Dream Tunnel (6 page)

22

C
rane woke up in his bed with his stomach churning.

He ran to the toilet, flipped up the seat, and vomited. He flushed the toilet, sat down in front of it, and closed his eyes, hoping his stomach would settle. When he finally opened his eyes, he saw blood on the toilet bowl rim. He checked his hand, remembering how he had cut it on a rock in the tunnel. When he saw the gash in the palm of his hand, he barfed again.

The Dream Tunnel wasn’t a dream.

23

C
onroe popped into her bedroom in the castle.

Geneva was sitting at the time travel computer.

“I may have lost him for good, Geneva.”

Geneva turned around. “I know. I’m sorry, Conroe.”

“Maybe if I had done this weeks ago and taken my time with him—brought him along slowly. It was just too much all at once.”

“Yes, that might have been better,” Geneva agreed, “but you knew your mother would be furious with you when she found out you were using the time travel computer.”

“I wasn’t even supposed to know it
existed
,” Conroe said.

“Wally knew you had it, though, and he didn’t try to take it away from you. But then you’ve always had your dad wrapped around your little finger.”

“He knew I wasn’t in love with any of the suitors my mother chose for me. I should have gone after Crane weeks ago.”

“I understand why you didn’t,” Geneva consoled. “Time travel is dangerous at best, and we didn’t know if the time travel computer even worked. It’s a wonder you didn’t die.”

“Maybe I’ve just been kidding myself all along, thinking that Crane and I could be together.”

“Look what time it is,” Geneva said. “Did you forget about the party? It starts in just over an hour. Your father has already dropped by twice to check on you. He says the queen will die of embarrassment if you’re late. She invited hundreds of guests.”

“I do not want to marry Will Wincraft. He’s a nice enough guy, and I could probably learn to love him…eventually…to some degree, but I want Crane.”

“I know you do,” Geneva replied, “but if he doesn’t want
you
…”

“Maybe Mother is right,” Conroe said. “At any rate, I cannot let her down. I
will
become queen.”

24

T
he Royal Banquet Hall served as the venue for all parties hosted by the queen. With a capacity for one thousand guests, it easily accommodated all the high-ranking officials and prominent business owners of the kingdom, as well as their families.

At one end, a massive, three-tier, semicircle staircase extended across the full width of the hall. The first tier, the largest one, served as a stage for the Royal String Orchestra, which was playing one of the queen’s favorite pieces: Mozart’s Serenade No. 13. The second, smaller tier was intended for a speaker or an ensemble of singers. The top tier, the Royal Tier, was for the queen and her husband, who observed the activities below from their royal chairs. A door at the rear of the Royal Tier opened to the main hallway of the second floor, which led to the royal living quarters.

At precisely 6:00 p.m., the Royal String Orchestra concluded its piece, and the queen nodded to her husband, Wally. He stood up from his chair.

The crowd below hushed, and all eyes turned toward him.

“Ladies and gentlemen, may I please have your attention?” Wally’s voice rang out, enhanced by the perfectly architected acoustics of the hall. “Her Majesty and I would like to thank you for your attendance here this evening and would like to hereby officially announce the engagement of our daughter, the queen-in-waiting, Miss Conroe Williamson, to Sir Wilford Wincraft.” He extended his hand, directing the attention of the crowd to the second tier below.

Conroe and Will came through the rear doorway of the second platform and walked out to the front, waving to the crowd.

The people applauded.

Wally said, “The happy couple will be united at six o’clock in the Royal Sacred Church this Friday night, which, not coincidentally, is the eve of Conroe’s eighteenth birthday. It will be a very special occasion indeed. Yes, this is late notice, and we do apologize, but we certainly hope that you and your families will attend.”

The crowd cheered.

“Then on Saturday night at six o’clock,” Wally continued, “Conroe will be crowned Queen of the Kingdom of Ampla, and Her Majesty, Queen Connie, will become the Queen Mother. I, of course, will still be plain old Wally.”

People laughed.

“Again, thank you for coming,” Wally said, “and we hope you will take time to offer your congratulatory remarks to the happy couple. Now, let us eat, drink, and be merry.”

More cheers erupted.

The Royal String Orchestra began to play another Mozart composition.

Conroe and Will walked, hand in hand, up the seven stairs to the queen. Conroe curtsied, and Will bowed.

The queen smiled. “So, it’s a wonderful night for you two lovebirds.”

They looked at each other.

Conroe spoke first. “Yes, of course, Mother.”

Will said, “We’re very happy. Thank you, Your Majesty.”

Conroe turned to Will. “You’ll be calling her ‘Mother’ very soon, and
I’ll
be Your Majesty.” She laughed.

The queen was not amused. “Conroe, I’d like to speak to you in private.”

Will said, “If it pleases Your Majesty, I will go down and visit with our guests.”

“Yes, of course,” the queen replied.

Will bowed to her and began his trek down the stairs.

The queen said to Conroe, “You see—I told you. Will is a lovely young man.”

“Yes, he is.”

“And you’re okay with it?”

“What choice do I have, Mother?”

“Conroe, I gave you sufficient time to find a man of your own choosing, but you could not ever make up your mind, so I was forced to do it for you.”

“It wasn’t that I couldn’t make up my mind. It was that something always went wrong before I even had a chance to fall in love.”

“I know, dear. But you were out of time, and I could not let you give up your right to the throne.”

“I understand. I’m trying to make the best of it, Mother.” She gazed down at the floor level and spotted Will, who was at the punch table talking to well-wishers. “He is a wonderful man.”

25

O
pal Edelsburg attended the celebration accompanied by her son, Frederick. He was a tall, handsome young man, the only cousin to Conroe Williamson. As children, he and Conroe had often played together in the castle or out in the Royal Courtyard. They were the best of friends—until the relationship between their mothers deteriorated beyond repair.

This was Frederick’s first visit to the castle in eight years. He had grown up in the OutCastle with his mother, learning to hate the queen and her family.

He swaggered across the hall toward the punch table, aware of the lustful stares of a dozen eligible girls, and walked up to Will Wincraft. “I think it’s about time we met. I’m Frederick Edelsburg, Conroe’s cousin.”

“It’s an honor to meet you, Frederick.”

They shook hands.

“I’m sure my cousin has had some ugly things to say about me,” Frederick said.

“Not at all,” Will replied.

“Then she must not have told you
anything
about me.”

Will smiled. “I’m sorry—but, yes, that’s true. She really hasn’t mentioned you at all.”

“It’s just as well,” Frederick said. “I’m afraid I used to be rather a stinker. I pulled some dirty tricks on your fiancé.”

“Oh, really? Like what?”

“I’d rather just forget the past. Let’s start fresh.”

“Okay. Fair enough.”

“I just want to say that Conroe is quite a girl, and she deserves the very best.”

“I agree—although
I
may not
be
the best,” Will said, “but I try hard.”

“That’s all a woman can ask, my friend. It’s all a woman can ask. So, best wishes, and I hope you two have a wonderful life together.”

“Thanks, Frederick.”

Frederick gave Will a hug.

Will turned to talk with other guests while Frederick picked up two glasses of punch and carried them to the back corner of the hall where his mother was standing.

Opal refused the glass of punch from her son. “I never would have believed you would fail me, Frederick—but you have, just like your father did. He could never please me. But I had high hopes for you. I always thought you would do better.”

“So, are you planning to have me
eliminated
, Mother, like you did my father?”

Opal took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. “It’s over, and my sister has won—again. This castle should have been mine, but now she is going to live here until the day she dies.”

“You mean it should have been
our
castle—right, Mother?”

“You promised me you would prevent Conroe from ever finding true love.”

“And that’s exactly what I’ve done,” Frederick said. “You don’t honestly believe she’s in love with Will Wincraft, do you?”

“It doesn’t matter anymore whether she’s in love or not. She’s going to marry him anyway—just so she can become queen.”

“No, she’s not, Mother. Look—I’ve destroyed all of Conroe’s previous relationships, and I’ll ruin this one as well. She’s not going to marry Will Wincraft because
he
is going to back out.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Frederick. Why would he do that? He’d have to be a fool. No man in his right mind would give up the chance to be married to the queen and live in this castle?”

“Wait and see,” he said with a treacherous smile.

“Hmm.” Opal took the glass of punch from Frederick as she studied his face. “I do love it when you get that look in your eyes.”

26

A
fter the party, Conroe and Geneva went to Conroe’s bedroom.

“So you’re really gonna marry Will?” Geneva asked.

“I have no choice,” Conroe replied.

“But you’re going to be miserable. You don’t love him.”

“I’ve got to be practical, Geneva. It’s too late to find someone else and fall in love with them. Will is a nice guy, and I’m confident that he’ll do everything in his power to make me happy.”

“Does he love you?”

“Why are you asking me?” Conroe answered. “I don’t know. I just met him.”

“And you never even considered what his feelings were for you?”

“How could I? There’s no time for that. And what does it matter anyway? I’ve got to marry him or I can’t become queen.”

“It’s too bad that things didn’t work out with Crane.” Geneva sighed. “You truly love him. That, I know for sure.”

“
Loved
him. That’s over now.”

“Liar.”

“Don’t call me a liar,” Conroe protested.

“Why not? That’s what you are—you’re a liar. Crane is the one you love. Why have you given up on him?”

“Because it’s hopeless! When he found out that I’d tricked him and that he wasn’t really dreaming, he just couldn’t handle it. I can’t fix that.”

“I think you could,” Geneva said.

“Wait a minute. You told me a while back that you liked Will—it was before Mother chose him for me. That’s what this is about, isn’t it? You’re in love with Will—and that’s why you don’t want me to marry him. Have you two been secretly dating?”

“No, of course not,” Geneva replied. “I would have told you about that.”

“But you do
like
him, don’t you? You would like to date him.”

“Yes, I do like him very much, but that doesn’t have anything to do with what’s best for you.”

“Oh, I think it does,” Conroe said. “And I think it’s time for you to go home.”

“I thought you wanted me to spend the night. We were gonna have a night of girl talk—like we used to—before you became obsessed with the time travel computer.”

“I don’t need any
girl talk
that’s trying to talk me out of marrying Will. It’s done, it’s settled. End of story.”

“But—”

“Go home, Geneva.”

27

W
ill Wincraft lay in bed tossing and turning, thinking about how much his life was about to change. He closed his eyes and tried to relax.

A deep voice ordered, “Will Wincraft, wake up.”

Will’s eyes popped open. The moonlit outline of a tall intruder towered over his bed. “Who are you?”

“You will not marry my daughter.”

“Sire, is that really you? What has happened? Is Conroe okay?”

“I don’t want questions from you, boy! I simply want an answer. I am ordering you to break off the engagement. And you must not tell anyone about my visit here tonight. Do you understand?”

“What does Conroe have to say about this? And what about the queen?”

His voice tightened. “You’re not listening. It doesn’t matter what Conroe wants or even what the queen wants. You will not marry my daughter. Agreed?”

“No. I’m sorry, sire—I do not wish to be disrespectful to you, but unless Conroe herself says she does not wish to marry me, I will go through with the wedding.”

“Then you leave me no choice.”

Will heard the familiar sound of a sword being drawn from its scabbard and tried to get away.

The tip of the sword caught the side of Will’s thigh, piercing it. He rolled off the other side of the bed, falling onto the floor, expecting Wally Williamson to come around and finish him off.

But he never came. Apparently, this was just a warning.

What was he to do now? If he did not call off the engagement by morning, perhaps he would be dead by the afternoon. Why did Wally Williamson hate him so much? What had he ever done to deserve such treatment?

He had to speak with Conroe, and it couldn’t wait until morning.