When they finally reached the end, Deejay set Elizabeth down. The end of the duct opened onto a man-made stream running down a small grassy hill on the outskirts of town. To their left, a large rock wall marked the edge of the city. The two of them walked forward a few paces onto the hill and looked around.
Elizabeth smiled and breathed deeply. The clean air and soft grass were a refreshing change for her. Compared to the busy city, the open field was incredibly relaxing. Deejay felt much more at ease as well.
“Man, it’s so peaceful out here,” he said.
“We seem to be a long way from the castle,” Elizabeth replied, “but at least we escaped from those men. We should be able to make it back safely now.” She gave a gentle sigh of relief. “It’s finally over.”
“What? No, don’t say-!”
Just then, a horse whinnied behind them, and they turned to look. The Revolutionaries appeared at the top of the hill. The four of them rode down the hill and stopped in front of the duct, blocking the only possible escape route.
“Aw, you just had to say it, didn’t you?” Deejay frowned in frustration. “Never say ‘it’s finally over’! It’s never over if you jinx it like that.”
“You have nowhere left to run, Imperial scum,” the leader said. He brandished his crossbow while the others drew their swords. “The time has come. Your Judgment is at hand.”
Elizabeth hid behind Deejay again, who stared angrily at the Revolutionary leader.
“Man, you really like to make a dramatic entrance, don’t you?” he said.
“He’s not the only one,” a familiar voice answered from somewhere nearby, causing everyone to look around in surprise.
Deejay flinched. “Oh no…”
“What is it?” Elizabeth asked. “Who’s there? More Revolutionaries?”
“Worse… much worse.”
He looked up, and the others followed his gaze. At the top of the rock wall, Ty stood looking down on them, his arms folded arrogantly. He was dressed to kill, as usual, and his dark glasses reflected the glare from the afternoon sun.
He walked over to the lower part of the wall where it met the top of the hill and casually jumped down to the ground. He landed on his feet, but slipped and fell on his butt. He stumbled back to his feet and approached Deejay and Elizabeth.
“Damn. With all the crap I put up with, the last thing I needed right now was a grass stain,” Ty said irritably, brushing off his pants.
“Uh… heya, Ty,” Deejay said.
“You know, I thought I could trust you with something as simple as a routine scouting assignment, but I guess I was wrong. So, I come down here myself to check on you, and I this is what I find. You’re over 5 miles from where you left the ship, you’ve apparently managed to piss off the locals, and you’re running around town with some girl.”
“Some girl?” Elizabeth said. “I take offense to that, sir. I’ll have you know I am a princess: daughter of Fredrick, King of-.”
“Hey, now!” Deejay interrupted, smiling sheepishly. “There’s no need to get into all that…”
“She’s a princess? Are you kidding me?” Ty asked. “Deejay, are you just trying to piss everyone off today? What is it with you and princesses, anyway? You know what kind of impact something like this could have.”
“Aw, Ty, come on! I saw her getting kidnapped right in front of me. What would you have done?”
The Revolutionary leader stared at the two brothers in disbelief. “Excuse me?” he said.
Ty completely ignored the man and crossed his arms again. “In this world? I would have stayed out of it, because it’s none of my business.”
“Well, then, what if you lived here?” Deejay crossed his arms as well.
“It’s still probably none of my business. Did you see anyone else jumping up to help her?”
“They were being cowards. I was doing the right thing.”
“Sure. Never mind it was for the wrong reasons.”
“Oh, go to hell.”
“Excuse me!” the leader said even louder. “I’m speaking here.”
“She was in danger,” Deejay went on, “and I sprang into action to help her because I’m a stand-up kind of guy. I saved her life.”
Ty raised an eyebrow. “Is that a fact?”
“Yeah… or, well, sort of...”
“Hmm?”
“Well, keep in mind, this wasn’t my fault… As it turns out, the kidnappers were really the royal guards. They were trying to protect her so the real bad guys wouldn’t find her.”
“You don’t say? So, in reality, she probably would have been safer if you hadn’t interfered?”
“Hey, how was I supposed to know they weren’t the bad guys?”
“That’s my point, you dunce. You don’t know anything about this world.”
“Enough of your bickering, you fools!” the leader yelled. “Stop ignoring me! You cannot ignore the will of the people!”
“Pipe down, I’ll get to you in a minute,” Ty said calmly to him, then turned back to Deejay. “Look, you can’t just jump into a hostile situation and pick a side based on a hunch. It’s not so black and white as good guys and bad guys. How can you expect to help anyone by rushing around recklessly like some wannabe action hero?”
The Revolutionary leader’s face turned red with rage. He held up his crossbow again.
“Arrogant imperial scum!” he yelled. “The Revolution will not be brushed aside! Now, enough stalling. It’s time to accomplish what we set out for.”
He fired the crossbow, and the arrow went straight for Elizabeth. Reacting quickly, Deejay moved to protect her, blocking the arrow’s path. He yelped in pain as the arrow hit him in the upper arm.
Elizabeth gasped. “Oh, God. Are you hurt badly?”
“S’alright,” he said, wincing. “It’s just a flesh wound.”
“What the hell was that?” Ty said angrily, turning to the Revolutionaries. “You’d fire on an unarmed woman?”
“Woman or man, armed or not; it makes no difference.” The Revolutionary leader steeled his gaze and gritted his teeth. “She is a cornerstone of the Zalarian Empire. She must be dealt with, and if you attempt to stop us, you will be dealt with as well. The Revolution will not be silenced! We will destroy the imperial scum and free this nation’s people from their corrupting ruler. That knave Fredrick and his entire family will fall before the might-”
The man was cut off by a deafening gunshot. The crossbow he held was suddenly blasted right out of his hand, showering him with splinters. He cried out in pain and clutched his hand, staring in shock as a trickle of blood ran down his palm. When he looked up, he saw Ty pointing a smoking revolver at him.
“Oh, I’m sorry. Did I break your concentration?” Ty asked sarcastically. The man said nothing. He just stared in astonishment, as did his accomplices. Ty cleared his throat and continued. “The way I see it, if Deejay hadn’t interfered, the pseudo-kidnapping by the king’s guards would have gone off without a hitch. At the end of the day, the princess would be safe and sound back in the castle, and you’d all leave here with nothing. Well, I always like to leave a place the way I found it, so that’s just how things are going to go today. The princess is going back to the castle, and you’re all going to leave. Whether or not you leave alive is entirely up to you. Now, what’s it going to be?”
After some hesitation, the Revolutionary leader turned to the others and signaled them to retreat. “I won't forget this day. Mark my words, you will pay for this!” They all turned and rode away from the city.
Ty slipped the gun back into his jacket, then turned to Deejay and Elizabeth. “You alright, Highness?”
“Yes, I’m fine,” she said, turning to Deejay. “But more importantly, are you alright?”
“Aw, that’s sweet, but you don’t have to worry about me,” he said. He winced and pulled the arrow out of his arm. “I’ve had worse than an arrow stuck in me before.” He grinned slyly. “And hey, speaking of sticking things in places they don’t belong, I was wondering if you and I-”
“Deejay, don’t even finish that thought,” Ty interrupted.
“Oh, give it a rest, will you? Look, even if it was kinda my fault she was in danger, I still saved her life.”
“I don't care. You're not going to start an inter-dimensional incident with this girl.”
Elizabeth just looked confused. “What are the two of you talking about?”
“Never mind, Your Highness,” Ty answered. “Regardless of what Deejay was planning, you’re going home now.” He turned to Deejay “And then the two of us are going back to the Citadel, and I don’t want to hear another word about it.”
Deejay frowned. “…Spoilsport.”
In spite of Deejay’s griping, he and Ty escorted Elizabeth back to the castle. They stopped in front of the main gates to say their goodbyes.
“Regardless of the circumstances, you did protect me today,” Elizabeth said, smiling at Deejay. “I owe you a debt of gratitude.”
“Hey, no problem,” he said, returning the smile. “I was more than happy to do it. Besides, I wouldn’t have had a chance to talk to you otherwise.”
She blushed slightly. “Strange… Even though we’ve just met, I feel oddly close to you…”
“Yeah, I get that a lot.” He leaned in close and put his arm around her waist. “And hey, if you ever feel like coming to my place and showing me a little of that gratitude, you’ll be quite welcome.”
Deejay’s hand started moving south, but Ty grabbed him by the collar and pulled him away from her. “And that’ll be enough of that,” he said. “Can we hurry this along, please? I want to get out of here before the guards see the two of us.”
“Alright, alright…” Deejay straightened his shirt and looked back at Elizabeth. “Well, can I at least get a little farewell kiss from the beautiful princess?”
“You’ve got 3 seconds. No tongue.”
“I wasn’t asking you, Ty.”
Elizabeth giggled. “Of course you may… my brave knight.”
“Oh brother,” Ty muttered.
After a short kiss, Elizabeth said goodbye and entered the castle gates as Ty and Deejay walked off toward the ship
“Just like I thought,” Deejay said with a perverted smirk. “She’s sweeter than strawberries. I tell ya, Ty, one taste ain’t enough for me. I’m gonna have to come back for seconds.”
“You do realize you’re talking about a girl as if she were a food item, right?” Ty asked.
“Hey, what can I say? The ladies are my one weakness. And fortunately for me, I’m theirs, too.”
“Man, I hate when you get like this. Would it kill you to put your urges aside and show a little class around female company? They’re human beings, not your personal sex toys.”
“I know they aren’t.” He snickered. “Those are in the bottom drawer of my desk. Look, I’m sorry if you’re jealous, but I can’t help it if I’m completely irresistible to the ladies.”
“First of all, Captain Hormones, with your background in genetic manipulation, we both know you could easily help it if you wanted to. You just choose not to because you have a one-track mind. Second, I’m not jealous. I’m embarrassed that my brother, the greatest scientific mind in this or any galaxy, is nothing but a sex-crazed kid who never finished puberty. Your mind would be put to much better use if you spent a little more time studying the cosmos or micro-biology, and a little less studying the female anatomy. Your god-given intellect is going to waste if all you think about is how to get laid.”
Deejay sighed. “Alright, alright, I'll try. Maybe I'll get back to that Drifter research project.”
“That sounds like a great idea. Thank you.”
The two of them got back to the ship. They both climbed in, and Deejay started up the engines and headed for the portal home.
“By the way, Ty,” he said, “something’s been bugging me.”
“What’s that?”
“Well, I was just thinking… if I took the ship here by myself, how did you get here? I mean, we only have the one ship, so...”
“Hmm? Oh, never mind that. That’s just a plot hole.”
(to be continued again)
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