Galactic Gale

Chapter Fourteen

Royally Arrested 

There were limitations to what princes could do. More so than princesses, Kael learned as he shyly slipped out the Rapid to meet the city guards clustered below.

"I believe there has been a misunderstanding," he tried. His hands lingered awkwardly above his head, a response to the dozen blasters aimed at him.

The guards' faces were hidden under heavy visors. They did not lower their weapons at the sight of him, nor when Keal informed them he was indeed the prince, recently reinstated, or when he told them no crimes had been committed. Retch had only been giving them credits, after all.

Amara slapped Kael on the shoulder, and he stumped down the ramp. "Do something," she hissed in his ear. "Cyre will never let me live this down if she has to break us out of your family's prison."

"It is treason to arrest the prince." Kael's fingers twitched. Had the wind continued to batter them as it had before they had dived into the Rapid, he was sure he would have been blown over. But the air was still. The winds had vanished.

"In the name of Princess Galtionie, you are under arrest. You and your captain are to disarm. You must not resist." A guard at the front of the group's visor lit up as he spoke. "You will be brought to the palace as ordered by Her Majesty."

"Nona?" Amara shot a warning glance at Kael.

"There must be a mistake." He wanted to hold his ground and to tell Amara she was wrong, that Nona had nothing to do with this. He wanted to demand the guards put their blasters away. But Kael was not convinced. Nona had her ways – her stubborn and often frustrating ways – and it would not be much of a stretch to consider she had been involved with this some way or another.

This is what you wanted. Arrested, confined. Unable to compete in the Trials because of a situation beyond your own control. No one will want a king who has been in prison - even more so one arrested by his own people.

Kael shook the thoughts from his head. He had not wanted Amara to get caught with him. For her to be captured was a death sentence. The record and reputation she had would mean life in prison, or a public execution.

Outnumbered, there was nothing Kael and Amara could do but submit themselves to the guards. Their hands were clamped behind their backs and weapons removed from their holsters. Amara snarled at the guard who took her customised blaster.

If the rest of their crew had been smart, they would have flown far from Uterca and taken refuge in Ramerela. The Celestial Watch would be looking for them thanks to their connect with Uterca's citywide police force.

Being captured by the city guards was one thing. Being captured by the Watch was quite another. Kael had heard stories about those who had been trapped in the Watch's prison compounds. None of them had ended happily.

They were marched to a shuttle and taken aboard. Kael was separated from Amara, the guards forming a wall of bodies between them, and she rolled her eyes at their precautions. No doubt she had been in this position before.

And she'd managed to get out of it. Kael rolled his shoulders and gave a curt nod. There was a reason Amara had such a reputation. If anyone could get them out of this, it would be her.

The shuttle carried them into the centre of the city, passed crowds of merrymakers and through the market district. The blacked-out windows of the vessel made it impossible for outsiders to see who was within, but it did not stop Kael from flinching at faces he recognised.