“Sure,” Zwaantie said. “Though you know Leo and I will rule in Sol, not here.” She grimaced. How was she going to live in Sol with the Voice? It was making her nervous. She’d always thought the Voice had her best interests in mind, but now she wasn’t so sure.
Ari gave her a squeeze. “You don’t love Leo. Sage told me about your plans. That’s pretty daring for a Solite. I bet Leo just doesn’t measure up to Phoenix’s lovemaking.”
Zwaantie gasped and jumped off the bed. “I never ‘made love’ to Phoenix.” Then she rounded on Sage. She couldn’t believe Sage would tell on her. “I thought you said the secret was safe?”
Sage gave a nonchalant shrug. “Only from Leo. I tell Ari everything. Get used to it. He tells me everything too. So if you have sex with him, I’ll know every detail. And you have to live with me, so don’t do anything embarrassing.”
“I’m not going to have sex with Ari.” Zwaantie crossed her arms and pouted.
Ari shifted against her headboard. He looked too comfortable sitting there, with one knee up and an arm slung casually over it.
“Then why did you love Phoenix so much? That’s a big chance to take on someone who you didn’t even have sex with. What if he’s a dud?” Ari asked.
“You’ve got a lot to learn about love,” Zwaantie said.
“Yeah, probably. Can I learn with you?” He wiggled his eyebrows.
Sage giggled and collapsed on the bed next to Zwaantie. “Ari, why don’t you get out of here? Zwaantie needs to change.”
“I don’t see why I have to leave.”
Zwaantie tapped her foot. She wanted him out of her room. Sage too, for that matter, but she didn’t think that would happen. She needed Luna. She would provide some sanity in this chaos.
“I really want to see Luna. Can you find her for me?”
Ari climbed out of the bed and planted a wet kiss on Zwaantie’s cheek. “You really are pretty. Leo was right. And he’s not right very often.”
Sage rolled her eyes at him. He left without a response and shut the door. Zwaantie sighed and flung herself on her bed. She was only up for thirty minutes, and already she was tired.
“Come on, you need a shower before you can get ready. You stink, Princess.”
A shower? “I think you mean I need a bath.” She hadn’t seen a tub, but maybe it was hidden away somewhere.
“Oh, no a bath would take way too long. They only have tubs in the spas. A shower, come on, I’ll show you.”
They walked into the bathroom and stood next to the glass closet.
“That,” said Sage with a flourish, “is a shower. You probably don’t have them in Sol because they involve too much magic.”
She motioned Zwaantie into the strange room. “You’ll have to take off all of your clothes before you turn anything on, unless you want them soaking wet. When you are ready, you push this button here.”
Sage pointed to a blue button on a panel of fifteen or so buttons. “If you want the water hotter or colder, you’ll need to push the buttons next to it. Soap for your hair and stuff is inside the cutout. Just stick your hand in there and voila, shampoo.”
Zwaantie stared at the panel suspiciously. “What are the rest of the buttons for?”
Sage grinned. “Later. Breakfast with Daddy awaits. But tonight, I’ll show you what they can do. We’ll take a shower together in our underwear.”
Zwaantie tried to shake away the feeling that this was not a good idea. Sage left the room, and Zwaantie stripped off her clothes. She cautiously stepped into the small room, closing the glass door behind her. She pushed the blue button and squeezed her eyes shut.
Huge drops of rain and streams of steaming water flowed over her body. The rain seemed to sooth her nerves. Zwaantie laughed out loud. This shower thing was good. The soap came out as promised, and she scrubbed at her hair and marveled. This was the first time she’d ever washed her own hair. No wonder Stella didn’t need slaves; it was much easier to take care of themselves here.
Before she pushed the blue button to turn the water off, she wanted to see what one of the other buttons could do. She pushed a gray one. Soft music floated around the room, echoing off the walls. The bathroom door opened, and Zwaantie yelped.
“No time for the other buttons. Turn the water off and get out of there,” said Sage.
Zwaantie wrapped a fuzzy towel around her head and put on a soft robe. Sage sat on the chair by the bed, surrounded by floating pictures and words.
“What’s that?”
Sage jerked her head up and pressed a finger on her disc. Everything disappeared.
“Just my notes.”
“All good things, I hope,” Zwaantie said.
Sage shrugged. “Mostly. I can’t wait to attach my name to yours. You are on the top of the Ticker.”
“That doesn’t sound like a good thing.”
“Yeah, it is. Here, I picked out your clothes.”
Zwaantie put on the shimmering pink skirt and sleeveless shirt. It was so refreshing to wear something so light and not be bogged down by the weight. No more heavy layers.
“Is this breakfast going to be as large as the dinner?” Zwaantie asked.
“Oh no, just us, Daddy, and maybe Ari and Luna if he can find her. Daddy tries to do something special with each of us. I get breakfast every day. Sometimes it’s alone, but most of the time there are a smattering of others. I think he does it to make sure I don’t disappear in my partying. If I know I must be back for breakfast, I always am.”
“Oh,” Zwaantie said, once again feeling uncomfortable with the idea of staying out all night at a party. She needed Luna to help ground her.
They ate breakfast in the king’s quarters, not the dining room. There was a small table with seven or eight plates. Ari sat on the left of the king, who seemed to be lecturing him. Sage plopped herself on the other side. Ari beckoned for Zwaantie to come sit by him, but she deliberately chose the chair next to Sage.
The king barely gave her a look as he continued to berate Ari. Zwaantie stayed quiet, not wanting to interrupt. The lecture seemed to involve a young woman who was the daughter of the king’s best friend. Once there was a lull in the lecture, Zwaantie jumped in.
“Where’s Luna?” Zwaantie asked.
“Out with Viggo, who has turned his disc off. I know his usual haunts. We’ll scope them out after we eat,” Ari said.
Zwaantie tried to hide her disappointment. She needed Luna.
“Who else is coming?” Sage asked, snatching a strawberry from a bowl and munching on it.
“A few of our head mages. I wanted our princess to meet them.” The king spoke with authority, but he wasn’t scary like her own father.
Sage raised her eyebrows. “Breakfast, Daddy? Really?” She handed Zwaantie a strawberry. “Here eat. Breakfast will arrive soon. But these are the freshest strawberries in the kingdom. Arrived from Sol this morning.”
Zwaantie took a bite and grimaced. The strawberry was rubbery and sour.
“That strawberry is days old, maybe even a week,” Zwaantie said. At home, they’d have thrown them out.
Hurt crossed Sage’s face, and Zwaantie scrambled to rescue herself.
“I don’t mean to be rude, but we eat our strawberries straight from the vine. This is not what I’m used to. You’ll have to come to Sol sometime and try them.”
“Yeah, well, you have a sun,” Sage said and sulked.
Zwaantie creased her eyebrows. “You only get food once a month. How do you keep it from going bad?”
“Magic,” Sage said.
Something else was bothering Zwaantie. “There is no way we produce enough food to feed everyone in Stella.”
Sage nodded. “We have factories where they can copy the food. But they still need to get fresh food because the spells to multiply food work best with fresh food.”
A few minutes later, two men and a woman walked into the room. The woman was taller than both the men, taller in fact than most men. In spite of her unusual height, she
didn’t slouch or attempt to hide her height. In fact, she stood tall and held her head high.
“Zwaantie, please meet Lyra, our head mage,” the king said.
For some reason that woman intimidated Zwaantie more than any other she had met. It wasn’t her confidence or height, but her title. Magic imbued every bit of their life in Stella. If this was their head mage, then she possibly held more magic than anyone in Stella, even the king.
She sat across from them. Her gray eyes studied Zwaantie, and she didn’t look away when Zwaantie met them.
Lyra spoke, her voice quiet yet authoritative. “Welcome. What do you think of our magic?”
“It’s wonderful,” Zwaantie said and grabbed another strawberry. She didn’t want to talk to Lyra. Something about her made Zwaantie uneasy.
“Yes, it is. Much different from your own, no?”
Zwaantie nodded. “Sol could use some of these conveniences. Lights, for example, would be nice in the evening when the sky goes gray. But most of the people enjoy the simple life we have.”
Lyra addressed the king. “When will the ceremony take place?”
He paused for a moment, took a bite of eggs, and did not answer her until he swallowed. “In a month.”
“You’re certain this will work. What if it doesn’t?”
“Then we have eleven months to find another solution.”
Eleven months to find what? Zwaantie started to say something, but Sage pinched her hard, and her words came out as a yelp instead.
The conversation at the table stopped. Both the king and Lyra stared at Zwaantie.
“Perhaps this conversation is best postponed until we are alone,” said the king with a frown.
The mage nodded.
After breakfast, Zwaantie, Sage, and Ari headed outside. Lights lit up their path, but the sky above was a deep midnight blue. Zwaantie’s smile faded when she couldn’t see the stars.
“Sorry for pinching you earlier, but you couldn’t ask the question you wanted to. Lyra is an evil woman. If you piss her off, she’ll haunt you for the rest of your life. None of us dare to confront her. Except Daddy. I’m not sure what he has over her, but he’s not scared of her.”
“Why’s she so scary?” Zwaantie asked.
Ari snapped his fingers. “She can kill like that. Mostly she doesn’t because then she’d be implicated in murder. If she wants you dead, you’ll die a slow and painful death. Usually a disease the magicians can’t cure. And there is no way to trace the magic to her. Of course, there is no proof, but enough of her enemies have died that we know she’s responsible.”
“But it sounded like she was talking about me.”
Sage and Ari shared a look. “Maybe she was,” Sage said. “But I didn’t want you talking to her before you understood what you were up against. Enough of this serious talk, let’s go have some fun.”
“We’re going to find Luna first, right?” Zwaantie asked. She wanted to see her best friend. If she could just see Luna, she’d have some normalcy.
“Yeah, of course.”
Zwaantie couldn’t get over the moving pictures on the walls. Everything moved and blinked. They stopped at a large building made entirely of glass.
“What’s in this building?”
“Movies. Viggo loves the movies,” Sage said.
“What’s a movie?” Zwaantie asked.
“Like a play, but on a screen.”
Zwaantie nodded.
“We’ll have to go sometime. You two wait out here. I’ll check,” Ari said. “Sage, why don’t you try calling him again?”
Sage said, “Viggo,” into her device, but nothing happened.
The streets were fairly empty. A few people strolled along, but the atmosphere was much different than when she arrived. Relaxed.
“Princess Sage,” a boy called. Sage waved. “Can we get a picture?”
“Of course.” Sage latched onto Zwaantie, and Zwaantie didn’t need to be told to smile. The boy flashed his disc and walked away.
“Finally,” Sage said. “Now maybe I’ll be up high on the Ticker with you.”
Ari came out. “They were here, but they left. Let’s check out the gamehouse.”
They didn’t walk more than a few hundred feet before they stopped in front of a building with blaring music.
“What’s this?” Zwaantie asked.
“A place where we play games. Stay here again,” Ari said.
Sage squinted at something on the building. Then she spun around. “How do you and Luna know each other? It seems strange that the Solite princess would be friends with a Stellan.”
“She was my slave. I know you guys have trouble with that concept, but she and I were friends from a very young age. She’s my best friend. She keeps me stable.”
Sage nodded but didn’t respond.
Ari strolled out with his hands in his pockets. “They aren’t here either. I’ve got one more idea.”
He crossed the street, and the girls followed.
Zwaantie spotted a narrow and tall blindingly yellow building. Then suddenly it wasn’t a building anymore. It was a pencil, and then it was a tree, and a then a frilly dress.
“What’s that?” Zwaantie asked.
Ari’s eyes sparkled. “A funhouse. You wanna check it out?”
Yes. She did. “But Luna.”
“We can find her afterwards. You know you want to.”
Zwaantie let out a breath. “Okay. But then we have to find her.” She was feeling overwhelmed by everything.
Sage linked arms with her and dragged her over to the building.
Ari chattered as they neared. “Nothing in there is real. It’s all magical illusions and changes constantly. Every time I come here I experience something different. Only twice have I entered a room and found it was something I’d done before.”
“Okay,” Zwaantie whispered, not sure what on earth she’d gotten herself into.
They walked into what should have been a lobby but was completely upside down. Zwaantie froze. Ari stopped and turned to her. “You okay? Sometimes these can be a disorienting.”
Zwaantie nodded and concentrated on picking up one foot after the other. When she didn’t fall, she followed Sage and Ari.
“Ari,” boomed a big voice.
“Orion,” Ari said. Then the man came out from behind a large desk and threw his arms around Ari.
“I haven’t seen you in ages, man. Where you been?” Ari asked.
“Creating fun for everyone. It’s a big job.” Orion stepped away from Ari and looked over at Sage and Zwaantie.
“What are you doing here today?” Ari asked. “Usually you have your apprentices run this place.”
“Yeah, but I had this wicked dream last night, and I wanted to create something new. You’ll be the first to experience it, but not until the very end. How many rooms do you want to do today?”
Ari shrugged and looked at Sage.
“Let’s do three and nothing scary. I don’t want to overwhelm Zwaantie.”
“Three it is. And who is this Zwaantie?”
“She’s the high princess from Sol, and she’s going to marry Leo. Haven’t you seen the Tickers?”
He raised his eyebrows. “I don’t have time for silly gossip. Leo is a lucky man. Will you be throwing a party to introduce her to Stella?”
“No, she’ll come out at the lock-in,” Sage said.
“Save me a dance,” he said with a wink. “Now, Sol is a strange place. Have you ever been to a funhouse before?”
“No, we don’t have this kind of magic in Sol,” Zwaantie said.
“I know, but occasionally a traveling band of entertainers will have a room or two you can experience. Did you live in Zonnes?” Orion asked.
“Yes. I always attend the mage wagon, but I’ve never heard of such illusions.”
“Well, come then, experience what magic has to offer.”
They followed Orion down a small hall. Just before they entered the first room, Ari pulled Zwaant
ie aside.
“Nothing you see will be real. Each illusion will last about thirty minutes. If at any time you feel uncomfortable and want out, pinch me. I’ll try to stay close.”
They walked into a dark room. Ari took Zwaantie’s hand and led her to the middle of the room.
“Are you ready?” he asked.
“I guess.” Truthfully, she was nervous. This could be anything.
Ari and Sage clapped their hands three times, and suddenly Zwaantie was floating. The air around her sparkled, but it wasn’t quite right though. It was too thick. Zwaantie moved her feet because she wanted to turn around and see where the others were, but her feet didn’t feel right. She looked down. Her feet were gone. In their place was a fish tail.
She wasn’t floating in air. She was swimming in the middle of a fairytale. Mermaids. Ha! Years ago, she’d read stories about the ocean.
Hundreds of brightly colored fish swam below her. Zwaantie dipped her head and swam toward them. They scattered, but the image was still amazing. Something tugged on her tail. She spun and found Ari grinning above her. He waved his hand for her to follow. She laughed out loud, but no sound came out.
They swam into a group of large silver fish with long noses. One butted his head against Zwaantie’s thigh, and she petted his nose. He nudged her hand. These fish were just like that dog they had in the castle.
They played with them for a little bit, and Ari waved to Zwaantie again. He swam up, and within seconds their heads popped above the water. They found Sage perched on a rock gazing up at the sun.
The sun wasn’t quite right, not bright enough. But Zwaantie supposed they’d never seen a real sun, so what did they have to compare it to?
“Sagie, you’ve got a whole ocean, and you choose to sit up here watching the sun,” Ari said.
Sage shrugged.
“They always give me an ocean of some kind because it’s my favorite. Today though, I wanted to see what Zwaantie is missing,” Sage said.
Ari tugged at her fishtail. “Come play with us.”
She agreed and soon they were chasing bright orange and blue fish.
Without warning, the ocean disappeared, and they were once again in a dark room. Zwaantie patted her skin and hair. Dry.
Ari clapped his hands once more.
Stella and Sol Box Set Page 24