Astra

Chapter 3 - Anadl

Chapter 3 – Anadl

Back on Anadl the first thing I did was head to my father’s suite to check on him. He had been sick since the death of my mother some five years previously. Lately he had been slowly worsening.  This was cause for alarm. Astra must have a ruler and that ruler must be of pure Astra bloodlines, without one our world would cease to function. My sister and I was the last of our line and we had both yet to find our soul mates. The one person that would ensure our tying into the world.

If my father was to perish before one of us mated no one was certain what would happen. Unfortunately mating can only occur when one finds that one perfect person. Oh yes, relationships can be had and even sex is possible, although reproduction is not with someone other than the perfect one. Many citizens of Astra did not care for the long wait that sometimes comes from waiting for a mate and often tied their life forces to another’s to create a kind of pseudo-mating that allowed for reproduction.

Unhappily for me I was not allowed that choice, as a member of the royal family only a true mate would work to tie me to life. There was power in our bloodline. A power so unlike everything that anyone without it would never understand how it coursed through your veins and made the whole world of Astra and all connected to it accessible from anywhere. The power to touch every citizen, every blade of grass, every ripple of water from the comfort of your favourite chair is what made my family the rulers of Astra.

But with power such as we have there are always rules and regulations that must be adhered to and acknowledged. Raw power poured into a vessel, especially a mortal vessel, always has consequences. It is always difficult to keep power like that under control and one needs as many earthing points as possible to keep that power from taking over.

That’s why the reigning monarch must be someone who either has or has had a mate. The connection acts as an earthing rod and allows the excess power that can build up a release point, sort of like a safety valve. It is important to have release points. I use meditation and the field behind the palace to allow me to ground excess power when the need arises. But once I inherit the throne it wouldn’t be enough to keep me grounded even if I went out there twice a day.

My father was much the same as he had been before I left. He sat there smiling up at me weakly from the couch in his sitting room.

“So how did it go? Did you get enough new recruits from Iậ? Or do you have to work harder on the other planets or just coast from here?” He asked.

“I got enough, at least I think so. We’ll see as things go on. Father, we have a bit more of a problem than getting enough soldiers right now. Arie informs me that the Fyddin have spotted two more scouts. They took care of them but the situation is getting out of control. We have to make some hard decision.”

“I am aware, my boy. But what are we to do besides what we are doing and the people we are recuiting to the Fyddin should put us in a position of being able to hold back the others for as long as it is possible. My boy, I am too old to start new things. We have kept them at bay before by simply taking each day as it comes. We will survive this attack on us just as we have survived all those before it. By being ourselves and holding firm to what our planet system stands for. If worse comes to worse we can involve the general population, but that should be our last resort.”

“Father, you cannot sit here with your head in the sand and pretend that they are not coming for us with everything they have this time. This is not just a few scouts and a raiding party or two. The attacks are intensifying and I’m not sure how much longer we can hold out.”

“We will survive. We must trust to Dduwies to protect us from harm.”

“Father you are being foolish. The last time Dduwies walked among us was when your grandfather was a boy. He is now deaf to all pleas. Father you cannot pin your hopes on a god who has not been seen in years.”