Part 23 (1/2)
”Those men should never have been imprisoned and you know that. They were released after watching your speech. There haven't been riots, but there are Webavision photos of people making posters and writing on sheets that they are hanging from bridges all over the country saying: ”Long Live Queen Shayla.”
”Really?” Shayla said. She looked at Nathaniel and he could see a glimpse of the love that they had s.h.i.+ning through.
”I'm sorry,” she said to Nathaniel as soon as Gerald left with the dinner tray.
”For what?” he asked.
”I wasn't very nice earlier. This isn't your fault.”
”You have nothing to apologize for. You've been under tremendous pressure. You are strong, at least as strong as your mother, but with your father's conscience. I love you and always will love you,” he said.
She walked over and kissed him with a pa.s.sion that felt freer than ever.
”Just give me some time. I'll get through this. We'll get through this,” she said.
She led him to the bedroom and he kissed her while unb.u.t.toning her s.h.i.+rt and then unhooking her bra, but he stopped when he saw the tears slowly escape her eyes.
”Are you alright... we don't have to...” he said, wiping her tear away with his finger.
”I want to. I'm happy and sad all at the same time,” she said.
”Why are you happy? Because you helped all those men?”
”Partly, but I'm also happy because I can really be with you, without hiding. I can be with you as Nathaniel DeLuca, as my husband.”
”But I didn't even propose yet.”
”Men don't propose.”
”They do now,” he said, getting down on one knee.
Chapter 38.
Simon was still amazed about the events of the last few days. If someone told him that the Queen's daughter was the polar political opposite of her mother and she was going to be the new Queen in less than a week, he would have laughed at the absurdity.
Now he was on his way back to the Underground to find out what was next. Chester told him that this was only the beginning. The castration laws weren't officially changed, even though the C Centers weren't currently performing castrations. Until there was true equality, the Underground would remain intact, with some major regrouping.
They'd be working directly with Shayla, and he looked forward to the next chapter. Perhaps there would be less driving. He wondered if he and Eudora would settle down into a little house with a yard and a garden and a white picket fence. That thought made him chuckle.
He still had one more delivery, his most important, and he almost felt sentimental. That wasn't like him.
As he turned off the highway onto the b.u.mpy road for the millionth time, he noted the Midwestern skyline that began to set over the Kansas plains. His pa.s.senger should be awake by now, but he didn't even hear a peep from the back.
When he pulled into the Underground garage, he got out of the driver's seat and opened the van doors. Her eyes were open, but she looked sleepy. That's what the shot did, so he wondered how she would be in a few hours or a few days. It was certainly going to be interesting.
”I'm going to take that tape off, okay, but no screaming or biting, alright?” he said, feeling a kindness toward her that he had never thought the Queen would elicit from him. Her nod was gentle and he slowly took the tape off her mouth.
”Where are we?” she asked, looking at him in a way that made him pause.
”You'll find out in just a minute,” he said quietly, feeling something that he wasn't sure how to describe. This bothered him a little, but this wasn't the time for thinking. ”You alright?” he asked.