Most of the girls wore sleeveless shirts and short pants or skirts. If they’d been in Sol, the Voice would be screaming inside their heads because of their indecent clothes. Would she have to wear something like that? She missed the Voice. Sure, it had been annoying, but there was a certain comfort to having it guide her decisions.
The people wore sandals like Leo. The other men were dressed similarly, with only lightweight pants. Not one had a shirt on, but a few wore open vests. Though most men weren’t pretty. They had hairy chests and large bellies. Zwaantie shrunk into Leo as a particularly fat man squeezed past her. She supposed she shouldn’t be surprised by the immodesty.
The crowd cleared, and a few girls squealed. They were nearly identical in sparkly black short dresses, but each had a different color hair. Purple, pink, and blue.
“Prince Leo.”
He pulled Zwaantie close to him. “Smile,” he said.
“What? Why?”
“Just do it,” he said through gritted teeth.
She did as he told her, and the girls pulled out round objects that flashed bright lights in their direction.
“Thanks,” the blue-haired girl said. They stared into their devices. “Who’s the girl?”
“It’s a secret, ladies. Watch the vids tomorrow for an exciting announcement.”
He kept Zwaantie close to him as he steered her away from the girls.
“You’re going to be all over the Ticker now, and we haven’t even announced your name. I need to find a disc and warn Father and Viggo.”
Ticker? Disc? He was using words she’d never heard of before. She wasn’t quite sure what had just happened. He ducked into a small shop and let go of her.
“Prince Leo,” the tall man said from behind a counter.
“Hello. Can I get a disc?”
“Of course.”
The man handed Leo one from the dozens on the shelf, and Leo pressed two fingers on it and it glowed white.
“Thank you,” Leo said.
“You’re welcome.” He touched Leo’s disc with another one. Zwaantie crept forward, staring at the strange devices. They were paper thin, but shiny. A few glowed, and they came in many different colors. Some even had pictures on them.
Then Leo spoke into his disc. “Viggo.”
A face popped out of it, and Zwaantie jumped. “What the dark?” It was as if the guy was in the room with them, but only his life-size head. Except she could see right through it. His features were sharp though, lifelike.
Leo gave her a small smile. “It’s just Viggo, my brother. He’s on another island, but we can talk to each other this way.”
“Hey, Viggo.”
The face beamed at him. “You’ve returned.”
“I have. Listen, the Ticker is probably already buzzing with the news of Zwaantie. We’ve been spotted. I didn’t release her name or anything, but you might want to watch, and spin things if needed. We’ll do a big announcement tomorrow.”
“Of course. Though I’ve already seen the picture. She’s very photogenic, but you have got to get her into different clothes.”
“Stars! It’s only been two minutes, and she’s already up on the Ticker.”
“She’s big news. It won’t take long until she’s at the top. I’ll do my thing. Get her in some new clothes and take another picture, please. When will we see you?”
“Tonight. We’ll do our best. Thanks, Viggo.”
“No prob. See you in a few hours.” The head twisted and gave Zwaantie a ghostly smile. “Nice to meet you, Princess.”
“Thanks,” she said, and the head disappeared.
“Let’s get you some clothes,” Leo said. He nodded at the shop owner and dragged her out of the store. She wanted to ask what this was about, but she didn’t even know where to begin with her questions. She had so much to learn. Zwaantie didn’t know if she’d ever get used to Stella. She hadn’t even been gone five hours, and already she missed home.
Chapter 2
The Other Princess
As they moved along, Zwaantie couldn’t help but stare up at the tall buildings. Her head went fuzzy. Everything was surreal.
“Leo!” yelled a girl.
“Not again,” he muttered, but spun around anyway. “Oh, never mind.”
His face split into a wide grin, and a very pretty, very pregnant girl crushed him in a hug. “You are in serious trouble, mister. You kept Hunter longer than a couple of days.”
He laughed. “And you are still pregnant, so I’m not in too much trouble. How’s my soon-to-be nephew treating you?”
“Ugh,” she muttered with both hands on her enormous stomach. “He needs to come out. Now that you are home, he can. Where’s Hunter?”
“I don’t know. We had some trouble crossing the wall and got separated. I thought I’d check here first, but since you haven’t seen him, then they are probably down by the boats. I didn’t know you were in town.”
“I’ve been here since you left. I didn’t want to take any chances. I nearly came over to Sol myself, but then Sage reminded me they don’t have magic over there, and I’m not having this baby with no magic. I’ve heard of women who have given birth in the middle of the night, and they said the pain is worse than death.”
She rattled this off in one breath.
“How did you find us?” Leo asked.
“The Ticker. I recognized the store you were standing in front of. I was only a few shops down and quite frankly, I was angry no one told me the second you crossed the wall.”
She noticed Zwaantie and raised her skinny eyebrows. She had a regal air about her. “Are you the princess?”
Zwaantie nodded. She wanted this woman to like her. Though she wasn’t sure why. It wasn’t like she’d ever see her again after today.
Leo gestured toward the girl. “Zwaantie, this is Candace. Lower queen of Deep Sky and my big sister. She’s also Hunter’s wife.” Zwaantie understood now why he and Hunter were so comfortable with one another. Hunter wasn’t just his guard, he was also married to his sister.
Candace hugged Zwaantie, the huge belly pushing into her. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, but I need to go kiss my husband. We’ll talk on the way home.”
“Can you help us with something first?” Leo asked, grabbing her arm.
She shook off his hand. “No, I’m going to find Hunter.”
“It won’t take long. If you do this for me, I’ll let you and Hunter have your own boat.”
Candace cocked her head for a moment and thought. “As long as it doesn’t take too long. What do you need?”
“Zwaantie needs some clothes. That picture of her in this ridiculous dress is already circling. We can’t risk any more. All she needs is one outfit to get her home.”
Candace glanced at Zwaantie again as if realizing she missed something the first time.
“Wow, you must be stifling. Does everyone in Sol dress like you?”
Zwaantie nodded. “But it’s not as warm there.”
“Well, this is easy.”
Zwaantie wasn’t sure what to make of Candace. She seemed friendly enough on the outside, but Zwaantie didn’t know if people were different here in Stella. She wasn’t sure what was polite or rude.
Leo stayed outside while Candace pulled Zwaantie into a building.
Shirts, skirts, and pants of all kinds of material covered the walls from floor to ceiling. No wonder the clothing factories only operated a few hours a day. Stella had more than enough clothes to last years and never run out of something new. Zwaantie could get used to this.
A few shirts winked and flashed, and others changed color in the blink of an eye. From one rack, soft music flowed from the skirts. They passed another rack of pants that smelled like a garden.
“This is amazing,” Zwaantie said, genuinely impressed.
“Yeah, we have good clothes. This is one of my favorite stores. Do you have any idea what you want?”
Zwaantie chewed on her lip. The sheer number of choices was overwh
elming. Plus, she was acutely aware that at home, she’d have the most fashionable clothes made, but here she could pick out something awful and not even know it. Somehow, everyone here was watching her. She wanted to know she was wearing the right thing.
She thought back to the dress with the bright blue jewels that she wore at the dance in Sol. Leo seemed to like it.
“Leo likes blue, so maybe something with blue in it.”
Candace went to a rack of shirts with small sleeves and simple V-necks and riffled through a few shirts, then turned and glared at Zwaantie. She took a step back. What the dark?
“What’s Leo’s favorite food?” Candace snapped.
“I don’t know,” Zwaantie confessed.
“How can you not know these things? I thought you loved him.”
“We didn’t have much time to get to know each other. I only met him a few days ago. Over time I’m sure I’ll learn them.” Zwaantie couldn’t see how Candace could find fault in that. Though, she couldn’t help but feel this woman could see right through her.
Candace’s voice dropped low and tight. “I can tell you don’t love him. You barely touched him while we were standing out there. When Hunter and I fell in love, Dad used to joke that we would fall over if we didn’t have each other to hold onto. Leo only had Hunter gone for a week and half, and I thought I was going to die. And Leo’s favorite color is orange, not blue. If you loved him, you’d know these things.”
She shoved a plain blue shirt in Zwaantie’s hands and then plucked a bright pink skirt off a rack. Her face twisted into a scowl.
“Leo is my favorite sibling. And I have eleven of them so that’s saying a lot. You may not love him now, but you sure as hell better by the time your wedding day comes. It should be nauseating to be around you two, or I’ll make sure you have a miserable marriage.”
Candace stomped out of the store. Zwaantie held the clothes, completely lost. This was ridiculous. She couldn’t believe the way Candace had talked to her. Zwaantie would never be mean to anyone. Though, Zwaantie couldn’t imagine loving someone the way Candace loved Hunter. It was so passionate and loud. The love she had with Phoenix was quieter. Simple. While she wanted desperately to kiss him again, she didn’t need to hang all over him to prove she loved him. But Zwaantie knew his favorite color. It was green.
A tiny woman with spiky purple hair and a t-shirt that fell off one shoulder approached Zwaantie.
“Do you want to try those on?”
Zwaantie nodded, not sure what else to do. Would Candace come back?
The woman pointed to a small room with a curtain. Zwaantie stepped behind it and fumbled with her dress. At least it was an easy one to remove. Once Zwaantie managed to get the laces undone, it fell to the ground, and she slid out of her petticoat. She pulled the pretty blue shirt over her head and reveled at how smooth the material was. She could finally breathe again. The shirt smelled good too, like mint. The skirt was too short, and the Voice would berate her if it were still around, but the skirt still felt nice.
She stepped out from behind the curtain. The shop girl had a pair of orange sandals in her hand. She smiled at Zwaantie. “That looks nice on you. Where are you from anyway?”
“Sol.”
The girl laughed. “Yeah, right. Where are you really from?”
“I’m really from Sol. I came over with Prince Leo a few hours ago. You didn’t think my clothes were odd?”
The girl’s mouth dropped open, and she pulled out her disc and ran her finger along it. She stared at the disc and then at Zwaantie. “It is you. No way! What are you doing in Stella?”
“I’m afraid I can’t say. Prince Leo wants to keep it a secret. If you don’t mind me asking, what are you looking at?”
“Your pic. Here.” The girl snapped her finger, and an image floated in front of Zwaantie’s face. It was like a portrait, but cleaner somehow. Leo had his arm around her, and they both smiled wide. That must’ve been what the girls had done.
“Unbelievable,” Zwaantie said. She was both fascinated and horrified. Could someone take a picture at any time, and everyone in Stella see it?
“You don’t have pictures in Sol?”
Zwaantie shook her head.
“Wow. We haven’t had a visitor from Sol in hundreds of years. People will be talking about you for months.”
Zwaantie’s clenched her fists. She’d never be able to run away and hide.
“Here, put on these shoes. You look great. Do you just want to wear them out of the store?” the girl asked.
“Yes, I would. Thank you.”
“Okay. Can I have your disc?
“I don’t have one of those.”
“You don’t have discs in Sol either? How do you function? Whatever. We still take coins. It will be twenty diras.”
Zwaantie didn’t know what to say. They had money in Sol, but she’d never handled it, and she’d only traded food with Stellans.
“I’m sorry. I don’t have any coins either.”
“Shame. I liked that outfit on you. But I can’t let you have it for free.”
Zwaantie’s cheeks flamed as she slipped into the dressing room. She’d never felt so out of place in her life. Without Candace, she couldn’t buy the clothes. She struggled to put her dress on, left the Stellan clothes on the floor, and raced out of there, hoping she wouldn’t have to face that woman again.
She spotted Leo just outside the store, surrounded by a small group of people. He beamed when he saw her.
“Where are your new clothes?”
“Candace left before I was done trying them on. I don’t have money or a disc.”
Leo shook his head, chuckling. “Candace is altogether too eager to see Hunter. I didn’t even see her come out. She’s probably on the dock with him already.”
“Did he say anything about the slaves?” She wondered where Phoenix and Luna were.
“They all made it across okay. We’ll head to the docks in a few. But let’s get you those clothes. Did you find something?”
Zwaantie nodded, but she really didn’t want to set foot in that store. Leo put a hand on her back and led her inside. The woman with the purple hair grinned at Leo.
“Hey, Prince, how can I help you?”
Zwaantie was shocked by how casually the shop girl treated him. He was a prince, and she was acting like he was just another customer.
“My fiancée would like to purchase a new outfit. Perhaps you can help her.”
The girl gave Zwaantie a long look. “Fiancée, huh? That’s new. The clothes she tried on are still in the dressing room.”
Leo handed the girl his disc. The girl’s fingers flew across the surface, and then she took another identical device and touched them together.
The girl pointed to the dressing room. “They’re all yours.”
Zwaantie changed quickly, leaving her dress behind. She had no more use for Solite clothes.
She stepped out of the dressing room, still embarrassed. She had no idea how she would function here. They couldn’t do anything without money or one of those discs. She had to get her hands on one.
Leo gave her an appreciative stare. “You clean up nice, Princess. But I already knew that. Come on, let’s explore for a bit before we have to meet everyone at the docks.”
Leo took her hand and pulled her out of the store.
“What else can the disc do?” Zwaantie asked.
He held out the disc. “We use it for everything. We can communicate with anyone in the kingdom, tell time, pay for things, and do more with magic. I can use any disc, and it will recognize me from my touch. So even if I didn’t have mine, I could use another’s, and my information would be on there.”
“Can I see it?” she asked.
“Sure.” He placed it gently in her hand and pressed his finger on it. A number blinked up at them from the smooth black surface.
“What’s that?”
“The time. It’s just after three.”
“Notes,” he sai
d to the device.
Words flew up out of the device and floated in front of them.
Who is Prince Leo’s mystery girl?
Is the royalty adopting a new style? If so, we need a cold front.
Leo returns from a visit to Sol. Could this mean better food?
“I don’t understand,” Zwaantie said, trying to make sense of the words.
“It’s everything on the Ticker about me. I just wanted to see what people were saying.”
“Can I have one?” Zwaantie asked.
“We’ll get you set up when we get home.”
Zwaantie frowned. She’d need it before they reached the castle. She and Phoenix would have to run away at the first opportunity. “How does money get on there?”
“Oh, it just keeps track of how many coins we have. The bank keeps the money, and it moves from account to account when we spend it on our devices. Hardly anyone uses actual dira anymore.”
As they walked the streets, Zwaantie noticed the smell. In Sol, the streets smelled of farm animals or refuse. They didn’t have good systems to get rid of the stench. Here the streets smelled faintly of oranges and tulips.
“It smells nice here,” Zwaantie said.
“Our city mages do a good job. Most of them do it because they love the magic. Every building is infused with magic. Most of it illusionary, but it makes life interesting. I want to show you something before we head to the boats. But first, let’s get another picture with your new clothes.” He held out his disc and said “picture.”
The disc floated off his hand and hovered in front of them. He put his arm around her and held her close. “Smile one more time.”
She did. The disc returned to him. He placed his finger on the disc, and the picture popped up. He touched the picture. “Guess who’s getting married. More deets on the vids tomorrow.” He took his finger off the picture. “Send to Ticker.”
The picture disappeared.
“Much better. I accidentally let slip you and I were getting married to the shop girl. By the time the picture gets there, everyone will know. Viggo’s going to be upset because he wanted the announcement to be controlled, but there’s nothing we can do about it now. We can relax for a bit. Oh, here it is.”
Stella and Sol Box Set Page 18
