“And Master Talik’s proposal?” I wondered as I took another sip of the tea.
“Accepted,” said the Red Queen, and my heart jumped.
The old Timekeeper had a proposal for atransparent monitoring systemat the ready the moment the madness had come to its end.
“Starting next week when the proper arrangements have been made, every burst from the Great Clock will be logged publicly. Copies of the allocation records will be distributed to each court. Any discrepancy will be visible to everyone, immediately.”
And Master Talik would be free to make his timeometers, too, to do this. He’d been so excited about it—you could just tell he’d been working on this, thinking about this for a long, long time.
“And the Timekeepers?” Silas asked.
“That will take a bit more time. To get through to people, to break their beliefs will take years, but it can be done. And it will start before I give up my reign. Timekeepers will be going to the same schools as the Clockfolk, and marriage among our peoples will be legalized. They’re working on a proposal as we speak.” The Red Queen sipped her drink. “Not a lot of people are happy about it, though. Powerful people.”
Which made sense. A lot still believed we were somehow superior to Timekeepers.
What a ridiculous idea.
“I’ve also been working on a public travel system for quite some time now. Something I’ve been passionate about. I will be donating my belongings to gather the budget to see it brought to life before my time ends.” The Red Queen’s smile wasproudjust now. “Easy travel between courts will break barriers people didn’t even know existed until today.”
“That’s actually very helpful.” To be able to travel toanywhere we wanted, whenever we wanted—abovethe ground? Jinx would have lovedthe idea. She’d have loved to see everything, all our realm had to offer.
To be honest, so would I.
“So, you will just…resign,” I said.
The question had been spinning in my head since that morning six days ago when she’d woken up and had taken the White Queen in her arms, had cried and cried in front of all of us, then had ordered the soldiers to go get help, and had told us that she would be stepping down from her role as queen.
I still had trouble imagining it.
A queen stepping down from the crown?
“I already have. The councils of the courts have received my letters. They have yet to reply, and I’m sure they’ll take a few days, but in the meantime, I will be moving out of the palace today and going to my parents’ estate in my court.”
“Or you could just stay,” I said before I could help myself because a realm without a single queen?
“I won’t,” the Red Queen said, and her smile was affectionate this time. “This place has been my prison for so long, but even so, I don’t deserve to live here. I will still be present for all hearings, and I will help the councils in electing the new queens in the coming month—but I will do so without a crown.”
I could have sworn she soundedashamedfor a split second, but she recovered quickly, sipped her tea and nodded.
“Good times are coming.Bettertimes.” She said it like she was as certain of that as she was of the sky being blue.
I sipped my tea in silence, a little relieved, a lotthankful.This realm definitely needed better times after all it had been through. The edges especially.
“And the Turning Trials?” Silas asked.
“They’ll continue but not like before. I’ve included this in my letter to the councils. We will need to come up with new games—realgames.”
“The kind where the worst thing that happens is you lose and go home embarrassed,” I said. “Not lose your memories.”
“Exactly,” said the Red Queen.
“No clockbeasts or timewraiths or memory extractions…right?”
“And no more barely-adults being the only group allowed to play,” Silas said.
The queen half nodded, half shook her head. “There will be adjustments. A lot of details—but, yes, pretty much.”
“Good,” Silas and I said at the same time.
