Chapter 3
We're Family....
"I wouldn't mind meeting more family if the rooms aren't ready yet," Perdita shifted the saddlebags over her shoulder again
"I too would like to see more of our family," Mat said as he adjusted his sword belt.
"Very well," Math said with an incline of his head. He backed away and disappeared among the statues.
"Well! Let's to it!" Mal said and lead the way, taking the group past more hallways, elegant structures and artwork. Perdita was in awe, positive that she could easily get lost in a place like this. Some of the pillars in here seemed to be as big as most trees. They passed other well-dressed people whom she did not recognize, who bowed respectfully as they passed by. Eventually, they came to a rather large set of double doors where a guard had been placed on either side.
"Prince Julian," one of the guards nodded respectfully and with the other guard opened the doors wide to let them pass through. Julian walked right past them without so much as a glance or any kind of acknowledgement. Mal nodded to the man on the right and Reetha smiled to the man on the left.
"This is the family's wing of the Castle," Mal explained as the walking continued. "Only family members and personal servants are allowed here. The wing holds lots of libraries, a laundry, a medical station as well as all our rooms and at the far end is a hallway that leads to the king's wing. From how the rumor goes, the King's wing is to the family's wing what the family's wing is to the servant's quarters."
"Our rooms are in this wing, as yours will be," Reetha said as the group approached yet another set of double doors.
"This would be the library," Mal said and reached for the door. He went in first, followed closely by Reetha. Julian went in next, followed closely by Perdita. Matsubara brought up the rear.
"Geo!" Reetha exclaimed and ran up to a blond man in oriental clothing and threw her arms around him. The young man instinctively returned the hug at first, then broke away smiling at her, looking a little more than pleased.
"Of all the libraries in all the towns in all the worlds, she walks into mine," he quoted with a conspiratorial wink at Mal and gently broke the embrace.
Julian stepped forward to address a redheaded woman. "Fiona."
"Julian," she replied in kind.
Perdita was silently surveying the room. She took note of another redheaded young lady in what looked like a tank top and shredded jeans standing next to a redheaded man in a business suit who was standing near the woman her father called Fiona.
"I'm glad we got here when we did," Mal said with a smile. "We needed another color in this room."
"Indeed," Fiona replied noncommittally. "You seem to have found some new friends Malaclypse."
Mal smiled at the implied question. "Yeah, this guy is my son, Matsubara." He rested a hand on Mat's shoulder. "And this is Julian's daughter, Perdita. Guys, this is Fiona." Perdita nodded with a big smile and Fiona nodded back, ready to make her own introductions.
"Uraeus Leotah, a descendant of mine from Tyrebos," she gestured to the man in the suit on her right and then to the girl in the chair. "And this is Cinder Hades, Bleys' daughter." She paused and turned to them. "This is Julian, Malaclypse and his wife, Reetha."
"Leotah, Cinder," Mal greeted in turn. Cinder returned with her 1000 watt smile, but said nothing. She took a step closer to Uraeus Leotah and continued to study the newcomers.
"And this is Geo," Reetha introduced. "He's nice."
Geo nodded to the newcomers. "Hello. I'm Geo. I'm nice."
Mat gave a bow and an amused smile and stepped forward. "It is a pleasure to finally meet my family."
"I'll second that," Geo said as he gaze swept the room. "It's a new beginning for Amber and her princes."
Leotah seemed to do a double take at the new arrivals, since he had been studying a map as they had first walked in. "So sorry. I was a bit preoccupied. It is a pleasure to meet you all. My family and friends call me Leo."
Perdita set down the saddlebags she had been carrying and gave a tilt of her hat. She surveyed the room with her bright green eyes and her huge smile before giving her own country greeting.
"Howdy, y'all! So glad to finally meet ya! I'm Perdita."
"Welcome," Geo flashed her an amused smile.
At that point the doors opened again and in walked a beautiful woman with golden hair, wearing a blue and green gown with a green cloth draped behind her and over her forearms. It was obvious that this was Flora. Her smiling face seemed to sweep over the room and landed on Geo.
"Geo, give your mother a hug, dear," she stepped forward with open arms. After getting the warm squeeze she asked for, she held her son by the shoulders and looked him up and down and nodded in approval.
"Eastern style. I never thought I'd see you in it, but you've chosen it well. Perfect fit, too." She gave his sleeve a little tug.
"And you're as radiant as ever, Mother. It's been what, a couple of years?" Geo folded his arms inside the sleeves and bowed to her with a smile.
"So who are these ne--" she suddenly cut her question short as her gaze landed upon Matsubara. Her eyes expanded slightly and then narrowed in thought. "A dark gray kimono with a dark blue belt..." she trailed off and turned her attention to the cowgirl standing near him and made a little audible gasp.
Her eyes went even wider than they were just a moment ago as she could see every bit of dust, every crease in the leather and imagining the hat-hair she was sporting beneath the hat. Perdita began to shift a little nervously. It was clear that the gears were turning as to how she could help this poor lass out, but then something else caught her attention.
She turned toward the small group of redheads and her jaw fell open completely with the look of shock on her face at the tank top and cut-off jeans. In an instant she had fairly sailed across the library and had Cinder by the wrist. She was dragging the poor girl behind her, heading for the door.
"You first," Flora could be heard saying as she pulled Cinder behind her. Cinder had a look of complete shock and her mouth dropped open as she gasped at Flora.
"Should I be worried or not?" Mat looked to the others with a startled expression.
Geo shook his head almost imperceptibly. He simply watched, as if reliving a familiar scene.
Mal looked like he might have wanted to reply, but was having a hard time containing his laughter. Julian remained expressionless. Fiona merely looked the other direction--this was obviously old hat to her. Reetha looked unsure as to how she should react. Cinder blinked and finally was able to react.
"Hey!" she snapped indignantly with a smack to Flora's hand. "Like, get your damn hands off me!" She yanked her arm away from Flora's grasp and stood her ground, refusing to be dragged any further.
"Like, sheesh, fashion police. That's been done. It's..." pausing for effect. "...trite."
Perdita's eyes went wide for a split second as her mouth also fell open. She averted her eyes an instant later and covered her mouth to successfully smother the giggle that was dying to make an entrance. It sounded more as if she were coughing or clearing her throat. As soon as she was master of herself again she returned her attention to the scene before her.
Geo snapped out of his reverie. "I'm sure nobody in this room will deprive you of any fundamental right. My mother is just...uhm...really anxious to be of help? By giving some advice on local custom, but she certainly won't make your choices for you. Perish the thought," he smiled genially at Cinder and threw a quizzical glance at his mother.
"Besides," he added. "You may all need something appropriate to wear for tonight's dinner."
Cinder crossed her arms with a loud "Hrmph!". "Well like, y'know, asking if a person like, wants help would be appreciated." She sniffed again before continuing.
"I mean, it's not like I had a lot of time to prepare or anything, you know. I mean, sheesh! I mean, like, Auntie Fiona had more tact and I like thought that my other auntie here was supposed to be "Miss Manners"," she glared and sniffed with disdain in Flora's direction, not wanting to be mollified by Geo's rather good smooth-over.
"Come now, Cinder. I'm sure Aunt Flora had only the best of intentions," Leo stepped forward and then turned to his aunt. "Please allow me to introduce myself. I am Uraeus Leotah, a distant grandson of Fiona. My friends and relatives call me Leo. It's a pleasure to meet you."
Flora smiled warmly, her eyes already having instinctively glanced over his attire. "Welcome to Amber, Leo. My name is actually Florimel, bust most family call me Flora. It is a pleasure to meet you I hope your stay here in Amber will be a pleasant one," she greeted and turned to the contingent still by the door. "Oh! but I haven't been introduced to these two yet."
"This is my daughter Perdita," Julian said.
"Greetings," Perdita gave another tilt of her hat with a smile.
"And this is Mal's and mine son, Shinpachi Matsubara," Reetha said proudly.
"Perdita. Matsubara," Flora smiled warmly at them. "Welcome to Amber."
"You've already met Cinder," Mal said, having just recovered with a smile still on his face.
"Cinder," she greeted and turned back to her. "You name seems appropriate. She's obviously related to you, Fiona."
"Through Bleys, yes," Fiona answered. Flora nodded in understanding.
"So tell me, Cinder, would you like to find something else to wear right now? You mentioned that you had little time to change clothes before you came here," Flora tried again.
With her ego properly stroked, Cinder was all smiles again. "Ah, well, not right now. Well, like, I was wanting to look around and meet uncles and cousins and whatnot, an', um, I want to be comfy."
"I believe we all would hear about our newest relatives," Geo returned to his spot by the nearby pile of books. His gaze swept the room from Leo to Matsubara and Perdita near the entrance.
"For instance, what kind of place are you from. How do you like to pass the time. Things like that," Geo prompted.
"That's likely to take a while," Leo commented as he looked about the room with a somewhat pained look on his face. "Very well, I volunteer to go first. As most of you know, I am Uraeus Leotah, from Tyrebos. Call me Leo. My family ruled Tyrebos until about 50 years ago, when we dissolved the Monarchy. Nominally, I am the King, but that means almost nothing these days." He paused, glancing up at one of the torches on the wall before continuing.
"Tyrebos seems to be a little more technically advanced than this place, but I haven't had much chance to look around here yet. I spend most of my time taking care of business, attending state functions and parties and the like. You'd be surprised how much time it takes to run a defunct Monarchy," he finished somewhat embarrassed.
Cinder blinked and clapped her hands together. "Wow! Like, a King! How cool is that?!?" She flashed another one of her big grins at him before she continued.
"Since we're, ah, taking turns an' all, my name is Cynthia, not Cinder, but everyone calls me Cinder. I don't know why really..." She paused again with a slight frown on her face as if briefly pondering her own question before she continued again.
"Um, I'm from a place called Midian--well, I guess Shadow, I mean." She shook her head again. "Anyway, I live in California there--or I did. 'Til Now. Maybe." She tossed her hair off her shoulders. "I'm like, a college student. Oh--and I, um, play basketball--got a scholarship, too. Not like I needed it or anything, cuz Daddy's rich." She blinked. "Wait, I mean my other Dad. Er, Damien's rich, not Bleys...though I'd imagine he'd be pretty loaded too..." She stopped again shaking her head. "Um, he's a lawyer. Not Bleys, Damien. Um, anyway, I've got a brother and sister--they're like, twins, that's so cool--and a cat. His name's Fluffy." She abruptly stopped, realizing that she had been rambling and babbling on. She flashed another smile again, waiting for someone else to step up and save her. Perdita was suddenly inclined to ask her what basketball was, since she had never heard of it, but thought better of it, thinking the questions would make her look dumb. She decided to hold off on her questions for the moment.
Matsubara decided to go next. "My name is Matsubara Shinpachi and till earlier today I have been living in the city of Kyoto. I have been an officer of the law of sorts," he said and turned to Flora. "Great Aunt Flora, may I speak with you for a moment?" Flora's face showed a look of surprise and then she had master of herself again.
"Of course, Matsubara," she replied warmly. "Please come this way. We will have more privacy over here." She lead him away to a far corner of the library, out of everyone's sight and earshot.
"Well! I suppose it's my turn to take the bull by the horns," Perdita stepped up next. "My name's Perdita and I come from a shadow called Helwelena. Up until now, it's just been me and Ma. You'll have to excuse my attire--I was in the middle of work when dad came to get me." Geez, I hope I don't smell like it, either! she thought to herself as a little bit of dust went flying from her jeans and chaps where her hand brushed them. "I used to work the ranch there, breaking horses and workin' with cattle and such. I'm just pleased to be here." It was noticeable that her thick accent had disappeared now that she was more comfortable with the group.
"Wow...I love horses...think we can go riding sometime?" Cinder gave Perdita one of her smiles. She seemed pretty eager, enthusiastic and bouncy. Perdita seemed to light of at the mention of horses.
"Sure thing! That would be great! Then you can meet my horse Earl Grey! Just tell me when and we'll go sometime!" Perdita smiled back.
"That'd be, like, totally bitchin'!" Cinder beamed and glanced around the room again. "Say, you know where you're ah, bunkin' down at yet?"
Before Perdita could giver her an answer Matsubara and Flora had returned from the far side of the library arm in arm.
"We'll be back in a bit. Ta-ta!" Flora waved with her free and as they exited, leaving Julian, Fiona and Malaclypse with stunned and surprised looks on their faces. Julian managed to recover slightly by raising an eyebrow.
"Ta-ta?" Perdita was looking confused. "Is that some sort of fancy Amber way of saying 'so long'?" Her face was holding the puzzled look to it as well.
Or maybe that's some part of a song? she wondered silently to herself as she added it to her list of questions she would get around to later. First "basketball" and now "ta-ta". There better not be a pop-quiz on this later!!
"So long? Since what?" Leo asked with a look of genuine consternation.
"No, no, Leo," Cinder laughed a little. "It's like, y'know, saying "Audi" or something, like um, goodbye or I'll catch you later."
"Right," Perdita breathed easier. "More like Happy Trails or Adios." She gave Cinder a grateful smile for being let off the hook a little.
"Yah!" Cinder smiled back. She took a glance about and asked Perdita again "So, like, you were bunked down where again?"
"I don't know yet. Math went to get things ready while we came in here to visit," Perdita replied.
As if on cue the library doors opened again and Math entered. He looked around the room at its occupants.
"Good day, all," he greeted, his gaze falling upon Perdita. "I have accommodated the rooms for you and Matsubara." A slightly quizzical expression appeared on his face as he looked around the library again. "Where is Matsubara?"
"He and Aunt Flora went off to talk in private and said they'd be back later," Perdita replied. She picked up her saddlebags again, hefted them over her shoulder and looked back expectantly at Math.
"Hmm," he said, obviously thinking it over. It only took him a moment to arrive at a decision and he continued.
"Well, then I shall have to resort to showing only you where your room is. If you're ready...?" He shifted his stance towards the door.
"You seem to be getting along here well. I have some things I need to take care of, so if you'd like to go off on your own, that would be acceptable," Julian patted Perdita on the shoulder for encouragement.
"Alright. I guess I'll see you later, then," she gave him a warm smile, reassuring him that she was just fine with it before turning back to Math. "Right. I'm ready. It was nice meetin' y'all and I'll see y'all later!" Perdita gave a tip of her hat and a wave to the company in the room and turned to Cinder. "Wanna come along for the ride Cinder?"
Cinder squealed delightedly and clapped her hands together, "Gosh, like, would I! That'd be fun!" She grinned, then turned round to Leotah. She rushed over to her red-headed cousin and gives him a big hug.
"And I'll, like, see you later, ok? I mean, to, um, compare notes an' stuff, and, well, book stuff." She disengaged from her cousin and waved to everyone else as she moved over to stand with Perdita and Math.
"Later, gators!" she said practically bubbling over with enthusiasm.
Leo was left looking stunned. It took him a moment to quickly regain his composure before grinning back at Cinder.
"Later, gator," he agreed. "Um, maybe you can tell me what a gator is, sometime."
Perdita laughed gently. "Hey, that rhymes! I've never heard gator used that way before. A gator, Leo, is short for alligator. Think of 'em as an over-sized lizard up to six feet long (possibly longer) and with a huge mouth of teeth. Very strong, nasty and ornery critters. People in the back-country wrestle 'em for sport. I'll tell you about that sometime if you're interested." She turned and gave an "okay, let's go" look at Math.
Cinder nodded with Perdita in agreement and then blinked, "Whoa! People wrestle them for *fun*?!? Like Steve Irwin???" She shook her head at that monumental thought then turned back to Leo, "Oh, yeah, and that was like, short for 'See ya later, alligator', and you're like supposed to reply 'In a while crocodile'..." She blinked again as if realizing something.
"Oh, well, you know. Like, just an expression," She smiled again, looking ready to go herself.
"We do have crocodiles, but they get a lot bigger," Leo interjected thoughtfully. "We even have crocodile wrestlers, but I've never seen anyone tangle with a really large one. That would be suicide." He looked around as if wondering whether to drag out that line of questioning. "So a gator is a small crocodile?" he finally asked.
"I guess so, if that's what you call it. We'll just have to compare notes sometime," Perdita says as she turns to go. "Boy, do we have a lot to talk about. I've got some questions myself. Just what the heck is basketball? And who's Steve Irwin? We're gonna have to swap some stories about where we're from sometime--all of us!" Perdita said with a grin.
Math seemed to be enjoying the conversation. "Well, ladies, if you are ready?" He opened the door and stood with it, allowing Cinder and Perdita to exit first.
"It's been pleasant meeting you. I'm sure we'll talk again soon," Leotah acknowledged and turned to Cinder. "And you, as well. I look forward to chatting with you again."
Cinder gave a final enthusiastic wave to Leo and then exited stage right, followed by Perdita who gave a tip of her hat, a warm smile and a wave back to him and Geo before leaving.