Christy sat in front the mirror in her bedroom, her face buried in her arms, puling without stopping. It had been a week since the incident that had taken the life of her husband, Corg. Christy and Melissa were back at the castle in the Hollow Valley, where the funeral services were held. Her white silk robes were stained with the constant stream of tears that flowed from her large, Mediterranean brown eyes. After several moments, she looked up and stared into the swollen eyes that appeared in the mirror’s reflection.
“Why?” she sniffled. “Why did Corg have to die? He was a good person. A good husband and a loving father. Why? Why was he taken from me?”
Next to her stood Laya and Sari. It was late evening, and both were dressed in red satin camisoles and robes. They too mourned the horrific fate of Corg. He was not only a friend to them, but it was him whom they thanked for their meeting their husbands, and he was held in especially high esteem with them for that. They had cried a lot when the tidings of his murder had reached the castle, although they were not crying at this particular moment. They simply sighed and held Christy’s hands and rubbed her shoulders, quite unsure of what exactly to say to comfort her.
Several times Sari opened her mouth to say something, maybe make some sort of comparison with the passing of her mother, Queen Lena of Satera, or of King Sean’s parents, who had been killed a couple of years before when the satellite Azura was destroyed. Sari then figured that it would avail her nothing and remained silent.
Laya finally tried to venture an answer. “I know, I feel it in my heart that your husband is in good care. I bet Wren is taking good care of him right now.”
“But why now? He left me behind. He left Melissa behind. Who’s going to take care of us? Who’s going to be Melissa’s dad now?”
Sari finally found an opening to start a dialogue. “Christy, look at me.” The young widow looked Sari square in the eye. “Corg was a friend to all of us. We will take care of you. We will be—we have always been and will continue to be your family here. Trust me. You and Melissa will never lack anything here at the castle.”
Christy stayed silent for a few moments. She just stared at her reflection in the mirror, trying to hold back any further display of emotion. After a while, her eyes began to brim with tears, but she held back the sobs, and wiped the tears aside with a brusque movement.
“We never should have come here. We should’ve stayed back on Earth. If Corg hadn’t been so selfish, he’d still be alive today.”
Laya and Sari looked at each other in astonishment. Sari took a deep breath and said, “How can you accuse him of being selfish? He’s your husband, Christy. How can you can speak evil of him, when he’s not here to defend himself?”
Christy’s beautiful tanned face began to grow scarlet. “He only thought of himself!” she exclaimed. “He came here and wanted to stay here because of his own childish fantasies. He didn’t think about how dangerous it’d be for him or me or Melissa. He was only thinking about himself. It’s his own fault he’s dead now!”
Sari bit her lip in order to keep herself from responding with the same tone of voice. She opened her mouth, but a gesture from Laya kept her silent.
With a soft voice, Laya said, “Listen, Christy. We don’t know why some things happen the way they do. I don’t understand how it was that Corg, Jack, and Piotr arrived in our world in the first place. I don’t think they even know it. Sure, they have ideas, but that’s just what they are: ideas. I tell you one thing: their arrival here has meant the most to Sari and I and the two of us are forever grateful for that. As for Corg, it was always evident how much he loved you.” Laya voice trembled a bit, but she continued. “As soon as he recovered from the first big battle here, he made it a point to return to your world to be by your side. I bet he would’ve stayed there permanently, had Piotr and Jack not returned to summon him. The truth of the matter is, we needed him here. If it weren’t for him, I don’t think Sari or Piotr or Jack or I would be here at this moment. Call Corg whatever you want, but a selfish man he was not. Just because he didn’t live for just you and your daughter, doesn’t mean he was selfish. It means the opposite: he lived for a cause greater than himself.”
By this point, Christy’s nervousness gave way to anger. “And look what it brought him! Now I’m a widow and Melissa doesn’t have a father.”
“Christy, I know you’re upset at all this.” Sari said, trying to calm her down. “I told you, we will take care of the two you. That part you don’t have to worry about.”
Christy got up from her chair and paced around a bit. After a few moments of reflection, she said, resolutely, “I don’t want to stay here anymore.”
“But—“ Laya started.
“This place is too dangerous for a person to live. If I stay here, I’ll be endangering both my life and Melissa’s life. I already lost my husband. I can’t bear to think of losing my daughter.”
“You listen to me,” retorted Sari impatiently. “You’re just as safe here as you are in your home world. I’ve talked enough with the guys about how your world is and from the looks of it, there’s just as much danger and death and tragedy over there as there is over here. You may not have amazons and dragons and beastmen and kinsai, but there are still loonies and killers and all other sorts of filth there. At least here, you have guaranteed protection and financial stability.”
“Until a green dragon comes to the castle and fills the halls with chlorine gas, killing us all of asphyxiation. I’m not stupid, Sari. Corg told me all about the different monsters that inhabit this place.”
Laya sighed. “Please, Christy, be reasonable.”
“I am being reasonable, Laya!”
At that moment, the door opened and Mieu, her red hair done up in a bun and wearing a gold nightgown, entered. Christy turned and looked at her with a frown.
“And you,” she shouted, pointing at the cyborg. “If you had stayed by my husband’s side the whole time, maybe he’d be here right now.”
Mieu stood in her place, both speechless and hurt. Feebly, she mumbled, “Corg had ordered me to get you to safety. I did what I was told to do. If you want to blame someone, blame him.”
“She already has,” Sari rejoined sarcastically.
Mieu stared at the angry Christy. She spoke up, “I wouldn’t blame him if I were you. He was a good man. He gave his life to protect you. That smacks of ingratitude.”
Christy just pouted and folded her arms.
Mieu went on, “It’s an insult to his sacrifice that you’re fighting with us like a little child. Is it easy? Of course not. I’ve lived long to see a few deaths in my day, and I can tell you right now that this sort of childish attitude won’t bring him back, nor will it help you deal with it.”
Christy remained quiet, but soon turned her back to the others and walked toward her dresser. She hastily started grabbing all of her clothes and personal belongings and started putting them together. “I want to go back and I want to go back now.”
Mieu raised her hand in protest, but was silenced by nods from Sari and Laya. Mieu turned around and left the room at the moment.
“Is that what you really want?” Laya said.
“Yes,” said Christy coldly.
“You do realize that this will make your life a lot harder than it would be if you stayed with us in the castle?” Sari said, trying to persuade Christy one last time.
“I don’t care. I’ll take my chances there.”
Laya forced a smile and said, “Christy. We want you to know that whatever happens, you’re always welcome to come back here. There will always be a place for you at the castle.”
Christy turned and regarded the two queens for a few moments. Shaking her head, she went back to getting her stuff together.
“I’ll get Jack to take her home,” Laya said softly so that only Sari could here.
In a low whisper, Sari answerered, saying, “And I’ll have Piotr arrange for her to take some gold and jewels back with her. She’ll need something to live on until she gets back on her feet.”
The queens looked at each and nodded, and then quietly stepped out of Christy’s room in search of their husbands.
