Chapter 21: The Dinner Party

My room was like nothing I ever expected. The walls were a pale yellow, with painting of creatures, or what I looked like landscapes on them. There was a small table with two chairs, a large, mirror that I could see all of myself in, and large bed with golden bedding and a large headboard. Lara told me this will be my room until Oliver and I are married, or joined, or whatever his people call the union I was going to be entering into. Lara explained that I can't know what room was Oliver's as it was to prevent me from sneaking into it, and in return, he won't know what room I was in either. I figured that was fair, as we'd been trying to be good, but it got harder when we got closer to his world, knowing that our forced separation was pending. Lara said she had our dresses hidden in the closet behind the large mirror in her room as it was there for such a purpose. There was a closet full of beautiful clothes for me and while I was looking them that two young women entered the room. They stood at the doorway, bowed, and said together, "Good day my lady."

"Hello," I said.

"My Lady," said Lara in her firm, militaristic tone, "This is Ibarra and this is Lilja and they are here to help you and attend to your needs. They will help you dress and bring you anything you desire or need."

Ibarra was tall with black hair and brown skin. She reminded me a bit of Lara but with different facial features. Her eyes were green and her features weren't as fine and narrow as Lara's, but more blunt and wide. Lilja had blue hair, and light blue skin with wide black eyes, a flat nose, and thin lips. They both bowed again and Ibarra said, "What are your wishes my lady?"

I looked at Lara and asked, "What's this about?"

"My Lady," said Lara, "as the betrothed to our Prince, you will be provided with certain services. These two are here to be your servants. They will help you when you need to dress for specific events, like your dinner tonight with the Queen."

Now I understood the clothes in the closet, and the purpose of these two women now standing in my room. "I see," I said, "What should I wear tonight?"

Ibarra and Lilja smiled and Lilja said, "May we select something for our Lady?"

"Please," I said.

Lara smiled and winked at me as the two entered the doorway of new closet. They emerged with a beautiful lavender gown, which was simple, but elegant. 'Damn! A dress!' I hadn't thought about the fact I'd be wearing dresses. I walked up and took a closer look. I realized it's not a dress, but it's not a pantsuit either. I also realized I wouldn't know how to wear this without some help, and I was relieved that I've got these two here to help me. "Does this please you, my Lady?" asked Lilja.

I smiled and said, "Yes, I think this will work. How long will it take to get me dressed?"

"Not long, and you've got time to rest from your journey if you'd like," said Ibarra.

"That sounds good," I said. "Come back later so we have enough time for me to get dressed and ready, and I think I'll rest for a bit. Thank you."

"Yes my Lady," they both said as they set the dress on a chair and left the room.

Once the door closed, I looked at Lara and said, "Why are you being so formal with me?"

"It would seem inappropriate if I wasn't," she said in the familiar friendly tone she had used with me when we were alone, or only with Oliver. "I am your personal guardian, and I can't risk too casual of a relationship with you in public. It's for your position and your safety. I'm sorry I didn't warn you sooner."

"It's fine," I said. "I don't think of you as my 'personal guardian' as much as my friend."

Lara smiled and said, "Your friend?"

"Yeah," I said. "You returned to Earth with me when you could have easily stayed behind. You were there for me when I would cry over Oliver. You were there for me when I ran that poor man down. You were there to confirm my final sighting wasn't my imagination. Let's face it; you're the only person I can talk to about Oliver."

Lara hugged me and said, "I'm proud to be your friend."

Lara left the room and I decided to sit on my bed. I debated if I wanted to sleep or not when a knock came from the door. Lara stepped in and said, "My Lady, Gamaley requests a moment of your time."

I remembered Gamaley as the creature with the electronic sounding voice who decoded my phone and tracked the message back to Valente. "Send him in."

This being a princess was going to a challenge with all this formality. Lara opened the door as Gamaley entered and said with a bow, "Greetings Alexis Perry."

"Greetings," I said as Lara stood by the door. Suddenly, the mysterious phone call flashed through my memory. "It was you!"

"Excuse me My Lady?" asked Gamaley.

"I was home alone grading papers one night when I got a strange call. A familiar voice said my name and then the phone went dead. It was you wasn't it?"

Gamaley seemed to smile as he said, "Yes Alexis Perry, it was I."

"Why did you call?"

"We were searching for you. Unfortunately, your primitive technology malfunctioned so just as I heard you reply, the connection was lost."

I smiled. That call was just days before Oliver found me. Now I knew he was having his people searching for me even before he arrived. "So, you wanted to see me?"

"I am of the understanding that you still are struggling with understanding of our language," he said.

"Boy, I am," I said.

"Then I am here to assist with that," he said. "I would like your permission to put a device into your ears to aid you in understanding our language."

"Sure," I said, "at this point, anything would be helpful."

"It will require me to put you into a brief rest period," he said.

"Do you mind if Lara is in here with you?" I ask.

"I would expect nothing less than your guardian to observe," he said.

"Then if you think this is best, let's do it," I said.

I climbed onto my bed as Lara approached and said, "You requested my presence My Lady?"

"Please," I said lying down.

"Of course," she said and stood next to Gamaley.

I won't lie, I was a bit nervous, but if these implants would stop these creatures from talking ill about me in their language thinking I didn't understand them, it would be worth it. I knew Lara has been cleaning up the translations to keep my feelings from being hurt, and I appreciated it, but I really want to know what they said about me. Gamaley showed me two tiny devices that reminded me of small hearing aids.

"My Lady," he began, "I designed them to be small so no one would know you are wearing them. I was asked to design them for you."

I smiled as I knew who made such a request. "I appreciate this. I hope it works."

"As do I, now please relax," said Gamaley.

He placed a small mask over my mouth and nose. I took a deep breath and the room quickly faded to black.

I woke to Gamaley and Lara hovering over me. I didn't feel any different so I wasn't sure if it worked or not. Lara helped me sit up and asked, "How do you feel?"

"Fine," I said.

She smiled and said, "You understood me. They're working."

This time I watched her lips and I saw that they didn't match the sounds I was hearing. I realized she was helping Gamaley to test if they worked. I walked to the mirror and looked, but I couldn't see them, even after Gamaley showed me where they were. I thanked Gamaley for his help and as he left, Ibarra and Lilja come in and inform me I need to start getting me ready for the dinner tonight. What I didn't realize was this included them bathing me. I'll admit, having these two bathe me was an experience I won't soon forget. I was cleaned and scrubbed from head to toe. A cream was applied to my legs and underarms that removed the hair from my body. I was fine with this, but when they tried to apply the cream to my sex, I protested and we started to fight. They insisted this was what required and that I had no choice. I proved that I had a choice by calling Lara who of course, backed me up. In the end, I compromised to a minor trim that poor Lara had to supervise. The things she must endure being my guardian.

After the bath, the real challenge of getting me dressed began. I was really grateful they were there to help me as I would not have been able to get this on without their help. Once dressed, they styled my hair and painted my face until I looked like a princess of their world. I looked like nothing I'd ever seen before, but it wasn't a bad thing. My eyes were golden, my cheeks were pink, my lips were red, and there were decorative lines that really enhanced my natural features. I had to touch my ear (they wouldn't let me touch my face) to be sure the reflection I was seeing was really mine.