The Search for Life

Chapter 12

"Alright, alright, it's my turn," the Prince smiled. "What was the most trouble you ever got in as a kid?"

Leota walked along his side and thought of the answer. "Hm... I'd have to say that the most trouble I ever got in was... Oh! When I stole a small treasure from the Queen."

Teki laughed in disbelief and shook his head. "You stole from the People Kingdom Queen?"

The Guardian laughed herself. "No, see, that was the problem. The Queen of the Water Kingdom was visiting and I took the gift she was supposed to present to our monarch. When she noticed it was missing she apologized profusely and swore up and down that she had just had it, but they couldn't find it anywhere. It wasn't until I was caught playing with it in the palace kitchen some two hours later that it was finally returned."

Teki chuckled to himself. "What? Why did you take it? How old were you?"

"I was probably seven or eight. Actually, I was eight, because I remember my birthday was just a couple of days away, and Ernst promised that if I didn't apologize immediately, that I'd surely be executed before I ever had the chance to see the age of nine. So I went to my Queen and to the Water Queen and said sorry to them both."

Teki imagined Leota as a small child bowing before two grown female monarchs in a grand courtroom in apology over a stolen trinket. "Ernst is the man who looked after you, right?" He asked. "And he said you'd be executed? That's a pretty rough thing to tell a child."

Leota laughed. "Ha, yeah, Ernst could be like that. He was only joking, but I didn't know how laws worked at the time. And he had to be tough on me – I was this tiny kid with these incredible powers. I can't even imagine how difficult parenting me must have been."

"Yeah, what powers do you have?"

"Uh-uh, you got your question," Leota smiled. "It's my turn now."

Teki nodded in agreement and regarded the tall dark pines as they strolled through the woods of the Vampire Kingdom. "Alright, fair is fair," he said. "Hit me."

Leota thought about her question. "Hm..." She started out. "You got a favorite food?"

"Oh, come on, that's boring," Teki protested. "Not to mention lazy. Come on, ask me something good."

"Okay, okay" Leota giggled. "Then..."

"It's fried stroopnut, by the way," he interjected.

She giggled a little more. "What, stroopnut? Seriously?"

"Yeah, it's good! It's an acquired taste, but it's a delicacy in the Great Kingdom. If you ever make it up there, you've got to try it. It's really good."

"I'll take your word for it," Leota told him, smiling back. She took in a big breath of cedar-scented air and adjusted the scarf around her neck. "Alright, then. Who was your first crush?"

"What?" Teki laughed, thrown a little off guard. "Are those the type of questions women ask?"

"Sure," Leota told him. "Why? What type of questions do men ask?"

"I don't know, questions about... Manly stuff? I'm not sure, I haven't played this game in a while, admittedly."

"Yeah, no kidding," she jested. "But answer the question! I'm curious now."

Teki took a moment to think of the answer. "I honestly haven't thought about it before..." he told her. "But I guess it was this girl I saw a couple of times in a crowd... I don't know," he said again, growing increasingly nervous towards the subject material.