“Son?”
Tenuk had been woken up by the sound of a door opening and soft, fluffy footsteps. Slowly approaching the massive, cozy, self-heated bed was the last person Tenuk wanted to see. Fear though petrified Tenuk, making him unable to move as Ahvra, the Lord King of the Spasts, came closer, whispering, weeping.
“Tanos, is that you?”
Normally, Ahvra wore a gold crown and golden robes that delicately covered his silver and gold-stripped fur. But he was currently wearing a black, mourner’s scarf, and there were marks down his face, where tears from his brilliant blue eyes had stained his fur. Ahvra was an ancient Spact, but guilt and grief made him look awfully fragile. And the source of that agony was lying in bed, in his old bedroom, where Ahvra wandered in every day to mourn the loss of his eldest child.
Tenuk stuttered, unable to find words at first. Instead, he blinked his four eyes. As he did so, his body changed colour – his fur turned red, his mane turned silver and his eyes turned sapphire.
“Hi, dad.”
“Where… where… I… I thought you were dead!” Ahvra came closer, until he was in touching distance. He hesitated at first, not sure whether to reach out, before delicately placing his hand on Tenuk’s shoulder. “You… you are real… You are here… The Holy Whenvern heard my prayers!”
“Uh…” Tenuk stuttered some more. “I, uh, hate to break it to you, but, uh… the Holy Whenvern… didn’t save me…”
Ahvra wiped his eyes, then hugged Tenuk, holding him a little too tightly before sobbing. “It doesn’t matter! You are alive!”
Tenuk closed his eyes, then tried to wriggle away. “Dad, you… you don’t understand! I’m… I’m not Tanos! I’m Tenuk now!”
“What do you mean?”
Tenuk blinked his eyes again, returning to his two-tone blue fur and red eyes. “Tanos died! He died in that hotel explosion! I made a new, better life for myself, away from you!”
The Lord King of the Spasts backed off, not understanding what his son, his missing son who had been gone for nearly a year, was talking about. “You… You have amnesia. You don’t know who you are.”
“No! Well… It’s complicated…”
“Well… why not… why not try to explain?”
Tenuk sighed, then started doing as he’d been asked. It was the least he could do. Clearly his dad had genuinely missed him, he was clearly broken and upset.
“I had formified amnesia for a bit. I somehow managed to save-change, I guess I was blown off the roof of the building and shapeshifted into a bird to save myself? I don’t know. Either way, I ended up 100km away, where I woke up in Nyssi’s bed.”
“Who…” Ahvra suddenly paused. “You have been pretending to be this Tenuk person the entire time? You would rather work as a gladiator than be the Lord Prince, than be the Heir to my throne?”
“To be fair, I didn’t know I was Tanos at first. I forgot who I was entirely!” Tenuk protested. “This blue fur? My sky blue mane? My red eyes? I WOKE UP like this! Nyssi found me looking like this! I couldn’t remember my name, I couldn’t remember my life, so I gave myself a new life. And you know what? When I did get my memories back? I decided that I prefer being Tenuk to being Tanos.”
“But… why?” Ahvra was clearly struggling with the idea that his own son didn’t want to be himself.
Tenuk snarled, ever so slightly. “Why do YOU think, dad?”
Ahvra fell silent. He tried to answer the question himself. Surely he had been a good father, yes? Ahvra was old, he couldn’t really keep up with his very, very young kids, but he had done everything he could to make sure they were well educated, well looked after, well treated.
“I… I do not know. I raised you the same way I was raised.”
“You made me study, all the time. I didn’t have hobbies or anything, I didn’t have a social life, I was glued constantly to your side! I spent all day learning how to do things your way, but your way is old and outdated! I mean, no wonder the Holy Whenvern won’t free us from our curse, we all just… do the same stuff, nonstop! We haven’t changed! But I WANT change, and, now that I am Tenuk, I have the change I wanted and a life that I built myself, that I love.”
“How should we change though? How we are is what works!” Ahvra exclaimed. “This is how we have survived all this time, in spite of our curse!”
“Surviving isn’t the same as living. As Tanos, I survived. As Tenuk, I flourish. Most Spasts though? They just, well, live. They live good lives but they remain stationary.”
Ahvra sniffed, then sighed. He felt awful. Mostly because he was only partially getting what his son was saying. “But change is scary.”
“I know. I was fucking terrified at first. But I pushed through that fear…” Tenuk trailed off as well. He had realized something. He was lecturing his dad, the same way Ahvra used to lecture him. But right now, Ahvra was torn apart inside. All this time, he’d believed his son was missing or dead. And it had taken its toll on him. “You’re… not going to force me to come back, are you? I don’t want to be Lord King Tanos. I want to be gladiator Tenuk.”
“No. I won’t force you. But… Kohra feels the same way you do. And Levik is too… twisted to be Lord King. I… I failed you, I chased you away. And now I don’t know what to do. And if my own sons won’t follow my path, then I fail my people as well.”
“You… you didn’t fail. You just didn’t realize you were making mistakes. And we can still change things…” Tenuk sighed. “I’ll… I’ll be honest. Levik worked out who I was. When I did that Thirteenth Night event, he worked out that I was alive. He and Kohra came to visit me. And I begged them, I made them promise to not tell you that I was alive. But I also promised to Kohra that I’d come back one day, because I didn’t want Kohra to feel as tied to you as I was.“
“You-“
“Please, don’t be angry at them. I made them promise. Kohra and Levik are honorable, they would never break promises. But when I told my best friends that I couldn’t be a gladiator forever, Kayel made a suggestion, and it… I think it’s how we can change, dad.”
Ahvra leaned forward. “What do you mean?”
“We’re the only absolute power monarchy among the Twelve. We’ve ALWAYS been ruled by a Lord King. Everyone else? The Vrekans call their leader a king and queen, but they’re elected. The Ksithans have a family that rules over them like we do, but their family is large and the average Ksithan votes for whoever should be king and queen, and they change those roles every five years. Even the Torr, the bastards that they are, have elections occasionally. But you’ve been in charge for… so long, literally ten times my age!”
“I… I see…” Ahvra grunted. “We have stagnated. And… I guess… that means we can’t change, change, we’re… we’re going against the Holy Whenvern and his desires… But HOW do we change?”
“Simple! We become a democracy! Or… well, it’s not simple at all… But, like…” Tenuk fell silent again. “I… I haven’t thought this through…”
However, as Tenuk looked up, he realized Ahvra was smiling now. “It’s okay, my boy. I can’t expect you to have all the answers. But you have given me an answer to one burning question. You came back to me.”
“Um… admittedly, I think I only accidentally came back because… uh…” Tenuk glanced around and suddenly realized where he was. “Oh. I am in bed. In my old bedroom.”
“You are home.”
“Yeah, but I was at my best friend’s house, celebrating his birthday with all my other friends and suddenly… Oh fuck… I hope Arkay is alright… FUCK! Retvik’s going to be worried sick! I have to call him and tell him I’m okay!”
Ahvra very suddenly held Tenuk tight. “It’s okay, son. I’ll help you. I promise. I’ll make some calls, I have people on Portalia who can help you, I’ll get you back to your friends.“
Tenuk blinked, then rubbed his eyes. “You… won’t make me be Lord King?“
“No. I realized I was, well, wrong. In trying to give you all the tools you needed, I forgot about your happiness. Your new life makes you happy, it would be wrong for me to take your happiness away from you…” Ahvra paused, then sighed. “Can I ask two things of you, though?”
Tenuk nodded. “Yeah, sure, dad.”
“The first is, I would like it if you, well, called me occasionally. So we can talk. After all, you are young and oh so smart and full of emotions. I’d like to know what you are up to, and I’d like to ask advice of you, occasionally.”
“I can do that.”
“The second…” Ahvra hesitated some more. “Would you… be willing to let the world know that you are both Tenuk and Tanos? It’s… almost a shame that you have achieved so much and hide behind a fake name.“
Tenuk thought for a moment, then shrugged. “I… I guess I could, but I’d kinda have to work out the logistics first. I do like being called Tenuk though.”
Ahvra smiled, then patted Tenuk on the head. “Very well. I shall call you Tenuk though, since you prefer it. You can also stay blue, if you want, since you are clearly happier in these new colours.”
Tenuk smiled back. “Thanks, dad.”
The two Spasts embraced, holding each other tightly, before falling quiet.
“Would you… like something to eat?” Ahvra eventually asked, breaking the silence. “I have caramel and marshmallows. And I’m sure your brothers would love to see you before you head off back to Portalia.”
“You know what, dad? That sounds great.”