Oh My, I Messed Up the Story

Al's arms tightened around me as he continued to digest everything I had said. After a while, he spoke up again a bit hesitantly.

"I see why you don't want to leave the palace for a while. We'll be more careful until everything is said and done. I won't let anything happen to you, I promise. But Katie…why did you feel so strongly about following the story before? And what changed your mind?"

I had wondered that many times. Bending over backwards to make the author's original intentions come to pass had been exhausting. Maybe it was to have a sense of normalcy, honoring a story from my world.

For some reason back then I had a horrible feeling that something bad would happen if I didn't keep the story the same. Plus I felt guilty about stealing Marcy's man. The last of my inhibitions on the matter went out the window when I realized she had been using him the entire time in the novel.

"I don't know why I felt so strongly about it…consistency, maybe? Trying to keep what I knew the same? I had gone through a lot of crazy changes by coming here. As for what changed my mind…it was you," I confessed.

"I had originally planned to run away alone and leave you with her. But when I found out she only wanted your connections for her own political gain I knew she wouldn't take care of you for me properly so I couldn't leave you alone again. I cared too much."

Al's expression softened and he fiddled with a strand of my hair. "I hope you know that you're ridiculous…but you sure know how to make me feel loved."

How did that make him feel loved? I had just admitted to planning on leaving him and going my merry way! I suppose he was focusing on the fact that I didn't leave because I couldn't bear to leave him alone in this terrible place.

He was handling this a lot better than I had thought he would. Every crazy thing I said had been taken in stride. I frowned. "Al…why do you believe me? What I'm telling you is impossible."

He laughed. "Perhaps so, but I know you Katie de Kanta. You wouldn't lie to me."

Well, not now, but I had lied to him a lot in order to keep my secrets. Yet he still trusted me. Love truly was blind.

"Thank you," I said quietly.

I had always been myself more around Al than anyone else in this world but now he knew the entire truth. I had been set free from a self-imposed cage. The weight I had been carrying alone wasn't as heavy with someone else sharing it.

"You said you didn't think you were even supposed to be here and that was a part of why you tried to 'fix' things but I think everything happened exactly how it was supposed to," he said thoughtfully.

"I'm so grateful you came here so I could meet you. I always wondered if there was someone out there who would truly understand me…and there was, in a completely different world. Can you tell me more about your home? I want to know everything about your life there."

With that invitation, I ended up talking for hours (with occasional breaks for Al to ask questions) about my life back in Arizona. Everything from my childhood exploits with Abby to my parents' deaths to my health problems and social isolation.

I tried to explain technology as best I could but there weren't proper equivalents to most of the things I was describing, like TVs and cell phones. He was intrigued by how different things were, especially based on the foods I had attempted to have made here already.

Without even having to bring it up myself, Al said he wanted to help me recreate as much here as we could. That made me fall even more in love with him. He had always understood me better than anyone else here but now that understanding was complete.

Like Mariela had been when I told her about the fashion differences, Al was sympathetic to my plight. Suddenly my strange fashion choices for when we lounged about the castle made a lot more sense.

"The clothes in your world sound nice. If you really don't like wearing skirts all the time, we can find someone to make you some pants when we get out of here. You did say that you usually wore pants, didn't you?" he asked.

I laughed. Usually? I hadn't worn a skirt in about two years before I came here. Pants were my life. I wore jeans or slacks at work but when I was at home it was pajamas or gym shorts all the way.

"I never wore skirts before coming here! I miss pants. The only time I wore them in this world was when we played in the snow. Let me tell you, coming up with snow clothes that would work here was a challenge. Back home we have a special waterproof material with insulation made especially for…"

And that sparked another long tangent about my life back on earth. Al listened intently, soaking up all of the information like a sponge. I could tell he was sincerely interested in my world, as Mariela had been.

That was to be expected. Earth was so different from wherever this was.

We ended up talking for the rest of the night. The conversation was a mixture of things about my past and plans for our future. Having someone else in on my secret made planning for a proper life here a lot more fun.

Eventually I nodded off in my husband's arms on the couch. He sighed and pressed a kiss to my forehead before speaking to no one.

"Your world sounds amazing, Katie. As much as I wish you hadn't struggled so much here…as much as you have wanted to go home…I'm glad you're stuck here with me in Annalaias. I'll do my best to make sure you want for nothing as soon as this is all behind us."