Dazed

by Katie Hauenstein

  “I’m so sorry about your family, Ella,” Peter said. “I know what it’s like.”

  “I know,” Ella cracked.

  I wanted to ask about her results, but it didn’t seem like the proper time. Also, I could induce that the results were negative simply by the fact she was there. I had an irrational combination of relief, gladness, and grief because of how life had been recently and I suddenly did not want to be without my best friend and boyfriend that night.

  “Why don’t you both stay with me tonight? I can have the maid bring in a cot for you, Peter, and Ella, you can share my bed. I don’t think any of us should be alone.”

  “I don’t understand how or why Peter and I can be uninfected when our families were. It makes no sense,” Ella said.

  “I agree, but until we figure out who’s behind everything, there is no way to know for sure. I’m assuming your families were either purposely or accidentally infected while you were both here at some point.”

  Peter let go of Ella and stole me out of her arms. Laying his cheek on the top of my head, he said, “Please tell me you’ve been tested and you’re negative.”

  “I’ve been tested and I’m negative.”

  With that, he let go and we made our way to my room. On the way, I stopped a maid and asked that a cot be brought to my room. She nodded and rushed off to find one. While Ella and I went straight there, Peter stopped off at his room to put on something to sleep in. I simply lent a night gown to Ella for the night.

  “Rose?”

  “Yes, Ella?”

  “I want to go to my family.”

  I did not answer right away. “It’s not possible, Ella.”

  She bit her lip. “Not legally.”

  I narrowed my eyes. “What do you mean?”

  “I know there are secret tunnels, Rose. I have been coming here my whole life and I have never asked you to show me. However, I’m sure you know where they are and I want you to show me one now. Help me leave.”

  “I do know where they are, but it is madness to leave, Ella. If you go home, you could very well contract the disease you do not have now and die.”

  “I understand that.” Ella sniffled. “Please, Rose.”

  “Do you really understand? Do you know what you are asking me to do? We just lost Stephan yesterday. Stephan! My brother-in-heart! Peter could be out of our lives in a few months after the King’s Test. You are really the only friend I have left that I know will still be around in a few months.”

  “And you have always been the only one I can really count on,” Ella said firmly. “Please, Rose.”

  She was right. We had always been there for each other; even through stupid decisions like this one. I hated to send her into danger. I knew if one or both of us was caught, we would be in a bushel of trouble.

  I pursed my lips, then grumbled, “Fine. When Peter goes to sleep, I’ll sneak you to one of the tunnels.”

  Ella squealed. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

  “Shhh.”

  When Peter came in, we all silently went to our beds. Ella and I had our backs facing each other, so I think she probably assumed I wouldn’t be able to hear her sniffling through her tears. I turned over and held my cousin. Then, she cried freely until she fell asleep. Shortly before she did, I heard Peter’s soft snores, so I knew he was asleep. I just laid there and stewed over the uncontrollable crisis.

  I completely understood where Father was coming from with his orders for me to not be near the infected, with the quarantine, his meeting with the High General, and his brother being ill. I understood because I felt the same way. I felt the need to do something, anything to fix this for our people, but being next to helpless to accomplish that fix.

  I would gladly even give up my life if it would save them.

  “Psst. Do you think he’s asleep?” Ella whispered. She must have woken up while I was musing. We paused to listen and Peter snorted loudly.

  “Yes. He is,” I whispered back. “Let’s go.”

  Quietly, we got out of bed and walked over to the sliding door. When we made it to the hallway, I asked my Guard if he could get an extra Guard to help him since all three of us were sleeping in there tonight and he took off to do as I asked.

  As soon as he was gone, I rushed Ella down to the third floor straight to the end of one of the guest halls. In one swift move, I flipped a picture on the wall and pressed the button to open the hatch that led to a secret stairway. I knew it emptied onto the field directly behind the palace.

  “Be careful,” I whispered as she began to descend the stairs. I closed the hatch and began to stroll back to my room. Just as I was approaching my room, I suddenly heard Ella screaming.

  “No! Let me go!” she was saying.

  I turned around and began descending the stairs to follow her.

  “Don’t bother, Miriam,” I heard Father say coldly behind me.

  Slowly, I turned around to face him. “Hello, Father.”

  He was glaring. “Are you insane, Miriam? What were you thinking? If she goes home, she could get what they have and die!” he yelled.

  “Yes, sir. I know,” I replied. “I told her that, but she insisted.”

  “If she asked you to buy her a light gun so she could shoot herself in the head, would you do that, too?”

  “Of course not!”

  “Exactly.” He sighed. “Miriam, I think it would be a good idea for you two to stay in your rooms for a while. I need to be able to trust you. As future Queen, you need to realize that sometimes, decisions for safety need to be made regardless of whether or not it makes people happy.”

  He was right. I knew he was. I was ashamed of my weakness.

  Am I really ready for all this?

  “Yes, sir. I understand.”

  “Good. Am I also to understand that Peter is in your room sleeping right now?”

  I winced. “Yes, sir. He is sleeping on a cot.”

  He pointed a stiff index finger at me. “Last night. Tomorrow, he is back to his own room. Understand?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  As I made my way back up the stairs at the Core, I heard the front doors slide open. “Let me go! I demand to be let go! I need to see my family!” Ella was screaming and sobbing at the three Guards it took to control her; she was struggling quite a bit. They had resorted to actually carrying her around rather than trying to drag her. Her door would surely be locked from the outside when they got her in, as would mine.

  “I’m sorry, Ella!” I shouted.

  She stopped fighting for a moment and met my eyes. “You tried! I love you, Rose!”

  “Love you, too!” At that point, the Guards rounded the corner to her room and I made it back to mine. When I opened the door, Peter was still snoring. I tilted my head and examined his peaceful countenance. With a sigh, I went back over to my bed and got in. As I closed my eyes, I realized this could be the last night I ever saw him asleep at peace like that.

  Chapter 25

  Early the next morning, I heard the chime ring on my door. I struggled out of bed and put on my robe before answering. After blinking a few times, I tried to open it. It only buzzed at me.

  Right. Locked from the outside.

  “Who is it?” I asked.

  “It is the Steward, Princess. Count Lincoln of Elm is on the comm for you.”

  “Put him through,” I said as Peter snorted loudly in the background. I shuffled over to my holostation and answered before it even beeped. Rubbing my eyes, I said, “What can I do for you at this ungodly hour, Linc?”

  “I am so sorry to disturb you, Miriam. It is just – well, you see – Father told us about the disease and Mother has started showing symptoms.”

  I stopped rubbing my eyes and looked at him. “I am sorry, Linc. I am sure that is rough.”

  He nodded. “Leo, Christopher, and I have been talking. There are only four of us left. I know Peter is already at Evergreen Palace. We think it may be a good idea for the three of us to come there, as
well.”

  “The palace is on lock-down right now. No one comes in or out. Trust me. I just tried to smuggle Ella out so she could be with her family.”

  “Tried?”

  “Unsuccessfully. All it did was get us locked into our individual rooms so neither of us would do anything else stupid.”

  He chuckled and I smiled. “Could you speak to the King about it?”

  “I do not think he is going to budge and I do not think he would be very receptive to me right now. You may do better to talk to him directly.”

  Linc sighed. “I already did.” He made a face that told me he was hiding something.

  “What else is going on, Linc?”

  “Well –although we are not showing any symptoms, Christopher, Leo, and I all tested positive for the disease.” My face, I’m sure, turned pale as a ghost in winter. “I talked with your father about it; suggested that it would be best for us to be near Doctor Winston when he comes up with a cure, but he was insistent that the lock-down stay in place.”

  “I cannot believe all this is happening,” I said as I covered my face with my hands. “I do not want you all to die.”

  Linc laughed dryly. “Neither do we.”

  I cupped my chin in the palms of my hands. “The only thing I can think to do is to talk directly with Doctor Winston. Perhaps he can convince Father it is for the best.”

  “Do you think he will listen to you?”

  I shrugged. “Maybe. He and I have kind of become friends since all this began. I will give him a quick comm and let you know how it goes.”

  Before I could disconnect, Linc said, “Miriam?”

  “Yes?”

  “Thank you. It means a lot that you are doing everything you can for me. For us.”

  I smiled. “Of course, Linc.”

  After disconnecting with Linc, I put in the address to comm Darrel. As it beeped, I looked over at Peter, who was still sound asleep. He looked so at peace, as if nothing was wrong in Arboria. “Miriam?” Darrel said.

  I looked back to the holocomm to find an exhausted Darrel. “Hello, Darrel. I have a favor to ask of you.”

  “What is it?” Darrel pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed in a way that told me he really couldn’t take more work at the moment.

  “I am sure you are aware that Count Brian of Birch and his family have died?”

  “Yes.”

  “I got a call from Count Lincoln of Elm. He tried talking to Father, who was unreceptive, then me, but I could not do anything for him. As I am sure you know, Count Christopher, Count Leonard, and Count Lincoln all tested positive for the disease. Given that there are only four participants for the King’s Test left, he feels it is prudent, and I agree, that they be on premises for when you develop a cure for them.”

  Darrel sighed. “Miriam, I am doing my best. I am not feeling very encouraged right now. I keep thinking I am close, then another family dies.” He paused and sighed again. “What I am trying to say is that it is more likely a case of if not when the next family will go.”

  “I understand, but if you do come up with something, would it not be best for them to be nearby? I would rather not imagine marrying a foreigner from the batch that has been selected. Prince George and Prince Xi Roger, I know, would be dreadful for Arboria, not to mention me.”

  Darrel bit his lip and seemed a bit shaken at my statement. “I suppose you are right. I will let the King know I need them to come here.”

  “Thank you, Darrel. Thank you, so much.”

  When Darrel disconnected, I commed Linc back and let him know the good news. He was very happy, but I could tell he was also scared and that he had a headache. He couldn’t stop rubbing his temples the whole conversation.

  After our discussion, I went back to bed. When I heard him sigh and yawn, I knew Peter was awake.

  “Are you wanting to get up, Peter?” I asked.

  Still yawning, he said, “Never. Go ahead and go to sleep. You seem tired. Long night?”

  “You have no idea.” Speaking with a yawn of my own, I said, “I’ll tell you about it when I wake up. Love you.”

  “Love you, too. I’ll never get tired of hearing you say that.”

  I smiled and went to sleep.

  ~ ~ ~

  Opening my eyes, I stayed completely still. Peter was sitting in a chair reading. All I wanted to do was bask in the secure feeling of being in Peter’s presence when waking. I didn’t want it to end. Something told me this would never happen again. Even if he ended up being the last nobleman left and the King’s Test was cancelled. I felt it deep in my soul that things would not end well.

  I wasn’t sure if I was being pessimistic, realistic, or what, but no matter what I told myself, I couldn’t shake the feeling.

  I turned around to find Peter wide awake and smiling. I smiled back, but apparently, it didn’t reach my eyes because Peter noticed it was a little forced. “What’s wrong, Darling?” He was teasing me about the other night when I called him that.

  “Shut up, Peter.” Then, I really did smile. “Aside from the unshaking feeling of impending doom, I had a bad night.”

  “I noticed you moved over here and Ella’s gone. What happened?”

  I giggled. “You are a hard sleeper. Did you know that?”

  He laughed. “Yes. Mother used to tell me that all the time.”

  I fiddled with a stray string on the blanket we shared. “I tried to help Ella escape the lock-down last night and we got caught. We are both locked in our rooms until Father decides we’re not going to do anything else stupid. I assume that means until Ella’s family is all gone.”

  He frowned. “Are you insane?”

  “Father asked me the same question. I just wanted to help Ella; to respect her wishes.” I put my head on his chest and he began to stroke my hair.

  “At least you had good motives.”

  “I wish Father would have seen it like that. Poor Ella. All alone at a time like this.” I had an idea. “Peter, could you do me a humungous favor?”

  Peter lifted both his brows. “Not if it’s something stupid.”

  I laughed. “I don’t think so. As much as I love having you with me, Ella needs someone more right now. Can you go be with her? Be the friend she needs right now? You’re the only one who can understand what she is going through with her family.”

  Then, his brows furrowed. It was almost comical how different his face looked between raised brows and furrowed brows and I bit back a smile. “You would be alright with me being alone with another woman in her room?”

  “It’s not my first choice, but I trust both of you. And I believe in your love for me. And I know Ella needs someone right now.”

  Peter softened his expression and kissed me. “I love you. Alright. I’ll get dressed and head right over there. I’ll let her know you’re thinking of her.”

  “Thank you, Peter. I love you, too. Now. Shut up and go.” I smiled and he smiled back.

  Chapter 26

  In the following days, Peter spent most of his time comforting Ella. It took much longer for the Maples to succumb to the modified Daze than the other families thus far and Ella really did need someone. When he wasn’t with Ella, he was delivering verbal messages between us – we had later discovered our addresses were blocked from each other on our holocomms. We were both angry with Father for keeping us apart when she needed me.

  My time was mainly spent in very productive ways – including watching classic television and film, and reading classic literature from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. I loved the old sci-fi shows, like Doctor Who and Star Trek, and fantasy books about girls becoming adults only to discover they are actually something different than they thought. Several books had characters involved in acting, something I always wished I could do, but never could because of my position. By reading and watching the holocomm, I managed to escape my room, if only in my mind.

  While closed to the argument from Linc, and probably me, Father was open to br
inging the three other Counts into Darrel’s lab when Darrel spoke to him. When they arrived, I asked if I could go see them and Father immediately denied my request without argument, then disconnected the comm. Since he wouldn’t let me go down, I commed Darrel and had him let the men know they were in my thoughts and I would visit them as soon as I could.

  When my birthday was only a week away, Father finally released me from my room. He still wouldn’t let me down to see Linc, Leo, or Christopher, but he said it was because he needed me down in his office and that I could visit when I was done with him.

  As I hurriedly got dressed appropriately for a meeting with Father, I wondered what could be happening that he would release me from my imprisonment. I also wondered where in the world Marie was; I hadn’t seen her in a few days. When I was ready to go, I tried to leave, but found my door still locked from the outside. My Guard let me out and escorted me down the spiral stairs around the Core.

  When I opened the door to Father’s office, I saw Marie sitting in a chair wearing magnecuffs and looking forlorn. Standing behind her was a gentleman I didn’t know, but who was wearing the uniform of a detective with the Petrichorian City Guard.

  I stopped just past entering and the door caught the hem of my wide leg trousers when it shut. “Father?” I tried to step forward, forgetting about my pant leg and frowned at it. Frustrated, I smashed the button so the door would slide open and strode in with false confidence.

  “Father, what is going on here?”

  “I was hoping you might be able to help me with that,” Father replied sadly.

  I looked at Marie, but she wouldn’t meet my gaze. “Marie?” I said and she winced.

  “Allow me to introduce myself,” the stranger said. He seemed a bit smug, but all the detectives I ever had the displeasure of encountering were. “I am Lieutenant Hanson of the Petrichorian City Guard.” He bowed. When he straightened, I nodded an acceptance of his respect.

  “Very well. I will ask again. Father, Lieutenant, what is going on here?” I asked, beginning to get irritated that no one had yet answered me.