Kudisha Departure Episode 1 Journey to Rehnor series by J. Naomi Ay Read Free Book Online Page A

and confined in a heavy space suit. When he
needed to use the bathroom, he’d have to ask Kirat to help him take
it off.
    Probably, Kirat wouldn’t help. The Crown
Prince was always too cool for that. Even if all Behrat wanted was
for his brother to reach down something from a higher shelf, Kirat
would summon a servant with a wave of his finger. Sometimes, he’d
snap and point.
    “Please assist my brother, the Royal Prince,”
he’d say in a clipped and affected voice, sounding like a Prince of
Hahr than the more casual royal house of Karupatani.
    “When I am King,” Kirat always said. “I shall
sit on my throne receiving petitions all through the day, just like
they did in the old days when the king’s word was the
law.”
    “What about Parliament?” Behrat had asked.
“What about the Chief Justice and everybody else?”
    “They’ll have to listen to me, because they’ll
know I am the smartest. If they don’t, I’ll cut off their heads. I
have no patience for politicians and other ingrates.”
    “With all that sitting, I think you’ll be the
fattest,” Behrat had replied, prompting his brother to swing a fist
in his direction. Behrat ducked, and mostly, it missed, barely
grazing his cheek, not hurting at all, although he decided, when
his brother was King, he’d keep his distance, and his
head.
     
    So, the soccer ball was it. Behrat really
couldn’t think of anything else to bring.
    “I’ll get new stuff when I’m there,” he told
himself, encouragingly. “It won’t be so terrible. I might like it.
Maybe, I’ll have super powers there. Maybe, I’ll just jump in the
air, and hold out my arms, and then, I’ll fly.”
    Sometimes, when Behrat talked to himself like
this, it was almost as if someone else was speaking to him. Behrat
imagined a boy, not unlike himself, perched in the window box, over
there, his nose pressed against the window, also trapped
inside.
    “Don’t be afraid,” this friend said. “I’ll be
with you the whole time. I’m watching over you. I am always right
here, behind your shoulder.”
    The young prince knew this was silly and
childish, to imagine a friend and speak to him as if he were really
there. Sometimes, though, when Behrat moved his head quickly, just
so, in the corner of his eye, he could almost see that
boy.
    Behrat’s father, the King, also had a friend.
Everyone knew that, and everyone called his father mad.
    “Maybe, I’ve got the same brain disease,”
Behrat whispered to the air. “Maybe, it’s something that runs in
families. But, Kirat doesn’t have a friend. Does he?”
    “He doesn’t deserve one,” the boy said, which
oddly, made Behrat feel a little special. Perhaps, having an
invisible friend was an entitlement reserved for only the spare
heir. After all, his father had been a spare before he was called
into service.
    Beyond this strange and possibly
imaginary figment, Behrat’s only other friend was Viscount Torim de
Shrotru, although he was really Kirat’s friend, because they were
the same age. Behrat was allowed to hang around with the older
boys, and had since they were all quite young, which was why Behrat
was as good as either of them when it came to playing Heroes & Conquerers.
    The Viscount’s little sister, Lady Reva was
Behrat’s intended bride. That had been arranged by the Queen when
Behrat was only five years old. Reva was four at the time, and
after becoming betrothed, he recalled taking her hand and playing
chase outside in the garden maze. That was fun. They both had ended
up giggling wildly.
    Now, as if he didn’t have enough problems, the
idea of marrying Lady Reva twisted Behrat’s stomach into knots.
Frankly, the idea of marrying anyone made the bile rise in his
throat, but knowing that he would be stuck with Reva made him want
to puke.
    Reva was twelve now, and her hair was brown
and frizzy, just like his mother’s poodle dogs. Reva also had red
spots on her face, and her eyes and lips were far too big.