by J. M. Page
And her face, too. Nearly unrecognizable. Lina had never given any thought to her looks — what was the point when she was the only one of her kind and the only person she ever talked to was her mom? — but since coming to Mabnoa, she’d been confronted with the fact that she wasn’t like the others. She wasn’t as poised and polished. She didn’t know how to make herself presentable, and on more than one occasion, someone had told her about grease on her forehead or dirt on her cheek, exceedingly embarrassed for her. Lina herself never felt all that embarrassed about it, though she knew she should.
But tonight was going to be different. Because Emily, Greta, and Terrance had made her a princess. Her eyelids shimmered gold and whatever they’d rimmed her eyes with made them pop, vibrant and big. And underneath the dirt and grime of a mechanic, Lina had recently acquired freckles, the sparest dusting of them crossing the bridge of her nose. She’d never seen enough sun before for freckles, but she liked them. Everyone else here seemed to have them and seeing that she did too helped her feel like maybe she belonged more than she felt most days.
They’d even given her jewelry, in the form of a big, sparkling gemstone hanging from a dainty chain. It glittered right above her chest, above the neckline of the one-shouldered lilac dress that flowed to the floor like water.
“Didn’t think we’d be able to do it,” Greta said, grinning at the other two.
“Psh,” Terrance said with a dismissive wave of his hand. “You knew we could. We’re the best.”
“Hopefully not too good,” Emily added, the worry creasing her brow doing nothing to temper her huge grin. “She might show up the princess herself, looking like this.”
Lina’s mouth opened in a protest, her eyes wide. “Oh no, I didn’t want to— I don’t—”
“Oh, honey, she’s just teasing,” said Terrance, waving his hand again. “You look gorgeous and everyone at that party is going to wish they could be you — including the princess.”
Lina pressed her lips together and looked at herself in the full-length mirror again, smoothing her palms over her skirt, wondering why they were suddenly so damp. “I don’t want all of that… I just want to help Suriah celebrate.”
“You can do both,” said Emily, still grinning. Greta just nodded dutifully behind her.
A knock on the door interrupted Lina’s worrying and she turned quickly, stumbling over the hem of her skirt. A hand shot out to steady her and Terrance said, “Easy there.”
“Wouldn’t want to rip,” said Greta. Emily’s smile had melted into a look of horrified shock as her eyes kept darting down to the bottom of the skirt where Lina had tripped.
Lina stuttered, trying to shake off that look. “I’m sorry, I just—” She started to pull towards the door, but Terrance’s grip was unyielding. Too tight to pull away from.
“No need to rush. That’s how accidents happen,” he said, his voice holding an edge Lina hadn’t heard before.
“Right,” she said, swallowing, her eyes going back to the door as another knock echoed through. “Can I answer it if I promise to go slowly?”
His grip relaxed, but Lina still felt a fist squeezing her lungs. She couldn’t wait to get away from these three. As much as she appreciated their hard work in making her a suitable guest, they’d never see eye-to-eye on most things. They just came from different worlds. These people came from a world where a ripped dress was a tragedy. An accident. In Lina’s world, dresses weren’t even really a thing. How could you possibly reconcile that?
The fist around her lungs loosened a bit when she opened the door to find Farita.
“I was just stoppin’ by to see if you’d finished that— Well, look at you!” she exclaimed, pushing her way into the little apartment, which was now starting to feel very cramped. The space was meant for someone living on their own, and an acceptable size for hosting the occasional guest, but right now she had four extra people crammed in and she felt like she couldn’t breathe.
“If you aren’t prettier than a blossom in the moonlight…”
“Thanks,” Lina said quickly, her face already heating up. “I finished the music box last night, it’s over here.”
“We’ve done all we can,” said Emily.
“She’s in your hands now,” said Greta to Farita.
“If she doesn’t destroy the dress before you get there, it’ll be a miracle,” she heard Terrance mutter under his breath. But she didn’t care, because the three of them trickled out of her front door and she finally let out the breath she’d been holding all day long.
She slumped forward while searching for the music box and just breathed in and out in long, steady breaths. Maybe this would all be over soon, and she could go home. Where dresses and makeup didn’t matter. Where she didn’t have fancy parties to attend and wasn’t friends with royalty.
If friends was even the word for it anymore. She didn’t know what they were. It was weird. Could you just stop being friends with someone because they didn’t talk to you, even if you weren’t sure it was on purpose? It was something she’d never been faced with before.
Farita’s heavy, yet gentle, hand settled on Lina’s spine in between her shoulder blades. “There, there. I know this is all a bit much for you,” she said, rubbing soothing circles on Lina’s bare back. “I know it’s overwhelming and feels like too much, but you’re doing a great job. And you really do look incredible. You’re going to be the envy of everyone there.”
Lina fished the music box from the pile of things she’d had to set aside for the makeover crew. It was going to take forever to reorganize all of it. “Here,” she said, offering it to the older woman. She turned the key a few times and the melody began to play.
Farita smiled at it and took it from Lina before setting it down on the desk and taking her by the shoulders. “I mean it.”
Lina sighed. “I know you do. And I know you’re trying to make me feel better, but I don’t want to be the envy of anyone. I just want to go home. I don’t want to go to parties and dances and not know what to do or what to say or who’s important or any of that. I just like fixing things and wearing my normal clothes and not having to worry about whether my face is clean before someone comes knocking on my door.”
Farita wrapped Lina in her arms and squeezed her tight. “You know, you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to. If you want to stay home tonight, the princess will understand.”
Lina sighed and shook her head. “No. It’s her birthday and I want to be there… It’s just…”
“The prince?”
Lina’s gaze shot up, her eyes going wide. “What?”
Farita chuckled and tutted, shaking her head. “You really think I’m that blind? The way you two look at each other? How moony-eyed he got over you when he brought you in and wouldn’t leave your side? I may be old, sweetheart, but I’m not dumb. And I’m certainly not blind. So what’s been going on?”
Lina shook her head. “Nothing.”
Farita frowned, but what else was she supposed to say?
“But that’s the problem. I haven’t heard from him in a week. I thought… I don’t know what I thought. It was a stupid thought, obviously.”
“You quit that right now,” Farita said, wagging a finger at her. “I’ll not have any of that defeatist attitude here. Now, I can’t tell you what’s going on with Bain because I don’t know, but I do know that sitting here and worrying and sulking about it isn’t going to fix anything.”
“I don’t even know if it can be fixed, Farita,” Lina whined.
“Then you do the only thing you can do.”
“What’s that?” Could she be so lucky that the older woman would have the magic answer for her? Mentally, she crossed her fingers.
“You go to that party and have yourself a good time with the princess and don’t think about her brother at all. Just enjoy yourself. You said it yourself, you’ve never been to a birthday party. It’s supposed to be fun!”
She nodded slowly, her hopes defla
ted. “Yeah.”
“I mean it, now. Whatever happens or doesn’t happen with the prince is a problem for another day. Today is about celebrating the princess’s birthday.”
Lina nodded again, this time with more conviction. She swallowed and nodded again. “Yeah. Yeah, you’re right. I’ve been too busy worried about myself and my problems that I forgot this is all about Surie.”
“And,” Farita nodded, her expression turning pinched with mock offense, “you didn’t even notice my new dress.”
Lina laughed. “I’m sorry Farita. How could I have been so insensitive? You look magnificent.”
“Thank you,” she chirped, primping her hair for effect. “Come on, it’s time to go. Don’t want to be late.”
Lina nodded and scooped the music box off her desk before heading out the door, linked arm-in-arm with Farita.
Chapter Eleven
The party wasn’t at all what Lina had expected. The night of the ball, she’d been nervous because she’d never been to an event of any kind, but after that night, she felt like she had some sort of handle on it.
But now… Well, that thought was the furthest thing from her mind.
The ball had been held in the town center, a floating wooden platform suspended in the trees, but Suriah’s party was being held at the palace. And somehow, it had escaped Lina’s notice that she still hadn’t been to the palace.
That was the first surprise.
Farita led her to a basket, big enough for half a dozen people, strung with vines. It lifted him high above the village into the very tops of the trees. There, a meandering network of bridges and pathways all led to one central bridge to the biggest, tallest tree.
Lina had never been all that afraid of heights considering how tiny she was and how even the tiniest bumps could seem like a massive hill to her, but this was above and beyond. Standing on that swinging rope bridge felt like walking a tight rope between skyscrapers. But Farita held her hand tight, and even Lina had to admit that the open-air bridge was a preferable choice to her apartment stuffed full of people.
If the way into the palace was intimidating, that was to say nothing of the place itself. The huge double doors were carved directly into the tree’s bark, manned by two guards in stiff uniforms with even stiffer expressions. Lina realized then that they were the first she’d seen of any kind of military or law enforcement in this place. Seemed like Mabnoa didn’t have too many internal problems to deal with.
The guards had welcomed them in after Farita stated their business, and the huge doors opened to the enormous palace.
The interior of the tree was mostly hollow, at least at this level, and through the window-knots, there was nothing but sea, sky, and treetops. The palace, it seemed, had the best views around.
For just a moment, her heart twanged at the thought of viewing all of Mabnoa. The thought instantly transported her back to that first night, sneaking out of bed, Bain leading her to the balcony where she could soak in the splendor of this place all at once.
And even though it hurt to think about that night and the promise her relationship with Bain had held — and since lost — it almost hurt more to realize that she was going to have to leave this place. When she went home — if she went home — she’d leave this beautiful, magical kingdom in the trees behind her. The fresh air, the moonlight, the freckles… all of it would be gone.
But before she could dwell on it too long, Farita was dragging her through the palace and Lina tried to slow her down enough that she could gawk at its beauty. The inside of the tree was covered with thick twisting sections growing up around the walls, entwining with one another. In some places, the walls sprouted new branches, with tiny budding leaves tickling her arms as she climbed the grand spiral staircase behind Farita.
Bright green moss grew on the wall in places and Lina trailed her hand over it, letting the softness slip through her fingers. Through the holes in the tree, she could see the moon shining bright, and from above, laughter tumbled down the stairs.
“I think they might be getting started without us,” Farita said, picking up the pace and dragging Lina behind her. Lina had to stop looking around lest she trip over her own feet.
But near the top of the entryway, where the lowest level gave way to the upper levels, there was a chandelier that nearly caused her to trip and fall right into Farita. It looked like an entire tree’s root system, suspended from the ceiling, with tiny balls of light peeking through the woven branches. Crystal shards dangled from the roots, too, and the effect was a warm glittering glow that illuminated the whole entry to the palace. She hadn’t noticed it at first — it was so high up, she wasn’t even sure she could see it from the ground — but at this level of the staircase, it was at eye-level and at least twice as big as her whole apartment.
“Come on, come on,” Farita rumbled. “There’ll be time enough later for a tour if you want it.”
Lina stumbled up another step, but finally forced herself to look away from the chandelier to watch where she was going. She definitely wanted that tour, but the only question that remained was who would give it to her. Of course she instantly thought about Bain giving her the tour and had to quash that thought. She needed to stop placing so many hopes onto the prince that seemed to want nothing to do with her.
The laughter grew louder as they reached the next landing and Farita turned to her beaming, another big door behind her. “Ready?”
“Not really,” Lina said, scuffing the toe of her embroidered slippers. “What even happens at a birthday party?”
“Oh, it’s not much different from the ball,” Farita had said. “There will be music and dancing and party games.”
But it wasn’t at all like the ball. The ball had people from all walks of life in Mabnoa, mingling and having a good time. The guests at Suriah’s party seemed to be at the very height of fashion. Every one of them a painted, primped peacock in shimmering colors and fluffy dresses.
Farita bustled right in, giving out hugs left and right, but Lina hung back by the door, frozen in panic. She didn’t know what to do, who to talk to, or what she should even say in a situation like this. Her hands grew clammy under the music box and her eyes darted around the room until they found Suriah at the far end, shining like a beacon in a bright white dress that sparkled like diamonds when she moved in to talk to someone.
Lina took a deep breath and swallowed before practically sprinting across the room to hand the gift to Suriah.
“Lina! You made it!” Surie grinned, holding her arms open for an embrace.
“Happy birthday,” Lina muttered, hoping that was safe enough to say.
“Thank you.”
“We got you a present. Well, Farita brought it to me and I fixed it for you…” She thrust the music box toward the princess like it was burning her hands.
Surie’s eyes went wide and she squealed with delight. “Ohmigosh! You guys! This thing hasn’t worked in a decade,” she said, turning the key, and leaning close, tears brimming in her eyes as the familiar melody played, hardly audible over the ambient music.
“Thank you so much!” she cried, sweeping Lina into a tight hug. “You being here was present enough, but this is wonderful. I have to find Farita to thank her, excuse me.”
And just like that, Suriah left Lina alone with the other people she’d just been speaking to. They all stood in awkward silence, none of them knowing what to say to the other. Lina didn’t recognize anyone and if they recognized her, they’d decided she wasn’t worth the conversation. So much for being the talk of the town. She was just an oddity.
Without a word, she broke away from the uncomfortable silence and wandered over to the refreshments where she picked up a drink, hoping it could steady her nerves. How long did these parties generally go on for? The ball had gone late into the night, but Bain had saved her from enduring the entire thing. She didn’t think she’d be so lucky this time. When was it acceptable for her to excuse herself and go home?
A
s she got a refill for her drink — the first one had done nothing to help her and her hands still shook as her heart raced — something prickled up the back of her neck. Like she was being watched. But when she turned around, she didn’t find anyone looking her way. It seemed like her presence wasn’t noticed at all.
“It’s time for a game, everyone,” Suriah called over the music as she gestured to the band to stop. She clapped her hands and waved everyone forward to the stage of the grand ballroom.
“Okay, so we all know how to marin race, right?”
Lina looked around and saw that everyone else was nodding and laughing amongst themselves. She swallowed thickly.
“Right now, you should be getting your belt and marins. Find a partner and come over to the starting line!”
Uniformed guards made their way through the crowd of pretty dresses and finely-dressed men. One approached her and handed her a length of rope with a loop on one end and a purple globe on the other end. He handed her another identical purple globe and when she squeezed it, she found that it was firm, but slightly squishy on the inside. And when she brought it up to her nose to sniff, the purple ball had a pleasant, sweet aroma, not unlike a banana.
She looked at the rope and the two fruits and then looked around the crowd. People all around were stepping into the loop of rope and tightening the belt around their waist, letting the purple fruit dangle toward the ground.
Lina frowned and handed her supplies off to someone who hadn’t yet gotten theirs, retreating to the perimeter of the room. Whatever kind of weird ritual this was, she didn’t understand it and didn’t want to make a fool of herself because of it.
Already, pairs were lining up beneath the princess, who still stood on stage. She watched everyone gleefully, her eyes bright and shining with unshed laughter. Everyone else was having a good time, too. So why wasn’t Lina?
She remembered what Farita had said and felt instantly guilty for still making this about herself, but she was nearly positive that Suriah wouldn’t notice her staying out of this game.