by Amy Richie
“Come in,” I called out past the tears that were still gathered at the back of my throat.
Back stiff and straight, Kris strode purposefully into the room. “I thought you were with the Queen,” I accused huffily. Kris was the one who brought me here and then dumped me off at the palace. Why would I want to see him?
“I was,” he said slowly, peering into my face.
Ducking away, I pretended to fix my sleeve. “Oh,” I grunted, unable to think of anything brilliant to say.
“Are you crying?” he asked, his voice rising in disbelief.
My head snapped up and then away again. “No.”
“You are.” He snapped his fingers loudly so I would look up.
“So what if I am?” I shouted, giving into my fear and irritation.
“Princesses do not cry.”
Was he trying to be funny?
I scoffed loudly. “You think this is fun for me?”
“Fun?” he asked blankly, obviously sarcasm wasn't his first language.
“I don't cry.”
“It looks like you are crying.”
Sputtering wildly, it took me a moment to get my mouth to work properly. “It's not like I'm trying to.”
“Dry your eyes,” he ordered without a trace of sympathy.
Pressing my lips tight together, I wiped away the moisture on my cheeks. “There,” I barked back at him.
“Come on,” he jerked his head towards the door.
I crossed my arms over my chest and turned my head away from him. Who was he to tell me where to go and where not to go on his whim. I was getting sick and tired of being jerked around with only crazy explanations given to me. Following where Kris led had gotten me bitten by a flower, chased by a lizard- lion, and knocked unconscious.
Kris sighed, letting his scowl soften slightly in the process. “It's time for you to meet your Guardian,” he told me in a much softer voice.
“I thought we were going to get food,” I scowled, still not moving from the bed.
“We are,” he inclined his head.
“More riddles?” One of my eyebrows arched high on my forehead.
“The Queen insists that when something important is discussed, it is over a shared meal.”
“That's a...weird policy.” But genius really. Who could stay mad when they were filling their stomachs. Plus, eating made people sleepy and less likely to start fighting. Maybe the Queen wasn't completely crazy after all. Maybe.
“They are waiting for us in the dining hall,” he reminded me. He crossed the room in a few quick steps and plucked the brush from the vanity. “Brush your hair and let's go,” he held the brush out to me.
“I don't need to brush my hair,” I snarled.
He mimicked my earlier eyebrow lift.
“Who exactly are we going to meet?” I demanded, ripping the brush from his hand and pulling it through my hair a few times. There was very little point in trying to brush my hair, the curls just got bushier the more I tired. I threw the brush back on the table and spun around to face him.
“You,” he plucked the brush back from the table and handed it to me again, “are meeting your Guardian.”
Scowling deeper than ever, I attempted the brushing thing again. “If you want me to look nice, I'm going to need a shower and some gel. Otherwise, you get frizz.”
“You don't have time for a shower,” he informed me shortly. “You have to meet the Guardian.”
“I already have a Guardian,” I pouted.
“Yes, you do. You've had one appointed to you since the day you were born.” He inclined his head.
“And then you lost me,” I snorted, flinging the brush down again.
“Don't.” He held one hand up in the air in front of my face.
“Don't what?” I swatted at the offending gesture.
“I didn't loose you,” he said through clenched teeth.
“Whatever,” I shrugged. Guess it was a touchy subject, loosing your Princess.
“I'm not your personal Guardian anyways.”
“What?”
“They're waiting,” he let his eyes go wide.
“Ok.” I scrunched my top lip as I followed him out the door. What was he getting so bitey about? He's the one who wanted me to brush my stupid hair. Were they going to take away my princess crown if my hair was a mess?
There was a long hall outside my room that took us to another door that led outside. It turned out that palace was actually not just one big castle like I had expected, it was a large assortment of smaller buildings all situated around a large garden area. It wasn't an elaborate garden but it was better than anything I had ever seen in real life.
“This place is huge,” I commented, looking around at all the buildings. “Who all lives here?”
“The King and Queen,” Kris replied curtly.
“Only them two?” That wasn't even possible? Who needed this much space – even if you hated your husband.
“The Princesses and the Maiden Sector.”
“I don't remember what that means. You said my mother was part of that.” From the shadows of a doorway a young woman watched us pass.
No matter what Kris said, the market seemed much friendlier than this place. It probably had something to do with the fact that I had grown up in an orphanage and a handful of shabby homes. It felt more natural to me than this. Where were all the people that lived in these buildings? Were they all hiding in the shadows too? I preferred the open stares in the market.
Then again, I inwardly amended, someone did hit me there. I ran my hand across the back of my head, there was no bump and the spot wasn't tender; but someone had knocked me out. Did Kris know who hit me? And why they hit me? He must, he was like the royal family bodyguard.
“Hey,” I called to Kris's back.
“What?” he grunted without looking at me.
“Who hit me out at the market? You never told me.”
“You don't need to know.”
“It was the same one who put the curse on me, right? The one who sent me to live on earth?”
Kris stopped suddenly and spun around to face me. “It's better if you don't speak about those things in the Palace,” he whispered darkly.
Taken aback by his sudden anger, I opened my mouth to ask him what he meant but I was cut off by another voice calling my name.
“Kalliope.” I looked up to see the Queen standing in a nearby doorway.
“We'll talk later,” Kris promised, then steered me in the direction of the waiting Queen.
Chapter Fourteen
The air felt weird around us, filled with the awkward leftovers of an unsuccessful conversation. For the first time in my life, I sincerely wished the floor would open up and swallow me whole. It was weird that no one was talking, even weirder that it was only the three of us sitting at the huge table. Me, the Queen, and my new Guardian.
Well, new to me.
The man Kris had told me was my Guardian didn't seem like the friendly sort. His dark hair was slicked back into a tight pony tail at the back of his head. It was so tight, it pulled at the skin around his eyes and must have made it impossible for the man to smile. Leonard. It wasn't even a fun name.
I glanced quickly to the queen, hoping for a little sympathy from someone who used to be in my shoes. Did she still have a Guardian somewhere in the palace? Who liked to be bossed around by one of these guys? Certainly not me.
The Queen didn't say a word. Her soft lips never pressed together in anger like Leonard's but they didn't offer any words of comfort and reassurance either. Not that I needed that. Of course. Frowning, I let my gaze fall down to my plate.
The meat, or what I assumed was meat, had a strange purple glow to it. It didn't look like anything I had eaten before. I didn't really have much of an appetite anyways. With the appearance of Leonard, this felt more like an alien abduction than anything else. And here I thought those people were all just weirdos.
“You need to eat.” Leonard nodded his
head at my full plate of food, pulling my attention back to the table and my current companions.
“I'm not hungry.”
“Still,” he shrugged one shoulder. “You need to keep your strength. The next few days will be...”
“Will be what?” I prompted when he let his voice fade away suggestively.
“Will be tiring.”
“Tiring?” he didn't say anything else though.
I had thought Kris was strict with all his arched eyebrows and hard glares; compared to Leonard he was a cuddly person. I had yet to see Leonard smile at all. His lips didn't move much, even when he was speaking. And he stared at me a lot, as if he were afraid I was going to bolt. Where did he think I was going to go?
Kris wasn't here now though, he had bolted the second the introductions were made. He had said he wasn't my own personal guardian but I didn't realize how eager he was to get away from me. My frown deepened into a scowl as I watched something that looked like soup drip from my spoon.
I wasn't the least bit hungry. My stomach was rolling nervously, making noises but not the ones of hunger. I knew what hunger felt like, this was something new. I didn't get these kind of nerves often, there weren't many situations where I wasn't the one in control. People usually did what I asked them to do.
Not these people.
“So,” I let my lips pop as the word drug out to several syllables.
“Yes?”
“When did Kris say he was coming back here?” Hopefully, I wouldn't have to wait here for too long. Having these two as dinner companions every night was going to be tough.
“Kristov will not be returning to the castle,” he informed me, his eyes boring straight through me into my soul.
“Where did he go?”
“He has other duties.”
“He brought me here,” I reminded him in case he forgot.
“Which is the extent of his responsibility to the Princess of Tontine.” He bowed his head to his plate of food.
Across from me, the Queen calmly took another bite of whatever she had on her plate. Did she know Kris had abandoned me? And she had seemed so nice. You never could tell about people, the fancier they dressed the worse they were.
“Calm down,” I told myself, hoping it would work like any other time. My powers worked on me too, I could convince myself of anything. Almost anything.
I took a deep breath and held it in my puffed out cheeks before letting the air out again in a low hiss. Kris wasn't coming back at all? He wasn't my friend, I knew that, but he was the closest to a friend I had here on this messed up planet. Underneath his rigid ways, Kris felt bad for me. Leonard refused to even smile. There was no way he would take me home.
“How am I supposed to get home now?” My voice jolted out, sounding like a kid who was looking for their dog.
“You don't need Kristov to take you home.” The man sniffed, making his lips go even thinner. Soon, he wouldn't have a mouth at all. Not that he was using it much, of course.
“You can take me home?” I raised both eyebrows in his direction.
“Of course.”
“Once we're finished eating with the Queen, we'll be on our way,” Leonard announced from his seat next to the Queen.
My heart sped up. “How are we going?”
“I'm taking you home,” he repeated, inclining his head again.
Confused, but excited, I couldn't keep my voice as calm as his. “We're leaving soon?” My heart fluttered wildly. “You're taking me home? Really?”
“Yes.”
Just like that? After he had scared me with all that talk about Kris not coming back and now this? It was too good to be true. “When are we leaving? How long does it take to get to earth?” I gushed.
“We're not going to earth,” he cut off my happy babbling.
“But you just said...”
“I said you would be returning home today.” His lips pressed firmly together, forming such a tight line I had to wonder how he kept breathing.
“Home?”
“To Tontine.”
Admittingly, I was curious about Tontine. I was from Tontine, I was the Princess there – supposedly. I didn't want to go there though, they would be expecting a lot from me. They would want someone to rule. What did I know about ruling a planet? I couldn't even get all my friends to agree on what movie to watch on a Friday night.
I wanted to go home.
“I'll stay here.” I pushed myself away from the table and crossed my arms over my chest.
“At the Palace?”
“Yeah.” Pursing my lips, I arched one eyebrow.
“Out of the question.”
“I'm a Princess.”
“A Princess of Tontine,” he replied pointedly. “This is Hurdesh.”
“I want to stay here.” I mimicked him and pressed my lips together.
“Tontine is the safest place for you to be,” he declared with finality.
“Then why didn't I go there to begin with? Why even come to Hurdesh if I'm not allowed to stay?”
For the briefest of seconds, his eyes darted to the Queen. Before I could understand the look, he was back to staring me down. “Regardless of the...situation, the Princess of Tontine belongs in Tontine.”
“And if I refuse to go?”
“You will not be permitted to refuse.”
I sat back in my seat, my breath coming faster than it should considering I was only sitting. The Queen continued her meal, unphased by the words exchanged right next to her. “You should try the Von,” she smiled widely and indicated the purple meat on my plate. “Some people think it's too sweet, but I enjoy the taste.”
Chapter Fifteen
I let my hand glide softly across the smooth wood while memories of a forgotten childhood flooded through me. I didn't exactly have any strong ties to the Palace but at least they were nice to me here. Sort of nice.
Who knew what I would find on Tontine.
Why wouldn't the Queen let me stay here, I thought childishly. It wasn't like I took up much room. Maybe if I asked her, she would let me stay here until I could figure out this whole Princess thing. I mean, really, I was nothing but a thief a few hours ago.
I turned towards the door, the idea half forming in my mind to go find her, but was confronted instead by the stern form of Leonard. He watched me through narrowed eyes, his arms stiff at his sides. “Are you just going to stand there and stare at me?” I demanded.
“Yes.”
“I can mange this on my own.” When he didn't respond, I turned back to the borrowed room that had been mine.
Leo the guard was waiting for me to pack my things that I wanted to take to Tontine. The problem was, nothing in here actually belonged to me. The clothes I had been wearing when I got here were gone, replaced by the weird outfit I was wearing now. That must have been their idea of a fair trade.
Biting my bottom lip lightly between my teeth, I turned back to Leo. “I don't have anything,” I admitted in a low voice. “It's not like Kris gave me a lot of time to pack.” He had just showed up in front of our car and dragged me here.
Leo stared back at me, his tight lips falling open ever so slightly. His face was more lined than Kris's, he was less friendly by a lot. Still, there was something there that was trustworthy. I couldn't sit down and share a cup of tea with him, but I would trust him in battle.
Battle? Where did that come from? There was no battle here, who did I think I was – Joan of Arc?
“You don't need anything,” he unexpectedly replied.
“What?”
“You will have everything you need in Tontine, there is nothing you have to bring.”
“All my stuff is on earth. Can we go there and get it?”
“No.” There might have been a flicker of movement in his top lip.
Maybe I had judged Leo too harshly. All the princesses had once been kidnapped and hidden on earth, he probably took his job pretty seriously now. Whoever had taken us before was still out there, they m
ight have been the ones to hit me in the market. I needed protection, at least for now. Leo was the type that could get that done.
“Are you ready?” he inquired, pulling me back to the present.
With one last look around, I nodded and moved to follow Leo. “Do you mind if I call you Leo?” I asked him as we walked.
“That isn't my name.”
“I know, but it's cooler than Leonard.”
“Cooler? What does this word mean?”
I clicked my tongue against the roof of my mouth. “How can you not know what that means? You speak english.”
“Earth people use some strange words.”
“We do not!” I would have argued further but then we reached the space car that was waiting just outside the door. “What's that?”
“The Rove will take you to Tontine.”
“A Rove?” I ran my tongue over the unfamiliar word. “This is like a real life UFO, huh?” It wasn't shaped like a plate like the ones you saw on TV, it was more a circle shape. I laid my hand flat against the smooth white surface. “It's not very big.” It was going to be a tight fit for the both of us, Leo was huge.
“It's built for one.” He pushed against the side of the Rove and the thing split almost in two to reveal a small place for sitting that looked enough like car seats to make me feel a little better.
“I'll be going alone?” After everything that had happened, he was just going to send me across the galaxy by myself?
“I'll be right behind you,” he indicated a second Rove that was dark green.
“We can both fit in here,” I gestured to the waiting white Rove.
“Only a princess may sit in a white Rove.” He gave me a small push forward. “It has been programmed to take you to the palace on Tontine.”
“But...”
“The Prince is waiting for us there.”
“The Prince?”
“Get in,” he ordered, pushing me again.
“Alright,” I snapped, sliding onto the seat with a fair amount of grumbling. Instantly, the Rove slid closed again and a soft light popped on, creating a small cocoon of space. “Where's the window?” I muttered, pushing a small button next to me. It probably wasn't a smart idea to push random buttons, but luckily part of the wall slid aside to reveal a good sized window.
