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Chapter 62: The Interview
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2021-02-20 23:39:57Laurel pulled Ellis's hair back from her face and clipped it at the back of her head, and then applied Ellis's makeup with a light, deft touch.
Logan hated it. He peered at her face curiously and then rubbed his finger on her cheek, examining the smudge of makeup. “Why do you have paint on your face?”
Laurel dabbed the spot he had touched. “To counteract the strong lights,” she explained.
"Her lips are not normally that color," Logan said. "It is deceptive to paint her different colors than she really is." He tilted his head, his brow furrowing. "What did you do to her eyelids?"
“Trust me on this,” Laurel insisted.
They had set rules for the interview. It was to be conducted in the Palace with Logan and Nin in attendance. (Logan still didn't trust the man completely, despite his apparent conversion.) There were to be no questions regarding religion, or miracles, or Ellis's deification.
At breakfast, Ellis
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The interview had been a lot easier than Ellis had expected. She rose from her seat and went over to where Logan and Nin stood. She melted into his arms, laying her head against him.Together, they walked the short distance to the temple, Logan, and Ellis hand-in-hand. They went through the side door and Ellis hoped the President wouldn’t be too disappointed at being robbed of his place in the spotlight.Micheal waited inside, right on tow with the high priest. The bride and groom were already kneeling in front of him. The female gave Ellis a happy, excited smile and a little wave.The temple was packed with Kolns. As Ellis and Logan entered, they all sank to their knees. In a large group setting, etiquette didn’t require they all kneel; they just chose to do so as a touching tribute.Ellis’s voice cracked as she told them to rise.The ceremony began, the priest's voice rising and falling in the familiar cadence of the vows. Logan
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"She took a jumper on an unauthorized trip to 21st century Earth. When they questioned her about it, she said that with the mate retrievals halted, she was afraid she'd never get the chance to see it again."Ellis frowned.“Can they tell by the jumper’s log where she actually went?”Leo nodded. “I asked and it does appear she went to Earth.”Ellis shook her head. “I doubt it was nostalgia that drove her.” She wondered what it could be. There was no doubt the woman was up to something. She had the urge to go against her ethics and ask the guards to do something about Nadia. Maybe have her home searched or even slap her around until she confessed.She glanced over to Laurel to see if she had any input and found that Laurel hadn't been listening. She and Dorian were involved in a quiet conversation. It was the first time Ellis had been around Dorian since Laurel and he reconciled and she noticed a difference i
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“The situation in the second planet is deteriorating fast,” Dorian exclaimed over breakfast the next morning. “The senators introduced a secession legislation last night,” he huffed.Logan looked shocked. He hadn’t thought his authority would be disputed. “That is treason! How was it received?”Dorian hung his head. “They didn’t reject it if that’s what you wanted to know. Not immediately,” his tone was grim. “I thought Ellis’s video would help…”Logan shook his head. “It’s not about the emancipation of the Kolns, Dorian. It is an excuse to revolt. They had been unhappy with the Empire since my father’s reign. Perhaps resentment has turned them into this.”“The sponsors of the bill have made a statement that they don’t want to join the rebels, but they don’t want to be part of the Empire, either.”“Claimin
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The technical noises started and everyone apart from her seemed unfazed. The engine roared and the ship shook and rattled. Ellis watched Nin in amazement as she swayed with the motion of the ship to stay upright, as perfectly balanced as she was on the ground.And then Ellis could feel the lift-off. She slammed back against the seat, a giant, invisible force pinning her down. She tried to lift one of her fingers but didn’t have enough strength.And then the rattling stopped. The roar of the engine died down to a soft hum. Logan clicked open parts of Ellis’s harness so she could move her heads and hands. She relaxed a little. “You won’t want to get up. The weightlessness can make you feel disoriented.”“Is there a window?” Ellis asked.Logan reached down and pushed a panel. Beneath it was a tiny porthole, Ellis peered out into the empty blackness, littered with glittering stars. She saw Zothea and was staggered by
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Cecilia was friendly. And she was human.Ellis had been prepared for hostility, but instead was met with a welcoming demeanor. It took her by surprise. Her husband had stood in front of the temple to stop the Koln wedding, so she had expected Cecilia to take cues from that behavior.Instead, Cecilia didn’t even mention politics. She chattered, leading Ellis to a room with low divans and a small table between them.Ellis took a seat on the divan that Cecilia offered and Nin knelt at the head of it, silent as always. So far, Cecilia hadn't even acknowledged her existence, which Ellis thought was a little odd. Most people were curious about Nin because it wasn't common to see her kind with a human.“Where is Logan?” Ellis asked. She took a plate of fruits and sampled one of them after seeing Cecilia eat, to ensure that it didn’t need to be peeled or pitted. She also thought about having a taste test for poison before she took them.
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Nin acted as their taster, despite Ellis's reluctance. The President looked offended, but Logan insisted. Just like the Kolns at home, Nin placed the food in her palm before eating it, but unlike the Kolns, she could eat vegetables, though Ellis might have gotten a small, vicious pleasure out of making Cecilia taste them for her.Ellis only picked at her food, listening as Logan and the President struggled to make polite conversation. Ellis had never been one for small talk, so she couldn't think of anything to contribute. Ellis knew the President's name was Abe, but he never gave them leave to use it, so they were forced to refer to him by his title, making the conversation even more stilted and formal.The President, it seemed, enjoyed gambling and had just invited them to a bout the next evening. Ellis didn't hear Logan’s reply over the pounding of her heart.The meal finally ended, but instead of rising to leave, the President clapped his hands. A grou
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“He essentially said that if I had sex with him, he would go along with our proclamations without a fuss.” She hung her head.Logan jumped to his feet, a ferocious growl ripping from his throat, murder in his eyes. He charged for the door but Ellis grabbed his tail, clinging to the swaying bed. “Don’t!”“How dare he? Let go of my tail, Ellis,” he snarled.“No, Logan. You’ll make things worse. You’ll play into their plans. Let’s just go home, okay?” she pleaded with him. “He wants you to attack him, to give him an excuse to cause you trouble. Cecilia tried to set me off over abusing her Koln and Abe would try to enrage you by propositioning me.”Logan froze and she could see him thing carefully. She dropped his tail. “You are right.” He cupped her face in his palm, stroking his thumb over her cheekbone. “What would I do without you?”“Do
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Micheal was waiting for them at the space port when the ship landed. This time Ellis didn’t drink anything lest another bladder mishap put a stain on her good name.Ellis inhaled the Zothean are deeply and felt at home, finally. When had she come to love this planet like her own? She wasn’t sure, but she felt it now: a deep, powerful connection to this world and its people.“Glad you are home,” Micheal said. “I was worried for your safety.”“The President’s mate was desperate for us to stay until morning. I’m certain they had something planned for us during the night,” Ellis said slowly. Logan added the story about the poisonous lizard, making Micheal growl.“They threatened your mate? You would have been within your right to kill them both.”Logan tickled Ellis’s neck with the tip of his tail. “See? I’m not the only one who thinks that way.”She
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Technology had advanced, but Ellis and Cristine still waited for the day when they could travel to their timelines and see their parents for one last time. To ensure them that they weren’t in a hopeless state, dead or have run away from home.But the technology never allowed it. There were basic rules of the planet that couldn’t be breached.So, they plotted.Cristine had used all her free time to learn how to operate Zothean ships. She was adept at aeronautics and engineering and negotiation, so Ellis and Logan had leaned heavily on her in their negotiations. It could be said that the Empire was in a time of peace under their rule.One day, Cristine came up with the idea.“These jumpers travel to the universes all the time without breaking the fragment of the universe. The only rule is to not meet yourself or members of your own family after you have been pronounced dead, right?” she asked.Ellis nodded. “Yes,
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He hadn't seen her again until it was over until the city was in ruins and the palace itself was leveled to the ground. The underground city had been hit; Mitch must have known that Logan would try to send his family there. As he made his way to the ruins of the temple, he hoped and prayed that Ellis had disregarded his directions.So many had perished. So much had been lost.The Goddess lay back and propped her head on her hands as she looked up at the stars. "Perhaps someday, I'll show you Ellis's memories of it. She never told you the entire story of what she went through that day. I'll just say that she made me proud again for being so brave and resourceful."His mind was drawn back to the moment he had found Ellis in the rubble of the temple, his relief at finding her safe so deep and intense that he couldn't even form a proper prayer of gratitude.He had wanted to give her a shake when she told him of sending Laurel and the babies away in the escape
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Drake was already gone when Izzy and Ellis came back to the dining room and her heart ached that she wouldn't be able to say goodbye to him, but maybe Micheal and Isabella had decided that Izzy would only get more upset. She gnawed on her tail as they passed through the room to where the king was waiting for her in the hallway outside. He had been seated on a bench and he stood politely when she joined him. Another of his kind stood behind him, his skin as green as the forest leaves."This is my bodyguard," he offered. The bodyguard in question ignored Izzy, but sized up her female bodyguard and apparently wasn't impressed with what he saw."Follow me," Izzy directed. The king walked down the hall beside her and Izzy noticed that she was at least a foot taller than he was.She arrived at her nest room to find that all of Drake's things had been cleaned out already and she felt a piercing ache in her heart. She sat down on a cushion beside her table, despondent.
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Logan put out an announcement that tonight would be a state dinner and so the temple dining room was packed with people, all of them speculating as to the cause. He and the empress rarely had them and when they did it was usually for a special announcement. The last had been to announce the empress was expecting Prince Edward and the one before that, to announce that Nessie was being appointed to the emperor's Council.Izzy ate mechanically. She wasn't hungry, but Aunt Cristine was right: she had to make sure the baby got what it needed. Drake was alight with excitement and impatient for the meal to end. The entire extended family was seated around the table, all of them wearing their finery. Her mother wore the glow stone tunic she'd worn to her own mating ceremony and Aunt Laurel was dressed in a purple tunic so bright that it hurt the eyes to look at it. Leo kept flirtatiously tickling Cristine's neck with his tail and then looking away innocently whenever she looked up fr
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"I saw a doctor less than an hour ago." Izzy unwound her tail from her leg with effort and gnawed on the end of it anxiously.Her father stood and without a word, headed for the door."Daddy, wait, please!" Nessie pleaded. "I'm so sorry! Talk to me.""I can't." Logan's eyes were on the door and his tail lashed in either agitation or anger; she couldn't tell which."Please," Izzy pleaded. "I need to know what you're thinking. Do—do you still love me?""Of course, I do," Logan said tightly. He twisted the doorknob."Don't leave," Izzy begged."Sweetheart, your father just needs a little time," Ellis interjected. "Let him go, and we'll all talk over this later."Goddess, didn't her mother understand that her anxiety was increasing exponentially every moment? She wouldn't survive a wait of a few hours. "Daddy… please.""You want to know what I'm thinking?" Logan turned from the door and marched back to stand in
