Disclaimer: I do not own She-Ra or its related characters. All is the property of Noelle Stevenson, Dream Works Animation, Netflix, NBCUniversal Television Distribution, Filmation, Larry DiTillo, and J. Michael Straczynski.
Inconvenient Arrangements
Chapter Fourteen: Horde Prima, Par-Is Kur
Keldor was awakened by the irritating sound of a datapad ringing. Groggy, irritable, and still half-asleep, he reached over his new husband –whom seemed to still be fast asleep- and grabbed at the offending device.
It had been two days since he left Eternia aboard the Velvet Glove, Horde Prime's flagship. They were still in hyperspace, the viewport of their cabin showing only the mottled blue and white canopy of faster-than-light travel.
Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, Keldor answered the call. He had been gone for two days, and Randor had already called to tell his 'favorite' brother how much he missed him six times. Keldor was expecting to see his little brother's face smiling at him when he answered the pad.
Keldor blinked at the face on the other end of the call. It was not his youngest brother staring at him.
"Who the hell are you?" He asked, seeing the face of a space bat.
He was still getting used to the pale nightmare faces of his new husband's race, and he still had trouble discerning gender some times. But this one appeared female to him. With cobalt blue hair and glowing ruby eyes, like Hec-Tor.
She also looked like hell.
Her face was sweat-soaked, and her cobalt hair was matted and plastered to her neck and the sides of her face. There were dark circles under her eyes that were definitely from exhaustion, and had nothing to do with her running eyeliner. Her cheeks were puffy and her lower lip quivered as if she were fighting really hard to hold back tears.
"Who the hell are you?" She echoed right back at him. She might look like she was sick, or about to break down sobbing, or about to pass out, or any combination of the three. But that did not stop her from glaring at him with suspicion. "I called the private line for Prince Hec-Tor Kur, and he is not you."
It was then, that the still half-asleep Keldor noticed that the datapad he answered was Hec-Tor's not his own. "I'm his husband." He explained, still feeling new to the idea and uncomfortable because of it, and also strangely foolish saying it out loud. "Prince Keldor."
"The Eternian, Anillis arranged for." She recognized him now.
There was the beat of a pause. "I still don't know who you are."
"You are speaking with Empress Par-Is Kur, Horde Prima of the Great and Eternal Horde Empire." It seemed like she was trying to sound proud and imperious. But she was so exhausted, that the announcement sounded hollow, even coming through the datapad audio speakers. "You can put Hec-Tor on the line now."
Looking at the sleeping body next to him, Keldor gave his husband a gentle little shake. Not too hard. He was still getting used to how much was 'too rough' for the Horde Prince.
Hec-Tor only groaned in his sleep and rolled over to try and wrap his arms around Keldor's pillow and hug it close to himself. He nuzzled at the fabric in his sleep a bit before his brain finally registered that it was not a warm body he was trying to cuddle up with. He blinked glowing eyes up at his husband and pushed himself to sit up next to him. He yawned loudly, mouthing opening wide to display his sharp crimson teeth.
Keldor looked away. "The Empress is calling you." He tried to pass the datapad to the other man.
"Par-Is?" Hec-Tor took the pad. "You look unwell!"
Seeing his face finally, Par-Is did break down and cry. Loud, wet, ugly sobs. Keldor climbed out of the bed. This seemed like it was going to be a private conversation.
"He's gonna kill me." Par-Is announced, the speakers of the datapad distorting the words just a bit on account of her uneven breathing.
"He's not going to kill you." Hec-Tor tried to assure her, drawing his knees up and appearing to settle in for what he expected to be a long conversation. "Brother wouldn't do that."
Keldor wasn't exactly trying not to listen. He was actually, listening quite intently. It was hard not to be curious, especially when this was the family he had just married into and their drama would affect him directly. But he did try to appear as if he weren't listening to try and put Hec-Tor at ease. He grabbed a robe from the built-in chest of drawers in their suit and threw it on over his pajama's moving as if he were going to leave the cabin.
"I lost another one." Par-Is announced. "I can't keep one alive, so he has no use for me. He's going to kill me!"
Unbidden, the memory of his mother telling him that Horde Prime's wife couldn't bear a living child rose to his mind. Empress Par-Is Kur was Horde Prime's wife.
"Calm down." Hec-Tor pleaded with her. "These things happen all the time. I'm sure you'll be able to have one. The timing just isn't right. You need to rest and replenish your strength."
She let out another choking sob. "I don't wanna do this anymore!"
Keldor actually did leave the room. His mother would have counseled him to stay and listen. To learn everything he could about the Prime's real relationship with his wife. But Keldor did not want to sit there and listen. He had his own on-going emotional crisis to deal with. He did not want to take on the personal tragedies of in-laws he –officially- hadn't met yet.
The stateroom door slid shut behind him and Keldor walked barefoot down the corridor. He didn't really have any particular destination in mind. He was just walking. Allowing his mind to wander.
A pair of clones patrolling the corridors saw him. They paused in their step to flatten themselves against the walls and bow as he passed. Never uttering a word, their expressions never changing. Keldor found the clone units of the Horde military a tad unsettling. They were so silent and stoic, they were no better than dolls. Robots had more life in them than clones did.
Ignoring the clones, and continuing down the corridor, he eventually came upon two enlisted soldiers. Aliens from worlds under the Empire's control that had chosen to join the Horde military for one reason or another. Keldor did like the enlisted. They reminded him of the warriors of Eternia. A diverse group of people from different races, each with different powers and abilities, different backgrounds and upbringings. They had the most interesting stories and told the best jokes. One of Keldor's favorite things about Eternia was hanging out and drinking with its warriors.
The enlisted soldiers of the Horde military did not hang out with him. It was not appropriate for soldiers to drink with royal consorts. It sure as hell wasn't appropriate for them to tell the kinds of jokes Keldor was used to hearing, around royal consorts.
Both enlisted snapped to attention when they saw the Prince's new husband coming towards them. Then they flattened their backs against the walls as the clones had done and offered Keldor respectful bows. Humbling themselves before their better.
"At ease." Keldor tried to make his voice sound lighthearted and friendly. He offered a smile, and put his hands on his hips when he asked, "So, what's the scuttlebutt?"
The two exchanged a look. They were not used to the royals wanting to… gossip with them.
"We're officers of Horde Prime's flagship, Your Highness." One reminded him. "We would never spread rumors about the royal family."
"Does his highness require anything?" Asked the other. "I would be more than happy to fetch it for you myself if that would please you, Prince Imperial Keldor."
"No." Keldor sighed, feeling inexplicably exasperated.
The two enlisted waited. Standing at a parade rest, legs (or equivalent limbs) slightly parted, arms clasp behind their backs. As if they were waiting for an instruction or command from him.
"You're dismissed." Keldor finally figured out he needed to say.
The two enlisted bowed again, preformed Academy-perfect about faces and marched down the corridor away from the Prince as fast as they could without actually looking like they were fleeing.
Keldor sighed. They hadn't even reached Horde World yet, and he already hated being a Prince of the Empire.
Eventually, he came to a small observation area. Not the observation deck, that was large and always full of off-duty enlisted. This was just a small little alcove, just off from the royal suits, with a wide transparesteel window and a couple of comfy looking chairs. Keldor sat down and glared at the blue and white mottling of hyperspace. Even the view was unappealing.
He didn't know how long he sat there, but that was where Hec-Tor found him when the Prince was finally done with his call and left their quarters to look for his husband. He sat down in the chair next to Keldor, both of them looking out the viewport at the unimpressive view of hyperspace.
"Thank you." He said. "For giving us privacy. Par-Is does not like appearing weak in front of people she does not know."
No royal liked to appear weak in front of people they didn't know. Power was greatly based on perception. If you were perceived as weak, then you did not stay in power for very long.
Still he was curious and couldn't help but ask, "So, the Empress of the Known Universe has a miscarriage, and instead of calling the Emperor, her husband, she calls you."
He didn't phrase it like a question, but he really wanted to know. Not just because he would need to know if his husband was having an affair with the Empress, but also because he just really wanted to know! Could stiff and formal Prince Hec-Tor secretly be… an interesting person with dubious secrets? Keldor hoped so.
"Why should she not call me?" Hec-Tor turned, blinking confused eyes at his husband. "Par-Is is my twin."
Oh. That was decidedly less dubious than he was expecting.
But, Keldor supposed, that did make more sense. Par-Is looked too much like Hec-Tor to be unrelated. All space bats had sharp cheekbones and angular features. But the spacing of her features and her coloring was very similar to Hec-Tor's. Features that Keldor had had to become intimately familiar with in the past couple of days.
So, Horde Prime's wife was Hec-Tor's twin.
"Wait…" Keldor began slowly, talking through his thoughts. "Does that mean you're not really the Emperor's brother, you're his brother-in-law?"
Hec-Tor looked confused. As if he didn't understand why his husband might think that. "No. Anillis is my brother. Par-Is is my twin, and Anillis is our older brother." A pause. "Didn't they give you a dossier on me before our marriage?"
Yes. Keldor was given a dossier on Hec-Tor upon their engagement. Keldor took one look at his intended's picture, ejected the datacard from the pad, and threw it in the fire. They gave him a dossier on Hec-Tor, but he did not read it. Now he was realizing that he really should have. If for no other reason than to avoid any future shocks. "Horde Prime married his sister?"
"Yes." Again, Hec-Tor sounded as if he didn't understand how this was a question. Didn't everyone who needed an heir marry their sister?
Keldor could not even imagine fucking one of his brothers. "And this is… normal to you?"
"Of course!" He nodded.
Keldor only continued to stare at him. It was all starting to make an uncomfortable amount of sense. Horde Prime's extra eyes, Hec-Tor's frailty, discolorations, and constant blackouts. The Kurs were all sick and deformed because they were so terribly, terribly inbred. Keldor didn't know why he didn't realize it sooner.
…
It was so unbearably hot on Horde World. Even under the canopy of the palanquin that carried them from the space port to the palace, Keldor could feel his skin baking in the sun. He sorely regretted wearing only a pair of belts crossed over his chest. This much direct sunlight and unbearable heat needed sleeves. He was going to be sunburned by the end of this, and since he was only half-Gar, sunburns meant purple, not a darker shade of blue.
They were met outside the Imperial palace by a small army of attendants, both clone and alien alike. In the center of the formation was the Empress.
Par-Is did not look anything like how Keldor saw her during her late-night call.
She stood with her back straight, as military straight as the clones that surrounded her. Head held high, expression neutral. Cobalt hair twisted up into a series of elaborate knots. Eyes outlined with khol, foundation and concealer smoothing out the sharp angles of her face, lips painted provocatively dark. She was dressed in an electric green and while gown, of a similar cut and style as Hec-Tor's, but tailored to the female figure.
She greeted Horde Prime first.
Even standing behind Prime, next to Hec-Tor, her words of welcome sounded mechanical and hollow. She was not happy to see her husband returned.
In response, Horde Prime only looked down and placed a hand to her abdomen.
Par-Is seemed to almost flinch away from his touch, but stopped herself.
"You lost another one." He concluded.
Keldor watched that perfectly neutral expression crack as her bottom lip quivered slightly.
"You'll just have to try again." Prime brushed past her.
Her eyes managed to remain impassively neutral, but her lower lip was still quivering.
Hec-Tor came up and wrapped his sister in a hug. Even with his husband's body blocking most of her from view, Keldor saw her visibly relax. The brother she actually liked was back. Everything would be better now.
"You seem in better spirits than when you left." Par-Is observed, pulling away from her twin enough to take in the goofy smile on his face. "I take it the marriage was not as terribly as you imagined."
"Not terrible at all!" Hec-Tor announced happily. "Keldor is wonderful!"
Keldor fidgeted uncomfortably at that. He was just barely managing to tolerate Hec-Tor. He did not feel particularly 'wonderful'.
Hec-Tor turned, inviting his new husband up to meet his sister –officially. "Par-Is, this is Keldor."
He stepped forward and bowed to her. He wasn't quite sure how deep to make it though. She was Empress of the Known Universe, so she was definitely above him. But he wasn't just a Prince of a territory planet anymore. He was a Prince Imperial and her brother-in-law. Just how low was too low? How high was not low enough? He didn't even know if his guess was correct, because when Keldor straightened and looked back up at her, the expression on Par-Is' face was apprising.
Looking him up and down. Taking in the long ebony hair, the pointed ears, the tiny mustache and trimmed goatee. His mostly bare chest with only two belts crossed in place of a shirt. The armored loincloth, his bare knees, and armored boots. Classic Eternian fashion. Fur, leather, armor, and lots and lots of exposed skin. She probably thought he looked like some kind of barbarian or savage.
Finally, Par-Is smiled at him. An almost teasing smile. The kind of smile Keldor himself might give someone he had just met and was trying to throw off balance. "You look a lot better without the bed-head."
…
Keldor had absolutely nothing to do on Horde World.
Correction: he had nothing to do in the Imperial palace, because he could not get out to see the rest of Horde World.
Horde Prime was the Emperor and Hec-Tor worked long hours preforming the task of actually ruling the Empire for the Emperor. Not that Keldor actually missed his husband's company all that much. But Hec-Tor was the only person on Horde World he actually knew. Everyone else was a stranger. Keldor didn't know anyone, Keldor couldn't talk to anyone.
Back on Eternia, when he got bored like this and there was no one to distract him, Keldor would just leave the castle and go make trouble in Eternos. Nothing was more fun than stirring up the unsavory elements of the capitol city.
But Keldor hadn't even figured out how to get outside the palace. Never mind find the seedy underbelly of the city.
And it wasn't from lack of trying. Keldor tried. He tried so hard.
The Imperial palace on Horde World was like a labyrinth.
Tall spires reaching almost as high as the shield wall when raised. Deep basements and dungeons extending so deep into the ground it was rumored they hit the very bedrock of the planet shelf. Lifts that only went up so high before people with security clearance had to switch to a different lift. Stairs that spiraled around the perimeter, slowly climbing up the spires as it encircled them. It was difficult for an outsider to navigate. It was difficult to find an exit.
When one did find an exit, it was always guarded. Clones and aliens alike.
"Is there anything I can get for you, Prince Imperial Keldor?" They would ask. The alien guards, not the clones. The alien guards were always polite and eager to serve him. The clones never spoke, they just stood there, as unnervingly serene as porcelain dolls.
Keldor would shake his head and walk away.
He was going absolutely stir crazy inside the Imperial palace.
He did find the library. That, at least helped him wither away a few days. The Imperial library was wide and sprawling. Shelves upon shelves filled with datacards. All the knowledge of the universe collected into one place. The history of every world under Horde control. Accounts of every Imperial conquest. Every battle. Every victory. Every loss. Every truce.
Technically, Eternia was never conquered by the Horde. Eternia came into the Imperial fold after a truce was struck after a stalemate. One tiny world standing up to the might of an intergalactic Empire, and matching them blow for blow. That was long before Keldor's time. Long before his father's time too. Eternia struck its truce with the Horde Empire during the reign of King Freenorn, the Strong. He defended the planet and entire solar system with the help of He-Ro and He-Ra. That was back when there were still two swords, before the second sword was lost.
Keldor drew a finger across the row of datacards on Eternia. It would be interesting to read the history of his world from a foreigner's perspective. See how the Horde framed their defeats, and the truce. He pulled out the first card in the row and slipped it into his datapad, skimming over the table of contents. The first one was just about the discovery of the Adarion System, first contact with Eternia, first contact with Etheria, all prelude stuff.
Ejecting the card from his datapad, Keldor replaced it on the shelf and selected the next one in the series. He skimmed over the table of contents of that one too. It was all about the geography of the plants, mountains, oceans, valleys, deserts, and ice caps. Technical stuff that was important and did play into battles, but not the battles themselves. Keldor ejected the second datacard and replaced it on the shelf too.
He reached for the next one. Only to find its place on the rack empty.
Taking a closer examination of the line of cards, Keldor noted that more than just one were missing. There were several narrow gaps on the shelf rack where the thin cards were supposed to go, but were missing from.
Gathering all the Eternia cards off the shelf, Keldor actually sought out a person who worked in the Imperial palace, for the first time since he arrived on Horde World.
"Is there anything I can help you with, Prince Imperial Keldor?" Asked the librarian, seeming overjoyed to be helping a member of the Imperial family in the library.
"Yeah." He nodded, spreading the datacards out on the counter. "Where are the rest of the datacards on Eternia? Has someone checked them out?"
The librarian examined the cards, noted their decimal numbers according to the filing system and realized that the Prince Imperial was right, there were several cards missing. They typed something into their terminal, looking up checkout and return records to see who had the outstanding files. An expression of confusion crossed their face at whatever the computer told them, so they did a different search.
Then leaned back from the terminal, still looking confused, but with an answer for the Prince. "According to our records no one has checked out these cards since they were added to the archive. This is all of them. There aren't any missing."
"But there are." Keldor insisted. He pointed to the decimal filing they used to organize the library. "Just look at their shelf codes. There's gaps in the numbers. If these really were all the datacards on Eternia, then there wouldn't be gaps, they would all be linear and in numerical order."
Pursing their lips, the librarian looked momentarily concerned. But the expression was there and gone in the space of a moment. It was replaced with the same helpful smile they had when Keldor first came up to the counter. "If you would like to check out the datacards on Eternia, I would be more than happy to help you."
Keldor did check out the datacards. All of them. He was going to read them all. Very carefully. He preferred the adrenaline pumping action of fighting –like most people in his family- but his mother also made sure he was studious and critical –two things a person needed to be to be a competent sorcerer, and Keldor was also a competent sorcerer. If it really was just a filing error, then a read through of the data would show no gaps or holes in the history.
But if there were gaps, that would imply that someone in the Horde was hiding information about Eternia.
As an Eternian, that idea was very concerning to Keldor.
…
Keldor was lounging on a sofa in the sitting room when Hec-Tor walked in. Their suits were spacious and Keldor even enjoyed the privacy and autonomy of his own bedroom. He didn't have to share a bed with Hec-Tor unless… they wanted to share a bed with each other. But they did share a sitting room.
Hec-Tor flopped down on the sofa, and Keldor moved his legs to make more room for him. He set the screen of his datapad to sleep and tossed it onto the coffee table. He still wasn't particularly fond of Hec-Tor, and he still didn't enjoy looking at those glowing eyes or those crimson teeth. But, Hec-Tor was the only one in the whole blasted palace that talked to him as if he were a person and not some kind of… reverent figure.
Keldor missed talking to people…
"Rough day?"
In answer to this, Hec-Tor only groaned, massaging the sides of his head. Apparently, he had a headache.
Not particularly wanting to, but feeling he should because his mother would want him to maintain a working relationship with his husband, Keldor sat up, reached over and replaced Hec-Tor's hands with his own. Massaging small circles into the sides of his head, and working in a little bit of magic to help ease the tension. And, by the Goddess! Did this guy have tension! Keldor could feel is practically vibrating inside his skull like a physical thing. He strengthened the soothing spells he was using.
"Wanna tell me about it?" Keldor asked, not particularly caring, and already planning on tuning out whatever his husband had to say.
Visibly relaxing, Hec-Tor allowed himself to lean against the solid wall of muscle that was Keldor, and he sighed in appreciation.
"Brother wants to expand the Empire even more." Hec-Tor groaned. "That's all fine and good, the universe is infinite, there will always be something new to discover and bring into the Empire. But sorting out the logistics of it is apparently my job."
"Mm." Keldor nodded, only half listening. As a Prince of a world that had been independent but was not under Horde control, he had his own opinions about Horde expansion and they were not 'all fine and good'. Out loud he said, "Sounds like you're under a lot of pressure."
"And that's not even counting the mountain of paperwork that was waiting for me on my desk when we got back from Eternia!" Hec-Tor added. "I'll be sorting through that for another week, at least!"
Keldor wasn't sure how he felt about that. On the one hand, it meant he wouldn't have to see Hec-Tor much for another week. Except for when they crossed paths in the shared spaces of their suit –like right now. On the other hand, it also meant that he would have no one to talk to for another week. Keldor didn't quite know which was more important to him at the moment. Avoiding his unwanted husband, or companionship.
"I'm sorry we haven't had much time together." Hec-Tor blurted out clumsily, but sounding earnest. It made Keldor wonder if that was something he'd been thinking about for some time. Hec-Tor sat up, pulling out of Keldor's hands and readjusting his position on the sofa so they could sit face to face. He reached a hand out, as if to caress Keldor's face, but got nervous and changed his mind at the last moment, and took the other man's hand instead. "I'm sorry I've been too tired to… give you more attention."
Staring at his dusky blue hand held in Hec-Tor's steely blue-gray one, it took Keldor way, way too long to realize what his husband meant when he said 'more attention'. "Well, I uh-" Keldor stammered. They had not slept together again since their wedding night. "That's not necessary. Your work is important, and I'm self-sufficient. I have two hands, and an imagination."
And he really, really, really did not want to have to have sex with the space bat again.
There was the beat of a pause and for half a moment, Keldor thought Hec-Tor was about to invite him to his bedroom for the night. He began drafting up a list of excuses. 'I'm tired too', 'I'm not in the mood right now', 'I just checked out all these datacards from the library and I really wanna read them all tonight in one sitting like a masochist!', 'would you rather hear a four-hour lecture on how the term "virgin-blood" actually refers to the blood of a person who's blood has never been used for magic before, and not a sexual virgin at all?' (That last one had always been the most successful turn-off on all of Eternia.)
But all Hec-Tor did was place a chase kiss to Keldor's forehead. "I would like to make love to you again." He confessed. "But tonight, I'm afraid I would be a poor performance."
"That's fine." Keldor assured him. Any night the space bat did not wanna get down and dirty with him was absolutely fine. Keldor was okay with that. Yeah, he liked sex. But if the choices were sex with a sickly space bat or celibacy, Keldor would be celibate.
Some of the greatest sorcerers in history were celibate.
Hec-Tor stood back up from the sofa and went to his own room alone.
Keldor didn't know he was holding his breath until he let it out in a relived sigh.
…
Keldor could not stay inside reading all day.
He could not.
He could not take one more day reclining on a silk pillow, like some pampered house pet! He needed to get outside. Even for just an hour. Keldor had not spent this much time indoors being taken care since he had a childhood illness.
What kind of rulers did not walk among their people?
Even if Keldor never snuck out of the castle a day in his life, the royal family on Eternia were still regular faces among the crowds of Eternos. The museums, theaters, music halls, the higher-class merchant quarter, the harbor –Stephen had to be dragged away from the water some days. Keldor had never imagined a royal family that lived so cut off from their own people. Not just their Empire, but just the city they lived in.
Keldor couldn't stand it.
If he could not find a door out, he was just having to think creatively. There was no ground access he could go through without being stopped by the most obnoxiously polite guards in existence. But the Imperial palace still had roofs.
Finding the tallest roof that he could access, Keldor glared up at the shieldwall. It was a massive monstrosity of technology and ingenuity. The shieldwall encircles the whole city, not just the Imperial palace, and protected it from the harsh sandstorms (rock storms) that frequently tore up the landscape outside. Keldor had been living on Horde World for a little over a week now, and in that time, four such storms had beat against the wall.
There was still quite a bit of space between the roof he was on and the shieldwall. A gap wider than Keldor's best long-jump. It would definitely take a combination of muscle and magic to get to the wall. Probably a combination of muscle and magic to climb it too.
But at the top of the wall, was a path that ran the whole circumference, and it was open to the public. It was a common attraction that visitors of Horde World liked to see before they left. Ride bikes around the city, or see how many of their species could stand shoulder to shoulder (or equivalent) across the wall. If Keldor could just get to the top of the wall, he could walk to anywhere in the city he wanted.
Walking to the opposite end of the roof, he got a running start, and launched himself at the wall. Casting spells for Levitation and Push (a combination that made the equivalent of Flight, but actually used less magic than casting Flight), Keldor reached the wall.
Decades standing up to the harsh storms of Horde World left the shieldwall battered and dented –even on the interior of the wall- and Keldor found hand and foot holds easily. He managed to climb several meters before he muscles began to burn with the strain. He cast spells for Endurance, Strength, and Lightness. He managed to climb several meters more before he chose a bad handhold.
A panel, bent and loosened by years of abuse and lack of repair. The moment Keldor let the majority of his weight rest on his, the panel slid loose and fell out of place.
And Keldor fell with it.
He had to do some quick casting to stop his fall before he went splat. Casting Levitation again, then Push to fly back up to the roof.
The loose handhold was just a simple miscalculation. He could still make it up. He just needed to try again.
Except the roof was no longer empty when he landed back on it.
Someone had erected a small picnic table, with an awning to shield them from the sun, and two chairs. Already sitting in one of the chairs was Par-Is. She sipped daintily at a cup of iced tea.
"Please, don't mind me." She told him. "Continue."
A clone came up with a tray of triangle-cut cucumber sandwiches and set it down for the Empress. A second clone passed her a little ceramic ramekin, Keldor recognized as the kind that Hec-Tor was served his medication in.
He just continued to stare at her, watching her tip the pills into her mouth, and wondering what she was doing up here and what she wanted from him. Keldor remembered her call to Hec-Tor before they even arrived on Horde World, voice thick from sobbing and tight with desperation. 'I don't wanna do this anymore!' If he did manage to get out of the palace, did she want him to take her with him…?
"I'm coming back." He told her. If Keldor absconded from his marriage, he didn't know how the Horde would retaliate against Eternia. "I just need to get out for a bit."
Her eyes slowly trailed up the wall. Agonizingly slowly. Very clearly meaning to draw attention to how tall and difficult to climb it was. "Seems like an awful lot of work."
Keldor quickly decided she had nothing to contribute, but it didn't seem like she was going to stop him either. She was just enjoying her snacks, and her tea… and the show. He walked to the opposite edge of the roof again. Got a running start again. Jumped. Used his magic to propel him the last bit of the stretch he couldn't make on his own. Started to climb.
Ran into a different problematic foothold and fell.
Caught himself. Flew back to the roof.
Started over.
"If you can use magic to keep yourself from falling, why don't you use magic to fly all the way up?" Asked Par-Is.
He was about to start another long-jump and had to pause in irritation. People who lived without magic did not seem to understand magic. "You can run, I assume."
"Of course." She nodded, tone curious where he was going with this. As if she actually wanted to learn, and wasn't just taunting him.
"Why don't you run all the time?" He asked. "Instead of walking. It would get you where you want to go a lot faster."
"Obviously, I'd exhaust myself very quickly." Par-Is answered.
"Magic is like that." Keldor told her. "It's not a source of infinite energy. It's a tool that makes thing easier. But it's still limited by the magic user's own mana and stamina."
Par-Is seemed to consider that, seriously consider it. Then she gestured to the pitcher of tea and sandwich trey. "You do look tired. Why don't you sit down and have some lavender-mint tea and snacks."
Keldor would be lying if he didn't admit that a cold drink did sound appealing. Horde World was so very, very, very hot on its own, and he had been running, and climbing, and falling, and casting for hours. Swallowing some pride, he took the second seat at the table.
A clone was at the ready, pouring him a glass of the iced tea.
He didn't realize just how exhausted he really was until he felt the cool tea slide down his throat. Keldor visibly relaxed. He still wanted to get out of the palace, but he also wanted to take a break.
Par-Is pushed the trey of sandwiches closer to him. "Eat something. If magic is like stamina, you'll need the calories." She said this in a tone that implied people were constantly reminding her to 'eat something, you need your strength'.
Keldor selected a sandwich off the trey. The bread and fatty cream cheese were exactly what he needed. And the cucumber in the middle was cool and refreshing, but still crunchy. A perfect snack for after a strenuous workout. For half a moment, Keldor allowed himself to pretend he was back on Eternia, taking a break from the training circle, enjoying a snack while Man-at-Arms put Stephan or Randor through their paces instead.
Gosh, he never thought he might actually miss spoiled little Randor, father's favorite.
After his third sandwich, Par-Is rested an elbow on the table and leaned forward. "Do you wanna get out of here?"
He would have thought that was obvious. "You know I do."
Raising her other hand, Par-Is snapped her fingers. Two clones appeared at her side, ready to fulfill her new command. "Prepare the palanquin." She said. "The Prince and I will be going out."
The two clones bowed silently and left to fulfill her request.
"That's all you had to do." She said to Keldor. "But it was fun watching you run around like a damsel in some gothic romance novel." Par-Is stood and stretched. "Now, I suggest you bath before we leave. You do not smell like a Prince. And you might wanna put some clothes on."
Keldor looked down at his Eternian loincloth and bare chest. "These are clothes."
She flashed him another smile. An identical smile to the one she gave him when she said he looked better without bedhead. A teasing smile, full of humor and crimson teeth. "Where's the rest of them?"
He frowned at her, not amused.
Par-Is laughed. "I'll have something brought for you. Something much more princely and appropriate. But in the future, you should consider having the tailors make you something that looks a little more Imperial and a little less… like a captured savage."
"I'll have you know that Eternia is one of the most-!"
"Yes, yes, I'm sure Eternia is wonderful." Par-Is cut him off. "But you're not on Eternia now. I'm sure you've heard the saying, 'when on Horde World, do as the Horde do'."
…
Keldor did bath, and brush his hair, and change his clothes. But he still put on an Eternian loincloth and belts. But a formal loincloth and belts this time. Boiled leather that was polished to a satiny shine and dyed lavender, inlayed with silver threading and silver studs. The cool colors complemented the dusky blue tones of his skin. He, at least, thought he looked very nice.
A clone was waiting for him with something to wear when he joined Par-Is. The clone helped him into it, and smoothed out any creases or wrinkles.
It was not a shapeless garment, but it did seem tailored to fit a variety of body types. Sort of a 'one size fits most' deal.
A light linen fabric, dyed the Imperial shade of electric green. It was sleeveless, and the arm holes were cut long, extending partway down his ribs. It was long, probably meant for a taller person, it hung all the way down to his ankles, the hem in the back almost dragging on the floor. It was probably also meant for someone a lot thinner than him, because the fabric stretched over his back, and the panels did not come together to close all the way in the front. A good ten centimeters of his chest was still exposed. Keldor was sure it was meant to be a type of robe or gown. But, on him, it fit more like a hooded vest.
Par-Is walked a circle around him, scrutinizing his appearance. Finally, she deemed him presentable enough to be seen with her.
They climbed into the palanquin, which was carried by four clones, and, for the first time in weeks, Keldor got outside of the palace.
It was not the kind of 'outside' that he wanted. Not really.
He was riding an Imperial palanquin, wearing Imperial colors (green and white), and in the company of the Empress. He was not free to wander the city. Talk to the common folk. Find a bar, and have a drink. Gosh, Keldor missed alcohol! Nobody in Imperial royal family drank. They didn't drink, they didn't smoke, the only 'drugs' any of them took were their prescribed medications. It was like living with a bunch of monks!
Except, on Eternia, even monks still drank from time to time.
Par-Is directed them to a tall building with uniform windows going all the way up. From the outside it looked like some kind of apartment building, or more likely an office of shorts since none of the units had external balconies or terraces.
On the inside, it turned out to be a boarding house of some kind.
Occupied almost entirely by children, with only a few adults to oversee them. Some kind of orphanage?
"Oh, no, orphans are people who don't have parents." Keldor didn't realize he'd asked that out loud until Par-Is was already answering his question. "These are the children of enlisted soldiers in the Horde military. Their service keeps them far away from long stretches of time, and so the Empire cares for their children while they're away." Then, in a lower voice she added, "The orphans come later."
Seeing her in the entryway, a gaggle of children rushed up to greet her. Smiles on their faces, hands (or equivalent limbs) outstretched.
Their clone guards closed in around them, forming a tight circle between the children and the Empress and Keldor. Clones, apparently, could not tell the difference between 'innocent children' and 'hostile mob'.
But Par-Is laughed, pushing the clone directly in front of her to the side. "Let them through. I think I can take 'em."
If Par-Is was as frail as Hec-Tor, Keldor believe she could be killed by a tight hat, and in fact, could not 'take 'em'.
Par-Is knelt down in front of the closest child, whom presented her with a wet paper that looked like it might have been a watercolor painting, but was now smeared and dripping. "Horde Prima, Horde Prima, we were painting today!"
"How wonderful!" And the smile she gave the child was almost real. "Such attention to detail." The painting looked like a yellow and orange smear. It might have been a landscape of the desert, or is might have been a sliced mango. Who could say. There certainly wasn't any 'detail' to it. "I can already tell you're going to be a great officer one day."
"You really think so?" Asked the child.
She continued on like that for some time. Giving attention to any child that had the initiative to push their way through the others and demand her attention. She smiled at them, and praised whatever projects or creations they showed her. Gushed over their favored toys, or cooed at their skinned knees or elbows (or equivalent joints).
When she had enough of children climbing over each other to get her attention, she turned her focus to the adults. Asking about headcounts and beds, budgets and spending, how many parents were continuing to make payments to the boarding house, how many children had to be transferred to the actual orphanage because their parents were killed or lost in the line to duty. Business stuff. And when that was done, she had her clones bring in three storage chests for the boarding house.
The children got even more excited when they saw the chests. They were filled with new toys, action figures and stuffed animals, board games and computer games (both of which focused on strategy), sports equipment, and toy weapons that only shot harmless foam. The children pounced on the new things eagerly.
With the children distracted, Par-Is made her exit, dragging Keldor along with her.
They climbed back into the palanquin and were carried to an entirely different part of the city.
Here was the less reputable side of the city Keldor wanted to see.
There atmosphere buffers were not as well maintained and it was hotter. The sun beat down on the street, baking the pavement, and Keldor could see heat waves rising off of the asphalt. A number of the clones' boots sizzled when they set their feet down, and the soles of their shoes softened almost melting. The buildings were closer together, the streets narrower. The people looked meaner, and less pleased to see a royal palanquin passing through their streets. The clones tightened their formation around the poll bearers and Keldor wondered if he should have brought his swords with him on this excursion.
Finally, they stopped outside of a building that did look very well maintained compared to those surrounding it. Another tall structure with uniform windows, like the first one.
This time, the children were not quite so pleased to see the Empress when she entered. They looked up at the new adult in the room with caution, or even outright suspicion.
It was the adults who approached her first. Bowing low to show their respect. "We are honored by your visit, Horde Prima."
"I wish I could visit more." She offered a look of sympathy that was almost real.
The adults gathered all the children in the orphanage cafeteria.
Par-Is' strategy for dealing with these children was different from the boarding house before. At the boarding house, she only showed attention to those who didn't just want it, but fought for it. Climbing over each other, or shoving other children out of the way to get to her. Here with the orphans, she did the complete opposite, seeking out the quietest, most withdrawn children to talk to. They did not all open up to her, but some did.
One girl told Par-Is about her mother whom was an enlisted soldier in the military that was killed in battle. Par-Is listened to her story with a nothing but sympathy on her face.
"You should be proud of your mother." Said the Empress when the girl was done. "The Horde could use more officers like her."
The child looked down, avoiding eye-contact. "Begging your pardon, ma'am –Your Grace!- but she wasn't an officer, just an enlisted soldier."
Reaching out a taloned hand, Par-Is stroked the child's face, lifting their chin to look at her. "An enlisted soldier is just an officer that hasn't been prompted yet." She stood and addressed all of the children gathered in the room. "All of you, your parents fought bravely for our Empire and for you. We honor them and we're going to take care of you."
More chest with gifts for the children were brought in by the clones. Only instead of toys, these were basic necessities. Clean clothes and new bedding. New shoes. Curtains for the windows. Non-perishable foodstuffs and vitamin supplements. But the children seemed just as happy to see these new basic things as the children from the previous boarding house were to see the toys.
A small gaggled of children saw them off, tugging on the Empress' skirts as she climbed back into the palanquin, until the clone guards forced them to let go and move away.
Keldor waited until they were moving again before commenting, "I gotta say, you are not at all what I expected a Horde Empress to be like."
She flashed him another teasing smile. "How's that?"
"I expected you to me more like Prime." He confessed. Imperious, severe, little regard for even his equals (or, rather those as close to his 'equals' as there was). "But you're so… nurturing…"
She laughed.
As if that were the funniest thing she'd ever heard.
She laughed so hard, it degraded into wheezes and a clone reached a taloned hand between the hangings to offer her an inhaler.
Catching her breath on her own, Par-Is pushed away the offered inhaler. "You think I'm nurturing?" Then she paused to think for a moment. "Hm, yes, I suppose I am, but I'm not nurturing the thing you think I am."
"What do you mean?" He asked, now genuinely curious. What was she nurturing if not the children and orphans of her Empire?
Par-Is leaned in close to him, whispering so that only he could hear and there was no chance of being overhead through he hangings of the palanquin. "You think I give two shits about those dirty little urchins?" She asked. "I don't. I don't even like children. They're loud, and dirty, and require more care than any one single person is able to give. Children are awful!" She paused to make sure he was following her. "But children grow up. And if children grow up thinking their rules care about them, and are taking care of them, those adults will be indebted to the Horde. Those adults will enlist in the Horde. Those adults will fight and die for the Horde. It's not the children I'm nurturing, Keldor, it's my own Empire's interests."
He stared at her, finding a new understanding of his sister-in-law. She had a quality about her that actually reminded him a lot of his mother. "You're rather two-faced."
She flashed him that same teasing smile. "And you're not?"
"What do you mean?"
Par-Is held his gaze for a moment longer. Not quite a glare, not quite a challenge, more… calculating and appraising. "Hec-Tor is quite taken with you. I might even go so far as to say he's in love with you, although your marriage is still new, that could fizzle out with time. At the very least he is infatuated with you."
Already, Keldor did not like where she was going with this. "And?"
"You do not give two shits about my brother." She announced.
Keldor looked away, actually feeling bad for half a moment. Then her hypocrisy struck him and he looked back up at her to argue. "Oh, like you're so in love with Horde Prime."
"Anillis is a monster, even Mother didn't love him." She brushed off the comment. "I don't care about Anillis' feelings because I already know he has none. But I care about Hec-Tor. He might act strong, hiding behind his Academy training and court protocol. But underneath the strict and disciplined veneer, he's just a soft boy who wants to be loved."
Not knowing what to say to that, Keldor said nothing.
"Hec-Tor's not good with expressing himself." Par-Is continued without prompting. "He doesn't know how to articulate his feelings. But I know what he wants. He just wants to be loved, and he wants to be happy." She paused, flicking her hair over one shoulder and fanning at her neck with a silk fan. "What do you want, Prince Keldor?"
He looked back up at her. That question was not how he expected her statements to end. He was expecting some long-winded speech about how he should try to love Hec-Tor because he was his husband and like it or not, they were married now and there was no escaping from that except maybe by death.
But she didn't tell him he should love Hec-Tor. Her own marriage was loveless and she knew that telling a person to love a partner they did not want was pointless. Instead, she asked him what he wanted. She was searching for a compromise.
"I want…" He began, suddenly unsure of his own feelings. He wanted to go home. He wanted to see his brothers again. He wanted to punch his father in the face for removing him from the line of succession. "I want to be the ruler of Eternia."
"Just Eternia?" Par-Is asked. "Why not the Known Universe?"
"The Known Universe already has a ruler and I am not in his line of succession." Keldor pointed out.
"No." Par-Is agreed. "No, you are not. But your husband is." She paused to make sure he was following her. "And we've just established that your husband is a soft boy, he would not do well as Emperor of the Known Universe," a pause, "unless he had a partner who was strong and could help him rule."
Keldor blinked at her. That was not what he was expecting her to suggest. That was not what he was expecting her to suggest at all!
She napped her fan shut, a loud punctuation to her next statement. "Of course, for you to be able to control Hec-Tor, you would have to keep him happy. Convince him that you love him back. Be tender, and gentle, and affectionate. Give him all the perceived love he craves but doesn't know how to ask for. You may never love my brother, but you don't have to love a person to perform the motions of being in love."
Keldor just continued to stare at her.
So, Par-Is compounded on her proposal. "Why settle for just being a king, when you can be the king?"
…