Chapter 7
It's been already 7 days now, since Eva left the secure facility behind her. Aikka has taken her to his 'residence' and well... the description 'residence' does not cover it entirely. It's a palace, the summer house of the president to be exact. It seems that the king took everybody of his staff with him to this planet. Guards, butlers, housekeepers, cooks and his children, they are all here. They are all friendly to Eva, but very, very distant. It is obvious that they do not want to interact with her at all and that is why the old lady has been keeping to herself these past few days. She enjoys her small rides around the garden and through the hallways in the palace where she can come without help, but most of all she enjoys her little, black cat. Satis is running in circles around her while she is slowly maneuvering around the flowers and plants in the garden. He is meowing for attention and doesn't know if he wants to run around in circles or sits on her lap and be caressed.
'Just make a choice, you restless little cat', Eva mutters catching some breath from wheeling around all the time. 'He is just happy to be with you again, my princess', Aikka appears on the path in front of her. He is wearing his official wardrobe which tells Eva that he had a morning full of boring meetings with high officials and other uninteresting people. The old woman looks up to him and feels a sharp pain running through her mind and soul. He is old, but he looks young, strong and handsome as ever. Yes, he aged of course. He looks more mature now, a man and his body has adjusted itself to suit a grown up man, but still... the years just did not had the same affect on his life as it has on hers. Suddenly she feels old and yes, even dirty. She needs help now to get to the bathroom, to get cleaned, to get bed and sometimes she even needs to be fed! She turned into an old woman, as all humans do, and finally she had accepted that she would never be young again. She had accepted fate finally and then he shows up. Prodding around with his good, young looks and not even a hint of old age. She had often dreamt of him in the past. Not all were innocent dreams. As she grew older and her needs grew with her, so did her dreams. She had men and she had even one she liked enough to marry, but they were never him. They could never pleasure her the way he did, even if it was only her dreams. And she was always save in her dreams and erotic pleasures. Nobody would ever find out. She was alone most of her life anyway. But now, when she thinks of those moments again, she feels dirty and disgusted. Not because of the content or anything, but because even now at the age of approximately 75 she still holds those dreams and moments dear and she was never ashamed to enjoy them once again. Until now. Now that she looks the man who holds her heart in the eye, she feels nothing but a dirty, old lady.
'Is something wrong, Eva?', a voice in suddenly asking close to her. Mrs. Wei opens her eyes, funny she cannot even remember closing them, and looks at the king's face. He is sitting in front of her on his knees in the dirt, which he does not seem to mind at all. 'Is there something wrong, Aikka?', she asks him the same question. He shrugs his shoulders. 'You just zoomed out completely and I began to worry when you did not come back after a few minutes. Perhaps something had happened to you...', he speaks with a voice filled with worry. Eva smiles for moment. 'Things just do not happen to me, Aikka. I have to go and them myself. And in my current and permanent state from now on, this would not be possible. So, please, do not worry about me', the old lady smiles affectionately at him.
The king nods briefly and changes the subject. 'What do you think of my residence? Is my staff good for you? My children have not been bothering, have they?' Eva thinks about it for moment, before she answers. 'They are all very nice to me, Aikka. They make sure I've got everything I need and no, the children do not disturb me. It is just...' She keeps still, to find the words best suited for the description. 'It is obvious that the only reason they are being nice to me is, because you have invited me to be here. They are just as nice as they need to be, to prevent them from being rude and impolite. They keep a great distance between me and them. That is how they are seeing this situation: it is me and them. There is no us or we. And I must admit, my king, that I begin to feel just as lonely as I was in my prison back in the country. The only difference is that this is a 5 star prison instead of a very cheap one', she mutters softly the last two sentences and waits for the storm to come. But Aikka remains calm and nods in this fashion which fits him. 'I understand. I was afraid that this situation would occur. But believe me, my princess, that I would do anything...'
'King! King Aikka!', a man is running down the large steps which lead from the garden to the palace. 'You have to come quickly, my lord! There is an emergency!' Aikka straightens and urges the man to calm down and catch a breath. 'What's wrong?', he demands from the panting man in front of him. 'A very important person just arrived, my lord! And he needs to speak with you right away!'. Aikka must control himself not to hit the man on the nose. He is getting impatient with the poor soul. 'Yes, I understand that part... but who arrived?', he asks one more time.
'The Avatar, my lord.'
