The wedding ceremony was the spectacle of a lifetime for most citizens of Doaba II. The security measures implemented by Artee protected not only the royal family but citizens as well. Concentric rings of vigilant guards, visible and incognito, identified and managed potential issues by moving troublemakers further and further from the wedding party.
All attendees wore commemorative electronic bracelets with unique signatures and security codes for the security rings they were permitted to enter. Hundreds of androids were repurposed to serve as attendants to manage the throngs of attendees and onlookers. Prince Bel was adamant that only humans were allowed inside the innermost security ring during the ceremony.
The feasting and merriment carried on through the night and until dawn. Bel and Nordhi were so exhausted that they slept until early evening. Bel was the first to wake up. He stepped out of the royal chambers to meet an anxious Artee. The carpeted floor had a ring worn into it where the android had been pacing in a circle for hours.
Artee’s greeting was terse: “Prepare to die.”
“Don’t you have a room to stay in at night?”
“I do. Nighttime ended nine hours ago. I have been contracted to kill you. Prepare to die.”
Bel grunted. “My head is killing me. Do we have to do this now?”
“Twenty-seven hours, nineteen minutes has passed since the last delay. It must be now.”
“Fine. I cannot die today because the wedding ceremony is not over yet. Lady Nordhi and both our mothers will be heartbroken if the honeymoon is spoiled in the slightest.”
“Your assassination has already been delayed for weeks due to the wedding. Had I known weddings take so long...”
Bel walked towards the dining hall. “Weddings are protracted affairs and royal weddings are exceedingly so. You will be pleased to know that the honeymoon is the last of the wedding events.”
“How many staff will be attending you on the honeymoon?”
“None. We will be spending three days in a mountain cabin alone.” Bel lowered his voice and leaned in close. “Where we are expected to beget an heir.”
“If the honeymoon is a ruse to escape, I will carry out my assassination order without hesitation.”
Bel threw his hands up. “It is not an attempt to evade you.” How can I keep him far enough away to not ruin it? Bel used a finger to draw an imaginary map on the wall. “There is a single mountain road leading to the cabin. You can stay with the vehicle and the driver at the bottom of the mountain.”
“That is acceptable on the conditions that you both wear your bracelets and that I can deploy guards in a one-kilometer perimeter around the cabin.”
By the gods, this droid is persistent. “Artee, I give you my word. This is my honeymoon with the love of my life. There is no need for guards. I WANT to stay in the cabin.” He stared at Artee with arched eyebrows and a knowing look.
“The security perimeter is for your safety. I believe that both of you are in danger.”
Bel lost his mischievous attitude. “In danger? From someone other than you?”
“The royal guard has relayed credible rumors about your cousin Keerat.”
“What kind of rumors?”
“During the wedding ceremony and celebration, he was belligerent and overheard making disparaging comments about you. He became inebriated and started a fight. Guards had to move him away from the ceremony.”
“It is no secret my cousin and I have a contentious relationship. He had feelings for Nordhi when we were teenagers. My cousin is competitive and has been unable to accept that I won her affections, and he did not.”
“His attitude is threatening. I do not think he should be allowed to return.”
Bel’s nostrils flared. “That is enough! You are a droid and cannot comprehend the complexities of human emotions. He’s always been hot-tempered and a sore loser, but he was no more violent than any other boy.”
“Sir, while I may not understand all human emotions, I am an expert in the motives that drive humans to kill. He poses a serious threat to you.”
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Enough! I just want to get something to eat. “If I promise to have the diplomatic staff on Modikhat observe my cousin, will you not kill me until after my honeymoon?”
“I will grant an extension to the delay, contingent on your compliance with these requests.”
“Thank you for being so... flexible.” As he stomped off to dinner, he hollered, “When Nordhi wakes up, tell her I am in the dining hall.”
* * *
The young couple never saw Artee or his guard contingent on watch day and night. They took turns cooking and feeding each other and frequently expressing their love. On the morning of the third day, as Nordhi showered, a knock came at the door. Bel slipped on his robe to open the door on a somber Artee.
Behind him, the royal hovercar was pulled up to the edge of the gravel road and facing downhill. “We need to go.”
Bel leaned in close to whisper, “What is it? Are we in danger?”
“Your father had a stroke and... his prognosis is not good.”
They hastily packed their belongings and jumped into the hovercar for the trip down the mountain. A small convoy of security vehicles was waiting for them and cleared the road as they drove to the royal estate.
Nordhi and Bel rushed to the royal bedchambers. Queen Charanpa-sha greeted them with swollen, reddened eyes and wept again as Nordhi embraced her.
Bel approached the bed. He looks so pale and fragile.
“What are you doing back so soon?” asked the king as he tried to sit up.
Bel helped his father arrange the pillows to brace his back. “They said you suffered a stroke.”
A defiant spark flashed in the king’s eyes. “I did not ‘suffer’ a stroke. I experienced a stroke. A little one.”
“How are you doing?” Bel asked while wringing his hands, unsure what else to do with them.
“According to the physicians, the dizzy spells I have been experiencing were also tiny strokes. I feel fine, if a bit exhausted.” His father adjusted a pillow. “I swear by the many gods, if the physicians had their way, I would already be laying on a funeral pyre instead of my bed.”
“What can I do to help, father?”
His father sighed and sank back into the pillows. “Despite all my bluster, I know I am not well enough to run the colony. Your mother is...” He glanced sideways. “Not handling this well and refuses to leave my side. I am naming you and Nordhi the regent king and queen. The paperwork is being drawn up now.” The elderly man reached out a shaky hand to grip Bel’s forearm. “Take over running the council meetings and you will do fine.”
* * *
With the help of the staff, Bel and Nordhi assumed the roles of the king and queen as regents. The burden of their new responsibilities and concern for the king and queen weighed heavily upon them.
A week later, Bel was called to his father’s bedroom.
Ajeet-mar struggled to sit upright, wheezing and struggling to breathe as he talked. “Son, I am sorry to have laid this burden on you so soon after your wedding.”
Bel perched on the edge of the bed, his fingers unconsciously smoothing the wrinkles in the sheets. “Everything is running smoothly, father,” he said, his voice steady despite the lump in his throat. “You should focus on getting better.”
His father laughed until it triggered a coughing fit. “I can hear you yelling at the droids from here. I know how difficult the job is so do not pretend it is not.” He raised his cloudy, red-rimmed eyes to meet his son’s gaze. “I can tell you are trying to do everything on your own. That is impossible. I spent too many years trying just like you. Bel, you need to stop before you end up like me.”
Bel’s shoulders slumped. “How do you do it? How do you manage so many decisions every day knowing the fate of the colony can be jeopardized with a single mistake?”
“Delegate and trust. Here is a secret known only to those at the highest levels of government. The droids do most of the work running the colony. We are here to provide the illusion of human control and to solve issues the androids are not programmed to handle.”
Bel’s face blanched, and he stared sightlessly into the distance. How could this be? If what his father said was true, his father let androids not only babysit him, but the entire colony. His chest was tight as he tamped down a creeping fury, and his voice struggled. “But what of all the staff meetings? All those hours of discussion... are they just for show?”
“No,” the king said, a hint of defensiveness in his tone. “But... the decisions we make are based on data gathered and analyzed by the androids.”
“With so much riding on your decisions and the blame for wrong decisions falling on you and not them, why are droids given so much influence?”
The king’s gaunt hand trembled as he placed it on Bel’s shoulder. “Because,” he said, his voice carrying the weight of years, “so much is riding on making the correct decisions.” He paused, his breath rattling. “Doaba II is barely habitable. The androids are our lifeline, a storehouse of knowledge from a century and a half of settlement.” His grip tightened, surprisingly strong. “Without them, we’d have failed long ago.” He reached out with his other hand, clasping Bel’s between both of his. “Promise me,” he whispered, his eyes searching Bel’s face. “Promise me you’ll learn to coexist with them.”
Bel squeezed his father’s hand. “Despite my loud outbursts, I admit they have been helpful in administering the colony during your convalescence. However, I am not capable of treating them as equals.”
“Son, relying on the expertise of others, human or droid, is the only way you are going to survive as king. Androids determined that our form of government, both the public facing one and what I’ve revealed to you, give us the highest probability of success. Our symbiotic relationship is so tightly intertwined that we cannot survive without them.”
As he stood to leave, Bel replied, “I trust in your wisdom and counsel father, however, we should have control over our destiny. When I am king, droids will not have the power of life and death over us. “
Late that evening, King Ajeet-mar died quietly in his sleep. In accordance with tradition, his remains were laid to rest inside the hull of the colony ship alongside the previous kings and the captains of the ship. The cramped space restricted funeral attendance to the immediate family, the high priest, and a camera operator who telecast the ceremony online. The following day was designated a day of mourning.