Chapter 4: The Price of Being a Queen
The witches were lounging around in their bedroom talking, as the boyo's finished the dishes,
"What do you think will happen to us in the future?" Karla asked, laying back on the bed, face upturned to study the ceiling. Jaenelle had charmed it so that it showed their fondest memories to them. Currently, Karla was staring at a picture of herself, Jaenelle and Morghann in dirty overalls covered in dirt, with Jaenelle holding an undergrown radish as if it were the most precious thing in the world.
"What do you mean?" Morghann enquired, picking at the edge of a fraying rug.
"We're all Queens… between us we share Black, Rose, Sapphire, Purple Dusk and Opal. Not to mention we've been half-raised by Uncle Saetan!" Karla finished smirking.
"Don't forget Uncle Andulvar, Mephis and Prothvar!" Kalush reminded her with a grin.
Jaenelle, whose face had started out saddened and distant, cheered up considerably.
"Karla will rule Glacia; I will rule the Dea Al Mon; Kalush and Morghann, you guys are a shoe-in for your territories… you're the best choice." Gabrielle mused.
"And since you don't want to rule, Jaenelle, you know what that means!" Karla grinned wickedly.
"Tea and biscuits!" gasped Morghann.
"Idle chit-chat!" Kalush cried.
"Nosy older women and endless marriage queries!" Gabrielle continued mercilessly.
"OH NO!" all five gasped as dramatically as possible. Kalush fluttered her hands as if she would faint; Karla pantomimed shock ridiculously; Gabrielle mock cowered; Jaenelle shrieked and ran behind Gabrielle, and Morghann faked a somewhat less-than-convincing heart attack, involving a surprising amount of convulsions. (Which of course sent the other witches into convulsions… of laughter.)
It was at that moment the boyo's (who'd been standing in the doorway watching) decided to make themselves known.
"NO! Morghann! My heart! My dear! I'll save you!" Khary cried equally as ridiculously, rushing to her side.
"Yeah, tea and biscuits sure are deadly!" Aaron smirked, eyeing Kalush who blushed crimson in embarrassment.
"Gabrielle was right at least… nosy old women are scary! Well, our elders definitely are!" Chaosti shuddered.
"From personal experience?" Morton asked with a twinkle in his eye.
"Several. And NO Khary, I DON'T want to talk about it!" Chaosti had correctly interpreted the gleam in Khary's eyes. Khary mock-pouted.
The boyo's settled into the room, with Morghann shifting to Jaenelle's bed so Aaron and Khary could have hers. Morton and Chaosti took the couch.
"It's too early to go to bed!" Gabrielle sighed, fidgeting.
"We could play the vowel game…" Khary suggested.
"What's the vowel game?" Morton asked in confusion, as Jaenelle smiled.
"Scelt kids play it to learn the vowels- you choose a theme, for example, colours. I might say Blue. Because the first vowel is a 'U', that's the category." Khary explained.
"'A' is a childhood story or statement, like 'When I was young, I wanted to be an Arcerian when I grew up'." Morghann explained.
"'E' is any true story, 'I' is something about the person on your right, 'O' is something about what you want for your future and 'U' is something about the person on your left." Khary finished, waiting to make sure everyone understood.
"The person who can't think of a colour has to relate an embarrassing secret, then pick the next category." Morghann added.
"Sounds ok to me." Gabrielle smiled.
"Ok, I say Blue." Khary began. "So that's Aaron. I remember the first time I ever met Aaron and Sabrina… both of them were covered in dirt from playing 'garden' with Jaenelle, and Sabrina was scolding Aaron for trying to eat worms. Aaron ended up putting a worm down her top and getting grounded for 2 days. Morghann gave me one look and told me if I ever did that, I should run for Arceria." Khary laughed and Aaron glared at him.
"I say Red." Aaron mused, wanting revenge. "Any true story hey? How about the time Khary mistook a magazine on possible uses for webs for an Adult magazine? We were actually curious because Jaenelle was learning so much, and teaching Morghann and Sabrina at the same time. We took it home the first day, all eager, because it showed a woman in front of a web. Of course when we opened it, we learnt a lot more about the female anatomy than we'd even realised existed before. Khary's first comment, and a very eloquent one if I do say so myself, was 'Morghann has one of those!'"
Aaron burst into laughter, Khary looked at Morghann as if he thought he needed protection, Morghann was gaping in disbelief and Jaenelle started giggling. Chaosti and Karla were laughing it up at Khary's expense, Kalush was blushing, and Gabrielle looked as though she was trying very hard not to laugh. When it finally died down, Gabrielle decided to go next.
"Ok. I choose purple. So, something about Jaenelle… Hmm. The first time I met Jaenelle then I guess. The Dea Al Mon boys were all being taught hunting and tracking skills, the livelihood of the forest. The females got taught by a female tracker, because she helped us understand and explain our bond to the land, especially for the Queens. The girls and I were bored, and they started to play 'white rope white', a skipping game using the White as a rope- I know it's practically unheard of in the rest of the realms but it's a well known Dea Al Mon game. Between the rest of them, there was two witches, a healer and a priestess. Yellow, Yellow, White and Rose. We were young, and I didn't know how to feel for the White… the Opal was too much of a jump for me to find the White in time to jump the 'rope'. And so I had to watch while they had this fun, watch and wonder why I couldn't join in the games, why only Chaosti understood. We were best friends because we were so far apart from the others, but while the boys were envious of Chaosti's Green, the girls loved playing White Rope White and couldn't understand why they'd want a darker Jewel when I was so inept.
And so I sat there, wishing I had someone who understood what it was like to be isolated by their power, wishing for a friend who would come and play a game with me while the other girls played. And then someone sat down next to me- a blonde girl that I'd never seen before in all the Dea Al Mon territory, with eyes I could have drowned in. For about 5 minutes I swear we just looked at each other, sizing each other up. I never even realised the importance of her being there. Then she spoke.
"Do you want to play?" she asked me, gesturing to the four playing happily.
"I can't play White Rope White. I can't find the White." I admitted, expecting to be abandoned in favour of someone more interesting, able to play games properly.
"I… I could show you how to find the White…" the girl said hesitantly, smiling a little.
"Really?" I asked, excited. And then I felt her in my mind, a little tug and she showed me how to find the colours, from White to Opal. It was amazing. I rushed off, racing to play with the others, before I realised she wasn't with me. She was watching with a sad smile on her face.
"Hey, aren't you going to play? It will be more fun with six!" I'd giggled, and ran back, practically dragging her to meet the others.
"So what's your name? I'm Gabrielle!"
"I'm Jaenelle." She'd smiled, and then we all played White Rope White.
When the elders found us playing with her, she stopped with the strangest look on her face. They were all tense, and I didn't understand why then, but I raced forward babbling about how nice she was, how she helped me find the White, asking if she could stay for tea. And thus began a long standing invitation to the Dea Al Mon for Jaenelle, my other best friend." Gabrielle finished with a smile, grinning fondly at the memories.
"Hey… tomorrow… can we play White Rope White?" Kalush asked shyly.
"…that's a kids game though…" Morton said confused.
"So? I think it's a great idea. I've never played White Rope White." Morghann said firmly.
"How about we play this again tomorrow, and go to sleep now? After all, we've got a full day tomorrow, not to mention White Rope White." Khary reminded them with a grin.
And so the boyos drifted out of the girls' room and Gabrielle went to turn off the lights, pausing to watch the ceiling for a moment. There they were, her memory still clear as day, 6 girls jumping and laughing, playing White Rope White- Jaenelle and Gabrielle included, which for her, marked the beginning of the best group of friends she would ever have.
Author's Note:
Usual thanks to Erkith's Mad Grammar Skills, for a quality story check out her story 'Predators' Dance' about Surreal and Prince Rainier! Please review... consider it a Birthday Present!
xoxo