Alexandra Quick and the Deathly Regiment

Seven Years to Live

Dear Anna,

I don't think Jingwei likes flying all the way across the country. I know you wanted her to learn the way here, but maybe we should use C.O.P. for the rest of the summer... I'm writing this quickly 'cause she's sitting there watching me like she's gonna bite off my fingers if I make her wait much longer.

But! I have to call my mom once a week, so Ms. King takes me and Julia to ^{the Muggle} town every Sat. morning. (Even if it wasn't for the magic, my cell phone wouldn't work anywhere else 'cause of no tower.) So if you can get to a phone then, you can call me!

It's really nice here. Croatoa is beautiful in the summer, and me and Julia have almost talked her mother into letting us take the ferry by ourselves.

We're all going to New Roanoke tomorrow. We watched Martin and Beatrice graduate this afternoon -- I'll tell you all about the BMI graduation ceremony in my next letter. It was pretty cool, but it was hard to watch too...

I know what you're thinking, Anna, but I'm fine. I mean, not fine fine, but I'm okay, really. It's been hard and sometimes I'm not sure I want to go back to Charmbridge --

Alexandra crossed out and erased the last bit. She glanced up, into the disapproving gaze of the enormous great horned owl sitting on the open window sill. Jingwei hooted ominously.

Alexandra sighed and resumed writing. "Yeah, yeah, I know. Look, I'm sorry you have to fly all the way back to San Francisco."

The owl hooted again, this time sounding weary.

Jingwei had arrived at Alexandra's window just before midnight. Had she arrived later, she might have been willing to sleep through the day and wait until the following evening to begin her return trip, but it was still early for the owl, and she was impatient to be off.

Alexandra hastily finished the letter, hoping Anna could sense what Alexandra had trouble putting into words. Even showing her emotions around Julia was still difficult. Alexandra was trying very hard to keep her promise and not hide things from her friends, yet she still found herself keeping so many secrets.

For example, she hadn't told anyone yet about the bargain she'd made with the Generous Ones. She wasn't quite sure how to tell her loved ones that she only had seven years to live.

She rolled up the letter and very carefully tied it to Jingwei's leg, mindful of the owl's great claws.

"Thank you, Jingwei," she said, holding her hand steady as she offered a fistful of owl treats. Jingwei snapped them up with frightening precision; her large, sharp beak could easily remove a finger, but it never quite touched Alexandra's skin. Then with a final hoot, the owl took off, for the long, long flight to the opposite coast.

"You can come out now, Charlie," Alexandra said, watching the owl flap away over the ocean and back towards the mainland.

Charlie squawked and emerged from the top of Alexandra's canopy bed. The raven had taken a while to settle in, after being forced to sit in a cage in the luggage compartment for the flight from Chicago, but Alexandra's room at Croatoa was now home to both of them for the next month.

They had returned from Blacksburg only a few hours previously, where they had been invited by Martin Nguyen and Beatrice Hawthorn to attend their graduation from the Blacksburg Magery Institute. The ceremony had been impressive, with all of the Stormcrows flying overhead in an elaborate pattern before landing in a single, synchronized formation. Then there were fireworks, winged equestrian displays, marching trolls, and even a dragon -- Alexandra's first. BMI put on an impressive show, with the help of the Roanoke Regiment.

Alexandra was glad that she got a chance to say good-bye to her brother's best friends -- but she and Julia and Ms. King could not help but be reminded of the fact that Maximilian should have been standing there with them.

Julia had cried openly, because Julia was like Anna: she wore her heart on her sleeve, and she wasn't ashamed of it. Thalia King was strong and proud, but she had shed tears also.

Alexandra had held Julia's hand, but she'd kept her tears to herself. She couldn't say good-bye to Max in public. But the need to say good-bye had been aching within her since her return to Croatoa.

This was the reason she had still been awake when Jingwei arrived at her window. She had something she needed to do, and as much as she hated sneaking out -- again -- it was something she needed to do alone.

Down the hill, at the edge of the woods, she saw a soft glow appear between two trees, and linger there. A ghost was waiting for her.

She laced up her boots and threw on her cloak, then nodded to Charlie. "Wait 'til I'm outside, Charlie," she said. "We're going for a walk."

"Fly, fly!" said Charlie, hopping to the sill.

Alexandra opened her door and looked down the hallway. There was no light under Julia's door, and the house was mostly dark. She walked quietly, but as she expected, Deezie, Nina, and Olina were waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs.

Deezie looked at her with wide, anxious eyes, while Nina shook her head disapprovingly. Olina had folded her arms, as if to scold.

"We knows when childrens is walking about the house," said Nina.

"We always knows," said Olina.

"I figured," Alexandra said, in a quiet voice. "I just want to take a walk."

The three elves sighed as one, and shook their heads.

"This is something I have to do," Alexandra said.

"Miss Alex is going to go into the woods, isn't she?" Deezie said, wringing her hands.

"Yes," Alexandra said softly. "But I'll have Charlie with me, and the Thorn ghosts agreed to guide me. I'll be safe."

The house-elves shivered. They looked at her, unconvinced.

"Did Ms. King tell you to stop me from going outside?" Alexandra asked.

"Nooo," Nina said hesitatingly. "But we knows she would not approve."

Alexandra sighed. "All right." She turned around. "I'll go back to my room."

"Miss is just going to go out her window, isn't she?" said Nina.

Alexandra kept her face turned away, to hide a rueful smile. "I could have done that in the first place, you know."

"Miss should not go alone," Nina insisted.

Alexandra turned back around. "I told you, I won't be alone." She looked at them seriously. "This isn't like before. It isn't. Please..."

"Why doesn't Miss Alex go with Miss Julia or Mistress King?"

Because I have things to say I don't want them to hear, she thought, but she just repeated, "Please trust me. I'll be safe."

The elves studied her grimly, and then, voicing some unspoken agreement, Nina said, "If Miss is not back in one hour, we will wake Mistress."

"Two hours," Alexandra said. "It takes a while to walk to the crypt."

The elves shuddered.

"Thank you," she said, without waiting for them to reply. She leaned over and gave each of them a kiss on the cheek. They all looked abashed, but they didn't stop her as she went out the door.

It was a pleasantly cool night. Croatoa was hot and humid during the day, but at night sea breezes blew across the island, and Alexandra could smell the salty air even here at the top of the hill. She walked down the path from the Kings' mansion, then turned off of it as Charlie came flapping down to land on her shoulder. Then the raven took off again, soaring ahead into the trees, cawing loudly enough to startle the clabberts. They were all scurrying higher into the branches, but Alexandra noticed they didn't seem as alarmed by her passage as they had been previously; only a few of them flashed their red nodules in warning. Maybe they were starting to recognize her.

Charlie screeched, and Alexandra walked up to the ghostly figure waiting among the trees.

"Hello, Great-Great-Great-Great-Grandfather," she said.

Absalom Thorn nodded to her. "Hello, Great-Great-Great-Great-Granddaughter. I do not approve of your leaving the house without Thalia's knowledge. You owe her more respect for the hospitality she has shown you."

"I know," Alexandra said. "Just this once more, I promise."

The Thorn patriarch gazed down at her; there was something in his expression that reminded Alexandra a great deal of her father. Then he said, more gently, "You know that anywhere else would serve as well as our crypt, if you merely wish to say good-bye to your brother? He is not there. Only a stone with his name on it is there."

"I know," Alexandra said.

The ghost sighed, a breezy, mournful sound that reminded her of Mr. Journey. "Very well. Follow me and do not stray."

She did. Absalom Thorn drifted through trees and brush, pausing now and then to allow Alexandra to walk around obstacles that he simply passed through. Charlie fluttered from branch to branch overhead, then settled on her shoulder when one too many owls hooted from close by.

They were almost to the crypt when Alexandra said, "I know about the Deathly Regiment."

The ghost stopped dead in his course, and then slowly turned about to face her. His expression was grave.

Alexandra stepped closer to him, looking up at her great-great-great-great-grandfather's pale face. "Were you the first Thorn to oppose it?" she asked. "Are you the one who told my father about the Deathly Regiment?"

"No, to the last," he said. "I have seen enough Thorns die. I never wanted Abraham to follow in my footsteps. But he learned about the ghastly Regiment nonetheless, and he came to me."

"And you told him what you know?"

"Yes."

"Did you tell Valeria?"

He frowned. "Not... everything."

"Will you tell me?"

The ghost's expression turned gray and foreboding. "This is not your battle, child."

"Yes, it is," she said softly.

"So Abraham has enlisted you to his cause after all." He sounded sad.

"No." Alexandra shook her head. "I wasn't enlisted by my father, and I'm not joining him. I don't like what he does, and I don't think his way of fighting the Confederation is right."

"If you do not intend to wage war against the Confederation like your father, then what do you hope to accomplish?"

"I don't know." Alexandra looked down, uncertain for the first time. It was true -- she was just one girl, and she knew so little. For a moment, she felt like she was trying to build a rocket ship or bring Maximilian back from the dead all over again. What she wanted was far beyond her means. But when she raised her head again, she spoke with resolve. "My father made me a Secret-Keeper. He didn't enlist me into his circle -- he just made me a part of it. I didn't have a choice. A lot of things have happened to me because of secrets other people kept from me." She glared at the old ghost who reminded her so much of her father. "I want to know the rest -- I want to know everything."

"I do not know 'everything,' Alexandra."

"You know a lot more than you've told me."

"What can a little girl do? You will only endanger yourself and stir up trouble."

"Troublesome!" squawked Charlie, as if agreeing with the ghost.

Alexandra bit her tongue. Then she locked her gaze on her ancestor. "Did you have any daughters?"

His eyes clouded. "One."

"Was she weak and stupid? Was it only your sons who were worth anything?"

His focus snapped back to her. Angrily, he said, "Most certainly not!"

"Then don't you think you should stop underestimating daughters?"

His glare melted away, and he regarded her thoughtfully for several moments.

"I will think about what you ask," he said at last. "But do not press me, child. You are so young -- I am not eager to see you take after your father and your brother, even if you do share their temperaments." He turned away and resumed floating through the woods.

Alexandra bit her lip, but kept silent as she followed Absalom between the trees.

Deep in the woods, far from any visible path, they reached the Thorn family crypt. Other ghosts were milling about, but Joshua Thorn came strolling up to Absalom and Alexandra, tipped his hat with a smile to Alexandra, and then addressed his great-grandfather. "That boy is back, sir."

Absalom Thorn's eyes flashed. Confused, Alexandra asked, "What boy?"

"Your brother's friend," Absalom said slowly, with a peculiar emphasis on the last word. "We told him this is an inappropriate place for him to come weep, yet he continues to trespass on the final resting place of Maximilian's ancestors."

"I told him to leave," Joshua Thorn said. "The blaggard threatened to Banish me!"

Alexandra drew her wand, and before any of the ghosts could stop her, she stormed into the crypt. "Lumos!" she said, wand at the ready, and then stopped dead in her tracks, just past the entrance.

"Big fat jerk!" exclaimed Charlie, from her shoulder.

Sitting on the cold floor, with his back against the stone wall and his head just a few feet below Maximilian's marker, was a young man wearing a long, brown duster over a blue shirt and gray pants. His knees were drawn up to his chest. A broom lay next to him. He rubbed his eyes and looked up at Alexandra with a small smile. "Hey, there, Troublesome."

"Martin?" Alexandra lowered her wand. "What are you doing here?"

Martin cleared his throat. "I could ask you the same question. Isn't it past your bedtime?"

When she glowered at him, he looked away. "I just... wanted to say good-bye to Max, one last time. I'm leaving for Florida tomorrow morning. I might never be back here again." He sniffed, and wiped his nose with the back of his hand.

Alexandra stared at him. "Did you really threaten to Banish my great-great-uncle?"

He sighed. "Yeah. Sorry about that. They don't like me much."

She looked over her shoulder. Absalom, Joshua, and Jared Thorn had followed her into the crypt.

"Alexandra?" asked Jared Thorn, her great-great-grandfather. "What are you doing, you foolish girl?"

"Please, just give us a moment," Alexandra said. "I can handle the blaggard."

The ghosts looked at her uncertainly, and scowled at Martin.

"Please," she repeated.

Looking disapproving and annoyed, the three Thorn ghosts retreated from the crypt, leaving Alexandra and Charlie alone with Martin. She turned back around to face her brother's best friend.

Martin Nguyen was handsome, despite his red eyes and his dark hair trimmed so short that his scalp was visible. Many girls at Charmbridge had had crushes on Martin and Maximilian during their year as MACE Program exchange students. Darla had been smitten with the handsome Stormcrow, too. He had flirted with her but never seriously returned the younger girl's affections, and Darla had been devastated.

Remembering this added anger to Alexandra's tone as she asked him, "So what are you doing sitting here crying at Maximilian's tomb and threatening our ancestors?"

"He was my friend," Martin said quietly.

"I know he was your friend. That doesn't explain why you're here."

"Sorry," Martin said, and there was a touch of bitterness in his tone. "I forgot only his family is entitled to grieve over him."

"I didn't say that," she said, annoyed. "But..." She looked at him, his face half-visible in the light cast by her wand, and her voice trailed off.

"I just miss him," Martin whispered.

Alexandra remembered how even with half the girls at Charmbridge flirting with them, Maximilian and Martin had never done more than flirt back. If her brother had ever had a girlfriend, he'd never mentioned her -- nor had Julia ever mentioned one, and she was sure Julia would have known if Max had a sweetheart.

She sat down next to him, as Charlie fluttered to a stone shelf overhead.

"Martin," she said. "You and Max..."

He looked away. She could see the sudden tension in his body.

The sudden realization caught her by surprise, and she didn't know what to think about it. "He never told me," she murmured.

Martin glanced at her warily.

"Why didn't he tell me?" she asked, sounding plaintive, and Martin's expression softened at her simple, hurt tone.

"Well, it's not exactly the sort of thing you talk about with your little sister, is it?" he said.

She looked down. "I guess not."

"He cared a lot about what you thought of him," Martin said. "Earning your respect was very important to him."

"It was?"

Martin nodded. "He was worried about you. Julia, too, of course, but Julia doesn't get herself into trouble the way you do..."

The two of them were silent for a minute, and then Martin slipped an arm around her shoulders, and Alexandra allowed it.

"I'm off to join the Florida Regiment tomorrow morning," he said. "But what I told you last year, and again at the ceremony, I meant. You and Julia, Max would want me to take care of you. If you ever need anything..."

Alexandra nodded. She gave him a small smile, with her eyes glistening.

He cleared his throat. "Look... Julia doesn't know. Neither does Ms. King. Some of his ancestors here have figured it out --" He nodded at the entrance to the crypt. "But I'm pretty sure they won't say anything."

Alexandra looked at him. "Julia and Ms. King wouldn't care," she said firmly.

He looked back at her, eyes bleak for a moment, and then he nodded. "You're probably right. But -- oh, Merlin. Screw it. What you say or don't say is up to you." There was a heaviness to his tone. He pulled himself to his feet, and offered her a hand. "C'mon, Troublesome." He smirked, looking a little more like his old self. "I'll take you back to the house. Make sure you don't get lost in the woods."

She gave him a sardonic smile in return, but it faded quickly. "Would you give me a moment, too?"

Martin raised an eyebrow, puzzled.

"I came here to say good-bye to Max, too," she said softly.

He regarded her quietly for a moment, then nodded. "Sure." He shuffled towards the entrance of the crypt. "I'll just go outside and chat with your great-greats."

Alexandra shook her head, and then, once Martin was gone, she rose to her feet and looked up at where Maximilian's name was inscribed in the stone above her head.

"I'm sorry, Max," she said. "I tried to bring you back... but it just didn't work. I couldn't. I hope you're not angry at me, or disappointed."

She blinked back tears.

"I miss you," she said hoarsely. "So does Julia, and your mother. And your friends. We all miss you." She swallowed. "I hope you're at peace. I'm going to join you soon. I mean, seven years seems like kind of a long time, but I guess it's really not. I just want you to know -- I did respect you. I'm proud of you. When I join you, wherever you are, I want you to be proud of me and what I did."

She didn't say anything after that, but just stood quietly in front of the gravestone with her head bowed. Finally, she heard voices rising outside, and Martin saying something snarky to Absalom Thorn, and she sighed.

She laid a hand on Maximilian's memorial stone. "Good-bye, Max." She glanced at the entrance again, and then laid a kiss on her fingertips before pressing them against Maximilian's name.

"I love you," she whispered. And you will never be forgotten.

Then she walked out of the crypt, and rejoined Martin and the ghosts of her ancestors.

---

The next day, Alexandra, Julia, and Ms. King took a trip to visit New Roanoke's magibotanical gardens. It was as interesting as Julia had promised, and Alexandra appreciated learning more about the giant flytraps native to the local marshes, as well as strangle-kelp, assassin moss, and dead man's finger. Julia wrinkled her nose at Alexandra's interest in the more dangerous plants in preference to the magical flowers that sang and chirped, and the imported wood nymphs that Julia had come to see.

Ms. King turned the girls loose on New Roanoke's main street afterwards, agreeing to let them window shop until it was time to ride back across the sound.

Julia was planning more shopping trips, sightseeing in New Roanoke and Blacksburg, and lots of horseback riding lessons, among other things. The Summer Cotillion, the Great Dismal Convocation, and the annual pirate ghost 'invasion' of Roanoke were among the events scheduled to take place that summer. Julia was still negotiating with her mother just how many trips off the island they'd be able to take while Alexandra was there.

Alexandra was agreeable to all of Julia's plans. She wasn't quite able to muster as much excitement as her sister wanted her to, but she was sincere in her desire to experience as much as she could.

Knowing that she had only seven years to live changed things. She had been pondering this ever since leaving Charmbridge. She couldn't be just a Secret-Keeper. She was more than just a girl called Troublesome. There must be something more she could do.

Maybe it was time to stop keeping secrets. She knew what her father was trying to do, now, and she knew why. She didn't agree with his methods, but if Abraham Thorn was determined to be the Enemy the Confederation feared, maybe she could make sure that everyone else at least knew why.

And maybe she'd find a way to cheat Death yet.

Julia nudged her with an elbow. "You're brooding."

"I am not." Alexandra gave her sister a small smile. "I can be thinking about things without brooding, can't I?"

"With such a serious expression. What were you thinking about?" Julia arched an eyebrow.

Alexandra hesitated.

"Ha! Brooding!" Julia shook her head and tsked.

Alexandra rolled her eyes. They were strolling past boutiques and cafes, across the street from a sinister-looking black brick building. She was about to respond when she heard someone calling her name.

She and Julia looked at each other, and then turned to look down the street. A tall boy with red hair was waving at them. He broke into a jog and ran up the street, past several carriages carrying Old Colonials who frowned at the young man. His casual green robes were flapping loosely around the Muggle jeans he was wearing underneath. He slowed to a walk several paces from the girls, and then came to a halt.

"Payton!" Alexandra said, recognizing the Muggle-born boy. He had a rather plain face, but he seemed to have grown a bit into his body since the previous year, and his ginger hair wasn't quite as unkempt as she remembered.

"Hi," the boy said. "I thought I saw you through the window of one of those dress shops."

"It was a formal robes shop." Alexandra glanced at Julia. "Umm, this is Payton Smith. You remember -- he danced with me at the Spring Cotillion last year."

"Ah." Julia's smile widened, and she extended her hand.

"This is my sister, Julia," Alexandra said.

"I'm very pleased to meet you, Payton," Julia said, as Payton shook her hand.

"Yeah... nice to meet you, too." He nodded. "My parents are getting a Muggle tour of New Roanoke, but I kind of bailed on them -- even the wizarding version of a historical tour is pretty boring, you know? And I don't get to come here very often, so..." His voice trailed off. He was looking at Alexandra, and shuffling his feet. Alexandra didn't know why he suddenly looked so nervous, or why Julia's little smile as she looked between them was making her flush.

Payton cleared his throat. "So, anyway. I was wondering if maybe you'd like to go to lunch?" His blush deepened as he looked at Julia. "I mean, both of you. Of course. If you haven't already eaten. Or weren't, you know, doing anything else, like errands --"

"Oh, nonsense," Julia said. "In fact, I was going to visit another formal robes shop, but Alexandra finds those very boring. Why don't you two go have lunch while I do a little more shopping?"

"Really?" Payton's face brightened. Alexandra stared at Julia, who was stepping away from them. Behind Payton, she gave Alexandra a pointed look and inclined her head towards a nearby cafe.

"But --" Alexandra hesitated, and Julia mouthed something at her and made insistent gestures with her hands: Go! Go! Go!

Alexandra narrowed her eyes at her sister, and then turned her attention back to the boy and gave him a small smile, as Payton regarded her apprehensively.

"Sure," she said.

He grinned. "All right. Cool!"

Julia grinned, too. "Yes, cool!"

Alexandra looked at Julia. "I'll meet you back here in --"

"Take your time," Julia said lightly. "I'll be looking at a lot of formal robes."

Alexandra rolled her eyes at Julia behind Payton's back, then said, "C'mon. There's a cafe on the corner."

They walked off down the street together, with Julia beaming after them.

It was just lunch -- Alexandra knew Julia was only trying to lighten her mood. But maybe that wasn't such a bad idea. Seven years wasn't such a long time, and there were so many things she wanted to do.

End Year Three

---

A/N: Thank you for reading, reviewing, commenting, and critiquing. I really do love to get feedback, so if you're not the leave-a-review-every-chapter type of reader, that's fine, but please consider giving me a little review love now that the story is over. :)

I have always envisioned Alexandra Quick as a seven-book series, and I remain committed to finishing it. I love writing about Alexandra as much as ever, and I have begun book four. However, I am working on some other projects, and there are also certain Real Life impositions that I expect to intrude in the coming year. So, expect a somewhat longer wait for the next book than there was for book three. I hope to complete Alexandra Quick and the Stars Above some time in 2011.

If you want to stay updated on my progress, ask questions, or read my occasional book reviews, I have a LiveJournal (link is on my profile page). It's pretty much for writing and fandom stuff only, not blogging, so put it on your f-list or RSS feed and I promise not to spam you with what I'm eating for breakfast or why I'm shouting at the TV each day.

I'll also discuss the AQ series and answer (some) questions there. I think the story should tell the reader everything, and if there is something in the story that the reader doesn't understand, then either the reader missed something or the author missed something. But if you really want authorial intrusions into the text, my LJ is where I feel free to ramble. Also, I post chapter illustrations, fan art, and other extras (like the Thorn family tree).

I hope that you enjoyed Alexandra Quick and the Deathly Regiment.