The Underground

by Ilana Katz Katz

  “It’s not your business. This was between me and Michael and I’m not going to discuss this with you,” Shayla said.

  “It became my business when he sent me this long email,” the Queen growled.

  “I’m sorry about that,” Shayla said, her voice growing calm. “I really am, but I don’t want to live my life with someone I don’t love. Something is missing. Can’t you understand that?”

  “You’re just scared. It’s perfectly natural,” she said dismissively. “The two of you glow together. I don’t want you to make a decision you’ll regret.”

  “Mother, that’s precisely why I broke up with him.”

  “You know, I really don’t see that. I just don’t understand you, Shayla.”

  Chapter 30

  Office of the Queen’s Royal Spouse,

  Sir Edward Smith, II

  My Dear Shayla,

  Congratulations on your engagement. I’m sorry I can’t meet your future husband. I have no doubt that you’ve chosen well.

  Before you marry, I thought you should know more about your lineage, from my side of the family. As I write this, you are too young to understand, but I gave you Reminder of Truth and trust you have read it and kept it from your mother, as I instructed.

  It is a special book in its own right, but even more important for you to know about. Your grandfather, Edward the first, is the author. He could not stand by and watch the injustices that your mother, and prior generations endorsed. He did more than just write that seminal book. He started an organization that you may, or may not, know about. By the time you read this, it may be disbanded or it may be ruling the country. It is called the Underground. You should be proud that your bloodline founded it.

  I am weak and my time is short on this planet, but wherever I am, my love will always be with you and I hope your life is beautiful, full of peace and joy. Even at the age of 10, I can already see your gifts, and know you will go onto do great things.

  Much love,

  Father

  As Shayla refolded the letter, the creases well-worn, and replaced it inside the velvet bag along with Reminder of Truth, she was grateful to have it. She felt sad that her father would never meet Nathaniel, but she knew he would have approved of her choice.

  She was unsure how she could make Nathaniel her husband, but she was going to figure it out no matter what. They’d be photographed when things went public, and at the very least Janice would surely call the Webavision in a drunken rage to claim that the Queen’s daughter had stolen her fiancée.

  Then again, who would the Webavision believe? The Queen’s daughter, or a wretched drunk.

  ——–

  “I’m so happy that we’re going to be together, We’ll actually be able to live together. No more hiding,” he continued, as he hugged her.

  “Do we have to talk about that right now?” she said, sounding a little grumpy. “I’m trying to enjoy today,” she said, looking into his eyes, pulling him close, forcing his arms to wrap around her. He held her tightly, inhaling her vanilla scent that he had missed when they were apart.

  “I am enjoying today, but I’m thinking about our future, too,” he said, caressing her arm. “I can see us married with children,” he said, feeling happy at the thought until her body tensed.

  “I’m just not sure,” she said.

  “Not sure about what?” he asked, feeling uneasy. Was she not sure she wanted to marry him? Not sure about their love? One way or another, he needed to marry, and while it would kill him not to be with Shayla, he had to protect himself, ultimately. He turned to face her so he could look into her eyes. It reaffirmed his knowledge that she loved him deeply. He saw it, even with her wariness in talking about the future.

  “I’m sure about you, Nathaniel, but…”

  “But, what?!,” he said. His heart pulsed quickly, from fear, not passion. Isn’t that why she broke up with Michael; so they could be together? He had spent his entire adult life worrying about castration, never-mind finding true love and fulfillment. Everything he wanted was in his arms. He refused to let it slip away again.

  “Calm down!” she said, sitting up to face him. “You’re an outlaw, Nathaniel. If they find you, they’ll kill you. I’m the enemy. Can’t you see that I am fully committed to you? I am. But that doesn’t mean we can have a public relationship. As soon as there is talk of me marrying, there will be a lot of attention and photographs. People study those photographs. You’ve never been in the spotlight that way. I have been there most of my life. The press will dig into your background… your fictional background, and think about what they’d find, what would happen.”

  “I look different now. I’ll grow my beard back. Dye my hair…”

  “Nathaniel, you disappeared. Do you honestly think a little hair dye would make you unrecognizable to all the friends and family back in Cambridge? You can’t afford that. And what about the Underground? You think they’ll just look the other way? They’ll want something,” she said, exasperated.

  “Shayla, I have to marry. You know that! What the hell am I supposed to do? Put yourself in my shoes, here. I’m still in great danger of being castrated! If I don’t marry you, then…” Nathaniel couldn’t finish.

  “For now, I’ll keep you on as a temp. We’ll go along the way we have been,” she said. “But long term, I don’t know.”

  “What are you saying?” he asked.

  “What I’m saying is I don’t know how to fix this,” she said.

  ——–

  “I’m dating a wonderful man and I’d like you to meet him,” Shayla asked, hoping her mother would realize that Michael was really out of the picture. She twirled the phone cord, nervously, and felt glad that her mother wasn’t there to see.

  “Who is he?” she said with a formality that Shayla recognized. It was the tone she fed to visiting diplomats and businessmen she didn’t particularly like.

  “His name is Joe Merino,” Shayla said hesitantly. She still hadn’t grown accustomed to thinking of him as Joe. He would always be Nathaniel to her. “I met him at Steelco. He’s wonderfully sweet, completely charming and highly intelligent,” Shayla said feeling proud.

  “What does he do?” the Queen asked.

  “Actually, he’s working as a temporary worker, mostly as a meeting scribe at Steelco,” Shayla said, hoping her mother would find that palatable, but knowing she probably wouldn’t.

  “A temporary worker? Where is he from?” the Queen asked. Shayla could picture her mother’s face, matching her skeptical voice.

  “Kansas City. Is that okay with you?” Shayla asked in an accusatory tone, feeling like she wanted to slam down the phone.

  “Why do you always have to get snippy with me?” the Queen asked with a fake innocence.

  “Because you are giving me the third degree,” Shayla declared forcefully.

  “Dear, I was just asking a few questions. Is that so awful? Look, I’d love to meet this man. I have dinner with the ambassador of Cuba, who is visiting this evening, but I am free for lunch tomorrow.”

  “That sounds great,” Shayla said before getting off the phone and turning to Nathaniel.

  “Tomorrow, lunch, you will meet my mother,” she said smiling.

  “I can’t wait,” he said, rolling his eyes, before hugging her.

  “Let’s just take this one step at a time. It might not be so bad,” Shayla said, taking comfort in Nathaniel’s strong arms wrapped around her, his fingers still rough from years of hard labor. Would they ever be smooth? She hoped not. He had to change his identity, but underneath it all, he was still the same man she fell in love with.

  ——–

  “I need you to do me a favor,” she said to Gerald who she summoned as soon as she got off the phone.

  “Yes, your majesty,” he said, standing before her.

  “I need you to look into a Mr. Joseph Merino. That’s M-E-R-I-N-O. All I know is that he’s from Kansas City, temping at Steelco and Shayla is smitten with him. Fi
nd out what you can, ASAP,” she said, writing “Joe Merino” in block letters on a piece of paper that she ripped off and handed to him.

  “Of course,” he said.

  “He’s coming to lunch tomorrow. Shayla is dating him,” she said, wearily. “Did you know?” she added, observing him keenly. While she trusted Gerald implicitly, so did Shayla. Perhaps she confided in him.

  “I had no idea she was dating anyone, your majesty,” he said, unhesitating, his eyes locked with hers.

  “I’m not optimistic. I suppose this is a step up from that chap from the Cambridge Public Works, but she always seems to pick men beneath her,” the Queen said, shaking her head. She was still bothered by Shayla dumping Michael, seemingly out of left field

  “Let’s hope he’s a good fit,” Gerald said.

  “She hardly knows him. I find her dating habits odd. She’s all over the place. First with that laborer, then Michael, and now back down the ladder to a temporary worker?” she said to Gerald, shaking her head.

  “Maybe she’s finally getting ready to settle down. After all, she’s 29,” Gerald said.

  “I think she’s naive. No matter how many times I’ve tried to explain that people are out to take advantage of her, she doesn’t pay attention,” the Queen said, growing weary of Shayla’s childish attitudes.

  “I promise to get right on this and get back to you later today,” Gerald said before turning to leave.

  “Gerald?” she asked, and he turned back toward her.

  “Yes, your majesty?”

  “What do you think?” she said.

  “About what, exactly,” he said, his face unreadable – as always.

  “Shayla and her dating choices.”

  “I have faith in her abilities to discriminate between someone who is genuine and one who is manipulative,” he said, not missing a beat.

  “Thank you for your opinion,” she said. Maybe she was too hard on her daughter and maybe she should reserve judgment, at least a little bit until she met him. “As soon as you have that report,” she said, smiling.

  Gerald nodded without emotion and was gone.

  ——–

  Gerald was certainly used to keeping secrets and lying to the Queen, but usually the lies were dictated by the Underground. This time, he was making up the fake history of Joe Merino.

  “He is from a middle-class family in Kansas City, was able to finish high-school and has been working for Kelly Boys for many years. Just as Shayla indicated, he specializes as a meeting scribe, especially for large groups. He is noted for his accuracy in those environments,” Gerald said, as he surveyed the Queen’s reactions.

  “Hmmm… No Taser record?” she asked, squinting, which was her tell-tale sign of great pondering.

  “No, your majesty,” he said, trying to decide whether to fabricate additional details about him. “He is nearly 22 years old and has attended many POAs in Kansas City.”

  “Dating history?” she asked.

  “He has dated a number of women via the POAs and the women who choose him are often business women,” Gerald said.

  “Yes, but they don’t keep dating him, now do they? Nobody has proposed to him, to the best of our knowledge, isn’t that true? There must be something wrong with him,” the Queen said, clearly searching for any crumb leading toward disapproval.

  “Permission to speak frankly, your majesty?” he asked. His heart beat wildly, as he rarely offered his opinion without her asking, but knew he needed to put her mind at ease about Joe Merino.

  “Of course, Gerald. Please,” she said invitingly.

  “I think he is a fine young man, and Shayla seems happy,” he said, trying to choose his words carefully while maintaining the neutral facial expression he honed over the years, to mask his truth.

  “Thank you, Gerald,” she said, in a way that he knew meant the Queen didn’t want to hear anymore.

  He nodded, feeling relieved, and slightly concerned, as he opened the door to leave.

  “One more thing. May I have the written report of all you’ve found out about Joe Merino? I’d like to look it over a bit,” the Queen asked casually. Gerald’s heartbeat quickened as he answered.

  “I don’t have it with me, but…”

  “Actually, never mind. You told me all I need to know,” she said interrupting him, sounding defeated, as she waved him away.

  He stepped outside her office, feeling the small beads of perspiration at his temples, and hoped she hadn’t noticed. He was pretty sure she bought his story. In any case, he had done all he could, but he still had to report back to the Underground.

  He left the Palace later that day to take a walk. The brisk autumn Washington D.C. air was refreshing.

  “I think I convinced her that Joe Merino is a good guy, or at least he’s not a bad guy,” Gerald told Simon on the phone.

  “Let’s hope so because he’s going to be there tomorrow and it’s a miniscule window to win her approval.”

  “What happens after tomorrow?” Gerald asked.

  “I’m not at liberty to say,” Simon said, curtly.

  Gerald thought this was getting ridiculous. He had dedicated his entire adult life to the Underground, and felt severely insulted that all-of-a-sudden, this young guy comes along and starts acting like Gerald isn’t trustworthy. Simon seemed to be on some sort of power trip that made Gerald want to pummel him sometimes. Of course, there would never be that opportunity. They’d never met face-to-face and probably never would.

  “Understood,” Gerald said with the air of professionalism that revealed nothing. “One more question, sir,” he said.

  “What is it?”

  “May I reveal myself to Joe Merino when he arrives?”

  “Absolutely not!”

  “I was simply asking,” Gerald said, holding back his anger. When he dealt with Chester directly, there was a great deal more respect, but that contact ended nearly two years earlier. “It’s too dangerous,” Chester had said.

  Not only did he miss the respectful exchanges, but he missed his friend. Their bond went back to the castration recovery room where they met, laying side by side. Gerald trusted Chester, but he couldn’t say the same of Simon.

  Despite orders, Gerald had half a mind to call Chester at the bakery. He took a deep breath, and reminded himself of the goals.

  Simon was just one cog in the wheel. The years of sacrifice involved many, and Gerald needed to take one more for the team.

  Chapter 31

  “I can’t wait for you to meet Gerald,” Shayla said, her eyes bright. Nathaniel didn’t feel the luxury of any excitement with regard to his pending visit to the Palace, no matter how wonderful Gerald might be. All he could think about was the Queen and the dangerous waters he would enter the moment he stepped into the Palace.

  “What if she finds out who I am and turns me directly over to the C Center?” he asked Shayla.

  “You’re with me. My mother would never hurt anyone I care for, no matter the circumstances. Don’t be so nervous,” Shayla said, as though he was being silly. What person wouldn’t be nervous meeting the Queen? And he wasn’t just anyone. He had secrets.

  Nathaniel admired Shayla’s confidence, but wasn’t certain that Shayla’s upbringing could give her clarity about the Queen.

  “Come here,” she said, hugging Nathaniel. He knew she was trying to reassure him, but he would need more than a hug to feel at ease in front of the Queen. Despite Shayla’s insistence that her mother didn’t care about a missing manual laborer from Cambridge, Shayla didn’t know the truth and couldn’t possibly think of her mother objectively.

  “What should I call her? Your highness? Your majesty? Ma’am?”

  “Call her ‘Your Majesty.’ For now, that is. In time, things will be different,” she said before kissing him passionately. He didn’t share her casual attitude toward his visit to the Palace. He couldn’t help but think about the Underground, and he was downright terrified. They explicitly forbade him from contacting an
yone he had ever known prior to entering the Underground.

  He didn’t seek out Shayla, but even though their reunion was serendipitous, this was only true to a degree. The Underground certainly wouldn’t condone what he had divulged to Shayla.

  Had the Underground caught wind of the fact that he was dating the Queen’s daughter? He hadn’t heard from them since Garrett disappeared.

  Sometimes he felt a set of eyes on him as he walked down the street and felt like he was being followed. Was it his imagination? If it was real, would they punish him for divulging Underground secrets to Shayla?

  “You’re going to be wonderful. Use your gentlemanly skills. I love you, Nathaniel DeLuca,” she whispered softly. He looked into her eyes and his worries fell away as he grew hard.

  “I love you, too, Shayla Smith,” he said before kissing her as he guided her hand toward his fly. She unzipped it and wrapped her hand around him, moving quickly as he looked into her eyes.

  “I want you, now,” he said. She led him to the bedroom and they each threw their clothes onto the floor. “I can’t wait,” he said, moving to take her.

  “Lie down,” she said, teasingly, as she pushed him away. He quickly climbed on the bed, and she slowly kissed him on the mouth, as she lightly touched his balls, causing him to moan quietly.

  “I can’t take your teasing,” he said.

  “I’m going to make you wait,” she said, laughing, as she kissed him one more time before moving down to take him in her mouth, fully, deeply, over and over.

  “I’m gonna come,” he said to her, and she withdrew her mouth and smiled at him.

  Before she knew it, he grabbed her hips and positioned her on top of him. She cried out in pleasure as she moved up and down, feeling him inside of her in a way that felt just right. He couldn’t hold back and she felt the warmth as he finished. She collapsed on top of him.

  “Sleep tight, my love,” she said, as he fell asleep wrapped around her.

  “…Remember, I might need the favor returned,” Garrett said, his face bloodied, as he looked into Nathaniel’s eyes.