Special Notes: This is the corrected version. [The Princes XXVI] [Temporal] Histories of Carina Castle Tal, located in the Mat’al Sea, was the ancestral home of House Tal. House Tal suffered a tremendous loss in Carinian Year 339 when the young heir, Roa’Tal, disappeared from the Castle. Lord Nar’Tal was so devastated that he spent the next seven years searching for his son. With House Tal’s treasury nearly depleted from the futile search for Roa’Tal, House Kas invaded and conquered the Castle. Lord Nar’Tal was a broken man by this time and offered no resistance. Lord Sen’Kas, instead of the typical torturous imprisonment common during this time for a vanquished foe, showed mercy on Lord Nar’Tal and his mate and remaining two children and executed them quickly on the beach. Fox put the book down; there was nothing of help in there. He had been looking for any clues that might tell him what the alien device sitting on his desk was. His research had led him to reading through the Histories of Carina. He put the book back and picked the device up he was researching and flipped the alien device over in his hands looking for some clue as to its purpose while Jon played quietly on the floor with a toy rocket ship. The Castle was filled with alien artifacts that defied description. Fox had just grabbed one at random and decided it was as good enough place to start as any. The artifact defied all attempts to figure it out, this was perplexing, Fox was probably the leading scientific mind in the Empire and he didn’t have a clue where to start. “What are you doing, Uncle Black?” asked a small voice. Fox looked down to find Jon had wandered over to see what he was doing. The little boy smiled pleasantly and held his arms up to be lifted into Fox’s lap. Fox picked the boy up and held an arm around him. “I’m attempting to figure out the function of this artifact,” replied Fox. Before Fox could stop him, Jon reached out and ran his finger and thumb across the device activating controls similar to those on his Trident. The device lit up with a glowing soft light from the oval surface on top of the artifact. “You shouldn’t have done that,” said Fox. “This thing could be dangerous.” “Why?” asked Jon eyeing the device suspiciously, “it makes light.” Fox felt foolish and didn’t have a good answer; he realized the device was only a table lap, an alien table lamp. How could Jon possibly have known how to operate the artifact? Jon wiggled down and started edging towards the door. Fox let him make it almost to the door. “Where are you going?” asked Fox. “It’s bedtime.” Jon took off at a run for the open door. “Get back here, you,” Fox laid the device down and chased the four-year old out the door and down the hall. “I’m not tired,’ shouted Jon running as fast as his little legs could carry him. Jon had to stop at the stairs, he could only take the stairs one step at a time and Fox caught the bedtime runaway easily on the third step up. The amphibian boy giggled and laughed as Fox tickled him and slung him over his shoulder. “Time for bed, little guppy,” said Fox. The chase down the hall was a routine now and Fox always let Jon slip past him for the traditional bedtime game of chase. Jon’s room was on the first floor, Fox had considered putting him in the traditional room the Lord Blacks occupied, but this room had proved more colorful and Jon seemed to like it. Fox dropped the boy on his bed and pulled the covers up to his neck gills and tucked the blanket around him just below the sensitive gill flaps. The two years of Carina’s vision Fox had lived as an amphibian gave him the skills necessary to take care of the young amphibian. “What’s school going to be like, Uncle Black?” asked Jon. Jon started preschool tomorrow and really, Fox had no idea how that was going to work other than it would be another of Carina’s illusion. Fox was getting used to the ever changing illusions the Ocean God provided for his son, Jon Black. After the barrier sealed the island Fox descended the tower to find the castle gone and replaced with a modern manor house. The illusions changed without notice and while Fox was aware of the changes, Jon seemed, at first, blissfully unaware of the shifting world around him. A simple walk out the front door and down to the beach could find them instead walking through a small village market. The Ocean God was creative if nothing else; Fox had even seen the castle/manor change to a museum during one outing with Jon. “There will be children to play with,” replied Fox. “Do you think they will like me?” asked Jon. “I’m sure they will,” said Fox, “now go to sleep, guppy.” “Uncle Black,” Jon didn’t want to let himself close his eyes. “I want to be a Flare Pilot when I grow up.” The boy was full of surprises tonight, he shouldn’t know what a Flare Pilot was without being a historian; the Carinian Flare Pilots were the first rocket ship test pilots nearly four or five thousand years ago. “Where did you hear about Flare Pilots?” asked Fox. Jon shrugged and drifted off to sleep. The next morning Jon could barely sit through breakfast and hopped around excitedly. Fox was happy for the boy, but this also signaled the days of hours alone while Jon was at school. Fox wondered at that. Sixty-seven years he had spent alone in his own castle, but now the thought of a few hours alone seemed almost unbearable. Though, perhaps there could be some good to come from this. Carina hadn’t barred him from any room in Black Castle, and there were countless thousands of years of history, artifacts, and secrets contained within these walls. “Come on, Uncle Black,” Jon jumped up and down and danced around him and pulling him towards the door. “Hold on, little guppy,” said Fox kneeling down to retie Jon’s shoes. Carinians didn’t wear shoes often, but school was one of those times it was expected. Fox pressed the toe of the shoe; the boy was already outgrowing this pair. Fox counted how many steps it took to get to the front door… twenty-four... No… that’s the wrong amount; it was fifty-seven steps to the front door. Fox smiled, he caught Carina again manipulating reality with illusions. They reached the door and stepped outside and took a left towards the village. This wasn’t right, the last time they had walked to the village the path went to the right; Fox followed Jon skipping down the path, followed the bend in the path. Fox kept count in his head, they weren’t outside the castle at all, the step count and bend in the path meant they were actually in the castle entrance and circling around the statue of the Carinian with the globe on his back. Jon ran ahead and Fox grinned to himself, it appeared they were walking along a palm tree lined sandy lane towards the village, but no, Fox figured they had circled around and were now heading back down the east wing of the castle. Fox was pretty sure he had the mystery of why Jon Black always emerged from the castle at fourteen-years old. The Jon Blacks after that age were too old and would start catching on to the illusions; anything older than fourteen would only confuse them more. Two-hundred and thirteen steps and several clever bends in the path and they were standing in front of the preschool. Fox was pretty sure they were actually standing in front of the castle’s ballroom in the north wing, which made sense; it was a large enough room to serve many different illusions. Jon’s enthusiasm waned slightly and he gripped Fox’s hand now that they were at the school. There were some children inside and several more trying to push their parents away from the embarrassing obligatory kiss on the head. Fox knelt and brushed imaginary dust from the shoulders of Jon’s body suit, the traditional dress of Carinians, then gave the boy a hug. Fox noticed Jon had some tears in his eyes and gave him an extra hug before pushing him towards the door. Jon hesitantly walked up to the steps of the preschool, a teacher smiled pleasantly and held her arms out and that convinced Jon. Fox squinted his eyes and measured the angled distance up the stairs. Jon climbed the stairs, but didn’t change position in height to Fox; more illusions. Fox left the boy at the preschool and headed back towards the Castle and stumbled about fifteen feet later when the illusion abruptly ended and he nearly ran into a wall. Apparently the Ocean God didn’t feel the need to expend energy keeping the illusion up for just Fox. “You know, Carina,” said Fox looking up at the ceiling, “I don’t really think this illusion is healthy for him.” Fox didn’t really expect an answer from the Ocean God and didn’t get one. “He needs real children to play with,” said Fox. Obviously Fox wasn’t going to get an answer and dropped the subject; Carina hadn’t spoken with him since the vision that had brought Jon to him. Fox headed for the east wing kitchen and the door that would lead down under the castle to the store rooms full of supplies that had been carefully stocked for Jon. The store room was two long rooms lit by dim bulbs hanging from the ceiling illuminating the rows of shelves. The first room was stocked with ten years of dry food and the second room was clothing, shoes, books, toys, and every manor of need a child might have. Fox stopped at the row of shoes and retrieved another pair of the small shoes with the little dolphins on the sides. The rows of shoes ended in piles of shirts and then some books on the opposite shelf. Perhaps he could read to Jon in the evening and start him on the path to healthy reading habits. An adventure series of seventy-two books were on the third shelf nestled between the shelves of text books Jon would need during the next ten years. Fox could spread them out every several months and Jon would always have the next book to look forward to as they were supposedly published. Fox didn’t really want to help Carina perpetrate this illusion, but he did want the boy happy. The second store room had a stair case that led up to Jon’s room. The door blended in with the wall and Fox flipped the latch and stepped out of the dim light into the brightness of Jon’s room and dropped the shoes on the bed. The room was a pleasant brightly colored room; the murals along the walls depicted a rolling scene of beach and ocean surf. The artistic style of the painting was easily several thousand years old. Fox wondered how many Jon Blacks had been raised in this room. Fox stepped out of the room and pulled the door shut and walked across the hall. He had looked into the other rooms but the one he put Jon in was the only one that was clean, meaning the only one that didn’t have clothing and toys lying about from a previous Jon Black. Fox pushed the door open and stepped inside, this room was covered in sea shells, coral, dried urchin, and drift wood. Fox picked a sea shell up from the floor and wondered which Jon Black had collected this shell. So very few of the Jon Blacks ever left the castle other than in the illusions. Fox slipped the shell into his pocket and was about to leave this room when he saw a dolphin carved into a piece of drift wood lying on a shelf near the door. Fox was about to close the door when he had an idea and ran back across the hall and down into the store room, he remembered empty crates being stacked up against the wall and grabbed several of them and headed back for the room with the sea shells. Fox spent the rest of the morning going from room to room collecting random items from every room in the east wing. Fox dragged the crates full of every manner of Jon Black item from the last thousand years into the current Jon Black’s room and left them in the middle of the floor. “You forgot me, Uncle Black?” Fox spun around startled and found Jon staring at him, and standing with him was another four-year old boy. “I’m sorry, Jon,” said Fox. “I didn’t realize the time.” “My new friend walked home with me; can he stay for dinner and sleep over?” Fox really didn’t care what an illusion did, but if it made Jon happy, then he would play along. “What’s your name, son?” asked Fox. “I should check with your parents to make sure it’s okay for you to stay over.” The boy gave Fox and odd expression and dropped his head. “I’m Roa’Tal,” said the boy and then more quietly, “I want to go home.” Fox ignored the illusion - that was all the game he was going to play with Carina. “Of course you can have your friend stay,” said Fox. The strange boy dropped his head even further and Fox was certain he saw a tear drop from the boy’s eyes. What was this game? Was Carina trying to teach Jon when a person was lonely or homesick and not to be selfish? Strange way to teach. “See, I knew it would be okay,” said Jon pulling the boy into his room. “Yes, my lord,” said Roa’Tal. “What’s this stuff, Uncle?” asked Jon. “Just some toys I found laying around,” replied Fox. “I thought you might enjoy having them.” Fox had a very specific idea in mind for the toys, perhaps if… “I don’t want these,” said Jon interrupting Fox’s thoughts, “These aren’t mine.” “They are yours now…” Fox stopped talking and stared at where the crates of toys had been, they were simply gone.” “Can we go down to the beach and play?” asked Jon. “Go ahead,” said Fox. “Be careful.” “We will,” and Jon ran out of the room dragging Roa’Tal with him. Fox waited until Jon was out of sight and looked at the ceiling and glared. “You could have stopped me from wasting my time,” shouted Fox at the ceiling. The Ocean God didn’t answer and Fox still didn’t expect him to. There were either rules to raising Jon Black that Fox didn’t know or Carina was interfering. Fox suspected a little of both, and why did Roa’Tal sound familiar, he had heard that name before. Fox closed the door and as an after thought checked the room across from Jon’s. All the sea shells were back exactly where he had found them. “Just lock the doors then,” said Fox irritably at the ceiling. Fox heard every lock on every door in the wing click. “Enjoying yourself?” asked Fox. “Why am I here if you are just going to keep interfering?” Fox headed up to his office and fiddled with different alien devices, one of which made his arm go numb for nearly an hour. After that Fox spent the rest of the afternoon reading several Carinian History Books. The Carinians had a violent history of war and conquest for the precious few land masses scattered across the planet. Somewhere into the third book Fox had an odd thought and flipped back through all the books and then pulled book after book off the shelves. Fox heard laughing and Jon and his friend, Roa’Tal, ran into the Study pushing each other and slid to a stop. Jon looked at the pile of books surrounding Fox’s desk and picked one up. “What are you doing now, Uncle Black?” asked Jon. “I was trying to find your name,” replied Fox. “Why?” asked Jon. “I can’t find anyone else that has ever used the name, Jon, before,” said Fox. “Of course not,” Jon gave him that funny little look he always had whenever Fox was doing something Jon thought was silly. Jon apparently thought that solved Fox’s problem and grabbed his toy rocket ship and started a new game with Roa’Tal. The two boys played until dinner and Fox asked Roa if he should be getting home. Fox understood Roa was just an illusion, but thought perhaps he better play the game or no telling what Carina would do next. Roa didn’t answer but watched Jon playing quietly. “He can’t leave, Uncle Black,” said Jon. “He lives here now.” “Jon, I thought you knew the difference between what was real and what wasn’t?” said Fox. “He is real, Uncle Black,” replied Jon continuing to play with his toy rocket ship while Roa watched on. Fox really stared at Roa’Tal for the first time, his skin was a darker green and he was much shorter than Jon, though the boys looked to be the same age. A sickening feeling came over Fox and he went over to the book shelf, it only took a few minutes to find what he was looking for; The Histories of Carina, he knew that Roa’Tal’s name had sounded familiar. There it was, Roa’Tal, the passage he had glanced at earlier, the Reign of the Tals nearly five thousand years ago. The Tals had ruled during the Carinian Dark Ages and long before space flight. Roa had been the heir to House Tal and disappeared one day and was never seen again. “Roa, do you know what that toy is that Jon is playing with?” asked Fox. “No, My Lord,” replied Roa. “Roa, what was the last thing you remember before coming here?” asked Fox. “I was trying to get away from a shark,” said Roa. “It almost got me then I was here.” Fox thought he understood, and the reality of it was almost too much for him to comprehend, his mind balked at what he knew or thought he knew was true. Roa had not got away from that shark, or better said, he was taken by the Ocean God only moments from death and brought here. But… “Jon, did you or your father bring Roa here,” asked Fox. “I did,” said Jon. “But father said it was okay.” “Jon, you must never do that again,” scolded Fox. “Can you send him home?” “I don’t know,” replied Jon. Fox thought about the vision of Carina during the invasion. He had picked up a boy in his arms and only moments later a missile from the invading Kitsune struck where the boy had been. The boy, Jon, had been taken only moments from death, by him, and when the vision ended, Jon was still in his arms. “Is Jon your real name,” asked Fox. “Jon isn’t a name, Uncle Black,” said Jon. Jon wasn’t a name?… was Black a name? Everyone thought the Jon Blacks were clones are brought into existence by the Ocean God. But no, Fox understood now, they were children Carina selected at the moment before death and brought forward in time to become the next Jon Black. But what of Roa? Was he saved from death only to be Jon’s playmate, a toy? What future did a boy so far out of time possibly have? “Jon, you have to try to send Roa back,” said Fox. “I’ll try,” said Jon. Fox had a thousand questions; If Jon wasn’t a name, what did it mean? – The toys that Jon didn’t want, were they from a different time and couldn’t be in this timeline? How did Jon Black really control the wormholes that held the navigation lanes together? Fox decided to drop the subject for now and Roa was gone by the next morning ending that mystery. The rest of the morning routine was pleasant enough but Jon was a bit subdued; he really liked having a friend and was a little mad at Uncle Black for making him send Roa away. Fox didn’t think any more on the subject until later in the day when he started to put all the books away and glanced down at the passage concerning Roa in the Histories of Carina. Fox’s blood ran cold as he read the passage; everything had changed. Histories of Carina Castle Tal, located in the Mat’al Sea, is the ancestral home of House Tal. House Tal suffered a minor loss in Carinian Year 339 when the young heir, Roa’Tal, was killed by a predator shark. Lord Nar’Tal grieved for many years and was eventually murdered by his second son, Rin’Tal, when Rin turned fifteen-years old. Rin’Tal formed the Black Army and conquered the other six Major Houses and plunged Carina into seventy-three years of brutal civil war. Rin’Tal became the first Emperor of the Tal Empire. The Tal Empire later conquered the twenty-seven known worlds and has ruled the galaxy for four-thousand years.