Returning to The Light of Fate

The Prince of Paupers

The sun shone through my bedside window, which was centered in an unpainted brick wall, making my pale skin glow with its golden light. I sat up and reluctantly pulled my thick, dark red comforter off of my lap, wincing at the chill of the morning air, and stepped onto my thick black rug, which lay on an ash wood floor. Rubbing my eyes, I walked to my closet and picked out a pair of black ripped jeans and a red long-sleeved t-shirt, along with a pair of black sneakers and a black jacket. When I was dressed, I crossed the room to my bathroom. I dipped my finger into a compact of black eye shadow and rubbed it onto my eyelids, a little heavier on the lower, and ran a comb through my shaggy auburn hair, letting some of it fall over my blue left eye. Taking some black ink from a small pot I'd stolen from Al'li, my private tutor, I rubbed it into the tips of my bangs, letting it dry before combing it again and washing my hands thoroughly to get out all the ink and left over eye shadow.

I poked my head out of my bedroom doorway and checked the corridor for servants. After seeing that the coast was clear, I dashed silently along the bright red carpet towards the kitchen. I opened the door and walked in, more comfortable there.

"Ni'la! How'd you sleep?" one of the cooks called to me, kneading a giant ball of dough with his dark, calloused hands.

I smiled at the cook, who was about the same age as myself, and walked to across the kitchen island from him. "Same as usual, Ten'ri. How about you?"

Ten'ri grinned. "I slept really well, but today's gonna be really busy, so I had to wake up early."

"Oh, shoot," I winced. "I'm really sorry, man. I completely forgot."

Ten'ri looked up at me from his work, blond eyebrows furrowed over his green eyes in an expression of disbelief, though he didn't stop his kneading. "You forgot?! How could anyone forget such an important day?!"

I shrugged, grinning sheepishly.

Ten'ri continued, kneading the dough with a little more... uh... fast. "It's your sixteenth birthday, Ni'la! You know, the day you become a man and take on some of your parents' responsibilities? This is the biggest day of your life!" I got the feeling that if he wasn't kneading dough, he'd be strangling me instead, if I wasn't his boss. "The whole country's been preparing for a month, planning decorations and menus!"  Well, that didn't sting at all. "And you forgot?! I swear, Ni'la, whoever your soulmate is is probably the kindest, most forgiving person in the world!"

Right. I forgot, Ten'ri believes in the Fax. Supposedly, it's this light that glows in your chest when you fall in love with your soulmate, but never in my sixteen years have I seen it, so I had no reason to believe soulmates were even real. Still, it was a nice idea, I supposed.

"Hey, come on man," I protested. "Cut me some slack. I drank a little before bed last night."

Ten'ri sighed. "I guess I don't blame you, after that last girl you had to date." He looked back down at his dough and shaped it into four loaves. "Still," he continued, "you might want to go change. It's your birthday, and your Mom will want you to put your best face before the world."

I ran my hand through my hair and unwillingly agreed. "Fine. See you later, I guess." I made my way for the door.

My friend grinned and called after me, "That's the spirit! Knock 'em dead!"

"Whatever," I called back. When I reached the door, I looked back and grinned. "Have fun. I'm sure everything will taste fantastic."

The last thing I saw before I closed the door was Ten'ri's smiling face as he sort of painted the loaves with some kind of liquid. I ran back to my room the same way I left it and changed into a black tuxedo with a red button-down shirt. Only when I picked up the never-used black strip of satin did I realize that I don't know how to tie a tie. I sighed and trudged to my bathroom mirror, fiddling with it until I was satisfied, then tied my long bangs back, making a little fluffy... ponytail... thing at the back of my head, pulling at it until it was centered. As I did this, the water faucet ran on full blast, filling up the sink. When it had filled almost to the brim, I took a deep breath and, splash,  my face was underwater, just for a moment.