Page 3

Chapter

Two

EARTH

M att glanced at his watch for the fourth time. Where the hell was his date? She’d been in the bathroom for at least twenty minutes. Either the food didn’t agree with her or she wasn’t coming back. He could tell by her reaction when they’d met that there were no sparks on her end.

“This is my last damned blind date,” he muttered under his breath inwardly cursing himself for allowing his friends to talk him into this.

At thirty-two years old, it would be nice to have someone to spend his life with, but the right woman for him didn’t seem to be out there.

He’d lost count of all the times he’d been cast in the best friend role or dumped for being too passionate about his love for anything space related.

He was simply a big nerd at heart who loved his job.

Matt didn’t always know the right things to say around beautiful women, so he was often quiet and shy.

It had been that way since he was a kid which is why he focused on his passion of the universe and space phenomena.

He’d buried himself in his studies and eventually focused on becoming an astrophysicist. Only within the last few years he realized he longed for companionship.

He’d had a few sexual encounters throughout his adult life but nothing that had developed into anything long and meaningful. Several of his colleagues were married with children or had partners. And Matt wanted that as well.

On the verge of him signaling to the waiter for the check, Charlene appeared, flopping down with dramatic flair.

“Sorry about that, hon, I ran into an old friend when I went to restroom.” She flipped a lock of long auburn hair over her shoulder.

Charlene was pretty, but well aware of it.

Actually those twenty minutes she’d spent in the ladies’ room had been a relief because it gave Matt a break from listening to Charlene’s favorite subject. Herself.

Not only was she conceited, within the first few minutes of them meeting she’d not so subtlety asked what his net worth was.

“No problem.”

“Mark, can I be honest with you?” she asked leaning over the table and giving him a generous view inside her dress.

“Of course. I’d prefer it.” He smiled, waiting for her to drop the bomb. The least she could have done was get his name right.

“This isn’t going to work out. I mean, you seem like a really nice guy, but you’re just not my type.”

Even though he didn’t really want to further their acquaintance either, her words still stung. Pasting a smile on his face, Matt nodded. If anything, he was still a gentleman. “I understand. Blind dates don’t always work out.”

She snorted. “Tell me about it. Maryanne said you were cute, I mean you are cute, but in a geeky science guy kind of way. I like my men to be a little beefier if you know what I mean. No offense.”

Kind of like how I like my women to have an IQ over 50.

As much as he wanted to say it, his inbred manners wouldn’t allow him. Just because Charlene obviously had no tact didn’t mean that he should follow suit. “None taken. Seeing as this isn’t really going anywhere let me get the waiter and I’ll take you home.”

“Oh, that’s okay, Max. My friend and I are going out after this, but thanks anyway. You don’t mind if I go and sit over there do you?”

“Not at all, and the name is Matt.”

“What?”

“You called me Max. My name is Matt.”

“Oh, did I? Don’t take it personal, hon. I’m not really big on names. It was nice meeting you, Mike.” She stood up with a brief smile and walked over to the table of her friend, who turned out to be a man.

She hadn’t even thanked him for dinner. That’s it.

He was finished with dating. His face burned with anger and humiliation.

Matt didn’t have to look in a mirror to know his face was bright red.

When he got his bill, he threw enough cash on the table to cover the bill and a generous tip and walked out of the restaurant in disgust.

Later that night as he stepped out of the shower, he studied himself in the mirror. He could never be accused of having movie star good looks, but he wasn’t completely hopeless in the looks department either. He had a good job, owned his own home, was drug free and had never been married.

Most women called him cute, a word he detested.

Wet and wavy brown locks framed an angular face.

Hazel eyes ringed with gold stared back at him.

An inch shy of six feet, his body was lanky, but toned from years of cycling and swimming.

What was it about him that made women overlook him?

Was he really that boring? Or maybe he was simply unlucky in love?

He didn’t think his standards were impossible to meet.

He wanted someone who shared some of his interests, could hold an intelligent conversation and attractive.

He found beauty in all types of women so he wasn’t picky.

Maybe he was destined to be alone. After all, it wasn’t as if gorgeous women who were crazy about him just fell out of the sky.

London walked to her parents’ bedroom with the intent to apologize.

She’d been very rude running out of the betrothal dinner like that, and to later disrespect her parents only added to the offense.

Despite how much she didn’t agree with her upcoming nuptials, she should have been more mature about the whole matter.

Tapping lightly on the door, she waited for them to answer. She knew they were there because she heard voices. When she pushed gently against the barrier it creaked open slightly. She was about to announce herself, but something stopped her.

After tilting her head slightly to hear better, London stood completely still. “Don’t cry, my flower. I know that it gets hard for you around this time of year,” the Emperor’s voice flowed to her ears.

Her mother sniffed loudly. “I know it’s been twenty years, and six children later, but I can’t stop thinking about her. I find it difficult to believe that my baby is dead.”

London frowned. Baby? Who was her mother referring to?

“I can’t pretend to know how you feel, my love, but you must face facts. My men found evidence that Paris died in that fire.”

Calliope burst into loud sobs. “I still see her face. I still hear her voice. Every time I look at London, I’m reminded of her. How can I forget my first born, London’s twin?”

London gasped. Paris? Her twin? She had a sister? Daring to step closer, she pressed against the door.

“It breaks my heart to hear you cry like this, Calliope, and if I could change things I would.”

“I know, Blaze, but I feel like such a lousy mother to have abandoned my own child. She must have hated me.”

“It wasn’t your fault. You had no choice when the Adieaens captured you. Don’t blame yourself, my love.”

“How can I not when I failed as a parent to protect my own child? I should have taken her with me to the doctor’s instead of leaving her with the babysitter, but instead I thought it was a hassle to take her along.

My selfishness is the reason she’s not with me now. ” Again loud sobs filled the room.

“You’re going to have to forgive yourself, my love. She’s gone and there’s nothing you can do about it. We have a beautiful daughter and six strong boys. I’m very proud of all the children you’ve given to me.”

“In my heart she’s still alive. A mother knows these things.”

“My flower, the DNA tracker determined that the remains of the child in those ruins were Paris. I’ve watched you suffer for too long and seen the sadness in your eyes when you’re deep in thought. Perhaps we could have another child, hopefully a girl this time. We can name her Paris.”

“No! It wouldn’t be the same.”

London took a step closer, but this time the door squeaked loudly drawing her parents’ attention.

She stared at them stunned. They’d kept the identity of her sister from her for twenty years.

She didn’t know whether to feel hurt or angry, especially when random images of a little girl who looked exactly like her flashed through her mind.

Paris. She remembered now. Life on Thibius had slowly made her forget the Earth memories, but in her heart, she’d never forgotten her sister.

Her mother’s eyes shone with tears. “How much did you hear?” the Queen whispered.

“All of it.”

The Emperor released his wife and walked over to London. “I’m sorry that you had to find out this way.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” London wanted to know.

“We tried to spare you the pain, but I see now that we should have been upfront with you.”

Seeing the anguish in her mother’s eyes, it was hard for London to be mad.

What she must have gone through losing a child was unimaginable.

London remembered the little girl she had once been so close with, and it brought back a flood of familiar feelings.

Love, devotion, friendship. They were still there and whole.

Even though her parents believed Paris was gone, something within London refused to agree with them. That’s what she’d been missing all her life, her sister!

London walked over to her parents and gave each of them a hug. “I wish you would have told me, but I understand that you only wanted to protect me.”

“How do you feel about this news?” her father asked.

“I’m not sure. It’s true I haven’t really given her a lot of thought in nearly twenty years, but I think I’ve always known. She’s inside of here.” London pointed to her heart.

“She’s in mine too, baby. Your father is right, I’m just going to have to accept that I’ll never see her again,” her mother sighed, with lines of pain etched on her face.

“No, Mama. Don’t give up hope. I don’t know why, call it twin intuition, but I feel that she’s alive.”

“How can you when you barely remember her?” the Emperor asked with one raised brow.

“I don’t know, Papa, but I think maybe you should search for her again. Maybe we can find some clues as to what happened to her. She can’t be dead. I would feel it if she were. Now that I’ve remembered her, how could I even think of getting married without her there? We have to find her!”

“Sweetling, she’s gone,” her father said gently, pulling her into his arms.

London pulled away. “No. I don’t accept it. If you won’t look for her I will.”

“And how will you go about doing that? You’ve never been past Zenobia, let alone another galaxy,” he pointed out.

“Papa, you were the one who taught me to pilot the heliocraft. I can get to the Milky Way and set my coordinates to Earth. It can’t be that big of a planet. Isn’t it mostly water?”

Her mother shook her head. “Sweetheart, Earth is three times the size of Thibius with at least a couple billion people. Even if your sister is still alive, she could be anywhere.”

“Calliope, don’t give her false hope when there is none.” He then turned back to London. “Besides, I absolutely forbid you to take a heliocraft out of this galaxy. They’re not sturdy enough to enter Earth’s atmosphere without falling apart.”

London had come here with the intention of apologizing, but her father’s autocratic command made her see red. She looked up at him with narrowed eyes. “You forbid me?”

“London…” her mother said in a warning tone.

The King’s lips tightened as he glared back. “Will you disobey me in this? I can easily arrange for your room to be guarded until your nuptials.”

“If you do that, I’d hate you for it,” London promised.

A brief glimmer of something that looked a lot like sadness flashed in his green eyes before it was concealed. “Then so be it. Hate me if you must, but I intend to keep you safe. It is my duty as your Emperor and foremost, your father. I don’t take that responsibility lightly.”

It was on the tip of her tongue to tell her father exactly what he could do with his duty, but she stopped.

You can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.

Maybe her mother was right. Arguing with her father was futile, so why not try a different tactic?

Throwing her arms around him, she gave him a huge hug. “Papa, I’m sorry for my insolence and for running out of the dinner like that. I didn’t mean to disappoint you. I was scared and acted irrationally. I know you only want the best for me, so I will try to do what you want me to.”

His arms squeezed her tightly against his broad chest, reminding her of when she was younger: a time when she thought her father was the greatest man in the entire Universe.

She loved him with all her heart, and she wasn’t lying when she said she was sorry for her behavior, but still London couldn’t see eye to eye with him on these issues.

Not about Zahn and especially not about her sister.

Stroking London’s hair, her father bent down to kiss the top of her head.

“You have no idea how much you mean to me, my precious little girl. You may not be mine by nature, but you are in my heart. I don’t think I can love my sons any more than I love you, so please understand that when I ask something of you, it’s not to ruin your life. I do it because I care.”

A sob caught in her throat. “Oh, Papa. It means a lot to me that you said that.” And it broke her heart at the same time, because tonight when the Palace was quiet, London was going on a mission to Earth.