The following story is not, strictly speaking, a transgendered story.  It is, however, fully steeped in many of the themes that will appeal to a number of those in this community, which is why I have sought to post it here.  For all of our readers, it contains themes involving graphic love and non-graphic sex between women.  If this topic offends you, please read other stories.  Note also, that Lolita refers to Elegant Gothic Lolita, a dark but exquisitely feminine form of Japanese street fashion, and does not connote sexual activity involving minors in any form.  It is a style that was popularized by Mana, a male, and by many other Visual Kei musicians who are also male.  Lastly, the pictogram drawn within the story is the Japanese Kanji, or word, for storm or tempest.    What this story is about, is finding out just how far you sometimes have to go, to be with the one who will love you for all time.

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The Princess and the Other Pea

  

By

  

Sarah Lynn Morgan

Edited by Amelia_R.

    

  Long ago, there was a small but beautiful little kingdom nestled in a pleasant valley between the mountains and the sea.  A kindly king and his wife, who lived in a castle at the head of the valley with their beautiful daughter and their brave son, ruled the people there with wisdom and justice.  Protected by the mountains, the people of the kingdom were happy and contented, because in their valley they had known only peace.  The warm sun shone often, and their crops and children throve in the warm breezes coming in from the sea.  It was really a little sickening, but the people of the kingdom did not realize this.  They also did not realize that at that very moment, a storm was making its way through the mountains into the valley.

  

~ ~ ~

  

  The lightning flashed once again, even before the thunder of the last bolt had fled away through the hills.  This is some shit, she thought.  What should have been an excellent Friday night had turned bad.  Real bad.

  Arashi had been invited to a festive little party at a house in the hills, which should have been a golden opportunity for two reasons.  First, it was a mixed party with many of her goth-girl friends invited, which was always nice.  It had given her a chance to wear the dress she had just finished along with her new platforms for the first time.  More importantly, she had found out that Maryanne was going to be there.  Maryanne was not the least bit gothic, but Arashi thought she was quite simply the most beautiful girl she had met in months, and had been waiting for weeks for the right opportunity to really talk with her.    

  The house was harder to find than she had thought it would be, so she was late.  Then, no sooner had she walked in than Lana’s voice rang out, “Oh look! Someone must have thought it was a costume party again!”  Lana was such a bitch.  Fortunately, she was also easy to ignore, because she was so rude that no one really liked her.    

  Even as the only Loli there, most were familiar with Arashi’s sense of style, and almost everyone went out of their way to tell her how very beautiful her outfit was.  Hearing that could cure a lot of the little ills that shallow people like Lana inflicted on her.  Most people were nice, and her friends usually stuck up for her because she was so quiet and polite; at least that was, they did until they found out that she could take care of herself.  Some of her closer friends even seemed to get a kind of sick kick out of it when people underestimated her.  

  Later in the evening, things had just begun to look better, when the party god of chaos decided to play once more.  Maryanne and she were sitting alone a quiet corner, while she explained everything EGL.  Maryanne’s beautiful eyes were flashing with genuine interest while she told her about all the layers of lace that went into her outfit, how she had made it, and about Mana, on whom she had first seen it styled.  Maryanne had just moved closer to her to feel the fabrics of her dress, and had begun asking questions like a real convert, when some freaky guy she had never met decided to moved in on them.  

  

  He was drunk, so he did not pick up on the blunt hints from Maryanne and herself that if he was looking for companionship for the evening, he might have better luck at the farm down the road.  In minutes, Maryanne was excusing herself to the ladies’ room, just to get away.  Now seeing his opportunities rapidly diminishing, he decided to try charm.  Translated, he went from being merely annoying to downright obnoxious.  Another guy, seeing what was coming, even tried to call him back over to the bar, but it was too late.  The drooling fool had actually stepped in front of her, and reached out and begun to play with the pewter cross that hung between her breasts.  He was copping a cheap feel right in front of everyone!  Enough was enough!  

  The last she saw of him, he was curled up in a fetal position on the floor gasping for breath.  She sweetly said, “Excuse me!” in her soft voice, and stepped over him to look for Maryanne.  When she got to the restroom, Maryanne was not there.  She looked all around, but Miss Marianne was nowhere to be found.  Then someone told her that she had seen her leave with someone else, maybe on a run to the store for more wine.  Disappointed, she decided to head for home herself, even though several friends had tried to talk her into staying with them.

  

  Several miles down the valley, her car died.  This did not surprise her.  It was the certain result of too much money on Japanese shoes, and not enough on keeping her “classic” car running.  When she pulled her cell out of her purse, it became obvious that the cell-phone gods were fucking with her too.  No signal this far up in the hills.  Oh well, at least no one would steal her vintage pile of junk while she was not looking, she thought as she began to walk to find a phone.    

  Soon, her new platform boots were killing her because they were not broken in yet.  There was nothing in sight but a road, and the storm that was forecast for tomorrow had arrived early, and was about to dump on her too.  “Join the party” she muttered miserably, as she trudged down the hill, wishing she had drunk less wine.  

  Still, Arashi was sure that there had been something in Maryanne’s eyes.  During their short talk, casual interest had blossomed into a full-blown crush on the girl.  Her eyes flashed in the light when she smiled.  She laughed easily, and it was a very warm laugh.  She smelled wonderful.

  Arashi was startled out of her reminiscences of the way Maryanne’s lips moved by a very close crash of thunder.  Looking up with a speed that only someone who has been profoundly startled can manage, she thought she saw a small form scamper across the road ahead.  As she walked, she glanced nervously the way it had gone.  Soon she could see a dirt road off to her left, with what might be a dim light showing through some trees.  On the paved road, there was no sign of civilization.  She was afraid to leave the road, but as the first heavy drops of rain fell around her, she realized she did not have any choice.  Reluctantly, she headed off toward the light as it began to rain steadily.

  

~ ~ ~

  

  The king and the queen were sitting long by the fire that evening.  Prince Fredrick would be twenty-two in a month’s time.  It was high time that he began to take his place in running the kingdom, but first they needed to arrange for a wife.  There was still no prospect for a betrothal.  Peaceful as the kingdom was, their isolation left a distinct dearth of eligible young ladies of suitable station.  Now, it had come into the queen’s ear that the young lady who had been the last best prospect for an arrangement had been discovered in the stable on her father’s estate — not alone.

  

  “We will have to send him away again to find a suitable bride!” the king said.   

  The queen sat thoughtfully for a while and then offered:  “My lord, he has already visited the nearby kingdoms on your embassy, and come back to us unfulfilled.  Sending him further away from your influence has risk.  My heart could not bear to lose him in some strange distant land.”  

  “I will send with him many good men-at-arms and counselors to guide him,” the king replied. “He will be well looked after.”  

  “An Army of retainers would be expensive, my lord,” his wife offered, “and with the harvest coming, they would be sorely missed.”  

  “That is true enough, Gretchen, but if your fellow ladies of standing don’t come up with a suitable prospect very quickly, what choice do I have?” asked the king.  

  “None, my lord,” the queen agreed softly.

  Seeing the worry on his queen’s face, the king sighed, and leaned forward to gently lift her chin in his hand.  “Gretchen, do not let a mother’s worried heart blind you in the grief of a loss that has yet to be.  Fredrick is cautious and wise.  You have raised him up well, and his manhood is a great pride to us both.  I trust him, but I know a mother’s love too, and I will say this.  Write once more to your royal cousins and the noble ladies of our neighbor lands.  If they can find for him a suitable princess, within the season, I will be content.  I will withhold my embassy to our neighbor kings.  If your search is again fruitless, I will have no choice but to send the boy out again in the spring.  Would this ease thy wrinkled brow, my lady?”  

  Queen Gretchen smiled at her king, and said, “You are wise, my lord, and like you I would be loath to see your crown go to some other prince, whose dedication to our kingdom has been newly made in our daughter’s bridal bed.  It will be as you say.”

~ ~ ~

  

  The storm raging outside the thick walls of the keep had begun to make itself felt within the great hall.  The housekeeper unobtrusively caught the eye of the queen before sending the hearth drudge in with a burden of wood to stoke up the fire for her lord and lady.  Knowing their mood was worried; she watched from the shadows to be sure that their majesties were not disturbed further.  

  It was upon that hour that the Princess Miriam entered the great hall and said to her mother and father, “The tempest grows, your majesties, perhaps it is an omen of a change of fortune.”  

  Both the king and queen smiled at their beautiful daughter.  She was a pure joy to them.  Her beauty, reported by all to be unsurpassed in any land, had assured that she would have no lack of willing, nay even frantic, suitors.  The royal couple were as one in their lack of worry for their daughter.  She was greeted, most warmly, like the treasure she was.

  Only seventeen, she had been receiving regular visits from the princes and high ladies of other lands for several years.  The visitors’ true purpose, veiled only slightly by courtesies to the king, was clearly to assess the ripeness of the fruit on this most royal tree.  They had measured its value, and found it to be precious indeed.  The princess, possessed of a grace and kindness that matched her physical beauty, had found great favor amongst these noble personages.  Her marriage would be a great boon to the kingdom.  The prospect of her marriage would be even more so, as neighbor kingdoms vied for alliance in her nuptials.  But as the princess herself seemed to show no special favor for any potential suitor; the king was in no hurry to seal any pact, especially when the wait brought a continued flow of advantage to the kingdom.  

  As she walked back to the kitchen, the housekeeper thought she heard a faint call from the foyer.  Calling a guard, she took her key out of her pocket to open the door, and cautiously peered out.  She was slightly startled by a wet cat that raced past her feet into the keep.  Still, peering into the gloom, she noticed a pile near the door.  Huddled from the rain was the shape of a person.  She called for light, and moved out cautiously to find that the shape was that of a young maiden slumped senseless against the great wooden door of the keep.  Quickly they moved her inside, and began trying to revive the young woman.

  When the serving girl arrived with the light, along with some yards of warm dry cloth, the housekeeper pressed her into service to turn the limp form over.  The serving girl, on seeing her face, let out a shriek of fear, and fled back down the corridor to the kitchens, crying that there was a bearer of plague at the door.  

  The housekeeper, who had nursed the sick and injured servants of this family for twenty-five years, was more fortified in her resolve.  She knelt to examine the girl who now lay on the floor, only to quickly determine that the darkness around her eyes and lips were painted on as if for a feast day celebration.  She could also quickly see that this was no serving girl.  Dressed strangely or not, this girl had never done a day’s work in her life; and strange or not, that meant she was of the highest noble class.

  On hearing the shriek, and feeling the light touch of a cloth on her face, the maiden opened her eyes.  In a voice that was as comely as her form, she said, “I need to find a phone.”  She then closed her eyes again.

  From the door of the great hall behind them, the voice of the princess called out questioningly, “You there, what is it that disturbs their majesties so?”  

  “ ‘Tis a maiden at our door, Highness.  She is dressed very strangely indeed, such like as I have never seen in all my years in your family’s service, but in troth I believe her to be of noble station.  By your leave, I would take her to a fire, for she is as cold to the touch as the stones of the high watch tower tonight, Highness.”  

  Coming closer, the princess doubtfully peered at the form on the floor.  “What of the plague?  Would you bring a sickness into my fathers house?”  She spoke sharply.

  The housekeeper answered quickly indeed.  “By my very soul, your highness, I see no sickness in this girl, only a strange decoration about her face that startled that silly girl of mine.  See this?”  Then she held out the corner of the cloth she had used to dab the face of the girl, to show it was stained with the blackness she had there.  “I think it is soot, lady, applied as a mask, though I cannot think why.”

  By this time, the princess knelt closer to the girl on the floor, who opened her eyes to look back at her.  “Maryanne?” she asked softly, then again closed her eyes.  The princess looked first at her face and then at her hands, and shook her head in wonder.  “I think you spoke truly, good and trusty headwoman.  Quickly now, to the fire with her.  Though she be not sick even as she lies, she will be dead by morning if she be laid any longer on these cold stones.  You there, guard, lend a hand, and go you most gently, on your peril!”  

  A short time later, in a warm bed that had been moved close to a fire, the girl became aware of warm wine being poured down her throat.  As if from far away, she at first heard Maryanne speaking to her mother, which was strange, since her mother had died when she was little.  

  “The housekeeper thinks she asked for the Duke of A’fonéy, but she is many leagues from his lands, and without retinue.  I do not think she came from there, but I have sent men to search the roads south and west to seek her companions.”  

  “You did well to order it so.  I must report to your father, the king.  Care for her, Princess, and send for me as she awakens.”  

  “Yes, your majesty, it will be as you say.  Tell my father that she is well tended.”  

  

  With a gentle pat on her daughter’s cheek, the queen hurried back to the great hall.

  Turning back to her charge, the princess noticed that the girl seemed to be smiling.  Little did she know that her charge had been called “Princess’” by several people -- first by her mother, and then by her roommate in her junior year at college.  It had just caught on after that…  

  “Sire,” the queen called as she entered.

  “What news, Lady, is it indeed as has been reported?” her king asked.  

  “I believe ‘tis even so.  Miriam and I have looked at the girl, and her hands are as soft as new kittens’ paws.  Her feet, though newly footsore of some journey hereby made to our door, have never seen toil, nor even walked unshod if I judge aright.  That she were an empress would not be any more surprise, lord.  The girl must be of high station indeed to be so well looked after.”  

  Mystified, he asked,  “Do you see no familial resemblance in her face, Lady?”  

  “No, Sire, though I confess me that strange though her raiment may be, she is a great beauty like even our own Miriam.  Her skin is soft and pale as raw silk, and her hair as dark and lustrous as obsidian.  She is beautiful, Lord, but I know her not.”  

  The king thought for a few moments and then asked his queen “What of her clothing, is there no mark of family crest upon them even so?”  

  “Not that we could find, sire, or at least not that I recognize.  She wears the cross of the Christian Savior at her breast, but of the other strange symbol with it, I can say naught.  It looks thusly, my lord!”  With a memory that was necessary in medieval times, but much rarer in our own, she quickly picked up a piece of charcoal from the hearth, and accurately sketched the design of the girl’s second pendant on the table from memory:

His majesty did not recognize the symbol either, but at least the crown on the top was clear enough.

  “Is there no clue in her garments themselves, then?”  The king again asked gently.  

  “Lord, it pains me to fail you so, but none here have ever seen the like.  Her gown has been shorn at the knee, but of what remains we see the finest silks and velvet any here remember.  Of lace, there is enough to keep several skilled women working for a year, and yet it is stranger still.  There are no imperfections in the lace that we can find, and it is of a material that I know not.  Also every stitch, thread, linen, velvet, and lace is of blackest ebony, My Lord.  She is at the very least a princess of some great house to be so richly provided for, but none of which I have heard tell!”

  “We must have care, Gretchen!  Calmly now, what of the road?  No news?”  The king asked further.  

  “No word, lord.  The night is ill and very dark indeed.  We may not hear till after first light.”  

  “Well, my queen, great ladies are more your province than mine, what do you suggest?”  

  Now it was the queen’s turn to ponder as the king examined his wife’s face.  He knew full well that her mind was the equal of any of his high council, and that he needed her council in this even more.  

  Finally, the queen responded.  “It should be as has been done, my lord.  She should be well cared for, lest the report of less bring us trouble with some great house.  She will not be long in her stupor, for I fear that our house women are right in thinking it fatigue and fright from the poor child being caught out alone in the storm.  I think it is well to search the road tonight, to aid any others, which Miriam, bless her, set men to do quickly.  When the girl awakens, you and I should speak to her; but for now, Miriam will learn of her all that may be learned.”

  

  The king considered her words, and finding no fault or omission in them then said, “I am contented, lady; all is as well as may be.  We will wait.  Pace not the floor.  Call the servants in and have them lay a late supper, and we will wait and see.”

  Meanwhile, Miriam, sitting on the bed by the fire, had begun to remove blankets from the now warm girl.  Her color was improving, and having wiped some of the darkness that had run down her face, Miriam marveled at how beautiful she was.  She was a dark angel, unlike any other maiden Miriam had seen, but nevertheless of unsurpassed beauty in the princess’s eyes.  Then Miriam realized that this dark angel had beautiful bright green eyes, because she was now awake and staring silently at her as Miriam sat chafing her hand gently.  

  The princess quickly told the girl standing by to pass her a cup of warm medicinal wine, and then to carry word to her mother that their strange visitor would be awake shortly.  Turning back to her charge, the princess asked, “Feel you better now, Lady?”  Thinking that the girl was not yet awake, she pressed the cup of warmed wine to her lips, and let her wet her throat.  

  “Umm.  Thank you,” the girl said to her in a speech that was clearly as the princess’s own, and yet still strange to her ear.  

  “You are most welcome, Lady.  Can you hold the cup yourself, or should I set it aside?”  

  “I’ll take it.  I can always hold a cup of wine,” the girl replied.  “It’s very good.”  

  “I think so too,” the princess answered with a smile. “My father’s housekeeper makes it by soaking the essence of poppy in the wine, after which it is very good for maladies of the head, and other painful humors.”  

  Miriam was going carefully since she was still unsure of her charge’s station.  She did note that her willingness to converse with her, even though Miriam was obviously dressed in the garb of a royal princess, bode that this woman was accustomed to dealing with others of high station.

  “Who are you, and how did I wind up in your bed?”  

The girl asked this plainly, but “wind up” was something one did with ballista, and also to the lift to bring rocks to the battlement height. Noble women of Miriam’s time were quite well versed in the military arts, if not in actual use of arms.  After all, there was no knowing when, while the men were away looting someone’s castle, someone might show up to do the same to you.  The noble women of a castle household were quite capable of conducting a defense of their home in the face of an armed siege, often having more experience at it than their men!  Miriam was not sure why she thought her bed was lifted high in the keep, nor why that might be important; but Miriam, like everyone of her time, was used to responding immediately to those who might be her betters, and she did so now without hesitation.

  “I am the Princess Miriam.  My father and mother have commanded that I attend your bed until you feel well enough to rise and greet them.”  Again the girl smiled at her on hearing her name.  “Do you know me, Lady?’ Miriam asked  

  “No, but you look a lot like a friend of mine, Maryanne. I think that she is into Renaissance Fairs too.  She and I were talking just before I set out on the road.”  

  Miriam had a look of genuine concern on her face as she asked, “Is the Lady Marie Anne a member of your entourage even now out on the road then?  Is, perhaps, your husband with her?”  

  “No, I was alone, and I’m not married.”  

  Miriam consoled her further, which left Miriam silent for a moment.

  “How strange, that you should be alone, lady.  You are very brave.  May I ask whither from here your journey takes you, and how I might properly honor you by name and title.”  

  “Sorry, Princess, I was just thinking that I was dreaming all this.  It must be the opium wine.  My closest friends call me “Princess Arashi.”  

  “I do not know that name, but it is very beautiful.  We thought that you must be a princess, in your gown so strange and wonderful.  It is such a shame it was torn away” Miriam responded.  

  “Oh, you like my dress?”  

  “It is wonderful in our eyes, lady, and we have never seen its like.”  

  Arashi began to warm up to this beautiful girl more and more.  In fact, her warm hand, and the look of earnestness in her eyes were definitely making Arashi’s heart begin to beat harder in her chest.  Of course, it could be the wine with essence of poppies.  Her head felt a little numb from what she had taken in already.

  Miriam continued, “What family does the name Arashi come from? It is such a beautiful name, but its meaning is unknown to me.”  

  “Well, that name was given to me by my first girlfriend.  She was over here from Japan, and she said that it was a name that signified my ‘inner calm.’  I think it means serenity, or something like that.”

  Miriam sat still while she took that all in.  Japan sounded familiar.  “Do you speak of the Kingdom of Nippon?  Is that where your clothes are from?”  

  “Yes!” Arashi said gleefully. “Do you know about Japanese fashion?  Do you know who the great Mana is?”  

  “Very little know I of that land, Lady.  I have heard tell that they spin a cloth there that is wondrously soft and colorful called silk.  I have longed to see it, but now that I see how beautiful you are, I can believe all the stories were pale in the telling.”  

  This girl melted Arashi’s heart; she could not believe her luck to have awakened to such a beautiful creature here with her.

  After a moment more, Miriam gently placed Arashi’s hand beneath the coverlet, and said, “Lady, I am commanded to go and wait upon the queen’s pleasure, but shall return presently to tend your every need.  Do you require food, or more wine?”  

  Arashi began to silently thank the gods of the heavens and earth for everything bad that had happened to her that day, and every other day of her life thus far.  Even so, she somehow managed to ask, “Will you bring the food yourself?”    

  “Of course, Lady, if that is your wish, I will bring you food presently, and will tend your bedside until you are well.”  Miriam paused to smile at her innocently.  “Rest now, and drink more wine, but I pray thee go slowly, it has a powerful effect.”  And she hurried from the room.

  Arashi held her cup out to the serving girl, who had come in as Miriam left, to show that she was finished with it.  Presently, she found it returned to her magically refilled.  At that point the girl moved to the end of the bed, and began to drape warm moist cloths on her sore feet, and to rub the soles of her feet with the knuckles of her fist.  It was all poor little Arashi could do to keep from lolling her head back and moaning out loud.  

  Hurrying down the passage to the great hall, Miriam was feeling confused.  She felt strangely drawn to this foreign princess.  The darkness around her eyes, and the dark redness of her lips against her pale skin had mystified her.  It made her feel so strangely.  In fact, she realized with a start that she hurried not to her mother with information, but rather, to take her back to the Princess Arashi’s side as fast as may be.  It made her tremble inside, and her breathing had become restless...

  “Father and Mother, your Majesties, I have news of our guest.”

  The King’s brows rose at the use of the term guest.  Castles have many visitors, dozens every day, for they are way stations within the vast wilderness of the world; but they have very few guests.  That was a term reserved for persons of high station.  

  Miriam continued, “She is awake, and has told me that she is the Royal Princess Arashi, and that she is from the Kingdom of Nippon across the sea.  Her liege lord is called “Mana”, but the speaking of his name seems to bring her some sadness.  I suspect that there may be trouble in Mana’s kingdom.  Lastly, she told me that she is now alone on her journey, so I fear that her companions have been lost to some terrible fate.  She seemed most sad when I asked of her companions on the road, and she only said she was alone.”

  The king and queen looked at one another to consider their good fortune at having a royal princess washed up on their very shore in time of sorest need.  The king, as was proper, spoke first.  “Child, how be you so sure of her high station?”  

  Knowing how critical the question might be to her kingdom’s future, Miriam answered thoughtfully.  “My lord, when I attended upon her bedside, she was able to accept my service without any hesitance.  Indeed, she was most comfortable with my service, and in fact seemed to both enjoy and expect it.  She is noble born, my lord.  Any commoner seeing the Royal Princess over her head as she awoke would have quickly left the bed behind, I am sure.  Also, I told her I was the princess of this land, so she could not be so strange to our ways to be mistaken in my station.”

  The king turned to his wife. “If only we could be sure, my lady, that this woman was of high enough station. I could send word to see if any others have been found, but I would prefer that she remain here unbeknownst to our neighbors until we know surely.”  

  The queen closed her eyes for a moment, and began to smile faintly.  “My lord, I think that there is a way.  I have heard tell of a trial that may be given to persons such as she, from my own mother’s lips.  It is said that a true princess may be found out in this way.”  

  “Try her even so!” said the king earnestly.  

  Quickly, Queen Gretchen called in the housekeeper, and gave careful instructions about how to prepare the bedroom beside Miriam’s own.

~ ~ ~

  

  Arashi sat next to Miriam on the bed, propped up on many pillows.  Miriam was feeding her a delicious selection of meats and cheeses, along with an ample portion of wine.  Arashi had yet to decide if Miriam’s easy manner with her, and her constant attentive closeness and body contact were innocent or not.  It really did not matter, because another half cup of wine and nothing was going to keep her off of the girl.  Miriam had just placed a sliver of roast chicken into her mouth, and, without thinking twice, Arashi gently took the fingers of the beautiful girl into her mouth to lick the savory juices from them.  She was about to lean forward to kiss her, when the queen walked in.    

  “I had hoped to find you well, Your Highness, but I had not thought to see you in such high spirits?”  The queen smiled at her, looking genuinely pleased at her apparent good humor.  

  “Thank you, Your Majesty, I think that it is due to my nurse.  Thank you for taking me in, too.  You have all shown me wonderful hospitality.  I don’t know how to thank you.”  

  The queen was much relieved to hear this, as it assured that Mana’s people would also be pleased at their princess’s treatment.  “Lady, your bedchamber is waiting, if you will come with me, I will show you to your rooms.  They are the finest we have, and are just adjacent to Miriam’s own quarters.”  

  “That sounds really wonderful, Your Majesty.” Arashi said. “Please do show the way.”

  The queen turned to graciously lead the way herself to the prepared bedchamber.  She was convinced that her daughter had been right about Arashi’s ease with persons of high nobility, but was still looking to see the test administered for the sake of her liege, and for her kingdom.  Thus, she did not see the mischievous grin that Arashi gave to her daughter.  Nor did she see the furious blush on her daughter’s cheeks as they walked down the passage.

  The Queen spoke without looking back. “So, Princess, my daughter tells me that you are unmarried, and that fate finds you at our door without companion?”  

  “Yes, Your Majesty, that is so.  I have a rather large family at home, of course, but no husband.”  Arashi began to feel a little uncomfortable with the questions.  After all, people who worked renaissance fairs practiced their performance at least as much as she worked on her wardrobe, but these guys were way too serious to be considered normal.  Earth to Queen Gretchen!  But it was just at that moment that Miriam slipped her warm hand into Arashi’s, and all thoughts of the play-acting vanished.  

  “Perhaps you will get to meet my son, Prince Fredrick, tomorrow”, the Queen said as they turned into the room that had been prepared.  “The princess will watch over you tonight, to be sure that you are undisturbed.  She will sleep in the bed by the door, and you will sleep here.”

  Arashi looked past “The Queen,’” to the bed at which she pointed.  Someone had been into the opium wine for sure.  On the bed were mattresses piled much higher than her head, and with too-many-to-count spreads on top of that.  Now the mattresses were thin, but they still reached dangerous heights!  A ladder by the bed showed the royal person of the queen was aware of this as well.

  Arashi was at first too stunned to say anything, and then she began to get a little frightened of what these people might be capable.  Soon, she noticed that the queen was looking at her rather closely, as if she expected some complaint.  

“We have prepared your bed, as we had heard the Nipponese do with twenty of our softest mattresses, and twenty eiderdown quilts.  Is this to your liking, Your Highness?”  Again the queen had an odd edge in her voice, which set the hairs on the back of Arashi’s neck on end.  

  When Arashi answered, she did so softly and carefully, “This looks just fine, Your Majesty; I’m just sorry to impose on you like this.  If I have been in any way thoughtless, please remember that I am very tired from my long walk this evening, and please accept my apology.”  Arashi waited for the silent queen, frightened that these people were not what they seemed.

  Her majesty nodded slightly, embarrassed.  It was the first time in her life that someone of a social station that might equal or even exceed her own had ever apologized to her.  In a time where even captured noble-born adversaries would expect to be treated in the house of the enemy as befitted their station, few then alive would have considered any apology for what they felt was surely their born due.  Of course, there were the usual pleasantries and formalities, but these never included apologies.  Those few high nobles who did do so, did so only to prove that they were in the very highest tier, and that they in truth had need apologize to no one.

  Her highness was impressed that any noble lady would be confident enough to show such humility before someone they had known so little time.  In her majesty’s eyes, too, the earnestness of her words could not be in doubt, for even now Arashi awaited upon the answer as if she had come asking some precious favor, rather than having honored the queen’s household with so gracious a courtesy.

  Finally the queen answered.  “Our house is yours for as long as it so please you, Highness, and I thank you for your care of our obligation to you.  Please, speak no more of it.  I will bid your highnesses good night, ‘til the morrow.  Rest thee well.”  And she motioned the Princess Miriam to accompany her to the passage, leaving Arashi to just stand and stare in wonder at the mattress collection she was supposed to sleep on.

  Outside, the queen leaned close to her daughter in the dark passage, and asked if she knew what she was to do.  “Yes, Mother, I am to stay with her all night, and see that she is not left alone.  Then I am to report to you how well she sleeps.”  

  “Good,” the queen said.  “The housekeeper will send a girl to you, but she is only to bring your things, and then leave.  I don’t want to risk her being kept awake by noisy clumsy servants, so I have ordered that they are not to come into this wing at all tonight for any reason.  You will have to tend the fire.”  

  Miriam felt a need to say something more, but, still in awe over what she had witnessed, she only managed, “I will stay right by her side, Mother.”  And the queen was gone.

  Her majesty had to hurry to report to the king that their guest had accepted the condition of her bed with such grace and courtesy that she forbore to even take notice.  The first part of the test had been taken and passed royally.  Though her speech was indeed strange, there could be no further doubt of their guest’s true station  The queen’s hand unconsciously slipped into her pocket, absently playing with a small pea, whose twin now lay beneath the mattresses piled on the bed behind her.

  Back in the room, Miriam noticed that Arashi was still looking at her bed with a wonder that almost made Miriam laugh out loud.  She could not, however, so she asked searchingly, “Is all well with you, Princess?’  

  Arashi turned to her and smiled, saying, “Well, actually there is something; can you show me where the bathroom is in this castle of yours?”

  “My lady, if you wish to bathe, you need only call the servants, and they will bring the bath here to your chambers?” Miriam answered, clearly very confused for some reason that Arashi could not divine.  She did not ask why, however, probably because of the wine, and the sudden image of this exquisite creature in a hot bubble bath with her.  She almost called for the bath anyway.

  “No, Princess, not that kind of bath, I had enough water today.  I really need to - go -you know?” Arashi at a loss for words simply pointed at herself, which gave Miriam the clue she needed.  

  Coy referrals to simple bodily functions were as foreign to her as debasements from great feudal ladies were to her mother.  “You mean a privy to relieve yourself!  We have one of those; my father had it installed in the spring for mother and I, but we prefer to use the pots.  Come, and I will show you.”

  Well, it was dark in the privy, so Arashi could not really see the setup, but she could have sworn from the cold wind that howled through the place that it was nothing more than a hole on the wall… but it did the job.  No wonder no one took baths in here.  Still, she was only interested in getting Miriam back to the warm room.  They arrived just as the servant did, delivering a nightdress for each of the princesses, and a small tray of wine and foods to their chamber.  

  “Shall I attend you while you ready yourselves for bed, my ladies?” the girl asked pleasantly.

  “No’, Arashi said. “If I need any help, the princess will do just fine.”  

  The girl drew in a sharp breath, but at a nod from Miriam, she was silently out the door.  

  “Shall I help you undress, My Lady?” Miriam asked, timidly for perhaps the first time in her life.  

  “Yes, Princess,” Arashi’s head was spinning and her breath coming very hard.  The princess began to carefully unfasten her clothes.  She needed a little help with the zipper, which seemed to fascinate Miriam, but she was quickly able to manage all else.  Arashi reached out, and put her hands on Miriam’s hips while the girl undid the laces on the front of Arashi’s bodice.  When she began to undo Miriam’s laces in turn, Miriam began to blush profoundly from her toes to the tips of her ears.  Arashi watched in fascination as a deep rose flushed over her breasts and up to her cheeks.  Miriam was trembling.

  In a very husky voice, Arashi said, “Princess, help me get the mattress off your bed and over by the fire.”  

  “Are you cold, My Lady?” Miriam asked in an equally breathless voice of her own.  

  “No, not really, but I wanted to sit up by the fire with you for a few minutes before we go to bed.”  

  So they moved the mattress over to the fire, and beside it the tray of wine and food.  Arashi knelt on the mattress, and motioned for Miriam to join her by patting her hand on mattress in front of her.  Miriam took her place willingly, and placed her arms around Arashi’s neck to continue undressing her by lifting her pendant off her neck.  She never got the chance to do that, however.

  Arashi started to ask, “Are you alright with this, Miriam?” but before the words could be gotten out, she was mesmerized by this girl’s beautiful fire-lit eyes, so close to her own.  She could feel the tickle of her warm, sweet breath on her own face and lips, as Miriam moved close to put her arms around her neck.  Arashi never knew who moved first, only that she was holding the princess around the waist while Miriam kissed her lips very deeply.  Miriam’s lips were magic.  Her tentative and gentle kisses fanned Arashi’s desires like no other ever had.  Arashi had no will to do anything save to hold her, and return her kisses with equal love.

  Soon Arashi began running her hands over her beautiful princess, and she could discern that the girl was beginning to tremble very strongly in her arms.  Arashi reluctantly broke the kiss for a moment to look in the girl’s eyes again.  “Are you OK, Princess?  Is this all too fast for you?”  Miriam just shook her head wordlessly.  

  Arashi watched her inexperienced friend.  All the love in Arashi’s heart told her she had to talk to Miriam to help calm her, but she was unsure of just what to say.  What came out was,  " I think that you are the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen, Princess, and I want to make love to you.”  It must have been right.  Miriam barely had time to get her arms back around Arashi’s neck, and leaned forward to capture Arashi’s lips once more with her own, before the innocent and confused passion that had been building in her all evening completely overtook her.  She lost her race with her own burning desires in the most dramatic fashion.

  As the blackness swimming before Miriam’s eyes began to fade, and both girls began to breath again, each girl reluctantly broke the kiss to catch her breath.  Arashi was holding her princess up on her unsteady knees, with Miriam’s head against her neck, as well as trying hopelessly to calm herself after what had just happened.  She’d loved this woman the first time she laid eyes on her, and she had just been given in return a gift so sweet and precious that her heart could not fully contain it all.  Arashi was sure her heart would burst at any second.  She had imagined that moments as wonderful as this might be, but this surpassed all her hopes.  This was sweeter, and more filled with love than she had ever imagined the whole universe could contain.    

  When Miriam began to hold herself more steadily, Arashi chuckled into Miriam’s ear, and said, “I guess that means  ‘No.’”  

  Miriam tried to tell her great lady that nothing like that had ever happened to her before, having never been called to serve in the bed chamber before.  Arashi just whispered soothingly to her, as she laid her back onto the soft mattress, and pulled the quilts over them.  

~ ~ ~

  

  Hours later in the deepest part of night, one of the castle cats was pacing down the passage, without hurry or noise, pursuing its nocturnal patrol.  The kitchen wing, with all its storerooms, was its usual haunt at this hour.  That was where the hunting was usually best.  Now, with the searchers returning wet and hungry from the road, and with other displaced members of the household seeking corners in which to keep themselves out of the way during the quiet hours, the kitchens were a place to avoid this stormy night.  

  As it paced, its senses were alert to the faint noises from the busy lower halls, but even more so to any possible meal ahead of her.   Then from further along the hall came a faint noise to her ears.  It was a noise that would be much too faint for you or I to notice, but it was more than enough for the cat to locate immediately.  Quickly, the cat moved to the wall, and then swiftly flowed fluidly along it to the door of the room shared by our princesses.    

  Once there, she pressed her nose silently to the large crack under the door, and opened her mouth to taste the air she found there.  Another soft noise, and she pressed her head to the floor to quickly peer under the door.  She paused but a moment before beginning to sniff the air once more.  Softly she began to purr.  She liked the Princess, for she had never known her to kick out, or throw things at her, like so many others in her castle.  She had even allowed her to stroke her soft fur once or twice.  So, she settled down to pause for a few minutes to purr contentedly as she watched under the door.  Then she rose, and slowly walked off further down the hall; flowing like the soft sounds of her princess, softly through the night.

~ ~ ~

  

  The next morning, the king and queen waited for the princesses in the great hall of the keep.  The king was at once satisfied, and worried by the great presence displayed by the young woman, as his queen had reported it to be.  Thus, when the two princesses finally entered the hall together, at an hour somewhat later than was his princess’s custom, it was immediately obvious to him that neither girl seemed at all well rested.  The king looked immediately pleased.  The queen, however, looked insufferably pleased with herself.  

  “I trust your repose found you well rested, your Highness, and may I finally bid you welcome?” said the king.    

  At something of a loss over the strangeness of her surroundings, Arashi’s numb mind and exhausted body struggled for some reply.  “Umm.  Thank you, Your Majesty, I really love it here.”  

  The queen, unable to contain her curiosity any further asked, “How slept you, Lady?”   

  The cup of wine the serving girl had brought that morning had been a mistake, but since Miriam had downed hers without pause, so had Arashi. (In Medieval times, seldom was the water near a large village or castle fit to drink by humans.  Inhabitants who could afford it often drank only well fermented refreshments, mostly wine if they were sufficiently wealthy, and weak near beers if they did not!)

  Finally, Arashi’s mind failed her completely at the simple question; and, so did her manners.  Trying for humor, the only thing she had left in her repertoire, she replied:  “To be very honest, Your Majesty, no.  I did not sleep at all.  The storm kept me awake; between that and the hard lumpy bed I was in, I was tossing all night.”  Arashi then grinned at her, and waited for the joke to kick in.  

  Instead of snapping back at the exaggeration, the queen quickly moved to embrace her like some forgotten auntie at a family reunion.

  When she was released, Arashi unconsciously started backing away toward Miriam, perhaps to take the girl by the hand and flee.  Only the arm of the queen stopped her as she once again embraced her shoulders, and began steering her toward the table.  Serving girls were quickly filling it with food to the point of collapse, under the ever-moving eyes of the housekeeper.  

  The king and queen spent the better part of the next two hours plying her with wine and food, and telling her all the ways that this little kingdom surpassed all others.  So earnest were they in their desire to impress the dark princess, that they forbore to ask more than a very few courteous questions of her.  They would only smile politely as she told them something that was clearly nonsense to them, and then immediately babble on about how the crops had never been known to fail, or how healthy the serfs were, as if they had not asked her any question at all.

  Only twice did she get their attention.  Once, it was when she told them that she was living for a year in Los Angeles, which seemed to impress them a great deal.  Then she did it again when the king asked about her father.  She told him that he was in the army, and that she did not see much of him because he was always too busy there.  At this, the king showed a genuine concern that her father would be called to deal with troubles, but declared it was always the duty of nobility to deal with that sort of thing.  The king assured Arashi, that she should not be worried, for a man as great as her father would surely have any small bicker sorted out well enough in no time, he was quite sure.    

  For the last forty minutes or so, they talked about their son the Prince Fredrick.  It just kept getting worse.  Were it not for Miriam, who, unnoticed by her parents in their zeal, sat silently and warmly pressed against her back, Arashi would surely have made a dash for the door.  Her head had begun to clear, however, from the heavy meal and the fortuitous discovery of a pitcher of small-beer on the table.  

  By and by, Arashi was briefly distracted by Miriam as she clinging tightly to the back of her dress.  Seeing an opportunity, she begged the king and queen’s leave to go and prepare herself to meet the prince.  At this, the king and queen were most pleased indeed, and graciously ushered her away from their table over an hour earlier than strict protocol would have allowed.  

  In their room, with the door closed, Arashi began to turn to Miriam for information.  She could not ask openly though, because just then two men carried in a large copper-clad tub, interrupting them.  A train of servants carrying buckets of hot water followed the men.  Looking at the Princess Miriam, Arashi felt she looked positively stricken.  Arashi could not know it was at the thought of losing her dark princess to her brother’s bed that bothered her so.  All Miriam’s thoughts were for her new lady, whom she would happily serve for the rest of her life.  Soon, Miriam was gently persuading her into the tub, and much to her liking, stripped down and climbed in with her; this in spite of the constant stream of young serving girls (and a few boys) bringing hot water and other sundries as might be required for two royal princesses to ready themselves.  

  With rush hour over, Miriam began to tend her new liege lady, first by washing her hair, and then her back, with the occasional help of one of the older girls.  These people may be a few cookies short of the baker’s dozen, Arashi thought, but they had their strengths too, and baths were definitely one of them.  Besides, Arashi simply could not worry about anything other than where Miriam’s wonderful hands were sliding up and down her spine.  Finally washed, and rinsed off by girls with ladles of hot water while they stood together in the tub, their bath ended.

  Then, as the chambermaids dried each of them off, Arashi began to gently ask once more what was going on.  “Miriam, what is it with your parents and the prince?” she asked, as kindly as she knew how.    

  The princess began to look sad again, her loyalties to the kingdom were tangled in a war with her feelings for Arashi.  Even so, she also began to try to take up the sales job her parents had started, touting the prince’s virtues.  

“Please,” Arashi said more forcefully, “what is wrong with your parents?”  Miriam told her.  She told her that her brother, brave and strong as any noble, remained unmarried because none of the local ladies of station had yet to catch his eye, and that there were very few of them in this season when they were sorely needed in larger numbers.  

  “Oh!” Arashi finally understood.  She moved over to the window, where the ladies began to bring her gowns that might be suitable for such an important occasion.  They were the finest and most beautiful in the kingdom.  Arashi chose one of rich burgundy velvet that had a fitted bodice covered with fine gold brocade, and a full skirt that would hang just to the floor all around her.  The collar, though open at the front, came high about the sides and back of her neck; there were generous layers of lace on the collar and at the sleeves.  Miriam chose a pearl colored satin gown, also with gold brocade and cording lavishly applied about the bodice, and a similar lace pattern at the collar and sleeve.  

  Their selections made, Arashi took one last look out the window before turning back to the chambermaid to be dressed, but her mind was fully occupied with the view from the window.  The last of the storm was fading to the west.  That was strange. Storms usually came in from the sea and blew over the mountains to the east.  It was hard to see because the glass was not that clear, but something about the view seemed very wrong to Arashi.    

“Miriam, if you don’t mind, I’m going to excuse myself to the bath… I mean the privy before I get dressed.”  

Miriam tried pointing out a chamber pot over behind a small screen, but Arashi quickly pulled the heavy robe she was wearing more tightly around her and hurried out the door and up the passage.  She quickly found the short passage off the side that led to the privy door, which she opened and then pressed closed firmly behind her as she slipped through.  Turning, she looked down, and let loose a sharp involuntary cry at what she saw.  

  The privy was a small wooden box built to stick out of the side of the castle wall.  Standing on the wooden platform that was the floor and looking down, she could see that the seat had a round hole in it that gave a clear view some thirty for forty feet straight to the ground outside the walls of the keep.  As she gasped, she noticed a man in a metal helmet and chain mail coat standing nearby on the ground.  He in turn, took notice of her, and, judging the wind with a practiced eye, quickly made to move away down the wall, obviously trying hard not to be seen to quickly move down the wall.

  Arashi was in shock, but only for a moment.  Quickly she went out, and turned away from the room to the set of stairs leading upward at the end of the hall.  At the top, she pushed open a small wooden door and climbed out to the battlement.  She was immediately noticed by another man-at-arms, who, unlike his less fortunate brother below, was most obviously moving to put space between himself and the castle’s guest with noteworthy haste.    

  Arashi looked cautiously over the massive masonry wall into the valley.  It was very beautiful and very picturesque.  But it was also more, or rather less…  As far as she could see, there were no cars.  There were no planes, signs, telephone poles, paved roads, billboards, nor electric lights…  There was nothing but stone huts and mud-covered people working the fields and tending livestock.  All of them were dressed in similar rough, colorless, and shapeless clothing.  There was the occasional cart towed by an ox, or a group of men standing around, but nothing that could be mistaken as normal to Arashi.  Looking up again at the storm clouds towering in the west, all at once she felt the world begin to spin violently again, just like last night.  Arashi could only stand there holding onto the wall, lest she be thrown off into the maelstrom of a world to which she could not belong…

  A short while later, she walked into the princess’s room to find Miriam dressed, which with two maids and the princess to supervise, she soon was also.  The maids then began to apply color to Miriam’s face, so Arashi went to her purse for some makeup, and noticed the light on her phone was blinking green.  Carefully, she drew it from her purse and checked to see that here in the top of the castle she had a strong signal.  While the ladies were busy applying what passed for makeup to Miriam, she unobtrusively turned sideways, pressed zero and held the phone to the ear farthest away from them.   

  The voice of the company operator surprised her, but she managed to say softly, “cab company, please!”

The operator replied, “Thank you, I see a ‘Yellow Cab’ in your area.  I’ll connect you at no charge”

At the sound of another voice, “Yellow Cab?” Arashi slowly moved father away toward the windows and as quietly as possible ordered the car, giving her own broken down car as a landmark.  Despite the fact they would be delayed due to a lack of cabs in the area, Arashi assured them she would be waiting.  “Would you like me to call a tow truck for you, miss?  My brother owns the place up the road?”  

  “Yes,” Arashi said, quietly and quickly slipped the phone into her purse.    

  Arashi turned back to see the princess and the two maids watching her most intently.  “Oh shit,” she muttered softly to herself.  When the personal servants began to make the sign of the cross, Arashi knew she was in serious trouble.  If she really knew what she thought she knew, then people could probably get burned at the stake here for a lot less that talking into a little box with flashing lights.  She did not know what else to do, so she just stared into Miriam’s eyes, and waited for the inevitable scream.  Her only clear thought was that, even now, Miriam’s eyes held Arashi completely under her their spell.

  But Miriam did not scream.  She simply rose, and carried Arashi’s cross pendant over and placed it around her neck.  “Lady, if I have kept you from your morning devotion, I pray thy pardon.  If it be your pleasure, we can go now to the chapel.  Our priest is there, and will gladly confess us, and offer the benediction for us both.”  Arashi’s eyes blinked once, then twice, then stared at the princess once more.    

  Princess Miriam, sensing that she may have divined what had unsettled her lady so, further offered:  “Trouble thyself not, My Lady, let us ready ourselves quickly, and thereupon take us to the chapel and pray there together.  I know that your heart is heavy for your companions and home, though I do confess me mine is much gladdened by your coming!”  Miriam then tried a warm smile, but, given the worry now in her eyes, it was her first that had been anything but dazzling.  The princess then gently moved her to the small table by the window, and the waiting maids.  “Come, and we will go all the more quickly, and presently come unto the altar and Father Harmony’s gentle care.”  

  “Praying!” Arashi gasped.  “Yes, that sounds perfect.  We should pray; I just realized I did not say my prayers last night, and I really need to get caught up!”  It was very possible that Arashi was more relieved than she had ever been.  

  The girls were fascinated by the cosmetics Arashi applied very lightly to her face.  Of lipstick they knew a little, but the eye makeup had them agog.  Arashi applied only a little, mostly to cover her brief paralysis of the moment before.  Then, to the ladies vast delight, she applied some even more sparingly hither and thither on face of the princess.  They were still trying to drag Miriam away from the small mirror a short while later, when, amid a last minute flurry of the maid’s adjustments to their gowns, they were pronounced ready for the day.

  Hand in hand, they walked down the passageway, through the alternating pools of light and shadow created by windows along the inner wall.  Down the stairs they walked, and then into the chapel.  Father Harmony was already waiting for them, obviously tipped off.  He greeted them with a smile almost as warm as Miriam’s own and a small bow.  He then whisked himself off to the sacristy to prepare.  Arashi had never seen a man of some sixty years whisk anywhere, but there was no other word for it.  A moment or two later, he unobtrusively walked to the confessional and went behind a curtain.  Miriam, gently nudged Arashi’s elbow toward the curtain, and herself knelt on one of two prie’dieu that had been set before the alter.   

  Arashi walked to the curtain, uncertainly looking back at Miriam.  She noted, guiltily, that the girl's eyes were tightly clenched, and that her hands were clasped so tightly that the strain could be seen from across the chapel.  The princess was clearly deeply troubled, and Arashi felt a little sick at what might have caused that.

  Heartsick, Arashi stepped behind the screen to find a stool sitting face to face with Father Harmony, who was waiting pleasantly on his own small stool.  Facing the priest directly was a new sensation, but the ritual was the same as she had been taught as a girl.  For a fleeting moment, remembering the sacred and solemn silence of the confessional, Arashi was tempted to spill her guts, knowing that Father Harmony could not repeat a word.  On the other hand, it would do no good to have the poor old priest running from the room screaming either.    

  Looking at the old priest sitting there smiling so good-naturedly at her, she also had a momentary impulse to tell the poor old priest some sin so profoundly perverse, so hideously and heinously vile, that he would fall right off his little stool.  Fortunately, the old priest’s genuinely kindly expression quickly won out.  She could see that he was a good and humble man.  Arashi could only hoped that, if she did nothing stupid, she would somehow get out of this.  A quote from another Goth-girl went through her mind that finally saved her from her moment of dangerous frivolity:  “There is no problem you can’t make go away by closing your eyes and chewing your gum very slowly.” —Batty

  Arashi confessed some few mild sins, and received her absolution.  Then outside, she waited silently for Miriam.  She hoped that she was not telling the priest what she thought she might need to tell, but she guessed it really did not matter.  She was sure a sixty-year-old priest had heard that one before.  When Miriam came out, she quickly moved to the empty prie’dieu that sat beside her own.  Then priest also came out and moved slowly until he came to the altar.  After a few minutes, he began to sing a mass in Latin.  Then from behind her, in a balcony a floor above, a small choir took up the refrain, which at first startled Arashi.  Then Miriam slipped her hand into Arashi’s, and began to sing as well.    

  Arashi had never heard a Latin mass, and had never imagined it could be so… moving.  She also looked around the chapel, with its gothic arched stone and multi-hued light of stained-glass windows flowing over all — it was so beautiful.  The crucifix above the altar, that last being set well near the middle of the room, was a masterpiece.  The music was very fulfilling.  She found herself being swept up in the ritual of the litany.  It shocked Arashi very deeply when, toward the end of the mass, she realized that it had actually moved and calmed her profoundly.  She had not been in a church since her mother had died many years before.

  After the mass, the priest blessed them, each of them, once more, and left them to stroll out in their own time.  The maids started to come in the door of the chapel to assist, but Arashi waved them away.    

  As she walked, she whispered to Miriam, “Have I hurt you, Miriam?”  

  “No, Lady, not you. I know that you could never harm me!”    

  “What troubles you so?” said Arashi, proud that she was finally getting the ear for the dialect.  

  “I would not trouble you with such matters as belong on my head alone, My Lady.”   

  “Miriam, please tell me, I really want to know.  If I can, I want to help you.”

  By now they were in the long passageway to the front hall, and Miriam took Arashi’s arm.  “I fear that I have committed a great sin against my family, My Lady.”  

  “Miriam, if I had known it would hurt you this much, I would never have touched….”    

  Miriam quickly interrupted her, for the first time.  “Nay, Lady. Peace, I pray thee.  It is not that…  Your affections are wondrous and precious to me.  No, Highness, my sin is that of jealousy.  Though my family and my king wish it, I could not willingly see you in the arms of the prince.”  Miriam’s face was wet, her tears silently sliding down her face.  

  Arashi, turned Miriam to her, and held her face until her eyes lifted from the floor to look at her own.  “Princess that will never happen.  All that I have ever wanted, I found in you.  I want you to come away with me….”  

  Now it was Miriam’s turn.  Her eyes blinked once, and then twice, then she just stared.  “What say you, Lady?” Miriam finally asked.

  “Simply this, I may have to leave here in a little while.  I want you to come with me, and to be with me always.  All you have to tell me is the answer to one question!”    

  “I pray thee, ask your question, My Lady.”  

Arashi breathed deeply — twice, and asked, “Could you ever love me, as much as I love you?”  

  Miriam was blinking again, and then in a voice calmer than she could possibly be, she said:  “It must be so, My Lady, for I am even so hereby confessed of my love for you to yon priest”   

  Arashi flung her arms around Miriam’s neck, and hugged her fiercely.  After a moment, Arashi whispered with a grin, “What did Father Harmony say to that, Princess?”  

  “He said that my penance was to say my rosary every day without fail, as a kindness to an old man who was my friend, and that I was not to let my princess go until I told her fully how I felt….”    

  Arashi eased her back gently, to look at her and said sadly, “You don’t need to call me ‘Princess’, you know.”  

  “Oh, but I do!” her sincerity surprising Arashi.  “Last night you passed a test that has never been known to fail.  Think you so, or no, you are a royal princess as surely as I.”    

  Arashi had to chuckle loudly at this, though not for the same reaons as Princess Miriam.  

  “See this, lady.”    

  Looking down, Arashi saw in her princess’s hand a small dry pea, which, having been shown, was then quickly slipped into some hiding place of Miriam’s gown before the girl once again hugged her closely.

  From down the hall, the queen quickly glanced up to see the royal princesses hugging each other like loving sisters.  She smiled to herself, this new princess was already becoming like one of the family.  As she walked to the great hall, she hoped that Prince Fredrick was almost ready.  A few minutes more, and she would send for their highnesses to attend the gathering, no need to rush.  It looked like things were finally going to resolve themselves beautifully.  

~ ~ ~

  

  A short time later, with Miriam setting the pace for Arashi by holding her gently at the elbow, Arashi and Miriam made a slow gliding entrance into the diffused warm glow of the great hall — and right into the faces of about fifty noblemen and their ladies.  All of the ladies present were resplendently dressed in the finest of gowns, even as the princesses had been.  The men standing beside them were obviously in their finest as well.  As they reached about ten feet into the great hall, a page announced them.  

  “Your Majesties, and Gentles all!  Her royal highness, Princess Arashi of the Kingdom of Nippon, and her royal highness, the Princess Miriam!”    

Then as one, in a breathtaking display of grace, all the ladies curtsied low with their heads bowed; with their men bowing politely beside them.  Arashi smiled in spite of herself, and unthinkingly only nodded her head in return, which was exactly what Miriam did at her side, and the guests once again arose to stand erect.

  To her right she heard the king say, “You both look lovely, my dears.”  

  And now it was their turn to produce a curtsey of their own.  From the corner of her eye, Arashi could see that Miriam did so with a smooth flowing grace that was lovely to behold.  The gesture positively overflowed of femininity and majesty.  Arashi decided quickly that she would try to learn how to do that like Miriam, and that she would do so as often as possible when she dressed in Loli fashion.  She knew, however, that she could never match that move, so rather than try to curtsy as low as Miriam, she tried for what she hoped was a graceful, and a much more shallow, curtsy of her own.  It seemed, again, to be precisely the right thing to do, because they all seemed to smile appreciatively as if they had expected this.

  Then she was introduced individually.  A man, whom Arashi did not know, introduced her up and down both sides of the room.  At the end of the line was a heavy older man who struck Arashi as perhaps the homeliest present.  He smelled bad too!  “Lastly Highness, the Duke of A’Fonéy”   

  The duke bowed slightly saying loudly, “Highness, I am told you had asked to see me?”  His true intent, obviously the status of association with the mysterious princess, had been given away by his eyes, which were not on her, but roved the assemblage around them.  God, his breath was foul too!  

  “Perhaps we can speak at a later time,” Arashi quickly said, and then quickly moved away toward the king and queen across the hall.    

  When they were out of earshot, she leaned close to Miriam and whispered, “Who in the hell was that?”  

  Miriam whispered back almost too softly and sadly to hear, “The Duke of A’Fonéy, Lady.  He is very rich, and my father’s favorite for me to marry.  In truth, he is not the worst of my suitors, but for all his “Grace”, he is also slow witted and cruel to his people.”    

  Arashi shuddered visibly.  She knew dukes and duchesses were properly addressed ‘Your Grace,’ but also knew exactly what Miriam had meant when she said it.

  Finally, the man handed her off to the care of the king, where she found herself at last face to face with the prince.  It could not be, but he was the spitting image of freak boy from the party last night!  There were differences such as a short beard; but, for all of them, they might have been twins. She felt her knee begin to come up reflexively, before she got a grip on herself.  Thus, when she attempted another shallow curtsy for the prince, instead she did what must have looked like a formal Prussian bow, save for clicking her heels that is.  

  The prince was probably not pleased, but he was clearly more interested in her appearance than her foreign manner.  He was also drunk.  There was something else though.  A calculated look, as if he had just found out he might marry into even more money and power than he had dreamed.  

  “I trust that you are enjoying your stay in our kingdom, Your Highness,” Taking Arashi’s hand he kissed it. “Perhaps you might like to ride with me later, and I can show you more of my fathers kingdom?”  He then, in a display of haughty manner, moved aside to speak with two other young noblemen to the rear.  The king and queen stood grinning like idiots, thinking all was going splendidly.  

  Behind them, music began to play, and several couples began to dance beautifully.  It was a caper of a sort, as befitting the happy circumstances.  It was not a dance such as Arashi had ever seen, but she did notice that there were as many ladies dancing together as there were other couples.  Miriam, seeing the look in ‘her’ princess’s eyes, lead Arashi to the floor, where for a moment the dancers paused to nod and make way for the royal princesses.  Then, with a nod from them in return, the couples began to dance once more, while Miriam began to quickly teach its steps to Arashi.

  For some small while, time passed of its own accord, and unnoticed by either Miriam or Arashi.  In truth, so great was the happiness of all present at the rebirth of hope for a royal wedding, and also in no small part to the excitement at the visit of a beautiful princess of a mysterious foreign kingdom, that none present marked the passage of time more closely.  That is, until the strange trill of a bird, coming from the direction of their highnesses began to attract the attention of one and all.  

  Grinning broadly, and at a loss for breath, Arashi paused in her dance, and said, “It’s mine!” as she pulled her phone to her ear and said, “Arashi?”  

  “Hi, this is the cab company. Our driver said that he’s found the road, and he can see a large old stone barn or something through the trees, is that it?”    

  “I think so, tell him to come to the front gate, and I will be out presently,” and with an electronic click, she killed the phone.  

  When Arashi looked up, every eye was upon her.  Some were shocked, and some were in fear, but none had as yet moved.  In fact, the only movement Arashi saw was that of a gray tabby cat, who entered from behind a curtain at the far side of the room, and sat down to also watch Arashi through half-lidded eyes.    

  Arashi turned to lean close to Miriam, and said, “Get your things quickly, we have to go right now.”  Miriam fled the room, all there assuming she was in fear.

  Turning back to the room, few had yet moved, but amongst those who were slowly backing away, several had taken a step or two toward Arashi.  She did not like the look on their faces.  Arashi, grateful she had yet to take wine that afternoon, said a silent but most fervent prayer, “Ninth grade English, and Shakespeare don’t fail me now.”    

  Then, stepping boldly forward toward the king with an exaggerated smile, she called out loudly,  “Your Majesties, and gentles all.  Word has come to me from the Holy Father in Rome, that I must depart immediately on my mission to several other kingdoms.  I regret that I must leave you now, but I have a duty, and I cannot further ignore his holy mission.  It simply must be so.  I wish to thank your majesties, and all here.  In my travels I have never yet visited any kingdom of greater nobility.  I will tell all of your kindness to a lost princess, of your great dignity, and of your exquisite courtesies to me.”  And then she gave a slight bow.

  All present were still visibly trying to make up their minds, when there was a great commotion in the passage at the front of the great hall.  Many of the nobles’ servants had come running into the keep, yelling that some great yellow beast was at the door intent on slaying them all.  One or two younger noblemen moved to the door of the great hall, but most began to speak excitedly and to back away further.    

  “Hold! Gentles, I pray thee!” Arashi yelled out as loudly as she could.  “Gentles all, and you serving men too!  The creature comes at my bidding, and will harm none here, save in defense of me.  You are all as safe as in your own beds, so I beg you all, be still!”  That stopped them, and once again the guests and servants stood motionless.  

  It was Arashi who first moved, startled by the feel of the gray tabby cat brushing along the hem of her gown.  It looked once at her and then ran for the front door.  It probably saved her life, because seeing the cat run, she knew she must quickly follow in its wake to the foyer.  Abruptly, at the door she came face to face with the Prince Fredrick, who, to his small credit, had been one of those willing to move to the entry to observe.  Probably, it was because he was now very drunk.  He violently placed his hand on Arashi’s breast to stop her, and said, “Not so fast, wyitch!”   

  Arashi, now in motion, would not be stopped.  “Don’t you ever learn?” she said loudly to the prince, while swinging her right hand up to knock his dirty paw off her right breast.  Then, placing her left hand on his shoulder, and with one quick step into him, it was over.  

  People just did not expect princesses to act this way.  So great was her ‘chastisement’ of the young prince that none there thought to move to aid him, as she hopped over his now supine form; although, some among the ladies present did smile discretely into their kerchiefs.

  Then with a small, “Excusez-moi!” Arashi continued into the foyer, as the sound of a horn came clearly from outside.  Even still, awed at both the quickness and greatness of her sudden remonstration, none in the hall ever did move to the prince until both our princesses had fully reached the lowest steps leading away from the keep.

  In the foyer, she met Miriam coming down the passage, a small wooden chest under her arm, and closely followed by the two maids puffing along with their arms piled high with dresses.  Taking each other by the hand, the princesses raced down the steps and into the courtyard beyond.  The driver had already opened the closest rear door, so Arashi shoved her princess into the middle of the back seat before she could protest.  The then quickly turned to relieve the maids of their burdens, which she piled high on the seat beside Miriam.    

  The maids, with their burdens removed, now saw the beast clearly for the first time, so stood with mouths agape.  That is, until Arashi slammed the door closed, whereupon both maids turned shrieking, and took to their heels at a pace that has seldom been equaled by ladies of any station while in long full skirts.  Nay, it was said by many who witnessed the feat that it might never have been equaled by many a young man in breeches.

  Arashi said only, “Go,” to the driver as she ran around to his side, and literally jumped in next to her Miriam.  The poor man, who had seen much in his many years of driving cabs, needed no further urging.  No sooner had Arashi slammed her door, and begun to belt Miriam and herself in, then their heads were snapped back by the sudden acceleration of the vehicle.    

  A quick look back showed her little through the cloud of dust that arose from the now sun-dried road.  What she did see was pandemonium pure and simple.  The cab had picked up considerable speed when the driver gasped, and unexpectedly pulled the wheel of the cab hard over.  A peasant he had not seen had stepped from the trees into the road directly in front of him.  The driver thought for sure he must have hit the man, but there was no thump, and a quick look in his rear view showed him standing quite sound in the middle for the road to watch them race away.  Instinct moved the driver’s foot from the brake pedal to push the accelerator to the floor.

  What the great yellow thing had been, the peasant man could never say, save for the fact that it made no sound at all, and that as it passed right through him he felt nothing except the wind of its great pace.  If any had believed him, he probably would have been burned; for fear that he had been contaminated by some great evil.  

  Arashi looked down to finish belting Miriam safely into her seat by her side.  She had to gently move the chest away to do so.  “What on earth is this, Miriam?”  

  “My purse for the road, My Lady.”    

  “Well,” Arashi chuckled loudly, “I have to say I admire your taste in purses, but isn’t it a little heavy to carry around all day?”  

  Miriam spoke no word, but opened her ‘purse’ to show Arashi that it was full to the top with precious jewels and jewelry of every imaginable type.  It dazzled.  Also in the box were many gold coins from kingdoms all over the ancient world, whose very names have long been lost to antiquity.  “It is not much, Lady, but it may be enough to help us on our journey.”  

  Arashi was stunned, and then her eyes moved on their own accord to the pile of gowns.  She had to smile as she fully realized, with no small sense of irony, that for all of the treasure in her princess’s ‘purse,’ the dresses might almost be worth more still to collectors all over the world.

  Looking up into Miriam’s eyes, however, Arashi had no doubt where in the cab the greatest treasure lay.  The girl was clearly frightened, and held on tightly as she glanced back toward her onetime home.  

  “Are you frightened, Princess,” Arashi asked, brushing a hair from her face.  

  “No, My Lady, I fear no future that has you in it,” she replied flatly.    

  “Then you are sure you want to come with me, leaving all that behind?  You know, it’s not too late?”  She asked this of Miriam gently, although in truth, now with all sight of the castle lost in the dust, she was not completely sure it was still back there at all.  

  Miriam looked from the back window, to stare directly into her eyes, which as always caused Arashi’s breath to catch in her chest.  “Lady, you are my only true love, and are more precious to me than all others.   I will now serve no person, save you alone.  As long as any breath of life remains in this meager body, I will follow you wherever thou goest.”    

  “And no greater treasure hath any man, my gentle princess.” Arashi whispered softly as she pulled Miriam very close indeed.

  The cab slowed to a stop as it approached the paved road.  The driver took this opportunity to take a look at his fare in the mirror.  He declared loudly, “What!  Are you girls going to a costume party or something?”    

  Had not Arashi held Miriam’s hand tightly in her own already, Miriam would have clouted the impudent clod on the back of the head for his insolence.  Had Arashi not been so busy grinding her teeth together, she might have done so herself; but Arashi did somehow manage a courtly reply, none-the-less.  

  “Watch the road, Bubo!  We happen to be two royal princesses!”    

  “Humph,” the man said, sticking a cigar between his teeth, “ ‘Scuuuse me!  Your Highness!’  If it’s not too much trouble, would you tell this worthless one where to?”  

    “LAX, and spare not thy horses, coachman!”  

  Under his breath, she was sure he said, “Fucking California!”

  As they pulled out, Arashi had the strangest feeling that she had met the heavyset driver somewhere before, but her attention was drawn to the tow truck parked behind her car, a little way up the hill.  Standing at the side of her car was the driver.  Yup! It had been bound to be.  Freak boy from the party was looking down at her car.  It figured!  It was all starting to make a weird kind of sense.  “To the airport, Your Grace!  And quickly!” she said, as the annoyed driver accelerated down the hill into the valley.

  

  Behind her, Freddy the Freak, as all his friends knew him, frowned down at the paper he had found under the windshield wiper.  The rain had washed out most of what had been written there; and, only on one small corner, which had been partially protected by the wiper, could there be seen what it might have been:  “, —1279.  XXX, OOO.  M !”    With a vaguely puzzled expression, he looked back one last time as the cab, now far down the valley, turned a last corner out of sight.  

  Fin.

    

  

  

P.S.:

  Thus far, gentle reader, is this story told by all who tell the tale.  The princesses never returned.  Of our king and queen, and their gentle kingdom?  Well some say it was never the same after the loss of their much beloved princess.  Others say, that the good people of the valley, their care for royal affairs being far less than had been supposed, continued to live in their valley with as much joy of life as had been their custom.  In faith, none now in living memory know the truth of it.    

  Of the princesses, all tellers are in accord, and they are said to have lived happily ever after, until the end of all their many seasons.  ‘Tis also said that the Princess Miriam, having been de facto chatelaine of her father’s castle, took all she had learned in its managing and her small purse to a street of walls; and that there with much good husbandry, and her gentle manner, enlarged it beyond easy measure.  The princesses, taking their good fortune, did then employ many good ladies greatly skilled at their needles, and do produce gowns of unsurpassed beauty for all the ladies of the world.  If it be truly told, they also make dresses for not a few Kei musicians of great note.  

  True to her word, Arashi took Miriam to live in many great kingdoms, in apportioned high towers as befitting of royal princesses, and this in the many great cities of the world.  Paris, Tokyo, London, Rome, and her own City of the Angels, I have heard.   

  The Princess Miriam, also true to her oath of that day, remained close by her princess’s side for all of their long years on earth — and through the gates of heaven beyond.  It is said, and I have faith it is so, that to this day there may be seen on fair days, in the parks of the many great kingdoms where they dwelt, great ladies both dark and resplendent, who stroll sadly in honor of our princesses.  It is said that all who look there do plainly see, the grace and greatness of how all royal princesses must always be.

      Rev. Father Harmony

  

....Then, as if an echo from far away and a distant time, an old man’s voice comes  softly:    “Maryanne, you naughty cat, where have you been?”

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