Ravish Me, Oh Great Wizard King!!!

"You go on with the High Advisor, Princess. I'll take care of little Felix." Nonna held out her hand to little Felix, who at first did not want to leave Mira.

With a little encouragement from both women, however, he grudgingly fell into Nonna's arms and they disappeared with the serving staff, with half whispered promises of something sweet for Felix at the end of the short trip.

Meanwhile, she was also being absconded by her four handmaidens. It seemed as if there was some urgency in their actions, so she did not protest.

The urgency was real.

What normally took two hours to create was done in less than an hour. Mira was back into some form of a queen-looking gown and her hair was styled in a high up-sweep, accentuating the jewelry that she never took off, the gold Queen band she wore on her brow and the choker necklet she wore around her neck.

The gown they put on her was much less grand than the one she wore previously. It was pale rosebud pink, decorated with rows and rows of white pearls, draping everywhere. The only thing that Mira liked about this dress was that it matched the pink Hello Kitty Glock that she wore on its holster, hanging from the right side of her waist.

The gun was the other item that Mira kept on her constantly. Without Zander by her side, Mira no longer trusted in the safety of her surroundings. The only protection she trusted in at this point was her trusty little Victoria Glock

At first, the handmaidens were shocked at the gun's appearance on her waist. They did not know what it was, nor did they know what it could do. All they were concerned with was the fact that it clashed very badly with their exquisite queen gown.

Finally, in a fit of desperation, they took pink sashes and wrapped it around the holster so she could wear it with her gown without looking like a misfit. They even added some extra pearls as a decorative touch so that it looked like a cute little bag, with a Hello Kitty pink handle poking out of the top.

Then the women rushed her out and handed her over to Tinsel Pomfrey and Alfric Hobart, who were waiting in the hallway.

The men took over from the handmaidens and began moving her at a fast clip, towards the main area of the Palace. This was, they assured her in whispered tones, where the King held court every day. It was the King's Court.

"Quickly. Tell me what his plans are."

Tinsel Pomfrey suddenly slowed his pace. He began mumbling quickly into her ear, almost as if he was rambling about some random events and miscellaneous people.

Their footsteps rang out on the stone floor of the palace, echoing up into the high ceiling, muffling Tinsel's hurried whispers. They passed by various sentry guards, none of whom heard a thing due to Daran's quick magik fingers, jamming harmless white noise into their ears.

It did not take long for Mira to grasp the enormity of what Tinsel was saying.

The closer they got to the King's Court, the slower they walked. She said nothing, merely listened. Alfric Hobart followed silently behind, his eyes darted everywhere on the lookout for any signs of trouble.

They eventually reached the main hall. She stood facing the blue twenty-feet tall double doors of the King's Court. A nervous and annoying twitch in her cheek was developing and it would not go away.

Mira took a deep breath---then nodded once.

Tinsel Pomfrey took hold of one side of the door while Alfric Hobart took hold of the other side.

With an unspoken sign, they both opened the door simultaneously, revealing to the inhabitants within, the first glimpse of their new Princess Consort, Mira Lee Tamein, of the Northern Realm.

The room, which had been in a state of quiet hysteria, suddenly fell silent. All eyes were on the Princess Consort and her two attendants---very high level attendants, at that.

"Attention all!" A court announcer yelled out in a loud voice.

"Presenting---The Princess Consort, Mira Lee Tamein, of the Northern Realm, accompanied by Sir Tinsel Pomfrey, High Advisor to the Wizard Crown Prince Zander Tamein of the Northern Realm, and Sir Alfric Hobart, Commandant General of the Western Legion of Dwarves."

Wow, that was a mouthful! Mira thought. And since when did that old dwarf turn into a Commandant General? The first time she met him, he was holding onto a dirt shovel. She thought he was a farmer.

The two men escorted her down a long deep blue carpet all the way to the end of the great hall. Four white marble steps led up to a high backed chair made of silver metal that looked extremely uncomfortable to sit on. Luckily, there were a couple of blue cushions strategically placed on the seat and back of the throne.

She approached the chair and, with some trepidation, reached out for the arm rests.

ZZZZZZAAAAAAPPPPPPP!!!

Damn static electricity!!!

She nearly cursed, but managed to hold onto her tongue as she firmly placed her bottom onto the square blue cushion without further mishaps.

Mira had barely settled onto that blasted metal chair when a blue-haired Ashryan approached her and gave a perfunctory bow.

He was tall and bony, with long thinning hair at the top of his bumpy head, hanging down in thin blue strands all the way down to his waist. The skin on his forehead was speckled with liver spots and his hawkish nose poked out above a single pruney slash that was his mouth. Aside from his blue hair, he looked quite ordinary with the exception of his eyes.

His eyes were steely grey with unfathomable flecks of deep dark bottomless black.

He was dressed in what Mira recognized as the Court Wizard outfit, a white robe that had a band of silver metal on the top edge of what looked to Mira like a high mandarin collar. It was familiar to her because this was the outfit that Zander had worn when she first met him.

The sudden thought of Zander brought a flood of tears to her eyes, which she swallowed down. She had to focus on this monumental task of preserving his kingdom so that when he returned, he would not have to work so hard to restore it.

"Greetings, your Majesty. I am High Wizard Griswold Toblerone, at your service." He straightened and leveled a cool gaze directly at her.

She returned the stare for a moment, and then nodded her greetings to him.

"We have been waiting for your presence, your Majesty, so that we may begin our daily Court session. Please give us the Confirmation of Approval for today's session." He nodded at a courtier who was standing in the wings holding a platter containing a few items.

The courtier made his way towards the dais until he was in front of Mira. He kneeled down on one knee and waited for her to give him permission to approach.

"You may rise." She said perfunctorily.

It was such a chore to have to keep telling people to rise when they met her. Maybe next time she was back on Earth, she could order a Tee-shirt with the words 'You May Rise' printed on the front, so it would be understood and she wouldn't have to keep saying it over and over.

From somewhere behind the dais, two other courtiers brought a low silver table and placed it in front of her. Then, the courtier who was holding the platter approached her and placed the platter on the table.

"Please sign and stamp your approval to begin the session on this day." He picked up the pen, dipped it into the inkwell and handed it to her with two hands.

She took the quill from him and looked at the place where she was supposed to sign---and suddenly realized something horrific.

She didn't know how to write her name in Ashryan.

Mira's heart started thumping hard. Unless she made some sort of scribble that didn't look like anything, it would be revealed that she was illiterate. Perhaps she could just do a scribble that vaguely resembled some of the curlicue marks that she saw on the signs and the books…

Mira gave a flourish and scribbled something down with a few fancy squiggles.

"Attention all. The Court is now in session."

She breathed a quiet sigh of relief. Well, that wasn't too bad.

Before she got a chance to revel in her first tiny success, a large blonde cat sprang into the center of the floor and began howling in some cat language.

The catwoman had slanted green eyes the color of bottle glass on a comely face that was half human, half feline. Her body was lithe and sinewy, and covered in fur that was at once beautiful in its savagery, and at the same time, sexually haunting.

She was free of any clothing other than a brass band collar holding a single drop of amber the size of a US half-dollar, and several tiny brass bells tied to her long tail that tinkled with her every movement. Her long claws were painted a deep scarlet enamel which both frightened and fascinated Mira at the same time.

Court Session had officially begun.