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Our father often equated time the last planet he visited, which had been Mars, a colony of the once fertile Earth, a planet he’d all but destroyed to keep the humans from continuously killing each other. What I found fascinating was that we’d been taught that humans were the most primitive of all the species he’d created, incapable of putting intelligent, rational thoughts together. Perhaps he was softening in his old age or maybe it had something to do with his new favorite plant.
I noticed our mother had moved closer, pretending as if she wasn’t eavesdropping. How my mother could even tolerate such a brutal man was beyond me, but she had a sense of control over him that my father would deny vehemently.
“What does it matter how old we are?” Ravat continued, his tone nasty. His question was rhetorical. I wasn’t entirely certain why he wanted to hear the same information about our heritage but that was my brother, always trying to find a way around his duties. The truth was I’d admired his carefree attitude in my youth. However, if he wasn’t careful, he’d lose the battle before he got started. On this day, he annoyed me. Or perhaps it was more about the quest than anything else.
“That means we are required to find a mate,” I hissed in answer.
“Exactly,” my father said, devoid of any emotion as per usual.
“I could use grandchildren, you know. Your father and I aren’t getting any younger. Plus, an heir is required in order to keep the power. And we must keep control,” my mother added.
My mother beamed as if expecting one or both of us to pop out a perfect image of ourselves within a few eons of time. I shook my head, completely disinterested. “And if we don’t agree to this foray into sin, which is what you called my last request at exploring anywhere past our galaxy?”
His laughter boomed into the air, causing a thunderbolt in the distance.
“You are losing your touch, husband,” our mother said.
Father seemed less than pleased at her admonishment but kept a smile on his face. “If you do not follow my orders, then the result will be simple. Your kingdoms will be removed from your authority. You will be forced to live as a soldier and nothing more. If you fight the regime, then you will be banished to one of the outlying moons.”
Our father had threatened many things, but banishment had never been one of them.
Something was wrong that had nothing to do with our enemies. Unless they were from within.
“I refuse to take a mate,” I said to him. I was risking his anger, but I needed to express my opinion.
Our father didn’t seem surprised. Instead, he pulled a furrier rodent from one of the cages, a creature considered a toy for my pet dragon. He knew how I felt about using animals, rodents, or other scaly winged creatures as bait of any kind. It was abhorrent, something only weak leaders did.
“Do you smell the sweet nectar? Do you see how this creature longs for a single taste? Did you know it only takes seconds for the decomposition process to begin?”
“Ternan. Stop tormenting your own sons,” Mother growled as only she could do with him and get away with it.
He slowly turned his head, keeping the furry creature only inches from the snapping jaws of the plant.
I reached out, snagging the poor beast, stroking its fur as I lifted my head toward the man who’d spawned me. “Fine. I will fill her with my seed. Then I will toss her aside.”
“You will do no such thing, Zatan Soltar,” my mother said in her defiant tone. While women did not rule anything on our planet, our mother’s position was different. She was someone who demanded respect.
Ravat and I looked at each other. Then our father clapped his hands. “Good. We have that settled. You will leave in a fortnight.”
A mate. I’d dreaded the concept for years. I couldn’t stand the thought of sharing my bed let alone my empire with another creature.
“A what?” Ravat snapped, already pacing the garden, an activity he usually adapted when pissed out of his mind. For a man whose core life liquid was mostly ice, I had a sense he was heating up quickly.
Our father sighed. “Two weeks.” When the two of us looked at each other again, he grumbled under his breath. “Fourteen days?”
Still nothing.
“Good God, my sons. It is obvious I’ve kept your leashes too tight. Fourteen moon cycles.”
“Ah,” I said. That didn’t give us much time to wrap up our business dealings, placing them on hold. There was at least another criminal element who’d ignored paying their dues. I couldn’t allow their behavior to continue. Hunting them would be dicey in the timeframe. “How long is this quest?” Our ship could go lightyears in a matter of a short period of time, but I certainly didn’t want to be gone for long.
“Fifty Earth years. Not one day more.”
Ravat made a strangled noise first. “I can’t be gone for one fucking Earth year let alone fifty. I have business to attend to, a new product being delivered to several ghost starships. Who will rule our kingdoms in our interim?”
“I suggest you get your business affairs in order and have your vice presidents ready to accept their new, temporary positions. Or I can have your other two brothers step in; maybe they’ll get used to being in both your shoes.”
He knew that would goad us.
