XXII

Every Queen, a Woman

Genevieve and Lotus stood outside the front doors of Hollowhold Juvenile Corrections Facility, the largest Eelike prison in the district. The princess looked anxiously to her flower, fidgeting lightly in place.

"I'm nervous." She admitted. "It didn't set in until we got here, but… I'm nervous."

"It was your idea to come here." Lotus replied. "We could just head straight to the research facility if you'd like. I have to admit I'm itching to finally see the place."

"No." Genevieve shook her head. "No, I want to do this first. If I'm going to make this a habit, I have to get the first time over with."

"A habit? You want to do this regularly?" Lotus asked. "Surely a Princess' time would be better spent elsewhere."

"I can make time." Genevieve shook her head. "This is important… to me."

Genevieve took a quick, deep breath. "Okay. Let's go."

The girls walked through the large, metal doors, and approached the receptionist at the front desk. Within moments, they were escorted by a security guard down a long, winding hallway, lined wall to wall with cells, almost all of them housing an Eelike teenager, adolescent, or child. Genevieve tried to not dwell on their sour, bored expressions as she walked past them. Occasionally, one inmate would recognize her, and nearly snap their own necks checking to confirm what they had seen.

"Your inmate's name is Nash." The guard explained as they walked. "He's thirteen years old, serving for theft, and assault with intent to kill. He's shown good behavior since he got in- he wouldn't qualify if he hadn't- but you'll have a glass wall just in case."

"Understood, thank you." Genevieve nodded.

"Genevieve- not to interrupt, but that reminds me…" Lotus began, "An Elf came to the palace yesterday, from Clearbrooke. They asked me to relay a message to you."

"Oh?" Genevieve perked up. "What was it?"

"Well, first, they thanked you for taking a stand against your father for them. She said not everyone believes it was really an act of good faith, but she does."

"And after that?"

"They told me about the city. How it's been recovering. They've been steadily trying to restabilize their economy, and have had to rely on the charity of their neighbors- not to mention the Sky District, to get by. That's why their people were so excited when so many Aquatic merchants moved in to do business with them."

"Ah, that's right." Genevieve nodded. "I've heard that practically every merchant working on land jumped at the chance to get through the forest. I'm glad they could help."

"Well, that's the thing." Lotus frowned. "She says they haven't been helping. These merchants have been price gouging food, clothing, and tools since they arrived. They've been driving what few local merchants that survived out of business, and taking advantage of the Elves' desperation."

"Oh. That is… unfortunate."

"Right. So, this Elf asked if we… if you… could do something about them. Force them to leave, or at least keep their prices below a certain ceiling."

Genevieve looked confusedly at Lotus. "But we don't employ those merchants."

Lotus shrugged. "That's what I told her. She just asked again for us to do something about it."

Genevieve shook her head. "If the Elves can't afford our prices, then they won't buy the products, and the merchants will have to adjust. Besides- they still have their neighbors, right? They'll be fine."

Lotus nodded in agreement, and stopped the conversation there. For the next few minutes, the two followed the guard the rest of the way to a small grey room with a simple, brown door. The guard stepped aside, and allowed the Princess to walk through.

Genevieve opened the door, and walked inside the room. In it, a small, comfortable chair sat in front of a hip-height table that acted as a wall all the way to the floor. Above the table, a glass barrier with a thin rectangular slit divided the room in two. On the other side of this barrier, sitting in a similar chair, was a small, scruffy looking Eelike boy, lazily drawing shapes on the surface of the table with his claws. He looked up at Genevieve and Lotus as they walked in, but his bored expression did not change.

Genevieve sat down, and smiled. "Hi there. Your name is Nash, right?"

The boy nodded. "Who are you?"

Genevieve's throat caught, a bit surprised. "You don't recognize me?"

Nash shook his head. Genevieve kept her smile. "That's okay, it isn't important. You can call me Gen, alright?"

"Alright." Nash mumbled. "...So, why am I here?"

"Oh, did no one explain it to you?" Genevieve asked. "I volunteered to come visit you. To give you some company, while you're stuck in here."

Nash looked genuinely confused. "...They can do that?"

Genevieve frowned, hoping Nash was teasing her. "...Yes, it's… just a volunteer program."

Nash paused, and shrugged. "Alright. Beats the off hour. So… do we just sit and talk, or…?"

"Oh!" Genevieve's smile beamed back up, as she rifled through her satchel and pulled out a small stack of paper and paints. "Actually, I convinced the staff to let me bring these in! Do you like to paint, Nash?"

"Never done it before." Nash shook his head.

Genevieve's shoulders slouched. "Oh. Well, that's alright. I'll, uh…"

Genevieve started putting the materials away, and sifting through her inventory again. "I'm sure there's something else here I could-"

"I'll give it a try." Nash interrupted.

"Huh?" Genevieve looked up at Nash, startled.

"I'll try to paint. Like I said- I've never done it before. Could be fun."

"Oh!" Genevieve smiled awkwardly. "Alright! Here!"

She slid the materials past the barrier to Nash's side. He laid a piece of paper out, picked up a brush, and dipped it in the blue divot in his palate. He stroked the brush across the canvas, and… nothing happened. He squinted at the paper, dipped the brush in the palate again, and tried again. Nothing.

Nash looked up at Genevieve. "You're paint's broken, Gen."

"Oh, I'm sorry." Genevieve chuckled. "You have to kind of dig the brush into the divot and spin it around a couple times. It's Aquatic paint- friction activated."

Nash grunted, and tried again. Sure enough, his brush was stained blue, and he could finally get started.

"So," Genevieve leaned back in her chair. "Tell me about yourself. What do you want to do when you're a free man?"

Lotus winced a little, expecting a grim answer from the child, or none at all. But the answer he gave surprised her.

"I'm gonna be a dancer." He said, nonchalantly. "A street performer, y'know? A friend of mine's a bard, we're gonna get a two-man show thing going."

"Ha!" Genevieve laughed, impressed. "That's amazing! Have you been dancing long?"

"My whole life." He replied. "Well, ‘till I got locked up. Not much room to practice in here."

"No, I guess not." Genevieve's eyes drifted to the side. "Well, I'll have to see you perform someday. I can't wait to see you in your element."

"Uh huh." Nash rolled his eyes. "And what about you? What do you do?"

"Oh…" Genevieve waved her hand, stalling to find an answer. "Politics. Nothing exciting."

Nash chuckled. "Tch, yeah. You look like a politician."

Genevieve scoffed, pretending to take offense.

"So, is that what this is about?" Nash asked.

"What do you mean?" Genevieve cocked her head to the side.

"Politics. Is this, like, a publicity stunt, or something? If you wanna get a quote or somethin', I don't mind."

"Oh, no!" Genevieve shook her head frantically. "No no no, this is totally personal. I'm here all by myself."

Nash furrowed his brow, and pointed at Lotus. "No you’re not."

Genevieve turned, seemingly forgetting Lotus was even standing there. She turned back around, and stammered. "She's-… uh… I'm-… I'm by myself… with her."

"What?"

"I'm just a friend of hers." Lotus finally spoke up. "Don't mind me."

"I bet you are." Nash smiled, looking down at his painting.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Genevieve looked apprehensively at Nash, who shrugged in return.

"Nothing." He shook his head. "So, then… why are you here?"

"Do I need a reason?"

"Sure you do." Nash responded. "Be weird if you aren't getting anything out of this. Spend your time talking to kids… pretty weird."

"Well, I'm not." Genevieve's smile faded. "It's just… something I can do. So… I did."

"Pretty weird, Gen." Nash teased.

"You're weird- shut up." Genevieve tried not to let the kid fluster her, something she had to put more effort into with every word.

Nash put his brush down, held his paper up, and studied it, with a slight look of disgust. "Well… I'm done. It's not getting any better than this."

"Ooh, great, let me see it!" Genevieve cheered.

"I dunno…" Nash slowly pulled his face further away from the painting.

"Come on, I'm sure it's great, just show it to me."

"Alright, if you insist." Nash shrugged, and turned the paper over.

Genevieve stared at the painting. Her enthusiastic smile didn't change- but after a short pause, her eyebrows shifted a little in confusion. She squinted, trying to study it to the best of her ability.

"Told you I've never done this before."

"No! No, I like it!" Genevieve assured him. "It's just… what… what is it?"

Nash gave a thousand yard stare through the wall, and spoke with a gentle, frightened whisper. "A self portrait."

"...Oh."

"Yeah." Nash promptly smacked the painting face down on the table. "I'll stick to dancing, I think."

"I suppose we all have our areas of expertise." Genevieve conceded.

"Are you a painter?" Nash asked.

"Oh, no- I just thought paint would be a fun activity to bring with me." Genevieve admitted. "I have more of an eye for fashion, and… dance, actually!"

"Oh, no way!" Nash's eyes lit up.

"Yes, Lotus and I spent hours dancing together when we were little- she would write me these poems, and we'd get a bard to- hang on, Lotus, come here!"

Genevieve stood up and pulled Lotus away from the door, where the two of them demonstrated their routine, while Genevieve continued to enthusiastically explain. Nash laughed, and leaned against the table, smiling as these two strange, kind women did their best to pull him out of monotony and entertain him- for reasons he couldn’t wrap his head around.

As he watched Genevieve and Lotus' awkward, narrated dance, his mind started to wander. He thought to himself that- if these women ever came back- they'd probably be taking a turn with someone else the next time around. As confusing and sudden as this experience was, some odd, childish part of him was dreading the fact that at some point they would turn around and leave. Some part of him hoped desperately that they would return, and that he'd be assigned to them again soon.