Prince Gyllen Ch. 19

With this sequence of occurrences escalating so expeditiously, it took Gyllen's mind a few moments to decide even where to begin fully processing the form standing tall and striking before his very eyes. The woman's skin was the first thing to catch the prince's notice, for its pigmentation was unnatural for what would have been on any human and most non-humans, and its texture was unlike anything he had seen on any race in general: every inch of her flesh visible to the prince was as rich a purple as pure amethyst and even slightly translucent like such a crystal, gleaming lustrous in the light similar to a perfectly polished stone! If her bizarre complexion alone was not enough to astonish the prince, then her tresses, or rather the equivalent thereof, would have certainly done the job. In place of hair, a great length of smokeless, lavender flame gushed forth from her crown, streamed down the sides and back of her skull to coil around her neck, rest on her right shoulder as the remaining length twisted down past her breast, ending in a tapered tip, all while small flicks of the main blaze continually licked the air.

The coupling of these fantastic facets were already enough to profoundly astound the prince and Min, though the pair were left utterly stupefied when they further inspected the details of the female's characteristics. From her countenance alone, the two visitants were bestowed with an allure so seraphic, Gyllen initially averted his gaze from reflex, irrationally fearing he would be robbed of his sight if his unworthy gaze met with her brilliantly golden, almond-shaped eyes - shadowed and mascaraed with cosmetics matching her irises - where just below, a veil woven from gauzy, yellow silk was fastened around her head, marginally concealing her acute nose; fine, simpering lips; and keen chin.

The impeccable beauty continued below the female's elegant neck, as the woman brandished a perfectly balanced frame that only the most masterful of Caligan sculptors could even begin to duplicate in marble, all proudly flaunted in marigold garments sparkling with small sequins. Her abundant bust was secured firm in a tasselled vest that amounted to little more than a glorified brassiere, baroque in its fashion, while still allowing for the valley of her lilac globes to be exhibited aplenty without a hint of nipple. The brevity of her top also left her flat midsection entirely exposed, permitting onlookers to observe the mode in which her sides narrowed inwards just below her chest before broadening exceedingly once again by the time the curvatures reached her waist, leaving her torso in a perfect, almost caricatured, hourglass shape close to impossible for most members of any other known species to achieve, and embellished with short string of alexandrite beads dangling from her narrow naval.

A sash was tied around her abundant hips, the tails of the knot fluttering far out from her right flank as it held up her trousers, consisting of a pair of deliberately baggy legs sewn from similar material as her masque that allowed for the slim silhouettes of her limber lower limbs to be discernible from the exterior, the hems tucked into a pair of complementing slippers with curved, pointed toes. A pair of sleeves, unconnected to her top, covered the span starting from just below her shoulders to her wrists, fairly loose-fitting, though not quite to the same extent as her sirwal, and again made of the same see-through fabric as her other garments. In way of accessories, her wrists were adorned with three bangles each that jangled with even the minutest of motions, rings decorated every other finger -- all of slightly different designs compared to their mates -- silver tassels dangled from her earlobes, and a diadem consisting of coin-like discs encompassed her cranium with a jewelled brooch affixed to its front in the exact centre of her forehead. All Gyllen had to take away from this was that this individual was a far cry from the conservative women in their demure swaddles back in Al-Khalij.

"And you must be Prince Gyllen!" Were the first words to come from the amethyst female's lips, her breathy voice underlain with all the serenity of a spring breeze. When she approached however, she strutted straight past the prince she had just addressed by name, his hand even half-extended and ready to be shook, to instead genuflect before the goblin standing to his side. She placed both her hands onto the readhead's shoulders before delivering three air kisses beside her freckled cheeks. "May peace and health find their way unto you! So glad you were able to arrive safely! I remember your charming little letter well~! Ah, such eloquence your penhand possessed~" She sighed out.

Visibly confused by the stranger's behaviour, Min shot a glance over to Gyllen who appeared just as equally baffled before bringing her sight back to the canary-accrued woman currently crouched eye-level to her before finally fabricating an answer: "Uh...yeah! Prince Pussy, that's me alright!" The goblin fibbed as her mouth curled into a cheeky smirk. "Pip pip cheerio an' all that guff!" She added in poor imitation of Gyllen's upper class accent. The blond watched on with a less amused scowl and promptly proceeded forwards to put an end to the pretence.

"Pardon me, madam, but-" Gyllen then began to speak assertively but only reached partway through his sentence when the fire-haired woman interrupted his speech with a screeching guffaw before standing up to her feet and twirling around to face the prince, her bangles jangling nosily to her rapid movement.

"Oh, it was just a small jest, darling." The purple person said. "Of course we are perfectly aware who you are~"

"You...you are...?" Gyllen stammered with disbelief that his name had apparently reached this far south and east outside of Occasus when even many of the surrounding north lands' commoners would have been hard pressed naming the Snjórlandic prince on the spot.

"Oh! But where on Lutīyā's back are my niceties?" The coruscant lady exclaimed. "On the off-chance you happened to overlook my humble heralds, I am Jumishat; Queen of the Djinn...or at least that is the title which you mortals have seem to have come to dub me as." The mulberry matriarch finally introduced herself as she steadily raised and extended her right hand towards the prince, palm facing downwards. "A pleasure to meet you at long last~"

"Ah, yes, we, uh...assumed as much, though the clarification is appreciated, Your Grace." Gyllen responded before he gently held Jumishat's bejewelled fingers in his own before leaning down to press his soft lips to her knuckles as a sign of his respect, her skin surprisingly soft contrary to its bijou-like semblance, though was still just as smooth to the touch as its appearance suggested.

"My, my~ Such a fine example of a gentleman, and for one so young too~! My progeny could learn a thing or two in etiquette from you..." The djinni said. "Ah, and it only seemed like yesterday when your ancestors took their first tentative steps out of the oceans." She sighed, as if in reminisce.

"Well, um, thank you." Gyllen responded as he withdrew, unsure what she meant by her last statement, instead asking for another curiosity to be answered. "But am I to understand you are not in fact queen of your people?"

"Oh, Jannah no! My station may be of note, but the djinn have no true supreme ruler amongst us. Above all else, we value our personal freedom." Jumishat explained. "I suspect such a title only came about from my tendency to enjoy dabbling in the material world more oft than my kin, and my feats make the inhabitants assume I was of an exceptional position, even if any djinni worth their weight in salt would be just as capable." The amethyst female then spun herself around to next lay eyes on the elderly man who had escorted Gyllen the Min this far. "My word! Is that you, Ibrahim?"

"Indeed it is, Your Exaltedness." The senior made a deep bow despite his crooked back. "It has been quite the while."

"Oh, it's only been what? Twenty, thirty years?" Jumishat from the way Jumishat casually addressed the ancient guide, it was clear the two had been well-acquainted in the past. "Did you grow your beard out? It doesn't suit you in the slightest."

"I'll see to it that is trimmed upon my next visit, should I live long enough to see my next customers." The guide wheezed out a chuckle. "For now, I should return to my camels before bandits discover them first." And with that, the enigmatic chaperone wheeled around and began tottering back the way they once came, never to meet his two clients ever again. Jumishat barely batted a glittering eyelash at this and instead returned her focus towards and down to the short, green-skinned girl she had already exchanged salutations with for the sake of a gag.

"And you are Ms. Min, are you not?" The djinni asked the goblin.

"Yeah, that's right!" Min replied at once with a chipper expression, though her smile then sobered up before she added: "Heeey, hold th' wagon for a mo', how th' Hel do ya know who I am? I doubt Goldie's been mentionin' me in th' post."

"We djinn have our ways." Jumishat responded, though did not answer before the subject was switched. "I must say, however, I was not expecting you to come outfitted so...traditionally."

Min said nothing to this, but only flashed a glare towards the blond boy who made her dress up in such restrictive attire to begin with, especially now that she stood next to their hostess wearing such bold apparel. Gyllen turned his head away upon receiving the dirty look, pretending not have noticed despite her red eyes having already crossed his blue optics.

"But come, let us not dally with such trivialities any further! You must be exhausted from your journey." Jumishat then clapped her hands together twice, and she, Gyllen and Min suddenly found themselves in new surroundings in less time than it took to blink. The prince and the goblin surveyed the strange foliage that had replaced the showy procession: trees with fan-like leaves as yellow as daffodils and narrow trunks that twisted at odd angles, white-pink orchids hanging low from the skewed branches, a narrow brook snaking through blades of grass and queer florets of vibrant hues that grew almost as high as Gyllen's knees, all while macaws, hummingbirds, toucans and other avians of remarkable plumage belonging to unknown genera flitted between bushes of blue-speckled roses, softly warbling to one another.

From a glance, Gyllen and Min first believed they had, for whatever reason, been magically transported to an undiscovered jungle, but a closer scrutiny between the foliage of the trees revealed hints of a bronze rampart, confirming they were still within the boundaries of Nahas-w-Jawahir, seemingly in a garden of some sort. "You'll find your accommodation inside." Jumishat continued on as if nothing out of the ordinary occurred in the slightest. "Simply choose a door at your own discretion and you'll find the chambers within to be arranged precisely to your preferences~ I recommend you take the opportunity to rest and refresh yourselves, as I just so happen to be throwing a stately banquet for my peers come this very evening, should you be willing to join us!"

"O-oh, we couldn't possibly intrude uninvited..." Gyllen began to stammer, only just getting over the shock of the sudden shift in location.

"Nonsense! You are to be treated as much of a guest as any other in my company! The servants have been notified and will fulfil any request you have of them." The djinni queen insisted. "Until then, please make use of the facilities of the city as you see fit. We have an extensive library of works from both Purvaja and Occasus, as well as some that may only be found on those very shelves, a racetrack on the outer grounds with the finest bred steeds this side of Sahra'ramal readily available for hire, a gallery, a playhouse, a concert hall, a menagerie, many eateries...and a brothel for those more keen in pleasures of the body, rather than the spirit~" Gyllen was caught off-guard and taken aback by the prospect of the flame-haired woman even insinuating such a thing, though she at least did catch Min's attention with this sly mention. Before specifics could be asked from either visitor however, Jumishat abruptly raised her hands high above her blazing head without apparent cause, crossing them at the wrists as she concluded her address: "Until tonight then, my lovelies~" before she swiftly threw them both down simultaneously towards her feet whereupon, with a crack of thunder, she instantaneously transmuted into the same mauve cloud which earlier descended from the town's main tower, this time climbing through the air, out the open ceiling above and into the purple vault where the airstream then carried the djinni away to parts undisclosed.

Watching the entire demonstration of weird wizardry develop before their very eyes, Gyllen and Min only recollected their wits a few solid seconds after Jumishat's vaporous configuration vanished from view before looking to one another yet again, as if seeking guidance from the other on how they should proceed next. Together, the duo carefully made their way to the edge of the garden, taking care not to step on anything fragile, discovering its expanse to its be surprisingly compact for all that was held within it upon soon reaching a rectangular walkway against a wall and below overhanging eaves, bordering the plot from end-to-end. The human and the goblin both stepped foot onto the metallic pathway and began to follow it until they came across a door set in the partition fashioned from a reflective iron material which stood out from the rest of the red-brown architecture.

Opening the door up lead the pair into a windowless hallway, dimly lit by long crystals mounted on the wall and cut into cuboids with pyramid-shaped points on either end, each one radiating faint glows which correspond to their unique colours. The corridor stretched far in either direction, leading into imperceptible darkness, but a series of doors similar to the one they had just come through were visible between every one of the crystalline lanterns.

"Well? Th' Hel's our due course now, skipper?" Min asked with an irritated huff, hands on her hips as she looked to the limited options they had available to them, her patience already running thin.

"If I'm honest, I'm not entirely sure myself, Min..." Gyllen answered. "All Jumishat said was to take whatever door at our own discretion, but I have no idea what she meant by that. Perhaps she brought us somewhere else by mistake?"

"Either way, we're getting' nowhere fast, and it ain't exactly like we can holler on her for directions again. I say we jus' pick a room here an' hunker down 'till someone finds us." Min said. "An' if they get pissy 'bout it, then they can bitch through a bloody nose!"

"I suppose that option is as good as any..." Gyllen said, ignoring the goblin's violent remark as he walked across to the closest door available to him, placing his hand on its handle and pushing it inwards, half-expecting to walk into a supply closet. Instead, he and Min had entered a lavish bedchamber, fully furnished with décor characteristic of typical Sahra'ramalian motifs. The walls were plastered with a cool teal and ornamented with a number of ceremonial spears, sabres and tapestries of intricate, floral-like designs. A single, circular bed with a duvet matching the colouration of the walls was positioned dead centre of the room's pearly, ceramic-tiled floor, surrounded by chiffon drapes currently parted and atop an equally round rug of similar pattern to the ones adorning the walls. Behind the mattress, an indentation in the floor could be seen between a set of separated curtains: a type of bath, judging from the delicately shimmering water it was filled with, as well as the narrow-necked bottles containing various tonics and powders dotted about its rim between a set of separated curtains. Above this, two latticed windows shaped like rectangles with rounded tops were cut into the walls - allowing for the golden, afternoon sun to flood the room with its illumination. Other than these features, the only other furniture of note were those typically found in any guestroom, including a bureau, a bookshelf, a wardrobe and a set of drawers.

"Hm, not bad!" Min commented, nodding her head agreeably before halting it suddenly as her sharp, garnet eyes picked up on a few details that went unnoticed by the human. "Haaang on. Didn' she say somethin' 'bout th' rooms being furnished t' our preferences or whatever?"

"Yes, I believe she did." Gyllen responded, as he watched the goblin walk further into the chamber, towards the three-tiered chest of drawers on the right-hand side. "You're not suggesting that this is one of ours, are you, Min?" The redhead then lifted a black helmet and riding crop from out of a set of equipment systematically folded and arrayed on the trunk's flat top.

"Well, this gear's for horse riding, ain't it? I remember ya mentionin' ya owned an old nag a' yer own back home. That's a dead giveaway for one!" She shewed them to the blond to illustrate her point before then using the crop to indicate the bulky bookshelf on the opposite end of the room chock to the gills with publications. "An' only a geek like you would willingly spend their holiday readin'!"

"True..." Gyllen said, trying not to be too irked by Min's comment. "But it's more than likely a simple coincidence, right? Surely there's plenty of people residing here who also hold those same interests with myself. You're letting your imagination run away with itself, Min."

"Well, there's an easy way of findin' out. C'mon!" Min returned the items and strutted back out into the hallway to try the next door down, with Gyllen following behind. "Ah, yeah! This one's totally for me~!" Min declared after she had reached for the handle and swung the entrance wide open, sounding rather thrilled by what she found, and Gyllen could not help but to concur. Although the room was of the same general layout as the first, and even with similar ornamentation, there was several noticeable differences that set them apart.

In place of where the bookshelf was placed in the previous chamber, a massive, cask with a spigot exactly like one you would see behind the counter of a tavern was held sideways within a wooden cradle, and presumably containing some kind of fermented beverage within. This chamber also held two additional tables set equal distances from one another, both octagonal in shape with a chair tucked underneath each of their edges, one empty barring but a stack of playing cards placed face up to exhibit a rather stylised ace of spades, and the other holding a black-and-red roulette wheel, its marble nestling in the single zero space. Perhaps the most decisive articles of evidence to support Min's theory however was the assortment of phallic peripherals of varying sizes and irregular designs audaciously displayed in a row out in the open in the very same spot where the equestrian equipment was located next door, as well as additional instruments of odd designs, the functions of which were not familiar to the prince, though he suspected their intended applications to be as equally salacious.

"Hey! Check it out!" Min said, taking a closer inspection of the room and already by the foot of its bed, which appeared significantly larger compared to the last, reaching down to two separate stacks of paperbacks too thin to have be considered novellas and lifting out topmost volume from each to show Gyllen. The cover of the one held in her left hand displayed a smirking, bare lizardwoman from the hips upwards, covering her non-existent breasts with her clawed hands, while the one in her right depicted a satyr male with emphasis drawn towards his shredded abdominal muscles and prominent bulge down in front of his boxer shorts. "They got a shitton of back issues of Tarts and Studs! Never even knew they got 'em all the way down here! I'm definitely not gonna be bored waitin' about for dinner~" The goblin licked her lips, and it was not from anticipating her upcoming meal. As a sidenote, 'Studs Triweekly' was another adult magazine from the publishers of 'Tarts Bimonthly', aiming to appeal to the male-attracted demographic.