The Girl of Many Worlds | (Story formerly known as "Multiworldcial")

Chapter 36

Not long after, Arden rounded up all his servants in the dining room.

There was one large lantern and several small ones lining the table.

"They call this game 'Hide-and-Seek' on Earth," Arden started, "it's where someone counts for a set amount of time while the rest choose places to hide within an agreed-upon boundary. Then, once the seeker finishes counting, they go seek out everyone. Is that right, Jade?"

"Uh, yeah," I said, hiding my astonishment. "And once you're found, you help the seeker find the other hiders."

Zander walked through the dining room doors with a bow. Arden also explained the game to him and asked, "Who would like to seek?"

A timid servant girl's hand rose. She curtsied and said, "I would like to go first."

"Perfect. Remember, everyone, my corridor is off-limits. Besides that, the boundaries are the entirety of this main floor. Going anywhere upstairs is automatic disqualification."

Arden then grabbed the large lantern and handed it to the servant girl. "This lantern is for the seeker. Everyone grab a little one."

I found it amusing that grown adults, up to older ones, would play a game designed for children. It was endearing and also a sight to behold. 

Once everyone, including myself, had a little lantern in hand, Arden further explained, "The lights will be off; everyone has one of these to navigate. Press the button on the bottom to snuff your fire. Press the smaller button to reignite it. Everyone ready?"

The servants all looked enthusiastic as they nodded.

Arden nodded and then said, "I will turn off the lights. Once they all go out, Melinda, please close your eyes and begin counting to one hundred."

Arden and Zander left the room, and Camilla approached me.

"So, I'm guessing you and Arden have gotten quite chummy with each other for him to do something like this for you."

My cheeks immediately heated up. "What do you mean?"

"Friends," she said. "You've finally become friends."

"Oh, yes, I think," I said. "He's been fairly patient with me. I don't feel I deserve it."

"That's Arden," she said. "He needs time to warm up, and once he does, it's all uphill from there."

"Camilla," I said softly, "can I ask you a question?"

"Of course, dear."

I thought carefully for a moment. I didn't want her to know what happened in the town, but I did want to find out what it meant.

"I saw someone in the town, a female, go up to a male and hold out a bowl filled with food. She held it out with two hands and bowed her head. What does that mean?"

"Well, it depends. Did the King accept it?"

"How did you know—"

"It's a tradition done for the Kings in Euphoria. I don't know if other Kingdoms have adopted the custom, but it usually symbolizes an offering of one's self to the King. It is like a marriage proposal on Earth, but the female initiates, usually with perfumed oil. Was there perfumed oil on her head?"

"Yes," I said, amazed. Zaria's reaction all started to make sense.

"And did Arden accept it?"

I shook my head.

"He gets many of those whenever he visits the town; it's certainly not his first offer and won't be his last. Many are trying to get him with their daughters. It would be quite the status change."

"What if it's done without perfumed oil, and he accepted it?"

She looked at me with interest. "Without perfumed oil, the meaning changes. If he asked the girl to serve him the bowl of food, that's not indicative of a marriage proposal. More casual, I guess you could say. It's almost as if he's saying he wants to date you. Do you call it dating back on Earth? Or courtship? Hello, Jade, are you there?"

I wasn't. My heart was pounding hard at understanding everything that was happening.

Zaria tried to offer herself to him in marriage. He rejected it. And then showed everyone in the room who he was interested in.

Me. Me?

Now I understood why people said what they said, about us spending time in the castle, about how it was a betrayal to Zaria, everything.

What did this mean? Was I interested in him? I don't know. I've felt like I've been in survival mode and never fully allowed myself to think about it. 

But I also couldn't deny my attraction to him. I felt it. I've suppressed it. I've relied on him; I call to him every time I'm scared or in trouble, primarily when in a simulation, to be fair, but still.

I trusted him. But I still didn't know very much about him.

I guess that's the point of dating.

Did he really want to date me?

The lights shut off around us, and the excitement became infectious as we all streamed out of the dining room with our lanterns.

Through the chaos of the immediate darkness and struggle to turn on our lamps, I lost Camilla. I made my way past people searching through rooms for places to hide, figuring I'd see her again soon enough.

As I walked, the beautiful blue snow outside and the enormous moon illuminated parts of the hallway. It, combined with my lantern, guided me through the darkened castle. I crossed through the foyer with its large entrance to the other half of the castle, a side I'd never explored besides on tour.

It was a little darker over here, but some bits of the snow-illuminated ground reflected through the windows. I didn't have forever, and there were fewer rooms on this side of the hallway, most of which were locked. I hadn't known that when I ran over.

My time dwindled as I sprinted further down the hall. I could see the lantern illuminating the front of the hallway where I had just been. Of course, she had come the way I'd gone!

I had the length of this place as my advantage since there was no way she could see me yet. I stood within a large staircase, hoping she would walk past without noticing me.

"Jade," a calm voice whispered.