Princess Ahira (13 page)

             
“What
’s with your hair and clothes?”
I asked,
interrupting him. I heard enough about that blasted book from Azmaveth. I didn’t need to hear about it from his steward as well.

             
Kohath looked down at his clothes
and
th
en back up at me in confusion.
He was wearing black pants with black boots, and a baggy dark purple, almost black, shir
t.  “What’s wrong with them?” h
e asked, sounding worried. 

             
My, he must be vain. “Your hair is purple,” I observed,
and he relaxed.

             
“Oh, that.
As you know our lor
d’s colors are purple and white. H
e had me dye my hair and wear
dark colors to match his colors,” h
e explained
. He said it as if it were a very logical process, but he had me worried. Would Azmaveth make
me
dye
my
hair?!

             
“So what
do you want?” I asked as I approached him,
satisfied that he wasn’t a prince.

             
“I have to talk to Azmaveth,”
Kohath said in an annoying
,
superior tone.

             
I gave him a pinched look. Something told me he and Azmaveth got along swimmingly. “Come this way,” I ordered, stepping around him to open the door before stepping into the depths of the cave.  Kohath
followed me and we walked
to the sitting room in silence.

“He’s probably in his lab,”
I
tossed over my shoulder as I continued on to the kitchen.

             
“Keh,”
Kohath
, the ungrateful rat,
snorted as
he walked on
to the lab.

             
I rol
led my eyes and got lunch ready. Once Kohath roused Amaveth from his lab the dragon was sure to be bellowing for lunch. His stomach was on a strict schedule.

Sure enough, half an hour
later
as I set a steaming tray of rolls on the table Azmaveth came scuffling through the cave like a malnourished animal.

             
“Where’s Kohath?”
I asked.

             
“He left moments ago,
”
Azmaveth replied.

             
An uncomfortable silence
fell over the table as we ate.
Both of us quickly finished and Azmaveth w
as about to leave when I asked.
“Azmaveth?”

             
“Hm?”

             
I swallowed. The question was weighing too heavily on my mind, I could think of nothing else. I
had
to ask him.
“
Um...I was wondering,” I stumbled, looking for the right words.
“Are you goi
ng to make me dye my hair like Kohath?”
I blurted out. 

             
Azmaveth stared blankly at me for a moment before cracking into a great belly laugh. He appeared to have spasms on the ground for a good minute before he abruptly straightened up. “No,” he answered before going back to his great, snorting laughter.

             
I wryly scolded myself for breaking down and asking him.
There would be no
living with him for weeks now.
I wandered outside, scowling because I could still hear Azmaveth laughing,
and shut the door.

I heaved a great sigh
before I walked into the forest
.
No, I’m not stupid. I studied a map of the surrounding area so I at least had an idea of where I was at all times.

             
I breathed in the fresh sent of
pine and happily hummed as I set down my path. Three stone’s throws into the forest I hopped on top of a large rock and sat down, soaking in the beautiful sunlight that peeped in through the foliage. My sunbath was eventually interrupted by a snuffling, sneezing noise. Curious I peered over the edge of my rock and looked down on a short,
chubby,
stubby unicorn.

             
He was dapple gre
y
,
and his head would have barely reached my knee if I
were to stand
next to him.
His mane and tail were creamy white
, and his forelock was so bulky it covered up his eyes. 

As I stared down at the miniature unicorn, he snorted at me, sending his thick forelock flying to reveal his bulging, big
,
chocolate brown eyes. He stamped a little hoof at me and tried to toss his neck in a macho way, his pearly horn gleaming.

I wasn’t much
impressed by the manly display. H
e was cute, but by no stretch of the imagination was he handsome or beautiful.

“Well hi there!” I said with a smile as
he made some nickering noises. “You’re so cute!”
I said, sliding off my rock to pet him.

He snorted as I approached
him
,
and again his bulgin
g eyes were unveiled.

             
I giggled and ran my hands through his soft
, silky mane.
“
You’re like a dog
!” I cooed before marching further into the forest. 

             
I walked down an unmarked path
, slightly surprised when
the little unicorn followed me.
I laughed when
he ran into the back of my le
gs, his horn pricking my back.
He
looked up
and sneezed
.
. 

On an impulse I decided to name him. “
Anything
as cute as you are deserves a name,” I said, bending over to peer in his little face. “You look like… Tuggles! Because you tug at my heartstrings,” I reasoned.

Tuggles sniffed and released a high pitched whinny, trying out his new name.

             
Together we
wandered around the forest for the better part of an hour before I returned to
Azmaveth’s den.

Tuggles stood at the edge of the forest, sneezing and snorting at he
watched me wave from the door. I opened one of the front doors and walked inside, running
smack dab into Azmaveth, who smelled a lot like Ever Blossoms. 

             
“Oh, hello,”
Azmaveth said. Apparently we were just choosin
g to ignore last night’s
fight. That suited me
, but a finer part of my brain reminded me
that we were ignoring conflict
which wasn’t a very emotionally intelligent thing to do.

             
“What time is it?”
I asked.

             
“Nearly the forth bell. Almost evening. Time for dinner,” h
e woefully reminded me as his stomach rumbled, shaking our cave. 

             
“Ah, yes, I could set a watch by your stomach,”
I said as I loving
ly
patted one of the scales on the side of his stomach as I passed him. 

             
“By the way, w
hat did you think of Kohath?” he asked, slowly following me.

             
I rolled my eyes.
He probably got some stupid idea from that dumb book
that I need a love life. “Whatever,”
I said as I walked into the k
itchen, Azmaveth still trailing after
me.

             
“If you could change one thing
about him, what would it be?” h
e asked.  I looked up at him. I
f he got any more technical I could swear he was a scientist studying my habits. 

             
“Azmaveth, shhh,” I shushed
. 

             
I threw together a quick meal an
d we ate
in companionable silence. I would have been perfectly content to keep that silence, even after we finished eating, but of course Azmaveth had to ruin my plans.

             
“By the way Ahira,” he said in a tone that I hated. I
t always meant it was ti
me to go get the—

             
“I believe you haven’t gotten the mail yet.”

             
See? 

             
“Yes I did! There was nothing in there!” I chimed in
.

             
“Impossible,” he scoffed.
“I always get mail. Y
ou just checked too early!”

             
“I checked
in the late morning,
which is when it’s delivered!”
I shot back.

             
“Go check again!”
Azmaveth ordered. 

             
“You and your PRIDE!” I complained
. 

             
Azmaveth
nodded his head tow
ard the door.
With a groan I stumbled toward the cave entrance, opened the door, and purposely slammed it shut as loud as I could. 

             
I walked t
oward the mail hole and I felt something soft press against my legs
.  I looked down
and Tuggles sneezed
at me
.
My anger melted as
I looked at his adorable eyes.
“You’re so CUTE!”  I
said
as I bent over to hug him.

             
I released him moments later and Tuggles snorted and blushed, trying to look unphased.

             
I giggled and skipped down the
road
, Tuggles running
after me
as fast as his short legs could carry him. 

             
I peered in the mail hole
and
, as I had known it would be, it
was absolu
tely one hundred percent empty.
I rolled my eyes at Azmaveth’s foolish beliefs
and walked back
to the cave. It was
sunset
,
and I squinted
in the faint light as I
s
potted a dark form by the door. If it wasn’t a prince it could only be one person.

“You again?” I snappishly asked as the torches just outside the cave lit up, illuminating Kohath. “What
do you want now
?”
I rudely
asked as I stomped up to him.
Tuggles
disappeared back into the forest
. W
e were completely alone. 

             
“Is that
the polite
way to greet a person?” he
teased as I
peered around him and scowled.

His devilish smile deepened
as the realization that he w
as standing between me and the c
ave entrance dawned on me. Unless the steward moved, which I highly doubt
ed he ever would
, I wouldn’t be able to get inside.

             
I backed up a few steps as he pushed off against the doors and walked closer to me.  “You never answered my question!”  I
said,
leaning away as he stopped directly in front of me. 

             
“I was in the neighborhood.”

             
Like that was believable! There was a greater likelihood of Tuggles super-transforming into a large, beautiful unicorn and asking me to ride on his back.

“What do yo
u want?” I asked in a
sweeter tone, changing tactics.

             
Kohath did his best to l
ook nonchalant but failed miserably. “I was talking with Azmaveth.
He needs the feathers of a n
ight g
riffon.
He asked me to go get some
for him, an
d I asked if I could
bring you along,” he said with his
cocky grin.

             
My eyes turned into slits.
I start
ed toward the forest muttering,
“Azmaveth,
you are
dead
to me
!
I’m never going to make another meal for you again!
”