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- Nov 12, 2006
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Janya stared out the clear glass window at the magnificent sight, a beautiful planet with several huge land masses, divided by two spans of turquoise sea. Aragonia, the home world, so much like earth, yet so different. As Janya stared at the magnificent planet that was her true home, her uncle, Ewald, stood next to her, watching his niece with censorious eyes.
In going to Earth to fetch Janya himself, Ewald had broken an agreement with the stern, formidable Bronwyn, the great Emperor, the war lord of a peace-keeping brigade who spent more and more time away from his Imperial duties. Harker, the second of the three Imperial men, was in charge of the Electorate, and had much influence over them. Harker was a sinister fellow, very shady and a speaker of falsehoods. Ewald had never liked nor trusted him. The rogue, the black sheep, Clyde, had forfeited Imperial duties and turned vagabond, taking his two children with him in his old, space-battered cruiser. He hadn't been seen by anyone on Aragonia in more than a year.
Janya had been learning about the strange planet which she didn't remember at all. She had spent two days coming to terms with the truth about her origins, and then she had spent three days learning about Aragonia itself. She had learned how her people, early on in their evolution, had found ways to alter their physiology and divide one race into several races, each adapted to their environment, whether they be the sky people, the sea people, or the terrestrial people, whether above or below the surface of the planet.
Ewald had always found it a fascinating thing that the Aragonians had been able to evolve into different sub-species best suited to a certain sort of environment. This, it was speculated, explained why Aragonian animals were far fewer than on many other inhabited planets and moons throughout the universe. The Aragonians were one of only a very few sentient races in the universe who had succeeded in dividing their race into sub-species, adapted to life in the air, under ground, or beneath the the sea.
Now, Ewald was hesitant to explain the most crucial reason for bringing Janya back to Aragonia. She was a treasure, to be sure, and certainly a treasure worth protecting, and keeping away from the wrong people. Long before Janya had been born, the Oracle, one of a lost race whose disappearance from the galaxy had never been revealed or explained had appeared at the Imperial courts to promise a great weapon of unlimited people would soon become available for the taking. How Harker's eyes had lit up at that revelation!
As Ewald stood next to Janya, he found it hard to fathom that he was standing next to that promised weapon, the weapon the Oracle had prophesised so many years ago. If Harker should ever discover the truth.....heaven help the universe! He turned away from the portal, and sipped his tea.
"Mavourneen, I think it's best to get the most important thing out of the way now. We'll be landing within the palace docks within an hour, and what I need to tell you is something you need to hear now, before anything else. You've learned plenty about Aragonia these past days, now it's time to tell you about what you really are."
"What I really am, uncle?" Janya turned toward that kindly old man with eyes that were trusting. Janya had learned to accept a great deal within a short time, but could she stand up to this, her uncle thought as he glanced into eyes that were so familiarly those of her dead mother. "Tell me, then, if you must."
"An Oracle foretold plenty before you were born, Mavourneen. He said a time was coming when a most powerful weapon would be granted to us. No one really understood at the time, but later on, the Oracle returned to just your father and I, and foretold just what the Psyloche really would be. The Psyloche, the weapon of unlimited power, would be born as a living being.....you."
"I? I, uncle? How can this be?"
"That I cannot say, Mavourneen. All I can tell you is that when you were born, your twin brother did not survive long afterward. He was taken and shown to Harker, and you were taken and hidden from view. The people believe that only one child was ever born to your parents, and that the child, now dead, leaves Harker as next in line to the throne. Harker himself believes it. Only, that is not true, and never has been."
Janya nodded, and allowed her uncle to tell her the rest of the story. The girl had suffered so many sudden changes, yet despite it all, she possessed a great strength of character that convinced her uncle that the right choices had been made. As for telling Bronwyn of the broken agreement, Ewald had no fear. It was about time Bronwyn was brought to terms with his child, anyway, and it was none too soon to begin.
In going to Earth to fetch Janya himself, Ewald had broken an agreement with the stern, formidable Bronwyn, the great Emperor, the war lord of a peace-keeping brigade who spent more and more time away from his Imperial duties. Harker, the second of the three Imperial men, was in charge of the Electorate, and had much influence over them. Harker was a sinister fellow, very shady and a speaker of falsehoods. Ewald had never liked nor trusted him. The rogue, the black sheep, Clyde, had forfeited Imperial duties and turned vagabond, taking his two children with him in his old, space-battered cruiser. He hadn't been seen by anyone on Aragonia in more than a year.
Janya had been learning about the strange planet which she didn't remember at all. She had spent two days coming to terms with the truth about her origins, and then she had spent three days learning about Aragonia itself. She had learned how her people, early on in their evolution, had found ways to alter their physiology and divide one race into several races, each adapted to their environment, whether they be the sky people, the sea people, or the terrestrial people, whether above or below the surface of the planet.
Ewald had always found it a fascinating thing that the Aragonians had been able to evolve into different sub-species best suited to a certain sort of environment. This, it was speculated, explained why Aragonian animals were far fewer than on many other inhabited planets and moons throughout the universe. The Aragonians were one of only a very few sentient races in the universe who had succeeded in dividing their race into sub-species, adapted to life in the air, under ground, or beneath the the sea.
Now, Ewald was hesitant to explain the most crucial reason for bringing Janya back to Aragonia. She was a treasure, to be sure, and certainly a treasure worth protecting, and keeping away from the wrong people. Long before Janya had been born, the Oracle, one of a lost race whose disappearance from the galaxy had never been revealed or explained had appeared at the Imperial courts to promise a great weapon of unlimited people would soon become available for the taking. How Harker's eyes had lit up at that revelation!
As Ewald stood next to Janya, he found it hard to fathom that he was standing next to that promised weapon, the weapon the Oracle had prophesised so many years ago. If Harker should ever discover the truth.....heaven help the universe! He turned away from the portal, and sipped his tea.
"Mavourneen, I think it's best to get the most important thing out of the way now. We'll be landing within the palace docks within an hour, and what I need to tell you is something you need to hear now, before anything else. You've learned plenty about Aragonia these past days, now it's time to tell you about what you really are."
"What I really am, uncle?" Janya turned toward that kindly old man with eyes that were trusting. Janya had learned to accept a great deal within a short time, but could she stand up to this, her uncle thought as he glanced into eyes that were so familiarly those of her dead mother. "Tell me, then, if you must."
"An Oracle foretold plenty before you were born, Mavourneen. He said a time was coming when a most powerful weapon would be granted to us. No one really understood at the time, but later on, the Oracle returned to just your father and I, and foretold just what the Psyloche really would be. The Psyloche, the weapon of unlimited power, would be born as a living being.....you."
"I? I, uncle? How can this be?"
"That I cannot say, Mavourneen. All I can tell you is that when you were born, your twin brother did not survive long afterward. He was taken and shown to Harker, and you were taken and hidden from view. The people believe that only one child was ever born to your parents, and that the child, now dead, leaves Harker as next in line to the throne. Harker himself believes it. Only, that is not true, and never has been."
Janya nodded, and allowed her uncle to tell her the rest of the story. The girl had suffered so many sudden changes, yet despite it all, she possessed a great strength of character that convinced her uncle that the right choices had been made. As for telling Bronwyn of the broken agreement, Ewald had no fear. It was about time Bronwyn was brought to terms with his child, anyway, and it was none too soon to begin.
