The Days of the Golden Moons (The Two Moons of Rehnor, Book 5) (23 page)

“Yeah,”
Katie nodded.  “We're working on not taking out our temper on the weather.  We
all hate lightning and tornadoes.”

“What?”
Jerry asked.

“I'll
explain later,” Janet whispered.

“So
you tell us everything,” Jerry prompted.

“Yeah,”
Janet agreed.  “Our lives are boring and ordinary compared to this.”

“Will
we get to see Ron- HIM?” Gina asked.

“I
hope so,” Katie replied.  “He knows you are here.”

“Where
is he tonight?” I asked.

“Working
of course,” Katie said.  “On most nights I force him to quit about now, but
he's still trying to catch up from taking a month off in Karupatani.  It's hard
to believe how much work there really is.  There are literally thousands of
people on waiting lists to see him.  Thad knows how bad it is.  It's like it
was at SdK except a million times worse.”

“I
do know,” Thad nodded.  “I am on the list to get an audience and my estimated
grant date is 3.2 years from now.”

“Maybe
we can get that moved up a bit,” Katie laughed.  “As long as you’re here.  You
should have gotten an automatic bump in the queue just for being upped.”

“I’ll
check my status,” Thad replied pulling out his cell.  “Oh, you’re right.  Now
I’m at 3.1 years.”

“So
what is your life like, Katie?” Jerry asked, and we all leaned forward.  “What
do you do all day?”

Katie
thought for a moment.  “When I first got here I was so overwhelmed I couldn't
do anything.  I let the press interview me and gave them far too much
information.  I hosted a lot of garden parties where I shook too many hands and
smiled at all the wrong people.  Then I was gone for several years as you know. 
Now that I am back, I have my bearings, and I think that this time, I actually
have a purpose besides wearing pretty dresses, waving at the people and …uh…”  She
cleared her throat.

“What's
your purpose?” I asked.

“Well,
I've expanded my waving at the people to actually speaking with them and pre-emptively
meeting with many of the dignitaries prior to their audience with HIM.  I can
screen out a lot of what they are coming to present, subjects I know he won't
be interested in hearing.  I help them get right to the point more or less.  They
also seem to be calmer and more comfortable if I accompany them into their
audiences.  Often we find that people become a bit tongue tied when they are
with HIM, and he of course has no patience for that.  We're kind of
streamlining the whole process, so it's more efficient and productive for
everyone.”

“So
everyone walks in and can't open their mouths because they are afraid if they
say something wrong he might, I don't know, kill them or something?” Jerry
asked.

“That's
kind of how it works, Jer,” Thad replied.  “It used to be that way at SdK too. 
That’s why we always were in need of more doctors.”

Katie
rolled her eyes.

“I
can see where your role is extremely important,” I said.  “I bet everyone
appreciates having a Queen who is a…a…”

“Normal
Human woman?”  Katie smiled.  “That's the funniest part of it for me.  I never
realized how much everyone was frightened by him.  You all weren't frightened
of him at SdK, were you?”  She looked at Thad, Gina and Janet.

“No,
Katie.”  Thad shook his head.  “We were all frightened of you.”

“We
always thought he was plenty strange though,” Janet added.

“How
is Shika?” I asked.

“Shika
is doing wonderfully.  He's at the University of New Mishnah but just spent a
few weeks with us in Karupatani last month.  I am amazed every day what a
fabulous young man he has turned in to especially with such whacked out
parents.”

“The
people positively adore Prince Shika,” Caroline put in.  “He is today's teen
heart throb.”

“I
don't know,” Gina sighed.  “Those pictures of HIM as a teen still have my heart
throbbing.”

“Mine
too.”  Katie winked. 

 “I
would like to live here all the time,” Gina said.  “Why don't we move here,
Thad?  We could work at SdK here, couldn't we?  Can't he make you an Earl of
something here instead of Kalika-hahr?”  She looked to Katie.

Katie
shrugged.

“We'll
discuss it later, Gina,” Thad replied.  “Personally, I am a major fan of the Kalika-hahr
Cougars.  I just don't know if I can share my heart with any other team.”

I
would have liked to immigrate too although I wasn’t sure where we would live or
what we would do.  I didn’t think Katie was opening up the Palace and giving us
rooms to live in unless we had some sort of job here.  Tim was laying on one of
the chaise with his feet up, gazing at the ocean.  He looked quite content to
me.  If I announced right now that we weren't going back to Takira-hahr, I
don't think he would fight me for more than a minute or two.

“Do
you get out at all, Katie?” Jerry asked, leaning against the balustrade and
looking at the beach. 

“Only
as far as the beach,” Katie replied.  “Let's go take a walk for a bit.”

“What
do you mean you don't get out, honey?” I asked.  “Weren't you busy touring all
over the place?”

Katie
ignored my question and headed down the steps to the sand.

“She's
not allowed to,” Caroline whispered.  “Since she came back, HIM won't let her
leave the Palace unless he accompanies her, and since he never goes anywhere
other than Karupatani, she can't either.  See those bracelets she wears?  They
are keyed to certain doors.  Even in the Palace, she can only go where he lets
her.”

“Sounds
like he's keeping her on a short lease,” Jerry muttered.

“Very
short,” Caroline agreed.  “She has to get his permission just to go visit her
mother in the other building.  But around here, you don't argue with him.”

“Around
here and half the known galaxy,” Janet added.

We
walked on the beach for a while, all of us taking off shoes and kicking up the
warm sand with our bare feet.  Gina ran into the ocean and discovered it was a
lot chillier than it looked.

“Not
quite Takira-hahr,” she cried, running back out.  “More like Atlantic City.”

The
two moons lit up the beach from overhead and a million billion stars twinkled in
the sky.  The lights of the Palace behind us shown like a Christmas tree.

“It
is really beautiful here,” I must have said for the thousandth time.

Caroline
was looking at her cell.

“They're
done for the night,” she announced.

“Goodnight
then.”  Katie waved, turning quickly and heading back to her balcony with
Caroline.  Kira and Noka indicated that we should follow them down the beach
toward our own building.  I waited for a moment and watched Katie climb the
steps back up and disappear inside.

“He's
very high maintenance,” Janet remarked, watching too.

“He
always was,” I replied.

Chapter 31

Katie

“Did
you eat?” I asked.  He had his bare feet up on the coffee table, and the
pregame show was on the vid.  His netbook was open on his lap, and a cigarette was
hanging off his lip.

“Is
beer considered food?” he said, pointing at the open bottle near his foot.

“Do
you want dinner?  Some eggs?”

“Eggs
are good,” he replied.

Eggs
were always good for him.  I headed to the kitchen and got out the frying pan
and a dozen eggs.

“Sausage?”

“Sausage
is good,” he replied, typing away.  “Thad is here, yes?”

“Yes. 
With Gina and Shelly and Tim and Jerry and Janet.  Thad says his audience date
is 3.1 years from now.”

He
laughed.

“Ring
him.  He can come watch the game.”

“Who's
playing?”  I cracked a dozen eggs and scrambled them with the sausage.

“Ravens
against Tigers.”

“Ravens,
of course.  What about Gina?  I don't want to entertain her.  I'm going to bed
shortly.”

“No
Gina,” he replied.  “She is annoying.  Thad only.”

I
rang Berkan's office.  Lord Eberly answered.

“HIM
requests the presence of the Earl of Kalika-hahr,” I said.

“Yes,
Madame,” Eberly replied.  “Right away.”

I
gave Senya his plate of eggs and sausage and sat down on the couch next to him.

“Are
you going to come to my party in the Crystal Ballroom on Saturday night?”  I
asked as the Imperial Anthem started to play.  All the people in the stadium were
standing with their hands over their hearts.  An enormous Imperial flag flew
above their heads. 

“Do
I have to?” he asked swallowing eggs with beer.

“It
would be nice.  Everyone wants to say hello.”

He
shrugged and handed me back the plate.  I took it to the kitchen.

“Welcome
to Turko, Mishnah where the home town Tigers are taking on the Capital City
Ravens,” the announcer yelled.  “Both teams are in a heated contest for the
Capital Planet championship which will allow them to advance to the Imperial
playoffs where they will face the Kalika-hahr Cougars, straight from our newest
Imperial planet, Rozari.  In a moment, we'll go over the complete standings and
see who is still in contention from each of our Imperial Star Systems.  In the
meantime, before we kick off, a shout out to His Imperial Majesty who we are told
now never misses a Raven's game and is listening to us live from the Palace of
Mishnah.”

I
turned and watched the crowd in the stadium stand up and roar deafeningly. 
Thad came in just then.

Senya
picked up his netbook and started typing.  “Hello Thad, it's Ravens vs.
Tigers.  Kate, will you get Thad a beer and bring me another?”

Thad
stood and looked at the vid.  “I've got box seats to the Kalika-hahr Cougars
semi-final games.  Want to join me, Sir?”  I handed Thad his beer.

Senya
laughed.  “More than you know.  Especially since they are going to lose to the
Ravens.”

“Are
they?” I cried.  “That's not fair.  Don't tell Thad the scores.”

“I'm
not.  I am saying it only as a Raven's fan.”

“That's
good because the Cougs are going to win,” Thad replied and looked at the sofa. 
He looked at me and raised his eyebrows.

“Can
Thad sit down?” I asked.  “Or do you want him to stand all night?”

Senya
didn’t look up.  “Sit anywhere, Thad,” he waved his hand.  The Ravens kicked
off, and the Tigers returned to the thirty-seven yard line.  Thad sat down in a
leather chair.  I delivered the second beer to HIM.

“Goodnight
Senya,” I said kissing his cheek.

“Goodnight
sweetheart,” he replied.  In the background, the Turko crowd went crazy.  The Tigers
were already on the Raven’s forty yard line.  “So Thad, you want to sell ships
to the Allied Spaceforce?”

“They
have given us an initial purchase order for ten of them,” Thad said.  “How do
you feel about that?  Obviously we wouldn't equip them the same as ours.”  He
laughed.  “We won't let them use EMP Control on us.”

“That's
fine,” Senya agreed.  “Sell them whatever they want.  Just make sure we turn
enough on the sale.”

“Oh,
you know I will.  They also want to buy the laser technology we used to blow up
the Rozarian ice planet.”

“Pretty
impressive, wasn't it?” Senya smirked.

“Totally
awesome, Dude!” Thad replied.  “You want to sell it to them?”

“How
much are they willing to pay?”

I
shut the door to the bedroom.

At
midnight, the game was over.  The Raven's had lost miserably, and Thad was
still talking about software issues.

“Why
don't we send some of our Mishnese engineers over to help you,” I heard Senya
say.  “We will soon be combining both companies, will we not?  Think how you
wish to manage that when it happens.”

“At
least we don't have the Allied Government trying to hamper every move we make,”
Thad agreed.

“Thank
you for coming tonight, Thad, but the Supreme Ruler of the Empire requires that
I go to bed at midnight now so I must turn in or there will be hell to pay.”

“I
understand, Sir,” Thad replied.  “My supreme ruler wants me back, as well. 
Goodnight.”

The
Crystal Ballroom was located in the building next to Big House on the first
floor, directly below the Imperial staff offices.  It was called the Crystal
Ballroom because of the enormous crystal chandeliers that circled the ceiling. 
In addition, the room was filled with crystal art objects that some distant
predecessor of mine collected and displayed in mirrored alcoves.  It was an
enormous room by any measure and being that it was often used as a ballroom,
there was an exceptionally large dance floor and orchestra pit as well as
dining tables and seating for several thousand.  As with most of the rooms
designated for entertaining, there was a dais where again, our predecessors
would sit and watch the entertainment, keeping themselves high above the fray. 
Since the room was far too large to host the little group I was entertaining, I
chose to hold my party out on the adjacent terrace.  We had room there for a
small orchestra as well as a large buffet, and we could seat about a hundred in
ten tables and enjoy the intoxicating summer evening as well as the breeze
coming in off the ocean. 

“Will
you come tonight?” I asked him again as he lumbered out of bed that morning. 
“Please?”

“I
don't like the Crystal Ballroom,” he replied dismissively.  “In fact, I hate
the Crystal Ballroom.”

“It's
not in the ballroom,” I called after him.  “It's on the terrace.”

“I
despise the terrace,” he replied, disappearing into the bath.

“I'll
move it to another place.”  The shower water was on so he couldn’t hear me.  It
didn’t matter though.  He obviously was looking for a reason not to attend.

“I
insist that you let Berkan and Taner come,” I yelled into the bathroom.  “You
can sit alone in the dark all you want but the rest of your friends are going
to have a party.”

“What
has he got against the terrace?” I asked Luci later that day.  She checked with
Berkan who checked with Taner.

“He
was shot,” she told me as we were surveying the table arrangements.  “On the
roof up there, when he was just twelve.”  Caroline, Luci and I looked up the
face of the building to the roof three stories above.  “Then he fell and landed
right here whilst the Saint’s Day ball was going on inside.”  Luci pointed at
our feet.  “Taner said they had to replace all the marble due to the stains.”

“Ew,”
Caroline said.  “I guess, I wouldn’t much like this terrace either if I did a
face plant right here when I was twelve.  I’d probably never ever want to come
back even for a dinner party.”

“I
get it,” I sighed.

“We
can move it to another room,” Luci suggested.

“No,”
I decided.  “Every room in this whole Palace probably has a bad memory for
him.  It’s time we started making some good memories.

“Hey,
look at that,” Caroline cried pointing out at the ocean.  “The moons are out
and filling up the sky in the broad daylight.”

I
had noticed that the sky was taking on a golden hue.

“It’s
the day of the golden moons,” Luci said.  “We’re very lucky that there are no
clouds, and we can see them.”

“My,
that is a beautiful sight,” Caroline exclaimed.  “The sun and those two moons
all lighting up the sky at the very same time.  If I were to imagine Heaven,
that’s just about what I’d think it must look like.”

“I
think so too,” Luci mused. 

“Actually,
it does,” I agreed.  “Heaven looks exactly like that.”

“Why
Miss Katie, how do you know that?” Caroline cried.

“That
is complicated,” I replied.  “Very, very complicated.”