Royals Rise

by K. Manna

  CHAPTER THREE

  FROM ROCKS TO RUBIES

  Lottie was a talker. Man, could that girl talk. She babbled all through the short car ride to the palace. My stomach still had knots in it from worrying so much: worrying about what we would be expected to do here and if it would be difficult; worrying about being one of the chosen ones that would stay and live at the palace forever. Forever! I didn’t know how to fathom that thought.

  The male driver stopped the car. “All righty, we’re here. Please make sure you take all your belongings with you.”

  We stepped out of the fancy ride. Weaving her arm through mine, Lottie stopped in complete awe. “Holy wow! Look at this place! Photos do not do the palace justice. This place is huge and amazing. Just think, we might actually get to live here on this incredible island, in this gorgeous palace, with the royal family, and …”

  Cutting her off, I said, “Yes, I know this place is perfect. Now, quit standing there just talking and let’s join the rest of the group.”

  Lottie looked ahead and noticed all of the others running toward the palace. “Yeah, you’re right. Come on! Hurry!”

  Lottie took off, and I followed behind her. A huge fountain in front of us sprayed water high into the air. The bright blue lights that glowed from underneath the clear, bubbly water reminded me of the crystal-blue ocean water from a dream I had a few nights before. Eli had been in that dream, too.

  Where are you, Eli? What are you doing right now? I wish you were here with me.

  Everyone had gathered in front of the many steps that stretched before the palace doors. Lottie and I joined them.

  A middle-aged man with dark, slicked-back hair and wearing a finely pressed suit stood smiling at us at the bottom of the stairs. “Welcome everyone. You have finally arrived at the legendary royal palace. You have all been truly blessed to have been chosen out of so many individuals to take part in the Royals Rise.”

  He was interrupted by a shorter man, who appeared at the doors then rushed forward. They whispered quietly to each other, and then the short man scurried back into the palace.

  The greased-hair dude continued on. “Please call me Sir Felix. Now, I am sure you have all had a very long day, so we will begin by showing you to your rooms. I would like each of you to partner with someone of the same sex. This person will be your roommate until the Royals Rise event. Chop-chop!”

  Lottie weaved her arm through mine again. We both knew that we would choose each other. We hadn’t talked to any of the other girls yet, and I really didn’t want to get stuck with Onnika. Gage paired up with a baby-faced guy who had ridden with us in the Z-Speed van. He had olive skin; pouty, juicy lips; and straight, sparkling-white teeth. It looked like everyone had a partner but one: the person that I hadn’t been quite sure if they were a guy or a girl. My best guess was that she was a girl. There was an uneven number of us, and I felt bad for her.

  “She can room with us. We don’t mind,” I said to Sir Felix.

  The lonely girl looked irritated. “Um, he said boys with boys and girls with girls, honey. I ain’t no girl.” Now he raised his shirt exposing a flat, hairless chest. “Do you see any boobies on this chest?”

  Okay, now I feel bad and really dumb.

  I’m sure everyone else had been unsure about his gender, too, but the rest just laughed at my mistake.

  Sir Felix waved his hand to silence us. “Quiet, everyone. I forgot that there is an odd number of you, and every room has two beds each, so …” Sir Felix looked at the guy. “You will get your own room. What is your name, son?”

  “My name is Indee,” he replied.

  “Okay, Indee and all of you other young men will follow me. I will take you to your rooms. You will be on a different floor than the young ladies, so don’t get any ideas. There are cameras everywhere, so act appropriately.” Sir Felix looked back at the palace doors and shook his head. “Where is she?”

  Within seconds, as if she had heard him, a short, owl-eyed woman came through the doors. Her large, alert eyes were scanning the crowd. “Hello, I am Leenda. Ladies, please follow me, and I will show you to your rooms,” Leenda said with an Eastern accent.

  Lottie grinned at me anxiously, squeezed my arm, and then pulled me forward to follow Leenda to our room. As we began to walk up the marble stairs, one of the other girls tripped and stumbled forward, bumping into the girl in front of her. No one laughed, except Onnika—surprise, surprise.

  When we reached the tall, silver, arched double doors, I took a deep breath in and let it out to prepare myself for this once-in-a-lifetime experience. Part of me felt nervous and scared, but another part of me began to grow more excited. I braced myself as I walked through the open doors, and what I saw next made my eyes open wide with disbelief. Long strings of sparkling lights hung from the ceiling. Checkered black-and-white marble gleamed underneath our feet. White-marble walls reached high toward the arched, engraved ceiling. Large white pillars stretched from floor to ceiling. Furniture draped in royal blue dotted the large open space. And a massive colorful fish tank extended across half of a wall. Only one word could describe this moment: INCREDIBLE!

  Who wouldn’t want to live in this magnificent place?

  Leenda directed us to a large staircase. “Please stand still, and the staircase will begin to take us up.”

  The moving staircase ended at the fourth floor where we followed Leenda down a long hallway. After everyone else had been shown to their rooms, Leenda stopped in front of a tall, purple door at the end of the hall. A silver diamond marked the front of the door, and within the diamond was the number “412.” Underneath the room number, at about doorknob level, was another door, a small peekaboo door. It looked like a door out of a fairytale, something an elf or wizard might use.

  “This will be your room. There is a private bathroom inside for your convenience. If you should need anything, you can press this silver button here, and someone will assist you over the intercom. I will be back in a little bit to bring you down for dinner. Take this time to check out the room and get situated.”

  Lottie went inside of the room and opened the peekaboo door. “This door is awesome. Hey, Leenda, what’s the point of it? It’s so low, almost to my waist. Why not just open the big door?”

  Leenda gave a little smile. “Many of the royal women believe that it is improper for them to be seen without makeup, their hair fully primped, and wearing an appropriately beautiful gown. Late at night, when guests staying in these rooms call for such things as a cup of tea, they use these little doors to retrieve it without being seen in their nightgowns. On the subject of clothing,” Leenda took out a strip of measuring tape from her pocket, “I need to take your measurements for your wardrobe, shoe sizes, also. Someone will come to fill the walk-in-closet with simple but comfortable clothing that you will be wearing daily.”

  Leenda took our measurements while putting each of our sizes into a digital, handheld, touchscreen pad with her speedy fingertips. She then rushed off to attend to her other responsibilities.

  Lottie threw her bag on the bed furthest from the window. “I need to wash my hair.” She went into the bathroom. “Awesome! We have a hot tub!”

  I threw my bag on the king-sized bed near the window and checked out what our room had to offer: two massage chairs; a large, flat-screen Z-Screen, of course; a stereo system; a small refrigerator; a walk-in closet; a high table with stools, and more. We had nearly every comfort one could want except for a phone and a computer.

  That will take some getting used to.

  Our room stood on the far end of the palace overlooking a large green patch of land. From the window, I could see a colorful flower maze. The maze led to a wooden footbridge that passed over a small stream. Three large willow trees swayed back and forth with the wind. Heavy-looking statues of lions and men lined the cobblestone path. Even the bushes were carefully manicured, many into
the shape of crowns and spirals. This whole scene looked so peaceful and perfect; it was just the thing to calm my turbulent mind. The roller coaster in my head was quickly replaced by a serene pool of rippling water.

  BEEP!

  The Z-Screen had an announcement. I turned to watch. The spokeswoman started by announcing the fifteen names of the “chosen ones” for the Royals Rise event. As each name was announced, a picture of that person was displayed. After the woman announced my name, a totally dorky and embarrassing picture of me popped up on the screen.

  “Oh, real cute. I bet Eli is laughing hysterically at that right about now,” I murmured, rolling my eyes.

  In the picture, my eyes were half-closed, my nostrils were flared, and my lower lip curled in as I chewed on it. It was such a horrible picture, and for everyone and their mom to see.

  Sooooo embarrassing.

  Lottie came out of the bathroom almost a year later, with clean hair and looking refreshed.

  “You take long,” I said.

  Lottie smiled. “Well, it takes time to be looking this good, girl. Kidding. Really, I’m not that conceited. It took so dang long because I am having a bad hair day for the second time today.”

  Someone knocked heavily at the door, startling us.

  Leenda yelled out, “Time to eat, girls!”

  And with that, my stomach growled as if to say, “Feed me.”

  Downstairs in the giant dining room, we were told to find ourselves a seat at a long rectangular table. Taking a seat on the end, I turned to place my legs underneath the table.

  BAM! My shin banged against something hard.

  “Ouch! Dammit!” I raised my voice louder than intended.

  All eyes shifted toward me, and I saw a smirk on Onnika’s face.

  Her face must be permanently stuck like that. She seems to enjoy when people are in pain.

  Grabbing at my shin to massage the pain away, I said, “Oh, just banged the good old shin. Don’t mind me.”

  Well, no wonder; the table leg is in the shape of a huge lion’s paw. This dang tablecloth makes it hard to notice.

  Two young women wearing blue aprons came out and began to hand each of us a thick menu. One of them almost looked identical to Leenda but years younger. The huge menu listed all kinds of food. One person probably could eat something different every day at every meal for months with a menu like this. There were many dishes I had never even heard of.

  Oh, the create-your-own pasta bowl sounds yummy. Oh, wait, or I could create my own decked-out pizza. A juicy cheeseburger sounds awesome right about now, too. Ah, I can’t choose. Here, I got it!

  My eyes shot right to the seafood. It had been so long since my family could comfortably afford seafood. Seafood had become expensive in recent years. My eyes scanned the list.

  Watch, I bet Gage will order the octopus. Nasty!

  Gage used to try and get me to eat octopus, but the tentacles grossed me out. The thought of those wiggly tentacles with the little circular sucker-looking things weirded me out. As much as Gage tried to get one into my mouth, it wasn’t going to happen. And swinging the tentacle in front of my face never seemed to help. Actually, it only made it worse.

  Leenda’s look-alike began to take orders at my end of the table, and when she reached me she said, “Hello, my name is Keendra. What would you like to order, ma’am?”

  Raising my eyebrows, I smiled. “Um, I’m sorry, but I just have to ask. Are you related to Leenda? You two look so much alike.”

  “Yes, I am her daughter.” Keendra smiled, turning her head to look at the other server. “And that is my sister, Bridgeet.”

  “Really? That’s cool that you all work together.” I handed her my menu. “Well, I’m going to have the crab legs with the garlic mashed potatoes and green beans. Thank you.”

  Lottie ordered right after me, and I noticed that she didn’t say thank you when she had finished ordering. I honestly hadn’t heard anyone be courteous to the servers besides me, and that bothered me.

  What is with all of these people? Way rude.

  I nudged Lottie under the table. “You should have said thank you.”

  Lottie looked at me with a weird expression on her face. “Okay, Mom. Who cares?”

  “Well, I care. I think it’s rude. She’s working while we get this awesome free meal. I work at my aunt’s coffee shop, and it is so annoying when people are rude and not appreciative. The way people act actually does make a difference. A huge difference. So are you telling me that if you did something nice for someone, you wouldn’t care if they said thank you or even acknowledged you?”

  Slouching in her chair, Lottie replied, “Yeah, I get it. I guess that I would care. It’s nice to hear when people actually have something nice to say. Really, I think people just don’t think about that kind of stuff much.”

  I sighed. “Yup, that’s exactly it. Well, I didn’t mean to lecture you or anything. It’s just hard not to notice that kind of stuff, especially when I work with customers.”

  Within minutes, Keendra walked out with a tray filled with plates stacked high with food. My eyes opened wide. “The food is here already. That was fast. They must have power cooks in there or something.”

  We ate our food like a pack of wolves eating their prey. Almost everyone who sat around me ate every last piece of food on their plate. The food tasted of awesomeness, and I felt like my tummy might burst from eating so much.

  No dessert for me tonight. No more food can fit inside of this belly.

  Sir Felix entered the room and placed his hands inside of his front pockets. His tall, slender body stood still as a statue. His high-collared shirt made his neck look really long. Finally, he said,“I hope that all of you are pleased with your meals. When you have finished eating, I would like you to come with me. The royal family has not forgotten that today is your birthday, and the family would like for all of you to receive a special gift.” Then he added with a small grin, “And if you would like, you can always request dessert for later.”

  No one had to think twice. Everyone rose from their seats, wide eyed and full of excitement, eager to see the special birthday gift that awaited them. We followed Sir Felix down a long hallway where pictures of great royal ancestors hung. Each of their faces had been painted so realistically that it felt as if they were staring right at me.

  Creepy!

  One of the faces reminded me of my fourth-grade teacher: an older woman with thick eyebrows, squinty eyes, and a mouth that curled up on the left side. She was a strict, cranky old lady who seemed way too old to have been teaching. I remember two little boys in our class used to move her things since we could all tell that her memory was slowly fading. Everyone had to try extremely hard not to laugh while the teacher searched all over the room for her misplaced things. I don’t think that teacher ever figured out what those boys were up to.

  I wonder what ever happened to her.

  Sir Felix’s measured pace couldn’t keep up with our excitement; we nearly trampled the man when he came to a stop at a pair of large, ornately engraved doors. The inscription on the doors read “Goodies Galore.” Sir Felix stood at attention with his chest out and his head held high, waiting for the voices to silence. After clearing his throat, he announced, “This is the goodies room where you will find many things to choose from. You may each pick one item as a birthday gift given to you by the royal family. Items that come as a set, such as shoes or earrings, will be connected together and will count as one gift. Don’t forget that there are cameras; no unsavory behavior will be tolerated. And if one should steal, they will end up empty handed. Does everyone understand?”

  The group said “Yes” in unison with heads nodding up and down.

  Sir Felix clicked the latch, slowly opening the doors. “You have exactly one hour to make your decisions. Run along now.”

  And so we did,
excitedly. A large, brightly lit room opened before us. The room was skillfully designed to make visitors feel as if they were outdoors. The floor, what wasn’t covered in potential birthday loot, was made from mottled green stone that, at a glance, could be mistaken for sod. The walls were painted to look like vast sweeping landscapes, and a high, mosaic-covered ceiling offered a view of the clear summer sky. From wall to wall, the room held tons of goodies, just like Sir Felix had said it would. Many of the guys went in the direction of the electronics, video game systems, and instruments. But us girls were more attracted to the wide variety of clothing, shoes, and accessories. Everything was of the highest quality, made by the best tailors and designers, and of the most exotic and expensive material.

  One item? How can I pick only one item when there is so much to choose from? I could shop here all day if they would let me.

  After roaming around the room for almost the full hour, I had to decide on only one of the items that I held in my hands: a really cute, deep-purple purse that was studded with silver; a slightly shimmery teal dress that hung to the knee; or a pair of gray ankle boots with side buckles. All were so stylish and cute and would probably take me months—maybe even years—to afford with the money that I made at the coffee shop.

  Laying the items in front of me, I asked, “Hey, Lottie, which one should I get? Seriously, I can’t decide.”

  “The dress. Definitely, the dress. Isn’t that the only one in your size? Get the dress. It is calling your name. I can hear it.”

  Suddenly, a hand grabbed the dress from me. With irritation, I turned to see Onnika holding the dress up to herself.

  “What the hell are you doing? That dress is mine.” My face grew warmer with every word that flew out of my mouth.

  Onnika replied, “Well, I want this dress, and it looks like it could be my size.” She looked down at the tag. “And it is. This color is my fav, and it looks perfect with my complexion. You have other things to choose from. Pick the boots or the purse. Really, it’s not a big deal.”