Smoke and Mirrors (13)

Thirteen

A Slice of Heaven

---

Naira was a small woman, but she had a huge personality.

And by huge, I mean that it had only been two minutes since dad had left her and I alone, and she had already planned to have the merfolk--there were merfolk here?!--make a special appearance in the aquarium walls to announce my arrival as I walked glamorously down stairs of water--dad would hold them until I made my way down, then the water would slip back into a tank in the corner--and I would be dressed in a flowing wash of special fabrics weaved by the fairies of the Eastern Kingdoms, which were known for their fine silks that were weaved so tightly, a large blanket could be pulled through a human ring.

She had a lot of interesting information and ideas, and she was just bursting at the seams to tell them all.

“Then, as you walk down the water stairs, every eye will be on you. You could wear a tiara of water! Ooooh, can you control fire well? What if the tiara is on fire, and your dress looks like water?! A perfect mixture of your father and your mother.” She sighed and looked at me. “We’ll straighten that hair of yours though. It’s much too frizzy to be left as it is.”

“Tell me more about the fairies,” I replied, eyes wide. I was like a kid in a candy shop, and she had the key to things I had only dreamt about.

She shrugged. “I suppose, since you were on the other side of Earth for so long, they could be interesting. But in all reality, they’re not that exciting. I mean, what can a flying bug do that I can’t?! Nothing.” She flipped her glossy black hair over her shoulder. “They work just like everyone else does. The fairies are good at fruit harvesting, weaving, and ambient music for parties. I think I saw a book of poems written by a fairy once. They can do just about anything they put their minds to.”

I blinked. “And this is all normal here?!”

She looked at her nails in boredom. “Mmhm. Perfectly normal.”

I tilted my head. “If this isn’t Earth, what is this land called?”

She dropped her hand and looked at me. “Well, in its own way, this is Earth. But in another way, normal humans can’t get here. It’s sort of a pocket on Earth. It’s a way to keep the rulers safe from harm, and safe from the humans interfering, you know? So really, we haven’t left Earth at all, we’re just on a different level.”

I nodded. That made no sense at all, but I could figure that out later. “What about the mermaids? Are there other mythical creatures here?”

She shrugged. “I mean, I guess so. Most creatures find this place by accident. And it’s usually only the last of a species that finds this place. The dodo birds, the dinosaurs, the mermaids--there are quite a few creatures in this land that aren’t on your side of Earth any more.”

“Wait, so mermaids used to be on my side? Can I see one? Where are they?” I gasped. “Are they like we show them in the movies?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know! I’ve never seen an Outsider movie. You’re getting distracted. We’re planning your debut Ball, okay? Not a grand tour.”

I sighed and dropped my shoulders. “Fine.”

The waterfall in the background gave the room such a peaceful lull, and I was so tired from everything that had happened today, that I really didn’t want to sit here and talk about a ball that I had no idea how to plan.

“Look, just, uh, pick something to serve guests, find me a dress you think is nice. Oh! Can I have any dress I want?”

She blinked. “Why of course! Do you have something in mind?”

I grinned. “Have you ever seen the movie Sabrina from 1954, starring Audrey Hepburn?”

“I told you, I don’t watch Outsider movies.”

“Right. Sorry, but I love the old classics. It’s a shame you haven’t been exposed to those masterpieces. Well, I want a beautiful dress like she wears in that movie. It’s white, with black embroidery all lacey and lovely across the front. It’s shorter in front than in the back, and--”

She cut me off. “Why don’t you draw it out and I’ll try my very best to explain it to the seamstresses. Now, what about the food? In the Northern Kingdoms, mainly Winter, Shadow, and Air, they make delicious soups and roasts. If you want something more fruity, light, or delicate, the Southern Kingdoms have great foods to choose from as well.”

I shrugged. “I have no idea. Everything here is new to me.”

She huffed. “Just pick something. I can’t make decisions for you!”

I yawned. “Uh--the Southern Kingdoms sound like they have interesting food.” I was curious what kinds of fruits and vegetables were here. “Do I have a room here? In the castle?”

She nodded. “Yes. When we finish here I will have a guard escort you back to your room.”

I stood and stretched. “Well, please forgive me, but I’m finished.”

“What? But we haven’t even gotten to the important things! You can’t go yet.”

“Sorry. It’s been a long day.” I gave an apologetic smile. Internally, I felt great. I couldn’t wait to get out of this.

She sighed. “Fine. Guards!” She stood and walked towards the door nearby. “Please escort Princess Tanwen to her room.”

I scrunched my nose at the title. Part of me found it exhilarating to be called a princess. I mean, I was literally fulfilling my five-year-old-self’s dreams. But it sounded so weird.

Two of the guards outside the door escorted me out of the gardens.

The hallway outside of the garden was stunning--unreal. It was made of glass tunnels that let me see the misty, transparent castle ahead through the water around us. Jellyfish danced graceful ballets over my head as we walked, our shoes clicking against marble. I stopped and gasped as a whale swam beneath us.

“Look at that!” I leaned towards the edge of the tunnel and placed my hands against the cold glass. “That is so cool!”

The whale swam slowly and beautifully. I was so close to it that each dimple and bump in it’s dark skin was easy to see.

My breath fogged the glass. I moved away and beamed at the guards. “You guys are so lucky to get to see this stuff on a daily basis! Back where I come from, people pay millions for views like this.”

The guards didn’t say anything in reply, but one pulled out a handkerchief and wiped the smudges from my hands and breath off the glass.

I shuffled my feet. “Sorry about that.”

They didn’t say anything in reply, but they didn’t move, either. We stood there, awkwardly standing. I waited for them to move.

“Oh, do y’all need to wait on me?” I started walking and they began moving. “Sorry, I didn’t know y’all had to wait for me.”

Eventually, we made it to my room, which was also glass. At first it looked like it was see-through and it freaked me out, but then I realised that I couldn’t see into the room. A layer of something white and sparkling kept the room from being visible.

I turned to the guards. “Thanks, guys.” I tried to give a curtsy, but I didn’t know what to do with my hands since I was wearing a dress. And my legs wobbled.

They bowed and I slipped inside my room.

I gasped again.

My bed was round and set on top of a round, giant aquarium. The bed was teal in color, and above it hung white, sheer draperies.

The wall opposite of me was concealed with white curtains, and the walls on both sides were covered in what looked like a white, mother-of-pearl finish to keep people from seeing in. The floors were shiny black marble and reflected the chandelier above easily, which looked like giant glass orbs of light that hung from the ceiling.

I was in heaven.

I giddily ran across the floor, jumped up the aquarium step--which scared a couple of fish--and leaped into the large bed.

Correction, now I was in heaven.

I needed to bathe before I fell asleep. It had been a long day, and I felt unusually drained from using my powers and escaping from Sterling’s castle, and a bath would do me good. Kicking off my shoes, I stepped off my bed and onto the cold black floor. Surprisingly, the floor wasn’t cold at all, but warm, as if it was heated from underneath. That was pretty awesome.

Padding towards the bathroom, I stopped and threw back the curtains that covered the wall.

I was staring into an endless abyss of deep blue.

I grinned and slid the curtains as far back as they would go, bathing my room in a blue glow.

I really wished Sterling hadn’t broken my phone. My instagram would really blow up with likes if I started a travel blog with the places I was seeing.

The warm waters of a bath still called to me though, so I abandoned the view and journeyed to the bathroom. There was a giant window into the sea right beside the bathtub, but there was also a curtain that I could hide the view away with.

The bathtub was huge, like a hot tub instead of a bath. The floors were black marble in here as well, and there was a giant closet in the wall which I found was full of beautiful clothing. I had never seen a closet in a bathroom before--let alone a walk-in one--but it made more sense than keeping the closet in the bedroom. If I ever went home, I wanted a closet in my bathroom now.

If I ever went home. Would I go home? I didn’t know. I mean, if I stayed here forever, I really wasn’t leaving anything behind on the other side. I didn’t really have any friends--none that still wanted to stick around--and I didn’t really know anyone yet at the Walmart I just started working at. College would be the only reason I would like to stick around longer, and that was online.

Besides, why would I need a career if I was a princess in this world?

I turned on the bathtub, which was actually really hard to figure out because powering it on was a push of a button and there were buttons on the side of the tub to determine how hot or cold it was.

Then a fish slipped out of the drain.

I gasped, my eyes wide as I watched the little fish, then I hurriedly cranked the water down where it wouldn’t be too hot for anything else in the pipes.

Were the pipes connected to the sea?

The fish swam back and jumped into a hole in the side of the tub. I had thought it was an unusually large overflow drain, but apparently it wasn’t just for water. . .

***

The next day, I woke up to a knock on the door.

At least, I guessed it was the next day, but when your window is a view of the sea, it’s actually kind of hard to determine if it’s night or day. The water was still a bit on the darker side than I remembered it being yesterday, so I guessed it was early in the morning. Or it was stormy.

“Who’s there?” I called out. My voice was groggy and cracked on “who’s”.

“Just a guard, Your Highness. I wanted to be sure you were okay? It’s been a while since you fell asleep.”

I sat up at that. “Has it? How long?” I scrambled to untangle myself from the softest, squishiest blankets the world has ever known and stepped onto the floor.

“Well, about twenty hours in your time, Your Highness.”

“Oh!” I stifled a yawn. “I’ll be right out!”

I hurried into the bathroom and threw some clothes on. Most things were very flashy and elegant, but I managed to find a few calmer things to make an outfit with. A pair of black slacks and a cream sweater. I threw my tan rain coat over the outfit, pulled my hair into a low messy bun, and slipped my shoes on.

I hurried out the door.

The two guards from last night had been replaced by two other guards. They said nothing when I walked out. I felt that I needed to apologize for making them wait on me for so long.

“You guys don’t need to wait for me, you know. I’m perfectly fine here! No danger.”

They said nothing.

“Are you guys not allowed to talk or something?” I asked.

They said nothing once more.

I sighed. “Lead me to wherever I’m supposed to go, I guess. I don’t know if there’s like a breakfast room or a meeting I need to be in or something?”

“I am permitted to lead you to the Breakfast Hall, Your Highness.” The guard bowed slightly after speaking and began walking ahead of me. The other guard walked behind us.

“Can you guys really not say anything? I have a lot of questions I could ask.”

“We are permitted to answer questions,” the guard behind me answered.

I beamed. “Coolio. So, what about. . . the people here? Are they kind? Are there any customs I should know about before I sit down for breakfast? Oh! Better yet. How do you guys know English?”

The guard in front of me spoke as he walked. “We don’t. We are not speaking English. Or any other Outsider language.”

I stopped walking and the guard behind me collided into me. I quickly stepped away and turned to face him.

“I beg your pardon, Highness!”

I shook my head. “No, it’s my fault. I’m sorry!”

I turned back to the other guard. “What language are we speaking?”

“It’s universal here, although other kingdoms have their own languages as well. It’s called Seragin. You don’t have to learn it because it’s natural for creatures born here to know it. Anyone can speak it if they’re born here.”

“How?! And why haven’t I realised we’re not speaking English? It sounds the same. I’m not doing anything different to form these words.”

“Seragin sounds different to Outsiders that aren’t born here, but since it’s a universal language, everyone understands it in their own language.”

I scratched my head. “I’m confused.”

Neither of them said anything.

We arrived at the Breakfast Hall, which was a large white hall with a window into the sea. A silver bouquet of flowers, silver trimmings on the wall, a silver chandelier, and some other silver things decorated the room.

I sat down at the long, white table alone. No one was there to eat with me, which was a rather odd feeling, since the table was so large.

Warm, gooey, cinnamon rolls were brought out on a silver tray and placed on the table. I grinned at the sight. I hadn’t had cinnamon rolls in a while, and they looked delicious!

Next, a bowl of diced fruits--some purple, some blue, some pink--was placed on the table. The staff brought out a few other trays of food, but my focus was on the cinnamon rolls.

I placed one on my plate and bit into it.

It crunched.

It was crunchy and savory. It was not a cinnamon roll at all, but more like a savory cracker-like bread.

“What is this?” I asked the woman standing against the wall. She was one of the waitresses. Or maids. I didn’t know.

“It’s a Biscorov, Your Highness. You eat fruit on it.”

I raised my eyebrows. “How? Can you show me? There’s a ton here, I’ll never eat all of this anyway.”

She blinked. “Um--I’m not allowed to--”

I smiled. “It’s an order. Come on, eat with me. I mean, unless you’re not hungry or something.”

She shook her head. “Your Highness, I cannot!” But then her stomach growled.

“Have you not eaten anything yet?”

She bit her lip and then slowly shook her head. “We are not allowed to until the last royal has eaten.”

My eyes widened. “Oh, no! You poor dears! Tell the whole servant staff to come here then! That is definitely an order!”

She nodded. “Uh--Yes ma’am, Your Highness!” She hurried into the doors. A little bit later, what almost seemed like an army came out from the doors.

An older woman with a chef’s hat walked up to me and folded her arms. “Your Highness, what are you thinking? We can’t eat with you.”

“Why not?” I asked.

Her thin, grey eyebrows shot up. “We’re not permitted!”

I grinned. “Well now you are.” I handed her a savory un-cinnamon roll. “Here. Eat.”

She slowly took it. “Thank you, Your Highness.”

“Of course!” I turned to the twenty-or-so servants before me. “Now, can anyone tell me how to eat one of these Biscorovs?”

A servant girl to my right tore off a layer on the un-cinnamon roll. She spooned the fruit from the fruit bowl onto it and took a bite.

I copied her. It wasn’t as good as a cinnamon roll, but it was good. The crunch from the Biscorov went well with the juiciness of the fruit. It was much better with the fruit on it.

One piece of fruit tasted like a toffee apple. It was sweet and soft, like a strawberry. But it was purple.

I wanted to ask what the fruits were called, but I was afraid of looking ignorant or dumb. I made a mental note to ask someone later.

After the servants and I had finished our breakfast, I was rushed away to have my measurements taken for a dress for the ball, then I had a full day of discussing boring ball details. I mostly nodded and agreed to whatever was suggested, since I didn’t know what was happening anyhow.

That evening, I dined with my father. It felt strange to call him ‘dad’--he was so elegant and regal. And I barely knew him. When I thought of a dad, I thought of the dad on Leave it to Beaver. He was someone who was there for his family. I couldn’t fault my dad for not being there for me--after all, it was mom who took me and left--but I still couldn’t ignore the gaping chasm between us. But I really wanted us to have a good relationship. I did. It would just take time.

The next couple of days blurred together with preparations for the ball. I didn’t see father much besides Dinner. He was usually so busy. I hoped that, after the ball, we’d have more time to talk. Before I knew it, the day of the ball was here, and I was in my room preparing.

By the way, allow me to describe an image of what getting ready for a ball in a magical kingdom looked like.

There were fairies. They were each about the length of my hand, and their styles were extremely varied. Apparently, it was important for fairies to let their individualism show.

A fairy on my right snapped her tiny, glowing fingers and a tall mug of what smelled like coffee appeared on my desk. “It’s magic,” she informed me. “It will keep you energized for the duration of the ball. Trust me, you won’t want to attend without it.”

I raised an eyebrow at the small, purple-clothed fairy. Her hair was dyed half black and half red, and she wore purple leather gloves up to her tiny elbows that matched her purple dress.

“Is it safe?” I asked warily. Wasn’t a guard or something supposed to test things before royals consumed them? Did I need to call someone?

No, that was too much work for a cup of coffee.

“Perfectly safe,” she replied.

I took a sip, bracing myself in case it tasted like beef broth or something weird instead of coffee. It tasted like coffee. Normal, wonderful, coffee. In fact, I didn’t even like coffee, and this tasted amazing.

“This is wonderful!” I commented. “No bitterness at all! How do you Othersiders know about coffee?”

She smiled. “We travel between our sides all the time. There’s a lot of things you have that we have as well!”

I drank the rest of the coffee while the other fairies tugged and arranged my hair for the evening.

I wore a white dress. The dress was similar to Audrey Hepburn’s dress in Sabrina, with the black embroidery and the long trail behind me. I had never worn a more lovely outfit, and in the instance of this dress, all of the vintage movies I had ever loved came to my rescue.

The fairies selected pieces of jewelry for my costume. I wasn’t a big wearer of jewelry, but I loved the necklace they selected for me. It was a simple black choker and matched the black details on the dress perfectly.

“Now for the makeup,” one fairy chirped. She had been quiet until now. She tugged open the drawers in my desk and withdrew small pots of facial creams and what looked like foundation.

The fairies began to apply my makeup.

“Should we do anything fun with your eyeliner?” she asked.

I shrugged. “I’m not a huge makeup person. Just do what you think looks best!”

She snapped her fingers and both of my eyes were perfectly lined. I always hated eyeliner because it was so hard to apply, but she made it look so simple!

When they’d finished their jobs, they hurried out the door, leaving me alone. I stepped in front of the mirror to see the full impact.

I had never worn anything like this, but I genuinely looked like a glamorous movie star from the 50s. My lips were painted a dark red. I never would have tried the color before, but it looked. . . good. Different, but I liked it. My hair was pulled up behind my head with loose strands framing my face, and I wore long, black gloves.

I was escorted by two guards to the ballroom, where music was already playing.