“It is a desolate, lonely place, and they will have a long time to ponder their misdeeds,” he said. “The not so lovely Myrtle will join them.”
“For how long?”
“Most likely for the rest of their lives. Attempting to kill our queen and her family is no small crime.”
“I guess not,” I said. “How did you know he was Wayland Marcel’s son? You were so certain.”
Julian tucked a lock of hair behind my ear, “Do you remember when you asked me about my scars?”
“Am I finally going to hear this story?”
“If you can be quiet for a few minutes,” he said. I pretended to zip my lips and throw away the key and he smiled. He took a deep breath. “I want to tell you, but I don’t know where to begin.”
He led me over to a bench next to the sidewalk under a tree. It was made of wood and painted green. We sat, still holding hands.
Julian stared at our clasped hands, deep in thought, before he began. “It was the end of the war. Marcel’s forces were weakening, and the rebellion had finally grown strong enough to take back Celesta. I’d been chosen to help lead the campaign.”
I looked at him in shock. “How old were you?”
“Sixteen,” he said, and squeezed my hand when he noticed the horrified expression on my face. “I had to do it, Starr. They needed someone symbolic to serve as inspiration for the people. I was the highest-ranking person left.”
“Since we deserted you,” I said, feeling terrible.
Julian touched my face. “The queen had to be protected. It was the most important thing. Your father’s place was with her, his sole duty to take care of all of you. We understood, my father, my family, and me. It was what we wanted.”
I remained unconvinced. “So, a sixteen-year-old was sent to fight the worst psychopath in the history of Vega.”
Julian gave me a steady look. “The Duke of Celesta was sent, and he prevailed.”
“How?” I asked, although part of me didn’t want to know. I didn’t want those memories in my head, but I knew Julian needed to tell me.
He smiled the lazy half grin I loved. “Pure dumb luck. We were in the right place at the right time and had a lot of support. It finally came down to me versus Wayland Marcel. He had skill, and he knew how to wield a sword. He proved that rather quickly. Which is how I got these scars.”
I gently traced the scar on his lip. I no longer even noticed it. I hadn’t for a long time. Julian kissed my fingertips.
“But I was younger, stronger, and I wanted to live,” he said. “So, eventually, I won.”
I put my head on his shoulder, waiting for him to go on. In a few minutes, he did.
“As he lay dying, he told me his son would someday come to avenge him. He was sure of it.”
“How did you know it was Adrian?”
“The necklace. I knew it had to be him. Of course, I thought Adrian was using you to toy with me. Everyone knew I cared for you.”
“Except me.”
“Except you,” he said, with a grin. He kissed me softly on the top of my head. “When I killed Wayland, I thought it would be over. As soon as I found out about Adrian, though, it all came rushing back. It felt like it wasn’t over at all.”
I turned and kissed the side of his neck, loving the noise he made and the way he pulled me closer. We sat in silence for a few moments, and when he looked at me, his eyes were haunted.
“The whole thing with my family, and all of those dark days in Vega. I thought I was going to go through it again, with you. I was terrified.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t understand. You were trying to take care of me, and I sort of took it the wrong way.”
“Sort of.” He laughed as he shook his head. “I thought you were helpless. I thought I needed to protect you, but I was mistaken. You uncovered the plot. You saved your family. You fought Adrian and his uncle. You were amazing.”
“Only because you were so insistent he was Wayland’s son. Otherwise I would never have suspected anything.”
“A minor detail,” he said. “Do you want to know what I realized when I saw Adrian lying on the ground unconscious?”
“What?”
“Adrian is a kid. A misguided, stupid, kid. He wasn’t pretending to have feelings for you. He cared for you. I saw it in his eyes when he woke up and looked at you.”
“Yeah, he liked me so much he wanted to kill my family. True love.”
“I didn’t say I approved,” he said, and I grinned. He looked at me steadily. “Do you still have feelings for him?”
I shook my head. “I feel bad for him, but I haven’t had feelings for him in a long time.”
“Since when?” asked Julian, and I could tell he was trying to sound nonchalant.
“Since you,” I said, giving him a shy little smile.
“Do you speak truly?” The hope I saw on his face was almost too beautiful to bear.
“Now, Julian,” I said, twining my arms around his neck. “We’re on Vega. Thou wouldst know if I were lying.”
When his lips touched mine, I experienced a surge of complete and utter joy, like suddenly all was right with the world. I pulled back and traced the outline of his lips with my finger, enjoying the way his eyes darkened with passion. He leaned forward to kiss me again, but I stopped him with a little shake of my head.
“What about your girlfriend? You told me you were spoken for. For a while, I thought it was Maya, but I found out my guess was wrong. I have to know. Who is it?”
“My girlfriend?” he asked, looking confused. “Maya? Of course it wasn’t Maya, you silly girl. It was you. Our parents have been planning this since we were in diapers.”
My mouth dropped open in shock. “Me? But you didn’t even like me at first.”
Julian leaned forward and trailed soft kisses across my cheek. “You didn’t like me, either.” He started to do something to my ear with his tongue which made me like him very much, but I had to pull away.
“Is it because we were promised to each other?” I asked, my heart suddenly in my throat. “Is that why you like me now?”
I was almost afraid to hear his answer. I stood up and walked over to the tree, picking at the bark with my fingers, my back to Julian. Astra had told me how powerful it was to be spoken for. I didn’t want Julian to have feelings for me only because of the bond.
Julian rose and took my face gently in his hands. He looked deep into my eyes, like I was the most precious and wonderful thing he had ever seen.
“When I realized Adrian wasn’t a threat anymore, I finally understood. I don’t need revenge. I don’t need to kill anyone. I don’t need to hate. There is only one thing I need.”
“What?” I asked, hoping I knew the answer already.
“You,” he said, kissing me softly. “And I love you because you are who you are, not because of any words spoken between our parents.”
It didn’t take much to convince me. “Okay, I’ll buy that.” I got up on my tiptoes and kissed him again and again. I could never get enough of his kisses, but eventually we had to stop and go back to the palace.
No one seemed surprised we were late as we walked into the palace hand in hand. I glanced in a mirror on our way in. My cheeks were rosy, and my hair was a mess, but even I had to admit, I’d never looked prettier.
Everyone waited for us in my parents’ sitting room. Astra talked quietly in a corner with Cesar, as Maya entertained my parents and several members of the royal guard with a story about how we dressed up as cat burglars and spied on Adrian and Captain Augustus. They were laughing, but as soon as we walked through the door, they all clapped.
I knew they were applauding me, and my cheeks grew even hotter than before. I did a little fake curtsey and Julian and I went over to sit by my parents.
“You will be a legend on Vega, Starr,” my mother said.
“Oh, wow.” I wasn’t sure how I felt about becoming a legend for beating people up, but I would have to deal with it.
My mother and sister were both legends on Vega for their beauty. Even with my successful self-improvement project, I knew I’d never be as beautiful as they were. It didn’t make me sad anymore, though. I’d finally accepted myself, invisible warts and all. The nice thing was others had accepted me too. The fact that Julian also happened to love me in spite of those warts, something he had proven time and again through word and through deeds, was simply icing on the cake.
“Mom, Dad, can I ask you something?” I looked at them, a little worried and afraid.
“What, darling?” asked my father. He’d unbuttoned the top few buttons of his uniform and looked relaxed and happy.
“May I see Adrian before he is exiled?” I asked. My parents looked at each other, and even Julian seemed surprised. I squeezed his hand. “I want to return his necklace. I know he’s bad, and I know he doesn’t deserve it, but it was his mother’s necklace. It feels like an insult to her if I returned it through someone else.”
Julian looked uncertain. I wanted to kiss the little wrinkle between his brows away, but I wasn’t sure if I should do it in front of my parents. “I love you,” I said, softly, “but this feels like the right thing to do.”
My father cleared his throat, his eyes twinkling. He was obviously pleased by what he was witnessing between Julian and me. “You may, but I want you accompanied by royal guardsmen and you must not get too close to him.”
“Thank you, Father. I’ll be right back.”
I went to my room and got Adrian’s necklace from my nightstand. I sat on my bed a moment looking at it.
“What are you thinking about?” Astra asked from my doorway.
I smiled at her. “I was thinking about how much things have changed.”
“For the better,” Astra said, her eyes gentle and sweet as always. I couldn’t believe I’d come so close to losing her today. If I hadn’t followed Captain Augustus into the park, all might have been lost.
“For the better,” I said, reaching for Astra’s hand. She sat next to me on the bed, and I put my head on her shoulder.
“I never had the chance to thank you. You saved my life today.”
I sat up and looked at her, at her amazing beauty and the kindness and goodness glowing in her dark eyes. “You would have done the same for me.”
She gave me a saucy little grin. “Although I don’t know if I could have done it with such…flair. Is it true you cancan kicked Adrian?” she asked, putting her arm around my shoulder.
“And I kicked Captain Augustus in his private parts,” I said with a smile.
“I heard. The royal guardsmen have been sharing it in great detail. They even acted it out at one point. By tomorrow you will be the most famous heroine in the history of Vega.”
“I only want to be your favorite little sister.”
“Like you could stop being that.” She gave me a playful punch on the arm. “You’re stuck with me, kiddo.”
I changed my clothes and walked to the dungeon with Cesar and several of the royal guardsmen. Apparently, our palace did have a real dungeon, although it looked more like a cheap motel than the stone walled prison I’d always imagined.
“They didn’t put this on the palace tour,” I muttered under my breath, and Cesar smiled, a twinkle in his dark eyes. I smiled back, glad he and Astra seemed to be hitting it off. He was nice.
I thought it best if Julian didn’t come. Adrian already hated him, and probably knew he killed his father. I didn’t see any reason to pour salt on Adrian’s wounds by bringing Julian with me. He had grudgingly agreed I was right, but I knew he would be a nervous wreck until I got back.
When we got to Adrian’s cell, he came up to the bars and stared at me. The guards hovered close by. “Can you give us a moment?” I asked.
They backed up a few feet, but they weren’t going any further away. They still saw Adrian as a threat, and I guess I did too. There was madness in him, a poison I hadn’t known existed. I wanted to hate him for what he had tried to do to us, but I couldn’t. Adrian had been warped and manipulated by the people around him, and by his own desire for revenge. It was an illness inside him, and although I hated what it had done to him, I still couldn’t hate him.
I pulled the necklace out of the pocket of my warm-up suit and held it out to him. “Here. Take it back.”
He looked at the necklace in my hand, but he didn’t take it. He shook his head. “No. I want you to have it.”
“Why?” I asked, trying to hand it to him again.
He refused. “It was your birthday present.”
I rolled my eyes at him. “Like any of it matters now. It was your mother’s. You should have it.” I held it out again, and this time he took it.
I turned to go away. “I still love you, you know,” he said.
I came to a dead stop but didn’t turn around. “No, you don’t.”
“Yes, I do,” he insisted.
I went right up to the bars of his cell. “If you loved me, even a little, you would never have tried to kill my family. You’re a sick person, Adrian. I’m sorry for you.”
As I walked away, I heard Adrian’s voice behind me. “Wait for me. I’ll come for you. I promise. I’ll find a way,” he said, repeating the words he had said so long ago to me on the transport ship from Vega.
I didn’t bother turning around. I knew he was staring at me, but I couldn’t care less. It was over.
“No, you won’t,” I said, and my voice echoed off the walls of the dungeon.
If I had met Adrian on Earth, things would have ended differently. He might have even been my soul mate, the future orthodontist of my dreams, but I was a different person now, and I wanted different things.
As I left the dark and terrible place and walked out into the sunlight of another beautiful day on Vega, I felt something I hadn’t experienced in a long time. I was finally home.
Twenty
“For there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.” William Shakespeare’s Hamlet
The second coronation of Queen Vespa of Vega was a glittering and glamorous affair. My mother had never looked more beautiful, or my father more handsome. My sister was a vision, and people were already writing songs and poems about her. As she danced with Cesar, I had to admit, no one had ever been lovelier.
I’d never be one of the great beauties of Vega like my mother or my sister, but it no longer made me jealous or even sad. I was myself, which was good enough for me, good enough for my family, good enough for Julian, and now, apparently, good enough for the entire planet of Vega.
I’d become a legend, as predicted. Not for my beauty, but for my bravery and for my strength and for my loyalty. When I think back about how the kids in my high school could think of nothing to say about me but “pretty,” I shudder. I am so much more. I always was.
I have also become a bit of a fashion icon, and people on Vega copied my style. It’s like a dream come true. The hottest fashion items in stores were the new Princess Starr line. It sounded a bit like a cruise ship, but I was happy, nonetheless. I planned to study fashion design and art at university next year, because I now had a goal. A calling. I wanted to help the fashion oblivious, and I had an entire planet to dress.
Tonight I wore a formal evening gown from Paris, pale blue and elegant. I’d used Cinderella as my inspiration. She had a great sense of style, especially once she kicked the whole scullery maid look, and she knew how to rock the royal thing. My dress was strapless and embroidered on the bodice with silver thread and crystals. My hair had been styled in a simple chignon, and a small diamond tiara sparkled on my head.
As Julian swung me around the dance floor, his arms strong, and his eyes full of love, I knew I had never been happier, but not only because of him. I was happier because of me.
Tiger Lily by Abigail Drake Chapter One
If we do not know life, how can we know death? ~ Confucius, 551-479 BC
I died because of a bad manicure.
I didn’t contrac
t a nasty fungal infection from the manicurist using dirty equipment or get a cut that allowed deadly bacteria to creep under my skin and rot me from the inside out. For a germaphobe like me, fungal infections and bacteria were both major concerns, but neither of them caused my eventual demise. I died because on impulse I let Mr. Wan of the Wan Fine Lady Nail Salon paint my nails a color called Pretty and Pink.
It sounds like a nice shade, doesn’t it? But I should have known better. With my red hair and pale skin, pink is tricky, but I trusted Mr. Wan. When he told me, “New color, big discount for you, Lily Madison,” I didn’t know he actually meant to say, “Bad color, nobody else wants it.”
I’ve never been a risk taker. My idea of living on the edge is not having an extra bottle of hand sanitizer in my purse. I knew the pink would be a mistake, but I ignored my inner voice. I guess the smell of acetone and the hum of nail dryers lulled me into such a relaxed state that I didn’t realize how awful the color looked until exactly twenty minutes later, when I was driving home in the shiny new car my parents had given me for my sixteenth birthday.
Pretty and Pink was false advertising. It should have been called Freaky and Fuchsia.
Distracted by my awful nails, I didn’t see the ice cream truck stopped right smack in the middle of the road, or the herd of small children surrounding it in a snow-cone-induced feeding frenzy. I glanced up from my polish perusal just in time to avoid becoming a mass murderer.
It’s funny how accidents happen in slow motion, isn’t it? I remember the shocked faces of the people on the street as I swerved away from the truck and flew over a small embankment. I let out a high-pitched wail, holding tight to my steering wheel, as my car became an airborne missile and landed in the deep, murky waters of Lake Eugene.
It barely made a splash, which seemed odd. It simply sank, quickly and silently, straight to the bottom. After that, my mind became murky as well.
I tried to open my door, but it refused to budge. My windows wouldn’t roll down either. I pressed every single button in the car, even the ones to turn on the radio and circulate the air. None of them worked. The only one still in commission? The little red triangle that turned on my hazard lights.
Starr Valentine Page 19