“Reminiscing?” I asked, gesturing towards the Beobona as I walked to her, trying to sound casual.
Myshtal smiled at me. “Not exactly. I was just thinking that – even though I saw it before – I never actually got to hold the Beobona Jewel. I couldn’t help wondering what it would feel like.” She looked at me expectantly, causing me to understand that she was hoping for a response.
I reflected for a moment. “The first time I held it, it didn’t really feel like anything out of the ordinary, but there was a piece of it missing at the time. Later, after it became whole, I picked up a kind of…energy.”
To be frank, I was downplaying the truth. What I had actually sensed in the Beobona Jewel (after it became replete) was almost indescribable – an infinite and unfathomable power so intense that it boggled the mind.
Myshtal gave me a skeptical look, plainly aware that I was holding something back. “There has to be more to it than that. I know what the Beobona is capable of.”
Her comment caught me off guard. I had forgotten that Myshtal was more than just a pretty face; she was fairly astute.
“Alright, I may have understated the facts,” I admitted. “In simple terms, what I felt when I held it was power – pure, potent, and without peer.”
“And you didn’t feel comfortable telling me that?”
I shrugged. “Very few people are truly aware of what the Beobona is capable of. If it ever became common knowledge…”
“Wars have been fought for far less,” Myshtal noted as I trailed off, clearly picking up on my meaning. “I can see why you would try to deemphasize its might. I shudder to think what might have happened had Vicra gained control of it, in addition to his time travel abilities.”
I nodded, but didn’t immediately comment. Vicra had been a Caelesian prince who had used time-travel technology to further his own ambitions. After purportedly traveling to the future and seeing me sitting on the Caelesian throne, he had tried to kill me (and probably came closer to doing so than anyone ever had – even managing to temporarily strip me of my powers). But although Vicra had managed to get his hands on the Beobona, I seriously doubted that he could have wielded its power in the manner Myshtal imagined. It was the Beobona that controlled and manipulated – not the other way around. In some ways, it was almost as if the thing were alive.
“Anyway,” I said, changing the subject. “I don’t think I apologized for kind of deserting you last night in the middle of the movie.”
“No apologies necessary,” she assured me. “Once Electra came by, it was only natural that you’d want to spend time with her. Plus, I heard about our unexpected visitor from your grandparents.”
“Yeah, it turned out to be a late night, so thanks for understanding,” I said. Then, ruminating on another issue, I added, “By the way, did you change clothes last night?”
She frowned, obviously confused. “Excuse me?”
“When you came to the door to ask about pausing the movie, you seemed to be wearing different attire than when we’d been in the theater room.”
“Oh,” she muttered. “I didn’t exactly change, but my attire may have looked different.”
“Huh?” I spouted in confusion.
“I should probably explain, and hopefully not sound too vain in the process,” she said, then paused for a moment before continuing. “As you know, due to my position as Caelesian royalty and my relationship to the queen, I’ve grown up with a fair amount of excess. I’ve always had an overabundance of anything I wanted, from toys to jewelry to clothes.”
“I can understand that,” I assured her. “We have people with similar upbringings here on Earth.” (Of course, Vestibule immediately came to mind.)
“But not you.” She uttered it as more of a statement than a question.
I burst into laughter. “Hardly. It’s only within the past six months or so that my royal lineage has had any effect on my life at all. The kind of regal lifestyle you’re talking about is almost completely foreign to my personal experience.”
“I see,” she said as a pensive look crossed her face, and I could sense uncertainty brewing in her.
“But please,” I insisted, “go on with what you were saying.”
She stared at me for a moment, then let out a deep breath before continuing. “In brief, it has to do with my clothes. Because Earth is essentially an alien culture for me, I wanted to make sure I fit in as much as possible – including having the proper attire for any occasion. However, I couldn’t bring everything from the homeworld that I would have liked; there simply wasn’t enough room on the ship. So I made a compromise of sorts.”
She paused for a second, prompting me to ask, “In what way?”
“I don’t think you have it on your planet, but there’s technology on Caeles that can be infused into garments to make it sensitive to the wearer’s temperament and frame of mind. It’s exorbitantly expensive, but the end result is raiment that can change or alter itself to suit one’s disposition.”
“Wait a minute,” I said, catching on. “Are you saying that you have ‘mood’ clothing?”
She frowned. “I’m not sure I understand.”
I took a moment to explain the concept of mood rings to her – novelty items that allegedly change color based on the emotional state of the person wearing it.
“Yes,” she finally agreed. “I’m speaking of a similar reaction, but for attire.”
“So,” I summed up, “you’re saying that rather than transport enough clothes to fill a department store, you brought along some garments that can become almost anything you need them to be.”
“Correct.”
“So when you came to the door last night, your clothes had changed based on your mood.”
“Right again.”
“So were you sleepy or something?”
Myshtal’s brow creased in confusion. “Excuse me?”
“When you came outside, I think you were wearing something like a nightgown. Your clothes had changed to that because you were getting ready to go
