Part 22 (2/2)
”Just a minute,” he said before heading toward the bathroom and removing anything she might think of using against him: nail scissors or products she might try to spray into his eyes. ”What are you doing?” the Queen asked impatiently.
”Making it safe for you. I left you some toilet paper, but other than that, the place is clean. Don't dilly dally. I've got a knife and guns,” he said, quickly picking up his s.h.i.+rt so she could see the holster and know that he wasn't messing around. ”So do your business fast,” Simon said.
”Are you going to untie me so I can have a little privacy?” she asked.
”I'll untie your hands in the bathroom,” he said, as he put his hands around her wrists a which felt delicate, but strong beneath his grip. She winced quietly but didn't complain.
Simon respected strong women, and had to admit that the Queen was the toughest he had seen, maybe ever. It surprised him. As he walked her into the bathroom, hands behind her back, her perfume got into his nose and he was glad she couldn't see him close his eyes as he felt himself weaken. Despite everything, he admitted to himself she was a beautiful woman, on the outside.
Chapter 37.
”I won't do it. I'd rather die. That would make me a martyr and you nothing more than a murderer,” she said the next morning once Nathaniel, Shayla and Simon were all present.
”What about all those men who are dying in the dungeons all over the country? Who is murdering them?” Shayla said, tears in her voice.
”What about them?” The Queen said matter-of-factly, and Shayla knew there was no hope. Her mother would rather give her life than break a princ.i.p.al she believed in.
Shayla's lip quivered as she turned away. Nathaniel tried to offer comfort, but there was nothing to ease the fact that her mother was choosing to die. Shayla looked at Simon, but he gave no visible reaction.
The Queen's hands were tied in front of her, rather than behind as they were the previous evening. She almost looked content with her hands in her lap. Her disheveled hair hung straight and unstyled. She never went in public without her hair swept up, just as she was never seen in anything other than a sari, and it certainly would not be a torn one.
”That's that,” Simon said, and the Queen looked entirely startled as he pulled a syringe from the leather pouch he had on the coffee table near the couches.
”I can't look!” Shayla said.
”Don't you want to say goodbye to your mom, Shayla,” the Queen said with a load of contempt.
”Mother, please! Just make the speech!” she said, begging.
”I can't make a speech I don't believe in,” she said, looking at her daughter. Shayla swore she saw a hint of a tear in her eye, but it couldn't undo all the wrongs her mother had done by not repealing mandatory castration. Beyond that, there were the imprisoned men, suffering at her mother's hands, simply because they spoke out against the Queen's laws. Shayla knew the men deserved equal rights, but she also believed that everyone had a right to speak their minds. Too many atrocities against men had been allowed.
”If you won't make the speech, then I will,” Shayla said. ”Goodbye Mother. You had your chance to live, but you are a selfish, evil woman who is willing to let innocent people die.” She spun on her heels and marched out.
”I can't believe you're doing this to me after...” the Queen yelled just as Simon plunged the syringe into the Queen who went limp.
My fellow citizens, I inform with great sadness that my mother, our Queen for more than a quarter century, has died. It is a shock to everyone, but she has had a heart attack. Ironically, she died on the eve of an important announcement she wished to make. I am here to deliver her message. My mother, our Queen, found out just yesterday that there were many men who were captured unnecessarily, unintentionally, without the support of the government after attending a number of rallies many months ago. You may have heard of these rallies to foster male rights. In Was.h.i.+ngton D.C., Kansas City, Missouri, Atlanta, Georgia, in San Francisco, in California. Men were unfairly imprisoned. Today they will all be free. Their families will receive rest.i.tution as they regain their strength and footing in communities across America. We shall unite and move forward under my leaders.h.i.+p as I a.s.sume the throne. Change is coming, but please give me time to grieve for the loss of my mother and your Queen.
Equal Rights and Justice for all People.
Thank you. Good night and G.o.d Bless.
”And, cut!” the director said just hours after Shayla left her mother, slumped over in the bubble-gum pink chair of her childhood suite that had always been a haven. Shayla knew she would never set foot in there again.
”It's going to air in ten minutes. Let's go watch it,” she said to Nathaniel and Gerald.
”I had the green suite setup for the two of you, figuring that you wouldn't want to stay in your mother's suite or, obviously, yours,” Gerald said.
”Thanks, Gerald. I appreciate it. You want to come with us?” Shayla asked him, looking exhausted.
”No, that's alright. You two need some time,” Gerald said, looking at both of them. ”I have some things that need tending, but let's connect at dinner? I'll bring it to the green suite myself,” Gerald said.
”What about... are there arrangements...? Must there be a viewing for the public? She always said she wanted to be cremated and I want to respect that,” Shayla said, nearly breaking down.
”We'll talk about that at dinner. Right now, get some rest. It's been a long couple of days. I've already called Lorraine, and she knows you're not coming back. If there is anything else you need before dinner, don't hesitate to call,” Gerald said before hugging Shayla.
Nathaniel felt uneasy about how fast everything happened. One minute he's in the Underground with a new ident.i.ty, and now he's stowed away in the Palace with Shayla at the country's helm. He felt like such an outsider as he stood by, but when Shayla began to walk out of the room, he followed. After all, he certainly had no idea where the ”green suite” was. The Palace was huge.
He tried to keep up with Shayla who walked very fast on this day. It was as if she were trying to get away from him. For the first time, he hesitated before taking her hand and decided against it. They walked quietly as they twisted through the Palace hallways. Days earlier, he and Shayla strolled through these very hallways for the first time. Their hands were intertwined and Shayla stopped often telling stories of her childhood, and pointing out her favorite paintings.
”Here,” she said finally, stopping in front of a door. She punched in a code that triggered the clicking of a door unlocking. Nathaniel followed her inside. It was beautifully decorated in various shades of green, from emerald to sea foam, with doors off the main room presumably to a bedroom and bath.
”Are you okay?” Nathaniel asked feeling nervous in her presence in a way he had not experienced since that first day they met.
”No, I'm not okay,” she said, breaking down. ”I just ordered my own mother killed.”
”It's not your fault,” he said, reaching to comfort her, but she flinched.
”It has to be somebody's fault. She didn't die of old age or even disease or a car accident or anything other than a decision I made, along with you and everyone else in that room.”
”I can't imagine what you feel like, but I'm sorry, truly sorry. I love you,” he said, but she didn't turn to him like she usually did. She didn't move closer. She sat on the couch with her head between her knees and cried.
”I'm not hungry,” Shayla said to Gerald a few hours later as he wheeled a cart into the suite.
”Eat something. At least some bread. You need your strength. We all need our strength, together,” Gerald said looking at Shayla and Nathaniel, both seated across from him. He held the basket out to her and she pulled apart the flower of white linen that was closed around the bread to keep it fresh. She pulled out a roll and took a rabbit-sized nibble.
”Thank you,” she said to Gerald. ”I thank you both.”
”You're very welcome, but we, along with all the other men in the country, are the ones who will always thank you for your courage,” Gerald said.
”I thought I was doing the right thing, but now I wonder,” she said, setting the roll down on her plate.
”Eight hundred and seventy two men were released from the dungeons of prisons all across the country today. You saved eight hundred and seventy two lives today alone! You will save many more as you go on.”
”I never wanted this responsibility. What if I can't do it? My mother might be right. I'm not tough like she was. I couldn't make the decisions she made. What if there are riots?” Shayla said.
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