“Have you ever been in an Imperial duel? I mean besides the one in the Yoli race?”
“You know you aren’t’ supposed to ask a man that,” he replied jokingly.
Ellie laughed, “You remind me enough you are not Imperial so I figured I could ask you.”
“And you can. Unfortunately, I’ve been in a few duels with Imperial men. Only when I was younger though and over stupid things. But they were all learning experiences. It wouldn’t happen now.”
“But you still practice with your sword?”
“Every day,” Valentin replied. “It’s good exercise. And now that you have stolen me for your husband there’s a chance Jei might challenge me.”
Ellie hadn’t thought about this before, “No, he wouldn’t. Would he?”
“How little you know your guardian. He’s going to be irate when he finds out what I’ve done and …” Valentin caught himself before he said, ‘and if your mother’s not back.’ “I’ve no doubt he will want to personally get his hands on me.”
“No, don’t forget, he just let me go,” Ellie said.
“Do you have amnesia? No, he didn’t. I purposely chose the only time I knew that he would have to choose the only other thing more important to him than you in the galaxy. The whole Empire knows he cherishes you like you were his own daughter. He will be waiting for me after these two weeks, regardless of your answer.” Valentin knew he had already said too much but he couldn’t help it. He didn’t like repeating himself. He took a sip of wine then and looked at her.
Ellie sat there thinking about his words, taking them in for the first time. Then she realized what he had done and couldn’t help herself she was so angry. She stood up, leaned over the table, and slapped him. Then sat back down.
Valentin was shocked.
Ellie took a sip of her wine looking at his surprised face.
“What was that for? This isn’t Earth. We don’t just hit each other.”
“I think it’s warranted when you knew Jei was going to try and bring my mother back and you chose that time to steal me and you didn’t tell me the first time I asked why Jei wasn’t coming after me. You said he had an important religious ceremony. I thought you weren’t supposed to lie with these bracelets on.”
“You can return if you want. Walk away right now,” Valentin said evenly, trying not to let his anger get the better of him. If she carried on, he would remind her that she willingly left with him. Now that he knew her better, he realized he probably could have told her, and she would have still agreed to come. However, at the time he didn’t know, and he hadn’t wanted to take the chance of her saying, ‘no.’
“If I leave now all of this would be over, we could never be together, could we?”
“Not legally, no.”
“Do you know if Jei was successful?”
“I don’t know,” Valentin answered curtly.
“Ever since I arrived on this side of the galaxy, I feel like everyone has been hiding things from me,” Ellie said dejectedly. “I thought I could trust you, Valentin.”
“And you can. I was selfish and I’m sorry. When I read in the gossip columns that you had left the temple on Alba honoring your mother, another article was connected to it, however, you were not mentioned in the second article, so it must have been back data. What I did figure out from the two being connected was that Admiral Jei was probably going to use his time in the Empire to bring your mother back with the help of Mir, the god of peace and Doctor James. It didn’t take much to figure out that those two had made some kind of arrangement and that’s why her sister, Jesse, was with Babette on Alliance Planet Four. Through my intel, I knew that on the night of the festival on Lake Lavia Jei was supposed to be in the Capital City, so I also checked Mir’s schedule, which is common knowledge as he is so low-ranking, and he would conveniently be there too. So, I took a chance and guessed that they chose that night, which is obviously a religiously auspicious night, to bring your mother back. I knew that Jei wouldn’t leave the hospital for anyone, not even you.”
“And you gave no consideration to how I would feel about this?”
“You had no part to play in the reanimation of your mother. She will either be returned to the living, or what we call the living, or she will remain in the Afterlife. What you and I,” he crossed his hand between them, “are doing now is separate from your mother’s fate.” He let his words sink in and then continued, “Do you think your mother would forbid you to marry me? Are you not confident enough to make your own decision about me?”
Ellie thought about what he was saying, “No, she wouldn’t forbid me, but, of course, I want to see her. I want to be there.” Then she thought, What if Jei didn’t tell me because he blames me for my mother’s death?
“If they manage to bring her back, I’ve no doubt you will be one of the first people she seeks out. And I personally would love to see her throttle Jei for allowing me to take you off planet as she seems like the kind of woman who wouldn’t take too kindly to her daughter leaving with an Outcast.”
Ellie smiled at that scene. Valentin’s words made sense to her just as much as they stung. She wanted to will herself to relax, but now it was difficult. “Can you check your IC? Any news about it.”
“Elloisa, I promise you. If I hear anything about your mother, I’ll let you know immediately. However, this is something that the Empire will want to keep so secret, even my best intel will be slow. But if they are successful, the gossip columns might let us know before anyone else. You must remember, if I could figure this out, then they certainly have. You know the people working for the gossip columns are probably some the cleverest people in the galaxy.”
“Why would you say that? I thought just the opposite, actually?”
“The more UCs, the more secrets, the more blackmail,” Valentin replied.
“Oh,” Ellie said realizing that his reasoning made a lot of sense. “Why would the Empire and the High Council want to keep my mother’s return secret? I thought they loved all this life and death and religion.”
“Oh, they do. It’s Mir. If he’s helped bring your mother back, it means he’s no longer backing Admiral Tir’s cause, which might cause a major shift in who supports who.”
“What are you talking about?” Ellie asked confused. “What’s Admiral Tir’s cause?”
Valentin realized then that Admiral Jei had shielded Ellie from this, “Projected Imperial politics that have little to do with humans. It’s nothing for the moment. Most likely your mother is still a goddess and Admiral Tir still has a firm hand on the helm of the Empire. Now if you want, we can resume our supper?”
Ellie nodded. She didn’t want to talk about Imperial politics. All she wanted was her mother to return. She looked across the table at Valentin. “I’m sorry I struck you. I feel so frustrated and there’s so much about my mother and I loved her so much. Sorry I said ‘love’ again, I can’t help it.”
Valentin got up and took Elloisa’s hands in his for her to rise, then he held her. He said nothing but held her. He hadn’t expected her to be like this, however, he had had his doctor remove all the Imperial influence blocking these emotions from her mind. He was responsible for her emotional well-being now.