Selene

53 | Asylum

"I don't know why you want me here," Jacin, Selene's pilot, announced sullenly to Kai as the young emperor took a seat in one of the conference room's leather chairs. "I don't know what I could possibly add to your little meeting."

"Stars, you're so unpleasant," Kai muttered under his breath, slapping his papers and materials onto the table. Glancing up, he said, "You have to be here. You're Selene's pilot-- you witnessed first-hand everything that went down up there. You're seeking asylum in our territory, and we're meeting to talk about Luna and these new developments."

Jacin lounged back in the chair. "I'm just a guard. I wouldn't know anything about what you're talking about, what's going on up there. I have no idea why they attacked us. Besides," he waved a hand through the air, "I wouldn't really call myself her Majesty's pilot. She hasn't even spoken to me in years. We-- we used to be childhood friends, but she probably doesn't even remember."

Kai started. "Childhood friends?"

Jacin opened his mouth, and then shut it, before opening it once more and responding snidely, "Stars, did you just trick me into an interrogation or something?"

Kai shook his head, opening his folder and shuffling through the documents one by one. "You know, I am the emperor of the Eastern Commonwealth." He glanced up at the pilot, thumbing a page. "You could show some respect."

Jacin squinted dubiously, and Kai sighed. "Well, you need to be here whether you like it or not, but you've got to rein it in. My government heads are already a little uneasy with there being a Lunar in the room, so you can't go around manipulating people or anything. That wouldn't be great for your asylum claims."

"I couldn't if I tried," Jacin said, flexing his fingers as if Kai would be able to see his Lunar gift coursing between them. "I'm just about as useless as an Earthen with my gift. All guards have to be."

Kai's fingers on the paper stalled, and Jacin noticed his intrigue with a detached sigh. "We're supposed to be malleable. Like clay. So when the queen or one of her thaumaturges needs us, they can use us without a moment's hesitation and without any trouble. To fight, or to protect. Whichever."

Kai's brow furrowed. "Oh," he breathed. "That sounds unpleasant."

Jacin peered at Kai, his arms folded over his chest. "Since you seem to be concerned, her Majesty doesn't really manipulate people up on Luna. Not even guards. She's been completely unreliant on her gift, all these years-- it's nearly put several guys I know out of a job, and it's driven us all nuts, considering how many attempts on her life there have been in the last five years alone."

Kai glanced back down at his file and visibly relaxed before he could stop himself, but immediately stiffened once again. "I don't know why you think I was wondering. I don't particularly care how Sele- how her Majesty spends her time on Luna."

Jacin squinted that signature squint again. "Uh-huh." Kai could tell he hadn't been convinced by his act.

Kai checked his watch impatiently just as some of his officials began to file in through the door, casting Jacin watchful glances as they made their ways to their seats. 4:00 on the dot. Once everybody had arrived, Kai cleared his throat and stood, thumbing through the statistics and facts on the papers before him.

"As many of you know," he announced, pressing his hands into the table, "Queen Selene Blackburn has returned to Earth from Luna and seeks asylum in the Eastern Commonwealth. The details of the reasons for her departure are unknown, but her pilot here--" he nodded across the table to Jacin, "--has confirmed that formerly friendly Lunar podships attacked them as they left Luna and sought refuge on Earth. Her Majesty the Queen has been exhibiting symptoms of psychosis since she approached Sir Jacin Clay on Luna four days ago, and has been in and out of consciousness since their arrival.

"We have not received any form of contact from Luna, and their current state of affairs remains unknown. However, we must be prepared to take up diplomatic duties if Luna initiates contact, as the protectors of the queen and her pilot under their claims of asylum. Meanwhile," Kai knit his brow and ruffled through the file for the relevant information, "the palace medical wing has been attending to the queen twenty-four hours a day and logging all information on her condition. The medical wing has yet to come up with a definitive diagnosis. Other than a brief lapse from her unstable condition yesterday evening, no signs of improvement have been shown." Kai finished speaking with a heavy sense of foreboding weighing down his chest with that final remark. The events of the previous night had propelled him with a new sense of determination that tore him reluctantly from Selene's bedside and into his role as Emperor, but since then she had even fewer respites into lucidity than usual. She'd been thrashing and tossing herself all night, and had needed to be sedated by medical officials to stop her from falling off the bed and breaking her neck. Kai was tense and stiff with worry, even as he settled back into his chair. The head of military activities raised a finger, and Kai nodded his head in her direction.

"All due respect, your Majesty, but how can we be sure of Luna's willingness to pursue diplomatic relations anymore, especially after these events? Surely Luna has seen our acceptance of the queen's asylum claims as a hostile move. They might be preparing to mobilise their military forces at this moment!" General Hwam cried, clenching her hand into a fist on the tabletop. "If they were attacking their own queen with that kind of firepower, their next moves will be completely unpredictable and unforeseeable. We have no clue as to the current leadership situation on Luna, and what that configuration will mean for the Commonwealth."

The other officials murmured and nodded their agreement, their brows furrowed with worry and concern. Kai tapped his fingers against his knee.

"We have to assume the best and prepare for the worst during this period of waiting, General. Prepare the Commonwealth's forces in whatever way you think is best, but under no circumstances will we engage in hostile activity with Luna while their motivations are unclear and the possibility for diplomatic relations may be there." Kai leaned forward and rested his arms on the table. "The last thing we want is to start a war with Luna, especially since we know nothing in terms of their military prowess and possible forces. Antagonising them would conceivably mean disaster for Earth."

"But what about the Queen?" The head of the palace medical wing interjected, looking troubled. "We know nothing about her condition. It resembles psychosis but has additional symptoms, and we can't find any trace of abnormality within her body. Considering that the queen is Lunar and first exhibited these symptoms on Luna, I fear her ailment may be something that our medical staff lacks the appropriate knowledge about. What if it's some Lunar disease that we've never seen here on Earth before? How are we supposed to--"

The doctor was interrupted with the screech of a chair. Jacin had leaped to his feet, uncharacteristic shock written all over his face. The whole room turned to stare at him.

"Of course," he said to himself, "of COURSE. How could I be so stupid!"

And he took off running, out the door, down the hall, without a word to the silenced people in the room behind him.