Royal Affliction (The Anti-Princess Saga) (17 page)

Loach immediately retreated from his seat, crawled under the table, and hid behind my legs.

“He didn’t mean for this to happen.  You would know that if you listened to me properly.  He has agreed to help us, Clifton, but you must promise not to hurt him.”  He still looked angry, so I flashed him a stern look.

“Fine.”  He sat back down and resumed eating.

“It’s ok, Loach, you can come out.”

Loach eased himself from under my seat and sat back down in his chair, all while keeping a watchful eye on Clifton.

“Loach?”

“Yes, Princess?”

“I need you to tell me all that you know about where the Boru are living, and any plans they are in the midst of trying to accomplish.”

“Well, they didn’t tell me of their plans, but they held me captive in a large warehouse just outside of town.  I could take you there if you wanted me to.”  He bowed his head just slightly, showing his respect.

“Violet, could you conceal Loach’s appearance so he could pass for human?”

She stared at him, appraising his odd, non-human features.  “My concealment charms only work for tone.  I do not think that beige flames would make him look more human.”

“I can douse them.”

Without his flames he looked like a badly sun burnt child, except for his head.  It looked much larger in proportion to his body than it had seemed with the flames.  It appeared as though he had an adult’s head sitting upon an eight-year-old’s body.  He was skinny and yet no bones peaked through his skin.  I silently wondered if he had any bones at all.  The spots where his elbows should have been were smooth, as if nothing was behind them but flesh.  He sat there, naked to us all, but he didn’t seem to be ashamed or embarrassed by it.

“I might be able to do something with him.  We can use clothes to hide the rest.  Quartessa, do you have any gold jewelry that I can use?”

“I’m sure that I can find something.”

I left the table to rummage through my room.

I’d always preferred silver to gold, so most of the jewelry that I owned was silver.  I would never tell my father this though as I was expected to like and wear gold as the rest of my family did.

I found a gold locket in one of my dresser drawers that would work just fine.  It had been a gift from Brent.  I didn’t even know why I still had it, except for the fact that women always seem to keep souvenirs from past relationships as a reminder of what they once had.  I grabbed it and a long t-shirt.  I didn’t have any clothes that would fit Loach properly so the t-shirt would have to work until we could get him clothes that were more his size.  Quino could have used some too.  He was much taller than Clifton, the leg that showed under his pants proved that concept.  Not to mention the fact that he was much broader.  The shirt that he was wearing looked like it was at least two sizes too small for him.

I handed the locket over to Violet and gave the shirt to Loach.  It fell to about where his knees should have been, covering him well.  Violet handed Loach the necklace and he placed it around his neck.  His skin instantly bean to soften in color until it reached my own hue, the only one she seemed to know.  If not for his head and, facial features, he could have passed for human.

“We need to go shopping for clothes.  Loach and Quino will draw far too much attention dressed the way they are.”

“We need to get some weapons too,” Kafkus added.  “Though, some of us do not really need them.”  He threw Clifton a cavalier smile.

“But you are the better weapons master.  I can do nothing with them.”

“You can learn.”

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

It was a little cramped with six of us piled into my petite car, but we all managed to get situated.  Violet sat up front with me.  She checked out the sites as we drove and asked lots of questions (as she usually did).  Kafkus, Quino and Clifton were squeezed in tight in the back seat, but none of them complained.  Loach settled himself in the area behind the back seat.  He was now wearing a hooded sweatshirt to cover his enormous head and large dark sunglasses to cover his inhuman eyes.  Both items had been graciously loaned to him by Clifton.

I did like shopping.  Though I didn’t like to tap into my father’s money, it was for his men so I didn’t mind this time.  I had never had anyone to share my wealth with, it was nice.

Before long we were parked and walking into the mall.  We drew a lot of attention from shoppers.  Loach seemed to draw the most stares as he looked like a mini version of the Unabomber.  Or like the kid of someone famous who had to hide his appearance from the paparazzi.

We hit a department store first.  I guessed Kafkus and Quino’s sizes and picked out some clothes to complement their features.  The rest of us waited outside of the dressing room while they tried them on.

Kafkus came out first, looking very smart in the black jeans and the powder blue dress shirt that I had picked out for him.  He was also wearing a pair of black Vans that went well with the outfit.

“Nice.”

“These clothes fit weird,” he complained as he fidgeted with his shirt collar.

“They are supposed to fit like that.”

“You like it?”

“It looks great on you.”

He grunted and headed back inside.

Quino stepped out next wearing khaki-colored slacks and a brown, long-sleeved button-up shirt.  He looked very dapper, and the black Airwalks he was wearing complimented the look.  “What do you think?” he asked energetically as he spun around, showing off his new clothes with remarkable enthusiasm.

“You look great Quino.”  The clothes fit well and he actually seemed to be comfortable in them.  “What do you think?”

“I love it!” he said with such gusto that it left me speechless.  He turned and strode back into the dressing room before I could wipe the startled look off my face or regain the use of my voice.

Clifton laughed.  “Quino at least seems to like the clothes you picked out for him.”

“Yes he does.  A little more than I thought he would.”

I had almost forgotten how hard it was for me to fit in when I had first arrived here.  I didn’t have anyone to pick out my clothes for me or tell me what to do or how to act.  I had to figure it all out for myself.  It wasn’t too hard, but it did take a lot of getting used to.

“Tessa?”

“Huh?”

“Tessa!”

I jerked my head to look at Clifton.  His eyes, along with everyone else’s, were looking at me with noticeable concern.  “I’m fine.  I was just remembering when I first came here.”

Violet sighed.  “This place is much different than home.”

“It’s great here, once you get used to it.  You will see many things here that you could never see back home.  I promise that you will learn to like it here.  I did.  Just give it a chance.”

“I miss Kortis.”

“I think that some new clothes might cheer you up.  Let’s go pick out a few things, just for you.”

Her face lit up as she rummaged through the racks of clothes.  Human or not, women love to shop.  I picked out a few things for myself and we entered the same dressing room together so that we could try them on.  The guys waited patiently outside.

She tried on a pretty floral dress that was similar to what she was used to wearing.  “What do you think?”  She spun around to give me the full effect.

“I think that it’s very
you.” 
I was glad that she was enjoying herself.  I liked seeing her happy.
 
“Let’s go get you some shoes to go with your new outfits.”

She eyed the flip-flops I’d loaned her.  “I do not like shoes.”

“Yes well, be that as it may, the ground here isn’t as refined as it is in Kortis.  You will need to wear shoes in public.”

“These are fine then.  I do not want anything else.”

I spun her around to face me.  “What are you doing here, Violet?  If you didn’t want to come you didn’t have to.”

“I came to help.”

“Well, complaining isn’t helping.”

“I am sorry, Quartessa.  I am just homesick.  Everything is so different here.”

“I know the feeling, but you need to deal with what’s going on now.  When this is all over, you can return to Kortis.  But for now, will you just try to relax and enjoy yourself?”

She seemed to cheer up by my words.  “I guess I could do with some new shoes then.”

“Then let’s go get you some.”

We left the fitting room to find only Kafkus and Quino waiting for us.  “Where’s everyone else?”

“Clifton took Loach to pick out some clothes,” Quino said as he stared at Violet.

“Well, I guess that will save us some time.”

Kafkus pulled me to him and held me tightly.  His gaze drank me in before his mouth found mine.  He pulled away, leaving me there with my eyes shut and my mouth still open.

“We, we need to…shoes.”

“What was that?” Kafkus chortled.

“We need to get shoes.  Will you guys wait here for the rest of our group please?”

“But of course.”

When we returned Clifton and Loach had also.  Loach was sporting some faded jeans and a new hooded sweatshirt that fit him much better than Clifton’s had.  He was also wearing a pair of clunky black leather boots that didn’t really go with what he had on, but at least they fit him.

“Is there anything you need?” I asked Clifton, thinking he might be feeling a bit left out.

“No Tessa, I’ve got all the clothes I need.  I appreciate the thought though.”  He gave me a light kiss on my forehead.

Kafkus cleared his throat.  “Weapons then?”

“Yes, weapons.”

There was a sword shop somewhere in this mall, I knew that, just not where it was.  We wandered around for a while before I finally stopped at a map so I could find it.  Apparently it was right outside the department store that we were just in, but on the second level.  So we doubled back around to get to it.

The weapons in this shop were mostly meant to for show so they would need to be sharpened before we could use them.  Though not all were of battle quality, there were many which met Kafkus and Quino’s standards.  They tested out many swords and knives before choosing what they wanted.  Kafkus settled on a long, broad, and heavy sword, while Quino picked out two medium sized daggers.

“We all need to be armed,” Kafkus whispered to me so that the man behind the counter couldn’t hear him.

“They will be of no use to me.  I don’t know how to fight.”  My great strength was the only advantage that I had ever had apart from that weird electrical power that I’d briefly experienced.  And with those things gone, I had nothing.  Well…aside from my ceremonial dagger which was a too close range of weapon for my tastes.

“Then I will teach you.  You need to learn how to defend yourself, especially with that ring draining your strength.”

He picked out a thin, light sword and handed it to me.  There was a small silver dolphin carved into the hilt.  It was pretty, but I wasn’t exactly sure what to do with it.  I swung it around, attempting to use it.  It cut through the air with amazing ease, like it was tailor made for me.

“It is perfect for you.”

Kafkus picked out a long, broad sword, similar to the one that he had picked out for himself and offered it to Clifton.  “I will teach you as well.”

He also picked out a pair of short daggers for Loach, who eyed them hesitantly.  I wasn’t sure if the Yaro even used weapons, their bodies were deadly enough.

The shop apparently had the service of sharpening the weapons they sold, for an extra fee of course.  I found it a little odd that they would do that since the items that they sold were supposed to just be for decoration, but it saved us the trouble of doing it so I didn’t complain.

Kafkus brandished his new sword with pride.  “Now, let us go to this warehouse.”

We had almost made it to the exit when two beefy security guards—who were wearing enough cologne to gag me—stepped in front of the door.  Both had shaved heads and both looked like typical rent-a-cops: Slow with an air of underappreciated and undeserved importance about them.

“I need you two to come with me,” one of them said with a hand gesture to Violet and myself.

Kafkus looked irritated and I gave him a nudge to keep him from opening his mouth.  “We haven’t stolen anything.  Feel free to check our bags.”

“I will check them when we get to the office.”  He tried to grab my arm but I jerked it out of his reach.  He just smiled.  “We can do this the hard way if you prefer, but one way or another you are coming with us.”

I rolled my eyes, more irritated than anything.  “Fine, but you aren’t going to take just me and Violet.  If you want us to come, you’re taking all of us.”

Their eyes darted between Kafkus and Quino who were gripping their weapons tightly in their hands.  “They can stay outside.”

“
Whatever
, let’s just get this over with.  We have other crap to do today besides being harassed by
mall
cops.”

They guys unwillingly perched themselves on the bench outside the loss prevention room while Violet and I were escorted inside.