unworried

Kellum sighed and turned towards his best friend. He had been watching Kellum all day like he was going to combust.

"Why are you acting so strange?"

Frick frowned. "I am acting strange?"

"Yes, you." Kellum waved away his screens. There was work to be done, but nothing so pressing he could not take a small break. "Training went well this morning; the advisors have not called an emergency meeting all day. Things are good, so why do you look so uneasy?"

"My question is why are you not worried? The last few weeks you have been like a bomb ready to go off."

Kellum smiled and shook his head. "What are you talking about? Everything is going as planned. If this is about you not having any matches yet, then____."

"What about Pensley?"

"What about him? Frey says he is improving. Perhaps you should be checked over. You do not seem quite like yourself. You have not once asked me how Hayden is doing. Usually, you cannot wait to brow beat me with questions about my mate."

"That is a good suggestion, future king. Frick, the medical team is awaiting you."

His friend's frown grew. "I am not the one acting strange. Just yesterday you_____."

"Frick, if it pleases you, the medical staff would like to see you now."

"I am sure you just need some rest. After committee and my few classes I will look in on you." Kellum reassured him.

"Fine. We will talk later?"

"We will."

He might be a busy man and it might not be easy trying to join two races but what kind of king would he make if he did not take care of a friend? Or a mate?

With that thought in mind, he found himself standing on the front steps of her home. The house she shared with her mother and his brother's mate, April, was large and white. The yard was well kept.

When Kellum noticed Hayden at the end of the driveway, he did not have time to call out to her before she disappeared around the corner.

Every morning she always walked April to school, and he was moments too late to be able to walk with them. Tomorrow he would know to be earlier.

Seeing a dog at his feet, he bent over to give the guy a rub. He could still remember the first time he had seen this beast. He had barely contained himself. Animals like this did not exist on his planet and he had been more than a little alarmed upon first seeing one.

Hayden had thought it was funny and had shown him quickly that there was nothing to fear. Dogs were loveable creatures. And most odd. He could not understand their purpose.

"Good new day, Kellum."

He smiled with warmth at the little boy. His kind did not have many little ones left this age and they appreciated each of them. There was not one that he did not know by name and he was proud of this one for remembering to not call him future king.

"Good day to you, Jetidi. Are you on your way to school?"

The girl child with him could not be confused as anything other than human. She had a darker complexion and dark brown hair. Kellum could not remember seeing her before today but he found his eyes coming back to her time and time again.

"I have heard that you are adjusting very well."

The small boy held a finger up to his lips and motioned him towards him with another.

Smiling and frowning, he did as he was instructed.

"I need you to trust me. Please forbid Dezrick to speak."

The boy was so careful to make sure that he spoke low enough that Dezrick would not be able to pick it up that Kellum looked at him. The child's stance was very tensed and worried.

"Dezrick, you are not allowed to speak again until I ask you to."

"Thank you, future king." Jetidi turned to his companion and whispered something to her then he took Kellum's hand. "Please take us somewhere where we will not be disturbed. It is most important, future king."

As soon as they were away from everything, the boy pointed to his wrist. "You need to send that away from us."

"I am unsure_____."

"I know. Please, future king? It is only a matter of time before the advisors out vote you and we are ordered to return."

Everything in him told him that he could trust this boy. More than that, he felt compelled to do as he was instructed.

Once he did, the boy's very demure changed. He relaxed and breathed easier. Offering a small smile, he sat amidst the wildflowers. "Why do you think you keep choosing this place?"

He was not even sure where they were. He looked around.

They were in a field of tall wildflowers. In the distance he could just make out a house and a barn.

"Jetidi, explain to me why you had to meet with me in such secrecy? Are you in any kind of harm or______?"

"I have had this conversation with myself a hundred times and I have already had it with you once before now, and I have yet to get it right. Before we continue, I will need three promises from you."

"Jetidi, I demand answers."

"One, that you do not ask for the force fill to be brought down. Two, that you do not use your gift until I have told you everything and three, that you please try to remain calm."

Remain calm. Why was it that he could remember those words, that voice but he could not remember from where?

"I am going to begin with the head instead of the heart. With me instead of with you. I am Jetidi."

"I know who you are."

"But you do not know what I am." The boy turned his head and pushed the hair back off his neck.

Awed, Kellum went to his knees. "I have never seen a mark like that. It is almost like mine."

"Yes. This is a new world. There will be changes. New rules and new rulers. You will be the last king to stand. No more will be born."

"How do you know this?"

"Knowing is my gift."

"You are not a royal."

"No, I am not. I am a new ruler. Once it is all said and done there will be twenty of us. We will govern this new world along with you and your queen. There will always remain twenty of us. When one falls another will rise. One no more important than the next, one with no more say than the next. No more advisors. No more royals. Not one race but many. Each of the twenty will have the gifts and the knowledge we need to rule and keep harmony. Each of us bonded to each other. We will be dedicated to this new world and all its people."

"I am not sure what to say."

"You do not have to say anything. Give me your hand."

He did, and he was instantly flooded with love and peace.

"Do you feel how we are connected?"

"I do. Tell me what I must do."

"You must become the king you were meant to be. One who does not rule a kingdom but one that rules with a kingdom, and the only way you can do that is by taking back what is yours. Today is a very important day, my king."

"I am not mated yet, so I cannot_____."

"You are and today is her birthday. She is eighteen and you are king. I want you to remember your promises to me and I want you to open your hand."

Kellum felt something being pressed into his hand and he held it up to inspect it.

It was a strange little thing. Ugly green and plastic. It had been decided that plastic was unhealthy for the planet and banned, but he knew that was not why it was given to him. There was something important about it. Something that he could just barely remember.

"I have seen one of these before, but it was different. It was tied to a black cord and it...."

He could see it in his mind's eye. Worn as a necklace with another long silver necklace with a feather at the end of it. He could feel how important they were. Whoever wore them cherished them very much. Almost as much as he cherished her.

He felt like he had been knocked off his feet, but he was already on his knees. Jessalynn.

So many memories assaulted him that he did not know how he stayed up right. Some memories he knew to be true and others he knew were not. "What did they do?"

"They took it upon themselves to do quite a bit. I know your first instinct is to go to her, but you cannot. You tried that already once and failed. You must take your place as king before you try to get back what you have lost."

"How could.... how long.... where is she?"

"I am unsure of all of those answers. I know they tried to erase all memories of her from me and my mate. It did not work on me and I was able to help my mate remember her sister. Since then, they have tried on two more occasions, each with no success. I know of at least six different occasions where they have taken her memories away from you. Recently, they have started to add some as well. No matter what they try, they cannot keep her memory from you for very long. She always comes back to you."

Kellum stood. "I must go to her."

"I know it will be nearly impossible for you not to, but I need you to stay strong. You cannot help her until you help yourself. Your people."

"Pensley?"

"Yes. They might not have meant to do this to him, but it is their fault just the same. His mind and his gift could not handle the different memory changes."

His Jessalynn. He was not sure about much, but he was sure that she belonged with him. It was his job to protect her. To care for her, and he had failed.

He could not trust all his memories but there was one he could hold on to. He knew why he had chosen this field. He closed his eyes and saw her laying among the wildflowers. Smiling and happy. More beautiful than anything he had ever seen. "Tell me what to do."

"You are king. You know what to do."