As Kira sat down in the chair she couldn’t help but feel a little overwhelmed. Nothing about this experience seemed to make any sense. Just four days ago she was deathly afraid of losing her father to illness and questioning the validity of the spirits. Now she was an unimaginable distance away from home, with an alien race of Gods on a different planet and had been appointed one of their rulers! Was this all just a dream? Surely it had to be, there was no other explanation for it.
“Are you okay?” Kaya asked, giving her sister a worried look.
“I... I don’t know,” Kira responded truthfully.
“Did you know they were going to do that?” Kaya sat in the chair opposite of Kira.
“No; did you?” Kira wondered, hoping there was some clue that Kaya had forgotten to mention.
“No. I mean who would? They don’t even know us and now you’re going to be on their council? I guess they think you’re special or something...” Kaya’s voice trailed off and she shook her head.
“Not just me. Velion mentioned you too,” Kira reminded her.
Kaya frowned and said, “Maybe there is something we are missing. I mean, I understand we’re supposed to have some sort of ‘marker,’ but there must be something else to it. Who would appoint practical strangers to such a high status if there wasn’t more to the story?” Kira shrugged, but Kaya wasn’t paying attention as she continued, “Who is this Hadius person anyway?”
“I think Velion said it was his brother,” Kira remembered.
“Well whoever he is, they must not be happy with him,” Kaya guessed.
“I did get that feeling from the way Pisus, or whatever his name was, questioned his loyalty. Do you think it has anything to do with what Thanatos told us on the Trident?”
“You mean about the lesser ones trying to get freedom?”
“Yeah; do you think that’s what Pisus meant?” Kira wondered, but Kaya just shook her head and shrugged her shoulders. Both of them sat there a while, quietly thinking to themselves before Kaya started to giggle.
“What?” Kira asked suspiciously.
“Just this place! Isn’t it spectacular?” Kaya asked, gesturing at their surroundings. Kira looked around at their new home.
The room truly was spectacular. It was beautiful beyond anything Kira could have imagined; so clean and precisely crafted. Everything in it was made of the same white stone as the rest of the palace and it was almost as grandiose as the council chamber had been. There were three chairs and a long couch sitting at the center of a large and cavernous antechamber, and the bedrooms just beyond were equally grandiose. Unlike the quarters on the Trident, these apartments were semicircular and had a breathtaking, hanging veranda that looked over the capital city. If Kira was to be held against her will, this was as nice a prison as she could have asked for.
“It really is something, isn’t it?” Kira asked, smiling for the first time that day.
“I can’t wait to tell the others about this place! They’ll never believe us!” Kaya exclaimed. Kira nodded and smiled. She didn’t have the heart to tell Kaya of her growing worry that they’d never see their home again.
Trying to change the subject, Kira asked, “How do you think they built this place? It’s so large and beautiful.”
“I don’t know,” Kaya shrugged. “Maybe they will show us? Velion did say something about us getting an education, whatever that means.”
“Maybe,” Kira shrugged as she stared out over the veranda at the city. “So much of what they do seems like… magic or something. It all defies what I thought was even possible,” Kira said thoughtfully, watching ships fly across the horizon. “I bet even slimy old Felmar would be at a loss for words if he could see this.”
“Oh, you should have seen him when they landed at the village! He was down on his hands and knees worshiping them out of fear before they even said a word!” Kaya laughed.
“Really? Doesn’t surprise me; he always was a wimp.” Kira jeered.
And that was how it was for the first few days as Kira and Kaya learned how to live in their new home. Thanatos would come to visit each day to check on the girls and bring them new clothing and games, but for the most part they spent their time in solitude. Becoming familiar with their new surroundings, they learned how to use the controls in their home, they discovered there was a holoprojection system in both of their rooms as well as the antechamber that had channels broadcasting various programs throughout the day.
There was one program that caught Kira’s attention more than the others. It featured various finely dressed Tythonians debating the various happenings throughout the twelve kingdoms and relaying information about the weather predictions on various planets. She initially took an interest in the channel when she stumbled across it broadcasting a story about her and Kaya. They had somehow captured the images of their arrival and were playing them over and over again, speculating on who they were and where they came from. They were calling them the ‘mystery girls’ and their guesses about their origins ranged from distant cousins of the royal family, to illegitimate offspring of another of Velion’s love affairs. Apparently that was something that happened fairly often.
When Thanatos came the next day, Kira inquired about the broadcast, wondering what it was and how it could replay images of their arrival. He explained that the channel was called “the news,” and that the images were made possible by a technology that could record events as they happened and display those images afterwards. He explained that almost every corner of the central planets was recorded in order to, “keep a watchful eye over their subjects.”
“You mean there is always someone watching?” Kira asked with alarm, but Thanatos merely laughed and assured her there was nothing to worry about; they had complete privacy in their home as cameras were forbidden within the palace walls.