Glancing around, I couldn’t help but notice that my titular fiancée kept her room neat and clean: no random assortment of clothes thrown around, no shoes impulsively kicked off and left on the floor, no pillows tossed about haphazardly on the bed. Everything was in its proper place – including a number of items around the suite that I identified as being Caelesian in origin.
After a minute or so of eyeballing her room, I realized that I was out of my depth. I didn’t know what I was looking for – or not looking for, so to speak. I needed Myshtal – especially if my supposition about how to find Mouse was true.
With that thought in mind, I teleported to my cousin Monique’s house.
***
I popped up outside the front door of Monique’s home – a beautiful Mediterranean-style house on the beach. I had been inside before, but didn’t feel comfortable yet just teleporting to the interior.
I reached out telepathically and found both my cousin and Myshtal inside. I did the mental equivalent of tapping on the door of Monique’s mind and then established a mental link.
<Hi, Monique,> I said in greeting.
<Hey, cuz,> she replied. <Where are you?>
<Outside your front door. Didn’t want to just pop inside.>
<You know you’re always welcome here. Come on in. I’m in the kitchen.>
I teleported inside, appearing in a roomy kitchen with an oversized island counter in the center. Monique, standing nearby and sporting a paisley print sundress, immediately came towards me with her arms open.
“Great to see you, as always,” she said as she gave me a brief hug.
“Same here,” I replied. “Unfortunately, this isn’t a social call. I need to–”
I abruptly stopped speaking as I unexpectedly picked up on a curious warbling sound – a captivating amalgam of fluctuating musical notes that combined to form an enchanting melody. It wasn’t excessively loud, but it resonated in a way that I almost felt rather than heard.
“What is that?” I wondered aloud, immediately recognizing that it wasn’t a bird I was hearing, but the sound wasn’t quite like any singing I’d ever encountered.
“Yeah,” Monique droned, “I was going to give you a call about that.”
I didn’t respond to her statement. Instead, I began following the sound, with Monique right behind me. It appeared to be coming from an area that had been designated as the great room; however, when I was about halfway there, it changed, becoming something akin to a bewitching aria. More to the point, I was now able to recognize and put a name to what I was hearing: Caelesian singing.
Upon entering the great room, I saw the source of the singing immediately. As expected, it was Myshtal. A gorgeous redhead, she was currently stretched out on a couch and wearing a white crop top with blue jean shorts. Eyes closed, she continued singing for a moment, oblivious to my presence. Her voice was sirenic, and I probably would have stood there listening to her indefinitely had she not suddenly become aware of my presence.
Apparently sensing someone nearby, she stopped singing and opened her eyes. As soon as she realized it was me, her mouth flew open as her face took on an expression of giddy surprise.
“My prince!” she squealed, coming to her feet. Before I could say anything, she wrapped her arms around me and gave me a fierce hug (which I returned, but with far less ferocity).
“Uh…hi,” I muttered, somewhat surprised by her enthusiastic display of affection upon seeing me. Empathically, I felt a broad range of emotions coming from her: anticipation, excitement, anxiety, contentment, adoration… Simply put, her feelings were so wide-ranging that it was difficult for me to get a handle on what was going on with her.
I let my arms drop from around her, anticipating she would step back after the hug ended. Instead, she simply shifted her arms from my torso to around my neck.
“You’re a bad boy,” she stated almost huskily as she mussed my hair with one hand. “You didn’t call me last night.”
I frowned in confusion, as Myshtal continued to teasingly berate me for not maintaining our nightly tête-à-tête. I reached up, trying to remove her arms from around my neck; much to my surprise, she proved to be surprisingly adept at slipping out of my grip and putting them right back where they were.
At the same time, I noticed that her eyes were swiftly going through a broad swath of colors. It was a physical trait of Caelesians: their eyes changed color with strong emotions, although it was something they typically learned to control at an early age. The fact that it was happening to Myshtal meant that something was way off.
Continuing to struggle with her, I glanced at Monique and demanded, “What’s wrong with her?”
My cousin sighed. “You know how Avis is always calling me a boring housewife who doesn’t know how to have fun?”
“Yeah,” I answered with a nod. Avis was always teasing her sister for being content with domestic life rather than using her incredible powers to be a superhero.
“Well,” Monique continued, “she sent me some ‘choice’ brownies from a specialty shop, if you know what I mean. It was meant to be a joke – she knew I wouldn’t eat them – but it was her way of telling me to loosen up and have fun. I should have thrown them out, but I was going to send them back to her with a smart-aleck response, but somehow Myshtal found them, and, well…”
She gestured towards Myshtal, whom I was still struggling with.
“Are you kidding?!” I exclaimed. “She’s high?!”
“As a kite,” my cousin added sorrowfully. “I’m sorry, Jim. I should have been more attentive.”
“It’s not your fault,” I assured Monique. “It’s just bad timing because I need her for something right now.”
Finally getting a good grip on her wrists, I pulled Myshtal’s hands from around my neck and looked her
