SEVENTY-ONE: Fairytale

 Arous began yanking the coat from Siobhan, growling “give them to me”.  Siobhan sat on the floor stunned. “The boots” – and Arous began to take the boots off Siobhan’s feet.

“What are you doing?” asked Siobhan.

“If I have to be the one to break it to you – these are very unattractive on you.”

Arous snatched the hat from Mijin and walked over to the large, floor to ceiling windows.

“Open!” Arous said to the windows.

The windows swung open and Arous flung Siobhan’s finds out of the window into the traffic below. Siobhan jumped up in a split second ready to play Arous’ game. She grabbed Arcadia from off a shelf nearby.

“Let’s see if little pony can fly,” said Siobhan.

“Put him back,” said Arous.

A low menacing rumble filled the room. Octavius appeared in the doorway. In a flash, he stood flat-footed, paws on Siobhan’s shoulder staring her eye to eye, his mouth cracked open. If he scared her, Siobhan didn’t show it.

“Okay. Paw’s off kitty-kitty.” Siobhan lofted Arcadia into the air and Octavius jumped backwards to catch her between his teeth. He landed without a sound and jumped to the couch.

“You were talking about a Prince Charming. I’ll tell you a fairytale!” Arous eyes were glowing. “Sit. You are going to listen to me.” No one moved except Siobhan who sat. 

“I’ll tell you a fairytale. For the past, I don’t know, how many months, since before I came here – since the night I ran away from home. Since then, I’ve had this dream about this man and he was wearing that!” Arous pointed to the window and walked over. “Those clothes. He was wearing that hat, that coat! I have never seen his face. You know why? Do you know why? Because he doesn’t have a face. He doesn’t have a nose, or eyes or even a mouth. I’m not even sure how you could have heard him say anything because he does not have a face! And what kills me is that you didn’t even notice.”

“No, Arous. I’m sure he had a face, I’m sure he did. It just wasn’t memorable,” said Siobhan.

“And, yes, I ran away. I ran from such a wonderful place that you think is some fairytale figment of my imagination. I ran. I ran as fast as I could. It was sitting on a table in the Willing Room and I took it. All the money, all the inheritance. I could’ve had everything I wanted by asking but I stole it. I took the money out of the Diofe’s -,” she stopped.

Simon had run down the block and up the stairs to catch Octavius and was standing in the doorway, breathing heavy.

“He just bolted and ran.  I chased him for at least seven blocks!”

An awkward silence sat among them a moment. The girls all stared at each other like at a sleep over when one has just divulged a dark secret that no one dares laugh at because they all feel the sting of the shame. MiJin broke the silence, in her calm way.

“Does anyone know what the Prince looks like?”

Silence continued.

“I mean, the Prince Charming. The one who’s coming to join the Thirteen.”

SEVENTY – I’m your Prince Charming

Jellina was back with them before they could finish.

“That’s why I’ve always believe,” MiJin continued, “there has to be a Prince Charming.”

“Mijin, there’s no one out there waiting to rescue you.  If so, he certainly wasn’t there when you got caught on the Southside.”

“You just haven’t found him yet,” said Mijin.

“Then neither have you,” said Jellina. “Though, Arous seems to be doing a good job of having them lined-up.”

“Lined-up?”

“Yeah,” said Mijin.  “There’s Simon, Captain Hodges-Baire.”

“Then,” said Jellina. “There’s Jude. He may not be a Captain in the Spartan Guard but he wouldn’t have to work for it like Simon, if he wanted it.  His father is a MOTA.”

“I didn’t know his father was a Member of the Assembly,” Mijin said cocking her head.

“He’s about to become Ambassador Canadí.  They’re announcing it at the Ambassador’s Ball.”

“Ambassador?” asked Arous.

“Ambassador is third in command, so to speak. It’s Ephor, Minister of Security, which we don’t have one right now, then Ambassador.  He’ll be 2^nd in command only to Ricci,” said MiJin.

“Jude talks about you all the time,” said Jellina.

“Jude and I are just friends,” said Arous.

“You said that a little too defensively,” said Jellina with a mocking smile. “A lot of people don’t know it, but he works for Ricci too.”

“That’s not true,” said MiJin but Jellina just ignored her.

“Just between us,” said Jellia. “They say he’s a sort of private body guard to Ricci.  You wouldn’t know it by looking at him.  He just looks sort of, normal. He kind of just blends in.”

“Blend in,” muttered Arous.

“What?” asked Jellina.

“Nothing.  Just something Simon said to me.  He wants me to just blend in at the Ambassador’s Ball.”

“I hate to disappoint him but with that skin of your’s we’re going to play that up.”

“I agree,” said Mijin.  “No blending in for you. Besides, with two Prince Charmings, if Simon doesn’t like it, you can always go with Jude.”

“I’m your Prince Charming ,” purred Siobhan’s sonorous voice.

Siobhan slid through the door with a hat and a long coat and boots with spurs. Shocked laughter erupted from Jellina and Mijin.  Arous went white.

“Check this out. It’s all the rage. It’s called a ‘cowboy’ hat. And, these are ‘cowboy’ boots.”

“Where did you get those? Nice.” Mijin tried on the hat.

Arous sat down in stunned silence. She grew pale with heat eating at her stomach.

“I was walking here and passed some man dressed up like some kind of mythological Desperado. I said, ‘Here, I’ll give you all this for your hat and coat.’ He said, ‘No, need, take it. And the boots, too.’ The he just walked away without any shoes.” Siobhan mocked his barefoot walk and the girls all laughed.

“What did he look like?” Arous’ voice was almost inaudible.

“I don’t know. Tall. Like you’d think a Desperado would look.”

“What did he look like?” asked Arous again.

“Are you okay?” Mijin moved close to Arous who was sitting on the floor.

“What did he look like?” asked Arous.

“I don’t know. Regular,” said Siobhan.

“His face, what did it-” said Arous.

“I don’t know. Normal, nondescript.”

SIXTY-NINE: Blend-In

Simon and Arous were walking back from the Stables. Simon knew how to spoil Arous. He took her to the Stables of the Spartan Guard at least twice a week to go riding.  They were walking back to her room. His arm rested around her shoulders.

“I hope you’re still going to the Ambassador’s Ball with me.”

“Hmmmm,” was all Aurous would say as they walked the rest of the way in comfortable silence.

            They had brought take-out back with them.  They were sitting in Arous’ apartment on cushions finishing their meal. For the past week, Simon had been spoiling her by brining over dinner, each night a different cuisine. Arous had loved it and it chipped away at her irritation at him.

            “It depends,” said Arous. “Were you going to tell me you had been promoted to Captain in the Gray Guard before or let me find out when they announced it at the Ball?”

            “I was going to tell you before but Siobhan, as usual, ruined it.”

            “As usual, you’re a little harsh.”

            “Not by much.”

            “Stop it, Simon,” said Arous.  Octavius was annoyed too.  Arous could see the fur on his back bristling.

            Simon chewed on one last bite and proceeded. “I’ve asked a few of the girls to help you get ready for the Ball in a couple of days.”

            “Get ready?”

            “Yeah, they’re bringing over outfits and make-up and the like to help you, you know, blend-in.”

            “I thought you liked me because I was exotic,” Arous was smiling. “You get promoted to Captain and now I have to ‘blend in’.”

            “You know what I mean.”

            There was a knock at the door.

            “That must be them.”

            Tennant-12 stepped out of the wall.

            “Ladoiselles Mijin and Jellina to see you.”

            “MiJin,” Arous said turning to Simon. “Have I met her? I keep hearing her name.”

            “She’s good friends with Jude.  He actually recommended I sent her to you to counter the acidity of Jellina.”

            “Jellina is not my favorite,” said Arous.

            The Ladioselles stepped into the apartment. Jellina she knew.  When she lookedat MiJin she saw a flash of panic and a warning dart through her eyes.

            “I don’t think we’ve met officially,” said Arous hugging MiJin.

            MiJin whispered, “Thank you.”

As Jellina reached down to pat Octavius  on the head, he growled at her so Arous asked Simon to take Octavius with him. Simon kissed her on the cheek and left.

They had brought a few outfits and were ready to help Arous pick one out and give her some tips on how to act and what not to do or say.

“There’s a lot of rules,” said Mijin.  “The less you talk other than ‘nice to meet you’ and ‘the universe smile on you’ the better off you are.”

“You would know,” said Jellina. “You’ll be fine.  Hang out with me and Siobhan. We’ll keep you safe.  Just do what we do and say what we say.”

“Simon has been to them since he was a page.  He won’t let you embarrass yourself.  He’s a real Prince Charming,” said Mijin trying to ignore Jellina’s cuts.

“There is no such thing as Prince Charming,” said Jellina with a sly smile, “But if there is, I’ll tell you who is: Ephor Ricci.”

“You better say that,” said Mijin. “If you want to be one of his next Idelles.”

“There’s no if, since only one other person is competing for that,” said Jellina and laughed. “And if he picks two or three, which he’s talking about doing, Siobhan and I both win. There’s no other competition at all.”

“I thought you were one of the top five, Mijin?” asked Arous.

“I guess that will teach you to get caught on the Southside again.”

Mijin didn’t answer.

 “What happened?” asked Arous.

“She-” began Jellina.

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“I do, Mijin. Anyway, we’re not supposed to be seen but in certain parts of the City and Mijin got caught walking before dawn from the Southside near the wall. She said she got lost but I don’t think so.  She was spotted and got an escort back on a Hoveh-hyoc between two Spartan Guards.”

Mijin didn’t look up.

“Where is Siobhan?” asked Jellina. “She should be here right now.”

“She had a meeting with Lady Rose and Ephor Ricci.”

“No, she didn’t.”

“Yes, it was last minute.  She said she’d-” said Mijin.

“How do you know?” asked Jellina.

“I saw her as I was walking out. We were going to walk together but she had to stay behind a bit.  Said she’d be right over when she was done.”

“You’re lying,” said Jellina.

“No, I’m not.”

“Well,” said Arous trying to quiet the argument. “I know that Simon had to meet with Ricci this morning. Something to do with the Ambassador’s Ball, I think.  Maybe it’s about that.

Neither girl said anything.  Jellina was all but huffing and puffing.
            The girls had the virtual outfits sent over and a few more arrived at that instant. Tennant-12 opened the 3-D reflective hologram so they could see how each dress looked on Arous.

“The blue one is molto bene,” said Tennant-12.

“I think I like that one best, too,” said Arous. “And this is much better than looking in a mirror.”

“Mirror?” said Jellina.  “Who uses those anymore?”

“Certainly not you,” said Mijin. “You’re so mean, you’d crack it just by looking at it.”

Arous laughed.  Jellina couldn’t help herself but laugh either.

“And, I do believe in Prince Charming,” said Mijin.

           

            Tennant-12 stepped out from the wall.

            “I have a private V-dot for Ladoiselle Jellina.”

            She took it from him and stepped outside.  MiJin and Arous were alone.

            “Why didn’t you tell me who you were, when I met you at the Mission?” said Arous.

            “Because, I’m not supposed to be there, it’s a long story.”

            “I can only imagine.”

            “Then what are you doing at Rose House?”

            “Another long story,” said MiJin. “I’m sorry I haven’t talked to you. I’ve wanted to talk to you ever since I saw you sitting in the yard with Siobhan.”

            “About what?”

            “I’ve had dreams about you.  Dreams about you in Alippiana. Dreams full of wonderful creatures and colors and . . . this . . . Being bigger than anything else full of . . . Light.  He’s like a body of Light and Love . . . he’s so strong and creative. And I want to ask you all these questions.”

            She stopped for a moment.

            “The Diofe,” said Arous.

            “But mainly what I want to say is that I believe.  I believe you.  I believe in you. We don’t belong here.  I don’t belong here and I can’t even blend-in.” MiJin paused. “And, when you go back, I want you to take me back with you.”

            MiJin grabbed both of Arous’ hands.

            “I’ve always believed in Prince Charming,” she said. “I always believed there was someone, not a person but like a person, someone who wants to save me.”

SIXTY-NINE: Blend-In

Simon and Arous were walking back from the Stables. Simon knew how to spoil Arous. He took her to the Stables of the Spartan Guard at least twice a week to go riding.  They were walking back to her room. His arm rested around her shoulders.

“I hope you’re still going to the Ambassador’s Ball with me.”

“Hmmmm,” was all Aurous would say as they walked the rest of the way in comfortable silence.

            They had brought take-out back with them.  They were sitting in Arous’ apartment on cushions finishing their meal. For the past week, Simon had been spoiling her by brining over dinner, each night a different cuisine. Arous had loved it and it chipped away at her irritation at him.

            “It depends,” said Arous. “Were you going to tell me you had been promoted to Captain in the Gray Guard before or let me find out when they announced it at the Ball?”

            “I was going to tell you before but Siobhan, as usual, ruined it.”

            “As usual, you’re a little harsh.”

            “Not by much.”

            “Stop it, Simon,” said Arous.  Octavius was annoyed too.  Arous could see the fur on his back bristling.

            Simon chewed on one last bite and proceeded. “I’ve asked a few of the girls to help you get ready for the Ball in a couple of days.”

            “Get ready?”

            “Yeah, they’re bringing over outfits and make-up and the like to help you, you know, blend-in.”

            “I thought you liked me because I was exotic,” Arous was smiling. “You get promoted to Captain and now I have to ‘blend in’.”

            “You know what I mean.”

            There was a knock at the door.

            “That must be them.”

            Tennant-12 stepped out of the wall.

            “Ladoiselles Mijin and Jellina to see you.”

            “MiJin,” Arous said turning to Simon. “Have I met her? I keep hearing her name.”

            “She’s good friends with Jude.  He actually recommended I sent her to you to counter the acidity of Jellina.”

            “Jellina is not my favorite,” said Arous.

            The Ladioselles stepped into the apartment. Jellina she knew.  When she lookedat MiJin she saw a flash of panic and a warning dart through her eyes.

            “I don’t think we’ve met officially,” said Arous hugging MiJin.

            MiJin whispered, “Thank you.”

As Jellina reached down to pat Octavius  on the head, he growled at her so Arous asked Simon to take Octavius with him. Simon kissed her on the cheek and left.

They had brought a few outfits and were ready to help Arous pick one out and give her some tips on how to act and what not to do or say.

“There’s a lot of rules,” said Mijin.  “The less you talk other than ‘nice to meet you’ and ‘the universe smile on you’ the better off you are.”

“You would know,” said Jellina. “You’ll be fine.  Hang out with me and Siobhan. We’ll keep you safe.  Just do what we do and say what we say.”

“Simon has been to them since he was a page.  He won’t let you embarrass yourself.  He’s a real Prince Charming,” said Mijin trying to ignore Jellina’s cuts.

“There is no such thing as Prince Charming,” said Jellina with a sly smile, “But if there is, I’ll tell you who is: Ephor Ricci.”

“You better say that,” said Mijin. “If you want to be one of his next Idelles.”

“There’s no if, since only one other person is competing for that,” said Jellina and laughed. “And if he picks two or three, which he’s talking about doing, Siobhan and I both win. There’s no other competition at all.”

“I thought you were one of the top five, Mijin?” asked Arous.

“I guess that will teach you to get caught on the Southside again.”

Mijin didn’t answer.

 “What happened?” asked Arous.

“She-” began Jellina.

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“I do, Mijin. Anyway, we’re not supposed to be seen but in certain parts of the City and Mijin got caught walking before dawn from the Southside near the wall. She said she got lost but I don’t think so.  She was spotted and got an escort back on a Hoveh-hyoc between two Spartan Guards.”

Mijin didn’t look up.

“Where is Siobhan?” asked Jellina. “She should be here right now.”

“She had a meeting with Lady Rose and Ephor Ricci.”

“No, she didn’t.”

“Yes, it was last minute.  She said she’d-” said Mijin.

“How do you know?” asked Jellina.

“I saw her as I was walking out. We were going to walk together but she had to stay behind a bit.  Said she’d be right over when she was done.”

“You’re lying,” said Jellina.

“No, I’m not.”

“Well,” said Arous trying to quiet the argument. “I know that Simon had to meet with Ricci this morning. Something to do with the Ambassador’s Ball, I think.  Maybe it’s about that.

Neither girl said anything.  Jellina was all but huffing and puffing.
            The girls had the virtual outfits sent over and a few more arrived at that instant. Tennant-12 opened the 3-D reflective hologram so they could see how each dress looked on Arous.

“The blue one is molto bene,” said Tennant-12.

“I think I like that one best, too,” said Arous. “And this is much better than looking in a mirror.”

“Mirror?” said Jellina.  “Who uses those anymore?”

“Certainly not you,” said Mijin. “You’re so mean, you’d crack it just by looking at it.”

Arous laughed.  Jellina couldn’t help herself but laugh either.

“And, I do believe in Prince Charming,” said Mijin.

           

            Tennant-12 stepped out from the wall.

            “I have a private V-dot for Ladoiselle Jellina.”

            She took it from him and stepped outside.  MiJin and Arous were alone.

            “Why didn’t you tell me who you were, when I met you at the Mission?” said Arous.

            “Because, I’m not supposed to be there, it’s a long story.”

            “I can only imagine.”

            “Then what are you doing at Rose House?”

            “Another long story,” said MiJin. “I’m sorry I haven’t talked to you. I’ve wanted to talk to you ever since I saw you sitting in the yard with Siobhan.”

            “About what?”

            “I’ve had dreams about you.  Dreams about you in Alippiana. Dreams full of wonderful creatures and colors and . . . this . . . Being bigger than anything else full of . . . Light.  He’s like a body of Light and Love . . . he’s so strong and creative. And I want to ask you all these questions.”

            She stopped for a moment.

            “The Diofe,” said Arous.

            “But mainly what I want to say is that I believe.  I believe you.  I believe in you. We don’t belong here.  I don’t belong here and I can’t even blend-in.” MiJin paused. “And, when you go back, I want you to take me back with you.”

            MiJin grabbed both of Arous’ hands.

            “I’ve always believed in Prince Charming,” she said. “I always believed there was someone, not a person but like a person, someone who wants to save me.”