Tales of Olsen

20

When I awoke, the sun had gone down. I knew this because there was no light anywhere. Jordan was passed out beside me and the place was silent enough for me to hear a pin drop.

Slipping off the bed, I let my feet touch the cold ground. I walked over to the door but when I opened it, there was a woman standing there waiting with a smile.

“Princess,” she said bowing to the ground

I turned to see if maybe she was bowing to someone else behind me but there was no-one. It was then I remembered that to them, I was a princess.

“You can call me Eloise,” I said

“That would be bad form,” she continued, “I’m Theresa and I’ve come to summon you to dinner,”

I wanted to say no but she pushed past me and behind her were three other women each of them pushing a rack. The first woman clapped her hands and the room was flooded with lights.

“You should wake your friend, “she said, “the king will want to see you both.”

I walked over to the bed and gently nudged Jordan. When she only turned to the other side, I nudged her a bit harder.

“What” she groaned,” I’m tired.”

“We have company,” I said

She turned to look at the women in the room

“Wait, where are we?” she asked jumping from the bed.

It took everything in me not to laugh at her.

“Jordan,” I said, “we’re in Olsen.”

She shook her head and then nodded.

“I can’t keep up,” she said, “I need a drink of water.”

And just like that, a glass of water appeared before her, hovering as if made of air. She screamed a bit which made the women in the room snicker.

“Take the water,” Theresa said, “you asked for it.”

Tentatively Jordan reached out and grabbed a hold of the cup. It moved when she carried it to her lips and she drank slowly.

“Best water ever,” she said looking over at me with bright eyes.

“Now back to business,” Theresa insisted

“What’s that?” I asked

“You two need to be showered and dressed to see the king and the nobles.” She said

I raised a brow, it seemed very progressive here, yet they still had a monarchy.

“We have nothing to wear,” Jordan said,

“That’s what these are for,” they said pointing to the racks of cloaks they carried

“Now off to the showers,”

At the sound of a different progression of claps, the walls on the right die of the room opened revealing two sets of showers.

“In you go,” Theresa said

I walked in begrudgingly.

Inside was beautifully decorated to look like a small garden with a waterfall in the middle. The shower came down from a rock and I found the soap nearby. Showering didn’t take me very long and soon I was finished and I didn’t know what exactly to do.

“I’m done,” I said aloud,

“Push the door open” a voice shouted

A looked at the blank slab and wondered what part of the wall the door was. I inspected it and began pushing at random areas until something gave, and the wall moved away.

“Took you long enough,” the woman said as I walked out

To my surprise Jordan had already showered and was seated in front of a mirror, that hadn’t been there before, getting her hair done.

“Sit,” the woman said commanding me to a similar mirror.

Instead of arguing, I decided to just follow along and hope they would do a good job with my hair. There weren’t many people who knew how to comb it and even less understood why I had chosen to wear it curly instead of straight like many of the girls my age.

“We’re going to let your hair hang tonight,” the woman said, “I already have the golden flower crown prepared for you.”

I wondered why they saw the need to put me in a crown, but I didn’t question it. There was something about being in another person’s house that my mother always warned me about.

“And now for your dresses.”

Jordan was practically glowing when I looked over at her. They had pulled her hair to the top of her head in loose waves that seemed to come alive.

“Dresses” she breathed,

I did my best not to snicker, but she was like a child in a candy store.

“I was given the colors for you young ladies, the princess wears yellow and her companion wears the green.” She said

The two racks I could see now contained cloaks in the variations of these colors. What I couldn’t understand was why they said dresses but only had cloaks.

“Which do you like?” she asked

I looked at the rack and encountered the same problem I always had when confronted with too many choices.

“This one,” I said pointing a cloak on the rack that was a bright golden yellow.

“Excellent choice,” Theresa said showing the slightest ounce of approval.

She pulled it from the rack and brought it over to me. It was then that I realized that the cloak was an outer garment and that the dress was beneath. As she pulled the cloak away I saw the dress beneath and my heart stopped. It looked exactly like gold from my medallion. The dress was alive with movement and it was still on the hanger.

“I’m glad you like it,” she said,

“I do,” I said reaching out to touch it.

“Stop staring and get into the dress!” she chided

Choosing to ignore her snappy command I stepped into the dress and allowed the helper to pull the zipper. It hung a bit loose at first but as soon as I allowed myself to breathe a little, the dress seemed to morph to my body. The glove-like fit exaggerated my curves and made me feel a bit too sexy.

“You’re ready,” the woman said, “but first, your crown.”

As if from nowhere, a crown appeared. It looked as if they had made a flower crown and dipped it in gold. The piece was beautiful and expertly detailed. Theresa grabbed it out of thin air and brought it over my thick hair. Once again, the crown was a bit loose until I adjusted it to fit properly. It fit as if it had been made for me.

“You look exactly like a princess,” Jordan said looking over at me

She was dressed in a beautiful tulle dress that exposed her long pale legs.

“I should be saying that,” I replied

She smiled and I knew she was enjoying herself.

“Now you ladies will go to the main court,” Theresa said, “when you meet the king you must bow, otherwise, others must bow to you.”

I raised a brow, but I didn’t say anything.

“Dexter will escort you ladies.”

We were led from the room by Dexter, a massive bodyguard who seemed to have the spirit of a wolf but the smile of a child.

“I’m glad to have you back here princess,” he said, “we used to play together a lot.”

I looked over at him a shrugged.

“I can’t remember much,” I replied

“Well, maybe it will come to you eventually,” he said

He led us down two flights of stairs and down what seemed like the longest hallway ever.

“The prince’s chamber is in his pavilion,” Dexter, “a bit away from the main areas of the castle.”

I nodded and kept following.

When we came to two massive doors Dexter told us to stand directly before it. He stood behind us and clapped. The doors slid to the side slowly revealing a massive room. People filled the room and they all turned to look at us as we stood there. After a heartbeat, they bowed and whoever stood in our direct path moved aside to allow us inside.

“Go to the king,” Dexter said,

Jordan held my hand and squeezed it tightly. Together we advanced into the room to where the throne had been set up on a raised platform with stairs leading up to it. The king looked surprisingly young and he was the spitting image of Keith and Alexander. At the foot of the steps Jordan and I stopped and bowed as we had been instructed.

Soon I felt heavy hands on my shoulder and I looked up to see the king peering down at me.

“Welcome home my daughter,” he said in a low voice, “I am king Lodimur”

Behind him, there was a loud cheer that drowned out my nerves. I felt at home in this strange place and it was strange and unnerving.

As soon as the noise died down the king turned away from us to a corner of the room. I followed his gaze and saw Alex staring over at us. He looked much better now, statelier than he had before and his piercing eyes burnt through my soul.

“I see you still have a hold on him,” the king said, “all the better for our next king to be married to the princess.