Jasmine’s face pulled down in a frown. “I don’t like Sera. She thinks she’s better than me because she is the maid of the Li’Daughter,” she protested.
“And you are now maid to the Water Princess,” Jill Anna pointed out. “That puts you ahead of her now. When was the last time you talked with her? She might actually want to associate with you now.”
Jasmine paused, having to think about that. “Well, I guess when you put it like that, it is different,” she admitted. “Still, I know what she really thinks about me.”
“Well, can you be nice at least?” asked Clara, sighing. “It is my birthday, after all.”
“The ball is tomorrow,” Jasmine pointed out.
“Yes,” said Clara. “But this is how my friends and I like to celebrate our birthdays back home. It’s tons of fun, just you wait and see.”
There was a knock at the door.
“That should be the snacks,” said Clara nodding for Jasmine to answer. The girl slid from the bed, scampered over, and threw open the door to reveal a couple kitchen girls bearing trays of various treats.
“Thank you, just put them on that desk,” said Clara.
The girls did so and then left the room.
“Oh,” said Jasmine. “Is that all for us?”
“Yup,” said Clara, walking over to inspect them. “One of the best parts of a girl’s night is making and eating fun snacks. Well … I’ve never participated in the making, lest I burn down the house, which is why I asked the cook to provide some for us tonight.”
“Can I eat one now?” asked Jasmine.
Clara tugged on the girl’s braid playfully. “Wait a moment. Dina should be here soon.”
Jasmine heaved a huge sigh and went to sit down beside Jill Anna. “The Water Princess is going to be so beautiful tomorrow,” she said, as she watched the needle darting in and out of the sky-blue fabric.
“Yes, certainly,” Jill Anna agreed. “But only if I can get this dress done in time.”
“I hope my inviting you to this thing won’t prevent you from finishing it on time,” said Clara.
“Oh, no, Water Princess, I would have been up late tonight anyway,” said Jill Anna. “I’m honored that you included me, though you didn’t have to.”
“Sure I did,” said Clara. “I don’t really know very many girls here, and the point of a girl’s night is that they know each other, so it’ll be fun.”
There was a knock at the door.
“I bet that’s Dina,” she declared, “I’ll get it myself this time, Jasmine.”
She threw open the door, and it was indeed Dina, her young maid trailing behind her by a few steps.
“Thank you for coming!” Clara said. “Step right in and we can get the party started.”
“Party?” Dina repeated, stepping inside, Sera behind her. “I thought you said we were having what you called a ‘girl’s night.’”
“Which is a form of party that my friends and I have frequently in my own world,” Clara explained. “And now that we’re all here, we can start having fun. Should we paint our fingernails or play Monopoly first?”
“Paint our fingernails? With what? What’s Monopoly?”
“Or we can do both at the same time,” Clara added, picking up the Monopoly game off of the shelf where she had stashed it. “Know what? Let’s do that. But we’ll set up the game first, of course. Everyone come gather in a circle on the floor. You too, Jill Anna, bring the dress with you.”
She set the example and sat down cross-legged on the floor, tearing the plastic wrap off of the game. She tossed it to the side and pulled off the lid. “It’s a somewhat complicated game, definitely a time consuming one,” she admitted, as she pulled out the board and set it on the floor. “But it’s the only one we have on hand, so we’ll have to make the most of it.”
“What’s with all the papers?” asked Jasmine, sitting down on the other side of the box, and pointing to all the fake money.
“Well, in my world, we have this funny idea that paper is worth something,” Clara explained. “We put special patterns on it, call it money, and use it to buy things. This isn’t real money, but we use it to buy things in this game.”
“What kind of things?” asked Dina, sitting down on the other side of the board. Sera sat down beside her.
“In this game, we buy properties,” said Clara, tapping the board. “And then, if we land on a property that someone else already bought, we use the money to pay rent to the person who owns it. The point of the game is to make all of the other players run out of money.”
“Oh,” said Jasmine, nodding as though she knew what Clara was talking about.
“Jill Anna, hurry up and get over here,” Clara repeated. “We can’t play without you.”
“Why not?” asked Dina. “Does the game require five players?”
“Actually, no,” Clara admitted. “You can play it with just two, but it’s much more fun with more.”
Jill Anna gathered up the dress and left the chair. She joined the others, choosing the remaining empty side. “I still need to finish your dress for tomorrow,” she pointed out, as she resumed sewing.
“You will,” Clara assured her. “And we’ll have fun at the same time.” She tore open the bag that contained the pewter playing pieces. “Now, first step is for each of us to select one of these to represent ourselves as we move about the board. This one is yours, Jill Anna.” She placed the thimble on GO.
“I already have a thimble,” Jill Anna protested, picking it up. “And this one is rather small…”
“It’s not for you to wear,” said Clara, shaking her head, taking it from Jill Anna, and putting it back on GO. “It will represent you and move around the board depending on what number you roll with the dice.”
“Oh,” said Jill Anna, nodding slowly. “I suppose it is appropriate.”
“Of course it is,” said Clara. She held out her hand to display the other pieces. “Now, the rest of you need to each pick one out to represent you.”
Jasmine reached out and grabbed the dog. “I want this one. It’s cute!”
“Lovely, then put it on the GO,” said Clara. “What about the two of you?” She raised an eyebrow in Dina and Sera’s direction.
“What is this?” asked Dina, picking up the car.
“It’s complicated,” said Clara. “It’s like a carriage, but without the horse. We call it a car in our world.”
“Without a horse?” gasped Dina. “How does it move?”
“Um … gas? A motor? As I said, it’s complicated. Why don’t I just put it away and we ignore it.”
Dina nodded and handed it back to Clara. “That sounds like a good idea to me. I suppose I will be this shoe.” She picked it up and put it on the GO.
“And you can be the iron, Sera!” said Jasmine, grabbing that piece and putting it on the GO. Sera glared but didn’t protest.
“It does suit you,” Dina agreed. And that seemed to settle the matter.
“I’ll be the battleship since I’m supposed to fight the dragon,” said Clara, putting that piece on the board and the rest in the box. “It’s what battleships do, after all. Well, not fight dragons, but they do fight.”
“Now what?” asked Dina.
Clara handed out the money and declared that, as the birthday girl and the Water Princess, she got to go first. She was glad that, for once, there was no one who knew to protest that or to protest her being the banker, a position that Kath usually claimed.
Once the four Klaranders understood the idea of the game, it went pretty well. Jill Anna was, perhaps, the slowest in catching on, but once she did, she started playing quite aggressively … in her passive, formal way.
“You said we were going to paint our fingernails,” Jill Anna pointed out, after a few rounds around the board.
“Oh, yes,” said Clara. “Jasmine, go get the basket of polish. Sera, would you mind getting a tray of snacks while she’s at it?”
Dina nodded for Sera to do
so, and both girls hopped up to do as they were bid.
“She’s awfully quiet,” Clara observed.
“Most of the girls are when compared to Jasmine,” said Dina. “I’m not certain how you put up with her, Water Princess.”
Clara shrugged. “I don’t put up with it, I enjoy it. She has a mind of her own and it’s going to take her places.”
“If you hadn’t interceded, it would have put her out of a job,” Jill Anna pointed out.
“Ah, but that’s why I interceded,” said Clara. “Because I saw potential where no one else did. I don’t know if I could stand a quiet puppet who just did whatever I told her to do without question.”
“Well, I suppose that, as Water Princess, you are entitled to your opinions,” said Dina. At that moment, the girls returned with the food and polishes. Clara accepted the box of polishes and had Sera put the tray down between her and Jasmine. “I think we can all reach it from there,” she explained. “Jill Anna might not, but she’s also sewing.”
She reached across and grabbed one for herself and bit into it, a pastry filled with some sort of meat. It was quite good.
“Fingernail polish?” Jasmine prompted.
“Yes,” said Clara. She picked up the basket of polishes and held them out. “Each of you may pick out one color. We’ll keep it simple since it’s your first time.”
Jasmine and Dina oohed and awed over them for a few moments before Jasmine selected a dark green and Dina grabbed a sparkly golden one. Clara raised an eyebrow at Sera, and after receiving a nod of approval from Dina, the girl chose one with shimmery white sparkles.
“You interested?” she asked, raising an eyebrow towards Jill Anna.
“I … what are they?” asked Jill Anna, the needle not pausing.
“Water Princess says they’re something like paint,” Jasmine spoke up. “But you put it on your fingernails and it’s pretty.”
“Yeah, something like that,” Clara confirmed. “And now that she mentions it, you probably don’t want to mix it with your sewing. So, I guess we can paint yours later – tomorrow maybe?”
“That would be fine,” said Jill Anna.
“All right,” said Clara, she turned back to the other three. “Now, Jasmine, since you’re closest to me, I’ll do yours first. Hold out your hands.”
It didn’t take long for Clara to paint all thirty fingers, and while instructing the owners to blow on them, she selected a sparkly dark blue that would complement her dress of tomorrow and painted her own nails.
“I think I like girl’s nights,” Jasmine commented, nodding.
“I’ll admit that this one has been fun,” said Clara, picking up the dice to roll – it was her move. “Though so far, all we’ve talked about is how to play Monopoly. That’s hardly a proper Girl’s Night conversation, and conversation is possibly the most important part there is to one.”
“Oh,” said Dina. “What is a proper conversation?”
Clara landed on one of Jill Anna’s properties – the Boardwalk, at that – and used the excuse of counting her rent to think a moment. Usually, she, Kath, and Rhoda mostly talked about whatever competition was coming up and which of them was sure to win. That … wasn’t really applicable with this group of girls. There was the clothing option, but with Jill Anna sitting there sewing her dress for tomorrow, probably an expert on the subject, Clara didn’t want that either. Books? Well, here they didn’t have much of anything beyond their Legends, and Clara had heard enough of them in the last two weeks, and she didn’t want to explain yet another thing from her world. Movies and actors were out of the question.
“Well,” she drew out the word to give her just a moment more. “I have one friend who inevitably turns the conversation to boys.”
“Boys?” repeated Jasmine, wrinkling her nose. “Why would you want to talk about them?”
Clara frowned as she realized that that probably wasn’t the best phraseology to use with these girls. “Young men,” she clarified. “We talk about who we think is cute and all that.”
“Young men? Cute?” asked Dina.
“Okay, it’s established, girls in my world have strange ways of talking about young men who we think are handsome,” she said, shrugging. “We discuss plans of getting the attention of said young men, and yeah…”
“Oh!” said Dina, she seemed to like this idea. This amused Clara since Dina was about Kath’s age. “So we talk about which of the soldiers we like?”
“If it’s a soldier you like, then we discuss,” said Clara. She grabbed another of the pastries and bit into it. “So, who do you fancy?”
Dina looked thoughtful for a few moments, and a smile spread across her face. “According to my mother, I’m too young yet to be thinking about such things, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t.”
“Youth never stopped my friend,” Clara returned. “She’s younger than me by two years, but still, she’s the one who drives the conversation to young men. So,” she leaned forward to give a conspiratorial air, “who is the young man who has gained your admiration?”
“Well … he’s not exactly young – though far from old – but he is handsome, and he isn’t married, so …”
“Many girls crush on older men at some point in their lives,” Clara admitted.
“Crush?” Dina drew back.
“More girl talk from my world,” Clara said with a shrug. “It means you like them, but you don’t know them well enough for it to be anything serious.”
“Oh. Yes, I suppose it is a bit like that,” Dina admitted. “Crush. It is an interesting word choice.”
“I didn’t make it up.” Clara shrugged. “So, who is your … soldier, I believe you implied?”
Dina was quiet for several seconds as she thumbed through her Monopoly money. Then she leaned forward and whispered, “Sir Henre.”
Clara drew back in surprise. “You mean my fencing instructor?”
“Yes, I do believe he fills that position. Isn’t he just so handsome?”
“I … suppose you could do worse,” said Clara, as carefully as she could.
“What do you mean?” asked Dina, her face falling. “You don’t think he’s handsome?”
“I will admit that the man has been blessed with some fine looks,” Clara said, stiffly. “But his personality needs some work.” She shuddered. “And I don’t approve of his methods of teaching swordplay. My mother could teach better than he does.”
“Your mother teaches swordplay?” asked Jasmine.
Clara tensed, realizing what she had said. “No … what I meant was that his methods are so bad, she could do better, even if she doesn’t know how to use a sword.”
“How could she teach the sword if she doesn’t know how to use one?” asked Jasmine.
“That’s the point.” Clara paused and handed two hundred dollars to Sera, who had just passed GO. “I don’t consider him a good teacher. Not only that, he’s annoying when he talks.”
“Just because he can’t teach you doesn’t mean that he’s a bad teacher,” said Dina, bristling. “I mean, the other two can’t seem to make any progress with you, either.”
“Oh, I made plenty of progress with Sir Martin before we got into actual fighting,” Clara countered. “He may be strict, but he clearly knows his stuff and how to teach it. Sir Rigel, though … my main problem with him is that he’s too easily persuaded. But Sir Henre…” she paused and shuddered. “Honestly, he may have the looks, but I think you need to keep looking.”
“Perhaps so,” said Dina, heaving a huge sigh. “Well … who do you admire, Water Princess? Sir Martin?”
“Sir Martin reminds me too much of my dad,” said Clara, shrugging. “I respect him greatly, but that’s about all.”
“Sir Rigel?”
“I’m not the type of girl who develops a crush on my teachers,” said Clara, shaking her head. “Truth be known, there really isn’t anyone I like, not really. Sure, I know a lot of good-looking young men, both here and back in my own
world, but I know that it needs to go beyond looks.” She shrugged. “I’m a tough girl to please, and besides that, I’d prefer to wait until I was a bit older before I started worrying about who I’m going to spend the rest of my life with.”
“A wise sentiment, Water Princess,” said Jill Anna.
“Of course, there is the Fire Prince, I guess,” said Dina, not sounding very happy with Clara’s response. “You don’t have to worry about ‘boys.’”
“I keep forgetting about him,” Clara admitted, with another shrug. “Haven’t met him yet,” – she wasn’t even sure he even existed, but didn’t mention that – “so I really can’t pass judgment on him.”
“Yes, but what do you think he’ll be like?” Dina prompted. “He’s sure to be handsome. Strong. I’m sure he’ll be good with a sword…”
“I don’t know about that one,” said Clara, shaking her head. “If he comes from my world, well, there aren’t very many people these days, male or female, who have been trained with the sword. It’s a dying art. There was a time when every actor could dance, sing, and sword fight, and now all they need to do is look good.”
“Actor? As in plays?”
“Ahh … yes.” It was Clara’s turn again, so she rolled the dice, and managed to land on one of her own properties. “Look, I really don’t want to build an image in my head for the guy, only to have it destroyed when I meet him because I can assure you that it will, so I’d rather not speculate at all. As long as he’s not a redhead … well, we’ll see what happens when I finally meet him.”
“Why not a redhead?” asked Jasmine.
“Because my friend – the one obsessed with romance – seems to think that I like them,” Clara explained.
“Why?”
“I have no idea; she won’t tell me,” said Clara. “But the truth of the matter is I don’t, and the more she teases me, the less I like them. So, I would much prefer if this Fire Prince, whoever he may be, isn’t a redhead.”
“Are you sure there isn’t anything else you’d like him to be like?” Dina prompted.
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