Chapter 13

Arccoo

Please don’t make a big show of this , Arccoo thought as the sentry ship descended. Upon entering the Thryal atmosphere, he felt an initial wave of comforting nostalgia that made him smile. He was home. After all this time, he had made it back to the one place in the universe where he truly belonged.

Then, another sensation took over—melancholy. He had found something of a second home with Carmen. Earth, for all of its faults, had the potential for greatness and part of him felt sorry that he wouldn’t be around to witness it. The rest of him mourned the loss of a woman who saw him for who he was and not his title.

Guards stood on the periphery of the platform. Their jade cloaks gently billowed as the ship hissed to a landing. His brother, Rocco, stood in front of them, his ceremonial uniform shimmering with medallions and chains. No mere accessories, the future king had earned every one of his adornments through years of military service.

Arccoo had to admit that he looked suitably royal waiting there among his personal service folk, but he was still that pain in the neck older brother who loved to push all of his second sibling’s buttons.

Arccoo didn’t doubt that Rocco came to greet him personally out of a sense of brotherly love. He knew the first prince worried about him, but he also had a sneaking suspicion he wore that uniform to embarrass his second sibling. Making a show of yourself during diplomatic excursions was one thing, which went with the territory. At home, Arccoo liked to exist with as little fuss as possible. So, naturally Rocco would show up looking like that.

The hatch beside him opened and three short steps flipped out from the hull onto the platform. With a sigh, preparing himself for the spectacle about to come, Arccoo slung his things over his shoulder and stepped into the Thryal air.

“A warm return, brother,” Rocco said in his most formal tone.

“A welcome greeting, my lord,” Arccoo answered, waiting for the hammer to fall.

The elder prince betrayed no emotion. His back was wall-straight and his chin pointed directly forward. “I trust your mission was successful.”

“It was,” Arccoo said.

“You have it with you? The cure?”

“I believe I do.” Arccoo raised his shoulder, indicating the item was held within. “I would like to bring it to Corrum immediately, so he can begin preparing it for use.”

“Of course,” Rocco said, his face remaining emotionless. “Unfortunately, Corrum is seeing to certain matters in the Govian system. He was requested specifically by the Govar Federation. You can understand our desire to cooperate with them for diplomatic reasons.”

Arccoo could. Thryal had been courting the Govar Federation for some time. Their resources would greatly improve the Thryal reach and bring them further into the galactic community. Staying on their good side was crucial.

“Understood, my lord,” Arccoo answered.

“Our guards will escort it to a secure vault,” Rocco said. He motioned a hand to the guards. Two stepped forward, ready to accept the staff.

Arccoo tightened his grip on the bag. “If my lord permits,” he said, “I would like to keep it in my possession until Corrum has returned. We both know how dangerous it can be. It isn’t that I don’t trust the royal vaults, but I’m sure word has spread that the parantaa has been found. That is bound to gain all kinds of unwanted attention. Wouldn’t you agree?”

Without hesitation, Rocco answered. “Of course.” He motioned to the guards to step away and they did. “We trust that you know best in this matter.”

“Thank you.”

“Your journey seems to have changed you some, brother,” Rocco said.

Arccoo tilted his head, curious. “How so?”

“I could almost swear that you’ve gotten… shorter since I last saw you, little brother.” With that, the visage of ceremony dissipated. Rocco’s face brightened with a wide, enthusiastic grin. He laughed and threw his arms around the second prince.

The brothers embraced with genuine warmth.

“Come now,” Rocco said, breaking the hug. “Mother is beside herself with excitement. Even Father is having trouble concealing his pleasure behind that monstrous mustache of his.”

“I hope you didn’t plan a celebration,” Arccoo said, almost one hundred percent sure a celebration was waiting for him at the annex.

Rocco made a show of denying any such plans. “Of course not. What do you take me for? I know how much you hate it when we make a fuss.” He threw an arm around his younger brother’s shoulders and began escorting him to the transport shuttle waiting beyond the platform. “We’ll just have a nice, quiet dinner as a family.”

“That sounds nice, thank you,” Arccoo said.

“But first, there will be a parade in front of hundreds of thousands of subjects all waiting with bated breath to welcome you back.” He slapped Arccoo on the back, and the pair entered the shuttle to head home.

The parade wasn’t nearly as extensive as Rocco made it out to be. The streets were lined with citizens. Many of them were happy to see the royal siblings together again, but a gloom hung over everyone’s faces.

Arccoo interpreted this as part of the toll being paid for suffering through a devastating plague. Many of these people lost the most important people in the world to them. Even with the promise of a cure, that was not something his people would soon get over.

The annex was buzzing with revelry. Ambassadors from a dozen planets were present to meet the returning prince. Ornate flags chronicling the history of the Thryan people were hung from steepled rafters. Servants lined the corridors, bowing and touching their forehead in reverence to their hero. Arccoo took their adulation in stride although he wanted nothing more than to spend the rest of the day in his quarters mourning Carmen.

His parents were ecstatic, in their own regal way. The queen beamed from her throne beside the confident king, who, as Rocco pointed out, did seem to be smiling below that massive band of bristles growing from his upper lip.

They dined for hours, catching Arccoo up on all of the news he’d missed while away. They asked about his time away, but he claimed to be too tired to go into any detail. He was tired, of course, but his hesitation came more from not wanting to relive those painful moments in public.

Before dropping onto his bed and passing out for the next several hours, Arccoo removed the lockbox he’d been given by the daughter of the Frunish emissary several years ago. Punching a passcode, the box sealed so tightly as to appear seamless. He’d never found a reason to use it before now. Lucky for him, the box was the perfect size for the staff.

Unable to sleep due to all the thoughts spinning through his head, the prince commandeered a single passenger transport shuttle and flew out to the rolling mountains on the horizon. He landed on the tallest plateau and watched the day sky begin to fade to night.

His mind wandered back to Carmen. How he would have loved to show her where he grew up, just as she had done for him in Hollowbrook. He knew her stunning face would glow with awe if she could take in the splendor of his world.

You’re not helping anyone by brooding , he reminded himself. Carmen is gone. It’s time to accept that and get to work.

Arccoo set a course back to the annex. Still a little wired, he would ask one of the doctors in the medical tower for a sedative and begin the next day with a fresh outlook. The shuttle transport lifted itself off of the ground, and the alarms started blaring at him.

A flying object was seconds from crashing directly into him.

Moving entirely on instinct, the prince swerved the shuttle and dove away from the hills, pulling up just in time to prevent himself from crashing into a statue of his ancestor. The shuttle rolled backward, flipping around completely to begin his chase of the mystery object that nearly killed him.

The shuttle scanned the object, which was now plummeting out of control, and its findings came up as a digital readout on the screen ahead of him.

Arccoo’s heart refused to beat.

“No,” he whispered. “How can it be?”

Switching off unnecessary functions to increase speed, Arccoo was able to catch up to the object, which was actually a spacecraft, and nudge it away from the city to the emerald lake. Moments later, the spacecraft crashed into the water’s surface.

Arccoo brought his shuttle down on the stony beach bordering the wide body of water, and nearly leaped outside. As he ran to the water, the thought repeated. It can’t be. It can’t be. It can’t be . Then he jumped into the icy water and swam out to the smoking craft.

He was able to climb up the side and open the emergency hatch that he’d used when he’d landed on Earth. His heart slammed in his chest as hope threatened to strangle him. The one thing he wanted could be waiting for him. Dropping inside, he found Carmen, Sofia, and Elena hunched over in their seats, unconscious from the impact.

He rushed to Carmen’s side, turning her face to look at him. Bringing his own face closer to hers, he felt her breathing, and his heart began to beat once again. Carmen had literally fallen out of the sky, and to his disbelief, she was still alive.

The doctors were able to get Carmen and her sisters back to the annex and monitor their vitals with ease. There, they also installed a chip behind each girl’s ear that would automatically translate speech into the girl’s native English. Though Arccoo could speak to them without problem, now that they were on his home planet, a translator would save them from a lot of problems.

The doctors were certain that they’d sustained no serious damage and simply needed to rest. Arccoo wanted to be by Carmen’s side, but the doctors outranked him on this matter. He was forced to wait until he was given the okay to return.

A full day passed. During that time, Arccoo met with his parents to explain the situation. “It looks like they were able to repair the craft I left behind. Based on the readings in the navigational database, the autopilot took them through a wormhole that cut their travel time down significantly.”

The king and queen nodded. His father’s face was impossible to read, but he saw the concern twisting his mother’s expression. They were clearly preparing themselves for some pretty significant blowback. Not everyone would be as pleased as he was by their arrival.

When the call came through from the medical tower that Carmen was awake, conscious, and lucid, Arccoo rushed over at once. As the doors to their room opened, he was shocked to see Rocco standing there with his guards. The future king glowered at the woman Arccoo loved.

“Pleased as I am that you survived your journey, this intrusion poses many difficulties,” he told her.

“Intrusion?” Carmen asked, sounding baffled. “We didn’t mean to…”

“My lord,” Arccoo interrupted. “Since when does the first prince condemn a guest of the royal family?” He kept his tone even although his blood pumped through him with fury. How dare he accuse Carmen of being an intruder?

Rocco scowled at his brother. “A guest?” he asked. “Or a pet?”

Carmen’s jaw almost fell onto the bed with shock.

“The hell did you just say?” Sofia asked, attempting to remove the wires attached to her by the doctors. A nurse urged her to lie down.

“What did we do to you?” Elena asked, her eyebrows arching toward each other with indignation.

Arccoo got in his brother’s face. “Watch your tongue,” he almost spat.

A guard moved to get between them, but Rocco held up a hand. “Apologies,” he said. “I am not myself at the moment.” He let out a heavy breath. “Times are difficult and having… humans present only complicates matters.”

“But we haven’t done anything,” Carmen said.

“Perhaps not,” Rocco answered, “but we know your species and the damage you can cause all too well.” Without another word, the prince and his guards left the room.

Arccoo watched him leave, promising himself they would have words. His eyes fell on Carmen and all his anger evaporated. “I am so glad you’re here,” he said. “When you’re able, I will give you the tour of a lifetime.”

That tour did not go as planned. Many citizens of Thryal did not trust humans and felt no compunction about showing it by throwing insults and stones at the alien women.

The same went for some servants in the annex. While they did their duty, Carmen reported back to Arccoo that the way they looked at her and her sisters made them uncomfortable. Rocco kept his distance, only nodding politely to them over dinner with the king and queen.

In private, things were different. In the living quarters Arccoo was able to secure for the three sisters, it almost felt as though they were back on Earth. He spent as much time as possible with them, hoping his presence would make them feel safe.

“It will get easier,” he told them. “There are a lot of theories about humans being the ones who brought this plague on us, but they are only theories. Scared people can be irrational people. But as the days pass, and they grow accustomed to seeing you, the ire will subside.”

He took Carmen on the veranda outside of their quarters to speak privately. She told him about finding the device in the mansion’s library.

“If I’m right,” she said, “our grandparents have been here before. They may have been the ones to bring the disease.” She lowered her eyes.

“The disease will be cured,” he told her. “I have the parantaa locked safely away. You are not to blame for what happened. Neither are your elder parents. Progress is slow and difficult. It can also be painful. I believe you being here will lead us into a new age. You’ll see.”

Carmen looked up from the ground. “I can’t believe I’m here,” she said.

“Neither can I,” Arccoo replied. To make sure this was really happening, he brought her in for a kiss, which was just as electric as he’d remembered.