Chapter Forty-Nine: Ridikar Won't Give Up Yet
Five days later.
Nikon, Tila and Tayka were disappointed to learn that Tayla was not
getting married (they were unaware of what had happened between Tayla and
Ridikar, and Gracina and Lektron had decided that they were too young to know
the full truth). Arlon, Lukan, Bendros, and Riccan were greatly relieved, and
when the three older lads had learned the entire story of what Ridikar had tried
to do to Tayla, they were ready to murder the boy, Calmagian royal heir or not.
The three young men were standing on the balcony of the meeting hall
at the moment, watching the Calmagian fighter jets, war pods, and other warring
planes take off into the sky to fight the invaders from Frieza. Arlon, Lukan,
and Bendros had been sparring and training to go fight Frieza's minions
themselves should the Calmagian mission to destroy them fail. Riccan had been
training with them, even though Gracina had refused to allow him to fight.
Riccan had been furious and had declared angrily that Frieza and his minions
would probably be dead by the time he was old enough to help fight them.
"Let's pray to Orchida that happens!" Gracina had told her sulky son
fervently. Riccan had stormed away from his mother, and Lektron had told his
wife to let their son calm down.
"It's not fair! Tayla got to fight when she was only seven years
old, and I'm older than that, and Mamma still won't let me fight! I'll never
get to be a warrior!" Riccan cried angrily, as he sparred with his uncles on the
balcony. He was already a fierce little fighter for his age, and his uncles and
Bendros were impressed by the boy's stamina and strength.
"Calm down, Riccan," Arlon soothed. "The only reason Tayla had to
fight that one time was because she didn't really have a choice. You do, and
your mother is only looking out for you. She just doesn't want you to get hurt,
that's all."
"Will Tayla be allowed to fight with us?" Lukan asked his brother,
as he threw a punch at Arlon's stomach. Arlon easily blocked Lukan's fist.
"Nama hasn't decided yet; I can tell she doesn't want Tayla involved
in this anymore than necessary, but we really do need her. I hope Nama
consents, even though I'm worried about our little sister fighting myself,"
Arlon admitted, as he landed a powerful roundhouse kick on Lukan's shoulder.
Lukan responded with a punch to Arlon's ribs, a fast punch that Arlon had been
unable to block.
"Dirkan has been training her just in case," Bendros told Tayla's
brothers, who had been hitting Riccan with light punches, even though Riccan had
kept bugging him to fight at full strength. "She was able to fight the Saiyans
away from Astoria."
"Yeah, but remember these guys coming from Frieza are supposed to be
stronger than those Saiyan boys that we had fought five years ago," Lukan
ordered, successfully dodging Arlon's punch to his head.
"I fought against Saiyans during my few years with
Intergalacticpol," Bendros told him, as he blocked one of Riccan's quick kicks
with his hand. "I was in space with Prince Gohan's officers at the time you
guys fought against the Saiyans. We barely managed to defeat them and escape
with our lives intact. This will be the first time that I will actually be
facing other of Frieza's minions. I don't know whether to look forward to it,
or be afraid."
"They can't be that much tougher than the Saiyans!" Riccan declared
confidently. "You guys are lucky! I sure wish I could fight with you all!"
"Maybe in a few years from now," Bendros assured him. "I can
remember being your age and wanting to go into battle myself. Don't take it too
much to heart, Riccan; there are plenty of young men who are older who wish they
didn't have to fight." Riccan successfully, playfully punched him in his
stomach, and Bendros gasped aloud. "Good job, little fellow!"
Riccan grinned devilishly.
"Tayla's had her Awakening," Arlon said hopefully. "Some of us had
not even come that far, except for you, Bendros, for you told us that you had
yours during your Intergalacticpol years. Those Astorians who have had their
Awakenings are stronger than the average Astorian. I sure wish that I could
somehow obtain mine. Maybe I will during this war with Frieza's forces."
Lukan was hoping the same thing. Then he grew worried. "Maybe Nama
is right to be worried about letting Tayla fight with us. It is Tayla that
Frieza's forces are after; shouldn't we keep her out of sight? If Tayla fights
with us, then she will be an easier target for Frieza's followers to capture.
Maybe we try to talk Nama out of letting Tayla fight; she'll be placed in more
danger."
"Tayla will want to fight with us," Arlon argued. "I understand
your concern, but she is considered old enough to fight with us now, and she has
the strength to do so."
"Lukan does have a point," Bendros admitted, grabbing Riccan in a
headlock, just tight enough not to cause Riccan any pain. "Having Tayla out
with us in open combat will place her in peril."
"They won't know which of the girls is Tayla," Arlon disputed,
sweeping his feet beneath Lukan and nearly tripping him. Lukan dodged Arlon's
foot.
"The Saiyans will be able to tell them," Lukan pointed out to his
brother, as he landed a punch on Arlon's shoulder.
"Tayla won't get captured again!" Riccan sided with Arlon. "She
should be allowed to fight! She beat the Saiyans before, and she can surely
beat Frieza's minions! There's no way that she can lose!" Riccan struggled to
break free of Bendros' headlock, but he couldn't.
Arlon suggested, "Couldn't we disguise Tayla, and have her hide her ki?"
Bendros shook his head, finally releasing Riccan's head. "We could disguise
her, but if Tayla fully hides her ki, how will she be able to use ki blasts?
She can repress it, making her enemies think that she's weaker than she really
is."
"Sounds like a good plan to me," Lukan reluctantly agreed. Then he
grew more worried than before. "We just don't need to lose her, that's all.
What if we can't really protect her? What will become of her-and us?"
The young men grew silent then, and all sparring stopped. Lukan's
peers allowed themselves to digest his words, and they all prayed silently that
Tayla would not be taken from them. Even the normally rowdy Riccan was subdued,
for he was also wondering for the first time what would happen if Tayla was
taken captive. Not even Great-Nama had been able to kill Frieza, and Frieza was
as alive and well as ever.
They wondered if Kami Orchida could watch over them from so far
away.
Prince Amitar's Bedroom
"Father, we need to talk."
Crown Prince Amitar was stretching, training to eventually go fight Frieza's
forces. He noticed Ridikar entering his room, and he stopped for a few moments
for time with his favorite child. "What is it, son?" Amitar and Ridikar sat
down in the dark green chairs in Amitar's green and gold bedroom.
"Father, remember the note that I had left you about Tayla agreeing
to marry me?"
Amitar scratched his gray head. "Yes, son."
"She is trying to break our engagement; I have told her that she
could not do that, but she will not listen, and her family is backing her up."
"What?" Amitar cried, outraged. "Who does she think she is? Just
because she is an Astorian-does she know that only the man may break off the
engagement in Calmagian law? She is on Calmagian soil, and she must follow our
laws!"
"I still want her, Father, even though she behaved horribly last
week. Why, Father, all I did was try to consummate our union, and she rejected
me, claiming that she did not want me to take her."
Amitar looked at his son skeptically. "Son, are you certain that
you wish to marry this girl? She sounds as if she could be more disobedient and
stubborn than your sister, Caline."
Ridikar nodded. "I can manage her, Father, trust me. I still want
her, and no girl is going to refuse me. She is mine, and I will have her!
Isn't there anything you and Grandfather can do to ensure that she will become
my wife? She cannot break our engagement, can she?"
Amitar told his son firmly, "If she was a Calmagian girl, your
grandfather and I could force her to marry you, but she is not a citizen of our
planet, which makes things more complicated. The Astorians do not arrange
marriages the same way that we do. However, there is one thing that I can do."
"What's that, Father?"
"I can refuse to sign the alliance agreements between Astoria and
Calmag until Tayla agrees to marry you. I am certain that I can convince your
grandfather to do the same thing, if I put this story to him right. If I refuse
to sign, he will surely believe that I have good cause not to do so; my father
trusts my judgment. To put it bluntly: no marriage for you, no alliance between
Astoria and Calmag. Then Tayla's family will force her to keep her end of the
engagement agreement, and you will have your little Astorian bride."
Ridikar smiled for the first time in days. He shook his father's
hand solemnly. "Thank you, Father, for I will always be grateful for this."
Amitar allowed himself a grin on his normally solemn face. "Good
luck, my son. I promise you that Tayla will eventually get over this silly
little spat between you two and realize that she cannot leave you so easily.
You must fight for her, my son, if you truly want her, and make her see that you
are the one in charge and the only one for her. Leave the next part to me, for
it is about time that you settled down and had some sons of your own."
Ridikar nodded, thanked his father again, and walked out of the room, happier
than he had been in a while. Princess Tayla Chloe would be his bride yet!
"Tayla, you are mine!" he whispered under his breath.
Two hours later.
"What?" King Kitchator exclaimed in an uproar. "Why are you not
signing the alliance agreement, Amitar? Have you lost your mind? We need the
Astorians as our allies!"
"Father," Amitar told him calmly, "would you want to ally with a
race that produces daughters that back out of perfectly honorable engagement
agreements?"
"What engagement agreement?" Kitchator asked. "I have heard nothing
about an engagement between a Calmagian and an Astorian."
"Princess Tayla Chloe, your niece-by-marriage, has verbally agreed
to marry my son, Ridikar, and because of a silly little fight between them, she
has broken off the engagement. We must not tolerate that, Father, even if
Princess Tayla is not a Calmagian. What if other women or girls here decided to
follow her lead? I am not so sure that the Astorian women are such a good
influence on the Calmagian women anyway. My daughter, Caline, is spending an
unnecessary amount of time in the company of Princess Tayla and her sister,
Princess Gracina. Who knows what strange and forbidding ideas she could learn
from them? Princess Tayla is still young enough, however, to learn Calmagian
ways and laws, and I will not allow her to reject my son, who would be a good
husband for her. My son, Ridikar, desires her, and only he should be allowed to
break off the engagement."
"Father, I am urging you to refuse to sign the alliance treaties
between Astoria and Calmag until Princess Tayla agrees to marry Ridikar. A
marriage between them would further unify our planets, once the Astorians are
made to see reason. In fact, Father, we should refuse to sign the treaties
until Princess Tayla is actually married to Ridikar, and I can have them wed
within a week's time."
"Son, we have no time to be planning weddings!" Kitchator declared
vociferously. "Don't you realize that we are at war? Do you realize that
Frieza's forces could destroy our entire planet at any time? I agree with you
that Princess Tayla should honor the betrothal agreement, but this is no time to
blackmail potential allies! We have bigger things to worry about that Ridikar's
marriage plans, but if and when we drive Frieza's forces off of our planet, then
we can address this issue. I have to deal with the fact that one of my most
trusted men, Alberm Dunlop of Rendor is a traitor, and our people are dying
around us, and without the Astorians' help, we are probably helpless. This will
have to wait, Amitar."
"Father, I understand, in a way, how you feel, but no wench is going
to refuse to marry my son when she has agreed to do so before. I am sorry, but
I will have to refuse to sign the treaties until Ridikar and Princess Tayla are
wed, or at the very least, betrothed once more. You know that if I refuse to
sign, the treaties will be null and void after your death, and even you will not
live forever. Ridikar also has to sign the treaties since he rules Calmag after
my death. Father, Ridikar will soon be populating the planet with illegitimate
children, and we don't need any of them rising to seize the throne from the
rightful heirs. My son needs a wife! A marriage between my son and a Princess
of Chloe would cement the alliance between Calmag and Astoria. Father, we must
make this marriage happen before the Astorians go back home! Ridikar and I want
an alliance with Astoria as much as you do, but neither one of us will sign the
treaties until Ridikar gets the bride he wants."
Kitchator growled furiously, his long, white beard shaking with his
anger. He hated being blackmailed by his own son, but he also felt that Amitar
was right. "You blackmail me, but I will give in! Very well, we will not sign
any treaties with Astoria until Ridikar gets Tayla as his bride."
Amitar smiled, pleased.
Five days later.
Nikon, Tila and Tayka were disappointed to learn that Tayla was not
getting married (they were unaware of what had happened between Tayla and
Ridikar, and Gracina and Lektron had decided that they were too young to know
the full truth). Arlon, Lukan, Bendros, and Riccan were greatly relieved, and
when the three older lads had learned the entire story of what Ridikar had tried
to do to Tayla, they were ready to murder the boy, Calmagian royal heir or not.
The three young men were standing on the balcony of the meeting hall
at the moment, watching the Calmagian fighter jets, war pods, and other warring
planes take off into the sky to fight the invaders from Frieza. Arlon, Lukan,
and Bendros had been sparring and training to go fight Frieza's minions
themselves should the Calmagian mission to destroy them fail. Riccan had been
training with them, even though Gracina had refused to allow him to fight.
Riccan had been furious and had declared angrily that Frieza and his minions
would probably be dead by the time he was old enough to help fight them.
"Let's pray to Orchida that happens!" Gracina had told her sulky son
fervently. Riccan had stormed away from his mother, and Lektron had told his
wife to let their son calm down.
"It's not fair! Tayla got to fight when she was only seven years
old, and I'm older than that, and Mamma still won't let me fight! I'll never
get to be a warrior!" Riccan cried angrily, as he sparred with his uncles on the
balcony. He was already a fierce little fighter for his age, and his uncles and
Bendros were impressed by the boy's stamina and strength.
"Calm down, Riccan," Arlon soothed. "The only reason Tayla had to
fight that one time was because she didn't really have a choice. You do, and
your mother is only looking out for you. She just doesn't want you to get hurt,
that's all."
"Will Tayla be allowed to fight with us?" Lukan asked his brother,
as he threw a punch at Arlon's stomach. Arlon easily blocked Lukan's fist.
"Nama hasn't decided yet; I can tell she doesn't want Tayla involved
in this anymore than necessary, but we really do need her. I hope Nama
consents, even though I'm worried about our little sister fighting myself,"
Arlon admitted, as he landed a powerful roundhouse kick on Lukan's shoulder.
Lukan responded with a punch to Arlon's ribs, a fast punch that Arlon had been
unable to block.
"Dirkan has been training her just in case," Bendros told Tayla's
brothers, who had been hitting Riccan with light punches, even though Riccan had
kept bugging him to fight at full strength. "She was able to fight the Saiyans
away from Astoria."
"Yeah, but remember these guys coming from Frieza are supposed to be
stronger than those Saiyan boys that we had fought five years ago," Lukan
ordered, successfully dodging Arlon's punch to his head.
"I fought against Saiyans during my few years with
Intergalacticpol," Bendros told him, as he blocked one of Riccan's quick kicks
with his hand. "I was in space with Prince Gohan's officers at the time you
guys fought against the Saiyans. We barely managed to defeat them and escape
with our lives intact. This will be the first time that I will actually be
facing other of Frieza's minions. I don't know whether to look forward to it,
or be afraid."
"They can't be that much tougher than the Saiyans!" Riccan declared
confidently. "You guys are lucky! I sure wish I could fight with you all!"
"Maybe in a few years from now," Bendros assured him. "I can
remember being your age and wanting to go into battle myself. Don't take it too
much to heart, Riccan; there are plenty of young men who are older who wish they
didn't have to fight." Riccan successfully, playfully punched him in his
stomach, and Bendros gasped aloud. "Good job, little fellow!"
Riccan grinned devilishly.
"Tayla's had her Awakening," Arlon said hopefully. "Some of us had
not even come that far, except for you, Bendros, for you told us that you had
yours during your Intergalacticpol years. Those Astorians who have had their
Awakenings are stronger than the average Astorian. I sure wish that I could
somehow obtain mine. Maybe I will during this war with Frieza's forces."
Lukan was hoping the same thing. Then he grew worried. "Maybe Nama
is right to be worried about letting Tayla fight with us. It is Tayla that
Frieza's forces are after; shouldn't we keep her out of sight? If Tayla fights
with us, then she will be an easier target for Frieza's followers to capture.
Maybe we try to talk Nama out of letting Tayla fight; she'll be placed in more
danger."
"Tayla will want to fight with us," Arlon argued. "I understand
your concern, but she is considered old enough to fight with us now, and she has
the strength to do so."
"Lukan does have a point," Bendros admitted, grabbing Riccan in a
headlock, just tight enough not to cause Riccan any pain. "Having Tayla out
with us in open combat will place her in peril."
"They won't know which of the girls is Tayla," Arlon disputed,
sweeping his feet beneath Lukan and nearly tripping him. Lukan dodged Arlon's
foot.
"The Saiyans will be able to tell them," Lukan pointed out to his
brother, as he landed a punch on Arlon's shoulder.
"Tayla won't get captured again!" Riccan sided with Arlon. "She
should be allowed to fight! She beat the Saiyans before, and she can surely
beat Frieza's minions! There's no way that she can lose!" Riccan struggled to
break free of Bendros' headlock, but he couldn't.
Arlon suggested, "Couldn't we disguise Tayla, and have her hide her ki?"
Bendros shook his head, finally releasing Riccan's head. "We could disguise
her, but if Tayla fully hides her ki, how will she be able to use ki blasts?
She can repress it, making her enemies think that she's weaker than she really
is."
"Sounds like a good plan to me," Lukan reluctantly agreed. Then he
grew more worried than before. "We just don't need to lose her, that's all.
What if we can't really protect her? What will become of her-and us?"
The young men grew silent then, and all sparring stopped. Lukan's
peers allowed themselves to digest his words, and they all prayed silently that
Tayla would not be taken from them. Even the normally rowdy Riccan was subdued,
for he was also wondering for the first time what would happen if Tayla was
taken captive. Not even Great-Nama had been able to kill Frieza, and Frieza was
as alive and well as ever.
They wondered if Kami Orchida could watch over them from so far
away.
Prince Amitar's Bedroom
"Father, we need to talk."
Crown Prince Amitar was stretching, training to eventually go fight Frieza's
forces. He noticed Ridikar entering his room, and he stopped for a few moments
for time with his favorite child. "What is it, son?" Amitar and Ridikar sat
down in the dark green chairs in Amitar's green and gold bedroom.
"Father, remember the note that I had left you about Tayla agreeing
to marry me?"
Amitar scratched his gray head. "Yes, son."
"She is trying to break our engagement; I have told her that she
could not do that, but she will not listen, and her family is backing her up."
"What?" Amitar cried, outraged. "Who does she think she is? Just
because she is an Astorian-does she know that only the man may break off the
engagement in Calmagian law? She is on Calmagian soil, and she must follow our
laws!"
"I still want her, Father, even though she behaved horribly last
week. Why, Father, all I did was try to consummate our union, and she rejected
me, claiming that she did not want me to take her."
Amitar looked at his son skeptically. "Son, are you certain that
you wish to marry this girl? She sounds as if she could be more disobedient and
stubborn than your sister, Caline."
Ridikar nodded. "I can manage her, Father, trust me. I still want
her, and no girl is going to refuse me. She is mine, and I will have her!
Isn't there anything you and Grandfather can do to ensure that she will become
my wife? She cannot break our engagement, can she?"
Amitar told his son firmly, "If she was a Calmagian girl, your
grandfather and I could force her to marry you, but she is not a citizen of our
planet, which makes things more complicated. The Astorians do not arrange
marriages the same way that we do. However, there is one thing that I can do."
"What's that, Father?"
"I can refuse to sign the alliance agreements between Astoria and
Calmag until Tayla agrees to marry you. I am certain that I can convince your
grandfather to do the same thing, if I put this story to him right. If I refuse
to sign, he will surely believe that I have good cause not to do so; my father
trusts my judgment. To put it bluntly: no marriage for you, no alliance between
Astoria and Calmag. Then Tayla's family will force her to keep her end of the
engagement agreement, and you will have your little Astorian bride."
Ridikar smiled for the first time in days. He shook his father's
hand solemnly. "Thank you, Father, for I will always be grateful for this."
Amitar allowed himself a grin on his normally solemn face. "Good
luck, my son. I promise you that Tayla will eventually get over this silly
little spat between you two and realize that she cannot leave you so easily.
You must fight for her, my son, if you truly want her, and make her see that you
are the one in charge and the only one for her. Leave the next part to me, for
it is about time that you settled down and had some sons of your own."
Ridikar nodded, thanked his father again, and walked out of the room, happier
than he had been in a while. Princess Tayla Chloe would be his bride yet!
"Tayla, you are mine!" he whispered under his breath.
Two hours later.
"What?" King Kitchator exclaimed in an uproar. "Why are you not
signing the alliance agreement, Amitar? Have you lost your mind? We need the
Astorians as our allies!"
"Father," Amitar told him calmly, "would you want to ally with a
race that produces daughters that back out of perfectly honorable engagement
agreements?"
"What engagement agreement?" Kitchator asked. "I have heard nothing
about an engagement between a Calmagian and an Astorian."
"Princess Tayla Chloe, your niece-by-marriage, has verbally agreed
to marry my son, Ridikar, and because of a silly little fight between them, she
has broken off the engagement. We must not tolerate that, Father, even if
Princess Tayla is not a Calmagian. What if other women or girls here decided to
follow her lead? I am not so sure that the Astorian women are such a good
influence on the Calmagian women anyway. My daughter, Caline, is spending an
unnecessary amount of time in the company of Princess Tayla and her sister,
Princess Gracina. Who knows what strange and forbidding ideas she could learn
from them? Princess Tayla is still young enough, however, to learn Calmagian
ways and laws, and I will not allow her to reject my son, who would be a good
husband for her. My son, Ridikar, desires her, and only he should be allowed to
break off the engagement."
"Father, I am urging you to refuse to sign the alliance treaties
between Astoria and Calmag until Princess Tayla agrees to marry Ridikar. A
marriage between them would further unify our planets, once the Astorians are
made to see reason. In fact, Father, we should refuse to sign the treaties
until Princess Tayla is actually married to Ridikar, and I can have them wed
within a week's time."
"Son, we have no time to be planning weddings!" Kitchator declared
vociferously. "Don't you realize that we are at war? Do you realize that
Frieza's forces could destroy our entire planet at any time? I agree with you
that Princess Tayla should honor the betrothal agreement, but this is no time to
blackmail potential allies! We have bigger things to worry about that Ridikar's
marriage plans, but if and when we drive Frieza's forces off of our planet, then
we can address this issue. I have to deal with the fact that one of my most
trusted men, Alberm Dunlop of Rendor is a traitor, and our people are dying
around us, and without the Astorians' help, we are probably helpless. This will
have to wait, Amitar."
"Father, I understand, in a way, how you feel, but no wench is going
to refuse to marry my son when she has agreed to do so before. I am sorry, but
I will have to refuse to sign the treaties until Ridikar and Princess Tayla are
wed, or at the very least, betrothed once more. You know that if I refuse to
sign, the treaties will be null and void after your death, and even you will not
live forever. Ridikar also has to sign the treaties since he rules Calmag after
my death. Father, Ridikar will soon be populating the planet with illegitimate
children, and we don't need any of them rising to seize the throne from the
rightful heirs. My son needs a wife! A marriage between my son and a Princess
of Chloe would cement the alliance between Calmag and Astoria. Father, we must
make this marriage happen before the Astorians go back home! Ridikar and I want
an alliance with Astoria as much as you do, but neither one of us will sign the
treaties until Ridikar gets the bride he wants."
Kitchator growled furiously, his long, white beard shaking with his
anger. He hated being blackmailed by his own son, but he also felt that Amitar
was right. "You blackmail me, but I will give in! Very well, we will not sign
any treaties with Astoria until Ridikar gets Tayla as his bride."
Amitar smiled, pleased.
