The Ill-mannered Door (humorous sci-fi)

33.4: Homecoming

After Derek had gone, we stood for a bit in silence before I asked the king, "Where do you think the queen will go after the mall?"

"Well, I have some ideas. I had a private conversation with Muriel while you and Derek were washing up, and she filled me in a bit on what her daughter might be planning."

"And?"

"Well, it's quite the story, Thomas. I don't want to trouble you, but it seems that there is an entire galactic empire out there somewhere, and Muriel's husband was actually the emperor. That is, he had been before he and his family were banished. Left to rot on a backwater planet somewhere at the edge of the galaxy."

"Yes, Derek had told me a bit about that earlier after we left Muriel's house."

"Really?" the king said, looking genuinely surprised at that before continuing by saying, "Hmm, I wonder what else our Derek might know. That bloke seems to be full of surprises. In any case, Muriel told me there are rival houses in the empire that conspired against their family and staged a successful coup. The emperor's family had ruled for so long that they had grown complacent and were completely blindsided by it."

"But if they had those cube things that allow for travel through these wormholes to other planets, why didn't they just go back?"

"They were told that if any of them ever returned to the empire, they would be executed. At the time, having just had their baby daughter, the emperor accepted the choice to go into exile. It wasn't until somewhat recently, after her father passed away, that Esmerelda learned what had happened to them. Muriel said that Esmerelda flew into a rage when she learned that in the empire her father could have easily been cured of the disease that ended his life prematurely. She blames those that deposed her father and banished them for his death. I knew Esmerelda was upset about her father's death, but I had no idea about any of this."

"And now she has a nuclear weapon," I said soberly.

"Yes. Muriel thinks she means to return to the empire to enact some sort of vengeance."

"What do you think will happen when she does reach the empire?"

"They'll kill her, Thomas! I have to stop her. I promised Muriel, but more than that, I can't bear to let the new emperor kill her. Esmerelda may not exactly be the woman I thought I knew, and perhaps I am a bit of a fool, but I still love her."

I nodded. He had reminded me of my own promise to Muriel. I was committed to help the king, and Derek still seemed to be along for the journey, so we were off after a woman with a nuclear weapon who was in search of revenge, though possibly stopping off for a little shopping first. At least that is what we were counting on.