Chapter 13: Chapter 13

ISABELLE

A bright flash, and then the cold hit her lungs. A quick look around told her they were in the alley, and she could hear the happy sound of her boys playing on the street.

She took off out of the alley searching for them and saw James pelting a snowball at another boy. “James!” she called. When James saw her, the surprised look on his face gave her a grin.

“Mom?” he called out.

“Hey, kiddo! Come here and give your mom a hug!”

“Aww Mom,” James said, trudging toward her. Then he stopped and really looked at her, noticing the way she stood without crutches or the leg support she’d worn the last time he saw her.

“Hey, you’re—”

“Mom!” Lucas yelled with all the enthusiasm of an eleven-year-old and came bounding over to her like a gazelle and jumped into her arms.

“Mom! You’re here!” Lucas squealed.

“Hey guys,” she said, reaching up to wrap a hand around James’s shoulders and pull him into a hug. She gave them both a kiss, despite James’s squirm.

“Mom, what are you doing here?” James said. “I thought we were spending Christmas with Grandma? You’re supposed to be at the cabin h—”

Izzy flashed him a don’t-talk-about-it look, and James shut his mouth with a quick look at his brother.

She didn’t want Lucas to know that his father almost killed her. She felt he was too young to handle the emotions. ~James is having enough trouble as it is.~

As Mikhlas approached, she saw the boys’ eyes flick up. Lucas’s mouth dropped open at the sight of a man almost double his own height.

“Whoa!” Lucas said, releasing Izzy like a dropped toy and stepping forward. “Are you a giant?”

“Who is that guy, Mom?” James whispered, his face set in a frown and his hazel eyes holding a worry she didn’t like to see. “Is he here because of D—Peter?”

With the deep bass voice of Mikhlas answering Lucas as a backdrop, Izzy felt heartsick at the way James avoided saying the word “dad.”

She knew he wanted to look after his mom, but didn’t know how, and that frustration kept coming out.

She could see the defensive way he stood next to her in the presence of another man and wondered how she would handle it going forward. In answer to his question, she shook her head, “No. He’s…here for another reason.”

“He looks like a linebacker,” James said.

“Let’s not talk about Mikhlas. Is your grandma here?” Izzy asked, gesturing to the house.

“Yeah, she’s sleeping in the lounge,” James said. The other kids on the street called out to them, and James looked back at them before turning a frown to Mikhlas.

“Look, James, don’t worry about him. We’ve got to talk to Grandma. I’ll come to get you when we’re done. Go play. We can talk later, I promise,” she said.

James hesitated for a moment and then nodded. “Okay, Mom.” He stepped over to Lucas and grabbed him by the hand. “Come on, squirt, let’s go ambush the Anderson kids.”

“But—”

“We’ll see the freak later, okay?” James said.

Izzy winced at her son’s words as Mikhlas stepped up to her. “What’s a freak?” he asked.

“Don’t mind James, he’s…still upset about Peter. I’m afraid you’re a target just because you happen to be male and standing next to me. Don’t take it personally,” she said.

Mikhlas nodded, and Izzy looked at the house, taking a deep breath. ~This is going to be hard.~ She had to say goodbye to her mother. Mikhlas came up behind her and whispered in her ear.

“Be careful what you say to her. Two choices, remember? I know this will be hard, but we cannot take her with us. I beg you, do not make me do something you will hate me for,” he said.

His eyes were solid blue sapphires. ~He’s serious.~ He would kill her mother if she told her anything!

“What am I supposed to tell her? I can’t just disappear. It will kill her.”

“I’m sorry, Dakira Isabelle, but until you are crowned, and this world integrated with the Realm, the laws apply. She is not a Realm citizen. You will force my hand,” he said.

“You would do that? You would kill her just like Cadman? My mother?” she asked.

“The law does not distinguish between a criminal and a loved one. I would have no choice. I am duty-bound to uphold the laws of the Realm…no matter how cruel they are.

“If I don’t, I will be hanged for disobeying the Crown,” he said, dropping his eyes to the ground.

This was hard for him. She could see that. “That’s why you want me to go, isn’t it? To change the laws under which you live.”

“Yes. The old King is dead, and only the new ruler can change the laws. You are not crowned yet. The entire Realm is…paused…on the old laws. The Fleet cannot be stagnant like this,” he said.

“Right,” Izzy said, looking back at the house and hugging her arms to her chest. “Will I ever see her again?”

“You can see her every day, if you wish. As long as she never finds out where you are,” he said. Izzy spun her head around to look at him.

“What? How?”

Mikhlas smiled. “Prime. I can leave some nanites here in the house. Making a call is not impossible.”

“You could have led with that. That makes this so much easier.” She looked at the house again, “It’s still going to break her heart that I’m taking the boys away right before Christmas. She hates being alone for the holidays.”

“For that, I do not have a solution.”

“Yeah, neither do I.”

They walked up to the door and Izzy pushed it open. The smell of the pine floors hit her nose. This was home, the house she grew up in. This and the cabin were Izzy’s two favorite places in the whole world.

“Mom?” Izzy called out and looked in the lounge.

Her mother lay on the sofa by the window, fast asleep with a colorful quilted blanket pulled up to her chin. Izzy crept up to her and crouched down. She put her hand on her shoulder and gently shook her.

“Mom,” she whispered. The old lady stirred and opened her eyes.

“Bell? Bell, is that you?” her mother asked.

“Hey, Mom. How are you?” She helped her mother sit up and then sat down next to her.

“Bell, what on earth are you doing here?”

Izzy wondered how long it would take her mother to notice her miraculous healing. “I came to see you and the boys.”

“I don’t understand. Are you staying?” Her mom noticed Mikhlas as he ducked his head and stepped into the lounge. “Who is this?”

Izzy turned to look at Mikhlas. ~I must be getting used to his height~, she thought, but the sight of him filling the doorway made her realize just how big and intimidating he was.

“This is my friend...Mike. Think of him as a bodyguard.”

“Help me up, Bell,” her mother said, and Izzy assisted in getting her off the lounge. Her mother straightened her hair and then stepped forward with her hand held out. “Alice Martin.”

“Mike Peterson,” came the immediate and utterly natural sounding response as he shook her hand. “Pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Martin.”

Her mom held his hand for longer than necessary, and Izzy could imagine the calculating squint on her face, even if she could not see it from this angle.

“Come in and take a seat, Mr. Peterson. Looking at you up there is going to give me a crick in the neck.”

As her mom turned back Izzy saw the look of dawning realization hit her. “Isabelle, your face.” Alice gasped. “Your leg. How is this possible?”

“Mom, relax. I can explain,” Izzy said, with no idea of how. She racked her mind for something plausible and hit upon an idea.

“Mom, do you remember a few months ago, I told you there was this new doctor at the hospital? Dr. Mahoney.

“Well, he was the one who did my surgery, and he told me there was this experimental medicine they were working on in Germany. He could get me some if I volunteered to be a test subject for the stuff. I agreed, and it worked.”

“Oh, Isabelle!” Alice breathed out, crossing her arms as she glared at Izzy with wide eyes.

“Why would you do something so stupid? Do you have any idea how dangerous those kinds of tests are? What if this backfires, or gives you cancer in ten years’ time?”

“Mom, that’s not something that’s possible with this stuff.”

“Well, how do you know? There is a reason it’s called trials, because not everyone gets off lightly.”

“Mom. It’s fine. It worked. There is nothing to worry about. Listen, I have something important to tell you,” Izzy said and looked at Mikhlas.

Her mother rested her hands on her hips before giving a curt nod. “Well then, let’s all sit down and get comfortable, and you can tell me whatever it is you’ve rushed out here to say.”

Izzy led the way to the dining table, where they all sat down on the wooden chairs with a squeak of protest from the one Mikhlas took.

Izzy folded her hands in front of her and sat up straight before looking her mother in the eye. “I need to leave for a while. Me and the kids. I took a job... in Singapore.”

“What?” Her mother gasped.

“Yeah. I need a change because of, well, everything that happened. There is a position there for me and a great English school for the boys.

“Julie, from the hospital, is there already. We’re going to stay with her for a while until we can get settled.”

“You’re not making any sense, Bell. Why would you want to leave? First your brother moves to Sydney, now this?”

“I have to, Mom. I need to get away. I need some time with just me and the boys.”

“Okay, well, when do you leave?”

Izzy looked at Mikhlas. He didn’t do much to help her with this.

“We’re leaving tonight…”

“Tonight?! Bell, it’s almost Christmas. You can’t leave now.”

“I have to, Mom. I don’t have a choice.”

“There’s always a choice, honey. They can’t expect you to start a new job over the holidays.”

“It’s the reason they need someone. This time of year is always busy in my line of work. You know that.”

She could see her mother’s eyes moisten at the edges and her shoulders slump.

“Mom, don’t. If you start crying, I will too,” she said, and the lump in her throat returned. Izzy hated lying to her mother like this, but the alternative flashed across her mind.

“I can’t believe this, Bell. When am I going to see you again?” she asked. Izzy felt her heartbreak. She didn’t know if she would ever see her mother in person again.

“We will come to visit as soon as we can, and I will call you every week. I promise.”

“You should have told me about this plan of yours. It would have been nice to know a little sooner,” her mother said.

“I know. I’m sorry. It kind of just fell in my lap. I couldn’t say no,” she said. ~At least that’s true.~

“Well.” Her mom looked across at the Christmas tree in the corner, decorated with shining lights and inexpertly applied tinsel that spoke of Lucas’s enthusiasm. “I may as well give you your present now, then.

“Would you be a dear and get that small red box under the tree, Mike? These old knees don’t work as well as they used to,” she asked.

“Certainly, Mrs. Martin,” Mikhlas said, getting to his feet and taking the few steps needed.

He bent down and picked up the festive box and her mother leaned in close to Izzy and whispered, “He’s got a nice bum.”

“Mom!” Izzy knew that with his sensitive hearing, Mikhlas heard that, but he gave no sign beyond a certain twinkle in his blue eyes as he returned to the table and passed Alice the box.

“Mom, we said no gifts this year. I didn’t get you anything,” Izzy said.

“No, we said gifts for the children only. You are still my child,” she said, adjusting the pink bow and placing the box in front of her.

Izzy looked at the box in her hands. A tear crept out and fell onto her arm. She blinked a few times and tore open the wrapping to reveal a felt-covered jewelry box.

Inside was a thin gold chain with a small gold bell hanging from the end. Izzy smiled and looked across at her mother as the tears rolled down her face. She stood up to wrap her arms around her mother’s neck.

“It’s perfect,” Izzy said, holding on to her mother a little tighter than normal.

“Bell, honey what is it?” her mother asked.

“Nothing. I’m just going to miss you, that’s all,” Izzy said.

“You don’t have to go. You can stay here. Move back into this house if you need to.”

“I can’t, Mom. I already promised I would go,” Izzy said.

Her mother let out a long sigh and smiled. She took the box from her hands and pulled out the gold chain. Izzy let her mother put it around her neck. She looked down at the little bell and smiled.

“Where are my manners? Mike, would you like something to drink?” the old lady said. “Tea, coffee?” she asked him.

He looked at Izzy briefly and then at the old lady. “Coffee, please.”

“What about you, honey?” she asked Izzy.

“I’m fine, Mom, thanks,” Izzy said.

Her mother walked out of the room and Izzy couldn’t hold back the tears. They poured out of her then.

Mikhlas stood up silently and came over to her. He didn’t say anything, he gently held his arms out to her and she buried her face in his shirt. This was killing her inside.

“You will return one day,” he said quietly to her.

“I will? How do you know?” Izzy asked.

“Because you will have command of the entire Royal Fleet. You will come back.”

Izzy pulled in a ragged breath and let him hold her for a while.

“Oh, he’s that kind of friend.” They both heard her mother from the door.

“It’s not like that, Mom,” Izzy said as Mikhlas stepped back from her. He sat back down on the protesting chair.

“If you say so. I forgot to ask if you take sugar?”

Izzy felt her face turn red. Mikhlas looked at her for what to say. She held up two fingers to him under the table.

“Two, please,” he said. Her mother nodded and gave Izzy a look as she walked out. She knew that look. Her mother had questions. She took a deep breath and wiped her face.

“I’ll be back in a minute,” she said to Mikhlas.

“I’ll set the nanites,” he whispered back, nodding to her. When she walked into the kitchen, her mother stood looking at the door.

“Mom, it’s not what you think. He’s just a friend,” Izzy said.

“Your father was also just a friend until he looked at me like that,” her mother said, pointing back to the door.

“Like what?”

“Oh, come now, Bell. You know what I’m talking about.”

“No, Mom, I don’t.”

“That man can’t tear his eyes off you. He watches you like a cat about to pounce.”

“He’s just a friend, Mom.”

“If you say so…,” her mother said and turned to the kettle.

Izzy knew what that little phrase meant when her mother said it. It meant she knew she was right but would let Izzy find out for herself.

~She’s wrong about this. Mikhlas doesn’t think of me like that. I’m his Queen. He’s supposed to watch me like a hawk.~

“Mom, don’t be mad at me, please,” Izzy said.

“I’m not mad, honey. I just wish you would have told me about this sooner. Or at least stayed for Christmas.”

“Shit timing, I know,” Izzy mumbled and received the all too familiar glare from her mother.

“Language, young lady!” her mother fired out.

The “Sorry mom,” Izzy gave her was out of pure habit.

“Do the boys know about this?”

“Not yet,” Izzy said.

“You haven’t told them you’re taking them to the other side of the world yet?” her mother asked with surprise.

“No. I wanted to wait until I knew for sure.”

“This is all happening so quickly, Bell. Are you in trouble?” she asked, hushing her voice.

“No. I’m not in trouble. I promise. I just need to do this,” Izzy said.

“And how does Mike fit into all of this?” her mother asked. She was clearly not done talking about him.

“I told you, he’s a friend.”

“Isabelle?” she asked, giving her a glare.

“There’s nothing to tell, Mom. He’s just here to watch my back. He doesn’t see me like that,” Izzy said.

“Are you sure?” her mother asked, her voice more knowing than Izzy expected.

“I’m sure,” she said, looking at the door. She wondered for a moment if he was listening to them. Izzy helped her mother carry the cups to the next room and handed Mikhlas one.

“So, Mike. What do you do for a living?” Izzy’s mother asked.

“I captain a ship,” he said.

“Oh, so you’re a military man. Explains a lot,” her mother mumbled under her breath.

“Mom,” Izzy warned. She knew if her mother got on a roll, she would dissect his life into tiny pieces with her questions.

Not everyone could get through the onslaught her mother delivered.

She gave Izzy a look not to interrupt and continued. “Where are you from?” she asked him.

Mikhlas waited for a second as he took a slow sip of his coffee and began to speak.

“I was born in England. My father served in the military there. We moved to the US when I was a young boy. I grew up in Washington,” he said.

Izzy frowned at him. ~Where did that come from?~

“That explains the slight accent. You have beautiful eyes,” her mother said.

Mikhlas smiled at her. “Thank you. I get them from my mother.” He took a sip of his coffee and Izzy could tell he listened to something else in the room. ~Must be Prime in his ear telling him what to say.~

“Are you married?” her mother asked out of the blue.

“MOM!” Izzy said to her.

“What? I’m only making conversation,” she said.

“No, I am not. My work does not afford me such a privilege.”

“I see. Is your work dangerous?”

“It can be.”

“Hmm,” her mom said and took a sip of her coffee.

“Mom, I need to go speak to the boys,” Izzy stood and went to the door. She didn’t want to be here for this painful interrogation her mother was about to lay on Mikhlas.