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Chapter One: The Banquet



It took several moments for Lens to realize that she was awake. Even so, she kept her eyes closed and continued to breathe softly, weary of waking so early and even more so of getting up so early. Although her doors were shut tightly, she could hear the voices of servents outside her room, cleaning  and preparing for the day. Looking outside and nearly blinding herself in the process, Lena could see that it was nearly noon. Far below in the marketplace, the voices of people were loud although they became much softer as they went through the street and eventually made it to her window at barely a whisper.



Lena closed her eyes again and put one hand over her face to shield what remaining light there was. Her own maid, she knew well would be at her door in a matter of minutes. Maigan, tall and thin, with her green eyes and bronze red hair slowly softening to a grayish colour. She had only been in her fathers employment for just over a year, and although it was plain to see that she was a hard worker who aimed to please, she was also very personable and had a habit of talking above her own means. This much was obvious right away.



Lena's suspicions prove right when only a couple of minutes later she heard a soft knock at her front door followed by a suprisingly strong voice.

"My lady? Are you awake yet, I have your breakfast for you if you are ready to take it."

Lena resisted the strong impulse to say nothing and have her wait outside the door all day and instead called to her in a half yawn.

"Yes Maigan, I am awake. Come in unless you would rather stand out there all day, though I dare say that my breakfast will be quite cold if you do."

There was a moments pause before Lena with her eyes closed heard the sound of the door clicking open as Maigan entered the room.

"Good morning, my lady. I hope your rest was as peaceful as the slumber of an angel.'

Lena thought about this for a moment, deciding what words she wished to use before speaking.

"Well yes, it was. In fact I wish that I were still sleeping so I wouldn't have to think of waking up right now, although I probably couldn't do so now."



Lena watched Maigan turn away for a moment, most likely making a face of great distaste, before she turned back to her, a wide smile plastered on. Although this may have been convincing to some people, it was not nearly so to Lena, who had become a master of fake smiles and who could see that this surely was one. Ignoring this though and deciding that her faces wearn't important, Lena faked her own smile and gave her a deep sigh.

"So, what is on my agenda for the day, or do I actually get to do something for myself for once in this bloody life I live in."

"I'm sorry, my lady.' Maigan spoke slowly 'but I have orders to help you prepare for the banquet tonight, your father wants you prepared for the greeting of the guests." She smiled weakly, as if she had the desire to say something else but didn't have the courage to do so. Lena sighed again and shook her head, looking at Maigan and knowing immediately what she was thinking.





"Oh, now Maigan, you know perfectly well as I do that the only reason that he makes me come to this banquet is because he wants to introduce me to every man on this corner of the world so that I won't have to be the only ruler of this city when he's gone. You would think that he doesn't trust me."  Lena smirked as she finally sat up and threw the covers off her, waiting for Maigan to put her slippers on her feet before touching the floor.

Maigan smiled and shook her head again, sympathetically this time.

"I know my lady, but i'm quite certain that your father invited people from the other half of the world, I do believe that you have turned down every boy your age in this corner of the world as well as several older and younger then you." This time she surpressed no smile as she walked over to the closets and threw them wide open, revealing gowns of all types.



Lena looked back at her and tried her best to look stern, though after a moment this was foiled by the obvious beginnings of a smile.

"Hold your tongue, Maigan, I haven't turned down all that many people and those I did deserved it completely." Maigan nodded as if she believed exactly what Lena was saying although it was apparent that she was still sceptical.

"You don't have to tell me miss, i'm sure you had your good reasons to turn allof those men down, I believe you completely." She turned away for a moment before immediately turning back again to Lena. "But if I may ask, what could have possibly been wrong with Sir Lewis of Barliman, he was charming, rich, good looking..."She looked into the closet and pulled out several gowns.

"Well..." Lena stuttered, at a loss for words. "He...he had a big nose!"

At this, Lena held her head higher, chin in the air with a look of defiance clearly shown on her face.

"But what business is it of yours anyway. I swear you never talk when I want you to, and then when my life is mentioned, you can't hold your tongue for a whole minute." Having just stood, Lena threw herself back down on the bed, exasperated at the thought that her own maid had just bested her.

"Now, what shall I wear for this blasted banquet, or will I simply go in my petticoat and shock he whole lot of them?"A mischevious smile grew as she spoke although she tried to keep it innocent.

"Well my lady, I have a few dresses in your wardrobe that I am quite partial to, perhaps one of them?" Maigan looked at Lena hopefully.

"Well, let's see these dresses then I suppose, which ones do you like the most?"



Maigan replaced the dresses that she was holding and after a second of looking, pulled out two gowns that Lena had never noticed, very different from eachother. The first of the two was made with shades of burgandy and green satins and silk. The top was a burgandy corset with a squared neck, tight sleeved to the elbow and then flared to the fingertips.It had a well fashioned princess waistline and continued down to her feet in the same burgandy material. Then the bottom was picked up in peices to reveal a sheen of deep green satin underneath. Tiny flowers adorned the neck, elbows and the raised hem. The second gown was a vision of spun gold and silver threads, with a v-shaped neckline over silk pleats, puffed sleeves gathered with silver bows, and a low waistline that became intricate leaf shaped panels that reached to the floor. Both gowns were beautiful and Lena was genuinely surprised  that she had never really7 noticed them before.

"Well m'lady, which of the two would you like to wear."Maigan asked and waited patiently for her reply.

"Well...um..." Lena debated for a long moment. "I think the burgandy will be good for tonight." Maigan smiled, a real one this time, for it was completely unmistakable, even at her age, her eyes still lit up like that of a childs.



"I had a feeling you would choose this one, i'm glad. It will look so beautiful on you."Maigan smiled again before she led Lena over to the vanity table to prepare her face. She coloured her eyelids a deep plum and her lips in a nearly exact shade. She then used a berry juice to stain her cheeks. With painstaken care, Maigan pulled Lena's hair onto the top of her head, effortlessly making the curls drape around her face as if they did so on her command. Feeling that it wasn't quite enough, she called to a gardner downstairs to bring her tiny flowers of purple that would adorn the hair well. After all of this was completed, and the gown was put on, the transformation was complete and was deemed a beautiful one.



My lady, you really should wear burgandy more often, it makes your eyes look so blue."

Lena stood herself in front of the mirror and took in her reflection. Satisfied, she turned back to her mid and smiled."I suppose it will do for the night, thank you."

With a quick nod Lena picked up her skirts and walked past Maigan with a swish of material, making her way to the door. However, she was stopped shoet when behind her she heard the clearing of her maids throat. She turned around and brought her hands to ther hips.

"Well, what is it now, am I to greet the guests or not?"

Maigan looked as if she didn't want to say anything, but now with Lena waiting had no choice.

"Well my lady, you forgot to eat your breakfast." Maigan smiles innocently, afraid of the reaction she would get from this.

Lena looked over to her table and saw that her food still sat there, half cold by now and very unappealing.

"Well...so I have." she stammered, seeing now more then ever that it was going to be an extrordinarily odd day. Seeing the beginnings of another smile on Maigan's face, Lena smirked and walked over to her tray. She then promptly reached down and grabbed her goblet of orange juice, drowning it all in a single drink and then slamming it back down. After doing this she turned back on her heel and walked to the door, head held high although her cheeks had become far more red then they had first been when the juice had been applied.

When she reached the door, she looked over her shoulder and gave Maigan a look of impatience although this facade did not at all make Maigan nervous. Seeing this, Lena nodded her head and waived Maigan over.

"Well then, let's go greet these guests and meet this weeks prince charming, maybe father can marry him.



At that moment, the laughter of both the young and the old woman could be heard throughout the whole palace, and those who knew where it came form simply shook their heads, small smiles on their faces. They all believed Lena at that moment and always to be the girl that would never grow up.





The Real World



Nila stared at the computer screen and skimmed over her work, contemplating the style and looking for mistakes. As she did this she could hear the sounds of small crashes throughout the house as her brothers played with their toys and fought, typical for the young boys aged 11 and 13. Their fighting seemed endless and Nila over the years had grown quite accustomed to it all. She normally wasn't bothered by it at all but at times when she was so emersed in her writting, nothing annoyed her more. Her thoughts of yelling out to them to shut up though were interrupted by her mother, who had apparently been thinking the same thing. "Boys, please be quiet. You know that Nila is working on her story and mommy can't do her yoga if your both yelling so loudly. Why don't you go to your room and play a quiet game."



'Not exactly what my choice of words would have been, maybe shut the hell up you rugrat bastards', Nila thought to herself as she considered looking for her diskman and putting on one of her mix CD's.

Even these thoughts though were interrupted when there was a light knocking on the door followed by her mother walking in and sitting on the edge of the table.

"They weren't bothering you were they honey? I told them to be more quiet so that you could get some of your story done. They never listen to me though, their own mother, I wonder why, you were never like them."

Nila's mother's ramblings were another of the daily occourances of which she had become accustomed,

and she didn't really even notice it anymore. Nila continued to stare at the computer screen and half listened to her mothers words until she finally realized that she was reading over her shoulder and turned around.

"I thought you were doing your yoga mom. "

Her mother took a step back and did a funny looking leg stretch. "I was,am, but I decided that I would come and see how you were doing on your story, it's coming along really well."



Nila looked at her and watched as her mother went through her excercises. At the age of 36 her mother looked no more then 25.The light purple suit she wore was a streach material made specifically made for that type of excercise, and had been purchaced only in the previous week when her mother had started the yoga and meditation. This to Nila seemed completely normal though, her mother had always been a person who changed in the way a person would change clothing, becoming almost a new person every month. She could remember back to when she was six years old and her father would come into the house after an extended business trip and her mother would come to greet him. Every time he would look at her with a feined look of confusion and say "Did by family move out while I was gone, you can't possibly be my wife. When I left she was a hippy...then a puck....rocker....sailor...actress" The list seemed to go on and on. Then he would smile and say "While I suppose you could be my Clairice, I doubt she would mind", before he would enclose her in a hug.

Nila pushed this all out of her mind, not wanting to think about dad.



"It's not a story mom, It's a novel. And it's not that great, Im sure a publisher would laugh at it as he put it through a shredder and used it to line a birdcage." Secretly, she thought that it was pretty good but she wasn't about to set herself up just in case it was to be another failure. She thought of the box in the attic with all of her other short stories and "novels", the many others that she had never finished and never intended to. The stories with childish plots when she would get bored of the characters and eventually just kill them off in oddly disgusting ways. Her mother had thought her morbid, her father had thought it was all funny and would tell "his Clairice" that that was how she got out all her anger. "Just as long as I don't end up playing one of the murdered characters" he would say to her with a smile and a wink that to her had always seemed mocking.



"Well I guess I stand corrected, your NOVEL is coming along really well.I'm sure that the publisher would never do that though, I think they will love it when you finally finish it and decide to send it in. Then everyone will know you as Nila Talpaz, renowned author and you can buy me a decent car to replace the crap wagon that we call a car."

Nila's lips formed a small half smile as she looked at her mom and then at the car in the driveway, painted a drab brown and rusting at the tires.They could definately use a new one, she thought to herself as she streached her own arms far above her head and cracked her knuckles, one after the other. At this her mother looked at her, a grimace on her face.

"I have no idea how you can do that, I can't even stand the sound of it. You just like you father in that way. Oh well, I'm going to leave you to your inspiration and finish my yoga. You have my permission to yell at your brothers if they won't leave you alone or if they get too loud. Try not to stay up all night okay."



Nila answered her with silence and Clairice left the room without another word, leaving Mila to contend with her own thoughts. Nila read through the story twice before she concluded that there was no way she was going to get anything else done for the night. Turning off the computer and then the lights as well she changed in the dark and got into bed. She laid there for several minutes and looked out into the darkness before she turned on her lamp and  pulled out her pen and notebook. With a moments pause, she begain to write, not her story and nothing she had written before. It was just a poem, and after it had been written she wondered where it had come from. As she set her pen down, she sat up and read what she had written.



   The Battle



                                    The wind whispers into my ear

                                "there's no escape from what you fear"

                                     I turn around but find no foe

                                     but demons buried long ago.



                                 The shadows harbor thoughts of pain

                                   even the full moon can't obtain

                                 "your powers great are usless here"

                                    I feel the end is drawing near.



                                 The voices challenge and beckon on

                                   the viscious chant unlike a song

                                     they ask why I do even try

                                 "you know that it's your time to die".



                                     I wonder if I have the heart

                                     or will my soul be torn apart

                               "you can not fight, you know you'll loose"

                                   I see this is my time to choose.



                                  I match my wits against their own

                                but it was I that cried that painful moan

                              "around your throat my hands have wrung"

                                  at last the darkness found he won.



As Nila read it and took it all in, she wondered where it had come from. A long yawn escaped from her lips and she rubbed her eyes. Putting the pen away and the paper underneath her bed she turned out the light and with one more look out into the night closed her eyes. As  she reached the verge of sleep she could hear the whisper of her subconscious saying "there's no escape from what you fear" over and over, but she did not have the time nor the energy to think anything more then 'what do I fear' before she was asleep.