After a month
On Neptune
"Rabanne is honest with me, I can not feel them" The king buries his head in his arms while resting his body on the desk chair in his spacious King master bedroom. Adorned by his long brown gold gown embracing his brown skin. He pulls back his sniff and releases a heavy sigh. He slowly raises his head and his reddened eyes meet his companion's eyes.
"Look at me, King of Neptune leading thousands of tribes, locked up in here because I can't face my people. How long would we hold this news from reaching the tribes? Rabanne I beg of you. Find me away. If you can't help your King, please have mercy on your friend."
Rabanne glances at the King with a hard face. He releases a sigh and moves closer to the King with his hands rested on his back.
"Tanarah, as your confidante, I tell you that there's no need for grief as of yet. I, I am aware of my family relative's tricks and assure you that their soul is lingering if they lost their bodies" He gives the King a soothing look to ease his pain. That's how comforting he can be, he can not offer more than that.
The King looks at him bewildered then calm himself down. He rises his body and straightens his physique. Lead his way closer to Rabanne in an intimidating manner.
"Your words are like thorns to my heart than a soothing song. I give you two days. That's all that is left of you. You would not want me wearing your shoes because of your failure, it would not end well for the both of us." He walks away from Rabanne's stance and stops after taking a couple of steps. "See yourself out. And get to work" He leads to the bathroom entrance without looking back.
Rabanne watches the King disappear to the ensuite bathroom. He whirls his body and shows himself out of the room in gentleness. The door shuts itself when he steps out of the bedroom. He shuts his eyes softly, inhales and let out a sigh. If he were just a friend, his head would be a feast for animals for talking to him like he is not a person of honour. He forgets that he protects his whole Kingdom and he is the Lord of Lords of all tribes that bows for him. The corner of his mouth twitches. Two men emerge from him. Now three identical men were standing by the corridor but of different auras.
"Rabi...Calm your nerves. He's under distress" Man 1 comforts
"But he need not lose respect " Man 2 argues
"I understand. I have located her" Man 1 address. The three men's lips contort into a one upside smile. The men merge and become one again. The man walks away.
*
"Rose" Rabanne calls his wife in a low flat horsey voice.
"Yes, my love" She raises her head towards his direction while caressing his chest on the Queen bed lined with silky linen.
The man takes a slow deep breath " I know you had hand in Atoro's fleeing. Now tell me where is she hiding?" Rabanne brushes her hair while she's gazing up at him. Her eyes turn into angelic sparkling eyes.
"My love, I know you know where they are. So why should I explain myself to you? Or are you tired of our lovemaking? I can let you be and go tend to the Kids" She smiles provokingly.
He gives away a warm smile. He forgets that this woman is not easy to convince.
"You know our lovemaking is the second best thing I put my passion in, if not loving you day and night. I am asking because I have to report to your brother. I assumed that you might like to twist my hand so that my lips don't mention your name to Tanarah. Because we know how infuriated he will be if he discovers this truth" He glances at her with loving eyes doting on his beautiful wife. The only woman who has all of his heart without limits. He can give his life away in a heartbeat for her.
Her lips tear a warm lopsided smile. Her lips reach his lips and swoon him with a passionate kiss as their eyes shut close to experience the warmth flowing from their lips to all over their bodies. She backs her head away leaving Rabanne with parted lips who was still invested in this indulgence.
"My love. Why would you give away the love of your heart like that? I am a wise woman, this is why my reasons for my hand in the matter are valid and justified. At this moment I will spare you the details until the right time" Her tall nude body rises exposing her to his eyes which were feasting on her with a burning need. "My love, It had to be done and I have no regrets, I consider her my sister" She heads to the ensuite bathroom.
With all the years they have tied the knot and manifested love to each other, he knows that there's more to the story. Although he does not doubt her intentions. All that is left is for him is to decide whether should he include her name in the report. He rests his head on the pillow and let out a soft sigh.
***
On Earth
"Ahh! it's only been a month and I am already bored" Exclaim Unah who was resting himself on a tree branch throwing twigs to the ground.
"It's frustrating that we are far away from home, but we can't even use our abilities or test the abilities which we have not explored" He proceeds with his grumbling then let out a pretence sob. I glance at him pitifully. My gaze shifts to Urah who is awfully silent. Unah throws a twig at him. "Snap out of it before you lose your mind. A man with grief should share his sorrow or he will die" Warn Unah with a concerned glance at Urah.
He lets a sigh. "It is not sorrow but torment, I am not sure if it is the perfect word to describe this feeling" He slowly mutters the words in a deep thought state with his body against the tree trunk. I give away an awful smile.
"Who's this lady and where does she emerge from because this place is dull as the dead forest" I wink at Unah and we chuckle at the same time. Our dear older brother might be falling in love.
"From the north. She loves sniffing those colourful bee attracting flowers. She has names for them, besides the one we are familiar with, roses. But here they don't have purple roses, only white, red, pink and black roses. Can you believe that? She's knowledgeable. I am intrigued, she's knows much..." He lets a sheepishly mesmerising smile. Utah and Unah roll their eyes at their brother who's drowning in a pool of infatuation.
"I bet you don't know what knowledgeable is because you are in an alien country. Isn't it obvious that she will know much?" Unah points out the obvious.
"Come on let our brother daydream. He's falling in love with a strange woman. An alien!" I tease Urah who is not taking it politely. He jumps off the tree and lands himself safely on the ground. He dusts off unseen dust. Out of the blue, a woman emerges. Urah fixes his shirt and tears a huge smile. I roll my eyes, that has to be the unknown woman from the North. Unah glances at me and gives me a sinister smile.
I mouth to him "No. No. don't" He shrugs his shoulders innocently and climb down the tree in a way that Earthers do. I watch him land to the ground and disturb Urah with his lady. I groan. I have to go down to Unah and pull him away before he ruins this mysterious meeting. I climb down.
I find Unah in a sheepish trance together with Urah. Oh my! They are so mesmerised. How do I break the ice?
"Um...Hello. I am Utah, Utah's little brother. pleased to meet you, he told me a lot about you" I maintain a friendly smile. What! I blabbed nonsense right now.
"Pleased to finally meet the brothers. He talks about you guys all the time, I mean all the time" The lady returns my smile with a warm smile showing off her rocked white teeth. I scrutinize her. Why are they mesmerised? She is beautiful...but not breathtaking.
"Oh...we are a tight-knit crew" I retort. I want to get out of here. I am uncomfortable.
"Yes, we are. Now off you go" Urah shrugs us off with a smile. We glance at him disappointed.
"Remember the tomato situation for mother. I will catch up with you. In minutes or so" He proceeds. We nod at him and depart. While walking at a distance, we look back and see him holding the woman very close against his chest and her arms wrapped around his body. We frown. Who's this woman that he's doing strange things with? We turn our heads and look ahead at the road.
***
Neptune
"We have located them" He let out the words with his face not showing emotion. The King gapes at Rabanne in disbelief. Signs of tears well upon his bottom eyelashes but he sniff them back. He's the King, he doesn't put his emotions on display.
"Tanarah no one is watching. You can let the river flow" Rabanne turns his back at the King and faces the closed bedroom door. Sniffles are heard in the background.
"Oh please. You are my friend and brother. There are no secrets" He walks towards the desk and grabs the empty glass. Rabanne in a flash of light is beside him and holds the water container before the King's hand reaches. He gently pours the water into the glass.
The King's words are needles piercing his heart. Every man owes it to himself to hold a secret that he gets buried with. The King smiles at him and gulps water. He rests himself on the desk chair. He gestures to Rabanne a chair next to him. Rabanne settles himself to the chair.
"So where are they?" He asks eagerly tapping his fingertips on the armrest of the chair.
"Earth" He replies bluntly. The King's lips contort into a warm smile. He readjusts and rests his body in pleasure.
"So when can we launch?" He asks with a pleased face.
"Tonight" Rabanne lays his back against the chair.
The men glance at each other in agreement and let out small unrevealing smiles. Although they are happy at this moment, there's no need to show too much emotion.
****
The green misty grass shudders at the landing of the footsteps on them. Two adult men dressed in a long cloak with shoe boots are marching in front while a woman in a similar but feminine cloak is marching at the back with two matured youngsters a boy and a girl. The surroundings are dark, foggy and misty. Their eyes were able to see the road because of the special eye effect that enables them to see.
The adults mutter to each other, while the youngsters keep a silent queue and observe their surroundings in case they need to flee for their lives. The entourage stopped in front of a brown painted fortress wall.
"Is this it? " The other man asks
"Yes," The other man clarifies.
Their eyes scrutinise the wall looking for a secret entrance or any enchanted spell.
"What's that steel shape looking thing? Isn't it the entrance to the fortress?" The young man enquires covered in a black hoodie cloak.
They all fell into deep thought and one of the adult males walks over to the huge gate. He picks a tree twig on the ground and picks the gate. He waits for a reaction, but nothing happens.
"It is an entrance and seems safe my King" He calls out in a flat voice to avoid attention. They walk towards his stance. He tries to open it but the gate refuses to open. They look at the gate in puzzlement.
"What is this thing? Try a spell" The other man suggests.
"No...We can't do that" The rest of the group speak at once.
The young girl comes forward and takes a closer glance at the gate. She emits laser heat through her eyes and the lock of the gate melts. When the gate was about to fling open, the two youngsters hold it to avoid a banging noise.
They open the gate slowly and gesture for the adults to pass. When the adults have passed, they close the gate, and the girl emits her laser heat through her eyes to stick the broken lock with the gate together. When she's done, she glances at the boy, the boy nods at her and she nods back in agreement with a flat line smile. They follow the pursuits of the adults.
The woman marches at a faster pace to walk in front of the group and stops by the door entrance. Everyone stops and glance at her with anticipation of action. She picks the bell and hammers it against the door.
"Boys...there is no need to argue. You are all doing the dishes tonight" She sips her wine happily. Ever since she arrived here, she has never been this happy in her life. She could do this forever. Living her life as a mother and a normal person, not Queen Atoro, Queen of Moon and Sky, accountable for many souls. Just free and happy to exist. She hears a bell bang on her door.
Who could it be? Oh, it could be the man who's going to be responsible for the security detail and his wife will be the cook. She gave him the gate key in the farm meeting they had today. She gets up excitedly.
"Boys please behave yourself. They will be family now okay. Be nice" She walks to the door dazing in joy. She opens the door.
Her big and warm smile fade into a lopsided smile of disappointment. How she wished she could shut the door and run away with the kids, again! The woman in front of her shifts to the side, a tall man uncovers his hoodie. A handsome looking man appeared in front of her. She froze in trance. What would she do?