Veiled Dreams (9 page)

Christina studied her appearance carefully in the mirror. This was not going to be easy. She must find Imigriana as soon as possible. She would apologise to her, assure her it would not happen again. Explain that it was just something that she had brought with her from her world. Tell her exactly what Leonis had said, about Imigriana being the only one for him. And tell her, of course, that Jan was the only one for her – gorgeous as Leonis was. Yes, that was it, tell her how great Leonis was, but not meant for her. That should do it. She was sure Imigriana would come round soon. Queen Benelov was a different matter.

Hence, the plain gown and scarf she had decided to wear. She must look as unimportant as possible. Well, it seemed to be working. She looked totally uninteresting. Neither Leonis nor Jan would find her attractive now. She was suitably pale, as if she hadn’t slept. Surprisingly she had. It had been a type of escape, and she’d been glad of it. She dusted another layer of talcum powder over her cheeks.
Even the sun won’t be able to put any colour in my cheeks now
, she thought.

She quickly made her way to the terrace where they always had breakfast. The table was laid as prettily as ever, but Christina was surprised to see that there was only one place set.

‘Her Majesty is taking breakfast in her daughter’s quarters,’ said the servant who was carrying in a tray a fresh fruits. ‘The young princess is ill. She says you are to enjoy your breakfast. She will come to see you later. You are not to disturb the princess.’

On no
, though Christina.
I must see her
. ‘Actually, I’m not very hungry,’ she said to the servant. ‘I’ll just take one of these back to my room.’ She took one of the pomegranates off the plate.

‘But missy, you must eat properly. Her Majesty will be concerned if you do not,’ replied the servant.

Eat, Christina
. Christina could suddenly hear Mona’s voice.

‘I can’t,’ she said aloud. ‘I have to find her.’

‘Missy,’ called the servant.

Christina turned away and began to run. Within seconds she was outside Imigriana’s room. It seemed very quiet. All of her energy suddenly disappeared at the sight of the closed door. She’d wanted to rush in and blurt out that she was sorry, that nothing like that would ever happen again, that she was too precious a friend to lose, that she still loved Jan, that Leonis was a real babe and Imigriana was lucky to have him but she, Christina, was not interested in him.

Now, though, she could hardly move.

It was the quietness, probably, that stopped her. Was there actually anybody in there? She put her ear to the door. She could just make out their voices. Queen Benelov was talking softly. Imigriana was still sobbing quietly. She couldn’t make out what they we saying though.

Christina bit her lip. She felt slightly sick. She really had not meant to hurt her friend like that. She swallowed hard. She really wanted to creep away and hide but she knew she mustn’t. Her hand trembled as she raised it to knock on the door, and then she surprised herself by knocking very loudly.

The soft noises from inside the room stopped.

‘We can ignore them,’ Christina heard Queen Benelov say.

Imigriana sighed. ‘No, no, see who it is. He might have sent someone.’

Christina’s heart started pounding as she heard the soft footsteps coming toward the door. She thought she would pass out as the door clicked open.

‘Ah. It’s you,’ said Queen Benelov.

She could not read the queen’s face. She didn’t look exactly angry, but her eyes seemed cold.
She hates me
, Christina thought.

‘I think it would be better if you didn’t come in,’ said the queen. ‘Now is not the time. You can see Imigriana later.’

‘No!’ shouted Imigriana. ‘I never want to see her again. Get her out of the palace. Now!’ Imigriana’s face was red. Tears fell down her cheeks. ‘Go away, go away,’ she cried. ‘They should have cut your hand off. You are a thief.’ Imigriana was pulling at the skirt of her gown. Suddenly she tore it. ‘That’s what you’ve done to me. You’ve broken me.’ Imigriana leant forward and picked up a metal bowl from one of the small tables. She picked it up and threw it at Christina. ‘Go! She shrieked. ‘I never want to see you again.’

The bowl caught the side of Christina’s forehead, just missing her eye. For a few second there was a searing pain and her vision blurred. She thought she was going to faint. The world swirled around for a few seconds and then cleared.

Queen Benelov was holding Imigriana back. ‘You’d better go,’ she said quietly to Christina.

Christina turned and started to make her way to her own room. Her head was beginning to throb now and she felt slightly sick. Then the tears began. It was all just getting worse. She took deep gulps of breath, to try to calm herself down, but it was no use. This life here was strange, but there had been a lightness about it, too. It wasn’t just because of the sun shining either. She was beginning to understand and suddenly the old world had come back.

All because of a motorbike
, she thought.

She gently pushed the door to her room open. It seemed strange now. It had begun to be home, but now it was just a nightmare again. Perhaps if she could get another bump on the head, she’d wake up from it and be back in her own world.

No, silly, she’d just got a bump on the head and nothing had happened except that it hurt a bit.

‘Mona, Mona, what shall I do?’ she whispered. But Mona did not appear.

Christina looked at herself in the mirror. There were streaks though the talcum powder and quite a lump forming where the bowl had hit her. She rubbed the bump and winced at the pain.

Suddenly she remembered the Budela.

‘Keep it light, ladies.’ Those were the words he had used. Then there was the talk about the three young men. What could that be about? Was Leonis one of them? Was Imigriana right about Philaderan? And the third?

No, it was nonsense. It was all stupid. This whole thing. This world. She must just be dreaming. If she went away…if she starved, disappeared. Literally. This was just a dream. She would wake up soon. What had really happened after that car hit her?

A draft blew through the open window and on it came the scent off the small orange flowers, which grew just outside. It was just a shadow of how they smelt in the evenings, but there all the same.

That seems real enough, though
, she thought. It wasn’t going to be so easy to get out of this place. It was obeying all the rules of physics. It was more than a dream.

If only she could see Mona again. Perhaps that was it. Perhaps she should make her way to the city. Yes, that was what she must do. Going there…well she could find Mona or even find out more about the prophecy. Yes, that was the thing to do.

She would have to have a plan, though. She looked in the mirror. She was much too recognisable as she was now. Besides, a girl travelling alone – that would never happen. She would have to pretend to be an old woman, or better still a servant, a young male servant.

She unwound her veil. If she slit the bottom of her under leggings, they would look like the trousers the men wore. She felt in the drawer for the needlework Queen Benelov had encouraged her to start. That was all that she’d done – started it. She just didn’t sew. But at least there was a pair of scissors in with it. She quickly unpicked the narrow hem holding the cord and pulled it
out. She made a small nick at the top of the middle of her veil and then tore it in half, then another small nick half way on its depth, and tore it in half the other way. She wound it carefully round her head into the turban with the loose cloth at the back, which all the young male servants wore. Her under vest looked convincing enough as a shirt – except for one thing.

I’ll have to do something about them
, she thought, looking at her breasts. She slid the vest back over her head, and took the other half of her veil and pulled it tightly so that it flattened her chest. She managed to fasten it at the back with not too bulky a knot. Then she pulled the vest back on.

‘Not bad,’ she mumbled at herself in the mirror.

She would need desert boots, and water, of course. Some food would be good. And of course, she must take the chalice so would need a bag. She would have to sneak into the servants’ quarters and borrow something from there.

She stuffed the chalice into the top of her trousers, pulling the vest over it to hide it. She looked carefully out of the door. There was no one in the corridor. This looked like a good time to move. Most of the servants were busy. Queen Benelov was still occupied with Imigriana. King Tutoralph was probably reading or perhaps he was in a meeting

She held her breath as she saw a real servant coming the other way. She was sure he would be able to hear how fast her heart was beating. But he just nodded briefly as he passed, so that had worked okay. She just had to hope now that there was no one in the servants’ rest room. They would find it odd to see her taking desert boots and a bag. If anyone was there, they would be bound to ask what she was doing and she was not sure she could come up with a convincing reply.

She managed to get as far as the servants’ hall without meeting anyone else. She listened for a few seconds at the door. It didn’t seem as if there was anyone there. Carefully she opened the door. The room was empty. Someone had been there a few
minutes before. A bucket of steaming water stood in the middle of the room. Perhaps they would come back for it soon. She must work quickly.

She looked at the neatly stacked boots and shoes. They were all clean and highly polished. How did they manage to do that? They were always so busy. Yet this room was far tidier than any of the living rooms at the palace.

That pair looked as if it would fit. Quickly she pulled them on. Well, they were a bit loose but perhaps they would do. Her feet would probably swell. She hoped she wouldn’t get blisters. Now, what could she do for a bag? A large haversack was hanging from a peg – the very thing. It smelt a bit of fish, but it would have to do. Taking it carefully down, she placed the chalice in the bottom.
Now for some food
, she thought,
and most importantly, water
.

The servants’ pantry was just off the rest room. She looked inside. There were some stone water bottles. She quickly filled a couple up. There were some containers of dried fruit, too, so she stuffed as much as could into the bag. That would have to do.

So this was it. She was really going.

She crept out of the door again. The corridor was still empty. What luck. She almost ran now. Best get out before anybody realised she was missing or before they looked too closely at her.

She had almost reached the outside door when she heard footsteps coming towards her from one of the side passages. Whoever it was wore shoes, she could tell by the sound. It must be one of the family. The footsteps got nearer and turned the corner and suddenly she was face to face with Lydia.

‘Do we need more fish? Didn’t you catch enough yesterday?’ Lydia stared at Christina and frowned.

Christina kept her eyes on the ground. She ought to say something, but she couldn’t think what and she was afraid Lydia would recognise her voice. She felt naked now without her veil. Who would have thought it?
Please let me go
, she thought.

‘Hm. Well,’ continued Lydia. ‘I suppose it won’t hurt. Maybe
it will tempt the princess’s appetite. Go on then, get about your business. Don’t dawdle, young man.’

Young man! Lydia had called her young man. So, her disguise was convincing.

Christina walked out of the door. Only then did she realise that she did not have a particular plan about where she was going to go. The desert was in front of her and the city was to the south. She would have to follow the sun; soon, it would be very hot.

There was no way she would be able to walk for long in this. It would be best to make her way over to the fish lake and rest in the shade until at least the sun started going down. Even that would seem a long way at this time of day. Still, it did mean that there wouldn’t be any other people around. Even the servants would normally stay in the cool of the palace.

It was harder walking than she could have imagined. Even in the sturdy boots, her feet slipped into the sand until it was almost over her ankles. The bag soon became heavy and the strap started to dig into her shoulder. She drank some of the water, as much to make the bag lighter as to quench her thirst, but that hardly helped.

I must be mad
, she thought. For a few seconds she wished she could go back to the palace. But life could never be the same again there. What she had done was terrible.

Eventually, she arrived at the lake. She pulled off her boots and dangled her sore feet into the cool water. The trees gave her plenty of shade. The grass was soft. She pulled her legs back out of the lake and lay on her back. In a few seconds, she was asleep.

When she woke up, hours later, the sun was beginning to set and it was becoming distinctly chilly.

Time to move
, thought Christina. Then it occurred to her; without the sun how was she going to know which way to go? Did it all work like back in her own world? If so, the bright red disc was in the west, so to go south to the city she must keep it to
her right. What would she do when it was completely dark? If only she knew something about the stars. Then, she couldn’t be sure that the stars here were the same as those back home. How stupid of her not to think of what to do about the cold in the middle of the night.

There was nothing for it; she would have to return. She looked back towards the palace. She couldn’t really see it but there was a faint glow where it should have been. She guessed the torches and candles were being lit and soon the electric lights would be on indoors. She wished she could be there, laughing and chatting with Imigriana. But probably Imigriana wouldn’t want anything to do with her.

No, she couldn’t go back. Perhaps she could live here for a while. Hide. They didn’t come here all that often – just once a week to tend to and catch the fish. A week might give her enough time to think of something else. What should she do about the cold? It wasn’t quite so bad here, as it could be out in the desert, but it wasn’t like back at the palace where the evenings were warm.