Chapter 23-A doll for a doll
Shibu felt like he needed to sit down for just a moment, until the knot in his stomach untied itself.
Many now all too familiar wood and marble benches were, designed into the stones of the battlements themselves to accommodate tired people. Most of them were customers who were overburdened with loads of treasures which could be so easily had in this wonderful place.
Shibu found a spot on the corner of one wooden bench and sat down, to keep still until his breath caught up with his heartbeat. The spot he had chosen was somewhat secluded, being behind a set of memorial columns which were prominent in the merchants courtyard. Close to the bench where he sat, Shibu caught sight of yet another small shop, probably family-run according to the chatter he could hear between the older man at the counter serving customers and a pair of teenagers, probably son and daughter behind their father taking stock for the shop.
Altogether there was a wonderful bit of magic about the slightly secluded spot. It was the sort of place that only locals and residents would know, and one that the flood of tourists which nearly drowned the city from below, would normally miss what with their focus being riveted to the great Castle which sat at the top of the hill.
Sitting where he was, Shibu was able to catch sight of some Bontarian inhabitants closer to his own age. He watched with genuine delight as every once in a while a child with one or two parents in tow would come bounding up to the shop dragging slightly weary parents along behind them, usually by the hand. Bonta's younger generations seem to love the simple handmade toys which were the shop's main merchandise. The shop seemed to have a little bit of everything, from finely crafted wooden armor for young Knights in waiting, to some truly beautiful ceramic dolls in native costumes which seem to be the wish of most of the young girls.
The shop also offered a vast array of much smaller trinkets and useful souvenirs. These seem to be making up the bulk of the sales for the day, as visitors to the city finally discovered reasonably priced souvenirs which matched both their pocketbook, and their pockets. The shop itself seemed to be a magical corner in a place that flowed with all manner of things and people.
Shibu was just beginning to relax when he heard an unusually sharp crying break the flow of the usual comings and goings around the small toy shop. It didn't take a long time, or a terribly keen pair of ears to pinpoint the source of the unaccustomed disturbance. She was standing in front of the main window of the shop, just tall enough on her tip toes to see over the bottom edge of the window and into the shop itself.
Yet, confronted as she was by what would seem to be the magic of every toy in Bonta, the little girl with red hair and long pigtails seem to be the town's one and only, and saddest, young citizen. She thrust out a chubby arm and made a dejected pointing gesture toward one of the hand-painted dolls in the rack which was part of the window display.
Shibu had seen a few dolls in his time, mostly those made of scrap cloth and filled with woodcutter's sawdust for many of the girls around his village. They were fine, beloved playthings, as beautiful and their turn as the exquisite doll over which the young girl was crying. As the young girl grew progressively louder, the father running the shop seemed to have more and more trouble dealing with the emotional state, and the disturbance that the young girl was causing.
Shibu guessed that the shopkeeper now had two older children, and he had forgotten what it was like to deal with one whose wants and needs were so simple and direct.
The small girl was crying so hard that she couldn't speak. She could only point in frustration, and grow progressively louder as the moments passed. The young girls cry echoed off of the polished marble in the merchants court, until it became a fearful din, probably more worthy of a young boar taken from its mother.
Others in the crowd had begun to shy away from the spectacle and from the noise echoing so loudly in the small space where the shop was located. Seeing his customers walk away from the noise also frustrated the shopkeeper even more, because he could see his profits leaving along with the customers who just wanted to get away from the noise.
Something tugged gently at Shibu's heartstrings, and he found himself with a clear direct path toward the crying girl as others in the courtyard fell away.
Shibu felt something else, a deeper sort of empathy when he got close enough to realize that she was Enripsa, just like Felice. She wore a brand-new crisp spring dress, and had her cheeks touched up with just the tiniest touch of rouge to accent her strawberry complexion. Her eyes, although they were filled with tears, still gave off the softest green light that Shibu had ever seen.
He walked over to her, and knelt down just a little way, so the two of them were the same height.
"Hello there cutie!" Shibu began softly. "Whatever could be so wrong with such a pretty girl on such a beautiful spring day?" Shibu asked, doing his best to play substitute big brother to the distraught little girl.
She turned to him, and without so much as a word, as much as a wail, she threw her short arms around his neck, and sobbed as if some unspeakable evil had done away with a member of her family.
Most people might have frozen in surprise, or even in fear at the display of emotion by a younger stranger. Instead, Shibu relaxed, and tried to put himself in the place of the upset younger girl. He returned her hug gently, and managed to scoop her up so that she could see over the bottom of the window and into the shop itself.
"What's wrong, my little strawberry?" Shibu asked sympathetically. "Was there something you wanted, little one?"
The little girls impressive flood of tears seemed to subside for a moment as she was lifted up and caught sight of the doll that she wanted so much in the window of the shop.
"I want my dolly." She protested earnestly. "It's my birthday, and I want my dolly!" The petit redhead girl repeated again.
"Oh! I understand now!" Shibu said brightly. "It's a birthday for my new friend!" Shibu paused for a moment waiting for a name.
"Crystal." Said the little girl simply, wiping away some of her tears with the back of her hand as she spoke up.
"Well if little sister Crystal is having a birthday, we'll just have to get her a present, won't we?" Shibu asked sounding genuinely glad and excited for the occasion.
Crystal's reaction was immediate, and as open as her hug had been a few seconds before. She threw her arms around Shibu as he held her, and giggled loudly, transformed by the sheer happiness of the moment.
"Let's find your mom and dad, and ask them if it's all right with them." Shibu told Crystal. But the girls green eyes, which had begun to clear, instantly clouded up again.
Shibu needed no special insight to understand the problem.
"Okay little sister. You just tell big brother where your mom and dad are, and will get Crystal a nice gift for her birthday." Shibu told her. As he spoke, he touched her softly on the nose, the same way Cici had done with him so many times when he was young. The torrent of laughter that poured out of the little strawberry girl was a pleasant change from her torrent of pain and want. But when Crystal spoke up to answer Shibu, her formally loud voice was subdued, and so quiet that it fell into a fearful whisper as she answered him.
"I don't know." Crystal replied in a voice suddenly small with worry and fear.
"I see, little sister." Shibu replied. "Don't worry, big brother Shibu will help you find them, all right?"
"Uh-Huh!" Crystal said, nodding her head vigorously.
"Now let's look around, and see if anyone has lost a cutie like you."
As Shibu held onto Crystal, the pair walked slowly and easily through the denser crowd which populated the merchants quarter. It would've been all too easy for someone so young to get separated from their folks in such a dense crowd. Shibu understood that her parents were probably just as frantic as Crystal had been, when she met Shibu.
Shibu walked around the pair of monumental columns, and more directly out into the crowd holding the little girl so she could be seen. It was a spot where they were up high, and most of the crowd was a step or two lower.
The two stood together by the colonnade for less than a minute, before an adult voice shouting a familiar name could be heard over the rush and noise of customers, buyers, and sellers.
"Crystal! Crystal!" The double shouting of the name had a tone of salvation to it that Shibu could recognize. "There you are, my little doll!"
The crowd a step or two below them seem to split open, revealing two figures. One was a tall regal looking woman with jet black hair, made even more vivid by the absolutely flawless white velvet dress that she wore. The purity of her white dress was made all the more vivid by the single accessory she carried. In her satin-gloved hand was a distinct tapered bit of wood, finished to a bright sheen with black lacquer. Shibu had read about these but this was his first, fleeting glimpse of an accessory designed to be an understated but devastating weapon of self-defense.
It was the wooden case for an iron war fan!
Thus, the beautiful lady was quietly marked out as one not to be trifled with, nor discounted from her own high station by lapses of manners by anyone she met. The wrath of her accessory could bring considerable pain and embarrassment to anyone foolish enough to slight her with word or glance.
She was in the company of a tall man who wore a uniform jacket, white uniform pants, and a sword on his belt. He became even more distinctive as he turned with the woman in satin to look toward his little girl. The uniformed man also wore a distinctive black eye patch.
Together, the stately couple took up a quick run as the crowd split in two around them. The man in uniform seemed to vault up the steps of the colonnade two at a time, with the pristine lady in white at his side every step of the way, in spite of the high shoes that she wore to complement her dress. Shibu's eyes were quick enough to see the black fan case quickly vanish up one of the Lady's sleeves as she took the top step, and the couple were as close to Shibu as his own shadow on the pure white marble beneath his feet.
Suddenly, mommy and daddy were there in front of her, and young Crystal seem to forget the terrible moment of separation just passed. She threw her chubby arms around her mother's slender neck and held on tight, passing willingly from Shibu's arms into her own.
"There you are my darling, it's all right now. Mother is right here." As she spoke, the elegant woman showered the cheeks of her daughter with a gentle rain of kisses. All the man in uniform needed was one quick glance to be sure that his daughter was all right, and then the man with the sword turned slightly, to look at Shibu.
"I found her up there." Shibu began by way of explanation. "Up there by the toy store. Little sister said it was her birthday, and she wanted a doll."
Shibu pointed to indicate the way, and the man's glance followed his indication toward the top of the colonnade.
After a moment, the swordsman nodded approvingly, seeming to understand the situation.
"By Jove!" He exclaimed. "Takes a bit of a gentleman these days to help a lady in distress, wouldn't you say, my dear Grace?" The man with the monocle over his good eye asked the lady at his side.
"Yes, I would say so, Sir Reginald. Anyone who brings my girl home is a hero in my eyes." The white velvet lady spoke in the same rounded tones as Shibu was used to hearing from Count Maxim whenever the nobleman spoke. Her almond eyes were the most beguiling shade of hazel that Shibu had ever seen! Those eyes looked into and thru Shibu for only a split second before they softened, and a shimmer of warm energy lit them up like a coastal signal fire. Their brilliant light and gentle strength banished the impulse of uncertainty that Shibu had just begun to feel as he caught sight of the regal couple.
"You've put your finger on it, my love. This good lad here seems the hero of the hour, hay what?"
"Indeed he is, Sir Reginald! Do give the lad something by way of reward would you?" The white lady at the side of the knight asked.
"Indeed, my fine young lad! The man with the eye patch said happily as he reached into the pocket of his red wool tunic. "There you are lad, Two sovereigns for your gallantry, from one Knight to another, Hay!" Said the tall slender man with an admiring smile for Shibu.
"Thank you so much, Sir and Madame." Shibu answered respectfully.
"May I ask you just one more favor?"
"You, my good squire, have returned my most precious treasure today." Sir Reginald answered sounding formal. "You may have from me any wish that I may grant." The man with the monocle replied.
"I'll be back in just a moment." Shibu told the regal pair. "Would you please wait for me here until I return?"
"Most assuredly, young Sir." Replied Crystal's mother, her voice still dripping with gratitude and relief under the cultured tone of her speech.
"Thank you very much." Shibu said politely. "I'll be back in just a moment."
Shibu turned fluidly and seem to hop up the stairs of the colonnade, back toward the toy shop not far distant. As the young knight and his beautiful wife were lovingly reunited with their little girl, no time at all seem to pass before Shibu loped down the stairs from the colonnade toward them with a stride worthy of a young roebuck.
In his hands, Shibu held an oblong squarish box, made of pasteboard, and tied with a bright red ribbon that carefully matched the color of Crystal's hair.
"I made little sister Crystal a promise, Sir." Said Shibu addressing himself formally to the knight with the monocle. "And knights always keep their promises, don't they, Sir?"
"Indeed they do young squire! Bravo!"
"Then this is for little sister Crystal, on her birthday."
Shibu gave the box to Crystal, and then stood back a step, while her mother helped her untie the ribbon and open the box. In the box, covered by a protective layer of gobball wool was the doll from the shop window!
Crystal's strawberry face, and her green eyes which were a match for her mother's lit up like happy candles on her birthday cake!
Crystal was already holding the doll gently in the crook of one arm as she squirmed in her mother's grasp. The little girl lunged at Shibu, to give him a loving hug! "Thank you, big brother!" She said to him just before she kissed him just exactly on his nose.
"You're welcome, and happy birthday little sister Crystal." Shibu said returning the hug before Crystal's mother took her daughter into her arms again, with the delicate doll in Crystal's loving embrace.
"I say beloved! Sir Reginald remarked. "This lad really is a good sort. Perhaps we could do something for him at Court."
"It does seem the very least we might do, my dear Reginald." Said the regal lady in white. "Come along with us now."
"Shibu." The boy with the hat interjected at the proper point.
"Come along then, Sir Shibu!" And the nights of the royal court shall hear the tale of our china doll, who was rescued this day by a fine young squire." Reginald answered him, sounding slightly grandiose in his tones as he spoke.
Shibu already knew how to reply, having learned the proper way to address a knight having read it in one of Felice's books on court etiquette.
"As you wish, Sir Reginald!" Shibu said brightly.
"By Jupiter, a hero, and a hero with manners! How extraordinarily lucky we are."
The trio became a foursome as Reginald and his lady wife reunited with their strawberry daughter formed a vanguard that led Shibu up toward the top of the hill, and into the precincts of the castle itself.
Shibu was surprised to see the palace guard, formidable armored soldiers one and all, bow reverently or snap to rigid attention as the group came into view, and once again as they passed by.
The close group of four was able to walk directly up the semicircular steps of the palace itself. They passed into a throne room as large as a ballroom, where a pair of footmen waited on the pleasure of the monarch on the other end, beyond the massive set of double doors at the distant, long end of the chamber.
