Queen of the Stars

by Haley R Lawson

  “The ship’s still on lock down. I’m very sorry you had to be involved in all of this. You know, if you become a royal, you can use your position to make things better. You can be my official advisor to the people.”

  “I will do it, but I want to actually meet the people, not a supervisor of a supervisor of a supervisor. I want people of all classes to be able to talk to me without fear of losing their hot water or bed privileges.”

  “Wait, they take your hot water for talking to a royal?”

  “For a month, but the things I did today will land me in jail.”

  “Not under my command. You like what you do, don’t you?”

  “I like helping people.”

  He smiled. “I wish everybody did.”

  “Me too!”

  He let me leave his room. Charlie was in the hall and asked what happened. I told him I’m a royal advisor to the people, but with no hierarchical middle-men. He told me that was awesome.

  Charlie suggested we should check on Conner. We went and knocked. He let us in and offered us some tea. Charlie said, “Thank you for everything you did for me and my family. Without you, my step-mother would’ve gotten away with everything! I have no idea how to ever repay you, but just know I will do my best.”

  “Just do and be better than your dad. That’s enough for me.”

  “I will, especially with my new royal advisor to the people.”

  “I don’t mean to bring you down, but your dad had one of those too.”

  Charlie laughed and said, “Not like this girl. Conner meet our new Royal advisor. I think you’ll like her.”

  He looked at me and said, “That’s amazing! We are allowed to be friends now. I’m so excited! I bet you have a million ideas! What’s your first step?”

  “Going back to work.”

  They both seemed very confused. Charlie eventually asked, “Like service staff back to work or just getting moving?”

  “There is no reason I can’t be on service staff. I actually enjoy the work.”

  Conner said, “I’m glad you do, but is that not a conflict of interest? Wouldn’t you basically be working for yourself?”

  “We don’t get paid and I’m not making any power grabs anytime soon. Nobody downstairs even has to know.”

  Charlie said, “I think they’ll figure it out when you are seated at the royal table and not serving.”

  “I’ll deal with that when I have to, but at the moment, I need to get back to work.”

  Charlie said, “Please clear it with Prince Alexander at least. I don’t want you to get kicked out of court on your first day!”

  I laughed and told him I would. Prince Alexander knocked on the door thirty seconds later. “Charlie, your father has been detained. Where can I find the royal assembly alarm?”

  Charlie replied that he would take him to it.

  “Okay, I’m going to let Ella and Luke stay with the baby, but I want the other royals present. How do we get their attention?”

  Charlie laughed. “Unfortunately, door to door knocking. They probably didn’t even follow lock down.”

  He laughed. “How did they become royals?”

  “Most were royals on other planets we captured, but some just had lots of money or jewelry or oil or something we needed.”

  “Great spoiled princes and princesses. No offense, I’m one too. I’m just not fond of dealing with certain behaviors.”

  We all laughed. I took a moment to build up my courage and then said, “Prince Alexander, Sir, um… I have something to run by you. Is it okay if I go back to work on the service staff? I’m not going to try to be something I’m not, so I’m not going to be a conventional royal. If that’s what you need, I will give up my position.”

  “Just call me Alex. I don’t need a conventional royal, I need someone with a heart. You can go anywhere and be anything you’d like, but I’d appreciate your honest input. If you are going back to work, it’s probably best if you don’t stand with the other royals just yet. Are they going to put you in jail for being MIA all day?”

  “I was helping the princess get ready for the royal dinner at the request of Prince Charles and then went on lock down and was stuck in Prince Alexander’s room. Then the assembly was called.”

  “Sounds good to me. I better go find that alarm. I guess you will have to obey your boss’s laws, but just know I’m working on it and you are my advisor and secret weapon.”

  I thanked him and he and Charlie went door to door to gather the royals.

  Conner and I went to Charlie’s room to find his watch. It was under a nightstand. He put it on and said, “At least you don’t have to look at my ugly mess anymore.”

  “You are not an ugly mess! You are the strongest person I’ve met in a long time. Besides, I like your scars. They are unique and give you character. I hate what put them there, but they are actually very beautiful in their own way!”

  He hugged me and then flipped his watch. It was a self-confidence thing, but human Conner was intimidating to me. He just felt way out of my league, which he was until an hour before that, but still. I let go of him and we just stayed put waiting for the assembly. He put on some dancing music and said, “I haven’t danced in years, but I heard dancing it out usually helps and we’ve been through a lot today!”

  I laughed and we had a mini dancing party. I asked him if dancing on his planet was the same as ours. He said, “I think true dancing from the spirit is the same on any planet really. It comes from the soul. I mean I imagine it looks different when you have multiple appendages, but it’s still an expression of the soul. We had different instruments and a different language on my planet, but the music at its core is the same too. I like music where you can hear and feel the instruments tell the story.” I told him I did too, and he said, “So with Charlie going for king, you are going to have to learn courting rituals.”

  “Like dancing and holding my pinkie out when drinking tea?”

  He laughed. “Pretty much, I will help you though. I know what it’s like to have to figure it out on your own and I’m not about to do that to you!”

  “Well, thank you for that, but I’m going to be a secret royal for now.”

  “Do you know how frustrating that’s going to be for me and the others after all we’ve been through today?”

  “I do. It’ll be hard for me too, but it will make us stronger.”

  He just sighed and turned up the music. We attracted Prince Theo and Sky to our party. They seemed to really like each other. Malerie came in and I stopped dancing. She said, “I wouldn’t spend too much time around this girl. She is using you guys for power. She’s a prince killer, you know.”

  I just went to the kitchen area and started cleaning. I then focused on the sheets in the bedroom. Charlie came in and said, “You know you can dance with them, right? You don’t have to clean up my mess.”

  “Malerie’s out there. I don’t want to break any more rules today.”

  He laughed. “Okay, if you say so. Alex is briefing the other royals in a few minutes. I just came for a clean suit.”

  “Is Alex out there with Malerie?”

  “Yep, and he’s pretending to have amnesia about his arrival. It’s actually quite entertaining.”

  I laughed and left Charlie to get changed. I offered the royals drinks and Malerie took this as a shot to get me arrested. She said, “Alexander, I saw that servant in your room just before the lockdown. I wouldn’t drink that if I were you.”

  “Well, she saved my life and she seems innocent enough, so I’m not really worried about her.”

  Malerie turned to other tactics and invited him to dance with her. Alex was an excellent dancer. Once Charlie was ready, all the royals went to the banquet hall. I asked if my service would be needed. Charlie said not to worry about it. I wanted to know what Alex was going to say to them, but I instead went to see if Luke and Ella needed anything. Luke was holding the baby and was pretty much awe struck.

  I asked if the
y needed anything and he said, “Yes, for you to sit down for a few minutes.” I laughed and did as he said. He continued, “So, we are royals now. Wait, why aren’t you in the meeting?”

  “I’m kind of a secret royal at the moment. I’m going back to work after the assembly. I’m still going to be the advisor, but I’m still a service staff member.”

  “Well you are way more dedicated than me! Do you think Wilson will hate me?”

  “Nope, when he meets that baby, he will understand.”

  He smiled. “I hope so.”

  The royal alarm sounded so I headed to the assembly courtyard.

  Chapter 16

  Everything Is Changing

  When I arrived at the courtyard, Prince Alex, Theo, Charlie, and Skyler were on the royal balcony. All of the other royals were on the floor below. Prince Alex took the microphone and said, “Thank you all for coming. I know you didn’t really have a choice, but we are going to work on that. My father was the one who commissioned this ship and hundreds like it to ensure peace and harmony among the planets and galaxies of our time. I am truly sorry that our ship was used to bring you harm. The living conditions here are not acceptable! Prince Charlie and I are going to work closely together to fix them. The ship will be landing on earth in one week and opening its doors. Anyone who does not want to stay at that point is free to go. Before that time, I hope we can convince you all to stay. For now, all orders and rules stand for the rest of today until we can evaluate those which need immediate fixing. Please report to your stations and have a pleasant evening.”

  I went to the supply room and Sally had my report out. She asked where I had been. I told her the story Alex and I had come up with.

  “I will be checking that with Prince Charles! We are very behind right now. I need you to go and collect all of the trash from every room. Then come back and get this place organized.”

  I went and got all of the trash. Malerie loved it and could not stop making fun of me for a single second. Prince Alexander and Charlie walked past me with a huge stack of paperwork. Alex dropped his glasses, so I picked them up for him. I did not make eye contact as is the rule. He thanked me and went to the royal office. I went back to the supply closet and organized and dusted everything. It was already time to deliver dinner when I got there, but the kitchen was behind, and the rest of the service staff was cleaning up all the messes resulting from the earlier chaos and lockdown. The food finally arrived so I delivered it. Everyone was super grouchy about the late food, except for my friends. I took Prince Alex and Charlie’s food to their office. They were super grateful for an excuse to take a break. Prince Alex asked me what I usually ate.

  “You don’t want to know.”

  “Oh, but I do which is why I asked.”

  “Nutrient bars. The service staff doesn’t really have time for lunch and even if we did, the food in the eatery is too expensive. In all honesty, we collect the edible leftovers and split them when the supervisor is not around.”

  “Can you bring me one of those nutrient bars?”

  “I’m not allowed back to my bunk yet, but I’ll bring you one tomorrow.”

  “Okay, have a nice night.”

  I thanked him and went back to the supply closet. The woman on call was the one who slept through every call the other night. I went and showered. Then I took my uniform for tomorrow and went back to the storage room. I got the nightly call cart ready and then sat by the phone. I set up a report sheet and then started a list of things Alex and Charlie could work on. The first call came from Prince Theodore. He couldn’t figure out how to turn the shower on. I went and showed him. I decided to check on Jaisy and Jenna on my way back. They were hiding in their closet. They were afraid they were going to jail too. They were also afraid of the other royals turning on them. Their tutor had apparently quit. They were very upset no one would ever talk to them again, so I took them to Sky’s room.

  I went in first and said, “I know they are only your half siblings, but they really don’t have anyone at the moment. Would you consider letting them stay for a while and getting to know them?”

  “Of course, I always felt bad for them. As much as I wished my dad would pay attention to me, they got all of my step-mother’s and it was never good or nice things. I would love to have them. We can have a game night!”

  I invited the girls in and went to get them game night snacks. They were already having fun by the time I got back. I left the girls and went back to the phone. I went to see the little boy who wets his sheets after a call from his mom. I told him a story again after cleaning him up. On my way back to the supply room, I found the little girl we call the toy thrower in the hallway in only a diaper. I picked her up and took her into her room. Her nanny left without feeding her dinner and apparently left the door open. I fed her and then cleaned up her room. We played with her stuffed animals for a while and then she went to bed. I got back to the on-call room and there was a message from Alex and Charlie. They needed extra coffee. I took the coffee and the nutrient bar I got for Alex.

  When I got to the office, the security guard inspected my basket and my identification card. He pushed me against the wall and said, “You are not on call tonight. Why are you out of your quarters? What’s really in this coffee?”

  Alex came into the hall and was surprised to see me. “What’s going on here?”

  “Sir, this servant is out past curfew and is pretending that she is on call.”

  “What is the punishment for said crimes?”

  “Well, she’s a trouble-maker and already lost hot water. We will take her bed for the next week. If she’s caught again, she goes to jail.”

  “This is the one who saved my life. I want to hear her side of the story.”

  “Did she touch you?”

  “Actually, they all look the same. I don’t think it was her after all. I’ll need coffee though.”

  I was escorted back to my room, so I went to sleep on the floor.

  Chapter 17

  Sunday

  When morning came, I went to the storage room in my sleep uniform and changed into my clean work one I had left there. Sally wrote in my report again. I just let it go and served breakfast. I left a nutrient bar with Alex’s breakfast. He was asleep among a stack of papers when I was there. Charlie was also asleep when I was in his room. Luke was asleep with his hand on the baby, but Ella was in the shower. I fed the toy thrower her breakfast last. She seemed to like me.

  A new nanny came in and said, “You are so good with her. The other nanny said she was a terror, but she seems fine to me.”

  “She just wants attention. She’ll do anything to get it including throwing toys.”

  She laughed. “I throw things when I’m mad too. Thanks for taking care of her.”

  I headed to get the service cart. Meredith wanted to come with me, but Sally did instead.

  “I heard you got caught after hours in the prince’s office. How was the floor? I told you to stay away from those men. They will never fall for you!”

  “I know Gertrude has a hard time hearing the phone. I was just trying to help out. I didn’t know they actually had a record of who’s on call.”

  “There’s a lot you still have to learn.”

  “Then teach it to me… please. Sally, I’m sorry for all the mistakes I’ve made. I’m sorry if it made you look bad and like I don’t care about this position. I care a lot about it. I care about the people too, not just their sheets or trash. I hope Prince Alexander can change some things, but I want you to know I am going to do my best to follow the rules without excuses. Can you at least tell me what I need to fix when you mark my report?”

  “You showed up in your sleep uniform and used work time to change. I know why, but I have to mark everything I see.”

  “Okay, so can we just start over?”

  She agreed. We collected all of the garbage and made all of the beds. Alex was still asleep in his, so we skipped him. Charlie was working on his own paperwork an
d spilled a coffee on it as we were making his bed. I cleaned up the coffee without ever actually looking at him. It was harder with Conner. He was teaching Skyler to dance a royal dance, at least until her tutor came and yelled at them for making a mockery of royal traditions. They had been adding their own fun music and moves. Sally caught me watching, so I just went back to cleaning.

  When we were in the hall, I said, “I’m sorry for that. I know I need to work on it.”

  “It’s a life you will never have. It’s not against the rules to look. Just don’t get distracted.”

  “What if you could have it, would you take it?”

  “You were stuck with Charles. Did he lead you on? Did he make you feel special? They do it as a cruel game.”

  “No, he ignored me. I’m just wondering, if you had the chance to rise in station, would you?”

  “Of course! Any of us would. I don’t do this job because I like it.”

  “So, are you leaving the ship next Sunday?”

  “I wouldn’t have anywhere to go and besides its most likely a trap of some kind.”

  “I don’t know. Prince Alexander seems like a man of his word.”

  “I guess we will see.”

  Malerie still bullied me. Sally said, “You know, of all the rules you broke, I am really impressed you haven’t hit her yet!”

  I laughed and said, “She isn’t worth the jail cell.”

  Prince Alex heard me as he was walking by and could not contain his laughter. Sally let him go by and said, “I guess we should save the chit chat for our storage room. Maybe you are right about him though.”

  “I really want to be.”

  We went back to the storage room to get ready for lunch. Sally and I split the floors. She took Conner’s lunch to him. I took the lunch to Alex’s office. He thanked me and I followed protocol of a “You are welcome, your highness. It was my pleasure” without eye contact.