Mai Mei of Mei'An
Mai sat in front of a mirror, staring at her reflection. "Niklas König," she said out loud, a bit unsteadily. The foreign name sat heavily on her tongue, while her native language flowed fluidly out of her mouth. "Niklas König of Königreich der Welten."
It's an ugly language, she thought. Mai never lied to herself, and she wouldn't do so now. She sighed and began to comb her long, wavy hair. There was nothing she could do about that.
Mai wondered what this Niklas König was like. She knew that her uncle would never betroth her to anyone he didn't approve of. Granted, her uncle admitted that he hadn't met Niklas König before, but the impression he'd gotten from Niklas's parents seemed good enough. She supposed that this agreement would benefit both nations; Mei'An desperately needed a steady supplier of more advanced machinery, and any country would be happy to have access to the extensive natural resources of Mei'An. It was somewhat of a relief to know that Mei'An would still have leverage over Königreich der Welten if Mai and her uncle decided that the marriage just wasn't going to work out.
A knock sounded at the door. "Come in," Mai said absentmindedly, absorbed in the simple action of combing her hair. She was mildly surprised to see her uncle standing in the doorway through his reflection in her mirror. "Uncle? What is it?" she questioned, finishing up with the comb and setting it down on the table, turning around to face him.
"I have a gift for you," Ming Mei said, a slight twinkle of mischief in his eyes. He brought out a hand from behind his back and offered Mai a gold ring with a heavy ruby gemstone. Mai accepted it almost reverently.
"It's beautiful," she breathed, turning it over in her hands.
"Now, let me braid you hair," Ming said, an amused look on his face. Mystified, Mai complied and faced the mirror again. As soon as her uncle's rough hands touched her silky hair, Mai felt as if she was a child again, back in her uncle's treasured home in the mountains, where her uncle would do her hair for her while lecturing her on the best way to stun somebody. Mai relaxed and let her uncle braid. She was nineteen, a fully grown woman, yet her uncle would always be better than braiding hair than she would ever be. When Ming was done, Mai looked into the mirror, admiring the intricate designs that her uncle could make with braids. He'd given her inky black hair a side part, and French braided it down the left side of her head so that the long end of Mai's
hair hung down the right side of her back. The right side of her head was fishtailed, and Ming had tucked the end of the fishtail into the French braid.
"Where's the ring?" Ming asked. Mai handed the heavy piece of jewelry to him, and sat still while her uncle affixed it to the end of the braid. Mai realized why the ring was so heavy-if she twirled around and let her braid fly, it was very possible that she could knock out an attacker with the gemstone. Now that Mai thought about it, the irony of the situation was inescapable. Who knew that beauty could kill?
Mai giggled at the thought. "Thank you," she said to her uncle, a small grin on her face. "You know me so well." Ming merely gave her a knowing wink before walking out of Mai's bedroom.
Mai found a rather large hair
ornament with silk roses and slipped it into her hair on the left side of her head. The "comb" part of the hair ornament was actually made up of a series of small, razor sharp hairpins. Mai made sure that the weapons were properly concealed by her hair and reached for a box filled with fans. She selected a black
fan with red flowers on it and wickedly sharp blades on the ends of the fan, hidden by a wide border.
Finally, it was time for her clothing. Mai donned a deep red
dress with black designs across the bodice and at the top of the skirt, then slipped into a pair of black stilettos with spiky heels, which added another few inches to her height. Mai slid small daggers into the bodice of her dress and under the long skirt as well.
Gold bangles went around her wrists and a delicate gold chain with a small rose pendant went around her neck. Mai opened a tube of deep red lipstick and applied it carefully, before adding a touch of eyeshadow to the area around her eyes. After applying her mascara, Mai was ready. She headed out to where her uncle was waiting with their luggage and a car and stepped inside. Although Mai probably wasn't supposed to be bringing weapons along with her, old habits die hard. Holding court in Mei'An was a dangerous affair, and you'd be a fool to not at least have a dagger on you. Besides, it wasn't like she was going to use them unless she absolutely had to.
So that was how Mai arrived in Aciras-armed to the teeth and beautiful enough to make any common boy drool.
Infinite Cosmos
Altered Tundra
