Inbu’s Heart 6/10

The royal gardens were filled with velvet tents catered to the bachelorettes. Mei popped her head out of her tent a few times just to hear what the guards were saying. Would there be any punishments if they saw her ragged hair? She did not know or care. In the working class, there was more to life than a simple hairstyle.

A tall one grunted as he squashed a fly with his boot. The iron class in his shoes blocked out the fly's final sounds. He sighed. "These tents really spoil the garden."

An even taller one next to him nodded. "I agree. I remember when we used to mess around after training?"

"Those were the good old days. Now we have to eat sour slugs and bitter tea every day."

"I know it sounds cruel, but I hope he kicks the bucket one day."

"Me too!"

There was no need to ask who they meant by 'he'. Mei shrieked and marched across the soldiers with her arms folded. Everyone knew it was illegal to say anything negative about the king, even an ounce of honest critique would send you to the scaffold. "HOW DARE YOU!"

The tall guard took her by the arm as if he was putting a child to bed. "Now, now, you should be in your tent."

Mei jiggled out of is grip. "One rule for one and another for the higher-ups."

The guards laughed, pretending to be innocent. Waving their arms in the air as other ladies hopped out of their tents. "We never said a thing."

"I heard what you said. So did everyone else." Mei steered her head hoping someone would agree. "Of course they're not going to say anything because I'm competition."

"Take no notice of them!" Prince Inbu appeared from the shadows with his purple cloak flapping all around him. "Dick and Dom are simply stressed." The other ladies tilted their heads back, holding the hems of their dresses as Prince Inbu addressed them all. "Eat well," he said. "For you shall be dancing with pigs, kissing cows and cuddling crocodiles."

Screams emerged from the left corner of the garden. One by one she could hear her rivals mutter to themselves in fear and disgust. As some of the others became hysterical with some even climbing over the garden walls, Mei chose to stand firm.

Prince Inbu glared at Mei as if she had done something wrong, something terrible as if she committed the worst crime in the world. "Why are you not scared?"

Mei folded her arms and smiled. "I'm a farmer's daughter. I'll sail through this."

"You look like one too." The sudden depth in his muttering suggested it was a bad thing.  

"Did they not teach you how to respect women?" Mei asked.

"I'm a vegan, so I hate what your family practise."

"I think you're mistaking us for butchers. Farmers make vegan crop too, you know?"

"Whatever." It was clear in his eyes that he hated being wrong. "You better promise me that you'll slay this next challenge."

Mei nodded. "Don't worry: I will."

It was a promise Mei was determined to keep. Her family had always taught her not to make vows, you had no intention of keeping. Even though she was born and bred in a farm, there was little time to play with the animals. Whilst a lot of the other ladies bickered amongst themselves over which animals they will and won't dance to, Mei was willing to try anything.

The bachelorettes were brought into the grand hall with a dozen crystal chandeliers dangling below them. In between the chandeliers and the mosaic dance floor theatre booths full of people that reeked of poshness. Some had gowns even finer than The King himself, although none would dare say so. 

Samba took centre stage as the audience clapped. "Welcome one and all for a ball like no other. I'm glad I'm not doing the cleaning today. For today, our bachelorette's will dance with animals."

In other kingdoms they had things like televisions, laptops and phones to watch things. The Government had banned all electronic items because King Baboon felt they were turning everybody into mindless idiots. Mei wondered what sort of magic and delights could behold in one of those fancy devices.

"For our first round of dancing, the bachelorettes must dance with each other!" Cheers and yahoos could be heard from every corner of the room. Seven ladies marched off in an effort to preserve their dignity. "Oh dear, it looks like some of our girls are leaving. Never mind, those that are still here, please pick a partner to dance with."

Dancing with a girl? Mei didn't see it coming, but she did her own thing on the dance floor, and soon many girls danced around her, and she picked a partner from them. Some of the other girls had so much fun dancing together, they forfeit the show, holding hands.

The dance floor became infested with pigs. Not only did Mei dance with the pigs, but she also performed ballet. There was not one closed mouth in the audience when Mei taught the pigs how to Rumba. The elders shook their head in disdain at her muddy shoes, but it was by far her favourite task.

"Okay ladies," Samba roared over the sound of squealing pigs. "Those who want to progress to the next round must hug a cow and kiss a crocodile."

"OKAY!" Mei screamed as she ran towards the white cow behind Samba and squeezed her tight like an old friend. Looking down on the crocodile, she stroked it's rough skin and kissed his nose. The crocodile grinned. Who knew that pigs could be great dancing partners? Who knew that crocodiles loved the attention of the ladies? Mei was one of the first to go through to the next round, but some weren't so lucky.

The cow kicked some of the bachelorettes whilst the crocodiles had human noses for a midday snack.