First Meeting

The interviewer’s sharp pearly white grin looked quite unnaturally bright under the equally sharp studio lighting. Emi wasn’t sure which was more distracting. The blinding lamps pointed at them, which made it almost impossible to avoid squinting or blinking against their glare, or the interviewer’s abnormal grin, which seemed permanently fixed on her face, and whose eerie and artificial nature was only made more obvious by the lighting. It was too wide, too stiff and the colour was too white, crossing a line from looking perfect to looking uncanny.

Emi decided that the interviewer’s fangs were better to focus on. She could hardly take her eyes off of that smile anyway and as unpleasant as it might be to look at, at least it didn’t hurt her eyes like the lights, and her gaze would most likely come across as attentive eye contact, rather than a distracted stare, on the recording.

"I'm always so excited for my interviews," the smiling lady said, "but it is NOT always that I have the honour of interviewing one of our nobles. And a candidate for the council too? How exciting is that? Ha ha! Ladies and gentlemen, The Honourable Emilienne Armande Scarletwing!”

The lady looked at the audience, with an expecting expression, and the people present began to clap and cheer. Emi nodded politely at them. Do not squint, do not squint, do not squint.

“It is a pleasure to be here,” Emi said, turning her attention back to the smiling lady, bowing her head slightly in thanks.

"Isn’t she adorable? Such manners! I can see why you all love her so much!" the woman gushed. "Now, let's get started. So, Lady Scarletwing! I’m going to start with a few questions about your family first, just to make sure everyone watching is on the same page. Sounds good?”

Emi nodded.

"Let’s start with your parents. Can you tell me about them?" the lady asked.

"My maman is Lady Justice Marigold Scarletwing, and my father is Sir Percival Douglas Scarletwing, Baronet."

"Indeed. Now, the Scarletwing name is from your father’s side, right?”

“Right.”

“So what about your mother?”

“Her maiden name is St. Light.”

“I don’t think I’ve heard about that family before.”

The urge to snap at the interviewer bubbled up inside Emi. What sort of comment was that? But she kept calm, shaking her head lightly instead.

"La, the St. Light family is a working-class family. But I can assure you that my maman is the most noble of a ladies.”

“That’s right, Lady Scarletwing was an actress, wasn’t she? Justice St. Light. Oh, I’m sorry for forgetting that. She has just taken to her title of Lady Scarletwing so naturally, it’s easy to forget that she wasn’t always called that,” the interviewer shook her head apologetically. “I loved her plays, though. Your father must have loved them too.  Seeing how he went and married her.”

Emi’s brows furrowed. She wasn’t quite sure how to take that comment.

“Lud, he has always told me he was quite smitten with her from the first time he saw her,” Emi said, flinching slightly as the interviewer suddenly clapped her hands excitedly.

"Oh! Now now, this is a story we are all dying to hear! Your parents meeting! The union of a noble and a commoner! Please do tell! Did they fall in love at first sight? Was it a whirlwind romance?"

Emi tilted her head slightly, confused at the sudden change of tone.

"Erm… No. My maman did not fall in love with my dad at first sight. It took some time for her to warm up to him," she explained. “They met when he came to watch one of my maman's plays, and he immediately…”

The girl stopped for a moment, her brows furrowed and her heart-shaped snoot scrunched in thought.

“Nay… Nay! Apologies, I speak nonsense now. Sink me, dad saw maman at one of her plays, but they did not meet! Not properly.” She stretched her arm out as if reaching for something off in the distance.

"He watched one of her plays. He was  moved by her acting, stunned by her beauty. He wanted to, nay! He NEEDED to meet her! But alas..." She closed her hand and let her arm slowly fall to her side. She had seen her dad do this countless times. It simply felt most proper to do the movements. And perhaps it was adding something. The audience and interviewer watched her, captivated by her story. She made room for a dramatic pause, before continuing.

“… ‘Tis was not to be. Not that time. La, he had duties out of realm, he could not stay and wait to meet her. And so, he was but another person in a faceless crowd to her… So he thought. Begad, maman had taken notice of him. Tall, handsome, eyes blue as the sky in daylight. It had been but briefly that she had locked her golden eyes with his gaze. But she had seen him. Three years passed, and she still remembered his eyes, and his form. And three years later, dad came to Little Nights again, and went to see another of her plays. When they locked eyes again, they were both determined to meet. Maman was curious. Dad was infatuated.”

She paused there, waiting for the next question, which never came. In fact, the whole room was silent. Her audience sat motionless, their eyes glued to her. She smiled and lifted her chin slightly, before continuing the story.

“And so, they met, and after the show, my maman invited him into her dressing room. And they talked, and talked, and talked, and...”

The smile on her face grew larger, even more radiant than before, as she imagined the tale unfolding.

"They began courting. They would meet secretly during the day, or go to the park at night, and talk. They wrote letters and dad sent gifts to maman, flowers, chocolate, truffles, and sweet confections. But, maman was not quite satisfied. She wanted to know dad. Properly know him. And when she told dad this… He promised her if she married him, she would have the rest of their lives to find out who he was. And… La, I assume the rest of the story is clear, what?” She waved her hand and stood up from her seat. “They were wed, maman became Lady Scarletwing, they had me. Voilà!”

“Voila!” the interviewer echoed, and she clapped.

Emi curtsied and then stood back up straight, watching the reaction she got. The people in the audience applauded, and she returned the gesture with a small wave.

“That is a wonderful story! A real fairy tale! Oh, the pair of them make such a lovely couple! How very fortunate you are to have such parents!"

"Thank you, Madame." Emi smiled, before sitting back down again.