The Pauper Princess and the Spark's Holiday, Part 2
Part 1 is here.
The story so far:
-The history of the kingdom of Guildern (nee Mouseheart) was recounted
-Our heroines - okay, just Zeetha - had won the big prize to visit Castle Mouseheart, and Teatime with the "Pauper Princess"
-In little time at all, they managed to cause her to break character
The legal disclaimer stuff:
"This story is not approved by, sponsored by or affiliated with Studio Foglio LLC or Airship Entertainment."
Pauper Princess FanFiction Theatre Presents:
The Pauper Princess and the Spark's Holiday, Part 2
The Prince found his wife again with the children, holding Isabel against her chest, swaying gently back and forth, and muttering to herself. He stopped to greet the nurse and nanny and to coo at baby Edward.
"Hello, Darling," he said cheerfully, leaning in to kiss her cheek. She glanced up at him, grunted, then resumed her muttering. This bemused him. "Is this mood because of Isabel?" he asked. "Or did tea not go well?"
"How did you know?"
"I don't," he said. "That's why I'm asking. But first, how is she?"
"She seems better," said Mara, letting the girl lean back in her arms. "Sweetie? Is tum-tum feeling better?"
Isabel nodded, but did not speak. The nurse stepped forward.
"My lord, we have given her essence of esophia," she said. "It has eased her discomfort and helped her rest."
"That's good," he said. "You'll tell us if there are any further problems."
"Of course, your Highness."
"Well, I'll be here for a while," said Mara. "Being with them calms me."
The Prince paused, then pulled up a stool and sat beside her. "Why would you not be calm?" he asked. "I know that you're not fond of playing the Pauper Princess, but it wasn't that bad, was it?" She gave him a Look. "Whaat?" he said. "Since when have guests-?"
"I broke character," she said.
"...Wow," he said. "They must have been bad."
"No, it's..." she said, then trailed off. "Somehow I got drawn into an argument about Sparks, and then... No, actually, I broke character even before that. But in my defense, they were attacking each other, so it's allowed in those cases. Then I ended up in an argument about Sparks. Over tea."
Kelvin pinched his eyes together, then stroked his daughter's hair softly. She smiled at him and cooed. Of course their presence was calming to her. It was to him, too.
"Darling," he said. "If it was that troubling, I can take over for you."
"No," she said. "Trouble they may be, but you're not hosting those women."
"Because...?"
"Because their breasts arrive in a room three minutes before they do," she said. "Seriously. I don't know where they come from, but their biggest export must be back braces."
"Oh, come now, you know my eyes don't wander."
"I could barely stop staring at them," she said. "You'd be powerless."
"You're trying to change the subject," he said. "Stop that. You said you were arguing with them. Why would you be arguing with them about anything? Least of all Sparks? No matter what, you just smile and gloss over whatever they're saying."
"I know that," she said.
"Then what happened?"
She sighed. "I don't know. It's sort of a blur, really. But then, Heather took notes, so maybe she can read them back to me," she said, forcing a chuckle. "I mean, it's not like guests don't snipe about this thing or that thing, and I've always just smiled and stuck to the script and sent them on their merry way. But that girl just... got to me."
"Which girl?"
"Um..." She sighed again. "See, I got so discombobulated that I'm forgetting names already. Blonde girl, glasses, bug choker, huge bre-- Ah, yes, Agatha."
"Oh," he said. Then: "Oh!"
"What?"
"Well, you researched them first, right?" he asked.
"No," she groaned. "I was busy looking after Isabel, and just looked at their self-evals, and pictures. No research."
"Oh, good lord, no wonder," he said. "Then you might have known that the 'blonde girl' was Lady Agatha Heterodyne. And that the other guests are...!" He pulled out a notecard and squinted at it. "Her companions," he finished, and put it away.
Mara scoffed. "Stop that, it was not her. People like her don't come to places like this."
"We didn't think Jägermonsters did, either."
Mara shuddered at that memory. "Well, that's just great," she said. "I sort of insulted her."
"Excuse me??"
"Calm down, not her directly," she said. "Just... Sparks in general. Like I said, I got drawn into an argument about them, and I said... well, non-complimentary things about them. But I did apologize for my comments."
"Well, thank God for that," said Kelvin. "The last thing we need is some... city-sized clank wiping out the kingdom because you were rude to a member of the most well-known Spark family in history."
"You're kind of echoing my complaint about them," said Mara.
"How so?"
"It's their obsession with death and destruction," said Mara. "Sparks, I mean. Darling, you know how my life was before we met. How... red it was. I renounced that life, that way. No more death, no more destruction. Only you now, and the children. Do you understand?"
"Well, of course," he said. "Look, I've sensed that you have a discomfort about them, and I've been careful to abide, but now by your own admission, you've argued with and insulted a guest. That's not acceptable. Where does this hatred of them-?"
"I wouldn't call it... hatred, exactly-"
"Dislike? Mistrust? Whatever you call it, it's not fair to paint all of them with the same brush. That's pedestrian thinking, and we're above that."
"I'm 'pedestrian,' remember?"
"You're not a commoner anymore, Mara," he said. "And I wouldn't have married you if you were pedestrian, or petty. Frankly, this prejudice disturbs me. You need to give it a good, long think and then tell me that they're still all the same."
"Oh, please," she said. "Every Spark group we've hosted has had at least one of them vowing to 'Show them! Show them all!' Whoever 'they' are."
"Oh, all right. I'll give you that one," said Kelvin. "But you do remember that this entire kingdom was founded by a Spark, right? One who was dedicated to creating fun, educational, safe devices?"
"Gosh, I'd totally forgotten that," she said. "Also, the entire kingdom was almost destroyed when they all ran amok immediately after the founder's death; remember that?"
"Oh, you're impossible," he said, throwing up his hands.
Mara ignored him and looked at her daughter, who was asleep now, and leaned in to kiss her on the forehead. "She accused me of being a Spark, you know."
"Who?"
"Your famous 'Lady Heterodyne.'"
"Why would she do that?"
She responded by staring at a spot on the wall.
"Mara: why would she accuse you of being a Spark?"
"...I have no idea," she said softly, and resumed tending to her daughter.
*************************
Violetta was splayed out on her handmade, but comfortable bed, and already bored to tears. "This is your fault," she said.
Zeetha scoffed. "You didn't have to come," she said.
"Yes, I did," said Violetta. "Because where my lady goes, I must follow."
Her lady, meanwhile, was obsessed with examining all the walls and opening every door, drawer, and compartment in search of something - anything - mechanical. Just then, the iconic sound of a cuckoo clock played in the adjacent bedroom. "Ooooo," she said, and followed the sound.
Zeetha called after her. "They probably won't like it if you 'improve' their toys!"
"At least she's not bored," said Violetta.
"Well, I won't be!" said Sanaa. "Come on! We are special guests here, and the pamphlet says that we're allowed to explore the grounds! And look: I got this book that helps us locate secret markings! I know it's not an adventure that could lead to our horrible deaths, but it's still like a big puzzle, or game!"
"I dunno," said Violetta. "I'm ready to die a horrible death."
"Well, come on, then!" said Sanaa. "Help me find them all!"
"What is this about 'secret markings?'" grumbled Violetta, sitting up. Sanaa held out the book. "What? 'Hidden Mousehearts?' Are you kidding?"
"Well, what else are we supposed to do??"
"Girl's got a point," said Zeetha.
"Well, what about you, then?" said Sanaa. "Join us in our grand adventure?"
"I'll keep an eye on Agatha," said Zeetha. "Or more accurately, any 'toys' that she finds."
"Mm-hm," said Violetta, then turned towards the other bedroom. "Hey, Agatha! Sanaa has a book for finding hidden clanks in the castle! Wanna come with us?"
"No, no, the book is for-"
"COMING!" Agatha was in the room like a shot, grinning and gripping her spanner like her life depended on it. "LET'S GO!"
The trio departed, leaving Zeetha alone with her thoughts. She peeked into the other bedroom, afraid of what state she might find the poor cuckoo in. "Ahh, Agatha!"
Agatha got over the fact that they were looking for Hidden Mousehearts rather than clanks, but not without some residual sulking. Sanaa intended to lead the chase by describing their locations as they went from area to area.
"There's one," said Violetta. Sanaa looked over and did, indeed, see the Hidden Mouseheart. She consulted the book so she could mark it off as found.
"There's one," said Agatha.
"What? Show me. Which-"
"There's one."
"And another."
"Under that sofa."
"Wait, let me mark them off-"
"Right above us."
"There's another."
"Stop, gimme a chance to-"
"Obvious one there."
"Yeah, who are they kidding?"
"Girls-!"
"There's one."
"NNNGH!!"
*************************
Later, Violetta and Agatha sat on a bench in another corridor. Sanaa had 'ordered' them to stop helping her find Mousehearts and to let her find at least one of them on her own. Her face was buried in the book, in spite of Violetta's advice that it was easier to find things if one was actually looking for them. Finally Sanaa got excited and waved them both over, pointing frantically to a spot on the wall that she insisted was a Mouseheart that she'd found all on her own (with the help of the book).
The women stood up from the bench, but Agatha was distracted by an unexpected sound coming from another part of the floor. It was a humming. No, a whirring. Very faint, but definitely a sound of something being run by electricity. Violetta joined Sanaa and began to argue with her, insisting that her "Mouseheart" was far too obscure to be a proper one. Just to annoy Sanaa, she started pointing out all the real ones she'd spotted in the corridor so far.
Agatha followed the sound until she came upon a heavy, wooden door that was ajar. She also detected the distinct, but very faint, smell of machine oil, and pushed open the door. Inside was what appeared to be somebody's study and/or parlor. It had both kinds of furniture for those uses. At the far end of the room, on a large dresser, sat a shiny device of polished brass, tubes, and wires. She only needed to be a few steps closer to it to realize that it was an air purifier, the kind that a Spark would have designed and built. And she could tell that it wasn't working at full capacity.
She had just begun to examine it, when a man walked in from the adjacent room. She had skimmed the pamphlets about Mouseheart and the kingdom of Guildern... and realized that she had very likely intruded on Prince Kelvin's private chambers.
"AHEM! May I assist you with something, Miss?" he said stiffly. That was usually enough to send curious guests scampering.
"Ah! Oh," she said, and not scampering. "It looks like I may have unintentionally intruded. See, I was with my friends - you know, the contest winners? - and got lost. They're looking for, ha ha, 'Hidden Mousehearts.'"
"Blonde, glasses, scarab choker, and HUGE..." he murmured to himself, "Oh! You wouldn't happen to be the Lady Heterodyne, would you?"
"Uh, yes!" she said. "Yes, I am! You must be, uh, Prince Kelvin."
"Oh, it's good that you recognize me," he said. "And allow me to say that it's an honor to host someone of your stature and renown in our home." It was a challenge to keep his focus on her eyes. Good lord, she wasn't kidding about their bre-
"Oh..." she said. "Well, thank you. But I guess I should try to find my friends again. You have a lovely castle here. Comfortable rooms."
"Thank you," he said. "Er-- Lady Heterodyne..."
"Hm?"
He sighed. "This is awkward, but-- my wife-- the Princess, that is. She... claims that your teatime discussion got a little bit... heated?"
"Oh," she said. "That. It's all right."
"No," he said, with thought and deliberation. "No, it is not. If the Princess said anything to offend, I will take responsibility. And if there's anything I can do to make amends, please let me know."
"Really, it's water under the bridge," she said. "She did apologize. But thank you for the offer." Agatha turned to leave, and then almost immediately turned back. "Oh! Uh... your air purifier here."
"You know what it is?"
"Well, it's... kind of a hobby of mine," she said.
"We've heard bits and pieces about your interests," he said.
"Good! Then you'll know that I know that it needs repair. Also, I thought you had a rule against Spark devices being out in public?"
"This isn't public," he said. "These are our private chambers."
"Oh-oh-oh, yes, of course," she said. "Sorry. But... uh... if I may, how long has it been broken?"
The Prince shrugged. "A few months now," he said. "We've been tolerating it. We just turn it up higher and higher. It's one thing to ship Spark devices in, but another to find people who can repair them."
"Well, I can repair it!" she said, grinning.
"No, no, we mustn't impose on our guests," he said. "Our job is to make your stay a joy and a pleasure, not put you to work."
"But working is a joy and a pleasure for me," she said. "I'd be happy to fix it. Really."
"I... Well, far be it from me to turn down the offer of a Heterodyne," said the Prince. With a giggle and a clap, Agatha immediately pulled off the top of the machine, and began humming to herself as she poked and prodded its innards. She waved the Prince over and pointed to different things.
"See, this intake hose has hardened and is starting to flake apart. Also, the compression valve is out of alignment, but the real trouble is from this calibration wheel. It's not just loose, but also--" She stopped, and then spoke more loudly for some reason. "You know, your Highness, repairing this will be painfully easy. I'm surprised you haven't done it yourself by now."
The Prince stared at her, then chuckled. "Lady Heterodyne, I assure you that I haven't the slightest mechanical abilities. Even what you showed me, I don't understand."
"No, no, not your Highness," she said, turning and pointing. "Her Highness."
The Prince gave her a quizzical look, then followed suit to see Mara, standing stock-still in the center of the room. She was looking the Lady right in the eyes. Agatha approached her, smiling warmly.
"Princess," she said gently, "This is student work. Child's play. Come on; take a look."
Mara was very subtly shaking her head, but still allowed Agatha to take her hand and bring her across the room. She resisted looking inside of the machine, but ultimately gave in to temptation. Agatha watched her gaze flitting to and fro. Her mouth began moving so slightly that it seemed to be a mere tremble, but Agatha could tell that she was working out an inventory of parts and defects, as she had. She put a small screwdriver in Mara's hand. It took her a moment to realize that she was now holding something.
"Here," said Agatha. "This is what I'd start with." She took a step away and exchanged looks with the Prince.
"Mara?" he said, but she did not respond. "Darling?" Now she looked his way. "Is the Lady correct? You can repair this with no trouble?"
"I..." she said, and looked back at the device.
"Mara? Are you a Spark?"
For a moment, there was no sound, no movement, coming from his wife. Then suddenly her mouth tightened, her eyes narrowed, and she flipped the screwdriver so that she was holding it like a throwing dagger, and hurled it with all her might into the stone wall.
Only the handle was sticking out. Then she let out a great cry of rage and stormed into the next suite, slamming the door hard enough to shake all of the furniture and set all paintings on the wall askew. The Prince and the Lady were both too stunned to react, until at once, they both made their way towards the Princess- Kelvin to try to open the door - which was locked, so he began pounding - and Agatha to retrieve her tool from the wall.
Pound Pound Pound "Mara! Please open up! Let's talk!" Pound Pound Pound
"Go away! I need time alone!" her muffled voice came from the other side. Agatha was unable to simply pull out her tool, so she began jiggling it in the stone to loosen it.
"I understand that, Darling, but I want to make sure you're all right!"
"Of course I'm not all right! I told you, just give me some time alone!"
The Prince grunted in frustration and hit the door one last time. He looked to his right and saw Agatha still working on pulling out the tool. He put a hand on her shoulder; she stepped aside, and with a loud grunt, the Prince yanked the tool from the wall. After a pause, he handed it back to her and began stomping from the room.
"Uh...!" Agatha called after him. He stopped and looked at her. "Should I just... stay here and put this back together?"
The Prince stared. "Please," he said, and left the room.
Because they lived in a suite, the Prince could just step into the hallway, then try that door to their bedroom. Mara had locked that, too. The Prince pounded on it.
She yelled again from the other side. "Oh, for the love of- Will you just give me some space?"
"I will, but I... I have to attend a meeting right now, and there are some items I need in there!"
"What are they?"
"This is silly; let me in so I can retrieve them!"
"What are they?"
The Prince almost replied with another plea, then sighed and leaned against the door. "My... blue coat and... my tall, black boots! But you don't know where I keep them, so please let me-" He almost fell in when the door was yanked open. Mara pushed the items he described into his arms, then tried to shut the door again, but he blocked her efforts and forced his way inside.
"Stop that!" she said. "Just... why won't you leave me in peace? I just-- need-- time-- alone!"
"I know," he said calmly, shutting the door and then laying the coat and boots on the bed. He leaned against the bedpost casually. She stared at him a while, then threw up her hands and began pacing.
"Then why are you still here?"
"This is our bedroom, you know," he said.
"You are not respecting my wishes," she said. "If you told me that you needed time alone, I would--- not be in here!"
"You're right," he said. "But I have done so before, when you've been upset and needed time to yourself to calm down. I think this is different, though."
"How?" she said. "How could this possibly be any different?"
"This is the first time you've put a hole in the wall. Darling," he said, standing up and slowly walking towards her. She shook her head and began taking hesitant steps backwards, but small enough so that he could still catch up. "I will leave you be, but you must answer this question first."
"You want to know if I'm a Spark."
"Yes," he said. "And why that would be so upsetting to you."
"That's two questions."
"This is not a time to be pedantic. Are you a Spark or not?"
She looked deep into his eyes, and then sighed. "I don't know," she said.
"You slammed a screwdriver into a stone wall because of doubt?"
"It went in?" she said. "Really? Huh. I was just trying to make a lot of noise. Is it still in the wall?"
"Mara!"
"Ahhhh, I really don't know!" she said. "You know where I'm from. Land of savages and marauders. No schools or education anywhere. How could a Spark come from that? And yet... I remember there was a child... a little girl - couldn't have been more than five. Her father caught her building devices. But he beat her. He hit her, over and over... Trying to beat the Spark out of her? I don't know. I mean, if she had it."
"That's horrible!"
"Well, he wasn't very - her father wasn't known for his brains," she said. "Just his brawn. But then, there were wars at the time. The Baron... the 'Other,' or whatever it was... fighting all over Europa, so... maybe he was... trying to protect her or something. In his own, stupid, brutal way. I don't know."
"What kind of devices was she trying to build?"
Mara was looking at her husband, yet not looking at him, as though her mind was elsewhere entirely. Her eyes were greatly dilated. He had seen this look before, the first time she had spoken about her past, and a few times since, so he knew to just wait it out. As if on cue, Mara seemed to snap awake. She fussed for a bit, then pushed past her husband and made for the door. "I can't believe this, what am I doing?" she muttered. "Standing around moping, when I should be with the children!"
Here's Part 3.