Eighth Circle

'Its natural colour, Bryn, like I've already told you.'

'But how will you know?'

'Know what?'

'What's natural. You've always had it green.'

'Not all of it, Bryn,' she smiled.

'It all looks green to me.'

'They don't dye all of it. There are parts of a princess that they are not allowed to see. I'll pick the colour from the samples. I'll show you the natural colour, one day, so that you can judge for yourself.'

'Liala.' Allan coughed indignantly.

'Yes. Commander.'

'No sexual contacts within the ranks.'

'I was nowhere near Private Entwhistle, Commander.'

'That remark about hair was intended to titivate.'

'I am sure Private Entwhistle was not titivated, Commander. I was merely saying that when my hair grows at the roots he will be able to see that there is a perfect colour match. That's what you understood ... isn't it, Private Entwhistle?'

'Yes.' Bryn smiled back.

'There you are, Commander.'

Allain's tone hardened. 'Liala. We are on active duty.'

'But, Bryn is meant to be my boyfriend.'

'Not anymore ... he isn't!'

Allain glared at them.

'From now on you are brother and sister. This is a serious matter. If we arouse suspicion the patrols will be onto us. As you are well aware, there is a military base just down the road from here. We must exercise extreme caution.'

***

The hairdresser lived in a neat little house, in a street full of neat little houses, and owned a tabby cat. There were lace curtains at the windows and a small electric car in the driveway. She showed them into her living room and set Liala down in a chair. Until now Liala had kept her head covered. When she pulled back the hood of her padded jacket the woman's face lit up.

'My. You do look just like her.'

'Thank you,' Liala nodded.

'It's a shame they don't award prizes,' the woman enthused. 'You would have won. You are the splitting image ...'

She kept up a continual chatter as she draped a plastic sheet around Liala's shoulders, tucked it in around the collar and prepared to shampoo her hair.

'Your father says you want it back to its natural colour.'

'That's right. Perhaps you could show me some samples.'

'Oh. That voice!'

'What?' Liala said.

'You sounds just like her.'

That was something Liala hadn't expected. Her big fear was that her appearance would give her away. She hadn't thought about her voice. It sounded normal as far as she was concerned. Other people sounded different. There were so many accents. They changed from one part of the country to another. She wondered about imitating Bryn's accent and decided not to.