Aristandra was thirteen and a half years of age, and she could not believe how much her life had changed in the span of a year. She went from being a solitary and disconnected soul to having a best friend that was like an older brother, as well as having a friend in court, and of course, her two rodent companions.
Lady Dalia had been an unexpected addition in her life. Aristandra didn't think she would ever be pulled into the world of the royals and nobles again. And while this might have bothered her when she was younger, the world of the nobles (and all of Mahalan, really) had lost its shine as she got older. But while Lady Dalia was amiable and bubbly, Aristandra did not feel the same connection with Lady Dalia as she did with Lee (though she still occasionally called him Sir Charmless if his jests got too obnoxious.)
As the betrothed of Prince Nonus, Lady Dalia held a fairly high status at court. She was from a old and rich noble family, but the family was near the outskirts of the empire, where conflict was more intense, and customs and values differed. She did not seem to care about many of the things that the other courtiers found to be so important, such as mocking the lower classes or playing political games; however, she did have a deep love of textiles and fashions. Furthermore, Lady Dalia's household had had a minor oracle. As a child, Lady Dalia had been obsessed with trying to interpret the oracle's cryptic visions, and because of this, Lady Dalia easily shrugged aside the negative rumours surrounding Aristandra, treating her with a warm and easy kindness.
But as good-natured as Lady Dalia might have been, Aristandra could tell that the other girl still had a strong selfish streak, treating Aristandra almost like a pet rather than a person. Lady Dalia was rich, pretty and betrothed to a prince. It was unsurprising that she would end up being rather entitled, and if anything, it made her kind nature more remarkable.
As Lady Dalia's 'special friend,' (which Lady Dalia actually called her, without a hint of irony) Aristandra found herself dragged along to whatever happened to catch Lady Dalia's fancy. Aristandra did not always allow herself to passively be pulled along with whatever Lady Dalia wanted to do. But Lady Dalia seemed to be a grand master of the puppy-dog-doe-eye-baby-bunny face. It was difficult to say 'no' to Lady Dalia's large, soulful, light-brown eyes and chestnut ringlet curls. Though Lady Dalia's betrothal had been an arranged match, it was obvious that Prince Nonus was already more than halfway in love with her.
But to Aristandra, the most significant reason she did not submit to all of Lady Dalia's whims was because she cherished her time with Lee. Though they had been speaking to one another for nearly a year now, and she felt closer to him than she had ever felt to anyone, Lee's identity was still a mystery. She had been certain that he was a noble, but then at times, he had implied that he was not, and she found herself wondering if perhaps he was a cleric, or a particularly influential and rich courtier without noble blood.
Since Lee had mentioned, long ago, that he saw her as a younger sister, Aristandra often liked to imagine that Lee would look like a real older brother. In her mind, he had the same golden-hued skin, with shiny black hair, and mischievous dark eyes. Sometimes, she would imagine them meeting face to face, and she could imagine strangers saying: 'Are you siblings? You look so alike!' It was one of her favourite fantasies. At the very heart of the idea of Lee being her brother was the idea that she belonged. No one other than Lee had ever made her feel that way.
Aristandra was climbing the stairs to the upper level to bring some food for Russus and Felix, and to hopefully get a chance to speak to Lee. After her lessons with the cleric, Lady Dalia had insisted that Aristandra come along to see a musical ensemble from a troupe of travelling bards. Aristandra did not mind Lady Dalia's company when it was just the two of them, but when Lady Dalia dragged her along to fraternize with the royals and nobles, Aristandra could not help putting up her defencive walls. She knew that her demeanour came across as cold and unapproachable, but in truth, she was only reflecting the behaviour of the nobles back at them.
Because of the long couple of hours spent listening to the musicians (while the nobles and royals gossiped in the background), Aristandra was drained. She wanted nothing more than to talk to Lee about how utterly exhausted, and yet overstrung, she was.
After sitting cross-legged and setting out some cheese, bread and fruit tarts for Russus and Felix, she called out: "Lee? Are you there?"
She tilted her head, waiting for a reply, but there was none. With a sigh, she opened her book to the page where she had left off and began to read out loud. Before long, she was engrossed in the book.
"Aris!" called a familiar voice, interrupting her in the middle of a paragraph.
A wide smile spread across Aristandra's face, and with it, a vibrant expansiveness that made her feel as if her heart was floating. Just hearing his voice made her feel silly with happiness. She set down the book.
"Lee!" she replied brightly, leaning towards his voice.
"How's life in the ratty underbelly of society?"
Aristandra grinned and shook her head. "I don't live in the underbelly of society. Just because I've befriended a rat and mouse - who - I'm quite certain, aren't truly rats or mice - it doesn't mean that I'm some ragged wretch, wading amidst the dregs of society."
"Don't crush my precious illusions, Rat-girl. Thinking of you in some rubbish heap, looking for moldy crusts to eat is the only thing that makes me feel better about my life. I need someone to be superior to."
Aristandra rolled her eyes. "Based on my understanding of your ambiguous position in society, I wouldn't be surprised if you were superior to everyone. I wouldn't be surprised if you told me that you use the emperor as a footstool."
"How did you know about that?" Lee replied with mock surprise. "I suppose it hardly matters. He only counts as my inferior footstool - you know, the one I use after I've been trekking through fields of manure and such."
Aristandra raised her eyebrows, her voice wry. "And next, you'll be telling me that you use the holy fountains as your own personal toilet?"
"Isn't that what they're for?"
Aristandra grinned with amusement, shaking her head once again. "Yes, Lee. The emperor is your footstool, the temples are your bathing rooms, and the rest of the world your candied bonbon. But as your friend and almost-sister, don't I get any benefits?"
Lee hummed. "Well, you get the benefit of slowly fanning me while feeding me grapes?"
Aristandra laughed. "What an honour."
"Aside from that, how have you been Aris?"
"Weary," Aristandra admitted with a small sigh. "My friend ended up dragging me to a rather - ah - social event today. She doesn't seem to understand - or maybe she doesn't care - that I make other people feel uncomfortable."
Lee snorted scornfully. "You should be happy that you make others uncomfortable. You should be proud. Rub it in their pompous, puffed up snouts. Revel in their squirming, flush-cheeked, bulging-eyed embarrassment. Make them so miserable that their cringes look like full-body spasms. I would."
Aristandra smiled wryly. "I know you would Lee. You would probably deliberately do something just to make it worse." She paused briefly. "Lee - do you really talk like that to all your siblings?"
Lee laughed. "Honestly? Yes. But my older sisters wouldn't hesitate to whack me across the head for my more colourful language. You're too indulgent, Aris."
"Well, that and I can't reach you," Aris pointed out.
"Hmm. Yes. That too. By the time I get out of Mahala Palace, I'll only be fit company for you and your gutter friends, I'm afraid."
Aristandra smiled. "Well. I wouldn't mind. You're free to join me in - well, I'm not actually in the gutter. But you know what I mean."
"Yes. You're too sweet, Aris." The fondness in Lee's voice made Aristandra flush with warmth. "So what happened at this social event that your friend dragged you to?"
Aristandra began to describe the discomfort of being amidst the royals and nobles at the musical ensemble, without actually telling him just where she was. Both of them had gotten used to hiding their identities. And while Aristandra often thought that she should take the risk and just tell Lee who she really was, she had a feeling that Lee wasn't entirely ready to do the same. A part of Aristandra was still afraid that Lee would reject her if he knew she was the Seer. But a larger part of her was coming to believe that he would accept her. Nonetheless, she refrained from spilling the truth.
"There's also this boy there -" Aristandra continued.
"Oh? Do I detect some interest?"
Aristandra scowled. "No! He's - I don't know. I don't understand him. I got the impression a long time ago that he's a decent person somewhere beneath his prickly exterior. But - he just glares at me a lot. Maybe I did something to upset or offend him without realizing it?"
"He glares?"
Aristandra nodded (even though she knew he couldn't see). "Yes. I mean, other people will give me disdainful or frightened looks. And some people will glare at me, and then ignore me. But he just - well - glares. I don't understand it. He's quite popular - though I think most of it is just his status. He's - hm - I suppose objectively, he's handsome too - dark blond with eyes like - well - amber. I don't know what I did to earn his glares."
"Tell me who he is."
Aristandra started. Lee's tone of voice had become surprisingly dark. "I - I don't know. I thought - well - aren't we trying to keep our identities secret?"
"I'm not asking for your identity. I'm asking for his. Tell me and I'll gouge his eyes out for you."
"Lee - I don't want you gouging out anyone's eyes."
"Tell me so I can at least imagine it. Just tell me."
"Why are you so interested?" Aristandra questioned. "He's hardly the first person to have given me odd looks or treated me rudely."
"Yes, and all those other people deserve to die a slow death by being incrementally cooked on a tiny spit. Now tell me his name."
"I - I don't know. Promise me you won't hurt him? He's kind of - really - important. I mean, he's not one of the emperor's children or anything, but he's still important."
"Prince Leander," Lee said flatly.
"I - well -"
Lee made an odd, frustrated sort of sound.
"Lee? Are you all right?"
"Yeah - yes. I just - I need to think."
"Lee? Lee? Are you still there?" Aristandra furrowed her brows. However, Lee didn't seem to be answering. What had happened? Why had he gotten so upset about Prince Leander? Admittedly, it was strange because Prince Leander had been glaring at her a lot lately, and not just at this musical ensemble. But she had never been able to figure out what those looks meant.
She hoped that Lee wasn't going to do anything reckless or foolish. Someone like Prince Leander would be a dangerous enemy to have. There had been a time, long ago, when she speculated on the possibility that Lee could have been Prince Leander. But when she considered Lee's playful and teasing personality in contrast to Prince Leander's bored hostility, she couldn't imagine them being the same person. Of course, Lee could act arrogant enough to be royalty, but he also acted as if it were all just a farce.
Whatever it was, she hoped it wasn't serious. Lee was her best friend, and someone like Prince Leander wasn't worth getting worked up over. No matter how honourable or good Prince Leander was on the inside, that still didn't change the fact that he was a surly, ill-tempered (and yes, handsome) person on the outside.
