Golden Sword

Chapter 3

There were too many styles, too many colors and choices. She had never experienced anything quite like the morning after she had arrived in Mercedium. Eric had plans for their day and she really wanted to be with him, but those plans had been pre-empted by Kate and two of her friends. Monique Brown was a cute black girl with light brown eyes and a bubbly personality. Carmen Mendoza was of Spanish descent, also pretty; dark eyed and had a beautiful smile, but tended to be the quietest one of the trio. They had excitedly and talkatively arrived at her door immediately after breakfast to tow her off downtown and take her "shopping". Kate simply could not bear the fact that Keika had "nothing to wear" and had recruited her best friends to help make the trip "more fun." Eric opened his door to find out what the commotion was. They animatedly invited him to come along, but he suddenly had another pressing duty that couldn't be put off till later......but he was...really...very, very sorry. Keika glared over her shoulder and stuck her tongue out at him as the girls hauled her away. He had quickly ducked back in his room, stifling a laugh. It had been an adventure, not one she was sure she would care to experience again, but it had been .....interesting. It had sure looked like a lot more fun in the old movies.

She had been positive she would love fashion.....back when it was unattainable.....and she did like to look at clothing, but the hassle and the time spent trying on different outfits, going to all four different dress shops in town and the whole deal wore her interest out quickly. The girls were great, the same age as she, and she found them sweet and fun, if a bit silly, and genuinely liked them all. They quickly became her friends, but, she soon realized, they were from a different world than she. So far, she had not noted a single female warrior in the Mercedian army. Women, at least in the city, seemed to hold more traditional roles and jobs than back home. They were clearly treated well and with respect, but they weren't quite equal to men. Keika decided that she would have to do some work on that. There certainly must be women here who could and would do the same jobs as men. After about an hour, she was ready to get back to Eric, but she was not to be so lucky.

At first Keika was concerned because she didn't actually have any Mercedian money to spend, but when the shop owners saw who she was, they all refused to take any payment from her. She was told that she could have any dress in the shop she wanted and they would be honored when she wore them. That really helped, but she still found the trip seemed to take forever. In the end they returned by noon (she was starving again) and she had several, very nice dresses and shoes to place in her large and mostly empty closet. After getting back, they all had lunch.....Eric joined them for that.....and the girls then blew off in another direction.....after Kate had checked to see if the Princess would need anything for the next couple of hours. Keika felt like she could almost hear the leaves settle after a storm had blown through. Still at the lunch table, she looked at Eric. He was watching her with his head leaning on his hand and had a smirk on his face that she wanted to just slap off.

"Have fun?" he asked sardonically. "Very funny." she responded, looking down at the table pouting. "No, I didn't have much fun. It wasn't my sort of outing at all.......still, I came home with some nice outfits and it's good to have some friends here." He slid over next to her and put his arm around her shoulders and kissed her neck. "I can't wait to see you in them." he whispered into her ear. "But I think you would make even a sack look good." She smiled and looked up to meet his eyes. "Oh, please stop....stop saying those things." she replied, clearly meaning the opposite. He laughed. "Come on. Let's go have some real fun." He grabbed her hand as he got up from the table. After he helped her up there was the obligatory lingering kiss, and he lead her out of the room.

And they did have real fun. The rest of the week was a continuation of the fantasy. Everything she did was fun as long as it was in his presence. He took her riding in the countryside; they had picnic lunches (he brought plenty of food). The afternoons were spent together in sunlit fields of green talking, or kissing, or just lying quietly in each other's arms. Like back in Hamilton, Mercedium had several pubs, although there was no real nightclub. They went out in the evenings and she met his friends.......and they became her friends as well. When he saw her in her new dresses and all made up, he was surprised, not believing that she could look more beautiful than what she did in uniform.