Princess Ahira (28 page)

             
But Levi had
cut me off and was hissing at
Kohath. “My name, you idiot, is—
,” h
e never finished because Kohath elbowed him
directly in the stomach
.

             
“I see Tuggles is here,”
Kohath interrupted while crouching down by the mini unicorn. 

             
“Yes,” I said as
Tuggles impatiently
stam
ped a little hoof.
“Behemoth is suppose
d to arrive soon to pick him up,”
I added as the unicorn snorted.

             
I fluffed Tuggles’ hair as Kohath stood and elbowed Levi, giving him a meaningful glance.

             
Levi rolled his eyes, looking every bit as snobby as his master, and barely shook his head. “You only wish you could,” he told the purple haired steward.

             
“I can! I said I would show you and I will,” Kohath, clearly outrages, announced.

             
Tuggles purposely sneezed on my hand, showering it with snot and grass slime. “Ew,” I said as Kohath slowly approached me.

             
“Ahira,” Kohath said.

             
“What?” I sweetly said, reaching out to wipe my filthy hand on Kohath’s cl
ean shirt. To my disappointment
he didn’t even notice.

             
“You have something on your face,” he continued.

             
“Where?” I asked inspecting my sneezed on hand. I could only imagine what I looked like. Whenever I played with Tuggl
es I always returned to the den
looking like a muddy piglet.

             
“Right here,” Kohath said before yanking me to his chest and abruptly kissing me.

             
My mind broke
and the universe exploded.

             
I’m only kidding. It did take me a few moments to react. First I couldn’t believe that Kohath dared to do something so stupid, and then I was a l
ittle disgusted with myself because
I thought it felt nice.

             
Finally my brain connected and I bashed the purple haired steward in the face, making him release me.

             
“
In the name of all that is magical
, you did NOT just do that!” I shouted, my voice growing shrill.

             
“I think I did,” Kohath said with a smug grin.

             
“Yo
u’re so abominable!” I shouted as
my
face turn
ed
bright red. I
turned on my heels and fled, Tuggles galloping after me.

             
Levi was chucklin
g as I left. “Oh yes, I can see now
that you
can
kiss her. But
that doesn’t mean the lady likes
it,” he snickered.

             
My
fury grew hotter
, if possible, and
I ran into the den with Tuggles. I slammed the doors and barred them shut, locking the stewards outside.

             
I played with Tuggles
for
a good hour
before
I heard Azmaveth mournfully cry,
“Why am I locked out of my own
home?”

I moodily opened the door and glared at Azmaveth before flinging
both doors open.
“H
ave a good time with Kohath?” h
e as
ked innocently.
T
oo
innocently.

             
“Don’t even say a word,”
I snarled before turning on my heels and disappearing back into the depths of the cave
,
l
eavin
g Tuggles and Azmaveth to
stare at each other.

             
The following morning I had a rude awakening call.  “Wakie, waki
e, wakie!” Kohath called.

I snarled and turned over, never believing he would dare enter my room.

             
He didn’t
get the hint and tried again. “Rise and shine Princess,” he sang.

I opened my eyes and mouth to angrily reply
, but
instead
I
screamed when I
found
that K
ohath and I were nose to nose.
The impudent boy had crawled in
to my bedroom and was p
erched on my bed like a k
ing surveying his kingdom.

             
Kohath faked a hurt look. “No good morning
cupcake
?” h
e asked.

             
“Out
,
out,
out
!” I bellowed
as I kicked him with my feet.
I was still under my blankets though so it was more of a thrashing movement. 

             
Kohath hopped up so he was a safe distance away, but he
paced around the room instead of leaving.
“We
have to go get some Thimy herb,” h
e informed me.

             
I
simultaneously frowned and yawned.
“Why? Azmaveth told me that he doesn’t
use Thimy herb in his potions.
I just use it for seasoning.” 

             
“Exactly,”
Kohath said,
perfectly smug. “Rose,
Shammah
, and Zerah
are coming over for di
nner tomorrow,” he explained.  “Shammah loves that herb. He adds it to his food in amounts th
at can only be reflected in a ratio t
hat
compares that pesky Aaron and
the
annoyance his
presence brings. In other words
:
a lot. So we need more.”

             
I
rubbed my mussed hair
. “You’re
still
not out of my room!” 

             
“You just said out, you never said get out of your room
,” h
e offhandedly
added
.

             
I paused and took a deep breath. “KOHATH
, GET
OUT
NOW
!”

He scampered out and left me to my morning routine. 

             
I managed to eat a quick breakfast before Kohath whisked me out of the den
and into the forest.
Now I could tell you how we got lost while trying to find the herb, and how it took us about two hours to finally collect enough herb
s
,
but I still feel a little bitter about that wasted
morning
.
(Getting lost with Kohath is never a pleasant experience because he refuses to admit we are lost and will not ask for directions,
ever
.
We passed the same p
hoenix FOUR TIMES.
)

             
The afternoon did provide a bright spot for my day, however.

             
We
were walking back to the den
when I saw it. Kohath, of course, was in the lead while I trailed behind him, mocking him behind his back. I was a little touchy still from the whole kissing incident the day before. So naturally I avoided looking at him.

             
“You can’t ignore me forever. I’ll just come into your bedroom in the morning and hop on your bed again,” Kohath called while I was Not-Looking-At-Him.

             
Normally this would have drawn my ire, but I was somewhat captivated by an odd sight.

             
There was a perfectly nice looking girl sitting in a tiny clearing, morosely sighing.

             
Without glancing at Kohath, because
as
I mentioned I was Not-Looking-At-Him, I scampered off the trail and headed for the girl.

             
Kohath heard me and quickly
gave chase
, but by that time I
had gotten close enough to the girl to draw her attention
. 

             
She was about my age and was slouching on a tree stump, her delicate hands tucked under her chin. She had shiny, black hair that was tucked into a braid, and soft brown eyes that were originally narrowed in concentration, but widened at the sight of me.

             
I instantly liked her, not because I’m a great judge of people or anything, but because she was quite tan, even more so than me. At home I had to listen
to
hours
of lectures delivered
by
my mother that were usually titled something along the lines of “Proper Ladies Are Not Tan.” So whenever I met another
sun kissed
female I felt a great bond with them.

             
“Excuse me,”
I called
, taking in her troubled expression.
“
Is everything alright
?”
I asked as Kohath nearly rammed into me, having finally caught up.

             
The girl heaved a sigh
and leaned back on her stump. “I’m fine. But they are not,” s
he explained
,
flicking her hand
in the air
.

             
I followed her gesture and my eyes landed on
seven small men. Each
man
was spread out on a stone table,
his
eyes closed.

             
“Who are they?”
Kohath
inquired
.

             
The girl took a breath and pointed to ea
ch little man as she named him. “Leader, Grouchy, Giddy
, Lethargic, Timid, Sicky,
and Daft,” she paused.
“
Hello by the way.
I’m called Snow White.”

             
“Snow White?”
I
asked, a little more than perplexed. The girl was bronze with dark hair a
nd dark eyes. H
er name was a little strange, never mind
the small men.

             
Snow White sighed and rolled her eyes.
“M
y mother
loved winter a
nd thought names should be advic
e
.
Mine was some
thing about making
ice desserts
with
white snow only.”
 

             
“Ah, I see. That
is
wise advice,”
I said
,
scuffing my shoes in the grass before speaking again.
“Are the little men dead?”
I bluntly said.

             
Snow
White laughed. “No. F
irst of all the
y are dwarves, not little men.
Secondly they are sleeping.”

             
I glanced
around the
meadow
once more.
Animals had gathered and were watching the dwarves with bored express
ions and Snow White’s
brow was wrinkled in concentration again.

             
“So what’s wrong with them?”
I asked. I
t seemed Kohath
was taking a vow of silence. 
I was pleasantly surprised
he
wasn’t
ogling Snow White.
He seemed to be more disturbed with the small rabbit that had taken up residence on the tip of his boot.
 

             
Snow
White snapped out of her reverie.
“Oh,
I can’t wake them up,” she said.
Seeing my confuse
d expression she quickly added.
“You see th
ey are like my adopted uncles.
When I was eight my step-mother, a beautiful and kind lady who love
d me with all her heart, died.
The dw
arves found me and took me in.
Today we were walking through the forest wh
en we came upon an apple tree.
I climbed
it to rea
ch the good apples at the top.
However,
with my uncles
being so short
they
were unable to grab the apples
off even the lowest branches.
So they did the next best thing and ate the finest one
s that had fallen on the ground.
”