111. My First Step To Independence

Marcus

I stood in Nahrima's main teleporter building. I had spent most of my days there since Juliet left after her fight with my grandfather. They had many rooms from which you could teleport. I had chosen one allocated in the back, far away from prying eyes. Did my homework and punched in the numbers. It was July, and technically, Chris was supposed to have been in Shumaan for almost a year, and yet he had still not come back. The invitation was denied… And no communications were being answered.

I stood nervous. It wasn’t the first time I did everything by myself, but… it was interstellar… To a place that had only one city with one hot spot... I wasn’t allowed access to those coordinates. They were locked up in Ahasuerus’s office. As I understood it… there were soft spots all over the planets. The fact that Zoreah had just one was physically impossible. But I didn’t know at which one I was going to come out. I had spent all my time figuring out those coordinates myself. I could only find two… I pressed the button without telling anyone where I was going.

***

I had packed a bag. It was insufficient in so many ways… I arrived in the middle of a sandstorm and had to cover my eyes and lay down. The wind was so strong that I couldn’t even walk. It went on for days. The wind would quiet down for little bits at a time, but it didn’t give me any view. The sand didn’t seem to want to fall down… I was stupid to have done it. You couldn’t teleport out with one of the glass plates. You needed someone on the other side.

I didn’t want to leave where I landed. I could be stranded just outside a city… So I had to wait out the storm… Lying there gave me a lot of time to think. And wanting to sort out my feelings for Juliet made my mind oddly against the process. So, I lay there with no thoughts whatsoever. I heard weird sounds. Crying sounds. Roaring sounds. Screeching and bellowing. All sorts of beasts, wondering if I had brought sufficient weapons.

The first thing that came for me was under the sand. It pushed me up and was so big that I was on its back. It flung me off. I had to fight in the wind, face completely covered, using only my ears and my senses, clicking away like two year old. Up close, I could see it. It was ugly but smelled so good that I had to kill it. I drank the blood, and it left me satisfied until the storm passed.

Nothing technological from Earth could work on Zoreah. I didn’t have the time. Their gravitational pull was too much. I didn’t have the constellations to guide me. I couldn’t leave… Someone would come for me eventually, so I marked the spot… appropriately. Built an altar so big that no one could miss it. Even if a creature rammed it. The remnants would be there. After that, I could venture out at night following the stars, walking till their moon was high in the sky, letting me know that I needed to turn back. It took me weeks to go in all the directions and ensure nothing was there.

***

I tried the second location… There was also nothing. I sighed heavily. It was sand… sand and more sand. Rocks, mountains, and more sand. I was frustrated that I had found the two locations that were nowhere near civilization. I stood for a while, not with much faith in myself. How the hell did I get back? At least I was starting to catalog my own book of locations.

It was another month at the second location before I felt the first presence of something around me… I didn’t know what it could be. It felt like a beast stalking me, but it never made a move. Again, I marked the location with a big altar. The one thing they had was rocks. Giant rocks. That way, whoever came looking would at least know where I had been… Or else no one would ever find me… I would be stuck there for months before anyone even asked where I was back home.

***

Ahasuerus

Soren was on the floor, waiting for me to speak. I had asked him where Marcus was, but he didn’t know. I didn’t feel the answer was sufficient. I thought he was lying. “Get up.” He stood, and we made our way to the embassy platform. The clerk bowed down and waited for me to tell him where we were going.

“Earth.”

Soren didn’t come up. He was bowed and came up only when he was behind me. “Don’t do that on Earth. Walk up straight.”

He reluctantly came up. I smirked. We exited the teleporter. We walked to the booth to declare ourselves. “Soren. To see Louis, Carl, or Kubra.”

“Who is the man with you?” The clerk asked.

Soren didn’t falter. He was pretty bright. A little bookish. Thin. “He is my father.”

They gave us passes, and we traveled to the compound. It was well-manned. I could see who was a charge from a mile away. The one who recognized me immediately... Never even saw me before… He cried out a few commands. Everyone fell down. He bowed last and came back up first again, leading the men. Soren bowed down the top middle of his body behind me. “I’m here to see your leader… You are all released. Back to work.”

The one in charge came up to us. He was less formal and treated me as such. The En-gannim way gone from his manner. He was one of Marcus’s men. Marcus had his own way of leading. He ushered me to a car and drove us onto an estate, past the main house down a lane with trees, and parked in front of red gates. I had never been in a car. It wasn’t that bad. Soren opened the door for me and walked with me to the gate. The two men exchanged words. Soren stayed behind at the car. It was weird… but I left it… Seemed like Soren was a sore subject around there. Juliet didn’t have a handle on her harem like Brylee.

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When Bertram and I had to get Michael, we teleported everywhere. That was why Qadir wanted Earth. Earth was one big hot spot. There was nowhere to set up a door… I would have given it to him… If he hadn’t been that greedy… He should have taken the win. Let Michael go…

I shook my head. The other man walked in and held out his arm for me. “Up this corridor, Your Majesty.”

The young Riphath screamed her lungs out. Juliet was trying to soothe her with something. They were having a hell of a time with the kid. She was sitting up in a high kind of chair in the kitchen.

When Juliet saw me, she faltered. Her eyes darted to the man behind me. He was her guard… He nodded at her… She thought for a second and fell to the floor. I scoffed. I sat opposite the child, released Juliet, and told the capable person to go get me a human the child could drain.

He scrambled and, a few moments later, came rushing in. The screaming child didn’t bother me. I actually liked kids. The person was tied and blindfolded. “Put him there on the counter.” I picked Sammy up and held her over the man’s neck. It wasn’t two seconds, or she bit into the flesh and sucked. “Here, take your child, Juliet.” She scrambled, taking her.

“Thank You.” It caught me off guard. She smirked.

Irritated by her manner, I turned to the capable guy. “Where is your leader.”

He frowned and gestured with his chin to Juliet. A bellow of laughter escaped me. Juliet was startled at the sound. Astounded that I could laugh.

“I meant Louis.”

“Oh, he is not the leader.”

Juliet laughed lightly. “He’s in the office next door. Jessy, you’re getting good at your jokes.”

“I try…” He held out an arm for me to walk before him. I did and entered the other room.

I had to hold my breath… Brace myself… The man in front of me was wearing some sort of blue pants, a T-shirt, a dark jacket, and boots that were not tied. A cigarette hanging on his lips. Not even properly in his mouth or fingers. His hair was way too long and gelled back onto his head.

But his face…

“Your Majesty want to go back to the mistress?”

Louis watched us in interest, talking animatedly in some earthly language. His voice was raised. He took the device from his ear and said a few things that sounded like a bunch of curse words into the end of the device… and threw it on the table.

He had that presence…

“Jessy, what’s up?” He walked around the table, holding a hand out to me. I’m Louis Du Pont… what can I help you with.”

Jessy smiled. “This is Ahasuerus Ahmed.” His body and arm stretched out and paused for a second… The cigarette in his mouth fell to the floor. He swore again and picked it up, putting it out in an ashtray.

“I don’t know the protocol… What do you want me to do? Bow, Shake your hand. His hand was still outstretched to me. “Kowtow? I can do anything… I just never had to.”

I took his hand, “Yes, I know… Seeing that you are my brother’s child… I rather like you. You do take after him.”

Louis looked at me with a strangled expression… He knew… His gaze flickered past me. Juliet was standing in the doorway with the child in her arms. She did not know. “Looks like I can change my surname to Ahmed.” She quipped.

“Give us a minute, Juliet,” I asked.

“Ah no… Juliet, come in and sit down.” I liked his tone and the way he treated her… Not like Marcus… She came in and sat in a comfortable chair next to the desk. Jessy walked out, and he closed the door. Jessy knew what he was about.

“Where is Marcus?”

Louis frowned, shaking his head. He wasn’t hiding anything… He didn’t have to. “So he is not here. I made the trip for nothing. Soren doesn’t know. He has been gone for weeks… Almost a month now. I thought he had come back after our chat… Wanted to give him some time.”

“I think you should search in the other direction. Something to do with James giving him a task of getting to Zoreah.” Louis said.

The child was still in Juliet’s arms. It seemed Marcus was right. She will not let that one out of her sight. Her words ran around in my head. “If a woman had raised my children.”

“Get up.” Juliet stood, and I went to sit down in the chair, sliding into it like humans would do... It was comfortable and soft. Some material and not leather like the one in my office. Juliet stood back into Louis’s person. He rested his hands on her shoulders. There was something between them that wasn’t there with Marcus… I bobbed my head. I immediately saw my brother with his wife. He couldn’t handle the way En-gannim treated her. The way I denied them. Because he was my brother, there was so much red tape for him to take a wife. When he eventually chose. She had no records. No family and was living with Samuel as a servant.

Louis could read my thoughts anyway… I thought about my brother and sending him to Earth with Qadir, Agatha, Samuel, and Noya… They were pregnant at the same time… I shook my head… “All because of one girl….” I stood and left. “I’m going to go and find your other husband,” I mumbled, taking in the mountains in the distance. Earth was rather beautiful.

***

Louis

I sat down on the desk. Juliet was back in her chair. Sammy was oddly quiet. I felt guilty that I kept so much from her. Had always lied to her. Made her feel like I had my own life separate from hers. Not being a team player is what she always reminded herself of. She had all these rules when I met her. But she had gone against all of them. She loved me because I was good for her. I scoffed. I had never been good for her… If I had told her who I was.

Juliet stood up, walked to the crib, and put Sammy down.

Why was I always nervous. I knew how she felt… She came to stand between my legs, “Baby, I love you.” She whispered, put her arms around me, and hugged me. “Is there anything I can do for you?” She asked softly. I pulled her onto my chest. Thankful that I wasn’t alone anymore