After moving the ship into the safety of the fog bank, Jeanip sat down on the bench in the wheel house, allowing the boat to drift aimlessly in the ocean for the moment. It was still too light to risk traveling to the Hunting Lodge. He looked over at Europa and Earon and could see they were deeply saddened by Sunam and Misso’s passing. He glanced at Terrance, who was trying his best to console Europa on the loss, but Jeanip could see he too was affected by their deaths. Realizing he was the only one still alive to assure the two monarchs made it to safety, he reached down and pulled his hunting knife from his boot. Knowing there was no longer the need to hide the fact his blood was purple, he placed the knife’s tip inside the bullet hole in his pant leg and slid the blade down the material to expose the wound. There was a large amount of purple blood, but at least it had missed the artery. He tried to turn the leg to see if perhaps the bullet had gone clean threw but was unable to turn it due to the amount of pain he experienced. Seeing his attempt, Earon walked over and began to inspect the leg to ascertain the extent of the injury.
“Looks like it didn’t go through, which means the bullet is still inside your leg,” Earon stated, as he lifted the cut pant leg to reveal the back of Jeanip’s leg. “Jeanip, that bullet needs to come out, but I do not know if I can dig it out.”
Jeanip lifted his eyes from the wound to face Earon. “No, I don’t expect you to. You’re a top notch field dresser, but I’m not sure I’m ready to trust my leg to you as you dig around inside it for the bullet. Wash out the wound and dress it. The bullet can be removed once we reach the Hunting Lodge.” Jeanip looked over at Europa, who was sitting with Terrance on the opposite bench. “Europa, might I impose upon you to bring the medical bag from the galley? It’s under the sink.” Europa stepped down into the galley, retrieved the medical bag and then walked back to the wheel house. When she reached Jeanip and Earon, she sat the bag down and knelt at Jeanip’s feet. “Your Highness, you cannot kneel at my feet. I cannot allow it. You can sit at my side, but you cannot be below me,” Jeanip stated, clearly shaken at the sight of Europa kneeling.
“I cannot tend to your wounds at your side, Jeanip,” Europa answered, opening the bag and bringing out a bottle of peroxide. “I need to be down here to satisfactorily cleanse and dress it.”
“You cannot kneel to me, Europa,” Jeanip repeated, this time even more agitated, more flustered. “I will sit on the floor next to you.”
As Jeanip lifted his body in preparation to sit on the deck next to Europa, Earon held out his hand. “Jeanip, sit your keester down and let Europa take care of that leg. That is an order,” he said with the authority of a monarch. Without hesitation, Jeanip sat back down, obeying the order of his leader. Earon bent his legs and knelt beside Europa to assist her.
Jeanip fought to keep the tears that were filling up his eyes from escaping, but he was having little success as they streamed down his face. No honor was greater than the honor of having a royal kneel to someone of such unimportance as he. He had never heard of this being done before. And here was not one, but two monarchs kneeling before him, HIM, a lowly soldier.
Europa positioned the peroxide over Jeanip’s wound, then hesitated for a moment. She looked up into her protector’s face. “I know,” Jeanip said, in anticipation of what she was thinking. “This might hurt a bit.” Europa slowly poured the peroxide into the wound. Jeanip clenched his teeth in an attempt not to show any pain as the peroxide bubbled green in the wound and washed down his blood soaked leg. “A Commander shows no pain,” he repeated to himself over and over again in an attempt to ignore the pain. Even with his eyes squeezed tight, he could feel the room start to spin around him. A cold sweat drenched his body. Finally, the pain began to subside and he was able to open his eyes, only to discover all three passengers were staring at him. Feeling a little embarrassed, Jeanip’s cheeks flushed red for just a second before he regained his composure. “There should be a bottle of lilac water in the bag. That needs to be poured into the wound, then a dressing can be put on,” he said, as he looked down at Europa.
“I saw Evonic pour this water on Misso,” Europa stated, opening the bottle of lilac water and pouring it into the wound as Jeanip had said. “May I ask what it is?”
“It’s water from our homeland. It helps us heal,” Jeanip said.
Earon reached inside the medical bag and retrieved the ball of gauze and handed it to Europa when she had finished with the lilac water. “Are you sure you know how to do this?” he asked his sister. “I am pretty good at this.”
“Believe it or not, Earon, your sister is a better field dresser than you are,” Jeanip replied.
“I had a wonderful teacher,” Europa stated, keeping her eyes on the wound. “You made me practice over and over again when I was young until it became second nature. You always said I needed to know how to do this because I might need it someday to save someone’s life.”
“That is the same line he gave me,” Earon stated. “Made me practice for hours.”
“Aren’t you glad I did? Who knew it would be my life you two would be saving?” Jeanip whispered, trying to ignore the pain and lighten the mood at the same time.
Earon held two thick bandage pads over the cleansed wound while Europa began to wrap gauze around the leg. Unrolling the gauze around the leg, she asked, “Jeanip, is that what happened to my mother when she died? Did she disappear like Sunam and Misso did? Did she turn into light and then vanish? Or was her body really in that grave in the family graveyard?”
Jeanip looked at Earon, who gave a nod of approval. “Yes, that is what happened to your mother when she died. There is no body in her grave, nor in your father’s. When we die, and our brains stop sending out the signal for transformation, we return to our true selves, the beings of light you saw Sunam and Misso turn in to. In our true state, we cannot exist up here because our bodies are designed to exist in high water pressure. The lack of pressure makes our body’s molecules disintegrate and lose their cohesiveness. The result is we ‘flow out’, which means our outer skin cannot hold our insides in and they spill out. Hopefully, when this happens, our body is in water so we can return home. We are beings of the water; created in water, born in water and exist in water. If one flows out in water, the essence of who we were combines with particles of water and we literally become part of the ocean. Although we can never take a form again, who we were continues to exist.”
“And what happens if you die away from water?” Europa asked.
“Then the essence of who we are is lost forever as it flows out into dirt, or rock, or whatever substance we are on,” Jeanip answered. “Who we were exists no more.”
“Is that what happened to Birea? Why her body disappeared?” Terrance asked, remembering the absence of Birea’s body.
“Yes, that is what happened to her. There was no water for her essence to adhere to. No matter where we die, be it on land or in the water, we leave no body behind to show we ever existed. That is one of the ways we have been able to hide our existence from humans.”
“But my mother was on land when she died,” Europa said sadly. “Does that mean she flowed out onto dirt and her essence is lost forever?”
“No, Europa, your mother did not die on land,” Jeanip answered. Europa stopped her wrapping and jerked her head up to see Jeanip. “I carried your mother out into the ocean as she was dying. She was able to flow out into the water and now exists out there as part of everything the ocean is and will be.”
“You lied to me. And if you carried her out into the ocean, then she was still alive when I arrived. Was she not?”
“Yes, your mother was alive,” Jeanip stated. “And I am sorry, Your Majesty, that I lied to you. You had no knowledge of your mother’s true form and I had no way to explain to you why there was no body except to fabricate an explanation. So I told you she had already died before you arrived and had been buried in the family cemetery. But we will go over the ev
ents of that night and I will tell you the true story when we reach the Hunting Lodge. For now, know I would never have allowed your mother, my sovereign and most beloved sister, to be so dishonored as to flow out onto dirt. Dirt is the filth Terrians come from. The dirt of many lands has claimed the essences of many Oonocks – I would not allow them to have your mother’s too.”
Jeanip could see the anger Europa had started to feel start to recede as she understood why he could not tell her the truth about her mother. “Now, I believe Mr. Landers and I have some unfinished business.” Jeanip looked directly at Terrance. “I have to determine if I’m going to cut your heart out or kiss you.”
Trying not to show his nervousness, Terrance replied, “Yes, Sir, I believe that is what you said your two choices were going to be.”
“Earon, would you kindly bring me that blaster” Jeanip asked Earon, pointing to the blaster that lay on the floor a few feet away.
Earon picked up the blaster and handed it to Jeanip. Jeanip held it up so Terrance could have a good view of it. “Do you know what this is, Terrance?”
“I believe it’s what just saved Europa and Earon’s lives,” Terrance said, hoping Jeanip would remember that fact and not decide to cut out his heart.
“You are correct about that. Had that not been the case I would have already killed you,” Jeanip stated, watching Terrance for any sign of faltering. He did not falter, but kept his ground, ready to answer the next question. Europa suddenly realized the seriousness of this questioning and began to stand up to intercede. Earon grabbed her arm, pulling her back down to the deck. He shook his head negatively, telling her not to interfere.
“But do you know what KIND of weapon this is? Where it comes from?” Jeanip asked, maintaining his sight on Terrance while gripping the knife in his hand tighter.
“No, Sir.
“Let me enlighten you, then. This is a Terrian blaster, top of the line. The primary assault weapon of our sworn enemy. This particular type of weapon has been responsible for annihilating most of my race. Would you mind telling me how you came about having it in your possession? And, Terrance, please don’t insult me by lying.”
Europa held her breath. She knew Terrance had to tell Jeanip the truth, but what would Jeanip do? She feared if his answer did not meet with Jeanip’s approval, he would not hesitate to kill Terrance.
“I’m waiting, Terrance,” Jeanip said, as he handed the weapon back to Earon. He wanted both of his hands free in case Terrance’s answer mandated his life be extinguished.
“Yes, Sir,” Terrance said with as much bravery as possible. “It’s my father’s. I found it in his room.”
“Your father’s?” Jeanip repeated.
“Yes, Sir. Sir, I lied to you. My father never returned from his field study. I haven’t seen him since I arrived here. When he failed to return to his room, the inn manager asked me to gather his belongings. While packing up his things I began to discover some really odd things – and the weapon.”
“Odd things? What kind of odd things?” Earon asked, his curiosity peaked.
Terrance turned to face Earon. “Things related to Minnos. There were photos of Europa, and her mother, and of you, Jeanip,” Terrance said, turning his gaze back to Jeanip. “He had hand-drawn maps of Minnos and of security devices. There was a copy of the original land deed and copies of old paintings of a woman who looked like Mrs. Waters.”
Jeanip raised his hunting knife and said, “Before I make my decision, Terrance, can you give me a reason why your father would have these things? What was his interest in Minnos?”
“I’ve been asking myself that same question for days. The only reasonable explanation I can come up with is he thought he had found this lost royal race from Egypt he has been searching for, for years. He’s practically become obsessed with the idea. He believes they were a race of shape-shifters that migrated here to the United States centuries ago.”
“Well, he got the shape- shifting part right,” Earon stated, trying to lighten the mood, which was way too serious.
Not taking his eyes off of Jeanip and the knife he held, Terrance added. “He never talked about his search for them. It was always very secretive, but I had my ways over the years of finding out what he was looking for. In my backpack is a journal he kept. I can’t make out a lot of the writing – it’s in some weird language. I brought it to the cottage today hoping perhaps Europa could read some of it.”
“Europa?” asked Earon. “Why Europa?”
“She was able to decipher some of her mother’s weird writing in her diary after she touched that Orb in the attic. I was hoping maybe she could decipher some of my father’s writings too,” Terrance answered, still staying focused on Jeanip.
“The Orb?” Jeanip asked, turning his attention to Europa. “So you were in the attic above your mother’s room. And you found your mother’s diary? And Terrance has just told me you touched the Orb.” Terrance quickly looked at Europa, realizing he had just told Jeanip her secret. But he could see she was too scared to be mad at him, too scared of what Jeanip might do. “And if you were able to read some of your mother’s Waters’ writings you must have received energy and power from it when you touched it. Am I correct, Europa?”
“Yes, you are correct,” Europa answered, not sure if Jeanip was upset with her or not. “I could only read Mother’s strange writing after I touched the Orb.”
“We will discuss the attic, the Orb and your mother’s diary at a later date. For now please tell me, were you able to decipher any of his father’s writings?” Jeanip asked.
“No, Jeanip, we never got a chance to look at the journal,” Europa answered.
Filled with anxiety, Earon had been absent mindedly rubbing his thumb across the handle of the blaster. He suddenly became conscious that the surface had become rough. Looking down at the handle he saw the emergence of some type of symbol. Licking his thumb, he rubbed off more of the symbol’s covering. “Jeanip, there is some type of symbol or lettering on the handle of this blaster,” Earon reported to Jeanip.
Returning his focus back to Terrance, Jeanip asked, “What does it look like?”
“It is a round circle outlined in white with a large red letter ‘J’ inside the circle with two parallel lines crossing the J,” Earon responded.
Without anyone noticing, Jeanip tightened his grip harder on his hunting knife as he asked, “Earon, underneath the circle, is there a large red oval?”
“I do not see one, but it might me hidden like the symbol was. Let me see if I can wipe some more of the dirt off.” Earon begin to rub the handle underneath the discovered symbol.
“No, I do not see anything,” Europa heard Earon say. She breathed a sigh of relief. Whatever Jeanip was looking for was not there. But then she heard, “What, there is something here,” Earon said, as a red oval began to appear. He looked up into Jeanip’s face. “It is a large red oval.”
Jeanip leaped to his feet before anyone could react, knocking Europa and Earon over. He grabbed Terrance and threw him to the floor, pinning him under the neck with his one arm as he brought down the other arm holding his knife to cut out Terrance’s heart. “You filthy Terrian scum!” Jeanip yelled. As he pushed the knife into Terrance’s chest he realized only the tip had penetrated the skin and he could not push it in any further. Looking to see the cause of his arm’s failure, he saw Earon holding back his arm with all his strength. Europa had regained her feet and was also pulling on Jeanip’s arm, shouting to Jeanip to stop.
“Europa, give Jeanip an order to stop!”
“What do you think I am doing?”
“No, tell him it is a direct order. Do it now before he kills Terrance!”
“Jeanip, as your sovereign, I order you to release Terrance immediately.” Jeanip turned to look at Europa. She had never seen such hate on his face before. “Comply. NOW!”
Jeanip removed his arm from under
Terrance’s neck and withdrew his knife. “Europa, he’s Terrian. He said he got that weapon from his father’s room. That symbol on the handle has only one meaning – that is the personal weapon of JeffRa that he made specifically to kill any children Enok and Medaron would have. He’s JeffRa’s son. He even had the power stone to power the damn thing.”
Terrance scooted away backwards as best he could, coughing, trying to regain his breath after Jeanip’s death hold. Blood trickled from the puncture wound the knife’s blade had made in his chest. He looked at Europa and could see fear and hatred swell in her eyes as she stared at him. “JeffRa’s son?”
Terrance coughed, desperately trying to regain his voice so he could explain. Finally he was able to mutter, “He’s my stepfather.”
“What?” Earon asked, having barely heard Terrance.
“He’s my stepfather, not my real father. He married my mother when I was four. I’m not his biological son.” He looked at Jeanip, coughing and trying to get his breath. “I had no idea who, or what, my father was until just now. Had I known I would have told you, for you see I am in love with Europa, Sir. I would never allow anything to happen to her. And if my stepfather is this JeffRa person you speak of, then he just became my enemy too. As for the stone, Mr. Dark Feather gave it to me two days ago. He said I would need it on my journey.”
Jeanip pushed Europa’s and Earon’s hands off his body. He stood, then walked over to Terrance and yanked him up from the floor. Terrance closed his eyes, prepared for the worst. Earon quickly grabbed Europa as she went to Terrance’s aid, afraid if there was a struggle Europa could be hurt. To their amazement, and relief, Jeanip leaned forward and kissed Terrance on the cheek.