Rainus squinted through the large front view port as his personal shuttle dipped down past the hazy bronze atmosphere of Sora X. The system’s sun Sora was radiating much of it’s fiery glory down on the tenth planet from that furious orange ball of ionized gas. The titan of the system was unforgiving in its radiance. It had seared away any possible life from the first nine planets clustered around the giant star’s magnetized orbit, only allowing Sora X and two other planets just beyond at least a chance for Ethians to scratch out an existence in this part of the galaxy.
It wasn’t a place many from the Avi-dan Kingdom had willing chosen to settle, so Rainus’s great grandfather King Orlethus had been all to eager to invite the Protectorate to rebuild their College here five hundred and seventy-two years ago after the original had undergone a devastating attack by rivals. In that time, the College had soared to glorious heights as its students turned into Protectors had won multitudes of recognitions for their abilities to protect and safeguard generations of leaders all across the Empire.
The College’s art of protection had become such an unshakable truth that Rainus had considered it a point of pride that they operated in his Kingdom. Unfortunately, the news of recent events on Sora X had spread like wildfire through the Empire, and a steadfast reputation that had taken centuries to build had been crumbling at an astonishing rate. Over the last few days, Ethians everywhere had been questioning how a Prince of the Empire could vanish while on the College’s complex and under its direct protection.
Rainus’s sincerest hope was that the Protectorate would weather through this patch of bad publicity, but the first thing that had to be done was to find the missing Heir. And Rainus blamed himself for at least part of this mess. He had been the one to suggest Command bring in his son to help keep an eye on Adar. But Rainus had never thought Markus would go as far as he had. What had that fool boy of his been thinking?
Since the abduction, Rainus had been receiving calls almost nonstop from Command at the Protectorate, all three of the College’s Directors on separate and multiple occasions––not together, from other Kings wondering what the yavit was going on in Rainus’s Kingdom, and even lesser nobles trying to make feeble excuses to call, but inevitably asked if what they had heard about what was happening on Sora X was really true––and all of them had danced around asking directly about Markus’s involvement, except for those at the College, of course. But the most notable calls out of them all were from the Emperor himself.
Rainus had gone over a month without the leader of the Empire returning a single call Rainus had put out to him either marked business, personal, or incredibly urgent, but now Ghar Zahn would not leave him alone. And it was part of the reason Rainus found himself revisiting the Protectorate College. It was not only to help soothe the furious Emperor and let him know that Rainus was doing everything he possibly could, including going to the College himself, to find Adar, but also to have a very private and heated conversation with his son.
One way or another, Rainus was not leaving Sora X without Prince Adar Zahn in hand or at least knowing of his location so Rainus could go pick him up personally. If that meant widening the gap between him and Markus to an unbridgeable length, so be it. There were more things important than a bruised and battered relationship between father and son.
“Do you think the College will be able to put this behind them?” Rainus asked the man piloting the ship.
Lieutenant Ruffian Jamiss had been Rainus’s Protector for the last fourteen years. He had proved to be quite a competent guardian compared to the few before him, and Rainus hoped to have the man with him for a long time to come. In fact, out of the twelve Protectors Rainus had had over the course of his life, he would only consider Aragon Remeer Jamiss’s better. But then, Rainus doubted anyone in the Empire could compare to his old Protector and friend. Aragon Remeer had truly been one of a kind. Yavit, he missed that man.
“I do not know,” Jamiss answered in a clipped tone.
The well-muscled dark skinned man had been rather quiet over the last few days, not that he was a talkative person by nature, but now the Lieutenant seemed to be brooding and would only talk when directly spoken to with any of the comments he made being short and crisp. Rainus could only assume that this business with the Protectorate was bothering the Protector, but Jamiss was a professional at all times, and kept his opinions to himself, even when Rainus tried to dig to get to them.
“It is a shame if this is what breaks the College, but I suppose nothing can last forever.” Rainus watched as their landing site came up fast.
Jamiss always insisted on piloting the shuttle when Rainus was on board, even though the King had a personal pilot on staff. The Protector certainly had a heavy slant towards paranoia, and assumed everyone around Rainus had the worst intentions, which might be admirable from a safety standpoint, but sometimes annoyed Rainus more than he liked to admit. But usually, the King let the Protector have his way. It was easier than arguing, and in the case of piloting the shuttle, Rainus also suspected that Jamiss just loved to fly.
As Rainus expected, Jamiss said not a word to his statement. Within the next several minutes, the shuttle came to a soft landing at the land point Sora X’s traffic control had given Jamiss. The Protector shut off the engines and turned in his seat to eye the King.
“You going to insist I stay this time?”
Rainus gave a little smirk that he’d unintentionally managed to get the man to address him first. Jamiss had not liked it when Rainus had come to the College six days ago and insisted that the Protector stay on board the shuttle while the King met with Command to inform them of Kaller’s activities and suggest they call Markus back. The King had felt it important to go alone, because appearances can mean everything, and in that incident, he wanted Command to trust his word and even his discretion if needed, and having a Protector shadowing him to the meeting would have proved counterproductive in that effort.
“Not at all. That was circumstantial and you know it, besides, considering everything, I think I’m hesitant to walk the place without you.”
That statement caused Jamiss to flinch, and Rainus was sorry he said it, but it was true. And the King hated that it was true. But as he looked out the shuttle to the smattering of buildings that was the cloak that covered the College’s true visage, Rainus realized how deeply the recents events playing out at the College had effected even Rainus’s own confidence in the Protectorate.
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Rainus stood up from his seat and exited the shuttle without another word. He felt Jamiss’s familiar presence follow. The King didn’t stop his forward motion until he passed the College’s entrance archway to find Arch-Major Nathias Roth awaiting the King. Rainus paused briefly to allow Nathias to reach his side, then the two of them strolled through the middle of the street side by side as Jamiss trailed a few steps behind.
“Any changes since your last report?” Rainus asked.
“No, sir, not that I am aware of,” the Major replied.
Rainus nodded his head. “And Markus never told you what would happen in the two days he said he needed?”
“No, but it seems to be the only reason he’d let himself get caught is that he’s planning something. He certainly doesn’t seem to trust anyone at the College, not even those in charge. Dexter let me watch the recording of the interview he had with Markus, and it seems our boy is convinced that either Dexter or someone he’s taking orders from was in on the attack at the chalet.”
Rainus, of course, had heard all of this in Nathias’s report, but he liked going over information many times and from several angles, because you never knew what little nuggets might be accidentally overlooked, or just needed a different perspective. “Have you found any proof of his claims?”
Nathias shook his head. “Not specifically. I mean, there is speculation that someone higher up in the command structure of the College would have needed to give the attacker codes to shut down the power of the chalet like he had, but I cannot find direct proof that it was someone in Command.”
“How else would the attacker have gotten the codes?” Rainus asked already knowing the answer.
Nathias let out a long sigh. “I don’t know. I’ve interviewed everyone I could in administration, and no one seems to think it’s possible to get the codes at all, and that maybe there has been a mistake in the investigation. That maybe the attacker cut the power a different way.”
“Did he?”
Nathias shook his head. “I’ve had my best engineer check the entire chalet and its power grid. The power was switched off by remote. It wasn’t switched off at the source and none of the lines were cut, clamped, or redirected in any way. And my engineer stands by his assessment one hundred percent.”
Rainus pondered that for a moment, though he had expected what Nathias had just told him. In fact, Rainus had already drawn his own conclusions about the whole matter, but he needed to make sure everything was checked and rechecked, because once Rainus stared pointing fingers at the guilty party or parties, he wanted to make yavit sure of what he was talking about.
“So either Markus is right, and someone in Command is helping the attacker, or someone managed to steal the codes from a place that should be impossible to burglar. That is the term they gave you when you asked them about someone stealing the codes?”
“Yep, that was Chief Commander Jordem’s words exactly,” the Major said with more than a little hint of derision in his tone.
Rainus chuckled to himself, because he was sure that Nathias had drawn his own conclusions about what was going on, but he was professional enough to keep it quiet until he had proof. It was too bad Markus couldn’t have been a little more like his friend. Maybe things wouldn’t have gotten so out of control.
“So that tells me that even if no one in Command gave out the codes, they are at least covering up part of the investigation to save face,” Rainus said boldly now that it was obvious that every other possibility had been checked off the list.
Nathias snorted. “Little good that’s doing them.”
“Indeed.”
As they moved further into the College, some of the trainees saw Rainus dressed in his evergreen royal coat and moved clear on the other side of the street to get out of the way and out of respect, while others too busy rushing to where they were going just hurried on past. But Rainus and Nathias were oblivious to them all as their steadfast stroll kept a steady rhythm and speed as they briskly moved through the complex toward the administration building.
“Have you heard anything else from this Pledge Tau-mine?”
Nathias shook his head. “No, I’ve been trying to corner her again, but she’s been quite good at ducking my advances. Every time I get close, she seems to disappear.”
Rainus blew out an air of frustration. Why was it that everyone seemed to be on their own agenda in this? The Heir’s safety was serious business, and he was getting tired of all these games.
“I need you to impress on her the importance of giving up Adar’s location. We can protect him, but only if we can find him. And while I appreciate that she did give up the link to his emergency beacon, that implies that he will be in trouble when he uses it, and we might not get to him in time. I really wish you had pressed her more about giving up his location.”
A dark expression came over the other man’s face. “I did the best I could under the circumstance, Majesty. I would rather keep her cooperation than push her away. She seemed dead serious about keeping Markus’s trust. So I felt I could only press her so far.” The man hesitated a moment before continuing, “I thought the reason you came here was to question Markus yourself of the Heir’s whereabouts.”
Rainus drew in a heavy breath. “I am, but I’m not sure I will be any more successful than the rest of you. Probably less so. You how things are between us.”
The other man was quiet for a moment, because indeed, he knew better than most, exactly how things stood between him and his son. Nathias had been a best friend to Markus since childhood, and it had only been through a final realization that his friend was on a decidedly self-destructive path, that Nathias had decided to start working with Rainus for the benefit of Markus, even if the stubborn man didn’t know he needed the help. Rainus knew that had put a strain on their relationship as well. It was a shame Markus couldn’t see the damage he was doing to the people who cared about him.
“Why are you even here then?” Nathias finally responded.
“Because I told an old friend I would try my best, and that means having a conversation that will probably go nowhere. But I have to at least try.”
Nathias bobbed his head up and down. “Yep, well good luck with that. You’ll need it. He’s stubborn and paranoid as ever. He only told me about needing two days for whatever he’s planning under the guise of us arguing with each other, and I was sure he didn’t want to even give me that much.”
“But he did,” Rainus replied quietly.
Nathias appeared to think on that for a moment, “Yeah, he did,” he breathed out. “Maybe we aren’t as done as I thought we were.”
“Maybe,” Rainus said as he felt for the young man. Rainus knew what it was like to have a friendship you cherished go stone cold. It wasn’t an experience he would wish for anyone.
They finally arrived at Rainus’s destination. The sprawling building that engulfed a large section of the northeast section of the College, and was were he’d find those in charge and his wayward son stashed in a jail cell. The King stopped, which made Nathias and Jamiss come to a halt too.
“I better go get this over with. I want you to track Tau-mine down. Get her to cooperate in whatever way you have to do it. I want this settled as soon as possible.”
Rainus looked to the west where the fiery ball of Sora was slowly dropping to the horizon. He figured they had only a little more than an hour before twilight. Rainus had no intention of staying the night on this planet. He had a Kingdom and duties to get back to on Darat. Surely, between the two of them, they could get Markus or his Pledge friend Tau-mine to lead them to Adar before night settled too firmly here.
“I will do my very best, Majesty,” Nathias said as he saluted with a fist to chest. He then whirled on his heels as marched away, leaving Rainus to watch him go.
“I know you will,” the King said softly, knowing that the Major would. In fact, he was positive that Nathias would be more successful than he. The man was good at getting things done, even the seemly impossible, it was why Rainus had persuaded him to work in the elite Arch Defenders branch of the Vanguard in the first place.
Rainus let out a heavy sigh as he eyed the administration building with care. He really didn’t want to do this next bit, but if he had asked the Major to do something unsavory, then he couldn’t turn away from the same. So the King squared his shoulders and made for the entrance and toward a conversation that he really didn’t want to have.