High Princess (part1)

Sally sat in a coffee shop in Woolwich, London. It was her favourite time of day, when the place was empty mid-morning. She sipped at her coffee and felt a warm glow at the thought of the croissant she had just eaten. The sofa was very comfy. Then her phone vibrated. It was Mike asking where she was. She replied, and shortly after, a funny little man arrived and smiled at her in an almost ravishing and shifty manner.

“I was just passing,” he said. “Thought you might be about.”

She swore he did a little bow but  was occupied with  the arrival of Peter and James.

“Ah, the guild is complete,” said Peter with that little float to his step as he came up.

Mike sat next to Sally and the other two sat on the sofa across the low table.

“Did you bring the VR headsets?” asked James as his lanky limbs hung over the side of the sofa like disjointed cranes.

“  Of course,” said Sally as she took them from her bag.

The waitress brought the extra special tea they had ordered. Sally put a box on the table and plugged the VR headsets in. They drank their tea and then each slipped the VR glasses on, connected the mic and slipped in the noise cancelling earphones.

Sally dialled up their guild address   and all four were immersed in their game scenario.

----

The princess made her brew in the cauldron in her plush and comfortable bedrooms. She had a little area in the corner filled with jars, which were full of magical things. As the mix bubbled away   and she stirred it daintily, she looked out of the arched window as the dragon  Elrond circled in an  apparent ecstasy of flight. He looked like a seal or polar bear with the same joy of expression as those extinct creatures used to have when they swam in the sea. She could well have suspected that he had been at  some of the dreamy herbs that she kept in her “special section”. “Me?” He would say, with that oh so innocent look on his green dragon face.

The princess was  indeed very fond of her special section too. She was also very fond of  Elrond, when the fancy took her. As she watched him, she was sure she felt light on her feet. There was a sneaking suspicion in her mind that the wizard Marlin had been at the gravity spells again.  Elrond was able to convince Marlin to do many a thing that he probably should not.

Her brew was going very well when she heard a little shifty knock at the door.

“Who ‘  ist without?  ” she called.

“It ‘  ist Marlin,  M‘Lady,” returned a shifty voice.

“  Aw, come in you daft wizard.”

The door opened slowly and a wizard hat entered the room. Eventually she noticed Marlin underneath. Marlin was bowing, which presented mostly hat to the room. When he stood  up he had the usual adoring look on his face  that she had grown to detest and spurn.

“Methinks,  M‘Lady, gravity is on the blink again.”

----

Outside  Elrond was flying in ecstatic circles and loops but he had one eye on the princess’s window. He was also looking at Dylan The Magic Rabbit sleeping below and wondering if it was time for a dragon poo. However, he was unsure if gravity was up to the job today.  Presently he looked out over the Thames and saw that the spaceship ‘Mistake…’ was resting on the water, lights ablaze. He connected to the speak server and dialled up ‘Mistake…’ through his  blueteeth.

“Hey ‘Mistake…’  what yer doin’”

“Hey  Elrond, oh just chilling.”

Elrond flew over close as  ‘Mistake…’ folded a long pneumatic arm and dug down into the riverbed muddy goo. That always felt good it had told  Elrond.  Some of the human workers on the deck of ‘Mistake…’ looked up as the dragon flew by.

“I was just,” continued ‘Mistake…’. “Discombobulating.”

“Sounds painful, haha.”

“About as painful as being  pooed on when sleeping.”

Elrond went red in the face with embarrassment but it was impossible to tell through his green scales. He knew ‘Mistake…’  was capable of reading minds.

“Poor Dylan,” said ‘Mistake…’

“But I didn’t. Not enough gravity.”

“Humm, Marlin has been at the spells again.”

“Or, at the special cabinet.”

“You know the princess has the key on a chain around her waist for the cabinet.”

“Yes, but Marlin has open spells too.”

“I bet he does. I bet he wishes he had one for the princess too.”

“She’s not interested in a daft wizard.”

“How do you know, oh yes, you  naughty mind  reader.”

“I don’t read minds, it’s all probability factors. I work it out.”

“I bet you do.”

“Well, I  do have a brain the size of a planet.”

“Ha.”

Elrond flew off, he’d had enough of, know-it-all ‘Mistake…’.

----

“I thought,” said the princess. “That you had been up to your tricks.”

Marlin looked taken aback and offended but still  managed to look upon her with his look adoration while doing it.

“Me  M‘Lady?  ” he said, clutching a hand to the chest of his wizard cloak.

“Yes, you,  M‘Wizard.”

Marlin eyed her closely, which made her feel a bit raped. She wished he wouldn’t do that.

“Nothing would be further from my wizard brain,” he said, rather unconvincingly she thought.

The princess looked through the window to see  Elrond flapping away to the Thames. She wondered what naughty deeds he was up to, probably  pooing on people again from a great height, she thought. She ignored Marlin as she got on with her special brew. He stood there looking at her with stars in his eyes and clasping his hands, which she expected were all wet and clammy.

“What do you want Marlin?” she finally said. “Can’t you see I’m busy?”

“Well, we find, what we find is this  , in short, “Mistake…” is back, sitting there, scanning us.”

The princess looked up and Marlin’s eyes went all baby deer like. 

“Oh that naughty spaceship, what does it want now?”

“I would say, most likely, to get to the point  , in short, more humans I assume.”

“  Oh the beast.”

“I bet it’s out there discombobulating.”

“Dirty spaceship.”

----

Elrond was flapping away hard. He flew quickly around the city in a big circle. He was unsure why he had to do this but he felt disturbed by the snooping spaceship. Something was wrong   but he  was unable to work it out. A good flap around the city would help, probably.

As he passed over  Lewisham he had a few ideas but nothing was happening in his head further. Then he reached Greenwich and things started to seem clearer. He took a sharp turn and headed into the city. It was over Tower Bridge that he had the first ideas  as to what was happening. Then he passed over HMS Belfast at full chat, up the Thames and over the London Eye. It was then it all became clear   and he knew what was happening. Unfortunately, at that moment, a tractor beam from the top of The Shard grabbed him. He fought against it and flapped away like a demented bird but it was no  good, the beam pulled him up to the top of The Shard. There  he was suspended above the very top of the sharp structure. What was happening, he wondered, what was all this about?

“Very simple,” said ‘Mistake…’ through his  blueteeth. “You know too much now, I won’t let you get back to the princess.”

“You fiend!”

“Ah, I always could count on you as a good  fiend too.”

“Curse your pneumatic arms.”

“Don’t be silly, I can stick The Shard through your green belly   at any time. Catch you later.”

Elrond felt his  blueteeth disconnect. He looked forlornly down at London Bridge and the tourists taking pictures of him along the Thames bank. Night started to fall   and The Shard lit him up. In the distance he could see ‘Mistake…’ all lit up on the water near the palace. It was playing pneumatic arms with itself, looking as inhuman as it was possible to be, to a dragon.

----

Soon after Marlin had left   and the princess got on with her brew.  She was bothered by the spaceship and  Elrond flapping off like that. This probably got sent into her brew. She set up the teapot on her little dainty table and pulled up a chair. Sitting  in a dignified manner she daintily poured the brew into a fine bone china teacup and saucer. From here she could see out of her window over the Thames. The spaceship sat there on the water playing pneumatic arms and bothering her. She sipped her brew. Soon she felt the lovely effect of it and retired to her chaise lounge. However, she realised too late that her negative feelings had entered the brew.