Of Blood and Angels (The Two Moons of Rehnor, Book 3)

by J. Naomi Ay

  “Good God!” I shrieked.

  “Loreck ila kafari me kyrani, Dickon!" Senya roared and pushed himself off me. I scrambled for my tunic, shoving my skirt back down and pulling the tunic on over my head.

  I quickly buttoned up and knotted my hair. Then, as composed as I could possibly be under the circumstances, I sat back down in a seat and reached for my cell, activating the Universal Translator. Nonchalantly, I plugged in my ear bud and pretended I was listening to music.

  “I am so terribly, terribly sorry for interrupting you, Your Royal Highness,” the man cried, looking even more embarrassed than I felt. He was an older guy with giant thick glasses and was wearing one of those fancy robes from the Palace. “Captain Loman said you were traveling with Her Royal Highness so I was wondering if perhaps you were traveling here?”

  “Not at the moment.” Senya lit a cigarette. He started pacing the room again and rubbing his temples. His voice was hoarse and I could see he was weary. “We are going back to Rozari as you know from my schedule.”

  “Yes, Sir,” Dickon replied calmly and watched Senya pace with a sort of parental concern. “I thought perhaps you might change your schedule in light of the hearing.”

  “I am dismissing that hearing,” Senya said. “I am dismissing the whole case. Did I not tell you this already, Dickon?"

  “Yes, Sir. Well, unfortunately, the Supreme Court believes that they are the ultimate authority in judicial matters even if they do affect a member of the Royal Family. Being that two members were involved…”

  “I will speak to the Chief Justice now.” Senya sighed. He stopped his pacing and took a long drag on his cigarette, all the while rubbing the back of his neck with one hand.

  “Yes, Sir.” The screen went blank for a moment.

  “Come here,” I beckoned. “Let me give you your migraine massage.” He came over and sat down on the floor in front of me so I could reach his shoulders. I started to knead and press the tightly knotted muscles in the back of his neck and shoulder blades.

  “What's going on?” I asked. “What court case?”

  He shook his head. “Nothing important. Just one aggravation after another. I am sorely in need of a massage elsewhere having been interrupted so abruptly.”

  “I’ll do that too as soon as you finish your call,” I whispered into his ear as the screen lit up again and now Captain Loman, another gentleman, and Dickon all appeared. Captain Loman raised his eyebrows at Senya on the floor.

  “Your Royal Highness.” They all nodded to Senya. “Madame.”

  “The hearing and the entire case against Her Royal Highness, the MaKani, has been cancelled,” Senya said. “I have already communicated this to you, Lord Justice, have I not? I am very distressed that you appear to be disobeying my order.”

  I moved my thumbs up in circles beneath Senya’s ears. Hold on, I thought, I am Her Royal Highness, the MaKani, aren't I? Was somebody suing me?

  “Well, Sir,” the Lord Justice cleared his throat and spoke. “I am sorry you are distressed but cancelling the case is simply not something that you can do. I am sure you are aware that the law trumps all men including those designated as our rulers.”

  “Mr. Yakigri,” Senya said and turned his head a little, indicating that I should work on the left side now. “I am disbanding your court. You are no longer Chief Justice.”

  All three men on the vid opened their mouths. I gasped too.

  “You are not a dictator," Yakigri stated. “You cannot do this!”

  “Actually, I can and I do,” Senya replied. “Thank you, Kate. That will be enough.” I removed my hands and he clambered to his feet.

  “As far as I am concerned,” Yakigri continued, narrowing his eyes at us. “This case and all cases against you and your Human still stand and I will hear them in my court. I will do everything in my power to see that you never become King of Mishnah, Sehron de Kudisha. The biggest mistake King Yokaa ever made was allowing you to be conceived.”

  “Does your chest hurt, Mr. Yakigri?” Senya inquired, taking the seat next to me and pulling out his netbook.

  “What?”

  “Your chest? It hurts now, quite painfully, does it not?” Senya opened his email client and didn’t ever bother to look up at the vid. I did though and I watched Yakigri clutch his chest and his face turn grey.

  “You have four blocked arteries,” Senya said, finally deigning to look up at the man. “Your fifth is 90% blocked, as well. If you do not get to a hospital immediately, you will have a massive heart attack and you will die.”

  “That's a lie,” Yakigri gasped. “My heart is fine.”

  “No, no. “Senya shook his head. “You have quite a severe case of arterial sclerosis. Too many cigarettes.” Senya lit his own cigarette and took a long drag on it. “Too much booze. Too many fatty foods. Too much stress. You should have taken better care of yourself, Yakigri. You only get this one life.”

  “Senya!” Loman snapped. “Stop this!”

  “Loman, call the gentleman a medic before he dies there in front of us. Dickon, you heard me. The Supreme Court is disbanded and all Justices are dismissed. Within twenty-four hours, I want dossiers on all elected and appointed judges and magistrates everywhere in Mishnah.” Senya blew out a cloud of grey smoke, obscuring his face for a moment.

  “Will there be a new court, Sir?” Dickon asked quietly.

  “Yes, but for now, all justices will be appointed by me.”

  “We shall have a court of Karut savages,” Yakigri coughed clutching his chest.

  “No,” Senya shook his head. “We shall have a court of judges who are principled, moral and adhere to the law above all else. I have no tolerance for politicians and fools like you. Too bad you couldn’t know that when you became Akan's lackey on the bench. That will be all Yakigri.” Yakigri’s face disappeared from the view.

  “Did you kill him?” Loman demanded.

  “No,” Senya replied. “I have promised my wife to try to refrain from killing people and breaking things. Did you summon a medic for him? He has got only about ten minutes.”

  “I'm doing it,” Loman grumbled.

  “Oh, and Loman,” Senya added. “Do not tell me again to 'stop it'.”

  Loman looked up and stared at Senya. His eyes flicked to me.

  “Your Royal Highness,” Loman nodded, lowering his eyes and bowing his head.

  “Sir, do you wish to discuss the budget proposal for the Dark Continent now?” Dickon asked brightly as if he were oblivious to what just happened.

  “Later,” Senya replied. “Ring me later.” The vid went dark. Senya turned to me. I didn’t feel like doing any more massaging. In fact, I was chilled through my bones. He lifted his chin and nodded toward the stateroom in the back. “Go take a nap.”

  When I woke up, the spaceplane had landed on the runway outside our house. I returned to the main cabin and grabbed my bag. The pilots and flight attendant emerged and stood by the door. Senya was in the same seat I had left him in and was still working on his netbook.

  “Ring Berkan and Thad,” he ordered the vid and a moment later a very hassled looking Berkan appeared. There were people around him as if he were in the midst of a meeting. Thad was in his office drinking a soda.

  “Your Royal Highness,” Berkan said, bowing his head and nodding to me. “Madame.”

  “Hey Ron, what's up?” Thad called. “Hi Kate.”

  “I have had a thought on the propulsion system,” Senya said. “Berkan, get the engineering team together for a meeting as soon as I arrive. We're going to rework the entire process.”

  “Ah, seriously?” Thad moaned.

  Berkan rubbed his temples. “Ok,” he sighed. “When are you coming?”

  “Thad, I will come get you now. I need about an hour in my office and then we will depart Rozari.”

  “Ok, boss,” Thad said. “Got my bag packed as always and ready to roll.”

  “I just got a text from my dad saying the case against Katie has been
dropped,” Berkan announced. “In a manner of speaking.”

  “The whole Supreme Court has been dropped,” Senya replied. "In a manner of speaking."

  “Yeah, well, that's what they get for trying to go after Katie for murdering Akan,” Thad laughed. “They just didn’t know who they were messing with."

  “They are finding this out now,” Senya replied softly.

  "My dad also said not to piss you off." Berkan looked at his cell. “You seem a bit unstable.”

  "Oops," Thad said. "Better get my feet off the desk and sit up straighter."

  Berkan sighed again. “Are you unstable, Senya?”

  “I am always unstable, Berk. Everyone should be advised not to piss me off.”

  The vid went dark again.

  Senya turned back to his netbook and then a moment later looked up as if he just remembered I was there.

  “Do you wish to come?”

  I shook my head. My heart was stuck in my throat. When I ransomed Akan's guards, he was so angry I thought he was going to kill me where I stood. He had never yelled at me like that before, he had never spoken to me in that tone. I thought it was because of me and what I had done. It was my fault. I blamed myself. Now I could see that it was him. He was turning back into the evil prince right before my very eyes. He was not the least bit unstable. He knew exactly what he was doing and why. And now, because Akan was dead because I had killed him, Senya was already ruling Rehnor.

  “No, thank you, Sir,” I spat and threw my bag over my shoulder. “I don't want to go there.”

  I walked off the plane into the dark and empty house. Even though it was warm outside, the house was cool like a mausoleum. I went up the three flights of stairs to our bedroom and threw my bag on the floor. I could hear the spaceplane lift off again. I climbed under the blankets and stared out at the beach. Five years. That's all we had and now Rehnor had claimed him again. It made me incredibly sad.

  I was home about ten minutes when the vid started ringing.

  “Katie.” It was Shelly. “I'm outside your door and your security won't let me in. Will you please tell them who I am?”

  “What security?”

  “These blue people,” Shelly practically shrieked.

  “Just a minute.” I signed off and headed to the front door through this very enormous and empty house; except it was not entirely empty. Someone was in the kitchen. Leaving Shelly to stew for another minute, I headed to the kitchen only to find Tilia and Siria cooking up a storm.

  “What the hell are you doing here?” I gasped.

  “Lunch, MaKani?” Siria said, offering me a platter of heaven knew what.

  “No, no,” I muttered and left. “This is my kitchen. This is my house. I don't want these people here.” I went to the door and Shelly was standing there fuming with two Andorian men.

  “This is my friend!” I snapped at them. “Come inside, Shelly.”

  “Sorry, Madame.” They bowed low as I slammed the door.

  “What the hell's going on?” I leaned against the wall and forced myself not to cry even though these damn hormones were swirling my emotions.

  “Let's go shopping,” Shelly cried all perky.

  “When did the security get here?” I asked. “And why are there Andorians in my kitchen?”

  “How should I know?” Shelly shrugged. “Let's try the Fashion Mall first.”

  “I don't want to go shopping!”

  “Well then, let's go to lunch. I'll buy. It's your welcome home lunch.”

  “Why are you doing this, Shelly?” I demanded, sinking down on the nice upholstered bench I had by the front door. I felt like throwing up again even though I stopped throwing up a few weeks ago.

  “Your complexion looks terrible,” Shelly clucked. “You've been far too long in space. You need some sunshine on your face. Come on now.” She pulled me to my feet. “You need some new 'at home' clothes. What size are you, a 4? That uniform looks a bit tight though." She looked me up and down while I took deep breaths trying to stave off the nausea. “Then we'll go get a bite of lunch. How does a big juicy dill pickle sound?” That did it. I ran to the bathroom as fast as I possibly could and heaved into the toilet. Shelly followed me in and shook her head. “I thought so. You're already showing. It happens really quick on petite things like us. Boy or girl?”

  “Boy,” I panted, gasping for a breath.

  “That is the most wonderful news,” Shelly shook her head and swiped at her eyes. “An absolute miracle. I feel like he is my own grandchild. Hey you!” She yelled at Tilia who was standing in the doorway watching. “Go get the Commander some soda crackers. And some ginger.”

  “I'm okay now. I don't want anything.” I washed my face and then walked back out into the foyer.

  “Of course you do. Eat, you're eating for two. Drink milk. How much milk have you had today? None? You there! Get the Commander a big glass of milk with those soda crackers and ginger. Proteins, honey. Lots of proteins. Gotta grow that little boy. When you're done eating, we'll go to the mall.” She set her purse down and led me to the kitchen table.

  “I really don't want to go shopping,” I pleaded. "Senya just left and I haven't seen him since he yelled at me two months ago and now he's on his way there and he doesn't even care." I broke down and sobbed all over the kitchen table.

  "I know." Shelly made a face and sat down next to me. "Thad called to tell me they were leaving and that you just got home."

  "He's such an arrogant, selfish bastard," I seethed, wiping my tears. "Not Thad. Thad's a genuinely good guy. I mean Senya."

  "I know who you mean." Shelly patted my hand. "For such a smart guy, he can sure be a big time fool. Thad's a little time fool. Come on. Get out of that uniform and let's go spend your husband's money."

  "I don't need anything including his money," I protested weakly.

  “Of course you do. Another month and nothing is going to fit and you're going to feel horrible. Let's go get you some cute stuff so you can be preggy hip.”

  “Preggy hip? Are you kidding?”

  “You drive. I don't want to have to fight with your security again.” She glared at me until I drank the milk and swallowed a few crackers. “Now go change your clothes and let's hit the shops. We'll be back in a couple hours. Hey! We could look at baby things. You'll need a crib and a bassinette and lots of little clothes for your little prince.”

  A little prince? I was going to lose him too. I was going to lose both of them because they belonged to Rehnor. I burst into tears.

  “Oh good heavens, Katie, enough of this,” Shelly snapped. “Pregnancy is hell. I used to cry at toilet paper adverts. The only way to combat it is to get your mind on something else. That's why I am taking you shopping!”

  I don't know why but eventually I got dressed in sweatpants that didn't snap, zip or button, and I let her drag me down to the garage and we left in my Lexus. As we took off over the house, I noticed some construction going on just southwest of the building. I swung the speeder around to take a better look. Several large houses were being built along with a skybridge that went directly onto our second floor deck just outside our offices and the library.

  “Crew quarters?” I gasped.

  Shelly looked too and for a moment her forced animation turned serious.

  “Not crew, honey. They're called staff, servants, and retainers.”

  Chapter 12

  Berkan

  Akan was dead. At first we weren't sure how the news would be received here. We locked down the campus and waited. A few radical Saintists protested outside the gates. Someone lobbed a homemade bomb at the hospital in Old Mishnah. It sputtered and died in the doorway. That was it. We opened up the campus again and went back to business.

  “Most of Akan's guard has rejoined the ranks,” my father said when he and my mother joined us for dinner one night. Marik was sitting on his knee bouncing up and down and giggling hysterically. “They seemed quite relieved to do so.”

  “Tell Berkie a
bout the new regiment,” my mother insisted, taking Marik and bouncing him herself.

  “What new regiment? Luci sit down, you look exhausted,” I said.

  Luci put dessert on the table, Marik's favorite chocolate cake and he blew at the five candles on top.

  “I am exhausted,” she snipped. “But it's my baby's birthday.” She placed an enormous piece of cake in front of him and my mother made a show of feeding him even though at four, he was certainly capable of feeding himself.

  “The captain of Akan's guards, Zigfed, came to me last week and asked that we create a new regiment specifically for Her Royal Highness, the MaKani. Several of his men who were present during the altercation at the spacebase, all of which were arrested and then released by the Alliance, wish to join this regiment,” my father explained.

  “Do they know it was Katie who ransomed them and arranged for their release?” I asked, taking my own serving of cake.

  “He didn't, but I told him. He was very enthusiastic about it. The men like her very much, their Warrior Princess. We're going to give them royal blue sashes and a badge with the MaKennah's crest but it will have her name on it instead of his.”

  “Ha,” I said, cutting myself another slice. “If they think it's going to be easier serving her than Senya, they'll be wrong. Sometimes I think she is just as crazy as he is.”

  “I think it's nice,” Luci said. “I love royal blue. I'm going to have all the court ladies wear royal blue too when I am in charge of her household.”

  “If you are in charge of her household,” my mother added pointedly.

  A few months later, Senya rang from one of our Rozarian spaceplanes and told me he was changing the propulsion system. I was about eight weeks behind on every other system. I hoped this change bought me more time. Nearly every day, I received a nasti-gram from Senya demanding why we were running so late. I had no explanation. It was a complicated system on a complex project and throwing more resources at it was not speeding up anything. Thad rang a moment after Senya had disconnected.