[September 6, 2042]
The new tenant of Otter Manor arrived in a carriage pulled by two giant sheep.
That morning, Mr. Frost had called Cal, letting him know that he should be expecting the new tenant to arrive around noon, and sure enough, at ten past twelve, he heard noises outside the manor. Cal had stationed himself outside the front door in the main entry-hall, curled up in one of the leather chairs, waiting for a knock, but what he ended up hearing was something heavier and more distant. When he opened the heavy doors and stepped out onto the wide green lawn, Cal was annoyed to see a large and ornate carriage winding its way up the path, because he knew that regular students, no matter what country they came from, typically didn’t arrive in such an elaborate way. This meant another weirdo was about to arrive in Otter Manor, and further complicate his life which was getting increasingly surreal. This morning he had opened his eyes to find that in her sleep Mel the ghost had actually ended up drifting inside his body. He awoke that morning to a horribly frightful sight: her arm sticking out of his stomach like some sort of macabre art installation.
Cal heaved a heavy sigh, and wrapped his blue scarf around his neck to protect from the wind that was stirring the grass of the hill. His eye drifted to the sea, visible on nearly every end from the isolated hill upon which Otter Manor sat, and then to the tall buildings of Extremis City, rising to kiss the whitish sky. He found that the slow approach of the carriage up the hill was filling him with anxiety.
“What’s up? You look off.” It was Mel, who was never far away from Cal when he was in the mansion, that now floated up beside his shoulder. She followed his eyes to the carriage, which was slowly drawing closer, as were the sounds of wheels and cloves. “Oh, you mentioned this. New tenant right?”
“Yep.” Cal answered shortly.
Mel leaned across his shoulder to look at his face. “Not excited? But you always seem in your element when you have more things to handle and complain about.”
“Ha, ha.” Cal raised his eyebrow in response to the little grin that tugged at the corner of Mel’s pale face, to let her know just how humorous he found her mocking joke. “Frankly, I have my plate full with you.”
“Oh Cal,” Mel punched through his arm in a tongue-and-cheek manner, “I never took you for such a flatterer.”
“That was clearly not meant to be a compliment.” Cal rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Furthermore, I haven’t even gotten around to whatever is going on with Ram. She went missing again today. I checked her room. For such an introvert, she really likes to sneak out of the house at the strangest moments and doesn’t return for such a long time. Haven’t you noticed?”
Mel shrugged, watching the carriage with her wide blue eyes. “Of course. But Ram’s been doing that sort of thing ever since she began to stay here. I stopped wondering about it ages ago.”
Cal grunted in acknowledgement. “I’m just hoping for someone easy to get along with, like Ellie.”
Mel leaned towards his face, perfectly horizontal in the air as she drifted next to Cal, and gazed at him closely with a challenge in her eyes. “You’re saying I’m not easy to get along with? I am both very lovely and very humble, I’ll have you know.”
“Yes, I know all that, Poltergeist.”
She pouted, sincerely displeased. “Haven’t you moved on from that nickname yet? Besides, how do you know there’s going to be something strange-”
Mel paused. “Hey Cal, I’ve been dead for a long time… have sheep gotten significantly bigger in the outside world?”
“What?” Cal followed her gaze, and then understood.
The carriage had grown close enough for him to discern more details, and now he realized that what he had assumed to be horses because of their size were actually two giant sheep with golden wool. Out of a mix of surprise and resignation about whatever was about to happen next, Cal didn't say another word until the carriage stopped in front of the portico. The large sheep, their golden wool seeming to glitter in the cold sunlight, shook their heads and stamped their feet twice.
The carriage door opened and a young woman climbed out. She had long brown hair and brown eyes, with a gentle demeanor that was present from the way she calmly stepped out onto the green grass. Once she straightened up, Cal saw that she was tall, even taller than Ellie, with long legs and a full figure. She was wearing a tidy uniform: a dark long-sleeved jacket with golden buttons that she wore over a very simple dark dress, which extended all the way to the bottom of her legs, where Cal could barely see a pair of brown boots sticking out. She had a content expression on her face, and nodded towards Cal, almost as if to apologize for the elaborate means of entrance. Furthermore, there was a strength and confidence in the way she moved her body, present even under the clothes through her wide arms and tough-looking legs.
She seems nice, Cal thought in relief, maybe this won’t be so bad.
“Bridget!” yelled a shrill voice from inside the carriage. “Prepare my entrance!”
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The young woman with the brown hair made an expression of resignation, and pulled out a piece of white, official-looking paper from the inner-breast-pocket of her jacket. “It is my privilege to announce the arrival of Her Highness, Fourth Princess of Luvinia, Aina ud Cormac-”
“Louder!” exclaimed the voice from inside the carriage.
“-of House Cormac,” continued the young woman with the brown hair in a higher register than before, as if she hadn’t been just interrupted, “who has deigned to grace this establishment with her presence for an extended period of time. You may now applaud.”
The young woman folded the piece of paper and returned it to her pocket. Then she stood expectantly, waiting for something. There was the sound of movement within the carriage, but nobody emerged from the open ornate door. The gigantic golden sheep sighed, and stomped their feet again.
There was an awkward pause as Cal and Mel watched the unfolding scene nonplussed. It was as if they were watching a scene from a comedic play.
“My lady,” the young woman with the brown hair said over her shoulder, as she smiled patiently. “You may make your entrance now.”
“I know that, Bridget,” came the voice from inside the carriage, “my dress is caught between the seats. It won’t come loose.”
The young woman with the brown hair gazed upward at the sky for a moment, and folded her arms behind her back. “Have you attempted pulling, my lady? With your hands, I mean.”
“This was a gift from grandfather! I don’t want to risk tearing it. Assist me, Bridget!”
The young woman cast her eyes at Cal for a moment, as if asking for help. Then she held up a palm, indicating for him to wait for a little longer, and then turned back towards the carriage, leaning her head and torso into the interior, which because of her natural height she was able to accomplish without even using the carriage step. There was the sound of hushed whispering from within, and a raised voice saying: “No, here Bridget!” Finally, after another minute, the young woman with the brown hair emerged, her immaculate jacket and hair looking slightly more ruffled than before.
“I introduce Princess Aina ud Cormac,” the woman began again, as if nothing had happened. “Her Highness of House Cormac, fourth daughter of King Pádhraic Cormac, Ruler of All Land and Sea, as bestowed to him by the Goddess of Light.”
She looked at the paper again, and smiled gently to herself. “Etcetera.”
“Now is the time for applause, peasants!” declared the voice from inside the carriage.
A girl, about Cal’s age, gracefully descended onto the grass.
Cal was not one to notice much about the opposite sex. While he noticed things like attractiveness, he only did so passively, without comment or care — so little did he take stock in such things. He had no opinions about the looks of the three girls he had come to know in his short time at Otter Manor, and if pressed for one, his answers would have been short and probably unsatisfactory for the one asking the question. But even he found himself skipping a breath when we saw the figure of the girl who now stepped from the carriage.
Extraordinarily beautiful, thought Cal to himself, I suppose that’s what others would call her. An angel from another world.
The first thing that he noticed about the princess was her hair. It was bright red and wavy, like a corona of flame, and burned against the backdrop of the white sky as it flowed down her back to just above her hips. Her skin was white and smooth like carved porcelain, her figure both lithe yet shapely, the form accentuated in a lovely (and no doubt impossible expensive) dress of stainless and shining white fabric tied around her waist by a thin red sash of silk.
“Her dress is incredible,” said Mel with a wistful voice. The blue eyes of the ghost fixed upon the swaying texture of the princess’ clothing, which appeared to be glittering in the light, though it didn’t appear to have any sort of reflective material. Mel’s voice sank to a dispirited whisper: “I wish I had got to wear a dress when I was alive. Just once.”
Cal glanced at her, surprised at her comment. “You never got to wear a dress when you were alive?”
“No,” said the ghost sadly, “I never had the opportunity to… wear clothes like that. Pretty clothes, I mean. It just wasn’t something I was able to do.”
“The sundress you wear now is pretty.” Cal said, trying to offer some sort of condolence, though it felt like an awkward comment even as he said it.
Mel didn’t answer, instead watching the growing form of the princess. She seemed to be thinking about something else. Her hands tugged at the hems of her dress again, which Cal had come to understand was a sort of anxious habit of hers. Something about the form of the girl who had stepped from the carriage had filled Mel with a sudden and inexplicable distress.
“Thanks,” Mel said at last, as if Cal had only just spoken. “I saw it in a movie, and then I was wearing it when I woke up, after that rivulet of light. I twirled in the bathroom mirror for hours, looking at it. I never thought-"
She stopped speaking, like a lump had appeared in her throat. She floated a few feet away from Cal and the others, back towards the entrance of Otter Manor, and disappeared into a wall.
Cal didn’t have time to ruminate on the mystery behind her vague words, or call after her in concern. Aina, fourth princess of Luvinia (etc, etc), walked up toward him with confident and fast steps. She was attended by the young woman with brown hair, who assisted Aina in holding up the hem of her long dress so it did not drag along the ground. She came to a stop in front of Cal, who was slightly taller than her, though she fixed him with a stare that seemed to insinuate that she was glaring down on him from an insurmountably high place. She looked him up and down, frowning at his dress, clearly unimpressed by what she was seeing
Green eyes, thought Cal, greener than the expanse of grass she stands upon. They’re lovely to look upon, but a little cold. I can’t say I like the look of them.
Aina jutted out her chin arrogantly, which made her red hair rustle in the wind. “So, you’re the peasant who has come to greet me in this empty, small place? I suppose it’s no surprise you’re too stunned by my beauty to kiss my hand or applaud my presence. Well, you may come to your senses now, or risk losing your head for the crime of disrespect.”
Her green eyes flashed with zeal. “Bow to me, and know the truth of my eminence. Yes, I know you have waited long for one such as me, but fear not. The heroine of your story has finally arrived.”