Chapter 9 At the Criss-crossroads ('t i Criss-crossroads)

The next day dawned bright and clear. Diana had been too exhausted the previous night and had simply flung herself into the soft bed in the room that Broge had pointed out. When she awoke to the brightness, she finally had a look around what was to be her room for the forseeable future.

Everything in the room was straight out of the pages of a storybook. The walls were, of course marble, but engraved with different types of flowers this time; roses, freesia, lilies and gardenia grew everywhere. As the rays of the sun touched the sunflowers through the large windows, they turned their faces to the light in unison. A couple of butterflies left their places on the lilies and meandered to the freesia. A wooden desk was placed beside the large glass doors that opened out to the small balcony filled with potted flowering plants. Diana instantly knew that this would be where she would spend most of her time. She opened the mahogany wardrobe near her bed and arranged her meager possessions inside.

She chose a dress thinking that it would help her blend in better in this strange palace of yore. The bathroom was as luxurious as the rest of the room - all marble, metal and crystal. The delectable scents of lavender, strawberry and vanilla wafted out of the bathroom cabinet where a number of bath products were crammed in.

Diana was just drying her hair when she heard a wonderful sound. As uplifting as it was impossible.

Woof! Woof!

No! It couldn't be! She raced through the corridors in search of the improbable noise.

I buried him with my own hands!

Woof! Woof! Woof!

She turned into a room - breathless and hopeful - irrationally hopeful. There was no one there.

Have I been dreaming? I could've sworn-

Mew............Mew......Meaaaawww...........

What the-

Quack-Quack....Quack-Quack......................

Diana began to wonder if there were ghosts here. Animal ghosts.

If elves are real then ghosts could be real too!

She snatched a pillow off the bed holding it like a weapon in front of her, aware of how ludicrous she looked.

What good would a pillow do against ghosts?!

Mea- A loud squawk sounded as she flung the pillow blindly at the curtains. A flash of feathers brushed against her head and she crouched, holding her hands protectively over her head.

I see you've met my pet.

The boy was standing in the doorway with an amused smile. A beautiful white parrot perched on his shoulder eyeing her with resentment. The most striking feature of the parrot was its crest of cerulean blue feathers which it had raised defiantly.

"Foeg Edhel! Foeg Edhel!", the parrot shouted.

Diana chuckled. "Oh dear! Oh I'm so sorry! I swear I thought there were ghosts here!" She smiled and held out her arm speaking in a special soothing voice. "Shhhh it's okay. I'm a friend. It's all right", she murmured in a lightly lilting voice. And to Silvanus's surprise, the parrot flew over to her hand at once.

"Her name is Azul...... or rather Zula, which she prefers."

"Azulazulazulazula-zula!" exclaimed the parrot immediately.

"She's never gone to a stranger before..." He murmured thoughtfully.

"I've always loved animals - and birds." Diana spoke, stroking the parrot's crest. It closed its eyes contentedly enjoying all the fuss. Unlike with humans - where magical powers were needed to inspire liking - animals adored her.

"Do you have pets too?" Silvanus asked good-naturedly, happy to have something in common with the girl.

To his horror, however, her expression twisted with pain. He saw a flash of images inside his mind, an excited little girl running behind a puppy in a green yard, the girl with her hands on her hips frowning at a contrite puppy with a chewed-up slipper, the girl stroking a dog lying sleepily on her bed, a horrible cracking noise - the dog whimpering as he dragged itself to the girl leaving a trail of blood in its wake - the dog's laying its furry head on the girl's shoulder.

"Suilad children! I'm glad to see you're up, Diana! We have places to go today."

Both children turned towards Broge who had appeared in the doorway. Diana smoothened her expression and gave the parrot back to Silvanus. "Yes, let's go." She mumbled and fled, afraid that she might start crying. Broge followed cheerfully, unaware of the tension in the air. Silvanus stared at the empty doorway reeling under the aftershock of her deep and devastating pain.

It was the pain of losing family.

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"Where exactly are we going?" asked Diana curiously. "I thought I was supposed to attend school here."

"Yes. But for that, you first need citizenship. Not to mention you came here with just a backpack. You are in dire need of supplies, kid."

"Is there any means of contacting my father?" Diana was worried about him. Her 'I'll-see-you-soon' was not as soon as she'd imagined.

"I'm afraid not. But I will take you back once in a while. It is not like ogradites will smell you out within minutes of setting foot on Earth. Your father knows, Diana, I told him everything before we left." More than you know. He added silently. "I just thought it more prudent that Cironir break the news to you."

"But he hasn't broken all of the news, has he?" Diana murmured to herself. Deciding that the first day here would not be the best time to ferret out secrets from Broge, she kept her thoughts to herself.

Broge led her outside the palace gates to the main road on the side of which there was a large - uh- glass ball with two seats inside it. Broge waved the band on his wrist in front of it and the glass melted away at the top. He ushered her to the seat, sat beside her and clearly called out "Criss-crossroads marketplace." The glass at the top popped back in and they zoomed away at almost the same speed as the marble boat.

"Like it? It's a far cry from those large boats that humans chug around in, I'm sure."

Diana chuckled. "They're called cars."

"The heleds are 100% environment friendly." Broge's face was smug. "Terr'ane knows humans have almost killed Earth with those smoke-spouting contraptions."

Diana shrugged, her attention fixed on examining the heled. "Can't disagree with that."

Buildings began to appear in the distance and she stared out the glass eagerly. Small pastel coloured shops, tiny buildings with their walls painted with abstract designs, quirky multi-coloured windows whizzed past them. Elves seated in similar glass balls whooshed past them in the opposite direction. Once, they came to an intersection and Diana shouted with her hands in front of her face, fearing a collision, but their glass ball merely leaped into the air and over the oncoming heled. Broge laughed at her stricken expression.

At last, the heled stopped at a crossroad in the centre of which there rose a statue twenty feet high glistening like the sun. It depicted a soldier with his right hand balled to his chest, his eyes set on the horizon. For some unknown reason, the soldier elf felt familiar to Diana. Elves in brightly coloured clothes walked by her on their way to their morning destinations, some stopped for breakfast at road-side cafes, some toted their shopping baskets browsing the attractive collections displayed through the windows, little elves ran around playing games on the side-walk. Though her surroundings were other-worldly beautiful, it was the elves that she couldn't stop staring at.

All of them were absolutely, fantastically, magically beautiful. Diana was not used to being the plain Jane in any street but it was unquestionably the case now.

"Breakfast!" exclaimed Broge pulling her into the nearest cafe. The smell of delicious baked goods was thick in the air inside. "Hi Isla! The usual for us please." A pretty platinum-blonde elf smiled at Broge from behind the counter. Almost immediately after they were seated, two plates flew to their tables laden with something that looked like a small round cake doused in syrup.

"Whoaa! I'm never going to like pancakes again." Diana murmured with her mouth full. "Broge, who's the elf whose statue's up outside?"

"Herdir Broge, Diana. I am your teacher now." He smiled while trying to look disapproving.

"Sorry Herdir." Diana smiled in response.

"I thought you would have guessed. It's the statue of our King Talish. He was...... Prince Silvanus's father."

"Was?" Diana's brows creased. So that's why he looked familiar.

"He was killed in the Great War six years ago. The elves from the Northern mountains, the Southern Plains and the Eastern Rivers had to flee here, to the Western Forests. The King and his battalion sacrificed their lives to create a protective enchantment that converted the forests around us into a maze. The davizae who ventured in lost their way forever and the attacks ceased. Vorantia used to be four times the size of what it is now." There was bitterness in his voice by the time he finished speaking.

Six years ago ...... Diana heard the distant echoes of the boy's voice, "Who else will you take from me?"

"He was a great ruler." Broge stared out the window at the bronze statue. "A true king."

Once they'd finished breakfast, a slim T-shaped rod in the middle of the table rose up, making Diana drop her napkin. The horizontal part split and a shimmering screen unfurled between the parallel rods displaying their bill. Broge swiped his wristband on the screen and it slid back into its discreet location on the table.

"You know what? Humans have this notion that if an elf were to walk into a McDonald's, he would think humans were Gods." Diana said, bemused.

Broge's smile was smug.

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Diana wished she had a set of eyes at the back of her head too - there were so many interesting things to look at. Colourful fruits jumped up and down in their basket outside a shop, silver instruments that whirred and spun were displayed in another, fragrances she could not recognize wafted from a violently pink shop. They finally walked through the thick wooden doors of a large brick-red building. "Custodes de divitiis, Anhydrin Caer." proclaimed the carved writing on the door.

"Anhydrin Caer is the safest place to store anything in Vorantia. Those who work here have been guardians of wealth for thousands of years." explained Broge.

Immediately after Diana crossed the threshold, she felt like she had grown taller. It took her a second to realize that she had not grown, rather everything else had shrunk to her size. They passed by a number of elves sitting in kid-sized chairs and took a right turn to a staggering number of counters all manned by ....................... children? Wait, no. Their faces were older.

"Dwarves?!"

"Yes, the keepers of the Bank of Anhydrin Caer"

What next? Diana wondered, shaking her head a little.

Broge led Diana to the furthest counter; a wizened face looked up.......... and his eyes narrowed. "We wish to make a citizenship, Tirihanth," said Broge.

"We do not give citizenship to davizae!" The dwarf stood up in his seat glaring daggers at Broge and making Diana shrink back a little. The nearest dwarf dropped the egg sized emerald he was holding and it clattered to the floor. A hailstorm of whispers originated from the nearby counters.

"I firmly believe that she is already a customer of this bank." Broge suddenly grabbed Diana's hand and pressed her finger into a small pin fixed on the counter.

"Legacy account number 4224. Welcome, daughter of Celestia." flashed across the screen in front of the dwarf. His body went limp, so much so that he looked to be in some danger of falling off his seat. The hall had fallen into a hushed silence.

"It's true! The last fairy has returned!" The dwarf's voice was loud in the silent room and then a positive cacophony of voices broke out. Eager faces surrounded her seeking to look at the last fairy, to hold her hand, to cry out in joy. Some of the dwarves had literal tears in their eyes.

"All right! All right!" shouted Tirihanth. "Everyone back to work. Don't crowd the fairy." Diana was relieved. As much as she enjoyed attention - she was a dancer, after all - she did not like the discomfiting tearful gazes of the dwarves.

"What is your name, daughter of Celestia?"

"Diana Drew."

His face grew wistful, an ancient sadness passed like a shadow over his eyes. "I did not think I would live to see the specie of the great Queen Snow again." Diana gave him what she hoped was a reassuring smile. She had not yet emerged from the uncomfortable weirdness of the situation.

"Ah, let me finish your processing." While Diana sucked the tiny puncture wound on her finger, Tirihanth waved his hand over the screen and pulled out a black band similar to the one Broge had. He handed the band and the screen to Diana and she stared at an enormous figure that showed the balance in the account. "Well, your mother was a senior Hiril in Ciathain." said Tirihanth happily.

"I don't know how much...." Diana trailed off.

"Thirty aes make an argentum and fifteen argentums make an aurum." Tirihanth showed her the coins that were made of bronze, silver and gold respectively. "We'll pack some for you, shall we, though it wouldn't be used much. The citizenship band is linked with your account and can be used for all payments."

"Welcome to the digital world," said an impressed Diana, while the dwarf and elf gave her confused looks.

As they were being bowed out the door by half a dozen dwarves, Diana flippantly remarked. "I almost feel like Snow White, surrounded by the seven dwarves."

Broge stared at her like she was missing something very obvious.

"No."

"Yes."

No!"

"Yes."

"Queen Snow is.......... Snow White!"

"Of course! The Original Seven were found by Queen Snow. They trained her in warfare and she trained them in magic. To the end of her life, they remained her steadfast guardians. They were instrumental in the civil war she led to reclaim her kingdom from her step-mother."

"Jesus Christ! The story my Dad read to me is just - well - different." Diana's choked out incredulously.

"Just a smidge."

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Their next stop was fashionable boutique by the name of Valhalla. "Whoaa this certainly is Valhalla for a girl," said Diana referring to the Norse concept of heaven. Bits of colourful ribbon, scarves and jewelry flew around the shop draping themselves over customers trying on a variety of dresses. Broge threw her a confused look. "Lady Valha actually lives at the palace; she's the royal designer and apparel-maker."

"I would love to meet her!" Diana drank in the exquisite collection of dresses, gowns, head-pieces - there was even a collection of fashionable shopping baskets. This woman knows her stuff.

A perky lady elf bounced out from behind a mannequin and beamed at Diana ............... before screaming in terror. "Not davizae, lady, not davizae." Diana put her hands up sullenly. After Broge's explanation, the lady beamed so brightly, Diana was afraid she'd hurt her jaw. She waved her hand over a measuring tape that took Diana's measurements slithering like a snake around her body and then led the lady to the aisle containing clothing of her size.

"Which uniform do you need?"

Broge looked up from a pair of cuff-links jumping on the counter. "Uhh Annui please."

"Three sets of Annui uniforms, nightclothes, daywear ooooooo how about a gown. She gestured to a blue gown that Diana could imagine Cinderella wearing to the ball - it was off-shoulder with multi-coloured butterflies that seemed ready to take flight as if by magic (which Diana reminded herself, they probably could). But she tore her eyes away from the beautiful gown and smiled at the assistant. "I don't think there would be much need of a gown at the palace - for me."

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Broge opened the door to the Tales and Talismans bookshop for Diana and she stepped into her own personal wonderland. Books and books and more books! Aisles of books on spells, charms, flora, fauna, novels, stories, comic books whose characters jumped out of the page and danced on your palm. After the initial reaction of terror from the slightly hunched shopkeeper (which Diana was finding tiresome now), he collected over two dozen books for her.

"You're kidding, right?" Diana was sure if the books were stacked vertically, the stack would be taller than her.

"You're going to start sixth year at Realta Ban. The extra books are of the other years that would be most useful in order to catch up." His hunch became more pronounced as he stooped to smile at her. She could not help noticing that even old, hunched people were disturbingly good-looking in this place.

Never will I hear that I am beautiful again.

They bought sleek pens made of a kind of metal Diana had never seen, geometrical instruments that she did not know how to use, sharp tipped pencils that never became blunt and a host of other equally surprising school supplies. While Broge was trying to fit the books into a number of shopping baskets, Diana spied a thin little elf dart by the window. It struck her that, unlike the picture-perfect elves milling about the market, this boy was just plain scruffy. Diana opened the door of the shop and spotted him staring longingly at a shelf of toffees in the store next door. The shopkeeper was busy with customers but paused to throw a suspicious look at the boy. Diana's mind went back several years.

"Do you want something, Diana?" Carson Drew's smile did not hide the exhaustion of the double-shift he had been doing for the past few months.

Diana pretended not to take notice of the rows of candies and chocolate bars in the aisle of Wall-Mart. "No Daddy." Things had been rough those times, before Mr. Drew had landed the job at Scotland Yard. She'd often seen her father worriedly shifting through bills at night, though he had never compromised on anything she needed. The guitar...... the dance lessons.......

"Do you want something, kid?"

The boy turned a frightened pair of eyes towards her. He looked ready to take off at the slightest trigger - like a frightened hare.

"A lollipop, please." Diana said firmly. The shopkeeper raised her eyebrows at her but fortunately did not notice her ears. She handed the lollipop to the little elf, paid by swiping her band on the screen and the kid smiled showing a set of brilliant white teeth beneath the grime. Then he took off into the nearest alley.

"Heyy....." Diana followed the young elf wanting to ask why the kid - who looked older than five - was not at school. The alley twisted and turned and finally reached a blank stone wall. The boy knocked three times on the wall that turned like the revolving door of a hotel. The boy slipped through it.

Curiouser and curiouser.

The road beyond the secret wall forked off so many times that Diana started wondering if she would find her way back, but the boy kept popping up just a few intersections away and Diana continued to follow him. She realized that the buildings were becoming more and more run-down the farther she went; walls with peeling paint and dusty cobwebs replaced the immaculate colourful buildings and in the distance she could see something like ruins where a few elves milled about. There was something definitely off about them; they wore long dark coloured clothes that were clearly torn in places and their faces were gaunt - they were the opposite of the elves she'd seen at the market.

Is this the bad part of town? I should turn back. It might not be saf-

A hand grabbed her shoulder making her jump out of her skin.

"Broge! What the hell man! You scared the bejeezus out of me!"

"Who told you to come wandering around here? This is not a safe place." Broge was annoyed, but there was genuine fear in his voice as well.

"What is this place?"

"Let's just say that people from the palace are not welcome here. Now come on." He grabbed her hand and towed her away.

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Broge asked her to close her eyes after emerging into the market. He evaded every question of hers about the slums and led her to a shop bursting with different noises. She opened her eyes to mewing cats, barking dogs, chittering mice, hooting owls, squawking parrots and a host of other creatures she couldn't even name.

"Why are we here, Broge?" Diana muttered suspiciously, trying hard to ignore the litter of white puppies in the corner of the shop.

"You're allowed to have pets at school! Pick whichever you like." Broge grinned happily.

"Why?"

"I know about your dog, Diana." His grin subsided into a sad smile. "You should have another companion."

Diana swallowed loudly trying to keep her emotions in check. She took a deep breath and with an effort looked up at Broge calmly.

"Thank you. But my companion is irreplaceable."