Coal Part 10: 1st Draft

Ciara paced the floor of her room for two hours, trying to decide what to do about the photos she had of Debra and the messenger. "They don't make any difference! I can't believe Dad would just let Debra's thieving go! After all she's done behind his back!" She was so angry she hit the walls of her room, bruising it a bit. "Dammit!"

Zene knocked on her door, and Ciara let her in. "What's wrong?"

"How am I supposed to get my revenge on Debra if Dad won't help! If I don't stop her, she'll just go on to hurt someone else. I can't let that happen."

"Don't worry, Ciara. Everything will work out. Someone doesn't come out of a funk in twenty-four hours. Just go to your party and try not worry about it."

"How did you know Dom invited me to-never mind! You probably can read minds or something."

Zene smiled, shaking her head, the gold beads on the ends of her braids clinking like new pennies. "I just have the experience of a mother. I always knew when my daughter Aina was going out to see her boyfriend."

Ciara hid her face in her hands. "Is it that obvious that I like him?" Then she looked at her aunt. "I have a cousin?"

"Yes. Along with two others from my brother Kato. Their names are Chicha and Daren."

"I guess I never really thought to ask you about my relatives back in Swaziland. Sorry." said Ciara quietly.

"Well, you haven't exactly had a lot of time on your hands, Ciara. There are so many things you have to deal with now. First love, getting to know your father, not to mention your terrible stepfamily. I'm not suprised you haven't asked me any questions. Now what do you want to wear to the ball?"

Ciara thought of a lot of things, a cheetah, a gazelle, even bear, but somehow, nothing seemed right. Then she thought of the avedis family Crest. She had already been the firey bird, so that left... "How about a snake? A green snake with metallic scales?"

"I just so happen to be friends with a snake that fits your description. Camara!" A large snake with glittering green scales immediately slithered into view, twining it's thick body around Zene's body until it was face to face with her. "My niece needs an outfit for a very important function. Would you mind?" The snake flicked it's tounge out in response. "Good. I thank you."

The snake looped around Zene's body, then made a bee-line for Ciara. Ciara stayed still, remembering what would happen from the last time. The snake wrapped itself around Ciara, squeezing her body under it's coils. "It's too tight! Tell it to stop!" Suddenly, Ciara saw Camara's head above her, jaws wide and ready to strike. Ciara screamed at the snake swallowed her whole and...

She was suddenly wearing a gorgeous strapless gown that hugged her body with no space in-between. The dress cut low into her cleavage, but not low enough to make her look like a slut. The dress hugged her hips and stopped just above her knees. She wore matching elbow-length evening gloves, and she wore a half-mask of the snake's face, it's large fangs framing her mouth. Scales were twined in her hair, decorating a braid that was twisted over her left shoulder. She was as beautiful as she had been the night before, in a different way. When before the dress had been flamboyant and extravegant, this one was more subtle, and perhaps more sexy.

"This is amazing!" said Ciara, looking down at herself.

Zene shrugged. "It's magic. You'll get used to it."

"I hope not!" said Ciara. "I'll get the dogs!" Then she remembered Ashford and Ashton were still home. "Oh no! What am I going to do?"

"You don't need dogs. Remember any mammal will do." Zene reminded her gently.

"But there aren't any wild animals around here! I mean, it's not like we have mice scurring through the hallway or anything!" Ciara chewed on her glove nervously. Suddenly, she heard a hiss. "What was that?"

"Camara warning you that she's still alive. You wouldn't want anyone chewing on you, would you?" Zene pointed out.

Ciara looked up at the ceiling. "This is seriously wierd! Uh, sorry Camara." She heard another hiss. "That was a thank you, right?"

"No, it was more like, 'I'm doing you a favor and you should be more careful'."

"Okay..." Ciara decided to be more careful. "I guess the only other place we can go is the mall for some...creatures." She heard another hiss. "Now what?"

"Camara prefers the term 'animal'."

"Oh. Sorry again." This time, no extra hisses were heard. Ciara breathed a sigh of relief. Then she had an idea. "Wait! Couldn't you use the Oni-Red Bough-"

"To amplify my powers so I wouldn't need any animals? No. The Oni-Red Bough is not a magical item. It's of sentimental value to my country. Nothing else. Good thinking though." Zene had a slight smile on her lips that Ciara couldn't quite understand. She didn't mention it. She put on her regular glass heels and grabbed the gourd they used the night before.

They both decided they would attract less attention if Ciara stayed in the Delorean, so Zene went inside alone. She returned with caged mice and a hot number seven.

"How did you know?!" asked Ciara, taking the fast-food bag.

"I talked to Mrs. Didora and told her what was going on. She made it just the way Prince Dominick likes."

Ciara hugged her aunt. "Thank you so much, Aunt Zene! And I'll tell Mrs. Didora thank you when I see her again."

They drove the Delorean to a deserted stretch of road, and Zene transformed the components into a beautiful black carriage, complete with black horses and lined in silvery fur. Zene resumed her guise as a coachman with a matching outfit.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" asked Zene as she helped her niece from the Delorean. She was pointing at the plain glass heels on her feet.

"I just want to be sure about him before I make him fall in love with me. I just want to know if he really likes me for me, and not because he's attracted to what I look like."

Zene folded her arms. "Then how are you going to tell that when you're going as the most beautiful stranger in the country?"

"Well, that's easy." said Ciara, climbing into the carriage. "I'll go as 'Lady Mutumba' and ask him about 'Ciara'. Without being obvious about it."

"I hope you know what you're doing." Zene replied frankly, whipping the horses into a gallop.

They arrived at the ballroom, and Ciara was suprised to see a familiar line of people waiting outside. "What the hell?" she muttered, as Zene helped her from the carriage.

"Expecting something more intimate?" queried Zene.

"Well...yes." replied Ciara.

"He's a prince, remember? They have few secrets, especially when they have a hundred people waiting on them hand and foot. And at least one- half of those people are being paid by lesser nobles for information and access to him." Zene explained, walking her arm in arm up to the door.

"Oh you just make me want to be a princess now." muttered Ciara sarcasticly.

"It's how things work. But there is a way around all of that." said Zene, bowing and taking her leave.

Great. This is great. Thought Ciara glumly, walking to the front of the line. The guards recognized her and let her in without delay, and again she was turning heads as she walked down to the main ballroom. And again, the music stopped as she walked down the grand staircase.

"She's even more beautiful than before." whispered a woman dressed as a swan.

"I wonder who makes her dresses! I can't even see any thread. Must be plastic or something." muttered a swordsman over his cocktail.

Ciara waded through the crowd of public opinion and made her way over to a spot by the drink table, sipping her punch. It didn't take long for The Vicks to show up, dressed like cats. They went over to the drink table and tried to start a conversation with her.

"The infamous Lady Mutumba! It's so good to see you again!" gushed Debra from her brown and black calico mask.

"Do I know you?" said Ciara cooly. She turned away from them.

"Of course you know us!" Ashton exclaimed. "Why together with us, we were all the best dressed women at the ball last night!"

"And it looks like we are again!" Ashford chimed in.

Somebody gag with a goddamn spoon! Groaned Ciara inwardly. "Well, that's funny! I don't remember seeing any pictures of you on the front page of any papers. Maybe they put your pictures on page two." she responded.

Ashton and Ashford screwed up their faces, turning their plainess into ugliness. "Don't do that!" Debra yelled at them. "You make your freckles bigger!"

Ciara chuckled throatily. "Don't get too close. Snakebites are poison."

"Let's go girls." said Debra, taking them by the arm. "It's obvious what kind of young woman she is!"

Ciara rolled her eyes. And that's coming from the queen of whores. Right. By now, the "hot" number seven was getting cold. She walked up to the chef and asked him to reheat it for her. "I wouldn't want to give Dom a cold meal."

"I don't know where you're from lady," said the chef gruffly. "But around here, he's His Majesty Dominick, or Prince Dominick."

"Maybe for his servants, those are acceptable forms of address, but I am his peer." replied Ciara smoothly. "And I do not appreciate being lectured by a servant. You would do well to remember that." The chef heated the bag up for her without a word, and handed it back to her just as silently.

Prince Domnick entered a few minutes later, wearing his wolf costume from the night before. His bodyguards kept everyone well enough away from him as he searched the crowd for her. His eyes passed Ciara without so much as a second glance, and she felt a twinge of disappointment. But she couldn't give up. She walked up to them, as bold as can be.

"Sorry, but the prince has only one woman on his mind tonight." said the bodyguard, harshly. "And causing a scene, isn't going to work this time."

"Oh really? Then I guess this hot number seven is going to have to go to waste." she spoke loud enough so Dom could hear her.

"Out of my way!" said Dom, pushing his bodyguards aside. "Did you get extra cheese on it? White Wachovian cheese?"

Ciara grinned. "Of course."

"Let's sit in the champagne room. I don't think Ciara is coming." He looked so depressed, Ciara wanted come clean right then, but she knew she couldn't.

They were escorted to the back of the ballroom by the bodyguards to one of several rooms behind the ballroom. The one Prince Dominick chose was lined with wall-to-wall plush. A couch, built into the wall, went all around the room like an oversized restaurant booth. "I want privacy." Dom told his guards, and after checking Ciara for weapons, they waited outside. Dom immediately started scarfing down his food, and Ciara raised her eyebrows, slightly disgusted.

"Well...I'm glad you like it." Ciara told him.

"It's my favorite." He said between mouthfulls. "I like the way they cut up their pickles."

"Uh...right." she muttered. Guys are so gross! "So who is this Ciara person?"

"I don't really want to talk about her with you." he said quickly, wiping the cheese from his mouth.

"And why not?" she shot back. "Not that I care. I'm leaving this country in a few days anyway. Off to the next big party!"

"Oh, well I guess since you saved me from The Vicks, I think I can trust you. And the number seven was pretty damn good too."

"So..." she urged him.

"So...I invited this girl I met in the mall the other day. She was nice to me, helped me go shopping and everything. Didn't scream and tell everyone I was there."

"But is she royalty? I mean, does she at least have a title?"

Dom winced a little. "She works for The Vicks. She holds their shopping bags."

Ciara raised up her hands. "Do I have to say it Dom? Do I even have to say it?"

"I know. And her not showing up only proves that she was just letting them get to me. They're out there in cat suits."

Oops! I think I went too far. Think girl, think! "Well, she might not have been able to get a costume. And you know The Vicks. They probably didn't even let her come."

"You might be right. Thanks. Now I know what I have to do."

"What?"

"You want to dance?" said the prince, changing the subject.

"Uh...sure." They went back onto the dance floor and the musicians started to play something fast. They started to dance in a popular style, taking two steps forward, clapping twice, then stepping backwards twice. It was called the Yanyo.

"You never told me where you come from." Said Dom, clapping his hands in time to the music.

Ciara took two steps backward. "I can't exactly say." she said evasively.

Dom clapped his hands again. "Why not? Aren't you an international party girl who goes wherever you want? Aren't you proud of that?"

"Somtimes. And sometimes I don't like to talk about what I do." she said evasively.

"What about who you do it with?" he said, dancing closer to her.

"That's classified information." she said bluntly. Tread carefully, girl. Don't get caught in a lie.

"Well, it can't be too classified. Considering you don't exist!" he said smugly.

Shit, shit, shit! "Uh...what?"

"How much did my mother fucking pay you? What did she say I'd give you if you pretended to watch my back?" he hissed, his face getting red.

"No one paid me shit! I don't take orders from your mother! I don't even know her!" she shouted. All the music stopped. Everyone started staring.

"Well, that's funny. If your name is Lady Mutumba as you say, and you do have at least a half-assed pedigree, you must have kissed my mother's ass at least once!"

"Fuck you!"

He slapped her. "No spy, no servant, no guard ever speaks to me like that!"

She slapped him back. "I'm a fucking princess! You son of a bitch!"

"I figured that much." he smirked, rubbing his jaw. "No servant would ever hit me back." His bodyguards stepped between them suddenly.

"Are you alright, your Highness?" said one of them.

"Of course I'm fine! Can't you see I'm dancing?" He told them, shoving them out of the way. "Tell the band to play something slow."

Dom put his hands on her hips, and Ciara put her arms around his neck. "You bastard! You were testing me!"

"Of course. Just like you were earlier. It was kind of obvious when you started asking me about Ciara." he seemed pretty full of himself, like he had her all figured out. "My guess is you're stuck in a similar situation I'm in, and you have to marry as soon as possible."

"Who is this Ciara girl anyway? I mean, is she beautiful? Or is it just a sex thing?" she said quickly.

"You just cut right to the point don't you?" he said laughingly.

"You aren't going to tell me what you think of her, are you?" she asked.

"Well, you aren't going to tell me who you really are, are you? At least not until you know what I think of you." he replied.

"You have a point." Conseded Ciara. "So what do you think about me?"

"You're interesting. But I don't know anything about you, and you seem to know at least a little about me. Even what my favorite fast food is."

Ciara cleared her throat. "I forgot to bring it yesterday."

"Riiight. You like me." he said smugly, moving his hands to the curve of her ass.

"I...do...not!" She enunciated.

"Then why aren't you telling me to move my hands?" he squeezed her ass with his hands.

"I..." She didn't know what to say, because she did like him! "That's very inapropriate and assuming of you!" she managed. God, don't move your hands! she thought.

"No, this is assuming." He lifted up his mask and kissed her. She responded, with everything she had, putting her hands on his chest, letting him draw her closer.

"NO!" They broke their kiss to stare at who had just screamed. It was Debra, and her daughters were holding her back from ripping Ciara's eyes out.

"Get her out of here!" Prince Dominick ordered. They had to drag her out kicking and screaming, her children following worryly.

"I'm just glad you have security. I might have gotten my shit scratched up!" shivered Ciara.

Dom laughed. "Let's get out of here. All these people are making me nervous now. There's a balcony up the stairs." he offered his arm, and Ciara took it.

Ciara almost thought she was dreaming, being escorted by a prince. She felt like jumping up and down and hooting! But she settled for upholding her station and being a lady. They walked up the stairs, and around the corner, coming to a balcony, that already had couples making out on it. After the bodyguards cleared them away, Ciara still felt eyes watching them from below.

"Do you think this is the place? I mean, just look!" she pointed at the paparazzi armed with cameras, nearly blinding her with their flashbulbs.

"Then lets really give them something to talk about in the morning edition." He bent her backwards and kissed her like a Cassonova. Then the flashbulbs really went off.

"Dom, I'm not really sure about this. I mean, what are you doing?" she said, after he let her up. "This is really...I have to go now." she blurted.

"You didn't want me to kiss you?" he looked confused.

"I don't like being used to get back at your mom, or to make anyone jealous. I just need to get out of here." She started to cry, and tore away from him, shoving past the bodyguards and anyone who got in her way.

"What happened this time?" asked Zene as she saw her dash into the carriage.

"I just have to get away! Please just take me home." she cried.

"Princess Mutumba! Wait!" The prince, with the paparazzi hot on his heels, was running after her.

"He obviously like you, at least. Why are you running away?" Zene asked.

"It's almost midnight!" Ciara lied. "We have to leave! Now!"

Shaking her head sadly, Zene whipped the horses into a hard gallop, and they were gone before anyone could stop them.

What now? "Coal Part 11: 1st Draft"