Starbeam: Chapter 2

The door chimed with bells as Maggy came strolling into the store. The smile on her beautiful round face and dark red hair made my heart dropped to my stomach. “Oh for crying out loud, what did you get us into now” I scolded, “You never think about things.”

She pulled her mouth downward. “You are such a party pooper. Just imagine, the royal ball, all those masks and gowns.”

“Gowns we don’t have.”

“And dancing,” Maggy ignored my comment.

“You should snap out of it, it won’t happen to any of us, that’s just how things are.”

She slapped me, “Oh Katie, you are such a grumpy pot today. Where is your sense of adventure, your love for life. If I win, I’ll take you with me, and if you win, you’ll take me with you. It’s going to be so much fun.”

“And what are we gonna go as, Cinder one and Cinder two. We don’t have fairy godmothers Maggy.”

“We have potions,” She said.

“Potions cost money, money we will never have because the ball you want to go to, is one of the reasons we are so damn poor.”

“Then we can ask our mothers to sew us dresses, yours used to be quite a good dressmaker in her younger years.”

“A dress like that takes months, sweetheart, besides, my mom doesn’t have time to even cut us one, not to mention sewing it together.”

“We’ll find a way, just smile for crying out loud.”

I shook my head but gave my extravagant friend a smile. She always did things like this, but I have to admit, my life would be boring without Maggy’s schemes of going to the palace or meeting her prince for real.

She wanted to live a fairytale. If only Helmut wasn’t such a pig and was actually a kind person who would do anything for his beloved low class girl. Yep that was Maggy.

“I should go now, I told mother, I would only be out for a second. The tavern is very busy today.”

“Good luck with the grabby young men.”

Maggy turned around and rested her hand on her hips. “Oh, honey. I know how to use these,” she wiggled her four fingers in the air which made me laugh.

The bell chimed again as my best friend exited. I watched through the window while Maggy spoke to one of the bystanders as if they were old friends. That was one of her gifts, her words made you feel as if you were someone important.

“Was that Marguerite?” Mama came from the back.

I chuckled. “Yes, with one of her crazy schemes.”

Mama giggled too. “What is it this time.”

“She’s entered us into another masked ball they are throwing again” I looked at my mother who had a serious look on her face. “I won’t go, Mom. I told her we don’t have the money or anything to wear.”

Mama smiled and looked at the counter. “On the contrary, I think it’s one of her better ideas. You should go if one of you wins it.”

“As what?”

“We can come up with a plan Katherine Squires. You are always so serious.” Mama said in a mysterious tone and I shook my head. She must have taken some sort of calming tonic, as mama had never approved of one of Maggy’s schemes before.

Me going to the ball. I sighed. “Fate would never be so kind to either of us, or so cruel. No, but if I ever had the chance I’d march right up to Albert and tell him exactly what I thought of him.”

Mama chuckled.

The bell chimed again which broke the thoughts of my scolding dialogue in my mind. It was replaced with a couple of other thoughts as a young girl, a couple of years older than me, in a wide puffy dress, entered with her snobbish mother in tow. She was the king’s general’s daughter that lived in Eikenborough and a constant pain in my buttocks.

“What is she doing here?” I mumbled and mother bumped me softly to warn me to hold my tongue.

“Lady Ambers and Drizelda,” My mother curtseyed to them both. The older replica of her daughter just looked at mama with a fake smile and a raised eyebrow as she wielded her fan like crazy.

“What can I help you with today,” mama asked as I tried to make myself taller than five foot two.

“Lavender sweetwater,” Drizelda answered. “For some reason this is the only store that sells it.” She spoke down to us as her eyes scrolled all over the shop and landed right on my frame.

She smiled with a twisted smirk and glided over to the register.

She picked up the lottery ticket from the ball that Maggy had dropped off a couple of minutes ago and stared at it. She started to laugh and looked at me. “And what would you be going as, if you got chosen. Cinder soot.”

I just stared at her and mother walked behind me giving me the eye that today was the day I should bite my tongue. I looked back down at the counter.

“Cat got your tongue?” Drizelda asked.

“I’m going to wait outside, dear,” Drizelda’s mom said and did a funny thing with her finger in front of her nose. I knew what it was, the spices and sweet smells didn’t mix so well together and it left quite a strong odor in the store, but mother and I were used to it.

“Fine, I’ll be out in a second.” She said to her mother.

“Will that be all, lady Drizelda?” mother asked.

“Yes, I don’t want anything else from this disgusting smelly shop. Thank you,” she buffed her eyes.

I bit hard and watched Drizelda tear my ticket slightly. “Oops, my bad.”

“Not to worry, accidents happen.” Mother said and handed her the lavender sweetwater. “Put it on my bill, I’ll pay next time,” she told mom and left.

I watched mother’s face as Drizelda left.

“You know she is never going to pay that, don’t you?”

“Katie, that’s enough.”

“Mom, we are hardly getting by. She never pays her bills, you should’ve just told her we don’t do credit.”

“And then what, she is betrothed to Prince Albert, and will be our queen one day.”

“They are not even engaged yet.”

“It doesn’t matter, everyone knows who she is. And you should start being nicer to her. I’m not going to lose this store because you can’t smile at her.”

“She doesn’t deserve anything,” I said through clenched teeth. “Certainly not our lavender sweetwater.” I turned around and stormed to the back.

I plunged down on a crate and the anger and humiliation of that cow crept up my throat.

Don’t cry, Katie. It’s not worth it. She doesn’t deserve your tears. I couldn’t wait for Drizelda to leave Eikenborough and move into her palace. They deserved each other, but what would happen to all the other people then. They were already struggling so much and if those two were married, it would mean the end of civilization as we know it.

“Father, I don’t want to go to this time wasting ball,” I said. “This is mother’s affair, not mine.” I sighed. “Just let me be. I’m twenty years old, and soon, I’ll be marrying Drizelda. So I don’t see why I need to attend them anymore.”

“Albert, we do things as a family. Without you there….”

“You have to be there,” mother said. “Drizelda will be there too.”

“Hiding behind a mask. What, you want me to find her now, and then what, Mother? We will be soul mates forever?” I snickered.

“Don’t make fun of your mother’s beliefs, Albert.”

“It’s silly Father. Seriously, what if I find another, then the lass will become my soul mate, right?” I humored her. “You will still make me marry Drizelda?”

“Yes, but you will be attending my silly ball and you will wear a silly mask,” she said back as if she hadn’t heard a thing.

“Fine, I’ll be there.” I threw the napkin on the table and stood up from breakfast.

“And you’ll wear the mask?”

Now she asked? “Yes, I’ll wear a mask.”

I could feel her grin as her eyes bored into my back. For the past twenty years I’d said ‘no’ to many things. It was the easiest word to say. ‘No,’ not so difficult, but for some reason I couldn’t say it to the queen. My sweet loving mother who had stood up for me so many times, protecting me from my father’s wrath. That was the only time her sweet loving side showed.

I was their only son, but I knew my father had loved another. She’d died a long time ago, which was so wrong. To think if my grandfather had spared the love of my father’s life, my mother could’ve been a dragon.

I’d grown up with the Metallic dragons. It was one of the things King Louie decreed when grandfather Alexander died. He signed a treaty with the Metallics as he knew they were not a danger to humans. My father had loved a Metallic.

My tutor and nanny were both Metallics, and so were most of the high staff in the Royal Council. It was clear to everyone where my father’s love lay—with a dragon—but for me, his son from the womb of another he’d had to marry, he had little. He only showed love now and then, and it had started only recently.

I was sure if I were the spawn of his dragon love, it would’ve been another story, but mother told me so many times not to take it personally.

I would love my children, no matter who their mother was, even if it was Drizelda Longbottom. I loathed that woman on so many levels, she was a cousin of Caleb’s bloodline. Her father was married to King Normand’s sister and was a general in King Louis’ army. His sister was one of the most sophisticated women I knew and ran a finishing school in Etan. She’d opened a second one in Tith and rumor had it that she was doing quite well for herself and the Longbottom family. The end result was Drizelda: a very well educated young lady with a cruelty for the poor. Not that I had any love for the poor either. They had so many children and yet they had no money or intelligence whatsoever to raise them. If I were poor… no, I couldn’t even imagine it.

I jumped at a sullen cry from down in the dungeons. It was the second time this month, and what I couldn’t understand was why on earth father did it.

He loved dragons so much but he had no love for Chromatics.

They were slightly different than his beloved Metallics. They didn’t like their human forms and they were not as gentle as Metallics.

The Chromatics were fierce, they all had extra abilities and for some reason, people thought that they couldn’t be tamed. But they were wrong. I’d tamed a Night Villain, a name I’d come up with as this dragon was the color of the night and his demeanor that of a villain.

His human form was devilishly handsome, and something that father refused to believe possible because of Chromatics’ sadistic nature.

My dragon’s name was Robert. He was feisty at first, but he had a gentle side to him after the punches flew between us. It was as if those punches beat the good back into him. I’d grown to hate that, since it was now happening once a month.

They were clever as hell too, much more so than humans. They picked up languages really fast.

English was a walk in the park for Robert and easily teachable as I was fluent in Latin.

Latin was a must as all the Metallics and Chromatics only conversed in Latin. The only thing I had to fear was the acid he breathed. My shield was made of special armor, one that no fire or acid could penetrate. It had saved my life a couple of times when Robert’s dragon form got too feisty and wanted to incinerate my ass. And he was ride-able too.

The entire court had found a way to ride on the Metallics. Father himself had a Copper-Horn. He loved his theories, which made me crazy, but I had to admit, the man was always onto something.

I went to the quarters of the woman who had raised me. She was a Fire-Tail and she’d even once showed me her fire. It was something I’d wished so many times I could’ve had myself and she laughed on many occasions when I tried to light a fire the way she did. Goran could and so could his twin Helmut. They were the spitting image of one another, so much so that you couldn’t tell the difference, except the abilities they wielded.

Helmut was born first, and he was the Crown Prince of Tith, but Goran, he was a troublemaker. The one that had the most fun.

He couldn’t just speak Latin, but Wyvic too. His father believed that it was a sign that he was rotten, with a dark soul, and had him beaten many times as a lad. Helmut had taken a couple of his brother’s punches, pretending to be him, but Goran was nothing like that. He would help you dig a grave while Helmut would watch for cover.

Goran could tap into the snow element. He could freeze a flower in the heat of spring. It was amazing to watch, and he even had resistance to cold weather. The change had come over him after we all thought that he was going to die from a lung disease. One that the Silver Annex’s touch couldn’t even heal.

He was so sick. But he pulled through that winter and since then, no cold ever harmed him again. In fact, it became a part of him.

Helmut had more or less the same kind of fire that my nanny had. But his flame was blue. It was strange that he’d gotten ill just a couple of months after Goran. It was a different kind of sickness, with a fever so high that the Swallow Annex’s had no answer for it.

King Magnus thought for sure that the crown prince, his beloved son, was going to die. He’d blamed Goran for spreading whatever disease he’d had to his brother. Not that the sicknesses were remotely the same.

Helmut’s fever was so high that it was a miracle he was still breathing today.

My nanny was old now, but father still provided her a place in the palace.

I decided that she would be there for my children as well. She’d told me once how old she was, almost twelve thousand years old, so it was possible.

I knocked on the door and opened it. She smiled just like any mother would watching her favorite son enter the room. She put her knitting down and her arms opened wide from her position in the rocking chair by the window.

I crouched down by her chair and just lay my head on her lap. She stroked my hair softly.

“The queen would slay me for this if she knew you favored me above her.”

“My mother will never know,” I looked up at her. “Besides, she never had a problem with you when I was younger, when I soiled my pants or scraped an elbow, or even when I was running a fever.”

“You hold your tongue, Albert.”

I laughed. “She is my mother only by blood, but you are my real mother.”

She smiled down at me again and I kindly repaid it. “So let me guess, you didn’t find a way out of the ball?”

“No, after all these years, I still try to please her.”

“She loves you, Albert, more than you know.”

“Yeah, I know.” I sighed. “Just promise me you will outlive her, please. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

She smiled again. “I’ve still got a lot of spark in me, young prince.”

I laughed.

“Do you have a mask?” she asked.

“No, but I’m sure she will have someone bring me one. I will stick out like a sore thumb.”

“Then let me make you one that nobody will recognize. And you can hide from everyone all night.”

I laughed. I loved this old woman so much. She always had a trick or two up her sleeve and always found a way to help me not play mother’s silly little games.

“Something tells me that this ball is going to be a lot of fun.”

The huge cowbell over the door chimed. Mom had recently added it and it would chime every time a customer came in. Now it was causing me headaches. It was so irritating.

I looked up into Maggy’s face. She was over the moon, crazy joyful. I couldn’t ever seeing her this excited before.

“Calm down, Marguerite,” my mother said. She was bouncing up and down on one spot, talking so fast that none of us could make out what she was saying.

My mother grabbed her by the shoulders and held her down so that her bouncing stopped.

“Deep breaths,” mom guided her and she finally started to listen. She took deep breaths, one after the other until she was herself.

“I won,” she said. That was all she said shaking the two pieces of scroll in her hand.

Mom took one, opened it and started reading it out loud.

“We hereby congratulate you on being the winner of the lottery to the queen’s ball.”

Maggy shrieked and I covered my ears slightly as mama’s lips kept moving, reading the invitation.

Maggy pulled both my hands from my ears. “Stop being such a party pooper.” She laughed.

“You are going to the royal ball?” Mom’s excitement was just as great as Maggy’s.

“Katie, you are going to go with me.”

“Wait, excuse me.” Did I hear her correctly. Was I going with her, to the ball?

“It will be so romantic, Katie. Masks and gowns.” She twirled, already daydreaming.

“I can’t. Where am I going to even get a gown, not to mention a mask. I told you this would happen, Maggy.”

“We’ll make a plan.” Maggy smiled.

“No, it’s way too busy in the store and my father isn’t feeling too well. So, no.”

“Urgh,” she grunted at me and then left.

Mother just gave me a raised eyebrow. “Katie.”

“Mom, no.” I said and thanked my lucky stars as a customer walked in.

She went behind the cash register as I put away the last few bottles of cough medicine mother had bottled today.

I went back to the storeroom while mother was still assisting the customer with his order.

I remember when I was little, how full the storeroom was. Now it was the opposite.

I couldn’t go to the ball. Even if it was the only time I would ever see the prince. I would just like to give him a piece of my mind. That would be the only reason why I would go to the ball.

Maggy, now she was a real girl, one that all the boys wanted to court. She had been courting Frederick for a few months, she was even spoken for by him, but she had broken it off.

Frederick was the son of the mayor of Eikenborough and she had told me that Helmut was jealous. That was her reason. Sometimes I wondered if she was crazy. But Maggy always dealt with problems in a completely different way than other people.

I knew Frederick must have done something that she didn’t approve of, but she would rather give me some silly excuse, like her imaginary prince in her head, was jealous of him than just telling me the truth.

She was silly though, as it was the closest to nobility she would ever get.

While I had to settle for someone like Seth. A butcher’s son.

There was nothing wrong with a butcher’s son. But plenty wrong with Seth.

He was more of a woman than me.

He was also the only man that was interested in courting me, well sort off. The others only saw my ability to throw a punch or shoot an arrow. They saw a messy girl and not someone like Maggy who looked decent after a bath and clean clothes.

I didn’t even care about any of that.

I was waiting for what my mother and father had. Someone who would knock me off my feet, not literally, but that would be nice. Someone who would listen to what I had to say, and really consider my value.

Someone that would be my best friend and so much more.

I guess only the lucky ones truly found that someone and the rest had to settle for what was available.

Still, a girl could dream.

The door of the storeroom opened and mother stood in the frame.

“I’m coming,” I said with a hint of a smile tugging at the corners of my lips.

“Why don’t you go with Marguerite to the ball?”

My entire body tensed at the question. “Mom, we don’t have the money to get a dress, or even material to make one. Not to mention a mask. How are we going to get there? These are always the questions Maggy doesn’t have the answers to. That’s why I said ‘no’ to her.”

She walked up to me and put a stray hair, that had fallen in my face, behind my ear. She bit her lower lip. I knew what that meant. She was contemplating all the how-to’s in order for me to go. She was weighing it all up.

“Stop, Mom. It’s just not going to happen.”

“I’m with Marguerite. You are a party pooper.”

I huffed and my mother walked back to the cash register while I picked up the last box of supplies and carried it into the store.