| |
The day of the Santtu Ball began early for Alice and Shiloh. Serving women appeared at daybreak to escort them through multiple corridors, a long, white tunnel with skylights filtering in the sunrise and finally into some kind of beauty spa. Despite the masses of beautiful women and their attendants everywhere, there was a flow of sorts amongst the chaos. Women were receiving haircuts and hair treatments in one area, facial masks in another, pedicures and manicures in yet another and massages in a fourth. Alice and Shiloh were taken to a fifth area and told to undress for their Shivu treatment. Looking around Alice surmised correctly that they were to have a sauna. At least they weren’t trying to kill her now. Just make her desirable for a complete stranger.
The sauna was followed by a spa, facials and a massage. Next on the agenda was a manicure and pedicure followed with a hair treatment which left her hair with beautiful shades and tones of honey blonde. She had never been pampered like this before and when she closed her eyes she could almost forget where she was and enjoy it. Almost. But reality was too strong for that.
The one good thing was that if she was successful and everything Aaron had told them was true, she would be going back home soon, which she craved more than anything. She caught her thoughts wandering to Jacob then, something she didn’t normally allow them to do. It seemed harmless daydreaming about him in these circumstances when there was nothing she could do about him anyway. But after a while, thinking about her childhood friend began to depress her and she made herself rein in the errant thoughts.
{
Noah, Caleb and Katerina woke late, one by one, feeling greatly refreshed. Breakfast was waiting for them. It was a delicious mixture of bread-like products and spreads they could not quite identify, along with more of the strange fruits they were beginning to get accustomed to. There was also a light blue drink which tasted delicious, so full of vitamins and minerals it felt capable of restoring a dying man to life.
Tobiah joined them as they finished. There was a lightness about him this morning, perhaps because Lyonel had agreed to meet with him later that day. He had good news for them too. “Alexandre,” he explained, “is a very greedy man. Although he’s already extremely wealthy, he’s always looking for new ways to obtain more roise. This time that will work in our favor. He has decided to auction off the girls he doesn’t want to the highest bidders. That’s how we will get you in there.”
“What normally happens to the ‘unwanted’ girls?” Katerina asked. She could see how tense Noah was at the question.
“Normally they get released to find their own way home. This is a perfect opportunity for us. Two of you can go in as potential buyers.” He looked a moment at the three, then said, “You and you,” to Noah and Katerina.
“Is that a good idea?” Aaron interrupted. “Noah may reveal himself when he sees his sister.”
“But they will pull it off as a couple and Caleb and Katerina won’t.” Embarrassed, Katerina kept her eyes on her plate, not daring to look at Noah. “This chemistry between them will be their cover. Besides, I would like Caleb’s help in negotiating with my brother. I believe he has a talent for that.”
Aaron capitulated gracefully at that.
After breakfast, though judging by the position of the sun it was more likely midday, they were separated and taken to do different tasks. Caleb went with Tobiah to brainstorm the meeting with Lyonel which was set for early afternoon. Noah and Aaron headed off to meet some of Aaron’s men to plan the evening ahead; particularly how to get out of Santtu afterwards.
Katerina was taken shopping by one of the first women she had seen in the entire stronghold; a pleasant, plump lady Nerida, and a tall, stoic well-armed man Ben, who was clearly there to guard them. “You have to look the part,” Nerida explained as they headed out, “so we’ll be finding you a dress, and clothes for Noah too.”
Once outside the grounds the devastation from the previous day’s battle was obvious. There were no bodies in sight now, but many buildings were in ruins and portions of the wall had been breached. Men were already working on replacing the latter, working with strange-looking machinery that lifted the huge stones back into place. When one was positioned correctly, it was sprayed with a yellow substance which expanded like foam to cover the boulder then slowly subsided into the cracks, faded to match the color of the wall and somehow managed to hold everything securely together.
As they moved further into the city, Katerina’s companions kept the pace up, moving rapidly. She had the feeling they were nervous but neither said anything to her.
The shops reminded her of a Greek island she had visited once. They were clean and white, sometimes spaced apart with houses perched around them, sometimes clustered closely together sharing verandas. She was amused by some of the bright, cheesy advertising on their walls, though in some areas the language was unintelligible to her, like that inside Tobiah’s palace.
The fuchsia-pink dress shop they eventually entered was beautiful. It reminded her of a child’s fairyland, festooned with delicate paintings of flowers and jewels covering walls, floor and ceilings. The clothes delighted her too and she had immense fun trying on the dresses they offered her. Even her guard succumbed to the odd smile at her pleasure in modeling for them.
Eventually she tried on ‘The Dress.’ It was soft silk and a stunning blue, bringing color to her cheeks and highlighting her hair. It had delicate flowers around the bodice and fell loosely to the floor. They chose an expensive raspberry-red bracelet to match and sandals which were, “Comfortable enough to run in if something goes wrong,” as Nerida put it bluntly. Once dressed she twirled for them, admiring herself in the mirror as Nerida nodded approvingly. “Yes, this is the one...Noah will like you in this.”
“No, you’re wrong,” Katerina objected, surprised by the insinuation. “He doesn’t like me like that. He doesn’t like me much at all at the moment.”
“That’s not what his eyes say. I saw the way he looked at you when you weren’t watching him.”
Katerina had no reply for that.
After Nerida had purchased her outfit they went next to a men’s clothing shop where they picked out a pair of black pants and a smoky blue shirt for Noah. Lastly, they visited a shop clad to the brim with pastries. Nerida bought them all a late lunch before they made their way back to the palace.
{
The last step in Alice’s transformation was dressing her. The array of gowns to try on was overwhelming. Eventually they settled on a burnt orange silk dress which flowed to the floor in a wide floating skirt, a bright blue sapphire hung delicately on a silver chain for her neck and blue sapphire clips scattered through her hair. These were not colors Alice normally wore and she was stunned at how much they suited her — the bright blue made her eyes sparkle and the burnt orange highlighted the golden tones of her long hair.
Again, her thoughts sprang to Jacob — what he would think if he could see her now, and again she banished them. Normally she was successful in pretending he was nothing other than her ex-neighbor and someone she occasionally ran into at university. But after the events of the last few days, for some reason he was coming to her mind constantly. Perhaps she might almost be ready to say something real to him, to exchange more than the few brief pleasantries which were all she normally managed to choke out when she did see him these days.
Another thought occurred — that Noah would not be with her when she went back, giving her an even better chance of approaching Jacob. Normally Noah’s disapproval contributed to her timidity. Not that Noah didn’t like Jacob, because most people did. He had always been popular. More that Noah was always so fiercely protective of her it scared away most men.
But if she was home without Noah and happened to see Jacob...
This time she indulged herself with thoughts like this for the remainder of the afternoon while she waited in her room to be fetched for the ball.
{
The next few hours passed rapidly for Katerina. She was filled in on the plan and briefed on how to play her part — which Aaron did rapidly before disappearing again. Nerida returned to shape her hair into soft ringlets partially clipped up with jewels, and to apply subtle makeup. She had dinner alone because Noah was busy again with Aaron, and Caleb and Tobiah were still with Lyonel. After a somewhat lonely meal she returned to her room and put her gorgeous dress, jewelry and shoes on.
Then she waited. It was hard. Having nothing to do turned her thoughts to Patrick. In the midst of everything they were going through on Kainnan, it was so strange not being able to debrief with him. She could talk to Noah of course, but he was so withdrawn following their kiss and Alice’s disappearance.
What would she say anyway? How could she even start thinking, let alone talking about what was happening, the dangers they were facing, what was being required of them?
Everything was confusing and exhausting. She fell asleep on the bed still mulling it all over.
Noah found her like that an hour later. She looked like an angel resplendent in the beautiful blue dress. He sank down onto the bed beside her, studying her for a long time, wondering how she was doing, musing on what she was really like. They’d met under such insane circumstances she felt both incredibly familiar and yet also like a total stranger.
Everything felt strange — the place, his companions, especially not knowing where or how Alice was. Anxiety washed over him as he went over the night’s plan in his mind.
He was still staring at Katerina when she woke. Panicked by his dark expression she sat up hastily, asking, “What is it? What’s happened?”
For long moments she was sure he was going to keep his own counsel, as he had been doing since the night at the inn. But then he confessed, “I’m so worried about Alice. I don’t know how to stop worrying about her. I don’t know how to cope when I don’t know if she’s alright.”
Katerina waited but nothing more was forthcoming. He was staring at her but not really seeing her. It was a relief to hear him finally confess what she’d already guessed. Eventually she asked gently, “What are you afraid of?”
“That something bad will happen to her. And it will be my fault.”
“How would it be your fault?”
“Because she’s my responsibility.”
“Why would you think that?”
“No one else can do it.” He got up and started pacing. “Our parents aren’t much use. Dad drinks and loses his temper with her. Mum’s never really around. Most of Alice’s friends are total losers who just use her. I’m all she’s got.”
“But surely Alice is responsible for herself?” she reasoned. “I mean, she’s an adult, she seems pretty capable to me...How could this be your fault anyway? You didn’t crash the plane...it’s not your fault she caught their eye and was taken for the ball...”
“I insisted we take her downstairs at the inn. If I hadn’t, if I’d just listened to you, they never would have taken her.”
“There’s no way you could have known this would happen,” she tried again. “Besides we wouldn’t be this close to getting rid of a ruler if Alice hadn’t been taken.”
Noah was silent digesting that. When he spoke again, there was a break in his voice as if tears were close. “I just don’t know how to cope with this fear for her...with the feeling that comes when I think about something happening to her!”
Again they sat in silence, Katerina out of her depth in the face of his obvious pain. She wanted to reassure him somehow, but she had no idea what to do or say or even what to think. For the second time since arriving on Kainnan, she started praying silently for help.
Noah was saying, “If something happened to her, I think I’d lose myself.”
“But is that true?” Katerina queried, excitement shooting through her. It felt like God Himself had just shown her the answer; a thought that seemed too unusual not to be divine.
“Is what true?”
“That feeling? That if something happened to her you wouldn’t cope? Is it true? Would your life really be over?”
Puzzled, he stopped pacing to study her. “Well, of course my life wouldn’t be over. But I would be gutted, probably for a long, long time.”
“The feeling isn’t true then. I mean it seems huge and overwhelming, like you wouldn’t cope. But the truth is that you would somehow, eventually handle it, even get over it. The fear is making itself bigger than it really is and its paralyzing you.”
“What do you mean? Are you suggesting the fear is — what? An illusion? That I’m paying more attention to it than I should?”
“Yes, I think I am suggesting that. Don’t we all do that? Feel something, like fear or anxiety or inadequacy or humiliation...then we constantly focus on those feelings until they become so huge they start to drown us?”
“What are you suggesting I do instead then?”
She frowned. “I don’t know. Stop paying attention to your emotions, talk back to them — tell them to shut up, they’re not true, you don’t have to listen to them. Focus on the truth instead. Surely whatever we focus on in our heads becomes bigger and more powerful?”
“That’s right,” said a voice from the doorway. Aaron had appeared without their noticing. He looked better, Katerina observed; recovered, with color back in his face. “It’s one of God’s great principles,” he commented, moving into the room. “What you focus on mentally grows in power. Focus on fear, it will increase. Focus on truth — that will increase. Don’t let your emotions bully you, Noah. Katerina is right. Whatever happens, you will find a way to cope, so you don’t need to keep fixating on it. You can put your focus on better things...like your beautiful companion,” he turned to study Katerina who blushed, “and making sure you have your cover stories straight. Get dressed. It’s almost time to go. I’ll be back for you in thirty minutes.”
Noah changed in the bathroom and emerged looking more handsome than she had seen him yet. The color of the shirt made his deep blue eyes more striking than normal and the whole outfit, relaxed yet classy, somehow represented him perfectly. Quality without taking himself too seriously. “You look good,” she observed, trying to sound casual.
“So do you. You look beautiful,” he smiled back admiringly.
Once Aaron returned, they made their way through the palace again, down new corridors to a giant garage full of vintage cars. Only the very wealthy could afford vehicles like these and they had to appear rich enough to obtain access to the auction.
Their journey in a dark green Chrysler took several hours. Noah drove, Aaron directing him from the back seat. They journeyed first through more of the huge sprawling city of Sienya then into heavily wooded countryside, eventually reaching the bottom of a large hill ringed by an extremely high, dark green wall stretching as far as they could see in each direction. They travelled alongside it for several minutes, abruptly reaching the end of a long queue of cars moving at a virtual crawl.
“We’re approaching the gates now,” Aaron said, “so remember, Noah, you’ll do all the talking. I’m just your financial advisor.”
“What if they recognize you?”
“They won’t.” When Katerina turned around to look at him, she saw why. He wore a blond wig, had done something to his face to change its shape, and even his eyes with their tell-tale green were a different color now.
She need not have worried anyway. Once they crawled their way to the gate two guards checked their car thoroughly but paid only scant attention to them. Noah remembered his lines perfectly and they were waved on through.
Once inside the high walls, most of the hill had been cleared of bush and was decorated with the most elaborate gardens they had ever seen. They stared in awe at the profusion of colors, as they drove up the winding drive circling the hill. There were statues everywhere too; huge, gold-colored and incredibly ornate — animals, people, fountains, trees, even miniature castles — all towering over them in golden splendor as they drove by.
Then Alexandre’s palace came into view, astonishing them further with its magnificence. Katerina had visited Versailles when she was fourteen and been overwhelmed by its beauty, but it was nothing compared to Alexandre’s palace. Straddling the entire hilltop, laced with columns, dotted with sculptures, covered in sections of what looked like gold leaf; the palace was so extravagant, it was almost obscene.
They parked below it and made their way to the front doors with an appearance of confidence none of them actually felt. Watching Aaron lead them into the ballroom, it crossed Katerina’s mind that this was something he had been working towards for an extremely long time; the culmination of many months, perhaps years, of work and planning. There was a great deal resting on this night. She could only imagine how nervous he was feeling.
Noah was preoccupied with scanning for Alice, searching the faces of more beautiful women than he had ever seen in one place. Eventually he had to conclude she was nowhere to be seen yet, dutifully focusing on Katerina instead, playing the role of devoted partner. Not that that was particularly hard. Even amidst all these stunning women, she was still easily the most beautiful of all. The thought was shocking. He could not possibly be thinking that way about her!
Yet a little voice argued back, ‘Why not?’
He did not need to think long to know the answer to that. He was used to having girlfriends. With his looks and charm that had never been a problem. But after years of watching the way his parents were with each other, he had concluded he never wanted to end up like them. They loved each other passionately, and they hurt each other equally passionately. That was why he had never dated women who affected him the way he suspected Katerina could. Because he couldn’t afford to let that happen.
The resolve to never fancy Katerina felt good. He shifted his attention from her to scanning for Alice again.
{
Alice and Shiloh had just been collected from their room by one of their normal guards and a huge black man they’d not seen before. They were halfway down their corridor when the latter stopped Alice, made sure the other two were not watching, and pulled a strand of her hair loose. “What is it?” the first guard called back to them impatiently.
“Her hair’s coming out. Alexandre won’t like that. I’ll fix it. You carry on — we’ll catch up.”
The other guard shrugged. “Don’t make her late.”
The moment he was out of sight, her guard told Alice rapidly, “I’m Karim. I’m here for Aaron, to help you. I’ll be nearby watching to make sure everything goes smoothly.”
“Is Noah here?” she asked, relief flooding her.
“He’ll be in the ballroom. But you must show no sign of recognition at all or you’ll put us all in jeopardy. Do you understand?”
“Yes.”
“And you know what you have to do?”
“I have to touch Alexandre.”
“He will inspect you one by one but he won’t come very close. You’ll need to catch his attention in some way.”
“How?”
“Tell him you have a special talent...”
“What?”
“It doesn’t matter. Anything. Just get him close enough to touch him. You may only have one chance, so make it work.”
Alice nodded, “Alright, I’ve got it.”
They caught up to Shiloh and her guard at the entrance to the ballroom where many other girls and guards waited. From inside the room there came a huge ground-swell of noise; a roar of approval and applause. “Alexandre,” Karim mouthed at her.
When the applause died away, the first name was called, then the next and the next whilst Alice waited nervously. She calculated they were getting two minutes each, some shorter, one or two longer. She started praying for a miracle — favor with the prince.
Then finally, it was her turn. At Karim’s direction, she was stepping out onto a platform in front of a huge crowd of people, walking towards several guards, then the man himself, Alexandre. He was sitting back on a throne-like seat, actually looking bored. He was blond, blue-eyed, gorgeous and, to her shock, surprisingly like Jacob in appearance.
He looked up as she was led across the stage and she saw the recognition dawn instantly. Slowly he rose to his feet and she felt rather than saw the crowd move in interest. She guessed no one else had drawn such a response from him yet. He approached her slowly and started to circle her, looking her over carefully. Once he was behind her he asked, “How is your neck?” in a low voice right beside her ear that only she heard. She could feel his breath on her skin.
Knowing this was it she glanced quickly into the crowd looking for Noah. She spotted him briefly, standing with Katerina, watching her intently. She had no time to respond to him for, just as she had known he would, the prince reached out and touched her neck as if to lay claim to her. For a second she thought she was going to faint, or throw up. Then everything went dark.
