Prince White Fur visits the Apricot Side Palace almost daily, despite my prompts that it is time for him to go home. He has been away from home for too long and if he does not return soon, one of his brothers or cousins will win his father's favour and become the main contender for the throne instead of him. Despite my worries, he continues to persist in keeping me company.
In addition to his regular company is Princess Snow Jade. Perhaps because I do not talk much, Princess Snow Jade and Prince White Fur converse and bicker with each other more and more often when they visit. To the point that sometimes I feel that I have been forgotten. Which might be a good thing. They are a good match.
"Apricot Lady," Prince White Fur shouts while he strides into the garden where I have been painting the images from my dreams this morning. "I got you some of those puffy cream pastries that you liked last time. I got the last batch before they ran out. Praise me!"
"Yay!" I lift both arms in a cheer, accidentally flicking black ink all over his white clothes. "Apricot praises White Fur!"
There is silence while Prince White Fur looks down at the splattered ink on his radiant white and I return to painting my picture, pretending that nothing happened. Hopefully he is not angry.
"Princess," starts Prince White Fur, looking up at me and down at his clothes a few times. "Princess."
"Oh!" I jump in my seat when he pokes my nose from across the table, raising both arms up in the air and purposely accidentally flicking more ink at him in the process. I succeed in painting the tip of his nose black. "Prince White Fur! You are here!"
"Princess," splutters Prince White Fur from the watery ink dripping down his face, "you did that on purpose."
He leans over to one side so that the ink dripping off his chin won't drip onto his clothes. Too late. It drips on a pristine white sleeve. Flicking out a handkerchief, he cleans his face. I try to hide my grin but have a feeling that I'm not hiding it very well.
"I got you some of your favourite pastries and this is how you repay me?" he mutters, sending me a mock scowl. "I'm not giving them to you anymore. I'll give them to Princess Snow Jade when she arrives. We'll eat them in front of you and you won't be getting any, no matter how hard you beg."
"Princess Snow Jade is nice," I say, finishing the painting of an eagle flying above grassy plains over a backdrop of distant, snowy mountains. Below, a single deer looks up at the eagle. "She'll give me one if I ask."
"Not if I ask her not to," Prince White Fur retorts, leaning over to see my painting. "Hey," he points. "This is from the day after the Royal Hunt finished. You remember all the details."
"No," I reply, putting the painting aside, looking at him and the ink splotches on his clothes. "I dreamed it."
"You dreamed a memory then."
"No. It was just a dream," I reply, tilting my head and inking my brush with thought. The splatters of ink have show me a picture hidden in his clothes. "Stand up. Come over here."
"What? Why?" Prince White Fur says, obediently standing up to come stand beside me.
"Back. Back," I wave him back a few steps. "No, forward. There. Hold out your arms."
"Princess. Princess, what are you doing? No," he leaps back from my brush, hugging his chest when I stand up to bring my inked brush toward his clothes. "You can't put any more ink on me. These are new. NEW. I just bought them yesterday and wore them to show off to you. You can't. Prin-cess," Prince White Fur wails when I continue to advance.
"Come back," I tell him, waving my brush at him. "Stay still. You're wearing a painting. Let me bring it out so we can see."
"Princess. Nooooooo. Princess," Prince White Fur complains but doesn't try to stop me anymore after I have trapped him up against a pillar. A giggling Little Swallow holds my ink stone for me in two hands, while Deep Waves grinds more black ink for me, adding a little water.
By the time Princess Snow Jade has arrived close to lunch time, I have almost finished the painting.
On his front, a whole mountain range ranges from arm to arm and across his chest. Down his robes, is a flower strewn field within which a fawn nestles amongst grass, hidden by a fern at a bottom corner. Over his back, are feathers. Large and detailed feathers, showing the back of an eagle in flight when he holds out his arms.
Prince White Fur shivers a bit in his damp clothes and gives me a very complicated look. This look is transferred to Princess Snow Jade while she examines the worn painting very closely, tugging at his clothes. She holds out first one sleeve with pinched fingers and then the other. Then she walks to his back.
"Don't put your arms down," she slaps at a drooping forearm. "Up, up. Hold them up and out properly."
"Princess," whines Prince White Fur. "My arms are sore. Apricot has already made me hold them up for the entire morning. My clothes are soaked. It's cold."
"Suck it up, Princess," Princess Snow Jade pokes at the ticklish spot at his waist, making him jump with a yelp. "Stand still so that I can see this magnificent work of art properly." Princess Snow Jade puts an arm around my shoulders, giving me a sideways hug. "My dear Lady Apricot," she says, pulling me with her while she slowly walks around Prince White Fur, examining his clothes with great detail, "you are extraordinary. How did you think of this?" Prince White Fur drops his arms for a rest and Princess Snow Jade gasps, looking him up and down and then turning him around. And around. And around again. "The painting changes when your arms are down but it's still a complete painting," she murmurs. "It moves with your movements. Amazing."
"Accidentally flicked him with ink when he came. Then I saw he was wearing a painting. I had to let the painting come out from where it was hiding in his clothes," I hold up my upturned hands.
"Extraordinary," Princess Snow Jade shakes her head. "Even though the ink soaked through the cloth, the amount of detail you've managed to put in is astonishing. I can even see the insects in the grass. I've got to show him off. Wait here, Big Sis. I'll bring him back after lunch. People have to see this."
"Princess," Prince White Fur protests while she drags him away by the sleeve. "Noooo. I don't want anyone to see me like this. What will they say?"
"It's warm in the sun. It'll dry in no time," Princess Snow Jade tells him with a snort. "You're a man. Stop making such a fuss."
While she pulls him out of my garden, I open the packet of pastries that has been left on my table. With a big smile, I take a pastry out and share it with my two little sidekicks. Giggling together, Deep Waves, Little Swallow and I watch the Prince and Princess leave, taking big bites out of our pastries and spurting cream all over our faces.