The Prize of the New Millennium

Stone and jewelry appraisers were the Vaziris, and Emily was one of the best in the business. Even if remembering the men who saved her was an eerie new reality, she would still get to be the best stone and rock appraiser in Lexington. The new store her family opened was in the best place ever-an iron commercial shed just off route I-27 in East Jessamine County. That did not seem a great place, but there were some people who owned horses and large parcels of land around here (and that's usually a sign of good money). Kentucky was an idyllic place, with almost nothing like it seemed.

The store was a coated-iron structure, with a golf shop, antique store and Mexican restaurant that served tacos with free limes, a salsa bar with marinated carrots, and REAL CHALUPAS! You know, the kind in the shape of tiny little boats? No Taco Bell flatbread mutations here! The windows were blacked out, with big red neon signs saying JEWELRY and OPEN in them. Inside were several counters with displays of journey diamonds, engagement rings, large birthday stone pendants, and the centerpiece, a thick glass display in the center of the back showroom wall with large rocks of emerald, heliodor, tanzanite, thulite, carved purplish and dark green jade, and the biggest kunzite stone mined out of the Pala deposites near San Diego. The kunzite stone was set rising out of its spodumene deposit, carved in a large baguette. It was very difficult to keep the stone polished, Mr. Vaziri would say, because it could have cleaved into two very easily. The store was blacked out and the least daylight let in as possible due to the presence of this large stone.

Emily loved the colors of the stone very much-lilac, pink, and even some purple, and was promised the stone in the family estate. She never quite knew why, and perhaps it was the note of the man who called himself Lord Kunzite that brought that harrowing night back on the 68 by the river. Somehow, looking at that stone gave her peace.

The days never seemed brighter. Emily got great marks in her classes, no tornadoes hit the places she had been, the family house was easy to get, and there was no need to worry-or so the family thought.

One dark, steamy night, there was a break-in at the jewelry store. Emily sensed it, so she went there to protect the merchandise. Inside, there was a woman who had pink hair, purple clothing and a mask on the lower part of her face. It was rather odd, but she somehow got past the ultra high tech security system created in Irvine, California for the shop. Somehow, she was there.

The woman came out from behind the counter, threw a necklace at Emily and ran out the door. Emily ran to her car, got in and drove after her. They raced through several places in the city, and then out to several farms in the countryside.

Emily finally cornered the robber behind a house that had been abandoned. The robber went inside, and Emily followed. Pistol ready, she fired one warning shot. She went inside, and cleared several rooms before she had finally caught the burglar in the living room. The robber then dropped the bag, put her hands in the air, and cocked her eyebrow.

"I've caught you now, you thief!"screamed Emily.

"This was easier than I thought," the burglar sneered.

She raised her hands, and suddenly several boards caught on fire. There was an explosion, and then the floor caved in. The fire glowed white around her, like some sort of wormhole. Soon, Emily found herself in the basement-but this was no basement. She was surrounded by a circle of stalactites, in the center of a crowd of cheering monsters. Most of the faces did not even look human in this crowd. Four of them suddenly jumped in and pushed her to the ground, and even though Emily fought as mightily as she could, they overcame her. The burglar then clamped a neck manacle around the girl's neck, then her wrists, and her legs. They put some sort of silencing mask on her head and then she was placed in a hanging cage.

Meanwhile, outside in the real world, cops came to the scene. There, they noticed the house had collapsed, but Emily's car and ID were still there. Also, the bag of stolen jewelry had been left there for anyone to pick up. There was no ransom note.

Soon, the procession went through the kingdom, up to the dark castle with the drawbridge. There, it went through the courtyard, to the keep, and finally into the throne room, where the robber presented Emily, trapped in her cage, to the woman on the throne.

She seemed much less otherworldly than these creatures that captured her. The only thing that marked her was a pair of horns jutting out from her shoulders. She had dark eyes and red hair. She was tall and statuesque, with a long violet dress that had a train, and a large, sparkling gem necklace with multicolored stones, a large chicken-bone jade boomerang with a black onyx stone, and a larger stone wrapped in cord above that, presumably as a crown.

"Oh, you poor thing, look what you've been through!"

"Don't give me any of that good cop, bad cop charade! I bet you ordered these minions to kidnap me!"

"Well, well, well, you're just as insolent as your father. Quite a difficult prize of the new millennium to hold, I see."

"My father will come after you! So will the cops and everyone in Kentucky!"

"Oh, no, dear, Kentucky can't reach you here. You're all mine."

Emily scowled at the queen. "Why did you bring me here?"

"Do you remember your father telling you about your adoption?"

"Yes. What do you know about it?"

"You see, darling, I ran the agency. You were poor children isolated by radical extremists in varous parts of the world. I had to get you to safe homes. It turns out you were my best placement."

"Hmph."

"Would you like to know who I am?"

"Fine."

"I am Beryl, your new queen."

Great. I've been kidnapped by circus freaks led by Eurotrash, thought Emily to herself.

"Oh, darling, I'm not Eurotrash. I'm the real thing."

"Well, I guess this cage is my new home then, huh?"

"No. I'm taking you to your quarters right now."

The cage door appeared and swung open, with steps suspended in midair leading to the floor. Emily stared at it.

"Time to go to your suite, dear."

"My suite?"

"Would you rather stay in the cage?"

Emily carefully stepped down to the floor.

"Will you try to escape?"

"Yeah, in another dimension in front of the queen, with five hundred minions around."

The shackles came off, and she was given a servant, who looked like a giant horseheaded woman. The horseheaded woman gave Emily a magic carpet to sit on, made of white with silver lacing and tassels. Emily and the horsehead woman sat on the carpet, and it flew her to a large castle with four giant turrets. The carpet flew them to the southern tower, where it came to a balcony.

The balcony was large, with a rock door leading to the suite. Inside, there was a large white and lavender bed, a white armoire, and a white stand with a large mirror and many drawers on the side. There was also a white laptop computer on a table and table for making dresses and other articles of clothing. Also, a lavender and blue nightdress lay on the bed for her, with her name stitched on one of the straps. She could get used to this.

The horsehead woman came to her side.

"Is there anything I could do for you, your Highness?"

"Yes, please. I never got your name."

"I am called Mare Leah."

"Thank you. Mare Leah, could you please bring me decaffeinated coffee and a proper set for it? I like coffee very much."

"Of course. I will be back soon."

Mare Leah left on the flying carpet.

There was another person on the balcony. His hair was gold, styled in the curls and waves of Queen Beryl, but he had beautiful, jewel-like eyes that were green and blue at differing times.

"Hello. I'm Heliodor."

Emily screamed. How dare somebody sneak up on her like that!

"Oh, I'm sorry. Did I scare you?"

"INTRUDER! INTRUDER!"

Suddenly, Emily sprang into action. She kicked Heliodor to the ground, and grabbed a sword from a pink pair on the wall. Heliodor looked at her in amazement, his eyes fixed to the blade.

"So it is true. You're Kunzite's daughter!"

"Get out."

"I've found the woman of my dreams! It's true the four of them exist!"

"GET OUT!" She threw the blade at the man, who ducked it and suddenly disappeared.

Soon, Mare Leah returned, with a hot pot of coffee inside a French press, sugar, cream and a few flavoring shots.

"Your Highness, what was Prince Heliodor doing here? And why did he leave in a hurry?"

"Nobody comes to my quarters without my permission. Even if he is a prince."

"Refusing Prince Heliodor is not a good thing. Queen Beryl says the first woman he has an interest in will be his true love."

"So he's a closet case?"

"Your Highness, you do not know about your father, and his beloved."

"My father had a man?"

"Well, Lord Zoisite and he were a team, and eventually became a couple."

"Well, that's just great news. I get kidnapped, wrestled, shackled, caged, subjected to some queen who hears my thoughts, put in a castle tower in the middle of nowhere, ogled by some obnoxious brat, and my real father's GAY! That's just one hell of a day!"

"Here's your coffee, my dear.

"PUT IT ON THE TABLE!"

"Yes, your Highness."

"I'm sorry. Just go and leave me alone until tomorrow."

"Okay. But be warned, you'll have to go through initiation and then training for your new position starting tomorrow."

"Fine. Good night."

Mare Leah went off on the magic carpet. Emily began to change her clothes, but skipped the coffee and went to bed. This day was hard enough.