Star Warden Book 2: RQ Chapter 3

 Prince of Eden

“His Majesty, King Ronan of the House of Tara, First of His Name. Cordially invites you to attend tomorrow night's royal feast.” The first line of the invitation said.

This invitation was technically a formality but it was at Kaguya and Queen Reiko's insistence that the invitation was to be sent. Sam had informed His Majesty of the plan to eliminate Daimos. He waited two days before informing him as the Enchantress needed to determine the next stage of his quest. Which was to travel to the planet Ramia and acquire the hardware that will be needed to search for the eight rings. King Ronan decided a celebratory feast was in order, not just to see him off but to celebrate the fact that they now had a clear path to the end of the war.

Royal feasts were normally attended by nobility of all ranks with a tradition that all leftover food and wine would be donated to the common folk afterward. The practice was revived by King Ronan as the Mystic Woods ensured they would not be lacking for food, and to keep morale up. The tradition of giving the commons food was still practiced but with a new twist a festival was held outside as a way to thank the hard work everyone was giving to the war effort.

The feast took place right at the start of sunset at Castle Camelot. The Castle was the oldest, with the Silver Spire possibly being older, building in the entire town. It had the gleaming white metal and futuristic designs on the surface, but the wings and towers of the castle were grown from the tree it was built into. A symmetrical mixture between organic and non-organic materials. At least he assumed the metal was non-organic, he could never be sure with the Tuatha.

The heroic couple was dressed in black tie attire: Sam in a dark blue buttoned tunic and trousers. Since he did not have wings he made do with a cape in the design of the Betsy Ross's flag, that Kaguya was able to sew together fairly quickly. The Princess herself was in a white dress that was tastefully low cut. Sam made sure to get an eyeful every once in a while as a form of appreciation.

Most of the food were fruits and vegetables but there was still enough meat to serve as the centerpiece. Instead of a pig with an apple in his mouth, it was a big winged shark with its teeth extracted. The creature was able to convert Aetherium's gasses into oxygen to breathe which lead to its organs creating certain oils that could be converted into fuel or other chemicals. This left the tissues which could be consumed as meat product while its teeth were historically used as jewelry.

“Let me guess you proposed to Rose with one of the teeth.”

The fiery skinned and blonde faerie laughed. “Don't be daft, Sammy boy. I made an entire ring out of teeth!”

The deep sea blue female faerie laughed as well. Her hair was red but light enough that it could be confused for pink. Along with silver eyes that matched her dress. These two were Daniel and Rose. Samuel's godparents. Daniel was once a pirate who Eli Bailey captured and later aided in his rehabilitation. They became close friends which led him to become Sam's godfather after Hannah's passing. He was the captain of the Marauders now, the “navy” of the Free Realms which was a collection of former pirates, merchants, and anyone who had an airship that could be equipped with weapons.

“I had to talk him down from bringing the whole shark to my parents,” said Rose. “my father would have taken it as a challenge considering he's a fisherman himself.”

“I think that would have made getting his blessing easier though. If I had beaten him in a hunting contest.”

“He would have said you were a cheating pirate and trying to steal me away.”

“I wouldn't mind becoming a pirate again if you were the booty.”

Rose playfully pushed him away. “Hush you. You're embarrassing our son. Speaking of. How are you, Sammy? You haven't been getting homesick, have you? Kaguya taking care of you? If not you let me know and I'll give her an earful lady to lady.”

“Trust me she takes care of everything. I don't go out into the field without her. War or not wouldn't change a thing.”

Rose nodded and smiled. This is the first time she had gotten to see Sam since he came to Aetherium. The destruction of Castle Bailey had nearly caused her to lose sleep worrying, only staying strong for her twin girls Maev and Jane. The Star Warden stuff made her feel better but she still worried. Seeing him now happy despite what he has gone through made her feel at ease. More than that she was happy that her son was doing well and yes he was her son.

Born on a distant star and alien DNA didn't matter to her.

“Do you still have the nightmares?”

“Not as frequently.”

“Well if you are still here tomorrow perhaps I can cook you a special breakfast. I think I read about certain kinds of foods mixed the right way can give one sweet dreams.”

“There is an easier way to get sweet dreams or so I'm told.” Daniel smirked.

“Honeybunch. That is your answer to everything.”

Sam chuckled. “I mean that's a pretty good answer. Perhaps I'll try out your theory tonight, see what it gets me.”

“I swear, Eli may have fathered you but my husband raised you.”

“Well you're not wrong, Rose.” She pouted at the mention of her name. “Sorry, Mom. He partway did raise me. I wouldn't be so good at shooting a ray gun if he wasn't there. He was like the crude uncle I always wanted.”

“I'll drink to that. To crude uncles and their alien nephews!”

Sam joined him in the toast and so did Rose even if her face said she was disgusted.

“How long are you going to be here, Mom?”

“As long as the war goes on. I'm here for good.”

“You finally convinced her to move out of the Icebox?”

“Well it has become more of necessity to move all civilians to Camelot.” Daniel's voice became somber as he continued. “Domain war rockets have been increasing patrols up north. Some not too far off from the base.”

“Maybe you should start pulling out as well. Find a new base.”

“Only as a last resort. We have a hidden kingdom of forges and resources far north and that can't be undefended. We lose that and Camelot loses access to a lot of metals and fuel for the war and we'll need them more than ever thanks to Avernus.”

“We finally, find out what was in that Avernus file?”

“Avernus is Daimos's spaceport and it dates back to before Solarium fell. It has an active Celestial Mirror and heavily defended.”

“Well you can't insult his work ethic at least. So is he already in space?”

“Aye. He probably was getting it back to working condition before he started his conquest. Taking other worlds while we were hiding and re-organizing. No detailed information on what other worlds he's been to. Much of the data got fragmented when Peace got nicked.”

“Bah! Now we're back on the war talk.”

“Well there is something I wanted to tell both of you.”

“I'm finally having grandchildren?!”

Sam laughed nervously. “That's still a ways back on the agenda.”

Children was a topic that Sam wish he could resolve. The question wasn't how but who would raise them. He wanted to raise them himself and he wanted to make sure they had both parents. He had always told himself there would be time after the war, but even with the plan, it could still take years to find the rings. He was in his 20s for now but age would catch up with him and that would make having children much harder. It would also make fighting Daimos much harder, but one problem at a time.

“No. The Enchantress wanted to tell me something the night before the feast.”

“Alone.” Daniel made a faux shock and horror expression. “Careful, Sam, nobles like their rumors.”

He yelped in pain as Rose pinched his ear. “I was just joking with the lad,” he protested.

“So what did she say?”

Sam recounted the conversation.

Nearby one of the many lakes in the Mystic Woods the Enchantress held an item in her hand. It had a chrome surface, sleek and smooth, with a circular screen and two black bars on its side. A buzzing sensation filled Sam's head as she explained it was called a Talisman.

A Talisman was effectively a software library, the equivalent to a wizard's book of spells. It could open Celestial and World mirrors. Generate programs that created physical constructs in battle. All powered by ambient Bifrost energy drawn from the Codex through a secure link.

He looked at it intensely. Amazed by the alien device.

“If only we had more of these things.”

“Sadly the biometric security functions would prevent their use. They were designed for Tuatha physiology and for the individual they were constructed for. This device is for your use only. Due to your Tuatha genome.”

Sam stopped looking at the Talisman and turned his head toward her. A stoic gaze hid his shock as she continued to explain. Sam's body possessed a genome only found in Tuatha physiology. Specifically, it was a genome expressed only in those of the Royal Family of Eden.

Making him a Prince of Eden.

The Enchantress discovered this during Sam's month of healing in the Spire. The Medical technology allowed her to collect extremely detailed knowledge of him.

“We did not mean to deceive you,” she said. “the information was deemed not relevant when we believed Daimos to just be an Abyss influenced individual. Now that we know the truth we had to inform you so you could learn to use Tuatha technology properly.”

“Okay,” he said calmly. Sam continued to process what he was hearing, avoiding jumping to any conclusions. “Which side of the family?”

“You are not a direct descendant of any Tuatha. If not induced artificially this would make you a far distant relation to the royal family. The genome only allows you access to their technology otherwise you are human.”

“Okay so I'm related to some ancient alien royalty. Normally those reveals happen at the beginning but okay. Just add that crazy to the pile. By the way, you said the Talisman is only usable by the person who it was made for.”

“Do not be concerned. I transferred the security protocols to you.”

“Wait, I?” Sam gave the Enchantress a puzzling look.

“Yes, It was mine long ago.”

“Curiouser and Curiouser.” Daniel rubbed his chin in thought.

“My boy is a prince!” Rose had stars in her eyes. “Our grandchildren are going to be royalty on both sides now.” She grabbed Daniel's arm and squeezed as she squealed in joy.

“I guess so.” Sam shrugged. Prince or not. He at least had an understanding of the strange feeling when he encountered the tech. Once he left for Ramia he would soon have a better understanding of how to use the tech reliably. He would track down something on the planet that would let him understand the Tuatha language. How else would he read all the instruction manuals?

The voices in the feast hall grew quiet as horns began to play. “All rise for His and Her Royal Majesties!”

All rose from their seats and turned their heads as the King and Queen of the Free Realms entered the hall with glasses of mead at the ready.

“Lords and Ladies of the Realms. This feast is to commemorate our Champion, Sir Bailey. He is to embark on a quest that will end our long struggle against the tyranny of the machines. If all goes well he will soon have the means to finally defeat the Dark Lord once and for all. So I invite you all to raise your glasses and toast to the Star Warden. May the Powers guide him safely and swiftly to victory!”

The Lords and Ladies raised their glasses. “To the Star Warden!”

Chapter 4

Chapter 2