by Dasrim Hasik
Jack rolled his eyes to himself. That voice again, always waiting for a chance to get in a punchline. He figured he would be living with that voice for a while. He turned to Bridget.
"I would love breakfast. By the way, I woke up and realized that I really want to be here. Is there any way that we can sit down and start working on the plans for the City?"
Bridget clapped her hands truly excited. "Yes, of course we can Jack! You're our king, truly restored. There is a lot to do, but I have full faith in you. And isn't that what we all want -- someone to believe in us?"
For a moment, their eyes met and Bridget looked deep in his eyes. He stepped back slightly, breaking eye contact before things got, well, weird.
He wanted to do more than just look at her, and he knew it. If he were more confident consistently, he would assume that she wanted those same things but he figured that it was all in his head.
Don't count on it. She seems pretty pleased with you. Go with it. Jack immediately went on the negative. She doesn't want me, and even if she does, I'm apparently engaged to Alara. I can't think about one woman and be engaged to another.
He thought about JANE's reaction to Alara. What threat did she pose to him? Alara played it off way too much for it to be just some random misfire, and Jack figured that it was time to really start talking to Alara about it.
He just needed to figure out how to make everything line up in terms of his overall agenda. He couldn’t start a fight with Alara and then count on her father.
It sounded dirty in his head, like he was getting ready to walk down a long, dirty road filled with surprises for him. He was getting dirty by playing in the mud with pigs, but he didn't see there was a way to be the king without getting a little dirty in the process.
There were a lot of things on his plate, and it wasn't like anyone would just pat him on the back and ask him if he wanted a hug. The time for hugs and kisses was over. He was going to have to be a big boy and handle his own problems.
As he looked into Bridget's trusting, faith-filled eyes, he had a feeling that the future held a lot more hope than what he would expect. It wouldn't be easy, and it wouldn't be a short trip, but he had a good feeling that the adventure would be worth it.
However...a man did need to refuel once in a while. He grinned at Bridget. "I'd love another one of your Earth style breakfast buffets...but could you introduce me to a few things that Reversians eat naturally?"
Bridget beamed, pleased with Jack's response.
"I thought you'd never ask!"
Jack nodded, pleased that he could brighten Bridget's day.
"I'm home now. I need to learn the culture of this world, too. Thank you for being patient with me."
As Bridget got up and began moving to the door, he slipped in behind her and headed down the stairs.
Today's going to be a great day. I can just feel it.
Alara hummed to herself. The study she called home most of the time was tucked in a part of the house that was well secured. She just needed to have her space today.
There was no getting around it -- she wanted to make sure that she had time away from Jack to think and figure out the right path to take.
Jack returning with so many of his memories gone created a problem and she knew it. It wasn't like he had really been oh so different than before, but the fact that he was beginning to resist her advances started to make her nervous.
It had to be that girl. If he continued to have Bridget around, Jack wouldn't just do whatever she said to do. He would begin questioning it more and more. So the girl had to go, but she wasn't going to go without a fight. Jack would not just let Bridget go.
Yet if there was an event that could make her leave...yes, that had to be the right path. Get rid of Bridget; make Jack follow what she wanted to do -- and also make Daddy happy with a marriage. Once he got married to her, she would slowly take control of the City, just like a queen should. For now, she would let herself recharge in solitude, figuring out which strategy to take, and when to take it.
Ah, Jack. If you had just learned how to take orders, we would have a great life. Now I have to make sure that you stay in your role, when I tell you to stay there. But that's okay. You will see, and then they will all see. Today is going to be a great day. I just know it. Oh, yes, I just know it.
Chapter 3: Foundations and Frustrations
"No! I don't want to just dump them all in!"
Bridget sighed at Jack, watching him pace back and forth as she wrapped up the cooking. They were moving in sync so far, which surprised Bridget. Not because she didn't think Jack could handle himself, but because she didn't share her kitchen space with anyone.
Even when Alara had let her stay at Quiet River after Jack left the first time around, the two women had agreed not to get in the other's way. It was something that felt natural at the time. Now, watching the boy king shuffle back and forth, copper colored curls waving at her here and there was a treat.
She bit her lip, thinking about the conversation she heard late in the night between Alara and a Silent Sage, apparently. It would have to be addressed, but how? The conversation was clearly malicious, and very dangerous to Jack. She ran her finger over her citizen's pin quietly.
I will not desert my king, and I will defend his agenda with everything I am -- up to and including my life. It is what it will be, because I make it so. She wanted to make sure that Jack was safe, and she wasn't sure how. Maybe I need to go back and talk to my family. Surely between all of us we can protect the king. If that doesn't work, I will have to continue searching until I find the answer. As long as I believe the answer exists, it does. I will never give up. I will never surrender. Not now, not ever.
Jack squeezed her shoulder, making her jump and nearly drop the pancake bowl onto the stove before the griddle had fully heated up. Walter spun up near her, showing concern for the immediate situation. "Is there something I can get you, Bridget?"
"No, Walter, it's all right. I'm fine, really." She turned and eyed Jack warily. "What's up?"
Jack grinned at her.
"You seem lost in your thoughts today. I was trying to explain to you that we should have separate schools for all of the children, even if it's going to take a long time to have the population restored."
He moved to take the pancake bowl out of her hands.
"I always wanted odd shapes for pancakes."
He took the ladle and made a few swirls on the hot griddle, and then thought about a few things he had heard in the past. He thought of the shapes he wanted, and began to expand the griddle's hot surface until he had the perfect canvas. He began to make shapes for all of the things he wanted to rebuild within the City.
First thing had to be the schools. He made a few school buildings with pancake batter, looking pleased when the shape solidified on the griddle. Then came a big hospital, where he imagined the citizens of Reversia could get seen very quickly. He made a few small offices, to represent the merchant class -- even though he hated that term.
He planned on phasing out that system, so that everyone could have a chance to rise up to something better in the society. It wasn't going to be something that people would take to immediately, but he figured that over time they would appreciate it.
He also wanted to make sure that there were concerts, or other entertainment options. He imagined that eventually there would be trade and tourism, like the way it was on Earth.
The Planet seemed almost barren, like there wasn't much here except for the City. He imagined that other residents dwelled elsewhere, and Reversia was just the main City.
He hoped so -- he wondered what others would feel about him and his plans. He wondered if people would migrate back to Reversia now that he was running things.
He kept showing Bridget the things he wanted, motivated to continue by the way that Bridget focused on him. She liked to gasp and giggle, make noises of approval and reach out for him here and there. It was obvious where her loyalties lay with him, and t
hat made him feel like a winner even before he did anything.
Back home, encouragement was something that just wasn't a big priority for his parents. He wanted to have more praise, but his father wouldn’t hear of it. In his father's eyes, there wasn't anything to be proud of, and it didn't take a rocket scientist to realize that the praise he craved would never come.
He wanted to also think about all of the times that he had reached out for someone to just believe in him -- even his own mother had shied away from him once he began reaching for his own independence.
It was like a switch went off with her. When he was no longer in the "cute" phase, she had focused more on trying to make ends meet more than anything else. It wasn't something that he blamed her for -- it was difficult to handle a household that always seemed to need money.
However, he just wished that the praised flowed a bit more. They had no problem praising and worshipping the ground that Katja walked on, but she was pretty. Absolutely gorgeous, and always had been. She didn't have an awkward teen phase like he did. She attracted attention everywhere she went, and Jack faded into the background. It was clear who the more favored child was, and there wasn't anything that he could do about it.
The best thing that he could do was just keep his grades up, but that had never been difficult for him to do. He knew what his teachers were looking for, and the subject didn't matter either.
The more that they ignored him, the more that he poured himself into his studies. He knew that a full ride scholarship would be the only way that he could get into a school. His parents weren't going to pay for college, and they weren't in any shape financially to even cosign loans.
There were a lot of things he wanted to say, or even to just show him. His parents would never believe that he was a king over a whole City, even a whole Planet -- they would tell him he was dreaming.
He knew that he could never go back through the gateway and invite them. They would just make a bunch of reasons why they couldn't be part of it, even if they did want to go into a new world.
His parents just weren't believers in anything except misery. He didn't want to be like that, where he thought that there was never any escape to life. He didn't criticize that line of thinking, as he used to be the same way.
Not everyone is ready to leave the soil they feel they are trapped in, you know. The voice was right, even though he really didn't want to admit that either. There were a lot of things the voice said that he agreed with.
The voice never seemed to tire of telling him things, and he wasn't fully convinced it was his voice. But it was a loyal voice in the darkness, and he needed as many friends as he could get -- even if he was just talking to himself.
The way things were going, he knew there would be disagreements. If the Council families were anything like Alara, they would not take kindly to him dissolving the class system. Then again, people on the top of the heap never really wanted things to change, did they?
It was always someone that was struggling who wanted a shot at something better who wanted to push and see what was really lying in wait for them.
Jack figured that he would start slow. The pancake display was looking great. He gestured to a new road system that would make traffic flow better. As much as he liked driving down Stonewell Expressway, he realized that it needed to be widened to accommodate for more traffic.
After all, just because it didn't exist yet didn't mean that it couldn't exist. He wanted a population boom; he wanted to see the City thrive again. If he built it, and made a big deal about it, things could be different.
It was obvious that Bridget was intrigued, and he passed the ladle over to her. The pancake bowl was still filled with batter, as he kept mixing more as he spoke and gestured around with his hands. The excitement in the room was obvious, and soon, the bowl began to refill itself automatically.
Bridget's fingers curled around the ladle carefully and she smiled.
"You honor me more than you know."
She began to draw up thoughts for more stores and even some services that would be needed. She made a playground and even a daycare.
"A lot of merchants end up having to have their children with them in the stores, and it creates a lot of commotion. However, the current childcare facilities are all ran by the leadership class, and they don't believe the lower classes should be allowed in..."
Jack nodded, and urged her to continue, a smile plastered on his face. He could watch Bridget forever and not get bored, but he was trying not to get his emotions mixed up in everything.
There would be a time and a place, but now wasn't the time. However, he couldn't argue that this wasn't a bad place to begin getting to know her. Quiet River was a huge compound filled with just about anything and everything that he would need for a family -- with either woman.
He was definitely getting ahead of himself.
He really needed to focus on the mission, and not think so much about Bridget. It was hard to ignore that he had feelings for her, but even if he wanted to focus on them and give their future a shot, he had to get a lot of things out of the way. He needed to make sure that both women knew where he stood, and why he was making a line in the sand.
He suspected that it would cause a lot of problems if he took this route, but he knew that there was no way to eliminate the type of problems that he really wanted to avoid. It would just require people skills that he never really developed in real time.
First time for everything, and all that.
Yes, there is.
Jack brushed away the inner voice and stepped back to watch Bridget happily create. He studied the world that unfolded around her fast moving hands, and realized that she believed in him because it was her home.
This was where she had grown up, where she had lived. Had she gone to a school like he had? Did she feel invisible in the midst of women like Alara that had everyone looking at them, all of the time? He could relate to that. It all leads back to me staying here. I can't leave, even if I wanted to. I'm tired of being a coward.
As Bridget looked up one more time, he realized that the more he considered all of his options; he knew that there was only one option that would truly satisfy him. That would be staying right here in Reversia, and rebuilding the City the way a good king should.
He smiled at her and said,
"Why don't we go out? I need to address the standing army as well, now that I'm back and all...right?"
Bridget gave him a reassuring nod and squeezed his shoulder. "Yes, you should do that, Jack. I'm sure that they would respond very favorably to their king addressing them.
Jack looked at his clothes and blushed. "Can I change? I don't think that pajamas would really be what would impress the army much at all."
Bridget nodded and laughed a little, obviously having a little fun at his expense. "We'll meet downstairs and head out to the army's headquarters. It's on the outer ring of town, as a defense in case a marching army from Schaler was to come through. Jack got up and then blinked at the pancake city that curled up and around them, with some pancakes still suspended on air. He began to cook up some meat and look for fresh juice to make. "If we're going to have a hectic day, we might as well eat this breakfast that we've made."
They began to laugh until a soft female voice interrupted the clearly pleasant tone in the room.
"I see the two of you have gotten friendly. Or was I not invited to this obviously /private/ breakfast?" Alara appeared in the doorway to the kitchen, dressed immaculately in a black dress belted with her green sash and dragon pin. She was clearly listening to them, and it didn't sound like she was amused at all.
It didn't make any sense to Jack but he had learned already that there would be tensions between them. A flash of memory crackled through him, freezing him in place.
"I just wish you were more careful around her. You know that she's the daughter of the Councilman himself. You have to remember that everyone has their role, Jack."
Jack threw the sui
tcase into the car, not bothering to turn around. He couldn't believe that she would dare speak against him.
The woman's face was covered by a tall veil coupled with a big black hat. She dabbed at her eyes. "I know that there is more than it appears on the surface. Will you choose the love of a false woman over the love of the world that lives to serve you?"
"I am the king. I do not need your opinion. I will have whatever I please, whenever I please it. Leave me."
Jack shuddered as he was pushed back into the present, his head beginning to throb. Did I really say that to a woman? Was I really that cold?
He didn't like that type of tone, didn't like the way that he could just push someone away and make them feel awful. He wished he could take everything back and pretend like it didn't happen, but he knew better. It did happen.
He did say all of those mean and nasty things. He did act a fool and there was no taking it back. He just wished he could make out the woman's voice better in his head. He locked onto Alara's eyes for a moment, and she softened.
"Goodness, I don't know what's come over me. Maybe it's just the stress from being here by myself. I shouldn't imply things that aren't there, right?" Jack felt guilty nodding his head and smiling, but he didn't know how to bring up what he was thinking.
He knew enough to know he couldn't just say the truth -- it would make Alara go into another meltdown, and they would just end up fighting. The right approach was to think like a politician and time all of his statements properly. Now you're thinking like a king, boy. You've got it.
He ignored the snickering voice that seemed to flicker along the edge of his very core, rising and falling with a confidence that he couldn't imagine actually having all of the time. Was he really like that? You don't want to know that answer, boy. Just go with what sounds good.
He chuckled to himself, and then faced the two women. He felt a little better, and a little more ready to go ahead and take over things. If he was going to be a king, he figured that his home should at least be in proper order.
