Zoe Thanatos (12 page)

Her eyes closed and her mind
drifted into sleep, replaying conversations, moments of excitement and the kiss
that should have been. She realized she might not ever see Evan again, and that
perhaps the missed kiss was a blessing in disguise. It was a sad but rational
thought that sat with her like an unfamiliar friend as her body eventually
welcomed the comforts of sleep and her mind quieted, free of thoughts of green
eyes.

The trip home didn’t take more than
a few minutes. They bypassed the Royal Transport Station and arrived at the
private gate used exclusively by those who lived in the royal residence. Two
Transport Engineers sat behind a glass wall interface while two Crown Soldiers
opened the doors of the entryway leading to the Throne Room.

It took a moment for Evan’s senses
to re-acclimate to the artificial atmosphere of Terra. The oxygen pumped
through air vents in the ceiling lacked the subtleties of naturally occurring
oxygen, such as on Earth. Recessed lights simulated sunlight at all hours of
the day while glass walls projected three dimensional images of scenic views
from other universes. It was a farce, a program generated projection to hide
the true view of Terra which was nothing more than a gloomy wasteland. Two
dozen residents milled about the room, going about their usual business as they
arrived.

Evan eyed the corridor leading to
the wing of the Throne Room and waited until Eva nodded.

“I’ll find the Queen and King. Go
change. You know how they hate otherworld clothes.” She made off towards the
adjacent corridor that housed the Straton’s palatial residences.

Two more soldiers were stationed at
the entrance of their residence and opened the large doors for him as he
approached. He bypassed the expansive living space and headed straight for to private
residence.  As he entered, the recessed lights brightened, illuminating his
forgotten belongings; everything was exactly where he left it. The two weeks he
spent on Earth seemed like a lifetime and his home felt more distant than ever.

He quickly stripped out of his
shorts, polo shirt, and tennis shoes trading them for a white v-neck and ink
blue bespoke slacks. It was a practical uniform, a utilitarian assimilation
into a culture where dissonance was unwelcome.

The common room on the other side
of the door erupted with the unmistakable sound of the King’s deep voice. Evan
tossed the discarded clothes into a laundry receptacle and brushed his hands
over the crease in the pants before opening the door.

King Owyn was tall with wide shoulders,
often taking on a domineering posture. He wasn’t an unfriendly King, but his
presence would often render a room silent, either out of reverence or wariness.
Evan knew him to have a boyish charm and often friendly disposition, but never
forgot it was the Queen’s spouse he was talking to.

“So the rumors are true, you have
come back,” the King bellowed. He stepped toward Evan and slapped a large hand
on his back, a gesture Evan assumed was meant to convey friendly affection.

“As my King requested.” Evan bowed
his head to Owyn but he merely swatted the air with his hand. Though Evan acted
as the King’s advisor in an official capacity and was considered a friend, he
never disregarded the formalities of the monarchy.

“You’ve been gone for a while,
Evander. What world did you escape to this time?”

“Earth,” Evan answered, trying not
to think of think of Zoe. The King was a sharp man with a talent for reading
faces. Evan took great care to tell more with this words than with his
emotions.

“Ah. Crowded place, Earth. How do
you stand it?” The King’s distaste for Earth was well known. It was common
knowledge among the residents of Terra that they were a much smaller
civilization than their cosmic neighbors, but what they lacked in size they
more than made up for in advanced technologies. People from Earth had barely
explored their own galaxy while Terran residents made frequent voyages to other
known universes, using their findings to better their own world.

“I manage, Your Highness,” he
answered.
Enough with the pleasantries
, he thought.  He was brought home
for a reason and he wanted to know what it was.

Eva appeared in the doorway and
bowed her head to the King as he ushered her into the room with his hand.
“Good, you’re both here.”

“What’s going on?” she asked as she
took her place beside Evan.

“A break-in occurred in the Media
Center. Whoever did it was looking for something specific: a book from the Royal
Anthology. They somehow managed to bypass our security measures and the book
was missing before we even knew there was a break-in. We’ve been able to trace
it to one of the outlying cities.” The King didn’t look as though he were too
concerned about the theft. In fact he was rather nonplussed.

Evan and Eva exchanged confused
looks. “Why would anyone want to steal a book?” Evan asked. He wanted to laugh
at the preposterous notion of a singular book going missing, but knew better
than to do so in front of the King.

“It isn’t just any book,” the King
started. “It has significant historical value to the Crown and the history of
Terra.”

“I’m not following,” Eva admitted.
“Why would anyone have any interest in an old history book?” It was the theft
in and of itself that was the most shocking. There was hardly ever crime in
Terra, which made this one all the more puzzling.

“This book happens to chronicle the
history of the original families and Crown up to the Straton rule. As you can
imagine, its contents hold information that very few people are privy to. Not
to mention the fact that it belongs to the monarchy, and stealing from the
Queen is an unlawful act.”

Evan couldn’t imagine what anyone
would want with a dusty old tome that told a story they were all familiar with.
The original family had been dead and gone since he was a child, killed by the Straton
Queen and long forgotten since. Just speaking of them was potentially an
unlawful act.

 “The Queen and I both want the
matter dealt with quickly and quietly. I’m taking a small team of Crown
Soldiers out to the city to assess the situation. Now that you’ve returned you
can come with us. We could use your good sense.” Judging by the King’s face the
request was more of a formality; he was being commanded to go.

“I’m sure your guard will be of
more use to you. I’m really tired and wouldn’t mind getting some rest.” He wondered
if he sounded as sincere and apologetic as he meant to.

The King looked disappointed but
didn’t protest. “The both of you can join us when we return. After all, your
own family history is in that book, too. Whoever stole it might be looking for
information about either one of you.”          

The thought had never even occurred
to Evan. Nor could he imagine what anyone would want with old tales of his dead
family. “I’ll be waiting for your return, Your Highness.”

“Travel safe, Your Highness,” Eva
chimed in, smiling as she dipped into a small curtsy.

The King made his exit, leaving the
two of them alone in the room.

“A stolen book?
Really
?!”
Evan retorted.

Eva rolled her eyes. “I honestly
had no idea. Why would anyone in the outlying cities care about a family that
no longer exists anyway? What could they possibly do with that information?”

“Who knows,” he grumbled. He sat
down for the first time since arriving and leaned back against the overstuffed
cushions on the couch. “It’s not as though anyone could sell a stolen book from
the Royal Anthology. Nobody could be that stupid.”

“I guess we’ll find out!” she remarked
with forced enthusiasm.

“I’m going to sleep. Let’s hope
this will all be settled soon so I can stop pretending I care about their
business.”
And get back to my life
.

Eva sat next to him on the couch
with a terse expression on her face. “Will you go back to Earth?”

He could no longer ignore the image
of Zoe’s face in his mind. It was evident how disappointed she felt about him
leaving. If only they had parted under different circumstances. “Somehow I
doubt they’ll let me go back so easily. I may have to stay longer before I can
leave again.” The unhappiness of the thought burrowed at him. No, they might
not be so lenient on him after he’d been gone for so long. He would have to
stick it out and make peace with the Stratons, the Queen especially, before
even attempting to go back to Earth.

“She’ll be okay, Evan.” Eva smiled
and tightened her hand around his. It took half a minute for him to realize she
wasn’t speaking about the Queen, but Zoe.

“I’m going to my room.” He squeezed
her hand before standing up and walking the short distance to his private
residence. The door closed behind him and the lights dimmed to a bluish-grey as
he laid down on the bed, his arms extending up to cradle his head. It had been
too long since he had a decent amount of sleep. His body relaxed into the plush
bed as his mind drifted off into unconscious sleep.

A brisk knock at the door awoke him
from deep sleep, and a second impatient knock followed. 

“I’m coming!” he yelled to the
intruder. Reluctantly he got up, feeling as though he only had half the amount
of sleep his body had wanted. He swung open the door to find a young woman
standing behind it, her face impassive. He recognized her as one of the Queen’s
ladies. She had the same elegant hairstyle the Queen required of her, a cape of
thick, long hair entwined gracefully at the crown of her head, and a
full-length purple dress that hugged her body. The Queen certainly had a flair
for style.

“I’m sorry to disturb you, Sir. The
Queen is requesting your presence.”

“Right now?” he asked in disbelief.
Part of him wished he could just decline and he could go back to sleep. He knew
better.

“If you’ll follow me, Sir,” she
invited.

Evan shut the door behind him and
followed her out of the common room, through the Throne Room, and towards the
grand entryway that lead to the corridor where the Stratons kept residence. Two
soldiers opened the doors for them wordlessly and the sight of the Straton’s great
common room came into view around him. It was an immaculate display of wealth
and power, and was drenched in deep colors that didn’t exist naturally anywhere
in Terra. The ceiling vaulted more than a dozen feet in the air with thick concrete
columns that stood from top to floor. The room itself had a large open layout
with sectionals of seating areas, work stations, and stainless steel accents
throughout. It was just the sort of palatial opulence he had seen on Earth; a
wealth and grandness that everyone seemed to be working to attain.

The Queen was nowhere to be seen.
To his surprise the girl didn’t stop but headed towards the Queen’s private
residence.

“Right this way please,” she
instructed, leading through the doors as the soldiers opened them. There were
others dressed similarly in the room, a few Evan vaguely recognized from
earlier times spent in the Queen’s privacy.

The residence, like the room that
preceded it, was elegantly decorated and immaculate. The enormous bed would have
dominated in the smaller space of his residence, but in hers was proportionate in
size. The Queen sat at a vanity on an adjacent wall, undoing the clasp of a
necklace before placing it in an ornate black box.

“That will be all, Julia,” she
commanded.

The woman in purple left quickly
and quietly, shutting the doors behind her. It had been a while since they were
alone in a room together, and Evan tried to push those memories from his mind.

“I was wondering when I would see
you again,” the Queen confessed. She stood and turned to meet him, looking
every bit as regal as he remembered. She wore a turquoise dress with an
intricate lace pattern that draped fittingly over her figure, with a cascade of
colored fabric falling gracefully to her feet. It swished softly around her as
she approached him, quickly closing the space between them.

Objectively he had always found her
to be beautiful, but now he saw something he hadn’t recognized before. Large,
almond shaped hazel eyes, and a mane of chestnut brown hair that fell in soft
curls down her back. For one brief moment he would have sworn it was Zoe’s face
staring back at him.

“Something the matter?” she asked with
a hint of concern in her face.

“No, nothing,” he denied. He knew
it had to be his mind playing a trick or the fresh memories of Zoe mistakenly
processed with the old memories of the Queen. He closed and opened his eyes but
found the similarities between their faces remained. He felt uneasy and
distrustful, though he knew better than to let her see his innermost thoughts.
“You look beautiful, my Queen. As always.” He bowed his head ceremoniously in
front of her.

Her lips curled into an amused
smile that brightened her face. She was always the most beautiful when she
smiled, and when she did he often forgot she was the
Queen
and instead
saw her as being as normal and regular as everyone else. 

“I’m pleased to see your sister was
able to locate you and bring you home in one piece. She has quite a talent,
Evadine. Of all the places to look she knew exactly the right one.”

“I was just as surprised as you,
Your Highness,” he replied.

“Did you have a nice time?” she
asked sweetly.

“It was fine. I’m happy to be home
now.” It was faster to think of the lie than to consider a truthful statement.

“And yet you stayed away for so
long.” There was slight amusement in her words and her lips, but her eyes were
colder, appraising him closely.

“Forgive me. I lost track of time.”
He took her right hand and held it to his mouth, gently kissing above her
knuckles.