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Krynlorr was a young city and neatly regimented, all straight streets and plain whitewashed houses. It wasn't the biggest city in Krynia nor was it the happiest, or the cleanest,but it was the capital city and as such was bustling day and night with intrigue and schemes.

One such scheme had taken place the night before and had had Sisi Idal on tenterhooks since she rose at the inordinately early 9 in the morning. She sat in front of her mirror, nodding her head impatiently as her maid brushed her hair her mothers required 100 times.

"Come on, Elizka, we can shorten it down to 50, just this once," she whined, wincing as Elizka hit a particularly big snarl. "I won't tell Mama, I promise."

"The state your hair's in she'd tell for sure, Lady Sisi,"said Elizka, patiently "I thought you were at a ball last night, not romping through a forest. I swear there's bits of birdsnests in this here hair."

"I was hiding from Lord Ferous. The man's odious. He looks like a frog and I once saw him kick a dog," explained Sisi, wincing once again as Elizka pulled at a small but stubborn tangle.

"Quit fidgeting and we'd be over a lot sooner," said Elizka, taking hold of Sisi's head and repositioning it. "What's got up your skirts anyway? Why do we need to hustle so much? And why are you up so early? After a ball you usually sleep til noon."

Sisi suddenly took a large interest in her gilded hand mirror. "No reason," She traced the gardenia pattern with one aristocratic finger. "I just felt...refreshed and awake today, that's all."

"You've never been one for lying, Lady Sisi," muttered Elizka as she shook her head. " Still," she said with a sigh, " Your reasons are your own, I suppose." Elizka grinned slyly " Do you have beau? Is that it? Are you having an assignation in the park? Oh, it's so romantic."

"Elizka! If I had a beau you would be the first one to know, you know that. But I don't, they all follow Genaline around like puppies, all tails and tongues," Sisi sighed and slumped in her seat. Elizka casually repositioned her. "I try not to be jealous of her, you know. She's my baby sister after all. But when every eligible young man just follows Genaline around like she's got him on a string it can be a bit disheartening." She said, leaning forward onto her hands.

"Head up. At least you're got Lord Ferous." Said Elizka, smoothly pulling the brush through Sisi's stick straight hair.

"I'd rather kiss a toad. Why can't I get a handsome one for once?" Sisi pouted into the mirror then stuck her tongue out at her reflection. "And she's been made one of the Queen's Maids. You'd heard, I assume?"

"Everyone has, Milady. Your Lady mother has been doing everything but proclaiming it from the rooftops. Such a coup." Elizka started mimicking Lady Jenett's saccharine tones, still weilding her comb. "Lady Elianor Michall hasn't a daughter in the Queens chamber. Such a shame little Alizon wasn't considered good enough, she's such a sweet little thing. Still, blood will out. The Michall's are little better than wine merchants, when you get down to it."

Sisi giggled and had to be repositioned again. "Still," She said, sobering. "I've been at court 3 years longer than Genaline, since I was 13 and nothing like that has ever happened to me. Do you think it's just becuase she's prettier than me? Or is there something wrong with me?"

"There's nothing wrong with you, Lady Sisi," said Elizka briskly. "Not a thing. You may not be the prettiest girl out there, and you may not be the most affable, always scribbling in those little books as you are and ignoring folk, but you are definately the best I've ever worked with. You're kind and never forget to ask after my family, you even help out if things are rushed. Do you know how many 'ladies' I've worked with who'd have thrown a tantrum by now if their sister stole their beaus? Near every one. You're kind hearted and that's more important than any other quality and if those noble men are to slow to see it it's their problem and they're going to have a lot of them if they marry some flighty chit who can't see past their title. Even if you do fidget like there's a bee in your corset."

"Oh," said Sisi. She blinked rapidly and stared into the mirror. She caught Elizka's eye in it and smiled tremoulously. " Thank you, Elizka. That's one of the nicest things anyone's ever said to me."

"There, we're all done now," said Elizka, putting down the comb and surreptiously wiping at her eye. "You can be off to meet your beau."

Sisi laughed and getting up, hugged her maid. "Thank you, Elizka." She sailed out the door with a smile on her face.

By the time she'd reached the top of the main stairs her smile had disappered, replaced by an anxious look. The fruition of her scheme was about to be revealed and she was as nervous as a trout on fish night. She tumbled down the stairs, with little care for limb or life or ladylike behaviour and tiptoed to the breakfast room door. She peered round the door, carefully. She was fairly sure her father would have gone by now but there was no point in courting his curiosity if he hadn't.

There were no servants around. Lord Gregorius hated fuss over his morning meal, which was one reason he had it before his wife and daughters. After receiving the daily news sheet and his morning post the servants were ordered away and woe betide the footman who interrupted Gregorius' morning rituals. There was just an empty plate at the head of the table, obviously used, with a discarded pile of letters beside it. The news sheet was spread out like a map ahead of the plate. Sisi pounced on it, rapidly thumbing through the unimportant pages, until she found the page she wanted. The theatre reviews! She scanned the page until she found the entry for the Gilded Pomegranates performance of the new play The Noblewoman Gone Mad which had been written by a mysterious new playwright.

She read silently, her brown eyes rapidly eating up the text. She bit her full lower lip in excitement and made a breathless squeaking noise.

She began to swirl round the room, the news sheet a paper lover in her arms. "Yes, yes, yes!" She grinnned. "I knew they'd like it, I knew it!" She began to tear out the page, a smile on her face. Holding it in her fist she pumped her arm in the air. "Huzzah!"

"Lady Sisi?" The butler peered through the open doors, quizzically. "Are you quite well?"

With a choked cough Sisi immediately settled into the demure demeanour she usually wore.

"Quite, Ottrington, quite, quite well. Ah, if my mother asks, I've gone to the library."

If her mother had followed her out the house she would have been surprised to discover Sisi heading not south, towards the library, but east, towards a rather less salubrious part of the city. She would have been even more surprised to find her daughter entering the stage door of the Gilded Pomegranete, a semi-famous theatre which was rapidly becoming the hottest spot in town.

"Did you read the review?" Sisi asked, as soon as she reached the green room.

"They called me the next Liesl," shrieked Lilia.

"Of course we read the review," said Rollinfo, the manager of the Gilded Pomegranete, waving a sugar biscuit though the air.

"I can't believe they called me the next Liesl," shrieked Lilia.

"It was marvellous, we've sold out for the next 6 performances," said Rollinfo, his booming, brassy voice, a product of his acting days, easily cutting across Lillia's cries.

"They said I was moving as the tragic hero," grinned Raucous. He sniffed, buffed his nails on his doublet and tried to look nonchalent. "I was pretty good."

"And it's all down to your play," said Heath, Sisi's mentor. " Such characterrisation, such passion, such tragedy, such romance, it had everything! Just right touch of bitter irony-"

"I'm the next Liesl!" shrieked Lilia.

Sisi laughed out loud, just like a well bred noble woman shouldn't do. She caught Lilia's hands and they whirled round the room, norrowly avoiding knocking over the tea urn and Raucous. Raucous laughed and bowed to them.

"May I cut in?" He asked, in a voice dripping with plums and without waiting for an invitation he waltzed Lilia to the end of the room.

"Who did you pay to get such good reviews?" asked Sisi, laughing as she fell into a chair by Heath and Rollinfo.

"There's no substitute for talent, my dear," said Rollinfo, patting her hand in a fatherly fashion with one hand, while reaching for another sugar biscuit with the other. "I should know. I performed in front of Queen Curian the second when I was 23, and though the play I performed was pure drivel, drivel, my dear, she saw through that to the performer I am." He patted his bulging stomach. Sisi liked Rollinfo. He made even her plump frame seem slender."Though I perform rarely now, I still manage to fill every seat in the house. Yes," he took a huge bite out of the biscuit. "It was a marvellous play! No substitute for talent!" he said, spraying biscuit crumbs all down his jerkin. "Watch that scenary, you dolts, or I'll have it out your wages!" He roared at Lilia and Raucous, who were still swirling at the far end of the green room, perilously close to stepping on the old flattened scenary curtains. Lilia and Raucous swirled smoothly away from the scenary boards and Raucous took the opportunity to pull Lilia scandalously close to him, a devilish gleam in his eyes.

"Truly, it was dream to see," said Heath, tugging on his grey beard. "Everything flowed perfectly from scene to scene, every line was delivered pitch perfect, every scenary change happened without a hitch. No words can describe it, it was truly a blessed performance." He smiled at Sisi. "One might think Aramus was watching from on high, directing every act himself."

"I'm glad everything went so well," said Sisi. "I just wish I could have seen it myself. The rehearsals were unbelievable but to hear the roar of the crowd, knowing they felt that way about something I had written...oh, it must have been magical," She closed her eyes and tried to imagine the spectacle.

"It was...and on that note, there's something you might be interested in that I want to talk to you about," said Heath.

I found the whole thing very interesting indeed. At first I was a bit taken aback by the name Sisi, but I have characters named Zop, Bizzet and Clurve, so who am I to judge? sweatdrop

In the end it was a sweet name, and I'm interested in the rest. 3nodding

My first complaint, and it's one I have with almost all works, was that it was a bit more 'show' rather than 'tell'. But that's just me and my over active imagination demanding full sensory overload.

My second complaint - also probably invalid - is that I have yet to see why this world is sci fi. It seems like some thing where the future meets the past in a sort of "Oh, will we have dragons or mechs today crashing through the castle walls?"

Still, I'd like to read more. ^_^

True, and I'm still not sure what way it's supposed to go. Dragon or mech...

You know a Mech-Dragon would be supper cool. Then it can be both.

Alas, we'll have to wait and see. gonk