After waiting some time for Kerr to try to communicate again, I was relieved I was able to talk to him and without revealing who had taken over, let Kerr know he shouldn’t help his father.

The ship was coming in to land at the port, and I found Xavultan looking nervous. “There’s nothing to be worried about,” I told the older man.

“Surely, the Queen thinks ill of me.” He paced and wrung his hands.

“She told us about you. She had no idea who you were, but she was upset when you disappeared. That didn’t sound as if she thought ill of you,” I told him.

Zan gave the man a smile. “We’ll get you all cleaned up before we take you to her. Don’t worry.”

I went to wake my wife up to get off the ship, and I found her ready, slipping on her last boot. Her hair was messed up in the most perfect of ways, and I took her up in my arms and kissed her.

She giggled as I placed her back on the floor. “You certainly are in a good mood.”

“I was able to talk to Kerr. It made me feel much better. I do think the man will do as I told him to and will leave his father to fend for himself.” I took her hand and led her out of the room.

“But there’s still the matter of the King. The Queen seems very set on his death.” Emerald frowned and leaned against me. “I don’t like it, Caleb. Not at all. I think it’s the wrong way to start off what is supposed to be a positive change.”

I stopped and took her chin in my hand. “Promise me you will not speak to her about this, Emerald. She has the ability to take your head for such a thing.”

She nodded. “I know. I’ll keep my mouth shut. Maybe you though…”

I shook my head. “No! I will not!”

She nodded in agreement. “You’re right. I know you are.”

We made our way to the bridge and found we’d landed. Emerald smiled at Xavultan. “Are you ready to take off about ten pounds of hair?” she asked him.

He laughed. “You have no idea!”

A small shuttle waited for us and took us all to the palace. When we arrived, Zin and Zan took Xavultan immediately to clean up.

Jared stopped me before we walked inside the palace. “I’m going back to the settlement to get my wife. I’ll be back before the Armada comes in.”

“Please see that you are. And bring any person who wants to guard the palace until this is over. It may end moments after they land or it may not. One can never tell about these things.” I waved goodbye to my brother and took my wife inside.

Emerald looked up at me. “Should you find the Queen and tell her about our discoveries?”

“We should,” I said and then gave her nose a little tweak.

She giggled as we went up the steps. Hand in hand we went into the palace. A guard was waiting for us. “Please follow me, the Queen wants to talk you.”

Emerald and I followed him to where the Queen sat, waiting for us in a room decorated in various shades of pink. She sipped on a purple cocktail with lines of pink flowing through it.

Her blonde hair was pulled up into an ornate up-do with little white flowers tucked in it here and there. Her gown was pale yellow and flowed to the floor.

Emerald and I bowed as we entered the sweet smelling room. Emerald smiled at the woman. “You look very pretty, Your Majesty.”

A smile crept over the older woman’s pink lips. “What a nice thing to say, Emerald.”

She gestured for us to take a seat on the small sofa in front of her throne-like chair. We did as she suggested and a young woman brought us drinks as well.

“My guard told me you brought in a primal man from that planet. Why would you do such a thing, and who is he?” Her pink lips touched the edge of her glass as she peered over the edge, looking at me.

“That man is not from that planet. That planet has not been inhabited by any humans as of yet. The man we brought back is your husband’s brother, and we found him on that planet.” I took a sip of the drink and found it too sweet. It had such a high content of alcohol I could actually taste it.

With furrowed brows, she said, “Why would I want that man’s brother here?”

Emerald took the Queen’s attention. “Because he is the one who was sent to kill you but hid you instead. For his help, the King had him taken to that planet and left there. I’m sure to die, but the man managed to survive.”

The Queen’s eyes went wide, and her hand covered her chest. “You want to tell me that my husband exiled the man who helped him? His own brother? See how much he deserves to die?”

I squeezed Emerald’s hand in an attempt to get her to keep her thoughts to herself.

It didn’t work though as Emerald answered, “Death is a punishment best left up to the one who gave us life. Do you not agree, Your Highness?”

I turned and looked at her; she looked as if her mind had been taken. “What she means is…”

The Queen held up her hand, stopping him. “Please, Caleb. I want women to learn to speak up after all. What should I do to the man who fooled me into believing he loved me like no other ever could?”

Her light blue eyes stared into Emerald’s and my stomach tensed. Emerald answered, “Your Grace, I do not have an answer for you. I wish I did. The only thing I do know is that taking a life is wrong no matter who is doing the taking.”

“But the call is yours, Queen. No one is saying anything other than that,” I jumped in to say. “Now, about the man we found. His name is Xavultan. Did the King ever speak about him to you?”

“I knew he had a brother. I had never met him, though. My husband wanted his past left far behind him. I suppose the fact he was a commoner who might have had Earthling blood made him want to keep it that away.” The Queen took another sip of the strong drink and picked up a little, white, round ball off a platter on the table in front of her. “Help yourselves, please.”

We both shook our heads, and Emerald asked, “No thank you. Do you suppose Xavultan could stay in the palace?”

“The man saved my life. He will always be welcome here. In honor of finding him, I will order a feast to be prepared for him. All these years I feared he was dead. To find him alive is a great day for me,” she said and then rang a little bell.

A man walked in quickly and bowed. “Yes, Your Highness?”

“We have a very welcomed guest this evening. Have a feast prepared for twenty, if you please.” She waved him away. “I want it served in two hours.”

He ran off to get it accomplished in the small amount of time. I watched him run off, and I said, “Then at the feast, he can tell you all about the planet. I see no reason we can’t get working on it as soon as you want to. There is enough there to sustain an initial party of builders. The flight is a mere six hours so we can easily take materials there to build with.”

“Wonderful news. I cannot wait to see the place. Tell me, are there delightful creatures there?” She sat up and placed her hands on her thighs, and a real smile traveled over her lips.

It made me happy to see her like that, and the thought ran through my head how happy Kerr was going to be to find his mother was alive.

Emerald smiled and said, “There are some unique creatures there. We didn’t come close to seeing them all, but the one that excited me the most was this tiny thing with a huge howl. I named it a howler hopper.”

The Queen clapped her hands. “Did you get a picture?”

I answered, “Not of that one. It took us by surprise as it was tiny and the noise was so loud. When we finally figured out what was making the sound, I’m afraid I frightened it away without being able to get a picture of it for you.”

“At the feast put all the pictures together and show us all what you found. I’ll let you two go get cleaned up and changed and see you in the grand dining hall in two hours then,” she told us.

I rose and took Emerald’s hand in mine. We bowed and left the room. As we walked up the stairs to my room, Emerald asked, “Does she seem a little better than she was before?”

“I think when her son arrives, it will make a vast difference in her. She has been through so much. I know the King wronged her terribly, and he has to suffer some punishment for it. I hope he gives the woman an apology, at the very least.”

I opened the door and let Emerald go in first. She turned back after she walked into the room. “I do too. I hope he can find something inside him to do the best he can to right his wrong.”

“I don’t know what one can do to make something that horrible right, but admitting how wrong he was, is a start.” I pulled my wife into the shower, and she smiled at me.

“Do we have time for a little steamy fun in the shower?” she asked as she ran her hands over my biceps.

“Always time for that, Love.” I kissed her as I pulled her clothes off and she pulled mine too.

* * *

The food at the feast was fit for a King, a Euthenian King, but a King all the same. Beautiful platter after beautiful platter was heavily laden with every type of food they had. Golden beetles in silver sauce, butterflies in edible silk, and even chocolate grasshoppers.

Xavultan sat to the right of the Queen, honored place at the long table. He looked like a different man, after getting his hair cut and a shave. He resembled the king in many ways. Yet his eyes were softer, and he held his jaw less tight.

Their reunion was one with a few tears and a hug. Neither seemed able to talk much as the emotions were too strong.

Both had been set up to die. The King had ordered his wife and his only brother’s death. Yet they’d managed to survive, and I found it a common bond for the two.

A silent bond. One everyone could feel the enormous presence of in the large dining hall.

I saw Emerald struggling with the food that the people from Earth did not cotton too well at all. I placed a chocolate grasshopper to her lips, and she shook her head and held her lips tightly together. I laughed. “I really must insist, Love.”

Her eyes went big, and she shook her head with vigor. “No…”

I popped it in before she could close her mouth shut again and she quickly swallowed. “See, not so bad, right?”

“I didn’t really taste it. I kind of panicked and swallowed quickly as I could.”

I picked up another one and held it to her lips. “Try this one. Think of it as a crunchy chocolate.”

Emerald let me put the food in her mouth, and she took a couple of chews and then swallowed it down. “Ew. I felt its legs. But it tasted just like chocolate.”

I tried to hold back a laugh, but it came out, anyway. The Queen noticed Emerald’s uncomfortableness with the food. “Emerald, perhaps this creamy soup would be a better match for your taste.”

She gestured to a bowl of steaming white soup, and it was passed down to Emerald, who placed a spoonful in the small bowl of her place setting.

Her first spoonful had her digging in for more. “Delicious!”

The Queen smiled. “Good!”

With the last bite finished, Emerald wiped her mouth. “Thank you for suggesting that, Your Majesty.”

“I thought you might like it. It’s a very nutritious blend of some of our finest ingredients.” The Queen gave her a smile. “I think a little bit of everything is in that soup.”

Emerald’s face went pale. “Everything? Like bugs?”

“Insects are the main part of our diet. Of course, there are some in there. They’re blended, though.” The Queen seemed pleased with her little deception that got Emerald to eat.

“A true mother you are, Your Majesty,” Emerald told her with a smile. “Tricking me into eating something otherwise, I wouldn’t have. Clever.”

“You liked it, so now you’ll eat it. You won’t think about what went into it. You’ll just remember it tastes good.” The Queen’s gaze went to a man who entered the huge dining hall.

He wore a grave expression and looked right at the Queen. “Your Majesty, there has been a signal sent to us from every ship in the Armada.”

The Queen’s eyes pulled wide. “Every ship?”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” the man looked grim. “All are sending a distress signal, and all are without the power to come home. Something has drained all their power and left them in complete darkness, floating in space.”

The Queen’s color left her beautiful face. “All power lost means they have limited air to breathe.” Her light blue eyes looked around at every person at the table. “We could lose every royal we have, save me.”

I spoke up, “Should we send a rescue team?”

She shook her head. “Not enough time.” She looked at the man who had delivered the bad news. “Turn on the tractor beam and make sure you put it on the highest level. We have to get them in as fast as we can. My sister and son are on those ships.”

The man turned to leave but looked back at the Queen. “If we’re able to catch them, it will take three days to bring them in. That will be just in time before their air runs out.”

My stomach knotted. “Then get on it, man! We have no time to waste!”

The Queen was shaking in her seat. I got up and went to her. I took her hand and helped her up. “Thank you, Caleb.” She looked at Emerald. “Emerald, please accompany me to my parlor where we can sit and wait to see if the tractor beam can catch them.”

Emerald hurried to her side and held her hand as they left the room. “I’m sure the beam can catch them. We have to have faith at a time like this, Your Majesty.”

“That we do, child. That we do,” the Queen said with a shaky voice.

I wasn’t as sure as my wife. Hope still found a place in me, though. But even if they did make it back home, what if Kerr stood with his father and I was ordered to kill the man who was as much a brother to me as any of my real ones?

My heart was heavy, and I wished like hell that the Queen would call the murder of the King off.

With this change of events, could I get her to see reason?