Queen of the Stars

by Haley R Lawson

  I said, “There has been a mistake here. Alex only used his crest, so I could come and go at royal court. I just found his will. I am sure he had other plans.”

  His father took the will and a bunch of his legal counsel came to assist him. They did the deliberating in Alex’s office. Atri and I stayed in the conference room. I said, “Atri you are the king. He would’ve wanted someone like you. I am loyal to you.”

  “Did you read the letter Alex wrote you?”

  I had not and was too afraid to. He said, “I am glad you are loyal to me, but Alex was smart. He knew what putting his crest on your name meant. He never put it on mine and apparently according to his father you are the only one even though Jackson was made a royal at the same time. Read the letter.”

  I took the letter up to the garden and sat on the wooden bench just holding it in my hand trying to get the courage to open it. Conner came up a little while later and sat down next to me. We had become really close through all the royal socials and working on the council. We were basically dating without admitting we were.

  He said, “Atri told me Alex’s father is here for his stuff. I’ve been looking for you. Are you okay? What do you have there?”

  I laughed. “We’ve had this moment before, but with a hot water raffle chip. It’s possibly my future again. Apparently, when Alex made me a royal, he used his royal crest instead of creating one for me. I was the only person on the ship he used his crest for. His father just told me the ship is mine. I gave him Alex’s will, which I just happened to find in a file with my name on it and said there must be a mistake. Now that I’m thinking about it, I don’t think there was. He kept challenging me. He made me take all the notes, lead all the public opinion polls, and I led the most of those council meetings. I literally had my own chair in his office. He was preparing me for this, and I was too stupid to see it.”

  “Alex was sneaky. You are not stupid. I am the king’s brother, but I think you are going to make a great queen. Is that a letter from Alex?”

  “Yes, it is.”

  “I’ll leave you to read it.”

  “No, please stay.”

  Conner held the paper for me while I read it because I was shaking way too much. There was no question in my mind that this letter was truly from Alex. It said, “Hello fellow space traveler and royal person, if you are reading this, I am either not on the ship or you found my file on you in the filing cabinet. Rose, if I am behind you right now, please just put the letter down and please don’t throw anything at me. If I truly am not aboard the ship, I am sorry I left you. You know I never wanted to. Unity was my ship, my home, and you and the others were my family. Thank you for helping me change the world. I had to make sure the ship was left in good hands and with someone with a heart. Rose, you are the Queen of the Stars… well the Queen of Unity, but she is among the stars, so it counts. I know how incredibly mad you must be at me right now, but Unity doesn’t need a normal queen. It needs someone like you fighting to make it a better place. Don’t let my father’s legal advisors trick you into thinking I only put you under my crest because I wanted you in court. That’s not true. I knew exactly what I was doing. I knew from the moment you saved my life and still defended Malerie. You are Unity’s queen. I am just sorry I can’t be there to watch you. You are going to get her to earth, I know it. All my love, Prince Adexsfren ‘Alex’ of Unity.”

  Conner kissed me and said, “Well, I was going to give you this ring on Friday before he left the ship, but he just gave you an entire spaceship.”

  I looked at Conner and he pulled a ring from his pocket. I said, “You are going to have to do a better proposal than that. I’m a princess… right?”

  He laughed. “I think you are a Queen. You are the Queen of the ship whether you have a king or not.”

  “Then Alex was king?”

  “Yeah, but I don’t think he liked the title because of what Charlie’s father did.”

  “So now what do I do?”

  “You march down to Alex’s… your office and take charge.”

  “What about Atri?”

  “He will probably be relieved.”

  I went and found Atri in his office. He said, “They are still arguing. Did you read the letter yet?”

  “I did. Alex knew what he was doing. I will hold onto this if you still want to be king. I trust you and as I said am loyal to you.”

  “No, he chose you for a reason. Let’s go talk to his father.”

  I walked into Alex’s office and his father was sitting in his chair. I said, “Sir, I am sorry to interrupt. Along with Alex’s will, I found this letter. He explained everything to me. He truly did mean for me to be Queen.”

  His father’s legal council took the letter from my hand. They insisted that I had faked the letter and that I had put myself under Alex’s crest while working for him. The next few days were full of interrogations and interviews with other royals. Alex never discussed his plans with any of them. Eventually, his father called a royal assembly. Atri and I were invited onto the royal family balcony.

  Theo arrived at the last minute and his father said, “Did you change your mind? Are you going to take the ship? Now would be the time to do it.”

  “No sir. I am still too young. I am here to make sure you do what Alex would have wanted. It’s all right here in his journal. He chose her. She helped him make this ship what it is. We owe it to him and to her. This is what Alex would have wanted. May I make the announcement?”

  “I am proud of you for standing up for what you believe in. Your brother would be as well. Yes, you may make the announcement.”

  Prince Theo took the microphone and said, “Hello space travelers of Unity, as you know, I am Prince Theodore. The late Prince Alexander’s younger brother. Sir Atri has made an amazing king for the past few weeks and my brother would have been incredibly proud of him. However, Prince Alexander did not choose Sir Atri as king. He chose a queen. Months ago, Alex made Ms. Rose here into a royal under our family crest. Since he did not have any children, she is technically his descendent. Ms. Rose and my brother made all of the changes that happened on this ship in the past year together. She even had her own chair right next to his in his office. He has been preparing her for this pretty much since the moment he met her. I could not be prouder to introduce you to my brother’s closest friend and your new queen.”

  I hugged him and took the microphone. I was shaking so much you could hear it in the speakers. I stepped forward and said, “Hello Unity, it is my honor to stand before you. As much as we all miss Alex, I promise I will do my very best to honor his legacy. As his was, my door and heart are always open to suggestions. I look forward to continuing this journey with all of you. Have a pleasant evening.”

  I think I was in shock because I accidentally dropped the microphone instead of returning it to the press staff. I signed over one hundred documents that night and, in the week, to follow. They made me make a will and choose an heir. I chose Jackson and Heidi’s son with Jackson as a proxy until he would be old enough. I asked Heidi for permission, but never told Jackson. I attempted to keep working in the hospital, but there was always so much to do and security following me. Charlie, Malerie, and their son were finally allowed to visit for my coronation ball. Malerie told me how sorry she was that they were not there for Alex’s memorial. I told her I understood. She also apologized for the way she treated me. I told her it was in the past. Charlie looked truly happy with her and the baby. His spots even turned blue when he danced with her. They stayed blue when he danced with me, but I could tell his heart belonged to her now.

  He said, “So you are Queen now and I don’t even live on the ship anymore. I didn’t see that coming.”

  “You’re a dad now. He’s beautiful by the way.”

  “He’s so smart too. He has us wrapped around his tiny finger. So, did anyone start the royal courting process now that there’s a single queen?”

  “Alex’s father sent all of those royals over there
from his other ships and some from other planets. They are all wearing those stupid watches to impress me. They are very handsome, but how am I supposed to get to know one with a single dance?”

  “Maybe they just aren’t good at dancing. You should be able to tell a lot about them. The way they make eye contact tells you how into the moment they are. How loosely they hold you tells you how strict they are or how much they want to be with you. How choreographed they are tells you either that they like to have fun, or they put a lot of time in.”

  “So, a bunch of mixed messages?”

  “Pretty much, but you will know.”

  “I already do. Conner was going to propose to me before Alex disappeared. He won’t even dance with me now.”

  “Dance with him.”

  He was right. I went over and asked Conner to dance. All of the imported royals were watching. Conner must’ve lost confidence because he wouldn’t look me in the eyes. I stepped on his toe on purpose and he left the dance floor. Another prince stepped in, but I followed Conner.

  He was sitting on the wooden bench by the pond. I sat down with him and said, “You know, I’m not really that into princes. I am just here because I have to be. It’s kind of my party. You technically never proposed, but if you still have that ring, I’d like to see it.”

  He got down on one knee and said, “Ms. Rose. Queen of Unity. You were there for me since the moment you met me. You were kind and gentle and loving even when you were directly ordered not to be. You lost your job for me and risked your life for my brother. I have watched you become so strong. Would you consider making an alien outcast like me…”

  He turned his watch off for the first time in months. He was always afraid of how he looked. He continued “an alien outcast like me as your husband? I promise I will not step on your toes or try to become king. I just want to be with you.” I kissed him and we went back to the dance floor.

  The next morning, we had a small royal wedding. We basically eloped, but all of our people were on the ship for once. After signing our royal wedding documents, Conner went back to work on the ship’s morning show. I went to visit people in the royal hospital. There were a lot of people still recovering from the planet where we lost Alex. They were people of all kinds since the whole royal fleet came to help.

  We had one john doe that no one had claimed. He was from Alex’s home planet, but he was in a coma and badly burned. I went to visit him every day after a long day of work and I told him all of my stories of the crazy things around the ship. He eventually woke up but had no memory and was essentially starting from scratch. I honestly had this idea in my heart that he was Alex, but a DNA test did not match his brother. I had asked him because he and Sky stayed a little longer than his parents to spend time with Jaisy and Jenna. Theo was so mad I got his hopes up that he wouldn’t speak to me for years.

  Conner and I were not able to have children of our own, but we cared for the ship’s children as if they were our own. We held giant parties for them and made sure they were all taken care of. We had a few favorite planets to visit peacefully, but I wanted so badly to come show Conner the world I had grown up in. We started the process of contacting earth. Eventually, I was able to talk earth’s leaders into allowing us to land in the country we had been taken from. The place was essentially a waste land when we landed, and no one had ever wanted to come near it. The people of Unity worked very hard under my council’s direction to build a new peaceful nation. We built a monument for all those earth had lost as well as for Alex near each of the oceans. Conner and I toured the entire country by car. They still had wheels at the time. It took a while, but Unity followed us from the sky, and we kept up with our royal duties.

  We ended our journey in what used to be known as Delaware. I rented a boat and we went offshore closest to the place where my father’s ashes were spread as I could remember. I set Alex’s letter to me on top of the water. Dolphins were circling us as Conner kissed me and the sun set.

  We returned to Unity and scheduled our take off. Some earthlings stayed on board. I decided to visit Charlie’s home planet next. We plotted our course and I went to talk to the john doe from Alex’s planet. He had been touring earth as well but returned to the ship just before we left. I got to the room I had given him in the royal quarters, and he was painting. His painting was of an ocean scene. I ran to my room and got the one Alex had made me years before. The paintings were identical.

  I fell to the floor, but the john doe came in and said, “I was taking pictures of the ocean and someone suggested painting it. They gave me some supplies. I somehow knew what I was doing. I painted this from memory. Rose, I…”

  I jumped up and hugged him. All I could say was, “We got to earth.”

  “I know.”

  “I had your DNA tested against Theo’s.”

  “I was adopted as a baby. I was a servant’s little boy and my parents were having trouble having a baby of their own. They raised me after she passed away.”

  “You’re Alex, right?”

  “I am.”

  “You are never leaving this ship again.”

  “Rose, that’s not free enough for me. I’m not a normal royal.”

  I just started crying and Alex stood there holding me. Conner came into my room and said, “We don’t have to leave earth. We can stay. I know that was hard and your family choosing to stay was even harder. Oh, hello John.”

  We found it easiest to just call john doe Alex by John. I said, “It’s not that. They belong on earth and I got to see it. We will come visit… if that’s what the king wants.”

  “Did I do something wrong? I told you it’s your word.”

  “Conner, not you. King Adexsfren.”

  “Rose, he’s not Alex. He’s just trying to trick you.”

  “He painted an identical painting to the one Alex made.”

  Conner got between us and said, “He could’ve broken into your room. You are the queen. He just wants power. John get out. Now!”

  Conner freaked out and had John moved to prison. My ship no longer had a prison staff because Charlie’s father was returned to his planet and all the others were as well. Conner made some of the security staff do it. He tried to keep me from going down there, but while he was on air, I went down to see John or Alex. We sat in the old interrogation room.

  He said, “Last time, I was on the other side of the table next to you.”

  “I don’t… how am I supposed to prove this? Your brother…Prince Theo… won’t speak to me any longer since I had you tested. We had a whole ceremony and built monuments on each coast. I lost my best friend. If you just want power, you can be an advisor, but don’t lie to me.”

  “I wanted to be a flight mechanic. I told that to one person in front of you. I don’t want power. You are Unity’s queen.”

  Conner had put the doubts in my head. “I am going to release you to be a flight mechanic while I figure out what to do now.”

  I unhandcuffed him and set him up at central processing. Conner and I got in such a big fight over the fact that I released John that he stopped speaking to me and moved to his own room. I checked on John everyday but was never brave enough to speak to him.

  Charlie just happened to be visiting his home planet when we were. We were staying in the castle and Conner and I were put in the same room. He slept on the floor. My entire royal council was staying in the castle as well so eventually he just went and stayed with Atri. Atri didn’t know why we were fighting. Charlie came to visit one night before bed and was confused as to where Conner was.

  I said, “We planned the trip before a big fight. He didn’t want to endanger our ship by revealing to your king we are fighting. He’s staying with his brother down the hall.”

  “What did he do?”

  “It was me. I… I didn’t listen to him.” Charlie’s spots were blue. “Is it okay that I don’t have spots?”

  “Of course, it is. It’s harder to tell how you feel though.”

&nbs
p; “Well I don’t even know, so I could use them.”

  “I heard you made it to earth and rebuilt America. Who did you leave in charge?”

  “I tried to leave Jackson, but he refused so then I tried to leave Tucker, but Tucker has a weird bromance with Jackson, so I left Tommy.”

  “The freezer intern guy?”

  “He’s an amazing doctor and friend. He’s loyal and he can handle it. The people who stayed elected a council to take over. He’s just my contact. Where’s Malerie and your son?”

  “She kicked me out. Don’t worry, I didn’t abandon Ben. I just needed to come visit my planet to regroup.”

  “What did you do?”

  “I taught our son to use a laser gun and he burned all of her nice dresses. Her father was hosting a royal event for her little sister. A bunch of princes were brought from all over. She was mad at me and is now expecting another little royal heir.”

  “Charlie, I’m so sorry.”

  “Don’t be. I am kind of relieved. Her father is a lot of pressure and I was afraid I’d mess up, but I’m not his problem anymore. I’ve missed you.” He leaned in and kissed me as Conner walked through the door.

  Conner said, “I got a call from our captain. He said they want us to move the ship because another royal family is arriving. I needed an okay from you.”

  I said, “Conner… this wasn’t. I…”

  “Can they move the ship or not?”

  “Yes, they can move the ship. Can I talk to you?”

  “You already said everything you needed to. Atri and I are heading back to the ship. Jackson can handle the rest of the visit. Charlie, it was nice seeing you.”

  He went to leave, but I chased after him. He ran into Theo and Sky down the hall. Sky stopped him and hugged him. She said, “Conner, I’ve missed you. What are you doing here?”

  “Leaving… Rose was always fascinated with your home planet. We are visiting, but I need to move our ship. I guess for yours.”