I’m on a roll! Two chapters, three updates in one day! Whatever will people do with themselves?

This is what Candy is up to while Kevin is finding his way to the Hereafter!

“Are you nervous?” Candy went into Letheo’s room closing the door behind her. After Letheo reported Vol’s plan to take over the scurrubs and take Midnight, Carrion had completely healed the Beast within. Now, he was a very upstanding young man.

He looked up at her with a raised eyebrow. “What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be getting ready?” Didn’t Carrion tell you not to come to my room without a chaperone?”

“I’m here to make you feel better. I am ready. My chaperone is standing outside.” Candy answered. “Do you have any more questions or can I make you feel better now?”

“Sorry,” Letheo replied. “Yeah, I’m nervous.”

Candy nodded. “I look funny.”

“You look funny?” Letheo scoffed. “I look funny! I feel like I’m going to a costume party.” Candy pouted sitting on a chair. She was wearing an old fashioned ball gown. The type of thing a princess would wear to her Prince’s Coronation.

“You look great.” Candy smiled at Letheo’s compliment. She watched as he combed his hair out of his face, and tied it back. “Make me a promise.” Candy said looking at his reflection.

“I’ve made you lots of promises, is there one in particular?”

“After Carrion passes on, please don’t wear the nightmare collar.”

“Do you think we’ll be together that long?” Letheo asked, buttoning his cuffs.

Candy shrugged her shoulders. “I only ask so because all your hair will fall out.” Candy replied with a grin.

“Is that why you love me? Because of my hair?” Letheo asked, turning to her.

“No, you’ve got great abs. That’s why.” Candy winked. “I love you, because you love me. You did some things that no one ever did for me.”

“Ms. Candy, Carrion needs to speak to Letheo.” Her chaperone said, poking her head in through the door.

“Candy, I must commend you on getting around my no Letheo in Room rule.” Carrion said walking in.

“Christopher, before I go, why must I have to wear this?” Candy asked tripping over one of many petticoats.

“Because, you’ll understand why later.” Candy frowned in reply and made her way to the huge ballroom. Thousands of chairs were set up for Letheo’s Coronation. Some people had been sitting for hours, others, not as long. She turned to the library and read for nearly an hour before Carrion appeared.

“Candy, you’re due downstairs.” He said. “Come one.” She stood and gathered the layers into her arms. “How do you feel about Letheo’s advancement?”

“I’m proud of him. And I’m ever indebted to you.” Candy said. “Thank you. He talks about you all the time. He wants to be accepted by you, and now he is.”

“That’s funny,” Carrion murmured. “All he does is talk about you, and how he wants to be accepted by you.”

“Why would he worry about that?” Candy asked. “I love him. How much more accepted can you get than that?”

Carrion laughed. How much more accepted can you get? They walked down the red carpet together. Candy took her seat in the first row, on the left, right along the carpet.

Carrion stood up.

“Today, I would like to present my heir to you.” Carrion blarred. “He risked his own life to save not just my and Candy’s life, but the whole of our beloved Abarat and Hereafter. Letheo of Gorgossium was found at the humble age of fourteen wandering the Todo Mines. Now, he is the future ruler of the Night Hours.”

Trumpets welcomed Letheo as he slowly made his way down the carpet. His shirt was navy blue and much too starched. His hands were white, and black boots to his knee. The cape was red and tracked as he walked.

“The crown?” Carrion reached for the gold band. “Letheo, please bend on one knee.”

Letheo smirked at Carrion, who returned the facial expression. “Letheo of Gorgossium, by the Gods of our Hours, I give you the strength to guide the Hours well. I give you the ability to discern right from wrong.” A heavy oil was rubbed across his forehead and the crown slipped across his forehead.

“My fellow citizens. My friends, family, and neighbors! I wish to thank two people. The first is Christopher Carrion, the Lord of Midnight. If he had never found me as a humble child, I wouldn’t be before you today. He’s taught me in all the trades a leader of today should know, magic, power, and most of all how to make good decisions. The second person I’d like to thank is Candy Quakenbush of the Hereafter. She was brought here by ‘accident,’ but has shown me how to be the person that I want to be. That was not by ‘accident.’

“Carrion told me there was one thing he wished he could have had as a leader. Something that slipped away from him by a combination of things. However, he told me that once I had it, to not let it go.”

Letheo stepped off the stand and walked toward Candy. He reached into his pocket and returned to one knee.

“Candy.” Letheo whispered. “Carrion missed out on love, on having some one beside him to help him make life altering decisions. Mostly because he was too afraid to reach out his hand and snatch it before someone else could. Candy, I don’t want to snatch you, I want to give you a choice. Candy Quakenbush, coveted girl of the Hereafter, will you be the person beside me to help me make those decisions? Will you marry me?”

A black ring box was whipped out of his pocket. A silver band with diamonds beautifully encrusted in it. The room held it’s breath, a pin, even, was too afraid to fall and break the silence. Candy looked, surprised, into Letheo’s quivering, sweaty face. Carrion smiled at the look on her face, seeing the smart remark already formulating in her mind.

“If, and only if, you make me laugh everyday, for the rest of our lives.” He slipped the ring on her finger and though he was the new Crowned Prince, kissed her. He removed his crown and placed it on her head, before kissing her yet again.