Tab Bennett and the Inbetween (11 page)

While I braided my hair and wrapped it around my head in a style most famously worn by Heidi of the Swiss Alps, Francis explained what would happen at the Manor that day.

“Are you listening to me? This is important.”

I nodded even though I’d been thinking about the Von Trapp Family Singers the whole time.

“You need to know this stuff.”

“I’m listening,” I replied, turning to look at him. That’s when I saw the box. The velvet box. The one with the crown inside. “What is that doing here?”

He set the box on the dresser and removed the crown with the closest thing to tenderness I’d ever seen Francis use to handle anything. He smiled at it. He looked like a dope.

“It’s a symbol, an important one. The people will see you in your mother’s crown today and be reminded of Gwendolyn. They’ll see her in you the way we do. Trust me, you want them to make the connection; we need them to. And I don’t care if you feel silly in a crown.” Francis, master of the pep talk, was entirely out of patience for me and my shenanigans. “You’re a princess. Get over it.”

 When I didn’t take it, he dropped the delicate braid of silver vines and flowers and diamonds on my head. Flowers, fresh and sweet and alive, burst forth again. The smell of roses and sunshine filled the room. A fall of ivy and forget-me-nots trailed through my hair. Francis was right behind me, his face reflected back at me in the mirror. I saw him wipe a tear from his eye before he said, “Great. Fine. You look like a princess. Now let’s go.”

********

            We drove up to the Manor even though we could have walked there in about five minutes. Francis blamed my impractical shoes but I knew that wasn’t the reason he insisted on driving. He didn’t want me, the Mayor of the Munchkin City, to come tromping across the lawn if some of my loyal subjects were going to be hanging around out front. Heaven forbid the members of the Lollipop League got a look at me before their scheduled audience. It would completely ruin the big reveal.

 “I’m nervous,” I said.

“There’s no reason to be,” Francis replied easily. He got out of the car and nodded up to Robbin and Matthew who were standing by the Manor’s front door. When Robbin nodded in response, he opened my door.

“Shake a leg, Princess. Everyone is waiting.”

I felt Robbin’s eyes on me as soon as I got out of the car. I knew he was waiting for a sign from me, some small gesture to tell him that I was OK. But my feelings, and worse, my pride, were hurt and I wasn’t ready to let him off the hook. I looked away when he tried to catch my eye.

Matthew, on the other hand, seemed completely indifferent to my approach. He may as well have been waiting for the bus. They both bowed when I got to the door, which was fine with me as it meant I didn’t have to decide what to say to either of them.

 “Please come this way, Princess.” Francis said formally, gesturing into the Manor’s front hall.

“I know how to get to the dining room,” I snapped back as I stepped in behind him. Robbin and Matt followed me, walking in step with Francis as we made our way down the hall. The dining room doors were closed, which wasn’t unusual; it was a room we rarely used.

Francis reached for the doorknob and then turned towards me, his expression as serious as a heart attack. “I am going to open this door in a second and you are going to go sit next to Pop. Don’t roll your eyes, don’t sigh, and don’t giggle. There are people in there, our people, and they have come here specifically to see you so try to act like a Princess instead of a kindergartener for five minutes. Got it?”

I nodded and Matthew snickered.

“That goes double for you,” Francis said, poking him in the chest for emphasis. “OK, people. Let’s go.”

Although I had no idea what was expected of me I felt sure that my behavior in the next hour would shape the whole future of my rule of the Inbetween. If I looked like an idiot, that’s how I would always be known—as an idiot.

“Don’t you think you should have told me about this before right now?” I asked.

His ears turned bright red at the accusation of wrongdoing. “You wouldn’t unlock the door and Alexander ordered me not to break it down. So what was I supposed to do?”

Robbin, who always knew when I needed reassurance, patted my shoulder gently. “Just relax, babe. It’s going to….” I whirled around to face him before he could finish his sentence, saving Francis the trouble of pushing his hand away.

“You can’t call her that anymore,” Francis barked. “Don’t call her that.” Robbin stared at me, waiting for me to contradict my cousin, as I would have in the past. I didn’t.

“I see I got here just in time,” George said as he slipped between us. He took my hand and placed it lightly on his forearm. “Number one: don’t say anything. Pop just wants them to see you. Resist the urge to ask questions until after everyone has gone. Number two: Don’t fidget and don’t smile too much. And three, when you are introduced to someone don’t shake their hand.” George adjusted the crown on my head. “You look like a princess. Seeing you, no one could ever think otherwise. The Inbetween is yours to rule and you are going to be magnificent. Fran, you can open the door now.”

There was, I swear to God, a blare of trumpets as the door swung open and a crowd of forty or so curious strangers turned to look at me. Alex and Pop stood up, everyone else bowed, and the horns sounded for a second time. Between all of the noise and attention and the light spilling out of the room, I lost my footing and stumbled backwards but George’s solid grip on my arm held me up. When the horns trumpeted for a third time, he pulled me into the dining room.

“Let’s go, kiddo.” George started forward, propelling me along with him. He murmured into my ear as we walked, telling me who was who among the assembled courtiers. I had no idea what he was saying. I don’t think he expected me to remember any of it anyway. I think it was his way of distracting me so I wouldn’t notice that three upholstered armchairs from around the dining room table had been placed in front of the windows, like thrones. Pop sat in the one on the right. Alex was in the one on the left. The middle one, set a little higher than the others, was clearly for me.

It’s hard to know what to do with yourself when a room full of people is openly staring at you. I’m proud to say that I resisted the urge to wave. I didn’t want to fidget too much or blush so I let my eyes drift up just a little, just over their heads where long aqua banners were blowing softly back and forth in a light breeze. The ceiling, when I looked up, had been replaced with open blue sky.

“Begin,” Pop said with a sharp clap of his hands.

I forgot to be nervous as I listened to him deal with matters of the court. It was fascinating and somehow familiar. I realized why; aside from the bowing and the loud clap that signaled that Pop had finished and was ready to move on, it was exactly like the way he dealt with us – swift and no nonsense. He was totally at home there at the head of state, confident that his judgments were right and fair. Everyone else seemed just as certain of him. No one questioned him. Pop listened to each elf granted audience, settling property disputes between neighbors, arranging a marriage contract for a beautiful Elvish girl with a heart shaped face and the equally beautiful boy she intended to marry, and approving a small change of law that would allow those of half Elvish half human ancestry to visit the Inbetween twelve times a year. After that, members of the government spoke, updating Pop on various issues I didn’t know anything about. I tried to pay attention or at least to look like I was but my mind was wandering a bit. I was thrilled when Pop finally concluded the business of running the country – which it turns out is boring even in fairyland.

As the room cleared out, a tall, willowy woman with golden hair that hung down her back like a fall of sunshine approached the small platform that raised the throne chairs a few steps above the rest of the room. She held a silver helmet in her arms, cradled against her body like a football. Standing at the center of the dining room with a large Elvish man on either side of her, both still wearing the headgear she carried, she looked like a model posing for a pictorial on helmets as the hottest thing for summer. When she turned to look at me I noticed a long scar running the distance from her eye to her chin. Surprisingly, it did nothing to detract from her beauty. If anything it gave her perfect face an air of dignity and kept her from looking entirely like the captain of a beach volleyball team.

“If I may address the Princess?”

Pop raised his eyebrows but nodded, giving his permission.

“I am Estella, beloved friend of Queen Gwendolyn and General of the Five Hundred. We have long waited for your return to our people. Now that the day has finally arrived, I wish to pledge my loyalty, and that of my troops, to you and your betrothed. I have no doubt that you shall lead We of the Light to victory and to peace.”

I didn’t know why she was so confident in my abilities when I’d done nothing other than sit there but I appreciated the vote of confidence.

Alex reached for my hand. I ignored the spark that came from his skin touching mine and smiled, nodding my head. Pop looked at me and nodded, encouraging me to speak just as he’d done when I was a child and one of the tellers at the bank told me I was pretty or gave me a lollipop.

I cleared my throat. “Thank you.”

Pop was just about to clap his hands again, signaling the end of the audience, when Estella spoke. “Do you know much about We of the Light, Princess Aurora?”

“Please call me Tab,” I said. Aurora was part of my official title, but it wasn’t my name.

Estella looked confused by the offer. “It is generous of you to invite me to address you as your friends do, but it would be inappropriate for me to call you by that name. We are not friends.”

I was learning that the Elvish are circumspect people. They prefer to dance around the truth, to hide it, when they can. That Estella could be so blunt made me like her. “I hope I’ll have the chance to change that in the future.”

“It would be a great honor to once again call the Queen my friend,” Estella said, giving a shallow bow.

“To answer your question, I don’t know much about We of the Light, but I want to learn. I only recently found out that I am going to be Queen of the Inbetween, but I want you all to know that I am determined to live up to my mother’s hopes for me – to exceed them if I can.”

Pop, who’d clearly been concerned about what I would say, relaxed a little.

“Sometimes I wonder what your mother would say if she could see you now,” Estella mused, looking at me with curious green eyes.

“Honestly, I’ve been wondering the same thing. I don’t know very much about her. Since you were her friend, maybe you could tell me about her – if you wouldn’t mind.”

 “I hope to have the opportunity to tell you more about your mother sometime soon.” Estella smile but there was a hint of sadness in her eyes too, a hint of loss. “It has been a pleasure to meet you, your Lightness.”

“For me too,” I said, resisting the urge to shake her hand.

She bowed and left, taking her guard with her. The rest of us waited in silence until the door closed behind her. Then Francis slapped me on the back. “She’s a natural. Did you see her, Bennett? A natural.”

 “You really did a wonderful job, Tabitha,” Pop agreed. “I’m proud of you.”

 “The Five Hundred is a big deal. The others will follow. They just need to see her. I knew calling Estella here was the right thing to do,” Francis crowed, a triumphant smile on his face.

“You’re a master strategist, Frannie.” George yawned. “I’m going to bed.”

Matt left with him. Pop and Francis followed them out, heads together, probably already planning what to do with me next. That left Robbin, Alex, and me – just us points on the love triangle – alone together.

Alex sat beside me with his long legs stretched out in front of him and his body angled toward me. Robbin stood on the other side with his arms folded across his chest. I was in the middle looking straight ahead as if my life depended on it. The tension heaped up around us and the silence got louder and louder and louder still until finally I couldn’t take it anymore. Robbin had to go.

“What are you waiting for? A tip?” I snapped at him.

He couldn’t hide the look of hurt and surprise that flashed across his face but he recovered quickly. “I told George I’d cover his watch today because…of …you know…last night.” His mouth curled up into a seductive smile.