Intrigue {Chapter 1}

“Joline…Joline!” shouted Melody. I was finally shaken from my thoughts. “Are you listening to me?”

“Sorry, yes, I am.” I replied, Melody just sighed.

“Joline, you have to pay attention to this. You know the importance of being a slave to the Royals, especially the elevated death [fatality?] rate that comes with it!”

“Yeah whatever. It’s no big deal, we learn the same thing before every owner.” I waved my hand at her words, dismissing the thought.

“No, it is a big deal. This isn’t just some random owner, this is the prince! You have to be submissive and well-mannered!” Melody exclaimed.

I sighed, Melody made a lot of sense but I hardly acknowledged her reprimands [admonishments?] only because they are so frequent due to her recurrent paranoia. “You’re right, Mel, I should be more careful. The truth is; I’m scared. I’m scared of what’s gonna happen to me but more concerned with [fretful?] the safety of you and Lion; you guys are my life.” Tears were gathering in my eyes just as they escaped from Melody’s like fugitives swimming away from Alcatraz.[?]

“Oh, you’re so altruistic; Lionel and I are lucky to have a friend like you!” she squealed joyously while hugging me tightly, almost to the point where I feared my life energy would be squeezed out of me.

Then I heard the dramatically elongated squeak of my room door opening. Turning, I saw a head poke out timidly into the doorway; Lion’s head.

“A-am I interrupting something?” Lion bashfully questioned while delicately closing the door behind him as he entered the room.

“Aww, Lion, come here silly!” I replied. He shuffled into farther into the room. Lionel, Lion for short, is the sweetest [recently turned] thirteen-year old kid I know, only two years younger than myself, and he’s way too shy for his own good. “Lion, you are the most adorable kid I know!”

“Kid, I’m a man!” he exclaimed valiantly, pushing out his torso and flexing his ‘muscles’.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I meant to say, the most gorgeous manly man that I know!”

“You got that right!” I rolled my eyes playfully.

“Oh just come and join the hug, silly!” he smiled and nodded merrily as he pushed Melody away and jumped into my arms. Melody looked flabbergasted at Lionel’s actions.

“What? No! No, you cannot go and push me away from my friend, Mini-man!” Melody jumped onto us and we all fell to the ground. We shared a small silence and burst out laughing, Melody even let out a large guffaw while Lionel and I rolled around the floor.

These two characters; I will by no means ever forget them for as long as I subsist on this earth. Not even being designated as a slave to succor the prince’s every wish would ever alter my memories with them; good or bad.

All of a sudden, there was a knock on the door. I already knew who it was: the Keeper. We never learned his name; we were to refer to him as Keeper and Keeper only. We all turned and faced the door, bowing our heads slightly as he glared condescendingly at us—though we didn’t help any in the given situation seeing as how we were already on the ground.

“Out, she must sleep before tomorrow.” Melody and Lionel scrambled to their feet. They stalked toward the door and did a slightly awkward wave which I returned as I mouthed a bye to them.

I sighed as I climbed onto my bed. Thoughts of the events to come rushed into my head as I incessantly tossed around until I found myself in a comfortable position. After about an hour, I presume, I finally fell into a dreamless sleep.