The skies of Chemora soon started looking like a battle ground.
There were spaceships and surveillance pods zip-zapping all over the surface, bearing flags and symbols of all the four major tribes.
" How can she simply disappear without any trace from her room? This is impossible! "
Kilian yelled as he banged the receiver for the fifth time on the ground. He had been calling the pilots after every half an hour with the same disappointing feedback.
Sitara felt like she was back in her old days. She was running back and forth between stations looking at statistics and clues. She no longer was the delicate queen who got to enjoy the luxuries of life.
" Damn that girl! " She cursed under her breath and then quickly looked around, just to make sure that nobody had heard.
She knew she would become the prime suspect if her hatred for her became public knowledge.
***
" Brother, you need to go slow. Crashing into the other ships will not make her appear out of nowhere. "
Brian pleaded from the side seat as Braze flew at lightning speed.
" Why are there so many ships from the Kakaras flying here and there? Does it mean that they too have no clue about where she went?
She might have been so lonely and scared. He must have trapped her for so long inside his castle.
I didn't even care to look for her even once.
I did not even question her survival. I took other people's word of mouth for granted. Shame on me!
I abandoned her all over again!
She must have been so desperate that she had to escape alone.
Damn it! Brian! How can you ask me to slow down? "
He hit the trust button so many times that they propelled forward faster than they were already going.
As Brain held onto his seat for dear life.
***
" Xen! You are well aware that our resources are limited. We cannot afford these fancy gadgets as frequently and freely as you want it... "
" I DON'T CARE! '' Xen cut him off before his senior adviser could finish his sentence. " She is the most important person to me on this planet, or any other planet I have ever lived on.
I would tear open the universe if I have to but I will not leave any stone unturned to look for her, now that I know that she is alive.
I was a fool to have listened to you back there.
I should have known that I would do more harm staying away from her than staying by her side. "
His eyes glowed with a savage radiance as he stood in front of his adviser, chest to chest.
" I will compensate my people for everything I take from them. I am not a selfish thief.
Now let me do my thing in peace. Help me if you can. If you can't, please simply stay away.
I am not in the right mind. "
***
" My prince, your mother summoned you! "
A Marine subordinate bowed behind Kian as he was busy picking up shells by the water.
" I am busy. Can't you see? Tell her that I will see her when I am free. "
He continued what he was doing, oblivious to the fact that his mother had crept behind the subordinate.
She gasped as she turned around to face the queen. But the queen simply looked at her with her finger on her lips , asking her to silently walk away.
The queen walked right behind her son as the subordinate hurriedly left.
" Ahem! " She cleared her throat.
He was not startled to the least. He simply looked up once, " Oh! Mother! " he acknowledged her presence and carried on with whatever he was doing.
" I heard that you were too busy to come see me? " She tried to draw his attention once more.
"Yes, precisely as you can see. " His answer was as nonchalant as ever.
" Kian! You ordered my entire arial fleet to scout the skies of Chemora in search of a Kakarian girl without my knowledge. "
Her voice rose up a little.
" Now you know. What's the big deal? " Kian replied, finally standing up and facing her properly.
" Did you not spend all these months trying to convince me that I was the prince of this tribe, your biological son and that everything around here belonged to me?"
The queen's eyes rose and fell consecutively.
" So now if you will excuse me. I have work to do. "
Kian was about to walk away but his mother held him by his wrist.
" These are divination shells. They don't occur naturally around here. We have to make them appear with hard labor and perseverance. Where do you think you are taking so many of them all at once?
We only use one , that too if the situation is dire. I don't think our tribe is facing any life or death situation at the moment. "
Her voice was stern.
Kian slowly moved his hand away from her grip.
" It is a life and death situation for me, mother. I need to find Mira. Without her my existence means nothing. I finally found out that she was breathing all this while. Only that explains why I was still able to keep on living even though I thought that she was dead.
Don't try to stop me, mother.
I won't be stopped.
I need to look at every inch in the universe, if those pods cannot locate her on this planet.
You tampered with my destiny and my life on planet earth was by far the best amongst all the others who went there at the same time from this planet.
My grandfather doted on me. He spoiled me.
I got everything that I ever wanted. I never had to even ask for it .
I miss him. I miss my life back there. But I still agreed to be the son that you wanted.
Now it's your turn to be the mother that I never had instead of being the queen. "
"