My body trembles as I look into the blue eyes of my daughter-in-law. Her words are hard and even. “Why have you done this to me?”

Falling to my knees, I bow my head. “Please, please don’t hurt me. I’m sorry. I was desperate! Please, have mercy on me!”

“Why are you on your knees?” she asks. “Get up and face me and explain why the hell you’re alive first. Then why you did what you did to me.”

Caleb takes my arm and helps me up. I look at him and ask, “Are you no longer going to protect me, Caleb?”

Kataline sighs. “Your Majesty, I will not hurt you. I swear it. I merely want to know how it is that you’re alive. We can start with that.”

I don’t believe her. “My husband made a poor choice for an assassin. His brother couldn’t bring himself to kill me, so he hid me out in a secret underground city.”

“Why didn’t you just come out and tell everyone about what the King had done to you?” she asks.

“Well, you say that as if it would’ve been an easy thing to do. I was devastated. Heartbroken. Confused.” I sit heavily on the overstuffed sofa in shades of pink. I run my hand over the soft fabric and smile. “Pink is my favorite color. Caleb, can I have some of that drink I love so much now?”

“I’ll get you some later, Your Highness. Right now we need you to deal with this little problem we have. You see, no one wants a war. I spoke with Kerr, and he wants nothing more than to come home.” Caleb moves in front of me. “Can I go to your son and tell him that he and the rest of the people who were on the ships can all go home peacefully?”

I shake my head. “I can’t allow it. This one did not kill the King as I directed and all the others are still supporting him. I simply cannot allow it.”

The screen on the wall lights up. The cameras at the outside entrance must have caught something, and it’s being broadcast to the palace surveillance screens.

Kerr and my husband stand in front of the palace with the royals and the royal guards behind them. “They followed you, Caleb! Or are you a part of them now?” I ask as I suck in my breath.

Caleb looks confused. “I have to go.” He runs from the room, shutting the door behind him and leaving Kataline, Emerald, and me alone in the room.

The other women take a seat on either side of me on the sofa as we all watch the screen. My heart is pounding as Caleb flies out of the front entrance and we watch as he does.

“Kerr, what are you doing?” he shouts.

“We are taking the palace back.” He draws a sword, and the light glistens off the long, steel blade. “I have killed your brother and taken his sword, Caleb. Do not make me kill you too.”

Emerald gasps and her hands cover her mouth. “No!”

Then to my horror, my husband holds something up, and I lean forward to make sure I am seeing it right. It is a man’s head and Emerald wretches. “It’s Caleb’s father’s head!”

Caleb draws his sword, looks around, and then he shouts, “Death to the King and all the royals!”

The rebels come out of the dense and thick blue flower gardens on both sides of the palace, brandishing various types of weaponry. Most of them homemade. A few are conventional.

Kerr steps in front of his father and Nar’s husband, Luthus steps in behind the King to keep him protected. I place my hands over my mouth. My eyes glued to the large screen on the wall. “If they don’t move away from him they will be hurt!”

Kataline’s voice is flat as she says, “They will be killed.”

I glance sideways at her. “Can’t you do something to stop this?”

“No, but you definitely can, Your Highness.”

“I’ll stop it only after the King has been killed,” I say and look back at the screen.

My teenage nieces move forward and stand on either side of their father. Latice and Lavine have gotten even prettier since I last managed to catch glimpses of them, a few years ago when they were at the palace.

Lavine’s dark hair hangs in little ringlets around her porcelain-like face. And the screen is big enough for me to see Latice’s blue-green eyes, just like Kerr’s. Her blonde hair hangs in waves around her shoulders.

“What are the girls doing?” I ask as I look at Kataline. “Can’t you use your powers to get them out of the way and somewhere safe?”

She merely shakes her head at me, sending her dark waves bouncing over her narrow shoulders.

I turn back to find my sister joining the circle of people, guarding the murdering King. “Why? Why do they all protect him?”

It happens so fast, I barely notice the one man running headlong into the group, and he has some sort of bowed blade on the end of a long stick, and just like that, he cuts through a couple of the royal guards.

Emerald and I scream as their heads fall away from their still standing bodies. Then they collapse on the ground in a bloody heap.

Kerr steps forward, and then he’s pushed back, and it’s Nar who is next to lose her head. “Nar!” I stand, and my hands touch the screen where my sister lays in a pool of blood. Her head is a few inches from her body.

Tears fill my eyes as I watch one by one be killed by the mob of Earthlings I made into an army.

Sitting back on my heels, my eyes focus on Kerr who’s trying to make sure his father is protected at all times. Latice jumps forward in front of her father as one of my men jabs a long pointed metal rod at him. And she gets it run through her stomach.

I can’t even scream anymore. I’m so devastated I can hardly think.

Luthus roars and hits the man with some type of board, but he’s quickly run through by another man with a long blade.

Some type of an arrow flies through the air and hits Kerr in the head. He falls, and another arrow misses my husband as my niece, Lavin, jumps in front of it.

I clutch my heart and can’t even breathe. They are all dead. My entire family is dead and yet the King, the murdering King still stands.

Rising, I scream his name, “Hexultan! You bastard!”

Caleb rushes in and takes his head in one swipe of his long, shining sword. He grabs Hexultan’s head and holds it up as the Earthlings of my army cheer.

“The King is dead!” Caleb declares and holds Hexultan’s head up to the camera so I can see it. “My Queen, your command has been carried out.”

Emerald’s voice comes from behind me. “Are you happy now, My Queen? Your husband is dead. All the wrongs have now been made right in your mind, I suppose.”

“Why does it feel like this?” I ask as I hold my hand to my heart that feels as if it might explode.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Kataline looks at me with little bits of gold shooting through her blue eyes. “You should feel fantastic with his death. It’s what you wanted so badly, and you, therefore, dissected my inner mind and brought out a monster in me to make sure it happen.”

“The others, though.” I fall on the sofa as all strength has left me.

“Casualties of war, my Queen,” she says.

“And Kerr is gone as well,” I say as tears pour from me.

“He is. You have taken my husband from me as well. It’s only you and I left in this royal family. Tell me, Your Highness, how will you ever tell your granddaughter, who I carry in my belly, that she will never know her father? Because once upon a time, your husband tried to have you killed, but failed and so you had no other choice than to start a horrific battle that cost her father’s life.”

“Kataline, what have I done?” I ask as I look at her through muddled vision. “All I wanted was his death. Why did the rest have to happen?”

“Can’t say. When one plays God, one pays the price. Suppose that was the price you had to pay for the death you so desired, Your Highness.” Kataline moves toward the door as the screen’s light grows dim and then goes dark.

Her hand moves near the wall where the hidden door is, and it opens. Caleb stands there.

I blink and wipe my eyes. There is no blood on his clothing. He looks exactly the same as he did before.

Kataline turns to me with a smile. “Seems you have a decision to make, Your Highness. Because that little thing I just showed you is thirty minutes away from happening. Once it starts, it cannot be stopped. Only you have the power to do that.”

“What?” I try to catch my breath. “You did what?”

“I gave you a look at the very near future.” Kataline comes to me and sits down as Emerald runs to hug Caleb.

“Kataline, are you telling me I can stop that from occurring?” I look at her with complete confusion. “Are you telling me that no one is dead? Not Caleb’s brother or father. No one is dead yet?”

She nods. “And no one has to die if you merely go outside and tell the rebels there is no war. There is no takeover. There is no reason to hang around here. Everyone can go home. This is over, and the royals will decide what is to happen to the King.”

I take her hand in mine and lead her out to the front entrance as Caleb and Emerald follow closely behind us.

“Gather them please, Caleb,” I say as we get outside the palace.

He shouts, “The Queen has something to say. Please gather around.”

Many men come in from their hiding places amongst the blue flower gardens my husband made me when he was a young man. My heart aches with so many odd feelings.

“There is no more uprising. I will deal with the King with the help of the other royals. No blood will be shed on this day, and I ask you to please lay down your weapons, they will all be destroyed. There is no need for them.” I turn to Caleb and Emerald. “Caleb, Emerald, I would like to ask you to join our reign as the Duke and Duchess of the Earth colony.”

They smile and bow. Then Caleb answers, “It would be our privilege to accept those positions.”

I add, just to let the Earthlings know how things are about to change for them for the better, “Samuel Winters will no longer be who we communicate with to get you what you want. Things are going to change, and this man and woman are the people you need to talk to when you want something from now on.”

Caleb looks at me. “My Queen, I should take Kataline back to the royals so she can tell them of the change.”

I nod and wave them off. “Go, hurry. I cannot have that happen. Go quickly.”

Caleb rushes off, followed by Kataline. Emerald looks at me and takes my hand. “I’m certainly glad that wasn’t real.”

“I’m glad to have a chance to stop it all.”

But now I must face the man who tried to kill me and find a way to deal with that!