Chapter 49: The Sleeping Lovers

[Ona].

Kora leads me down a hall made of polished shells grown in the shape of rooms and corridors. You can see the natural spiral pattern repeated on the walls and between some of the spaces within the pattern, there are bits of seaglass that were melted and reformed to create stained-glass windows. Large picture windows from floor to ceiling show the beautiful natural wonders of life deep undersea.

"I've always loved this palace," Kora smiles. "It is a fine place to be exiled."

"Exiled?" I am confused. "The last time I heard anything was that after your father..."

"Died," she finished, her words neither harsh nor judgmental. "I knew who Orion was the moment I met him, despite his game of pretending to be someone else," she shook her head. "I do not blame him for my father's death, even though it was his hand who slayed him. In many ways, my father died years before he stood on the deck of that ship." her voice is cold and sharp enough to cut. "The man I called father died years ago. All that remained was his shell."

"You said you were exiled...?" I begin to ask, but she interrupts me by opening a door using the palm of her hand.

"Here we are," she smiles as she motions for me to follow her into the expansive room beyond.

I am surprised to see that it looks a lot like the Technician's lab, only less dreary with tools that are in far better condition as if the Technician was using hand-me-downs and Kora was the originator. At the very center of the room rests Primus and Carnelia, still intertwined with one another in a mess of wires and tubes.

"How did you get them here?" I am pleased and more than a little impressed that they were moved here with the rest of us."Won't the queen notice that they are gone?"

"The queen, if she survived, thinks we are all dead." She assures me confidently. The fire took everything. There are already reports that the entire Celestial Royal family, other than Princess Ursa, died in the blaze.

"She thinks we're dead?" Could it be that simple?

"We don't know yet if she believes it or not," she shrugs as she adjusts wires and tubes. "She may still send people out looking for all of you, which is why we need to stay low and away from the Celestial Kingdom," Kora looks nervous.

"How were you able to free Primus and Carnelia?" I assumed that they would have been trapped in the castle."

"And they would have," she smiles, "But we had some help from a surprising ally."

"The Technician," I guess.

She nods.

"Is the Technician here too," I look around, expecting to see the gloomy suit walking towards me.

She shakes her head. "I can't be certain, but I'm not sure the Technician survived the fire," she looks away, unable to meet my gaze. "Probably for the best. The Technician couldn't be trusted. It was expected to follow the orders of the false queen, even if her orders seemed unjust or cruel. As much as the Technician hated working for her, it also didn't have a lot of choice."

"I see," There is something about how she talks about the Technician that leads me to believe she might know more about them than she is letting on.

"Don't worry," she assures me, "We don't need the Technician to help them. I know how to use all of these machines and I am familiar with the Technician's work."

"You seem to know the Technician very well," I muse.

"Too well," she admits, not hiding her association. "I wish I didn't. I wish I could forget everything about them," her body shakes, caught in what must be a bad memory. "The Technician lacks warmth and kindness, thinking only of results which makes them extremely dangerous." She explains in detail what that means for those in the Technician's care. "I hope to never see that suit they wear ever again. I am sure I will be haunted by it for years to come. Maybe even the rest of my life."

"Did you work for the Technician?" I pry, feeling a need to know more about where she is coming from and how she knows so much.

"This was one of my father's labs," she changes the subject. "I woke here about three months ago, having come out of a dream state, not unlike the one that Prince Primus and Queen Carnelia are in right now. I hate these tubs," she frowns. "My father helped Segundus develop these as a way to control people. The fact that I can use it to help heal because it puts the body in stasis is a happy accident of sorts. It was originally used for mind control."

She pauses, looking in the tan she places a hand on the outer edge. "My father developed this tech not knowing that it was being used on me, or at least I hope he didn't know." Her gaze is far away as she looks away into the distance. "The original intention of this tank was mind control. Segundus would use it to infiltrate my dreams and force me to do things I did not want to do by convincing me that none of it was real."

That's terrifying. And to believe my brother made this and used it on his own family.

"Nobody knew exactly what to do with me when I woke from my dream," she laughs, and it isn't a pleasant sound. "So my brother sent me here to "recuperate." As far as he knows, I never left."

"Why did you leave?'

"What?" she blinks, confused. "I'm not sure if I understand?"

"How did you end up at the All Kingdom Faire working for the Magician."

"Oh that," she laughs. "I wasn't working for the Magician. I was working for myself. You see, I needed to get close to the queen to see what she was up to. I wanted to know what evil my father had been up to before he died and do what I could to make it better. To make up for his sins."

Looking down at Primus and Carnelia, not exactly safe but no longer in extreme danger, she smiles widely and says. "I think I finally succeeded. If I can help them wake from this dream, help them take their places as King and Queen of Luxandra, as they were always meant to be, then maybe the stain on my family can finally be washed away."

I pull Kora into my arms and hold her close to my heart.

"Daughter," I speak into her hair, "You are not responsible for what your father did. You do not need to make up for his sins. You deserve to live a life as well. You were just as much a victim as any of those who suffered at his hand. Even more so in some ways, since he did much of his evil in our name." I pull away from her just enough so that she can see my face. "You have a kind heart, but you don't need to martyr yourself."

"I don't intend to," she assures me. "I plan on surviving.

She places a hand on her belly and I am reminded that she and Orion are expecting. She has a lot to live for now. Maybe that will be enough.

"So how are we going to help them?" I ask, "We don't have the Technician to guide us."

"But we do have the Technician," she smiles as she picks up a pair of green spectacles and places them on the bridge of her nose. Holding up a tablet, she begins pressing the surface and I watch as page after page of notes flitted across the screen. "I have all the notes here about the experiments, about Primus, everything. It's net next best thing to having the Technician here with us now. It may not be here in spirit, but their mind is."

I look at my brother and sister asleep in the tub and want nothing more than to believe this is true, that we can make it all work with a tablet worth of notes and a young woman with a mind as sharp as her father's. And while I am glad she is here with us, that she is capable and bright, I can't help but worry that all this is too much for her to bear on her shoulders.

Thalan and Daax walk in discussing something close together. My heart feels lighter seeing them getting along. Maybe the shared hardship of our current situation has allowed them to find some common ground.

Behind Thalan stands the same scientist-priest I had met in the big tent back in Luxandra. Just as before, he is completely silent, letting the Elf King do the talking for both of them.

"We are ready whenever you are," he bows to Kora, recognizing that she is in control of this situation. "When would you like us to begin?"

"Now, if you don't mind," she picks up a stylus and begins recording new details and scratching out old ones. "I am trusting you two to be able to manage this part without me."

The Elf King and his scientist approach the tank, their movements in unison as together they reach into the tank and place a hand on each of the sleeping lovers. As they close their physical eyes, their metaphysical ones leave traces of bright blue along the edges of their skin, illuminating a path from their minds to their hands. I can almost see the flow of energy exchanged between those who are asleep, and those who are awake and trying to help the dreamers.

Daax, Kora, and I stand and watch for what seems like an eternity as the expressions on Primus and Carnelia's faces change from terror to calm. I release a breath I hadn't known I was holding when the two moon dragons remove their hands from their foreheads. Opening their eyes in unison, they both turn towards us.

"They are dreaming," Thalan speaks. "And for now, they believe they are safe. But they are both battling large internal strife. They will need a more permanent guide until the dreaming is done."

"So one of you will need to stay connected?" I ask carefully.

"No," Thalan stares directly at me, his eyes unblinking as he declares. "Neither one of us has a close enough bond. Someone from the family will need to enter the dream and help guide them out again."