All characters, places, and events are fictional and belong to the author.
Disclaimer: The following may contain explicit events between consenting adult males. If you are not of age or it is illegal for you to read this, please do not read any further.
Chapter Eight:
"So where have you two been for the last few days?" Cercae asked.
Aeleon sipped his fizz chizz before replying, "Holed up in my rooms."
A suggestive, lopsided smile crawled its way across Cercae's face before Trey could specify, "He's been teaching me how to read and write."
"Well, that's boring," Cercae quipped, "The both of you disappear for days and all you did was learn? What a waste."
"Do you ever think of anything else?" Aeleon scoffed.
Trey chuckled and stirred the thick stew that had been haphazardly plopped in front of him by an extremely harried looking middle-aged woman attempting to serve half the pub. He, Aeleon, and Cercae had headed over to the pub, along with several council members, once the meeting had adjourned. The three of them were sitting at their usual table, occasionally waving at people they knew and conversing briefly if someone should come and sit down in the spare seat at their four person table. Trey had been here several times by now and his enjoyment of the place grew with each visit. It was always clean. The food was always plentiful and delicious. A smiling server brought it to him when it was still hot. To him it was the complete antithesis of his life as a slave. He had begun to cherish the times he and Aeleon came there.
Trey spooned a piece of meat into his mouth. It occurred to him that he probably had no idea what animal it was from, or what the animal even looked like. That was one thing he had learned since waking up on Oelae. While things might appear to be familiar, the chances were high that he was dealing with unfamiliar territory. If Trey had to guess, he would have said it was beef. It was tender and juicy and reminded him distinctly of a good pot roast; however, he had also seen a few livestock animals of Oelae and they were not the same as the animals on Zelzior. Oh well. It tasted good and he supposed that was the important part.
"Trey, why are you staring at your stew like that?" Aeleon asked, perplexed by the odd look on Trey's face.
Trey looked up, snapped from his musings at Aeleon's question, and offered a smile with a quick, "No particular reason."
"Ael, what's it to you if Trey looks at his food like he wants to eat it for lunch?" Cercae teased.
"Ha-ha," Aeleon replied, rolling his eyes.
It was this sort of banter that Trey loved. He had not experienced anything of this nature since Zeke and Calen had died. This feeling of friendship, togetherness, and acceptance. Despite his initial misgivings about Cercae, the flirty Oelean had proven to be a good friend to Aeleon and, by extension, to Trey. He was fun and down to earth and never made Trey feel inferior in spite of his immense lack of knowledge of Oelean culture.
"So what are you guys planning to do for the rest of the day?" Cercae questioned, "The meeting got done relatively quickly. We have most of the day to spare."
"We were probably going to go and study more," Aeleon replied.
"Oh, come on Ael! Taking a one day break wouldn't kill you. Besides, Trey has been here for about a week now and all he has seen is the castle and part of the city. Don't you want to show him what else Oelae has to offer?"
"It's up to Trey," Aeleon said, "If he's fine with taking a break, I am."
"Me?" Trey faltered, distinctly uncomfortable with being asked to dictate. Twenty years of always being told what to do meant that he was often taken off guard when asked to make a decision.
"Come on, Trey! We could go to Mossae Maere," pleaded Cercae.
"What's Mossae Maere?"
"In your language it translates to Green Sea," Aeleon said fondly, "It's not actually a sea. Just a really big lake. It's fantastic though. There's this cove with a little waterfall that makes the water all bubbly and a couple of hot springs filter warm water up through the rocks. It's the best swimming hole in the world."
Truth be told, Trey had no idea how to swim, but it was obvious to him that Aeleon loved the place and clearly wanted to go. In the time since he had come to Oelae, Trey had found that he really enjoyed making Aeleon happy. What other response could he have than, "I don't see why we shouldn't go today. We've been working hard."
"Yes! I'll go and find everybody else. Meet me at the garage in half an hour," Cercae exclaimed, jumping from his seat and tossing money in the general direction of the table before running out the door.
"The garage?" Trey asked.
A mischievous glint appeared in Aeleon's eye to match his smile as he asked, "Have you ever driven a zoom-bike?"
+++++
Twenty five minutes later, Trey and Aeleon were standing outside the huge bay doors of a large structure on the southern side of the castle. People came and went in a steady stream, both on foot and riding zoom-bikes. Every now and then a whistle could be heard from the not so distant race track where the fastest zoom-bikes in Oelae were pitted against each other, shortly followed by a loud cheer from what sounded like a very sizable crowd. The low whirring of the many ion thrusters powering the bikes resonated from every direction. All of it was enough to get the blood pumping.
"We'll wait for Cercae and the others to get here and then we'll go inside and pick bikes," Aeleon said, scanning the crowd in much the same manner as Trey.
"We need bikes to get there?" Trey asked.
"Yes. Mossae Maere is at the foot of the mountains outside of town. That's at least thirty miles from here," Aeleon replied, trying to pick the faces of his friends out from those of the strangers around him.
Trey did not respond to that. He merely went back to watching as another zoom-bike raced out of the bay doors and sped into the distance. He had seen zoom-bikes before, several times in fact. Usually they were driven by an uncaring Cubrecht though, who nearly ran him over rather than bother themselves to swerve out of the way. These mechanical means of conveyance were not for slaves to use. In fact, Trey had never seen a slave astride a zoom-bike in his entire life. Why provide a slave with a potential means of escape? The machines had always fascinated him though. They hovered about two feet off the ground and the ion thrusters glowed the most alluring shade of blue. He knew many Cubrecht spent a lot of money to make their bike faster, more powerful, or able to operate at a longer range. That didn't change the fact that he had never ridden on one though, let alone driven one. Trey would be lying to himself if he said he wasn't
looking forward to the experience.
As Trey watched a couple ride back into the garage to return their zoom-bike, Cercae approached them. Close on his heels were Shoori, Josh, Braeyon, and a man Trey had yet to meet. Stunning was the only appropriate word to use to describe him. Dark navy blue hair cascaded down his back in shining waves to match the elegantly arched eyebrows and long eye lashes. The pale skin so typical of the Oelean people positively glowed in the midday light. His jaw tapered to an appealing pointed chin and high cheek bones underlined his speckled forest green eyes. Trey wondered who this man was, but when he turned to Aeleon to ask he noticed that his diminutive friend was not smiling.
"Sorry," Trey heard Cercae whisper, "He was in the solarium when I found Shoori and heard me inviting her to come with us. Once he found out you were going, nothing I could say would dissuade him."
Aeleon made a very rude sound in his throat, but managed to force a smile to his face when the rest of the group caught up. Aeleon's attitude greatly confused Trey, who had not seen him be anything other than pleasant and friendly towards everyone they had come in contact with since he had come through the mirror. In Trey's opinion, it didn't say much about the man's character if Aeleon didn't like him.
Shoori greeted them both with a kiss to the cheek and said, "Hello boys. Ready for some swimming?"
"Definitely," Aeleon replied, smiling genuinely now.
"Then let's get to it," Cercae said, clapping his hands together and leading the troupe into the building that housed the zoom-bikes.
Trey had never seen so many bikes in one place before, nor had he seen so many different models. Some were new and shining, while others were rusted and dirty, obviously neglected. There were bikes with covered cabins capable of seating four or five people, which Trey assumed were primarily family vehicles. Alternately, there were many sleek bikes made for single riders and racing. He also noticed bulkier models that were probably the most useful on rocky, uneven terrain. If a particular trait was needed in a bike, it seemed an appropriate bike could be found here.
"Who do all of these belong to?" he asked, awestruck.
"A lot of different people," Aeleon informed him as the strolled down another row of bikes, "This garage houses most of the bikes of all the people who live in the castle, hired help and nobles alike. My fathers own a dozen or so by themselves. Granted, most were inherited or given as gifts, but it is not uncommon for one of the nobles to own several bikes."
"So how're we doing this?" Braeyon asked, "Are we all going in one of the big bikes, or are we taking our own?"
Everyone knew that Braeyon just wanted to drive. At sixteen years old, he had recently acquired his license to operate a zoom-bike by himself. Compared to the others who were a couple years older and had been driving for a few years at that point, the novelty of it had not yet worn off for Braeyon.
A bubble of fondness welling in his chest for his cousin, Aeleon suggested, "Well, there are seven of us. Why don't you take your new bike and the rest of us will go on two seaters?"
Grinning from ear to ear, Braeyon sprinted off to his own bike and jammed a helmet on top of his mop of curly hair. The familiar rush of adrenaline tingled through his body as he threw his leg over the seat and pressed the start button. His heart raced as the thruster hummed to life, lifted the bike off the ground, and cast a strong blue glow across the floor and onto the surrounding bikes.
"What are you guys waiting for?" he impatiently questioned, "Pair off and let's go!"
Shoori and Cercae linked hands and headed towards Shoori's two person bike. Aeleon was about to grab Trey and pull the Zelzian towards his own bike when the stunning man wrapped his fingers around Aeleon's elbow and said, "Io coigitae waes apotii vaexi una."
Aeleon narrowed his eyes and stepped away from the man's grip before saying, "I'm sure you've heard about Trey, Cynom. You should know that he doesn't speak Oelean. Courtesy would dictate that you speak in a language he can understand when in his presence."
"Oh," the man said as if he had just noticed Trey towering over Aeleon's shoulder, "So you're Trey. I'm Cynom."
Trey ducked his head in acknowledgement, but neglected to say anything. He couldn't help but feel that Cynom had been intentionally rude to him in speaking Oelean as if Trey was not there. And his supposed surprise at Trey's presence? In a land in which Trey had observed that he was generally a good ten inches taller than most of the men there, it seemed very unlikely to him that Cynom had truly only just realized he had been standing there. While part of him wanted to be annoyed at this treatment, the other part of him still thought in the manner of a slave and felt that he had no right to be irritated that one of his betters would treat him so.
"So, what do you say," Cynom asked, "Trey can go with Josh and you and I can ride together."
"No thanks," Aeleon quipped, grabbing Trey's wrist and pulling him in the direction of a shiny, chrome bike. He grabbed a helmet off a wall hook and tossed it to Trey, turning to grab a second helmet and push it over his head.
"Do you know how to drive one of these?" he asked Trey.
"I've never even ridden on one before," Trey informed him, fumbling with the strap on his helmet.
"We'll have fun then. Just hold onto me and enjoy the ride," Aeleon told the Zelzian, flashing him a bright smile. That smile helped to diffuse some of the tension that had creeped into Trey's shoulders at the apparent dislike Aeleon felt for Cynom.
Aeleon threw his leg over his bike and settled into the seat. Trey followed Aeleon's example and plonked himself down behind the other man and dangled his arms awkwardly by his side. Aeleon depressed the ignition button, flicked his eye visor down, and twisted around to face Trey. Trey gave the Oelean a questioning look when Aeleon reached up to flick his own visor down and grab Trey's hands to place them on his slight waist.
"We'll be going pretty fast," Aeleon said, "We don't want you losing an eye if we should kick up some debris. Don't be afraid to hold onto me. I've seen people fall off the back of one of these things before and it isn't pretty. Ready to go?"
Before Trey could protest, Aeleon turned back around and urged the bike forward into the aisle. Aeleon threw a wave towards the rest of their group to signal that they were ready to go and slowly weaved his bike between the other patrons and out the bay door. As they emerged into the fresh air and sunlight of the open castle grounds, Aeleon angled towards the road where other zoom-bikes were traversing the streets. Trey was amazed. He had never gotten anywhere as fast as they were traveling on the zoom-bike. His head was in constant motion, whipping around in every direction as they wound through the city's main thoroughfare. This was Trey's first real tour of the city and it fascinated him. The air of oppression that seemed to hang over Crion was absent here. For the most part, people seemed to be happy and well-fed. Crion couldn't be termed anything other than grimy and even the non-slaves couldn't really be termed happy. In
the twenty years since the Cubrecht had come, many of the buildings had started to fall into disrepair. It was a stark contrast to the well maintained stores and houses and shining streets of Adaemantys, the capital city of Oelae.
Trey hoped that maybe he could explore a bit more of the city in the coming days. It was beginning to sink in that he was actually free and could do as he wished and even though he didn't have any money to speak of, Trey felt it would be still be fun to wander around the marketplace and enjoy the novelty of the experience. Maybe Aeleon would take him in the next couple of days. He was sure the prince knew the best places to go.
Too soon for Trey's liking, they reached the walls of the city and stopped for a brief check at the gatehouse. While foot traffic was free to come and go from the city as they pleased, zoom-bikes and other motorized transport were typically checked. Trey figured they would have to dismount their bike along with everyone else waiting in line to leave the city, but Aeleon flashed the guard a nod and a smile and the stern looking, armored Oelean waved them and the rest of their group on through the gate. Apparently the crown prince got a free pass.
Aeleon pulled to the side and waited for the other three vehicles in their party to pass through the gate. Once all of them were on the other side of the wall, he turned to Trey and said, "Hold on tight now. Now that we're out of the city, we can go as fast as we want."
Trey was still surprised, however, when Aeleon gunned the thruster and shot forward at an alarming rate. He would have tumbled end over end off of the back of the bike, but for that he managed to clench his arms around Aeleon's waist before he ended up in the dirt. The Zelzian made the mistake of looking down at the ground rushing below his feet. If he had thought he had been moving fast in town, it was nothing compared to the way they were moving now. The sight of the landscape moving by him so quickly was enough to make him a little bit ill. He couldn't help but bury his eyes into the soft fabric of Aeleon's shirt and hold a little more tightly to his waist.
"Look up!" he heard Aeleon shout an undeterminable time later. He felt Trey shaking his head where it was buried in the middle of his back.
"Really, Trey. Look up!" he yelled again, struggling to be heard over the wind rushing passed them.
Trey peeked over Aeleon's shoulder and his breath caught at what he saw. They were flying through the middle of a gargantuan field, tall grass parting before snapping back together in their wake. The grass formed a sea of shining silver for miles, waving back and forth in the gentle wind, until it gave way to massive craggy mountains in the distance. The sharp, snow covered points were a stark contrast to the light purple hued sky and billowing puffy clouds. Dog sized furred creatures with giant leathery wings soared through the sky, plunging to the ground every now and then only to pull up with something wriggling in its grasp. Lanky grazing animals sprung through the grass in leaps and bounds, their gray striped hides providing camouflage amidst the swaying vegetation. To Trey, it was stunning. For a man who had never been more than ten feet outside of the city walls of Crion, being surrounded by so much space and so far from any
manmade structure was a new experience for him. His eyes greedily drank in the terrain they passed, even more so than when they rode through the market in town. His wonder and interest in the world around him alleviated any fear he had of how fast they were moving. Trey noticed Braeyon pulling along beside them, his long green hair whipping out behind him, most of it having escaped the braid he usually kept it in.
The sound partially obscured by the wind, Trey heard the young Oelean shout, "Want to race?"
Aeleon's only response was to deliver more power to the thrusters and pull in front of him. Now that Trey had gotten somewhat used to riding on the zoom-bike, the burst of speed exhilarated him rather than frightened him. The sight of the open space and the feeling of the rate at which they were zooming across the plain joined with the sight of his new friends zooming along behind and beside him infused him with a feeling of abject joy. Trey had never in his life felt so free and liberated. The emotion released itself as he threw his head back and expelled a stentorian shriek of rapture. All too soon he could feel the bike begin to slow as they approached the foothills of the mountains.
"We have to slow down here," Aeleon turned to tell him, "Once you get passed the plains, the terrain is too unpredictable to safely go at those kinds of speeds."
"Alright. How much farther is it?" Trey asked.
"Not far. Maybe ten minutes. Once we crest this hill you can actually see the lake. The cove we want is on the far side, near the base of the mountain."
Trey didn't see any of the others. He assumed it was because they had pulled so far ahead in their impromptu race. It filled him with a sense of satisfaction to know that they had won, and not by a small amount either.
"Where did you learn to drive like that?"
Aeleon chuckled before replying, "I've been driving these things since I was about twelve. The legal age is sixteen, but I won't say I've never abused my status of the crown prince before. I used to sneak down to the garage all the time and, let's face it, none of the guards were going to arrest me for driving under age. Used to give my dad's heart attacks though."
"I would love to learn to drive one of these one day," Trey said wistfully.
"I'll teach you soon. It's not a bad idea for you to be able to get around by yourself. I want for you to be able to depend on yourself and not be reliant on me to do things and go places."
This statement, more than anything else Aeleon had done, proved to Trey that Aeleon truly wanted him to be free and to become his own man. Granted, he had no money of his own to buy a bike, but one step at a time he would build a life. Maybe once they had cleared up the mystery of his power, he could use it in a job to earn a wage. Trey had no intention of surviving off of the crown's kindness for the rest of his life, even if he was sure Aeleon and his fathers would have been perfectly willing to allow it. No, he had no problem with working, but he was definitely looking forwards to being paid for it and to working the job of his choosing.
Aeleon was just happy they had taken this break today. When he had heard Trey's excited shout in the middle of the field, he knew it had been the right decision. Despite the fact that Trey was obviously happy to not be a slave anymore, Aeleon knew that the past few days had been difficult for him. There had always been a shadow of unease in the Zelzian's eyes as he tried to find his place in a completely new world, plus the added stress of being unable to identify his power and the fact that he'd had to leave behind everyone he knew and be thrown into a class of people he felt unequal to. Aeleon felt that a day like today was exactly what Trey needed.
Gradually they crested the hill and Trey could see the entirety of the lake. It spread out for miles, the wavering green surface sloppily reflecting the backdrop of the mountains. The surrounding land looked lush and full of life. Trey supposed the waters would be filled with fish and mused that he would like to try his hand at trying to catch some of those fish at some point, now that he had the option. He looked behind them to see Braeyon a bit farther down the hill, and Shoori and Josh at the base. He noticed that the previously uniform covering of grass was beginning to give way to brush and small trees.
After a few minutes, he and Aeleon made it to the tree line and crossed into the forest. The trees were behemoths, hundreds of years old at least. Their trunks were covered in nearly black bark that twisted and curled its way up and around the tree. Limbs reached out like gnarled hands, covered with blue and green leaves. The way the sun dappled through the leaves left a very surreal and otherworldly atmosphere in the woods. A path had been made here, but whether by human design or animals picking their way through the trees Trey couldn't tell. At this point the zoom bike was moving slowly, barely faster than a person could walk, as it Aeleon picked his way along the path. The machines couldn't handle the rougher terrain found in forests very well and the path was the only reason the bike had not yet become useless in this environment. Trey figured they couldn't be that far from their destination. If they continued much farther,
they would have to get off the bike and walk.
Just as Trey thought this, they rounded a curve in the path and Aeleon turned to say, "Welcome to Mossae Maere."
To be continued...
Author's Note: After a pretty big gap, I've finally updated again. Hopefully I still have some readers left. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. I tried to use it to introduce Oelae a bit more. If you have any thoughts on the story, I'd love to hear them. Shoot me an e-mail at noonecory@yahoo.com.
Io coigitae waes apotii vaexi una.= I thought we could ride together.