Thankfully, she was rescued from the situation by the most unlikely savior. Suddenly, Duncan—Princess Mirabel’s pet skinkle—rushed across the table and grabbed the roasted carcass in his mouth. Making growling sounds, like a dog protecting its dinner, he backed away from Terra as he gnawed on the roasted femur of one of his fellow skinkles.
“Duncan, no!” Princess Mirabel exclaimed.
“Mirabel!” the king thundered. “How many times have I told you not to bring that animal to the table!”
“I’m sorry, Father!” The daisy princess seemed to be nearly in tears. “He’s just old—he doesn’t know any better!”
“Here.” Hoping to defuse the situation, Terra reached out and scooped up the Chihuahua sized old man who was still growling and chewing. Stepping carefully off her stepstool, she brought him around the table to the daisy princess. “Here you go,” she said, handing Duncan back to his owner.
“Oh, thank you!” There were tears in Mirabel’s eyes. “And I’m so sorry if he offended you!”
“No offense at all, I promise.” Terra gave her a warm smile. Despite the fact that she was an alien, the girl reminded her very much of one of her students and she’s always been good with kids.
“Thank you,” Mirabel said again, sniffing. “Maybe I’d better take him back to his pen. I don’t want any of that awful meat anyway!” She dropped her voice, casting a careful look at her father as she spoke. “I can’t bear to eat skinkle—they’re so sweet and kind and loving. How can you eat something you love?”
“I totally agree with you,” Terra murmured. “Maybe we can both use this incident to be excused from the table.” And she gave Mirabel a knowing wink.
The daisy princess gave her a weak smile in return and nodded her petaled head before climbing back up her step stool, which she had descended to talk to Terra.
“Father,” she said. “May I be excused? I’ll take Duncan back to his pen where he belongs.”
“Very well,” the king grumbled. “But you’re lucky you didn’t offend our guests!”
“No offense taken, Your Majesty,” Terra said quickly. “But I’d like to be excused as well. I’m afraid our quest won’t wait much longer and we must get going.”
“Oh, but you can’t leave now!” the king daisy protested. “Why, it’s almost night time! You can’t travel in the dark. And which way are you going, anyway?”
“Er, that way.” Terra gestured towards the distance, where she could still see a glimmer of the glowing golden path.
“Well, you certainly don’t want to go that way in the dark!” the king exclaimed. “That whole area is completely covered in Chirrips!”
“Chirrips?” V’rone frowned. “What in the Seven Frozen Hells are those?”
“Why, they’re a semi-sentient plant life, distantly related to us Froozles—very distantly related,” the king told them. “They’re all right during the day, but at night they’re on guard. If you disturb them, they’ll release clouds of spoors into the air that will have a most unpleasant effect, I assure you!”
“Oh, well…” Terra began. She didn’t like the idea of waiting a moment longer to continue their quest, but just as she was trying to think of an idea to move on, the sky above them began to darken.
“What the fuck?” she heard V’rone mutter and Rive said,
“Does the evening really come on this quickly in this world?”
“I’m afraid so,” the king daisy nodded at the darkening sky, which was now a dark, twilight purple. “But don’t worry,” he added heartily. “For night time is not long here! Our sunlit hours are much longer—about eighty-five percent of our day/night cycle. It’s one reason my people have been able to grow so big and strong—all the sunlight we receive.” He smiled, showing those sharp, white teeth again.
“Oh, well…so how many hours does night time last?” Terra asked weakly.
“Almost three,” the king answered. “Dinner is over now, anyway,” he added, pushing away his own huge plate and watching as the daisies up and down the table did the same. “Would you like to rest in one of our grassy hollows while you wait for the night to pass? I know the wild skinkles shelter there, so it ought to suit the four of you as well.”
“Er, where do all of you rest?” Terra asked, avoiding the question.
“Oh, we are inert during the darkness.” The king yawned mightily and stretched his long, green leaf-arms. “We find a place in the field and rest. Of course, we nap during the daylight hours as well, but during night a torpor comes upon us that makes it difficult to move.” He yawned again. “In fact, I feel it coming on me now. I must move to a better resting place. Please feel free to choose a hollow to rest in for yourselves.”
Then he glided off, leaving the table as, indeed, all the giant daisies were. They appeared to be heading back to the field where Terra and her guys had first found them a few hours before—which was also where the golden path was.