Galen Vesa
I allowed myself to fall face first onto my bed. For some odd reason it seemed a most appropriate action one should take with a bed this size. So, I did just that. Letting the gravity do its part, I plopped onto this expensive monstrosity. My old apartment was half the size of this bed. Not to mention I could fit my entire old home inside this room. Well, I did live in something not that far off from a broom closet but still, I could jog inside this room.
And don’t even get me started on the mattress. The closest thing I ever been to experiencing a pure bliss. Ah, the fluffiness. The gentle bounce. The lulling wobbles. Perfect for a spoiled princess or two… or six. Much too much for a dolt like me.
Rolling over to my back I caused ripples on my freshly made, pristine bedding. The folds of my silken dress cascading all around me.
Dang it, dolt. Keep it together.
I told myself but tall diamond choker wound around my neck and cascading into the valley between my pillows made it harder for me to ignore my predicament. For the past five days I’ve worn a fortune on my ass. Between my underwear, my dress, my shoes, the long opera gloves that covered my crispy arms, the hairpins subduing my mane and the corsets securing my pillows, I had draped over my anorectic self, much, much more money than I ever earned or saw in my entire life. Guild included. That’s not even counting the jewelry I received, the exquisite food we were fed. The servants assigned to us, or the care I got from the emperor’s own, private healer. Even the cost of lighting in my room would put a small country to ruins. Boy, oh boy. However I looked at it, the emperor splurged at us and, as scary as it came from my own broken mind, it felt good. So indescribably good.
If this was the way in which the emperor was wooing me with an intention of including me in his harem, then I think it was working. A week or two more of such treatment and I may jump into his arms myself. Logic cringed at that statement, but she did not negate my assessment. Worst yet, she was giving me only nine days before my fears may become reality. Best I leave before that happens.
Ah, yes, where was I? Playing spoiled, elven princess, take five hundred seventy-two. I groaned in a theatrical fashion and wiggled as if a grain of rice stuck somewhere under my mattress, bothered me, disrupting my slumber. For a better effect I kicked off my shoes and let them clatter somewhere on the floor, completing my image of a spoiled princess. No, wait. I brought my arm up and covered my face, one, two, three... Siiiiiiiiiiiigh! There, done. That couldn’t have gone better. Now I can brood in peace on how unkind life been to me. Or so I hope what it looked like to whoever been spying on me.
It’s not even the case of ‘are they spying on us?’ but ‘how much do they report?’. Even my lantern found this breach of personal space creepy and abandoning my ankle, moved into… a place that for sure wasn’t meant to house such items. I tried no to think too much of it. Although, random thoughts were the only thing that kept me occupied for the past few days.
I haven’t had an honest conversation with Altina ever since we arrived here. Well, I haven’t talked with anyone for that matter. Nobody bothered to visit me while the maids assigned to me were too horrified of me to hold any meaningful discussion. Since the wolf buried herself in whatever guild work she could do remotely, I spent my time either brooding in my room, reading books from the palace library or by aimlessly strolling through the desolate gardens. Somehow whenever I came out of my room, people went to great lengths to vacate my vicinity. Gods forbid the horrible, horrible elf would try to approach someone.
A darkened spot appeared on my left glove. Seems I busted up another pair with my little spectacle. And I wasn’t the only one that noticed. Sure enough, a while later the emperor’s personal healer dropped by to check up on me. Such a coincidence.
My arms, while no longer resembling two sticks of charcoal, tended to bleed whenever the fresh and tender skin broke. Well, they did look like covered in melted wax that cracked with the slightest movement so, that sort of thing happened at least twice a day. And I just went through the trouble of getting it all gooped up in the expensive smelling healing goo and bandaged in fresh bandage. Eh, whatever. After ‘accidently’ noticing the bloody spot on my glove, the healer summoned his apprentice and the woman once more redone her work while the maids brough yet another pair of expensive gloves. I think I’ll later ask Water to deal with any future stains to avoid this comedy.
So, what should I do today? I had nothing on my agenda. Like every other day. Since the empire held all its holidays on the eve of new moon, I still had two days to waste and nothing to do. In theory I could spend my time annoying the dryad or sleeping along my dragon, but I choose not to. I have no idea what kind of surveillance they have on me and what can they pick up. Since even the lantern choose to hide its presence, I avoided anything that could cause any additional interest from the empire. Which meant I did nothing. If I wasn’t me, I think I would die of boredom at this point. But since I am me, I opted for a nap as soon as servants left my room. And I would nap but sun decided to keep me awake so, in the end, I gave in and got up. Perhaps a new book could keep me company today? Unless they lock the library, which they did, leaving me nothing else but to go and annoy the bees in the garden.
And that would be the reason why I found myself out here, under a pavilion set at the border of a lake, staring at my reflection and thinking that violet might not be my color. But the dress I did adore, especially the way it hugged me, keeping all my assets where they should be. No accidental bounce, wobble or jiggle-jiggle. Not exactly an attire one can put on or take off without help of several servants but still, well worth every inconvenience. I could hoop all I wanted and no jiggle-jiggle.
Me simple dolt. Me pillows no wiggle-wiggle. Me happy dolt.
And I would lie if I said the Victorian style dress looked bad on this wet dream of a body. The spy sitting sneakily inside the nearest bush thought so too as she busied herself sketching me. I made it easier for her by not moving although after an hour her sneezing became so pronounced, I doubt she could paint anything at that point.
“You may wish to go and wash off all the pollen from that bush or you may get a rash. It is mildly poisonous for children.”
I said aloud to no one in particular. As beautiful as these shrubs were, several people asphyxiated while tending to them. Or so I read in a book about this garden. The late queen loved those blueish-green shrubs with rose like pink flowers. They were beautiful but their leaves released golden dust when disturbed. The dust contained something like capsaicin and trace amount of some uglier alkaloid that a child’s body may find double deadly.
If my attempt managed to do anything, then the near constant sneezes became muffled. Eh, I never knew how to talk with children. Whelp, time to go shrimp fishing. I almost moved when a noisy bunch arrived in my vicinity.
“Princess! Princess Carmina! Princess!”
A well-armed contingent of five maids and one young woman in a knight’s uniform, came sweeping through the place, no doubt looking for my sneezing spy. They came to my pavilion and before either of them could scrape enough courage to ask me anything, I pointed at the sneezing shrub. The knight paled at the hint I gave them and rushed to extract the gold covered girl that had trouble containing her snot waterfall. Aside from that she appeared fine, so I choose that moment of group hysteria to turn on my heal and leave.
“W-Wait!”
A tiny voice sneezed out before I managed to escape. It made me freeze within total silence, broken only with her coughs and sneezes.
“… please… let… draw…”
Choking on her own words the sneezing shrimp tried to convey something. Not all was as dandy as I thought. Dumb dolt, dumb. I should have acted earlier. Who knows how much of that stuff she inhaled.
“Princess!”
The horrified maids echoed my worry as the child began to fade on our eyes. Her skin took on the sickly greyish tone, her snot covered lips turning blue. Ring a ding, ding! Quiz time! An heir to the empire will choke to death under my nose. Who do we blame for it? That’s right! Let’s blame the pointy ears! If I ever would need to facepalm myself, now was a perfect moment. I think. Even though I did nothing I already could see the growing hate in their eyes. Eh, this is not my lucky day.
“Thee who governs over the holy waters of life in which all creatures find their salvation…”
My melodic voice joined the rustling of garden leaves while I felt Water arrive by my side.
My love?
She asked, her puzzlement seeping out of our bond.
I’m improvising. Just go with the flow and fix that girl before she suffocates. Oh, and get rid of all that dust. Make it look as if a lesser spirit did it.
“…answer my call and save this hume child.”
Your will is my desire.
Water answered while my new voice did its fancy thing and added a mystical tone to my elvish words. At the same time, strings of mana danced around me, forming a body of water. About the size of my arm and translucent, the spirit queen took shape of a lesser spirit. A miniature version of a nereid that once accompanied me when I swam with them in the ocean. Swashing with her miniature tail, she swam circles around me, spreading soft mist in her wake.
Making one last orbit around my body, Water winked at me and rushed towards the girl. Following unconscious reflex, the knight tried to put herself between them, but the spirit just splashed against her, trapping them both in a bubble of water. The knight did not take that too well, holding her breath she fought with all her might but could not break out of the bubble.
“Calm yourself. Look.”
I admonished the trashing knight as maids screamed in panic. With closed eyes Carmina sat relaxed in the knight’s arms, taking deep breaths while bubbles of golden dust escaped her mouth with each breath she took. Whatever Water did to her, she made no attempts to resist. She even grabbed the arm of her knight and squeezed it as to calm her. It worked and soon both wobbled up and down inside the crystal bubble.
When no more dust came, the bubble broke, and the remaining water fell to the ground. Just in time for more knights arrived, called by the shrieking of the fearless maids. Cue pointy thingies in three, two, one... shlink! Well, it’s been nice while it lasted. Goodbye cozy bed, I’ll miss you. Welcome damp dungeon.
“All of you, leave.”
To the surprise of all gathered, the princess ordered in a calm and composed voice of a monarch. Her aura of a ruler compelling all to follow her words. At once all the guards and maids withdraw, a few stopping much further away where they still had me in their sight.
Were it not for her eyes locked on me, I would too turn where I stood and run with my imaginary tail curled between my legs. Alas, no such chance now.
“You can put me down, Litia. I am fine.”
The knight obeyed although in her eyes I still saw distrust. Dripping wet, she waited a step behind her master, her hand clenching the hilt of her sword.
Master. How peculiar that this word came to my mind but that was the truth about it. This child had something that made It easy to accept her, not as equal but as a superior being.
“I Carmina offer my greetings to the daughter of flames and master of healing waters.”
She offered me a polite head bob. As much as her wet dress, plastered all over her body allowed. From what the wolf told me, even though she was officially the prime candidate for the throne, she could not use her full imperial name until taking over after her father.
“Would you grant me the pleasure of having tea with me? Tomorrow at noon?”
No. Nope. Nada. Why me? Also, since when am I known as daughter of flames? Eh. Somebody will have some explaining to do. I aimed my thoughts at the possible culprit but suddenly she was nowhere to be found.
“I will gladly accept your invitation, future sun of the empire. Tomorrow is fine.”
Because why not? At this point Altina is going to maim me anyway. I bowed politely and let them leave first. The female knight did not disappoint me, her scornful look kept me company all the way until they disappeared within one of the green alleys.
Well, since I’m doomed anyway, I may as well go and enjoy my bed while I still can.
***
“You did what?!”
The wolf roared at me during our dinner after I told her about the invitation I got and all that led to it.
“Merciful Shamuu... Using magic without permission inside the palace! On none other than the emperor’s daughter! Are you insane?!”
A chunk of meat she’s been chewing fell out of her muzzle while she kept staring at me.
“Do you even use that head of yours, you cursed tree humper, or is it just a decoration?!”
“I did not use magic.”
I can’t use magic. Okay, in theory I can but my control sucks so bad I would not dare to cast a spell on a living being. Sad things tend to happen to items on which I use my magic.
“I summoned a water spirit. It was an emergency...”
Altina’s fork twonked into my chair’s frame, just beside my head. The trororonnk sound it made as it vibrated to a stop, made me feel as if some trickster god spirited me away into some sort of a cartoon.
“I do not want to know! I love you like my own clueless cub and I do whatever I can to protect you but that is beyond me! You put yourself into this mess, you deal with it!”
Love? Did I just hear something unbelievable? Yup, seems about right. Altina’s cheek tufts puffed out, showing how embarrassed she got after her outburst. It’s been a while since anyone tossed that word at me.
“Then I apologize for causing you concern.”
I bowed my head for what it was worth.
“It seems that even if I go out of my way and do whatever I can to not get involved, things get even more complicated than if I had just run headfirst into whatever mess awaited me.”
I unpluck the fork from my chair and put it safely on the table then went back to my salad. I have no idea what that pink meat was but after I drowned it in a healthy dose of olive oil mixed with herbs, even my tastebuds agreed it was something worth eating. Also, in the silence that followed I had nothing better to do so sounds of me munching my greenies and that mysterious pink meat, filled the room.
“Karin, what I meant...”
“I’m sure you feel the same for all the girls that work for you and I appreciate your kind words. Thank you.”
One of my fake smiles closed that subject, protecting my fluffy companion from any more awkwardness. I don’t know whether she indeed cares so for me or if that was only a manner of speech she used, and I don’t really mind either way. I don’t think I ever did. At least not in a way other people do. I think I like that furball. That or the spirits own feelings are seeping into me. They do favor her a great deal.
“A. I meant to tell you, work on your dress has seen some delays due to the empire vetting all the workers. There may not be enough time for a final fitting. Be ready for it to arrive just before the party.”
“Are they afraid it would explode if I got too close to the emperor?”
Instead of laughing away my silly joke the wolf nod in agreement.
“A. That’s been tried before. A fabric laced with nails and explosive charms. Made quite a mess. That or hidden pockets to house weapons. Or even cursed mana crystals hidden inside the woman’s body. A, that reminds me.”
Her ears sunk a bit.
“There will be a screening.”
Screening as in, strange people putting their fingers in strange places and feeling around? Her somber mood confirmed my guess.
“Is it just me or are all the guests so scrutinized?”
“A, there may be some special attention given to us and other outsiders but overall, whenever the emperor’s safety is involved, one must expect a tightened security. That includes your charms.”
Forkless, Altina stabbed a chunk of beef with her knife and put it into her mouth. Seeing her eat always impressed me. With fangs like hers, chewing should become a messy affair but, against all my expectations, the way the wolf ate made me look like a peasant stuffing his own mouth with his unwashed hands.
“I have briefed the palace security about your Circumstances so I believe there will be no misunderstandings. They expect you to wear some sort of a suppressant and the guards will inform other guests to keep their distance when interacting with you.”
That’s first bit of good news I heard in a while. People will be told to stay away from the crazy elf. Why, these charms aren’t so bad after all.
“A suppressant? As in there is a way to limit those?”
“A. Garla had a counter spell woven into your gloves. The magistrate is inspecting them as we speak. They should be ready when the dress arrives.”
I gave her a nod of approval and went back to my salad, dousing it with a sip of undiluted wine. As everything else so far, the wine appeared to be one of the better ones. At least as far as my limited knowledge of local alcohols went. And they haven’t tried to poison us yet so, not bad. Not bad at all.
We finished our meal in moderate silence from time to time broken by our pointless chitchat. Few safe subjects remained when one would factor in all the ears listening to each of our words. As such, I cleaned my plate and bid goodnight to the wolf. Since no guards came to ferry me away to the nearest dungeon, I think I got one more chance to enjoy my unearthly bed.
Returning to my room I let the present maids, that weren’t at all pretending to clean the place in hopes of finding some hidden stash, pluck me out of my dress. As soon as they finished, a familiar apprentice arrived with a tray of fresh bandages and more of the goop used to heal my skin.
Zoe, that was her name and the only thing I knew about her, went to work pretending I did not exist. After her little mishap with my charms during our first encounter she had made it her virtue to treat me as if I was not there. Can’t blame her. My lovely charms left her moaning and drooling on quite the expensive carpet. Although in her case I think the condemning factor was the disappointment in the eyes of her master as he watched the entire scene.
With my arms wrapped and taken care of for the night, I flopped my bare butt into my bed and watched Zoe wobble out of the room. Or tried to. I got distracted and my charms did a number on the poor girl. A guard had to carry her out while the two remaining maids suddenly got second thoughts about approaching me and helping me dress for the night. I just waved them away.
Not that I had anything against the excessive, golden silk nightgown they brought me but simply because it was less hassle. With the way my arms were, getting anything on or off my ass required several people otherwise it would cause a moderate deal of bleeding.
Overflowing with happiness, as if someone just spare their life, my maids ran out of my room. Thus ended the last peaceful day of my life.
Next morning came and went without much fanfare. I got up. Took an herbal bath. Had my bandages replaced with a pair of lilac gloves by a healer I have not seen before. She came prepared with thick leather apron and long leather gloves then made sure I did most of the work myself.
After that I skipped breakfast so a squad of new maids, no less prepared than my new healer, could groom me and squeeze me into the most restrictive corset I ever worn on top of which came the pinkest dress I ever seen. So pink my eyes hurt, forcing my third eyelids to slam shut.
Pink and puffy. Whoever’s idea was to stuff me into this wedding gown like, electric pink monstrosity had some twisted taste. Pink is soo not my color. Although, whoever made this had a particularly good eye for my dimensions. My pillows were happily contained within the dress and even though there was this risqué, long cut between my breasts through which my curves peeked at onlookers, nothing moved, jumped or wobbled. Once again, a perfect fit.
Then came the boots.
Eh, what else could I expect? With how long this dress seemed, there could only be one type of shoes that would let me walk. These didn’t look like they were the usual nine-inch-long heels the girls at the guild always got me, but I think what I wore now easily pushed towards seven inches. Thanks be whoever choose those that they were not made of crystal. That I would not stand.
Swallowing my complaints in silence I waited for the maids to finish my hairs and makeup. Something told me the princess could be the culprit responsible for all this commotion. And I was right. Sometime before the noon, one of Carmina’s maids, arrived to escort me to her master. She guided me through a maze of garden alleys to a hidden glasshouse inside which, the princess waited. There was a cup of tea in her hands and unfinished chocolate cake on her plate as I approached her.
“I offer my greetings, future sun of the empire.”
Given the dress and the stiletto pumps I wore, I gave up on the notion of performing a proper greeting. Not that I knew how to make a proper one. Instead, I inclined my head towards her as I spoke. Playing an uncivilized elf had its merits. Nobody gave a damn about my manners or lack of thereof. I think everyone assumed I’d be rude. Oh, well.
“Lady Karin, I am so glad you have come. Please sit. I have so much I wish to talk about.”
That I could believe and at the same time it bothered me ever since I crossed the threshold of a privacy barrier set among the flowers in this greenhouse. Or several barriers layered one atop the other. Back at the guild in what felt like an ancient past now, when I stamped my seal along other girls, I crossed similar barriers countless times. The odd, painful feeling I got back then did change into a fuzzy itch between my shoulder blades but none the less it still was there.
I have no qualms over what we are in the eyes of those people. I came here hoping this dress as well as the whole tea party were no more but a childish desire to play with an exotic toy. All that changed the second I felt the magic in the air. While the eyes that greedily sucked me in, studying every bit of my body, belonged to a child, the mind hidden behind those eyes felt almost ancient. There were all those little telltale signs, tiny swirls in her mana’s movement. A suffocating wave of nostalgia hit me and once more I felt as if I were back in those timeless woods, confronted by an elven child whose eyes saw no less than five hundred winters.
Once more I inclined my head. Two of Carmina’s personal maids helped me with my dress as I eased myself down while her knight drew up my chair behind me. At the same time, another maid came and served us fresh tea. Well, it smelled like tea. An old and expensive black tea. One of the kinds Rooth adored. Several pleasant memories passed through my mind as I enjoyed its aroma.
With the garden table set for us, all her servants moved outside the border of her spell, leaving us alone in this little bubble of privacy.
“So, how do you like my gift? I wasn’t sure it would fit you, but I see my fears were groundless.”
I’m not sure what it spoke about her taste but aside from its color, the dress proved comfortable, so I had nothing to complain about.
“It does fit rather well however I have doubts whether or not pink is my color.”
Not to mention that my ass alone in this dress took about the same space as a small detachment of knights standing next to each other.
“While I believe your beauty can make any color feel fitting, I must indeed agree that this is rather disappointing.”
She took another sip and quite content of herself smiled at me.
“I hope you will forgive me, lady Karin, this little mischief that I played. I was curious of your color.”
She spoke as if stating the obvious.
“The moment you put on that dress; your mana should have stained that fabric with your own color. The fact that it is still pink after all the time it took you to get here can mean one of two things. You’re either dead or your body is absorbing mana as we speak.”
Panic, panicked inside me although my body kept my poker face intact.
“Is that so?”
I hid behind my cup of tea, taking a long sip.
“There is one more solution for that. A much simpler one.”
“A spirit contract? Yes, I’ve read a report stating that, although, I like my own guess better.”
Like a noble lady she was, Carmina chopped off a bit of her cake and hoisted it up to her mouth with a golden spoon. Eh. Nobles and their games. I hoped this was only happening in the novels I read but it seems I won’t be spared my dose of bulling.
A wandering ray of light picked this moment to reflect off a glass pane behind the princess, making the black membrane slide over my eyes. With my odd eyelids closed, I saw a spiderweb of cuts and slashes covering Carmina’s hands. Her scars contrasted so deeply with her skin I could not focus on anything else.
“Oh, you saw?”
She watched her own hand, sliding fingers across her soft skin.
“What horrifying eyes you must possess. To see that well into the past. Even for me that is but a memory.”
I willed my eyes to open, returning to the world as others saw it. I’ve been using those eyes for such a long time it became natural for me to see things others didn’t.
“But that what it is. A memory. A lesson and a reminder to avoid similar mistakes.”
She took another bite, savoring the sweet taste.
“You remain silent. Please do not be angry with me.”
I let her experience my best sigh so far and spoke.
“Why spoil such a pleasant day with words I may not want to hear? I care not for the empire or what goes in its shadows. I came because I had no choice in the matter, I’ll leave after serving my purpose here. All in between does not matter to me.”
More or less the truth.
“Princess, did you invite me here to play pity games for your enjoyment or do you have a different need for my presence.”
I’ve done my time sucking up to bullies. I have no need to repeat that even if that would put me in the dungeon.
“Then let me ask you this. Have you come to kill my father?”
Again, this nonsense? Would it be a good moment to laugh out loud? Eh, better not. Instead, I again went with truth.
“No. And before you ask another name, I did not come here to claim anyone’s life. I try not to do that. Not anymore. I have enough blood on my hands to last me several lifetimes.”
Did it shock her? Maybe. However, she managed to control her face. Only a little tremor going through her hand seemed to herald that she felt anything from my statement.
“I see. Then why did you come here?”
“Because I made a silly promise to someone I should not trifle with. A promise I cannot refuse.”
Yeah, that and the said entity made sure I could not refuse her.
I took another sip. Eh, what a waste. To spoil such a nice tea with such tasteless poison. I thought something was off with the taste, but I don’t think I would notice what if my water ring hadn’t stirred my mana near my stomach.
Without thinking much of what I did, I dumped my tea into the gras and with a flick of my wrist summoned the pot from its tray and dumped its contents too. Hovering it in the air, I scrubbed it clean with my mana, burning away any remaining residue of what it previously contained. With the pot clean, I asked Water for a top-up which she gladly did. Without a thought on my part, my mana brought the water to a boiling point. So deeply ingrained Rooth’s training was that my body did that of its own accord.
Now came time for tea leaves. I measured a portion that seemed right for this pot, making sure to separate that which was not meant to go inside the tea. Like poisonous berries or strange flowers that I did not know. Having sieved through all that, I checked on water, it had cooled just the right amount. Now to toss everything together and let it mix for a while, stirring it with my mana. Ah, the aroma. Hmm, I think my teacher would enjoy that.
I floated the pot to our table then poured myself a cup.
“It tastes much better now. Would you like a cup?”
Carmina sat frozen; fear crept about her eyes.
“There is no poison mixed into this one.”
I could feel magic rumbling inside her terrified heart and just hoped that my words could reach inside her terrified mind.
Eh, I don’t get these people. They see an elf, they rush to insult or kill her. They see an elf brewing tea, they act as if the world was coming apart.
“Princess,”
Shocked, she locked her eyes with mine. What was so strange in me making a cup of tea?
Well, mind you this is a wild guess my useless master, with all the barriers in place and that poison tea in your cup, you were not supposed to move a finger. I gather the little one planned to have you killed had you proved to be a true assassin, my daft master.
Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.
Oops. It smelled like a time for another story sucked out thin air.
“If I were sent here to kill you, your father or anyone in this town, I wouldn’t waste my time on this pointless chit chat. But here I am. You and your people tried to poison and trap me yet here I am sitting across you and being polite. I promised to be polite. I promised to behave.”
My face dispatched fake smile number seventy-two, eyes closed, and lips pressed into a thin line.
“I think it’ll spare us a lot of trouble if I point this out. Leave me alone and I in turn will not bother you or your precious empire, princess. Annoy me and... well, I hope it won’t come to that. I despise bothersome things.”
So, what do you think twiggy? Will she buy that? I can growl at her too if that would help. What do you think?
Who am I to judge what hides inside a hume’s heart? Perhaps if you keep that up, she may offer herself as a sacrifice, my unstoppable...
Twiggy, you know what? Go find some grass to stare at.
As you wish my demonic master.
The child sitting before me no longer dared to look into my eyes. Eh, gotta fix that before her knight gets an idea that something’s not right and rush in to further this misunderstanding.
I took her cup, cleansed it and filled it with the tea I just made.
“My friendship is simple. I’ll give you as much good faith as you yourself show me. Would you like to try that princess? Would you like to be my friend?”
I pushed the cup towards her. It took her long and fearful fifteen heartbeats before her shaking hands brought her cup to her mouth. Making a leap of faith, she took a sip. Then another one.
I watched the warmth of my tea spread calmness into her heart.
“What a strange person you are.”
Her eyes were back up and studying my face. After a while she closed her eyes and bowed her head to me.
“I saw people kill for lesser reasons. I thank you for this lesson, daughter of flames. Please accept my apologies for my rudeness and actions unbefitting my standing.”
“Apologies accepted but, why do you keep calling me that? I’ve never claimed such name for myself. It sounds bothersome.”
“Ignis.”
A corporal spirit answered her call. A general at that. He knelt by her side, making sure not to look into my eyes. I could feel his fear.
“Well, if that’s the source of your knowledge then I’ll say nothing more to that but a warning. Be wary of the gifts those troublemakers may offer you. There is always a price.”
I emptied my cup and tried to get up. Not the easiest thing to do with all that fabric swaying around my ass. Also, Carmina looked as if there was something else, she would like to ask.
“Yes?”
“If you would allow me a second chance, I would like to try again and learn more about you.”
Huh? What’s with this change of heart? Well, it’s impressive to have a spirit bound at her age but the more I speak with her, the more I think she might have a screw loose under her hood.
“And if you agree to stay, I would like you to model for me.”
“Model for you?”
“Yes. Ever since I saw you, your body I, I wish to draw you! Would you allow that?”
Draw me? More of standing still and looking pretty? Well, why not. I can do that. I had nothing better to do anyway. When I said yes, she almost dragged me to her study. The only thing that restrained her passion was her dress that limited her movement.
“How old are you, really?”
I just had to ask as I browsed through an array of her recent works, spread all over her study. My interests or rather my lack of thereof, kept me in the dark when it came to art but even I saw her talent.
She drew in a realistic style with amazing attention to details, capturing things like tiny freckles, reflections and shadows in the eye or veins visible just under the skin. I saw photographs regarded as works of arts that were less appealing and blurrier than her roughest sketches.
“This year shall be my sixteenth winter.”
“Is that so?”
To my eyes she looked no more than fourteen but, perhaps she was a late bloomer? Or I just suck at guessing. The time I spend with elves did a number on my already broken mind. My eyes went back to the pictures displayed before me.
Her drawings ranged from vistas to still life and portraits, but women made up the bulk of her subjects. Naked women. Some in quite the peculiar, arrangements. Like that kissing pair I’ve been staring at for a while. Let’s call it a study of female anatomy. What else should I call it?
“Ah, that’s one of my favorites. I’ve made a whole series of sketches of them.”
Her eyes were sparkling. The moment we crossed the threshold of her study and left all the servants behind, Carmina changed as if becoming a different person. Where in the garden I saw in her a calm and composed future ruler, right now she brimmed with passion about the art she loved.
“Oh, and this one,”
She shown me a nine foot by nine foot canvas with a group of women laughing and playing inside an onsen type bath. With this level of details, I could read name tags on each of their collars.
“This one I did from memory. It took me a whole moon to get the lines right and another five to do the colors.”
Although she shown me this one with pride, that pride waned the longer we looked at it. She pointed at one of the smiling women.
“My mother among other concubines inside the inner section of heavenly palace. No one is allowed except the emperor and whoever he chooses to accompany him that night. In that place, women cannot wear anything aside their collars for the fear of bringing something in or taking something out. A maid would pick them up by the gate and guide them inside blindfolded and on a leash. Mother told me, they would come for them, take them somewhere within the inner palace where chained to a wall they would wait for a different maid to take them even deeper. Aside from the emperor, not a single person knows the entire layout of the inner palace.”
Not even a spark left of the pride she felt. Her eyes hung low, filled with sadness. Something boiled within her although, I don’t think even Carmina herself knew what it was.
“Is it worth it? Keeping one person safe at the cost of so many lives?”
Probably not even realizing, she rubbed her own arm where the biggest scar was.
“Depends on whether you lean on faith or logic. At times neither provide an acceptable answer. Regardless, better if such efforts are not wasted. Life bought at the expense of another is not an easy debt to pay.”
I moved to get a better view of an unfinished sketch of a girl presenting her earrings. Funny thing, not even one earing hanging from her ears. Prudence began having second thoughts about the choice I made.
“Why do you even want to draw me? There’s nothing on me you don’t have in your collection already. Elven bodies are not that different from human ones.”
“That is not true! Your body is so, so… the way you move, the way your joints are, the proportions… It is all wrong! All so wrong! Please, it is making me restless. Let me see your body! Let me draw you!”
Once more, Carmina the artist fanned the flames in her eyes. As if all consuming fire burned inside her. Erm, perhaps I should reconsider?
“I-I will compensate you for your time! If it’s something I can provide, I will!”
She thought of my silence as refusal. Well, not that I care but…
Use her.
Logic’s heartless voice spread ice through my mind.
Demand our freedom.
“Can you guarantee that the empire will leave me alone? Treat me as if I don’t exist?”
Contours of Carmina’s face hardened.
“That is a high price you ask and as I am, I do not have such power. Even if I beg, the emperor will not grant you such privilege. However, if you accept my word, that shall be the first decree I’ll sign after ascending the throne.”
Suddenly it felt as if I’ve been selling my ass to the guild for some chump change.
“If that is your word then, you have time until sunrise. I’ll model for you until then.”
Camina’s happiness exploded as if someone told her that starting today, Santa will be chugging presents through a chimney every day. Or at least their equivalent of Santa. I think I heard Li mentioning something about the goodwill spirit leaving midsummer gifts.
She called for her maids to extract me from my dress and scoured through her supplies for a stack of parchments and coals. In the meantime, the maids, ripped my cloths of me.
Faster than I could sneeze, I found myself and my naked bum as the centerpiece of her study. Following her commands, I lift my arms. Did splits. Jumped. Bend. Sit. Kneel… She put me through every conceivable motion, evaluating the limits of my bendy body and sketching each pose I made. I knew this fancy form of mine was flexible but only this curious little artist made me realize how inhumanly rubbery my spine seemed to be.
And the squeal the girl made when I showed her what my nails could do. Cue another hour of feverish scribbling. Eh, I shouldn’t have done that. Well, she had not triggered my charms and her questions while odd at times were all tasteful. So, maybe nothing bad will come out of this?
“Can I touch you?”
She hit me with this question after what seemed like hours filled by a flurry of her sketching and me twisting my ass this or that way. Okay. I admit. Suddenly this got all kinds of creepy.
Her face flared up a moment later before I could give her any answer.
“I- I d-did not mean it that way! May gods forbade it! As an artist, I would like to feel your muscles, how they attach to your bones. It helps with my drawing. Nothing more! An arm is fine! Just an arm. Can I touch your arm?”
Still sitting on a raised dais after the last pose she asked me to take, I offered her my gloved arm. Worst case it’s start bleeding again.
“I don’t understand it...”
She run her fingers up and down my arm, gently bending it this or that way while at the same time squeezing it lightly to trace my muscles hiding underneath the milky skin of my puny arm. It impressed me how gentle and precise she was. Not a single bloody spot appeared on my satin gloves that covered my delicate skin.
“Your bones, it makes no sense. As if somebody mixed male and female skeletons and strewn flesh around it however they saw fit. It is driving me mad! This muscle here,”
She slid her finger over my arm underneath my bicep.
“I’ve never seen one attach and grow like this. And here,
She run her hands over my sides. I don’t remember agreeing to that.
“You are missing two ribs on both sides!”
I what? I had to blink at her but that did not end her revelations.
“It does explain why your waist is the way it is, but it says nothing about your back. Your back is so bizarre! This muscle layout, I’ve never seen anything like it. Is it the same for all the elves?”
Her hand slid over the icky spot on my back, sending shivers down my spine.
“No. I don’t think so.”
That did not convince her but if she had any more doubts, she kept them to herself. Collecting all the drawings she made so far, she laid them out on her desk for further study and we moved to the attached balcony where a navy-blue divan with golden accents and white fur cast onto it, awaited me.
Carmina made sure my body took the pose she wanted then styled my hair with her fingers and asked me to stay still.
I am good at staying still so I did. Watching her from the corner of my eye, I waited while she brought herself an easel and a large canvas. She did that all herself. From what I saw, maids were unwelcome in her study. They left as soon as they unplucked me from my dress and never returned. Even her knight stayed outside the door.
“Well, well, well. What do we have here? Is it not my dear mista whabbit? That fur does fit your skin, might you want and grow some?”
As the world around me came to a stop, I raised my eyes at the source of that cursed voice. She stood bent over the frozen princess and contemplated the canvas Carmina drew on.
“What do you want?”
“I have come to claim my third favor.”
“What? Now?”
I blinked and there she was, sitting beside my head on the curving armrest.
“Yes, mista whabbit, now. The night is young, the beasts are loose. Your hunt has just begun.”
***
Note to self. Do not blink. Never. Otherwise, inconvenient things happen. Like a formidable chunk of my mana gone in a puff and I find myself starring at some horrified boy while holding…
Whelp, I wonder if they’ll care that I can’t remember why my left hand cradled a head which jaws still twitched while the fingers of my right hand were stuck inside a headless body that not so long ago could’ve been connected to the head I held. Nope. I don’t think they’ll care.
At least it wasn’t a human head that I held.
The boy knight recovered his motor controls and after screaming his lungs out, he run away, leaving a wet trail behind him.
Yup. I’m so toast. What the heck happened here? Last I remember, I’ve been bathing my bare ass in the moonlight, sprawled on a comfy fur, then I blinked and, eh, that sensation. Why is it so familiar? Blood dripping down my back and into the crack of my butt.
Cora, you still in there? Cora?
I could feel her presence, but she did not respond. Or at least she could not do so at the moment. Her core chugged quite a bit of mana too. That’s not good, isn’t it?
As I stood there, contemplating the fate of universe and whether I should go and search for my undies, somewhere not that far from me, Altina’s power flared up. Peculiar, I had not felt her killing intent before. What a potent sensation. Was she fighting as well?
I dumped the head I held and after freeing my right hand with the help of my foot, I aimed myself where I felt her presence and jumped. Although before I could get there, her power calmed a bit. Did she win that fight? I called upon my queens and bounced against a wall. Not that dissimilar from what I felt on that island. Somebody set up a barrier. They came prepared.
They? I’m getting paranoid, aren’t I?
My bloody foot slipped on a loose shingle, sending me rocketing into a wall through which I fell without much resistance. Thankfully, solid rock on the other side of the room stopped my thumbling body. As abrupt as my arrival been, nobody seemed to care. The present guards gave their entire attention to the howling monstrosity mauling one of their friends.
“You missed that one, mista whabbit. I thought I should help you find it. A promise is a promise, you know.”
The odd one sat at a nearby chest, smiling at me. Seems like that shingle wasn’t so loose after all.
“Do not dawdle my little whabbit, those brave guardsmen can’t hold it for much longer. Rage or not, best if you get to it. Chop, chop.”
Get to what? Eh, given the amount of gore, dirt and dust plastered all over my body, whatever I did, could not been fun. Either way, with a burst of speed I put myself between the roaring creature and a frozen guardsman that instead of ducking, busied himself with his life flashing before his eyes.
The creature jumped as well, locking its maw over my left shoulder, its teeth breaking over my skin. Roused by this sudden contact, my arms went to work without any orders from my mind. Rehearsing a well-practiced maneuver, my right palm sunk into the creature’s chest, my fingers closing around its spine while my left hand grabbed its head and turned as if twisting out a lightbulb. Just that action alone rewarded me with a sickening squelch and a pop after which the thing went flaccid in my arms.
“Bravo mista wahbbit, bravo! That was the last one. I think. Now for the grand finale.”
The cursed voice spoke from her chest and before I could stop myself, my arms pulled the creature apart.
And I stood there with a twitching head in my left hand and my right hand stuck inside a body spraying blood everywhere. Also, there were guards gaping at me while a crimson rain dripped over our bodies.
Cackling to her own joke, the odd one vanished. For good this time. I hope.
I dumped on the floor what I held and looked at my own bloody hands. The wolf’s gonna give me an earful, won’t she? Eh.
Not waiting for the guards to regain their composure, I snuck out through the hole I made during my landing and climbed back onto the rooftop. Now, which way was it? On my right something exploded in a distance. That way we go.
A running jump and a bounce off a chimney took me there. Just in time to witness my wolf’s blood strings dicing a similar creature to tiny little cubes as I landed behind her.
And I had to duck before one such blade could loop off my head. The wall behind me had no such quick reflexes and collapsed into a pile of rubble after the wolf struck it.
“Y-you, rot you, you tactless tree humping... Do not ever sneak up on me!”
“I’ll remember to make some noise next time.”
“Sah! Noise she’ll make she says. Merciful Shamuu give me strength, or I’ll choke her! Where have you been?! Is that blood?! What in seven hells were you doing?! Thell me it’s not...”
“No.”
I got back up now that she recognized me.
“That’s not human blood.”
Or so I hoped as I studied the wolf. She relaxed after that remark.
“Are you all right?”
I asked. Her left arm hung limp at an odd angle. Given my medical history, I’m betting on a dislocated shoulder. And that cut on her eyebrow doesn’t look good either. Well, the place where a human would have an eyebrow.
“A. That alcoholic of yours pushed me out of the window when those things appeared. She killed one before something disrupted her presence.”
She looked at her hanging shoulder then pointed at me.
“There were more?”
“Yes.”
“Merciful lord. We need to get out of here. Find the guards and...”
I stopped her with my raised hand.
“No. What we need is to fix your arm and that cut. There are people coming this way. Guards probably.”
“Sah, you can tell?”
She looked around, her ears twitching.
“Even within this barrier?”
Well, I could feel something. A blob of mana. Kind of? Eh, ask a child to draw a technical design for a skyscraper and in best case you’ll get some doodles. About the same thing I could tell her. I sensed something.
“Kind of. Something is coming though I’m not sure what and I’d rather do it now, before it arrives.”
“Sah, do what?”
I shoved my hand underneath her armpit and pushed mana into my water ring.
And she screamed. Or howled. Or did both as her arm squeezed itself back into its socket.
“If you ever do something like that again, I will dedicate my life to turning your anorectic elven ass into a lawn ornament, so help me my Lord!”
Nursing her arm, Altina growled into my face.
“Your arm should be fine now.”
“You...”
She raised her good had as if to slap me but remembering how that went for Vi, she abstained from hitting me. Instead, with a flick of her fingers, all the blood stuck to my body gathered into a blob within her palm. Disgusted, she tossed it away onto the pile of chopped meat.
“That is so neat.”
My naked bum, cleared of all the gunk my body accumulated, once more shone in the moonlight. Dry cleaning indeed.
As pale as I was, thankfully I did not sparkle.
“Sah, should I know why you are naked? Again? What is it with you and your vanishing wardrobe?”
Using both hands, she formed some runes in the air and a with flash o mana a shield formed around us, securing everything within several feet radius. Quite the beautiful magic, too. Although, given how odd my eyes were and whatever else has the witch and others done to them, I’m not sure if other people could see what I saw. Like that emerald haze of mana spinning around us at the border of her spell.
“This time? Nothing much. I took it off when I was posing for a painting. Our dear future sun of the empire wished to add me to her collection. I agreed in exchange for ‘The empire shall not bother this elf’ card.”
“Huh? She gave you that in writing?”
“She promised to write and sign one when she inherits the throne.”
I focused on the ring Earth gave me and when I closed my eyes I appeared within the familiar lobby. To my surprise, a set of neatly folded clothes already waited for me at the counter, alongside a pair of boots.
“Is that to your satisfaction, master, or should I fetch something else?”
One of the three Earth’s daughters manning the counter asked me. For some odd reason, all three were wearing maid uniforms from Pellicora’s collection. Perhaps letting the dryad come and go in here as she pleases wasn’t such a clever idea? Either way...
“Thank you, it’s perfect.”
I grabbed the items and opened my eyes, returning to the reality.
“Sah, for such a paper I wouldn’t mind stripping either. Think she would be interested in collecting me?”
The wolf stroked her muzzle in amusement.
“No idea. You can try although, given what I saw in her study, you need to pick up some curves here and there and shave some fur first.”
“Sah, then that is... A? where did you get those? The ring?”
Perplexed, she stared at the stack of items in my arms.
“Yes.”
I dropped it all on the ground beside me and started with the thongs the spirit picked for me. Well, at least they were fast to put on. Then came the bra and the leather pants I ordered before.
I paused before putting on a pair of long, reinforced leather gloves that the spirit included in the stack. They had riveted in knuckle and finger guards and a curved plate at the top of my hand. All made of dark metal. For the love of me, I can’t remember when where I got them. Well, they were in matching color with my pants and looked like something an elven assassin would wear so I kept them on. Atop all that came a turtleneck leather jacket which had asymmetric buttons on one side. I covered it with a simple half plate armor of the same dark metal, shaped to accommodate my pillows and buckled on both sides. That left me with just the boots.
I weighted them in my hand considering...
“Sah, what a convenient thing that ring.”
The wolf mused, watching as I fought with my thoughts.
“Ask Earth for one if you want. Tell her to give you a discount on my behalf.”
Well, the boots had knee pads with shin guards attached so, I shoved my feet in and pulled them up. Just those heels... Who thought that seven-inch, spike heel was practical on these kinds of boots?
Unless this was the Earth’s trick and I got played? Whatever. At least I’ll look good when they come to arrest the poor elf.
And then the guards came.
An awful lot of guards came. The entire plaza we stood at suddenly got swamped by armed knights and, this made even Logic’s jaw drop, they came to rescue us.
Or so their captain said.
I thought about elbowing the stunned wolf but since it had the potential to end badly for the said wolf, I limited myself to clearing my throat. A few times.
“A. Yes. Right. Thank you, captain, but as you can see, we are fine. Aside from that window, there were no casualties here that I know of.”
Altina regained her composure.
“I understand but I must insist, emperor’s orders. Please follow us. We will escort you to a safe location where you could rest until the palace is secured.”
Safe location a? Like a dungeon? Judging by my wolf’s twitching ears, her thoughts run in similar direction. Regardless, she cancelled her spell, and we followed while guards, heavily armed and tooting tall, tower shields, formed a protective wall around us as we moved.
Leaving a detachment of guards behind, we descended a staircase hidden under one of the garden’s many pavilions. Fascinating. I wonder how many of such passages hid in this place. We spent more than a week in the flower palace and yet I have not found a single hidden passage. Not for the lack of trying. Whoever made those, did a remarkable job.
“Lady Karin!”
To our unhidden surprise, the guards did not guide us to a dungeon. Rather, the place we arrived at resembled a cozy room from the palace above us. Sans any windows. All the light came from mana crystals embedded into the ceiling.
Although the most surprising part of the entire affair was the little girl that run up to me the moment we entered the room. I thought she would toss herself at me but her upbringing stopped her short of that unsightly act. Instead, she just bowed her head before me.
“Your safe arrival pleases me, lady Karin, please accept my deepest gratitude. You had saved my life disregarding your own safety and even went on to aid the palace guards in stopping the intruders. I will make sure the emperor learns of your courage.”
You did? Altina’s eyes were asking as she stared at me.
“I thank you for your kindness, future sun of the empire.”
I parroted some sort of salute I saw the guards make while a murmur of astonishment went through the room. Fate wished we were not the only ones in the room. An assortment of ladies in different state of undress occupied every bit of space available.
“Who brough a dog in? Are the guards mad? Not only an elven whore but also an animal...”
Some of the hushed voices were not so pleasant. I looked at my wolf, she stood with her head high but, how many more insults her large ears could pick up?
“Are we supposed to suffer in this stench?”
Fate also wished that my eyes fell on the most vocal one. A lady of no more that nineteen winters and an echo chamber of her nine pawns that applauded each her word. Perhaps it would be best to deal with it before that stench could infect others.
“Princess, if you excuse me.”
I bobbed my head in apology and gathering dozens of terrified stares I walked over to the one protesting our presence. She sat on a couch with her back to us, so I bend over and hugged her from behind.
“A word of caution, sweet cheeks.”
I rubbed my cheek against hers, smiling at her friends as I did so.
“I do not care what names you toss at me. I’ve been called worse but if you once more insult my noble employer, I will twist off your empty head and shove it deep into your presumptuous backside.”
I smooched her on her cheek from which all blood drained away for some reason.
“Not a pip more from your lips, can you do that for me, sweet cheeks? Good.”
I hummed in her ear. In the silence that followed, I returned as if nothing happened to my place beside my wolf.
“Lady Altina,”
Carmina, the first to awaken from the shock of what I did, cupped the wolf’s paws in her palms.
“Please accept my apologies.”
She then raised her voice for the entire room to hear.
“You are emperor’s personal guests and yet you were insulted in his house, thus by extension insults were tossed at the emperor himself. That I will not allow.”
For a fourteen-year-old, her voice sent shivers even down my spine. Though, it worked. A certain corner of the room became incredibly quiet.
The rest of the night went calm if not boring. I like boring. Boring stuff never tries to kill you. Unless you work with any kind of machinery then it’s a different story.
“Thank you.”
Well, it took her most of the night to come up with that so I did the very best thing I could do in such case and answered with a silent head bob. Silent but respectful.
And that was that.
I have no idea what happened in the time when my body decided to go on a walk without taking my mind with it, but that female knight thought it significant enough to warrant such exchange. Also, I did hit a jackpot with my response. She straightened up as if a heavy burden left her shoulders. Even her breathing became calmer.
After improvising that little scene with the most vocal noble in the room, I volunteered myself to take a watch, just in case some of those things were still around. For reasons much different than my own, Carmina agreed to that and so here I was, becoming one with the wall behind me, pretending to be on guard.
That was when her knight decided to join me so she could later express her gratitude. Eh. All I wanted was to distance myself from all those nobles. Too much blue blood for my sanity.
Altina on the other hand kept on flaunting her perfect manners and outstanding knowledge. What started as a simple tea with the princess, transformed into and impromptu social gathering at the center of which the wolf shone.
Given the occasional glances full of awe cast my way, some romanticized stories about my sorry self and my questionable exploits, began circulating among this tea slurping bunch. And now even the princess took unwilling part in the wolf’s sales pitch, describing with zeal a curvature of something or someone. More glances followed. Some blushing, some... nope. I ain’t going that route for as long as I have any choice left.
Paraphrasing the words of my scheming wolf, gods have mercy on this poor dolt.
And mercy arrived with the sunrise in the form of emperor’s prime concubine and Carmina’s mother. A woman of striking golden eyes and pitch-black mane that shone in magnificent, natural curls. Even compared against my overengineered looks, her beauty would grant her a solid ten out of ten. More if I’d consider the fact that most people looking at me saw a sex toy with pointy ears that could stab them in their backs while the mother of the future empress with her alabaster skin brough an image of a goddess statue that came to life.
Even the silver collar locked around her neck did not break that image but enhanced it. Myriads of diamonds encrusted into the precious metal glittered in this magical light.
She spoke softly and with such calmness that her gentle voice spread a warm fluffy blanket over this entire room. Even when Carmina rushed to hug her, breaking all conventions, instead of admonishing her child, she put her arms around her, hiding her child in the folds of her long, flowing robe.
Even my ears picked up the displeasure of some older matrons gathered in the corners of this room, over such blatant display of emotions. Weren’t the imperials supposed to be above that? Showing such weakness to the future sun of the empire. The whispers went on and on. How does she even dare! That slave! Preposterous!
Lovely place the capital. Would not recommend.
And then my life happened.
No. Please don’t. No here. Not me.
Brimming with glee, the princess introduced her mother to the wolf and after the two exchanged polite but troubled greetings, she pointed at me, the elephant in the room, the killer elf brooding against the wall and dragged the woman towards me.
Why? Really? What did I do to deserve this? Were my crimes, ones I can’t even remember, so heinous to justify all this? Sporting pointy ears in this city was akin to wearing a meat bikini for a walk inside a lion’s den. Getting the attention from this family smelled like a death warrant.
“Lady Karin,”
The woman put her free hand over her sizable bosom and incline her upper body in a respectable manner befitting her position. Her humongous pillows looked at me from an inviting cut in her gown. I think they had a winning chance against mine. Unless all that volume was nothing but a clever trick of her flowing gown.
“Please accept my deepest gratitude for your service. I hope we will have more time to speak this evening.”
And like a bucket of icy water dumped at my head for no apparent reason, she left me with a sense of puzzlement. What on earth just happened?
Surrounded by more guards than necessary, the mother and child left the safe room after a brief explanation that palace is again secure and that the guards had dealt with intruders. A watered-down story about some magical beasts accidently conjured by an old mage that suffered a stroke preceded their departure. Unfortunately, the man responsible expired as a result of this accident. His funeral shall be held after the planned celebrations that will take place according to schedule. The strange disturbances in magical powers some of the guests have reported were cause by uncontrolled mana discharge of the beforementioned mage. The imperial magistrate is working diligently on dispersing the aftereffects of that discharge and everything should be back to normal around the noon.
What followed turned into a mass exodus of irritated chickens, swarming a gate too small for such a crowd. Noise, pushing, pecking and clawing included. Oh gods, they lost so much time! How will they prepare for the evening party?!
Sometimes, just sometimes I wonder whether it should’ve been me chugging up all those meds. On the other hand, memories of Rage and Courage sat now at a shelf somewhere in my brain. I remember a scene playing out just like this. A panicked mass of people trying to squeeze through a passage no larger than a fridge door. And the crimson flowers sprouting out of their backs. One by one they fell. Bang, splash. Bang, splash. A whole three second difference between the bullet leaving the muzzle and splashing apart its target. Breath in breath out, his finger moved in between his heartbeats. His? Or mine? I don’t know. I just don’t know. I remember the smell of the jungle. The mud sticking to my skin. The bamboo... I don’t want to remember the bamboo. Not today. Perhaps it will be better If I skip sleep for the next few days? This body don’t really need it.
“Sah, you with us young lady?”
Altina flicked her fingers before my eyes. Seeing that I focused on her, she took my arms in her palms and slowly began to force open my clenched fists. With my nails stuck deep in my skin, blood dripped from my palms but turned to smoke before it could fall on the ground and stain the carpet.
“Dreams you see even while awake?”
I just gazed into her eyes. My mind did not feel coherent enough to form a sentence.
“Sah, Water shown me. They concealed your screams but knew not how to calm your sleep.”
My hands were shaking. Why?
“These weren’t just dreams, a?”
She held my hands until the tremors went away.
“No.”
I had this vague recollection of times when I woke horrified by something or someone but then I heard her calming voice, her embrace providing sanctuary. I thought I dreamed of my mother, her calming words...
“I’m sorry. I broke my promise. I was not to call you by that name.”
“A. You did.”
People were still scrambling through the door.
“Later, want to share that weight with me? I’ve got big ears, I can listen.”
The fluffy triangles at the top of her head flapped along her words. At times, something in me wished to grab and hold them.
“Maybe someday.”
“A. Someday it is then. Now, it seems, we shall have some questions awaiting us.”
As the crowd faded, a maid managed to push through and went towards us. Questions huh? Well, so far, guards did not drag us off in chains to a dungeon so let’s stay positive about the whole thing. Logic rolled her eyes to that statement but otherwise said nothing. Also, since they sent a maid and not a guard this does give me some hope.
And once again life proved me wrong.
Aside from the emperor’s healer that came to check up on me and my arms, no one came to bother us. The maid guided us back to our rooms in the flower palace and that was that. The life went on as if nothing happened and everyone went back to their frantic, last-minute preparations for the evening party.
So did we.
With questions running rampart in our minds and too many ears around us to discuss the matter, we did our best to prepare for what the night might bring. Altina retired for the time being and fell asleep atop my bed since the fight between Fire and one of the monsters that attacked us, pulverized her room.
Of course, the palace majordomo came and offered her another place, but the wolf declined. Since the barrier blocking spirits from entering still held its reign over the palace, we chose to spend those few hours together.
So, I lay motionless atop my bed, staring at the empty space, listening to my wolf’s steady breathing.
She slept soundly up until the noon when, as advised, the spell collapsed, and the barrier broke. My dear perverts choose that moment to assault our bed.
“My honey bun! Are you alright?! Let me check...”
Drooling, Fire descended upon my wolf who awoke with a start and blocked the approaching lips with her foot.
“Merciful Shamuu... Get that thing off me!”
Which Earth did, putting Fire in headlock and dragging her away.
“My love, we came as soon as we could.”
Water approached me, her gaze full of unspoken regret.
“That’s some annoying spell to deal with.”
“It is blasphemous, my love. It burns life instead of mana.“
“Are you telling me that to make this barrier someone sacrificed their life?”
“A. That they did. Merciful lord, I do not wish to think how many lives were exchanged for that spell.”
Altina sat up, rubbing her temples. She did not bother with a night gown and while her fur covered her curves, I could still see her body was more feminine that I thought.
“Is there any way for you to stop it? What if they try again?”
Again, the mysterious they snuck in into my question. Somehow my mind rebelled at naming that cult as responsible for this.
“No. That is beyond us. However, do not despair my love, for a spell to hold that long, it takes hundreds of lives and time to prepare. It is something that cannot be done overnight.”
So, unless whoever is responsible for this has a spare ready, we should be safe.
Then, why did the empire lie about this incident? What of this odd timing? Wouldn’t it be better to attack during the party when all the guests will be gathered in one place?
“It bothers me. Why would they attack now? It makes no sense.”
I voiced my concerns.
“Sah, it does make sense if you are paranoid enough. Think of it as a distraction. A way to slip in with something or someone when people are busy fighting monsters.”
A distraction?
“Comb the entire place, look for anything or anyone that should not be here or that wasn’t here before yesterday. Do it silently. Make sure no one notice. The rest I leave to your interpretation of your bendy law.”
“As you desire my love.”
“Stay safe my honey bun and remember to call my name if you’re in trouble!”
Before vanishing from our view, Fire once more jumped into my bed and cupping the wolf’s head in her palms, she stole a kiss then quickly hid behind me, avoiding the wolf’s claws.
“You too, my love. “
She pecked me on my cheek and puff, disappeared in a cloud of smoke.
“Honey bun?”
My eyes fell on the troubled and blushing wolf.
“Do. Not. Even. Start.”
Altina growled through her clenched teeth. Although she composed herself soon after.
“A, Forgive me. My mind had failed me. I should have never let her sway my judgement. I...”
It seemed like a perfect time to shrug my arms. So, I did. I also stopped the waterfall of her excuses with my raised hand.
“Don’t care. Your butt not mine.”
“A? That I did not expect. I thought… I am not sure what I thought.”
She hid her face in her paws, her fur all puffed out. Yup. She must have some feline ancestry in her blood.
“Well, I think they won’t hurt you now. You’ve become too important for their scheming so, enjoy yourself if that is your thing.”
I got up, still dressed in my fancy armor.
And I will erase you if either of you perverts will try with her what the old wind did to me.
I willed that thought into their names and got shivers in response. This one time I wasn’t bluffing.
“Karin…”
“Yes, guild master?”
There was a question stuck in her throat. Her naked body sat hugging her knees. I offered her one of my fake smiles.
“Would one turn of the clock be enough?”
If I could see her cheeks, I guess they would glow scarlet.
“Thank you.”
On my way out of the room, I flipped over a large hourglass resting by the exit. Fire closed the door behind me.
“You are growing soft, my perverted master. Why allow that?”
Sitting on a couch in the study attached to my bedroom, Cora pointed at the doors behind me. Indeed, why did I ignore it? Maybe because I once knew people that paid for far less appealing company?
The wolf’s eyes. I saw that gaze before. I don’t know what kind of moral backbone and strength of will Altina had to withstand the abuse her life brought her. Every waking hour, people looked at her. Looked at her head. Looked at her inhuman body. Looked and saw an animal. Even I thought of her as the wolf. And yet here she was. The guild master. The noble lady. A friend. Mother to all those working for her.
“To let the her relax before this evening.”
As much as my body revolted at the idea of what went on behind those doors, I also knew Fire had a way of making her feel like a woman. Not an animal. A living, breathing, thinking woman with feelings and desires.
“If what happened yesterday was a prelude to what may unfold today, it’s best if she rests both her body and mind.”
I never been a religious person but if it would help, I sure would pray. Let it all just pass. Let no more people be harmed by my hands or by my presence.
“I called for you yesterday. Why did you ignore me?”
“I’ve been busy and you were in no danger, my untrusting master. Somebody blew up the temple in Fenira.”
The temple? That cannot be.
“What of the serpent?”
“She lives. About an hour before the attack, she and her aide arrived at the guild through concealment to seek asylum. Around the same time somebody killed one of my bodies patrolling the outskirts of Fenira.”
Someone killed her? Under the effects of spirit blessings? Was that even possible?
“Did you managed to take a look at the attackers?”
“Attacker. One. Common dark robes. Hood. Featureless face mask. He fought on par with sixty of my copies at once and destroyed all with ease. He left after a while; I did not pursue.”
“He?”
“From the way he moved and from his build I believe so. Although the robe could be misleading.”
“Did you tell anyone?”
“Beatrice knows. That serpent also knows something.”
“Oh no. Erta’s daughter...”
“That lizard’s offspring is fine. She had not moved from her place. At times she visits Fenira or surrounding villages to trade. I have seen her once. Their resemblance is striking.”
Her eyes moved, focusing on the entrance.
“But that is a tale for another time. I’ve stored several of my bodies within your ring. Use them in case of need. For our common good, please behave my troublesome master.”
Not even dust left of her body when knocking announced arrival of palace maids and one guest I hoped would not come today.
“Ah, my poor Karin, despair no more! I Garla, the best merchant under the starry skies have arrived!”
My eyebrow almost twitched as the hollering annoyance slipped uninvited into my room at the front of a flood of servants and clomped itself around me in a hug.
Boxes among boxes kept piling up underneath the wall while servants carted in a giant bathtub and began filling it up with hot water. Porters moved unneeded furniture out of the way and out of the room.
“Where is that furball?!“
The unofficial pervert number five pulled her face out of my pillows and cast a quick glance around the room.
“Resting. She will join us in a while.”
“Resting?! It is no time for resting! The fate of our entire guild depends on tonight! We have no time to lose. Strip. Now!”
Huh?
I think I tried to make a surprised noise when a pack of blood thirsty maids descended upon me and removed me from within my cloths.
What the heck just happened?
I remember I stood there. I blinked and now I was here, soaking my bare butt in hot tub under a layer of rose petals while Garla rummaged among the boxes, setting up some contraption and spreading a translucent fabric over it.
And then I saw it.
What can I say? Two words came to my mind.
Merciful Shamuu.