King Edric:

I stared calmly at the colorful crowds of nobles lining each side of the long walk that Delta would soon come down to take her oath. The finely dressed nobles were quietly conversing with each other, they would be too quiet and far away to hear normally, but my massive ornate throne was actually positioned so any sound in the room bounced off the angled walls and towards me. No wonder my father always knew when to punish me because I was bad mouthing him, not that he really needed an excuse to have me secretly whipped in order to ‘strengthen my character’…..What I heard of the nobles conversations made me angry. They didn’t have a very high opinion of Delta, despite the display of her talent and raw power in the tournament.

“What a barbaric woman, actually fighting and allowing herself to be injured, it ruins any of her prospects!”

“I bet she’s some country hick, with no teachings of manners, ugh, it’s like we’ve invited a filthy mud squick to live in the castle”

“Do you think she’ll even know to dress properly? I think I would faint if she came in those horrid dirt trousers and shirts, mens wear on a woman, can you believe it?”

Well, I had made sure Delta was provided proper court clothes, so they couldn’t criticise her on that point…….If she actually wore them. I got the feeling that Delta wasn’t a fan of dresses, not that I could blame her, the ‘fashionable’ wide hoop skirts the noblewomen had adopted from the west did look a bit ridiculous, It was lucky this room was so large, otherwise the space would be quite cramped. My thoughts were cut off as I saw Grace slip in through one of the side door. I caught her eye and she gave a small nod. I returned the nod and then turned and signaled the trumpeter. He raised his polished bronze horn to his lips and blew, the musical tone silencing the crowd, Everyone turned to look at the doors. After a moment, they swung open, and a fairy walked into the hall. My jaw dropped

Her dress was a sheath of shimmering colors that flowed, seemingly alive. Long blue hair with white tips piled into a enchanting pile on top of her head, decorated by delicate ornaments that looked as though they were made of pure crystal. More crystal decorated the fairies ears and chest. Wide, liquid ribbons of color floated around her lean, tanned arms, baring tribal tattoos that looked familiar…….I closed my open mouth shut with a snap as I realized the ‘fairy’ was Delta. Gone were the worn, bloodstained clothes, replaced by a shimmering dress that didn’t look like it was a part of this world. Her natural predatory walk with her head held high gave her a regal air, as though she was a foreign queen deigning to bestow her presence in this hall. Golden eyes locked with mine and I instinctively stood, stepping out to greet her. With the distance between us shrinking, I could now realized that the rainbow fabric of her dress was actually flowing water that swirled around her body to form a dress, the jewelry I had thought was crystal was actually delicate sculptures of ice. It had to be one of the most impressive displays I’ve ever seen. The control and power that she had to be using to keep the water dress formed had to be exemplary, her affinity with the water element was surely the highest I’ve ever seen. Strange, I thought she had an affinity with fire because of what she did to Lucius…..

Reaching me, Delta held one hand out, palm down. I took the small tanned hand and she sank into an elegant curtsy, her dress flowing out around her on the ground. Customarily, in this greeting, the lady would then greet me, but since Delta was mute, I decided to skip to the next part.

“Lady Delta, you may rise.”

She rose to her feet easily and I used my grip on her hand to guide her to the main dais, where the ceremony would take place. The king wasn’t really supposed to escort his guard to the dais, but then again, until now, all of the guards had been men. The chief magister stood next to the dais, licking his thin lips nervously for some reason as he held out a rolled up scroll to me. The solution to Delta speaking the oath was her signing the oath, in the form of a magical contract, with her own blood instead. I unrolled the scroll and presented it to Delta.

“As you cannot speak, the oath shall be a contract signed in blood, a contract that can only be released by the King of Serac. Lady Delta, do you agree to follow this oath and pledge your sword to our protection for as long as you fill the role of Aquarian?”

Delta examined the oath for a long minute, I stood there bit awkwardly, and then seemed to study one part of the contract intently. After another long moment,  she looked up at me, displeasure on her face….and shook her head no.

Delta:

I had been taught from an early age that it was always good to completely read a contract before agreeing to it, magical or otherwise. The oath was no different, and I found a clause of magic symbols that I was fairly certain wasn’t supposed to be in there, and was certainly something I most definitely wouldn’t agree to contract to do.

I was fairly certain King Edric wasn’t behind it, and the shock and confusion on his face when I refused to take oath confirmed my thoughts. Turning my attention to the man who had handed the king the scroll, I smiled evilly, yep, this was the lecher who had added the clause. I summoned two ropes of waters to tie him in place, then took the contract from the king’s stunned fingers and turned it to face him. I pointed at the offending clause and saw Edric’s eyes focus on it. At that point, the little man cast a fairly good spell and escaped from my two water ropes, but I just bound him again, this time with thick and uncomfortable bands of ice. After a few moments, the king’s face darkened in fury, and he turned to glare at the trembling man I had bound. His voice boomed angrily through the room.

“What is the meaning of this, Grand Magus”

Eh? The lecher was the grand mage of the castle? The guy didn’t seem to be all that good at magic, then again, mages tended to be better at theory than actual practice….and the really good mages didn’t go and serve kings anyways, those nut-brains just went off and did whatever they wanted….Conjuring a ball of fire, I looked at Edric and whistled to get his attention, quirking an eyebrow at him questioningly. He examined the fireball and his face hardened as he looked back at the mage.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

“Lady Delta, you may deal any punishment you see fit, so long as you don’t kill him, and please….do it outside...We will revise the contract while you deal punishment.”

I smiled evilly at the trembling man before me and walked back to the door, using tendrils of water to drag the man behind me, his ice bonds scraping loudly across the floor. The doors slammed shut behind me.

King Edric:

The sound of the doors slamming echoed loudly throughout the silent room. I just stared down at the oath scroll, fury bubbling in my heart. How dare he, that insolent, sniveling, greedy little fool, the lecherous little man had actually put a clause in Delta’s contract that would basically force her to give sexual favors to anyone who asked it of her, most likely mainly requests from the grand Magus himself, since if Delta hadn’t read the contract, he would have been the only one to know about it. I cursed myself silently for trusting the man, I had been looking for a replacement for him since he had been appointed by my father, but I thought he’d be fine for the meanwhile, since the spies I had hadn’t noticed anything off about him....except for the fact that he was weak to large amounts of money, and I was paying him a lot of money…. I should have known better…..still, this didn’t seem like the Magus would be brave enough to try on his own, someone had probably put him up to it. Sighing, I glanced around the room, there were too many possibilities to deal with right now.

“Theron, get me a fresh scroll and a quill and ink, oh, and take this and burn it.”

Theron stepped forward and took the offending scroll from me, clearly confused at what was happening, but knowing that now was not the time to address me. Archduke Lucius, however, had no such instincts of preservation. He stepped forward from the crowd, dressed in fine clothes made of satin and velvet, dye a color of green that made me think of poison.

“Your Majesty, may I ask what is going on? This is a breach in the traditions of the oathing ceremony. What has the Grand Magus done to upset you so?”

I looked stonily at the Archduke, fury bubbling behind my hard exterior, I could feel the power of my rare dual affinities, earth and wind, wrapping around me in response to my emotions. I took a step towards Lucius, the marble ground cracked beneath my polished leather boot and a wind whipped past me, blowing the Archduke’s hair about wildly, as though he was in a storm.

“The problem, Archduke, is that the Grand Magus altered the oath, making it so that my new royal guard, if she agreed to the contract, would have to prostitute herself to anyone that asked it of her, unable to fight back. The Grand Magus had defiled this sacred tradition and will be demoted and duly punished, after Lady Delta deals out her own punishment for his grievous insult.”

The cracks beneath my feet stretched out even farther, and the winds in the room became even more violent.

“Do You Have A Problem With This, ARCHDUKE?”

The man actually paled a bit, and took a step back, clearly realising that this was not the time to challenge me.

“No, your Majesty, for such a crime, it is only right that the Grand Magus be punished, please calm yourself.”

I had to hold back a snort as I pulled back my magic and turned, returning to my throne. The room stayed deadly silent until the sound of Theron’s return disturbed the silence. The crowd of nobles broke into quiet discussion as they glanced nervously at me. Theron handed me a scroll, quill, and ink. Using some of the wind magic I still had struggling inside me, I held the contract mid air and watched as the feathered quill moved by itself, writing the proper runes for the oath without the added clause.

Theron leaned in and muttered into my ear.

“Well, now we know the answer to whether or not Delta really would castrate a man….”

Delta:

I returned to the ceremony hall, refreshed and wishing I could hum the happy little tune that was floating through my head, there was one less lecher able to bother people~ I had left the unconscious mage with the guards stationed at the front door, I figured they knew the way to the dungeon, or wherever the mage was supposed to be taken.

This time, it only took me a moment to glance over the now familiar runes, confirming that the offending clause had been removed. The runes made the oath look quite complicated, but translated into words, it had a simple sense of ceremony to it that I admired.

I, Delta Aquis, agree to take the title of Aquarion, to fill the role of a royal guard, to protect the King of Serac with my life, to never betray the King and forever give him my loyalty for as long as I am held by the bonds of my oath. Let all know that today, I, Delta Aquis, am bound to the land of Serac and it’s defense.

Taking the silver quill handed to me, I reached out and signed the oath, my name written in scarlet as the special quill pulled blood from my palm to use as ink. The moment I finished, I could feel the oath snap in place, the scroll flashing a bright gold. There was something else though, a strange new feeling that I slowly realised was the land of Serac itself. The sensation curled around my feet in greeting, like a cat, and then sent a thrill of emotion into my mind before vanishing. It was expectation. I gave a small shiver, it wasn’t always a good thing when the spirit of a land took a personal interest in you, I reaaaallllllly hoped it was just a part of the oath. For some reason, I had a bad feeling it wasn’t………..