Lark's End

by Christina Leigh Pritchard

“I’m not under your law.” Alina stuck out her tongue. “You’re not my queen.”

  Queen Maryanne glanced at the infant. “Maybe you’re not as human as you seem. I need to speak to my father.”

  Andy squashed the bubble. Alina and the queen vanished. “Okay, so what are you trying to say Tahmi is?”

  “Did you see the garden?” Jon Landers smiled exposing crooked teeth. “Alina? The stars? The black ones? The war pigs? Mary never would’ve created things that were not stunningly beautiful. She hates ugly things.”

  “I don’t believe it.”

  “Please, entertain me,” the old man begged.

  Andy caught another bubble. This time Tahmi lay in her cradle with Alina above her. “So, Queen Mary is going through villages and killing anyone she spots. She’s having your mom and dad help Queen Emihe destroy the world of the Gadaenites. It’s so sad! Soon she’ll find my cave and kill me too.” Alina wept. “We must do something, Tahmi.”

  The star floated from side to side. “I know!” She exclaimed, “Let’s create something so horrid she’ll run from pure fright. They’ve got to be really ugly. That’ll teach Mary.”

  “What did she make?” Andy shouted over the hologram.

  “War pigs, what else?”

  “War pigs? Tahmi did that?”

  “Subconsiously yes,” Jon Landers cleared his throat, “Keep watching.”

  “And this very night, your dad told your mom he was tired of listening to her. He’s crossed over to Mary’s side.”

  “Mary’s side? I thought they were all working together?” Andy groaned, “I hate this story.”

  “Listen already!”

  Alina fluttered, inches from Andy’s face. He waved his arms straight through her. “Your mom doesn’t really want to hurt anyone. I saw her cry when Mary turned Missy into a cat. “I think if you show her what you can do, then she’ll have hope and proof for the ‘king of all kings’. He’ll help us fight Mary. We should trap her forever in the land of the monsters.”

  Queen Maryanne burst into the room. “Get out, you stupid glowbug!” Alina ignored her.

  “Show her Tahmi,” Alina said. “Show her before its too late.”

  Hundreds of small bugs crawled over the sides of her cradle. As they hit the floor they tripled in size. They raced along the floor, on the walls and ceiling.

  “What is this?” Queen Maryanne screamed. “They’re gross and ugly!”

  “Your daughter is showing you something.” Alina clapped, “See, we’re saved from Queen Mary!”

  Queen Maryanne ran to the window. Outside ugly warpigs chased the royal guard and Queen Mary away from Candy Lane.

  “What are these hideous beasts doing in my world?” Mary slapped Queen Emihe in the face. “What have you to say?”

  “Ask Maryanne! She’s the one with the weird new baby. I saw Tahmi do strange things the other day.”

  Andy shook his head, “No, this is a bunch of crap.”

  “Just watch.”

  He popped the bubble. “I won’t listen to this garbage anymore. Tahmi isn’t a freak. She’d never create these things.”

  “How would you know?”

  “Alina is just a star that lights up this world. She wasn’t Tahmi’s first creation or whatever, and Queen Maryanne would never help destroy her own kingdom.”

  “You should finish the memory. Queen Maryanne risks everything to save her daughter’s life. She even lost three of her daughters just so she could keep Tahmi safe. She’s selfish, yes, but not without a heart.”

  “These Gadaenites are evil,” Andy said.

  “Have you ever wanted something so badly that even though you know its wrong you haven’t the willpower to stop?”

  “Sure, Oreos—can’t just have one.” Andy smirked. The old man frowned. “It was a joke, geez.”

  “Well, Queen Maryanne cannot control her desires and wants. It is in her DNA or makeup. Do you know how hard it was for her to give up everything she loved for a child she’d never get to hold or bond with?”

  “This is dumb.” Andy scooted to the edge of the bench. “I’ve got to find my friend.”

  “Watch one last memory, please, for an old man?”

  This time, Andy couldn’t believe his eyes.

  QUEEN MARYANNE

  “He’s coming, Missy, quick,” Maryanne whispered. She was tall and slender with hair that sparkled when it caught light. Lately, there wasn’t anything but darkness. Queen Mary of the Monsters came and went as she pleased, altering the minds of them all, including Maryanne. She’d almost done the unthinkable. “Hide my children.”

  She held her youngest child tightly. Queen Maryanne trembled. Grey fog rose from the floor. It was only a matter of time now. The very person she was named after hated her, hated them all. Fear enveloped the land. Strange things kept happening. She’d never realized how far she and her sister, Emihe, had gone until a few months past. Two thirds of their world was destroyed and she could only blame herself and Emihe. She hated humans with a passion and her husband, the rightful King, was a pawn to her; that is, until the baby was born. She was the fattest, most wrinkled thing. Not a single hair on her head. She looked liked an old man at first. If a child she created could look so human, then maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to eliminate them all. Mary was wrong. They weren’t the enemy. Hadn’t Mary brought the humans here to begin with? And really, all she and Emihe seemed to do was ruin the land of their subjects; the real inhabitants of Gadaie. Maybe Mary was the enemy…

  Missy, a tall, human-sized Persian cat in a pink polka dot apron, held in her paws the hands of two girls. One was about ten years old and the other six years old. A toddler hung to her back like a monkey. “Why do you look like a cat now, huh, Missy?” One child questioned.

  “Because Queen Mary of The Monsters is playing bad tricks on the humans,” Missy answered. She looked behind her nervously. Teri?” One child was missing.

  The walls shook. Missy looked around. “Teri?” She called. “Where is that child?” She stood in front of a mahogany book shelf. Missy lifted a book and the shelf opened revealing a secret room. “Go inside, girls. You have to hide, he’s coming.”

  Missy glanced up. Teri, the little black-haired toddler with ebony colored eyes and olive skin darted across the room to her mother. She tugged on her dress. “Teri! Come here this instant!” Missy shouted. “We have to hide.”

  “Just close the door,” Maryanne said. “He’s here!”

  Maryanne bent down. “Teri, be a good girl and hide your sister.” She handed the baby over to the toddler. “Go hide and keep your eyes closed for mommy.”

  “What’s happening?” Teri whimpered.

  Queen Maryanne ran forward, stumbling as the walls shook. She wasn’t going to let them take her children away from her. Mary wasn’t going to win this battle; not this time. She didn’t have to be as strong as Mary to stop her, did she?

  Teri, barely able to hold her baby sister, crawled under the sofa. She peeked out the flaps of the chair covering. Her eyes stung from the fog. She rubbed them and black liquid seeped from her fingertips. “What’s happening to me?”

  “Quiet, Teri,” Maryanne said. “You cannot make a sound or he will take you away from me.”

  ***

  Teri’s lip trembled. She held tightly to her sister with all her might. No one was going to take her baby sister away from her, no one. She heard hooves pound into the marble flooring of her castle home. They were making their way to the throne room. It was long and narrow with a casual sitting room, very odd for an Earth castle, but Mary liked to be different and all throne rooms needed sitting rooms so that things weren’t so formal. Teri had never met Mary. She didn’t even know what she looked like or who she was or why everyone was so afraid of her. She was two and in every way resembled an outstandingly beautiful toddler but her mind was that of an eight-year-old. They all learned faster, until they hit fourteen. Things sort of stopped for them then. Teri wasn’t looking forward to h
er fourteenth birthday. Maybe that’s what was wrong with Mary…

  ***

  Queen Maryanne wasn’t going to be taken easily. She brushed her fingers against her white dress, fluffing a few wrinkles. “Get out of my castle!” She ordered. Maryanne sat in her Silver throne, placing her crown on top of her head. She wasn’t going to totter. No one was going to take her children away from her.

  A man with hair as white as snow and eyes made of diamonds flew in through the throne room window. “Maryanne?”

  Queen Maryanne jumped. “Daddy!” She cried. “Please, have you come to help me?” He stood tall, almost unsure. “Please, I’ll do anything, father.”

  “Give me the baby,” her father, King Stahme ordered. His powder white hands stretched forward. “I’ll keep her safe for always.”

  “I want to keep her.” Maryanne’s eyes watered. “She’s my daughter.”

  “It’s not safe for her here. Do you want to lose everything?” Stahme floated over to the sofa, lifted it as if it were weightless and grabbed both Teri and the infant. “You will thank me one day, Maryanne.”

  “Daddy, no!” Maryanne screamed. She fell to the floor with her arms outstretched. “I want my kids. I need them.”

  Stahme stood on the ledge of the window with a child under each arm. Teri struggled, not sure who this marshmallow white man was. “Let go, you creep.”

  He turned around, getting one last look at his youngest daughter. He’d lost her, somehow. “Maryanne, be careful.” With his final warning, he flew out the window of the Silver Palace and into the darkness that covered his once beautiful land; before his daughters destroyed it. The enemy, down below, did not notice as he flew away. They split apart the drawbridge, charging forward.

  “Daddy,” Maryanne wailed, pounding her fists into the marble floor. Her knuckles bled. Shouting echoed in her ears, a stampede of hooves climbed the steps. It was only a matter of seconds before they came for her; for her children.

  Maryanne collected herself. She adjusted her crown and took a seat in the jeweled throne. There was only one way to go out and that was with dignity.

  The throne room doors cracked and split down the middle. Axes smacked into the wood, splinters flew through the air. Maryanne held her head high.

  THE ROYALS COME TO AN END

  Maryanne

  Queen Maryanne sat in her jeweled throne—waiting. Her kingdom was crumbling around her, and for once in her life she felt a twinge of guilt. Had she always been this selfish? Would she ever learn to think of others? Isn’t that what a regal queen did? She was surely far from that goal.

  Mary

  Lark and Emihe, along with the warriors, smashed into the throne room door with axes. Mary, arms crossed stood over them, watching intently. How dare Maryanne betray her over that stupid, ugly baby!

  “Give it up, Maryanne,” Mary shouted. “I always get what I want.” Her heart pounded. Could she really kill a bald, fat chubby baby? Even if it was ugly, killing a tiny infant didn’t seem right, no matter how upset she was. Her minions wanted blood. Lark and Emihe did whatever she said. Could they kill Maryanne though? Did they have it in them?

  Lark and Emihe burst through the wooden door. There, in the throne, sat Maryanne. She was a traitor to the cause. “Prepare to meet your doom,” Emihe said. Her green eyes turned mud brown. She raised her hands high above her head. Mud escaped her fingers and covered the throne room.

  Maryanne’s eyes were such a light blue that you’d think they were the color of the ocean. Water flooded the room. She orchestrated the waves, making them beat into the legs of Emihe and Lark. They stumbled, slipping underneath the nearly full room. Water rose to their necks. Mary floated above the disaster, waiting for them to grow tired.

  “Enough games,” Mary said. She snapped her fingers and the muddy water evaporated before their eyes. “Maryanne, you’ve betrayed me. It is time for you meet my wrath.”

  “Who talks like that?” Maryanne rolled her eyes. “You’re a miserable person. I feel sorry for you Mary.”

  “It’s Queen Mary.”

  “No. You are not my queen. You never will be.” Maryanne spat.

  Mary raised her hands. She was going to kill Maryanne now.

  KING STAHME

  King Stahme flew above Candy Lane and past LoonyVille. The inhabitants were in chaos. Who were they supposed to obey? Mary? Emihe? Lark? Maryanne? Some were on Emihe’s side while others stood their ground for Maryanne. It seemed almost all of the humans took Lark’s side. Mary played tricks with the humans, turning them into animals if they didn’t obey her. Missy—she looked like a cat and well, Mr. Howell, he was an Owl now. Sandy and Trusty—horses well, actually most of Maryanne’s loyal servants were horses.

  “King Stahme!” A short male covered in feathers flapped his winged hands. He wore tiny round spectacles and trousers held up by colorful suspenders. “Down here.”

  Stahme floated onto the ground just outside Funhouse Zone. “Where’s Jon Landers? I need him.” The king breathed hard. His beautiful world looked like a war zone. How could his children cause so much ruin? How could his mother instigate it? Didn’t Mary realize that if she destroyed Gadaie that she’d be killing him? King Stahme gulped. That’s what this was about. “Take this nuisance and hide her.” He handed over Teri the toddler. She kicked and squirmed and spat at her grandfather.

  “Give me my sister!” She yelled. Her face reddened and her fingers leaked something black and slippery.

  “That one is going to be a handful. At least she can help Maryanne keep her people safe.” Stahme sighed. He watched as oil seeped out of the toddler’s fingers. It sprayed him in the face like a mist. “Control yourself, child. Practice control now or else you’ll turn out a monster just like your aunt and mother. Do you want to be evil like Emihe?”

  “I will never be evil,” Teri said. Her heart pounded and she felt strange. Why was Mr. Howell covered in feathers? Mary was evil. This was all Mary’s fault.

  “I don’t understand,” Mr. Howell said. He was maybe five feet tall, much shorter than when he’d been human. Was this a cruel joke? Mary sure was wicked. She forced him to move to this crazy world, made him fall in love with the inhabitants and then she asks him to help destroy it. No. That’s what he’d said. “I won’t help you destroy the land.” What did she do? Yeah, she turned him into an owl. “Teri isn’t—”

  “No, but she has a strong heart and a lot of power. She will be good for Maryanne. She reminds me of my Aunt, the Great Raven. She was a real hero.” Stahme frowned. “Hide the child and then find Jon Landers.”

  Stahme watched his granddaughter cry and spray even more oil as Mr. Howell took off in flight. He wobbled and stumbled, still unsure of his wings or even how to fly.

  “No need to find me.” Mr. Landers stood a few feet away. “I am ready. I know what I must do.” He wore a striped sailor’s suit along with a white sailor’s hat. He placed his hands on his hips and smiled broadly. “I’ve hidden the other child, and I also have the documents you requested.”

  “Good. He is vital as well.” Stahme sighed. “Now I must do something I know I shall regret for the rest of my life.” He placed his hand on the baby’s tiny stomach. Her blue eyes shined brightly in the sunlight and she giggled. “Oh, I am so sorry little one. This may hurt.”

  THE QUEENS LOSE THEIR POWER

  Queen Mary of the Monsters stood inches away from Maryanne. It was a shame that the one child her son named after her had to be the one to rebel. Mary actually liked Maryanne more than Emihe. She was pleasant and quiet. Yes, Maryanne had been the child who caused the most trouble but her heart was good. Good. Humph. No one was good. Hadn’t Mary learned that already? And that was why she had to kill Maryanne. She was trouble. She’d broken every rule Mary had made. Sure, Maryanne was young and naive. Hadn’t she been a foolish girl once too? It didn’t matter. Maryanne needed to die.

  “Find the children, Lark.” Mary pointed at the bookcase. “They’re in there. I k
now it. I know everything about my world.”

  Lark was a tall man with dark hair and a masculine jaw line. “Sir.” Zupo frowned. “Do you really want to do this? This is your wife and children.” Zupo was a little on the heavy side with a vision problem. He’d been Lark’s most loyal warrior.

  “It’s too late for regrets now.” Lark took a deep breath. Could he really burst through the bookcase and harm his own children? Did he have a choice in the matter? What would Mary do to him? He was a human not a mutant like his wife and half-breed children. He already looked twenty years older than Maryanne. When they’d met she was already fifty years his senior and still Maryanne looked twenty. He’d aged into a forty-year-old man and Maryanne said he disgusted her now. Still, he didn’t want Mary to kill his wife or his children.

  He pounded his fist against each book, smashing them to pieces, one by one. He heard the muffled cries of his children. Was that Melissa crying? And Chrysmys? She had the most beautiful emerald eyes he’d ever seen. “Daddy!” Diane, the twin cried. His little Diane…

  Lark shook his thoughts away. He smashed more and more books until finally, the passage opened. There, huddled together, sat a Persian cat and three of his daughters. Where were Teri and the baby?

  “Dad?” Melissa’s golden-brown eyes sparkled with her crystal tears that trickled down her cheeks. “Why are you trying to hurt us?”

  Lark’s lip trembled and he raised his hand high in the air. He held a machete. Mary wanted him to cut them straight down the middle. She called it the “divorce”. Everyone gets half of everything, including the children. “Zupo, hold her.” He pointed at Melissa.

  “No.” Zupo stood his ground. “I won’t do it. How could you? This is your child.”

  Yes, how could he?

  Lark dropped his knife. It tumbled to the ground and landed with a clank on the marble flooring. He swallowed. Diane’s black eyes penetrated him deeply. No, he couldn’t do it, after all.