Mioiepi came in quickly after Juven left. She carried a large bundle of clothes, several of which she threw at me. There was an angered edge to her movements as she walked around the room waiting for me.

"Sleep well?" I asked sarcastically. I undressed and pulled on layers of brown nondescript clothing.

"This is a stupid idea. I can't believe Mioisos thought this would work in the first place," she said angrily as she made my bed and ushered me out the door.

"What's so bad about this?"

"Oh, have you not heard? Well then, I shan't ruin the… surprise for you."

In retrospect, I rather wish she had ruined the surprise. I had assumed that we, since we were royalty, would travel like royalty. You know, private planes, leather seats, plenty of leg room? Yeah, no.

Instead, Ceil and I were tightly packed into a chest being carried out for repair. Mioisos was allowed to go to and from the palace as she pleased, so she was heading into the city that day anyway. Mioiepi didn't come. Thank god.

Mioiepi had led me down corridors which I usually didn't go to: mostly servants' places. There was a room, much like mine, filled with random furniture, half to be sold, half to be destroyed. Ceil was waiting there, her white hair bundled up under a kerchief. She also wore a small veil over her nose and mouth.

Anyway, we were shoved in this chest, told not to make a single sound, and wait. And wait. And wait. Until finally, someone came along and lifted our trunk along with some others onto something that was moving. Ceil dozed off with her head tucked to her stomach. I couldn't relax at all. I felt every jump and jostle, and tired to feel the slightest breeze in between the tiny cracks in the wood. It was hot, and cramped, and part of what I was wearing felt like leather of some sort. I was sweaty, nervous, and not happy.

The men transporting the furniture spoke very little, or they did, but I could not hear them. The ride felt like it went on for hours and hours. Traffic was stop and go. Mostly stop. Or just slow. We changed hands, or carts, many times. It was cramped and shaky and terrible. When I felt us being lifted up and set back on the ground, I was beyond relief. I wanted to jump straight out of there!

But Mioiepi had told me to wait once we stopped moving. Someone would come get us.

Not much time had passed when the lid slowly creaked open, light blinding me and Ceil. Once we stopped blinking, there was a man with long red hair looking back at us. He was poorly shaven, and his hair was pulled back with a thin strip of leather. He had on a brown leather tunic of sorts, and there was chainmail visible at his sleeves. His face was handsome, but not kind, too angular, eyes too red to be brown.

"Your majesty," He said with a flourishing bow. Ceil stood and hopped out quickly, while I shifted my lanky limbs to try and get out. "It is a pleasure to meet someone of your stature." He smiled, but there 

was something strange about it. His yellowed teeth and wide mouth were strange. He sensed my discomfort quickly. "Mandemos, Master Auctioneer, at your service."

"Ceil, Court of children," She said with a soft bow.

"Ilom, Queen of the world," I said back to him as I stretched my cramped legs.

"Mioisos will be coming, but not for some time. You cannot stay back here, for I dare to imagine what may happen if someone were to find you," He said, his voice low and greasy. "You will stay with me, or at least near, because I do have work to do." He turned quickly, and walked away quickly with a flash of that strange smile.

We followed him, me like a sheep, Ceil like a watchful mother. He led us through the back of the market, through hanging tapestry walls, past piles of colorful foods, around pottery and spices and treasures. Imagine a Moroccan market, you know, with the wild colors and traditionally dressed women, and the smells of every imaginable scent in the air. Now add in the fact that this place isn't on earth, and I was seeing a whole new world.

There were these women like those I had seen before, with beautiful green skin, calling out in clicking tongues, waving silver and gold things in people's faces. A group of things I could only compare to sprites were gathered around a bowl of glittering dust, eating it and talking. There were animals like ones in fairy tales. Ceil grabbed my hand any time I stopped to stare at strange things. Mandemos lead us deeper and deeper.

Suddenly, the market was changing. There were different people among us. Darker, if you will. People with strange stares and stranger attire. More technological, and still more primitive, almost as if we'd entered a restricted part. It felt as though we were running to keep up with him.

He stopped us before a curtained door, which behind was an auction theater full of people. Their voices we loud and fast.

"Here is where you will stay. Please do not wander. This will not take me long, for these items always sell quickly," He said as he rolled down his long red sleeves and straightened his hair. He pulled on a pair of fingerless black gloves before smiling once again and walking through the curtain. There was thunderous applause from the audience as he introduced himself.

"Ladies, Gentlemen, Agents, Guards, Cabmets! Welcome, welcome!" He called.

"What is he selling?" I asked Ceil, and she shrugged. We peeked our heads through the curtain.

It was like watching a theater show from the wings. He was lit brightly and over acting, but the audience was completely dark. He stood up on a large box, waving his arms and taunting the crowd like a ring leader. There was another large wooden box beside him, almost a head shorter than him.

"May I present the item you all have been waiting for?" His voice bellowed and was lost in the sudden surge of noise from the crowd.



The box was tipped forward and fell open. Two gray things rolled out. They looked like strange rocks that were wrapped in brown cloth, as though to protect them. They vibrated dangerously on the floor until Mandemos hopped of his podium and kicked them. It was then that they unfolded and were not rocks at all. Instead, they were two people, no… children, with shaved heads and gray skin. They had huge amber eyes, but they were crying big blue tears. Around their necks were large emerald colored stones that pulsed slowly. One was a boy and one was a girl. They cried.

I was horrorstruck by their gaunt faces. They scrambled about on their knees, trying to hide. Slaves, maybe? No… I really couldn't tell. This was a world I couldn't understand.

"Look at these two! Fresh from the cold north of the Old City! Look at those tears, and those eyes! Sure worth the pretty penny, eh?" He called to the crowd. They cheered and called as Mandemos picked the children up to their feet.

"There you are!"

Ceil pulled me away from the curtains, and quickly wiped the tears from my face. She was smiling and excited, and told me that what we saw was nothing bad.

Mioisos was beckoning us from a few yards away, her eyes bright and ready for adventure.

I sniffled. Something was strange here. They both grabbed my hands and began to walk.

The City was the most amazing thing I could imagine and more. Mioisos and Ceil walked briskly, pointing at things and throwing words over their shoulders at me. We passed great sports stadiums, towering statues and buildings, over bridges, through alleyways and side streets. The labyrinth of streets poured out from wherever we stood.

As we left the auction buildings, we were in a long weaving order of streets, half covered by huge skins stretched to make a ceiling of sorts. Bright beams of sunlight shot down between them. There were stores and shops built into the very walls. People set stalls up like on Portabella Road, calling out to the passersby. Mioisos bought us sweet fruits and we walked, the sugary red syrup leaking from out of our mouths.

Then we were out of the markets and into the orange district, where the sports arenas and monumental fountains reached up to the skies. The streets were orange and the sunlight danced, giving the roads an sweet golden glow. We rested in the shade of a café like place, watching the world pass by. There were men and women and others working in garages and repair stores. The statues and monuments depicted both historical and modern heroes. Great spiraling trees grew out of the cement itself and shaded the open spaces. We raced and ran as fast as we could, along the streets that were filled with carts and 

people and strange mounts. There we guards standing around, their broad silver plated shoulders glittered in the yellow sunlight.

Really, there aren't words to describe it. I know it sounds like some bad chick flick movie montage.

It felt like we'd barely left the auction house when first sun started to turn the sky rose as it set. Together we walked back towards the palace, Ceil and I sun drunk. With Mioisos, we walked quickly through each security point. Most of them were incredulous as they watched me walking back in, not ever knowing we had left.

We were greeted by purple ostriges to take us back up the long "driveway" up to the place. Well, Ceil and Mioi were. I was greeted by Juven atop one, with a stern look on his face. I was the guilty child coming in hours late past curfew.

A/N- It's good to be back! R&R please. Typed this in one day.