"She didn't come again?" Czarina said with a moon-eyed expression when the servant she had told to call Lulana came back alone for the fifth time. She placed her hands on her waist. "But I thought I told you to come back with her even if you had to drag her here?"
The servant shook his bowed head. "I-I tried Miss. I even had t-to lie that it was Ma'am that was calling her," he said, mumbling the second sentence.
"And what did she do?" she asked, raising a brow.
He shook his head. "Nothing. She simply... c-continued with her duties."
"So what if I'm dying and I need her what will she do then?"
"I... d-don't know Miss."
"Shit." Czarina sighed and rubbed her eyes with the heels of her palms. "Where is she right now?"
"In the library on the ground floor arranging the books."
"Take me to her."
"Yes Miss."
"Stay here Bruvver I'll be right back," she said to her dog the instant he sat up to follow her. He sat down right back and stared at her as she left.
Czarina was led to the library by the servant who had his shoulders raised, nearly falling twice if not for Czarina who held him by his elbow to avoid that. This only made him bow multiple times, muttering several words of apology. But the redhead only waved off his words, urging him to take him to Lulana. The two of them got to the ground floor, and when they got closer to the library, Czarina's heart began to beat in a fast but steady pace.
"This is it Miss," the servant said, pointing at the doors that were slightly open.
"Okay. Thank you. You can leave." She raised a brow when the servant stiffened as a result of the words she said, his mouth agape, and his eyes slightly wide in surprise. But Czarina only rolled her eyes and marched to the double doors. She threw them open and shrieked, "Lulana!" She spotted the servant at the end of the library. Lulana was dusting books and didn't even flinch at the mention of her name. Czarina growled and walked towards her with thundering footsteps. "Lulana what is wrong with you?! I had called for you several times yet you dared to not answer my call?!"
She stood behind her, gripped her shoulder, and turned her around. She was met with a face that showed little to no concern, her eyes glazed over. Czarina gnashed her teeth, dropping her hands. This close to Lulana, she could perceive a flowery scent on her but she simply pushed it to the farthest part of her mind. It was not a time for her to be horny.
She swallowed. "This is three weeks now that you've been avoiding me. What the hell did I do?"
Still, the Yumboe didn't say a word. She merely turned back around and returned her attention to the books she was cleaning. This made a low growl to rumble at the back of Czarina's throat, causing her to bellow, "LULANA FUCKING ANSWER ME!"
"Who the fuck is yelling like the bitch that they are?!" Czarina heard Vladimir shriek.
She groaned lowly. "Fuck," she hissed under her breath.
Czarina gritted her teeth and turned around to see Vladimir hold the doors open. He was lazily drinking from a water bottle, his naked torso covered in sweat, a shirt thrown over a shoulder.
If I stay here, he's going to make things worse, she thought as Vladimir dropped his hand and narrowed his eyes, giving her a foxy smirk. She clenched her hands and marched back to the entrance. Do not engage. Do not engage.
"Oh? So the bitch is you?" he snickered as she walked past him, making her roll her eyes. He tried to stop her by holding her arm but she rushed out of his range. He grunted lightly with an eyeroll. "Oh wait you bitch, I want to tell you something." She didn't listen and continued walking away. "You sure you don't want to wait and listen?" She didn't stop and then he muttered, "even if I have your own letter?"
Now this caught her attention. She stopped and spun around, her eyes wide in a ferocious manner. She noticed the identical cards that he was holding up. She also noticed the balled up papers that he was just pulling out of his pocket, the water bottle he had been holding tossed aside. She gritted her teeth. With a swift gait, she rushed back to him.
"Vladimir how did you get my letter? Give it back," she hissed, pouncing on him.
"Not so fast Princess," he said, holding the items behind his back, bending out of her reach. His shirt fell of his shoulder and he simply matched it as he danced away from her on his toes, giving her a toothy smirk. "The least you could do is at least say a small, wittle "thank you". Go on, do it."
Czarina reached out a hand. "My letter or you're telling Dad how you got my personal and private letter," she mumbled through her teeth.
He waved his hand in dismissal. "Ah, that won't be necessary because Dad is already upset due to what Mum had said to you, so it's best if you don't add to it." Czarina flinched and his smirk widened. "Besides, isn't the last race always a normal car race?"
She shut her eyes and took in a deep breath. "Vladimir?" she said in a calm voice, opening her eyes. "Give me my letter."
"You don't believe me? Well here's your letter first." He tossed the balled up paper at her; it hit her chest and she caught it in her hand before it could drop to the floor.
She held out her hand and tilted her head to the side. "The card."
"After I read it." He dramatically cleared his throat as be raised the card. He drank in her red face as he softly said, "it just says, "Mairborough Stadium"."
"I don't care. Give me my card!" Vladimir shrugged and threw it at her. She caught it and pocketed it at once. Czarina huffed and turned around to leave.
"You know, I can almost smell the stench of your failure and the sweet smell of my victory wafting off the letters," he chuckled, making her stop.
Czarina turned around and said, "failure and victory can't be perceived together on the same surface. Grow a new set of balls Vladimir and stop acting like a child." A cough came from the library and Czarina smirked in satisfaction before she left, leaving her brother to fume in silence.
Czarina hurried to her room and the moment she entered it, she went to her vanity and opened one of its drawers. There was only a single glass case in it. She collected the glass case and took the pair of glasses out of it. The glasses was a special kind that helped her read. It worked a few times but not perfectly, and that was one of the cases as she wore it and looked at the bold letters on the card. Luckily, she could make out the words with the aid of the glasses; Vladimir had been right.
"Of course it's always a normal car race when it comes to the last race," she muttered as she took off her glasses. She clicked her tongue as she looked at it. "Never thought I'd have to use it during the races."
━━━━━━━
Czarina stared at herself in the mirror, remembering the first time she put on her racing attire, slowly zipping it up. "It doesn't... feel the same," she whispered, touching the designs and the zipper. "It feels like... like I've gone from one point in life to another."
And that's when it came rushing back, memories of the first time she had stepped into a racing car—well, it had been more of a toy car than a racing car, but it had been big enough to seem like a little automobile. It had been a long time ago, her uncle, Dumbledore, wrapping his big hands around her smaller ones, cheerfully mimicking the sound of an engine, her giggles filling the area. But it had been a long time ago. It was in the past.
Due to the hazy but beautiful memory, Czarina, in a breathy voice, whispered, "Uncle Dorey." At once, she exhaled sharply, snapping out of her reverie. She blinked rapidly, letting her hands drop to her side. "The game is real. This is real," she mumbled, fisting her hands. "What if I fail? What if Vladimir wins? If Vladimir wins, I'm never in my life ever going to hear the end of it."
Czarina quickly pulled her hair into a ponytail and walked out of the dressing room. She could hear the sound of loud cheers and horns as she stepped towards the end of the hallway. Walking into the sun, Czarina squinted her eyes, her hand shielding it from the harsh sunrays. She followed the other racers as they were taken to their racing cars. The cars looked different from the other cars that they had used during the tryouts; it looked more like the ones that Formula One racers used.
Czarina was handed the keys to the car and a helmet. As she was about to enter her car, a hand held her shoulder and she started. She turned around, looking up to meet the eyes of her uncle, Dumbledore. Her eyebrows flew up.
"U-Uncle Dorey. I mean... Du-Dumbledore," she stuttered, fidgeting with her helmet. She dropped her eyes when he gave her a bright smile. She frowned, quickly saying, "I-I have to go. I'll... I'll—" She stiffened as he hugged her.
Dumbledore let go when she began to make a fuss. He snorted, shaking his head, his hands cupping her shoulders. "I have nothing to say except good luck."
Czarina stared at him in surprise for a split second before shrugging off his hands. "Yeah... Thanks." He nodded at her and she opened the car to enter it.
Czarina had her head in when Dumbledore said, "just do it for the women." She jumped, banging her head against the car. She groaned, the sound morphing into a growl when Dumbledore began to laugh.
"Dumb Dorey!!" she shrieked, taking out her head to raise a middle finger at him. His laugh became louder and he did the same thing, making her face turn redder.
"Now there's the Czarina I know. So bashful," he said, reaching out to pinch her cheek but she slapped it away. She raised a foot to kick him but he ran away.
Czarina huffed, rubbing the spot she had bumped. "Hmn! That dummy. Dumb dummy. Dumb-Dumb!"
"Oh how sweet," Vladimir said as he stepped closer, hands behind his back. Czarina stiffened but rested a little, turning to stare at him in the eye. Vladimir hmmed and patted her shoulder, drumming her fingers against her shoulders. She slapped his hand away. He looked at it then rolled his eyes. "Just wanted to make sure that you'll not be too sad when I win." He was about to leave but Czarina dragged him back by his wrist and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, hugging him tightly.
He grunted. "Oi. Let—"
She stared hard into his eyes. "This is to make sure that you don't cry and wet your pants when I finish first," she said as she patted his back several times.
Vladimir growled and shoved her away. She collided with her car and smiled haughtily at her brother as he returned to his car. Czarina snorted and got into her own car. She switched on the car's engine and wore her helmet. Then she waited in silence before a few personnels gave them the signal to drive into the racing tracks.
All of them slowly drove to the tracks, the cheers of the audience becoming louder. In those cheers, she could hear her name. Once they were in position, Czarina looked at the audience and saw that some of them were having a flag that had her picture and number displayed on it. This made Czarina's heart swell in pride, a smirk creeping onto her face.
She placed a hand on her chest as she looked back at the tracks, trying to steady her breathing. She slid her gaze to the timer as it began to countdown, people echoing its numbers. When it hit zero, a loud horn sounded and the racers where shooting down the tracks.
"I can win this if I'm careful," she said to herself.
Czarina was careful not to rush too much in order not to repeat what that happened during the tryouts. Contrary to the tryouts, there were no obstacles, so getting through the laps were easy. The more laps she completed, the faster she drove her car. When she was at the last lap, she was at full speed, driving with the speed of sound. Czarina kept her eyes on the finish line, ready to win.
Her brother's car appeared beside hers and she pressed her foot into the accelerator pad. "Not today Vladimir," she growled to herself, her car going faster, Vladimir's own car matching her speed.
Because of her determination and unrelentingness, Czarina saw herself zooming past the finish, being the first to cross it, and also being the first to get the checkered flag.
When she circled her car to a stop, Czarina exhaled and leaned back, the hands she hand around the steering wheel vibrating with energy. Her eyes became wide. "I did it." Czarina held her helmet and pulled it off. "I was the first to finish." She got out of her car, staring at the people who were rushing to her. "I won." Then she threw the helmet aside. "I'm the winner!" she yelled as people around her chanted her name and cheered. Czarina waved at all of them with a teary smile. When she spotted her brother, he was heaving badly. He tossed his helmet aside and walked away.
Serves you right, she thought, still waving at the audience.
Later on, Czarina was given her trophy. Soon, she saw herself taking multiple pictures with several people. By the time dusk came around, she was throwing a duffle bag over her shoulder, and hugging her trophy to her chest as she walked out of the dressing room. Czarina began to hum a jovial tune but froze on the spot at the sight of her mother. Reine was standing a few feet away from the exit. She was clasping a purse in both hands before herself, wearing a blank face, staring right at her daughter.
Czarina hugged her trophy tighter to herself, clearing her throat. "Mum? What... are you doing here?" she said softly as she continued walking.
Reine eyes landed her trophy, her eyes dull. She scoffed quietly and looked into Czarina's eyes. The corners of her lips jerked up. "So this is the only thing you can win in life? A trophy from a simple race?" Reine shook her head before she sighed, her face becoming blank again. "I just came here to tell you at least you've finally won something in your life. I... I know that I am not anywhere near perfect, but I appreciate any sort of win. So, begrudgingly, I want to say, congratulations." Without another word to spare, she turned around and strutted out of the place.
Czarina's initial shock began to simper the more she repeated her mother's words in her head. She rubbed her chest. "That... was comforting." Czarina stayed on the same spot for a while, doing nothing except breathing. The sound of loud footsteps made her raise her head. Her friends were approaching her.
"Congratulations!" Mauvine said as she rushed to Czarina and threw her arms around her. She moved her from side to side before she held her at arm's length and grinned at her. And then she held her face and squished it. "You worked hard and got rewarded."
Farina nudged her side and she stepped aside with a groan. "You did awesome," Farina said into her ear as she embraced her, rubbing her back. She patted her back before unwrapping her arms.
Czarina heaved a sigh and shrugged, a hand on her chest. "I fought and I won." Her face scrunched up before she rolled her eyes. "That sounds cringey and cliche."
"Says the protagonist," Farina laughed.
"Whatever."
Mauvine interlocked her arms with Farina and Czarina. "How about we go out and celebrate?" she said, looking from one friend to another.
Farina shrugged and Czarina said, "but I need to change into decent cloths. Follow mw back to my place and wait as I get ready?"
"That's a plan I do not oppose to," Farina said as Mauvine dragged them with her so they could move to the exit.
The three friends returned to Czarina's house. They waited in her room as she got prepared. When she was done, on their way down the stairs, Czarina spotted Lulana walking past.
"Lulana!" she said. Her friends stopped talking, the trio staring at the Yumboe as she stopped walking. Lulana looked at her with dull eyes and she held her gaze. With an authoritative voice, she said, "accompany me to Fauny Fauns?"
Lulana stayed quiet for a few seconds before she said, "yes."
Author's Note: soooooo... I'm back in school which means there'll be less time to talk. :') I'll try as much as possible to update.