Zander had left by the time the four handmaidens came to get Vera ready for the day. Since he never left her room after he brought her up for the night, they prepared her bath for the morning.
Mira was highly embarrassed and felt a deep sense of guilt. The dresses that had been prepared for her were very costly high quality dresses made with care by the personal seamstresses living in the Tamein palace. Yet, in two days, she had destroyed two dresses to the point of no recovery.
The first one was irrecoverably soiled by Erick Rashak, and Mira had torn apart the second one with her own hands.
She hoped the third dress would survive for more than a day.
While Rose worked on her hair and makeup, Daisy had brought in a new dress for her. This one was another high-collar creation made of white lace over dark blue velvet. Mira didn't care what color it was, as long as it was warm.
Two days of extreme blizzard conditions had caused the temperature to plummet. Although Mira did not possess a thermometer to gauge conditions outside, she would not be surprised if it hovered in the teens.
Breakfast would be served in the second-floor dining area today, so she was told. Once the handmaidens had satisfied themselves with how she looked, they accompanied her to the dining room.
Zander was standing in front of the window, quietly chatting with Daran as he waited for her to arrive.
"Oh my God Mira!" A voice called out.
Mira turned towards the sound.
Carol!
She picked up her skirts and ran towards the seated woman with that familiar bob cap of blonde hair, and those large crystal blue eyes. The two hugged.
"Jeez, girl! You look all grown up. Let me take a good look here." She pushed Mira back a step, and scanned up and down. "Well, at least that blue dude is treating you well. You're looking healthy and happy. That's some nice velvet fabric there, Mira. Neck's a little on the high side, but it's cold here, so that works." She touched the lace. "Look at all those little Swarovskian Crystals embedded in your lace. They sparkle something fierce!"
"Swarovskian crystals?" Zander raised an eyebrow.
"Oh, you know, those--" Carol stopped short. "Don't tell me those crystals are real!"
Mira laughed. "Carol, this is not Earth. This is Ashrya. If you see crystals like these, they're not lab manufactured."
Carol's eyes grew round as saucers. "Oh my. These are melee diamonds then. But those large things in your hair pins…"
"They are diamonds from the mines of Diamond City." Zander volunteered.
Carol put a hand to her mouth, gasping. "Oh my Lord, Mira. Those diamonds are so large, they're almost vulgar!" She reached out and touched one of the hair pieces. Then she grabbed Mira's hands and held on. "How are you feeling, sweetie?"
"I'm--I'm fine Carol," tears sprang from her eyes. "I just miss you, that's all."
"I miss you too, Hon. I was so worried about you, but then I see you in a place like this..." She looked around at the room. "I can't believe such a palace exists." Then she looked at Zander. "I can't believe blue men exist! I mean...I've read stories of blue men from Mars and all, but I still can barely believe my eyes, that they are real."
Mira laughed. "They aren't blue men. They just have blue hair and blue eyes, but that's just a different type of pigmentation. Their skin is pale, but they also have hemoglobin in their blood. They bleed red."
Carol glanced at Daran. "I have no idea what color hair this guy has."
Daran blushed, rubbing his bald head. "My hair is an orange color, when I had it."
Carol smiled. "That's ok, hun. Many men get that male pattern baldness gene, and there's hardly anything left by the time they're in their thirties."
Daran blinked. "I put a spell on my head so my hair would not grow."
"WHAT???" Carol yelled. "WHY??"
"Well, it---it gets in the way when I fight, and--and--" Daran sputtered.
Zander and Mira laughed uncontrollably. The two of them were so cute together.
They joined Carol at the table and the servants began bringing steaming platters of food to the table, from the dumbwaiter. There was so much food, but Mira could only swallow a few bites of sweet porridge. Zander noticed this and tried to hand feed her some slices of oranges, but after a couple of pieces, she refused more.
"I hope it's okay with you, Mira, but Daran has asked me to stay in Ashrya for awhile." Carol smiled with excitement. "He says he's going to help me with treatment for my disease."
Mira's eyes widened. She turned to Daran. "Is this true? You can treat her?"
Daran nodded. "I am not exactly sure how to do it, but the Master has examined her and he will annotate the details for me so that I can attempt to cure her myself."
Mira reached for Zander's hand. "You can treat her?"
Zander nodded. "Yes. We can help her, but it is not a quick cure. She has been this way for most of her life, so it will take some time for her body to recover. I have arranged for her to stay in our palace, with Daran as her personal assistant so that he can begin the process of healing."
"Thank you!" Mira cried happy tears, which Zander wiped away.
The rest of breakfast time consisted of gossip that Daran brought to the table with gusto.
Apparently, the Princess of Topaz had not turned up anywhere. The Emperor had sent men out on snow shoes to look for her, but nothing had turned up. Snowdrift was high, and although snowfall had abated, it was still very difficult to move about. Her entire carriage and horses could have been buried in the middle of the road, and nobody would be able to tell until the snow melted a bit.
Emperor Roy Rashak was, of course, quite upset. If anything happened to the Princess of Topaz, there was no telling what King Horacio Zaravan would do. His daughter may have been an Exchangeling, but she was not a political prisoner. She had been sent as a peace ambassador, to be married into the royal family.
A dead Exchangeling was a loud proclamation of war.
Meanwhile, the Crown Prince who was supposed to be the groom, had taken off for the coast and was now living the life of a beach bum at Turtle Cove with the merfolk. The only Crown Prince still left in Jade City was Zander, who had holed up inside his palace and had refused to play groom.
"Is my mother and father still at Jade Palace?" Zander asked.
"They left via a portal, back to Diamond City," Daran responded.
Mira frowned. "Where is Diamond City?"
Zander turned to her. "Diamond is the furthermost city north of Ashrya. It is the kingdom of my family. I will find a map and show you the various locations of the cities of Ashrya."
"You can move around in a portal?" Carol's eyes flashed with excitement.
"Yes, as long as it has been fixed in place and maintained by the local wizards." Zander said.
"Is that how Daran and Erick got back to Jade so quickly?"
Daran nodded.
"Then why did we have to take Gobie into Tourmaline?" Mira shot a questioning glance at Zander.
"I had to return Gobie to his people. I had borrowed Gobie to carry Erick into the marshland of Tourmaline Bog because he was unconscious. I also did not want you turning up inside Jade Palace, looking like a mud-drenched waif. You are my bride. Your first introduction to the Emperor should be as the much-adored Princess of Tamein."
"Awwwwwww," Carol gasped, fluttering her hands before her eyes. "So romantic!"
Mira rolled her eyes, laughing at Carol's theatrics.
"The blizzard has blown over." Zander turned to Daran. "Since you will be directly involved with Carol's health concerns, you cannot personally travel to Peridot, so you will need to send a few men there, as we discussed."
"I will do so, Master. And now I understand why you said to use the water route since it is impassable by land at this time."
Zander's silver-blue eyes narrowed. "Someone is playing with powerful weather magik."
"You mean...this blizzard…" Daran's jaw dropped.
"It was magikally created, yes. The signature of a magikal storm is everywhere."
Mira's eyes widened. "Why would someone create something like this?"
"Weather has been used as a weapon since ancient times, but it is a very powerful, very old magik." Zander looked worried. "The Tamein Royal Family has always been the only ones who understood how to wield this magik." He shook his head. "This was not created with Tamein magik, however. Someone is trying to start a war."
"Who would want a horrible war? Do you have any idea who it might be?" Daran asked.
Zander shook his head.
"So what do we do now?"
"We wait," Zander's eyes glinted with dreaded anticipation.