Disguised
“I wonder who it was that dared to anger you, Princess Elora.”As she angrily walked away from the training grounds, Elora’s eyes lit up when her gaze fell on Arielle who stood alone under a silver tree in the courtyard.“I wonder who it was that dared to anger you, Princess Elora.”Her lips stretched into a smile.“Third princess,” the servants bowed their heads and lowered their knees in greeting.“Princess Arielle,” she acknowledged, her previous sour mood vanishing into thin air like it had never been there. Before now, she’d only met the third princess of Elyria once, and that made her wonder. Why had the sight of the princess instantly lifted her mood? She could see them becoming good friends.“Glad to see you again, Princess Elora.” She stepped closer to her. “Ahh, now I see why this tree suddenly started to look good in my eyes today. It turned out you brightened it up with your presence.”“You flatter me. The tree must’ve always been pretty.”Together, they began to walk back to the tall walls of the mansion, the servants trailing slowly behind them.“Is my brother treating you well? I swear I’ll scold him hard if he dares to treat you wrongly. He’s lucky enough to have you. We’ve seen too many shitty people to not know.”“You’re too, Princess Arielle. We’ve only met once.” She gasped when the princess suddenly locked her hand around her arm.“Trust me, only one conversation is enough to know a person in Elyria. Besides, I believe we get along pretty well.”She smiled. She thought the same too.“By the way, there is a trade fair today,” Arielle’s eyes sparkled as she announced. We could go together. Trade fairs here are really fun, trust me. There are varieties of items.” She heightened her tone in an attempt to sound convincing. “We could get some jewels and even books.”“Books?” she paused to pass the princess an interested glance.Arielle burst into a fit of giggles. “I see that you love books too. I told you, we’re compatible. I do know someone who sells a lot of them. I could show you interesting parts of Elyria too.”“That sounds interesting.” Elora was totally convinced, excited even. She was fully bought by the idea of being in open spaces after so long, much more a trade fair. And Arielle’s enthusiasm further heightened her excitement. But a thought rang in her mind. They were princesses. How could they go? “But…but aren’t princesses forbidden from being in local spaces?” She curiously asked, disappointment laced in her voice.But Arielle’s smile remained unfaltered. She waved it off like it was a small matter and replied. “Well, it’s no issue. I have a solution.”“What solution?”Both girls drew closer and Elora angled her ears for her to whisper. “We’ll go disguised.”And so, two hours later, both girls stepped out of a local carriage into the large trade fair space.“Now, you’re going to call me Soren and I’ll call you Lily. We’re disguising ourselves as a loving couple,” Arielle whispered. She wore a grey tunic beneath a white undershirt, clinched at the waist with a brown belt. Her legs were covered in black linen trousers and she wore a short wig to cover her natural blonde curls. Dressed like this, she looked like the perfect gentleman.“Isn’t this dangerous? What if we get caught?” Elora worried. She was dressed in a simple grey dress.“The commoners don’t even know our faces. Come on, my love. Let’s go explore.”She held her hand in hers and began to lead her into the large trade fair, Hula and Lia trailing slowly behind them. The trade fair was a bustle of business. They walked amid vampires going about their day, deeply immersed in whatever they came to buy or sell. Two hours earlier, she'd given her and Lia a pill to swallow. According to her, it would hide their scent from the vampires just in case of danger, making them blend in like normal vampires.“Goodness, this is stunning. Come.”She pulled her into a jewelry stand. Both girls’ eyes excitedly stared into the baskets of hairpins, bracelets, and earrings laid on the large table.“You should buy a hairpin for your wife, gentleman,” the seller said.“Of course.”Elora picked a jade pin from the tons of pins and wore it in her hair. Her eyes sparkled when they stared at her reflection in the mirror hung on the table.“It’s stunning,” she muttered. “We’ll take it.”“We’ll take this too.” The third princess held onto a ruby hairpin that she liked and she pretended to try it on Elora's hair. “This one fits my wife too.” She deepened her voice to sound like that of a male. “We’ll take it. How much?” Her acting caused Elora to hit back the laughter that was threatening to burst from her throat.She wouldn’t want to blow their covers.“This is fun”After minutes of exploring the fair, the princesses finally walked into a massive bookstore. Elora’s jaw dropped in awe as her eyes scanned through the numerous books on the shelves.“It’s truly massive,” she gushed.“Truly.”“Welcome,” the young male shop owner greeted. “It’s you,” he said, recognizing the disguised Arielle. “What kind of books do you desire?”“The usual.”The man led them to a different part of the shop, where tons of books lay on a shelf before leaving them on their own.Elora's surprised shriek pulled Arielle from her search. With horrid eyes, she pointed to a book by the corner, its explicit cover causing her to shriek even further.“I think it's going to be interesting.”“Are we even allowed to read these?” Because back in Yvlies, she never got to see explicit books like the on Arielle held.“Don’t worry, Brother Rafael won’t have a problem with you reading these.”A/NThis is a scene to help Elora adjust to the world of vampires. By the way, what do you think of Arielle?