The Princess and the Pauper: Part Two

      He who had called out to stop those Pirates must've been astonished, for she heard his surprised gasp as she ran. Her eyes caught a glimmer of blue as her hero caught up with her.

      "Thank you," Ilana breathed as she slowed down. Her savior was a Blue Lupe and he was grinning happily at her.

      "Always happy to help," he waved it away with a nonchalant gesture.

      "I owe you big time…" Humility suddenly didn't taste so bitter, and Ilana was starting to get used to it.

      "By your looks, you must've come from a rich family, yes?" the Lupe asked as he pointed to a place on the ground and patted there.

      "I guess…" Ilana had never really thought about it. She liked being pretty and having fancy things… Didn't everybody do that?

      "Well, I am not rich. And don't look at me like that!" the Lupe added as he saw how Ilana stood up in horror.

      "Calm down there… What's your name? Mine is Vannarth. But you can call me Van, all my friends do," Van gave her another flashy smile to reassure her. Ilana wasn't reassured. She was more worried.

      "I'm Ilana," the Zafara whispered as she looked at the stones that she had sat on a few minutes before.

      "There is nothing wrong with the street," Van remarked dryly as he saw how the Ilana examined the stones.

      "You can't expect me to sit there!" The Royal Zafara regained her former attitude, "That's just for commoners!"

      "And you mean you aren't one?" the Lupe sounded as if he was amused.

      "Of course not!" Ilana exclaimed as she looked for traces of the Pirate Operation. There were none.

      "Well, I don't see any riches. Can't you just be a commoner for a day?" Vannarth's voice had an undertone of irritation.

      That quieted the Zafara. She awkwardly stood there, deep in thought.

      "I don't know how to act as a commoner," Ilana admitted sourly. She knew she had to be polite to this Lupe who had saved her from all those bad Pirates, but she couldn't help feeling annoyed. He wasn't taking this seriously, and she could sense that he was laughing at her inside him.

      "We can start with me…" Van trailed off as he critically examined Ilana. She shuffled her skirts nervously.

      "You'll need to get some rags, and a sense of direction," the Lupe grinned at her.

      "Sense of direction?" she wondered.

      "Yeah." The Lupe grabbed her arm and started to drag her with him.

      -

      Left, left, right, down the street, into the hole… and voila! Ilana was flabbergasted by the place as the Vannarth called his 'home'. She would most definitely not have approved of this place. Everywhere laid boxes of something that she had seen in her owner's special room. But these boxes were way bigger and there were lots more of them.

      "Like it?" Van asked her, flashing another of his trademarked grins.

      "Err…" Ilana replied. Irritation bubbled inside her, but she forced herself to be polite to her savior.

      "It isn't good enough for a princess like you, huh?" the Lupe burst out as he sensed her attempt to hide her scorn.

      "No!" the Zafara reflexively exclaimed, then seemed to realize who she was talking with and fell quiet again, looking around the room. Except for all those boxes, there was a simple bed, and under it were… some other boxes.

      "Well then?" he said good-naturedly.

      "What are all those boxes?" she gestured around the room.

      "They are called books," the Lupe looked at her in the eye. When he saw that she did not understand, he continued.

      "Books tell stories, and you can learn things from them," he paused to see her reaction.

      "Y-you mean they have a voice and tell you a story?" she looked at him with the naïve, innocent look in her eyes.

      "Not really. You have to read them," he explained as he would to a young pet.

      "Oh. Do they tell the same story?" she asked. Vannarth laughed.

      "They tell different stories, but the stories won't change. It is the way you understand them that changes," he looked at her as he was talking. She seemed amazed by this new discovery.

      "Do you want to read one?" Van filled in the silence. Ilana shook her head. No, that must be a commoner's thing. She was definitely not a commoner!

      The Lupe shook his head sadly. She was so… ignorant, unable to learn from the living world around her. He sincerely hoped that she would learn before it was too late.

      "What do you have in your heavy backpack, if it is not books?" he asked her.

      "Lipsticks, Eye Shadows, Mirrors… and my Starry Paint Brush Plushie of course!" she smiled an innocent smile at him. Vannarth raised an eyebrow. Wow.

      "Where is your owner?" the Zafara asked him, noticing his silence and nodding politely.

      "He's busy right now, trying to get my brothers out of yet another fight," the Lupe muttered dryly. She seemed to comprehend this information, as she nodded again.

      They sat in silence in his room, both of them somewhat irritated by the other's presence. At last, the Lupe broke the silence.

      "Do you want to have some tea?" he asked, being courteous.

      The Zafara didn't answer. She was contemplating. So many boxes, no, books... and just a tiny bed… How poor he must be. No, that kind of life wasn't interesting at all. A room just filled with paper and a bed? She unconsciously shook her head. She was somewhat frustrated with this Lupe, this Vannarth, who didn't understand her.

      "Ilana?" he called. How dared he! Everyone called her Mistress Ilana! Even her owner! The impudence of this simple Lupe in rags!

      Ilana's gratefulness and politeness disappeared as she lost control of herself.

      "This life must be despicable!" the Zafara shouted as she ran out of the room.

      -

      All the streets looked the same. Ilana turned around and made sure no one followed her. She walked on.

      The street never seemed to end. Left, right, down, it was all the same.

      She felt like crying, but gave herself courage. Be strong! Don't cry!

      Despite that, a few crystalline drops rolled down her cheeks and stained her pretty dress as she stumbled forward in the world of her blurry tears. With a bump, she fell onto the ground.

      The feeling of being alone grasped her, and she swallowed the tears down her throat. Soon they stopped falling. How could she! No one should see her like this, pathetic as it was.

      Finally, the Zafara admitted it to herself. She was lost. The swallowing didn't help, and the tears ran freely down her face. She put her both paws onto the ground, not caring if they got soiled, and her whole body shook.

      Lost… Lost… She was completely lost in this city, and her owner would never find her. What had she done, carelessly running away, thinking this was just a game?

      Now she knew better. It wasn't a game.

      In that realization, the tears slowed as she helped herself to a seat on the curb.

      A shadow loomed over her. Some kind of a picture was stuck under her nose. Ilana dried the tears, but she didn't dare to look up.

      "Finally found you," the familiar voice sounded in her ears.

      "Vannarth!" she twirled around, and saw herself stare into a pair of shining eyes.

      "So, you finally remembered my name?" Van grinned.

      "What are you doing here?" Ilana asked, quite confused.

      "Helping you home, of course," he said good-naturedly as he showed her the picture.

      "What is that?" she pointed at it after she had dusted her dirty paws.

      "It is a map. A map helps you to find somewhere that you want to go, even if you haven't walked that way before," the Lupe smiled as he unfolded the map.

      "Oh."

      "There… I'm pretty sure you live in that faerie-decorated house," Vannarth pointed at a little spot decorated with faerie wings on the map.

      "Our house has a lot of faerie things on it. My owner, she likes faeries a lot."

      "Perfect. You do want to go home, don't you?" the Lupe asked her enthusiastically.

      Ilana nodded. All the time being afraid out here… It was time to go back to home! She blushed at her last comment in the Vannarth's house. Van seemed to know that she was thinking of it, for he opened his mouth.

      "For me it is not a despicable life at all. I enjoy books and knowledge." He flashed the careless grin.

      -

      They walked home in silence. The sun had set, and the night sky with beautiful white stars was glowing in a mystical, magical manner.

      Ilana looked up, not knowing what she was supposed to say. After all, he had helped her twice. She felt very grateful and not too irritated.

      Vannarth kept his eyes on the map, but a grin tugged at the corner of his mouth as he pointed towards the house. The shimmering decorations danced in the night breeze as some of the lights turned on when they got closer.

      Something creaked.

      "Ilana! I have been so worried!" the owner shouted through the doorway.

      The Zafara wasn't prepared for this. She thought that she would get back the same way she had gotten out, with the quiet and sneaky way. Instead, her owner was shouting at her. Ilana took a deep breath, and prepared for the worst.

      Her owner flew from the door and swept Ilana in a tight hug.

      "Oh, how much I've missed you!" she cried as Ilana's face slowly turned to blue. Then the owner seemed to realize Ilana was halfway onto suffocating and released her. A moment later she was squeezed into another hug.

      "I'm sorry…" whispered Ilana, as she saw how relieved her owner was.

      It wasn't just a game. It was something more. And all those dangers outside, it wasn't worth it.

      "Promise to never run away from me again!" the owner gave a mild but reproaching look at the Zafara.

      Ilana nodded. No, she would never ever run away again. It just wasn't worth the trouble.

      "You do understand that we have to talk this out, dear, don't you?" she smiled at Ilana. It was just like the old days, and now she had her good old owner back again! Ilana smiled. Maybe, just maybe, she was back…

      The owner suddenly stopped and looked at the Lupe. The Zafara saw this, and quickly explained.

      "Thanks to him, I got home."

      "Thank you very much!" the owner exclaimed, shaking the Lupe's hand,

      "It wasn't that much of a big deal," Vannarth replied with a shy grin, "I suppose I'd better go as you two will celebrate the reunion."

      With that, he walked away.

      "Wait!" Ilana caught up with him as he flashed another stupid grin. "I was wrong. I'm sorry… But hey, do you want to be my friend?" she whispered with an excited gleam in her eyes.

      "So, the princess finally accepts this poor Lupe?" Van mused.

      "Vannarth!"

The End.