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Nicky and his father left the Maitland home after one last admonishment from Amanda that Nicky and Alex should be allowed to communicate. After they left, Amanda saw fit to call her husband and tell him that Nicky had gone.

"Well, dammit. I wanted to be there. I had some things to discuss with him, man to man."

"I can't help it, dear. He took the earlier flight."

"Well, there's not much to be done about it. I'll talk to you more when I return home later." He was upset that he couldn't tell Nicky's father exactly what was wrong with that boy.

• • • • • • • •

Nicky and his father got in the car, and pulled away from the Maitland home. "I didn't know you knew how to drive," said Nicky offhandedly.

"We have lots of secrets which we only reveal when needed. But, we don't wish to discuss that right now. We are most disappointed in you, Nicky. We are in a difficult position. We, that's me as the King, have a royal obligation to kill you for the people in order to uphold tradition and custom. I, as your father, don't wish to kill my own son, no matter how upset I may be right now. However..."

Nicky cut his father off, "However, as King, the will of the people must prevail. You have obligations. I understand."

"We're glad you understand, but that doesn't make it any easier."

"Oh, stop with that 'we' shit. It's so unnecessary. There's nobody in this car but us."

"It is necessary. We are speaking to you as the King and not your father."

Nicky sighed. There was no use arguing this point. He could tell. "I suppose you might want to hear why I'm here and nothing went the way you wanted."

"Yes, we do wish to hear."

"It's pretty simple. My whole life I've been confined to a small circle, making few friends, all of them from the very most noble among us and none of them very good friends nor even real friends in the truest sense of the word. I've not been allowed any friends from anywhere else for any reason. The only thing I had that I wanted was my right to go busking. My whole life, I've felt something was missing. I never knew what it was. Then one day I felt a presence. And, I'm sure you won't believe me, but I knew what it was, who it was, and I wanted it more than anything. I went about trying to find this presence, this person destined to be my one true friend. It was my destiny or fate, if you will. I found him eventually, only he didn't seem too keen on being my friend. I risked everything to bring him down, and hoped he'd be at least tolerated, if not accepted. Instead, he's now been declared a danger to our people. You don't know him! He's not a danger. If I have to die to save him, so be it."

"You are really willing to die to save him? You believe your dying would accomplish this? You have no fear of dying?"

"Yes, I'm willing to die, and, yes, I believe it will accomplish that result or I'd not have tried what I did. As for fear, of course I have fear. Plenty of it; more than I want to admit. I know I'm doing the right thing. You always taught me to do what was right, and not what was popular."

There was an uncomfortable, overlong, protracted silence. The King was clearly deep in thought as he drove. Nicky was observing his father, who obviously fit into this world much better than Nicky suspected. He knew how to drive, he knew his way around without a map, and clearly was able to function and appear as a normal person without raising any suspicion. He wondered about that.

The King had many thoughts in his head, but inside he was torn. This was a huge task in front of him. He was required to kill his only son. The king must do things that he doesn't wish to do. However his heart wasn't in this. He fervently hoped there was a way out. He didn't imagine there was, but part of him held onto a small bit of hope. His wife would have wanted it that way. What would Raisa have thought?

There was a complete and total silence in the car, not even the radio for the remainder of the drive. Within thirty minutes, the airport was in sight, planes landing and taking off.

They approached the rental car lot. The King had arranged express return, so they dropped the car off, and boarded the bus to the terminal. The new international terminal was a sight to behold, and Nicky stared at it for some minutes, not having given it a glance when he arrived at it two days earlier. Nicky was always fascinated by unique architecture and this was very avant-garde.

The King grew impatient and indicated Nicky should move along. Once inside, they went to the British Airways counter, his father presented both of their passports and their tickets to the agent.

"Any luggage, sir?"

"None. I've sent it ahead, thank you. We've just these two small carry-ons."

"Very good. I'll direct you to the first class lounge, where you can relax until your flight." The gate agent directed them to the first class oasis await their flight. There was no further questioning or anything out of the ordinary. Clearly the King was marked as an important person in the airline's computer, though obviously they had no idea he was a king from a strange world.

Finally, when they reached the first class lounge, they sat down, almost alone in the area they selected, for most of the people seem to have collected in front of the television at the other side. Like most international first class lounges there were free magazines, telephones, internet terminals, and plenty of free food and drink.

"Nicky, we must say this constant use of our name without our title continues to rankle me," said the King, trying to lighten the overly sombre mood.

"As if I care," replied Nicky acidly. "I mean, so what? You're not a king to these people. I'm a prince, and does it look like it bothers me? Respect is earned in this world, not commanded."

"That's just it. Then again, we suppose it matters not. After all, we are resigned to this thing we must do."

"You don't have to do anything. But, I understand. You're the King. You must do what's right. The good of the people. The needs of the many over the needs of the few, the rightness of it be damned."

Outwardly, the King ignored Nicky's comments.

Every so often, an announcement regarding a flight departure came over the lounge speakers, and a group of passengers would get up and file towards the door. Finally, they heard their flight announced and they, too, left to board their plane.

They boarded without further incident, appearing to all fellow passengers to be a father and his surly, glum teenage son. And, on the surface, the impression would be correct. The plane departed on time, and the first meal was served an hour into the flight.

After the meal, Nicky watched a movie. He wasn't sure of the name, but it was about a family who was left with only their father after the mother died during childbirth. It made Nicky wonder, for the umpteenth time, about his mother's death. It had always been explained to him as an accident, but now he started to wonder.

"Father? You always said you'd tell me how Mother died. I've asked a number of times, and you said it was an accident. I'd like to know."

"Son, must we discuss this overly painful topic?"

"Yes. If I don't have long to live, I'm entitled to know."

"I suppose so." The King paused, and continued. "It's not a complicated story but every time I think of your mother it pains me. I loved her very much, you know."

Nicky nodded but did not speak.

"She died not long before your fourth birthday. What you probably didn't know was that she was with child, and you would have had a brother or sister. Only there were complications during pregnancy. One night, she awoke screaming. There was blood, lots of blood, and it wouldn't stop. Our medics came, but they couldn't save her. I wanted to take her to a hospital above, but it wasn't allowed. The risk of discovery was too great. The Exarch himself forbade it even though I did plead for her. In the end, I understand that custom must prevail."

Nicky was angry, but hid it. "So you think you made the right decision."

"No, Nicky. It was not the right decision. Every part of me told me that I should have taken her for help. By the time I came to realize it, and went to her side to carry her above, it was too late." The King looked pained.

Nicky wasn't happy about this news, but he did ask. His emotions were running wild inside. He'd never seen a human side to his father before, and he didn't know how to deal with it. So, he turned off his video screen and went to sleep without another word.

• • • • • • • •

Alex continued crying into his pillow long after Nicky had left. He'd finally met someone he had feelings about: a real friend, not just a regular friend. Someone he could talk to, be himself around, and the feeling of emptiness and loss he was enduring was so far beyond his experience he wasn't able to cope. For so long he'd had an empty hole, but with nothing to fill it, he was not left wanting, but now that he had experienced what he was missing, agony was an understatement. The absence of what he hadn't even known was missing was unbearable.

It was over an hour before Alex cried himself out. He hated himself for crying like that. He hated himself for so many reasons. He shifted gears mentally. He knew he must look horrible. He had promised Delos that he'd visit her tonight. He didn't cherish that visit, feeling as he did. He knew she'd call him if he didn't call her. Besides, maybe she had an idea. He picked up the phone and dialled. To his relief, she answered instead of her snotty little sister or, worse, her parents.

"Hey, Delos, it's me, Alex."

"Duh! So, we still on for tonight?"

"I suppose so. I don't feel so great, but I promised."

"You can back out if you want. If you don't feel good, I'll understand."

"No, it's mental. I can deal with it," said Alex, knowing it for the lie that it was. He knew he couldn't deal with it.

"Why don't we do the bookstore so we can sit and talk?"

"No, not there again. I was just there with Nicky. How about Starfuck's?" suggested Alex as alternative.

Delos laughed, as she always did, at the increasingly more common nickname of the famous coffeehouse. "You want to do it now, or after dinner?"

"I really want to get out of the house. We could go to dinner somewhere first. I gotta ask to see if I can go, though."

"I'll wait. Go see. If it's cool, I'll meet you around seven. I know I'm cool to go."

"No, that's too late. Dad gets home around six, so I want to be gone by then."

"All right. If you get cleared to go, six it is. Go on. I'll wait."

Alex stuck his head out of his door, and yelled "Mom!" He heard her reply from down the hall in his parents' room. He ran down the hall to the door to his parents' room and asked his mother if he could go out with Delos.

"Yes, Alex, you may. I'll let your father know. I'm sure he'll be disappointed that you aren't home for dinner." He'll probably be thrilled that you went out on a date is more likely the case, thought Amanda.

"Thanks, Mom," said Alex, running back to the phone.

"Yeah, Delos, Mom says it's cool. We're good to go."

"That's great! I'm so excited. I can't wait to hear all about your trip and your new friend."

Alex puttered around his room, killing time. He read a bit of his Harry Potter book, but couldn't concentrate well enough to stay at for it for very long. He poked around the television, but found nothing worthwhile, which was not the least bit surprising. He didn't care for television very much. He tried to write, but he wasn't very good at that. Besides, he didn't know what to write. The few times he did write, he wrote for himself. Nobody else saw it. In the past, he toyed with the idea of making a pseudonym for on-line use, so he could post his stories to see what people thought. Then he realized he didn't care what people thought.

He organized his room a bit, and while doing so found a twenty pence coin on the floor. It made him think of Nicky. He put it in his pocket.

He went to his closet to decide what to wear. He wanted to look good for Delos. She noticed these things, he knew. The problem was he didn't have anything stylish. He wore the same types of clothes for all occasions. He decided the all-black look would work, and changed into a black pair of Levi's 501 jeans and a solid black Lacoste shirt. He had a black pair of Vans with grey trim which he put on, along with black socks. On anyone else, it might have looked a little Goth; on him it didn't have that effect at all. He went back to reading, knowing that on his bicycle it would take him, at most, ten minutes to get where he was going.

Eventually, he decided to go even though he had time to spare. He just didn't want to be home when his father got back from work. Better he waited at Starbuck's than hang out at home much longer. Thoughts of Nicky drifted into his head as he went downstairs to leave. "Mom, I'm leaving to go meet Delos. I'll see you later. Don't wait up!"

"Ok! Have fun," said his mother, cheerily as always.

Alex went out through the back door, and unlocked his bike. He walked it out through the fence of the front yard, happily noting that the news people had long since vanished. He knew that their attention span was short, and as soon as something more interesting came along, they moved to the new carcass like a vulture does.

He made the ride quickly, locking his bike up outside the coffee shop. As he suspected, Delos wasn't there yet. He milled about in the front, pacing back and forth in the cool air. One thing you could always say about the Bay Area, it was seldom warm at night.

He became lost in his thoughts, thinking of the past few days, his trip to England, and, of course, Nicky. He didn't notice how much time had passed when he felt someone poke him in the side. He jumped up and screamed a short, shrill, scream, not sure if the scare or the tickle bugged him more. He turned around, and there was Delos.

Delos was a few inches past five feet tall, and had dark blonde hair, almost a light brown, but not quite. Her eyes were dark green and her smile was enough to win anyone over. She was thin, but not garishly so. Any casual observer would have described her using the apt yet cliched phrase 'cute as a button' and they would have been accurate. She didn't realize the effect she had on those around her, but she melted hearts as she walked, heads turning, eyes glancing surreptitiously, and sometimes obviously. She had the proverbial "it" but she never flaunted it, being outwardly modest.

"What's up, bud?" she asked with her smile showing she had enjoyed the brief torture she inflicted.

"Not much. Some psycho-bitch attacked me moments ago. You don't know where she went, do you?"

"I didn't see a thing."

This banter was typical for them, and possibly to their peers; Delos would have known how outsiders viewed their repartee but Alex, of course, would have no idea.

"Let's go inside and get a cup of something," said Alex, having no witty reply ready.

"Yeah, I could use a cappuccino."

"I don't know how you drink that shit. I much prefer the mocha. You know that you can never have too much chocolate."

"I'm sweet enough, honey. I don't need chocolate. Maybe you should taste me and see for yourself," she said with mock seductiveness.

"In your dreams, Delos," replied Alex, refusing to rise to the bait, "I still maintain there's something seriously wrong with anyone who doesn't like chocolate, especially a woman."

They got in line, ordered, and paid. Starbucks performed with their usual corporate efficiency, and Alex and Delos were soon called to pick up the order. They walked over to a table as far away from the counter as they could, and sat down. There was silence between them as they stirred their respective drinks, each casting furtive glances at each other, secretly hoping the other would start first.

Delos realized after a short while she was going to lose this battle and decided to speak first. "All right, we set this up so I could hear your whole story. I'm not going to sit here all night and wait."

"I can't do it here. It's too public and too confined. Can we go somewhere else?"

"Alex, you are so impossible," fumed Delos. "How about we go to the park and find a bench?"

"Yeah, that'll work. Let's go."

They left Starbuck's still holding their paper coffee cups and got on their bicycles and rode the few blocks to the park. It wasn't really a full park, but a field belonging to the local high school. The far part of the field, past the end of the baseball diamond's outfield, had some picnic tables and some benches scattered about haphazardly.

They were virtually alone, though there was a game going on. It was clearly a pick up game judging by the fact there were people of all ages and genders playing and almost nobody watching from the bleachers. They were far enough away that Alex didn't feel cramped by their presence.

They dropped their bikes next to a tree and sat down on one of the benches. Alex said, "Well, I suppose it's now or never."

"Never keep a lady waiting," added Delos helpfully with a smirk.

"And never argue with a lady. Always dicker."

Delos gave Alex a raspberry. "Enough. Start."

"It was a dark and stormy night," joked Alex. Delos promptly poked him in the side, causing Alex to giggle. He wondered why he and Delos hadn't been closer. She was so much fun to be around. "Anyway, as you undoubtedly know, I've always been quiet and shy."

"Yeah, especially when someone wants you to talk."

"Come on, Del, let me finish or I'll never get this done with."

"Ok."

"Anyway, I've been pretty quiet my whole life, but apparently I've been getting more and more quiet. My parents noticed. They seemed to think I was living in some other world. I disagreed and still do, but that's beside the point. They sent me to some shrink who decided a vacation without my parents would do me good. He figured that the nature of my relationship with my father was the cause of it all. That's the part you know."

Alex paused as a baseball came rolling by with a boy who appeared to be about twelve chasing it madly, his face flushed with exertion. Muffled cheering could be heard in the distance as he finally grabbed it, and threw it back as hard as he could. He gave Alex and Delos a knowing smirk and made a kissy face as he ran back to the game. Alex stuck his tongue out at the boy, but it was too late for it to be seen.

"So I got to London and spent some time doing the tourist bit. I was going to say they were uneventful days, but they were really cool. I loved London. It was so cool and I had a great time seeing all this stuff. I'll tell you anything you want to know about London, but I don't know where to start."

"You know I want to hear about it, but we didn't come out here to talk about London, did we?"

"No, I don't suppose so. Anyway, in London they have buskers. A busker is a musician who plays..."

"I know what a busker is," interrupted Delos, just a bit irritated that he thought her so stupid.

"Anyway, so I heard this busker who was really good. I finally saw him. It was Nicky, though I didn't know that at the time. It was weird, though, because we met again. There was like this little spark or something. I'm not sure how to describe it, but it was definitely something. Finally he asked if I would talk to him. I didn't want to because it was so weird, but I did it anyway. It felt right. Does that make sense?"

Delos nodded affirmatively and then for Alex to continue.

"Well we got to talking. Then we parted ways, but not before he invited me to his place. I gotta ask you to trust me when I don't tell you all the details. Let's just say his father is a very important person his people are quite secretive, so he's asked me to keep it a secret for security's sake." He was pleased because that wasn't exactly a lie.

He stopped as another ball rolled their way. This time a middle-aged woman came chasing after it, not nearly as winded as the boy, grabbed it, and rifled it back towards in the infield. She smiled at Alex and Delos for a moment as she darted back.

"So, I decided I wasn't going to go to his place. I really did decide to not go. But, at some point I changed my mind. I went -- instead of taking my flight home. Nicky was really happy to see me, too. I don't know why. He just kept saying that from the time he saw me, he knew we'd be friends. It was eerie. We talked a lot. Then I found out his father didn't like me so much, so I left. Rather than tell the truth, I just said I was kidnapped. It was stupid, I know. But that's how it was. I ended up telling the 'rents the truth last night."

Delos knew there were many holes in this story; she also didn't know how to get Alex to spill them. It was apparent to her that he was protecting Nicky from something, though from what was unclear to her. And, it followed that you only protected someone you cared about. "So, are you and Nicky an item?" she asked.

Alex froze. This wasn't a question he expected. It would be simple to deny it, but that wasn't quite true. Besides, he didn't want to lie to Delos if he didn't have to. He was unaware she noticed the delay in his reply. The question had stunned Alex, but he finally answered. "Well, I'd love to tell you a simple answer like 'yes' or 'no' but I can't." I can't believe I'm telling her this. "As much as I wish there wasn't, there's something there. I just don't know what it is. I've never felt this way about someone before. It's really weird. I don't have a name for it or anything. But it's noticeable. I really didn't want to tell anyone that but since you did ask...."

"Well, then, why the hell did you let him go?"

"I had no choice. His father came and took him back."

"Then you have to go after him. You need to resolve this. It's been pretty apparent to me from the little you've said that you've got serious issues about your relationship with Nicky, no matter what kind of relationship it is. You need to deal with it."

"How the hell do I go after him? He's in London. I can't just pack up and go."

"I don't know, Alex. I really don't know. But I've got one piece of advice: make sure you're following your heart and not your dick."

"Thanks, Delos. I knew I could count on you to say something perverted in my hour of need."

"Don't mention it, Alex. I'm always glad to help. I will, however, try and think of some way for you to get in touch with Nicky again. I think you need it. Oh, and for the record, you were living in your own world. Just since you came back it seems you're peering out a bit. That's why I want you to find Nicky."

Alex was touched. He leaned over and kissed Delos gently on the lips, and then he realized what he had done with some shock, a wide range of new emotions, and new feelings running through his overloaded senses.

Delos cocked her head slightly with a look of wonderment, "I'm a lady, Alex. Next time you ask before you do that." Then she smiled. Now that was certainly unexpected, she thought.