Thanks to my editor, SexyGeek, for advice and suggestions.
Berulia
Berulia wandered onto the balcony, and looked at the town below. At eighteen, she was flowering into womanhood. Her long brunette hair, braided into a long plait, matched her eyes, dark, and brown. She was dressed in black leggings, and a pink top; not the usual attire of a lady, but comfortable for the journey ahead. They showed off her slim figure and long legs if anyone happened to be looking that way.
Not that anyone would be. Dusk was approaching, and the many businesses in the town below were starting to close up. Even from here she could hear the call of the fishmongers shouting out their last offers to sell old stock before closing. It seemed delightfully quaint, until the wind changed direction, and the stink of twenty thousand people, to say nothing of the fish, suddenly assailed her. The palace was on a small rise to the west of the town, and the prevailing wind usually carried the smell the other way, but occasionally, like today, the wind would blow towards them. To Berulia's annoyance, it always seemed to do it when the weather was hottest, and she most wanted to have the balcony doors open and when the town's foetor was particular high.
Petulantly, Berulia slammed the doors shut. "Mumu! Mumu!" Her greenie quickly appeared at a trot. "Fan me, Mumu, I'm feeling hot."
Mumu was a female, like all the house greenies. She was a little taller than Berulia, big-busted and completely hairless. Her skin, of course, was green, sea green, and she required no clothes. She looked at the desk, but none of the fans were there. She glanced nervously at Berulia, who was in no mood for any silliness from a greenie.
"Quickly, Mumu. Do you know what happened to my last greenie?" Mumu was Berulia's third greenie. Lanu had been the first, and had been fine. Her lease had expired a year or so ago, and she had been replaced by Firo. Firo had not worked out. She had been slow, clumsy and always getting under foot. Berulia had had her whipped several times, before eventually sending her back for correction. She had had Mumu for ten months now, and mostly it was working out, but occasionally the greenie needed a little prodding.
Mumu looked through drawers with increasing desperation, before finally finding the blue fan with sea shells painted on it, slipped down the back of the dresser. She quickly opened it up, knelt before Berulia, and started to waft it at the speed Berulia preferred.
After a few minutes, Berulia decided it was too hot even for that. "Go turn on the air con., then fan me some more." In truth, the breeze from the air conditioning was far more cooling than Mumu's efforts, but the greenie needed something to occupy her time.
A chime sounded. "Yes, daddy?" Berulia knew it would be him on the intercom.
"The shuttle will be here in ten minutes, dear. Make sure you have everything ready."
Berulia turned to Mumu. "Is everything ready?" Mumu shook her head. "Well go and sort it then. Honestly..." Mumu gave Berulia a rather insolent glance, but just for the briefest of moments, as she stood up, and carefully put the fan away. Then she quickly left the room, returning to packing for the journey. Berulia decided she would have to deal with Mumu later. Insolence in a greenie reflected badly on its master. That would have to wait until they returned. Berulia would have to hope that Mumu would not embarrass her in the royal court.
She felt quite excited just thinking of the phrase. "Royal Court". Of course, Prince Hedelikir was only minor royalty on an obscure planet, but he
was
royalty, and it had been Berulia's dream since childhood to marry into royalty. That was not guaranteed, of course. There would be many people at the banquet, and probably many girls just as keen to marry a prince. Though he was very much lesser royalty, he was very handsome, just as a prince should be. According to the database, he was twenty four and single, which was ideal. She could hardly wait to meet him.
From outside, she could hear the roar of the shuttle making its final descent. The palace had its own landing area; at one time they had owned their own shuttle, but it got used so rarely, her mother had made her father get rid of it. "Are you ready yet, Mumu?"
Mumu appeared briefly to give a vigorous nod. "Well, get it all to the shuttle then." Mumu disappeared again, and Berulia walked to the door, and onto the landing that stretched around three sides of the main hall, heading down the grand staircase. Her father, Ariltus, was waiting at the door. "Oh, you're here already. Well done. Just waiting for your mother." Helicia was not long, gliding down the stairs in a long red dress.
"Are you travelling like that?" asked Berulia.
"Are you travelling like that, my dear?"
"It's comfortable. I'll change on the shuttle, when we get close." The prince was in a starship, the Herald of Light, somewhere in this star system, so she had to look perfect when she stepped out of the shuttle, but not when she got on it.
They left the house, climbing onto a buggy driven by a male greenie. Most of the external staff were male greenies. As she started her journey to meet her possible husband-to-be, Berulia mused that though she saw the greenies every day, she had never seen a naked man. She kind of knew that they had willies like the male greenies. Did men's willies look all shrivelled up most of the time, and sometimes long and smooth and rigid for no reason at all? She was quite looking forward to finding out - but she had to remind herself not to get her hopes too high.
The shuttle was a disappointment, just a standard M-512, and not in particularly good condition, under contract to the prince's household. Mumu was there with a suspensor sled piled high with luggage. Her parents were also bringing four other female greenies, as well as two of the palace guards (they were not greenies, as guards had to wear impressive uniforms). The pilot welcomed them on board, and Ariltus and his family took seats in the forward compartment. After about ten minutes, the luggage, greenies and two guards were aboard and settled. They were ready for take-off.
"We're just waiting for clearance from the central control tower, ladies and gentlemen. Once we take off, the internal gravity should protect us from the G-forces, but we do advise passengers to remain seated for the first twenty minutes of the journey. We should be arriving in about seventeen hours."