Royal Hearts (5 page)

“Where have you been?” she asked. “Did
someone attack you? You look awful.”

He glanced around to see if Ann was around.
“Mom, what are you doing here?”

“I rule here, silly. Oh no! Don’t tell you me
you have amnesia. Athen, get the doctor, quick!”

Athen hurried to obey her.

“What’s going on?” Hathor asked. “Have I
stepped back in time or something?” He hobbled back to the throne
room and studied it. The throne room hadn’t been decorated this way
since his mother ruled Raz. Turning back to his mother, he finally
noticed she looked younger. “Can I see a mirror?”

“I’ll get one for you right away,” she told
him then went down the hallway.

This couldn’t be happening. It had to be some
joke. He shuffled to the queen’s bedchamber as fast as he could,
ignoring the pain in his side and his mounting headache. When he
got to the bedchamber, he almost bumped into the small table his
mom used to keep by the door. Ann had set it to the corner of the
room after she moved in. But it was back where it used to be. And
worse than that, he was looking at all his mother’s things.

What was going on here? There was nothing of
Ann in this room.

“You’re tracking dirt all over this place,
and I just cleaned the floor!” a female servant complained when she
saw him.

“My mother is the queen?” he asked her,
ignoring her agitation.

“Of course. Who else would rule Raz?”

His mind worked through the situation,
desperately eager to put the pieces together.

“There you are,” his mother said, shaking her
head. “You really shouldn’t run off like that. Here’s the mirror
you requested.”

He took it from her and examined his
reflection. He almost dropped the mirror. He looked younger. Years
younger.

“You are badly bruised. What happened?” his
mother asked.

“What year is it?”

“Excuse me?”

“Things aren’t right,” he told her. “What
year am I in?”

“It’s 34.1974-2.”

He dropped the mirror. He was six years in
the past? He was no longer twenty-seven? He was twenty-one?

“What’s going on?” she asked. “Do you
remember who I am? Do you remember who you are?” When he didn’t
answer, she turned to the doorway and yelled, “Where’s the
doctor?”

“I need to sit down,” Hathor whispered before
he lost consciousness.

Chapter Five

Six years in the past

Ann’s Private High School

Dayton, Ohio

Planet: Earth

On the way to the cafeteria, Ann searched for
her friends, but they found her first. She laughed as she caught
them running down the hall to meet up with her.

“Where’s the fire?” Ann asked.

“Have you seen the new boy? He’s so hot!”
Teresa said with a giggle. “He’s a junior, just like us. I think
I’m in love.”

Stacey rolled her eyes. “As if you don’t fall
in love all the time, though I admit this guy is gorgeous.”

“Is he in our lunch period?” Ann asked. If
her friends were gushing over him, he must be worth looking at.

“He’s right there,” Stacey whispered, pulling
them over to the wall. “He’s the blond one with the red shirt.”

“And muscles. Lots of muscles,” Teresa added.
“He can lift me up in those strong arms any day.”

Ann wrinkled her nose. “He’s okay.”

Teresa gasped. “Are you kidding?”

“Well,” Ann shrugged, “it’s just that he has
blond hair.”

“And your point would be…?”

“I guess I’m just attracted to guys with dark
hair. I can’t see myself with a blond.”

“We’re not asking you to marry him. We’re
asking you to appreciate his good looks,” Stacey said, shaking her
head.

“And his excellent body,” Teresa added.

“It’s no use, Teresa. She’s too serious about
this stuff.”

“I have better things to do than ogle boys
I’ll never date. He’s way out of my league.” Ann pulled money from
her purse. “I’m going to grab something to eat. Do you guys know
what they’re serving today?”

“I think it’s fish again,” Teresa
replied.

Ann groaned. “I guess it’s better than the
meatloaf.”

As they continued to the cafeteria, Stacey
asked Teresa, “Did Ann tell you about Lisa wanting to fix her up
with a guy?”

“No,” Teresa replied. “How come I’m the last
one to know these things?”

“It’s no big deal,” Ann said. “He’s just
someone that her boyfriend knows. Besides, the only way I can get a
date is to be fixed up.”

“Considering you’re the only one of us going
on a date, you’re doing better than we are,” Stacey replied.

“Yeah, so see if this guy has any cute
friends and hook us up,” Teresa teased.

“I have to meet him first,” Ann said in
amusement. “But if I happen to come across any cute friends, I’ll
be sure to find out if they’re available.” Chuckling, she stopped
at the lunch line and listened as they told her the latest
gossip.

***

Six years in the past

Spaceship entering Average Galaxy

Omin-2 figured that by now Ann should be back
in her past, and he had followed her through time. Stage one of
Omin’s plan was complete.

Stage two was to enslave the human race.
During this time, he would kill the future queen. He couldn’t have
her getting in his way like she’d done with Omin. After he
completed this mission, he’d take his slaves back to Pale, and then
he’d use them to take over the planet.

All he needed to do was find a suitable
location where he could quickly ascend to power. Since his
technological knowledge was much more advanced than the humans’, he
knew he could easily impress them. But he couldn’t just barge into
the United Nations.

He would have to make the right connections
and gain respect and power so that no one would question where he
came from or what his motives were. He knew he could do it. It was
just a matter of how long it would take to get back to Pale.

“In good time,” he whispered. “All in good
time.”

***

Six years in the past

Hathor’s Bedroom

The Royal Palace

Planet: Raz

Hathor was lying in his bed, bandages wrapped
around his ribs. He had already tried to get out of bed, but he was
still too weak to stand for longer than a couple minutes.

He had to find Ann. He didn’t know what was
going on, but he knew that Ann had to be in some kind of trouble if
she wasn’t with him.

His mother entered his room. “How are you
feeling?” she asked as she sat next to his bed.

“Horrible,” he admitted.

“The doctor says it will take you a couple of
weeks to fully recover from your injuries. You need to get as much
rest as possible.”

“I can’t rest. I have to find Ann.”

“Who’s Ann?”

He started to answer her but wondered if
she’d believe him. The whole notion of traveling back in time was
crazy, after all.

“Earlier, you asked what year it was,” she
said. “What year did you think it was?”

He told her.

“But that’s six years from now. Why did you
think it was that year?”

He could see that she was struggling to
understand his predicament, which meant there was a chance she
might believe him. He told her about the future, about bringing Ann
to Raz to be the next queen, about marrying her, and about the
mission they were on when he suddenly found himself back in
time.

“Pale and Raz will be on good terms in the
future?” his mother marveled.

“Yes, but I’m worried about Ann. For some
reason, she’s not with me. I don’t know where she went or how to
find her. When I tried the Book of Spells, it brought me to you
because you’re the current queen.”

After a moment, she frowned. “I hate to
bother the Great Magician since he’s usually busy, but I think
he’ll make an exception for this. If anyone can tell us where the
next queen is, it will be him.” She stood up and left the room.

Hathor took a deep breath and sat on the edge
of his bed. He hadn’t been in his old bed since before he married
Ann. It felt strange to be in his old bedchamber, surrounded by his
old things. But it only emphasized how wrong this whole situation
was.

He knew he should take it easy, but Ann could
be in danger at that very moment. He didn’t want anything to happen
to her. Raz may have a secure future with their daughter, but he
didn’t want to spend the rest of his life without her. Once he
found out where she was, he was going to find her and bring her
back to Raz where she belonged. Somehow, someway, he would do
it.

***

Present day

Alpha Head I

Planet: Pale

Leader Paff hadn’t slept at all since finding
out about Omin’s clone. How did Omin develop the technology to make
a clone? Paler Law, even under Omin’s leadership, specifically
forbade any cloning, so the technology for it wasn’t even produced.
At least, Paff hadn’t thought so.

He sighed. He hated Omin. More than that, he
feared him and the clone he created. If that clone was anything
like Omin, a horrible war was about to ensue on Pale.

He glanced out of his office window.
Everything looked so calm and peaceful. Palers and Laxes were
casually walking around, doing their usual business. Pale had
improved a great deal from its morbid condition two years ago,
right after Omin died.

Now that Palers and Laxes had worked on
building peace and eliminated the few outbreaks of rebellion that
had occurred, Pale was better than ever. Lush, white vegetation
grew out of the ground. Fruits and vegetables were everywhere.
White grass, flowers, and trees gave the landscape an attractive
appearance.

The Laxes had greatly improved the look of
the steel buildings which had at one time been gray. They had put
various colors on the buildings so the area radiated of blues,
greens, and yellows. The sunlight glistened off the buildings,
creating a sense of warmth that Pale had lacked before.

He looked up at the sky. He fully expected to
see a spaceship carrying Omin’s clone with a multitude of his
allies following him. But the sky was pure blue. There was no sense
of the impending disaster about to strike at them.

“Leader Paff?” someone asked from behind
him.

Startled, he whirled around. He sighed with
relief when he saw that it was Zak. Now that he knew Omin’s clone
was on the loose, he didn’t feel safe anywhere.

“I’ve been trying to reach you on your
intercom, but you didn’t respond,” Zak explained.

“It’s been a long two days.” He smiled
wearily. “Did you hear anything from Queen Ann?”

“Nothing. I don’t know how long we should
expect her to be gone. With the Book of Spells, she and Hathor
should have arrived on Olympia as soon as they left here. I know
the Olympian gods and goddesses like to entertain their guests for
at least a day before hearing the guest’s request. She must be
explaining the situation to them as we speak.”

“I hope so. The longer she takes to get back
to us, the worse my bad feeling gets.”

“Do you think Omin’s clone already got
her?”

Paff tensed at the thought. He liked the
queen and didn’t want to see anything bad happen to her. “How much
time should we give her before we send out a search party?”

Zak paused then said, “Let’s give her a
couple more days. If, at that time, we don’t hear from her or
Hathor, we will act.”

Paff nodded.

“You should go home and rest,” Zak said.
“You’re the only one who hasn’t gotten any sleep.”

“I know. You’re right. I won’t be any good
defending Pale if I’m exhausted.”

“Second Commander Jaz and I will notify you
if anything happens,” he promised.

“Alright. I’ll go home and rest.”

As Paff left the building, he couldn’t push
aside the uneasy feeling that kept creeping up in his gut. He just
knew that he’d be sending out a search party to find Ann in two
days’ time.

***

Six years in the past

William’s High School

Dayton, Ohio

Planet: Earth

It was amazing. William remembered everything
that had happened in his future six years, yet he was eighteen
again. He was a senior in high school and living with his parents.
He looked younger and felt younger. It was like going through a
second birth. He hadn’t felt this optimistic in years.

Finally, things were going his way.

He sat in class, mindlessly scribbling in his
notebook, pretending to take notes. He didn’t care what the teacher
was saying. He was anxious for tomorrow to come because that would
be the day he met her: Ann Kerwin. And she wouldn’t remember
him.

It was hard to imagine. If someone had told
him he could go back to the past and undo a mistake he had made
long ago, he would have laughed. Now he knew better than to dismiss
something that seemed impossible.

A folded up piece of paper hit his arm,
interrupting his thoughts. Startled, he glanced back at his best
friend, Carson McCoy. He took his friend’s note and slowly opened
it so that the teacher wouldn’t notice.

This is going to be on the
test. Why aren’t you taking notes?
Carson
had written.

William rolled his eyes. He had forgotten
that Carson had been such a nerd. He shook his head. No wonder they
drifted apart after they graduated. Carson had gone onto college to
pursue an engineering degree, and then he moved to Colorado where
he met his wife. Currently, in high school, Carson was dating Lisa,
but William knew that wouldn’t last much longer. Those two weren’t
meant to be together.

I’m not going to need this
in real life, William wrote back. Spanish is so lame.
He returned the note.