by Anna Hill
Helen's eyes widened. “Oh my God, Betty, thank you!” She wrapped her arms around her tightly and then pulled away. "Will you come with us?”
Betty looked surprised by the offer. “Really?”
“Well, of course! You’ve been Alexander’s nanny all of his life. He adores you. And I don’t want anything to happen to you, either. Maybe it’s like you say, and this Queen will be fair to those of us who were disgusted with Robert’s actions. But we can't know that. Better safe than sorry, right?”
I hated to hear them talk like this… Like I was a potential monster who was going to destroy anyone who had so much as touched Robert.
But I had been pretty harsh during my projection. And all these people have ever known was a brutal ruler, so I couldn’t blame them for their assumptions.
I was no monster, though. I’d never punish a five-year-old boy or an abused wife. I wanted so badly to tell these women that, to assure them they had nothing to worry about, and that they’d feel no wrath from me.
"I'll go get my things,” Betty said, and she rushed down the hall just as Alexander came back with a small teddy bear.
“I’ve got Cubby,” he told his mom.
It was crazy to think this adorable, innocent-looking little boy came from Robert. He melted my heart. He had these perfectly round, chubby little cheeks, freckles dotting his face, and a tiny bit of worry in his expression. I was sure he'd never seen his mother so frantic before.
“Good. Okay. We’re going to go, then,” she told him.
“But when will we come back?” he asked.
Helen frowned. “Well, baby… We’ll probably never come back.”
“Never?” Alexander asked in surprise.
“No… no, we’re going to be at a new home, okay? I know that seems scary, I know all of this seems scary. But I promise I’ll explain later. For now, I just need you to be a big boy and stay strong for Mommy. Things are going to be okay.”
He nodded. “Okay, Mommy. I’ll be big.”
“Good! Perfect!” She forced a smile at him as she grabbed her suitcase in one hand and Alexander’s hand in the other. “Let’s go then, okay?”
I awoke to Lio in my bed and a knot in my stomach.
I felt positively awful. It was already a lot to be stressed about all the harm Robert had done and how I was going to undo it… But now I was stressed about the harm I'd caused. I wanted so badly for this to be an easy, victimless transition, but that was just too much to ask for.
Lio began to stir next to me. “You’re up already?”
“Yeah… I need to go somewhere,” I said, jumping out of bed.
“What?” he asked, confused. “Where would you possibly need to go right now?”
“To handle some business…”
He raised an eyebrow. “You haven’t mentioned any business you needed to handle before. Was this something that came to you in a dream?”
“Yes,” I said quickly, “but I don't want to talk about it.”
I really didn’t. It made me feel guilty and ashamed. Had I really come off as a leader as brutal as Robert? That hadn’t been my intention. I wanted to make Elderan feel safe and protected… but it was a thin line.
“Annabelle, don’t pull away. You know how you do this.”
I sighed as I pulled a pair of black pants around my waist. He was right. I had a way of bottling my feelings when I shouldn’t.
“I had this dream… about Robert’s wife.”
“Oh?” he said. “What happened?”
“Well, she saw my broadcast and she immediately planned her escape from the castle. She was terrified. She thinks I’m going to come after her and her son.”
“Are you?” he asked.
My jaw dropped. “What? No! How could you ask me that?”
"Well, you did say you were going to punish anyone who supported Robert. Is his wife not included in that?”
“No, she isn’t," I said, matter-of-factly. “She was forced to marry Robert, and apparently, she’s been abused by him. And their son is only five. And he's so little, so sweet and… No, of course I’m not going to do anything to them!”
Lio frowned. “I’m so sorry to hear that. I suppose it's not surprising, considering what kind of man Robert seemed to be…”
“Not surprising at all. And now an abused woman and her five-year-old son are cowering in the woods because of me. I came here to make people feel safer, not force them to hide out and live in fear of me. So… I'm going to go to them. I’m going to explain that they’re safe, that they’ll always be safe from me.”
“You know where to find them?” Lio asked.
“Yeah. She mentioned an address in the dream. I’m going to look it up on a map really quick and then transport myself over there," I said as I pulled my shirt over my head.
"Do you want me to come with you?”
I shook my head quickly. “No. I really feel like this is the kind of thing I need to do on my own. I don’t really want to bring anyone else over and potentially worry her more, anyway.”
“Okay.” Lio nodded as he leaned back down.
For some reason, this surprised me. "That's it? You're not going to like, insist I take one of you with me?”
That was how it used to go. The boys hated the idea of me going anywhere by myself. They felt the need to always be protecting me.
He laughed. “Annabelle, of course not. You don’t need us to follow you around anymore. You destroyed the one threat on your life and got rid of all the magic he harbored. Nobody could hurt you, no one can even touch you.”
I hadn't thought of it like that before. This was such a weird feeling. I was just… safe? To go anywhere? To do anything?
Despite how bad I felt about the situation with Robert’s wife, this gave me a bit of a smile. I'd never felt so free, so powerful. I was completely in control of what I did, where I went, and my safety.
And I loved it.
It wasn’t hard for me to find the location of the cabin where Helen had taken Betty and Alexander. There was actually a computer here in the castle, several in fact, with internet access, so I just searched for the address.
It was crazy to have the internet at my fingertips again. For so long I lived without it on the islands with the shifters. Another weird thing I was going to have to just adjust to.
I instructed Lio to tell Rhyion and Angelo where I’d gone and why, just so they didn’t worry, and then I headed out to the cabin.
When I arrived, I could see what Betty meant. The cabin was definitely run down, and the windows were boarded up like it was completely abandoned.
But it wasn’t a bad place to be if you didn’t want to be found. Who was going to come looking for people here? I would definitely guess this cabin was uninhabitable.
It brought me back to the days of losing my parents, when I had no home and I squatted in abandoned houses when Jacob couldn’t sneak me into his.
Though, in retrospect, he probably could have easily snuck me in considering his parents knew about his role and how important it was to Robert to keep an eye on me. I doubted his parents ever truly had a say in whether or not I came over. So Jacob probably made me sleep on the streets some nights just for the hell of it… because he hated me that much.
Still, this cabin was the exact kind of place I used to camp out at while I mourned the loss of my parents.
And that was what I had done to Alexander, essentially. Yes, his father was evil and he deserved what happened to him, but Alexander was too young to understand that. And I felt awful that I'd put him through the same pain I’d gone through. It was absolutely necessary and I’d do it all over again if I had to, but that didn’t mean I didn’t have sympathy for this poor child.
At least he had his mother, though. I had to lose both my parents. I told myself that in the long run, Alexander was going to be better off without his father. He’d have his mother to raise him and he wouldn’t know of Robert’s abuse or evil deeds. That was a better childho
od than any he’d have growing in Robert’s footsteps.
It was at least a comforting thought… That I’d done him a favor rather than caused a severe trauma.
Man, what was I doing here? Robert never would have done this. He wouldn’t have lamented over somebody's death, felt bad for their children. He was a monster, through and through. He would have acted like a monster.
Was I too soft? I didn’t want to be a monster like him, no, but was I taking things too far? Being too kind? There was a certain level of harshness that came with being a leader, right? Was I going too far with it?
I couldn’t wonder about it. Because whether I was too soft or not, I had to go up to that cabin door. I had to let them know that they were safe. I couldn't let this mother and son suffer, even if it made me too soft. I absolutely refused.
I walked up the porch and knocked on the door, nervousness rolling through me.
There was no answer, which I should have expected. They were hiding out, and I was sure they weren’t expecting visitors. Just the fact that there was a knock was probably ringing off alarm bells for them.
I sighed because what I then had to do was just open the door myself, which would certainly be more alarming, and I really didn't want to scare them.
But I had to get in, so I swiped with my hand and opened the door, carefully stepping inside.
Helen was in the kitchen, a frying pan in her hand which she held defensively in front of her face.
“P-please!” she stuttered as soon as she saw me. “Please… I didn’t like Robert. I didn't want to—”
“Please put that down, I’m not going to hurt you. I’m not here to harm you in any way.”
That didn’t seem to put her more at ease. I felt so evil, the way she looked at me.
“I’m serious. I do not want to hurt you. That’s not why I came here, not at all. I mean, if I wanted to hurt you, wouldn’t I have already done it? Like, I hate to be blunt, but a frying pan is not exactly a good defense against magic…”
The logic in me being able to hurt her already if I so desired did seem to calm her down a bit, if not only slightly. She lowered the frying pan.
"Then why are you here?” she asked.
I shut the door behind me. “This is weird, especially considering how long witches have been gone and magic hasn’t been in use, but… I had a dream about you. About you and Alexander fleeing the castle.” I waited a minute for her to process that.
“You have… psychic dreams?” she asked, confused.
“Kind of, yes. Although I’m not sure if they’re considered psychic if what I was dreaming was in the past, but… yeah, I have pastsight dreams. And you and Alexander came into one of my dreams. And I think that dream came to me because I was supposed to come and see you, to put you at ease. I think it’s my responsibility to do that.”
“Put us at ease?”
“Helen,” I began, “I'm not going to hurt you. I’m not going to come after your boy. When I said that I was going after all of Robert’s associations, I meant the lackeys that tried so hard to commit evil. That didn’t apply to his hurt wife or his innocent son. I’m not that kind of Queen, and I don't want to be that kind of Queen. I’m not here to rule by fear, okay? I’m here to make oppressed people more comfortable, not less.”
Her body language eased up a bit. “So you're really… not here to hurt me or Alexander?”
“No, of course not. In fact, now that you and your son are out of the castle, I’ll find a new home for you. You’ll have one by the end of the week. I'll send someone out here to tell you where it is and to give you the new keys. After years of dealing with Robert’s bullshit, a house is probably the least I can offer you. I'm sorry you lost your home.”
She seemed stunned. “Oh… no. That’s fine. I never even liked that castle. It was only me, Alexander, and the people who worked for Robert who lived there. It always felt…. lonesome.”
I smiled. “That’s because it was never how the castle was supposed to be used. It wasn’t meant for one tiny family. It was meant to house whole witch family lines. It was supposed to be filled up… every room.”
She nodded. “Then… I hope it is. And I hope it's a less lonely home for you.”
“Me too,” I agreed.
There was an awkward pause between me and her for a moment.
“I'm really sorry for everything Robert did,” she began.
I put my hand up to hush her. “Don't apologize for that man. Never apologize on behalf of a man. You are responsible for yourself, that’s all. His sins aren’t yours.”
She smiled. “Thank you… for saying that. And thank you for coming here, for offering us a home. That’s… incredibly kind. Something I wasn't expecting.”
“Like I said, it’s the least I can do. I’ll have someone come drop some food off as well, but is there anything else I can do for you until I get you your new place?”
“No, no, that’s… fantastic. Truly, what you’re doing is already amazing. Thank you.”
"It's no problem at all. I’m going to leave you be, then. Take care of yourself.”
“I will… thank you,” she said quietly.
I stepped back out the door and shut it behind me, a small weight lifted from my shoulders. At least I could make their lives a little easier. At least that adorable little boy was going to grow up in a proper home and not hiding away in shoddy shacks the way I had to.
It was so strange to feel like I could relate to Robert’s son, of all people. The five-year-old son of my arch nemesis…
But I could relate to any child who lost a parent. And maybe that would make me a weaker leader than Robert. I wasn’t sure, it was so hard to evaluate myself now that I had this insane amount of power. I only desired to do the absolute best job I could do.
And at the moment, doing the best job I could do felt like taking care of a new widow and her son.
11
I had two shifter women behind me, Lauralee and Tania, and they were both brushing through and straightening my hair. They’d already finished my makeup.
It felt weird, getting all dolled up. I'd resisted at first, but then I thought about the fact that this was my first true impression with Elderan… at least, the first one where I hadn't recently murdered the King. I wanted to look a little softer than I usually did.
“This is coming together so well!” Lauralee said excitedly, as she worked on the last chunks of my unstraightened hair.
“I know!” Tania agreed. “You did such a great job on her makeup.”
I smiled at Lauralee in the mirror. “You really did, thank you.” I had never seen myself quite like this before. It was a more feminine side of me, that was for sure.
But I kind of liked that. This country had had, for one hundred years, incredibly conniving men as leaders who acted like power and masculinity went hand in hand. I was here to change that, to be a role model for little girls all across Elderan.
I wanted to show them that there was power in females—that no amount of femininity took power away from us.
I heard someone at the door and glanced over to see Rhyion had barged in. “Babe, have you seen this?” he asked excitedly as he handed me a newspaper.
I took it from him as the girls continued to brush my hair. There on the front page, in big bold letters said: “An Interview with Robert's Wife! What She Has to Say about the New Queen!”
My heart sank as I glanced at Rhyion. “What's it say?” I was too nervous to read it.
“Annabelle, it’s fantastic! She talks about how kind and generous you are, how you made her and her son feel so safe after this transition of power, that she looks forward to having a leader that is kind rather than malevolent… I mean, she completely talks you up! And this is Robert’s wife! This article is great for us.”
“She seriously said all that?” I asked. I mean, I knew I had made a good impression with her, that she was happy about the choices I made to help protect her and Alexander, but I didn’t think
she would go on the record like this to bash Robert. Especially so soon after his death!
Rhyion was right, this would be huge for us.
There had been a lot of hesitance across the kingdom to accept me. News articles went back and forth. Was I going to be the savior of Elderan? Was I telling the truth? Was Robert really as evil as I claimed?
But here was his wife, going on record to say as much. She called him malicious… and then implied that I wasn’t?
This made me feel so much more confident about the press conference today. Things were going to go well… I could feel it.
I was already feeling hopeful, albeit still a bit nervous, based on the fact that no great revolts had happened across the country. What Robert had said stunned enough people that most of them didn’t know what to think. And I was sure a lot of people were hopeful that maybe I would do what I claimed I wanted to do… that maybe their lives really would improve.
And today was my day to convince them of that. Or at least, it was the start of convincing them. Really, I was going to continue to convince them every day through my reign. I'd continue to make moves to benefit Elderan and they’d see… I truly cared about this country.
Angelo popped into the room behind Rhyion. “Are you ready?” he asked.
“Is the press all here?” I asked in return.
“Yes, they’re standing outside. I have the podium set up in the front of the castle. We're all ready to go.”
I looked in the mirror at Tania and Lauralee again. “Are we ready to go, girls?”
"Just one second,” Lauralee said as she straightened the last bit of my hair. "Done! Okay, we’re all good here.”
I stood up from the vanity, my red evening dress billowing at my waist and flowing to the floor. I felt elegant, royal… And I was surprised how naturally it came to me.
I grabbed my talking points off the vanity. I had written them on index cards, but I hardly needed them. I'd been practicing this speech nonstop in my head all week.