The Unhappy Princess

Emily and Amelia chatted happily over lunch in the City Hall Cafeteria. Amelia boisterously told her stories of adventure, "Emily you should have seen this guy, he was near seven feet tall with arms bigger round then my legs! He picked up the whole log and swung it like he holding a cricket bat!" She laughed excitedly, "You know what I said to him? I said, check's in the mail."

Emily laughed happily, "No way, you have to be lying!"

Amelia grinned and then said, "You can see for yourself if you'd like, just come with me on my next trip, you're the boss here right? Just take a few months off and come on an adventure!"

Teslaimia stepped out of the Duhan Lift looking around for Emily, when she saw Emily with a strange animated woman Laughing happily she felt a twinge of pain in her heart but quickly shook it off. As she neared she heard the strange woman launch into a new story, "Have you ever been to Fursia? Oh, my! Let me you, you will find some of the most beautiful women in the world there, but they are so rude and backward. They think it's alright for women to be kept as pets and are more than happy to let their husbands sleep around on them."

Teslaimia's face darkened as she walked up behind the strange woman carrying the lunch box she had prepared for Emily's lunch. She cleared her throat and forced a smile, "Did I forget that you had a lunch meeting today, Emily?"

Emily's smile dropped off, "Oh! I'm sorry Mia, I was caught up in my conversation and we ended up here because my guest hasn't eaten yet. Princess Teslaimia, meet Amelia Earnhardt, inventor, and adventurer from Langland. Amelia, this is Princess Teslaimia."

Teslaimia looked at Amelia with barely concealed disgust as she added, "From Fursia."

Amelia's eyes widened, "Ah, sorry you just heard me put my foot in my mouth", she stood up and forced an awkward handshake on Teslaimia before sitting back down and returning to her story, "So there I was, I just managed to make it into Fursia on sail alone in desperate need of coal and I see this big wide open area near these buildings capped with gold!"

Teslaimia made a face, "Capped with gold? That's my father's palace, if you had landed there you would have been killed!"

Amelia laughed and shook her head, "I swung down off my ship and this older extremely handsome man caught me in his arms. He looked me in the eye and said, 'You are a woman?' and next thing I know all these girls are taking my clothes off, bathing me, and making me pretty."

Teslaimia's brow twitched involuntarily at points in her story, she asked, "Wait, so my father had you brought into the Harem?"

Amelia snapped her fingers, "Yes, that was the name of it, thank you! Yes, so Darius had me brought to his harem and I was dressed in the most shockingly revealing clothes I have ever worn, I know my face was red like a tomato!" She laughed, "Next thing I know we are all seated along this huge long table sitting on the most exquisite furs I have ever felt as the women all danced, played music, and entertained King Darius. Get this, one of the girls whispered in my ear that it would soon be my turn to entertain the king too and I stupidly said out loud, 'Why would I do that?'."

Emily laughed and shook her head, "Wait, so Darius intended to make you one of his brides?"

Amelia took a big bite of food and half-swallowed before going on, "Exactly! I stood up and told him, 'I think you all have the wrong idea about me, I only like women!' King Darius laughed and then explained to his wives that I was just a guest until I was able to get the things I needed to return to my voyage." She laughed loudly nearly spitting bits of her food as she talked with her mouth full.

Teslaimia shook her head and said, "Women of the harem are not like the regular women of Fursia, the are princesses and daughters of important families in Fursia who were sent to become his brides in order to strengthen political connections."

Amelia raised an eyebrow, "Sorry, I know I am laughing, but it was an incredibly strange experience for this little girl from Kidneypool Langland." She laughed merrily and said, "If you saw where I was from you'd probably be laughing at us just the same." She grinned, "Anyway that was my Fursia adventure, that's also how I happened to see your big airship, I was heading southwest to go visit the northwestern countries of the Eurment continent."

Emily grinned happily, "The way you tell a story I can almost see myself in your shoes, do you write these stories down in book form? I would love to read about your adventures."

Amelia thought for a moment and said, "That's a great idea, I never thought about it honestly. I am usually on the go, the only time I really ever get the chance to talk with people is when I crashland or run out of money on my adventures." She laughed heartily.

Teslaimia frowned a bit and asked, "So then you'll be on your way again soon?"

Amelia nodded as she bit into a dinner roll before saying, "That's right, I plan to visit the old cities of Eurment before I circle back to Langland. I've been on this flight for eight months now and I am out of money, food, and supplies. My plan for my Eurment leg was to take some work as a hired hand with some inventors to raise enough Sprite to make it back home."

Emily smiled and said, "You can do that here in Connaissance. Speak with Mr. Murray at the Future Art of War Company, they have an office next to the Airship Port. You can't miss it."

Amelia smiled and said, "Oh! That would be great Emily, I'go meet with him after I find a place to sleep tonight."

Emily waved her hand dismissively, "I have room at my place, you can stay with me tonight."

Amelia grinned and said, "Now that seems like an offer I can't refuse."

Teslaimia looked at Emily with an intense look, "I guess I will just go sleep at the Embassy tonight." She stood up abruptly. Walking away gracefully.

Emily looked surprised, not sure what she had done. She patted her lips with her cloth and then asked, "I'm sorry Amelia, can you give me a moment?" She picked up her cane and quickly chased after Teslaimia.

As the two left Amelia alone, she smirked and chuckled under her breath, "So the two of them are like that, are they? I guess I'll just have to test my hypothesis on Fursian women."

*****

Teslaimia kept all emotion off her face as they rode the Duhan Lift down to the mezzanine floor above the lobby. Emily asked, "Won't you even just talk to me about it?"

Teslaimia smiled at her and said, "Emily, I'm sure you'll enjoy talking about all that science I am too backward to understand, I would just be in the way. I have a room at the Embassy, so I will go there. I wouldn't want to embarrass you with your science conversation, you know how rude us Fursian women can be."

Emily used her cane to stop Teslaimia, "Are you jealous?"

Teslaimia pushed down on her cane lightly with two fingers, "I waited in your office for an hour before your new assistant bothered to tell me you were up in the cafeteria." She started to walk away and then stopped and turned back, "I might be rude and backward Emily, but I have never stood you up or allowed another person to insult you or your family in my presence. Maybe you should think about why you permitted such things to happen to me before we speak next." She turned and walked away with grace and poise.

Emily thought back to the story Amelia told and blushed, realizing that she was caught up in the stories Amelia had been telling her and didn't even notice that the last story about Teslaimia's father might have felt more than a little insulting to her. She turned and headed back over to the Duhan Lift, "Ninth Floor, please."

Emily chewed on her lower lip and she walked over to her assistant's desk asking, "Did you have Princess Teslaimia wait in my office for an hour without checking in on her?"

The stressed-out young man looked up from a large pile of reports and inquiry letters, "Ah? Sorry, Lady Connaissance, I am afraid I did. I lost track of the time as I worked on today's mail and when I looked up I realized I had forgotten you took a guest up to the cafeteria."

Emily frowned looking at his condition, "Stephen, do you need help with this? Be honest please, you look overworked."

He exhaled and nodded shyly, "I've been coming in two hours early and staying four hours after but I am still falling behind. Mr. Edmonds was always able to keep my workload under control by separating it and delegating work to other departments, but when I tried, they just told me they were too busy to help."

Emily gently patted him on the shoulder and said, "It's ok Stephen, I miss him terribly as well. I'll get you your own staff to assist. From now on, you are in charge of this office. Anything you can't handle bring to my attention at once. Alright?"

Stephen nodded and said, "Thank you Lady Connaissance."

Emily walked over to the Duhan Lift and was greeted by the smiling Amelia, "Oh there you are, I thought I might find you here! I'm sorry if my story upset your friend, I just get into telling my stories and well... You know how it is, you get used to telling them a certain way. What are the odds I would run into the daughter of the man who tried to make me one of his wives?" She guiltily rubbed the back of her head, "If the offer still stands I really need a place to stay."

Emily smiled and nodded, "Yes, I have a spare bedroom you can use. You should go to meet with Mr. Murray. I will be here in my office for another three hours. Meet me back here and I'll bring you to my place."

Amelia grinned happily and said, "Great then I'll be back here in three hours." She returned to the lift and Emily returned to her office.

*****

Teslaimia found a cab and paid the driver to take her to the Fursian Embassy. As she rode in the back of the cab she looked out at the people walking along the streets and started to feel as if she had been petty because of her jealousy. The strange boisterous woman was loud and rude, but she probably meant no harm in what she was saying. If it hadn't been for the small fight she had with Emily before she left to make lunch and then being left in the office without being told that Emily had gone to lunch with someone, would she have felt jealous of the other woman? It wasn't as if this inventor was more attractive than her, at best she thought the woman was a little handsome, not what anyone would really describe as beautiful.

The cab driver asked, "Are you ok, ma'am? A beautiful woman like you crying in the back of my cab is going to give me a bad reputation." He gave her a smile.

Teslaimia chuckled in spite of her heavy heart and said, "Love problems."

The cab driver smiled and said, "Any man dumb enough to not treat you like a Queen, doesn't deserve a single tear from you. I have never met anyone as beautiful as you in the entire city and I took Lady Connaissance for a ride once. Trust me, if he's making you feel like that, he's not good enough for you."

Teslaimia chuckled and smiled, "Do you know of a good tea shop?"

The cab driver nodded and said, "I know the perfect place, a new shop opened up a couple of days ago, me and my missus like the cakes he sells."