Rhiannon's Furry BuddyThe 6 year old Princess clutched the envelope tightly as her little half brother Oliver gurgled away in the car seat next to her. Rhiannon just peered out the window waiting for their destination to come into view, she'd been waiting all week for this day and not just because it was her weekend with her mother Matilda. Ever since Evie had been given a little Gerbil by Alex and Auntie Freya she'd wanted a pet too, then when they did a project on pet animals at school she'd seen everyone else had them, Alice had a little green bird that made beautiful calls, Henry had a little lizard that was funny because it licked its own eyeball, but Rhiannon didn't have anything. She'd gone home that evening and started asking her father, King David, if she could get a pet, she'd started small by asking for a Gerbil like Evie's but her father had simply said "We'll see." Eventually Rhiannon had seen Sophie's working dog Bandit and changed her mind, she wanted a puppy, this time David had said he'd discuss it with Matilda, before finally a hedgehog being the favoured creature and she got her yes, but there was a condition. "We'll pay you £20 a week if you don't get into trouble, you get an extra £20 if you get a good report from school and £10 if you do all the chores you get set ok? Once you've saved up enough for the pet, its home and it's needs you can buy it." her father had explained. Rhiannon had eagerly nodded and for the first week began thinking up hedgehog names. It was only when she got Auntie Freya to sit with her and make a list of what they'd need, "But....but.....if they cost £400 that'll take me FOREVER!" Rhiannon moaned as she peered at the cute little baby hedgehog on the screen.
She'd managed to go six whole months though without getting in trouble at school, staying off the naughty step at home and even though she hated it making her bed everyday, washing breakfast dishes and laying the table. She'd even washed Uncle Alex's car for an extra £20 one day. Now she had an envelope that contained around £1,300 and she was keen to see what Portworth's Pet City had in store for her. She'd gone off the idea of a hedgehog a little but still wasn't sure, she figured she'd just wander around and pick something cute, furry and fun, if possible something no-one else she knew had. As they pulled into the car park of the Superstore she spotted the staff from the store outside. Matilda, who was driving shook her head and spoke to her sister Erin who was sat beside her, "I bet this is the Security Agents doing" she had wanted this to be as normal a day as possible but it looked like some state reception had been planned by the pet shop staff keen to welcome the royal party.
As the car parked in a space pointed to by a suited agent Matilda turned to Rhiannon, "Remember you can't spend all that on just the pet, they'll need a house, water bowls, food bowls, some toys and things." She stepped out the car and spotted Abby Kenwick, Rhiannon's security agent approaching. "Abby I said I didn't want any special treatment here" Matilda admonished the young agent who was already helping get the children out the car her eyes ever on the swivel.
"Blame your guy" Abby pointed over to Harvey Jackson, a private security guy Matilda had employed instead of relying on royal ones, she'd had to battle her former husband to withdraw royal protection but she imagined them almost spying on her, but now she only had to deal with Abby on a temporary basis. "He made the phone call, I've already told him he's an idiot" Abby kept her focus on Rhiannon as the six year old jumped down from the vehicle. "You OK missy? Picked what your getting yet?" the agent smiled as she began leading the family towards the store. The manager was keen to meet Matilda and Rhiannon and couldn't be more friendly, he was however a little miffed that Abby wasn't keen to have everyone pose for photos, it was something David tried to avoid with Rhiannon, the big media circus.
Inside the store was almost empty, the staff had only been letting people inside in small numbers giving it almost exclusively over to the Princess. Rhiannon skipped off looking at the fish tanks near the entrance and almost immediately the manager came over and began telling her all about each of the fish and which ones she could get. Rhiannon looked puzzled as he rattled off names of the exotic fish quickly, she then tried to move on but clearly the manager was a fish fan and continued waxing lyrical about Clown Fish, or Nemo as he called them. "I don't like Nemo" Rhiannon said sadly.
Rhiannon moved on to where they had some kind of frogs and toads, the Manager beginning his talks once again, both Abby and Matilda could sense the Princess was feeling a little overwhelmed by the man, as good as his intentions were. When he tried to do the same thing when Rhiannon reached the lizards it was time to intervene. Matilda took the man to one side and engaged him in conversation while Abby lead the Princess away to look at some kittens. Matilda meanwhile explaining they wanted to be left to it once her daughter was out of ear shot, after all she was a Professor in Marine Biology and while no expert on cats it meant she was probably more than qualified to help a six year old pick a pet.
For the next two hours Rhiannon wandered back and forth in the store, sometimes sitting down in front of the pens with puppies and kittens and watching them for a while, they even got so far as her holding a little hedgehog and stroking it before it just yawned and fell back to sleep leaving Rhiannon to brand it "boring" and moving on. It was only on lap two that she noticed the "Exotic" pet section and headed in, most of the stock there seemed to be birds and more boring fish, but then she spotted some pens that had more interesting creatures in. The first was a kind of gerbil looking creature but with what looked like wings, the sugar glider scurried up and down some fake trees watching the Princess before disappearing into a little hutch. Rhiannon moved round to watch the fascinating creature and could then see two more curled up inside, the three playing together made her grin as she watched them through the viewing window. Matilda expected Rhiannon to pick one of these, she could see her daughter was mesmerised by them. It was then a fient little muffling sound from behind the Princess caught her attention and she turned away from the Sugar Gliders to see a small ball of yellow fur watching her. It was about the size of a kitten but with large pointy ears, its head twisting back and forth watching the Princess. Rhiannon laughed at how funny it looked and the creature gave a few high pitched squeals before chasing its own tail once and turning back to the Princess. There was a tiny mesh fence at the front of its pen and Rhiannon carefully reached out a hand, a soft black nose coming towards it as the body moved away as though it was conflicted. It sniffed the hand before backing away and giving a low nervous bark. "Mummy what is it?" Rhiannon asked as she sat crossed legged watching use its back legs to scratch itself.
Matilda read the sign, "It's a fennec fox, they come from the desert sweetheart" Matilda approached and the fox darted off into its hutch area, Rhiannon sprang agiley to her feet and went to look through the small glass viewing window, the tiny fox was burying itself into its bedding.
"Why doesn't it have any friends like the others?" she asked as it was clear this fox was alone.
The store manager had come near sensing the epic search was nearing an end. "Not many people have Fennec Foxes, we had four kits come in, three female and one male, three have gone, but nobody else has shown interest in that male one. Apparently males make more active pets." he explained.
"But you can't leave him on his own he's so tiny" Rhiannon said sweetly. "Can I stroke him?" she asked the store manager, then noticed the look her Mother gave her and instinctively remembered why, "Please" she added as the manager smiled and came forward, unlocked the cage and retrieved the fox who gave a few weak barks as it was carried to meet royalty. "Hello" Rhiannon said soothingly as she pressed a hand gently against its fur. "Do you have no friends?" she asked it not really expecting an answer back but she'd seen how Sophie constantly talked to Bandit and so figured this is how it had to be done. The fox seemed to relax and within ten minutes Rhiannon was holding it and the fox purring like a kitten in her arms. The manager brought some dried worms and Rhiannon fed it one, it took the next and gripped it between its paws for a moment before swallowing it whole making Rhiannon laugh. "How much is he please?" Rhiannon asked the manager nervously. She knew pets could be expensive and even though she'd saved hard she was worried she'd have to leave the baby fox behind and get a stupid fish.
"He's £1000" the manager responded.
Rhiannon looked around at the things in the area, she could see the hutch like the one it had here was £300, then she'd need bowls and blankets, toys and other things. She knew she'd never be able to afford it. "Is he your very last one?" she asked and the manager confirmed he was, "So if I come back in a month he might be gone?" Again the manager confirmed Rhiannon was right. "What if I give you £800?" Rhiannon suddenly said confidently. Matilda was surprised but said nothing.
"We don't usually change prices" the Manager too was shocked.
"Yes but I want him and I need all the other stuff" Rhiannon pointed to the things around her, "He needs a house, a nice blanket, some wormy things" she began explaining. "If you make me spend all my money buying him I can't get those and that means Daddy won't let me have him" she could feel tears in her eyes thinking she'd have to leave the fox behind.
"But....but" the manager was wondering what to do, policy was that he couldn't lower prices but this was the daughter of his King. "Erm....I'll have to phone my area manager" and with that he hurried off. Rhiannon for some reason contemplated just running for the door with the fox but then remembered Daddy would be mad and probably take her sword from her and that wasn't good.
"Where did you learn to do that?" Matilda asked her daughter as she sat on the floor next to her.
"Auntie Erin does it all the time when she goes cloth shopping, and that Stasya lady from Lodja does too. If you can do it for dresses why not for foxes?" Rhiannon asked, Matilda had to be honest the logic made sense. The manager reappeared having been asked if he was insane by his superior, here was a Princess willing to buy from their store, the PR would be tremendous and worth hell of a lot more than the money they'd make from the sale.
"My manager says for £1300 you can have the fox, the hutch, the outdoor pen, water bottles, food bowl, a months supply of worms and three toys" He waited nervously for the Princesses response.
"It's a deal" Rhiannon stood up and tucked the fox under one arm while extending her hand towards a rather shocked manager who hesitatingly shook it and thanked her for her purchase. "Come on Goldie we're going home" she skipped off hugging the new member of the Ironsides close to her followed by Abby and Matilda grinning away at each other.
Introducing Goldie Ironside, Aged 2 months