Free The Royal Pursuit by Ruth Ann Nordin Page B

breakfasts and were
waiting for him to show up. They didn’t seem to be in a hurry to
finish the meeting. They simply greeted him and asked if he’d had a
good night’s sleep.
    “ No,” he honestly
said.
    He wasn’t going to pretend he was fine
with their lengthy stay. He wished they would complete the book and
go back to their planet so he could join Ann on Lone.
    “ Soon,” Gaius replied, as
if he read his mind. Gaius took out the large book and turned it to
the page where they had left off the evening before. “We will now
discuss the rules regarding proper dress on our planet.”
    Hathor refrained from rolling his
eyes. They probably had rules on how many times he would be allowed
to breathe in an hour. He reminded himself he was doing this for
Ann and took the book.
    “ Upon your arrival on Aug,
you can expect us to be dressed in our proper black uniforms,”
Hathor read. “This is to show you respect. Likewise, we require you
to dress in your best clothes. If you do not honor us this way, we
may be forced to review the conditions of our alliance.”
    “ We assume that if you do
not dress in your best clothes, then you do not care to be our
allies,” Gaius explained before Hathor could read the next rule.
“Clothes are much more than what we wear. They are a nonverbal
message to the person you meet. They reveal whether or not you are
with someone you wish to communicate with.”
    “ Oh.” Then I should have
torn holes in my outfit this morning, and you would have been on
your way back to Aug by now, Hathor thought.
    “ Excuse me, King Hathor. I
must speak with you at once,” the Great Magician said.
    Hathor glanced up in time to see the
old man approaching him. He hadn’t even heard the magician enter
the room.
    “ Wait,” Gaius interjected.
“We will tell him,” Gaius told the magician.
    The magician frowned. “But this is
crucial. Hathor needs to know at once.”
    “ Yes. We are well aware of
the situation,” the Augur assured him.
    “ What is it?” Hathor
demanded, rising to his feet. It had to be about Ann. She was in
trouble.
    “ No, you aren’t aware of
the situation,” the magician argued, his irritation showing. “I was
just notified of it.”
    “ Amanda will be born,”
Gaius said.
    Hathor frowned. Amanda? Who was
Amanda?
    The magician’s eyes suddenly showed
understanding. “Then you know that Queen Ann-”
    “ Yes, although she doesn’t
know yet. We will inform Hathor as soon as we discuss more pressing
matters first. Everything must be done in proper order,” Gaius told
him.
    The magician nodded. “As you
wish.”
    Hathor watched, stunned, as the
magician turned around and left the room. He had never known the
old man to back down so easily.
    Gaius closed the book and handed it to
Amalia. “You have passed our test, King Hathor. We gladly ally
ourselves with Raz.”
    “ But the book…? The
magician…?” Hathor fumbled for the right words but couldn’t decide
on what to say.
    “ The book was a decoy,”
Gaius explained. “It was a test to see if you were sincere in your
intention to be our allies. We cannot have allies who will back out
of a tough situation.”
    “ So, all those rules aren’t
really rules?”
    “ No, they are not. We are
dogmatic about a few things, but we would never expect our allies
to follow all of those meaningless rules. They were made up a long
time ago to test the sincerity of those who sought out our
friendship. You would be surprised at how many people claim to wish
an alliance with us but fail to follow through their part of the
agreement. We learned long ago to protect ourselves.”
    “ Alright,” Hathor slowly
said, his head beginning to clear.
    “ We chose this time to come
to you for a very important reason,” Gaius continued. “I know you
think you had to go with the queen to Lone, but the truth is you
were meant to stay behind.”
    Amalia handed Gaius a mirror, four
inches wide and six inches long, surrounded by a silver