“I think it’s a little too late for that. I don’t think I’ve ever been this confused about a guy before.”
“Well, have you ever loved anyone the way that you love Tyran?”
“No. Even the way I felt about Scott doesn’t compare to this.”
We spent the next couple hours talking about what we thought things would be like once I was crowned. I wasn’t surprised that we both expected something completely different to what we had experienced. Cali thought that we’d be making changes by now. We saw the irony in the fact that in the real world we wouldn’t even be able to vote but here we were ruling a kingdom.
In some ways we were both just seventeen year old kids, with guy problems and thinking about what clothes to wear. However, in more ways than one, we were adults making major decisions that impacted many people. It was a lot of pressure, but I don’t think Cali or I would ever give it up for the world. Even though we had days that were hard to handle and we’d both thought about giving up, we knew that this is what we were meant to be doing.
Two days later, on Monday, we had Simon’s funeral. Most of the people there were there to support his family, not to mourn him. I understood how angry everyone was; I was angry as well. It was hard to mourn someone who willingly left his family and his kingdom to support Pyrencia. It made me think of the people being held as prisoners, especially Timothy. Even if there came a point where we tried to integrate them back into the kingdom, they would probably never truly be accepted again. Who knows how long that would haunt their lineage? I knew that we would all have to decide their fate sooner rather than later.
I had been procrastinating bringing up in any meeting the fate of the prisoners, because I was still unsure what I wanted to do. However, if I was being completely honest, I just didn’t want to be responsible for their sentencing. With Tyran it was so different because I took it so personally. Sentencing people I barely knew to banishment or even death seemed incomprehensible.
After Simon’s funeral, we continued to work on cleaning up the rooms that were destroyed and the commoners were working the soil, testing it to see if it would be viable. It still was not looking promising and I thought for sure that we would have to come up with another answer. I spoke with the Commoners who were working in the kitchen to find out how we were doing on supplies. They said that we had enough to last about two weeks after the Runners went on their latest run.
Clementine was learning quickly that she was my dog but she was free to roam around the palace and say hello to everyone. Some of the Others were training her while I was in meetings and she already knew a lot of the basic tricks like sit and roll over. I couldn’t believe how fast she was growing. Although we’d only had her in the kingdom for a week, there was no way that she would fit in the picnic basket at this point.
Chapter 13
Love
The whole kingdom was excited about the upcoming balloon festival. Everyone was surprised that we were still going, which made me feel good that I could bring everyone happiness. There were some who didn’t want to go, older men and women who didn’t want to go for different reasons. All together there was a group of 130 who were going. I asked Sebastian to come with us but he wasn’t interested in doing anything other than remember his father that weekend. I could understand that; I was still a mess on November 3rd, the day my Dad was killed. I don’t think that ever changes no matter how much time goes by.
Since the day that I set Tyran free, he barely said a word to me. I wasn’t sure why he wasn’t coming around me very much and I tried my best not to think about it. I actually did my best to ignore what I felt was an awkwardness between us. It’s strange when you see someone you love and although you know the feelings are still there, neither of you are doing anything about it. I was holding back because I didn’t think it was right for me, as Queen, to have that kind of love at this particular moment.
Seeing Cali and Storm together was strange. I had invited the two of them to my quarters for lunch when Cali had told me that she told Storm that I knew about the two of them. They did their best to keep from the rest of the kingdom what was going on between them and I wasn’t aware of any rumors so apparently they were doing a good job. Things were still very new and innocent between them. She would often blush or even giggle when Storm would touch her shoulder or put his arm around her. The short couple of hours that I spent with them, I decided that I needed to do whatever needed to be done so that she could have a family. Even if she didn’t stay with Storm, no one had a right to tell someone that they couldn’t be together.
Love was something that I often thought about. I watched the couples in the palace and wondered if they would be together even if the restrictions weren’t applied. It made me think of a time, not so long ago, in the real world where an interracial couple would be turned away at certain churches. Then there were those who were single that I’d notice looking at someone from another tier with lustful eyes. Although I understood the principle behind the restrictions, I didn’t feel right about telling someone that they couldn’t be with another person solely based on the fact that they were from different tiers. Was it really such an awful thing to have another Other or even another Commoner in the palace?
Things with Sebastian were slowly changing. I think things were so confusing in the beginning when he almost kissed me because I couldn’t pinpoint what I was feeling for him. I knew that I cared about him and it was in a different way than with Tyran but what did that mean? I guess it was when he finally started relaxing around me to the point where he would tease me that I realized that he was like a big brother to me. I didn’t understand sibling love because I had never experienced it before. Whenever he would ask me to go for a walk or go play with Clementine in the field, I jumped at the opportunity. I felt it was easiest to be myself around him more than even Cali right now.
On Friday night after dinner, Sebastian suggested that we take a walk with Clem. I knew that he had something on his mind that he wanted to talk about.
“Jasmine, I have to tell you something,” he said nervously. “When you first came here, I had a major crush on you. Even when I was appointed as your guard, I was still struggling with those feelings.”
“And now?”
He laughed and said, “Now I wonder what I was thinking.”
“Hey! I’m a good catch!”
“You’re the best catch actually. Do you remember that day in your room?”
“The day we almost kissed? Of course I remember that.”
“I stopped because I knew nothing could become of it. However, the more time I spend with you, I don’t know…”
“You can’t imagine kissing me at all?”
“Yeah. It’s not that you’re not beautiful because you are. It’s just, the way I was feeling for you has developed into something different. Something better.”
“I agree,” I said. “I like the fact that we can hang out and talk and not have an added romantic pressure between us. It’s a good thing.”
“I just had to tell you that I had a crush on you. I thought you’d find it funny.”
“Sebastian, I don’t think it’s funny because I was feeling the same thing. I really like what’s happened between the two of us. I think it’s awesome that I can talk to you and you don’t pressure me into telling you details about what’s going on in the palace. It’s just us, having fun.”
“So as long as we’re on the subject of romance, have the Heads been on to you about finding a husband?”
“Nope, Cali fields those inquiries. It’s just not something that I want to think about right now.”
“I don’t blame you, but that excuse isn’t going to last very long you know.”
“I know. Is there anyone in the palace that you want to be with?”
“Well, I used to want to be with Angel because she was the female Guard closest to my age, but then she was married off to Mykel. Now, I can’t really imagine myself with any of the other female Guards beca
use they’re so much younger than me. I guess I will probably end up staying single.”
“Is that what you want?”
“No, I want a family. I would love to have a wife and child to come home to every night. It just doesn’t happen for everyone.”
“What if you could go outside your tier?”
“I don’t know.”
“Oh come on! You must have thought about it before.”
“Well, I do really like this girl named Melody.”
“Ah, Melody Christianson, the Other. She’s really beautiful.”
“Yes, and she’s a lot of fun to hang out with. We’ve spent a few Sundays playing card games and talking. She’s a really nice girl.”
“What do you think about the fact that you can’t marry outside your tier?”
“I understand it. I would never have refused someone that the Queen chose for me if she had.”
“Right, but do you think the restrictions are good for the kingdom?”
“I think there are two things you can’t control in the world. First is free will and the second is love. Personally, I think the idea of trying to restrict whom you fall in love with is a bit archaic.”
“Do you think the others in the kingdom feel the same?”
“I don’t know. I have never talked about it with anyone before.”
“Why didn’t Queen Holly arrange a marriage for you?”
“I think she would have eventually. You know, once the female Guards got a bit older, but Mykel had the most power and so he was arranged with Angel. Tyran, from what I’ve heard, was to be arranged with a girl named Molly but he refused to marry someone he didn’t love.”
“Molly? I don’t know of a Molly.”
“Her whole family was banished about a year ago when her father tried to arrange a walk-out,” he said hesitantly.
“Why would he do that?” I asked. He didn’t answer but looked at me pointedly.
“Me?”
“He and a few others were not too happy about the plans to bring you in early.”
“And the fact that I may not have magic,” I assumed.
“How did you know?”
“It’s kind of obvious now. How old is the next female Guard,” I asked.
“She’s fourteen right now, and we get married as early as sixteen here.”
“So there would be ten years between you and your wife?”
“Yeah, there are a lot of couples who have around ten years between them.”
“There was twelve years between my mom and dad,” I said. “I guess age doesn’t really matter too much but it has to be a little weird at first.”
“I’m sure it is, especially if they don’t actually have feelings for each other to start off with.”
The way it seemed, love was more a business transaction than anything else. The people who eventually learned to love each other were the lucky ones, but a lot of couples were just dealing with what was handed to them. I knew that there were a lot of things within the palace that needed to be taken care of quickly but this was going close to the top of the list. I hoped that the other Heads would see it as being just as important as I did.
The final meeting we had before the balloon festival was very long. We had to discuss a lot of things because Cali and I determined that now would be the perfect time to bring up my cell phone idea and the idea of marrying and dating outside one’s tier. First we had to discuss everyone leaving in the morning. I wasn’t sure how it worked in the past and was interested in how it was done to not call attention to us.
Mykel began the explanation on what the arrangements would be. “So the first shift will leave at 4:15. The two vans we rented that will transport every fifteen minutes until everyone is there. Each van will take 15 people and will drop them off about a quarter mile away from the gates.”
Cali and I would be in the first van and we would all break up and go our own way, careful not to form too large of a group along the way. Everyone had their own clothing for going out to the real world so no one can wonder why we are color coded.
“What are the chances of Queen Aella showing up?” I asked.
“In the past they have not shown up but it’s really no concern if they do. There’s no way that she would cause any trouble in plain sight of the real world. It’s too dangerous for all of the kingdoms,” Mykel said.
“We return in much the same way,” Cali said. “We come back starting around 10:00am.”
“As long as we are here, we have other matters to discuss,” Cali announced.
I took a nervous breath in and decided to start with the easier of the two topics, cell phones. Everyone listened intently as I described what I wanted and why.
“Would they only be used for texting or calling as well?” Storm asked.
“For now, just texting and Cali and I would be the only ones with the ability to send messages to any of you where you guys would only be able to send to me.”
“You don’t trust us?” Rebecca asked.
“That’s not it; we just think it would be better this way for right now.”
“Do you really think this expense is necessary?” Mykel asked.
“It takes only about ten seconds to send and receive messages. It would allow us to call a meeting without calling attention to what we’re doing. Also in situations like Simon, it would have sent the Guards out a lot faster.”
“It only took ten minutes for the Guards to be on their way. That’s pretty fast,” Storm said.
“It’s pretty fast for what we have but those ten minutes allowed Simon to make it almost all the way to Pyrencia. If it had been another minute or two, we would have had a lot more to worry about.”
“Do we have enough funds for this?” Rebecca asked.
“Yes, I don’t believe it would be too large of an expense if we can work off the network that has already been created,” Cali explained.
“I think it’s worth looking into,” Kelly said.
“Alright, if no one has any other questions, I think we should vote,” I said.
Everyone agreed and plans were set for Runner Eddie and Mykel to go into town on Monday to purchase the phones while Storm would discuss the situations with the Others who helped develop the network. If it worked as planned,it shouldn’t take more than a couple weeks to add the cell phones to the network.
“Is that all you wanted to discuss?” Kelly asked noticing my hesitation.
“Well, no. The other thing is a bit more personal. I want to discuss the arranged marriages. I think it might be time to allow marriage outside one’s tier.”
“I don’t know about that,” Kelly said. “There’s a very good reason behind the way it’s organized now.”
“I know that,” I said. “I don’t think it’s right for anyone to say who you can or can’t marry. It’s not right to try to control love.”
“We’d end up having an abundance of Others,” Mykel said.
“And what’s wrong with that?” Storm asked.
“What would be the incentive to stay in your tier?”
“We’d allow two or three children, depending on the tier, to any couple who stayed within their tier with the exception of the Commoners, and that’s only because they make up half the population already. Anyone who doesn’t stay within their tier would be permitted one child,” I said making it up as I spoke, although it made a lot of sense to allow this.
“This is a major change for which you are asking. It’s not just the issue of love that we’re talking about here, it’s the idea that different tiers can exchange information. I don’t know if that is the right thing to do,” Kelly said.
“Oh please,” Storm said. “You don’t think the Others don't know what’s going on with the Enchanters? Please, this place isn’t big enough to keep such secrets and you know it. I’m sure you know what’s going on with the Others or the Guards. Am I right?” When Kelly didn’t answer him, he said, “That’s what I thought.”
“We don’t nee
d to vote on this right now. I’m just telling you that it is an issue that I am considering changing. Although I don’t need to go forward with it, I would like a unanimous vote amongst the Heads before opening a vote to the rest of the kingdom,” I said.
“Are you and Cali including yourself in this vote?” Mykel asked.
Cali responded, “Jasmine and I are in a completely different situation. We would not be included.”
“Well, that’s good. I think that would be too much of a change.”
“If there’s a change to be made for Jasmine and I, it would be something that both of us would think would be positive for the kingdom as a whole. However, we are not discussing that at this time.”
“Just think about it and we’ll talk more about it at a different time,” I said.
“Can I just ask one question?” Eddie asked.
“Of course.”
“Would the divorce laws change at all?”
“Um, well, to be honest, I’m not fully informed on what they are now,” I admitted.
“It’s simple,” Cali said. “As of now, you may get a divorce in some circumstances if there are no children within the family. However, if you choose to divorce and live separate lives, you may not marry again.”
“That actually seems reasonable but I will read up on it just to be sure there are no changes to be made.”
“Alright, I think that’s everything we need to discuss tonight,” Cali said. “We should probably get some sleep considering it’s a very early morning rise tomorrow.”
As Cali and I left, Sebastian was waiting outside the door for me. I said goodnight to Cali and she told me she would be up early to make sure I was awake. Sebastian walked me to my room and I invited him in.
“Would you like some tea or something?” I asked.
“No thank you.”
“Alright, have a seat on the couch Sebastian. I want to talk to you about something.”
He looked at me nervously as he sat down and asked, “Did I do something wrong?”
“No, nothing like that. I just wanted to talk to you about tomorrow.”
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