-Kashion-
Kashion made another move in CheqiMasterPro before they headed back to the hangar.
They didn't have to wait long before the hover from Ostrand landed. It carried a blue triangular crest with a mist leopard on it.
King Mandach stepped out of the hover together with his wife Manina and a few servants. He wore a small hat, as was customary in Ostrand.
He and Manina first approached Princess Evlina, slightly bowing his head in greeting.
"Welcome to Earth, Princess. It is a great honor for us!"
Then he greeted Kashion with a friendly handshake and continued to Kashion's parents. Manina briefly embraced Queen Ada, while Mandach greeted Tyron with a handshake. After that, they exchanged a few polite courtesies.
Suddenly Mandach clapped his hands, and a servant stepped forward, stopping in front of Kashion with a basket covered by a cloth.
"Prince Kashion, please accept this small gift from Ostrand," Mandach said.
Kashion lifted the cloth and was slightly startled.
Underneath was a tiny wild cat with a striking brown-gray pattern.
A small mist leopard.
"King Mandach…" Kashion began.
Mandach laughed.
"Don't worry. We had a large litter this year. This is a special breed. They become very tame and peaceful. It is a sign of our long-standing friendship."
Kashion thanked him.
"Prince Kashion, I would be happy to explain what you need to pay attention to," the servant said.
Kashion thought for a moment.
"Explain everything to my servant Oren."
The servant nodded.
Turning to Oren, Kashion said, "Take him to your room for now and let her explain everything. I'll take care of him later."
"Her," Mandach corrected. "It's a she."
"Alright," Kashion said. "Does she already have a name?"
"I'll leave that to you, Kashion," Mandach replied.
"Thank you. I will take good care of her," Kashion said.
It wasn't really common to keep animals in the palace. But this little mist leopard would be an exception. Kashion smiled. As a child he had never been allowed to have a pet—except for a horse. But now no one could forbid him from keeping this small mist leopard, otherwise it would be an insult to their most important trading partner.
Kashion looked around.
His mother was smiling happily. His father showed no expression. Mandach and Manina smiled encouragingly, while Evlina looked at him skeptically.
He tried to pet the little mist leopard, but she seemed frightened and stepped back from him.
Manina laughed.
"Don't worry. She will get used to you."
"I hope so," Kashion replied. "I am truly very happy and will take responsibility for this little creature."
Kashion tried once more to pet her, but the small mist leopard hissed softly.
"That's normal," Mandach said. "Too many new faces here. In time she will love you."
Kashion laughed.
"I will give her time. King Mandach, Queen Manina, you must be tired. Oren will show you to your accommodations."
Oren then left with the envoys from Ostrand.
Kashion took a deep breath.
"Well, that's taken care of for now," Tyron said. He had already turned around and was ready to head back to the palace.
Evlina turned as well.
"I'll wait for Kassia and Lina," Ada said. "I haven't seen Lina in so long."
Tyron nodded and walked on. He had never been a man of many words.
Evlina looked at Kashion questioningly.
"Forgive me, Princess," he said, "but I will wait for my sister and my cousin."
In his thoughts he added: and for FoxPriority.
Evlina nodded and then returned to the palace with Talina.
Kashion stood alone in the hangar with his mother.
"You handled everything very well today," Ada said, placing her hand on his arm. "Kassia and Lina will surely understand if you have other concerns now. You don't have to wait."
Kashion looked at his mother and shook his head.
"This is important to me, Mother. No matter what duties one has—one shouldn't forget what matters most."
Ada smiled and nodded.
-Prior
Prior occasionally glanced at her tab. But Kashion had only made that one move.
They would land soon.
By now, Prior felt so uncomfortable in her clothes that she hoped almost no one would see her.
She probably wouldn't even have time to change before she had to go see Evlina.
Finally, the hover landed. Kassia, Yina, and Lina would step out first. Prior and Emi would follow.
-Kashion-
The hover landed, and when the door opened, he saw Kassia, Yina, and Lina stepping out. Yina immediately ran toward his mother.
Kashion was happy to see his cousin again. Kassia and Lina came straight toward them.
Then he saw something turquoise flash in the background.
He froze.
It was Prior—but she looked completely different. Her hair was styled differently, she was wearing makeup, and she was dressed in the Gelserkh traditional costume.
Kashion was speechless. He couldn't look away. It was unbelievable to him that he had ever overlooked her before. He couldn't focus on anything else.
Suddenly a grinning face pushed into his field of vision.
Kassia.
She winked at him but said nothing.
Then his cousin Lina stood beside him and hugged him tightly.
"Who is that?" he heard his mother ask, who had just noticed Prior.
He swallowed before answering,
"That's Prior, Evlina's second attendant."
"So that's her," his mother said. "In Gelserkh attire. How unusual. Well then, let's go inside."
Kassia turned toward Prior and called out,
"See you later!"
Then Ada started toward the palace—Kassia on one arm, Lina on the other.
Prior
Of all people, Kashion had to be standing in the hangar.
And Queen Ada too!
Queen Ada had looked at her suspiciously, but of course she hadn't greeted her. Prior was far too insignificant for that.
Prince Kashion was still standing there, looking at her the entire time.
Prior desperately hoped he would simply turn around and go with his mother.
But he just stood there and stared at her.
Prior walked a few steps in his direction. She thought she would just nod briefly to him and quickly pass by.
But when she was almost past him, he said in his soft voice, almost whispering:
"FoxPriority, welcome back."
She looked at him, and the world seemed to almost stand still.
For a moment she thought he could probably hear her heartbeat—it felt that loud to her.
Finally she simply said,
"kashion233, it's nice to be back."
He smiled.
Then he looked her over and grinned.
She wished the ground would swallow her whole.
"Gelserkh suits you," he said.
"Thank you," she managed.
"I'm sorry, I don't have much time today," he began. Then he smiled and added, "FoxPriority."
Prior only nodded.
"Let's go inside," he finally said.
They walked silently next to each other into the palace, and Prior kept noticing him glancing at her. She tried to focus on looking straight ahead.
When they were inside, he said,
"I have to go now. We'll see each other later."
Once again Prior could only nod and watched Kashion walk away.
Then she breathed out as if she had been holding her breath underwater. She closed her eyes for a moment before heading toward her room. She wanted to drop off her travel luggage first and then go see Evlina.
-Kashion-
Kashion was on his way to Oren's room. He had to pick up the mist leopard and then prepare for the reception.
He had a smile on his lips the whole time.
The mist leopard had been a big surprise.
But seeing Prior in the clothing of the place he associated most with home had been an even bigger surprise.
It suited her incredibly well.
He would have liked to never take his eyes off her again.
Eventually he arrived at Oren's door and knocked. Oren opened it and looked at him somewhat surprised.
But he was already impatient.
"Finally you're here," he said. "I sent you a summary of what the servant explained."
Kashion nodded.
"Should we bring everything to your room right away?" Oren asked. "Or do you want to keep the mist leopard somewhere else?"
"It's fine," Kashion said. "She's a gift and a symbol of the alliance. I will take care of her myself. Let's bring her to my room."
He looked for her and saw that she was sleeping in her basket.
Kashion smiled.
Oren picked up a pile of items. Kashion looked at him questioningly.
"Toys, food—even a litter box. King Mandach prepared everything," Oren explained.
"Litter box?" Kashion asked.
Oren grinned.
"The servant said that while she's still small, she should stay in your room. She's already house-trained. When she gets bigger, she can also go into the palace garden."
Kashion nodded.
He picked up the basket. The small cat stretched and yawned.
I'll call you Luu, Kashion thought.
They carried everything to Kashion's room. The palace rooms—especially those of the royal family—were quite large and even had a veranda and their own bathroom.
Kashion placed the basket on the floor in front of him, sat down, and read the notes Oren had written. It didn't seem too complicated. If he had questions, he could always ask King Mandach or his wife.
Luu was now fully awake and growled softly.
Kashion stood up, prepared some food, and set it down in front of her. She started eating eagerly.
Kashion laughed and tried to pet her.
This time she allowed it.
"Well, there we go, Luu," he said.
"Your Highness, would you like to discuss anything before the reception?" Oren asked.
Kashion shook his head.
"I just need to freshen up and change." He looked at the clock. "You can come get me in about two hours. Then we'll pick up the princess."
Oren nodded and left.
Kashion petted Luu a little longer before heading to the bathroom.
-Prior-
Prior had arrived in her room. Talina was still there but was just about to leave.
"Good thing you're here," she began—but then she looked Prior up and down and started laughing.
"What on earth are you wearing?"
Prior shrugged and set down her luggage.
"It's the Gelserkh traditional dress. I can change quickly."
"There's no time for that now," Talina said. "The princess is waiting."
So they left immediately.
On the way, Talina said,
"The mood isn't very good right now. Evlina says the prince is behaving very distantly. I saw it myself at the picnic. We don't know what it means."
Prior felt both shocked and relieved at the same time.
She had to fight the urge to smile.
At the same time, she felt sorry for Evlina. And she still couldn't fully understand what it all meant. But she felt a spark of hope rising again.
Finally they arrived at Evlina's room.
Evlina looked at Prior with wide eyes as well.
"What are you wearing?"
Prior explained again that it was the Gelserkh traditional dress.
"You can't wear that later," Evlina said briefly.
Prior nodded.
"And the hairstyle? Can I keep it?"
Evlina looked at her critically for a moment before saying,
"The hairstyle shouldn't be a problem. Otherwise you and Talina can wear a simple black dress."
Talina and Prior nodded.
"Did you find out anything important?" Evlina asked.
Something important?
Prior immediately thought of the wooden figures, the stories about little Kashion—and once again had to suppress a smile.
She shook her head.
"Nothing that would be relevant for the agreement. We mostly went on an excursion and looked at Gelserkh."
Evlina sighed.
"Then that was probably pointless. Well then, I'll show you what I chose for tonight."
Evlina showed them a fuchsia-and-white dress. One sleeve was white, the other fuchsia. It was very figure-fitting, and Evlina would certainly look very attractive in it.
Talina nodded.
"That's perfect. I'll give you a beautiful updo. Shall we start right away?"
Evlina nodded, and they began helping her look even more enchanting.
Later, Talina and Prior quickly returned to their room and changed.
Prior looked at her simple black dress.
It was nothing special.
No matter how much effort she put into her appearance, she would never look anything like Evlina.
Then she thought about Kassia.
She would also wear black.
At least Talina and Prior wouldn't be the only ones.