"I'm taking away this nisiman set," Neal told his mother that night.
"I have more."
"What kind of empress are you?" He waved his palm. "Gambling and conning innocent people."
She laughed. "You make me look like a con-woman."
"That's what I said." Neal touched his thumb to his fingers making a circle. "Con."
"Come on, there are people worse than me," she said. "I gather you won."
"Of course I did," Neal said, "But you are not getting the prize."
"So you pardoned her."
"She did not agree for a pardon."
"So, you are getting the prize? I should have known." She threw her palms in the air. "You won't miss any meeting with any starlite, would you?"
"I," he pointed a finger at himself, "played the game."
"But she was the fifth and last one," Natasha complained like a child being declined a treat.
"Sophie was right. Royals are weird."
The words were too low to be heard, but the empress caught one of Neal's rare smiles.
The sun was about to rise when Sophie found herself climbing up the stairs of the castle with Allisa. After three storeys, Sophie decided to ditch etiquette and started flying. Allisa didn't notice it. The freckled girl had met Sophie the gates like she had done before, but this time she was in a great mood. She had not only introduced herself but had even ventured to tell Sophie that the game room was the empress's idea of fun and the paint room was the prince's.
"So, we are going to the paint room?"
"He always starts his day there," Allisa said with a smile, "whenever he is here."
"And it it your duty to escort the castle guests?"
"Actually." She bit her lip. "I'm among Her Majesty's staff. The task was given to my friend. I switched with her because she does not like the ascent."
"You are a good friend."
"I was curious." Allisa blushed and continued, "to see the paint room. Not many people are allowed in there."
Sophie marveled at the affect that the upcoming peek inside the room had on that girl. When they reached their destination, they found its wooden door open. Sophie was instantly hit by the smell that had been her noseworm for long. It was a hundred times stronger inside the room. The wooden cupboard carved in the wall seemed was the only piece of furniture belonging to the room. It was open and displayed boxes of paint, papers, brushes etc. The chair, the table, the sofa, the other cupboard; all other furniture had been thrown into the room the night before.
Sophie had seen and smelled many fresh paintings at the starlite castle. She was thus surprised to discover that the human paint smelled much different that what she had ever smelled in a much better way.
They found the prince sitting behind a prepped up canvas, with a brush in his hand.
"Your Highness," Allisa said as she saluted him.
Sophie copied her companion.
"Thank you Allisa," the prince said without looking at them or returning the salute. "You may go now. Please, close the door behind you."
Allisa did as she was told.
Before Sophie could say anything, he stood up and said, "The time-keeper is on the table. Do whatever you want; sit like a statue, take a nap, watch the view (he pointed at the window), or eat something." He pointed at the table laden with different kinds of food. "Help yourself out when your time is up. Just don't disturb me."
Seeing the quizzical look on her face he said, "You forgot to tell me about the utility of the time keeper, but I asked my mother."
"I apologise, Your Highness."
Sophie occupied the chair facing him with a determination to sit like a statue and stare at the back of the canvas. That put her back facing the door. The prince, still standing, resumed his work.
The look on Neal's face, reminder her of the conversation they had had meant about being physically present but mentally absent. His face was not hard in concentration, like Sophie had imagined artist's faces to be.
The prince had a blank expression on his face. It was almost serene. He chewed on his brush, mixed his colours, gazed into the distance, closed his eyes, smiled at his ideas, murmured to himself; all without acknowledging her presence in the room.
Sophie, in turn, continued to stare at the object before her and soon her thoughts began flowing in all directions.
First she analyzed the security of the prince if someone suddenly came upon him while his mind was elsewhere. She was sure if someone came in and stabbed him in the eye, he wouldn't know it until the knife was embedded inside him. Sophie was so annoyed that she entertained the idea ro do it herself. But she knew that she would be the one to stop if any such attacker was able to pass through the castle guards. She wondered if she was there for protection but dismissed the idea as she was allowed to go without telling him.
Her thoughts took another turn. "Why does he always wear a white shirt? The ruffles are getting dirty by the paint. Come to think of it everybody is always wearing white shirts. I only have two white shirts. Should I some white shirts?"
After Sophie decided that the two shirts were enough for her, she got curious about the subject of his art. He was too far from the window to see anything, so she deduced that it was something from memory or imagination. It seemed unlikely that the prince would paint the haphazard furniture of the room.
Her eyes landed on his bare feet next. "Who does he think he is- a starlite? Even I'm wearing shoes."
Neal's strokes finally startes getting a momentum. His left hand clutched the side of the canvas while his right hand made swift motions with the brush.
"Looks like he has finally decided what to paint. Normal people use their other hand to hold the color plate, not the canvas. And why do these colours smell so good?"
"Ooh starberries!" Sophia thought as she spotted a bowl full of her favourite fruit lying on a table near the window. She pondered whether she should eat some and decided in the end that she may as well.
"Why did they not put a chair here along with the food? Looks like I'll have to stand here for a moment while I eat. Or I could just take the bowl to my chair."
Once she waa back to her chair she noticed that he had sat down again. But he was tall enough that some of his hair peeked from above the board. Sophie noticed that it looked shorter than before.
'These starberries are delicious. If starlites could love, I would love these."
"These humans are real weirdoes, especially the prince and his mother."
Sophie wondered how the starberries were so fresh this far from the mountains. For the subjects it was almost impossible to find them on the grounds, but things were always different for the royalty.
The prince stood up for a minute and she started analysing his attire. "Rocus has it right. Even human clothes are not that much different from the starlite attire, at least among men."
She also tried to guess his exact height. He was the tallest human Sophie had ever met.
"Oh Lord Star, I ate all the starberries." Sophie realised and hoped that the prince would never notice such a trivial thing.
"Left cupboard, top shelf," Neal suddenly spoke, "over the ice."
"Huh?"
"There's a cupboard to your left," he explained and vanished again behind the canvas.
Sophie wondered what he wanted and opened the cupboard. To her utter horror, on the top shelf was a bowl of half melted ice. It cradled another smaller bowl filled with starberries. Her face turned crimson. She did not know what to do but bring the bowl back to her seat.
She vowed that she would not eat another berry. Sophie had heard the saying 'eyes behind his back' but the prince seemed to have eyes that could see through the canvas. Either that or he was just pretending to paint while keeping an eye on her. She could see no reason for it and her thoughts returned to the fruit bowl in her hands.
"Who keeps fruits in a cupboard?" she thought. "At least now I know how they keep them fresh. The ice has half melted. Which means it was kept around one or two hours ago."
Some time passed and she found herself asking the hard questions.
"Was he looking at me the whole time? Analysing how an unsuspecting subject acts."
"What more blunders did I make?"
"Did I stare at him too much?"
'What is he thinking?'
It creeped her out. Still age hoped to have made a good impression. She cursed herself for coming when she realised that she was eating the berries again. Her thoughts started running like wild horses, in all directions.
"I should buy these colours and make room freshener out of them. He seems to be using it as a perfume."
"Where can I buy these colours? Will they be too expensive?"
"I should probably stop eating these."
"I wonder if he is still watching me like a hawk."
"I saved his life twice, he should remember that."
"Is he even painting? Sia had it right. Can't trust him."
"I ate too many starberries. Will I get sick? Can we get sick by eating fruit?"
"He has strange ears."
"Why can't he talk to me?"
"Why are here so many starberries? Is he also a starberry fan? Will he get angry that there are none left for him?"
"I could have done something productive with my time."
"He must be hungry. If he is, it's his own fault."
"Why did he give me more starberries?"
With that her thoughts took a darker turn.
"Are these starberries laced with something? What if I'm in a horror story? He keeps no servants around- no witnesses. By the Wise Magnificence, there is no one around. What can he do? I can fly. Not if these starberries are laced with something. Is he planning to kill me? Or keep me prisoner in a secret dungeon below the castle. I wonder if that would include physical torture. Surely people will come looking for me. But nobody knows I'm here. Allisa does and she must be loyal to him. I don't think I like her very much."
Neal's hand stopped. The artist took a few steps back so as to get a better look at his art. He tapped his chin with the back of the brush, still deep in thought. He rolled up his sleeves, mixed the colours and went back to work.
Sophie saw him doing all of it and something on his left wrist caught her attention. She had only gotten a glance at it but she was sure of what she had witnessed. She was stunned.
"What am I supposed to do now?" Sophie asked herself.
She decided it was time to leave. She looked around for the time keeper and was befuddled to realise that she had overstayed by an hour.
'Time flies when you are eating. Damn those starberries."
"I could leave now. But then he may realise what I saw. Now I should wait till he is done and cite curiosity about the painting."
Sophie wondered why a prince would even think about such a thing. It all made sense now, why Sia had asked Sophie to keep an eye on him. She was worried for him, not of his shenanigans.
"Why would he do such a thing?" Sophie tried not to dwell on it, but her mind could not leave it alone. "If I ever did it, I would use the sure way. Direct knife to the heart."
"Could it have been an accidental scar? No, too many of them for that."
'Maybe a big accident. Or maybe he was into blood sacrifices. Hopefully just his own. I am not here to give my blood."
"Will I able to look at him in the eye now? Will I stare at his wrist now? Does his other hand have the same scars?"
"These scars look many years old.How young he must have been then!
"Did he jump into the waterfall that day? Does he even sleepwalk?"
"He is a big liar."
"Should I pity him?"
"Being royal sure is trouble."
"He is the most peculiar person I have ever met."
"Poor guy. I hope he is better now."
"Damn now I know another secret."
"What was I thinking yesterday hoping to find the royal secret? I don't like keeping secrets. Serves me right."
"How does it look?" Neal asked with a satisfied smile on his face. He turned the canvas to face her.
She tilted her head. "It looks like me." She was too dumbfounded to say anything else.
Neal rolled his eyes. "It is you," he said straightening his sleeves.
"And a bowl of starberries." She turned a deep shade of scarlet.
"I name it," he placed his open palms dramatically in front of the painting, "Happiness."
"How about gluttony?"
He smiled. "Sophia, everybody has a weakness. At least it's not something addictive or dangerous. Fruits are the healthiest."
"I do look happy," she observed. "Why did Your Highness paint me?"
"Like I told you before, I'm not an old woman seeking company." He opened his arms. "I'm a young artist in need of models. Landscapes are just not my thing."
"What will you do with 'Happiness'?"
"You can have it if you want. I should not be found in possession of pretty faces." He winked. "It may send the wrong message."
"You never painted Sia." Sophie was sure Sia would have shown her.
"After I painted Dai, she was sceptical about her portrayal. Dai must have shown you his." He looked at her expectantly.
"He didn't."
"One of my earlier works." Neal shrugged. "It wasn't that bad. So do you want it?"
"Yes, I look so pretty," Sophie said. "And I never thought that a painting would smell this good."
"These are my special colours. Only one person in the whole world makes them." The pride that Sophie detected in his voice was because he made them himself.
"Must be expensive."
"On the contrary, can't be any cheaper."
Sophie wondered if cheapest for a prince would be affordable to her.
"Where can I get some?"
"I didn't know you painted." He knew she didn't.
"I don't."
"Then why do you want them?"
"They smell so nice. Should be used as a perfume."
"My mother hates this smell. According to her, I always 'reek' of paint," Neal said emphasising the word reek. "You know what? Just for saying such nice things and being my muse for today, you can have this box." He handed her an unopened box.
"You know I could have sat still for the painting."
"I wanted real expressions. Besides," he smiled playfully, "it was fun to watch you sitting clueless, not knowing what to do with yourself."
"I'm glad Your Highess enjoyed it." She plastered her face with the fakest smile she could manage.
"It was hilarious." He laughed. "I'll send the painting once it gets framed."
"I hope I have paid enough price for not following Your Highness's advice."
"Oh, I hope not," he said.
The true meaning of the words was lost to Sophie but she found it hard to be angry at the prince, now that she knew what she herself wasn't sure she knew.
"At least I made it out alive."