The Days of the Golden Moons (The Two Moons of Rehnor, Book 5) by J. Naomi Ay Page A

I wisely chose to close my mouth and
let her.
     
    In
three weeks’ time, I was aboard an Imperial spaceplane again, and this one was
taking me to a starship.  My wife cried when I left, so I held her and reminded
her, I would be back soon.
    “Did
you not say that last time?” she protested.  “And here you are gone nearly thirty
years?”
    “I
didn't say that last time,” I insisted.  “I didn’t say anything.  This time,
however, I promise I shall be back soon.”  I kissed her, and we were as if
thirty years had not passed.
     
    On
the starship, I was met by Taner.  He bowed to me and then I was surprised
because he hugged me, as well.
    “Welcome
home, Prince,” he said.
    “Tuman,”
I replied as I did last time we met.  “I am simply Tuman, and you have no need
to bow to me as your title out ranks my own now.”
    He
laughed.  “I shall kiss your feet if you can accomplish that which none of us
has been able to do.”  We walked toward the stateroom in which I would stay
during our short journey.
    “That
being?”
    “Turn
the Evil Emperor back into our friend Senya.”  He smiled as if this were a joke
though we both knew it was not.

 
     
     
    Chapter 18
    Sorkan
     
    I
had taken to meeting with my son every so often just before dawn.  I came to
his office around 3AM and let myself in.  Often, he was at his desk busily
working, though sometimes he was already out on the terrace smoking a cigarette
and pacing in his awkward gait.  Usually, he was alone.  This night he was on
the terrace leaning against the balustrade.  It was a dark night with the moons
in their descent and the clouds obscuring the stars and satellites that would
otherwise light the sky.
    “Hello
Senya,” I said as I took my usual place on the step.  “How are you feeling this
night?”
    “Sorkan,”
he replied.  He smoked one cigarette and as soon as it was finished, he lit
another. 
    This
was one habit I had never acquired.  I did not like the taste of these Mishnese
cigarettes, and the drug that was in them did nothing for my body.  My son had
told me, he had smoked these things since he was six years old, since the time
he came to live on the streets of Old Mishnah.  I wish I had known he was
living there then.  I wish I had put down my bottle and went to find him.  I
wish I had brought him back to Karupatani and raised him there with me. 
    “You
will go to Rozari tomorrow with Tuman,” I stated.  “Would you like me to come
with you as well?”
    “No,”
he shook his head.  “Tuman will do.”
    “Will
he?” I asked and watched his face in the shadows of the night.  I knew him
well.  I was not telepathic as he, but somehow, I could feel his thoughts.  He
turned away from me.  “Tell me Senya, will he save you from yourself?”
    He
didn’t answer.  It started to rain lightly and soon my clothing was damp on my
skin.
    “I
want to leave,” he said, speaking so softly I could barely hear his words.  “I
want to fly away.”
    “Then
go,” I replied.  “What stops you?”
    “I
can't.”
    “Are
you afraid of what you might do to yourself?  You alone have chosen to make
your life unbearable, my son.  You alone can choose to be at peace again.”
    “You
don’t understand.  I cannot be at peace until I am free.”
    “In
this lifetime, Sehron, you will not be free.  Come now.  I grow weary of your
petulance.  I grow weary of your melancholy.  I pray you will find the peace
you seek in the Temple of Karupatani with my brother to aid you.”
    “Perhaps.”
    “Tell
me, what are your intentions for Rozari?”  It began to rain harder now.  I
would have liked to go inside.
    “Rozari
will join the Empire,” my son replied.  He stood up straight and moved back
toward the door.  “Some will flee, some will fight, most will accept this and
in six months’ time they will rejoice at their new found prosperity and forget
that they had ever lived within the Alliance.”
    I
nodded.