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Parallel Universes - "What if?" / Re: An Assassin in Agra Fort
Last post by Dree -Sasch sat between her ‘parents’ on a square cushion behind a low table. A servant brought her a large chalice filled with a smoking burgundy liquid. Because it was smoking, she thought that it would warm her, but it was an incredibly refreshing drink. ‘Maybe it works on a similar principle as dry ice - without being dangerous to ingest,’ she thought. She watched the vapors as they ascended and dissipated into nothingness. The way the steam gamboled around was almost hypnotizing.
Her father clapped once again, and servants scrambled out of many different entrances with platters of food. The royal family was served first. Her ‘father’ then her ‘mother’ then the woman who Sasch guessed was the second wife. But only seconds later, a large plate of sumptuous meats, cheeses, nuts, fruits, and cooked vegetables was set in front of her. The smells were tantalizing. How the holodeck was able to make all of the different elements not only look and feel real, but smell and taste real as well still boggled the Wolf’s mind.
She indulged in the meal, despite the fact that she knew it wasn’t real. Like everyone else, she used her fingers whether she was eating the meats, cheeses or cooked vegetables. The flavors and sumptuous juice of the means or fruits burst into her mouth and filled it with textures and flavors and spices and scents. When she dropped, a small reddish potato into her mouth the juice from the sauce that covered it, dripped down her fingers.
She quickly grabbed her napkin and wiped away the liquid. But after she cleaned away the mess, her eyes swept across the room and alighted on a scantily-clad buxom Andorian. She quirked her head as she tried to decide if she had seen her on the Theurgy in passing. The Zhen looked slightly familiar, but she couldn’t quite place her. ‘Besides,’ she told herself, ‘I have to figure out to she had to kill my father in a way that would go unnoticed.’
This time she returned to the refreshing drink while her eyes flitted here and there across the room for something or someone she might be able to use in her quest.
It was then that a pompous, burly man strutted in with an entourage of people and even creatures. It was the stallions that especially caught her attention. They were such majestic creatures and high stepped into the room in sync. It was all that Sasch could do to keep her seat instead of heading down to pet the steeds.
But as she popped another piece of cheese into her mouth, the man announced, “Thank you for allowing me to grace your presence. I have come from very far on behalf of my Emir to offer these humble gifts as a token of your esteem.”
To which her father replied, “Come. Sit and enjoy the show….We just had a wonderful demonstration from the girl of a most entertaining dance. We must have another performance. Perhaps something with more life in it.”
Sasch wanted to stick her tongue out at her ‘father.’ ‘I know, so mature,’ she thought. With a sigh, she extricated herself from her seat as the man-bearing gifts ousted her from her seat. At least she had already eaten, but she took her cup and a few apple slices with her and made a face at both men behind their backs as she walked away.
But as she did, a thought struck her. She was just a character in this program. ‘Maybe my character would know about horses and how to work with them and dance with them.' She tossed back the rest of her drink and deposited it on a tray for that purpose. Sasch jogged over to one of the horses. She approached it slowly. The horse pawed at the ground and shook its mane. With hand extended and holding one of the apple slices in her fingers, she inched her way closer and closer. The horse lowered its nose to smell the apple slide. Sasch offered it to him. He took it and chomped on it. Sasch fed him three more slices before she tried to pet him. He did whinny, but as she ran her hand down his mane, he whinnied contentedly.
Sasch held onto his bridle and led him back out into the middle of the room. She faced her ‘father’ and holding the bridle out, she waited for him to nod that she may begin. Once he nodded, she looked over at the musicians and they started their music. She started by leading the horse in a circle around the middle of the room. After which she mounted and rode the horse around twice in a circle. Holding onto the saddle horn, she swung herself over one side of the horse so that her feet were just out of reach of the floor. Then she lowered herself so that she could run for several more steps before using the saddle horn and a jump to help her swing over the other side of the steed.
She continued the spectacle for almost five minutes before she dismounted and she and the horse walked forward together. Both bowed to her ‘father’ before standing back up to another rousing round of applause. She patted the horse’s neck and led it over to the side of the room before she grabbed another of the smoking drinks and began sipping on it. She found a quiet corner to hole herself up, drink the liquid in her cup, and consider how to assassinate her 'father'.