Hiding Lulu
Prologue
There was a time in her life that was full of joy. She was a child whose eyes were unspoiled and saw the world of her birth, the universe and even Botorayne, the world she, her mother and her Nanny had been spirited to for protection with a sense of , at the tender age of seven, she longed to return to her home and her swing in the garden upon which her father would push her. She even missed the stuffy old minister who had once been in charge of her studies, as he was able to keep her interested in his tutelage, unlike her Nan who could put her to sleep with her lessons. Despite the trials which separated her mother and herself from her father, she remained full of life and joy.
Botorayne, a lush, green, and neutral world in the heart of Orion's Belt, was an escape not only for her family, but for the families of dignitaries from hundreds of planets who were trying to escape the war. It wasn't underdeveloped or overdeveloped and had something akin to old word charm. One might even call it colonial, if it weren't for the presence of modern conveniences and a fully functional space port able to land and launch Class B Freighters.
On this world, about one hundred standard kilometers north of the spaceport at Gailon City, rested a small development surrounding a large pond in the wooded Nighron Valley. There, five cottages were nestled into the tree line. The settlers included Whilemina Furosh, Lady Governess and Nanny to Little Lulu Cartes'neallon, Lulu herself, and her mother, Lady Regina Arona-Cartes'neallon, the bride of Alfor, King of Arus and the mother of his only child.
Their cottage came complete with a garden and a small tree house in which Lulu could play. Across the crystal clear pond from them were Nyreal and her son, whose Christian name was Da'vid. Nyreal and her son had arrived to Botorayne before his birth, and he had grown into a fine young man out from under the thumb of his father's tyranny. Between their cottages was Miss Hillary Walters, a retired Garrison officer who had a yen for making cookies for the young and the young at heart.
The other cottages included a new family that had only just arrived with their twin infant sons, and the final was occupied by a small rotating compliment of the Arusian Royal Guard. With this small compliment of protectors, their Lady appeared to be on her own, but there was never a personal guard farther than the distance her voice could carry.
Hiding in the forest, with her home still within shouting distance, Lulu stood clutching two handfuls of wildflowers and some weeds that looked pretty. They would make two bouquets: one for her mother, and one for Miss Nyreal. If she found a few more pretty things before she went home, she could make one for her Nan, too.
She wandered farther away from the cottage than normal, and heard a deep baritone voice drifting toward her. Recognizing it as Da'vid's, she wound her way through the trees to find him in the branches of an oak above her. From her view, all she could see was a single, booted leg hanging down.
Cocking her head to the side, she struggled to make out the words. She recognized the language as being Drule, but couldn't place the dialect. Consequently, some of the words didn't sound right in her head. Struggling not to giggle, she called up to him, "Why would anyone want to love a blue, banana clown?"
Da'vid stopped singing. For a moment, she thought he may be angry with her for interrupting him.
She scowled. "I said, 'why would anyone want to love a blue, banana clown?'" A second later she was rewarded by his rich booming laughter.
He dropped down to the ground before her and ruffled her hair. "There is no blue, banana clown. At least, not in this song, Sprite."
She ducked out from under his hand and struggled to smooth down her hair using her forearms. "But that's what you were singing. You sang about 'a'drun bintak kunyabu' and about 'kiria'. Love of the blue, banana clown."
He dropped down onto a knee before her and tapped her nose. "The words were, 'Kyrie Eh druneh dintayc kan'abuh' or -"
"Love of my soul, I call to you..." she muttered.
He nodded gently, surprised by her knowledge of his language and smiled at her. "Then you came under my tree, didn't you, Sprite, after I sang for you?"
Lulu giggled. "You're being mushy! Does your Mommy sing songs like that to your Daddy? Is that where you heard it?"
Da'vid paled, images of his father flashing through his mind. "No, Sprite. My mother and my father are not ones who get on well together; but, my mother used to sing me that song, when I had bad dreams as a boy your age."
"Can you teach me, Da'vid? So I can sing it to my Mama and Papa, when we're a family again?" she asked.
He was always taken by how well spoken she was for one so small, but his thoughts were interrupted.
"Lulu!" Nanny called from the patio of the small cottage that they shared with her mother. "Come child! It is time for your lessons!"
Of course, mentioning her lessons had deterred the small girl with hair the color of sunlight and blue eyes as deep and wide as the ocean from making her way home. She put her hands on her hips and shook her head "no", her long mane dancing below her shoulders.
Beside her Da'vid, a light skinned, Drule teenager, laughed. While he was nearly seventeen, he found himself drawn away from the other young people who stood on the cusp of adulthood and to his little companion. He had been taken with her the moment he laid eyes on her, wandering the through the gardens of their settlement. "Lulu, my little Sprite," he said gently, acting as her voice of reason, "you should not worry your Nan." His eyes, of course, were bright with amusement at her defiance.
Lulu scowled at him and spat out in his own language, "How many more languages does one need to know!?" She was pouting and stomped her foot in emphasis.
Da'vid blinked in confusion. While she had shown an understanding of his language, he had not heard her speak in anything but the common language of their quadrant of the Danubian Galaxy. He would have flinched at hearing the harsh language of his father, but, from her lips, the language sounded nearly sweet. While his mother had warned him that Lulu and her small family were not what they appeared to be, they both had found themselves drawn to them. His mother, the Lady Nyreal, had become a close companion of Lulu's mother, Regina; and, he, well, he found himself unable to be parted from the little sprite for any length of time. What was once fascination grew all too quickly into a fierce need to protect her. He even became self aware of her thoughts and emotions, and it frightened him.
His mother had called them 'bonded,' and, while he still did not know the truth of the term, he did know that one day his protectiveness and friendship with the young, giggling girl would mean much more to him than the relationship between his mother and father had to them. He wondered, when they were grown, if he was absent from her life, whether she would cry for him as her mother cried for her father when she believed no one was listening. Those nights had been the hardest for Lulu to understand, and even harder for him, hearing the mother of this young one crying as though her ears were his own.
"Be careful, Lulu," he said gently, "do not betray all of your secrets."
Lulu blinked and looked down at her feet. "I love my Nan. See, I picked flowers for her, Mama and Miss Nyreal," she said, her eyes growing wide as she tried to explain to him what she felt. "But she's a robeast!"
Da'vid's laughter answered her declaration. In all the universe, there had never been one like her who could make him smile and even laugh. When he would of scooped her up and placed her on his shoulders and carried her home himself, he found himself frozen, his ears picking up on something unexpected.
His skin prickled and the hair on the back of his neck and arms stood on end.
Without warning, he sprang forward, nearly tackling Lulu, both of them falling into the shadows, her flowers scattering about them. Seconds later, he recognized the whine of fighter craft and ordered her to crawl toward the forest and the cover of its canopy.
"What's happening?" she asked softly, her eyes widening with fear.
"Lulu, to the trees! Then run home as quickly as you can -"
"But why? Why are you so afraid! You're never afraid!"
Da'vid felt his blood run cold in his veins. On the horizon, he saw them rise. "Skullships."
She began to shake, as tears sprang to her eyes she fought back the sob bubbling within her. He knew he should find his mother, but he felt Lulu's fear surge into his mind and knew that he would have to see her to safety before he would be able to search for his mother. Once under the cover of the trees, he scooped the girl up into his arms and ran as fast as his legs would carry him, her arms wrapped tight around his neck.
What he found when he arrived drew a sigh of relief from his lips, and he tightened his hold on Lulu, drawing her head under his chin out of sheer relief. There, beside Miss Regina's bed, whispering softly, were his own mother and Lulu's Nanny.
"Da'vid..." Regina whispered softly.
"Miss Regina," he responded and nodded to his mother.
"Da'vid," Nyreal spoke calmly, unwilling to be gripped by her own fear, "we can no longer hide on this world. Your father comes."
He sighed and placed Lulu on her feet. She scurried to her mother's bed and crawled up beside her. "Mama, I want Papa. He can chase Da'vid's daddy away!"
Regina smiled gently and attempted to calm her daughter, but forgot herself when her friend stood. She reached out to grasp Nyreal's hand before she could depart. "Sister of my heart," she whispered through her tears, "do not face this demon alone. Let us all flee this place together."
Nyreal shook her head. "Regina, you are unwell and I will not allow you to sacrifice yourself for us this day." She sighed and motioned her son to her side.
Da'vid sighed. "I will find you, Lulu," he promised the sobbing girl. "One day, I will be your shining knight or your prince who sweeps you off of your feet."
Suddenly grasping that Da'vid would be leaving her she broke. "No! No! Mama, I'll be good, I promise. Please don't send Da'vid away. Order them to stay, make it a royal order! Don't want to be without Da'vid and Papa, too."
Nanny was quick to pull Lulu from her Lady's arms before she would be able to make Da'vid's departure any more difficult.
"Wait -" Regina called, her voice hoarse. "Nanny, the package, there..." she pointed to her dresser.
Once it was retrieved, she peeled back the paper and opened the velvet box inside. She sighed and pulled the locket apart. "Da'vid," she said gently, holding out half of it to him. "Keep this close and keep this safe."
He took the small piece from Regina and found himself smiling at the image on the inside: it was his Sprite, Lulu, smiling back at him.
"One day you will use it to find her. Remember this," she warned him, "you must find each other before she reaches her majority, or you will both be lost."
Da'vid nodded and kissed Regina's hand before reaching out to touch Lulu's face.
"Da'vid, my son," Nyreal called gently. "It is time."
Da'vid scowled and nodded, in the back of his mind he could hear a man singing softly and realized, after a few moments, it was a memory of Lulu's, perhaps her father:
"I wish I was more of a man
Have you ever felt that way
And if I had to tell you the truth
I'm afraid I'd have to say
That after all I've done and failed to do
I feel like less than I was meant to be
And what if I could fix myself
Maybe then I could get free
I could try to be somebody else
Whose much better off than me
But I need to remember this
That it's when I'm at my weakest
I can clearly see - "*
(*Big Daddy Weave - What Life Would Be)