by J. C. Ahmed
“We should abide by the law,” he said, after a long and awkward silence. Liralexa was relieved, but she felt sad for him. She knew he was angry and felt she didn't have any right to tell him he shouldn't be.
“Get this wretch out of my sight,” Liralexa ordered. Guards surrounded Noah Hackett and removed him from the room. His reign of terror was officially over.
“I will write up a code of conduct for our new and improved military,” Malthus said. “Cruelty against innocents will not be allowed under our watch.”
Jack was sorely disappointed though he knew it was the right thing to do. “We have let Aimee down.”
“I want every girl who was released from the Strages brought here to identify the guards who abused them,” Liralexa said. “Their names will be anathema throughout the kingdom. I know it's not much Jack. But legally it's all I can do.”
“I understand,” he sighed.
“I feel so bad for Jack,” Liralexa said when she, Malthus and Aldrin had tea in the sitting room. “And for you. And for your dad. Letting those men off the hook is killing me.”
Seated next to her husband, she put her hand in his.
“It's fine. We’re doing the right thing, that's all that matters,” he sighed.
“Yes, I suppose.”
Malthus laughed.
“What?” Liralexa asked.
“I was just thinking of the day I first met you. You were so haughty. We all made fun of you afterwards.” She turned red and put her hand over her face. He put his arm around her. “I guess first impressions don’t count for much. That day it seemed like you would be just as bad as your parents. We laughed at you but we felt hopeless. The misery would never end and would be passed onto our children if we lived to have any. But we were wrong. It gives me so much joy to watch you side with the powerless and stand up to the powerful who don’t want to change. I’m so proud of you and proud to call you my wife.”
Liralexa tried and failed to hold back tears. Malthus held her tight.
“I taught her well,” Aldrin chimed in.
“That you did,” Malthus said. “And we would be nothing without you, sir.”
“So true,” Liralexa said, as she wiped her eyes. “You are the only real parent I’ve ever had. And I’m grateful I still have you. I just feel so hopeless I can’t do better for my people.”
“There’s only so much we can do.” Malthus’s tone was resigned. “There were systems put in place long before we got here, which aren't easily dismantled. They will be here long after we are gone. And human nature is intractable. All we can do is make our piece of time in the world fair and peaceful. What else can we realistically do?”
Liralexa knew now it was true. No matter what she did, there was always a possibility of suffering in the future. She could only change her time and hope to create and pass on traditions and ideas that would make a better future. She lay her head against her husband’s chest.
The story of Malthus and Liralexa has a happy ending, with an asterisk attached. Under their rule, peace and prosperity were enjoyed by all nine regions. The royal couple made frequent trips to visit their subjects throughout the kingdom. The people loved them. Crowds lined the roads to greet them. As soon as their two children were old enough, they brought them along. They wanted their future heir Cordelia to interact with the people she would rule over. But they knew everything they had created, a multi-region military, diverse commissions and a parliament could all be undone on nothing more than the word of a greedy king and queen. And that something as cruel and awful as the Strages could make a return. But they made sure their piece of time was one in which their subjects flourished and lived without fear. After all, what else could they do?
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