Golden's Quest (The Two Moons of Rehnor, Book 6)

by J. Naomi Ay

  "You will find it, my son. Keep traveling down the path. Sometimes that which you seek is hidden right in front of you."

  "Why do you always speak in riddles, Dad?"

  "It makes me sound wise."

  "You are wise, Dad."

  "I know. Is that because I speak in riddles?"

  "No, it's not. Ach, now we are going around in a circle."

  "That is true," he laughed, "which is in itself another riddle."

  "Give it up, Dad."

  "Alright, Shika, think on this. Perhaps all that you are searching for is purpleberry ice cream."

  "Okay, that's not wise, Dad, that's just bizarre. Why would I be looking for that?"

  "You shall know the answer when you find it, my son. Now I must go. There are men kneeling on the floor before me who are far more important than that annoying Queen of Cyganus. I must pay them some attention before their knees lock up or they shall fall over in a faint."

  "Okay, Dad. Thanks for taking my call. Shall I tell the Queen of Cyganus that you think she is annoying?"

  "You are welcome too," he said and his eyes flashed with amusement. "You will be at that dreadful birthday party your mother has planned for me next week?"

  "I wouldn't miss it."

  "Don't," he commanded and the phone clicked off.

  One week later, I was inconspicuously standing under the overhang trying to stay out of the rain. I had on my Kalika-hahr Cougar's jersey and my favorite ball cap but raindrops were still pummeling me from nearly every direction. I was eating a bag of soggy wet popcorn and sipping a bottle of beer when Sam came up to my side.

  "Hey Stevie," he said and clapped me on the back. "When did you get here? I've been looking for you."

  "A while ago," I shrugged and laughed as a bank of dark clouds now enshrouded the field.

  "Ah, fricking!" Sammy cried. "Now nobody can see the game."

  "Will you please stop this!" My mother's voice echoed from several tiers below. "Come on. This isn't fair." A bolt of lightning streaked across the sky.

  "Football is best enjoyed during inclement weather," my dad pronounced when the thunder had ceased to roar. "Frankly, I prefer snow above all. What do you think, Thad?"

  "It's your party, boss," Thad replied. "You can make it snow if you want to, though there's nothing you can do to help the Raven's win this game."

  "It's August!" my mother shrieked. "It's the middle of the summer. Please Senya, stop this. You're driving me insane." Now I heard my dad laughing and it sounded like Thad and Berkan were laughing too.

  "Do you think if I torment her enough, she will understand that I do not want another party next year?"

  "No Sir," now Taner was the one that replied. "I'm afraid it's her duty and obligation. You may think you are torturing her but really you are afflicting every one of us."

  "Ach," my dad sighed. "None of you are any fun. How did I end up with such tiresome and tedious friends?"

  "You are lucky you have any friends left," my mother retorted. "Get your hands off of me, you brute, and fix the weather."

  My dad laughed again as the fog bank below us parted and the Ravens and Tigers in all their illustrious glory stood staring up at the clouds, waiting for the Imperial Anthem to begin. Thankfully, the rain stopped and the clouds above cleared, allowing the setting sun and two moons to shine down upon us.

  "Come with me," Sam said when the anthem had finished and the whistle blew for the Raven's to kick off and begin the game. "I want you to meet my Uncle Zem."

  I followed him through the box into the lower tier where now I could see my dad standing wedged between Berkan and Thad, leaning over the rail and yelling at the team. Behind them sat Grandma Charlotte and Grandma Moira and though both had binoculars, they were playing cards instead. My mom and her ladies were walking through the crowds greeting everybody and offering them all a plate. Taner was standing not far from us; speaking to the guy who was my dad's secretary since before I was even born. Kinar had a plate of hot wings and a guy on crutches was standing next to him balancing himself carefully as he took a wing from the dish.

  "Kari-fa!" I practically screamed when Kiman looked up and smiled. He waved his hot wing shyly and then nodded to his dad.

  "What?" Sammy asked. "Hey Kiman! How are you feeling, dude?"

  "Kinar, Kiman. Kari-fa, I should have known." I slapped my head.

  "Hey guys." Kiman hobbled over.

  "Thank you, dude. You saved my life!"

  "All in the line of duty," he said and his face turned a little red.

  "I owe you, man." I gently punched his arm. "Are you even an ensign?"

  "I haven't been for about five years." He winked.

  "What?" Sammy asked again. Just then Randy arrived with Yula who looked awestruck at my dad.

  "That's the man?" Yula pointed. "That lady there is the Empress?"

  "Uh huh," Randy replied proudly. "Can you believe we're breathing the same air?"

  A moment later, Lenny joined us along with his brother who had the unfortunate luck to look like his twin. We saluted to Marik and waved to Elana as they passed by us to sit with Elana's parents. Her father, the Prince, was studying the player roster as if there was a test on it after the game. The Queen of Cyganus had a tiny box of popcorn and though she didn't realize it, there were some kernels stuck in her teeth. Petya and Marie were sitting right behind them and Marie's shirt was stained from blowing raspberries in her beer.

  "Come on," Sam urged. "Let's go meet Uncle Zem." Zem was having a good day and stood up when we approached. He told me he remembered exactly when I was born.

  "Everyone on the ship had a party," he laughed, "because your mother was such a dragon lady when she was pregnant with you. Of course, she was a dragon lady before that and afterward too."

  "Don't pay any attention to what he says." Sam nudged me. "Sometimes he gets very confused. Uncle Zem, this is my friend, Steven Golden. I told you all about him."

  "Yep," Uncle Zem replied and winked. "I know who he is. Will you deliver a message to Lady Caroline for me, Steven?"

  "Of course, sir," I replied.

  "Tell her I still have twelve toes and after that delightful rain storm, I'm full of water again." He laughed as if this was hysterically funny though he was the only one who got the joke.

  "Actually, I'll let you deliver that to her yourself. If I speak with her, I'll tell her to come over to say hi."

  "Good man," Zem replied. "Did you pass your written exam?"

  "Yes sir, yesterday."

  "Excellent. May you be as good a pilot as your mother."

  "Yes sir. I hope so, sir."

  The whistle blew down on the field and a timeout was called.

  "Now that it's no longer raining," my mother announced to the crowd. "Shall we bring out the cake?"

  "No," my father groaned. "I don't like cake."

  "It's fish cake."

  "Really?"

  "No!" she snapped and waved for the chefs who carried out an enormous cake, enough to feed our five hundred guests. "It's Angel Food, because darling, you are such an angel."

  "You are too, my love," Dad replied.

  My mother shook her head and rolled her eyes. "Don't start that again."

  Happy birthday was sung and the cake was cut and the only awkwardness that ensued was when we all came to the part where we had to sing the birthday boy's name.

  "Happy birthday dear…uh…Sir…Senya…Your Imperial Majesty…happy birthday to you."

  The game resumed on the field and we all sat down to watch and to eat some cake and whatever else the waiters brought us.

  "This is a great party," Randy commented stuffing his face full of egg rolls and goat cheese wraps. "Didn't you bring a guest, Steve?"

  "Actually," I replied. "I…uh…I came with my parents."

  "The trailer park trash?" Lenny snickered and nudged his brother who laughed.

  "Uh…yes. In fact, maybe you'd like to meet them?"

  "Okay," Lenny nodde
d.

  "Are you sure you want to do this?" Kiman asked me quietly.

  "I might as well get it over with. Let's just wait until half time. My dad hates to be interrupted when it's the middle of a play."

  Half time came and all the guys got up to use the bathrooms. By the time they came back, the game was about to restart.

  "Well?" Lenny demanded. "Are we going to meet them or not?" I glanced down at the field. The teams were already set to kick off.

  "It's probably too late. Maybe we should wait until the end of the game."

  "Golden, you're so full of it," Lenny smirked. "Your parents are probably not even here."

  "Don't blame him for being embarrassed," his brother added. "You said they live in a vinyl palace on rented government land."

  "Yeah, this guy is full of stories. You can't believe a thing he says."

  The whistle blew, the Tigers kicked off and the Ravens returned to the thirty yard line. The Ravens offense lined up and the Center snapped the ball. The Quarterback dropped back and looked like he was about to pass. Then some defensive lineman came rushing up from behind and dropped the poor dude, laying him flat on his back.

  "Offsides!" my dad yelled leaning over the rail.

  The Ref blew his whistle and the officials conferred. "No foul," they decided waving their arms.

  "Offsides!" my dad repeated even louder than before. "That was offsides, I tell you."

  "I don't think so," Thad said.

  "No, he was in the clear," Berkan agreed. "Thad, can you pass me some more wings, please, and some of that white ranch sauce?"

  "I said it was offsides," my dad reiterated and his voice took on an ominous tone. The stadium rumbled as the field began to shake. Thad's tray of wings wobbled and then toppled over the box rail. They flew down the side of the stadium and landed on the people sitting in the bleachers below.

  "Sorry guys!" Thad waved and indicated my dad with his thumb.

  "I may be blind," my father roared, "but I can see far better than that ref. Now put the fucking ball back and run that play again!"

  The refs and both teams stared wide-eyed up at our box as my mother covered her face and held her head.

  "Ron," Grandma Charlotte snapped while briefly looking up from her cards. "You sit down and behave yourself."

  "Sehron," Grandma Moira added. "Charlotte is absolutely right. Your behavior is undignified and your language is too foul."

  "You know what, guys?" I said as the play was called back and everyone waited until my dad waved at them to resume the game. "You don't really want to meet my parents. It's not a good idea after all. Lenny's brother is right. I'm totally embarrassed by them."

  "No worries, Stevie," Sammy said and clapped me on the back. "Maybe next time, dude. Let's just sit and watch the game."

  During the fourth quarter, I got up to walk around. The Ravens were losing by twenty-seven points and my dad was sulking and mad. He was chain smoking cigs and cursing at the refs who glanced up at him for each and every call.

  In the next box over, I saw Marik and Elana who weren't watching the game but staring into each other's eyes. Petya and Marie were in a row back from them and instead of studying each other's eyes, were exploring their tongues.

  I kept on walking through all the boxes that held our party, waving at some people and ducking away from some others. When I came to the last box at the far end of the stadium it was nearly empty except for a girl. She had long dark blonde hair that hung in a mass of curls and was hunched over reading on her tablet despite the noise from the game below.

  "Hey," I said coming up next to her.

  "Hey," she replied looking up. She had deep emerald green eyes and long dark lashes with a face that could break a guy's heart.

  "What are you reading?" I asked and sat down beside her.

  "I'm studying. I have a midterm in the morning." She looked at me and her nose wrinkled in a way that I thought was too cute. "I'm a medical student at the University of New Mishnah. What do you do?"

  "I'm a pilot," I replied really liking the way that sounded. "I'm in the Imperial SpaceNavy. Right now, I'm home on leave."

  "I'm thinking of the SpaceNavy too," she said curling a tendril of golden hair around her finger. "Maybe being a space doctor for a while might be kind of fun."

  "That's a great idea," I nodded staring into her eyes which seemed to have launched a tractor beam that threatened to pull me inside. "Are you here alone?"

  "No, my date is Tuman de Kudisha although right now he's having fun pouring beer on everyone's heads." She pointed down the box to the far right hand corner, where my drunken cousin Tuman was dousing the people below.

  "You and he?" I asked.

  "No way," she shook her head. "My mother insisted I let him take me because he's one of the de Kudisha princes."

  "Oh yeah, I know about those guys." I nodded knowledgeably and then switching to Karupta asked her if she was from Karupatani.

  "Yeah," she replied in the same language. "I'm from the village of Shrotru. I know I don't look like it. You speak fluently. Are you Karupta as well?"

  "Partially. So tell me your name, Doctor?"

  "Hannah," she said and her nose wrinkled again when she smiled.

  "Like the first Hannah? She had dark blonde hair too."

  "And green eyes," Hannah added. "Mother says we are descended from the original Duke."

  "It's possible," I shrugged. "I can't remember who begat who."

  "I can't either," she laughed. "Wasn't there a song or rhyme we had to memorize and recite every holiday to commemorate the Great Voyage?"

  "Yeah, that was pretty stupid. I've forgotten all of that."

  "Me too. So what's your name, Spaceman?" she asked and for a moment, her eyes reflected the golden light of the two moons.

  "Steven."

  "Steven," she repeated. "I like that name. You remind me of someone else though."

  "That guy on the vid who hosts that show about the island?"

  "No," she shook her head and her dark blonde curls bounced. "You remind me of Shika de Kudisha."

  "The Imperial Prince? Nah. Furthermore, I heard that guy's really lame."

  "No, he's not," she insisted. "He's actually a hero. He helped to save Corganus and give it back to the people."

  "Really?"

  "Really," she said. "You've got to give the guy credit for having turned out so well especially after having grown up in such extraordinary circumstances."

  "Wow. That's an awfully nice thing for you to say."

  She shrugged and glanced back at her tablet.

  "So, any chance you want to ditch this place and maybe go get a cup of coffee?"

  "No thanks," she shook her head, "but I wouldn't mind an ice cream sundae. There's a new ice cream parlor really close to our campus. We can walk to there from here. They even have my favorite flavor, purpleberry."

  "Purpleberry." I sighed happily. "Will they serve it on a waffle?"

  "Absolutely," she said. "That's the only way to have it."

  The adventure continues with

  The Two Moons of Rehnor, Book 7

  Metamorphosis

  Find it on Amazon.com:

  http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009Z51PF0

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