Chapter 27

Raylon

After ending the call with Connie, I dressed in my bedclothes and lay down.

~Again she asked me about my mask and what is underneath it. But if I show her my face, she will run from me. But…what if she doesn’t?~

The possibility that she could be the one woman in my world that does not fear me brought a strange nervous feeling to my gut.

~There is only one way I will know. Tomorrow then.~

I took in a long, deep breath as I nodded at my decision.

~It is time I try.~

I thought back to Laylar and how she cried for Rein.

~I want that. Someone who will want to be with me as much as my niece wants this boy.~

That thought reminded me of a conversation I wanted to have. “Captain Milrax,” I said and waited for the connection to begin.

“Good evening, Lord Raylon,” the captain’s voice said.

“Good evening, Captain,” I said, sitting up in my bed. “You have an officer named Rein on board your ship. He is now assigned to my side until told otherwise.”

“Understood, My Lord. I will send him to the palace right away.”

“Thank you,” I said and turned the connection off.

The thought of how happy Laylar will be to know that she is to spend the day with him, alone and away from my brother’s watchful eye made me grin.

~Why do I always agree to anything that child asks of me? Even to things she does not ask for.~

I lay back down and rested my arms behind my head.

~What shall we do tomorrow? Should I take Connie riding? Will that scare her? Perhaps she will want to swim in the lake. I could take her hunting. No, she will not like that.~

I fell asleep to thoughts of our day together and of the things we could do. The last thought I had before I fell asleep was what it would be like to kiss her.

That in turn sparked dreams I didn’t want to wake from.

As I rolled onto my back, the light of the day coming through the window and shining through my closed eyes, I let out a disappointed sigh as I realized I would have to leave my dreams.

The disappointment vanished as the thought that it was morning already crept in.

~I will see her today. If things go as well as they did in my mind, perhaps my dreams will come true.~

I smiled as I remembered how her soft skin felt in my slumber. With a smile and a sigh, I stood from my bed and stretched my body.

After getting ready and informing my brother that Laylar was to spend the day with me, I made my way out of my room.

At my door stood two guards, one of them Rein.

The boy looked nervous as he greeted me.

I smiled beneath my mask. ~I wonder what he thinks he has done to be reassigned so suddenly in the middle of the night. Does he suspect I am doing this for Laylar?~

I went to the main part of the palace, and found Tomlee and Asytar in the kitchen, laughing at the cook as he threw food across the kitchen and into a pot of boiling water.

Their sweet giggles made me laugh and they turned to look at me.

“Good morning, girls,” I said as I went in.

“Good morning, Uncle,” they said in unison as the cook bowed to me.

“What plans do you two have for this day?” I asked them, grabbing a bright-red Pali fruit.

“Asytar and I are going to spend a few nights with the scholars on Pyk Mador tomorrow. Today we must pack and prepare. All the royal children will be there,” Tomlee said.

“I do hope you two will behave,” I said as I pictured all the trouble these two could get into out there.

Pyk Mador was a moon in orbit around one of the largest mining colonies in the kingdom.

A visit there was a valuable lesson for the children in learning how the mines work, and about economics and trade, but also a place where a troublemaker like Tomlee could get hurt.

“Don’t worry, Uncle,” Tomlee said. “Our guards will be with us. And besides, what could we possibly get up to out there?”

I heard in her voice the same tone she often used just before my brother and I were called to save her from the consequences of doing something she’d been told not to.

“Tomlee,” I said with a firmer tone. “Need I remind you of the lake? The Timix? I still feel their bites on my skin.”

“I promise, Uncle, we will behave.”

I nodded and left the room. I made my way to my brother’s office and found him standing by the window, a book in his hands.

“Good morning, brother,” I said as the guards closed the door. When it was just the two of us, I retracted my mask and took a large bite of the fruit in my hand.

“Raylon, good morning. How did you sleep?”

My brother asked me this every morning, but at his words now, I stopped chewing as my heart jumped.

~No way he could know about my dreams.~

“Well, thank you. And you?” I asked.

“Very well,” he said and returned to the book.

“What is there to do today?” I asked as I sat down on a chair at his desk and continued my breakfast.

“I have meetings with advisors and councilmen all day. But you should not be thinking of that. Are you not taking Connie to Parna today?”

“Yes,” I mumbled then swallowed, “But I think it may be too early to go just yet. Besides, I must wait for Laylar to wake up and get ready.”

“Why are you taking my daughter with you? I would have thought you would want to be alone on your deserted planet.”

“It’s not deserted, brother. There are simply no people living there. And for the better, too. It’s alive with nature and beauty.”

“I still don’t see why you need Laylar.”

“You know how much she loves riding a Mal’net. I told her she could go riding today. I don’t often get a chance to go to Parna. I thought it would be nice for her to go.”

Zasrus sat down on a chair behind his desk and stared at me for a moment.

“What?” I asked him as I finished off the last of my Pali.

“I wonder if you are not taking her because of fear.”

“Fear?” I asked. “What would I have to be afraid of?”

“Connie, perhaps?”

“It is not fear I feel toward her.”

“I know,” he said leaning forward. “But it is those other feelings that you could be afraid of. You know that sooner or later she will want to see you. What will you do?”

Connie’s words from last night came back. Even though I’d made up my mind to show her, I felt nervous about it again.

When I didn’t reply, my brother said, “Just show her, Raylon. Like pulling a thorn from your skin, just do it quickly, get it over and done with.

“Then you will know the truth of how she feels about you.”

“I already decided to show her today,” I said. “I could be back in time to join you with the advisors.”

“Don’t think so negatively,” he replied. “There are many who love you, even with your scars.”

“I know, brother,” I said, and stood. I tossed the seed of the Pali out through the window. “But there are far more who turn away from me.”