The World Ends at Five & Other Stories (9 page)

“But what about—”

Michael
held
up
a
hand
to
silence
him,
then
pointed down at the street. A glowing thing was moving towards them like the will-o-the-wisps in old ballads. It stopped on the street in front of the building and looked up at them.

“Lucifer!” Michael called down to him, sounding as if he were greeting an old friend.

The bright figure did not move, except to let its eyes go from the dark curls of the taller angel to the white-blond hair of the thinner one. “How is it that you got to be the tall, dark, and handsome one?” Lucifer shouted back at Michael. “All the rest of us look alike!”

Michael gave a mirthless chuckle. “Just blessed, I
guess!” He held up the key. “Recognize this?”

All humor went out of Lucifer’s face. He looked at Stephen. “Do you think I wanted to do this? That I chose it? I am, as we all are, simply a pawn on a huge
chess board
designed for His amusement. I could not have been anything other than what I am, even if I’d wanted to!”

“He’s trying to trick you,” Michael said to Stephen.

“But isn’t
it
true, in
a
way?” the
younger angel
asked.

“He
is
a
liar.
He
is
filled
with
fury
because
he
knows that his time is short.”

Stephen’s
gaze
fell
on
the
shining,
scowling creature below them. “But would you have wanted to?”

Lucifer smiled again and turned back to Michael. “He’s a clever one you have there, Michael! But this is between you and me, is it not? For old time’s sake?”

“You had better go,” Michael told Stephen as he
prepared to jump from the roof and meet his adversary. “But about evil and hate—”

“Hate the sin but love the sinner. Unless the sinner happens to be pure evil, of course.”

“And all the people who never had a chance to
learn the truth? Who died ignorant of their sin?”

“Will be judged accordingly. You must know that our God is not so cruel. Have faith in Him!”

Stephen opened his mouth for one more question, but it was too late; Michael had taken flight. With no particular interest in watching the battle--he knew the outcome, after all--Stephen started back towards the bay. As he walked, he thought about the difference between righteousness and self-righteousness, about the difference between evil and ignorance, about how one could never truly
fathom
the
Lord’s
wrath
and
mercy.
These
were things he’d never had cause to consider before. They disturbed
him.
They
shook
his
faith
somehow.
And suddenly he understood why the Tree had been off limits.

Once again on the shore of the bay, Stephen allowed himself one last glance at the city, now
bright
as day in the aftermath of what was really just the beginning.
The City of Lost
Angels.
How
appropriate.
And,
if
the
legends
of Heaven held true, it had been built on the ruins of Eden, a false paradise, a pretender built on Earth by the pretender to the Throne of Heaven. But, as the Lord’s word had proven, false idols never stood the test of time. And the time was now at an end.

As he was thinking, Stephen became aware of an odd sensation between his toes and beneath his feet. Looking down, he discovered he’d been unconsciously wriggling his
toes
in
the
wet sand. It
made him smile. There was nothing like this where he came from, and there probably never would be.

Stephen’s gaze traveled out over the moody water. Somewhere out there the Gates waited to receive him. He had nothing to fear, even Michael had commended him on the successful completion of his duty, yet there was a cold dread settling somewhere within him.

Not yet. He could not go back yet. There were too many things here to see, now before they were gone, too many things to learn and reason out, things he’d never had the cause or ability to think about before. So with a glance behind and one last look at the dark and uninviting
waves, Stephen started off along the shore, away from all of it, digging his toes into the sand with every step.

A Tale of Two Queens

There was once, long ago, a king who had two beautiful daughters. As they shared the hour of their birth, he knew that he would have to split his kingdom between them, and so he did. When the time of his end drew near enough that he could feel the breath of Death on his face, he called his daughters to him and spoke.

“I have split my kingdom between you, and so you shall share it equally, each with your own palace and own court. But there is a piece of land that neither of you shall touch, nor even venture into, for it belongs to
Naptethis
, who gave me my kingdom on the promise that I would not disturb hers, and so you owe your kingdoms to her in turn.” And so the king die
d and the two sisters split the
kingdom and ruled each in
her own
portion.

But it came to pass one day that one of the queens was inspecting her lands when she spotted from afar a palace much grander than her own. Now she had not seen her own sister’s palace, nor been to visit her sister, and so she thought, “So! She was given a better palace than me! Well, we shall see about this!” And she turned her horse in that direction.

Yet
even
after
she
had
ridden
half
a
day,
the palace
seemed
hardly
closer
than
before.
And
so
the
queen stopped beside a lake to rest and let her horse drink. And while she was there, a frog crawled out of the lake and croaked, “Turn back! Turn back!”

But the queen refused, thinking that a frog had no
right to dictate to a queen, and so after letting her horse drink, she again set off for the far-off palace. Yet even when the sun was sinking in the sky, the palace seemed a long way off. And so the queen stopped at a river to rest and let her horse drink. And while she was there, a fish poked its head up from the river and gasped, “Turn back! Turn back! Before the first star appears!”

But the queen refused, thinking she had already come such a long way and that it would be a waste to turn back now. And so after letting her horse drink, she again set off. And still the palace seemed no nearer until she saw above one of its tall towers the first star of evening. Then, all at once, the path became straight and the palace seemed within reach.

When the queen arrived at the palace, a youth of exquisite beauty came to take her horse. And the queen thought, “So! She was given more beautiful servants as well! Well, we shall see about this!” And she came down from her horse so the youth could lead it away. And while the
youth
was
away,
a
rabbit
came
up
out
of
the hedgerows and
said,
“You may still free yourself if you do not speak aloud to anyone here!” And it hopped away.

Then a beautiful young maid came and motioned to the queen to follow her into the palace. And so the queen was led to a great hall filled with many beautiful youths and maids, all of them in dress more elegant than anything the queen had ever seen. The columns of the hall were crusted in gold and jewels; even the patterns on the floor and walls were of jewels and precious metals.

And then a fanfare sounded and the curtain at the end of the hall parted and a woman entered whose dress was many times more splendid than the queen’s.

“Who enters my hall?” the woman called out. But the queen, knowing now that she was surely in some enchanted place and not her sister’s court, and remembering the rabbit’s admonition, said nothing.

“I
am
Naptethis
, queen of
this land
and of
the
Faerie People! Who enters my hall?” the woman called again.

And the queen was very afraid, and so sought to save
herself
by
pleading.
“Please,
Your
Highness,” she said and curtseyed low, “I came here thinking this was my sister’s kingdom.

“For
my
father,
the
king,
died
and
split
the kingdom between us and I have not seen her since. So I rode out thinking to see her, but it took all day to get here, and now I find I have been mistaken in my direction.”

But
Naptethis
knew the queen was untrue and replied, “Your father was a good and honorable man who did me good service, and so I shared my land with him. But you have done nothing to earn your share of my kingdom. And so if you want to keep your portion of the kingdom, you must do something for me.

“I want you to ride out to the
crystal mountains
and fetch me the wild rose that grows there.”

And
so
the
queen
agreed—what else
could
she
do
?—
and rode out the very next morning for the crystal mountains. She rode all day, but the mountains hardly seemed any closer for her trouble, until at last she saw the first star of evening appear over the highest peak. Then, all at once, the queen found herself at the foot of the mountains. But the crystal was so smooth her horse could not climb the ridge. And so she dismounted and climbed on foot until she came to the place where the wild rose grew between some crystal rocks. So she plucked it and made to climb down.

But
before
she
reached
the
bottom,
a
great
gryphon
stood before her and would not let her pass. “Why do you take my rose?” it roared. “For I am alone here, and that rose is my only joy. When it blooms, the mountains turn red with its color.”

And the queen replied that
Naptethis
had ordered her to take the rose.

“And what is
Naptethis
to me?” asked the
gryphon
. “For I am not a faerie, so she is no queen of mine.

“But if you will bring me some other companion, I
will allow you to take the rose.”

And so the queen left the rose and returned to her horse. “Where shall I find a companion for a
gryphon
?” she thought. And her horse said, “We must go into the darkling forest, for surely there we will find what we seek.”

And the queen was amazed. But her horse said, “I
am an enchanted steed that can only speak while in the realms of Faerie.”

So the queen rode to the darkling forest and there found a most beautiful bird with feathers as red as the reddest rose and a beak of gold. And she thought, “Surely this bird will cause the mountains to become red with its color, just as the
gryphon
said.” And so she set herself to catch the bird.

But her horse said, “That is a firebird that can only
be caught in a net of water.”

And the queen began to cry, for she saw it was hopeless, for how could she make a net of water? But her horse said, “You must ask the water sprites.” And he took the queen to a nearby stream, where sprites were playing in the reeds.

“Can you make me a net of water so I may catch the firebird?” the queen asked them.

“What will you give us if we do?” the sprites asked
her.

“
What would you like?” the queen replied.

“Oh, we would like the dust of pixies, for it will
allow us to fly.”

And so the queen returned to her horse and told him all the sprites had said. And her horse replied, “Then we will go to the pixies.” And they set off deeper into the forest until they came to a place where the tree branches met high above them like a great cathedral. And there many little lights darted about above their heads.

“You must clap to get their attention,” said the horse, and so the queen clapped her hands and a tiny pixie came to hover in front of her nose.

“I have come for some pixie dust,” the queen told the pixie, and the pixie flew off and drew the other pixies to her so that they hung like a halo high in the tree branches. Then the pixie returned and said, “We will give you some pixie dust if you catch the will-o-the-wisp for us. For it has given us much trouble.”

“And how do I catch the will-o-the-wisp?” the queen asked her horse.

“You must take off your slippers and leave them at
the edge of a marsh. The will-o-the-wisp will not be able to resist trying them on, and so will become stuck in them, for
they are as enchanted to him as all things in Faerie are to
you.”

And so they came to a marsh and the queen left her
slippers out
and the will-o-the-wisp came and tried them on and was trapped by them. Then the queen put her slippers and the will-o-the-wisp in a velvet bag that hung from her saddle. And so she rode back to the pixies and was given the dust, which she gave to the water sprites in return for the net of water, which she used to capture the firebird that she brought back to the
gryphon
in return for the wild rose.

Then the queen returned to the Faerie court and gave
Naptethis
the rose. And
Naptethis
was pleased and let the queen go, giving her a retinue of servants and many treasures to last her the rest of her days.

Now it came to pass that the second queen said to herself that it was time she was married. So she had her servants go out into her portion of her father’s kingdom and bring her all the eligible men that she might choose one as a husband.
But
none
of
the
men
who
were
presented pleased the queen. And so she rode out herself to discover where a suitable husband might be found.

When she had covered all of her lands and found no one that pleased her, the queen went then to the edges
of her sister’s kingdom. Now she had not visited her sister since the time their father had died and did not know of her sister’s adventures, nor had she any desire to see her sister. But it was in her sister’s lands that the queen came upon a beautiful youth who was walking along the road, carrying pheasants he had snared for his supper. He was very beautiful and the queen was much taken with him. She paused her horse and said, “Tell me, lad, if you might like to be a king.”

And he replied, “Oh, no, my lady, for I am in service to a most wonderful queen, and that is enough for me.”

But the queen’s
desire for him was great, and she said, “Then take
me to this queen who is so much more wonderful than I.” For she thought she must be in her sister’s lands and that t
his youth was in service to her
sister.

But the youth was crafty and knew that no good could come of him taking this lady to his queen, and so he said, “If only you will take my birds up on your horse, my lady, I shall lead you to my queen.”

And the queen agreed, so the lad took the reigns of her horse and began to lead her up the road until they came to a palace more magnificent than the queen’s own. And the queen thought to herself, “This can only be my sister’s court. How comes it that she has such a grand palace
when
we
were
given
the
kingdom equally? And
these beautiful servants as well?” For they were met by a stable
boy
equally
beautiful as
the
youth,
who
led
the horse away, then by a beautiful maiden who led them into the great hall of the palace.

“This
is
the
court
of
Naptethis
,
Queen
of
the Faerie,” said the youth, and the queen then knew she had made a terrible mistake.

“Why do you bring this mortal to my court?” asked
Naptethis
.

“She asked me to bring her to my queen, for she wished me to be her king and I refused.”

“You do not wish to be her king?”
Naptethis
asked the youth, and he again refused. “I am happy with the queen I serve,” he said.

“It is strange that a queen would look outside her realm for a king,” said
Naptethis
. “Do none of your own people please you? Would you have a king from elsewhere, someone who does not serve you?”

The queen then admitted that she had searched her
kingdom
for
a
suitable
husband
but
had
not succeeded in finding one. Then
Naptethis
said, “Then I will give you a willing member of my kingdom. But you must ride out ahead of him and not turn to look at him until you have reached your own castle and the marriage rites have been performed.”