made of crystal on a great creature that swims around the surface with the home of the Empress on its back. Every Empress stays on the great ship and uses it as a base from which to rule.”

  Like the Death Star in Star Wars, it was spherical. It was so massive that it looked like a second moon trailing the planet’s actual moon. Despite her reservations she could see the entirety of it before her in all its beauty, and to her mixed emotions all of it was for her.

  Kal Zed explained that the Matzili staffed both the planet and the moon-sized ship.

  “Which I can’t use until my advisor is here,” Diana said.

  “What you want cannot be,” Kal Zed informed her. “Keeping him close will only make it more difficult.”

  “I chose Dimar to become my advisor because he is familiar and comes from a great house,” Diana retorted, trying to keep detachment in her voice. “When he reports to me, I’ll have saved him from his brother’s wrath. He will owe me, and I will have him serve his debt.”

  Kal Zed nodded as Maura stood next to her and glanced over. “I still don’t like it, but for a Dracoon he doesn’t seem so bad. Plus the House of Lith can boast of their fair offspring. Not all Dracoons are so lucky.”

  Diana couldn’t help but chuckle at Maura’s words. “On Earth, I have a friend that would call him eye candy. Maybe man meat.”

  Maura’s eyebrow rose. “Man meat?”

  “Delicious for one night but not worth a long term commitmenet. That is a secret between us girls.” Diana laughed. “When Dimar gets here, he doesn’t need any more help inflating his ego.”

  “You must be more careful what you say here,” Kal Zed warned, giving her the reproachful stare that only cats can manage. “Until you choose an Emperor, you will be under scrutiny.”

  “Oh joy!” Diana said as they moved toward the large circular ship that moved in tandem with the moon over the beautiful planet below.

  “Sarcasm will be lost on many species,” he continued. “You will be watched at every turn, and you must be constantly learning.”

  “Since you are my teacher”—Diana smiled down at him—“I’m sure I’ll survive.”

  “There is another matter,” Kal Zed sai
d. “You will need to choose an advisor from home.”

  That gave Diana pause. “I have to choose another human to bring here?”

  “Yes,” Kal Zed said, his tail swishing back and forth as a communication channel opened with the other ship. “This time you must choose a female or family, as is protocol.”

  “The Bearer of the Cosmos is here to take her place,” Maura informed the woman who answered their open communication channel.

  The woman on the screen was startled and gasped. “I will open the access port at once!”

  When she disappeared from the screen as their ship entered the open hull of the great ship, Diana knew there was no going back.

  Chapter 27

  “You have slept long enough,” Kal Zed said, tugging at the blankets.

  “No,” she moaned, rolling over and pulling the blankets up. “The blankets have accepted me as one of their own. I don’t want to leave and ruin the trust we have built.”

  “Unlike me, blankets are not alive,” Kal Zed pointed out.

  “And unlike you, they aren’t demanding,” Diana retorted as she peered at him with one eye.

  “We are going down to the planet today,” Kal Zed reminded her.

  Diana groaned and put a pillow over her head. Kal Zed tugged on it. Rather than fighting him for it, she reached for another. For two days she had been aboard the ship, and for two days she’d learned nothing. She’d been pampered to no end by the Matzili. They tried to bathe her once, but she decided she wasn’t quite ready for that. And she might have let her overall annoyance show once or twice. To be honest, she wasn’t used to any of it, and it wasn’t doing anything to help her solve the mystery of Empress Katali’s death.

  “We have to plan the Dance of the Stars,” the cat reminded her, working the second pillow away.

  “Kal Zed,” she protested, rolling over and crawling after it. “Please don’t make me.”

  Diana finally got a hand on it and lay face first on the comforter. Kal Zed tapped on her, but she swatted him away. Diana felt herself drifting back to sleep, trying not to think of her “now accepting suitors” party, when Kal Zed’s tongue ran across the back of her leg. With a shriek she sprung off the bed in a hurry, holding the pillow.

  “That is just evil!” she yelled. The door suddenly opened and Adom rushed in. She froze, startled by his unexpected entry. Their eyes met, and then, when he glanced down, Diana realized she was in a nightgown that wasn’t even halfway down her thighs. It was a little low cut and had only thin straps.

  “Adom!” Diana cried. Holding the pillow in front of her, she tried to block his view.

  Red-faced, he turned around. Diana felt a blush rising to her cheeks as well. Slowly he walked back out. When the door closed, Diana was alone with the cat once again. Slowly, she let the pillow drop back down. Kal Zed had apparently watched the exchange with a scrupulous eye.

  “Look what you did,” Diana said, frowning as she stode over to the closet.

  “You should have gotten up the first time,” Kal Zed said.

  The pillow shot from the closet and knocked Kal Zed back. He lay under it a moment before slinking out.

  A little later she came out in one of the less crazy—but still crazy enough to look very uncomfortable—runway gowns she was expected to wear.

  There was a coppery mesh metal on her throat that continued over the sleeves and shined as though it had been just polished. The dress was teal and had a similar metal belt that tightened on the waist. From her waist, the gown fell to the ground and flowed around her like water when she walked. Of all the dresses that had been her size in the Empress’s ridiculously sized wardrobe, this was her favorite. Apparently women loved their clothes and their closets across all species.

  The fabric felt like air against her legs, and at first she had felt naked in it. Now she felt light and free, not weighed down by cotton and jeans. Not to mention that the long flowing dress made her feel like she was wearing a cape—an intergalactic superhero in heels.

  “You can call them in now,” Diana all but sighed.

  Reluctantly, she had permitted the many servants to style her hair and doll her up, but she did not let them bathe or dress her, much to their displeasure. The only person she permitted in her room without restriction was Kal Zed. Unless she was in distress, or they suspected danger, no one could enter her rooms without her express permission.

  Kal Zed went to the door, which opened automatically as he approached. “We haven’t a moment to lose,” he called to the waiting servants.

  Four girls, her army to make her look like an Empress, came rushing in. Wearing the normal maroon dress of the Matzili, they hurried up to her. Diana sat down on the chair as they started to style and make her presentable. The oldest, Ontrino, always spoke for all of them despite the fact that they were all old enough to have been gifted with their voices.

  “You have chosen a beautiful color,” Ontrino complimented. “It is a fair hue for your complexion.”

  “It reminds me of the beaches at home,” Diana said, realizing it was the first time she had thought of home in a while.

  It was dangerous to think of home because there was so much she had left behind. She knew her parents and her brothers must be worried about her—although Henry was likely cracking jokes, which would cause Harry to worry twice as much. That would cause her mother to yell at them. Diana sighed as she thought of home.

  “Is something wrong?” Ontrino asked, her oversized eyes looking worried.

  In response she shook her head, which caused the other girls to make unhappy noises. The earrings she wore chimed as she pushed home and her family to the back of her mind. She did not have time to dwell upon them; there were more important matters to attend to.

  “Nothing,” Diana reassured her. “Could you get Kal Zed?”

  Ontrino tapped one of the girls’ shoulders. The girl didn’t hesitate to run off to find Kal Zed. Her little band of protectors was already on the planet, helping with preparations for her arrival. They had left the day before, and Diana was already missing them. Maura usually stayed close to her, trading off with Nihal and Grim only once in a while.

  Sora had acted like Maura’s shadow at first, but Diana had instead sent him to school. He had not been pleased with learning, but Diana explained she would not have an illiterate protector. Only clever ones would do. To which he pointed out that Nihal wasn’t clever. He had been right, of course, but Diana reminded him that he was a berserker and didn’t need a proper education. Sora had speed and needed his wits in order to make the right decision quickly to keep her safe. He had pondered it for a day and a half before agreeing. Maura had been eternally grateful.

  Diana didn’t want to admit that she didn’t want him on the planet. Mostly because she didn’t think it was safe, and it wasn’t easy to leave once they arrived. While keeping her fears mostly to herself she had resulted in her hardly sleeping the night before. She’d been late rising because her anxieties had kept her awake. Diana was clearly not fit to be the Empress of the Universe because of her inability to handle everything; everyday was overwhelming.

  Kal Zed returned with the girl walking slowly beside him. Diana stood, everything finished and said, “When must I return to Earth and choose my advisor?”

  “Before the Dance of the Stars,” Kal Zed said.

  “Send word that Dimar must be returned to me so that I can get my advisor,” Diana said, her hands clasped by her stomach. “Let’s go down to the planet.”

  Chapter 28

  Diana tried hard not to hunch in her seat. Unlike Kal Zed’s small ship that was pleasant to be in and, surprisingly, did not make her claustrophobic, the ship she was taking to the planet made her feel like she was slowly being crushed. She swallowed hard on that thought. Kal Zed didn’t seem all that uncomfortable.

  “I thought the air was breathable!” Diana all but hissed, trying hard not to lose her cool and clearly failing.

  “It is,” Kal Zed said, watc
hing her with his yellow cat eyes.

  “Then why is the atmosphere so thick that we need to come down like a tin of sardines?!” Diana said, not even trying to hide her displeasure.

  “It is a safety measure,” Kal Zed said. “The Heart of the Cosmos is not invincible.”

  Diana’s heart stopped as she slowly turned her entire attention on the cat and tried to sound like she didn’t care. “What do you mean?”

  “The Heart of the Cosmos is omnipresent,” the cat elaborated. “It is always here, but it isn’t all knowing. Why do think it needs a Bearer?”

  Diana glanced down at the bracelet and realized Kal Zed meant the bracelet protected her only to a point. It might mean that it couldn’t always know when she was in danger. When Adom had grabbed her hand, it hadn’t thrown him off immediately. That made her wonder if it knew about danger only if she knew about it. Or perhaps it could sense the world as it was around them and decipher the danger. It couldn’t see the future, and it wasn’t all powerful. The Heart of the Cosmos needed a host, a woman, to carry it and keep it safe. Suddenly she didn’t feel as safe. It also explained why Empress Katali had been vulnerable. Perhaps someone had pushed her out into space after all.

  “Why are you worried?” Kal Zed asked, watching her in the way that only cats could, like they knew what your thoughts were.

  Diana averted her eyes and sucked in a breath before saying as calmly as possible, “I’d thought the bracelet was protecting me more than it is. It was just a startling realization.”

  He eyed her suspiciously a moment before nodding. “There is still a lot you have to learn.”

  “I’ve learned a lot already,” Diana said aloud, but her being vulnerable wasn’t exactly what she’d wanted to learn.

  “You have hardly scratched the surface,” Kal Zed said.

  The front of the little ship started to lighten and depressurized. Diana strained against the straps as she tried to see beyond the ship’s hatch. Blue assaulted her vision. She had to blink from the blinding sun that shimmered off the watery surface of the planet.