Serena sighed as she slid down onto the bed. 'Eons ago Antar was ruled by a
monarch. His name was Endar. The people loved him, he was a just and worthy
king. And by his wife Valoncica he had two children. They were Zan and
Vilandra. He also had a ward by the name of Rath. Rath was his sister's
child and at her death he was accepted into the royal family. But, not by
his wife he had another child. It was when he was very young, before he
understood what it meant to be king, before he understood what could come
of it. This child's name was Kivar.'
'Kivar?' gasped Alex. 'But him- Issy- Vilandra.'
Serena ignored him and went on. 'The three royal blood children grew up brave and noble. Zan, being heir to the throne was taught all his father had not been. He had intelligence with a heart to match. Vilandra was taught to be a princess, she distanced herself from all who she did not know, just like a princess should. And Rath grew up not heeding a word he was taught. Commonsense seemed to have alluded him, well except where it can to war. His military mind was unlike any ever seen on the planet. The three grew up to embrace their future lives, how ever little they may have wanted them really. Kivar however grew up to hate his family, his past. By right he was the heir to the throne, being the first born. But by custom he was worthless, a bastard. Not even worthy to be admitted into the most humbly respected circles. On his own planet he was an outcast. And so he left. A neighbouring planet took him in, it was there he met Avarda.
'She wasn't corrupt by nature. It was the fault of her upbringing, just as his was. And they corrupted each other. As they grew older, they grew closer and by degrees could have been said to be in love. Or at least that was what it was on Ava's part, to Kivar it was just a matter of time, a way to bring down his family and claim his throne.'
'Yeah but the other's were told Ava was engaged to be married to Max.' said Alex.
'She was. It's confusing. Life was peaceful until the Prince had reached his 18th year. But then rumors began of an uprising against the king. The people began to panic, sides began to form. Royalists and revolutionaries. The only way the king could see to stop it was to secure a steadfast future for his children. He though that by betrothing Vilandra to Rath the people would be satisfied and believe they had another generation of royals yet to come. But it was not enough. The people became more and more restless so the King began to search for a woman for Max. Unfortunately his eye fell upon Ava. She was from an upper class family on her planet, quite suitable for Zan to marry. She had other plans though. She had been aware of Kivar's true status almost since she had met him and so they began to scheme. He would build up a large army and she would worm her way into the Royal's family circle. After a few months, against Zan's wishes, the betrothal was announced and the wedding preparations began.
'It seemed this had made the planet happy. The rumors died down and people went back to their daily business. But there were three people who were very unhappy. For Vilandra and Rath, the very idea of being married to each other was disgusting. They had been almost brother and sister pretty much from birth. Any thing more was laughable. And for Zan this was the worst fate he could imagine. For with all his intelligence he had a strong heart. It was the fault of his mother, she had brought her children up on tales of soulmates and eternal loves. Zan held onto these, even after his mother's death. The idea of marrying someone who wasn't his soulmate, who he barely even liked was hell to him. But no matter how much he argued with his father, he had to go through with it, for the good of the people.'
'But if everything wa sback to normal there then how did they end up here?' asked Adam. His head was swimming. He was never good at history at school, and here he was learning the history of a whole other world! And all those weird names were far too much to remember. Zan, Villarda, Path. oh Lord help him!
'The night before the wedding Kivar's troops stormed the palace. No one knew how they got in, well not for a long while at least. It turns out our little friend Ava let them in though the back door. A nice wedding present to the future king. The troops were swarming the palace before Zan and the others even realised there was an army. The three royal children were murdered in their beds, as was the king. Kivar took the throne. The remaining royalists, like my grandfather, formed the rebel alliance. As for how they got here. My grandfather was in the palace that night, he saw the soldiers enter, he saw Ava's treachery and he acted as best he knew how. He took the three royal's essences, and gave them to one of the rebels. This rebel took the essences to a scientist where they were cloned and sent straight here to earth. My grandfather after giving away the essences of the children went to find the king. But he was too late, by the time he got there the king was already too far gone. He believed he had failed. He had no time to despair though, only senconds after he assertained the King was gone too far Ava entered the room. He gave his life to kill her. I know she died! There was a witness, my father's closest friend found her body dead. He did not realise then that she was a traitor he thought she had died trying to save the king. It was only later we discovered what had truly happen. I just don't know how she came to be here! No one took her essence! Unless-'
'Unless what? What happened?' demanded Alex. He needed to know more. His head was dancing. Isabel had never loved Michael! Isabel had never even known Kivar! Isabel loved him! He wanted to know more, to have the full story. He wanted to learn uit by heart so he could run home and tell it to Issy. She wasn't responsible for their deaths. Sh could be guilt free. Vildandra had been a good person. Vilandra was a good person!
'How could he have known what he was doing? He told me himself, she gave her life to save the king.'
'Serena! Tell us!' demanded Adam.
She looked up at them, her eyes filled with understanding. 'He did it, my grandfather's best friend. All he could see were two bodies in the king's chamber. Both killed by alien powers. How could he have known Ava was a traitor. To the people she was the King's beloved betrothed. He must have taken her essence and given it to the scientist. It was just another mix up in the chaos.'
'A pretty damned annoying mix up! What if she's remembered what she did? What if she's trying to do it all again? What if that's why I'm here?' gasped Alex.
'But the book, what about the book?'
'Of course, it's what my grandfather's friend sent with them. He wouldn't have sent them with nothing to guide them. He sent this so they'd know who they are.'
'But I though you said it was rubbish,' said Alex, clearly confused.
'It is,' replied Serena. 'But he didn't know that did he? Very little was known about the royal's lives, they were kept under lock and key, hidden from the eyes of their subjects. Only certain things were released to the eyes of the world, the necessary stuff. The stuff the people wanted to hear. Like how Ava and Zan were deeply in love, as were Vilandra and Rath. That's what this book says.'
Alex' eyes widened as things became clear to him. 'The orb! The destiny message.'
'The what?' asked Adam.
'The destiny message! About six months ago Liz and Max found an orb. It was part of a set of two. We got hold of the other one after a while. Max and Tess held one and Michael and Isabel the other and it gave them a message. It told them that they'd died in battle like you said. And that they were cloned and sent here. It said that Max had been sent with his bride and Isabel with her betrothed, Max' second in command.'
'That must have been another message they sent with them. Like the book, only obviously little easier to read than that.' said Adam.
'Wait, you said Zan's mother died.'
'Yeah when he was about 14 years. Why?'
'The message was from their mother.'
Serena looked confused. ' I can't have been. There was no way they could have recreated her appearance in order to send it through an orb. An orb creates the speech inside the brain. It's like a telepathically transmitted message.'
'But they saw it, all of them. Even Liz.'
'That's not possible. You can't see an orb message, it's just not technologically possible. Especially when those orbs were made!'
'Then what was it?' questioned Adam.
'I don't know.' admitted Serena. 'When was it?'
'About six months ago. Not long. Before the summer, why?'
Adam turned to Serena in excitement. 'Serena! That must have been-'
'The signal!' they said simultaneously.
'The what?'
'The signal. That wasn't an orb Alex. At least not an Anatarian one anyway. It was a signal.'
'Ok. What?'
'Simply, it was a very loud shout that went out to all your enemies and practically every other alien in this world that told them exactly where you were.'
'But why did it have the message then?'
'Mindwarp.'
'Kivar?' gasped Alex. 'But him- Issy- Vilandra.'
Serena ignored him and went on. 'The three royal blood children grew up brave and noble. Zan, being heir to the throne was taught all his father had not been. He had intelligence with a heart to match. Vilandra was taught to be a princess, she distanced herself from all who she did not know, just like a princess should. And Rath grew up not heeding a word he was taught. Commonsense seemed to have alluded him, well except where it can to war. His military mind was unlike any ever seen on the planet. The three grew up to embrace their future lives, how ever little they may have wanted them really. Kivar however grew up to hate his family, his past. By right he was the heir to the throne, being the first born. But by custom he was worthless, a bastard. Not even worthy to be admitted into the most humbly respected circles. On his own planet he was an outcast. And so he left. A neighbouring planet took him in, it was there he met Avarda.
'She wasn't corrupt by nature. It was the fault of her upbringing, just as his was. And they corrupted each other. As they grew older, they grew closer and by degrees could have been said to be in love. Or at least that was what it was on Ava's part, to Kivar it was just a matter of time, a way to bring down his family and claim his throne.'
'Yeah but the other's were told Ava was engaged to be married to Max.' said Alex.
'She was. It's confusing. Life was peaceful until the Prince had reached his 18th year. But then rumors began of an uprising against the king. The people began to panic, sides began to form. Royalists and revolutionaries. The only way the king could see to stop it was to secure a steadfast future for his children. He though that by betrothing Vilandra to Rath the people would be satisfied and believe they had another generation of royals yet to come. But it was not enough. The people became more and more restless so the King began to search for a woman for Max. Unfortunately his eye fell upon Ava. She was from an upper class family on her planet, quite suitable for Zan to marry. She had other plans though. She had been aware of Kivar's true status almost since she had met him and so they began to scheme. He would build up a large army and she would worm her way into the Royal's family circle. After a few months, against Zan's wishes, the betrothal was announced and the wedding preparations began.
'It seemed this had made the planet happy. The rumors died down and people went back to their daily business. But there were three people who were very unhappy. For Vilandra and Rath, the very idea of being married to each other was disgusting. They had been almost brother and sister pretty much from birth. Any thing more was laughable. And for Zan this was the worst fate he could imagine. For with all his intelligence he had a strong heart. It was the fault of his mother, she had brought her children up on tales of soulmates and eternal loves. Zan held onto these, even after his mother's death. The idea of marrying someone who wasn't his soulmate, who he barely even liked was hell to him. But no matter how much he argued with his father, he had to go through with it, for the good of the people.'
'But if everything wa sback to normal there then how did they end up here?' asked Adam. His head was swimming. He was never good at history at school, and here he was learning the history of a whole other world! And all those weird names were far too much to remember. Zan, Villarda, Path. oh Lord help him!
'The night before the wedding Kivar's troops stormed the palace. No one knew how they got in, well not for a long while at least. It turns out our little friend Ava let them in though the back door. A nice wedding present to the future king. The troops were swarming the palace before Zan and the others even realised there was an army. The three royal children were murdered in their beds, as was the king. Kivar took the throne. The remaining royalists, like my grandfather, formed the rebel alliance. As for how they got here. My grandfather was in the palace that night, he saw the soldiers enter, he saw Ava's treachery and he acted as best he knew how. He took the three royal's essences, and gave them to one of the rebels. This rebel took the essences to a scientist where they were cloned and sent straight here to earth. My grandfather after giving away the essences of the children went to find the king. But he was too late, by the time he got there the king was already too far gone. He believed he had failed. He had no time to despair though, only senconds after he assertained the King was gone too far Ava entered the room. He gave his life to kill her. I know she died! There was a witness, my father's closest friend found her body dead. He did not realise then that she was a traitor he thought she had died trying to save the king. It was only later we discovered what had truly happen. I just don't know how she came to be here! No one took her essence! Unless-'
'Unless what? What happened?' demanded Alex. He needed to know more. His head was dancing. Isabel had never loved Michael! Isabel had never even known Kivar! Isabel loved him! He wanted to know more, to have the full story. He wanted to learn uit by heart so he could run home and tell it to Issy. She wasn't responsible for their deaths. Sh could be guilt free. Vildandra had been a good person. Vilandra was a good person!
'How could he have known what he was doing? He told me himself, she gave her life to save the king.'
'Serena! Tell us!' demanded Adam.
She looked up at them, her eyes filled with understanding. 'He did it, my grandfather's best friend. All he could see were two bodies in the king's chamber. Both killed by alien powers. How could he have known Ava was a traitor. To the people she was the King's beloved betrothed. He must have taken her essence and given it to the scientist. It was just another mix up in the chaos.'
'A pretty damned annoying mix up! What if she's remembered what she did? What if she's trying to do it all again? What if that's why I'm here?' gasped Alex.
'But the book, what about the book?'
'Of course, it's what my grandfather's friend sent with them. He wouldn't have sent them with nothing to guide them. He sent this so they'd know who they are.'
'But I though you said it was rubbish,' said Alex, clearly confused.
'It is,' replied Serena. 'But he didn't know that did he? Very little was known about the royal's lives, they were kept under lock and key, hidden from the eyes of their subjects. Only certain things were released to the eyes of the world, the necessary stuff. The stuff the people wanted to hear. Like how Ava and Zan were deeply in love, as were Vilandra and Rath. That's what this book says.'
Alex' eyes widened as things became clear to him. 'The orb! The destiny message.'
'The what?' asked Adam.
'The destiny message! About six months ago Liz and Max found an orb. It was part of a set of two. We got hold of the other one after a while. Max and Tess held one and Michael and Isabel the other and it gave them a message. It told them that they'd died in battle like you said. And that they were cloned and sent here. It said that Max had been sent with his bride and Isabel with her betrothed, Max' second in command.'
'That must have been another message they sent with them. Like the book, only obviously little easier to read than that.' said Adam.
'Wait, you said Zan's mother died.'
'Yeah when he was about 14 years. Why?'
'The message was from their mother.'
Serena looked confused. ' I can't have been. There was no way they could have recreated her appearance in order to send it through an orb. An orb creates the speech inside the brain. It's like a telepathically transmitted message.'
'But they saw it, all of them. Even Liz.'
'That's not possible. You can't see an orb message, it's just not technologically possible. Especially when those orbs were made!'
'Then what was it?' questioned Adam.
'I don't know.' admitted Serena. 'When was it?'
'About six months ago. Not long. Before the summer, why?'
Adam turned to Serena in excitement. 'Serena! That must have been-'
'The signal!' they said simultaneously.
'The what?'
'The signal. That wasn't an orb Alex. At least not an Anatarian one anyway. It was a signal.'
'Ok. What?'
'Simply, it was a very loud shout that went out to all your enemies and practically every other alien in this world that told them exactly where you were.'
'But why did it have the message then?'
'Mindwarp.'