Dazed

by Katie Hauenstein

  “Marie DeWittacker is a spy,” Hanson said frankly.

  I quirked an eyebrow in disbelief and looked between him and Father. With a dry chuckle, I said, “You cannot be serious. Marie? She is probably the most loyal person to me aside from my family and Peter.” I looked to the woman who was still avoiding my gaze and noted her evading posture. The little humor I had left. “Marie? Please, tell me the Lieutenant is reading into some circumstantial evidence and it is not true.” Lieutenant Hanson frowned, and she looked up at me with wet eyes.

  “I am sorry, Miriam,” she said and looked away from me again.

  “Marie?! What?! Who are you spying for? Are you working with those responsible for the deaths of all those people? For Stephan?!” I asked. My head was spinning. I looked to the Lieutenant. “How – what?” I looked back to Marie. “Why?”

  Marie still refused to look at me. “She is a part of a movement,” Hanson began. “We do not know the name of it or its origins, but it is a new one. In a nutshell, they want all the Nobles dead so new common Arborians can move into their places.”

  “Is this true, Marie?” I asked her.

  This time, she did look at me, her eyes wild and pleading. “Yes, it is true, Miriam; we want new Nobility. But we are not responsible for all those deaths. We are not the ones killing people. I promise. I would never put you through the pain of losing Stephan or anyone else you love.”

  Clouds covered my sight as I listened to her and I stumbled back across the room. “I cannot believe this. You were my friend. I trusted you.” I said quietly while I turned away from her and made my way to a plush chair.

  “Do you have any evidence linking her to the deaths of the Nobles, Lieutenant?” I asked contemplatively.

  He shifted on his feet. “That is not something I would like to discuss while the prisoner is in the room,” the pompous Lieutenant answered.

  “Then send her out!” I shouted. “Guard, take her outside the room while we discuss this. If she escapes, I will personally sign your dishonorable discharge. Am I understood?” The Guard I was pointing at nodded stiffly, only slightly showing his surprise at my outburst, and rushed to take her out of the room.

  “I am not innocent of being a spy, Miriam, but I swear! I am not responsible for anyone dying!” Marie shouted as she was dragged from the room.

  When she was gone, I pointed at the Lieutenant and commanded, “Speak. Now.”

  He frowned, but Father smiled at the way I took charge.

  Good. Maybe he’ll have a little more faith in me and respect for me now.

  “We have nothing solid as far as her being connected to the deaths, but she is definitely responsible for giving these rebels information,” Hanson said.

  I shook my head. “I cannot believe this!” If something were within reach, it would have been sent flying across the room. “Have you discovered who she was speaking to?”

  “Not yet, but we are running through her holocomm recordings to see who she has been speaking to and what she has been saying.”

  “Recordings?” I asked and looked to Father.

  Father cleared his throat. “It is not something widely broadcast, but all communications to and from people on the palace staff are recorded. It is for security purposes.”

  I frowned at that. “That does not seem quite right. We really do not have a right to be invading their privacy like that.”

  “We will have that discussion another time, dear. Right now, let us discuss this. Has Marie seemed odd at all lately?” Father asked.

  I thought about it and shook my head. “No. She has been as attentive as always. More so, even, with the emotional rollercoaster I have been on lately.”

  “How open are you with Marie?” Hanson asked.

  “Very. I mean, I do not share everything with her, but when Countess Elleouise is not around, she is my confidant. However, any information she has garnered from me is personal in nature. I do not discuss Council meetings or anything of the sort.”

  “Nothing political at all?”

  “Not beyond telling her I am stressed out of my mind about the King’s Test and Crowning Coronation.”

  Father’s door chimed and he pressed the button his desk to admit the new guest. A young woman walked over, whispered something to Lieutenant Hanson and he frowned. “I see. Thank you for letting me know,” he muttered to her and she left.

  “News on the case?” Father asked.

  The case? This isn’t a murder mystery, Father… Well… I guess it kind of is.

  “Yes, Your Majesty,” Hanson said. I hated how he treated Father with so much respect and talked to me like I was a narcissistic brat.

  Princess Problems.

  “It appears that my researchers have made quick work of Ms. DeWittacker’s recordings. We have had several more arrests from right here within the palace.” I shook my head in disbelief. “If you will excuse me, I have some more interviews to perform. I will let you know if I learn anything else.”

  Father stood to shake his hand. “Thank you, William.”

  Lieutenant Hanson bowed to me again and left. Father took his seat again.

  “Man acts like he is the twenty-third century Sherlock Holmes,” I muttered and lay my head back.

  “Who?” Father asked.

  “Oh. He was a fictional brilliant detective originally written in the nineteen century. His character’s popularity only declined when the Daze hit and everyone became more concerned with reality than escaping from it with books or film.”

  “Huh.” Father paused. “Are you alright, Rose?”

  “No. No, not really.” Tears had been slowly dripping down my cheeks since my eyes clouded over.

  Father sighed. “I didn’t know our people were so unhappy that they would kill all the Nobles.”

  I shook my head. “No. Marie could never – she wouldn’t.”

  “She did. Even if she didn’t know the people she was working for planned to do it, she still reported to them.”

  I looked at him and whined. “Why? I always treated her well. She gets paid better than most in the palace. I can’t understand why she would betray me like this.”

  We sat together in reflective silence for some time. Marie had been with me for so long; nearly as long as I had known Peter. She had stayed up late with me several nights as I talked about my romantic meetings with Peter. She gave me advice when Ella and I had an argument. She looked through my picture books from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. I had trusted her implicitly for years – and she was a spy.

  Both of us were still moping when Darrel holocommed Father. “Your Majesty, I was calling to inform you that the Duke and Duchess of Elm are both dead and, the now, Duke Leonard and Count Lincoln are – not doing well. If Princess Miriam wants to see them, she had better come down now,” Darrel said when the comm was connected.

  “I don’t feel comfortable with her visiting with them. I’ve already expressed to her I don’t want her in your lab,” Father said.

  “It is not possible for her to get their mutations of the Daze. Each form is family specific. I promise she will be safe here,” Darrel assured. Father hummed and looked over to me.

  I buried my face in my hands and sighed into them. “Tell him I will be there soon,” I mumbled through my hands. Father pressed his lips together, but relayed the message and disconnected the comm session.

  “I don’t like this and you know it,” he said.

  “Please not this again,” I begged.

  “But as you seem to be hell-bent on going down there, and I understand where you are coming from, I will allow it. I think Doctor Winston has provided enough evidence showing it’s not transmutable outside of each family. Will you be alright?” he asked.

  I laughed humorlessly. “We’ll see.” I stood up and made for the door. Hand hovering over the open button, I paused and considered telling him about my premonitions.

  No. He wouldn’t understand. And he would certainly reconsider the Crowning
Coronation if he knew.

  I pressed the button and left. The hall was empty. Marie, who I thought was my friend, was long gone and probably in a cell at the local jail now. I wondered what would become of her. I knew the punishment for treason and pushed the thought out of my mind.

  When I got to Darrel’s lab, I went straight to the quarantine rooms. Darrel was leaning against a wall with his feet crossed, pinching the bridge of his nose. I felt sorry for him, thinking it must be difficult to spend day and night trying to save people and having them die before he could do it.

  I placed a hand on his shoulder and the hand on his nose moved on top of my hand. He knew who it was. “Are you alright, Darrel?”

  He looked at me with wet eyes. “I cannot do it. There is nothing I can do. It is too late for all three at this point.”

  I removed my hand. “What do you mean? Has Christopher begun showing symptoms now, too?”

  He nodded. “Perhaps. He is complaining of a headache. I just came from his room. I am going to try, Miriam, but – I have not experienced this much failure in my entire life.” He paused for a second. “I cannot stop thinking about your dream. I want you to know. I will not let you die.”

  His face held a mix of expressions I couldn’t place. Friendship, definitely. Love, no. Determination, yes. The one that confused me was guilt. There was definitely guilt.

  “Do you feel guilty for all those people dying, Darrel?”

  His eyes widened as if he couldn’t believe I sensed it. “How could I not?” He held his arm straight out toward the quarantine rooms. “All those people? Full families? They depended on me. I was supposed to rescue them. Me. I have friends all over the world working on it and even they cannot do it.”

  His last statement surprised me; I wasn’t aware he had his colleagues helping him, or if he had permission to share the information with anyone, but I let it slide. I placed my hand on his shoulder again. “Darrel, it is not your fault. You are not the one who infected them all. You are doing all you can. No one blames you. No one.”

  Darrel let out a deep sigh. “Thank you, Miriam. I think you had better go in there now if you want to see Duke Leonard. I must warn you, though. His family’s mutation created some pretty intense boils all over their bodies.”

  I nodded as he let me in, but his statement didn’t truly prepare me for what I saw.

  Poor Leo.

  Slowly, I made my way over to the bed that he was strapped in. It was the same one Stephan had died in. I let the memory of his screaming face and bulging eyes enter my mind for only a moment. This was Leo’s time.

  “Leo?” I said as I sat on the edge of the bed next to him. He was sound asleep. Boils of all sizes covered his body and face. The largest was the size of a cherry tomato on his shoulder. He didn’t stir, so I touched his face and said his name again.

  His eyes lazily opened and his dry lips cracked in a way that looked painful as he smiled at me. “A beautiful sight to wake up to.”

  I smiled at him and took his hand. “You just can’t help yourself, can you?”

  “Nope.” His face became serious. “I would have told you every chance I had. You know that? I would have written you songs and poems and romanced you into old age if I had ended up your husband.” His face scrunched in grief and tears filled his eyes. “That was always more important than being King to me. I hope whoever does end up marrying you will treat you like I would have.”

  I tear escaped my eye just after one escaped his. He was truly concerned for my future well-being. Though I still thought he was a bit of a creep, he was a sweet creep; a sweet creep on his death bed and I would hear and accept whatever it was he felt like he needed to tell me before he died. It was literally the most I could do.

  “Oh, Leo. Listen to you. There is no need to worry about me. I’ll be alright.”

  “What will happen to you if all seven of us die? Will you get to choose a husband, then?”

  I sighed and smiled sadly. “No. That was never a choice meant for me. I imagine we will have to do a King’s Test with foreign participants or maybe I can convince Father to allow common Arborians to participate. I think I would rather the latter.”

  Leo smiled. “Me, too.” He frowned in pain and crushed his eyes together for a moment before looking at me again. “Is it true that Peter has tested negative for the disease?”

  I nodded.

  “If he’s the only one of us left, would he become King by default?”

  “That’s certainly one possibility.”

  He licked his dry lips. “Isn’t that suspicious to you? I mean, I know he’s been your friend for a long time, but – I don’t know. Maybe I’m just jealous.”

  I sat back in my seat. “Maybe.” But there was something to what he said. I hadn’t considered it before because I was in love with Peter, but now that Leo had mentioned it, the seed of doubt had been planted.

  “You’re not sick, right?” Leo’s question broke my thoughts.

  “No. I’m not. But that doesn’t mean I’m not scared of it happening. Poor Doctor Winston is beside himself with guilt over not being able to save any of you.”

  “I don’t bla –” His sentence was interrupted by the sound of male screaming in the next room, Linc’s room. “Linc,” Leo croaked. “Go to him, please. And, please, don’t come back. I am so glad you came, but I don’t want you to see me like this anymore.”

  I nodded and gave him a small kiss on his dried lips. I had put some gloss on earlier and could tell it soothed him a little. “You should have done that first,” he said and we heard another scream. “Goodbye, Miriam.”

  “Rose. Call me Rose,” I said, remembering how disappointed he had been when I didn’t give him permission to use it before.

  He smiled and tears filled his eyes again. “Goodbye, Rose.”

  I quickly made my way out of the door and found the door to Linc’s room ajar. Darrel was standing next to him and Linc was sobbing. I walked over and saw what was happening. Several boils on his arms and legs had burst open and he was bleeding profusely. Darrel was holding a syringe I assumed held some kind of pain reliever because Linc wasn’t screaming anymore.

  I walked right over to him and took his hands. He opened his red eyes and met my gaze. “Rose,” he breathed. I had never told him to call me that, but he must have been delirious or he had imagined calling me it before.

  “Hi, Linc,” I said softly and glanced at Darrel.

  Darrel leaned over to me and whispered in my ear, “Minutes.” I knew what he meant. Darrel left the room.

  Linc swallowed hard. His lips were dry, too. Taking Leo’s advice, I leant over him and pressed my glossed lips softly on his parched ones. He let out a sigh of relief.

  “I’m so sorry, Rose,” Linc said.

  “Whatever for?” I asked.

  “For the tulips,” he said, confirming my thought that he was delirious.

  I smiled at him. “It’s alright. I think tulips are beautiful, especially in the spring.”

  He was still looking me in the eyes. “But you love the roses, my sweet Rose of Petrichoria.”

  I smiled at him and dammed up the tears trying to escape my eyes. “Oh, but don’t you know? Tulips are my second favorite. What do you say? When you get out of here, should we plant some in my garden?”

  “I would love that. Is that a part of the Test?”

  “No. This will be something special for us.” I made a mental note to plant some tulips in my garden to remember these men who could have been my husband.

  “Don’t go into the coffin, please. It will hurt you.”

  My face blanched. “What did you say?” Eyes open, the image of the coffins came up again and the night man’s silhouette kicked the wooden one off the end. I shook my head to bring myself back to reality. The migraine that hit me was the worst it had ever been and I struggled to maintain my composure.

  Linc closed his eyes. “I think Leo is gone now.”

  “Me, too,” I said, and mean
t it. “What were you saying about the coffin, Linc?”

  Linc nodded. “The glass one.”

  “It will hurt me? Why would I go into a coffin if I’m not dead?”

  “Not dead,” he repeated. “Maybe ‘hurt’ is the wrong word.”

  “I don’t understand.” At that point, it occurred to me that I was trying to make sense of a delirious man’s ramblings. However, the coincidence of his coffin imagery and my dreams could not be denied. It seemed as though he was having a lucid moment, though it could have seemed like incoherent nonsense to someone who didn’t know better.

  “Do you remember the fairytales with the sleeping princesses?” he asked and grimaced.

  “Maybe you should stop talking, Linc. Maybe you should sleep.”

  “If I allow sleep, I won’t wake up. I have to tell you this before I die.”

  I opened my mouth to say something, but he interrupted the action by continuing.

  “Mainly the one about the Princess and the dwarfs who tried to save her? Remember?” I nodded. “Good. ‘Hurt’ is the wrong word. ‘Change’ is better. You’ll sleep in that glass coffin. We’ll be long dead when you wake and you’ll be different.”

  “How do you know that, Linc?”

  “I don’t – know. I’ve – been having – these dreams. I – thought perhaps – I was crazy, but –I felt the need – to tell – you – that.” His breathing was rapid and harsh, not allowing him more than a few words out at a time. “One – more – thing.”

  “I’m still here.”

  “Last words ever – please. Leave – when – I – say – them.”

  I nodded.

  “I’ve – always – loved – you. I – love – you – still. I’ll – love – you – even – in – death.”

  Obeying a man’s last wish, I kissed him one more time and left. Darrel was in the hallway. I leaned against the wall and slid down to the floor, clutching my knees to my chest.

  “That was very kind of you, Miriam. Being there for them.”

  I nodded, the action bringing a stinging pain to the top of my head.

  “Duke Leonard is dead,” he said.

  “I know,” I replied. “Linc knew when it happened, too.”