Chapter 14: Chapter 14

ISABELLE

If Isabelle thought talking to her mom was hard, she hadn’t realized just how tough the next part would be until the moment she stepped outside. She took a deep breath and smiled when the cold air hit her blushing face.

She walked down to the end of the garden and called the boys over.

“Hey, Mom, what’s up?” James said as he brushed snow off his jacket.

“Hey, guys. We need to talk.”

“Okay, Mom,” Lucas said, and she smiled at them, her mind blank.

“Earth to Mom?” James said after a few moments of her saying nothing.

“Guys, we need to leave,” she said.

“Why?” James asked.

“There is something very important I have to do, and I need you guys to come with me. I will explain everything once we get there.”

“Where are we going?” Lucas asked.

“On a trip. Like a holiday,” she said.

“Cool! I hope it’s somewhere warm and sunny,” Lucas said to his brother. Izzy dropped her head. ~Deep space is everything but warm and sunny.~

“I promise, you’re going to love it,” she said to them with an unsure half smile.

“When are we going?” James asked.

“Today. I need you to go pack up your stuff. We’re going to need to leave very soon,” she said.

“But Christmas?” James said.

“I know. But this is one of those last-minute things. It’s now or never,” she lied.

“What about Grandma?” Lucas asked.

“Just us, honey. Grandma is going to stay here,” she said.

“Okay…,” James said, sounding skeptical about all this.

“Why don’t you guys go pack quickly?” she said, not wanting to lie to them any more than she already had.

She watched them run into the house and up the stairs. She went back inside and found her mother still asking Mikhlas inappropriate and personal questions.

“Mom, we need to get going soon,” Izzy said, hoping to change the subject. Her mother’s smile faded, and she stood up.

“Call me when you get there. I want to know the moment you land. And come visit soon as you can. And you call me, young lady,” her mother said, wrapping her arms around Izzy’s neck.

“I will, Mom. I will call as often as I can,” Izzy said. Her mother pulled away from her and looked at Mikhlas.

“Keep her safe,” she said, with a seriousness her mother hardly ever used.

“You have my word,” he said to her.

They heard the boys come running down the stairs with their bags and said their goodbyes.

When Izzy walked out of the house, she felt a sting of sadness again. She might never see this house again. She swallowed the lump and waved at her mother in the doorway.

They got to the end of the drive and James turned to her. “Where’s the car?” he asked.

“Around the corner, honey,” she said.

They turned into the alley, and she stopped them. “Okay, guys, I need to tell you something, and please try not to freak out, okay?” she said.

“Does this concern him?” James asked, giving Mikhlas a glare.

“A bit. This is my friend Mikhlas. And we are going to his ship,” she said.

James frowned at Mikhlas, dropping his suitcase onto the snow and crossing his arms.

“I don’t want to go anywhere with this guy,” he said.

“Is it like a cruise, Mom?” Lucas asked.

“No, honey. A…spaceship,” she said, watching their faces.

“You’ve got to be joking,” James said, his frown turning into a full glare and shaking his head.

“I’m serious. Aliens and everything. I don’t want you guys to be scared,” she said.

“Spaceships and aliens aren’t real, Mom. They’re only in the movies,” Lucas said.

Mikhlas knelt in the snow so his head was at the same level as Lucas’s.

“You asked me if I am a giant, Lucas. I come from a planet with a slightly different gravity. That is why I am so big compared to you.

“Your mother is telling you the truth, but you will be someone very special where I am from, and you have nothing to fear.”

“Bullshit,” James said.

“James!”

“Oh, come on, Mom. This is crazy,” James said, holding Lucas’s hand and pulling him away from Mikhlas. “If this freak is an alien, he can prove it, or I’m not going anywhere.”

“Honey, look at me,” Izzy said. “What did I look like the last time you saw me?”

James looked worried. The last time he’d seen her all her injuries were fresh, but her miraculous recovery didn’t seem to convince him.

Mikhlas stood frowning before he nodded. “All right, James. Prime, combat suit.”

Like before in the cabin when facing Cadman and Simon, Mikhlas’ dark clothes morphed, silver filigree breaking out across his body.

Now that she could see it clearly, Izzy saw the nanites that made up his suit morph into scales of dark-gray metal that protected his torso and arms and made him look even more formidable.

As the nanite skin crossed over his features, Mikhlas looked at James, his voice carrying a slight echo. “Is this enough proof, Your Highness? It is time to return to the ship.”

James stared open-mouthed, while Lucas jumped up and down in the snow. “That is so cool! Can I have a suit like that?”

“Come on, James. We have to go,” Izzy said, holding out her hand to him.

James looked at her outstretched hand for a moment before swallowing. “Okay, Mom.”

She felt so proud of him at that moment to trust her enough to do this. She nodded to Mikhlas, and with a sudden quick flash, they were back on the ship in the same small gray room as before.

James and Lucas looked around, and then at Izzy, their faces shocked.

“Where are we?” James asked.

“We told you. This is the ship,” she said, watching them for any sign of a freakout.

“Did we just teleport?” James asked excitedly.

“Yes,” Mikhlas said. “I must go to the bridge,” he said before smiling at them and leaving.

“No way!” Lucas said, looking around. “Is this for real, Mom?”

“Yeah, it is. As crazy as it is, it’s real.”

“This is so cool!” Lucas said and walked to the door. “Can we go explore?”

“First, I want you to see something. Prime, can you lead us back to the bridge?” Izzy asked, and a thin blue line illuminated on the floor.

“Whoa, cool!” Lucas said and went over to his brother.

Izzy followed her children, smiling at their reactions. ~Wait until you see the bridge,~ she thought, running her eyes over the bare gray walls.

As they approached the ramp, Lucas stopped abruptly with a gasp. “Oh man, this is so cool,” he said.

James stopped next to his brother and turned back to her with a smile. ~There you are,~ she thought, when she noticed the childlike excitement in his eyes.

Izzy came up behind them. “So? What do you guys think?” she asked, putting her arms around their shoulders.

“It’s incredible, Mom,” James said, turning to face her. “I believe you, both of you.” He smiled.

Izzy gave him an understanding nod, and Lucas wriggled out of her grip. “Where are all the aliens?” he asked with a hint of disappointment in his voice.

Izzy and James both laughed. “You will meet them soon enough, honey. For now, there is something you ~have~ to see,” she said, taking note of the barren room and wondering the same thing.

~Only Mikhlas, Silian, and Amy. Where is everyone else?~

She led them down the ramp, and as they approached the others, Amy stood and held her arms open. Lucas took off and jumped at her, knocking her back a step.

“There he is!” Amy said, pulling the boy into an embrace.

“Are you coming with us?” Lucas asked when Amy finally placed him back on his feet.

“Yup. Wouldn’t miss it,” she said with a smile and a quick wink.

James strode over to her slowly. “Hey, Aunt Amy,” he said in all his teenage nonchalance.

“Hey, stretch,” Amy said, walking over to him. “How you holding up?” she whispered, giving Izzy a quick concerned look.

“I’m fine. What’s up with them?” James asked, nodding toward Mikhlas and Silian.

Izzy followed his gaze to the men standing next to their seats, their bodies stiff, heads dipped and tight fists clenched over their chest.

Izzy went to him. “Don’t worry about them for now. I will explain it all later. Come on, I want to show you something,” she said, pulling James away.

He walked with her to the front of the room, still glancing over his shoulder occasionally.

Izzy hated seeing this kind of grown-up worry on her son. His mistrust of men because of his own father caused a lump to build in her throat. ~It’s going to change, James. Just trust me.~

Lucas came running over to them, his eyes wild. “Best Christmas present, EVER!” the boy said, grabbing her around the waist. She smiled and placed a kiss on his head.

“You guys ready?” she asked them both. Two intrigued nods gave her the answer. “Okay, Prime, open her up,” she said, and felt Lucas’s arms fall away from her as the black wall turned clear, revealing the view.

She smiled and stepped away unnoticed as the boys gawked and went to sit next to Amy. “How did it go with your mom?” Amy asked.

Izzy sighed. “Fine, I think. Mom believes I’m moving to Singapore.”

“What?” Amy asked with surprise, turning in her chair. “Why did you tell her that?”

“Because I couldn’t exactly tell her the truth.” Izzy gestured around the bridge.

“Yeah, true. And is she cool with it?”

“No. Not at all. But I had to come up with something.”

“And the boys?” Amy asked, nodding over to them, still staring at the screen, “How are they taking it?”

Izzy dropped her head. “I haven’t gotten around to telling them everything.”

“Iz, you need to tell them as soon as you can,” Amy said, her words stinging more than Izzy expected.

“I know. But how do I explain something I don’t even understand?”

“I don’t know, Iz. But they need to know,” Amy said.

“I know… So, what did I miss here?” Izzy asked, changing the topic.

Amy turned back to the room, “Not much, we just sort of sat around, waiting for you to get back. Silian didn’t want to leave the bridge until Mikhlas returned.”

Izzy looked over at him, slowly approaching her children, trying to make his inescapable size as small as possible. But just the immensity of his frame next to Lucas showed her just how different, and alien he was.

~He’s an alien. They all are. And this is an alien ship.~

“Jesus, Amy, what the fuck are we doing?” she breathed out, not meaning to swear like that, but she couldn’t think of any other way to emphasize how she felt.

Seeing her boys standing next to Mikhlas, looking out of the massive window on an alien spaceship, onto Planet Earth, gave her an overwhelming sense of fear of the unknown.

Amy shifted in her seat to look Izzy in the eyes. “We’re going on the most insane holiday of our lives. Just think of it that way. If you keep telling yourself you are not coming back, it will drive you crazy.”

Izzy shut her eyes, trying to calm the nerves flaring up inside her.

~They’ll be fine. They are Princes in this crazy world. They will be fine~. She repeated this mantra in her head over and over to try to ease the worry she felt.

James finally tore himself away from the screen, leaving Mikhlas kneeling next to Lucas, and came over to her.

He stopped in front of her and Amy. “Mom, what is going on? Why are they here? And where are we going with them?”

~I guess now is as good a time as any to tell him. At least some of it.~

She turned to Amy. “Can you give us a sec, babe?” she asked. Amy nodded and went to join Lucas.

James sat in her place and turned to face his mom. She could see by his face that his initial excitement and joy were replaced by worry and suspicion again.

~You’re too young to worry like this.~

“James, it’s difficult to explain exactly what’s going on, because I don’t know everything myself. But Mikhlas and Silian come from a place very far away, a collection of planets ruled by a single Monarch.

“It’s called the Realm. In the Realm, there are…god-like beings that watch over them called the Sentinels.

“I don’t know what they are, or how they work, and all I know is that they choose the leader. The King or queen of this Realm.

“Recently, their King died, and these Sentinels chose a new leader…Me.” She waited, watching James as he listened.

He nodded, a deep frown on his face, but his eyes stayed calm. “So…you’re their queen?” he asked.

Izzy nodded. “Yes. Or I will be once I ascend.”

“What does that mean?”

“I don’t know, honey. I told you, there is a lot I don’t know yet. All I know is that Mikhlas was sent here to find me, find all of us, and take us back. The rest we’re just going to have to find out together.”

“What about Lucas and me? What does that make us?” he asked, looking back at his brother, who looked down at shining filigree on his arms and legs and grinned like a madman.

“Do you remember in the alley, Mikhlas called you ‘Your Highness?’”

“Oh, yeah. I wondered about that. I thought he was messing with us.”

“No, dear. You and your brother are princes,” she said in a soft voice. It still sounded crazy in her mind, and saying it out loud made her shake her head.

James snapped his head back to her. “What? For real?” he asked with wide eyes.

Izzy smiled. “That’s what I’m told. But I think we should save our questions for them.” She motioned over to Mikhlas and Silian, demonstrating Prime’s morph capabilities to Lucas, who bounced on his heels.

“What are they?” James asked without turning away from his brother.

“Soldiers. Aliens.” She paused, looking at Mikhlas. The events from the last few days came rushing back, and a small smile spread on her face. “And I think that they are good men,” she finished.

James looked at her. “They’re really big,” he said.

Izzy laughed at that. “Yes, they are. Imagine how I felt when I found them in the cabin in the middle of the night.”

James’s smile fell. “Did they hurt you?” he asked, the deep frown returning.

“No, honey, not at all. They did the opposite. I will admit I was a little scared at first, but you have nothing to worry about, okay?” She waited, watching James run his calculating gaze over them.

He slowly nodded and turned to face her again. “Okay, Mom. I trust you. But if they try to hurt you or Lucas, I’m going to kick their asses. I don’t care how big they are.”