Amenstar snarled at the priests, 'Get out of my sight, you gutless ghouls!'
The clerics trooped away, and the maids scurried to their chores, but her tiny authority was bitter comfort to the miserable princess.
'… and so Serenia was finally reunited with her parents, who forgave her with open arms. On bended knee the devoted daughter apologized for her strong-headedness, saying, 'Truly it's a wise child who knows that wisdom comes with age…'''
I will vomit, thought Amenstar. She squirmed on her chair. Star had been preened and pressed, her hair brushed, her body draped in a simple blue shift, and her moonstone tiara adorned her brow. She was dressed up for nothing, a prisoner in the musty Royal Library of Cursrah.
The clerk's creaky voice droned like cicadas on a hot summer day. Her royal bodyguard had commandeered and blockaded this wing of the library so only the princess, six guards, and the clerk occupied a dozen tables and raised desks whose pigeonholes bristled with yellow-gray scrolls. Sun slanted through the windows, dust motes dancing. In the street below, commoners laughed and called and cursed and argued. As the princess's mind wandered, she heard another buzz nearby. Captain Anhur stood ramrod straight, spear upright, fast asleep. Not surprising, thought Star. The clerk could bore an owl to sleep.
Another buzz intruded, so low Star barely heard it. Someone hissed. Amenstar turned her head slowly so as not to alert the other guards.
Six feet away, Gheqet's dark face grinned at her. His chin was level with the floor, framed by the legs of a spindly rack from which hung a tapestry of a bakkal spearing a lion. Pretending to rub her nose, Amenstar saw Tafir's smug head pop up in the same square hole. Star smiled back, wondering what they planned. It was no great surprise to find them in the library, for Star had first met the two here.
Normally a royal princess was sheltered from commoners and even nobles, who were mere mortals. According to custom, and to maintain lofty airs, the lower classes only glimpsed royalty as they paraded by in sedan chairs or gave speeches from balconies. Very rarely, a brave or noteworthy citizen was personally commended by the palace chancellor representing the bakkal.
Gheqet's master, an official city architect, regularly inspected the tunnels connecting Cursrah's center. Once, of many times, Amenstar had been marched to the library for 'instruction,' but she had slipped away and peeked down a hole, where she'd discovered the dark skinned apprentice. Gheqet, not realizing Star was royalty, chatted and flirted as with any pretty girl. Amenstar, who only met family members and menials, found Gheqet's easy conversation, clever wit, and honest laughter filled a void in her protected life. For the first time, the princess knew true friendship as an equal. The enchanting sensation, entirely new, sent her tripping back to the library for more 'instruction.' Surreptitiously she met Gheqet and his lifelong neighbor and best friend Tafir of the bright curls.
That first meeting had happened a year ago, and Star still drew pleasure at seeing her only-and forbidden- friends. The library-bound princess smiled at their two faces, one light and one dark, that grinned like a pair of egg- stealing meercats plotting mischief.
Hiding one hand, Star made a flicking motion at the tapestry stand. The fellows squinted in confusion, then goggled and raised eyebrows to signal 'Are you sure?' Star nodded vigorously. With a collective shrug, the men tilted the legs of the tall tapestry frame.
'Look out!' yelled a guard.
Captain Anhur jerked awake, but not quickly enough. Star whooped as the towering tapestry flopped toward her escort. Guards shouted as the huge, heavy rug billowed and flounced over them. Captain Anhur's ready spear punched a hole, but the heavy material pressed her to the floor. Other guards were enveloped or jumped clear, upsetting desks and spilling scrolls. Captain Anhur cursed colorfully and uselessly as she punched the tapestry.
Prepared for disaster, Amenstar had slithered off her chair. A thick bar along the tapestry's lower edge spanked her calf so her recent wound throbbed like fire. Still, she scooted to Gheqet and Tafir, who stood neck deep in the floor.
'My heroes to the rescue,' Star laughed.
She plumped down and swung her legs into the hole.
'Halt in the name of the bakkal!' barked Captain Anhur.
Helping hands whisked Star down the hole. The fellows balanced on a narrow catwalk in the library's cellar. Easing Star to the floor, Gheqet and Tafir tipped a footworn slate up through the hole, twisted, and dropped it in place.
An oil lantern lit the low cellar. Shelves were heaped with moldy scrolls, broken statuary, and other junk. Jumping off the platform, Gheqet caught the lantern and pointed to a raised doorway.
'That way leads to the street,' he said.
'Wonderful,' laughed Star. 'I can stand the company of real people. Hurry, before my guard finds the stairwell.'
Popping through the exit, Tafir held the lantern while Gheqet bolted the tiny door behind them.
The cadet asked, 'Won't you get in trouble for skipping out of the library?'
'No,' Star told him. She held the hem of her blue dress as she skirted a runnel of water in the tunnel. 'My mother will yell, but she always does. It's her only exercise. How did you know where I was?'
Bringing up the rear, Gheqet called, 'The marketplace buzzed about your food fight. Most everyone thought it was great fun, so people talked when you were escorted under guard to the library. Taf fetched me. We poked up floor tiles till we spotted you, but, uh, can we get in trouble for helping you escape?'
'Of course not, silly. You're friends of the eldest samira. You can't be punished, no matter-' She stuttered and shivered, for the smell of water and memories of almost drowning sent a twinge of panic through her frame.
Tafir lifted the lantern and asked, 'Are you all right, Star?'
'Y-yes. I'm just cold.' Amenstar rubbed her arms. Not wanting to recall the punishment, she pushed it from her mind. Stopping at an intersection lit by storm drains above, she asked, 'Which way lie the tunnels to my wing?'
'That way.' Gheqet pointed. 'Are you going home already? You just got free of your guards.'
'I have plans.'
The princess hopped over water and turned down a tunnel.
'What plans?' asked both, but the princess pushed ahead, so they could only follow.
Star tugged aside the mosaic wall in her privy chamber and listened.
A maid dusted Star's bedroom, humming a folk tune. Waiting until she moved on, the princess tiptoed to her armoire. A saluqi raised its long head and yipped, but Star shushed her. Yanking clothes from hangers, she donned a riding outfit: yellow trousers wrapped front and back, a tunic of watered silk in bright plum, thin riding boots with open toes, a yellow neck scarf, and a green hooded cloak hemmed with mother-of-pearl buttons. Star eschewed a veil, which would cover her new tiara. From a drawer she took a large leather bag that she stuffed with jewelry: strings of pearls, jade bracelets, rings of amethyst and sapphire, pendants of sheet gold and electrum on silver chains, and more.
Anxious not to be caught, Star slinked to her secret doorway and stepped inside. For the merest instant, she paused. Through the gap she could see her low bed, old familiar wall hangings, and the squat statue of the fairy Taab, bug-eyed and big-handed, who warded off nightmares. For a moment, Star froze, awash in homesickness, fearful of never seeing her home again. A sob burbled from her chest, surprising her, but her sore lungs gurgled too. She shivered to recall her morning's punishment in the pool. Hardening her heart, she tugged the panel shut with a sharp click. At the bottom of the hidden stairs, two conspirators waited with lantern lit.
Gheqet puckered his brow and asked, 'Where are we going? Will we be late? I promised my parents I'd be home for supper.'
'And I must return to the barracks at sundown,' Tafir added, 'else I'll draw extra duty.'
'You won't be eating supper for a while yet, Gheq,' Amenstar pronounced in hushed tones. 'Nor must you march on a parade ground again, Taf. We're going take a trip.'
'Trip?' chimed both.
'To the coast,' stated the princess, 'on horseback, just the three of us. I need time to ponder my future.'
'Future?' they repeated.
