Motley (#Wattys2016)

10: Surprise, Surprise

Michi shrieked. "Pirates?"

"Shush!"

"You're pirates? Looters, pillagers, plunderers?"

"Yes, Miss Thesaurus! Now quiet down, or the whole city will hear you!" Nori said angrily. "What matters is that we're good pirates!"

The princess looked confused. "Good pirates? So you don't murder?"

"We didn't say that," said Nori patiently. "We won't kill you. We only murder people if it's necessary."

"Oh, that's good," Michi said, breathing easier. "But I suppose I can trust you, since you saved my life and all."

"Exactly! You're a friend now! Compadre! Companion!" Reiko said jovially.

Michi was positively beaming. "You can still come to the palace. I'm sure you would like to freshen up."

"These are our disguises," Satoru said, "we don't actually dress like this. We may be pirates, but we certainly aren't doros."

"Of course, but I still have to thank you for saving my life, don't I? Come on! I promise I won't let you get caught!"

Nori was still suspicious, but she let Michi take them to the royal palace. They took the backstreets, lest the Marziale Motley be spotted. The palace had to be the largest building they had ever seen; a stone monster, with turrets as tall as trees and stained glass windows like kaleidoscopes. Inside was even more grand. Nori walked softly on the velvet carpet and stared up at the crystal chandeliers all over the place. The stone walls were decorated with giant paintings; portraits of haughty men and women, scenes of the northern country that Colla Voce rarely saw, and there was even a painting of the castle. Michi took them up a spiral staircase to her room. The room looked similar to the rest of the castle. There was a tiger throw rug in the middle of the room, giving some life to the dull stone room. The door was opposite a window shaped roughly like a diamond. They could tell which of the two beds in the room was Michi's; it was the one with sketches pasted around it, and a couple books strewn about on the ruffled covers.

Inside, they saw an older girl who looked up from her book sitting on the windowsill. She was quite beautiful, with almond-shaped blue eyes and blonde hair. "Who are your friends, Mayumi?" she asked softly.

"Hi, Hideko! This here is-" Michi gestured to Nori and was about to say her name, but stopped and said, "Ren. She's Ren. And she brought her friends. Ren and company, this is my older sister, Hideko."

Hideko smiled politely and closed her book. "It's nice that Mayumi has friends her age to talk to. We don't get out of the castle very much."

"Pleased to meet you," Satoru said. "We feel honored to be here." Good old Satoru could charm anybody when he wanted to.

"It's our pleasure!" Hideko laughed a quiet silvery laugh. "Do you want to be alone, Mayumi?"

"Yes, thanks," Michi said. They watched Hideko leave, and when the door was closed and the last of her footsteps died away, Michi ran to the bed and flopped down onto it. A book or two went flying off. "Make yourselves comfortable."

"I assume that Hideko doesn't know about your wanderings in Colla Voce?" Masa said.

"No. I don't have the heart to tell her." Michi swung her long hair behind her back. "God, I hate her."

"Hideko? Why?" Satoru said.

"She's perfect! She's quiet, she's pretty, she's smart! She's perfect and I have to compete with that!" Michi groaned. "She and I are polar opposites."

"At least she doesn't tease you about it," Nori said.

"Yeah, because she's too nice!" Michi flipped her head to stare at Nori. "You were never jealous of anyone before, were you?"