“Someone get the damn door!” Tenuk shouted angrily from the bathroom. Arkay, who had been asleep all day due to a nasty headache, woke up from the lounge and wearily went to the entrance of the Dessaron’s quarters. He flung the door open, not expecting to see two Rethan officers standing there.
“Are you Arkay Theanon?” the larger of the two, an Ethran-type wearing standard police officer armour, flat grey with black stripes, asked.
Arkay nodded, still half asleep. “Yes, officer, can I help you?”
“Could you please come with us?” the second Rethan, still a few heads taller than Arkay, asked, holding a pair of cuffs in his hands.
Arkay blinked a couple of times. “I’m sorry, I’ve just woken up. Haven’t left here since the other day. Are you arresting me?”
“If you come with us quietly, we won’t need to arrest you. If you refuse, we have the right to cuff you and take you by force,” the larger Rethan explained.
Again, Arkay blinked. He tried to think about what he’d done over the last few days that would warrant the Rethan Justice Department to call for his arrest. Not sure what to do, Arkay asked them to wait for a moment. “I’m sorry, ser, could I just quickly get a glass of water or something? I… I need a few seconds to process what’s going on…”
Arkay pushed the door too, not closing it completely. As he said, he went to the kitchen to fetch a glass of water, while the two officers waited patiently. Tenuk though had other ideas. Having finished in the bathroom, he headed straight to the front door to demand what was going on. The two officers gawked at Tenuk’s unusual, gangly body, then dutifully explained.
“We apologise, Rethan, but there is a warrant to arrest all apogen Ksa, whether they are on duty or off duty.”
“For what reason?” Tenuk eyed the two Rethans menacingly. They clearly didn’t know who they were talking to. Should the need arise, Tenuk could teleport them both into the middle of the Vriskera deserts before they laid a claw on little Arkay.
“We cannot say. We only have the warrant, not the reason,” the second Rethan explained further. “A matter of the Council, and kept only between council members and their Ksa. This does not affect all gnoston Ksa.”
“You are arresting Rethans for no reason?” Tenuk growled. “You should be ashamed of yourselves.” Tenuk reached to his belt, but felt something stopping him. It was Arkay, holding his glass of water.
“Tenuk, don’t, I know you mean well, but you do anything, you just make it way worse for me.”
“Arkay!” Tenuk lifted the little Rethan off the ground. “They are taking you away!”
Arkay shrugged. He really was sleepy. “I’ve been here since Friday. I’ve got you, Elksia and Retvik to prove that. Skios too. They’ll ask me a few questions then they’ll let me come home. It’s nothing scary…” Arkay glanced at the two officers. “Right?”
Tenuk put Arkay down, still glaring at the two officers. The Ethran-type officer nodded. “Yes, of course, Arkay. We will explain further in the vehicle, but this is not a public matter, so we must apologise for not being able to offer extra details. If you have anything you wish to take with you, please collect them now, but we advise you not to bring any weapons.”
“For obvious reasons,” the other officer added.
Arkay was about to head inside when he paused. “Um, how long will I be gone for?”
“At least a day. Hopefully no more than three.”
Feeling uncertain, Arkay quickly scanned the minds of the two Rethans, something he should have done earlier. They were genuinely from the local Rethan Justice Department. Something about a murder on Kolasi? Arkay hadn’t been to Kolasi in a long time and had a perfectly reasonable alibi, so he didn’t feel too worried. He quickly grabbed his medication, as well as his personal music player and stuffed them in his backpack.
“Are you sure about this?” Tenuk warned as Arkay headed outside.
“No,” Arkay hesitated, “but we’re supposed to have the best police force around, so I dunno…”
The Ethran-type officer smiled. “Do not fret, little one, you are in good hands. Thank you for complying.”
Arkay waved goodbye to Tenuk, then followed the two officers to their vehicle.
“Stay safe, kid.”
“You too, Tenuk.”