Royal Hearts (9 page)

“How has life been bad to you? You got great
parents and a new computer.”

“But I could have so much more.”

The boy sighed. “I miss the old William.”

“Hey, I’m still the same William I always
was. I just know when not to pass up the opportunity of a
lifetime.”

Hathor paused, his half-eaten sandwich
halfway to his mouth. William? Was William a common name on this
planet? Ann had dated someone named William around this time in her
past. Hathor had never met William, but given he was her
ex-boyfriend, Hathor wasn’t exactly fond of him.

“You’re pretty sure that Ann likes you,” the
boy told William. “But you only met her yesterday. She may decide
she doesn’t want to see you again.”

Hathor dropped his sandwich on the tray and
turned around so he could see what William looked like. It couldn’t
be a coincidence. This had to be the same one.

“Oh she likes me,” William said, giving his
friend a wink. “She just needs time to realize it.”

“You’re not making any sense.”

“Carson, if you knew what I did, you’d
understand.”

“What’s to understand?” Carson asked. “You
only met her yesterday. All we did was eat, play a game, and talk
for an hour. You can’t be so sure she’s in love with you.”

William shrugged, and if Hathor guessed
right, he enjoyed toying with his friend. “How can I put this?”
William drummed his fingers on the table then his smile widened.
“Meeting her yesterday was like déjà vu.”

Carson didn’t seem at all happy by his
answer. “Could you be any more vague?”

Déjà vu? Hathor found something peculiar
about that phrase. It was unique to Earth. He was sure Ann had
mentioned it at some point. If only he could remember what it
meant.

“Come on, Carson. I want to check out the
computer store. There’s a cool game I want to get,” William finally
said as he stood up.

Picking up their trays, Carson reluctantly
followed him.

If Ann just met William and if she didn’t
remember him from the first time she’d met him, this could
complicate things. Hathor didn’t think that he would be dealing
with the possibility Ann might be going out with someone else,
especially someone she used to love. He wondered just how
complicated things could get.

***

Present day

Planet: Olympia

The Paler spaceship landed in a forest on
Olympia. Second Commander Jaz turned to Guards Lino and Falon. “The
head god is Zeus. He’s the one we should focus on in our efforts to
find Queen Ann. The other gods and goddesses will do what he says.
They live on that mountain over there.”

She pointed to the mountain with the ivory
steps that led to a palace. It was going to be a long journey, but
they had no other choice.

“Why can’t we just take the spaceship up
there?” Guard Lino asked. “It would save us a lot of time.”

“The gods and goddesses forbid anyone to land
a spaceship near their home. They are possessive of their territory
and will only greet those who walk up the steps,” she informed
him.

He grunted in disgust. “They must have an
abnormally high opinion of themselves.”

“It’s their planet so we have to abide by
their rules, even if we don’t agree with them.”

Jaz examined the area. She heard a variety of
animals, although she couldn’t tell what kind of animals there
were. Pale didn’t have animals on it. She had been on Raz briefly
and had seen animals there, too, but her mission had been to save
Pale, not check out the life forms. She tried not to be intimidated
by all the life forms on this world, but it was a losing battle.
Hopefully, the guards wouldn’t notice. And more than that, she
hoped the animals weren’t dangerous.

“We’re here to protect you, and we’re trained
for combat,” Guard Falon assured her, as if reading her
thoughts.

She smiled at him in appreciation. “I’m fine,
Guard Falon. I’ve been trained for combat, too.”

“Come,” Guard Lino said. “The sooner we start
our walk, the sooner we’ll get there.”

They gathered their supplies, and she noticed
that Guard Lino walked in front of her and Guard Falon walked
behind her so that if anything should attack, she would be in the
safest position. She was secretly glad for their strategy, but she
hoped they did it because she had an important role on Pale, not
because they thought her incapable of protecting herself.

She wasn’t sure what they should expect when
they arrived at the palace doors. She only knew the Olympians
seemed unusually protective of Raz’s queen. That was the only thing
that gave her confidence that their journey wouldn’t be in vain
because deep down, she didn’t think they would find Ann here.

***

Six years in the past

Ann’s High School

Dayton, Ohio

Planet: Earth

Kent led Hathor and several other college
students to the gym at the high school where they set up their
display. Looking around, Hathor noticed that other colleges were
there. He also noticed that different divisions of the American
military were there as well. He was curious about the military on
this planet. With Raz, things were simple. The queen was the sole
protector of Raz. She could enlist help, but she was the one who
ultimately fought the wars with the powers the planet granted her.
Here on Earth, it looked similar to Pale. Pale also divided up
their warriors.

“What do you think?” Kent asked when they
were finished putting the display together.

Hathor turned around and inspected it. “It
looks good. Very colorful.”

“I hope we got enough balance between the
academics and the activities on campus,” Kent said. “You got people
like me who are more into the courses and degrees, but I think most
students prefer social activities.”

Hathor recalled his own education. The
academic and combat parts of it took precedence over having fun. It
was a new idea for him that there could be a balance between the
two.

“The juniors and seniors are coming in,” Kent
said. “Do you remember what I told you about the campus?”

Hathor nodded. “And if anyone asks a question
that I don’t know the answer to, I direct them to you.”

“I shouldn’t be so worried. I mean, either
they’re interested or not. I guess it’s the perfectionist in me. I
want to succeed in everything I do. Okay.” Turning to the other
people in the group, he grinned. “Remember to emphasize that our
college is fun. No one wants to go to a boring school.”

Hathor’s attention went to the high school
students pouring through the gym doors. His wiped his hands on his
jeans, surprised he was nervous about seeing her. He shouldn’t be.
He was married to her. Well, in the future he would be. Only, she
didn’t realize it. And that meant, she wouldn’t remember him.

So they had to start all over, except he
wasn’t coming with a declaration he was going to take her to Raz to
become queen. This time, he had to meet her as he would any other
Earthling. And for reasons he didn’t quite understand, that changed
everything.

***

Ann followed Stacey into the gym. “I don’t
know what the point of going to this is. It’s not like my dad is
going to pay out-of-state tuition so I can go to college up here. I
should be the one at the dentist instead of Teresa.”

Stacey smiled in amusement. “Think of it this
way. At least we don’t have to sit through class.”

“That’s true.” Glancing at the other
students, she noted that most of them weren’t taking this whole
thing seriously. Most of them were interested in standing around
and talking to their friends.

“Hey, I didn’t get a chance to ask you about
Saturday,” Stacey said as they walked over to the booth featuring
the college in Toledo.

“It went really well,” Ann replied. “He seems
like a nice guy.”

Stacey picked up a few pens and brochures.
“Nice?”

“Yeah, nice. What’s wrong with that?”

“Nothing, I guess. It just doesn’t sound very
exciting.”

“Well, I was nervous the whole time. It’s
hard to worry about excitement when I’m trying not to say something
stupid.”

“Does he want to see you again?”

“I think so. Lisa said he did. Carson told
her that he’s already talking about me as if I’m his
girlfriend.”

Stacey put the brochures and pens from the
college in Toledo into the bag one of the students from that school
gave her. “That sounds promising. Do you like the idea of going out
with him?”

Ann thought about it for a moment. “Yeah, I
like the idea.”

“You like it a little bit?”

She rolled her eyes. “A lot, okay? I like it
a lot.”

“So the day was more than nice,” Stacey
teased.

“I’m trying to be low key about this.”

“You mean cautious.”

“I hate getting all worked up over some guy
just to find out he doesn’t return my feelings.”

“That is a bummer,” she agreed as she started
collecting brochures and pens from another college.

Ann chuckled. “Are you going to grab
something from every table we come to?”

“Why not? It’s like shopping…only I don’t
have to pay for it.” She turned to Ann and showed her a pen with a
picture of the state of Ohio on it. “You should keep this. It will
be a reminder of your friends. I don’t want you forgetting us when
you move.”

“I could never forget you.”

Stacey’s smile faltered. “I’m going to miss
you when you go. You’re like a sister to me, except you’re better
because you don’t steal my clothes or peek in my diary.”

Not wanting to cry in front of the other
students, Ann quickly wiped her eyes. “I’m going to miss you,
too.”

“Moving sucks. I wish I could go with
you.”

“If you did, I wouldn’t dread it so much.”
Ann turned the pen over in her hand. It was a nice pen. She’d be
sure to use it when she took her notes in class after she moved.
With a heavy sigh, she put it in her pocket.

Stacey cleared her throat. “We’d better get
moving. I have a lot more stuff to collect.”

She laughed, glad for the distraction. “It’s
a wonder I take you anywhere. People are going to ask why you have
so many bags.”

They made their way to a few other booths
before they stopped at the one for the local university.

“Are you thinking of going to this school?”
someone asked them.

Surprised, since no one had bothered talking
to them up to this point, Ann turned toward the cute blond haired,
blue-eyed boy.

“Maybe,” Stacey answered. “Do you have any
cool pens?”

Ann didn’t know whether to laugh or be
embarrassed by her friend’s question.

“I don’t know how cool you’ll think they are,
but we do have some pens over there on the table.” He pointed to
the table with a poster featuring pictures of the campus.

Stacey hurried over to the table and started
collecting everything she could find.

Realizing the boy was still standing by her,
Ann said, “The truth is, my family will be moving to Florida soon,
so I won’t be going to college around here. That’s why I’m not
collecting anything.” She showed him her empty hands as if to prove
her point.

“That must be tough,” he commented.

She studied him in interest. She had the
oddest feeling that he understood her. “Did you ever move while you
were in high school?”

“No, but I know what it feels like to be in a
strange new place. It’s taking me time to find my way around and
meet people.”

“So did you move here to go to college?”

“You could say that.”

Knowing that he was experiencing what she was
going to go through made her feel less alone in the world. With all
her friends having been born and raised in Ohio, they couldn’t
completely understand how she was feeling.

“How is it going?” she asked. “I mean, are
you adjusting to everything?”

He hesitated then answered, “It’s tough. I
know I don’t fit in, yet there are people who are good enough to
help me learn my way around.” He pointed to a student who was
talking to Stacey. “That’s Kent. Before I met him, I knew very
little about this place.”

Ann noticed that Kent was pretty excited as
he talked to Stacey about the college. She grinned despite herself.
“He loves your college. Too bad Stacey wants to go to the one in
Toledo.”

The boy next to her chuckled. “He’ll probably
try even harder to convince her that his is better. I’ve learned he
likes a challenge.”

“Well, she’s here to collect as many
souvenirs as she can. I don’t think anyone else is taking
everything from the booths like she is. It’s like going to the
department stores with her. She has to collect every perfume
sample.”

His smile widened. “My name is Hathor.”

“Hathor? I’ve never heard that name
before.”

He winced.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it as a bad thing.
It’s just not something you hear in the United States. Are you from
another country?”

“I’m not from here.” She was ready to ask him
what country he was from when he added, “What’s your name?”

“Ann. Ann Kerwin. Do you have a last
name?”

“Uh…Raz.”

“Hathor Raz.” It sounded weird, but then she
guessed her name sounded weird to him, being that he was from
another country and all.

They stood beside each other in silence for
an awkward moment before Stacey ran up to them. “Wow, you’ve got
quite the salesperson at your school,” she told Hathor, nodding
towards Kent. “He either loves it or it’s just an act.”

“It’s not an act,” Hathor said.

When another lapse in conversation developed,
Ann said, “Stacey, this is Hathor. Hathor, this is Stacey.”

“Hathor?” Stacey asked. “That’s a cool name.
How did your parents come up with it?”

“It was the name of an ancestor,” he
replied.