by Alex Tryst

Feedback: Drop me a line if you’d like at alextryst@e-scribblers.com.

Copyright © June, 2009 by Alex Tryst. All Rights Reserved.

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The spring went by quickly at the palace. Layla spent most of her weekends with her fiancée while Hannah covered up their secret affair with their friends. The two blondes were giddy with the excitement of Anastasia’s offer to spend the summer with her, and Hannah had already told her parents of the arrangement. Layla, however, was dreading informing her own, knowing there would be a major altercation. Nevertheless, she knew she had to do it. When mid-May came and with it just a few weeks left of school, she knew she couldn’t delay the conversation any longer.

One evening after she and Hannah had returned from their room after dinner at the dining hall, Layla plopped down on the bed. The two of them had discussed how to best go about telling them, but both knew no matter what Layla said, they would be incredibly angry. Layla just cradled the phone in her hands a moment and stared at it as she sighed.

“Do you want me to stay?” Hannah asked as she gathered her books for the library. Finals were not far off, and both girls knew they had a lot to do before school was over for the semester. However, Layla’s emotional needs came first for her.

Layla shook her head. “This isn’t going to be pretty. We know that.”

“I know. I wish there was something I could do. Are you sure you have to tell them about your relationship with Anastasia?”

“Yes, I have to tell them. They deserve to know. Okay. I’m going to do it,” she said giving herself a pep talk. “I can do this. I’m not afraid.”

Hannah slung her book bag over her shoulder and then came to her friend. Leaning down, she kissed her on top of the head. “You have the most amazing woman in the world who loves you. They can’t hurt you anymore unless you allow it. Come over to the library if you feel like it when you’re finished.”

When Layla was alone, she dialed the number for her house. Her mother answered after a couple of rings. “Well, hello. How are you, dear?” she greeted.

“I’m fine, Mom.”

“Exams are coming up in a couple of weeks. Do you feel ready yet?”

“No, not yet but not to worry. Hannah and I have already set up a study schedule.”

“Good. Well, your father and I are looking forward to having you home for the summer. We met someone terrific that we want you to meet. He’s quite an attractive, nice, young man who is the son of one of our members at church. His name is Chad, and he’s a junior in college. He’s anxious to meet you.”

“Actually, Mom, I wanted to talk to you and Dad about my summer plans. Is he home?”

“Of course. Let me get him on the phone.”

A moment later he joined the call. “Hello, Layla. How’s my girl?”

“I’m all right. I actually called, because I have something important to tell you two.”

“What’s that?” he asked.

“Hannah and I have decided to live together over the summer. We got a place in D.C. and are going to spend the time touring the city and doing volunteer work.”

“Exactly how did you plan on affording that? We don’t have the resources to get you your own place for the summer, and not only that, we’re not inclined to just let you go to a completely different city without supervision. I’m sorry, Layla, but that’s not going to happen,” he said seriously.

“Actually it’s already been arranged, Dad, and is at no cost to you.”

“I’m still not going to let you go without an adult to supervise.”

“I’m almost a senior in college. I don’t need a babysitter.”

“Who is paying for all this?” her mother asked.

Layla paused in answer. She knew she had to tell the truth. It was time to stop hiding, because she was scared. “Hannah and I are going at the invitation of the royal family.”

“What?” her father exclaimed. “Have you been talking to the princess when we explicitly told you not to?”

“I’ve become friends with the queens and all the princesses over the last several months, but it was Princess Anastasia that invited Hannah and me to spend the summer with them.”

“Absolutely not! We forbid it! Surely Hannah’s parents have a problem with this!”

“Actually they think it’s a great idea. It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity, and I’m not turning it down,” she said with quiet but firm resolve.

“Oh yes you are! You will not go anywhere near the royal family! They are a bunch of degenerates that deserve their lives in hell! I will not allow you to become one of them! God struck Princess Anastasia with her injuries, because she’s immoral! She deserved what she got! You will not be anywhere around her!”

“Don’t you ever speak about her like that again!” Layla screamed. “She almost died defending our country and saving other people’s lives! She’s a hero, and she’s the woman I love! I will not having you speaking about her like that in my presence ever again! Your hate doesn’t scare me anymore!”

“You’re coming home when the semester is over or else we’re not paying for your schooling anymore!” he threatened.

“I’m going to D.C. to spend the summer with my girlfriend, and I don’t care if you threaten to disown me or pull my funding from school. The princess has made it very clear that she will give me whatever I need.”

“Oh dear God. Say it’s not true, Layla. Tell us you’re not involved with that woman,” her mother pleaded.

She could hear her mother’s tears even through the phone. “I am, Mom. I’ve been dating Princess Anastasia since last summer,” she said calmly. “I love her, and I want to spend the rest of my life with her. She has said the same thing about me. I’m going to marry her. I wish you could be happy for me in that I found real love and someone who accepts me exactly as I am. She’s the most amazing person I’ve ever known.”

“This is your last chance, Layla! You will come home! If you don’t, you risk losing us! It’s your choice! You can either choose to live this life full of immorality by being with her, or you can choose God and stay with us!”

Layla could feel the tears in her own eyes. She knew the threat of losing them was always there, but it hurt to have her father say it. As she began to cry, she said, “I’m not coming home. I lost you a long time ago, because I’ve never lived up to this vision you had for me. This is my life, Dad, and I’m making my choice to live it with the royal family. They have welcomed me whole-heartedly from the moment I met them, and they’ve given me more emotional support in the last year than you ever have. If you choose to live without me, that is your choice, but this is mine. I wish you could be happy for me.”

There was no response for a moment, but Layla heard one of her parents slam down the phone in her ear. “Layla,” her mother softly said.

“Yes?” Both women were crying.

“Layla, you’re my child, and I want you to be happy, but this is wrong. It’s against God’s will. You can’t do this.”

“It’s not against His will. He made me like this in his image, and to honor him I’m living the life he designed for me, Mom.”

“We can’t support you if this is the life you choose. Are you really prepared to walk away from your family?”

“Anastasia is my family. I wish you would be, too.”

There was silence for another moment before her mother softly said, “I’ll always pray for you, Layla, and I’ll miss you so much, but this is the end. You heard your father.”

“I heard him.”

“And you’re absolutely sure?”

“There is no other choice,” she replied. “I can’t have Anastasia and you, and I’m not living without her. She asked me to marry her, Mom, and I said yes. I’m not ever going to change my mind about this.”

“Then I’ll pray for her as well. I have to hang up now.”

“Good bye, Mom,” she whispered in tears.

There was no response, only the dial tone. Putting her phone aside, Layla curled up on her bed and wept. An hour passed before she felt calm enough to call Anastasia to relay the news of how things went with her parents, but as soon as she heard her fiancée’s voice on the other end of the line, the tears started afresh.

“Layla, sweetheart, what is the matter?” Anastasia softly inquired.

“I finally told my parents about us,” she cried. “It was awful. They hate me.”

“I am sure they do not hate you, darling.”

“They never want to see me again. They’ve disowned me, Stasia. My own parents,” she wept.

“I am so sorry, Layla. I wish there was something I could do. I wish I was there to hold you.”

“Me too. I need your arms around me right now. This is too much to bear. How could they do this to me?”

“You always said this was a possibility.”

“I know, but they actually did it, Stasia. My father actually told me it was either you or them, and then he slammed the phone down in my ear when I chose you. They’ll never talk to me again. I knew this could happen. I just didn’t know it would hurt this much to actually be abandoned,” she whispered as the tears continued to flood over her face.

“You are not abandoned. You have a family, my family. We all love you so much, Layla, and we will always be here for you.”

“I know. I love you more than you could ever know.”

The couple just sat on the phone for a while. Anastasia felt helpless to assist her girlfriend with her pain. She couldn’t fathom what it might be like to be renounced by her parents for such a disagreement. Her mothers had always supported her, even if they did not always agree with her decisions. She couldn’t comprehend how Layla could be discarded so flippantly over such a divergence of her beliefs from theirs. She felt inadequate to provide solace to her fiancée, but she tried her best to be there for her through the distance.

“I love you,” the princess whispered. “And I am going to spend the rest of my life making you happy, Layla. You deserve that. You deserve the best, and I am sorry they cannot see that as well.”

“You already make me so happy, and I’m so glad I have you. That’s the only reason I can bear this.”

“Is Hannah there? Can she at least sit with you awhile? I hate being away from you at a moment like this.”

“She’s at the library studying for finals.”

“Do you want me to get on a plane and come down there?”

“I know you can’t do that right now. You’re busy, and besides I have finals to study for.”

“I love you and am here for you, sweetie, now and always. You mean absolutely everything to me, Layla. I would do anything to spare you this heartbreak if I could.”

“I know, but there is nothing anyone can do. I just have to try to carry on the best I can. I’ve made my choice, and I chose you. I chose life and freedom from fear. I know it was the right thing. I just have to cling to that now. It’s all I have,” she softly said.

The couple stayed on the phone for the next hour just talking about other things and trying not to dwell too much on what had taken place. However, when Hannah returned to the room, her best friend’s red-rimmed eyes told her Layla had been crying. “How’d it go?” she whispered.

“Hold on. I’ll tell you all about it after I get off with Stasia,” she replied. Turning her voice into the phone she said, “Hannah’s back now. I need to go.”

“All right. Always remember that I love you, Layla. I will stop at nothing to ensure your happiness.”

“I know, and I love you. I’ll talk to you later tonight.” When she hung up the phone, she sighed and looked at her friend.

“How bad was it?” Hannah inquired.

Layla started to cry once again as she thought about how to describe it. “It hurt more than I could ever explain. They disowned me.”

“Oh, Layla,” she said, dropping onto the bed next to her friend. “I’m so sorry.”

“They refuse to acknowledge that I’m happier than I have ever been, and they refuse to concede their belief that God thinks it’s immoral. They think I’m going to hell, and they think God inflicted Stasia with her injuries, because she’s gay.”

“Did they actually say that?”

She nodded slowly. “It’s hopeless. They’re gone. In my whole life I didn’t think this would really happen. I thought the threat was there, and I thought my father might try to do this, but there was a part of me that thought my mother wouldn’t let me go. I thought if faced with the idea of never seeing me again, she might try, but she didn’t. She didn’t even fight him for me,” she whispered as she curled up into a ball on top of the bed and clutched her pillow. Hannah lay next to her and curved an arm around her waist. The two friends cried in silence, one over her loss and the other for her friend’s pain.

“I’m always here for you, Layla. I love you like you were my own sister.”

“I love you, too, Hannah. You and Stasia are all I have.”

“We can be enough to sustain you through this. I know we can. She is going to make you so happy as a wife. She can give you everything.”

“Except my parents’ love and acceptance. That will never come now.”

“Even if it doesn’t, you’re strong. You can get through this. All of us have disappointments in life, but they shouldn’t impede our dreams. This is your dream. God has given you this gift of love in Anastasia. Cherish it for what it is, and let know no one come between you.”

Turning over her shoulder, she smiled at her friend through her tears. “Thank you for truly understanding.”

“Now if only I could be so lucky as to fall in love with a royal. Not much chance for that, though, is there?” she joked lightly.

Continued in Chapter 11

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