A Storm in the Making

Chapter 19--In the Company of Royalty

Chapter Nineteen 

In the Company of Royalty

 Luke jumped up off the couch and practically flew over to the door. Andrew and I exchanged identical looks and grins while the rest turned our heads to see who was at the door.  Andrew rolled his eyes then gave me a wink.  I smothered a giggle with my hand.  Luke was acting so out of character, I was betting he was expecting Princess Ranaloxa and I wasn’t disappointed.

“Come in, come in,” we heard him say in a voice I hardly recognized as Luke’s it was so prim and proper as he stepped back away from the door.  Princess Ranaloxa gracefully stepped into the room and removed her cloak.

“Thank you, Luke,” she said to my brother in her beautiful voice.  “Hello, everyone,” she smiled when she saw we were all looking at her expectantly.

“Hi, Loxi,” Chloe smiled, welcoming her friend.  We all followed suit, like a chorus of kindergarteners repeating a lesson out loud. “Hi, Loxi.”

“What about Fraxus and Halux?” asked Luke, still holding the door open.

“It is their privledge to stand guard outside.”  The princess tossed over her shoulder as she moved further into the room, smiling benevolently at us.

Luke closed the door silently and came up to stand beside the princess.  “Have a seat,” he pointed towards the two empty couches, escorting her over to them when she followed the direction he was pointing.

She sat in the spot Luke had vacated so he sat at the far end of the same couch.  Nigel stood from his kneeling position and sat down on the opposite couch.  I turned around and sat on the floor next to Andrew, so that he became the middle of the people sandwich.

“I was just telling everyone that I wanted to go see Blue Desert Lake someday.”

“Oh, is that so,” the princess actually blushed beneath that blue skin.  “Really?”

“What is it like where you are from?” Andrew asked. 

“How big is the lake?”  Luke chimed in.

“Tell us about the Queen’s Rangers, Loxi,” encouraged Chloe.

I looked up and saw Nigel frown for a split second before he got his emotions under control.

“Are you a real princess?”  Andrew asked tactlessly.

“Andrew,” I scolded.  “That was rude!”

“I disagree,” Princess Ranaloxa objected gently, smiling at me.  “I don’t mind answering that question.”

She looked back at Andrew.  “Yes, I am a real princess.  But, so are my five sisters.”

“There are six of you?” blurted Luke, and then turned red.  “I asked that out loud, didn’t I?”  He frowned, rolling his eyes up toward the ceiling.  I followed his eyes automatically.  Little light globes floated in mid-air, flickering magically.  I briefly wondered if I could ever get used to seeing them floating there.

“Yes.  Analozi females only breed once in a lifetime—for obvious reasons—so they usually always have multiple offspring.”

Luke turned pale.  I wanted to laugh at the expressions flickering across his face like different scenes on old silent movie films.

In the sudden pause, Nigel stood up.  “I really should be going.  It’s getting late.”

I stood up and followed him to the door, and then out onto the veranda, when he took my hand. 

Outside, the three moons had drifted just far enough towards the western sky to darken the background of outer space.   It allowed the stars overhead their true glory.   They were dazzling.  A million strange stars twinkled above me like a navy-blue sequined dress.  To the south of where we were standing, the spiral galaxy that looked as big as my hand, earlier, was now revealed to me in exquisite detail.  It was so beautifully alien it took my breath away and left me speechless, a Hubble photograph come to life.  

“Stunning the first time you see it, isn’t it?”  Nigel asked softly, close to my ear, knowing what I was looking at.

“Yes,” was all I could manage. 

“I’ve wondered if I could ever get used to it,” he confessed, slipping an arm around my shoulder when I shivered.  “It’s lonesome, though, looking up and not seeing the Southern Cross.”

“For me it is the big dipper and north star that are missing.  Oh my God, is that an aurora borealis?” I asked when the blue velvet sky lit up with a quivering rainbow of colors that snaked across the sky like a ghostly set of fingerprints.

“I guess it’s the Dardarian equivalent,” Nigel agreed, then qualified his statement with,  “I’ve photographed the aurora borealis on earth, and trust me, that isn’t it.”

Nigel reminding me of his former occupation, somehow made me feel even more alone on this alien world.  “Do you think we will ever get home?”  I sighed, looking up at that alien sky as the phenomena vanished as quickly as it began and the sky was dark once more.

Nigel looked up at the sky while I turned to looking up at him.  I could just make out the shape of the Adam’s apple in his throat. He seemed to be searching that dark sky for something familiar.  “That, Luv, is the million dollar question.” 

As if he felt my eyes on him, he looked down at me, and I heard his quick intake of breath.  For one frozen, everlasting second of time, I thought he was going to kiss me.  But, then the second passed, and I saw his sardonic smile in the darkness.

“G’Night, Luv,” he said and released his hold on me.  He stepped away, turned silently, and walked towards the door of his own temporary home without looking back.

“Good night, Nigel,” I found my voice at last, just before he faded into the shadows.

He turned once, reluctantly, to wave at me then continued walking.  Suddenly feeling the aloneness, I quickly slipped back into the house.

Luke and the princess sat on one couch, while Andrew and Chloe sat on the other.  They were talking quietly, and I hated to interrupt them, but I was suddenly overwhelmingly tired.

“Excuse me, but does anyone know where I’m supposed to sleep?”

“I do,” Chloe announced, jumping up.  She skipped up the stairs ahead of me.  At the head of the stairs I turned and found Andrew following Chloe with his eyes.  Oh yeah, I thought, my brother’s go it bad, all right. 

I couldn’t help but wonder if I wasn’t far behind him.