Chapter Twenty Six

The old man gazed at Kaelen with sympathetic eyes but didn't comment as he waved his hand toward the screen again.

Kaelen watched in muted disdain as his mother big with child talked  to him. If he had to guess he'd say he was around two.

"Come here Kaelen!  The baby is kicking!"  She smiled as he stared wide-eyed feeling her stomach jerk and tense under his small fingers.  She nodded to a lady in green, "He's not old enough to understand so just say what you need to say."

The lady nodded, "You are carrying a girl.  As you wished I ran a full panel and she has the same markers as your son."  The woman stared down at her device she shook her head in wonder, "I've never seen anything like this before."

Gasping as Kaelen pushed into her stomach she removed his hand saying, "No Kae.  Don't push the baby it hurts umma."

Kaelen pouted, "Umma!  Am I not your baby anymore?"

Laughing she hugged him tight, "You will always be my baby boy.  I will love you and your sister the same."  She kissed him on the forehead and looked back to the medic, "Do I need to worry about them?"

Shaking her head she smiled crookedly, "I'm not sure if you should worry about either of them.  Unlike Kaelen this child's markers are dormant." When Laurel looked like she'd ask more questions about the markers the medic shook her reddish brown head, "As I said I've never seen anything like them before.  I will have the archives searched to see if anything can be found out."

Laurel smiled and sighed in relief, "I understand the records of the Nah'Bye date back very far."

The woman put equipment back into a small satchel then nodded, "Yes. Some of our writings go back to the ancients before they lost themselves to technology."  Confidently she added, "If an answer is to be found we will definitely find it."

Staring down at Kaelen she saw him frowning at her stomach, “Kae.  What are you thinking about?”

He looked at his mom seriously and asked, “Umma, what’s love?”

In his seat Kaelen grimaced at the look of fear flashed through his mother's eyes. She quickly squashed it beforeshe gave him an overly bright smile and placed his palm on her stomach, “She is love and you will love her.”

Kaelen watched misty eyed as the screen fast forwarded.  He saw his mom giving birth to Mia and his parents were overjoyed.  He watched as she had him brought over and told him that this was his sister and that he had to love her.  To reinforce this she even named her Makayla.  The screen slowed down again and he rolled his eyes as he reached for another brown roll.

Of course I love my sister, thought Kaelen.

The screen cut back to him. He appeared older, possibly about 7 or 8 years old.

"Kaelen, you have to remember mercy and fear is a sign of weakness.  If you show you are weak, you will die” She handed him a bamboo shinai sword and stepped back. "Will you remember that, Kae?"

A young Kaelen nodded enthusiastically as he began swinging his shinai in a swift upward and downward movement.  After 15 minutes of this he moved on to the next part of his daily training. While his father supervised and worked the field he, with his mother, spent the better part of 2 hours practicing in a silence only broken by his breathing.

"You’re a fast learner, Kae." His mother said full of pride as she looked out the window.  "We'll skip hand to hand training today.  Mia should be back soon and your Daddy will definitely want to be here when she gets back. Ok?"

He jumped up and down, his hazel green eyes flashed and he said energetically. "Sure!"  before he ran in a circle around his mom. He gleefully talked about showing Mia what he'd practiced today in their room.

Kaelen turned away from the scene and fondly remembered the secret training with his mother.  She'd told him that he shouldn't tell anyone but he'd told Mia.  Mia kept it a secret and had wanted to learn so he'd taught her.  He shifted in his seat as he continued watching.

I love my sister, he thought again to himself.

Kaelen looked at the large screen at himself, now 10, and his mother who were in the small clearing behind the storage building. She showed him four milky white stones. He remembered that day vividly.

"These are going to keep people from asking you questions about your power level."  She had them strung on a silver chain and placed them around his neck. "Don't show these to anyone." she whispered.

Kaelen smiled showing two front teeth missing as she placed the necklace around his neck.  Tucking it beneath his shirt he danced around in circles anxious to tell Mia about his gift from their mother.

"Come now Kae, I need to show you how those stones work."  When he calmed down she said, "While holding the stones you will say bangchul to release them."

Kaelen grabbed the stones and tried to repeat the foreign words, "Bain kool!"  Laughing she said the words again and again until he was able to pronounce them correctly.  After several attempts he pronounced it correctly, "Ban Chool!"  The stones glowed dimly in his hands and she patted him on the head.

Again Kaelen started to dance around his mother joyfully. "I'm so happy."  Now he remembered how he'd thought about showing Mia the gems and giving her one or two.

The old man laughed whicheffectively interrupted Kaelen's wandering thoughts.  "How close are you and your little sister?".

Kaelen's eyes never left the screen as he watched himself along with Mia who was 8 years old. First he showed her the stones.  It had taken him several days to make a necklace. When he'd made it his mother had patiently removed two of the stones and put them on the other chain.  After she restrung them she placed them around Mia's neck with a smile at Kaelen.  Kaelen had beamed with pride as he was able to share with Mia.

Frowning, Kaelen looked thoughtful, "I assume we're as close as any other siblings."

The old man was happy Kaelen wasn't staring at him because the dumbfounded expression on his face had to be priceless.  "I don't think so," he said softly.

Kaelen turned and looked at him curiously, "Are we not close?"

The old man gaped at Kaelen as he said, "No you two are very close." The old man heaved a sigh and distracted Kaelen by pointing again at the screen. "Keep watching."

With a shrug Kaelen wondered why the man had stared at him like that but shook it off and turned back to the screen.  It was fast forwarding again and he watched remembering the celebrations and crop seasons.  He saw some of his and Mia's friends zip past.  Reaching for another brown roll he paused as a day he didn't remember appeared on the screen.  Pensively, he took a bite out of the roll and focused once again to what took place in front of him.

He was practicing hand to hand combat with Mia as their mother strolled around them watching their forms.  "Kaelen your posture is no good! You're 13 now. You should know what you're doing so you'll be able to help teach your sister!"  She yelled as she walked to him moving his hands into proper position, "Don't leave yourself open! Pick your guard up!"  She patted him on the head before strolling away.

He and Mia once again started to spar and she stopped them again, "Mia! Just because you are a girl doesn't mean you have to fight like one."  She walked towards Mia holding her shoulders she swept her foot between her legs, "Widen your stance and bend your knees."  Walking away again she stood and watched.

Several minutes passed with them practicing, circling each other widely before meeting in the middle.  Kaelen did a front leg sweep knocking Mia off her feet before he sent a straight armed punch toward her chest.  

Pouting Kayla laid there. "I lost again."  She scrambled to her feet slowly and walked toward their mother.

"Mia," taunted Kaelen making a face, "Don't be a baby!  You keep being weak like that and you're likely to be hurt."

Frowning Mia looked perplexed as she looked to her mom, "Who would hurt me?"

Laughing as Mia approached she glared over her head toward Kae, "No one baby.  Nah'Bye is a peaceful and wonderful place."

Sticking her tongue out at Kaelen, Mia ran away before he could take his revenge.

Laurel watched as Mia exited the storage room, "Kae you should-” She frowned as she looked around as if she heard something.  With a worried expression she looked around the room. "Kae I want you to go hide."  When he stood their questioningly she ran toward him and shook him whispering fiercely, "Kae go hide, now!"

Kae looked at his mother but ran to the ladder that led to the second floor of the outbuilding.  Once there he hid behind some old tools that his father refused to throw out.  Peering through the blades of a tilling machine he watched quietly.

A man with olive skin walked through the door of the outbuilding clicking his tongue.  As he approached Laurel he sneered, "It took a very long time to find you.

Kaelen sat forward in his seat as he remembered this man from what he had seen earlier.  "Oscar," he whispered out loud.  He was entranced by what was happening on the screen, he didn't remember this at all.

Laurel looked around and saw that four Nah'Bye men were with Oscar.  "What are you doing here?" she asked vehemently.

Oscar's sneer grew wider as he stared at her, "I'm here to fetch my wayward wife and son."

Laurel laughed humorlessly at him, "You don't have a wife here and your son is dead."  She arrogantly cocked an eyebrow then continued, "Did you think I'd let that abomination live?"

The Nah'Byian men seemed to realize that something was not right as one of them said, "I thought you said you were looking for your sister."

Oscar glared at the men and laughed crazily, "This puta is no sister of mine."  With that he laughed as he pulled a small silver object from his pocket.  He pointed the object at one of the men and pulled the trigger.

"No," screamed Laurel as she used her powers to push Oscar back.  She ran toward the fallen man.

"Oh someone's powers have increased,” Chuckled Oscar as he slid backwards toward the wall.  He fired off two more shots toward the other men.  Watching dispassionately as they fell to the ground.

Laurel glared at him, "You're a monster!"

"I'm a monster," he drawled as he stalked toward her and the last living Nah'Byian.

The Nah'Byian man snapped out of his momentary shock as he looked at the violence around him. "The shield will punish you," he roared as he attempted to run out of the outbuilding.  He fell dead before he could make it completely out the door.

"Oh my god! What have you done?"  Laurel looked around at the dead men in outrage and shock.

Walking toward her, he threw the empty gun to the ground.  Mockingly he said, "What have I done, you ask?"  He grabbed her by the neck, "I am making you pay for leaving Rayia with that child."

She struggled against him and was able to get free of his grip.  "Do you think I'll let you kill me so easily?"

He gave a sinister laugh and removed a bright red stone from his pocket, "Kill you?  I don't plan on killing you Laurel."  Walking toward her he raised the stone and it pulsed, "I plan to take you back to Rayia and breed a new stronger race with you."  His eyes were wild in his insanity, "You and I will create children that will make the Ah'Tarians pale in comparison."

Laurel stared at the pulsing red stone in disbelief, "Why do you have that?"

He laughed crazily. "Why do I have this?"

"That stone. My father had it. He hypothesized that he could create a stone that could make a person more obedient and pliable.  He found writings that belonged to a distant relative that had potions in the ancient language.  One of the potions was for that."

With the stone pointed at her he laughed, "You will return with me to Rayia; playing the loving wife that you once were.  You will give me more children and then I will permanently rid myself of you."

Kaelen saw his mother visibly fight against whatever power the stone had over her.After a while he recognized the look of determination on her face before she shook her head and laughed. "I'd rather die."

"I can make that happen," spittle hit her in the face as he yelled these words.

A sad smile crossed over her features. "I will never go with you, Oscar." She whispered the words before using her powers to push him away from her.

Oscar slid back but was not knocked off his feet.  With an incredible strength he reached out and Laurel get dragged backwards toward his repulsive grip.   She continued to struggle as she was pulled toward him by unseen hands.

He cackled nastily and boasted, "The injections you were being given while pregnant have been modified!  I have been taking them for weeks and my power levels have increased."  He laughed as he gleefully pulled her toward him.

She looked over his narrow shoulder to where her beloved son hid. "You are a sick man," she whispered coldly.  As she slid slowly toward him she reached behind her into the hidden band of her pants.  As he cackled sickeningly she waited patiently until she was in front of him.

"The Mace family will take our rightful position," he said mad with his own self-importance.  "We are the heirs of the true second seat!"

Her eyebrows scrunched in disbelief once she realized. After a long pause she asked, "Have the O'Malley and the Mace families gone insane?"

Oscar stared gleefully down at her has he brought the red stone toward her again. She plunged the small dagger into his stomach before pulling it out.  She was about to plunge it in again when she flew backward.  Without hesitation, she took the small dagger and yelled, "I will never go with you!"  With that she plunged the knife into her chest, then turned to the wall she was flying toward.

Oscar stared in disbelief as she slammed into the wall pushing the dagger deep into her heart.  He covered his wound with his hand and said, "Dammit! She was the only tie I had to the Mace bloodline!" He pulled  his hand away then he walked out of the barn.

"The shield that protected the planet punished him by making him infertile." The old man said as he stole a quick glance at Kaelen.

Kaelen stared mouth gaped open at the screen.  "That's a lie," he whispered but he knew deep down it wasn't.

Kaelen watched himself run from his hiding spot to his mom and she was dying.  He'd saw his hands trying to stop the bleeding, crying for her to not die.

He watched the display, speechless. She'd taken his hand and pushed at him.  "You will love your sister forever, Kae.  Now I need you to forget this," she had whispered and he had.  She'd replaced his memory and his father had reinforced the lie.  He'd convinced himself and Mia that their mother had died of a mysterious illness.

He felt a stone facade fall over himself before he calmly  asked, "Why are you showing me this?"

"Ah," said the old man holding the last red fruit in his hand.  "Why, you ask?  Don't you want to take your rightful place as a Lawson?"

Kaelen stared at him as if he were speaking some ancient language, "I am a Ward."

The old man handed him the red fruit, "You are part of a noble and distinguished family that would willingly accept you and Mia."

Kaelen took the fruit from him and tossed it into the air before catching it. "I am a Ward and so is Mia."

"Is that what you wish? To be a Ward?"

Looking down at the red fruit he nodded without hesitation. "Kevin Lawson was disowned and left his family for love."  He was about to bite into the succulent fruit.

The old man grabbed his wrist, "Kae.  Tell me something."  Kae cocked his eyebrow as he waited for the old man to continue.  "Can you love someone?"

Kae shook his hand free of the man's grasp.  With a smirk his eyes flashed gold and he bluntly said, "No, not really.”  With that he bit into the fruit.

The old man stared dismayed at that answer.  As Kaelen felt the room start to spin he heard him ask, "What about your sister, Mia?"

“Mia is my sister; I'd love anyone she tells me I should love.”  he said before the room spun out of control. Why did he ask me if I was capable of love?  The white room faded to black as the sweet taste of the fruit filled his mouth.

The old man smiled when he heard the last part.  "With no Mia he would have become as cruel as any Ah'Tarian.   Interesting."  He looked down at Kaelen, laughed and walked through the wall, with the sound echoing through the space.