Chapter 10: Franny
"...they reach Prince Throttle's kingdom."
P.O.V.
The entire facade of the castle was covered with slabs of limestone. The supporting walls were built of brick. The castle consisted of several individual structures which were erected over a length of four hundred fifty feet on the top. The elongate building is furnished with numerous towers, ornamental turrets, gables, balconies, pinnacles and sculptures.
Needless to say, Charley was in awe of the castle. She had never seen one up close until this moment and she knew she was going to get a much closer look shortly. She felt as though everything about it exuded elegance and refinement. All the things she was not. She just prayed that she wouldn't be a disappointment to him.
"What do you think?" Throttle asked as he watched her expression. She was certainly in awe of his massive home. In looking at it through her eyes, he could see that she truly thought it was impressive and grand in scale.
"It's amazing. The only castle that I have ever seen but, never this close, was the Crytsal Palace in Gaia" she remembered how amazing it was when she climbed out her sky light and sat on the roof just to look at it shining in the distance.
"I've heard of it. Lots of legends and rumors suround that place" he recalled the tales that he had heard of as a child.
Legend had it that one his own people had murdered the queen over a hundred years. How true it was, was anyone's guess. He was told that she ruled her kingdom with kindness and fairness. He was also informed that her being a ravishing beauty didn't hurt either.
"You know what they say about legends? Sometimes they're true" she smiled as they landed.
"True that, gorgeous" he commented as he looked at his home, which never really felt like it until this moment and he had Charley to thank for that. She made this day much more meaningful than it ever had been before.
It had just recently snowed and several soldiers were cleaning the pathway to the castle. Piles of the fluffy white stuff lay along the sides of the path. In his mind, it was going to be an amazing Christmas and the snow made it feel much more so. It had been a while since the last time it had snowed in Mars capital, Olympus. The city of Olympus had been built around the extinct volcano of Olympus Mons many centuries ago.
"Wow. It's so beautiful" she felt very childish as she admired, what she could only describe as Cinderella's Castle. It made her wish that she could be a princess, even if it was for a short period of time.
"Seeing it through your eyes, yes, it is" he agreed as he held out his hand and she placed hers into his.
"Yo, bro! It snowed!" came the excited voice of Vinnie as he went running past the two of them and made the first snowball. As soon as he saw Modo, he threw it and it landed right in his face.
"That does it!" shouted Modo as he wiped the cold snow off his face and immediately made a snowball. He noticed that Vinnie had aimed another one right at him and he ducked. Unfortunately, it ended up hitting Throttle on top of his antenna. The coldness of the snow made the prince shiver.
"Sorry man" Modo tried to apologize but, noticed that Throttle was already making a grab for a snowball with Charley not far behind.
It was almost an hour later before they finally had their fair share of snow and decided it was actually time to head on in. All four of them were covered head to tow in snow and laughing the whole time as they made their way into the castle. Wet boots squeaked as they all walked inside and were greeted by an older female mouse who was shaking her head with her hands on her hips.
"Hi Franny" Throttle sheepishly stated with a mild wave.
Franny was approaching sixty five years old and refused to act her age. She stood only five feet tall and was rather portly but, that didn't stop her from reprimanding anyone if they misbehaved. She wore her long salt and pepper colored hair in a tight bun at the base of her neck.
"What am I going to do with you young man?" Franny questioned as she shook a finger at him.
"Love me?" he questioned as he stepped out of the way so Charley could get in out of the cold.
"Maybe. Oh my! Who is this lovely young lady?" Franny gushed as she immedaitely came right up to Charley and looked her over. She had never seen someone from Gaia before and was very pleased to finally have the opportunity.
"Franny, this is Charlene Davidson. Charley, this is our head housekeeper Franny" Throttle introduced them and knew that they would get along very well.
"My my my. You are very lovely my dear. Oh look at you. You're completely soaked and must be chilled to the bone. Let's get you a hot bubble bath and into some warm clothes" Franny placed a protective arm around Charley's shoulders and escorted her to where she would be staying.
"Well, what about us?" Vinnie complained as he pulled off his wet boots.
"You three can catch pneumonia" Franny scowled at the three of them as they made a mess on the floor.
"And clean up that mess before I find my wooden spoon" Franny had a way about her that made everyone want to obey her commands.
"Those three are always in trouble, deary. But, I love them all very much" Franny regained her warm composure and she lead Charley to her bedroom. Throttle had informed her that they would have a guest staying with them and to make sure she chose the most femine room for her. As expected, the young girl gasped with pleasure as she gazed at how beautiful her room was.
"I've never seen anything like it in my life" Charley gushed as she looked over the entire room that was to be hers while she stayed at the castle. The polished white marble floor, the carved stone fireplace, the intricate partitioned ceiling, and the ornate styled bed posts .The luxury of the space was carried out even more by the hanging crystal chandelier, the microfiber chaise lounge and armchair, and the draping curtains of the windows and view door.
"You haven't seen anything yet" Franny chuckled as she led the young girl into the bathroom and watched as her jaw nearly hit the floor.
"Oh my!" Charley was nearly in tears as she gazed around the bathroom. It was an elegant white and purple bathroom with a clawfoot tub and a chandelier.
"I'll draw you a bath while you go look in your wardrobe for something warm to wear" Franny suggested.
"Okay. But, I don't have any clothes in the wardrobe" Charley stated as she looked hopelessly lost at Franny as she started up her bath.
"Oh, now don't fret. Throttle contacted me yesterday morning and asked me to go shopping for you. So, I did what the prince asked me to do" Franny stated with a warm smile and showed her everything that was in her wardrobe and also what was in her closet.
"I've never seen so many clothes in my life" Charley gasped as she walked into the closet and saw many exquisite outfits. Then she saw an amazing ballgown towards the back on the closet.
"That's for the Christmas party. You can't be under dressed" Franny smiled as she guided her out of the closet and back to the wardrobe.
"I'm looking foward to it" Charley was all smiles as she looked through her dresser and found a matched pajama set. They were burgundy in color with long sleeves on the shirt and pants for the bottom.
"You find everything?" Throttle gently knocked on the door before peaking his head around the door.
"It's wonderful and yes" Charley replied with a large grin on her face.
"I'm glad you you're happy. I'm gonna go wash up. Join me in pajamas for dinner?" he asked.
"Yes" Charley was beaming as she nodded her head.
"See you soon" Throttle added before going to his room to clean up and dry off.
"Go on now before your bath gets cold" Franny ushered Charley into the bath and then hurried off to speak with Throttle. She practically raised the young man so she knew that she could say anything to him without a problem.
"Throttle?" Franny asked as she barged into his bathroom and watched as he tried to cover himself with a his hands.
"Franny! What do you want?" Throttle was more than a bit embarassed by how brazzen she was.
"What are your intentions with Miss Charlene? They had best be noble or we will have a problem" Franny scowled at him as he attempt to to find a towel for better coverage.
"I promise you Franny, I've told her the truth. Even down to my stupid engagment to Carbine" Throttle knew lying to her would be a very bad idea.
"Not answering my question" she squinted at him as he fumbled around.
"Franny, damn it!" he was cursing as he stubbed his toe against the tub.
"Language young man!" she made sure he got an ear full of her lecture mode.
"Yes ma'am" he looked sheepishly at Franny as she glared at him.
"Miss Charlene?" she requestioned.
"My intentions are to have her recover here fort he next couple of weeks and I plan on taking her to her family after Christams" he said, hoping Franny wouldn't delve in further but, he knew she would.
"What else?" she knew he was not telling her something. She could tell by the blush streaking across his nose.
"I really like her a lot more than what I should and I would like her to be a part of my life but, it can never be. Not with me being forced to marry Carbine" he confessed as he made his way around to the other side of tub and carefully got in so Franny wouldn't see anything.
"Does she know how you feel?" she had to know if he revealed is his feelings.
"I haven't told her and I don't think I should. What difference would it make anyway? It won't change anything?" he leaned his head back against the rim of the tub and loked up at the hand-painted cieling.
"Tell her the truth and let her decide from there what she wants to do. It's obvious she likes you or else she wouldn't want to be here and have dinner with you a pajamas" she stated as she splashed some bath water onto his face.
"Are you sure? I mean, I don't want to be like my father and have a concubine or two floating around the castle. I find it to be insulting" he said as he wiped his face.
"I know you do but, let Charley make her own decision. You've already told her the truth about your situation so, see what happens" Franny said as she gave him a pat on the head before exited the bathroom.
Throttle knew the old mouse was right. He couldn't make decisions for Charley. He had to let her make her own choice.
I hope everyone enjoyed this fun chapter. If anyone had any questions, comments, or soemthing that they would like to see in the upcoming chapters, please feel free to let me know. Many cyber hugs to all my readersw and reviewers. Yankee71, I'm happy that you enjoy reading this story after a long day at work. Oh, two things: 1) if you look at pictures of Neuschwanstein Castle, it is actually where I got my inspiration for the outside design. 2) If you want to sign the petition to get Bike Mice from Mars on DVD the website is .