Page 9 of Valpar

I snorted.If only she knew how much I knew about all that.

Giggling softly, I instinctively placed my hand over my mouth, and the sound muffled against my palm. Suddenly, a thump resonated from behind, causing a jolt of curiosity to course through me. The delicate tulle curtains swayed gracefully, their ethereal movements whispering across the creaking floorboards. Emerging from within, a majestic figure materialized before my eyes. With each step, the barefooted goddess exuded an aura of enchantment. Her flowing white hair, adorned with vibrant blue and green tips, cascaded down her back as she gracefully approached. Bathed in the morning sunlight, her exquisite purple dress, perfectly complementing Osirus’ attire, shimmered and sparkled, casting a dazzling reflection.

“Aunt Melina!” I squealed and ran towards her.

Melina screamed, her beautiful wings, that resembled those of a butterfly, fluttered violently and pushed the fabrics away from us. “Calliope, I haven’t seen you in forever!” Melina squeezed me tighter.

“I saw you three days ago,” I said, muffled into her shoulder.

“Still too long.” She pushed me back and looked at my empty bag on my bed. “You forgot!” She pushed my shoulder, and I shook my head.

“No! Okay, yes, but there was this pixie and—”

“Yeah, yeah, I know all about it. The forest was laughing about how he got sent to the dungeon for messing with the king’s favorite.” She winked at me and pulled out my dresser drawers.

Melina packed only a few of my things and said she had a whole special room full of clothes made just for me. I was going to match her and Osirus the whole time I visited, and my heart flipped in my chest the entire time she talked.

Rough life, my butt! My life was awesome. Mom was over-protective sometimes, but awesome, nonetheless.

“Ready?” Melina chucked the bag over her shoulder and pointed to my wings on the bed.

I scooped them up, and she eyed the broken tip, but I waved her off as we stepped out of my room.

Simon bleated from the elevator entrance. Not that he needed an elevator. He could climb the tree with only three legs if he really wanted to, because Simon was a talented goat. He could climb anything.

“She’s ready!” Melina gave the bag to Osirus and put her arm through mine. I waved to Mom and Dad, and pulled Melina to the elevator before Mom could say anything more.

“Hold on a second,” Dad grunted when he pushed away from the door frame. He was wearing his traveling gear, now. It was actually for hunting and fighting but Mom had made him swearnot to hurt the little critters from the forest anymore. Dad wasn’t even allowed to hunt for food and bring dead animals home.

Thank the goddess!

I cried for two days straight when he came home with three bunnies dangling from his belt for Mom to cook one night. Now, we get our meat already skinned and precooked from the palace.

Maybe I couldn’t live on my own.

I leaned my head back to sigh and stared up into the leaves of our roofless home.

Huh, the rain never gets in. I wonder how that is?

Wait, what was I supposed to be thinking about?

Oh, right.

I’m never gonna have a sleepover at Uncle Osirus’ palace.

“You are allowed to go, but...” Dad said, stepping forward.

Simon bleated.

“Damn goat,” Dad muttered, and I gasped and put my hands over Simon’s ears.

“You can’t cuss like that in front of Simon. I told you that, he is sensitive. He almost fainted when I said the word b-l-o-o-d today,” I whispered.

Dad pressed his lips into a thin line, and Mom elbowed him in the gut. “What I mean is, your mother would prefer…” She elbowed him again, so he took his arm away from her and stepped away. “We prefer you do not attend the mating ball this year.”

My shoulders sagged in defeat.

But balls had food, dancing and more food. They also had really handsome men there, too. Which has really, really been on my mind lately. I wanted to see what a dick looked like. I’ve only read about them, and I didn’t want to see Dad’s dick.

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