Marcus
Funny enough, Ahasuerus spent a lot of time with me. Even if he had a short fuse with everyone else. It seemed that he had patience with me. And did other things Qadir never even thought of. I could even address Ahasuerus informally when we were alone. It took too much time for all the formalities every day and every time we saw each other.
I studied everything. I met with every scholar. Oldest generational vampires all over En-gannim. I wasn't stopped once or sensed that no one wanted to share with me. The technical side was the most interesting. To see how everything developed over the planet's history was impressive.
I had my test from James that I still needed to figure out. For that, I had to get a hang of the teleporting tech. Any time I had left besides my daily duties. I put into that… I had to go to Zoreah myself… I was busy the whole time.
I desperately wanted to go to war with the Riphaths. The campaign was an enormous undertaking. It would have given me insight into Zoreah and other worlds. What Palmyra was fighting for. But I decided not to go. I couldn't be gone for months. My grandfather and I got along… but I didn't trust him. And I was trying to find Michael.
My primary goal, though… was to figure out what the freaking brandings were about. If they were banished and only a hand full of people knew… what was the catch? No one was branded on En-gannim. Mostly everyone didn't even know what I was talking about. There was a great purge thousands of years ago. Recorded as a great tragedy of illness. They only found the cure long after. That to me, was the great purge of the brandings. The treatment… killing everyone. All the generations after that didn't know about it. Except for all the oldest vampires on Earth… If I wasn't mistaken, they all bowed when Louis branded Juliet. My father even let me go. If I challenge Ahasuerus concerning Juliet or even Ella… He budged. Maybe… I had more control than I thought.
It meant that the day I did it… Qadir and the handful of elders that officiated it knew. They recognized what had happened. They understood the fact that the king's grandson was tied to someone else… For life. That woman needed to stay alive at all costs. Liam told me. Samuel told him, and Ahasuerus had to have told someone?
And even if no one could kill Juliet because of me… They could hurt her… Or I just let them… And the test that was coming had something to do with it. The branding gave me total control over her… Qadir had to defer to me… Get permission regarding what happened to her. Above all of it… I had seen that our minds and bodies were linked. I didn't even have to speak to her the last time I willed her to my side. It was a relationship totally dependent on each other. Did the hold go both ways? What was her perk?
I thought about that night in the club with Chris… I would have made her… Come into my arms. If only I had known… When Chris pulled her in behind him, I almost lost it. I needed to speak with Samuel... and he was still missing.
***
The sending of an invitation was an easy process. We had a central office that issued it for whoever asked. To whatever planet they needed it to go.
To figure out how it worked… I sent an invitation to Liv. It was time that I started to learn all there was to know about Palmyra. The only issue was how did I get to all their books? On En-gannim, everything was electronic. Palmyra had trees, seas, water, and land. Beasts ranged from exotic to domestic. Of all the planets, theirs were the closest to earth. I sent one to Chris. Made sure both were delivered.
"Your Highness." The clerk said before I wanted to leave.
"Yes?"
"The invitation that you sent will be delivered today. But they will only receive it…" He looked up the roof, trying to calculate something… "Five months from now. More or less…"
"What do you mean?"
"Zoreah has only one teleporter station, and for five years, they will not be in the city of Shumaan."
"You're not making any sense, man."
He seemed nervous. Coming closer to me, he whispered. "Five years there is one year here… Exactly."
My thoughts started jumping. Stopping and jumping again. I paused, staring at him. The implications were too many.
He continued whispering… "Just I know… no one else. They have a rough winter and need to travel away from the city of Shumaan north to Yaroun. It takes them three months to travel… They would be there for five years… then travel back south for five years of summer. That's the cycle…"
"So their cycle starts in April… They travel north for about three months." That's why Qadir didn't want to stop there. There would have been no point. They were not in the summer city, at the communications station, or the only teleporter. That's why Chris had not come back… He couldn't.
"Just one…?" The clerk nodded.
"What about the one we used to bring their army through."
He lifted a hand in the air and waved it nervously back and forth. "No! That one has a special location and falls under the treaty. Only the two kings and one queen can make that one work."
Caleb was three years old. My eyes cast down to the floor. When I would be able to go, he would be five… In a daze, I walked out. He wouldn't know we sent an invitation for two more years…. That's why they drugged him…. How could it be? Why did no one know? Was that what the wars were about. The vampires wanted long life, and the mixing of species didn't work out. How would I tell Juliet… When would any of us see them again?
***
Juliet: Nine Months Pregnant
Louis
Juliet had birth pains the whole night. She would not say one word. It bothered me that she held out like that. Always wanting to seem strong… I took her hand in mine, waiting for every contraction to be over.
She wanted Michael. That meant she was close… I picked her up when I couldn't anymore and put her in the car. We drove straight to Rodrigo. I had made sure that one of the cubicles was made into a hospital room. Where she would have everything she needed.
Rodrigo was surprised for a moment but stood up and came over.
"How long?"
"The whole night… twelve hours… The last one was about three minutes ago." Juliet started groaning. She gripped my shirt. "I'm sorry, baby. It's almost over…."
When she relaxed against my chest, he nodded, stretching out a hand for me to put her down on the table... "Good. Let's get started." He walked out, giving me two gowns. I had to put one on and get her into the other.
He handed me the belt I had to get around her stomach. I did what I was told and monitored the baby's heartbeat. Rodrigo did a fast sonar and checked the baby's position.
All looked good. We just had to wait.
"About another half hour or so," Juliet reassured me.
She could see I was nervous. We heard the commotion before a lot of people barged into the room. Everyone was there. Reading Juliet, she couldn't care less and braced for the next contraction. Cindy went to stand by the side of the bed. Liam, on the other. Carl was hiding so he didn't have to see. Charlene only yawned; she had no courage, but when it came to blood, it didn't seem to faze her at all. She was going to make a good doctor.
"Baby, Charlene is bored. Can you move this along?"
"Carl, come and sit behind me so I have someone to keep me up. Charlene can play nurse and clean up as Rodrigo demands. Go get dressed, Charlene." Juliet's gaze drifted to her dad's. "You have to move over. That's Louis's spot."
For a moment, we all just stood there. After my speech… outside Qadir's cell, Juliet had been different. It was as if she decided when she wanted to take the next step in her growth. Her coming of age… being more mature and in control of herself and her surroundings.
That day was one of them. I wanted her to stay my Juliet. Scared that growing up was going to change who she was, How she felt about me…
I moved to her side, pulling up a chair as Liam moved in next to Cindy. Both sat down.
The three of us knew that was why we didn't want to tell her anything when she was only seventeen. Kept her in the dark. Our eyes met in mutual understanding. That we didn't do a very good job… She had no time to enjoy her life. Just the three years before Chris and she met… And before me.
***
A half-hour later, we had a strapping… but beautiful young baby Riphath girl, screaming her lungs out. We all had to close our ears to adjust to the high pitch of her cries.
Carl held onto Juliet's shoulders as instructed as her head fell back onto his chest. Charlene was so busy and happy that she got a taste of how a hospital would be. Rodrigo had put her through the wringer. He even let her catch little Sammy.
"Why isn't she changing back," I asked when I took her from the plastic bassinet.
Rodrigo shrugged. "I don't know… Want me to run tests?"
Both Juliet and I laughed.
"Frak, I could do with a drink and a cigarette."
Everyone burst out laughing. Breathing easier that Juliet was still in there somewhere.
***
Juliet was sleeping next to me in our bed... Sammy was in her cot. I got up and opened the headboard. Checking for journals. I kept up to date with whatever she was writing. Most of it was therapy strategies to help cope. Mind mapping goals and mantras and good thoughts she needed to focus on.
There were small notes to all the men in her life. I didn't really mind because I was always included. I read about her and Soren and what happened that day. How she hated Marcus disappointing her and couldn't be angry at him.
Juliet had become very able to watch what she thought about when I was around. She wasn't a child anymore. Almost twenty in two months. It felt almost unreal that it had only been two years…
She had a whole exercise regime worked out for when Sammy was born. Organized and planned to the T. Juliet had a few bullet points that she felt she needed to focus on. Carl needed to train with her… with the masks…
That made me shiver. I was probably included. She wanted to start going out every day to the meetings with me... I paged to the back. The front was where she planned and kept sane. The last pages of the book were where Julie's dark side came out. How she planned to kill Qadir… Just because he took Michael… How desperate she was to sleep with Marcus.
Dark pictures of her mind. Ones she needed to write down to get out. A counter to each to keep her eye on the prize. She had never been scared of meeting her demons face-on. But she never let them live…
The worst page was the one with the thought written down… when I wasn't myself, and she was scared of losing me. When she thought I would… leave her… My hand gripped the book tighter…
She had no counter for that fear… Me leaving.
All the following pages… Amid the darkness… the black pictures, and the graphic language. There was a small open space. A little cloud circling my name in the middle of each page.
My eyes darted to her face. She was so serene… She was so young… but she loved so wholeheartedly… Trusted me… I had to take a moment to keep it together.
After everything and how much she hated me… she loved me even more. She would not let the fear push me away…
My legs fell off the bed, and I sat up. I put back the journal and picked up an empty notebook. Ripping out a paper… Two papers. I grabbed a pen. I went to her closet and sat down at the table. First, I wrote a letter to Marcus and another to Soren.
Louis [Kubra, can you come to see me please.]
Five minutes later, he was standing outside the door. He didn't knock. He knew Juliet was sleeping. I walked out, and he followed me down to the parking area outside the gates. We were standing under trees.
"I need you to get these to En-gannim... Would you do that for me?"
"Louis, I've been meaning to speak to you about Marcus… He isn't at all who he was when you were in France… Marcus…" I slapped him on the shoulder.
"It's okay Kubra… It's just a letter. When it's serious, we will talk again. It's still two months before she meets Ahasuerus. Let's do all we can do for them…." He nodded and took the letters. He read the other name.
His eyes widened, his eyebrows raised.
"If there is anything you can do to help Soren towards Marcus and Ahasuerus, I would highly appreciate it."
Kubra looked at me strangely. I wasn't reading him. "What's wrong?"
"Marcus has him already as a PA. He is in training, but he pulled him in as soon as they landed."
"Five months… that's good… Okay… give Soren the letter… And let Marcus find out. He is smart enough to connect the dots. Let's push him now before she goes…."
"Will do my Liege."
"Is that really going to stick under all the men?
"Louis… Juliet had me ask the women who want to train to fight in the army to give up their names. There were actually a lot of them… She suggested the barracks?"
"The old one…" Juliet was really going to step up and rule next to me…
Kubra nodded. "That would solve a lot of housing problems. They would have freedom and feel like they are fighting for a cause. Most of the women that came opposed the social structures of En-gannim… Juliet is really thinking big…."
I smiled… "I have an idea… Let the men and women live there together. Let's see what happens. If there are any volunteers, of course."
"Split the barracks?" Kubra suggested.
I shook my head. "No. Let's put some pressure on them. Everyone is following Marcus… But does anyone really know what they want… Or how do they see En-gannim being in the future? If they don't want a king to rule… what do they want? Make everyone start studying the history of Earth."
Kubra nodded.
"I have to get back inside."
"I think I'll go deliver these quickly."
"Thank You."