"Where would she go?" Japheth asked Kietnan.
"I've only had time to show her a few places, she wasn't anywhere near any of them. We've spoken with every person she's had contact with since she's been here. No one has seen her."
"Alright, what's the plan of action?" Thala asked. "We can't have an alien going rogue throughout the homeland. Garen?"
"I have teams gearing up, we'll be able to start combing through each level within the next half hour."
"Gearing up with what exactly? What do you mean rogue?" Kietnan stood, leaning his hands onto the table in front of him, staring at Queen Thala and General Garen across from him.
"This is a matter of Grand Hall safety, boy. Your play thing is on the loose, doing who knows what."
Kietnan growled at the same time Kahal and Japheth both said "Garen" in stern warning.
"What? You think we don't all know you're romantically involved with this girl?" Garen scoffed. "Sure, have your fun, but you can't let your pants do your thinking for you on Homeland matters."
"Garen." Japheth growled. "I'll advise you not to speak to my son in such a manner."
"My nephew needs to hear the hard truth, my Lord. If he can't control the thing, we must step in and protect our people."
"She's not a thing." Kietnan argued. "She's a person. A person who is upset and confused and scared.
"She's an alien. In our homeland. I will not stand by and let your bias to the girl compromise our security!" He yelled.
"She's not a security threat!" Kietnan yelled.
"I suggest you calm down or remove yourself from this room, boy. Let the grownups make the big decisions here."
"Garen. Don't think that because you're my wife's brother that I will allow you to speak to my son, who is a grown male and your superior, in this way." Japheth boomed. "Now, both of you. Sit down and don't speak another word until you are calm enough to actually contribute something useful."
Kietnan scoffed, bringing his hands off the table to rub them on his head, taking in deep breaths before sitting down.
"Kahal, you will lead the search by our troops."
"My lord-"
"Not a word, General." Japheth held up a hand. "Kahal is calm and thinking clearly. And the girl will not be as frightened of him if he finds her. He leads the search."
"Now-" his words were cut off as the door opened and Joreth entered the room, taking a seat between Othen and the King's administrative assistant, across from Queen Thala.
"Where have you been, Joreth? We had to begin without you." The Queen stated disapprovingly.
"I apologize, my lords. It could not be helped." He stated.
"As I was saying," the king continued. "We need a plan in place for the people within the Great Hall. If we keep this quiet and people begin to see her roaming freely through the castle they may raise questions. But should we be proactive about this and make a statement that we're looking for her, they may panic."
"Or lose faith in our abilities." The Queen added.
"Why does the statement have to be negative?" Othen spoke up. "Can't we come up with some kind of statement that doesn't paint Ashima in a bad light? That's the most likely way to not raise panic among the people, while also keeping her safe."
"Yes, but then what motivation would we give them for reporting if they see her?" Thala responded.
"Why do we need them to do such a thing?" Joreth asked and all eyes turned to him in surprise.
"To catch her, obviously." Garen huffed.
"She has been glued to my brothers side for the majority of her time here. I know I arrived late to this meeting, but has anyone even asked why she suddenly chose to part from him and hide from any others who have befriended her?"
The room was silent for a long moment before Kietnan sighed heavily, placing his face in his hands. Kahal glanced at his youngest brother, offering him a squeeze on his shoulder.
"Perhaps if we discuss why she suddenly took this drastic turn, then perhaps you might be able to not only find her, but also resolve this entire situation."
"Jareth." Kahal warned.
"What? You all wanted me to be more supportive, here I am, being supportive." He raised his arms as if in surrender.
"He raises one good point." Garen stated, turning to Kietnan. "Well?"
Kietnan rubbed a hand on the back of his head before exhaling and looking at his brother pointedly.
"Kietnan, is there more information we need to know? If so, tell us now." Thala asked.
"She did it for me." He ground his teeth together in frustration.
"For you?" Garen scoffed. "She ran off and left you, hiding in our great hall and causing all of this ruckus for you?"
"I love her." He said firmly while looking at his mother.
Thala gasped and placed her hands on the edge of the table in front of her. "You love her? Her?" But son, she's not Qarthos, she's not one of our people. How can you love her. No, you're simply infatuated with her because she is different. In time-"
"Don't sugar coat it, Thala, it is obscene." Garen said, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms. "What progress have we made on contacting the Aerulians? Perhaps if we can get her off our planet as soon as possible, we can save my nephew from making a disgrace of us all."
Kietnan stood and slammed his fist on the table, letting out a pained sound. "That is why she ran from me, why she left me." He sucked in a breath.
"Because she is a coward who can't handle others speaking truths?" Garen asked.
"No, I am the coward in that regard. She is the brave one." He spoke quietly.
"Our son is over fifty rotations, he is fully capable of knowing the difference between infatuation and love." Japheth said calmly and Kietnan turned to stare at him through eyes of anguish. "She left because she loves him too." The king guessed and Kietnan closed his eyes, taking in a deep breath through his nose.
"Last evening at dinner." Kahal began, looking at his brother sadly. "She didn't know we were royals. She didn't know Kietnan was a royal. When we left, you explained this to her?" Kietnan simply nodded.
"For fear of sounding like the dolt in the room here, can someone just spell it out for me already?" Othen asked.
"She didn't want to risk hurting Kietnan's standing amongst our people by being affiliated with an alien, so she left to protect him. To protect all of us." Kahal stated. "Is that right, brother?"
Kietnan nodded and took in a shaky breath.
Several long moments of silence followed before Japheth spoke. "Kahal, go meet with the search teams. I'm sure they're waiting by now."
"Yes, my lord." Kahal answered, giving his youngest brother's shoulder one last look of encouragement before exiting the room.
"And can we believe these were her true intentions?" Thala asked, still skeptical but with a much softer tone now.
"What difference does it make if we are sending her off the planet in the first spaceship we can bring here? Thala, it's time you told them."
"Garen." The Queen growled.
"He is right." Japheth reached and took his wife's hand, comforting her.
"Tell us what?" Joreth asked, his eyes going between his parents and his uncle.
"Our ancestors decided not to allow visitors to come here freely and alter our heritage. But they weren't fools. They knew there might come a day when we needed a way to contact the foreigners." Japheth hesitated, looking at his sons. "So they did allow the Aurelians to leave one communication device, strictly for emergencies."
"What?!" Othen said in shock.
"We have a way to contact them?" Joreth asked in disbelief.
Kietnan simply stared at his father, discreetly wiping a tear from going down his cheek.
"It's more like a beacon. We turned it on the day after she arrived here, we never had any intention of doing harm to her but to simply get her back where she belonged."
"And we have received no response?" Joreth asked.
"It is generations old, likely well outdated technology by now. Our engineers have been working on amplifying it. They will likely be ready to do so the day after tomorrow."
"What if this only brings us more trouble?" Joreth asked and Garen nodded his head.
Kietnan couldn't speak, his throat was too dry, his sorrow too heavy.
"According to the Aerulians of that time, there are only two inhabited planets within distance to the beacon. Aurelian's and one other."
"Yes, Ashima mentioned that other planet, that's where she was traveling to before her ship went off course. They are supposed to be friendly." Othen added.
"Good, that is good." Japheth stated nervously.
"This is risking our people." Garen stated dryly.
"We know there is risk." Thala stated, holding her husband's hand. "But we will not take an innocent life and we likewise cannot have her remain here. We expect to have a response before the end of the week"
"Please excuse me." Kietnan spoke quietly before standing and swiftly exiting the room.
"Kietnan- "
"My Lords." A guard rushed in, cutting off the Queen.
"Yes, what is it now?" Thala asked.
"The Lords of the Four Quadrants are all on their way. They wish to discuss the alien and next steps with you."
"Of course they do." Japheth murmured.
"When can we expect them to arrive?" Garen asked.
"Sir Rolph will return tomorrow morning but the other three should all be here by the end of today. Madam Paol should be here within the next two hours."
"I will go prepare the guard." Garen stood.
"I'll coordinate with the staff for rooming and dining." The administrative assistant stood and left the room behind Garen.
"This isn't good. We need to find Ashima before they arrive." Japheth sighed.
"My Lords, I wish to speak with you privately." Joreth commented, eyeing Othen who was now the only remaining person in the room.
Othen turned to the king and queen in question.
"Fine. You are dismissed, Othen. Check in with Kahal to see where he needs you in the search. And make sure to check in with Kietnan regularly, keep an eye on him." Thala ordered.
"Yes. My lord."
Once alone, the king and queen turned to Joreth, who sighed heavily before speaking.
"This communicator with the outside. Do you truly believe we will have a response within the next few days?"
~~~~~~~~~
Author's Note:
Don't get too comfortable! There is plenty more action left to go along with the drama.