Chapter Fifteen
"I'm telling you Noaa'lan, I'm not interested in anyone!! Just because you have some dumb dream about me and a woman doesn't mean it's going to come true!" Kahl'aan said with a sneer.
"What's this about you and a woman, Kahl'aan?" Asked Cel'aanaeus as he entered the kitchen.
"Oh, nothing. Braa'kae-brain over here had a stupid dream where I was kissing a woman and he thinks it's going to come true!!" Kahl'aan yelled with an appalled expression on his face.
"Uh, you were doing more with her than just kissing her, Kahl'aan," Noaa'lan pointed out.
"Whatever! Anyways, Noaa'lan was so sure that it actually happened that he came in to check on me last night, father!!"
"Your brother was just showing you that he cared about you, that's all. I'd say he acted responsibly!" Cel'aanaeus said, giving Noaa'lan an approving glance.
"Yeah, but how many guys my age have an older brother who checks up on them when THEY'RE the ones having the bad dream!!? Or, was it such a bad dream, Noaa'lan? Tell me, did seeing me with that woman turn you on?" Kahl'aan sneered, baiting his brother.
"Knock it off!!" Noaa'lan warned his brother. "Believe me, I didn't want to see what you were doing, but I was stuck in one place and I couldn't move from it. It was as if something were forcing me to keep on watching you two."
"Oh. So, what did this girl look like?" Kahl'aan asked eagerly.
"Why would you want to even get your hopes up if you're so sure you'll never see her?" Noaa'lan snapped.
"Just tell me what she looked like! I want to know!"
"All right. She was tall, slender, scantily-dressed, and beautiful. She had short, indigo hair with piercing blue eyes. You could never miss her if you saw her, because she's so exotic!" Noaa'lan said, leaning in so their father couldn't hear them over the noise of the kitchen.
"Scantily-dressed, huh?" Kahl'aan said with a grin. "Sounds like K'aashi's type of girl!!"
"Hey, shut up!! I'm telling him you said that!!"
Kahl'aan continued to laugh as the servants brought them their breakfast. For a long time there wasn't any talking as the family ate, but then Cel'aanaeus looked up from his plate with an amused expression on his face.
"Kahl'aan, you do realize that whenever your brother has a dream it usually comes true, don't you?"
"Sure, but I still can't imagine myself at this age with a woman like that! Or any woman, for that matter!!" Kahl'aan proclaimed.
"Oh, quit being so stuffy!! You're going to fall in love! Just give it time!!" Noaa'lan cried, his mouth still half-full of food.
"I'd rather that Kahl'aan keep his point of view for now, Noaa'lan. He's correct with his assertion that he's too young to date. I would have great reservations about him dating a woman who was as "scantily-dressed" as the one in your dream, and I hope that it never happens!" Cel'aanaeus said calmly.
A smile slowly crept across Kahl'aan's face. Noaa'lan could easily tell what he was thinking about.
"Aa'natlan and I were going to go out on the boat and go sea diving, if that's all right with you, father," Kahl'aan said as they were finishing up the meal.
"That's no problem with me. Noaa'lan, do you have any plans for today?" Cel'aanaeus asked.
"Yeah, K'aashi and I were going to check out the Academy's library and see if we can't get some research done on a study we're doing," Noaa'lan said truthfully.
"Man, you never go out and just enjoy yourself, Noaa'lan!" Kahl'aan said in a taunting manner.
"Look, I know you just said that to gloat that you don't have any work to do on the weekends, but at my level in schooling there's always work to do!!" Noaa'lan retorted.
"Well, both of you go out and enjoy your day," Bel'aanaea said with a smile. "Oh, and Noaa'lan?"
"Yeah?" Noaa'lan said as he turned around in the doorway.
"Don't forget to have a little bit of fun today, ok?"
"I won't, mother." Noaa'lan said as he kissed her goodbye, and then he headed out the door.
K'aashi was waiting for him on the steps of the library, holding his notebook and a towel. He smiled as he saw Noaa'lan coming and waved.
"I knew you wouldn't stand me up!" K'aashi said with a grin.
"Why would I? You know how important this could be for me if you're little hunch about the feud is a correct one!" Noaa'lan said.
"Well, whatever your father is holding from you has to be significant, or else he would have told you, am I right?" K'aashi asked as he opened up the door to the library.
"Well, of course. Whatever it is that he's hiding is the source of the feud," Noaa'lan stated.
"Well, it must be pretty juicy information if he never told you about what happened!!" K'aashi said gleefully, his eyes opening wide.
"Oh no! I'm not going to let this turn into an all-out hunt for gossip!!" Noaa'lan exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air and turning to leave. "I know you too well, K'aashi!"
"Wait!! That's not my reason for helping you!" K'aashi yelled after him.
"Well, then what is?" Noaa'lan asked angrily.
"You're my best friend, Noaa'lan. I want you to be happy, and if happiness is being with J'aa'nalia then we have to investigate! Am I right?"
Noaa'lan frowned at his friend, but gradually his frown melted away to a smile. He gave a small snort and then shook his head.
"Ah! What am I doubting you for, K'aashi!? Come on! Lets go find out what happened!"
"Now you're talking! So, where do you think we should start?" K'aashi asked.
"I think we could find something in the old news archives. K'aashi, I just have to ask you one thing," Noaa'lan said with a smirk.
"Yeah, what is it?" K'aashi said, looking back at Noaa'lan as he walked up the stairs.
"Why are you carrying a towel with you?"
"Well, I though we could do this for half of the day, and go vortex skiing for the second half! I mean, you've got the boat ready, right??" K'aashi asked.
"No. My brother went out on it with his friend! They'll probably be gone all day!!" Noaa'lan said with frustration.
"Aw man!! There goes all of my plans! You got any other ones??"
"Unfortunately I don't. I planned on spending the entire day looking for information about the feud," Noaa'lan said as he put his satchel down on the table in front of the holoarchive.
"Well, I'll go look through the political articles, because something's bound to turn up about this in there," K'aashi said, turning to walk away.
"Wait, K'aashi!! Are you crazy?! None of the political articles ever have anything on the royal family! We try to keep hidden from the public eye, and so far we've done a good job of it!!" Noaa'lan hissed.
"Well, your family had a pretty good track record for being secretive until you started to fall for J'aa'nalia," K'aashi said with a grin.
"Yes, after they get done with us you'll be able to find out about the royal family on the cover of every magazine and tabloid around the galaxy!" Noaa'lan exclaimed. "Personally, I think that's just what my family needs. Maybe it would get rid of the stuffiness."
"Maybe. Well, shall we start our search?" K'aashi asked, shrugging his shoulders.
"Indeed. Best of luck, my friend," Noaa'lan said, slapping K'aashi encouragingly on the shoulder.
Noaa'lan looked at the articles zip by in bright neon flashes on the holoarchive screen. The entire sight gave him an intense feeling of motion sickness, and he tried hard to keep his mind off of the strong sense of nausea that was churning up his stomach.
"Found anything yet, K'aash?" He asked, his glazed-over eyes not moving from the screen.
"Nothing yet. Whoa, man! You're turning a delightful shade of green over there! How about I take over that for a little while?"
"Fine with me," Noaa'lan said, getting up from in front of the screen. He stumbled as he got up from the dizziness. "Oh, man I feel sick!!"
"Yeah, you look pretty sick too! Why don't you go out and get some fresh air? Go across the street and see if you can't find us some lunch!"
"Ohhhh, please don't talk about food! Not now!" Noaa'lan moaned, holding his stomach.
"Go outside!!" K'aashi yelled with a grin, and Noaa'lan urgently obeyed.
Noaa'lan sat down on the steps with his head between his knees. He took deeps breaths, trying to calm the queasiness that rushed over him. He just about had it under control when a pair of sparkly red designer sandals appeared before him.
"Hey, funny seeing you here! You feeling all right?"
Noaa'lan shook his head as J'aa'nalia crouched down in front of him.
"J'aa'nie, I'd advise moving, because I feel like I'm going to be sick!" Noaa'lan said urgently, his breathing becoming rapid.
J'aa'nalia quickly got up and moved to his side. She reached out to touch his stomach, using the force to quell the nausea. Noaa'lan felt it subside almost instantly, and he looked up gratefully into J'aa'nalia's eyes.
"Feeling better?"
"Yeah, thanks!" Noaa'lan said, beaming at her.
"Why were you feeling so sick??" She asked.
"I guess I got holoarchive motion sickness," Noaa'lan said with a chuckle, shaking his head.
"I've never heard of that happening before, but then again I've never really been around one," J'aa'nalia said softly.
"Well, neither have I, and that's probably why I was dumb enough to use one in the first place!" Noaa'lan laughed.
"So, do you have a big report that you're doing research for??" J'aa'nalia asked.
"Well, kind of," Noaa'lan said quietly. "Do you promise you won't tell anybody this?" J'aa'nalia nodded her head and leaned in closer to hear him speak.
"We're researching the cause of the feud between my father and your father. Nobody besides the two of them knows what really happened, or if someone else knows then they're not telling the truth. One or the other!"
"Pardon me for saying so, but I think this is crazy, Noaa'lan!! Could you imagine what your father or my father would say or do if they found out we were working on this?!!" J'aa'nalia cried.
"I never said you had to work on it with us, J'aa'nie!" Noaa'lan said, his face radiating concern.
"Well, I am going to help you. I've made up my mind," J'aa'nalia said stubbornly, smiling at him. "I've said it before, Noaa'lan. We make a great team!"
"J'aa'nie, I didn't mean for you to get wrapped up in this!!" Noaa'lan pleaded with her.
"Too late. So, do you need me to help you work the holoarchive? I can do that, unless I also get motion sickness from it!"
"All right, you can do that. So, what do you know about the feud?" Noaa'lan asked curiously.
"Well, I'm the youngest and most sheltered in my family, so the answer to that is 'next to nothing'. The only thing that I know about my father and the feud is that everything that goes wrong is somehow the fault of those 'evil, thieving Narundis'!!" J'aa'nalia exclaimed.
"That part I know about. Why does he always say that the Narundi family is 'thieving'?"
"I don't know. Maybe your father stole something from him! It's possible, because my father hardly ever makes accusations without having a good reason to do so!" J'aa'nalia explained.
"Yeah, but my father is one of the most honest people that I know! He'd never steal anything from anybody!" Noaa'lan said with certainty.
"Well, that's what we're here to find out, now isn't it?" J'aa'nalia said, flashing him one of her brightest smiles. "Now come on! You don't want to make K'aashi do all of the work, do you?"
"No, I guess not," Noaa'lan said, smiling back at her as they walked back into the library. "You're as beautiful as ever this morning, J'aa'nalia!"
Noaa'lan leaned forward to kiss her and he felt the electricity as their lips met.
"What in the world do you think you're doing?!!" growled a low voice. "Don't you kids know that there's no talking and no displays of affection allowed in the library?!!"
Noaa'lan turned to face the older N'aanwarian, and he immediately saw the man drop to his knees in front of him.
"Oh, forgive me, Your Highness! I didn't mean to speak to you in such a disrespectful manner!" The older man cried.
"No, it's perfectly all right! Stand back up, please!" Noaa'lan insisted, motioning to the man to get up. "You were right about us not following the rules around here. I don't feel that just because I'm royalty I'm above the law. I'll respect your authority, and you don't need to be fearful."
"Oh, thank you, Your Majesty," The man gushed. "You are as wise and compassionate as they say you are."
"Who's 'they'?" Noaa'lan asked with curiosity.
"Why the council of elders, Your Grace. They know an awful lot about you."
"Do you know if they know anything about my father?" Noaa'lan asked hopefully, his blue eyes opening wide with anticipation.
"Your Highness, you must not pay much attention to politics! Your father is on the council!" The Man insisted. Noaa'lan felt his heart fall when he heard this. Beside him he could feel J'aa'nalia's hopes plummet through the floor as well. They both wanted to find out the truth, more than anything.
"Well, thank you for telling us about the council. I'm sure they can be of some use to us with our research," J'aa'nalia said with a small smile.
"I'm glad I could be of service. Anything for our future King!" The man called after them as they ran up the stairs. "Hey, no running in the library!!"
"K'aashi, how's it going up here?" Noaa'lan asked.
"Well, I've looked through all of the articles during that time period, and I found absolutely nothing about your father and R'aa'nlan T'naa'lichi. The record is absolutely clean of all traces of either of them." K'aashi muttered dejectedly.
"There's something odd about that," J'aa'nalia said softly.
"What? Are you sensing something is wrong, J'aa'nie?" Noaa'lan asked with concern.
"Yeah. It just doesn't make sense that my father would be totally wiped out from the record! I mean, surely he would have some articles written about him! He was one of your grandfather's best students, Noaa'lan. He and your father were virtually equals! I mean, I can see that your father would be missing from the record, because he's the King. However, my father . . . something's just not right!" J'aa'nalia said, touching her chin as she paced back and forth.
"She's got a point, Noaa'lan. There is something wrong about that," K'aashi said quietly.
"Well, I don't know about all of you, but I think better on a full stomach," Noaa'lan said. "How about we go grab us a bite to eat?"
"I'm good with that," J'aa'nalia said.
"Me too. Lets go," K'aashi said eagerly.
"Last one to Y'aatlan's is a rotten d'naakai!!!" Noaa'lan cried as he raced down the stairs toward the front door with K'aashi and J'aa'nalia following in close behind.
"NO RUNNING!!!!" Yelled the man as they passed by in a blur. None of them heard him for they were all too busy laughing.
"I'm telling you Noaa'lan, I'm not interested in anyone!! Just because you have some dumb dream about me and a woman doesn't mean it's going to come true!" Kahl'aan said with a sneer.
"What's this about you and a woman, Kahl'aan?" Asked Cel'aanaeus as he entered the kitchen.
"Oh, nothing. Braa'kae-brain over here had a stupid dream where I was kissing a woman and he thinks it's going to come true!!" Kahl'aan yelled with an appalled expression on his face.
"Uh, you were doing more with her than just kissing her, Kahl'aan," Noaa'lan pointed out.
"Whatever! Anyways, Noaa'lan was so sure that it actually happened that he came in to check on me last night, father!!"
"Your brother was just showing you that he cared about you, that's all. I'd say he acted responsibly!" Cel'aanaeus said, giving Noaa'lan an approving glance.
"Yeah, but how many guys my age have an older brother who checks up on them when THEY'RE the ones having the bad dream!!? Or, was it such a bad dream, Noaa'lan? Tell me, did seeing me with that woman turn you on?" Kahl'aan sneered, baiting his brother.
"Knock it off!!" Noaa'lan warned his brother. "Believe me, I didn't want to see what you were doing, but I was stuck in one place and I couldn't move from it. It was as if something were forcing me to keep on watching you two."
"Oh. So, what did this girl look like?" Kahl'aan asked eagerly.
"Why would you want to even get your hopes up if you're so sure you'll never see her?" Noaa'lan snapped.
"Just tell me what she looked like! I want to know!"
"All right. She was tall, slender, scantily-dressed, and beautiful. She had short, indigo hair with piercing blue eyes. You could never miss her if you saw her, because she's so exotic!" Noaa'lan said, leaning in so their father couldn't hear them over the noise of the kitchen.
"Scantily-dressed, huh?" Kahl'aan said with a grin. "Sounds like K'aashi's type of girl!!"
"Hey, shut up!! I'm telling him you said that!!"
Kahl'aan continued to laugh as the servants brought them their breakfast. For a long time there wasn't any talking as the family ate, but then Cel'aanaeus looked up from his plate with an amused expression on his face.
"Kahl'aan, you do realize that whenever your brother has a dream it usually comes true, don't you?"
"Sure, but I still can't imagine myself at this age with a woman like that! Or any woman, for that matter!!" Kahl'aan proclaimed.
"Oh, quit being so stuffy!! You're going to fall in love! Just give it time!!" Noaa'lan cried, his mouth still half-full of food.
"I'd rather that Kahl'aan keep his point of view for now, Noaa'lan. He's correct with his assertion that he's too young to date. I would have great reservations about him dating a woman who was as "scantily-dressed" as the one in your dream, and I hope that it never happens!" Cel'aanaeus said calmly.
A smile slowly crept across Kahl'aan's face. Noaa'lan could easily tell what he was thinking about.
"Aa'natlan and I were going to go out on the boat and go sea diving, if that's all right with you, father," Kahl'aan said as they were finishing up the meal.
"That's no problem with me. Noaa'lan, do you have any plans for today?" Cel'aanaeus asked.
"Yeah, K'aashi and I were going to check out the Academy's library and see if we can't get some research done on a study we're doing," Noaa'lan said truthfully.
"Man, you never go out and just enjoy yourself, Noaa'lan!" Kahl'aan said in a taunting manner.
"Look, I know you just said that to gloat that you don't have any work to do on the weekends, but at my level in schooling there's always work to do!!" Noaa'lan retorted.
"Well, both of you go out and enjoy your day," Bel'aanaea said with a smile. "Oh, and Noaa'lan?"
"Yeah?" Noaa'lan said as he turned around in the doorway.
"Don't forget to have a little bit of fun today, ok?"
"I won't, mother." Noaa'lan said as he kissed her goodbye, and then he headed out the door.
K'aashi was waiting for him on the steps of the library, holding his notebook and a towel. He smiled as he saw Noaa'lan coming and waved.
"I knew you wouldn't stand me up!" K'aashi said with a grin.
"Why would I? You know how important this could be for me if you're little hunch about the feud is a correct one!" Noaa'lan said.
"Well, whatever your father is holding from you has to be significant, or else he would have told you, am I right?" K'aashi asked as he opened up the door to the library.
"Well, of course. Whatever it is that he's hiding is the source of the feud," Noaa'lan stated.
"Well, it must be pretty juicy information if he never told you about what happened!!" K'aashi said gleefully, his eyes opening wide.
"Oh no! I'm not going to let this turn into an all-out hunt for gossip!!" Noaa'lan exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air and turning to leave. "I know you too well, K'aashi!"
"Wait!! That's not my reason for helping you!" K'aashi yelled after him.
"Well, then what is?" Noaa'lan asked angrily.
"You're my best friend, Noaa'lan. I want you to be happy, and if happiness is being with J'aa'nalia then we have to investigate! Am I right?"
Noaa'lan frowned at his friend, but gradually his frown melted away to a smile. He gave a small snort and then shook his head.
"Ah! What am I doubting you for, K'aashi!? Come on! Lets go find out what happened!"
"Now you're talking! So, where do you think we should start?" K'aashi asked.
"I think we could find something in the old news archives. K'aashi, I just have to ask you one thing," Noaa'lan said with a smirk.
"Yeah, what is it?" K'aashi said, looking back at Noaa'lan as he walked up the stairs.
"Why are you carrying a towel with you?"
"Well, I though we could do this for half of the day, and go vortex skiing for the second half! I mean, you've got the boat ready, right??" K'aashi asked.
"No. My brother went out on it with his friend! They'll probably be gone all day!!" Noaa'lan said with frustration.
"Aw man!! There goes all of my plans! You got any other ones??"
"Unfortunately I don't. I planned on spending the entire day looking for information about the feud," Noaa'lan said as he put his satchel down on the table in front of the holoarchive.
"Well, I'll go look through the political articles, because something's bound to turn up about this in there," K'aashi said, turning to walk away.
"Wait, K'aashi!! Are you crazy?! None of the political articles ever have anything on the royal family! We try to keep hidden from the public eye, and so far we've done a good job of it!!" Noaa'lan hissed.
"Well, your family had a pretty good track record for being secretive until you started to fall for J'aa'nalia," K'aashi said with a grin.
"Yes, after they get done with us you'll be able to find out about the royal family on the cover of every magazine and tabloid around the galaxy!" Noaa'lan exclaimed. "Personally, I think that's just what my family needs. Maybe it would get rid of the stuffiness."
"Maybe. Well, shall we start our search?" K'aashi asked, shrugging his shoulders.
"Indeed. Best of luck, my friend," Noaa'lan said, slapping K'aashi encouragingly on the shoulder.
Noaa'lan looked at the articles zip by in bright neon flashes on the holoarchive screen. The entire sight gave him an intense feeling of motion sickness, and he tried hard to keep his mind off of the strong sense of nausea that was churning up his stomach.
"Found anything yet, K'aash?" He asked, his glazed-over eyes not moving from the screen.
"Nothing yet. Whoa, man! You're turning a delightful shade of green over there! How about I take over that for a little while?"
"Fine with me," Noaa'lan said, getting up from in front of the screen. He stumbled as he got up from the dizziness. "Oh, man I feel sick!!"
"Yeah, you look pretty sick too! Why don't you go out and get some fresh air? Go across the street and see if you can't find us some lunch!"
"Ohhhh, please don't talk about food! Not now!" Noaa'lan moaned, holding his stomach.
"Go outside!!" K'aashi yelled with a grin, and Noaa'lan urgently obeyed.
Noaa'lan sat down on the steps with his head between his knees. He took deeps breaths, trying to calm the queasiness that rushed over him. He just about had it under control when a pair of sparkly red designer sandals appeared before him.
"Hey, funny seeing you here! You feeling all right?"
Noaa'lan shook his head as J'aa'nalia crouched down in front of him.
"J'aa'nie, I'd advise moving, because I feel like I'm going to be sick!" Noaa'lan said urgently, his breathing becoming rapid.
J'aa'nalia quickly got up and moved to his side. She reached out to touch his stomach, using the force to quell the nausea. Noaa'lan felt it subside almost instantly, and he looked up gratefully into J'aa'nalia's eyes.
"Feeling better?"
"Yeah, thanks!" Noaa'lan said, beaming at her.
"Why were you feeling so sick??" She asked.
"I guess I got holoarchive motion sickness," Noaa'lan said with a chuckle, shaking his head.
"I've never heard of that happening before, but then again I've never really been around one," J'aa'nalia said softly.
"Well, neither have I, and that's probably why I was dumb enough to use one in the first place!" Noaa'lan laughed.
"So, do you have a big report that you're doing research for??" J'aa'nalia asked.
"Well, kind of," Noaa'lan said quietly. "Do you promise you won't tell anybody this?" J'aa'nalia nodded her head and leaned in closer to hear him speak.
"We're researching the cause of the feud between my father and your father. Nobody besides the two of them knows what really happened, or if someone else knows then they're not telling the truth. One or the other!"
"Pardon me for saying so, but I think this is crazy, Noaa'lan!! Could you imagine what your father or my father would say or do if they found out we were working on this?!!" J'aa'nalia cried.
"I never said you had to work on it with us, J'aa'nie!" Noaa'lan said, his face radiating concern.
"Well, I am going to help you. I've made up my mind," J'aa'nalia said stubbornly, smiling at him. "I've said it before, Noaa'lan. We make a great team!"
"J'aa'nie, I didn't mean for you to get wrapped up in this!!" Noaa'lan pleaded with her.
"Too late. So, do you need me to help you work the holoarchive? I can do that, unless I also get motion sickness from it!"
"All right, you can do that. So, what do you know about the feud?" Noaa'lan asked curiously.
"Well, I'm the youngest and most sheltered in my family, so the answer to that is 'next to nothing'. The only thing that I know about my father and the feud is that everything that goes wrong is somehow the fault of those 'evil, thieving Narundis'!!" J'aa'nalia exclaimed.
"That part I know about. Why does he always say that the Narundi family is 'thieving'?"
"I don't know. Maybe your father stole something from him! It's possible, because my father hardly ever makes accusations without having a good reason to do so!" J'aa'nalia explained.
"Yeah, but my father is one of the most honest people that I know! He'd never steal anything from anybody!" Noaa'lan said with certainty.
"Well, that's what we're here to find out, now isn't it?" J'aa'nalia said, flashing him one of her brightest smiles. "Now come on! You don't want to make K'aashi do all of the work, do you?"
"No, I guess not," Noaa'lan said, smiling back at her as they walked back into the library. "You're as beautiful as ever this morning, J'aa'nalia!"
Noaa'lan leaned forward to kiss her and he felt the electricity as their lips met.
"What in the world do you think you're doing?!!" growled a low voice. "Don't you kids know that there's no talking and no displays of affection allowed in the library?!!"
Noaa'lan turned to face the older N'aanwarian, and he immediately saw the man drop to his knees in front of him.
"Oh, forgive me, Your Highness! I didn't mean to speak to you in such a disrespectful manner!" The older man cried.
"No, it's perfectly all right! Stand back up, please!" Noaa'lan insisted, motioning to the man to get up. "You were right about us not following the rules around here. I don't feel that just because I'm royalty I'm above the law. I'll respect your authority, and you don't need to be fearful."
"Oh, thank you, Your Majesty," The man gushed. "You are as wise and compassionate as they say you are."
"Who's 'they'?" Noaa'lan asked with curiosity.
"Why the council of elders, Your Grace. They know an awful lot about you."
"Do you know if they know anything about my father?" Noaa'lan asked hopefully, his blue eyes opening wide with anticipation.
"Your Highness, you must not pay much attention to politics! Your father is on the council!" The Man insisted. Noaa'lan felt his heart fall when he heard this. Beside him he could feel J'aa'nalia's hopes plummet through the floor as well. They both wanted to find out the truth, more than anything.
"Well, thank you for telling us about the council. I'm sure they can be of some use to us with our research," J'aa'nalia said with a small smile.
"I'm glad I could be of service. Anything for our future King!" The man called after them as they ran up the stairs. "Hey, no running in the library!!"
"K'aashi, how's it going up here?" Noaa'lan asked.
"Well, I've looked through all of the articles during that time period, and I found absolutely nothing about your father and R'aa'nlan T'naa'lichi. The record is absolutely clean of all traces of either of them." K'aashi muttered dejectedly.
"There's something odd about that," J'aa'nalia said softly.
"What? Are you sensing something is wrong, J'aa'nie?" Noaa'lan asked with concern.
"Yeah. It just doesn't make sense that my father would be totally wiped out from the record! I mean, surely he would have some articles written about him! He was one of your grandfather's best students, Noaa'lan. He and your father were virtually equals! I mean, I can see that your father would be missing from the record, because he's the King. However, my father . . . something's just not right!" J'aa'nalia said, touching her chin as she paced back and forth.
"She's got a point, Noaa'lan. There is something wrong about that," K'aashi said quietly.
"Well, I don't know about all of you, but I think better on a full stomach," Noaa'lan said. "How about we go grab us a bite to eat?"
"I'm good with that," J'aa'nalia said.
"Me too. Lets go," K'aashi said eagerly.
"Last one to Y'aatlan's is a rotten d'naakai!!!" Noaa'lan cried as he raced down the stairs toward the front door with K'aashi and J'aa'nalia following in close behind.
"NO RUNNING!!!!" Yelled the man as they passed by in a blur. None of them heard him for they were all too busy laughing.
