Thank you AdTeeFan, hooked, TeelanaFalcao(Obrigado pelo vosso apoio.), Lanafalcon (Mi español es muy malo . Una vez hice una llamada telefónica a una madre para decirle que su hija estaba pasando tiempo en el pasillo hablando con sus amigos en lugar de ir a clase. Ella pensó que yo dije que estaba saliendo con un chico. La madre se molestó tanto que se acercó a la escuela para averiguar quién era el muchacho . Aprendí a tener un traductor a partir de entonces . De hecho , yo uso Google Translate todo el tiempo.), and Guest for reading. I'm glad you like it. I hope it continues to entertain you.
I do not own the franchise or characters.
"So let me get this straight. This metal ship fell from the sky and this beautiful alien appears. You bring her here. All your nobles and advisers are suspicious of her... " Duncan said.
"Not all my nobles and advisors… just Baem and Malkine." Randor interrupted.
"Most of your nobles and advisors..." Duncan repeated looking at Randor pointedly. "If they expressed their... opinions no doubt there are others who feel the same."
"Point taken." Randor sighed.
"Okay where was I?" Duncan closed his eyes. "Oh yes, and the council of elders and the sorceress says she in not a threat and has commanded you to get her home." As Duncan thought through what he said his face lit up, "And you are finally smitten with someone."
"I am not smitten..." Randor protested. Then at Duncan's skeptical look he amended. "Okay maybe a little. But it doesn't matter since she has to go home anyway plus right now she's angry at me."
"You failed to mention that part." Duncan raised an eyebrow.
"Well, I might have taken out my frustration on her." He rubbed his eyes tiredly. "She probably won't even talk to me now. I guess it's all for the best. Can't go falling in love with someone who'll be leaving soon."
Duncan never saw his friend so miserable before in his life. Sure he was distraught when his father disappeared and upset when his siblings left him to rule by himself. But this was different. Randor actually looked defeated.
"Maybe I won't be able to fix her ship." Duncan hinted.
Randor's face lit up for a second. But then fell again.
"No, that would be duplicitous. I promised I would get her home and I will keep my word no matter the cost." He didn't add to me but the words were left hanging in the air.
Duncan nodded. This was one of the reason he admired Randor. He had an unshakable sense of duty and responsibility, not to mention that he was honest as the day was long. He would be one of the greatest kings Eternia has ever known. Now if he could only find his equal to share that with.
"Your majesty," he said getting his king and friend's attention. "I need to look at the ship first before I can say anything either way. Why don't you go get some rest? Tomorrow is a long day and difficult dealing with Stratos."
"Yes, I suppose so." Randor agreed. "I had the ship brought to the hanger. You can have the men move it to your workshop tomorrow."
"I will sire." Duncan said, "Now go! Get some sleep."
"Alright, you're worse than a mother hen." Randor joked.
"Well someone needs to look after you." Duncan returned.
"You've been a good friend Duncan, thank you." Randor said before leaving the room.
"And so have you." Duncan said quietly.
Randor trudged to his room. He was thinking about what Duncan said. Maybe there was a possibility that the ship can't be repaired. Maybe she would have to stay. He quickly shook those thoughts. There was no point in getting his hopes up.
"Your majesty." A voice came from behind him. Randor almost groaned. It was Lady Tala. He fixed a smile on his face before turning around.
"Lady Tala, you're up late." Randor said in a friendly tone.
"No later than you are." She countered. "Quite a day."
"Indeed." Randor answered before he began walking away. But she was not having it.
She trotted right along side him, "I see that you did not dine with us tonight."
"I was busy." He wished she would leave.
"With what pray tell? You know that your cabinet is here for you so that you do not have to work through your supper." Lady Tala said airily.
"If you must know I was entertaining our new arrival." Randor decided if she wanted to know he would let her know.
"Oh, how kind and generous of you to worry about that poor lost soul." Lady Tala returned without batting an eye. "But you should have brought her along for dinner. I'm sure we all would have liked to meet this interesting alien."
Randor remained silent. He wasn't sure what her game was.
When she received no answer, Lady Tala continued. "I think you should have a ball in her honor."
Randor paused. He looked at Tala. "What ever for?"
"To welcome her, of course. You men! Honestly, don't you think she is perhaps a little frightened here all alone, poor soul. That's why you need a woman's touch. A party would be good to cheer her up." She casually put her hand on the lapel of his robe.
Randor instinctively stepped back. He wasn't sure what to make of Tala's suggestion. On the one hand, he would dearly love to have a chance to be with Marlena in a more ... festive setting. Then again Tala would not be suggesting something like this without an ulterior motive.
"I'll think about it." It was the safest answer he could give.
"Oh, don't you think your little alien likes parties?" she purred.
"There are more pressing issues right now than parties, Lady Tala." Randor replied. "Now if you'll excuse me I need to be rested for tomorrow." Randor started walking again.
"Oh yes, those annoying bird men." Tala sniffed. "Imagine asking for more territory. I would send the lot packing."
"Well, it's a lucky thing I'm not you." Randor muttered under his breath.
"What was that?" Lady Tala asked.
"I said tomorrow's day is new." Randor called out before he rounded the corner to his room.
Tala watched him disappear. Her eyes narrowed before she turned and walked back to her quarters.
0o0
Marlena yawned as she entered her room. She was ready to sleep. But as she walked toward her bedroom her ears picked up some sound. Marlena stopped in her tracks. She looked around to see if there was anything to defend herself with. Grabbing a poker from the fireplace, she grabbed the door knob and swung the door open. She wielded the fire iron like a baseball bat. When the door swung open, a small servant girl gasped and fell on her backside. She held her hands up to protect her.
"Please, don't hurt me." She whimpered.
"Oh for goodness sake!" Marlena exclaimed as she lowered her weapon. "What are you doing in here?"
"Nothing." The girl shook with fear.
Marlena saw what the girl was doing. "Are you going through my things?" She quickly ran to gather her belongings from her duffle bag that were scattered on the floor.
"I..I..I was laying them out." The girl edged away from Marlena.
"Did King Randor send you?" Marlena asked as calmly as she could.
"No, please don't tell him." That set off alarms in Marlena's head.
"Listen, " Marlena dropped her duffle on the bed. "Tell me what you were really doing and I won't tell the king."
The girl hesitated, fear brimming in her eyes.
"Well, if you won't tell me maybe you can tell the palace guards." Marlena made like she was about to step outside.
"No! Please don't." The poor girl was almost in tears. "I…I..I'm just… I'm just curious."
"Really?" Marlena looked at the trembling girl on the floor. "Are you sure that's it?"
The girl nodded vigorously.
"Well, you could have just asked." Marlena said exasperated. "Here, get up." Marlena held out her hand. The servant recoiled as if her hand was poison. Marlena resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Instead she grabbed the girl's arm and pulled her up as gently as she could. The girl felt like skin and bones.
"When did you last eat?" Marlena asked her.
"I haven't eaten since breakfast." The girl answered.
Marlena dug through her bag. "Here, try this." Marlena tossed a chocolate bar to her.
The girl caught it and looked at it as if it might explode.
Marlena sighed. "It's okay. It's food from my planet."
The girl still hesitated. Marlena sighed again and took the candy from her hand. She peeled off the wrapper and broke it in half. She placed one half into the girl's hand and she bit the other half.
"I bet you don't have any of this here." Marlena said savoring the melty goodness. She sat on the bed and watched to see what the girl would do.
The girl looked at the bar that was starting to melt in her hand. She sniffed it before tentatively nibbling a small piece. Her eyes lit up and she devoured the half in one bite. She licked off the residue from her fingers. She looked at Marlena who held out another bar. This time without any hesitation she attacked the bar with a voracious appetite.
"It tastes like umbernut." She smacked her lips.
"Well, I'm glad there's something like that here." Marlena nodded her approval. She patted on the bed next to her. "Come on, have a seat. I don't bite."
The girl hesitated again but seeing as she didn't have much of a choice sat down gingerly next to the alien. She watched apprehensively as Marlena pulled her duffle bag over.
"First off, we have not been properly introduced. My name is Marlena Glenn." She looked expectantly at the girl.
"Fawna." The girl supplied.
"Nice to meet you Fawna. Here, these are just clothes. This is my toiletry kit. " Marlena pulled out some sweats, jeans, a few t-shirts, sneakers, and a small bag containing a toothbrush and toothpaste. "These are some ration bars and of course I snuck in a few chocolate bars. But this… this is the most important thing in my whole bag. " Marlena said.
Fawna perked up. Marlena paused for emphasis. Then she produced a dog-eared leather bound book of some sort. Marlena carefully opened it up. It was a photo album.
Fawna stared at the pictures.
"It looks like paintings but… they look so real." She said in hushed tones.
Marlena laughed. "Don't you have photography here?"
"Fo-ta-gra-fy?" Fawna tried to say the new strange word. "No, we have artists that paint portraits. Nothing like this." She stared at the pictures.
"This is my grandparents on my mother's side on their wedding day. Here they are forty years later." Marlena turned the page. "This is my grandparents on my father's side. And here they are fifty years later. Here are my parents. Those are my brothers and baby sister." Marlena flipped through the rest of the album introducing Fawna to each of her relative and friends. Fawna sat in rapt attention as Marlena told her stories about each person.
"Goodness, it's getting late. You better be going and I better head to bed." Marlena said when they reached the last page.
Fawna got off the bed but stood there.
"Yes?" Marlena asked sensing the girl had a question.
The girl swallowed hard and then in a small voice asked, "Why did you share that with me?"
Marlena smiled. "You said you were curious. I hoped I satisfied it. Next time you want to know something, just ask."
Fawna gave a shy smile back. She curtsied and started to walk out of the room.
"So I hope this means we're friends." Marlena called after her.
The girl looked startled. "You… you want to be my friend?"
"Sure, why not?" Marlena shrugged.
"No one's ever wanted to be my friend." She mused.
"Well, I do. So I hope to see you around tomorrow, Fawna." Marlena said firmly.
Tears welled up in her eyes. She curtsied again before she fled the room.
"My, everyone here is so emotional. " Marlena pushed all her belongings back into her duffle. She carefully laid the album on top. Going to the bathroom with her toiletry kit, she cleaned herself up. Then barely awake she crawled into bed and fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.
0o0
Fawna scurried down the dimly lit hall. Looking around nervously she made her way to the more elaborately decorated wing of the castle. Making sure no one was watching, she knocked on the ostentatious door. The door immediately opened and a hand pulled the girl in.
Fawna blinked to adjust her eyes to the incredibly bright room.
"Well?" The voice snapped.
"Sh..she's just an ordinary person." Fawna stammered.
"What did you find?"
"N..nothing. She just had clothes and food in her bag." Fawna answered.
"No, there has to be something else!"
"I swear. There was nothing else, just an album."
"A what?"
"I..it's just a book with pictures of her family and friends." Fawna whimpered.
"There's got to be more. I can't believe that she would just appear out of no where…"
"Please Lady Tala, my father…"
"Don't use my name!"
Fawna winced, "I beg your forgiveness. Please my father, you promised you would release him from debtor's prison if I…"
"The deal was you find me something incriminating about the alien first." Lady Tala sneered at the servant girl. "Until you bring me something I can use against this interloper, your father can rot in prison."
A second later Fawna found herself in the dim empty hallway. Tears fell from her cheeks.
"Forgive me, Marlena." She whispered quietly.
So I couldn't let Marlena be stranded on a planet with no chocolate! Chocolate and coffee, two things that no civilized person should live without.
