Falling Stars

Calli spent nearly an hour shampooing her hair and scrubbing herself down. The paint came off her skin but her silver hair wasn't so lucky. There were no gobs of paint still stuck to her but the red and blue paint had combined to create pale purple steaks through her hair. Finally she gave up, deciding the lavender tint didn't look that bad anyway. She got dressed and then realized she didn't know what to do. She had gotten so used to having Julian around that she found herself bored without his company.

She wandered aimlessly until she inevitably wound up in the kitchen, which was pretty much the only room in the entire palace where she didn't feel completely out of place. The cooks had grown used to her constant presence so no one batted an eye when she slipped in, stole some freshly baked tea cakes and slipped out again to find a quiet place to enjoy her pilfered snacks.

She found herself in the wing that housed the virtual reality rooms and let herself into one. She'd used simulators and VR for plenty of military exercises in the past. The lights flickered on as she walked in, revealing a room with blank black walls. Calli trotted over to the control panel and began flipping switches and turning knobs. The black walls seemed to ripple and then she was standing in a lush forest, with the sounds of bird calls and a babbling brook. Another switch transformed the trees into a sandy red desert. She could feel the sand under her feet, convincingly hot.

Calli played with the landscape settings for a while, before switching to another set of dials and knobs. This time an archery court shimmered to life before her and her eyes lit up. Archery was an outdated sport, but the Centauri military utilized essentially every form of weaponry and martial arts they could think of to keep the soldiers in top form. Calli opened a door in the wall and found an assortment of things, but her eyes immediately sought out the sleek red bow and quiver of arrows.

Calli knocked an arrow and lifted the bow, drawing in a deep breath and letting it out slowly before releasing the arrow. It struck the target dead center. Another target popped up beside it and she hit the bullseye of that one too. She was so busy trying to hit the virtual targets that she almost didn't notice the ding that signaled someone was requesting entry to the VR room.

"Pause session," she said, and the targets vanished, the walls turning black again as the arrows clattered to the floor.

"Come in," Calli called. She was startled to see King Gerald himself come into the room, his eyebrows arched.

"I'm not interrupting you, I hope," he said.

"No, not at all, Your Highness." Calli realized she hadn't curtsied and quickly dipped her head.

"Oh, there's no need for that," Gerald assured her. He nodded to the bow in her hand. "You're quite good."

"Oh. Thank you. The family that adopted me values older traditions. They thought I'd enjoy learning archery." She smiled quickly, hoping he didn't see right through her.

"Was your hair purple before?" he asked, squinting at her.

"No. Ah, Julian was painting and we sort of...threw paint at each other," she said sheepishly. Gerald sighed but his lips twitched.

"Yes, I suppose I should have known. If you're not busy, perhaps you'd like to join me for lunch?"

Calli blinked several times, sure she had heard him wrong.

"Me?"

"Yes, you," Gerald said, eyes crinkling in amusement. "It seems you've become quite good friends with my son and I'd like to get to know you better."

"All right." Calli followed him reluctantly, not entirely sure what was happening. She hadn't anticipated spending time with the king and she was worried she was going to say something stupid or offend him and get thrown out of the palace. Advisor Lorian would love that.

King Gerald led her out of the main palace and up the winding steps of an outer tower. There was a small but exquisitely decorated restaurant at the top. The hostess quickly bowed and led the two of them to a table out on the balcony, with an impressive view of the city spread below them and a clear view of the sky above the dome.

Calli tried not to fidget as they waited for their food. She was still worried she'd say something she shouldn't. King Gerald studied her thoughtfully for a moment.

"Julian seems to have taken quite a shine to you," he remarked.

"We're friends," Calli agreed. "He would never admit it, but I think he gets pretty lonely sometimes, despite his tortured, antisocial artist bit."

King Gerald smiled slightly at that. "I'm glad he has a friend. I think you're good for him."

"I hope so."

"Forgive me for prying, but you mentioned earlier that you were adopted?"

"I lost my family when I was little," Calli said, absently toying with her fork. "I was taken in by another family, but they have a lot of other wards too and it's not the same".

"I'm very sorry." King Gerald was looking at her with such genuine sympathy in his eyes that a lump formed in her throat and Calli hastily took a drink of water to cover the surge of emotion. She was sure the king noticed but he didn't comment on it. Instead he changed the subject to lighter things, telling her a lot of stories about Julian when he was little.

Calli forgot her nervousness and found it extremely easy to talk to Gerald. He ordered a plate covered in small frosted cakes in varying flavors when they were finished eating and Calli barely managed to refrain from shoveling them in her mouth three at a time. Then they walked through the open air market whole Calli told him some stories about her own parents and cousins, careful to leave out any mention of her being from Evox or that her "adoptive family" was the army.

They returned to the palace in the late evening, crossing paths with Julian and Lorian, who both gaped as Gerald bent over laughing at a joke Calli had just told him and she stuffed candied popcorn in her mouth.

"Julian!" she chirped. "You have to try some of this stuff; I'm pretty sure it's the snack of the gods." She turned to Gerald, who was wiping tears from his eyes while Lorian seemed to suppress a long suffering sigh.

"Thank you for the lovely afternoon, Gerry," she said sweetly, kissing him on the cheek.

"You're very welcome, Calli. It was my pleasure."

"Come on." She grabbed Julian's arm and tugged him toward the stairs.

"Did you just call my dad 'Gerry?'" Julian asked incredulously.

"Yeah. He likes it. Here, eat some of this." She shoved some of the popcorn into his mouth before he could say anything else. When they reached his room she flopped onto the bed.

"Your dad is really cool," she said.

"My dad?"

"Yes, you brat," Calli laughed. "We hung out all day."

"Going to ditch me for my dad now?" he teased. Calli sat up and smirked at him.

"You gonna miss me?" she asked. "Maybe sit up nights and cry?"

Julian tried to smack her with a pillow but she easily batted it aside and launched forward, pinning him on his stomach and holding his arms behind his back.

"Hey!" he yelped. "Let me up!"

He squirmed and tried to get free as Calli thumped him with pillows and laughed hysterically. The door opened and King Gerald stood there, his eyebrows shooting up into his hairline.

"Should I come back later?" he asked as Calli scooted off Julian and threw the pillow she'd been holding behind her. She smiled innocently.

"We weren't doing anything," she said. Julian rolled his eyes as he sat up and tried to fix his hair.

"Julian, I need you to come with me to Travenia with me tomorrow," Gerald said. Julian grimaced.

"Why?"

"Because you're part of the royal family, and you need to make more effort to seem like it."

Julian heaved a sigh. "Fine."

"I've always wanted to see Travenia in person," Calli said wistfully. "I've never been on a green planet before."

"We'll probably just be inside the whole time, making boring small talk and drinking bad tea," Julian muttered, earning an exasperated look from Gerald.

"How long will you be gone?" Calli frowned.

"Well it takes a few days to get there, and then we'll probably spend about a week on-planet and a few days getting back," Gerald said.

"Oh." Calli's disappointment must have been evident on her face because Gerald looked sympathetic.

"Well. Have fun." She tried to make her voice chipper even though she was dreading the idea of sitting around the palace alone for over a week. "Take lots of pictures for me."

Julian looked as enthusiastic about going as she felt about him leaving. Gerald studied them for a moment.

"So, you've never seen a naturally green planet before?" he asked. "Ever?"

Calli shook her head.

"Well, that's entirely unacceptable. It's settled. You're coming with us."

"I am?"

"Of course! I can't leave you here with that pout on your face. Pack some things, you're coming to Travenia with us tomorrow."