My Enemy's Son (The Two Moons of Rehnor, Book 2) (21 page)

“A wedding?” he said and even from where
we sat, we could hear how the alcohol slurred his words.  “And I wasn't
invited?” 

The MaKennah went rigid.  Grandfather
sighed heavily.  The MaKani looked at me and raised her eyebrows.

“Well, well, well,” my uncle Sorkan called
as he passed the great fire and came upon us.  He had a bottle of Mishnese
Vodka in his hand.  “Look who we have here!”  Uncle did a mocking version of a
Mishnese bow.  He nearly toppled over and some of the drink spilled.  “Oops!”
he cried and rescuing himself, he took a long pull on the bottle.

“Let me see if I can figure out what is
going on.”  He came before us and swayed on his feet.  “Our esteemed MaKennah,
future king of kings, is here so that must mean...”  He looked from me to my
sister to the MaKani.  “That must mean he is the bridegroom and this little
waif must be the bride.”  He reached down and pulled the MaKani to her feet. 
“Ay yah, are you Mishnese little one?”

The MaKani looked back at the MaKennah who
was as still as if he were cut from stone.

“Don't mind him, darling,” Uncle said,
running his hands up and down the sides of the white skin dress which caused
all sorts of beads and shells to tremble.  “I suspect he is impaired.  Did you shoot
up some Horkin this afternoon, eh Senya?”

“Sorkan,” Grandfather said gruffly. 
Sorkan had his hands in the MaKani's hair.  He was stroking her cheek.

“Oh, but I have a gift for you, Senya.  A
little wedding present.”  Sorkan reached into his pocket and pulled out two
mice by their tails.  He dropped them into the MaKennah’s untouched trencher. 
“Yummy yummy,” Uncle said.  “You enjoy that and I'll enjoy this.  Come now,
Doll, how about a big kiss for papa?”  Uncle pulled the MaKani against him and
it looked as if he was trying to stick his tongue down her throat.  The
MaKennah studied the mice nibbling at the meat in the trencher.

Grandfather closed his eyes and sighed
again.  That was until there was a scream.  The MaKani had broken away from
Uncle and had spun around and kicked him right in the throat with her foot. 
Uncle coughed and fell back, his eyes wide with surprise.  Then the MaKani
jumped again and clipped him first on the side of his head and then right in
the gut.  Uncle fell on his ass.  The MaKani stood over him with her hands
fisted, her breath coming hard, her face pink.  She shouted at him in her
language and then wiped her hands on her dress.  The MaKennah lumbered to his
feet.  He was smiling slightly.  The mice were gone.

“Sorkan, get out of here,” Grandfather
said and looked to the MaKennah.  “And you Sehron, take your woman and get out
of here too.  I have had enough of this.  Let you go entertain Yokaa Kalila
now.” 

The MaKennah took the MaKani's hand and
pulled her from the banquet hall.  She stumbled after him, taking two steps for
every one of his.  She looked back for one brief moment and I caught her eye. 
I smiled.  She winked.

Chapter 14

Berkan

I sat in the Royal limo on the tarmac of
the Karupta King's village waiting for Senya.  My father had rung me earlier to
tell me that Senya's suite was being prepared and I should expect to attend him
today.  I already knew this as Thad had told me yesterday that Senya was coming
and probably bringing Katie.  That is, if he could convince her to come.  I had
already gone home and gone to sleep when my cell rang.  It was Kinar, Senya's
secretary at the Palace.

"He's in Karupatani but wants to
leave directly after dinner," Kinar said.  "He wants you to wait for
him."

"Why?" I asked, pulling myself
out of bed, away from my wife's warm body.  "Is he pissed at me again
about something?"

"Maybe," Kinar replied.
"I'm sending the limo to get you first.  I have sent their spaceplane back
to Rozari and I have arranged for one of ours to take him to wherever he wants
to go next."

"Good man, Kinar," I mumbled,
pulling on my trousers. "You are sure you don't know what he's pissed at
me about?"

"Maybe he's not pissed at all,"
Kinar laughed.  "Maybe he just misses you."  He rang off.

Now I sat waiting and watching the smoke
plumes waft away from the banquet hall in the center of the village.  The night
was clear and warm here in Karupatani with both moons full and a billion or so
stars in the sky.  There was about a billion or so people crammed into that
banquet hall, I noticed, and quite a bit of noise coming from it too.

"They must be 'aving a good time in
there," my driver remarked.  He was standing outside, leaning on the car
and smoking a Mishnese cigarette.  He was wearing a Royal Mishnese Guardsman
uniform, not one of my usual SdK drivers.

"Yep," I agreed and took a cig
off him even though I hadn’t smoked since I was a teenager.  I hoped Luci
wouldn’t smell it on me when and if I ever got home.  I could always blame it
on being in close proximity to Senya.  I leaned back against the car.  A second
limo was parked a short distance from us.  It had the seal of the Duke of
Segefor, Senya’s father, on the door.  Three guardsmen were standing next to
it, chatting and smoking as we were.

"Think they'll be done soon,
Reggie?"  A guardsman broke away from the other group and joined us.

“And ‘ow should I know, Looie?” Reggie
responded while winking at me.  “I never in me life ‘ave spent a minute in
Karupatani.  What do ye think, Mr. Berkan?”

I shrugged.  “I don’t think Senya likes to
stay in any place for very long.  I suspect he’ll be ready to leave soon.”

“Aye, that’s the truth of it,” Reggie
replied.  “Even when we were lads back in Old Mishnah, ‘e was always runnin off
‘ere and there.  Course if we stood still for longer than a minute, we might
‘ave been taken in by a copper. ‘ad to keep movin we did.”

“Did you know Senya when he was a kid?” I
asked, taking a sudden interest in Reggie.

“Aye Mr. Berkan, I did at that.  Course
I’m a few years older, ye know but came from the same Old Mishnah Orphan ‘ome
as ‘e did.  Now when I was about fifteen and Senya was just a wee lad of about
seven or eight, I…”

“Yeah yeah yeah, Reggie, we’ve heard it
all before,” Looie sighed and was about to say more when Senya and Katie coming
running up the steppes.  Actually, Senya was pulling Katie by the arm and she
was none too happy about it.  They were dressed in Karupta clothing, both in
leather and suede and Katie’s dress was decorated with shells or bits of
something.

“Let go of me!” she snapped in Rozarian
and he did as they approached the limo.  Looie immediately jumped to open the
door for him.

“’ey Reg, me mate,” Senya said in Street
Mishnese, slapping Reggie’s hand and then climbing in back.  “Thanks Looie. 
Come on Berk, I need to speak with you.”  I waited for Katie who glared at me
and then at the guardsmen.

“Where the hell did our spaceplane go?”
she demanded.

“Uh..” I started to say but Senya
interrupted.

“Come on, Kate, it’s late.  Get in.”  He
fetched a bottle of beer from the limo’s bar and lit a cig.

“Where the hell is the spaceplane?” she
repeated and looked around the landing strip.  “This is a speeder, not a
plane.”  She studied the Eagle Crest on the door.

“We’re not going back to space just yet.” 
Senya took a long drag on his cig.  “Get in the fucking car.”

“And if I say no?”

Senya laughed.  “Then you are welcome to
stay here in Karupatani and fight off Sorkan and Rekah.  Get in the car, Berk. 
Katie’s going to stay.”

“Yes, Sir.”  I climbed in and sat across
from him.  Katie climbed in after me and sat on the other side, curling against
the window as far away from us as she possibly could be.

“Where in the hell are we going?” she
said, as soon as the limo lifted off. 

“Want a beer or cig or both, Berk?”  Senya
ignored her question.  His accent was thick tonight, as if he had been speaking
nothing but Street Mishnese.  Though he was wearing his dark glasses, I could
see that behind them his eyes were glittering strangely.  I wondered if he had
been smoking that Karut drug.

“Ay yah,” he laughed again, reading my
thoughts.  “Totally wasted, I am.”

“Things not go well in Karupatani?”  I
took a beer for myself and resolved to make it the only one.  I would need to
be stone cold sober to deal with him tonight, otherwise he might launch a
tornado or blow up something just for fun.

He thought this was terribly funny.

“What the hell are you laughing about?”
Katie snapped.  “I don’t see anything funny in this.  You and your family,” she
spat the word, "are sick.  How could you just sit there and do nothing?”

“You had the situation perfectly under
control.”  Senya shrugged and tossed his empty beer bottle aside.  A new one
flew out of the bar and into his outstretched hand.  “You didn’t need my help.”

“It would have been nice though!” Katie
shrieked and taking off her leather slippers, rubbed first one then the other
foot.  “I was ready to kill him,” she added.  "Now I'm ready to kill
you."

Senya shrugged again and downed his second
beer.  Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, he turned toward me, his
eyes flashing.  “Speaking of killing, Berk.”

“Yes, Sir?” I gulped, nearly choking on my
beer.

“Thanks very much for telling me you are
already acquainted.”

“Oh!  Well, you know, Senya, Thad and I
thought...”

“Obviously you don’t want me included in
this conversation,” Katie interrupted.  “If you did, you’d be speaking in a
language I could understand!”

We both looked at her and then Senya
smiled broadly.

“I was just expressing my surprise to
Berkan that you and he are such good friends,” he said in Rozarian.  “Imagine
that.  You have already visited Rehnor and I didn’t even know about it.”

“Yep.”  Katie turned back to the window. 
“And we’re not exactly good friends.  And for your information, this time is
just about as much fun as last time.  If you don’t mind, I’d like to go back to
the Alliance now please.”

“Not quite yet,” Senya replied.  “I’ve got
a bit of business to take care of first.”

“You can just stay here without me then. 
Or, let Berkan take care of your business.  Isn’t that what you pay him to do?”

“I am better at killing than he is.” 
Senya put a fresh cig between his lips.  Katie’s eyes flew open and she looked
from him to me.

“Uh, Senya, you don’t mean to actually,
uh...kill…uh…them, do you?” I stuttered, switching back to Mishnese. 
“Tonight?”

“And why not?  I might just go over there
and slit their bloody throats.”

“Oh that would not be good,” I insisted.

“Alright,” he agreed.  “I don’t have to go
there.  I can just sit here and imagine their fucking hearts stop beating and
they will but that won't be any fun.”  He waved his hand at the ceiling,
closing and opening his fist.  I wondered if Akan was having a heart attack
right now as we spoke.

“They didn't hurt her, Senya.  Maybe they
grossed her out and embarrassed her but she wasn't hurt.  She’s fine.  Look at
her.”  I turned to Katie who glared back at the both of us not understanding a
word we were saying and furious about it.

“She was wandering around Old Mishnah for
four days in a bloody snow storm!”

“Yes, but your old friend Meri found her
and we got her back and she's okay,” I pleaded.  “Isn’t she?  Or did she have a
sweeter disposition before this happened?”

Senya burst out laughing.

“Didn’t you tell me once that a girl would
kill Akan, not you?”  I looked at Katie again and it occurred to me that the
girl might actually be Katie.  She looked ready, willing and able to kill the
both of us right now.  Senya turned to Katie and smiled drunkenly.

“Ay yah, I did, didn’t I?  And here she
is, right here in front of us.  I am very good at prophesizing, am I not?"

“What are you guys staring at me for?”
Katie growled.

“I can still kill Phylyp,” Senya decided,
turning back to me.  “Mayhaps I will.”

“Not tonight, please Senya!  You have an
audience with the King tomorrow.  Wait until after that at least.”

Senya rubbed his eyes and appeared to
consider this.  “Ach, why am I listening to you?”

“Because you're shit face drunk and
totally wasted.”

“I am at that,” he agreed, nodding
lopsidedly.  “Listen Berkie, I haven’t told her yet.”  He inclined his head in
Katie’s direction.  She was busy looking at the window again, pointedly
ignoring us.

“You haven't told her what?”

“About this,” he waved his arm around the
limo.  “About me.”

“Well, where exactly does she think we are
going?” I coughed.  “In a Royal limo with your crest on the door?”

“She hasn’t a clue.  She’s very confused. 
I am confused too.  You’re right.  I am totally wasted.”

“Well you had better sober up and clue her
in before the both of you meet the King!”

”I suppose,” he sighed.  The thought
crossed my mind that he would never sober up in time for his audience in the
morning.  “I don't know, Berkie,” Senya sighed again, dramatically.  “I don't
know how to explain this to her.”

“Am I hearing this correctly?  The great
MaKennah doesn't know something?”

“Fuck Berkie, I don't know everything.”

“Yes, you do.”

“Alright, I do.  I’m going to tell her and
she’s going to run away screaming.”

“Sounds like she’s about to do that
regardless of whether or not you tell her,” I remarked.

“Yeah.  I’ve completely messed this up
already.”  He leaned his head against the window.

“It’s alright, Senya.  That’s how it is
with women.  No matter what you do you, you mess it up with them.  None of us
guys can ever do anything right.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“You know what, Berk?”  He pointed at my
chest.  “You’re a pretty smart guy.  I think I’ll make you a fucking Earl of
something.  How would you like that?”

“Sure Senya, but not today okay?  Let’s
just get through your audience without breaking anything or killing anyone.”

“Can’t promise that.”  He yawned and put a
foot up on the seat next to Katie.

"Get your ugly foot off the
furniture!"  She swatted at it.

"I can't win," he moaned,
putting it back down on the floor.

"Why don't you try and sleep off some
of those drugs and alcohol you have obviously indulged in," I suggested. 
"While you've got a few hours."  Katie was leaning against the
opposite window and was already asleep or at least pretending to be.

"Ay yah," Senya mumbled. 
"Good idea."

I woke up to morning light streaming into
the limo.  Senya was already awake and busy typing something on his cell, a
fresh cig hanging from his lip.  Katie was stretched out across the seat, her
head pillowed by her arms, her bare feet in Senya's lap.  I guess it was okay
for her feet to be on the furniture.

I stretched as best as I could without
bumping Senya's legs and looked out the window, trying to determine where we
were.  The clock tower with Senya's portrait on the side of it, rising above
the SdK complex, was just coming into view. 

"New Mishnah," I remarked.

"Mhm," Senya mumbled, still
flipping through his emails.  Katie stirred.  She lifted herself up and looked
out the window too.

"Where are we going?  Hey, this is
where I was last time!"

The limo circled high above the Palace
swinging out across the beach and around the southern perimeter before
beginning a final descent into the courtyard.