Alien's Bride 1-3 (41 page)

There was a smattering of businesses outside the official market area near the castle wall.
 
I kept on the lookout for the sign of a tailor while continuing my way towards the center of commerce.
 
Everyone stared at me now, often after gasping and pointing.
 
I overheard a few saying I must be that half-goddess who lived in the forest.
 
I suppose it was fine.
 
My stature was regal enough for people to know I had godly blood even when I was in rags.
 
As I entered the congested market street a man jumped off his parked wagon and stuck his filth encrusted face far too close to mine.

“Are you Sarina?
 
Sarina the sex goddess?”

I lunged back.
 
He stank of tobacco.
 
“Get away from me.”
 
I spotted a tailor’s sign over his bald head and pushed past him.

“Oh, but my dear, there’s someone who wants to meet you.”
 

He tried to clutch my elbow.
 
I jerked away and dashed towards the shop.

“Getting a dress, then?” he said, as though we’d been having conversation.
 
“Fine, fine, you’ve quite a need for one.
 
You stay there, love.
 
Don’t go wandering away!
 
You don’t want to pass this up.”

I darted into the shop and thrust the door closed behind me.
 

Thankfully the place was dead quiet.
 
Most of the noise of the street was closed out behind the thick oak door.
 
A young woman wearing a head scarf was working a spinning wheel too diligently to look at me.
 
An older man with a measuring tape draped over his shoulders came from behind a counter.
 
He seemed puzzled by me.

“I need a dress,” I said before he could kick me out for looking like a vagrant.
 
“The only one I had was snatched by pixies.
 
I have gold.”

He frowned.
 
“Oh dear.”
 
He knelt before me and began measuring.
 
“There wasn’t someone else who could have fetched this for you?
 
My, you’re the tallest woman I’ve ever…oh!”
 
He looked up at me.
 
“Are you that half-goddess?”

I nodded.

“I see, I see.
 
My goodness.
 
When do you need this—oh, well I suppose you need it immediately.”
 
He kept measuring.
 
“But we’re quite busy, you see, and our work is costly.
 
The castle has an order that I simply must finish today.”

“You ought have gone to Missus Danzy,” the girl spinning said.

“Where’s that?”

She puckered her lips a moment.
 
“Far.
 
All the way past the creek.”

I cringed.
 
The last thing I wanted was another tour through the crowded village.
 
It was so peaceful and proper inside here.
 
This was the sort of place that should be servicing me.

I sighed.
 
“Can you put me in something today?
 
Even something simple so I can at least get decent?”

The girl stopped spinning and rose.
 
“I could make her something out of that red bolt.
 
Probably the only bolt wide enough to circle her with one seam.”

The shopkeeper frowned.
 
“Red?”

“Red’s fine,” I said.
 
“I’m not some mortal maiden.
 
People expect a goddess to be flamboyant.”
   

He seemed dubious.
 
“Is that right?”
 
After a moment he shrugged.
 
“Well it’s not cheap, I afraid.
 
That dye is usually reserved for princesses and queens.”

I opened my purse and let him look inside.
 
He plucked out six of my eleven gold coins.

My heart felt like it sank.
 
Each coin represented five bushels of corn.
 
“That much?”

He shrugged again with some sympathy.
 
“I’m sorry, my dear.
 
We are the preeminent shop in Trummel, and this is a rush order.”

I groaned and availed myself of a chair.
 
“Fine.
 
Just make it.”
 
(My mother would have shrieked if she knew.)

The girl sped over to me and took the measuring tape from the shopkeeper.
 
“I’ll make it right fine.
 
You’ll see.
 
It’ll take the rest of today, but you’ll leave here looking of royalty.”
 

I stood so she could estimate the length of my legs.
 

“I’ll sew together a new shift for you, too.”

“Oh, well, that would be nice.”

I sat on the chair trying to be inconspicuous as they set about their work.
 
By now I was starving, and I felt like a fool for not having eaten before I left.
 
I’d spied some food carts on the street, but very little could motivate me to leave the safety of the store.
 
I started to doze when the shadows were growing long outside the front window.
 

The door opened to what I assumed to be a customer.
 
I sneered to see it was the vendor who’d harassed me.
 
Behind him, however, were men who looked scarily important.
 
They wore the starched dark uniforms of retainers.

“There she is!”
 
The obnoxious merchant pointed at me.
 
“Sarina, goddess of sex.”

I stood, feeling too intimidated to correct him.

The dark-haired official leading the group looked me over sternly.
 
He produced a small purse of coin and handed it to the merchant.
 

He winked at me before exiting.
 
“You owe me a debt of gratitude, girl.”

The men moved closer.
 

“Are you indeed Sarina, the half-goddess?”

My brow furrowed.
 
Was I wanted for some crime?
 
Perhaps they considered being a bastard a crime?
 
I knew not what to do, but lying seemed fruitless.
 
It was obvious from my stature I wasn’t typical.

“I am,” I said.

He forced a smile for brief second.
 
“I represent our Royal Highness Prince Riffzer.
 
He’s very keen to meet you.
 
He’s entertaining bride candidates at this time.
 
Would you kindly return with us?”

I knew of Prince Riffzer (all the princes had names which made your tongue itch) because tree postings from royal heralds eventually drifted our way with news.
 
He was the eldest prince, but his youngest brother had ascended to the throne in his stead because he’d failed at the quests the god Helder demanded of Trummel’s king.
 

“I can’t go anywhere,” I said with a touch of trepidation.
 
“My only dress was stolen by pixies.
 
I’m waiting for them to finish a new one.”

The man made an impatient smile.
 
“My lord would not be offended by your clothing in the slightest, particularly if you’re the victim of the fey.
 
I shall explain your dire circumstances to him.
 
I bid you to come with me now.
 
It would not do to keep him waiting.”

As he spoke I considered things further.
 
Maybe becoming a princess was how I could begin on the path towards my destiny.
 
At the very least it would give me access to riches.
 
My purse was already lightened by more than half.
 
I couldn’t squander any opportunities.

“Yes, I’ll go with you.
 
I—I’ll just pick up my dress after.”

The girl who’d been serving me nodded from behind the counter with pins in her mouth.
 

***

A single-horse coach drove us through the castle gates.
 
I saw a splendid courtyard with all sorts of lovely plants, which were for decoration and not food.
 
Dozens of servants saw to this greenery while being guarded by a statue of Helder, who looked cruel and glorious.
 
His wife Arma sat at his feet with her head lowered.
 

I was let off before imposing white marble steps with the officials.
 
Stable workers took over the coach.
 
The entrance was grand.
 
As grand as you’d expect, and I knew I should have gawked the spectacle of it all (sparkling lamps, glorious red carpets over smooth stone, massive tapestries spanning from the floor to the breathtakingly high ceiling) but I was preoccupied with nervous anticipation.
 

I was meeting the prince as a bride candidate.
 
Since I’d agreed to the interview, I should aspire to obtain the position.
 
It didn’t matter what kind of man Prince Riffzer was.
 
The life he could offer me was all I had to be concerned with.

I thought of being the glorious, majestic character whom I knew I was in my mind.
 
But I was in rags.
 
If only I’d gotten the new dress first!
 
I had to be humble and hope my beauty would win him.

We went down a secluded corridor which had only one door at the very end.

“Let me take your coat and scarf,” the dark-haired official said.

“What?”
 
I held my hands to my bosom as though it were unthinkable.
 
“My shift is threadbare.
 
This is all that’s concealing me.”

“It’s best that you meet him in your shift alone.
 
He expects a love goddess to be provocative.
 
These adornments just make you look foolish.”

I wrangled with that truth for just a moment before handing over my scarf.
 
My areolas were dark spots beneath the white cloth of my shift.
 

“My money’s in my coat,” I said, while handing over the second garment.

“I’ll keep it safe.
 
Now, then.”
 
He knocked on the door.

I heard the laughter of more than one man.
 
Goose pimples lit up all over my skin.
 
No.
 
I don’t want to do this.

“Come in!”
 
The sing-song welcome sounded obnoxious.
 

The official entered first and bowed deeply.
 
“I present the half-goddess Sarina.”

I followed him, while trying to keep my head held high.
 
I was in a parlor of some sort.
 
Animal busts overflowed from plaques on the wall.
 
My feet were on a soft bear rug, and there were stuffed bears, elk, beaver, and other creatures in glass displays.
 
Across the room were three men on a massive couch before a fireplace.
 
They stood, and a man not yet forty whose nose was red from spirits beckoned to me with a belligerent smile.

“Bring her over here!
 
Oh my gods, she’s in her slip!”
 
He bellowed with laughter and one of the others joined in.
 
“You can see right through it.”

The official left me and closed the door.
 
I felt more naked and stupid once he was gone.
 
He’d never explained my situation.
 
I continued my pretence of confidence and forced my legs to carry me to them with my nose staunchly in the air.
 
I stepped in front of the couch between them and the fire.

The tipsy man who I assumed to be the prince dropped back onto the couch as though I’d pushed him.