The Return of the Princess
Princess Tauriar - 2014
THE CAST:
Jon, Mandy, Krankel, Anna, Nigel, Ken, Grace, Ventar, Tao, Mao, Gordon
Jon caught up with Amanda.
They teased each other a bit longer, then she put her arm through his, and they began exploring this new world.
‘Are we the first humans to set foot on another planet?’ he asked in a rare moment of earnest contemplation for him.
‘If we are, then I’m the first human,’ Mandy said, nudging him. ‘I was first off the ship.’
‘Krankel was first off the ship, I think,’ Jon pointed out.
‘DOH! Krankel’s not human,’ Mandy laughed. ‘Okay, he might be more human than you.’
She laughed hysterically at Jon’s face when he realised his mistake.
‘Oh, yeah. I forgot.’ He searched desperately to rescue something from this conversation. ‘And I can see it: Neil Armstrong and Amanda Walker. The most famous astronauts in Earth’s history.’
Mandy laugh changed to a broad smile. ‘It is all a bit surreal, isn’t it?’ They wandered through a copse of stunted and gnarled trees sporting lime green leaves and small blood red berries, ducking to miss the lower branches. ‘On Earth, we befriended a group of aliens, and we grew up with one of them. That should have been the adventure of a lifetime, but somehow this is different. Bigger… no, vast in comparison.’ She picked a bunch of the berries, contemplating whether to try one and thinking better of it. ‘I’m sometimes frightened, Jon. I doubt myself. I don’t think I dare to see this through – whatever this is.’ She put her head on Jon’s shoulder, feeling safe with him.
As they neared the monastery, Anna, Nigel, and Ken waited with beaming faces. And there, in the middle, was Grace.
Mandy’s heart lifted. She had seen Grace walk toward her a thousand times, but this time she wanted to remember every last detail.
She looked the same girl Mandy had grown up with – but somehow different.
The walk was the same: a slight list to one side, right shoulder slightly higher than the left. Not classically beautiful for a Vercetian woman. Mandy saw what was beautiful when she had first seen Kobios. But Grace’s beauty shone out in every movement she made. The classic head cap with a striking pattern. Her ever-present idiosyncrasy of seeming to be in a hurry. It was all there, everything she loved about Grace. But something was different.
And, in that instant, she saw what it was. A woman had replaced the girl. Her experience with the Zerot ushered her from youth and into adulthood. She was serene and looked like a leader.
Despite her flash of understanding, Mandy was first to Grace, hugging her like there was no tomorrow. Jon was there a split second later, his arms around both of them, floods of tears coming from his eyes. Grace appeared to be the one comforting them.
‘Our Princess is back!’ announced Anna. ‘We are whole again.’
Ken put an arm around Anna. Nigel just beamed.
For the briefest of moments, the universe was in balance.
But then bushes nearest to them seemed to explode. Krankel flew through the air toward her, landing in a desperate scramble to stop before he mowed down his beloved mistress. She laughed, catching him effortlessly and averting disaster.
The play fight between the dog and the Princess had everyone in hysterics. Even Jon looked impressed. He was, after all, the master at fighting with the giant wolf-dog.
She got up and dusted herself down. ‘It’s so wonderful to see you all again. I’ve missed you so much.’ Krankel was glued to her side.
‘We’ve missed you, too,’ said Anna. ‘What was it like?’
‘What was what like?’ replied Grace.
Everyone started talking at once. Mandy won out. ‘Your fight with the Zerot, of course. I saw you have some kind of mind battle. You must have won, because Gordon’s laser cannon blasted a hole through the thing.’
‘That’s what happened, but I had help. The Zerot’s mind was too powerful for me.’ Grace paused, then made her decision and continued. ‘I don’t suppose it would hurt to tell you. Let’s sit down.’ The group sat down on a nearby grassy area, with violet bushes to the rear draped in beautiful drooping yellow flowers.
‘Its mind was powerful, much more than mine,’ she began. ‘I managed to save Krankel when he attacked it, but the onslaught into my head afterward was savage. I was sinking. That’s the only way to describe it. It was killing me. The thing was evil, and I was ill prepared for what it threw at me. But then another mind was with me, and we were able, together, to push its mind back, saving me in the process.’
‘Do you know who it was?’ asked Jon. ‘Was it Prime?’
‘No,’ Grace replied. ‘It wasn’t.’ She looked straight at Jon. ‘Remember in the woods when I told you about the strange voice in my head that stopped me killing the troll that had killed Krankel?’ She explained to everyone else, ‘It was in the Blue Room – the holographic room at Harewood Hall. It wasn’t real, but for a moment, I thought it was. Anyway, it was the same voice.’
She held the tension for a moment, and then proceeded. ‘It was my “baby brother,” Prince Ventar.’
‘But how?’ continued Jon. ‘He hadn’t even arrived on Earth at that time.’
‘Our High Council at home was experimenting with long distance telepathy, and I mean long – over many light years, though they needed five of them to do it. It was how they intended to keep in touch with the three of us, the Royals, that is, the Princes Ventar and Camcietti, and me. But they must have hit difficulties. Anyway, I’m rambling a bit. The Schumberlay taught the young prince how to do it. Taught him as a child!’
They waited expectantly. ‘He is exceptional,’ she said.
‘Who’s exceptional?’ said Prince Ventar. Krankel trotted to the boy and nuzzled him, the big dog’s head almost at his shoulder. ‘Is it you?’ he said putting his arm around the dog’s neck. ‘Yes, you are exceptional, Krankel, aren’t you?’
‘I was talking about you,’ said Grace warmly.
‘Thank you, sister,’ he said, reaching up and giving her a kiss on each cheek. ‘That is how you greet friends and family on Earth?’ he asked. ‘I love it. I’m going to encourage all Preenasettians to do that when we’ve taken back our planet.’
Tao and Mao, Grace’s mother and father, arrived. Mao hugged her daughter for the umpteenth time since she had returned fit and well.
‘Mother,’ Grace said warmly, ‘you’re going to break me in two if you don’t stop.’
‘I don’t care,’ said a beaming Mao. ‘I’ll do it again.’ She pulled her daughter tight to the delight and laughter of all.
They sat and talked more about the battle with the Zerot on Earth, and after one of the Humb came shuffling past them, they chatted some more about the Schumberlay and ascension, a subject that enthralled the boys and girls from Earth. Ventar and Grace answered the best they could. Finally, they talked about the war on Preenasette, and what might happen next.
‘We’ll talk about that tonight,’ said Ventar. ‘So for now, I suggest we go back and rest up for a while. I still have to find the rest of my Life Team. They’re here somewhere.’ As they stood up, Ken shuddered and felt unsteady on his feet for a few moments.
‘Are you okay?’ asked Grace, steadying him.
‘What was that?’ asked Ken, shaking his head. ‘Yes, I feel fine now. Just a funny turn. First time on an alien planet, you know.’
On the walk back, they drifted into two groups: Grace, Ventar, Jon, and Krankel up front and the other four lagging. Mandy was itching to speak to Ken and Anna.
‘So you decided not to take the brain upgrade from the Schumberlay, then?’
‘When it came to the crunch,’ answered Ken, ‘I couldn’t do it. I chickened out, I suppose.’
‘I’m glad he did,’ Anna said. ‘The idea of increased mental capacity seems fine, but what of the side effects? Would it change how I feel about people?’
‘And, what if I changed into Nigel?’ said Ken. ‘What would I do then?’ He threw his arms into the air in mock horror.
Nigel smiled.
‘See,’ Ken accused, pointing at him. ‘He’s not even reacting to my insults anymore.’
‘I think the parts of the brain that deal with humour have activated,’ said Nigel smiling, ‘I now recognise your humour for what it is… bad!’
The others laughed at Ken having been bested by Nigel for probably the first time.
‘I don’t think I’m going to like the new Nigel,’ said a deflated Ken.
Anna prodded him. ‘Snap out of it. They did touch us and give us a gift of some sorts. What? We don’t know.’
‘They did that to Jon and me,’ Mandy exclaimed. ‘What’s that all about?’
Anna turned to a pensive looking Nigel. ‘How are you feeling now?’ she asked. ‘After the upgrade, that is. Any mind-blowing discoveries?’
‘No, not at all – Ken’s bad jokes aside,’ he replied. ‘All I’ve noticed is that I know the answers to things from university that I didn’t before. And, of course, the fact that Grace and Ventar have started to talk to me in my mind, and me to them. I’ve just told them about your bad joke,’ he added at Ken.
Ken looked even more dejected.
‘Not really,’ Nigel kidded, laughing.
Ken perked up, assuming his self-appointed role of group leader. ‘Well, kids, I think we better sort ourselves out, ready for tonight’s pow wow.’
Up front, Grace was walking arm in arm with her earthly brother, while Ventar played with the big dog – acting like the fifteen-year-old boy he was.
Grace picked up on this. ‘It’s somehow comforting to see the young Prince acting like a teenager.’
Jon agreed. ‘Yes, he does seem to carry the weight of your world sometimes, under that smile. And my little alien sister is heading back to her planet. War aside, are you looking forward to meeting some men of your age – a little romance perhaps?’
She pinched his arm, making him wince. Then with a faraway look, answered him. ‘My heart was stolen from me when I was a young girl. A childhood crush that should have faded years ago, but hasn’t.’
‘But won’t you meet him again when we arrive?’
Grace put her finger to his lips. ‘I’ve said too much already.’ She took his arm and they started walking again. ‘Please, Jon, tell no one. If I ever did meet him again, nothing could happen. Don’t worry; it will pass.’
Jon reflected on just how many sacrifices Grace had made in her life. But soon she would be home and could resume her life training to be a High Councillor, and let others take the pressure of the war away from her and the Prince.
Earth Date: 5th September 2014 – unadjusted.
My princess is back, Diary.
I am so happy. She seems to have an air of maturity that I’ve never seen before. I can’t put my finger on it, but when I saw her I thought she would make a great leader one day.
Grace is back, and I will sleep well tonight.
Kisses, Diary.