All characters, places, and events are fictional and belong to the author...
Disclaimer: The following may contain explicit events between consenting adult males. If you are not of age or it is illegal for you to read this, please leave now.
Chapter Seven:
Several days passed uneventfully. There was really nothing for Trey or Aeleon to do until Proscos called them back to his tower to discuss what he had found. The two killed some of the time by beginning the lessons Aeleon had promised, attending council meetings, and spending more time with Aeleon's friends. Aeleon had initially been hesitant to jump right into teaching Trey, but Trey had been insistent. Such a lesson was what the two were in the midst of on the fifth day after their meeting with Proscos. Aeleon typically covered reading and writing of the Zelzian tongue the first two hours of their lesson, and moved on the speaking Oelean for the second half. Eventually he hoped to teach Trey to read and write that as well.
"How's this?" Trey asked, moving his paper towards Aeleon so that the other man could check his progress. So far he was still memorizing the Zelzian alphabet, punctuation, and a few basic words.
"That looks good," Aeleon responded, a bright smile appearing on his face, "I think tomorrow we'll work more on vocabulary and linking the words you know to their proper spellings. You've basically got the characters down. I'm impressed."
And it was the truth. The Zelzian alphabet had no less than 35 characters in it. Aeleon remembered when he and a few of his peers had been learning it. Many did not pick up on the reading and writing of Zelzian nearly as quickly as Trey was. He had high hopes that soon Trey would not be feeling his education gap at all, especially if they continued to make progress such as this.
"Ready to move on to Oelean?" the blue haired boy asked, moving to take out the notes he had prepared for Trey.
"Ok. Yesterday we left off with furniture."
"I think we'll move on to greeting and phrases today," Aeleon said. He had approached the task of teaching Trey Oelean by having him associate the words he knew in Zelzior with their Oelean translation.
Before the two could get to the lesson, however, they were interrupted by a sharp knock on the door of Aeleon's rooms. Elios strode in, more than a little shocked at the appearance of the room. He surveyed the two boys and the surrounding mess. Papers and books were strewn everywhere, ink was spilled on the table, and Aeleon had a spare quill tucked behind his ear and was oblivious to the fact that some residual ink was dripping down onto his shoulder. It was a comical sight that only reinforced his belief that the two of them really needed to get out of that room for the day.
"Pathos said he has some findings on your slave bands and collar," he said, looking at Trey, "I believe we're going to hold a council meeting within the next half hour to discuss it. I would urge both of you to come."
"Of course, dad," Aeleon replied, eager to hear what his uncle had to say, "We'll just get some food and head over there."
Elios nodded in acknowledgement before turning on his heel and striding out the still open door. Aeleon scooted his chair back from the table he and Trey were sharing and went to his kitchen to see what he had to offer in the way of lunch. The answer was, "not much." The castle's kitchen provided meals in the large banquet hall, which most of the inhabitants attended. The only time most people ate in their own rooms was if they were in a hurry, such as Aeleon or Trey, or wanted the meal to be a more private affair, as had Elios and Aidnae the few times Aeleon and Trey had eaten with them.
"Shit," Aeleon cursed, knowing that they would have to either go to the banquet hall and eat, or try to sneak something from the kitchens. The likelihood of escaping either place in a timely fashion was close to zero. The problem with large, communal meals is that everyone always took it as a social opportunity. And everyone always wanted to socialize with the crown prince. Then there were the kitchen workers, who were mostly older women with a fondness for the castle's young people and a penchant for gossip. As much as he loved most of the old biddies, they tended to draw you into a conversation that could potentially never end. He and Trey just didn't have time for it today.
"What's wrong?" Trey asked, having heard Aeleon's curse as he walked into the small kitchen space too.
"I don't really have any food here and I'm afraid we'll be late to the council meeting if we try to go to the banquet hall or to sneak something from the kitchen."
"Oh. Well..." Trey began, but was interrupted by a knock on the door.
Aeleon threw his hands into the air and expelled a frustrated sigh before going to the door to open it. Cercae was on the other side, patented grin on his face. Without a greeting, he pushed his way passed Aeleon and shut the door behind him.
"I assume you both are going to the council meeting," Cercae said, hands on his hips.
"Yes, but we need to go get some food beforehand. If you want to talk, you'll have to accompany us," Aeleon replied impatiently, attempting to shoo both Trey and Cercae out the door.
"That's what I came to talk to you about. Shoori and I were planning on going to the pub after the meeting and were wondering if you and Trey would like to come with."
Aeleon stopped flapping around for a moment to look Cercae in the eye and ask, "Is that going on again? I guess it's your choice."
"It's all in fun," Cercae replied, referring to the on again-off again fling he and Shoori had been having for the past couple of years. No strings, no boundaries, and both were free to find company elsewhere. Just some hot steamy sex and the occasional date to one of the castle's many functions. Aeleon wished they would either break it off completely, or have some kind of discussion about the nature of their relationship. The two of them had far too many fights for there to be nothing other than sex to their relationship. Unfortunately, neither of them seemed to realize it, or if they did the both of them were too insecure, scared, or unwilling to commit.
"Whatever," Aeleon said, shaking his head in disbelief and knowing that in a couple of weeks he and the rest of their mutual friends would be dealing with the aftermath of their inevitable fight and declarations of, "Never again!"
"I don't mind waiting to eat until after the meeting and I wouldn't mind seeing Shoori today," Trey piped in. Since the first time he had met the Oelean woman, Trey had become more comfortable with her. She had stopped treating him like a conquest and had become a good friend once she realized that he wasn't interested in what she was offering.
"Alright. If you'll excuse me for a moment, I need to change my clothes. Trey, I would suggest you do the same," Aeleon said, referring to how they had not gotten dressed that day. The past couple of days, Trey had merely come through the connecting door between their suites and they had gotten started on their work. Nightclothes, however, would not be suitable to discuss matters of national importance in. A cool five minutes later the three of them were ready to depart.
+++++
Aeleon wasn't sure what he had been thinking. They had been sitting in the council meeting for nearly an hour and a half now and had not moved passed opening issues. Why in the world he had ever thought he would be able to make it through without starving was beyond him. His stomach growling, he sighed in exasperation as the current orator continued to discuss the possible ramifications of the current hinky fly population swarming across parts of the north eastern islands. This particular council member had been talking for nearly half an hour about a problem that was neither urgent, nor hard to fix. The man's aptitude for beating a dead horse was astounding.
Trey was taking great amusement from Aeleon's obvious irritation. He thought it was adorable as his blue haired friend blew a strand of long hair out of his face, his exhaled breath a study in shear annoyance. Chuckling to himself, he reached into the pocket of his pants and withdrew a small parcel wrapped in wax paper. He lightly poked Aeleon in the ribs and handed the parcel to him from under the table.
"What is this?" Aeleon hissed under his breath, having little patience for secret notes or games today.
"Just open it," Trey whispered back.
Aeleon pulled back the corners of the wax paper to find a small wedge of cheese with a piece of flatbread wrapped around it. He offered Trey a big smile before tearing off a corner of the bread and popping it into his mouth. How had Trey known? As the two had gotten to know each other more, Aeleon had noticed that Trey made a point to do little things like that, little things to make him happy. A big wave of affection prompted him to look back at Trey and offer another heartfelt smile. Poking Trey in the leg, he offered some of the food to his friend, shrugging when Trey shook his head, "no."
Trey was glad he had thought to bring a snack for Aeleon. He had spent enough time around the crown prince to know that he would be starving long before the council meeting was done and over with. When he had gone back to his own set of rooms to change his clothes, he had grabbed the cheese and bread from his cold box, intending to give it to Aeleon when it looked like he could hardly stand the hunger anymore. Trey's efforts had rewarded him with a smile and obvious appreciation from a person who had become unbelievably important to Trey in the short time that he had known Aeleon. Whatever else happened with the council and his home planet, Aeleon had saved his life, given him his freedom, and offered him his unconditional friendship. Trey would be forever grateful.
After another fifteen minutes of hinky fly discussion, the entire room gave a collective sigh of relief as the speaker finally ended his rant and stepped down. Unless someone else popped up with some sort of trivial matter, it would be Pathos' turn to speak next, which was really what everyone in the room had been waiting for. The idea that a device could be made that could suppress a person's abilities was extremely disturbing to any who knew of it. Finding a solution for such an eventuality was paramount, especially if it was eventually decided that Oelea would attempt to help Zelzior gain its freedom. Finally Pathos stood up and cleared his throat. Every eye was on him as he dropped the now broken bondage articles on the table in front of him.
"I believe I have figured out how these devices work, with the help of my wife Cynthia," he began, "I conducted several experiments on the things, but nothing was conclusive, or even moderately useful, until I decided to try them on. Cynthia helped me weld them back on. What I discovered what very interesting. Not only do the bracelets and collar suppress power, it also redirects any power used as an electric shock. Imagine my surprise when I tried to draw on my abilities, only to receive a very painful zap. We later removed the articles and did a more thorough visual inspection. On the inside, we found there to be very detailed carvings of various geometric shapes. I am not positive, but I feel that this pattern somehow channels power against the user. I also believe that making them ineffective could be as simple as have a metal worker alter the pattern slightly. I will need to do more tests to be sure. It's possible that some alterations would be potentially very harmful to those involved, or that the patterns have no significance at all. I request that the king, queen, and council allow me more time to work with these items and present again when I have acquired more information."
With that, Pathos had concluded his report and he sat back down. The council room was nearly silent, save for the soft whisper of rustling fabric or the occasional cough. Everyone was occupied in digesting what Pathos had told them. No one in their history had ever research possible ways of suppressing one's abilities. They also wondered how the Cubrecht could have researched such technology without a Zelzian or Oelean to test on. This kind of knowledge would have taken years to perfect and it was likely what had allowed Zelzior to be conquered so quickly.
"Take all the time you need, Pathos. Your findings will heavily way in on whether or not Oelea goes to Zelzior's aid. If we can't find a way to counter this, we would risk sending out own people to the same fate as Zelzior," Elios said, somberness coloring his features, "We will plan to meet three days from now to begin discussions on the reactionary measures Oelea could take in aiding our sister planet, Zelzior. Does anyone else have an issue they would like to discuss?"
When no one spoke up, Elios dismissed the council members. As the nobles were filing out of the room, he and Aidnae approached Aeleon and Trey. The two had remained seated so that they could meet up with Cercae more easily after the small crowd had dissipated.
"Hi," Aeleon greeted his parents, a bright smile on his face.
Aidnae bent down to offer his child a hug from where he was still sitting in the chair, asking, "Did you and Trey eat before you came?"
"We didn't, but we have plans to go get some food with Cercae and Shoori at the pub. Feel free to come, if you want."
Elios chuckled before responding, "You don't really want that. Your parents along to have lunch with you and your friends. How are you faring today, Trey?"
"I'm fine, sir. And yourself?" Trey answered, unable to shake the formality he felt he needed when addressing Aeleon's parents.
"Doing well. I actually have been wanting to talk to you. Would you step into the side room with me?"
"Of course, sir," Trey said, claws of nervousness taking hold in his gut. What could this mean? The feeling did not ease as Elios lead him to a small doorway towards the back of the large council room. The room behind this door was much smaller and had a round table large enough to seat about ten people. It was primarily used when smaller meetings were requested between various council members and other government officials, rather than using the large meeting room designed to hold the thirty person council. Elios pulled out a chair for himself and gestured for Trey to sit when the large man remained standing by the door, wringing his hands and pained look on his face.
"Don't look like I'm sending you to your execution, Trey," Elios teased, "Sit down and relax."
Trey took a deep breath and forced his shoulders to unclench. Logically he knew that he had nothing to fear from Elios. His brief time in Oelea had made that abundantly clear. Both of Aeleon's parents had been nothing but nice to him. Unfortunately, he had spent a life time being oppressed and trodden upon by those of a higher rank than him. It was a lot of damage to undo.
"Honestly, Trey," Elios re-iterated, patting him on the shoulder, "I just want to make sure that you're ok. I can't imagine how frustrating this must be for you."
Confused, Trey queried, "Excuse me, sir?"
"I'm just sorry that we can't be more prompt with a decision regarding Zelzior. I understand that you probably have friends and family back there, which you are desperate to free. Unfortunately, this is not a decision that can be rushed. I have a strong feeling that ultimately it will be decided that Oelea will go to Zelzior's aid, but there will have to be a lot of planning before that happens. All of that planning takes time. It's not something we can afford to get wrong. Mostly, I just wanted to be sure you understood that we weren't going to forget about you and where you have come from. I also had friends on Zelzior and would very much like to know if they are still alive. I doubt that the King and Queen are, but it is possible that some of the lesser nobles have survived."
"I understand." Trey replied, "And I don't want you to think that I'm anything but grateful. Me being impatient will make no difference as to how quickly Zelzior receives help. I would rather do it right than do it quickly."
"Good man," Elios grunted, rising from the chair he had taken and making his way to the door.
"Um...."
"Yes?" Elios turned back towards Trey.
"Would you mind if I continued to sit in on the council meetings? I know that I am not a council member, nor part of the royal family, but I would feel better being able to hear the discussions being made about my planet."
Elios smiled before saying, "Of course, boy. I had intended for you to do so. You could help us immensely during the planning stages. I feel your input will become increasingly more important as time goes on. Besides, I'm not that cruel. I wouldn't leave you in the dark like that and I know Aeleon would just immediately run back to you and tell you everything, anyways." "Thank you, sir," Trey said, getting up and following Elios from the small room. He emerged to see Aeleon grinning at him from across the room, Cercae standing by his side looking immensely bored and ready to go to lunch. The sight set off a peculiar feeling in his stomach.
Before he could stop to think about it too much, Elios clapped him on the back and ordered, "Go have lunch with my son and your friends. We can save the world another day."
And that is exactly what Trey did.
To be continued...
Author's Notes: I bet some of you thought I wasn't ever going to update again. Well, I have and I hope it was worth the wait. I realize the action might be a bit slow right now, but I feel that it's important to build up the story rather than jumping straight into saving Zelzior. If you'd like to send me an e-mail, please do so at noonecory@yahoo.com. It's the only form of payment I get and I love to read them. :]