by Donna Raider
Leah laughed for the first time that day. “I love you so much, Priest.” She slipped her arm around Mika’s waist and snuggled closer to her.
“I am fine,” Mika answered her question. “How about you? That was some show you put on back there, and I must tell you, you were so hot,” she said huskily.
“You do know what I am, don’t you?” Leah looked into Mika’s eyes, the fine vein down the center of her forehead popping out slightly.
Still beautiful, Mika thought.
“You’re a witch, a very gorgeous witch,” Mika answered her matter-of-factly. “Obviously a good witch. You know, I can handle being married to a good witch. Are you Glinda the good witch?” she teased, smiling as she referenced the good witch from the Wizard of Oz.
“Hardly,” Leah answered ruefully.
CHAPTER 12 - Show and Tell
“Before you do something that will condemn your soul to an eternity in hell,” Leah said seriously, “I have something to share with you.”
She handed Mika a cup of coffee then picked up her cup and led the way into the study.
They drank their coffee in silence, waiting for Leah to begin.
She cleared her throat and said, “I have quite a colorful past you should know about.”
“I don’t care,” Mika answered quickly.
“You will,” she said drily. “Please, just sit back and close your eyes. I want to confess to you, Priest. Watch the show I am about to put on for you.
“Bless me, Priest, for I have sinned. It has been a lifetime since my last confession. These are my sins.” Leah spoke almost in a whisper.
Instantly Mika’s mind was filled with images. She watched as a vile woman offered Leah to a man. A beautiful, innocent, young Leah trying desperately to please a cruel and abusive mother who had sold her innocents for a title. Mika saw a thoughtless and uncaring king who had used her to satiate his own physical desires, roughly taking her virginity and using her to satisfy his lust with no thought for her. She was a young trophy wife. Trotted out at balls and ceremonies and hailed as the most beautiful queen in all the land. Then treated as nothing more than a whore in his bedchambers. Time after time, her hopes and dreams were ignored to fulfill someone else’s twisted desires.
Mika watched as they ground her very soul into ashes as she suffered the indignities and atrocities heaped on her by a vile ruler and her mother. The beautiful, gentle, loving girl disappeared. Mika saw her rise from the ashes, an exquisitely beautiful queen filled with hatred, seeking revenge and incapable of love. She had her husband, the king, killed. She stood by as her followers murdered prophets and men of God. She ruled her country with an iron fist, using those around her for her own purposes, just as she had been used.
Mika watched in horror as she ordered entire villages massacred, seeking revenge on those who had abused her. She saw her systematically murder all her relatives, including her own children, to secure her position as the ruler of Judah.
Mika gasped as Leah slit the throat of a village priest. She observed as she used lovers and then killed them when she tired of them. She was ruthless. Mika saw vision after vision of the horrible deeds of which she was capable. Mika saw her behead her own father and kill her evil mother. Mayor Leah Anthal truly was the Wicked Queen Athaliah, ruler of Judah and Israel.
Mika stopped breathing as Queen Athaliah, daughter of Jezebel, ruler of Judah, challenged God. Dared him to confront her, cursed him.
A flash of light, a minor twist in time, and Athaliah stood alone, looking around her. She was in a strange forest surrounded by heavy foliage. A wild beast charged her and Athaliah destroyed it with a flick of her wrist. Her powers worked in this new land. She began clearing the forest. In its place a town emerged, rough at first but refined daily as Athaliah learned about her new world.
Through the centuries God banished men and women to Athaliah’s town. Some were good and some were evil. All of them were condemned to Wicked Queen Athaliah’s own personal hell.
As centuries passed, Athaliah became Leah Athal, mayor of New Judah.
The single thread running throughout the horror show was a slimy, scaly little man called Legion. Mika watched as Leah signed contracts with the man, who could have easily been the spawn of the devil.
A change of scenery did not satisfy her lust for revenge. Mika saw Leah murder her lover in a jealous rage. She saw her murder a man who had innocently wandered into her town. She gasped as she watched Leah slowly close her hand into a fist as Father Murphy’s heart stopped beating.
At the end of all the horror and bloodshed, Mika saw Leah holding a tiny baby boy. Only then did she see any semblance of human emotion. Leah loved the boy. Because of him, light entered Leah’s heart.
Leah vowed to her son to be a better person, to be a mother of which he would be proud.
Mika watched as time after time Leah had sacrificed herself to save her little town and her son, only to have everyone walk away to celebrate her victory but leaving her alone with not even so much as a thank you.
Mika saw a broken Leah watching Emily Carver and Richie walk hand in hand away from her, shunning her because of her past.
She briefly saw Leah and the blonde sheriff naked, having sex. Then Leah finding Emily in bed with Ruth.
She saw Leah’s agony. Her heartbreak of being betrayed by the person she thought was her one true love. Mika saw her wanting to die, wanting to kill.
She saw a shattered Leah huddled in a corner, her hopes and dreams reduced to dust. Once again, Mika saw her rise, a regal queen with a determined, maniacal look on her beautiful, dark face.
Mika saw herself entering the diner and taking Leah’s hand. She saw Leah with her and Richie, laughing, loving, wanting to live again.
As the first rays of the morning sun shone through the windows, the mental slideshow ended, and Mika dashed for the powder room, slamming the door behind her as she vomited into the commode. She threw up until she couldn’t, and then continued to dry heave. She fell onto the floor, leaning back against the wall for support.
She stayed in the powder room for what seemed like hours but was only forty-five minutes. Her head was spinning, and her heart was racing in her chest.
##
Mika was white as a sheet when she finally emerged. She returned to her seat on the sofa, across from her. Leah searched her eyes for loathing, hatred, or understanding. She found none of those emotions. She was in no way prepared for the emotion filling Mika’s eyes: fear!
Leah slid Mika’s ring from her finger and placed it on the coffee table. With her head held high, she walked regally from the room.
Mika paced the floor, clenching and unclenching her fists. Occasionally her hands covered her face to control sobs that were trying to escape her mouth. Her anguish was heart-rending. She had never received a confession so horrid, so filled with violence and hatred. She had never witnessed such cruelty and evil perpetrated on a young woman as she had seen throughout Leah’s life. She had never seen such shame and regret as she witnessed when she looked into Leah’s eyes after she sat down on the sofa. For the first time in her life, she was afraid. Mika was afraid she might not be able to lay to rest the horrors that haunted Leah Anthal. She fell to her knees and prayed as she had never prayed in her life. Receiving her answer, she stood.
Mika picked up the ring, slipped it into her pocket, and walked into the foyer. She looked at the front door and then into the kitchen, where Leah stood watching her, tears running unchecked down her cheeks.
Mika knew her decision would change the rest of her life, and she was ready for it. She would fight the battles she knew would come. She would stand between heaven and hell for her. She would do whatever it took to live her life with Leah Anthal.
Mika slowly walked toward Leah, still trying to slow the beating of her heart. She placed a finger under Leah’s chin and lifted her beautiful, tear-stained face, so she was looking directly into her eyes. “I love you, Leah Anthal. I shall always love you.
All I ask of you is that you let me stand between you and any hurt the world may throw at you. I will protect and love you until my dying breath.”
Leah collapsed against Mika. Deep, terrifying sobs racked her small body. Mika picked her up and carried her back to the sofa where she sat down, holding Leah in her lap like a child. Mika held her, stroking her hair, speaking softly to her for hours as she cried.
##
Mika woke hours later, still holding Leah on her lap. She looked down at her head resting peacefully on her chest. Leah’s eyes were swollen from the tears she had cried. She looked at her soft, full lips and resisted the urge to press hers against them. She didn’t want to wake her. She knew Leah was exhausted. She still wore the same blood-covered dress she had worn at the mines.
Leah moved slightly in Mika’s arms then lazily opened her eyes. A soft smile lit her face as she realized she was awakening in her arms. It was quickly replaced by a look of horror as she recalled the events of last night. She moved to spring from Mika’s arms, but she held Leah tightly against her until she stopped struggling. “Shush, my darling, everything is going to be okay.” Mika spoke softly, lovingly. “I’m here, Leah.”
Leah relaxed against her. “I don’t know how you can still be here,” she whispered.
“I happen to be in love with the most remarkable, beautiful woman in the universe.” Mika smiled her sweetest smile.
“I suppose you have many questions to ask me,” Leah mumbled.
“I do,” she answered honestly. “But we have some unfinished business from last night.”
Leah looked at her questioningly.
“You provided me one of the most horrific confessions I have ever received.” Mika exhaled slowly. “I have prayed all night over it. If you are ready, I would like to give you absolution.”
Leah sat up in Mika’s arms. “Just like that, you can forgive me of my sins?” She raised a doubting eyebrow.
“You didn’t have to provide me the information you gave me last night,” Mika answered. “Are you truly sorry for what you have done?’
“Oh, yes,” Leah cried. “I am ashamed.”
“True repentance is all it takes.” Mika smiled quickly. “You have tried to atone for the horrors of your past. Christ didn’t just die for the small sins. He died for the blackest sins and the worst sinners.”
Mika took both Leah’s hands and began to give her absolution.
“God the Father of mercies, through the death and resurrection of His Son, has reconciled the world to Himself and sent the Holy Spirit among us for the forgiveness of sins; through the ministry of the Church may God give you pardon and peace, and I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”
Leah felt a peace settle over her. She didn’t know if it was because her sins were forgiven or if it was the knowledge of how unwavering Mika’s love was for her. No one had ever loved her as unconditionally as Mika did.
Looking at Leah questioningly, Mika pulled the ring from her pocket. “This time, it’s for real,” she said softly. “Will you marry me and be my wife for as long as we both shall live?” Leah nodded, and Mika slipped the ancient ring back on her finger, where it belonged.
Mika held her for a long time before deciding they both needed to shower and change into clean clothes.
“You can shower here,” Leah pleaded, not wanting to let her go.
“I have no clean clothes here.” Mika smiled. “Let’s meet at the diner in an hour. I am starving.”
“Me too.” Leah softly put her lips on Mika’s. She loved kissing Mika’s lips as much as Mika liked hers.
##
Leah and Richie were at the dinner when Mika arrived. People gathered around Leah. Some were asking for her autograph on menus, parking tickets, water bills, anything that would show her signature. They were insisting that she sign her autograph as “Your Queen, Leah Anthal.”
Mika watched for a long time as Leah laughed and signed autographs, clearly enjoying her newest claim to fame. Richie was obviously enamored of his mother and her new role as town savior. She began moving her eyes around the diner, searching for something. When her gaze met Mika’s, a brilliant smile lit her face, and she nodded to the priest. When Mika continued to stand watching her, she waved her over to their table.
As Mika made her way through the admirers surrounding Leah, she received slaps on the back and handshakes from those standing close to her.
As soon as she sat down, Ruth placed a cup of hot coffee in front of her and dispersed the crowd that was intruding on their time together. “That was some show the two of you put on yesterday,” Ruth said with admiration and emotion in her voice. “Priest, I heard what you said just before you ran down to her. I hope I find someone to love me like that.”
“Ruth, wait.” Leah caught the waitress’s arm. “What did she say?”
“She said ‘I’d rather die with her than live without her,’” Ruth answered softly. She quickly turned away before they saw her eyes fill with tears.
Leah was stunned. She had never known such love.
“Wow,” Richie breathed. “You thought you were going to die, and you wanted to be with my mom?” The boy shook his head, speechless.
Mary ran up to Richie and grabbed his hand. “Sit with me,” she said with a smile.
“Is it okay, Mom?” he asked, still in awe of his mother.
“Yes, dear.” She smiled and watched as Mary dragged him to where she and Isaac were sitting with their father.
Mika pulled Leah’s hands to her lips and kissed each one. “Are you okay?” she asked quietly.
“I am, thanks to you. Speaking of shows, what was that all about yesterday? I was going down until you stepped in. We both know you were doing more than just hiding behind my skirt.”
Mika’s eyes widened in surprise, and she gulped. “With everything that was going on,” she said, a big grin on her face, “I had hoped you wouldn’t notice I was groping you.”
Leah burst into laughter that resounded throughout the diner. “How could I ever live without you?” She smiled joyously. “You do keep me in touch with reality.”
“Your Majesty.” Levi and a group of miners approached her. “When do you think we can get back to work?”
Leah looked at him questioningly.
“The mines are still frozen,” the dwarf grumbled. “You need to thaw the ice and dry out the mud.”
Both the priest and mayor laughed. Not only did she have to save their lives, they expected her to do cleanup, too.
“Let us finish our breakfast and we’ll go to the mines,” the priest answered for her.
##
When they reached the mines, the sheriff was directing cleanup outside the entrance. A few demon limbs were scattered around, and she was having the boulders removed from the road leading to the mine.
“Madam Mayor, I don’t have a work order,” Emily said as they approached, “but I thought you would want it cleaned up so we could put this behind us.”
“Yes, Emily. Thank you.” Leah smiled.
Leah looked toward the docks; with a nod of her head, the bay melted, turning the twenty-foot column into a beautifully cascading fountain. She melted it slowly to prevent a tidal wave from wreaking havoc on the boats in the harbor and businesses on the shore. She then melted the ice in the mines and once again used her flame-throwing ability to dry out the mines, so it was safe for the miners to return to work.
“What you did yesterday,” Emily said, kicking at a clump of dirt with her foot. “That was impressive as hell. Made me miss us. Uh… I mean all the times we—”
“Thank you, Emily,” Leah cut in. “I still don’t know how we attracted demons to our town. It is somewhat outside my area of expertise.”
“Yeah, it was horrific,” the sheriff mumbled. She wondered if the priest had told Leah how cowardly she had been.
“I think everyone was terrified,” Mika noted. “I know I was.”
&nbs
p; “And yet you were there for me.” Leah gave her a brilliant smile, and Mika’s insides melted.
“I suddenly feel very tired,” she said as she leaned against Mika. “Would you take me home, please?”
“I’ll take you.” The sheriff moved closer to Leah and grabbed her arm, trying to pull her away from the priest. “We need to talk about… about a lot of things.”
“No, we don’t, Emily.” Leah shook her head slowly. “We truly have nothing to talk about.” She looked up at Mika. “Please take me home.”
##
“Is Mom okay?” Richie asked Mika as they entered the mansion.
“I’m right here.” Leah smiled at her son. “I am fine. I was suddenly tired of all the people fawning over me. I had to get away.”
The doorbell rang and Richie rushed to the door. “Isaac,” he feigned surprise, “what brings you here?”
Isaac grinned as if they were pulling off the most intense covert operation in existence. “Since tomorrow is Saturday, my dad thought you might like to spend the night with us. We’re having pizza, and we can practice with our band.”
Pretending the whole thing hadn’t been preplanned at the diner, Richie said, “I don’t know. Let me ask my mom.”
He raised a quizzical eyebrow at his mother. She simply smiled and nodded. “Don’t forget your toothbrush,” she called after the squealing boys as they ran up the stairs to Richie’s room to get his sleeping bag.
Mika was pouring Leah a glass of wine as Richie yelled, “Thanks, Mom. You’re the best.” He grabbed his guitar case from the foyer closet, pitched Isaac his backpack, and slammed the front door behind him.
Leah snuggled into the priest’s side and said softly, “It’s nice to be alone with you.”
“Mmm,” Mika murmured as she put her arm around Leah’s shoulders and pulled her closer.
The mansion was suddenly very quiet without Richie.
“Someday, you need to give me the grand tour of your home.” Mika smiled. I have no idea what is in the west wing.”
“Oh, other bedrooms,” Leah answered, “and on the other side of the kitchen is another suite of rooms like this: a study and room for your office.”