Life in the Palace

"Arrrgh!" Panther burst through the palace gates and out of the castles, fuming. "I have never been so insulted in my life!" He shouted, as he passed by a young man with a black shirt and green eyes; he wore a green shirt and a pair of black pants and green shoes, and a guitar strapped to his back. He was Trent, the kind of Crosstopolis. Right next to him was a goth girl with black eyes and black hair with teal highlights; she wore a pair of dark-colored combat boots, grey pantyhose, a black skirt and a teal and black top complete with a black choker. She was Gwen, Trent's girlfriend and queen of Crosstopolis.

"Wait a minute, sir." Gwen called out to Panther. "You can't leave now. You just spent the night."

"Which is one night too many! Good luck marrying HER OFF!" Prince Panther snapped as he left, but not before Trent and Gwen noticed a humongous rip in Panther's pants, and his heart-printed boxers were showing.

"Oh, Mariah..." Trent mumbled, as he slapped his face in annoyance. "Not again," Gwen moaned, and off they went in search of a certain somebody named Mariah.

"Mariah!" Gwen called out as she and Trent searched the courtyard. "Mariah, Mariah!"

"Hey, Mariah. Where are you, Mariah?" Trent said. "Mari--" But Trent was cut off when he was suddenly jumped by an orange mountain cat-like creature with green eyes and yellow spots, a black nose, a yellow gem on its forehead and a white muzzle. That creature was Galux, Mariah's pet bit-beast, and it was holding a piece of fabric in its mouth.

"Galux, come on!" Trent groaned in annoyance as he retrieved the piece of Panther's pants from the bit beast. Gwen rushed over to help him up. "Ugh! No wonder Prince Panther stormed out!" the frustrated king of Crosstopolis snapped, rather irritated.



"Oh, Trent. Galux was just playing with him, weren't you Galux? You were playing with that overdressed, self-absorbed Prince Panther, weren't you?" a beautiful, angelic voice cooed. That voice belonged to a beautiful young Neko-jin with a cascade of lovely, delicate dark pink hair tied into a ponytail with a soft, light pink ribbon, and she had the most delicate and alluring golden cat-like eyes; she was dressed in a beautiful pink Chinese silk top, a pair of pink silk dress pants and a pair of lovely pink-and-white silk-coated lotus shoes. She is the beautiful princess, Mariah Wong. Galux purred as its mistress rubbed behind the ears and rubbed its belly, but then she stopped as Trent gave her a serious look. "Mariah, this is getting really old. I'm serious, you have got to stop rejecting every suitor who comes to call."

Here we go again Mariah thought.

"The law says you..." Trent said as Mariah began to jinx with him.

"Must be married to a prince, or a gentleman's son." They both said in unison. "By your next birthday!" Trent finished. "But the law is wrong," Mariah protested as she walked up over to the bird cage. "And you only have less than three days left!" Trent reminded her.

"Cousin Trent, I hate being forced into this." said Mariah. "If I do marry, I want it to be for love, just like you and Gwen."



"Listen, Mariah, it's not just about the law. I'm not going to be King forever, you know. I just want to make sure that you're being taken care of; provided for, that's all." Trent said to Mariah as he placed the bird back into the cage.