Inbu’s Heart 8/10

Scratching her head at the frail bridges and nuns holding baskets, Mei wondered why the nuns were wearing boots. People were fighting over shaded spots under the trees. Sweat dripped on their chins smearing make-up that had taken hours to put on. Closest Mei ever had to a full makeover was a little bit of mud on her cheeks from her days at the farm.

Here she found her sense of place.

"Bachleloettes!" Samba roared once we all took our place. "You've all been asked to wear white dresses. The reason is that for your next task, you must keep these dresses as clean as possible. You must cross this bridge and follow the gates into the main hall of the castle. Prince Inbu and King Baboon will meet you there. However, you only will be allowed into the castle if your dress is spotless."

"That's impossible!" one of the ladies cry. "How are we meant to keep these dresses clean when they're throwing stuff at you?"

"Ah," Samba waggled her nose. "His Majesty requires a smart bride who can do the impossible. You must come up with a cunning plan to keep your dress clean."

"WHAT IN THESE HEALS?" Cried one of the bachelorettes staring at their stiletto shoes. Mei had her brother's ragged trainers. The were much older and smellier than her, but were rather comfortable.

"You have thirty minutes." Samba blew her trumpet. "OKAY LADIES, YOUR TIME STARTS NOW!"

A lot of the women rushed onto the bridge where some of them got wet by the buckets. One of them was crying because she had slugs all over her face. Mei wondered if she could climb under the bridge to avoid the buckets.

As some of the women started fighting with the nuns. It seemed like a good time to cross the bridge, but Mei had a feeling that they would simply hire more people to throw slugs, spiders and mud at them.

Mei ducked under the bridge, holding onto the rails. Her stomach churned as her muscles ached. It was a lot easier in her head than doing it in real life. But she had to conquer on. She couldn't give up now. That would have been what her brothers would have said. And if her animals were able to talk, they would have said the exact same thing.

She made it to the other side of the bridge. She had an idea that made her squee for joy. If she hides the dress somewhere, there's no way it could get dirty unless it was wet. The dress also had to be somewhere where she would see it and feel it. Having a feel around her body, the idea struck her. She could hide the dress in her undergarments so even if the wobbly nuns did get her clothes wet, at least her dresses were protected. The undergarments she had were what she used at the farm.

"This is coming off." Mei removed her dress and stuffed it into her pants. She stretched feeling her legs and arms again was great. "If only I had thought of this earlier, this would have made going under the bridge so much easier.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" one of the bachelorettes said, dripping in slugs as she pulled Mei's hair. "That's cheating!"

"I'm just improvising," Mei said with a smirk. She punched the woman just like her dad used to do when he was a boxer. With nothing left to lose, Mei sprinted, following the gates. Her speed helped dodge most of the buckets. She felt splashes hit the back of her leg, but it was nothing major.

She didn't put her dress back on until she was in the castle. Pulling the dress out of her undergarments, they were as white as they had ever been. She slipped the dress back on and made her way into the hall. She was the first one there, so she bowed before the king and heir-apparent.

Other Bachelorettes soon swarmed in. They glared at Mei as if she was cheating, but she did not see herself as a cheater. Samba never specified that the dress had to stay on at all times.

"How did you get your dress to be so clean?"

"She took it off, she's a cheater."

Samba arrived in the great hall and counted the ladies. "Okay, so we have sixty-nine ladies here."

"Let's cut it down!" Prince Inbu suggested. He walked past all the women as they were forced to line up. "If they're not hot, they've got to go."

"Don't be so rude," King Baboon roared.

"I'm just trying to make this kingdom more entertaining," Prince Inbu said with a smirk. "I don't want to be married to someone who looks like they work on a farm."

Mei bit her lip. If Prince Inbu rejected her because she was a farmer's daughter, then it meant all of her hard work would have been for nothing. She was never more conscious of her body than she was now. She suppressed her shaking by squeezing her hands together behind her back. Prince Inbu kept pacing around.

The way Prince Inbu spoke to each woman as if they were objects, made Mei see the palace in a whole new light. It was a beautiful place, but what was the point in everything being so beautiful if everyone was so cold.

"You're hot... You're not... You're okay, you can stay. ...Too ugly for me. Gosh what a repulsive face, go home..."

"Talk with some dignity, you fool." King Baboon bellowed aiming his staff at Prince Inbu as he threw it into his direction. Mei gasped, jumped as she grasped the staff because it could whack Prince Inbu unconscious. She fell, banging her hand.

Prince Inbu's malice tone vanished. "You're pretty cool, you can stay."

Mei felt everything blur with the pain, but she was pleased that she hadn't lost. There was only thirty of them now, and it came to her attention that she didn't really know any of them.