Worlds Apart, Scene v1

“K-Kismet?!”

Kismet spun around to find Delphi cowering at the shallow end of the bath. The princess’ face lit up. Beaming with excitement, she ran toward her furry friend. “Kismet!”

Delphi ran faster than her feet could tread through deeper side of the bath. Before she knew it, she found herself falling forward into the milky water. Kismet laughed as Delphi popped back on her feet, spitting, with her face scrunched up.

Kismet waded up to Delphi and helped wipe her face. Delphi laughed awkwardly, her face as red as an apple. “You scared me, you know! You just…came out of no where! How…or when did you even get in here?” she asked, after calming down a bit.

“I…don’t know,” she answered, looking around Delphi’s bathing chambers, still in disbelief. She took off her plated chest piece and band of throwing knives, setting them to the side of the bath. “Last I knew I was at least a two-days-walk south of here.”

“Hah, very funny.” The princess hugged Kismet tightly, nuzzling her cheek against the Catheran’s chest. Kismet embraced her, stroking her hair. Delphi closed her eyes and rocked Kismet back and forth. “Whatever. You’re here now, and that’s all that matters.”

Kismet buried her nose into Delphi’s hair, breathing in the sweet scent of Jasmine. It had been too long since she had last seen the young princess. She felt her entire body relax as the fragrance filled her. Finally, she was home. “I missed you too.”

She gave Delphi a big lick on the cheek. They walked back over to the shallow end of the bath and sat down in the milky water. It was warm and soothing, rising up to their shoulders. Looking at the water, it was the first time Kismet noticed the blue shimmer of the milky water. But the water they drink, the water in the town ponds and pools, the water in troughs, even some of the streams and lakes she had seen, they didn’t shimmer in the same way.

The Catheran shook the thought out of her head. She held Delphi in her arms as the young princess leaned against her. “Sorry I was gone for so long. A lot of things have happened,” she said, her cheek against the top of Delphi’s head. “How are your studies coming along?”

Delphi sighed heavily, lightly whipping her arm with Kismet’s tail. “I don’t want to talk about it. It’s stupid. Why do I have to remember every single law, and the names and backgrounds of so many different people? It’s impossible!”

“You’ll remember it all eventually. It’s a lot of stuff to learn, you can’t expect to learn it all right away.”

“I know. I just wish Mother would stop yelling at me. It’s not my fault I can’t learn things as fast as Lydia...Anyway, I don’t want to talk about it. You went to Lokem didn’t you? What was it like? Did you get to see their mines and quarries?”

It never ceased to amaze Kismet how quickly Delphi would cheer up whenever she thought about the world outside of the castle. Fortunately, she knew little of the ugliness. “Nah. Those are more West. We only visited Koln for the delivery. After that we came back to the capital.”

“I read it was the fourth largest city in Lokem, and has Lokem’s largest inn.”

Kismet nodded. “Yep. And we got to stay in it too. It was pretty nice, but of course the owner didn’t like me very much.”

Delphi frowned, gently rubbing the soft arms that wrapped under her chest. “It’s like that over there too?”

“Yeah, but it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. I guess it’s because they weren’t as affected by the invasion as Rokan was. But, guess what! I was in Kelta earlier today.”

“Kelta? Isn’t that a three-days walk from here?”

“It sure is. You’ll never guess what happened.” Kismet stood them up and led her to the stool that sat a few feet from the bath. “I saw an Undine.”

“An Undine?!” she shouted in disbelief.

“A real Undine. She was young, maybe only ten or twelve in human years, but she was pretty.” Kismet dipped a washcloth into the bucket of warm water that sat on a heating plate. She began washing off the milky water that left Delphi’s skin silky smooth.

Her skin was a light delicate peach. It was difficult to spot the subtle tan lines around her neck and arms that she gets from spending a lot of her free time in the gardens, or on the wall. The princess’ skin was soft and clean, from an entirely different world than Isella’s, who was tanned and calloused. Kismet told Delphi of her unbelievable encounter with Aria, and how she mysteriously appeared in the bath, as they finished bathing.

While the young princess went to her night lessons, Kismet decided to pay Isella a visit. Walking toward the dungeon, she passed by Nakita who paid no mind to her and whistled an upbeat tune with a look of content on her face. Kismet descended the stone steps. The warden sighed with irritation behind his book when the Catheran walked by. Kismet walked toward the rear to Isella’s cell, but she wasn’t there. The cell door was open, but where would they take her?

She felt uneasy, remembering the look on Nakita’s face. Kismet had never seen that look on her face before. All she ever heard was that the prodigy ice mage was never satisfied, always irritated, and a sadist. The Catheran looked at the reinforced door at the end of the cells. A wave of dread flowed throughout her body as she stepped up to it. She cracked open the door, peeking inside. Several knives, blades, needles, whips, and other weapons lined the walls. Sharp tools, as well as blunt, sat on shelves, along with prods and torches. Choked sobs escaped from the crack of the door. Kismet opened the door wider to a strained voice, pleading. “Please…no more…please…”




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