One Half of a Whole

Chapter 1: The Plan

Kamara

"Goodnight Mary," I say, watching her slim figure sway as she walks toward the door. Mary is my handmaid. She helps me with everything - well, almost everything. I'm seventeen now, so I can do some things on my own.

"Goodnight Princess," she calls back. Reaching out to the brass doorknob, she pulls my bedroom door closed. I let out a breath. Finally, she's gone. I reach up and rub my temple with my hand. This headache has been here all day, and it doesn't look like I'm going to be getting any sleep tonight.

I head toward my bed and pull my mattress up. Stretching my fingers under it, I feel around for the zipper. Once I have it in my grasp, I pull it open to retrieve two papers and my computer. Devices as high tech as a computer are rare. They require Saffion crystals, the most expensive mineral on this planet. The only reason I have one is that my brother bought it while he was in Xenia and secretly gave it to me when he came home for a visit.

I hug the items to my chest and walk in the direction of my desk. Sitting down, I begin to work, but I can't seem to focus. I look to my left at the photo of my family: my twin sister, older brother, and [two] parents. If only life could go back to how it was then. You see, my twin - Samantha - and I were identical. We were both born with a rare medical condition; so rare that there wasn't a single case in our kingdom until us. I only have a few memories of Sam. She died when we were five due to complications with our condition. But the worst part was that she was alone in her death. No one was allowed in or out of her room. The doctors were afraid that what she had could be contagious, so they took all precautions to protect the royal family; even if that meant we could never see her again.

My parents were ashamed. Their children were sick. Their children were dying. Their children weren't perfect. There was a small funeral that only my parents were allowed to attend. They worried that seeing our dead sister would be too much for my brother and me. It almost felt like everyone forgot that she had existed. Well, almost everyone.

Since Sam's death, I became much closer to my older brother, Jordan. He is three years older than me and was always there for me when I went through my treatments to protect me from ending up like am. Those treatments are the only things that are keeping me alive. Over the past twelve years, they have evolved from invasive surgeries to a small metal device called a PAC (pressurized administration center), which is the size of a small cell phone on my waist. It tracks my heart rate and blood pressure and administers medications.

I am sitting at my desk, staring at the list of armies, soldiers, and passwords. No one knows this, but for a while now, I have been working with my brother to help prevent war with the Xenians, which is the neighboring kingdom. Over the past several years, tensions have been rising between our kingdoms. Jordan was tasked with keeping the peace between them as the Prince. However, we believe that they have no intentions of keeping the peace between us. These lists have evidence that they've been building an army, and, since they are a pretty isolated country, there would be no purpose in fighting with any other kingdom than ours.

Jordan knew he couldn't do it by himself, so he asked for my help. Jordan is twenty-one, and with his Prince status comes many responsibilities. I would share the same responsibilities, but because of my condition, I "need protecting" and "need to be watched at all times." It's at times like these that I am glad I have something to do with Jordan. I think he feels bad for me, but it's not like I can do anything about that! Jordan comes home this weekend, and I'm so excited. But I need to finish these plans before he arrives.

I open my computer and quickly hack into the Xenians' government database through the backdoor I discovered several weeks ago. That was the easy part. If you thought that was it, you were sorely mistaken. I open the scripting and add a few things to the code, and then bam. All the information I could ever need.

Legion Alpha is at the capital. Legion Beta and Gamma have moved to the southern border. Legion Delta and Omega have moved to the east border. Their camps are in the western part of the country. This database says they have moved there for a training camp but there is no training camp that I know of in those regions of Xenia.

I grab a few sheets of paper from my desk and begin to write:

15 troops - Legion Alpha

10 troops - Legion Beta

32 troops - Legion Gamma

41 troops - Legion Delta

8 troops - Legion Omega

_____________________________

Total: 107 troops

My temple pounds harder as I look at the clock. Time seems to go by so fast when you have much to do. It is already two a.m. and I'm only halfway through. 107 troops are more than last time, but not by much. If their troops are coming from the training camp in the north, they may be growing exponentially, which would be a problem.

I head over to the printouts about our army Jordan had given me last time he came.

132 troops.

If we went to war now, we would probably win; we have the numbers. Our troops are skilled. But...we have no way of knowing how much training the Xenians have.

Suddenly I hear a soft beeping noise from my PAC, and I feel a cold liquid spread into my veins. It must have sensed that my blood pressure was too elevated, and it gave me something to fix it. Blood pressure is one of the major things my condition impacts.

A few years ago my blood pressure was too low, and there wasn't enough blood flow to my right leg. Luckily, I realized soon enough that something wasn't right. I was able to get treatment for it, but if I hadn't noticed, it could have been necessary to amputate the leg because the tissue would have died from the lack of oxygen. I still walk with a slight limp, and no matter how hard I try, I know it is never going to change. At least I still have my leg!

Soon I'll be done with my plans for Jordan. I just need to write it all out. Hurriedly, I do so now, listening to the scratching of my pen against the slip of paper I write on.

I suggest moving troops to the western border to counteract the movement of the Xenians, that way, if they do attack, we will have had measures in place to save our people. I would send several legions to Training Camp Greta and place them on a schedule to make the move to the west subtle. We don't want to drag attention to this move since the Xenians could take it as a sign of aggression and begin their attack. We don't need a war; we need peace. Do whatever you can to accomplish that.

- Kam

Finally, I grab my papers and power down my computer. I reach under my mattress and stuff them back into their hidden compartment. I flop down onto my bed and stare up at the ceiling. When Sam and I were little, we would stay up talking to each other hours after bedtime. I remember once cuddling up next to her and staring at the stars painted on our ceiling. I had almost fallen asleep when Sam shook me back awake so we could continue our game of who-could-name-the-most-constellations. That little memory brings a smile to my face. And with that, I close my eyes and drift off to sleep.