Chapter 2: Looks When Lovers Lie
Back to the same room. The same bed. The same view of lush gardens from veiled windows of white. The same small trinkets from my childhood in New York. The same hot chocolate stain across from my bed, the white wall dripping with the night of nervous I love yous and kisses all over. Everything in my room is just as I left it.
I start to cry as I reach the doorframe, James stroking my back as I weep in the hallway.
I was confused at first, led down the right side of the manor by Ella and her new entourage, flanking both my sides down hallways of mahogany and antique paintings of the family from every era of art; impressionist brushstrokes across waters of Posiden and surrealist black to white photographs of Aphrodite. But then a voice came to Nicholas, my security detail and friend of the past year. "Change of plans." Back to my old living quarters rather than the "kingdom suite." Henry.
I can feel it in my heart, under this stranger's whispered breaths. Someone from Henry's own security detail. I can see it in Nicholas's stone look, trying not to give anything away, like he'd simply gotten lost in the mansion he'd all but memorized in his mind. I see the crack. It was final. He didn't want me. No new shared life he'd promised. No nights playing cards and laughing together. No kisses in bed and looks like he loved me. I'll be lucky if he looks at me at all.
And so, though my same room looks just as comfortable and sweet as it was when I left, filled with my favorite jeans and white bedsheets and the smell of brown sugar candles, it still feels empty. Because I know that I'm all alone.
Well, not literally. My room is full of people.
James helps me to my bed and I frown at the gesture. I'm not that pregnant, but I'll admit the past hour has knocked the wind out of me. A brigade of suited movers trace through my room, carrying bag after bag of my belongings from Greece, Ella's entourage hurriedly unpacking every dress and knickknack to her specifications, yelling if one inch out of place. I laughed at her attitude. Ruthless. Expecting nothing but perfection. Micromanaging my life for me, out of duty but also out of love.
"So, as you know, being Queen of the Underworld, you have specific duties to attend to now. Testing souls. Creating order. Helping Henry with the day-to-day. It's a real job. Full-time. Though that might change depending on your condition," she smiles. I frown at her insinuation, but she doesn't notice. "I'm being told that James will assist you in your training since he is Henry's usual assistant. He doesn't want to take too much time away from the realm."
"And he doesn't want to see me," I add, taking a deep breath, trying not to cry.
"Oh, don't you worry, Your Majesty," a voice says, hurrying out from the closet. She's a petite redhead with a thick Tennessee accent and vintage waves like an old movie. "Eden is a wonderful place. And everyone here's been so lovely since I got here."
"This is Kitty. Against my better judgment, she and Juniper are your ladies-in-waiting. You may select more as you take on more duties. They're here to assist you in your daily tasks and correspondence, to confide in, travel with. Whatever you like," Ella explains.
"We'll be together all the time," Kitty says excitedly. "Try on dresses. Go on picnics. We can talk with the Council for you. Be your friend. Whatever you need."
Kitty was fair and feminine. Her dress was a dulled fern green with puffed sleeves and a sweetheart neckline. A bit outdated but nothing too far from what Ella often stuck me in. I had already met all members of the council, but I couldn't imagine her being a siren or anything from the stories I'd read with Irene. Not with her accent. She looked sweet and genuine. I liked her instantly.
Juniper was a bit rougher around the edges. Her flowing brown hair was blown out in curtain bangs like the girls in magazines, but her ora was much older than those walking around in New York today. She wore a floral long sleeve shift dress, but unlike most of mine, her whole legs were showing, tanned and long and gorgeous. Looking at Juniper, she looked nothing like Ella and her eccentric lists of rules and opinions. Her eyeliner was thick and winged and Ella made a point of not looking too much at her unless necessary.
"Henry thought mortals your age would be... comforting," Ella explained. "I think their presence is a bit nauseating."
Juniper rolls her eyes and I laughed, closing my lips when Ella looked at me. I liked her too. She had a nontraditional vibe, unlike most of the formal folk in Eden, not unlike myself. At least I had someone on my side in here. Two friends brought from the underworld just for me. It made me sad how much Henry knew me.
Kitty and James helped me settle into bed, throwing on lounge pants and tucking me under the fluffed comforter, opening a window for the fresh air and floral breeze. Ella went through her lists of logistics, arguing that it was now or an earlier wake-up tomorrow.
Starting next week, I'll work with James on basic concepts to the underworld. Meet others that worked there and what their responsibilities were for daily operations. Learn my way around the realm. Watch James communicate with souls and create their afterlives. After my coronation, I'll then take his place, working alongside Henry.
It's a lot, but about what I expected. Working in the underworld. Taking on my duties as Queen. Henry's partner. Work partner, that is. But what I wasn't expecting was the following list of "homely duties" from Ella, like I was some 1950s housewife irked by the idea of anything in my new home not changed to my own particular specifications.
Lists of what meals I wanted to be stocked in the kitchen. Was there a particular set of silverware I preferred to be set daily vs stately Council dinners and functions?
Did I have a preference on linens in the restrooms? The dining tables? Formal vs casual?
Curtains and runners in the hallways? Obviously, I couldn't change any of the art. It was millenniums old, but paint, structural changes?
I'd have to run through the staff on Tuesday. Observe what I could. Make changes if needed.
What kinds of flowers did I prefer? Roses of tulips? Hydrangeas or peonies? Native plants or imported? Wild boundaries or structured boundaries? Well, of course, I couldn't have wild. It'd look halfhearted and misshapen. So the existing stones could stay for now and we would revision with larger pavers later if needed.
Nursery requests. I am too overwhelmed to even entertain the thought of details on it, but Ella doesn't push much. We'll revisit it next week once I've settled more, she says. I roll my eyes.
Everything else has to be taken care of now, she insists. Some adjustments, if necessary, could take years. Tastes change through trends and seasons. I couldn't wait too long or it'd be too little time between revisions.
I don't know why any of it matters. It's still odd to think of Eden as MY house now. My responsibility as wife of King of the Underworld. Queen of the Underworld. It all feels like Henry. I like its timelessness and classic design. Art and Greek inspiration. Antique tiles and clean white paint. It all reminds me of him. Of my time here just last year, learning each other's hearts and history. It's hard to imagine it any other way.
It's James that finally makes her leave, sensing my own distress. It's like the closing of a movie set, ladders and empty trunks and flows of people exiting the paired French doors in one big burst, Ella with enough notes in her pad to mull her over until morning.
I cry almost immediately. James comes to my side, stroking my back and adding an extra throw blanket across my for comfort. Everything about coming back feels like a mistake. Like one hazy nightmare. And yet, with my mother dead and the town of Eden, Michigan merely a field in the midwest, I have nothing left except this. No friends back in New York or long lost father to find on.
"Kate, he can't hold this against you," James insists, stroking my hair. He's been there for me through everything. Meeting Henry. Losing my mother. The dark restless nights in Greece. The trauma of that night. And yet, deep down, I know I can't repay the way he looks at me, the silent feeling from his heart that I try to deny is there. "Once he knows what happened between us, he'll understand."
"You didn't see the way he looked at me, James," I sniffled, him moving to lay beside me, holding me from behind as I continued to weep. "I don't think he'll ever stop looking at me like that."
High Hopes by Kodaline / the lakes by Taylor Swift / Happiest Year by Jaymes Young
A/N: I've decided to add a little added bonus to these chapters like I have to other stories of mine, a follow-along playlist for as you read. Each song applies to a scene, listed in order at the bottom of the chapter. Listen if you like, or read per usual. I like to listen as I write to get me in the mood of my characters, so I figured I'd just share the full experience. This chapter has a few because it's a standalone scene.
I know this chapter is short but it felt right wrapping up here, ending the exposition for the story so the next chapter can get right into Kate's new routine and life. Stay tuned. The next chapter will be up soon because of this.
Comment. Review. Let me know what you think.