“So let me get this straight then,” Amaretto began. “You want us to help you to get a crown, to rule this country, that the only way to achieve it is in a race.” Amaretto looked at Sharazad with a raised eyebrow.
Sharazad nodded her head slowly as if working with a small child and this irritated Amaretto, but she did nothing. One did not correct someone else if they were in the process of venerating you like a god. Katherine reached into her pocket and pulled out a small silver flask and Amaretto frowned. She had wondered what happened to her purse, but chances were her god mother had shrunk it and fit it into her pocket. Almost as if by second thought, she passed her eyes over her aunt’s shoes and secretly grinned at herself. Very carefully, she noted that while the shoe looked like nothing, the soles of the shoes were done in a bright red. That could only mean that her aunt was currently wearing Official Christian Louboutin slippers.
As if sensing what she was thinking, Katherine slowly smiled and shifted her feet ever so carefully. Katherine looked at the woman in front of them. “So you are going to run in the Crown Chase I take it then?”
Sharazad smiled. “Of course. What else would I be doing?” The answer seemed so obvious that Amaretto felt a twinge go down her back. She wanted to reach out and say, ‘enough’, but she knew that it would not happen. This whole situation was messed up. First it was a strange world of drab whites and dark grays and a frantic cry for help that she had been suckered into. Then it was a trip to the little steam punk Britain that had never been. Now it was being stuck in a bad Disney version of the Arabian Nights. When was it going to end?
All Amaretto wanted was it to all be over. She wanted to go home, maybe perhaps slack off on her homework and watch television instead. Instead, she was being held hostage by a strange group of people who wanted her to do things for them all because of a simple gift that she had gotten when she was younger. It was madness and infuriating, and a little scary. Amaretto looked at Katherine who was trying to covertly sneak a sip from her flask on the sly. As Sharazad blinked, Katherine took a lightnign swig and then put the flask back into her pocket and made herself the perfect picture of serenity as she settles back down.
"Sharazad, I believe that you wish to win the Crown, but why?" Katherine stared intently at the woman who had called them and waited for her to answer.
Sharazad closed her eyes for a moment and then nodded her head slowly. She opened them once more and a slight smile came across her face.
“The ability to rule is not a hereditary one, but the power that comes with it is. The ability to rule is not a gift that you are expected to know; it is a duty you are expected to uphold. The last few rulers that we have had here in Pesok have been frivolous and rude and uncaring. I wish to rectify that and use the crown as it was meant to be used.”
Amaretto was surprised by the answer. She had been expecting something a little more vapid, perhaps self centric even. This woman however, was more than willing to take matters into her own hands it seemed.
Katherine continued to push however. “Why do you think you would be a better ruler than anyone else?”
“What better person to rule than someone who was originally from the streets and has now managed to make a life for themselves in this most harsh of climates?” Sharazad’s eyes were dancing with intelligence and Amaretto thought that this woman indeed had the guts to take control of a country. Though as for how long she would rule, Amaretto wasn’t sure.
Katherine smiled and then said, “Alright then. Here is the deal. The Sky-Father indeed sent us to help you out,” At this Amaretto tried to say something, but Katherine only cut her off with a wave of her hand. “We shall endeavor to do so.”
“Amaretto looked a little concerned. “We know next to nothing about this Crown chase though. We need more information.”
Sharazad smiled and said, “I have told you all that I could possibly know. What more could you want?”
Katherine smiled a wicked smile. “One favor to be determined in the future; and to be of our choosing as we wish. That is all that we are asking for in the name of the Sky-Father.”
Amaretto looked at her aunt with curiosity. There was something about what her aunt had asked that seemed a little strange. It was as if Katherine knew something that she didn’t. Amaretto was determined to find out what it was. She smiled lightly next to her aunt and then looked over at Sharazad.
“I think that we should take a look at the city before we determine how it is that she is going to win. “ Amaretto was all but bursting to get out of this small solar and see if she could contact Tempus. Since it was all but impossible to hear him within this strange woman’s house, perhaps the ring functioned like a cell phone; maybe all she needed was a place to get better reception. Katherine looked at her god-daughter with a quirked eyebrow.
“If you insist dear,” Katherine smiled and stood up from where she had been sitting and nodded towards Sharazad.
Sharazad made a polite nod back and then said, “If you wish to explore the city, then by all means, you must. Allow me to have someone show you around thought the…” Amaretto cut her off at that moment.
“That is quite all right. We are able to find our way around.” She smiled as beneficially as she could, but she was sure that the smile felt false. Katherine nodded her head as well and then began to walk towards the hallway with Amaretto in tow. Amaretto wasn’t sure, but something seemed wrong about this whole set up.
Sharazad stood up and then smiled a rather cold smile.
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