#queenofoklahomacity

[hezzabeth]

The lost princess, the biggest grandest portrait in the entire gallery, stared down at Revati. Amma had often said many claimed she was the most beautiful woman on Mars. Papi would then laugh and say she didn't hold a torch to Amma. Revati honestly agreed with her father; the princess always seemed to have an insipid, fragile look to her. She seemed like the sort of person who would cry when stepping on an ant. Also, her saree in the picture was a hideous combination of beige and mustard yellow.

"Drink, Ma'am?" a tourist dressed in an ill-fitting servant's uniform asked, holding up a tray.

When it became clear that everyone was going to be trapped in the park forever, people started getting creative. Revati's father had raided the tea shops on Baker Street for any easy-to-grow fruits and vegetables. Thankfully, he came across a bag of potatoes, some old lettuce, and the heads of a few carrots. By the time the supply of souvenir-themed food had run out, they had their own little garden.

"Nice to know you're using the potatoes I traded with you to make strawberry vodka instead of food," Revati sniffed, grabbing one of the glasses. Thirteen years later, Jay's vegetable scraps were now a profitable farm, guarded that Revati kept heavily under guard.

"At least it's better than the apple drink they were serving last time. I spilt some of it, and the paint melted off the wall," Aurora remarked as she joined Revati.

"True, but I was able to use it to burn that dimwit who tried to break into our rainwater supply," Revati remarked as they moved into the assembly room.

The assembly room had been designed decades ago to resemble a "cherub's paradise." The walls were covered in chipped baby blue paint, while someone had painted a mural of fluffy white clouds and flying naked babies on the ceiling. Forty or so teenagers, the children of Whistleton actors, were lined up in formal outfits with numbers on their chests. When the appliances invaded, the actors on Baker Street had fled for their lives, leaving the tourists to their devices. The actors in Whistleton, on the other hand, seemed to think Armageddon was an excuse to fully commit to their historical romance fantasy. The teenagers all bowed to each other and then began to dance in an intricate pattern. Several servants, trying their best to make music using a prop piano and several empty water jugs, accompanied them. None of the dancers were Dityaa.

"So, are you going to keep the boy or cut him loose?" Aurora asked, and Revati shrugged.

"Not sure yet, the plant thing is interesting… we could use him in the garden," Revati said, weighing her options. Other leaders firmly believed in trimming the fat; Revati, however, knew it was better to turn the fat into soap.

Bridgadeiro was approaching them now, eating a canapé fashioned from strawberries and a lettuce leaf.

"This food is fascinating! It actually tastes like it was grown in the ground," he remarked.

Aurora and Revati exchanged a confused look.

"Of course it was grown in the ground; all the food here is... or they're fried insects," Revati said, explaining. While Baker Street had potatoes and carrots, Whistleton managed to grow strawberries, pineapples, and peaches.

"Really? Where I'm from, only the very rich get to eat actual grown food! We make do with fruit made in our Creatrix," he said before taking another bite of his strawberry lettuce cup.

"What's a Creatrix, mistress?" Aurora whispered to Revati.

"One of those metal box things that makes food and clothes using sand from Saturn, my parents had one before the invasion," Revati explained, and Aurora's eyes widened.

"You mean you live on a planet with actual modern technology? That must be thrilling," Aurora cried, clapping her hands together.

"Well, technically I live on the southwest space station," he said. Revati merely walked away, taking a sip of her drink. It tasted like a mouthful of expired perfume.

A queen was sitting at the very back of the ballroom on a small stage. A majestic queen, her dark skin and towering wig dusted with gold powder. Unlike the other dancers, her ballgown was fluffy, modern, and a deep blood red. She whispered to one of the teenagers in an empire gown standing next to her. Then crisply she nodded towards Revati.

"Well, Queen Victoria has spotted you," Aurora remarked.

"Queen Victoria? Don't you mean Vicky Ditchwater?" Revati smirked.

"Shh! The last person who mentioned her old name got thrown out to the hair dryers," Aurora hissed back, and Revati just shrugged, casually walking across the ballroom, disrupting the dance.

"Mistress Rave, how lovely to see you! And in such a becoming gown," Queen Victoria said, her smile parting into a frozen smile.

"I like your dress as well, is it new?" Revati asked, not really caring to hear the answer.

"The latest design from New Singapore! It's part of a new style called robotic vampirism," the Queen replied.

"And how many of your unmarried subjects did you have to give to the appliances to get it? Three? Four?" Revati asked, raising an eyebrow.

Queen Victoria's expression froze. One thing the appliances were constantly searching for was new fresh feet. One thing Whistleton constantly strived for were "perfect matches."

"Just two, last season was incredibly successful," smiled Queen Victoria serenely.

"And I see this season you have your eyes on my sister”

Revati pointed out.

Here's the corrected version of the text:

"Well, she is uncommonly pretty, and has such a gentle personality," the Queen smiled.

"Gentle personality? Her brain is made out of marshmallows and glitter! The last thing she needs is for the Duke to abandon her in hostile territory," Revati said, folding her arms dramatically, and the Queen waved one hand.

"Oh, she'll be fine! The Duke is a lovely boy! He brought us an entire crate of heating blankets," the Queen said.

"She's clumsy! She trips and sprains her ankle at least once a month; she won't last a week in occupied zones," Revati replied wearily.

"The Duke specifically asked for her! He parachuted from the sky, insisting he was here for the eldest Sheikh sister," Queen Victoria protested, sounding vaguely annoyed.

"He wanted Dityaa? Why would he want her? How would he even know she exists?" Revati asked, incredibly confused. The only record of Dityaa’s existence came from the one year she spent in public school before the invasion.

Once Revati had asked about her birth certificate when working on a recorded list of residents on Baker Street. "Your sister was born in a refugee camp during the beginning of the war! There were no birth certificates," Amma replied.

When they were little, Dityaa would frighten Revati with ghost stories. Tales about how Dityaa’s “other mother” would visit her as a ghost while everyone else slept.

"Do I have another mother who’s a ghost?" whispered Revati, hiding under her blanket.

"No, just me. She says I have four strands of life inside of me instead of two," Dityaa whispered. The stories stopped once they found themselves stranded on Baker Street. Sometimes Revati would wonder if there was any truth to it.

While Revati helped her mother fix broken electronics, Dityaa would spin around giggling. While father and Nani dug up potatoes, Dityaa picked flowers, turning them into a crown. Dityaa wasn’t quite like anyone in the family. But then again, she did look an awful lot like Amma.

#doctor who #fantasy #nanowrimo #the Star beast #Steven universe #nanowrimo2023 #speculative worldbuilding #speculative fiction #bridgerton #jane austen #queen victoria #queenofoklahomacity #life on mars