Twisted Designs
by Jane Pinegrove
Prologue
CoCaptain Janice stared at the blank screen with an expression as if she had just seen her sister the Captain kiss a shark. "Oh boy."
Just minutes before, Janice had sent half the crew members (including her sisters Amarav, the Captain, and Rosalee, the Junior CoCaptain) to go get some rest after the long and tiring day prior. The only remaining crew members were Trevor, Andrea, and Sophia, to kind of keep an eye on everything. They were now traveling back to Delta Centauri; after all that searching, they finally had what they were looking for. So it was back to their home planet they were going.
Well, not their home planet; the sisters were actually born on a neighboring planet, Farlovelle, of which their parents were king and queen. But when war broke out between Enstacia and Farlovelle over Sean Underwood's disappointment of having been denied Amarav as wife, the sisters escaped to Delta Centauri and lived there from the time Janice was 14 and Amarav was 15 until they were 17 and 18, respectively. (Rosalee stayed behind in hiding with her mother, as she was too young at that time to have easily stayed with her sisters)
So, Janice was hanging about in the Captain's chair, when she suddenly received an encrypted transmission from an unspecified location. She rerouted the call to her personal handheld screen, as it may have been too confidential to share with the other crew present.
Holding the foot-long device in both her petite hands, she tapped the screen to receive the call.
"Janie?"
She was stunned. No one ever called her that except one person.
"Is it really you, Janie?" asked the gravely beautiful voice, no older than 30.
"Yes, mother, it's me," she whispered, almost tearing up at the sight.
"We finally came to a truce with HIS parents."
Janice looked stunned. "Can we come home now?"
Her mother hesitated. "Of course you can, sweetheart, but right now our planet is really exhausted from the long war."
"By 'exhausted' do you mean destroyed?" asked Janie curiously.
"Very much so, dear," her mother answered gravely. "I and your father are right now on another planet. We are planning to make an alliance with them, as they were very kind to us during the war, and have your sister marry the prince."
Janice suddenly became very alert. She inwardly growled within herself. No one should EVER touch her sister, not even by political marriage. But if it had to be so...
"Alright, then, if it has to be so, I will reroute our ship towards that planet. Mother, if I may, what planet, exactly, is this?"
"Asgard."
Twisted Designs (formerly Tricked by the Traitor)
by Jane Pinegrove
Chapter Index
One: To Asgard We Go
Two: My Name is Amarav
Three: Invited Over for Dinner
Four: A Strange Turn
Five: Suspicions Arise
Six: Awestruck and Lovestruck
Seven: Spies and a Betrayal
Eight: Topsy-Turvy Upside-Down
Nine: Finale
Ten: Wrap-up
Chapter One: To Asgard We Go
"Goodbye, mother."
The call ended.
CoCaptain Janice stared at the blank screen with an expression as if she had just seen her sister the Captain kiss a shark. "Oh boy."
She was almost afraid to do anything; set the ship's coordinates, tell anyone about the message, go anywhere in the ship, or even stand up, for that matter. She was just miserably frozen in place.
It was not until Sophia spoke up that she even jerked out of her prison of deep thought. "So, Janice, what was that?"
Janice hesitated. A long time. Too long. Finally, she said quietly, "Mother called. She said they've made peace and we can go home now."
Amarav was sleeping peacefully in her Captain's room, when suddenly an excited young voice over the intercom said, "Amarav! Captain Amarav! Your parents are at peace with Enstacia! We can go home now, Captain!"
It was Sophia. What a way to wake up.
Amarav jumped up out of bed. She ran out of her room and all the way to the main deck of the ship. "Janice, Janice, did you hear? Our parents have made peace with Enstacia!"
Janice didn't turn around for several seconds.
"Janice? Are you paying attention? I said our parents made peace with Enstacia! We can go home now!"
Janice finally turned around. "Yeah, it's just great, right!" she said with obviously forced, fake enthusiasm.
Amarav frowned. "Sis, what's wrong? Why are you so angry?"
Janice clenched her teeth. "We can't go home."''"
"What? But Sophia said—"
"We're going to Asgard, Amanda! Our parents are living on Asgard now!"
"What's so bad about that?"
Janice hesitated, and sighed. "They want you to marry the prince of the planet! That's what's so wrong! So— not right!"
Amarav blinked. "Well, if Father says I can—"
"Our father can't decide..." Janice began to say, but then realized there were other ears listening to their conversation.
"Approaching Asgard, Captain," informed Trevor. "May we slow down to one-fourth lightspeed?"''"
"Yes, please," answered Amarav. She stepped out of the room.
Heimdall scrunched his pensive expression. He now knew Janice did not want her sister to be married.
And he was sure of what he should do.
Avoid involvement.
"So, Lacy, you contacted Amarav?" asked King Demetrius of Farlovelle.
"Yes, honey, but it was Janice who answered my call."
Demetrius paused, then looked disappointed. "You know, I've always known our second daughter to be against anything to do with romance, am I right?"''"
Lacy smiled. "She didn't seem particularly enthusiastic, I know that much."
"But don't you think, then, that Janice might do everything in her power to prevent Amarav from—"
"No, dear, Janie would never do such a thing! She's as loyal to us and our family as Fido was to you during the war."
The king of Farlovelle suddenly looked very moved within himself at the mention of his deceased war-horse, who served him "faithfully," as his name meant, from the time he was a young prince until the end of the war with Enstacia. He shifted uncomfortably in his golden throne.
The queen was still smiling that beautiful, kind smile of hers. "Dear, don't be so upset. He was just a good pet, not a son."
Demetrius then looked graver. "If only we even had a son..."
The doors to their throne room suddenly opened.
"King Demetrius, Queen Lacy," addressed Loki with a polite bow, "If I may ask, where is my father?"
King Demetrius never changed his expression, but Queen Lacy smiled kindly once more. "Why, Loki, I do not know!" she said.
"He was here only an hour ago," said Loki a little disappointedly.
The queen continued to radiate smiles. "Well, I'm sorry, son, but neither of us have seen him since the conference this morning."
Loki seemed to ponder this statement as he furrowed his brows and rubbed his lips, reflectively.
King Demetrius then spoke. "How do you feel about your brother, Loki?"
"How is he?" added Queen Lacy.
Loki smiled back at her. "Why, he's preparing for his coronation next year. I sure am proud of him, really."
Lacy was unsure of this, but she thought she could sense some tension behind the statement.
Loki stared off elsewhere as if he was in another realm. "However, he is a little anxious about the wedding as well. Not sure if he'll like the girl, I guess."
King Demetrius continued to frown. "Our daughter."
"Yes, that's what I meant," corrected Loki.
A tense pause resulted in Loki smiling too widely at the parents than was actually fitting for the situation, before stepping silently out of the room.
The queen smiled slightly at Demetrius as the great door closed.
"He seemed nice."
King Demetrius just frowned seriously.