Stars, Spades, and Aces

One

Peony was in the New Beijing palace. In her private quarters. Alone.

She longed to be outside with those other children. Playing without the slightest bit of concern. But that would never happen, of course. She was twelve. She was a young lady. She was a princess. And on top of that, her mother was Luna's Ambassador and the empress of the Eastern Commonwealth. Besides, Iko would banish her from even stepping a foot outdoors, not even in their garden if she even tried to escape.

Peony sighed and blew at a feather that had floated out of her pillow. A lacy pillow made of fine silk and stuffed with goose feathers. A pillow fit for a princess.

Without thinking, she found herself sending a comm, asking for assistance. A moment later, Liam Kinney, a guard for the Grand Minister of Luna, appeared in the doorframe and bowed before walking inside.

"Would you like me to close the door, Your Highness?"

"No thanks," Peony waved her hand toward the gaping door. "I like it opened. And please, no more of the 'Your Highness' stuff. Just call me Peony."

"Is there anything you need... Princess?" Kinney hesitantly bowed again.

Peony rolled her eyes. "Where are my mother and father?"

"Emperor Kaito is attending to some business. As for Empress Linh-Blackburn, she is... well, with Her Majesty's escort-droid."

"Oh. Okay, thanks!" Peony hopped off the bed and skipped out the door.

"It would be rude to intrude on Emperor Kaito at the moment, so I suggest you speak to your mother instead!" Kinney called after her.

Peony didn't respond but waved her hand back to signal that she heard her.

Guards were lined up against the wall and bowed, murmuring respects when Peony passed through. It then dawned on Peony that they were not only bowing for her, but also for her father's royal advisor, Konn, Torin. Torin arched his eyebrow in surprise when he spotted Peony.

"Princess." Torin saluted. "What brings you here?"

"Looking for Iko and my mother," she replied hastily. "Do you know where they are?"

"Her Majesty is in the dressing room. Most likely accompanying Iko," he added when Peony frowned.

"That figures," Peony muttered under her breath.

"Don't you need a guard? I could call Sir—"

"Tell that to my father, not me! I just saw Sir Kinney a moment ago!" Annoyance pulsed through her. Can't someone just treat her like a normal person? Peony sighed and stormed away.

The dressing room was just past the main corridors. She had been there so many times now -mainly because Iko had to ask for an opinion on every single dress.

The door was slightly cracked open. Chattering filled the room, along with scoffs, and annoyed sighs. Peony knocked gently on the wall before opening the door fully. Inside, Iko was twirling with a rose colored dress strapped to her back and screamed when Peony came in while Cinder was trying hard to hide her laughter.

"Aces, Peony!" Iko breathed with relief. "You nearly scared me half to dea— it's not funny Cinder!"

Peony stifled a giggle and grinned when she caught her mother's eye. "Aces, Iko! I only wanted to ask my mother if I could go outside."

Iko scoffed. "Go outside? In this dress? You must be kidding me."

Peony shrugged. "I'll go change then."

"No. Absolutely not."

"Iko."

Peony looked pleadingly at her mother.

"She can go," Cinder waved her hand absentmindedly

"Cinder, you're supposed to be backing me up here!" Iko huffed.

"I did not have two children for them to be raised in captivity," Cinder shot back.

"You sound as if we were torturing her," Iko grumbled. "Okay, fine. She needs a guard though."

"Oh, no need for that," Cinder replied smoothly. "I'll be going with her. Surely no one will dare to hurt the Empress, right Iko?" She winked at Peony while Iko's jaw was gaping. "Come on, Peony, let's go."

Peony smiled smugly at Iko who stuck out her tongue obnoxiously. "Bye, Iko!" she called sweetly and followed her mother out the door.

 *****

The streets of Eastern Commonwealth were as busy as usual. The shopkeepers yelled advertisements while children were prancing around and inventing new games. Peony walked out the hovercraft and approached a group of boys who were throwing pebbles at an empty stall.

"What are you doing?"

They whipped around, dark annoyance brimming in their eyes before realizing who she was and dropped into low bows. Except for one.

"Rikan, what are you doing here?" Her younger brother scowled and walked towards her.

"I'm hanging out with my friends, what else?"

"I mean, why are you throwing rocks at mom's old booth?"

"Why do you care? No one uses it anyways." Rikan chucked another rock at the deserted booth.

Peony yanked him toward her and clenched her teeth. "Take your minions out of here or go home. Do you understand, baby brother?"

Rikan nodded vigorously and scrambled away with his friends.

"Next time I catch you doing that, I'm calling the Empress and she's not nearly as nice as I am!" Peony waited until they were out of sight before crawling into the stall.

Peony never understood her mother's passion for greasy bolts and broken wires. But she respected it and often visited booth number 771 to keep things in good condition and to prevent accidents. What happened today was incredibly rare. Peony would have expected the same ridiculous behavior from any other boy but Rikan. He was the civilized one, the smart one, and unlike Peony, was a rule follower. Perhaps all those escaping lessons Peony had given him when they were younger weren't for nothing after all. Or maybe, he was just growing up.

Absurd. Peony shot down the idea immediately. No. Rikan was only eight. He was much too young to be hitting a growth spurt. Whatever. I'll ask him tonight. Despite the fact that they were four years apart, Peony still shared a bedroom with Rikan. Though lately, Rikan had been asking for his own quarters. Maybe he really was growing up.

Peony made her way towards the back room. When Cinder had told her she could do whatever she pleased with the stall, Peony immediately got to work, breaking down the wall that separated the closet and the rest of the booth to make it large enough for a kitchen. Her customers knew who she was and some of them disapproved of her business but Peony never cared. Cooking made her feel free.

"Hey, Peony!"

The voice knocked Peony out of her thoughts. A girl with heavy makeup approached her. Peony groaned inwardly. This was the last thing she needed.

"Hello, Coral." Peony narrowed her eyes. "To what do I owe the pleasure of your company?"

Coral smirked. "Would you look at that, is the little princess playing tea party?"

Peony ignored her. "How can I help you?"

"By getting out of here."

"If you're not going to order anything, go away. Your horrendous face is scaring away my customers." Peony enjoyed angering Coral. It made her face light up like the lanterns on Chinese New Year.

"Why you!" Coral lunged at Peony who merely stepped backward. Coral, suddenly realizing there was a wall in front of her, lost balance and fell on her elbow. The people around her offered help but Coral ignored them, stood up, and slammed her hand on the counter.

"You'll pay for this!" she screeched before storming away. Peony watched her, smiling. Then she noticed that Coral had left her a note. Peony unfolded it and began reading.

I still hate you but my mother insisted that she wanted to buy an order of beef pancakes from your booth.

Peony grinned and crumpled up the note. Coral would get a lovely surprise tomorrow.