Author's note: I solemnly swear I'm up to no good with this chapter! :D)))

Chapter 10 – Royal Surprises

The next morning, Starlight woke up earlier than could ever be expected from her. She felt full of energy and her feet ached for a good hoverboarding session. She was just about to slip away from her room when a soft buzzing sound informed her of an incoming call from her father.

"Up already, huh?" He beamed. "I was hoping to catch you, just to make sure you still remember what your father looks like."

Starlight readily lowered her hoverboard onto the sofa and sat down next to it. "Sorry, I've been so busy these days, never seen it coming! I was going to call you! How are you? The animals?"

"Fine, how else would we be! You?"

"Great, dad! How else would I be!" She mirrored his smile. "Having galas and dancing all night, like a decent princess should!"

He looked at her perceptively. "No worries, no troubles?"

"Not much," she said with a subtle smile.

"And I remember times when you told me everything! Seems like a lifetime ago, doesn't it?"

"Dad!" she chided half-heartedly, the smile never leaving her face.

Father lifted up his hands. "All right, all right! You are grown-up now, I get it!" He cleared his throat. "So, anyone special in your life yet?"

"Hey, that's personal!" She burst out laughing and hid her face behind a cushion.

"I take it as a yes?" He gave her a hawkish parental glance after his initial shock. "Someone kind and caring, I hope?"

"Dad! Do I do already look like a shy beetroot from all your questioning?"

"Not really, no. But back to the point – if anyone hurts my little girl, I'll…"

Starlight covered her ears, ostentatiously. Her father sighed. "I just worry about you, like any father would. You will always be my little girl, the one who used to tell me she was scared."

Starlight lowered her hands and her gaze. "I still am… Everything is so... confusing. I'm not sure my heart knows the right answer."

Her father's voice became softer. "But it always does. You just need to listen." The cleared his throat again and added, "And you can always talk to me, maybe I can suggest an answer or two."

Starlight smiled gratefully. "Thanks, dad. I'll keep it in mind."

Minutes later she was gliding through the fresh morning air high above the city, circling around the castle towers. A luminous rose-tinted haze veiled the city's skyscrapers and descended into mauve shadows below, while golden rays of the sun hemmed the clouds above. The sky was spangled with stars, their glimmer slightly dulled by dawn and kaleidoscopically colorful strokes of galactic light.

Starlight's heart sung in assonance with all the beauty around her, and her arms spread like wings, as if hoping to reach the furthest corners of the universe with their touch. She was in love – with life, with the world, with everything that lived and loved her in return.

She took a deep breath to taste the breeze and all the smells it carried. There were very few. The tang of plastic buildings heated by the sun, a trace of ozone from the ships floating through the air. Nothing like the rich humid atmosphere of Para-Den, with every flower and plant contributing to it, with the vapor from the moist ground below and the scent of leaves withering only to be replaced by the sweet smell of new buds.

The atmosphere of Oppa-Irri was blank, vacuous. There were no plants, except for just a few green spots of parks, tiny compared to the expanse of the city. And no animals, no birds. Only bustling human activity. There seemed to be skyscrapers below skyscrapers. And below them only a gaping void. Starlight suddenly felt queasy but braced herself and focused on her moves.

She shot lower toward the familiar park and its fanciful bushes. There she stepped down from her hoverboard and walked pensively among the stone cubes and bush-beds. Akin to flowerbeds, the bush-beds confined all vegetation and prevented it from spreading onto the pavement. To think of it, there was too much walking space for a park not really frequented by the city dwellers. But that was how things were done on Oppa-Irri.

Constantine didn't have much sleep that night. At some point he fell into a restless dream, one where he was dancing with Starlight again, but it wasn't a reverie conjured by his imagination, it was rather a cardboard replay of the evening, repeated by his fatigued brain over and over again, and when he finally woke up in the morning, he wasn't sure if he had been sleeping at all.

He dragged himself through a shower, then with sullen countenance let Artemis perform all the footman duties – dressing him up, shaving clean any bristle on his face and head, and meticulously combing his crest of hair.

"Is everything fine, sire?" Artemis dared to ask, registering that Constantine's mouth was even more M-shaped than usual.

"Yes, thank you," he replied, in a tone that clearly spoke And I don't want the question to be raised again. "Show me today's entry in the daily planner," he ordered.

Artemis projected the glowing hologram of the planner. Only a meeting with the council, scheduled for noon. They were going to present some architectural plans for his approval.

"Fine. You are free until noon, then," he told Artemis.

"Sire?" Artemis asked, unbelieving.

"I said I won't be needing your services until noon. Just… go wherever you like." He made a dismissive gesture.

Artemis nodded and was gone. Constantine went up to the wide ceiling-high mirror of his room to make sure his appearance was as impeccable and composed as ever. It was. No traces of her showed through his features. He was prepared to face the day, undauntable as he should be. He would just leave all that nonsense aside for the moment and focus on his royal duties.

Architectural plans, yes. He turned to the window to eye his city. Some new factory buildings, perhaps. And a larger landing field in the trading area, where ships dispatched their interplanetary cargoes. Everything else was right as it should be.

At that moment a slight red-clad figure flicked past his window. It was gone in half a second, but left Constantine stunned and motionless for another minute or two. When he regained his wits, he briefly wondered what his heart was doing beating in his throat. Then he tried to pick up his train of thoughts. He had been thinking something about… something.

He sighed. There was no way he could not think about the princess when she was around. And even less when she wasn't around. A terrifying suspicion pierced him – what if she was going to leave again, without telling him? The fear caused by this thought shocked him even more than the thought itself. It reminded him of the time he had been standing next to the starlian, the beast's mighty wrath upon him and the feeling of helplessness paralyzing his every nerve. It had been the moment when, for the first time, Constantine had faced something far more powerful than himself, and the discovery hadn't been pleasant.

Princess Starlight, with her fragile frame and delicate hands, was hardly frightening. But his feelings for her were.

Constantine walked away from the window, brow knitted. He had to talk to her, if only to ask for how long she was planning to stay on Oppa-Irri. He checked the time again – there was plenty before the meeting started. He made up his mind and left the room.

Starlight entered the giant oyster shell of the castle's foyer. The foyer was empty except for a few droids flying about their business. As she crossed it, Artemis trotted past her with a cheerful expression on his facial display. She didn't have the time to think about it, for when she turned a corner she almost bumped into somebody.

"Uh, hello," she gulped, skidding to an abrupt halt.

"Princess Starlight. How delightful." Queen Leora's mouth broke into a smile. "Back from your training session, are you?"

"Yes," said Starlight, rather surprised that the queen was so well-informed of her habits.

"I was out for a breath of air, too. We can go back to the residential level together, if you don't mind."

"Sure," mumbled Starlight. She saw another endless talk looming ahead.

"Delightful." Queen Leora took the first step, heading toward the elevators. Starlight followed, gripping her hoverboard tightly. "I hear you are not going to compete this year?" the queen continued.

"No, not really," said Starlight. Then her curiosity got better of her. "How did you know?" She was sure she hadn't let it slip the previous night.

"Leo told me," laughed the queen. "He talks about you a lot."

"Does he?" said Starlight politely, stepping into the elevator after queen Leora.

"Which level?" asked an obliging mechanical voice.

Queen Leora answered and then said, "Yes, he does. I suppose you are good friends, aren't you?"

"Yes…" said Starlight rather questioningly.

Queen Leora fixed a stay curl of her chestnut hair, a troubled look on her face.

"Let me be frank with you, princess. I am very worried about my son. He has these… ideas which are not compatible with his position in life. He wouldn't listen to his mother, of course, those boys never would, but I am hoping that a good girl might talk some sense into him." She eyed Starlight expectantly.

"Oh, you want me to talk to Leo…" Starlight was slowly processing the message.

"Yes, and not only that." Queen Leora gave a silvery laugh. "I'm sure you will have more influence on him when you marry him."

"Marry? Me?" Starlight wasn't sure she'd heard it right.

"Yes, a prince and a princess, what can be more fitting? You two will look marvelous together. Don't tell me you weren't thinking about it yourself, you sly creature." Queen Leora smiled her honeyed smile which reminded Starlight of the sticky stuff they use on fly paper.

"Well, I…" Of course, she had briefly thought about the possibility, but she had always believed it took something more than just being a prince and a princess to marry each other.

"Don't blush, dear, you have our blessing, I assure you," the queen said, although Starlight was sure she wasn't blushing at all. "Just give Leo a nudge in the right direction next time you two are alone, and you'll have your happy ever after right away."

Now Starlight was positively flushing.

"I…"

But the doors slid open and queen Leora was already stepping out, smiling to her broadly. "Don't take too long, dear, I can't wait to celebrate your engagement to Leo."

With a casual bow she strode past the person standing in the hall, and Starlight's numb brain recognized Constantine being the person. Starlight hoped he hadn't heard anything, but his aghast expression told her very well that he had. When she caught his eye, he spun around and marched away, hands behind his back.

"Which level?" asked the elevator politely.

Starlight blinked and flung herself after the king, thankful to the stars that queen Leora was gone.

"King Constantine! Wait!"

She caught up with him and had to stand in his way to stop him.

"I… I…"

She had no idea what she was going to say, and inspiration didn't strike either.

"Princess Starlight." His brows shot up as if he saw her for the first time. "Good morning."

"Good… morning… I was… I… training outside and…"

"I see," he said to her hoverboard. "Well, if you don't mind, I am very busy."

And with his nose up in the air again, he made an attempt to go round her, but she waltzed him back.

"Queen Leora… There has been a misunderstanding…"

"There certainly has," he said, corners of his mouth curved downward.

"I…" she began, but he held up a hand in front of her.

"No explanation necessary. I regret any… improper behavior on my part. On our both parts, to be exact. But the error is completely mine. Now if you'll excuse me."

And he walked past her. She didn't find the words to stop him.

Author's note: Uh-oh! Did you see that coming? I sort of hope you did. Queen Leora was there for a reason, after all! And I don't think her suit was even in the same area as Starlight's room, she just needed an excuse to stalk her.:D

PS: Whoops, I completely forgot that it's "elevator", not "lift". *sigh* Fixed that now!:D