There was a bit of commotion outside the tavern.
OH MY ORACLE HE’S HERE!!! *fangirl screaming*
“That’s right ladies and gentlefoxes, Kip Lightning is here, the fastest snail racer in all of Eolande and beyond!”
*SWARM*
“I GOT HIS RACING GLASSES!”
“Whoa, hey, easy there. There’s plenty of Kip to go around.”
“You here for the big race?” Kip eyed the two at his table. “I have fans from all over. I’ll bet you want an autograph. That’s okay, I don’t mind. Anything for the fans.”
“Never heard of you,” Micah said. He decided he didn’t like this braggart one bit.
“What? I’m Kip Lightning, the fastest snail racer in all of Eolande and beyond! I’m a seven-time Pan-Eolander champion. I’ve won every race from here to kingdom’s end. I’ve won the Jade Forest Cup fifteen times in a row. In a ROW! I even beat those jokers at the Kessel Run. If it’s fast, I can ride it. And when I ride, I win.”
“Oh please.” Micah said, “I did the Kessel Run in under twelve parse... uh…” Foster leaned in and whispered the right measurement. “Twelve cycles.”
“Liar. I’d hear about it if you did. Nobody rides that fast.”
“I do.” Micah yawned.
“Lies!” Kip grew incensed.
“Who are you calling a liar?” Micah jumped up since the fox had. Maybe it was a fox sprite thing because Ina was always jumping up on chairs and things to make her point heard. “My dragon is faster than your slimy old snail.”
“Who’re you calling slimy?” Kip leapt across the table. “I challenge you to a race, right here, right now!”
“No way. I’ll race you tomorrow.”
“Oh, you’re on.”
Micah and Foster signed the sign-up sheet on stage. “You’re gonna eat our dust, Kip Lightyear.”
“It’s Lightning! KIP LIGHTNING!!!”
“Oh, dear.” Foster lamented. “It seems we were robbed. All my gold is gone. Without a royal sponsor whatever shall we do?”
Kip burst out laughing. “You guys are such losers. Guess you’ll sit this one out. What dopes. And you thought you could beat me! ME! Kip Lightning!”
“Well, you know why they do it,” Foster said. “They’re just afraid our native sprite dragons will beat their fairy-approved Fantasian racing snails so they force you to get royal fairy sponsors. Can you believe they choose imports over domestic? ”
“Hey! My snail ain’t stupid. I can beat your dumb dragons any day of the week.”
“Prove it.” Micah said.
Kip looked back and forth between the two, his eyes wide. Flustered, he accepted their bargain. “I’ll pay the fee for your stupid dragons. We’ll see who the best really is.”
The famous racing fox slammed forty pieces of gold onto the table. “Sign ‘em up!”
“State your names,” said the fellow at the registration table.
“We’re the Black Ribbon Riders,” Micah said. Foster nodded in approval.
That was almost too easy, Micah thought. He let slip a tiny snicker.
“I’ll see you at the races!” Kip shook his fist. “We’ll see who’s the fastest!”
“Oh, I’m sure.” Micah stifled a laugh.
“You are a cunning and devious young man,” Foster said. “What a fine politician you could be. You sure you don’t want to join my cabinet when I rise to power and claim the throne? I could use a man like you on my side.”
“I don’t think I’m cut out for the political life. I just want to graduate college.” Micah said. “Let’s turn in for the night. Tomorrow is going to be a long day and you still wobble a bit when you stand.”
Later that evening….
*brood*
“Hey, Sis. Come to see me win?”
“I’m glad you’re safe,” Ina whispered.
“Yeah, well, it pays to stay apolitical.” Kip smiled up at his sister. “You trimmed your hair. It’s cute.”
“Apolitical. How can you not care when Prince Foster promised to end apartheid? Our people would finally be equals with the fairies. All females would finally have equal representation like they do in the North Reaches… and… and… how can you only care about racing when your people are suffering?” Ina huffed. She spoke a bit too loudly and the tiny centaurette meeped in approval.
“Hey, I don’t care one whit if I can’t enter the kingdom’s upper echelons. I’ve got more money than I know what to do with and I get to race. That’s all that matters to me.” Kip huffed. “Seriously, you gotta quit talking that stuff around me. I don’t want to be arrested and found swinging from the gallows. Kip Lightning doesn’t do gallows.”
“By new royal decree, dissention is sedition. To disagree with the crown is to invite death. Please, please for the love of our blessed Oracle silence this talk in my tavern or I’ll throw you all out. I don’t want to lose my business. I have a family.”
“Meep?”
“Ina, when are you going to learn?” Kip hissed under his breath. “You can’t make a difference. Nobody can. We’re tiny. We’re inconsequential. And those damned fairies know it. They defeat dragons. What can a fox sprite do but stay out from underfoot?”
TBC. It’s easy as 123…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ho7796-au8U
I've had this song in my head all week. No idea why.
OMAKE! This is what happens when you put candles in little wooden bowls for aesthetic reasons. And this is why the candle disappeared half-way through the photo shoot. OOPSIES! Good thing I didn’t leave the set for half an hour to eat lunch upstairs, take a phone call, and dawdle about in the library before finishing the photostory or I’d have burned the house down. <___<
NEXT EPISODE: #43 viewtopic.php?f=18&t=10546
