“Announcing Princess Alexandra of the Ember Kingdom!” At the crier’s words, trumpets blared, and a dozen horseback knights saluted.

  They weren’t on actual horses, however. From where Luka stood, he spotted no more than six types of mounts. They were the usual dire-beasts—wolf, lizard, cat, insect thing, stubby bird of some kind, and air-breathing fish. It seemed, in this world, no one liked horses. Luka had seen them, he knew they existed here, and yet, no horse mounts.

  Weird, he mused as he pushed through the crowd. With his sunglasses on, and Gilded Beast Orris clamped to his shoulder like a fat parrot, people gave him a wide berth. He’d like to think it was because of his title of World Walker, but he knew, deep down, that it was because the rodent was hissing at people.

  Very royal like…

  Between the knights like a setting sundown, a carriage rumbled and bounced, the inhabitants shifting inside. As soon as the trumpet song ended, the wood-stained door burst open, and an annoyed—and heavily dressed—leg shot out. One step, then two, a young human woman wearing a terribly frizzly dress practically leaped from the raised cabin. On her head, pinning back a cascade of raven hair, sat a small tiara, one that’s jewels shimmered in the light.

  And yet, despite the hair piece, the princess still spat out a stray strand that happened to invade her mouth, unceremoniously rubbing her face and shaking with annoyance. The knights flanking her dismounted and knelt, their mounts doing the same. The princess ignored them, patted down her dress, then stomped forward.

  With a sigh—and after making sure Tram wasn’t already doing so—Luka stepped from the crowd to the young woman. Briefly, he looked around for his allies… yet found no one besides Franky. The orc smiled eagerly at him, slyly slipping on his sunglasses as if he was part of a secret club. Luka rolled his eyes but made no motion to remove his own pair. They needed sunglasses to take off, and where better to showcase their style than meeting a princess?

  “Who are you?” the princess demanded, stopping a safe few steps from Luka. He was the only one from the crowd who dared intercept her, meaning he was a fool, an assassin, or the owner of the park.

  Luka gave the lady a bow, his tacky purple suit only adding to his own embarrassment. He hated the “eccentricities” the title of World Walker brought, even if they raked in more money for the park.

  “Luka, your highness, World Walker and visionary of this fine otherworldly park.” He had a hard time adding that last part, but it was what Tram had come up with. Again, the more theatrical, the better.

  Princess Alexandra studied him for a long, long moment, visually gnawing on her thoughts and thinking over her responses. Behind her, an older attendant—or maybe an advisor—ran from the carriage, rushing to keep up. He stopped a few steps behind the princess, muttering under his breath to her.

  Then, with one foul look, the princess silenced him. “I can handle this myself,” she hissed.

  Oh boy, Luka thought, swallowing hard.

  The attendant vibrantly nodded, his thick white mustache hiding most of his facial expressions and his dapper posture hiding the rest.

  The princess turned back to Luka, adjusted her dress, then took a step forward. “Well met, World Walker Luka,” she said with a bit too much cheer. “I am Princess Alexandra.”

  Luka waited for her to add something more to that. The moment stretched. Was he supposed to say something? He felt there should be more to her side of the introduction. Even King Orris on his shoulder seemed put out, the little rodent practically scoffing at her display. Behind his sunglasses, Luka glanced around for help… Luckily, he didn’t have to wait long. The attendant lightly coughed.

  As if kicked on the butt, the princess jolted and said, “Thank you for meeting me on my arrival. You must be very busy.”

  This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  That’s more like it, he mused. “You’re welcome, and I am.” Luka gestured at his rodent companion riding on his shoulder. “As you can see, you’re not the first royal I’ve had the pleasure of meeting today.”

  Slowly, very slowly, Alexandra looked between the World Walker and Gilded Beast. She blinked a few times, frowning, before her attendant stepped forward and whispered in her ear. Numerous emotions flashed across her face—surprise, confusion, understanding, annoyance—before she regained her princessly composure.

  “A Gilded Beast!” she bellowed. “How novel! Father says—”

  Orris yawned and shook his head. “Princess,” he said the word firmly. “This is highly irregular. Meeting me is not ‘novel,’ it is an honor. You’d think someone of your standing would have better manners by your age.”

  Luka’s eyes snapped open. He slowly turned to look at the rodent, hardly able to keep himself from gaping at the little beast. Luka might be an alien in this world, but—and this was after nearly four months of observation—this world and Earth shared many similarities. One similarity, he would have guessed, would be the respectful way people spoke to royals… but then again, Orris considered himself a king, so maybe this was par for the course.

  The attendant whispered in Alexandra’s ear—causing the princess to turn beat red. Completely flushed, she managed to hide her surprise after a moment, fully resetting her facial expression to a flat mask. She took a second for herself then curtsied.

  “My apologies, King Orris.” She fought back a grimace. “It seems as though I missed a few lessons in my princess studies. I only have myself to blame, you see, I often skip them for more… fun things.”

  Orris raised a furry eyebrow. “What kind of fun? Like chasing moths around a fire or bathing with the toads?”

  Luka didn’t outwardly react to that, though the princess did. Her blank mask faltered for a moment, showing a look of paralyzed fear. She regained her composure and said, “Um. No, nothing so… eventful. I like to read the many daily papers from around the kingdom and watch the sunrise.”

  Orris took her answer well enough. He hopped from Luka’s shoulder, and said, “Come. I will show you where I am staying. Perhaps we can continue this conversation over drinks.”

  Luka quickly said, “I don’t think you’ll have enough room for both of you in your… castle. How about the penthouse suite? It is already set up for the princess and her entourage.”

  “Fine,” Orris said.

  “Penthouse…?” Alexandra asked.

  Out of the corner of his eye, Luka spotted a grouping of mages. He recognized them as people from the Guilds, people he had business dealings with. Nearby them were the envoys from the God of Haircuts, each patiently waiting for his attention. And further toward the back was a man draped in shadow, smoking a cigarette and lazily tossing a dagger up and down. Just from a single glance, Luka knew the man was part of the crime lord’s group.

  And I need to fix the WHEEL, he internally thought.

  With a split-second decision, Luka waved over Franky. The orc, for his part, did come over right away, but not before looking behind himself to make sure Luka wasn’t gesturing someone else over.

  Once in ear shot, Luka said, “Franky here will guide you to your hotel suite.”

  “I will?” he asked.

  “Yes.” They shared a look, one that silently communicated different things for each man. Luka thought they were on the same ‘I’m very busy, please help me’ page, while Franky thought they were on the ‘I’m graciously handing over responsibility for the cute princess and make sure she has everything she could ever need.’

  “I will! And a pleasure, Princess Alex,” Franky announced, eloquently bowing and holding out his hand. The princess flushed red, held out her dainty wrist, which he took, kissing just above her knuckles. When he gave her hand back, he said, “I am Franky.”

  “I—uh, hello, Franky…” Her eyes darted between the orc, human alien, and rodent king before looking off into the grass. “Only my friends call me ‘Alex.’”

  Not, or perhaps perfectly, reading the air right, Franky smirked and said, “The best way to start the day is meeting a new friend. Now, shall I show you to your suite? You said you like to watch the sunrise—well, I suspect the sunset and rise you’ll see from the top of the World Tree will be moments to truly cherish.”

  Franky held out his hand, waiting to lead her away.

  Flustered, she took it, and together—along with her entire knight entourage, attendant and servant group, and a Beast King—they ventured through the gossiping crowd toward the World Tree Inn.

  Luka watched them go, confused. Just how did Franky do it?

  Almost immediately, three separate parties converged on Luka.

  “Mr. World Walker!” the divine envoy yelled.

  “Luka, we have pressing contractual agreements to discuss!” said the mages.

  And finally, the crime lord underling was silent, yet stalked closer all the same.