CHAPTER NINE:
I stood before the Monarch’s Entresol, just like I had months ago; only a baby in the new underworld I now knew as home in such a short time. I had the cue cards in front of me, but I didn’t plan on orating much of what was written down. I didn’t know how my people were going to react to my declaration but, honestly, who would argue?
It would be unprecedented, and most likely illegal. But, of course, the legality of anything relied on me saying so. No one could stop what I was going to do.
“Aubrie, it is time. Good luck, my sweetness.” Bonnie smiled at me warmly as the ovation outside beckoned me. I wore a brilliant blue gown that was “Ahead of the times” – according to my new stylist, Cynthia Magdalen – which was supposed to encourage my citizens into the umpteenth revolution in Elven fashion. Opening the door with more sureness than my first time, the curtains billowed respectfully as I took my name as Empress of Faer. I raised my hand to my face; the blazing pseudo-sun was burning my retinas. Once my eyes adjusted, the crowd appeared below me and I was taken by a sudden worry of their reaction. The Elven crowd was known to be very judgemental and narrow-minded. But no, I had to do this. It was my duty; it was more than an earthly obligation.
I cleared my throat. “Welcome, loyal citizens. Today I am here to address a grave issue that has risen over the past few days. Some of those, well-informed Elves out there may know what I speak of, but most do not. I admit, I have known about this for some time.” The crowd was deathly silent. It was eerie. “Two days ago, in the human city of New York, a strange object fell. This object was from space, used to contain a living being.” Several gasps sprang from the horde. “This living being was alien. And unfortunately, this foreign being was hostile. I happened to be the one to come across this fallen pod, and I was attacked by the creature.” I gestured to my shoulder. I took notice of the projection beside the Monarch’s Entresol of me, speaking. I looked like someone else; someone confident and royal. This Elfess was not me at all.
With an arbitrary impulse, I – quite noticeably – threw my cue cards behind me. “Providentially, with the help of my good friends, Abel Jefferson and Griselda Kuhn, we were able to slay the creature.” Handclapping and whoops were the reactions to this information. “But, this is just the beginning, I’m afraid. Our experts from the Elven Astronomical Society, centred here in Ziben, have detected several more pods to crash-land into this planet: the major cities of the humanoid world have been targeted and considerable amounts more are heading for Beijing, directly above Ziben.
“Thusly, I am going to declare a new law, introduced by myself, and myself only.” I heard knocking on the window beside the door. I turned and saw Melvin. He was frantically waving his arms and yelling, “What are you doing?” I ignored him and continued, turning back to my people, who needed me. “From this moment onwards, until my death, I, the Empress of Faer, have opened a new branch of the Elven Militia: the Royal Armed Youth Services, or RAYS, is a section of our current military. It allows Elves of the ages between fourteen and twenty-four to join the Elven Militia. They will –” I was cut off by the uproar berating of the citizens below. They screamed insulting names at me, and began to throw things. A barrier appeared in front of me and the splat marks of mostly food slid down it.
I grabbed the microphone that was to the side of my podium. “Silence!” I bellowed. The boom cut the din instantly and the echo of my outburst reverberated around the limited space of Ziben. "The adolescents will have to pass a fitness test, and then proper military training and whether or not they join will be of their own accord. However, whoever does will gain impressive accolades of the greatest honour, serving them as a degree of some sort. Does this sound like a bad thing?” Mumbling spread through the horde of previously-infuriated Elves. I assumed this meant this was tolerable with them.
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“As a final announcement,” I turned to see Melvin’s hand pressed against his face, “I have a demonstration as to how dedicated I am to this hidden nation and how desperate these times are going to become.
“I declare myself the sole leader of the new army corps of RAYS, which means, I will be joining the oncoming war.”
The reaction was unprecedented, and unexpected. Screams of fright and cries of despair threw up into the air. This speech was being broadcasted to every single Elf in Faer, and not one missed one of my controversial speeches. The City of Knowledge – Ziben – was thrown into pandemonium.
I couldn’t help but think of Alfie.
∞ ∞ ∞
Today was my birthday – my eighteenth birthday. I had tried to not tell anyone until it was well over, and I had truly believed no one would have noticed, considering no one on the surface knew it; the only people who I thought had possibly known were all dead. Yet, Bonnie had run over to Melvin’s house a week before, frantic about the scarce amount of time left to plan. I pleaded with her not to make a big deal of it, but she refused. I didn’t want to, but then I resorted to the “Who’s the Empress of Faer?” act, and she let it go. Then she smiled at me.
“Well you’re going to plan it all then, Little Miss Empress of Faer,” was what she said.
It had taken immense thought on how to make it the right size, and who would come. I consulted Abel, Cicero, Griselda and Phobos (I had forgiven Cicero and Phobos for their acts before the beginning of the war), and Cicero offered to have it at his house. It seemed odd, but it was then that I found out that Ganymede Fullviss, my cabinet Governor of Elven Broadcasting, was his father. I don’t know how I didn’t notice, they were spitting images of each other, Ganymede was just more matured, and muscular.
And here I was, sitting at the head of the long table in Mr. Fullviss’s mansion that resembled the White House. Although they were very hospitable it felt odd having my closest friends beside me and my cabinet members further down the table. They all were jovial and laughing merrily. I stared into blank space at the scene until Griselda waved her hand in front of my face.
“Hellooo . . . Aubrie? We were just talking about beginning training tomorrow.”
“Uh, oh yeah.” I wasn’t terribly keen about them all joining me in the RAYS. I told them how dangerous it was going to be in hopes of scaring them off – and it was true, it was going to be very dangerous – but yet they remained adamant.
“I don’t care about how dangerous it’s going to be,” Griselda had thick emphasis on the “dangerous” part, “it’s more dangerous for you. Besides, I’m more capable anyway.”
Taken aback but unsurprised, I shook my head and started poking at the colourful jellies stacked on my plate. I put a purple one in my mouth, and bit down to find an oozing liquid inside leak out. It hit my tongue, and fireworks went off in my mind. The jelly itself tasted like a bolar roast, and the liquid was the delicious gravy, despite everything being purple.
And I know it sounds strange, but I moaned in ecstasy while I consumed it.
My gaudy and delectable feast was halted when I noticed a little girl looking up at me. With her cymotrichous – and blonde – hair, I instantly recognised her to be closely related to Cicero.
“Hello! What’s your name?”
“It’s Cordelia.” She thrust her hand at me. “It’s nice to meet you.”
I took the tiny hand and shook it. “Why, thank you. It’s a pleasure to meet you, too. Are you Cicero’s sister?”
“Yes.”
