The Fifth Queen

by Ali House

  It used to happen more frequently after the Second Invasion, when the memories were still fresh in her mind. At first Vaughn tried to hide what was happening, but eventually Kit caught on that something wasn’t right, and he’d confessed. The realization had horrified her, and she hated that she was doing something that caused him pain, even if it was something that she had no idea how to stop. The incidents had lessened over time, sometimes not occurring for months, but every now and then she’d wake up to find Vaughn sleeping on the couch.

  “What did I say?” she asked.

  “I don’t want to get into specifics, but it was... You were happy.”

  “I am so sorry.”

  “You don’t have to apologize. It’s not your fault.”

  She gave him an unconvinced look.

  He stood up and walked over to her. “I know that you can’t help it, so you should never feel guilty. And in the grand scheme of things, I shouldn’t be bothered by it. Too many years have passed for me to still be so angry.”

  “I just wish I knew how to stop it once and for all,” she said softly, her blue eyes turning down to the floor.

  “Don’t worry about it. It’s a small price to pay to have you here with me.” He hugged her, and she leaned into him, wrapping her arms around his waist. She closed her eyes and breathed in his scent, relieved to still have him here. There was a part of her that was constantly worried she’d wake up one morning and find out he’d gone – that she’d finally do something terrible enough for him to realize she wasn’t worth the trouble.

  “Have you been up long?” she asked.

  “Only about an hour. I tried to sleep, but couldn’t, so I started reading.”

  “Have you eaten yet?”

  He shook his head.

  “How do pancakes sound?” she asked, looking up into his white eyes and smiling.

  He mirrored her smile. “Pancakes sound great.”

  ϟ

  Two people exited the gallery, stepping out into the dark, clear night. It was just after midnight and downtown Stanton was almost empty, with only a handful of people walking along the sidewalk. Most of the stores had closed hours ago, dimming their signs so that they stood dark and quiet along the street. The moon shone brightly in the night sky, surrounded by hundreds of twinkling stars.

  Kit walked closer to the gallery, checking to see how many people were still inside, but there was only one person, pulling down the shade on one of the front windows. When she knocked on the door, the red-haired man turned to see who it was. At the sight of her, he broke into a smile.

  “Evening,” Vaughn greeted her, opening the door to let her inside. “You’re just in time.”

  “If it’s one thing I have, it’s impeccable timing,” she joked. “Was the crowd good tonight?”

  He nodded and brought down the remaining shades, effectively shutting out the outside world. “It was great. Enough people to feel crowded, but not so many that you couldn’t see the art. There were only a handful of people who wandered in, looking for something that wasn’t artwork, and that was only during the first couple of hours. Maybe you could start attending these things before midnight.”

  She shook her head. “I’m sure if I returned, all of the celebrity-seekers would return as well, and I don’t want to overshadow your work.”

  “I wouldn’t mind a crowded exhibit. Besides, maybe they’d come in here looking for you and end up finding something they liked.”

  “Which is why it’s better that I’m not here to distract them...”

  Vaughn sighed, but before he could say anything, she quickly switched gears.

  “Besides, I like having you to myself,” she said, smiling playfully. “If I went to the regular party, I’d miss out on these private midnight tours.”

  “Ah,” he said, returning her smile. “That’s true.”

  She kissed him and slid her arm around his back. He placed an arm around her shoulders and the two of them moved through the gallery, taking time to stop and look at each piece of art.

  The exhibit included two other artists, one who worked in watercolours and one who worked with clay, so they wandered through those pieces first, saving Vaughn’s work for last. The watercolours were of gardens and nature, with the colours blending into each other, creating a dreamlike state that was almost serene. The clay pieces were all meant to be functional dishes, but there were angles and shapes to them that Kit found off-putting. She could see how they’d be considered works of art, but she’d rather look at them instead of think about using them.

  When they moved on to Vaughn’s photos, she couldn’t help smiling. There were eight large pictures, all night scenes, with bursts of white light in each of them. The backgrounds were shades of blues, ranging from light blues around the edges of the white light, blending into a blue so dark that it was almost black. These shades highlighted the different shapes and forms in the picture, somehow making them both easy and difficult to pick out.

  “Nice colour scheme,” she teased.

  “What can I say? I like blue.” He gave her shoulders a squeeze and kissed the top of her head.

  As she began to examine the pictures, he stayed silent, letting her form her own opinion about each piece.

  She looked carefully at all of the pictures, being sure to give each one proper attention. The first was a shot of Main Street, with all the empty and dark stores contrasted by the bright streetlamps in front of them. The next was a large split-level house, with bright light coming from both the large picture window and a small window in the top left corner; this was followed by the ISS building standing tall in the centre of the picture, with streetlamps all around it; then a large warehouse which took up almost all of the picture, with two lights on above the small door on the right; then another house, this time smaller, with the only light coming from the bottom left window. There was one picture of the park, with the light obscured by the tree branches and leaves, and another of Main Street, from a different angle.

  While she loved all of his work, she fell in love with the last picture. It was less crowded than the others, with only the land and sky, and the water beyond, but on the left side there was a streetlamp, bursting with bright light. There was something calming about the vastness of the sea and sky, but the streetlamp grounded you and kept you from falling into the distance. She had no idea how Vaughn had created such a beautiful photo with such ordinary sights.

  “So…?” he said after a while.

  “This one.” She pointed at the last photo.

  “Not the one with the ISS building?” he teased.

  She laughed. “The last one is definitely my favourite.”

  “I thought that might be the one. That’s why I had them put a hold on it.”

  She turned to him, surprised. “What? Why?”

  “Because although I try to avoid hanging my own artwork all over our apartment, I don’t mind if it’s something you like.” He smiled at her. “Also, you couldn’t see your face, but when you were looking at that photo you seemed at peace. It’s a good look on you.”

  She didn’t know how Vaughn managed to do it, but he could turn a day that started out so terribly into one of the best. If she could live the rest of her life in this moment, it would be a life well spent.

  “They’ll deliver it after the show’s over,” he said.

  “Thank you,” she replied quietly. “So, does this have a name?”

  He paused dramatically. “Even in the Darkness.”

  She repeated the title in her head and her brain filled in the rest of the saying. “...There is light?”

  “Exactly,” he nodded.

  She looked at the paintings again, seeing the brightness of the lights against the dark backgrounds. When the sun went down you would expect the world to be plunged into complete darkness, but there was still light to be found. There was still hope.

  She smiled. “I love it.”

  Chapter 15

  When Kit returned to work at Sky
line Architects, after the mess of the Second Invasion had been cleaned up, she’d been prepared for the staring and whispering and strange looks. However, she’d expected it to end after a few days or weeks. She hadn’t thought that sixteen years later people would still look at her differently.

  It hadn’t helped that there had been a large influx of customers, all wanting a glimpse of the mythical Six-Elemental instead of an actual quote. In an effort to weed out those who weren’t serious about doing business, Kit was no longer allowed to meet with clients and had been moved into a private office, out of view from prying eyes. Luckily she didn’t mind doing the more solitary work, but she missed being around the other employees. She couldn’t go to worksites to check on a project’s progress, or inspect finished buildings, or even go out for lunch with her coworkers, because there would always be people staring at her or coming up to her. Even now there was the occasional client who would come into the office, looking around for something that wasn’t a design, and who had no intention of actually hiring them. It was a waste of the other employee’s time, and Kit knew that they didn’t appreciate it – no matter how hard she tried to keep her head down and act normal. It wouldn’t have helped to change jobs – this kind of thing would happen no matter where she worked.

  It was one of the many ways the world reminded her that she didn’t fit in like she used to. After the Second Invasion, when she’d decided to try to live a normal life, apparently nobody else had gotten that memo. Any time she began to feel like her old self, it was only a matter of days before someone would say something and she’d be reminded of what she was and what she’d done.

  A few days after the gallery opening, Kit stayed late at work to put the finishing touches on a design. The world had faded away while she worked, thinking of how this design would soon become a reality, and how this house would become someone’s home. She’d used to dream about living in a home of her own design, but these days the design looked less like a small, cute house and more like a high-security castle. It was easier to design homes for other, normal people.

  There was only one other person still in the office by the time she left, and he was too busy to notice her, so she slipped out into the street without saying goodbye. As she walked home, she noticed more than a few people staring at her and realized that she’d left her hat back at the office. She thought about going back for it, but realized she’d have to pass all those people again. It was better to keep moving forward and try not to think about it. Picking up the pace, she tried not to pay attention to the people who stopped and stared, but while she was waiting for a chance to cross the street, there was a soft tap on her right shoulder. Kit took a deep breath and turned around, wondering if she’d see a fan, a hater, or a Follower of Six.

  Standing behind her, with a wide-eyed expression on her face, was a young woman with brown skin and dark purple hair. “I’m sorry to bother you,” the woman said, “but are you... you know... her?”

  Kit wanted to sigh, but she stayed polite. “Her who?”

  “The, you know, Six-Elemental?”

  “Yeah, that’s me,” she said matter-of-factly.

  The woman’s grey eyes grew wider. “Wow. I mean, I heard all the stories, but to actually run into you... Will you be doing any speaking at the Church of Six? I used to go all the time back home, and I’d love to talk to you about what it’s like to be... you know... you.”

  “Sorry,” Kit said politely, “but I don’t attend. I find it best to stay out of the way.”

  The woman raised an eyebrow, but her look quickly changed to apologetic. “Oh, um, well, I’m sorry to bother you. Have a great day!”

  She smiled politely. “You too.”

  The woman waved at her and walked away. Kit turned back to the intersection, eager for an opportunity to cross. There was something about talking to a Follower of Six that made her skin itch, and she wanted to get as far away from this spot as quickly as possible. She used to get letters every week from the Church, inviting her to come and speak at one of their services, but she never responded or appeared. Eventually the letters reduced to once a month, as a simple reminder that they would welcome her with open arms if she ever wanted to attend. While the Church organizers were fine with giving her space, some of their followers didn’t quite get it and often approached her on the street. It bothered her because she didn’t want to be anyone’s messiah or God. She only wanted to disappear into the background.

  Still, as annoying as it was to be held in such reverence by the Followers of Six, it was better than having someone yell ‘Murderer!’ at her. As if she needed to be reminded of the horrible things she’d done during the war – as if those memories didn’t constantly haunt her, day in and day out. She never knew if those people were from Tecken and were upset about how she’d ended the war, or if they were from elsewhere in the Segment and upset about how she’d caused the war in the first place. In the long run, it didn’t matter. It had been a couple years since the last time a stranger had yelled something like that at her, but Kit could see the looks some of the people gave her and knew that even if they didn’t say it, they were thinking it.

  The rest of her walk home was thankfully absent of further interactions. As soon as she made it through the front door of the apartment building she felt herself start to relax. The door was always locked and the only people who could get in were those who lived in the building, which was one of the reasons she’d accepted the ISS’s offer for her to move in. While she’d enjoyed sharing a large house with her friends, she had quickly grown tired of looking out the front window and seeing people gathered outside, staring at the door, waiting for her to make an appearance.

  The house had been an ISS asset, which they’d allowed Kit, Vaughn, and their friends to occupy in exchange for them agreeing to keep an eye out for Tecken soldiers or sympathizers who might reside on the island. They hadn’t been friends before moving in – the only people who’d known each other before this were the twins, Zenyth and Naydir Hansen – and although everyone had grown close, possibly due to their proximity or maybe because of the nature of their work, the Second Invasion had changed things. Cale Parrile became more serious and subdued after the war and finally decided to move to Aesira to get away from it all. Although Bryanna Kavail stayed in Stanton for a while and maintained her upbeat attitude, she eventually moved back to her home island of Drakkar.

  Kit had half-expected the twins to move back to Cambria, but instead they moved into the apartment building with her and Vaughn. At first, they’d shared an apartment on the same floor as Kit and Vaughn’s apartment, but when Naydir’s partner, Sav, moved in with him, Zenyth found herself another apartment on the same floor.

  Sometimes Kit felt guilty about living in the building, as it had been built for visiting Leaders, Council members, and employees of the ISS, but then she remembered that she had ended the war and helped clean up most of the mess. Although she had no desire to work for the ISS, she’d earned a safe place to live and some peace and quiet.

  When she walked into her third floor apartment, she could smell Vaughn’s cooking. Walking past the dining room table, she noticed that five places had been set.

  “I thought Zenyth had to work,” she said.

  Vaughn turned away from the sauce he was stirring. “Her shift was switched, so she called to let me know she could make it. How was work today?”

  “Good. Finally finished that big project, so that’s a relief. They’ll start building soon.”

  “That’s great. I’ve got things pretty much in hand for supper, but I have no clue what to serve for dessert.”

  “I’ll think while I change,” she smiled. He turned back to the sauce and she headed towards the bedroom.

  “Oh,” he called out. “There’s some mail for you on the end-table.”

  “Thanks!” She detoured into the living room, seeing a stack of envelopes on the small end-table in front of the couch. She picked out three that had her name on them and
started opening them as she walked. The first was a newsletter from Current Architecture, which she put aside to read later. The second was her monthly reminder from the Followers of Six about their daily services, which she promptly tossed in the garbage. The third envelope contained only one sheet of paper. It was blank, except for one line of text in the middle of the page, reading: Everything you know is a lie.

  She looked at the paper carefully, trying to see if there was anything else that could explain what it might mean, but there were no other words. The name on the return address was W. Eon-Sun, a name that she didn’t recognize and didn’t sound familiar to her in the least. The address was merely Stanton, Segment Delta.

  Tossing the letter in the garbage with the monthly reminder, Kit figured that it was some kind of prank. She had no idea what the person who’d sent it was trying to accomplish, but if they couldn’t communicate that idea well enough, then it wasn’t worth any more of her time.

  ϟ

  “We’ve finally decided to get married!” Naydir said, taking hold of Sav’s hand. The two of them shared a smile before turning back to the table.

  “That’s fantastic!” Kit cheered. “You two are so great together.”

  “It’s about time,” Vaughn added, smiling.

  “You’re telling me,” Zenyth remarked. “I’ve been telling my brother to lock down Sav for the past five years.”

  The rest of the table laughed. Naydir’s job with the police force had him running reports to the ISS on almost a daily basis, but it had been pure chance that the two of them met. Sav worked in the security department, but through a few unlucky breaks one day, he’d ended up having to spend a few hours acting as the assistant for the Leader of Stanton. When Naydir arrived at the office with the reports, the attraction was instantaneous. They talked for so long that Naydir forgot why he’d come to the office in the first place. After a few more carefully orchestrated meetings, there was no going back, and when they started officially dating, everyone couldn’t help noticing how well they complimented each other.