Through the Windshield Glass (37 page)

Katelyn was
leading an elderly man down the burnt aisle. He was leaning heavily against her
and looked like death had just woken him from his afternoon nap. There were no
whisperings from the congregation and I gradually realized they were all
bowing, even Michael. It had to be the king. I hastily bowed to, but was
immediately reprimanded.

"Oh, all
of you stand up," the old man said feistily, "I'm not your ruler
here anymore, she is. She's your new queen."

"No, I'm
not," I responded immediatley. I had thought about the possibility in my
many ours of recovery and had decided it was completely impossible, "Daman
wasn't the rightful king, I'm not the queen. I'm not," I finished weakly.
The argument I had made up in my head had disappeared the moment I opened my
mouth, resulting in a flimsy denial of what seemed like truth coming from the
wrinkled man.

"I say you
are, Daman was my son-in-law and therefore rightful heir to the throne should I
become unfit to rule. Running away with Leif made me
unfit. Daman made you his wife and now I'm making you the queen. I'm done
here, I have other places to attend to and I'm not delaying those obligtions.
It's you or no one and just a hint, no one doesn't usually work out," the
king said. He spoke with such dignity and authority that even though he looked
as though he could keel over at any moment, no one dared doubt a word he said,
no one dared contradict him, and no one dared bow again.

"Well then
you have to teach me," I said quickly, "You have to stay king for a
while and teach me, maybe once you get even better and start ruling again
you'll realize you don't want to leave."

The king
laughed, he changed before my eyes. Katelyn smiled as he straightened and
suddenly I recognized him, "You were the officiator at the wedding!"

A smile, a face
change, another gasp as I recognized Gregor, "I told you, I have other
places and many faces to be. Now, I'm going through this door to take care of
those. You are all welcome to follow, when you're ready of course."

"But you
still need to teach me! I'm not a princess, I have a temper, I'm not married!
You have to stay!" I yelled fearfully.

The king just
laughed again, "All of those are irrelevant as you will soon realize,
immersion is the best teacher. You will do well, especially if you don't let
strangers marry your children."

"Wait! How
were we able to kill Leif with just an axe? Shouldn't it have been
harder?"

More laughing,
"Fools believe they are more powerful when they can rule fools. I let him
return here knowing he would exercise his power and that someone would stop
him, but I could not intervene or all would have been for naught."

I tried to
protest again, but the king just held up his hand and walked past me,
"Farewell!" he shouted with a wave of his hand. Gregor stood
regally alone in front of the arch before simply allowing himself to fall face
first into the flowers. I lurched forward as if it were possible for me to
catch him, but he was already gone.

"No one
said the door looked like a door," Katelyn said, "I don't think Leif
or Daman even knew what it looked like, they just knew they posessed it."

Katelyn's words
seemed logical. If Daman had known where it was he would have done
more to control it, used it as incentive, or just destroyed it to
ensure his total power. Kinga must have known where it was, but to keep
its location safe she had taken it with her to the grave.

Katelyn
curtsied to me and walked down to join the rest of the group. I was left alone,
standing in front of the door that led to what I hoped was something better. I
should have said something inspirational, or tried to accept my calling
gracefully, but I just wanted to run. And not in Beyond, I wanted to fall
through the door and never look back. But then I looked at James standing in
the back, he looked happy for me, but still distant and sad. Suddenly, the
realization I was queen and had royal power hit me like... well, like a very
cranky demon.

"Where's
Rebecca Patterson?" I asked loudly.

At first
nothing happened, everyone looked at each other, asked names of people they
didn't recognize, but still no affirmative response. Then, there was unnatural
movement to my right, the withered form of Rebecca stepped away from the safety
of the masses. She still looked ill, but there was a glow about her like life
had finally returned. She no longer looked insane, she just appeared tired, and
her face gave off the same sadness as her husband's, at least until he saw her.

"Rebecca?"
James cried hoarsely from the back. His voice cracked like it used to when we
were kids and a small smile of remembrance touched my lips.

The reunion of
my brother and his wife was like a scene from a movie. Rebecca stared
uncomprehendingly at first before bursting into uncontrollable tears. James
raced forward and almost tripped on the uneven ground before reaching his
love. They didn't kiss, at first they didn't even touch. In that moment, their
love was beyond the physical. Their eyes were locked in the most romantic stare
ever witnessed. It put any anticipated movie kiss to shame, it even shamed the
kiss of all kisses shared by Wesley and Buttercup. It was pure and wonderful
and perfect.

Finally, the
stare broke, James wiped a tear from his wife's face before pulling her into
him tightly. I didn't think he would ever let go, he wasn't going to risk
losing her again.

Chapter Fifty-four

I took the
spectacle of my brother's happy reunion as an excuse to scurry out away from
the crowd. I heaved deep stabilizing breaths as I weaved my way through halls
in the palace and tried to make sense of everything that had just happened. I
was happy for my brother, but I was terrified of my new job, I was convinced I
would fail miserably at it and someone would rebel against me in my first year
and keep me locked up for the rest of eternity. The thought was chilling and I
had to stop walking so I could rest against a wall and try not to pass out from
the shock of my situation.

"Are you
okay, Alice?" Michael asked. I hadn't realized he was following me, his
voice sent me sprawling to the floor in surprise. He helped me up and I looked
away from him so I wouldn't look at his lips.

"I'm fine,
I'm just terrified," I whispered.

"Being
terrified is okay," Michael said. He gently turned my face so that I was
looking into his eyes. Sunlight bounced joyously through the open windows and
off the white marble we were standing on. Michael was illuminated in a heavenly
glow, "As long as you don't let it consume you, it's okay."

"But what
if it does consume me?" I asked, "What if I get so scared I become
like Daman or Leif and hide my terror behind power and anger?"

"You
won't," Michael said calmly.

"How do
you know?" I asked agitatedly.

"Because
you're Alice Beth Patterson," he replied.

Alice Beth
Patterson, my name, the whole reason I'd started on this crazy journey. Alice
Beth Patterson wasn't someone who would give up her good name, she was someone
who would fight with everything she had to make sure no one ever had to be
afraid of death again. I just hoped I could live up to the name.

"Thanks,"
I replied, "Can I ask you a question?"

"Anything."

"How come
you were able to move to kill Leif," I asked quickly. I was afraid he
would tell me it was because Leif didn't freeze him in the first place and he
had had to make a life changing decision to betray one of us.

"Because
he was going to kill you," Michael said simply. In other words, it was
unexplainable, Michael's sheer will to protect me had allowed him to overpower
Leif.

"Now it's
my turn to ask a question," Michael said with a grin.

"Okay,"
I said slowly.

Michael picked
up my left hand and looked at the white scar that had been left by Daman's
mark, "Can I be your king?"

Epilogue

Alice and
Michael were married as you probably figured out. The wedding was beautiful, they
were married by Leigh's grave side and I'd never seen two people so in love and
meant for each other.

I had my own
happy ending as well. After Alice forgave me for my suicide I was able to start
to really feel better. I recalled the memories succeeding my death and wrote
them down for the history of Beyond and I helped Alice keep herself together
when the pressures of being a queen got heavy.

And she helped
me when I fell in love. Roan is a wonderful man who helped me remember who
I used to be and marry it with the person I am now. Both of us are still living
happily in Beyond and helping the new queen, Alice Linda, to learn the ropes.
She was named heir after Alice and Michael decided it was time to move on.

The whole
kingdom turned out to see them off. Neither of them had chosen to age much, but
they both appeared wise and regal as they said their goodbyes to family and
friends before stepping up to the door.

Alice turned to
bid us all goodbye, tears streamed down her face and I remembered her as my best
friend and how she used to be, "Always remember to smile," she said
to us all. We all heard a gleeful giggle fly through the flowers behind Alice.

"Hurry you
two!" a young girl's voice called out. Michael and Alice looked at each other
in surprise.

"Leigh!"
they both shouted at once. They rushed through the flowers and the last thing I
heard from Alice, my queen, my best friend was, "Smile, Maria."

Remember.

The end