At the Election Hall

“Odell, your collar is crooked!” Cecilia shouted as she fiddled with the fabric near Odell’s neck. They were in the backseat of a long vehakul, but that didn’t stop him from squirming like a child as he tried to pull away from her help.

“Cecilia! I don’t need your help.”

“Your attire suggests otherwise; look, your jacket has a grease stain! Were you working in your nice clothes again?”

It had been common for the young prince to sneak away, no matter what he was dressed in, and start working on something in the castle’s garage, so she wasn’t surprised or angry—but maybe a little disappointed.

“I don’t have many without stains, and I didn’t realize until I got changed. By then, it was too late,” Odell explained.

“You should have picked out clothes the night before. How could you be sure you didn’t have a matching jacket and pants?”

“What’s wrong with them not matching?”

Cecilia sighed. “Driver, please take a detour to a nice tailor.”

“We’ll be late!”

“When have you ever cared about being late?”

Odell bit his lip and turned his head to look at the blocky city just beyond the window. His reflection showed the broken crown, and as his eyes looked upward, he shook his head. He pivoted in the seat to turn back to the Hobusian girl.

“You don’t have to do all this, Cecilia.”

“Of course, I do; I’m your fiancé!”

“You don’t have to marry me either. My dad took a silly idea too far.”

Cecilia let out a small screech as she grabbed Odell’s collar and shook him. “What are you saying? I love you; you know!” she frantically wailed as tears poured from her eyes.

“Calm down, calm down.”

“Don’t tell me to calm down!”

Odell sighed and pulled Cecilia close for a hug. She quieted in his arms and matched his embrace.

“Alright, already. I’ll marry you or whatnot.” She wasn’t sure if his words were to placate her or if Odell spoke the truth, but she figured finding out could wait until later.

The rest of the ride went in silence. They quickly reached a tailor, and Odell was fitted into new formal attire—something that looked like a suit, with a long jacket that went to Odell’s ankles. The belt wrapped above the coat and had a long, teardrop-shaped cloth that ran to his knees. On top of his head, Odell wore what was referred to as the flat cap of shame; a roundish, squarish top hat. It was tall enough to hold a crown but was only ever worn to hide that one was broken. The prince might have been against wearing it if his crown had only been chipped, some Hobusians tried to hide any imperfections, but as his whole crown was shattered, Odell must have decided it was best to conceal it.

A whole new set was prepared and fitted in minutes, the tailors were not ones to hold a prince up, and soon Odell was sent out in a new green attire. As he walked out of the store, he jumped at the sight of Cecilia. She had changed into a formal dress, using similar motifs and colors of his suit design—made to match his new clothes and cement them as a pair.

He said nothing, and they quickly headed out.

***

Odell groaned at the sight of the election hall. It was a blocky building shaped like an octagon with seating like a coliseum. Instead of an arena in the center, seven circles were drawn on a slowly rotating stage.

Hobusians had seven noble families which competed in the election every thirty years. They made the winner of the election king over the nation, and the capitol, while the other six families managed a set of territories around the rest of the country. If a new family took over the role of king, they would swap territories with the previous reining family. Such back and forth led to each family ruling over different areas throughout the nation's life. It made getting citizens to participate that much more difficult—as people in territories of the ‘good’ families were determined to keep their heads in charge, and those in the areas of the ‘bad’ families were determined to get rid of their heads before considering who would make the best king.

Odell grumbled as he was escorted to a box on the arena's lower level for the Fio family. The room was large, with enough seating to house over a hundred people and a large glass window, allowing him to view the election up close. He walked silently to the front row and sat in while taking in the silence of the empty room. Avon was on the stage in the Fio family circle, and his father was already seated on the ‘king’s throne’ hovering above the stage.

From the window, he saw other families were packed into the royal seating like sardines. Most of his aunts, uncles, and other extended relatives enjoyed the royal life far too much and were taking the day to party hard, in case it was their last chance. He shook his head; he might have skipped out on the election as well not too long before

The gray prince crossed his arms and sighed. He didn’t like the quiet all that much.

A voice whispered from his feet, “Odell.”

“Wha!” he shouted as Cecilia phased through the floor and smiled at him.

“I snuck away!”

“Couldn’t you just go through doors like a normal person?”

“It’s more fun to scare you!” Cecilia replied with a devious smile. Odell shook his head.

“Shouldn’t you stay with the Aio family right now?”

“I’m not marrying anyone from the Aio family, and I figured you would be stuck here alone, so I came here!” There was a firmness to Cecilia’s tone, and Odell didn’t expect to convince her otherwise. He gestured to the seat next to him, but the Hobusian girl was already flopping into it before she could have seen his motion. “You’ll just have to deal with me!” she added with a sly smile as she shifted to get comfortable in the seat.

“If you say so. Do you want any snacks or anything before they get started?” Odell asked as he picked up a tablet in the room.

“Oh, are you going to call some in?”

“I don’t want any, but you can if you want.” He handed Cecilia a tablet and she tapped a few selections. She frowned for a moment and deselected several before submitting the request.

“No need to hold back; it’s just us here,” Odell said as he received the tablet. He picked a couple more options and sent the request.

“I’m not holding back!”

“I’ve seen you eat enough to bankrupt the royal family.”

“Odell! That is not something you should say to your fiancé!”

The gray prince sighed.

“But you don’t deny that it is true?”

Cecilia’s expression grew dim, and she looked at the ground. After a moment of thought, she suddenly turned and yanked Odell’s hat off, revealing his shattered bony crown.

“Hey!”

“It’s just us, after all!” she chirped. “No need to hold back; I still love you, even with your crown broken.” Odell crossed his arms and looked away. “Oh, don’t be that way! You still look very handsome, even without your crown.”

“Whatever you say,” the gray prince said with a roll of his eyes.

“It’s true!” Cecilia pleaded. Music echoed from the stage as the candidates shuffled into their circles to begin. Possibly thinking Odell could not hear over the sound, Cecilia softly added: “You could get with a girl much prettier than me!”

“Don’t be silly; you’re the most beautiful girl I know,” Odell replied gruffly as his head remained turned away. His yellow eyes immediately grew wide. “I better get to the restroom before all this gets underway!” he added while jumping up. Before anything else could be said, the gray prince ran out the door.

***

Cecilia was left alone with a red flush on her gray cheeks.

“Idiot,” she said softly, “why don’t you ever say that to my face?”

Odell came back shortly after, walking in with the servers who brought snacks, and neither brought the topic back up as the election announcer came onto the stage.