Cleopatra's Forbidden Fling

The prince's thoughts were racing, and he found himself thinking about a picture he'd seen once of a woman who looked just like Tori standing next to one of those big machines they use to cut metal that moved on its own without horses pulling it. Everything in the scene was metal, except for a little girl who ran out from behind a tree that wasn't metal. No one knew how she had survived, but there were whispers of magic. However, people also thought that maybe the woman was some kind of witch, though Tori certainly wasn't a witch.

"How dare you bring up politics when we're supposed to be talking about how much we love each other?" Tori shrieked at him angrily. She jumped off the couch and started pacing back and forth across the room with quick, angry steps, her agitation reminiscent of a caged cat whose tail has been stepped on by a careless person. People often didn't realize that cats could be very sensitive about their tails, despite them being only hair and not connected to anything important. Cats were constantly judged and misunderstood.

The prince interrupted after several minutes of listening to Tori's impassioned rant. "Are you done yet?" He couldn't take it anymore and decided he needed a break from listening to whatever she was saying because, frankly, he didn't really understand most of it anyway. He stood up cautiously, worried that touching anything might set Tori off again, and walked over to where he had placed his lunch basket.

He picked up the lunch basket and opened it carefully, avoiding the broken hinges. Reaching inside, he found some leftover roast chicken wrapped in cheesecloth, then carried both the basket and chicken back over to where he had been sitting earlier after returning from school. He sat down again beside Tori, who continued talking and sometimes muttering under her breath.