The lone figure stood there, unsure of where to go. He had involved more people than he had confessed and now he feared for his life. He was involved with a very dangerous and powerful male. His conscience weighed heavily upon him. He could always turn in his blackmailer to the Guardians. Wouldn’t that turn them upside down when they realized it was one of their own that had sabotaged the Great Leader’s Firstborn Son? Greed and jealousy will make many an individual do unspeakable things. Money will make others do almost anything.
He turned around and slowly made his way home. He had a lot to think about, mainly about how to handle telling his friends. He was so immersed in his thoughts that he never saw the dagger arc down and plunge into his throat, severing his carotid artery. The only thing he did see was another robed figure, much like himself. He knew he had mere moments before he bled to death. With his dying breath, he knew writing the letter had been the right thing to do. The darkness came, and he knew no more.
Chapter 2
Maddie woke up and looked at the clock. It was seven a.m. and she had promised to meet Sharra downstairs at seven thirty to go out for a run. She’d better get moving if she wanted that cup of coffee before she left. She quickly dressed in her running pants, long sleeved shirt and shoes, and padded down to the kitchen where Zanna was putting the final touches on one of her famous breakfasts.
“Maddie, dear, may I fix you a plate of pancakes?” she asked,
“No thank you, Zanna. Sharra and I are headed out for a run, but I would love a cup of coffee.”
“Here you go, dear,” Zanna said, handing her a steaming mug of her favorite brew.
“Thank you. You’re the best, Zanna!”
Grinning, Zanna asked, “Do you want me to keep some breakfast for you in the warming drawer?”
“Only if there is any left over. Thanks, Zanna. You sure do know how to spoil us.”
Maddie made her way to the foyer to wait on Sharra. Minutes later, Sharra traipsed down the stairs, and they both headed out the door.
The early morning air was crisp in their lungs, as little puffs of steam escaped with each breath as they ran. The night temperatures had dipped into the 30’s so the ground was covered in frost, crunching beneath their feet as they quickly moved up the mountain. This had become Sharra’s favorite form of activity, one they often joked about. Sharra could run circles around Maddie. Given their physiological differences, Sharra had Speed on her side. Maddie could hold her own though. While not anywhere near as fast, her endurance impressed Sharra.
As they ran through the forest, Maddie reveled in the scents of the pines. It gave her the distinct impression that Rayn was right next to her. She let her mind wander to a time when they could do this together. She didn’t like to think that far ahead because it often caused her great concern. “What if” was the phrase that literally drove her nuts. What if they couldn’t get him out…what if the Council decided he couldn’t return here…what if his parents disowned him…what if they never saw each other again…what if they never held each other again…what if…what if? It was a path she hated to take, but one she was helpless to avoid.
Sharra interrupted her thoughts, “Do not continue with those thoughts, Maddie. You will only succeed in upsetting yourself and ruining our run. It is a perfect morning. Look at the present. You will kill yourself with the ‘what ifs.’”
“You’re right, although sometimes I just can’t help myself. Like right now, I was thinking how much I love the forest because all the scents in here remind me so much of Rayn. And then, next thing I know I’m at the ‘what if’ part. I hate it, but it seems I always end up there.”
They moved gracefully together, leaping over logs and roots, veering past rocks that could make them stumble. If an outsider could see them, he would be captivated not only by their beauty, but by their pure athleticism. They would remind him of two gazelles, flying through the Serengeti.
“He is well, you know. He telecommuned with Therron last night.”
“What? And you didn’t you tell me, why?”
“I was going to. I figured it would make for great conversation while we ran.”
“Okay, do tell, sister!”
“Well, he is doing fine. Misses you insanely, thinks of you constantly, blur, blur, blur.”
Sharra’s incessant tendency to butcher colloquial slang was not improving, and try as she might, Maddie was dismally failing at successfully teaching her.
“Shar, it’s ‘blah, blah, blah.’ Not ‘blur, blur, blur.’”
“Whyever, Maddie.”
“It’s ‘whatever,’ Sharra. Anyway, what else did he say?” Maddie could not give up correcting her.
They continued to wind their way up the mountain. The streaks of golden sunlight were peeking their way through the trees, casting the forest in an unearthly appearance, creating a radiance that was breathtaking. Maddie was lost in Sharra’s words, however, about Rayn and wasn’t paying much attention to her surroundings.
“He said that he is bored. They are not letting him do anything except for take exercise, and it is running him crazy.”
“Driving him crazy. What else?”
“Well, if you would stop interrupting me, I would tell you. So, he is fine really. The thing about Rayn is, well, you know this; he is always in control of things.”
Maddie expelled a loud snort. “Ya think?”
“He always has his hands on something, keeping busy with things. So I can see how this is bothering him. He asks for audiences with Council Members every day. But they are not granting any right now. He is relentless and will not give up. He is insistent on seeing our parents too, trying to convince them of things. We truly thought our mother would bend his way by now, but she has not. Anyway, he is still waiting for the word on when his trial will be. They have not yet set a date.”
“Sharra, is that normal for it to take this long?”
“Oh, yes, Maddie. It can sometimes take more than six months.”
“Oh no. How will he endure that?”
“He will find a way. You must have more faith in your male, Maddie,” Sharra admonished.
“I do have faith in him, Sharra! Much more than I can tell you. But I am so worried about his state of mind. I don’t want him to become depressed or anything.”
“Do not worry about that. If anyone can come out of this unscarred, it is Rayn. Did I ever tell you about the time when we were young, and he helped a friend of his with his studies? No? Well, Rayn had this friend who always struggled with his sciences. And Maddie, you know that Rayn is brilliant, right?” At Maddie’s nod, she continued, “I don’t mean intensely smart; I mean absolutely bloody brilliant. He was levels ahead of his age. They kept propelling him forward in his education because he would get so bored, but finally, Mother made them stop because he was so young. It would be like a twelve year old graduating from college here.”
“You’re kidding, right? Why didn’t you ever mention this before? He was like a prodigy, right?”
“Exactly! This is precisely what Rayn is, or was: a child prodigy. And, Maddie, it was not only his schooling; it was everything. Music, sports, anything. Have you heard him play any of his music? You must ask him to play for you. He is quite talented. Anyway, I digress.”
“So Mother refused to let him advance anymore, because it was difficult for him socially. So there was this one male who befriended Rayn. I think he may have felt sorry for him because he was out of his element due to his tender age. This male struggled in school with everything, and many of the other students made fun of him. Rayn did not like that one bit, so the two of them became close. Well, they were in the sciences, and they had all of these experiments they were required to perform, and Mejerey, Rayn’s friend, just could not get his to work out. So, my brother did it for him. Rayn did it all from the actual experiment to the written work. Mejerey turned it in. But it was so exquisitely done, the instructor knew immediately what had happened.
“Well, you can
probably figure where this is headed. My parents were called forth, and it was not very pleasant. Rayn refused to confess and swore over and over he had nothing to do with it. He outright lied about it.”
“That does not sound like Rayn. He abhors lying.”
“Yes, well on this occasion, he would not stop lying. They confined him to his quarters at school, and he was not permitted to partake in any social events. They would allow him daily exercise, but that was all. The only entertainment he had was his school texts. The punishment lasted for six months.”
“Six months! That’s awful! Especially for a twelve year old!” Maddie exclaimed. She couldn’t imagine a punishment that harsh.
“It was. Mind you, I was young at the time, so I do not remember much of it. But, as you can imagine, the story has been told repeatedly throughout the years. Anyway, they never broke him, Maddie. They expected him to admit everything, and he would not. He held his own, which is why I am telling you all of this.”
“You see, after many years passed, Rayn finally told the whole story. It seems that Mejerey had struggled with school for so long that his parents had placed him under a great deal of pressure and threatened to remove him from their family…disown him. He was a very good male and a very good friend to Rayn, so Rayn, being the loyal male that he is, could not stand the thought of Mejerey having to deal with all of that. That is why Rayn did his experiments for him. Maddie, what I am saying is that Rayn is much stronger than you and I can ever imagine. He will come out of this just fine and most likely stronger too.”
“Just the thought of him being caged up though drives me crazy.”
“I wish I could tell you more about him, but I feel like I am boasting. There are many things about him you have not even begun to understand.”
“Tell me, Sharra. Please! I want to hear everything about him.”
“Well, some of it you probably have already figured out. He is absolutely the best at everything. Maddie, I am not exaggerating either. All Vesturions are relatively intelligent and strong and so on, but Rayn is light years beyond anything you can imagine. His mind is fascinating. He is the greatest of problem solvers. That is another reason why I think he will get himself out of this. Although he can be demanding and overbearing at times, he is also kind. He is very stoic and proud but also can be extremely funny. He takes much teasing from us because of his serious temperament. My brothers are constantly playing tricks on him. We are unforgivable when we taunt him. It is very difficult to understand him at times. He does carry the enormous burden of being Firstborn, and he takes that role very seriously.”
“Sharra, you speak of him with such pride,” Maddie noted.
“Oh, yes, I could not be prouder of anyone than I am of him. He is a most extraordinary male.”
“Has there ever been anyone one else, you know, another girl in his life?” Maddie couldn’t help herself from being curious about this.
“Well, that probably is not for me to say, but I will tell you anyway. There have been many who have wished it, but you are truly his one and only. I think that is what shocked everyone the most. Rayn has always been so duty bound that we never thought he would take the time to find a mate. And then you came into his life and he completely changed. Maddie, he was crazed when you two were apart. When he was trying to find his way, trying to work everything out with you, he was most senseless. I have never seen him like that before. I never thought I would hear him say he would give everything up for a female. I knew then that it was more than just a physical attraction. That is why I do not understand why our mother is not bending toward him. She usually sees the softer side of things, and knowing Rayn as she does, she would recognize that this is not some whim of his.”
Maddie felt a glow inside of her, a warmth that spread throughout her body. She felt so blessed and lucky to have him in her life.
“When he left with your father, I felt like a part of me went with him. I can’t explain these feelings, but I so hope that you will experience this one day. It is, I don’t know, just unreal. Thanks for sharing all of this with me too.”
“Do not worry about him, Maddie. Just send positive thoughts his way; that will make him the happiest...which brings me to the most wonderful of things. And I cannot take the credit here because this was all Rayn’s idea. Maddie, he wants to talk to you, really talk. However, he is not allowed any communication due to his confinement. So, at his suggestion, we want to try something. It may or may not work, since we don’t know the extent of your telepathic abilities. We know that you can project and receive some things, but since we are so far from Vesturon, we do not know if this will work. But Rayn thinks it would be possible for me to be a medium for the two of you.”
“Explain that. I’m lost in the weeds here.”
“Okay. What we want to try is for the three of us to communicate through telepathy. I have been used as a medium in the past. My abilities are extremely strong, and I am able to project the thoughts of others. In other words, Rayn would project to me, and then I would project to you or speak to you if you were not picking up what I was emitting to you. Then we could do it in reverse. Does that make sense?”
“I think so, but I thought he and I weren’t allowed to communicate.”
“Ha! That is correct. But here is where we would bend the rules. He would communicate to me, and I to you, and then you to me and me to him. So technically, you wouldn’t be communicating directly with each other. A little underhanded, but we think it would work.”
“I’m in. I am so in! When can we do this?”
By this time they had reached the mountaintop and decided to take a water break. Sharra continued, “One week from tonight, we will come up here, to this place. We think it will be an easier thing for the flow of thought if we were on a higher point. You and I will come up here and then camp out. After we do this, I will have to wreck because it takes everything out of me. I will warn you, I shall be out for about twelve hours too.”
“I think you mean crash, not wreck. Will it hurt you?”
“Oh no, not at all. It just takes all my strength to concentrate, and then, I am most fatigued. But it shall not hurt at all. The only thing I ask is to please keep it clean, you know, I do not want to get grossed out or anything!”
A totally shocked Maddie replied, “Sharra! I cannot believe you just said that. You know we would never do that. We haven’t even done…well…it! You know! You’re Vesturion. You know the rules.”
“Of course,” Sharra said between huge slurps of water, “I know you have not broken any oaths or vows. But that does not mean you do not think about it or talk about it. All I ask is that you do not think about that kind of stuff when we do this. That is something about my brother that I do not care to learn about.”
“Okay…okay! I promise, plus, I would never do that to you. I’ll just be thrilled to talk with him. Sharra, you know it’s so different here than on Vesturon. Does anyone ever break their oath, you know, cheat?”
Sharra spun her head toward Maddie and said emphatically, “Absolutely not. It is strictly forbidden, and that is one rule that is never broken on our home planet. Maddie, how could you ask such a thing?”
“I guess because it is done so commonly here on Earth. I cannot believe how chaste you all are.”
“Er, Maddie, I truly have no business asking this, but have you ever done it?” Sharra looked over at Maddie sheepishly.
“Gosh, no! That was one rule of mine that I wouldn’t break. I told Rayn about one of my friends. She did it with her old high school boyfriend, and she said it was the biggest mistake ever.”
By this time, Maddie had plopped herself down on a rock and was staring across the mountains at the lovely view.
Sharra took a seat next to her and touched her arm saying, “How horrible for your friend. That is one reason why we Vesturions wait until we are united. It is much easier on each other then.”
“Sharra…um…are you…”
“Spat it out
, Maddie.”
“It’s ‘spit it out.’ Well, this is kind of embarrassing to ask, but somehow I think I’d rather ask you than Rayn. Are Vesturions the same as humans, you know, anatomically speaking?”
“Oh, that. Yes, we are told that the reproductive parts are the same. I know there are differences in other areas. I think our lung capacity is a bit different and because of the gravitational differences, we are stronger. But everything else is relatively equal. Our gestational period is like yours, approximately nine months.”
“Do you know how to…I cannot believe we are discussing this. This is embarrassing.”
“What? What is so embarrassing?”
“I was wondering if you know how to…what to do…how it all works when…you know.”
“Well, we are told during our anatomy classes how it all works, but I do not know firsthand.”
“Does it scare you? It makes me nervous.”
“Maddie, that is why it is so important to wait and do it with the one you have bonded with. I do not think of it much because I am not bonded with anyone, unlike you. But I do not think I would concern myself about it too much. Rayn is only going to have your best interests at heart when your time comes to be together.”
“You know, Sharra, on Earth, I am much too young to be thinking of being married to someone. I do worry about that. Maybe we should wait.” Maddie arose and started to pace around.
“That is certainly something you need to discuss with Rayn. But on Vesturon, men and women unite any time after they reach their maturity. It is different there than here, Maddie. Much more peaceful and tranquil, without all the pressures your society has. I believe it is much simpler. People do not have such high expectations of each other either. Here, women are under such stress to look a certain way. It is not that way on Vesturon. Women do not have artificial surgery so they all can look like each other. Here it is like everyone wants to be a clone or something.”
Maddie snickered, “It’s plastic surgery, Sharra, and I agree. Too much conforming to a certain look. I have never agreed with that. I have always wanted to be me,” Maddie said as she started stretching. “Want to know something? I can feel his presence here. This is the place where we opened up and learned about each other for the first time Sharra, and I can feel Rayn here.”