Plus, the Day of Joy was tomorrow. I knew that Rhone and his crew were plotting an attack. The information I had suggested it might be for during the Joy celebration, but that might be misinformation, too. I needed to be prepared, though. I had invited armies from around the planet to join me, under the pretense of strengthening alliances on this tenth anniversary of the Civil War ending. I did want those alliances, but, truthfully, I wanted to use them immediately, if needed.
I looked at the clock on the wall as it struck noon. I was to have an audience with the Commander of the south country Curan army in an hour. I could not miss it. I would have to make one wild guess as to where Daphne would run to, and I would have to be right.
She had told me about always eating lunch in the courtyard at her work, underneath the trees and near flowers, as close to a garden as she could get, with her best friend, Vania. Our city had one of the most beautiful gardens in its center. She had to have gone there.
I commanded one of the hovercrafts to fly me straight to the gardens. Where other crafts had restricted entry, I waved aside the guards and they let us pass. My three bodyguards were standing at attention, using their own telekinetic powers to stay upright in the speeding and swerving of my very skilled pilot. We flew along the pathway, my subjects darting out of our path into the lush grasses. I waved apologies and they waved back with smiles. They would be able to tell the tale of diving out of the way of King Kajo, so I didn’t feel so bad.
“Head to the Day of Joy fountain.”
As we rounded a line of woodwin trees, their giant purple blossoms slapping against my face as we buzzed underneath their canopy branches, the great fountain and spring that was a monument to all those who had died in the Civil War, flowed out before us. Sure enough, a curly blonde head was bent over one of the fountains, letting the cool water run through her fingertips.
The hovercraft captain slowed our pace. Daphne looked over and straightened up as she saw us. She didn’t seem like she was going to run again.
The hovercraft settled toward the ground, but I didn’t wait. I jumped over the side and Daphne darted forward two steps, mouth agape, hands out, as if she was going to try to catch me, but I just floated in the air, pacing above her, walking slowly lower, holding my hands out to the ground to perpetuate my telekinetic hover.
She smiled at me and tucked her hair back behind her ears. When I was back on the ground in front of her, I crossed my arms and narrowed my eyes, waiting for her explanation.
“Did it take you very long to find me?”
“This is the only place I looked,” I said.
“You remembered what I had said about having lunch with my friend Vania…I do miss her…” Daphne waved her fingers underneath the spilling waterfall again. I let me fingertips slide into the water beside hers. The chill of it surprised me. It felt like little pops of ice cubes sprinkling my skin.
“Yes,” I said. “I remembered. It seemed a special moment of peace you were able to get each day, away from Rhone.”
“Indeed…” She looked up at me and shook the water from her fingertips, rubbing her hands together to dry them. “And you? When will you have peace from Rhone?”
“What have you heard?”
“I spent some time speaking with some of your people.” There was a new light in her eyes as she looked at me. Was it…trust? Surprise? Joy? Tenderness, even? “One of the soldiers said you are having to prepare for a new battle. The children view you as a hero. The women thank you for giving them their homes back. It isn’t only the Curan who are grateful for the freedom they were able to get after the War. The Bordash seem glad that you were able to make Farian a more just place.”
“Does this surprise you?”
Daphne shrugged. “You kidnapped me. Just this morning, you tell me it is time that I let you do what you want with me—”
“Yes, but you didn’t let me finish—”
“But your people say you are not a Beast King at all. That the Beast in you is what makes you a wild champion for their hearts, like a mother bear who is backed into a corner and must protect her cubs. Only the wildest, most fierce animal is able to beat the hunter. But, inside, you are something so much more, someone who has the depths of emotion that only intelligence can express.”
I didn’t mind the analogy, but shifted from side to side, wishing we weren’t speaking about me as a hero. I hadn’t been the only one that fought in that war. “What do you think?”
“I think…I think I would like to stay around and see what you really are like, when you are not being beastly.”
I smiled at her. Her words were so simple, but so beautiful. I welcomed them, wished I could hug them. Wished I could hug her.
“Then, please, let me finish what I was saying…”
She nodded permission and I surprised myself that I waited for that signal to go ahead.
“What I meant when I said I was prepared to do what I wanted to with you, what I meant was that I have been fighting against what I want. It shouldn’t be possible, what I want. You
