him I wasn't interested. Why?" She asked.
"If a male asks a female to let him lick her nose, he is offering himself in marriage."
Yins jaw tightened, she felt bad for saying no now, but he had asked something so strange of her, she hadn't known what to do except say no. I came here to get married, or, at the very least, find myself a suitor, but here I am on my first day, and I've already made a mess of it. Yin pouted to herself. If only she knew better.
"Is there any chance I might see him again?" Yin asked.
"I'm not sure, there are plenty of Meregals here in the city. Why would you go back if he frightened you?"
"He didn't frighten me," Yin explained, "He asked if he could help clean me, and I refused because I didn't understand why he was asking."
"I'm sure that is a reasonable explanation." The Meregal said.
"What is your name anyway?" Yin asked, "You've been helping me out a lot, but I'm not sure what I should call you."
The Meregal smiled, "My name is Jovie. King Pen usually asks his staff to lay low, and a part of that is by staying anonymous."
"Why? He introduced me to his personal guards. What makes you different?"
"I represent the servants in the tower." Jovie explained, "We're somewhat disposable because we only care for the menial work."
"That seems kind of rude to me." Yin said.
"It isn't all bad. King Pen seems to like me well enough, and I think that should suffice." Her eyes grew distant as if thinking of some far away memory. "I think he likes me though."
Yin held herself in, thinking again of the Meregal she'd met from the grasslands. "Have you told him this?" She asked, thinking her father would be happy to have someone serviceable like Jovie.
"No," Jovie sighed, "I want to tell him I like him too, but something always gets in the way."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, he's so busy all the time, I never get to sit down with him like I used to."
"So you were close once?"
"Yes." She sighed to herself again, as if letting go of some long held secret inside of her, "We used to talk a lot right after Tren died. He came to me often to talk it through, but he was afraid because he felt he wasn't meant to move on."
"What if you talk to him about it? I can ask him to come to my room, and you can be there as well."
"I don't know. I want to, but I'm afraid, Yin."
"If you are the friends you think you are, then it would be good for you to talk to him." Yin began, "Real friends stick up for each other regardless of choices that they may make."
Jovie looked at Yin with new respect, "You're quite knowledgeable for being so alone in life."
Yin shrugged it off, "I watch what other people do. That's how I learn what relationships are like."
"I just want you to know that I am very jealous."
"You know there isn't much to be jealous of."
"I know, I just wish I knew how to approach people more efficiently."
"You seem to do a pretty good job, if you ask me."
"Well, life isn't all sunshine and roses when you look under the hood. My relationships aren't based on knowing, their based on desire."
"Desire?"
"I'm only interested in the physical part of a relationship. The touching and kissing part."
"So?"
"Most people would say that's bad. I've done some bad things Yin, I don't think anyone will accept me if I were to tell them."
"That's bologna. I know for a fact people are more willing to accept an open, impure heart, than a closed, pure heart any day."
"Then you think it's a good idea to talk with your father?"
Yin mulled it over, "I don't know. I've only just met him, and he might be something different than he pretends to be."
"Pretends?"
"People always seem like they're pretending to be themselves to me. I don't really know why, but if someone is different, I look at them through my eyes and see what makes them different."
"Well, Yin, that's quite a perspective. I'll talk with your father about it when I get home. Are you sure that's okay with you?"
Yin nodded her head, "If I were to ask for anyone I've met so far, I would say you'd be the best Meregal to have around as a mother."
Jovie blinked, "I'm very happy to hear that."
It occurred to Yin then than Jovie might not have been interested in her father the way she'd expected her to be.
"That is part of why you would like him, right?" Yin asked hesitantly.
"Of course." Jovie responded, "I just hadn't made the connection before."
"Well, it still makes no sense to expect something that won't occur if my Father isn't willing to accept your invitation."
"I know." She said, "But we'll still get the chance to be friends anyway." Jovie smiled as she said this, glancing approvingly at Yin.
Jovie pulled into the lot in front of the Tower and got out, handing the keys to the schofur who sat at the door. She turned to Yin, "I'll be back to your room once I'm done talking to him."
Yin watched her go into the front doors of the tower, a loping stride in her step, anticipating her conversation with King Pen.
It didn't take much time for Yin to return back up to her room on the eighteenth floor. She waited impatiently for Jovie's return, pacing about once she'd taken her bags off and put them on her dresser. Yin was sure there had been a fall out between the two of them, and she convinced herself her father had kicked her out, leaving Yin responsible for their failure. A time went on though, Yin became increasingly confident in their success. I hope they've bonded, she thought, I hope they like each other the way I wanted them to. It would be a total shame if it weren't true.
The door of her room opened then, and Jovie entered, King Pen trailing just behind.
Yin's ears fell flat against her head, afraid of what this meant.
"Yin." King Pen said, "I came here with Jovie to provide you with satisfaction.""What do you mean?" She asked.
"We're going to perform the mating ritual for you so that you will understand our customs."
Yin's heart leapt in her throat, "Does that mean you've decided to mate?"
King Pen laughed to himself, "It all depends on what Jovie says, doesn't it?"
Yin smiled and took her place on the floor, next to her bed.
"Watch and learn." King Pen said.
Jovie sat down off to the side.
"Ma'am." He began, "May I lick your nose?"
"Yes." Jovie smiled, and flopped onto her side. "Yin, pay attention, your part is quite simple, but you must play it with poise."
Yin's father approached her, and licked her nose.
"Now, we are one." Jovie said.
Yin watched with quite amusement when the simple affair took place.
"Yin," Her father said, "I know this is your room, but can I have a moment to speak with Jovie in private?"
Yin nodded and left the room. She sat down in the hallway and stared at the flickering lamps. They were soft, their glow complimented by the deep red, crushed velvet walls on which they hung.
Yin wasn't sure what would become of her life here in the Meregal city, Jasper, but she hoped she could live happily here. She'd made friends with her father, and now she was destined to have a mother too. The very thought of it sent chills down Yin's spine. She moaned to herself over the loss of her job in the palace down in her city Mentas but Marcus would be returning soon. She'd not had the chance to properly acquaint herself with him in the short while they'd been together but she'd begun to fear his brooding presence. Yin almost wished she didn't have to see him again.
When over half an hour had passed and Jovie and King Pen hadn't come out, Yin decided to go downstairs. The thought of it sounded damp and dark to her and she unwillingly confessed she would rather do nothing than go downstairs. Yin hummed a tune to herself, a short bar of music she'd timed with her own rhythm. Time continued to pass and Yin frowned into her reflection in the brass lamps. She'd be
come bored with the idea of waiting and stood up on all fours.
The room was empty when she returned and nothing seemed out of place. Yin shrugged to herself and set up the kitchen with the intent of cooking something to relieve her boredom. She pulled a pan down from where it hung above the stove and was in the middle of frying an omelet when an alarm sounded all throughout the tower. Red lights flashed from the corners of the room and the noise was deafening.
Yin put her paws over her ears and turned the stove off. A Meregal wearing a green cap ran in.
"Ma'am! the building is on fire! I need you to come with me!" He offered his paw.
Yin grabbed it, "What happened?"
"Someone sabotaged the electrical system on the third floor."
"Who-"
"No time for questions! We have to leave!" He pulled her from the room and ran down the hall.
"We'll have to use the rope system on the backside of the tower to get down. Can you handle that?"
"I don't know! Why is this happening?"
The Meregal pulled her alongside a window and smashed it through with his paw. "I can't tell you! Shut up and get out!"
He grabbed Yin underneath her shoulders and tossed her out. Yin yelped as she landed on a ledge outside. It was a fire escape with ladders and ropes leading down to the ground far below.
"Grab a rope and hold on! It'll lower you down to the next rope! Grab that next and hold on until it drops you off at the bottom!"
"Okay." Yin turned and grabbed the first rope, her nerves making her paws sweaty.
An explosion rocked the building from the hall behind and the body of the Meregal flew out, slamming hard against the iron railing next to Yin. He groaned.
Yin had fallen out into the air, her paws still clutching the rope when the explosion had hit. She dropped like
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