Royal Affliction (The Anti-Princess Saga) (10 page)

“You two go sit down at the table,” Violet said while gesturing towards the kitchen.  “I am sure that the food is ready by now.”

As I entered the kitchen I saw Lasora, Violet’s mother.  You couldn’t miss her.  Her skin was a neon shade of yellow and her short, spiky hair was as bright orange as the morning sun.  Her face was soft and feminine with a refined quality about it.  She was a witch, like her daughter, and like her mother before her.  Violet had come from a long line of witches.  I always figured that’s why she was so powerful.  It was in her blood.

Violet’s kitchen didn’t have the modern appliances that the castle had either.  A medium-sized wood-burning stove was the only appliance in it at all.  Long wooden counters encased it on either side and they were covered with the bowels and utensils used to prepare the breakfast that we were about to enjoy.

When Lasora saw me, she pulled me into a gentle hug.  “It is so nice to see you again, Quartessa.  I hope that you are well?”

It was obvious that Violet had not told her mother about my little problem, and she didn’t seem to notice, so I chose not to fill her in. 
I didn’t need someone else to feel sorry for me at the moment.

“Yes, Lasora.  Thank you for asking.”

“Please sit,” she said while pointing to the small wooden table in the corner.

I sat down next to Clifton and Lasora put a plate in front of each of us loaded with delectable food.  Noodles and fish prepared in a naticia broth.

“You must tell me of your travels, Quartessa.  The human world must be fascinating.”

“I’m sorry, but I really don’t feel like talking about that right now.”  I didn’t want to think about my recent attack.

“It is ok, Quartessa,” she said with a cheery smile, “you do not have to speak of anything that makes you uncomfortable.”  She had very good manners, perhaps from spending so much time around my father.

“Well, we’d better get going,” I said once we’d finished eating.  “I am showing Clifton around Kortis, but I did want to stop in and say hello.  Thank you for breakfast, Lasora.  It was delicious.”

She smiled at me.  “You know that you are welcome here anytime, Quartessa.”

“You two have fun,” said Violet.  “Be sure to take him to our spot.”

“I will.”

********************

“Don’t be so talkative Clifton,” I said as we walked along the path.  “I can’t get a word in edgewise.”

“Sorry.  I’m just…trying to take it all in.  It is very different here.”

“Yeah, I know.  I love it and hate it at the same time.”

“This place reminds me of olden times, but without the horses.”

“Olden times?”

“The way human’s used to live a long time ago.  This place is kinda similar.”

I stared at him, still not quite sure what he’d meant.

“They had no electricity, everything was made of wood, brick or stone, and women weren’t given the respect that they were deserved.  In the simplest terms I can think of, this place is just not as evolved as the human world is now.”

“Oh, I never learned about human history.  I was always trying to fit in with the present.  That does sound similar to this place, primarily the part about how women were treated.  I will have to read up on my human history when we return, it sounds interesting.”

“Some of it really is.  I’ve always liked history.  It was my favorite subject in school.”

“Well then, you will have to educate me on the subject.”

“Maybe I will.  Are Violet and her mother mixed-blooded like me?”

“No, they are full-blooded Zolera.  Why?”

“Oh, it’s just that they don’t look like anyone else I’ve seen here.”

“Zolera witches often look different.  It separates them from the rest of us.”

“Oh.”

A large, stone fountain was before us now.  My father, carved out of marble, stood alone in the center as jets of water shot up and around him in a pleasant pattern.

“That is a good likeness of your father.”

“Yes, it took years to get it just the way he wanted it.”

“Personally, I do not think it does him justice,” a voice said from behind us.

I didn’t bother to turn around.  “Kafkus, will you please just leave us alone?” 
How dare he try to talk to me after trying his best to get Clifton killed.

“I just wanted to apologize for yesterday.”  He sounded sincere.

Kafkus grabbed my arm and pulled me away from Clifton.  I wasn’t sure why I let him.  He led me over to a bench and we sat down next to each other.  My eyes stayed on Clifton.

“I am truly sorry for my actions, Princess.  Although I do not like to admit it, I am jealous.  You know how I feel about you.”

I said nothing.  I just sat there feeling awkward.  Gader had indeed told me the previous night that Kafkus was in love with me.  It was uncomfortable enough to be sitting next to him now for that reason alone, him bringing up his feelings made it even worse.  I needed to crush the part of him that thought that someday I would reciprocate his love.

“Kafkus, I am sorry to have to do this.”

“You are sorry that you have to do what?”

“Kafkus, we will never be because I will never feel the same way about you that you feel about me.  I need you to comprehend this.  Do you understand?”  If I was nice he wouldn’t believe me.  He would think there was still hope.  I had to be firm.  I had to say it with certainty.  I did.

He looked angry, rather than hurt.  “I will never give up on you.  Do you understand me?”

I sighed out of annoyance.  “Goodbye, Kafkus.”

“What did he want?” Clifton asked without a trace of the jealousy that I knew he felt.

“Nothing I feel like talking about.”

I didn’t feel much like discussing my past with Kafkus.  Clifton didn’t know that he would have been my husband had I chosen to stay.  And I didn’t plan on telling him that part.  The last thing that I needed was a fight over my affection.  Some women liked that kind of thing, not me.  I liked my men alive.

I knew that Kafkus remained on that bench because I could still feel him staring.  “Let’s go,” I said, unable to deal with Kafkus’ ogling anymore.  Clifton looked like he wanted to comment or ask something else but he refrained from doing so.

We walked along the sand and soon we reached our next destination, Bartering Row.  This place had changed a lot since I’d been here last.  I had remembered wooden stands lining the path, all filled with food and supplies caught and made by the locals.  Now, however, the place was filled with little wooden indoor shops, each of them offering something different.  There was a shop where you could buy fresh fish, one for weaponry made by the local blacksmith, one for clothes, a potion shop for the local witches and a nice shop that sold magical items for those who had no magical abilities of their own.

We had a good time checking out the little shops though we didn’t buy anything.  I’d had all of my gold melted down and turned into human money which was useless here.  Paper wasn’t valued amongst my people because it literally grew on trees.

We left the area after a while and traveled to the east, heading back towards the coast.  A large grassy hill was the only thing blocking the ocean from our view.  The hike up took tremendous effort, far more than I had remembered.  When we reached the top however, it was a familiar and welcoming scene.

An oak tree, the size of a three-story house, stood next to the cliff overlooking the ocean.  Two wooden swings hung from its higher branches, and swayed in the warm breeze.  Off to one side was a small garden filled with flowers that Violet and I had planted together years before.  It was nice to see them thriving and I wondered if Violet was still taking care of them.  The sight took me back to a simpler time, a time where I had no worries or responsibilities.

In my mind’s eye, I could see the miniature Violet pushing the eight-year-old me on that swing, pushing me higher and higher so that I could reach the heavens.  I missed that feeling of infinite possibilities, the thought that anything could happen if you believed hard enough.  I had really assumed that, if I swung high enough, I would reach the goddess.  Stupid, I thought now, but what I wouldn’t give to feel like that again.  I perched myself upon the swing, but it just wasn’t the same.

Clifton sat down on the other swing.  “Is something wrong?”

“Do you ever wish that you could relive a chapter in your life?”

He thought hard for a moment before answering.  “No.  I didn’t have a good childhood, and after that I was working all the time just to scrape by.”

“There isn’t anything in your life that made you happy?  Nothing you cherish in your memories?  Or something that you look back on and you can’t help but smile?”  I knew that there had to be something.  It would be a shame if he’d lived his whole life and not experienced at least one moment of happiness.

The curves of his lips turned upwards.  “Well there is this one thing that kind of sticks in my head.”

“Well?”

“One day, not too long ago, I was having a pretty bad day.  I was sitting out on my front patio feeling pretty crappy about my life.  And when I looked up I saw this beautiful woman moving all of her stuff into the apartment right above mine.  There was something special about this girl.  She called out to me without even saying a word.  And I knew that someday she would feel the same way for me that I had felt for her on that wonderful day.”

I blushed.  “So, what happened to this mystery girl?”

“Well, she blew me off every time I tried to talk to her.  She made stupid excuses like
I have to work
, or my personal favorite
I have to take a shower
.  I mean how many showers can a person take in one day?  I think that her record was five.”

“So, how does this tragic love story end?”

“I think that she moved to Mexico to get away from me.  There were words exchanged, something about a restraining order, I’m not quite sure.”  He sounded as serious as he could, but he cracked a smile anyway.  “You hungry?”

“I could eat.”

We sat in the comfy grass under the shade of the large oak tree to enjoy our lunch.  The cook had outdone himself.  There was enough food in that basket to feed three people for an entire day.

When we were done eating Clifton pushed me on the swing.  It was nice.  We talked for hours about my life growing up here in Kortis, and about my life in the human world.  Clifton just listened for the most part since he didn’t want to talk about his crummy life.  I was the only happy memory that he knew, and I felt a little sorry for him about that.  Though my life had been no heaven, I at least had many fond memories to look back on.

An exhilarating idea occurred to me.  I wanted to go for a swim.  I stood up and walked over to the edge of the cliff and stared down at the crystal clear water some thirty feet below.

“What are you doing?” Clifton asked.

I turned just my head back to him and flashed him a big smile.

“You’re not going to jump, are…”

Before he could finish, my feet had left the ground.  The free fall took mere seconds, but it felt much longer.  Time seemed to stand still.  The wind rippled around my body as I descended farther and then…splash.  I hit the frosty water hard, and sank willingly into its depths.

Chapter Five

I felt content in every aspect beneath the surface.  Two sea turtles swam next to each other a few feet in front of me.  They glided without sound through the water then disappeared in the darkness beyond my sight.  There was such beauty in this world, so much of it that I had yet to experience.

The light from above rippled through the water, making it sparkle with multi-toned facets of blue.  I let the weight of my body carry me down further while staring up.  The light was getting darker now.  It was getting more difficult to see where the water met the sky.  I touched down on the ocean floor and just lay there, feeling relaxed.  I would have been happy to just stay there for the remainder of my days.  Content to just marvel in the natural beauty of the ocean.

The water rippled above me as something hit the water.  It was Clifton.  I smiled as he swam towards me.  He looked concerned.  Perhaps he thought I’d drowned or something.  I waved at him when he was close enough to see me well enough and his obvious anxiety faded away.

I grabbed his hand and pulled him to me, situating him behind me with his legs wrapped around mine.  We sat there in silence—as it was impossible to talk underwater—just listening to the soothing sounds of the ocean and watched the fish swim by.

It is hard to describe how just being in the ocean makes you feel.  Humans would never know the joy of it.  Sure there are people who scuba dive and snorkel, but to get the full effect of it you needed to be free of all that.  To genuinely experience it you needed to be able to open yourself up to it, be able to breathe in the crisp clean water and let it embrace you.  I could understand why so many of my kind chose to live here.  It was going to be hard to persuade myself to leave.