Coronation: A Kid Sensation Novel (Kid Sensation #5) (15 page)

I awoke with the distinct sensation that someone was in the room with me. I sat up in alarm, then relaxed when I saw my grandmother standing next to the bed.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I was coming to wake you, but you looked so peaceful that I couldn’t help watching you for a few moments.”

“No problem,” I said, swinging my feet to the floor and standing up. “What time is it?”

“Evening – time for us to head to our respective events.”

“Okay, just give me a few minutes to freshen up.”

“Meet me on the landing pad when you’re ready,” she said, then turned and left.

*****

Ten minutes later, my grandmother and I were airborne in her transport. Surprisingly, I had spent the bulk of that time trying to figure out what to wear before deciding that the ensemble I’d been sporting all day was fine. (I wasn’t trying to impress anyone, anyway.) I’d then teleported to the landing pad, and shortly thereafter we’d taken off.

Making use of the observation screen, I noted that there was a significant amount of traffic in the air all around us. Apparently Indigo hadn’t been exaggerating when she mentioned that there would be parties all over the place. It was still early evening, but it looked like most partygoers were banking on getting an early start.

With respect to my own destination, I had the GPS with me, and Vicra had once again provided directions, but – being in a transport – I didn’t have to make use of either; the pilot knew exactly where to go.

We ended up setting down in the landing area of a building that – anywhere else – would probably be called a castle, but in the Acropolis was probably considered a modest residence, despite the fact that it sat on a relatively extensive estate. (And to be honest, it was really more of a touch-and-go than a landing, with the transport barely making contact with the ground before I was out, and then it took off again.)

my grandmother said telepathically as the transport zoomed off.

I said, laughing, understanding that she meant I should teleport. I then dashed away from the landing area (before I got squashed by an incoming vehicle) and headed towards the entrance to the building.

Inside, I found myself in what appeared to be a giant ballroom that was stuffed to capacity with young Caelesian royals. Most of them, like me, wore a crown of some sort, and were so densely packed into the place that they made a can of sardines look roomy.

So much for a “little get-together”…

As for the building itself, it was obviously large, constructed of fine materials, and had several floors. However, from what I could tell, it was almost completely devoid of furniture and lacked other touches that would normally provide a lived-in feel: no stretched-out carpet, no stains on the floor, no scribbling in crayon on the walls. (I would later learn that the entire place was used strictly for entertainment purposes, e.g., parties – never as a residence.)

The population of the ballroom had broken down for the most part into numerous social circles, with each presumably comprised of friends and acquaintances. Moreover, it seemed as though everyone was speaking at once, resulting in a level of chatter that was just shy of deafening. I looked around for a familiar face, and – unsurprisingly – didn’t see any of the three people that I knew. Mentally I shrugged and, deciding to give this place an hour (no more!) before teleporting back to the castellum, began to make my way through the room.

I didn’t have a particular destination in mind; I just didn’t want to be standing near the entrance like a wallflower. That being the case, a trip to the other side of the ballroom sounded like a solid plan (and would probably be followed up by a jaunt up to the second floor).

As I moved through the crowd, I began picking up little snippets of conversations.

“–ard he’s a freak…”

“–illed her
gnuglebbin
, poor thing…”

“–
funcon
, no question…”

It slowly dawned on me that I was the subject of almost every conversation. Just about everyone here was talking about me to some extent. And, against my better judgment, I began to listen in, slowly walking the room and eavesdropping on various discussions. (And thanks to my general anonymity – combined with everyone being so engrossed in hearing the latest scuttlebutt – no one ever realized that the main topic of conversation was within earshot.)

Ultimately, it turned out to be the usual runaway gossip that’s engendered when people don’t have all the facts about a situation, with certain things being true, a couple of details being exaggerated, and some elements being completely fabricated. For instance, the rumor that I had suffered Yolathan poisoning was true; however, my grandmother hadn’t saved me by slitting my belly open with a knife and letting the poison run out. Likewise, I had indeed hurt Nylerin’s pet, but I never picked it up and viciously tore off two of its limbs.

I spent maybe fifteen minutes monitoring conversations on the ground floor before shifting my operation upstairs. The second floor, however, was simply more of the same: half-truths at best, total concoctions at worst. Still, I was so absorbed in what I was hearing that I didn’t realize that someone was calling my name until they were practically on top of me.

“J’h’dgo!” Myshtal shouted as she laid a hand on my arm. “Are you lost?”

Caught off-guard, I simply stared at her for a moment, my mind still partially engaged with the discussion I’d been inconspicuously listening to.

She was bedecked in what appeared to be a posh, beige and white mini dress that was exceptionally form-fitting and embellished with a glistening jewel at her navel. She wore a dollop of makeup that subtly enhanced her features, and her face was adorned with some kind of glitter that accentuated her already-exotic appearance. In short, Myshtal was even more heart-stoppingly beautiful than before.

She muttered something that I didn’t quite catch.

“What?” I said, confused.

“Are you okay?” she asked. “You’re just standing here like you’re in a stupor.”

“No, uh…I was, uh, just…thinking,” I stammered. Naturally, I was too embarrassed to tell her what I’d really been doing.

At that point, however, the group I’d been listening to had grown silent and were now staring at me suspiciously. Of course – Myshtal shouting my name had tipped them off as to who I was, and judging from the emotions they were beginning to broadcast (mostly indignant fury and the like), eavesdropping was about as acceptable here as it was on Earth. I happily let Myshtal drag me away from them and through the crowd.

She pulled me towards the stairs, and once there we started heading back to the first floor. She hadn’t said a word about where she was taking me, but I figured it out when we were roughly halfway down and I just happened to glance out over the crowd below us: there, in the middle of the ballroom, stood Vicra. Smiling, he gave me a wave, which I returned by flicking my hand up in the air for a second. A minute or so later, we were standing next to him and Nylerin, whom I hadn’t even noticed before (and who happened to be holding Maja, the
gnuglebbin
, in her arms).

“Told you I could find him,” Myshtal smugly said to Vicra. “Even in this crowd.”

“So you did,” he said. “Sorry I doubted you.”

Once again, Vicra wore a military uniform – this one blue and gray with gold epaulets and another full complement of medals. He gave me a cursory greeting and then appeared to touch a jeweled pin on his collar.

I looked at Nylerin, who wore some kind of weird bodysuit that seemed to change color every few seconds, making me wonder how I hadn’t spotted her earlier. I leaned towards her, hoping to again say how sorry I was for what had happened at lunch. However, she shushed me, indicating that Vicra was about to speak. Apparently my apology was going to have to wait. I followed her gaze to Vicra, who had raised his hands in the air for attention.

“Friends!” he said in a booming tone. “Fellow royals! Welcome!”

Vicra’s voice, magnified almost exponentially, drowned out the din of the crowd, which quickly hushed. The pin in his collar was obviously attached to some sort of speaker system that was wired throughout the building.

“We are fortunate to have in our midst tonight,” he went on, giving me a wink, “as our guest of honor, Prince J’h’dgo…”

I tuned him out. This wasn’t what I was here for. (In actuality, I hadn’t wanted to be here at all.) I should have realized it from all the chatter I’d overheard: my presence was, once again, meant to be nothing more than a spectacle. I was a curio. An oddity. A gewgaw.

The more I thought about it, the angrier I became. I hadn’t traveled light-years across space just to be a sideshow attraction. There was no law that said I had to be part of this circus.

I was preparing to leave when I realized that Vicra had said something to me. It was then that I noticed that everyone in the place was looking at me expectantly. Moreover, I could feel a widespread sense of anticipation growing in those gathered.

“Well?” Vicra said, looking at me as though I owed him money.

“Well what?” I asked, unsure of what he was expecting. Apparently my skill at tuning people out was more effective that I’d realized. I had no clue what he was talking about.

“Your powers,” Nylerin hissed. “People want a demonstration.”

“A what?” I shot back, angrily. Now they were really asking for it. It wasn’t enough for me to simply stand around and let them gawk at me; I also had to perform. Well, they’d get a demonstration, alright – when I teleported back to the castellum and didn’t return.

“Just something like what happened at the lake today,” Vicra said, microphone off.

I shook my head. “I’m not really feeling up to it.”

“Come on,” Vicra said. “You don’t want to disappoint this crowd. They’ll be like rabid animals.”

I was furious enough to be considered a bit rabid myself, but worked like the dickens to keep my temper under control. The last thing I wanted to do was give this crowd more ammo for the gossip gun.

“Do it,” Nylerin said, leaning close and interrupting my thoughts. “Show us something, and I’ll forget about what you did to Maja.”

I stared at her, as well as the
gnuglebbin
in her arms. I had wanted to express my regret at having hurt her pet, but this wasn’t a bargain I had contemplated. Obviously, Nylerin adhered to the old adage that talk was cheap, and she seemed capable of nursing a grudge for a long time. Did I really need any more enemies, even at the adolescent level?

“Fine,” I said after a few seconds. If it was the only way to make amends, I’d do it – but my way.

I took a step forward, asking for a little room, and the crowd responded by uniformly moving back, effectively creating a circle around me that was about ten feet in diameter.

I decided to keep things short and sweet. And, since Vicra had anointed himself ringmaster, I decided to get him involved – first by teleporting his epaulets and a couple of his medals into my hand. I don’t think he realized what I was holding until I held them up in the air for everyone to see. (Or see as best they could. It wasn’t my fault if some members of the audience had a bad seat.)

“Hey!” Vicra shouted, clearly a little annoyed. “Those are heirlooms!”

“I promise not to break them,” I said with a smile, then took a good look at the items I held: a set of gold epaulets and a pair of shiny medals.

Shifting into super speed, I then zipped around the floor in the shape of a square that was roughly four-by-four feet in size. At each corner of this imaginary square, I placed one of the objects I’d been holding at about chest height. Then, continuing to run at high speed, I kept going around the square, keeping the epaulets and medals from falling.

To any normal person looking at this display, my actions should have conveyed the impression that the four items were appearing to float in mid-air. (I wasn’t going anywhere near full speed, but presumably I was little more than a blur to them.) For added effect, I twirled the epaulets, making them spin like pinwheels. It was a simple enough action, but elicited a number of “Oooohs” and “Ahhhs” from the crowd.

After about ten seconds, I went around the square a final time, collecting the epaulets and medals. I then stepped towards Vicra, preparing to return his heirlooms to him. I had just dropped out of super speed when my legs went out from under me. Or, to be more accurate, it seemed that I tripped over something.

I stumbled and, arms flailing as I tried to regain my balance, slammed into Vicra. A moment later, we both went crashing to the floor. I had the wind knocked out of me a little, but had Vicra there to cushion my fall. He, on the other head, seemed to bang his head solidly on what looked like grassy but solid ground.

Ground???

I looked around in shock. We were no longer in the ballroom; we appeared to be in some sort of construction zone, with the framework of several buildings going up all around us. There were several workers standing nearby, but they didn’t seem to have noticed us yet. These guys were obviously shooting for overtime, because – even though it was night – they had some spotlight on the area that made it almost as bright as day and didn’t look like they were winding things down anytime soon.

My thoughts were flying. I had obviously suffered another glitch with my powers. Apparently, when I was stumbling, I had somehow triggered my teleportation ability – perhaps a subconscious attempt to keep from falling. Unfortunately, I had dragged Vicra along with me. As to the location, for some reason my psyche must have locked in on one of the construction sites I’d seen since arriving on Caeles. (Perhaps I was more impressed with Caelesian architecture than I realized.)

“Get off me!” Vicra shouted, shifting under me, like a wrestler trying to throw off an opponent who had pinned him.

I was in the process of complying when the scene shifted without warning, and we were back in the ballroom. Again, it had happened without me consciously thinking about it. Stunned, I shakily got to my feet and reached out to help Vicra up. I quickly shoved into his hand the medals and epaulets (which, to my own amazement, I had somehow managed to hang on to), and then gave the crowd an encore to the earlier show by teleporting out of there.