“I hope our paths will cross again soon,” King Cassius said, rising with a flourish.
He and his attendants swept off down the hallway.
Juno turned to see Zane yanking the cart onto the platform. His expression was stern, lips pressed together. She started onto the platform quickly, feeling terrible. He was probably impatient to finish his task and get on to another client.
“Cloud Suite,” she murmured as BFF-67 buzzed around her shoulder in a comforting way.
This time when the chute sucked them heavenward, she managed to keep her cool.
Beside her, Zane’s jaw was clenched.
Well, when you worked in a service industry moving quickly was essential if you wanted enough tips to live on.
Tips…
In a panic, Juno thought about her bundle of filthy clothing. She had a few credits in it, not enough to feed herself for long, and certainly not enough to properly tip a valet on top of it, but that wasn’t his fault.
She didn’t even know where Vaxyn had placed the bundle though. It was in one of the two carts, wrapped in paper and cellophane just like the beautiful outfits. It could take her an hour to find it.
The platform came to a stop.
They had arrived in the lavish anteroom again. It looked exactly as intimidating and elegant as it had the last time.
She scanned the wooden walls, wondering what the value of the materials was - how long her whole neighborhood back home could survive on the salvage value of this décor.
Zane cleared his throat and she stepped off the platform.
“I, um, I need to go through the carts to find my belongings so I can give you a tip,” she said miserably. “Do you want to come back for it later? I don’t want to keep you waiting.”
His stern expression softened. “My services are a gift to you from the owner of this vessel. I am forbidden from accepting gratuities of any kind.”
Her mouth fell open and she stared at him.
“My own quarters are behind this door for as long as you stay in the Cloud Suite,” he told her, pointing to a blue door on the other side of the chute. “If you need anything, send the BFF droid. I’ll attend you to dinner tonight, and to any other place you wish to visit on the ship.”
“Thank you,” she managed.
“My pleasure, your majesty,” he said, bowing low.
She smiled and inclined her head slightly, like a queen on a sensi-gram, hoping this was the right way for a pretend princess to address her valet.
“Your rooms are very beautiful,” BFF-67 chirped. “Would you like to see them?”
“Yes, please,” she agreed, hurrying after the origami drone and trying not to listen to Zane’s footsteps disappearing toward the blue door.
He would be staying here with her, in the room right behind hers.
“Place your hand on the sensor,” BFF-67 advised her.
She lifted her hand to the door sensor and placed it gingerly against the glass.
Huge doors swung open to reveal an enormous room.
The flooring appeared to be made of a swirling wood material that looked impossible, like it had been grown right in the room. Plush carpets loosely defined four different sitting areas and a sort of lounge with what looked like a real Earth-style piano.
But she could hardly drag her eyes from the wall of glass that spanned the whole room from floor to ceiling, revealing the misty treetops of the forest, dewy leaves sparkling as if it had just rained.
“Th-this is my room?” she asked.
“One of them,” BFF-67 said crisply.
Juno looked around, torn between admiration and despair.
So this was how the other half lived - alone in spacious rooms with hauntingly lovely views - oblivious to the masses below who scraped by in squalor, crowding the dusty corners of the universe.
I am not Cinderella, she told herself. I will not be distracted by the dresses and the ballroom and the handsome men. I will remember my people.
I will fight for them.
5
Cassius
King Cassius of Frigalia smiled at his attendants.
It was his first genuine smile since they had boarded the ship.
Not that anyone here could tell the difference.
“Your Majesty, what shall we do about dinner?” Daynomus Crex asked in his nasally voice.
By all the coin of the cosmos, Cassius was tempted to drop-kick the idiot for this endless question.
Cassius was exhausted of the tedium on the ship. What and where to eat seemed to be the only spot of variety.
Hence, it had become a constant question from his attendants, who must have also been bored, but weren’t supposed to indicate it.
However, Cassius was feeling magnanimous tonight.
“Crex, Ozmarck,” he called to them softly. “Do you know what I know?”
Crex sauntered over eagerly, ever the ass-kisser.
Ozmarck lumbered over only after a beat, as if he felt it wasn’t in his job description to listen to plans.
Ozmarck was Cassius’s bodyguard, and like most Maltaffian guards, he was top notch. But sometimes he tried to assert some sort of misplaced dominance by not obeying commands fast enough.
Cassius was inclined to cut some slack for the second time tonight.
“What is it, your majesty?” Crex asked after a moment.
Cassius sighed.
What had he ever done to deserve such uncreative dreck as his companions?
He might as well have brought a fleet of hover-bed hags from his aging planet for all the fun they were.
“The girl,” he said slowly. “Did you see the girl?”
“Princess Lulu of Mayfair?” Crex asked.
“Princess Juno of Adair…” Cassius corrected, his thoughts drifting to her beautiful penthouse and the loveliness of her two extra-large wardrobe carts.
A woman in a dress with that much rare fabric had to be richer than anyone on this infernal cruiser.
“Never heard of Adair,” Ozmarck said dismissively.
Cassius hadn’t heard of it either, but he wasn’t about to let the big dumb guard spoil his mood.
“I’m not surprised,” Cassius sniffed. “Maltaffians aren’t the most cosmopolitan race.”
He watched out of the corner of his eye as the horned warrior clenched his fists.
A single punch from one of those enormous boulders would knock a king like Cassius out for the count.
But Ozmarck would never lay a hand on his client. It was the mark of a true Maltaffian guard. The horned giants were loyal to a fault.
“Would you like to hear my plan?” Cassius asked, wishing he had someone more interesting to share it with.
“Of course, your majesty,” Crex said immediately.
“I’m going to woo the girl,” Cassius said dreamily. “She’s ripe for the plucking. I should be able to shake her down for a couple million credits.”
“A wedding,” Crex said. “How romantic, your majesty.”
“A wedding?” Cassius laughed. “No, no. I’ll get my money and we’ll lose her at the next port. There’s no need to have another idiot around here taking up space and asking what we’re having for dinner.”
“Speaking of which,” Crex said, looking down at his own feet. “Will you ask her to dinner this evening?”
“That’s a damned good idea,” Cassius said. “Go ask her.”