Well this is a Stupid way to die.  Catch a girl on a Bridge, only to lose my own balance.  Worth it, she didn’t deserve to die like this, nope.  My face is going to be busted into a million pieces for sure.  Not the way a girl should die.  Totally worth it.

Right before impact, my vision flashes, and now I’m simply surrounded in all white.  Nothing exists, just white. “You probably won’t remember this, but you weren’t supposed to die there, that girl was.  Though I do approve of your actions, it does cause a problem, since you’ll be taking her place.  A place that was prepared for her.  If by some chance you remember this when you wake up, it’s your actions that cause the Gender Swap.  You were meant to live on, and she was meant to go to this new world.  You’re taking the body that was designed for her.  Good luck on your new life.  I will grant you a few gifts to aid you, since you’ll need extra help at the start.  Fare Well my Heroic soul.”

My vision flashes again, and I find myself falling down onto the ground.  I let out a Scream, that is oddly feminine, and it’s accompanied by a second equally feminine scream.

“Itchy! Oh God, what’s Itching?!”  I voice my frustration, the pain of my landing being completely ignored in favor of the extreme itch.  “Are you alright?  How, Where, I don’t understand your appearance in front of me out of nowhere like this!”  I freeze for a Moment, then the Itch though reduced causes me to continue squirming.  “Um, first, can you humor me, and tell me what my Body looks like, cause I have itches in places I shouldn’t have.  I don’t mean I shouldn’t itch there, I mean there shouldn’t exist.  Maybe it’s a Hallucination, so I don’t want to say what I feel, till I hear what I actually look like.  Attractiveness aside that is.”  The other woman, though confused at my question, decides the situation is odd enough to answer it anyway.  “well, you’re a rather attractive tiger clan girl.”  My mind freezes a second, but the Itch forces it to restart.  “I guess that explains the Itch, my Brain must be trying to get used to something it never had before.  Also, did I hear you correctly when you said Girl?”  Now thoroughly confused, the other woman agrees, that she did indeed say girl.  “Oh great, so not only do I have to get used to a Freaking Tail, but now I have to deal with Feminine Problems too!”

“You seem old enough that those problems should be commonplace already.”  I open my eyes, and look at her, only to freeze again dumbfounded at her beauty.  “Um,…well,…I was a Man till you saw me arrive.  I was brought here, by a power I don’t understand, and have no interaction with to my knowledge, and it seems that both my species, and my Gender have been altered.  Also, I feel too young.  How old do I look please?”  She looks quizzically at me, admitting to herself that as outlandish as my statement was, my arrival in such a spectacular fashion tend to back up my words.  “Well I can smell you’re not lying, and that way you just appeared, coupled with the fact you just slammed into the ground, implies you don’t have control of any such method of travel., so I guess an age difference wouldn’t be any more of a surprise.  You look around sixteen to twenty.”

My eyes pop open in surprise.  “Huh, talk about a Bonus, got twenty plus years younger.  Course the whole feminine problems thing is still going to be no fun.  UM, how do I deal with that anyway.  Back home it would be easy, but this isn’t back home.”  Another blast to the other woman’s mind.  “Men wouldn’t know anything about that here, are you saying you know how to take care of it where you’re from, despite having been a man?!”  I nodded my head as I continue to squirm due to the Itch, which is slowly subsiding.  My tail flaps me in my own face causing the other woman to chuckle.  “I haven’t done that since I was six!  You really never had a tail before, what weird sort of creature were you?”  I groan in embarrassment over my unruly new appendage.  “Well do you know what an Ape is?  My original species is supposed to have evolved from Apes.”  Her demeanor changed into one of revoltion.  “Ugh, those smelly furry screeching tree climbers?  They don’t even taste good!  You used to look like them?”  I shook my head.  “Only superficially.  No tail, no fur, had hair on my head, in my groin, and due to being male on my face.  Some men had hairy chests too.  Ears on the side of our heads, not on top as yours are, and I assume mine.  Wonder why the ears didn’t itch as much?”

The other Woman’s eyes kept darting all over the place.  Like she didn’t want to get caught looking somewhere.  “What’s wrong?  You can’t seem to keep focused on me at all.”  She blushed mightily, before responding.  “I, uh, don’t know where to look.  You’re completely naked.”  I get a wicked grin.  “That implies that you like Women,.. In the romantic sense.”  Her eyes bulge.  “How does that imply anything of the sort?!”  I chuckle.  “If you weren’t interested in Women’s bodies, you wouldn’t care at all in these circumstance.  Since there’s nothing erotic about this.  I didn’t strip for you, I wasn’t doing anything alluring, and I’m on my front, covering everything important.  At this point a Woman who didn’t like Women’s bodies would just deal, and nothing would be awkward.  That doesn’t mean you don’t like Men though, just that you do definitely like Women.”  She plopped back onto her butt in shock.  “Is that why no Man has ever gotten my attention?!  They’re nice enough, but I couldn’t ever see myself being with one of them.  I thought I just hadn’t found the right one yet.”  

Chuckling again I continued.  “Yeah, you’re definitely into Women, not Men, and that’s not a choice either.  So many people where I come from keep saying it’s a choice, but it’s not.  A man can’t make a choice to be into Men, and have an Erection without helping it along.  Nor can he stop getting Erect at the sight of a Woman, unless they are into Men, in which case it’s the reverse.  So don’t think anything bad about yourself, your hormones, the things that make you aroused, they trigger according to the design that God put into your Body.  God makes no mistakes, and approved of you EXACTLY the way you are.”  I say this with absolute conviction, because I know I’m right.  The Woman actually relaxes, clearly having thought she was a disgrace for feeling the way she clearly did.  “By the way, what’s your name?”  Flustered now she replies.  “My name is Jeanette, and may I know your name?”  I thought for a Moment.  “Well, I suppose my old name won’t really work, since it’s John, so I guess I’ll go with something similar.  How about Joana, or Jane? Which sounds better to you?”  Thinking for a Moment she answers that Jane sounds better to her.  “Ok, then my middle name is Ray, so I’ll just change the spelling to the Feminine version of Rae.  Jane Rae, that’s nice.”  A perplexed look was written all over Jeanette’s face.  “Middle name?  Does that mean you have a third name?”  I nodded my head.  “Course I do, everybody does, well at least back home, but judging from your face, I guess that isn’t the case here.  Anyway, my Family name is Richards.  So that’s Jane Rae Richards now.”  Jeanette responds.  “Though I am certainly pleased to meet you, and to know your name.  Only nobility has family names here, and they don’t have middle names.  Though I suppose with you being Tiger Clan, that’s alright, since all Tiger Clan are Nobility.  Still they wouldn’t understand a Middle Name.  Though, if you only use it when signing legal documents, maybe they’d adopt the practice, as a security measure against forgery.”  A cold shiver ran down my spine.  “Did you just say that all Tiger Clan are Nobility?  Jeanette PLEASE tell me you’re kidding!”

“I think you should get used to being called Milady.”  I shivered again.  “Uh, Just a guess, but a new Noble, especially a Female, they’d expect her to Marry into the existing family right?”  She nodded her head.  “Certainly, but how lucky, you get to marry a Princess, or something.”  I jolt in surprise.  “Wait, they’ll let me marry a Woman, don’t they want Heirs?”  She looks shocked at my surprise.  “Naturally they want Heirs, but what does that have to do with marrying a Woman?  Sure if you were a Man, you’d have to Marry a Woman, cause you need one Woman to get an Heir, but otherwise there’s no problem.”  “Um, where I come from, only a Man, and a Woman can create a child.  Two Women can’t get Pregnant by each other, and neither could two Men.  So unless you mean they’ll let the other Woman get Pregnant by a Man, then I don’t understand how that’s supposed to work.”  She laughs loudly. “Your magic, is the same as a Man’s Seed, so you just infuse your Magic into your Wife, and everything’s fine….Would,…would you consider,…maybe,…taking me as a Concubine?  I’d truly love having your Child.  Not for the Noble Status either.  Maybe it’s because you act like a Man, while being a Woman, not sure, but you’re the first person I could see myself spending my whole life with.  I didn’t even know I wanted Women till I met you.”  It all came out in a rush like vomit, but it was truly music to my ears.  “Still, we only just met, are you sure?”  She nodded frantically.  “I truly am certain I want this.  Even as second, third, or even sixth wife, I’ll still be happy!”  Mind blowing up, Hormones on overdrive, Breath Jane, BREATH damn it!  Calm the ever loving heck down!  “So you’re saying it’s likely I’ll have a Harem of Women then, like even if I don’t want it.  Like Noble Favors and such?”  Jeanette nodded sagely.  “OK, in that case, I NEED you in my life.  Without you, I won’t be able to manage these interactions.  I have absolutely no Noble Manners, like at all.  Even if you don’t know much, it’s more than me.  Plus, you’re the only one who knows the truth of my arrival, so if it needs to be told, you witnessed my arrival.”

“Um, by the way, you think maybe I could get something to cover up with?”  Jeanette blushed as she responded.  “I suppose we should, but it’s a shame.  Even if I can’t see everything at the Moment, I still like what I see.  Though my Under things won’t fit you, which is sad.”  I chuckled at that.  “You just want my Lady Bits to touch where your are!  Not that I mind the Sentiment.  I suppose I should start getting used to being seen like this too.”  Saying that I turned myself over to give her the full view, as I blushed myself.  Totally not comfortable being seen as a Woman by any means.  Jeanette’s brain promptly shut off, and a little drool escaped from her lips.  “Well at least I know you like the view.”  Startled, she nervously took off her pack, and rummaged inside to find some pants, and a shirt that should roughly fit me.  “I’m sorry I froze like that, I’m so embarrassed!”  More chuckling on my part.  “If you didn’t react similar to that, I’d think you didn’t actually like what you saw, and that your marriage offer might be withdrawn.”  I put on the Pants, but hesitated over the shirt.  Standing up, and pulling out all my courage, I walked forward, clumsily, and wrapped my arms around her, hugging tight.  Then I planted my lips on hers, and once she relaxed, I plunged inside her mouth.  She was surprised, but quickly started to explore my mouth in return.  Eventually we broke apart breathless.  “Hope that was sufficient for now, I’m going to be a little off for a while, not being used to being a Woman after all.”  The fiercely blushing Jeanette eventually got her mouth to spit out more words.  “No, that’s more than I expected.  I never heard anyone talk about what you just did.  Touching lips sure, marking yeah, but that was totally new to me.”  I cocked my head a bit. “Marking,…you mean with head movements, like a Cat?”  Her head cocked in reply.  “What’s a cat?”  Oh Boy, this is gonna be a fun explanation.

I put the shirt on, after ensuring she’d gotten a good long look.  Then I explained what Cats were back home, and she seemed wistful, liking the idea of a little carnivore pal around the house.  After that, I started to learn how to walk, as Jeanette guided us towards a good camping spot.  Needless to say, I fell,…a lot!  The faster I attempted to move, the worse it got.  Until I caught movement out of the corner of my eye, a Rabbit like creature darted off in a panic, and without any thought, my body pulsed into action.  This was apparently the exact thing I needed.  My new animal instincts took over, and I raced effortlessly after the creature.  It eventually turns on me when I got close enough, trying to ram me with a horn of all things.  This was the last mistake it ever made, my had flashed out at the exact right time to snag, and effortlessly snap its neck.  I stood there dumbfounded.  My body was now totally mine, but that chase was not of my control.

“Wow, your instincts must be on overdrive, or at least you’re super sensitive to them right now.  How do you feel now?”  I thought about it fully, and decided that I felt great, and able to walk properly.  “Aside from losing control there, I feel great.  Do you think that’s a temporary thing, just from the change?”  Jeanette answered with a thoughtful look.  “I think that’s likely the case.  Your instincts will be stronger for a while, then settle down.  You won’t need the hunter instinct again, so it’s likely that it won’t take over again.”

Thinking for a moment I said, “Should we test that, look for another critter, and see if I bolt after it, or can stay still for a second?”  Jeanette nodded, “That’s a good idea, if you bolt, more meat, if not, then I’ll get it, so even then, more meat.”  A new chuckle came out of my mouth, cause the look on her face seemed all too eager.  We kept moving, and soon enough, another movement just out of sight caught my eye.  I focused, yet I remained still.  My pointing as I did, was all the indication Jeanette needed to be off like a Shot in my stead.  Another Rabbit creature with a snapped neck.  

“This is plenty of meat for tonight.  More than I’d have thought in this area.  Honestly the game here is scarce.  Maybe who, or whatever sent you here made some extra game come too.”  Jeanette’s idea seemed plausible, at least in this implausible situation.  “Could be, not that I can be certain.  So weird if the game has increased just after I got here, at least without some cause, and my arrival method is as likely as anything in that case.”    We only had to walk a little more to reach a stream, where Jeanette started to setup a camp.  The one thing I could do, was to setup a proper fire pit, and start the fire.  When Jeanette noticed my attempts to start said fire, she told me to move aside, and then with a flick of her wrist, a spark leapt from her hand and lit the tinder.  “Oh, you did mention magic, I guess that wasn’t a joke.”

Soon the smell of the Rabbits roasting really got my stomach rumbling.  It wasn’t too long before we were finished eating, and then the elephant in the proverbial room made itself known.  There was only one, rather small tent.  “Um, I don’t mind the snuggle factor, but could you resist going further than that?  I’m going to need a little time to deal with that part being touched.  I can totally touch you there, and enjoy everything, but I’m just not ready to accept that part yet.”  A fierce blush covered her face.  “I think snuggling is fine.  I can be patient.  I’m new to this too.”  With that we went to bed, and after some serious kisses, and a little talking about how the world works, sleep took us.

In the morning, I somehow managed to wake first, and as much as I wanted to stay right where I was, my Bladder wouldn’t allow it.  I made my way to a convenient bush to relieve myself.  As I squatted there I really started to look around.  The grass looked much as I would expect, though slightly pink tinged.  The trees were all slightly altered from ones I might recognize, though admittedly I knew very little about trees in general, but with bark being blue tinted, instead of brown, it did strike me as wondrous.  Needle type trees had longer curved needles, while the broad leaves were perhaps pointier.  It would take some time to identify one plant from another I thought.

Once I was done, and had situated my pants, I heard a rustling, and cracking coming from some ways behind me.  I whirled to find something akin to a Boar, only with pronounced spines along its back, and the tusks looked nearly razor sharp at a glance.  It noticed me, and instantly charged, exactly as I would expect.  Luckily my instincts were able to guide me as I moved to attack of all things.  I simply knew that attacking was the only correct course.  Making no noise, I charged right at the Boar.  At the last second, I yelled, as I slid on my back.  The Yell startled the Boar making it rear up, and as it did so, claws erupted out of my raised hand, and effortlessly tore through the flesh of the Boar’s neck.  Perfectly slicing through its vocal chords along with the Jugular vein, and wind pipe, it couldn’t even scream as it died.  Though it wasn’t instant, and I rolled over, leaping in a new direction before it could attempt a final attack.  A few seconds later, and it collapsed unable to move anymore.  Ten more desperate attempts to breath, and it finally lay still.

Jeanette having heard the commotion, approached to find the Boar already dead.  “Well, that’s convenient, not only did you get Breakfast, but that’s the very target of my subjugation quest!”  I looked at her, with my left had covered in blood, claws still extended.  “You were out here for a Boar?”   She chuckled.  “Not just any Boar,…THAT Boar.  It has some distinguishing markings, and the Damage to the Tusks is unique as well.  That Bastard has been attacking Travelers in this area for Months.  Didn’t expect I’d actually find it, I was honestly ready to give up.  We only need the Tusks for the reward, but your kill was so clean we can eat the Meat, and even take the hide with us.  You really saved me on this trip!”  I looked closer at the Boar, and noticed it did have rather distinct damage on its tusks.  I imagine anyone who had encountered this beast could probably have described it fairly accurately.

Jeanette noticed my Claws then.  “Oh you even got the Tiger Claws, that’s the reason they’re the Ruling Class.  Other Cat Clans don’t have Claws, not even the Lion Clan.  So it’s not easy to win a fight with a Tiger.”  I suppose that makes sense.  “Just one problem, how do I retract them?”  She blanched a little.  “Oh, they must be excessively dirty, so your cat instincts won’t let you retract them.  Let me get you some water to clean them.”  She ran off to get her water skin, and came back before I could really even realize she had gone.  In my Stupor over the realization I had Claws, it seemed like she had teleported.  Sure enough,. Once the blood, and tidbits of Boar flesh had been removed, my Claws retracted properly.  I marveled at my hands, which looks completely innocent now, no sign I even had Claws.  “This is weird, how can I move my hands normally with Claws?  I’d love to see an Anatomical sketch of my hands sometime!”  She looked at me quizzically, and I couldn’t help but chuckle.  “Anatomy is the study of living things.  Where the organs are, how the bones are laid out, how the muscles and tendons attach to the skeleton, all of it is covered in Anatomy.  An Anatomical Sketch is a drawing that displays how something is put together.”  Now a look of Wonder is on Jeanette’s face.  “Your people had such sketches?  Parchment is rare, and expensive.”

“Well, we use Paper, which is made from pulped wood.  It’s much cheaper, and can be dyed in just about any color.; from pure white, to pure black.  We also have Printing Presses, which can copy texts at amazing speeds.  Daily Newspapers are printed out in the millions everyday.  The average run on a Novel is between five hundred, and five thousand copies.”  Her eyes widened.  “So many people can read?”  “In fact, with very few exceptions, everyone can read.  Public Libraries exist in almost every community, and allow free access usually, and though they aren’t cheap, literally anyone can buy books.  A typical Novel ran around Twenty Five dollars in Hard Back, and that’s roughly five hours worth of pay.”  Jeanette was practically giddy.  “So then can you teach me to read?!”  I held up a Hand.  “Problem is, I only know how to read and write in English, well unless that got changed in my head anyway.  Do you have something written on you?  If I can read it, I can write it.”  Jeanette rummaged in her pack, till she found a wooded tile.  She handed it to me, and I quickly understood that this was her Quest Tile.  I could clearly read the characters, and confirmed that indeed this was the exact boar on the tile.  Yet at the same time, it clearly wasn’t English.  I knew it.  I found a twig, and went to a patch of bare dirt.  I attempted to write the English Alphabet, only it wouldn’t come.  When I instead just tried to write the Alphabet, I quickly scribbled out a list of characters more than twenty six.  I instinctively knew each character, and how to combine them, and in some cases overlap them to make words.  “Well it looks like the knowledge of reading and writing in this world has been implanted into my memories, and my own language has been removed.  Still, that means I can teach you, at least to some extent.  Hold on, let me try writing something else.”  

Saying that, I quickly jotted down some numbers, discovering that they were what I was used to.  I looked at the tile again, and saw that numbers were written out hole.  Specifically the reward.  “Are there specific character for numbers, or is it words that you have to recognize?”  She came to me, and pointed to the reward amount, saying that it meant five, and the word next to is was Silver.  She knew those two words, because they were used so often in rewards.  I pointed to the numbers I wrote.  “Have you ever seen these characters?”  She shook her head, indicating that she had never seen the numbers I wrote.  “How do people do math?”  “With a calculator board.  It has beads on rods, and once you’ve calculated the total, you write the word out.”  I groaned at that.  “Well I can teach you Math then.  Using these characters.  These are numbers.  Each character here is a different value on its own.  String them together, and you can create literally any value with these ten characters.   Then I’ll show you some symbols that indicate the Math you’re doing.  If you think that Adding, and Subtracting are all the Math there is, you’ve got another thing coming.”

Jeanette was practically star struck at this point.  “However,…Boar first, eat breakfast, pack up camp, and lets get walking.  I imagine that turning in this quest is important, and earning money isn’t something to put off.”  A slightly embarrassed blush took her face at that, but we both got to work.  Despite the Boar’s size, it didn’t take long to deconstruct it.  I suggested using the hide as a pack for the meat, and I could carry some that way.  About an hour later, the camp was broken down, the packs were ready, and we were finally eating breakfast.  Once we were done eating, we doused the fire, hoisted our packs, and Jeanette lead me off in a confident manner.  It took nearly ten hours before we could make out the walls of a decent sized village, and another half hour till we reached the gate.  The guard braced upright upon seeing me.  “Milady, I wasn’t expecting an inspection!”  I waved him down.  “Relax, though I am clearly a Tiger, I am in fact NOT a member of your Nobility.  Though I imagine that won’t be true for very long.  From what I understand any Tiger in this Country is a Noble, so I’m going to be a Rare Commodity.  A Tiger who isn’t a Blood Relative, thus fresh blood that will strengthen the line.  Honestly not looking forward to it, but I suppose I don’t have much of a choice.  Still for right now, please act normally with me, let me enjoy my last few days of freedom before I get shackled into the Family.”  

He was absolutely stunned.  A Tiger who wasn’t a Noble, the thought had never crossed his mind.  “Are you serious?!”  “Quite, one thing I do know about Nobility, is claiming to be one if you aren’t, is a sure fire method for getting executed.”  He nodded at that.  “Yes, I suppose, as odd as this situation is, you’re quite correct.  Very wise, you will be a fine addition.  I will honor your request to be treated normally at this time.”  With that, he went through the normal procedures, and Jeanette paid for my entry, I was directed to the guilds to acquire an ID tag, though he did say anyone would let me in without even checking, if I just walked in.  “Perhaps so, but that too would be claiming Nobility that I don’t have.”  I waved at the Guard as I headed off with Jeanette.

We entered the Adventurer’s Guild Hall, and proceeded to a receptionist counter.  This being a smaller town, it only had two counters.  I didn’t particularly care which one I was served by, so I stood in the shortest line, or tried to.  Once the people in line in front of me heard the whispers, and they then noticed me, they quickly bowed out from in front of me.  “No please, I’m not in any rush here, I can wait same as anyone; if it was an emergency I would have said as much.”  Everyone shook their heads as they refused to stand in front of me.  “UGH!”  Jeanette and I approached the counter, where the now extremely nervous attendant waited.  “How may I be of service?!”  She stuttered as she spoke, it was honestly quite cute, yet simultaneously annoying.  “My Companion needs to register, and I have a quest to turn in.  Since she is the one who actually killed it, I’d like her to have the reward though.”  I turned on her, a little angry.  “First, it was YOUR quest, second, if you hadn’t been there at the start, I wouldn’t have survived long enough to be able to kill that thing.  No way am I taking all the reward, the most I’ll allow is half!”  Jeanette was stunned at my outburst, but grudgingly nodded.  “If Milady would fill out this form, or else I can scribe it.”  I turned back to her.  “I’m not actually related to the Nobility of this country, and in my old country, I wasn’t a Noble there.  So the title doesn’t apply to me, at least not yet.  I am going to the capital, and I suspect they will insist on it, but for now I don’t want anyone saying I claimed to be a Noble before hand.”  Everyone was stunned now.  “A Tiger from another country, who isn’t a Noble!”  This seemed to excite the receptionist.  

“Yeah, I was misidentified at the gate as an inspector, so maybe I can get that kind of job myself.  I’d much rather deal with ordinary people than Nobles, the more time I spend out of the Capitol, the happier I’m gonna be.  I’ll try my best to look out for the Common people though.  A nudge here, or there, if I’m able.  I can’t promise any sort of rolling changes for the better, but I do understand what it’s like struggling day to day for your room and board.”  A glimmer of a happy tear could be seen in the receptionist’s eyes, she was clearly happy at the thought of a Common born Noble in the future.  “Of course, anything would be appreciated, however, does that mean you can’t write?”  “No, I can write, let me see the form.  I spent very little time filling it out.  She then had me place my hand on a stone tablet with runes etched onto it.  It flared up with green light.  “Hmm, it says you’ve changed your name, for acceptable reasons, and this is your new legal identity that you won’t be changing.”  “Um,..yeah that’s right, and Jeanette was there when I changed it.  Though my family name hasn’t changed.  It was always Richards, so if anyone comes looking for a Richards, it will be me they’re looking for, not likely in any event.”  

She prepared my guild tag, and for some reason it was made out of silver.  “Uh, why silver?  It’s pretty and all, but Jeanette’s is Copper, or Tin maybe.”  “That’s based on your power assessment, not Nobility.  Jeanette is very young, and wasn’t allowed to train I don’t think.  So her current power is rather low, but yours is Silver, the Nobility will be ecstatic when they see your card to be sure.  They’ll know you’re of good stock as it were.”  She chuckled a bit about that.  “I’m sorry, I know the thought of Marrying for politics is probably not amusing to you, but at least they won’t pawn you off on some foppish lesser Noble.  They’ll want you fairly high up, possibly even in the Royal family.”  A look of absolute dread came across my face.  “I’d rather not think about where I’ll end up.  Foppish or not, a lesser Noble would most likely not care enough to keep me around at least.”  The receptionist cleared her throat.  “Ahem, anyway, you’re a silver rank, so you’ll be able to take higher tier quests, even if you take a lower tier with you.  I’ll add you to the previous quest, and split the reward as requested.  I need the quest tile, and the proof.”  Jeanette took the tusks, and the tile from her pack, and handed them over.  

A look of surprise went across her face as she saw the tusks.  “Um, Jeanette did you participate in the battle?”  Sheepishly Jeanette replied.  “I didn’t have the chance, it attacked her early in the morning when she went out on her own to answer nature’s call.  It was dead two seconds before I got there.”  The receptionist nodded.  “You might have still been close enough to have gotten some secondhand power, you should check.”  Jeanette then placed her own hand on the Tablet.  “Well it was a decent boost, you can have an actual Bronze card now.  Stick with her, and you’ll be Silver before you know it!”  In a daze, Jeanette handed in her current plate, and it was replaced with a Bronze plate.  “There’s only Iron, and Steel between me and Silver now!”  I chuckled, “What, you don’t count Stainless Steel?”  Everyone looked at me.  “What’s stainless Steel?”  “Uh, you heat the Steel up even hotter, and use a certain chemical to take all the air out of the steel before you let it cool, then it can’t rust anymore.  That’s why it’s called Stainless Steel.  It’s a tiny bit stronger, but not noticeable.  It also lets you make thinner more flexible blades, like for filleting fish, and removing the skin.”  I looked around at everyone’s dumbfounded expressions.  “A sword that can’t rust, but isn’t Mythril?!  I want one!”  

Chuckling a bit, I looked at the Adventurer in question.  “Well let me ask you this.  If I were to give that Knowledge to a Blacksmith, and they did indeed make one, would it end up troubling the Smith when the Nobles found out?  Really think about that, cause I don’t want to make anything harder.  I suspect that the Blacksmith that made the sword would then have to come to the Capitol, and solely provide for the Nobles at that point.  Not good, it’s Better if I teach it to their current Smiths instead, and let the Nobles decide where to distribute the knowledge, and bring it at that time.  I’m sure they’d send me out to teach the Method, rather than one of their Smiths, who they’d keep busy providing for the Guards, and Soldiers first and foremost.”  He nodded, “You’re most likely correct.  Providing better arms for the Army and Guards would be the priority to be sure.”  Clearly dejected, he calmed down.  A Smith in the room though spoke next.  “What if I only made the Ingot?  Without proving I had the skill at Blade making, they’d just take the Ingot as proof that the material can be produced, and I’d be left alone.  From their point, it’s the weapon crafting, not the material that matters.  So they have the best weapon, and armor fashioners already, or so they think, and they’d let me carry on making so called inferior works for the masses, even using the new material.”  I thought for a moment.  “If you’re sure about that, I don’t mind teaching you the Method, and taking a single Ingot will suffice to prove the material, and as payment for the lesson.  Agreed?”  He beamed at me, “Agreed, future Noble of the Realm!”  I groaned at the reminder that I wouldn’t get out of the whole Noble thing.

The receptionist brought out the pay, separated in two neat piles.  “We also have the hide, and meat of the Boar.  Can we sell it somewhere?”  She was surprised at first, then noticed my rather unconventional pack, and realized it was the hide itself wrapped around what could only be the remaining meat.  “Oh yes, through that door, and there’s a material’s counter back there.”  I thanked her, and Jeanette and I went into the back, we handed over my parcel, and received some additional coins, which I divided myself.  “No, not this time, if I was alone, the meat would have been left behind, along with the hide, and back spines.  I’m not taking any of that!”  I grumbled a little, but it did make sense.  “Fine!  I’m going to need to get kitted out though.  Proper gear, and clothes.  Maybe even my own tent,…just in case we get separated at some point, or who knows, we might find a stray together, and need another tent then.”  “As long as you don’t sleep in it when you could be in mine, I guess I’ll allow it.”  She giggled at that.  I then pocketed the money, and the two of us went shopping.  First stop was a tailor’s shop.  I asked if there were any canceled orders that would work for me.  Upon seeing me, and my Tiger nature, the clerk paled.  “Um, I don’t know if anything that we have would suit you!”  “Don’t be like that, I just need one decent outfit, that won’t get me laughed at if I have to deal with Nobility, everything else that’s of higher class can be made elsewhere.  As for the rest, just basic utilitarian garb, for adventuring.  Also under things, I don’t have any right now.”   A look of Utter shock ran across the Clerk’s face, after which she seemed to go into an Emergency mode, completely overlooking my Tiger nature.  

Less than an hour later, and I was decked out in a perfectly acceptable set of adventuring clothes, with two spare sets, ten sets of under things, and upon seeing I had no footwear either, several pairs of stocking, but she only had slippers for my feet.  Cheap disposable slippers at that.  Since they were a tattered set barely holding together.  She also provided a backpack, which an adventurer had used as collateral a while back, only to fail to return for it.  “Thank you very much for your hard work.  The alterations to those Merchant clothes are perfect!  I can hold my head up high wearing those when I eventually have to deal with the Nobles.”  I paid her two Gold coins, and three Silvers.  She had tried to refuse any payment, but I wouldn’t stand for it.  “I’m not a Noble yet, and even if I were, I’d still pay fair price.  It irritates me when wealthy people get things for free, and I won’t do it myself.”  We left after that, with Jeanette having picked up another outfit herself, and upon my insistence, her own Court outfit, though she chose a Dress instead of a Suit like me.  Made sense I guess, having been born female, she’s used to Dresses, unlike myself.  “Do you actually feel more comfortable in Dresses?  To my mind, I’d feel way too exposed.  I don’t mind that if it’s you, or someone else I consider a lover, but anyone else!”  I shivered.  “Well actually I feel more exposed wearing pants.  I do it because adventuring in a Dress isn’t practical, but yes, I’d prefer to wear a Dress whenever I can.”  Our next stop was a Cobbler’s shop.  He took one look at my slippers, and like the clothier earlier, went into Emergency mode.

“Will these really be alright, they’re a rush job, only an alteration to something another Customer failed to return for.”  I could tell he was in a panic mode now, thinking he had offended me.  “These are perfect for everyday.  Tell you what though, can you make me a more, fancy pair of shoes.  No heels, something I can polish with a blacking of some kind, maybe even a wax.  They can be small and dainty looking, but they must still have good tread.  Also, a pair of house slippers.  Something soft on bare feet, easy to slip on, perhaps in a blue color, it’s ok if it’s light blue, but I’d rather have darker blue.”  His eyes brightened at that.  “Yes, I can manage those within the day, and have them ready tomorrow!”  I looked at Jeanette.  “Any reason for that kind of rush, or do we have a couple days?”  Jeanette answered, “Honestly I think it’s better to rush it.  As much as I’d love to lounge around with you for a while, the longer we delay getting to the Capitol, the worse things will get.  Like you said, misunderstandings could lead to major trouble.”  I sighed, “Ok, I’ll let you rush it for tomorrow, but don’t stay up late!  I won’t be getting up early, so even if you have to work on finishing them tomorrow morning after a decent sleep, I can wait.”  I then forced another two Gold onto him, and left the shop.

“Glad you insisted on me taking the money from the materials.  Kitting up is expensive, especially when I have to get Fancy stuff too.  Now for weapons, and armor.  Does the Guild have a sort of General Store for that stuff?”  Jeanette nodded.  You can get better custom stuff from the actual craftsman, but there is a Guild shop.  What are you thinking for armor?”  I’d like a soft Leather outfit with some hard leather pieces attached.  Mainly on the chest, and thighs, as well as the forearms.”  Her eyes widened.  “That’s brilliant!  Mostly lightweight, and flexible, but hard leather in the weak spots!  What about your weapon?”  “I was thinking some sort of Brass Knuckle type.”  Looking at her, she was confused.  “Um, it’s basically a piece of metal with finger holes.  When you grip it, it protects your fingers, but lets you punch as hard as you want.  I figure if it’s designed correctly, I can still use my Claws if I need to, but I can also have spikes on one side, or even both honestly.”  Lets go to that Smith’s shop, I know where he works.  He’s going to LOVE your  weapon.  Probably make it out of that Stainless Steel for you.”

We did as Jeanette suggested.  First I drew out the design of my Knuckle weapon, and he LOVED it, exactly as Jeanette had predicted.   “Keep in mind, there’s a TON of variation to this weapon type, don’t just make this repeatedly.  Think of all the unarmed fighting styles you know of, and design weapons that will seamlessly add to their existing style.  Might be the difference between taking a quest, and not.”  He nodded deep in thought, then snapped out of it.  “The Stainless Steel method you mentioned, will you teach me now?  I want to use it on your weapon, seems only fitting.”  I agreed, and explained the chemical he’d need, which surprised him, alchemists kept getting it in tons, but never had much use for it.  He sent a runner to buy a Barrel of the stuff which was super cheap.  Once his runner had returned, being able to carry the barrel due to being one of his apprentices, and having the muscles, I walked him through the Process, explaining that I knew what to look for, but have no practical experience with the tools, so he’d do the work, and I’d explain as we went.  

It took some time to smelt down fresh iron, I surprised him again, by telling him to throw any scrap iron, or steel into the smelter.  I explained that the process we’d be using can recycle the old metal, and if he mixed it into the fresh ore, it would make an even stronger ingot in the end.  He did as instructed, and after hours of work, we were pouring High Carbon Stainless Steel ingots.  He was able to make fifty Ingots out of his smelter, not bad for such a small Smithy.  We took a Meal together while waiting for the Ingots to cool to a point they could be worked.  “Working the Stainless, is only slightly more difficult than normal Steel.  Same process, but you’ll be heating it more often.”  He nodded.  “Now I’ve seen the smelting, I can see what you mean just with my skill.  So simple when you understand it, yet undiscovered by us.  Thank you very much for teaching me this.  I’ll get to reuse all the junk metal too.  Hmm, I should dig up all of the old metal we discarded before.  Shouldn’t be too hard to find it again, we always use the same spot.

”  That’s a good idea, remember the more you recycle, the cheaper the cost of material, thus the lower you can price it, and the more items you can sell.  By the way, the Stainless makes great kitchen ware too.”  He looked at me.  “I don’t just mean knives, which are basically something you do already, but pots, pans, a de scenting  bar for the hands, if you can make smooth thin sheets, it’s great as a counter top, or even roofing.  There’s LOTS of applications for Stainless.  Really think about different ways to apply it to everyday life, that’s honestly where the money is.  Adventurers may bring in some hefty coin, but they don’t buy weapons or armor often, so you end up charging more as a result, and that in turn lowers how many weapons you sell.  Everybody needs food though, keeping people fed is always profitable.”  I then sketched out several different kitchen knives for him.  “Oh, I just thought of something, is there Silk available?  Cheap Silk is fine.”  After thinking a moment he answered.  “Actually the Tanner down the street was traded a bolt of Silk a week past, he might still have it.”  I smiled, “That’s perfect, I want it for my Armor, along with two steel plates that will cover my chest.”  “I thought you were doing Hard Leather plates!”  I looked at Jeanette, who had been mostly bored waiting for the Steel process to be explained.  “Yeah, but if I line the soft leather with silk, it can catch arrows, and if I also tuck a steel plate between the Silk, and Leather, then the odds of an arrow, or stinger or whatever being able to pierce my heart is almost zero.”  Both looked confused.  “Silk can’t be torn.  An arrow won’t go through silk, it gets caught instead.  Then pulling on the silk will extract the arrow, without causing any more damage.”  Amazement was evident.  “How do you know so much?”  I chuckled nervously.  “My country of Origin had mandated education, the Steel I only know because of my own personal interest, spent a day or three learning the process by reading, and observing it in person on a Foundry tour.”

Thinking for a moment I asked another question.  “Have you hear of a Crossbow?”  Both of them shook their heads.  I then sketched out a miniature version, explaining the purpose of this design in particular, being a desperation weapon that I could use at range, to give me a little advantage against something chasing me.  I also mentioned that a true crossbow is a good weapon for town guards because it takes little training, and a larger version still is called a Ballista, and is an anti siege weapon, something for a Lord’s Walls, or City Wall defense.  I showed the bolts, and asked if he could make me everything, and have a Fletcher put the flights onto the bolt shafts.  He happily agreed, and almost all my Gold went out of my Pocket.  We went to the Tanner’s Shop, with the Steel Plates already in hand.  

The Tanner was dumbfounded at what I asked him to make.  The silk being able to catch arrows being unknown by him.  He insisted on a reduced cost, for having given him that information so freely, and bringing the plates for the chest as well.  Telling me it would be finished the following day, and accepting the payment.  Jeanette and I then went to find an Inn.  “I want a Bath, I feel sticky!”  Jeanette looked at me.  “I thought you weren’t a Noble, how would you have had a Bath?”  I looked at her.  “Running hot water is common back there.  Everyone had a Bath, or at least a Shower in their own homes.  Some businesses even had company showers for Employees to use before, or after work.  To my mind, it’s just a common thing.  I understand that isn’t the way it is here, but wherever we end up living, I WILL have a bath.  I’d love a Hot Spring, so we could bath together outside, with a screen around the bath.”  My wistful sound, and expression mad Jeanette smile.  

We found the Inn shortly, and aside from getting a bucket of hot water, there was no other method of bathing.  I had gotten some Borax while we were out, and so I decided we needed two buckets, we split the cost of the room, and the buckets of water.  Good thing too, otherwise I wouldn’t have had anything left.  Jeanette was amazed at the effect of the Borax, she had no notion it could be used as a soap, and even for our hair.  Once cleaned, which I took great pleasure In helping Jeanette, and I think she took equally great pleasure helping me, we went downstairs for dinner in the common room.  We were surrounded with whispering patrons, but the food was adequate.  Then we returned to our room, and I noticed that there was no lock, or even a latch on the window shutters.  I took some rope and tied everything shut, and hung some metal bits onto the ropes for both places.  Jeanette looked at me curious as to why I was doing this.  “I figure someone might try to rob us tonight, thinking I’m a Noble, and have plenty, or else even try to make us into Slaves or whatever.  Even if they cut the rope, it will make noise.  Hopefully it will be enough warning to act.  Even more I hope I’m just being paranoid.”  Understanding and slight panic hit her face.  “No, you’re probably right, I wouldn’t have worried over much for myself, but with you I should have been on higher alert!”  

With that we got into the bed, though harder than I’d prefer, it was blessedly clean.  So much in just two days, but having a snuggle buddy made it all worth it.  About an hour after sunset, the window shutter jingled as someone attempted to cut the rope.  Jeanette was instantly alert, and I wasn’t far behind.  My Claws were already out, and Jeanette had a blade in her hand.  We took up station on either side of the window, and soon the rope fell into the room, and the shutter opened, in climbed a hooded figure.  He had poor night vision apparently, and must have not been too keen on smell either, because he didn’t even realize we weren’t in the bed, as he climbed in, and drew a knife.  He approached the bed stealthily, and just when he realized something wasn’t right, we struck.  A single cry was all he was able to make, before he lay dead on the floor.  We then threw him back out the window, used a rag to wipe up the little blood off the floor, and retied the window returning to sleep.  Naturally we were awoken by screaming outside in the Morning.  I groaned as I got up.  We dressed, and put on our packs, before heading downstairs where the common room was in a panic.  “Calm down everyone!”  I shouted loudly.  Everyone turned to me, eyes impossibly wide.  “I assume this is about the Dead man outside.  He attempted to kill my companion, and probably take me as a Slave last night.  We didn’t want to interrupt anyone’s sleep, so we just threw his corpse out the window.  Self defense, no Murder here.”  Instantly the room calmed.  A Tiger defending themselves was only natural.  “How did you stop them, if you don’t mind?  Whatever it was, I’d like to copy it myself for the rest of my patrons.”  I turned to the Host.  “My method was simple.  I tied the window, and door shut, with metal bits hanging from the rope, so when it was cut, it jingled, that woke us, with plenty of time to get ready.  It’s not fool proof, but better than nothing.  I’ll talk to the Smith though, about some basic room locks, and window latches.  Those will help even more.”  Bafflement about room locks was evident, but the Host thanked me never the less for the consideration.

With that, we ate our Breakfast, then left the Inn.  The Guards came just then, and only asked us to verify that it was indeed I who had killed the Man, which I did, reminding them that I wasn’t a Noble, but that never stops people from assuming things.  Thanking me for being as discrete as I could be, they went on with their day.  We visited the Tanner first, and my Armor was ready, and perfect.  It had a sort of deadly grace.  I put it on straight away, and felt a million times better.  Thanking him, we then returned to the Smithy, and everything there was ready as well.  I collected my knuckles, and my crossbow with twenty bolts, and the single Ingot of Stainless Steel for proof of concept.  Then I designed the basic room locks, window latches, and keys.  It took him no time to understand the concept of individual room keys, but also having a Master Key for the Host.  How the Master works differently from a Basic key that only works in a single lock.  He said he could have enough of the Basic Locks, and Latches for the whole in by the next day, and since again I had given him the idea, he’d do the initial work at cost.  Everyone was likely to want a Basic lock for their front doors and latches on their windows after this, so he’d make plenty of profit in future.

Another trip to the Cobbler to pick up my new footwear, and we were ready to depart.  Then I realized I hadn’t gotten my tent, or a water skin.  I groaned, and explained to Jeanette.  “Oh, well I can get those things, and you can pay me back  when we reach the next town.  I figure we take an escort quest going in the right direction.  Keeps things simple.”  I agreed to that, and we gathered the remaining supplies, and filled my pack, and hers with provisions.  We then went to the Guild hall, to see about an escort quest, Jeanette was going to ask a receptionist, but I pulled her to the board instead, I noted that escort quests were in a specific area.  “What are some town names on the way?  I’ll just look what’s up here.”  She told me, and very quickly I spotted a perfect, and in fact almost too perfect quest.  “Holy crap, there’s actually one all the way to the Capitol!”  I snagged it and went to the counter.  The receptionist looked at the tile, then up at me, and amazement hit their face.  This was a different person from the day before.  “Is this quest legit, or is someone trying to prank me?”  “Milady, there is another lady here, and their escort has lost two people, they need replacements, that’s all!”  “In that case, it’s my quest, I don’t care if you need another higher ranker to join too, but we’re going regardless, so may as well be on the quest.”  “What’s your rank Milady?”  I showed him my silver card, and he sighed in relief.  “Splendid, that is higher than I would have expected to find here in any case, I’ll register the two of you now.”  So saying he made a notation, and handed me the tile.  We left instantly.  “Whoever it is, we need to reach them quickly.  If I was attacked, they’re in danger too.”  Jeanette nodded.  

As we approached a very gaudy looking coach, the guards around it, all wearing liveries indicating importance straightened, and were readying their weapons, but then froze seeing me.  Instantly their hands left their weapons, and they stood at attention instead.  Panthers to a man, they were an imposing sight.  “Relax guys, we’re your replacement escorts, I know it’s probably not normal, but I’d like to see the Principal.”  The Guard caption looked questioningly at me.  “Principal?”  I sighed.  “Any decent guard detail, NEVER mentions the name of the person they’re guarding.  Just in case someone is listening.  They are referred to as the Principal.  Seeing me, and not being originally designated as my Guards, you might consider me as the Secondary, although I am NOT in fact a Noble.  You have probably been trying to place me since seeing me, and it’s not possible because nobody has ever seen me before.  I come from another country so far away, that you’d not be able to reach it in your lifetime.  My arrival was not of my own design, and now I’m here, I assume that the Nobles are going to expect me to join the bloodline somehow, which is yet to be seen.  I am educated, but have no Noble Etiquette what so ever.  I’ll ask you all to treat me as you would any guard, at least till we reach the Capitol, since it’s basically the last bit of normalcy I’ll have left.”  The Captain was stunned, yet equally relieved.  “Thanks for explaining all that.  I agree that this situation will undoubtedly end as you’ve predicted.  The Principal, as you’ve called them, will be delighted to meet you I’m sure.  I presume you have registered with the Adventurer’s Guild, may I see the Tile, and your Rank Cards?”  I handed the tile over, and showed my Silver rank plate, while Jeanette showed her Bronze plate.  “Silver, and Bronze, we couldn’t have asked for better here, and with it being so perfect for yourselves, and with your eventual future, being that she’s going to be family soon in some respect, this is absolutely perfect.  We can depart immediately upon the Principal’s wish.  This way please.”  He returned the tile to me.  “Milady, the replacements have arrived, and though it’s unusual, you truly need to see one of them.  They are both women, and high enough rank, but seeing this one will explain things, just at a glance please.”  

“What nonsense are you spouting?!”  The coach door is flung open, and a pretty Tiger Clan girl appeared, with an annoyed expression, which instantly turned to shock, and then joyous wonder.  “Who?!  I know I’ve never seen you before, but that should be impossible!”  “May I come inside for the time being to discuss some of that?  I don’t want casual passers by to overhear things.”  “Oh yes, please do!  I’m ever so excited to get to know you!”  “Ah, and the other person, well she’s Mine, if you know what I mean, and she was there when I first arrived, so she can verify anything you need to know about my arrival here in this country.”  Looking at Jeanette, she instantly invited both of us inside.  “Please depart now, we have our replacements, and now more than ever, I don’t want to waste time.”  With that we entered the coach, handing our packs to be added to the luggage rack.

“Firstly introductions are in order, clearly.  I am the Princess Adel Marion, and whom might you be?”  “I am very pleased to make your acquaintance, my name is Jane Rae Richards, and my Companion is Jeanette.”  I smiled as I tipped my head in respect.  “Oh my three names?!”  “Please don’t think I’m being pretentious or anything.  I’m not even a Noble back home.  Everyone there has at least three names, just in case an extended family member has the same first name, the second name is a method of telling them apart.  Some people get multiple middle names, because everybody in their families wants to be remembered in some way.  I know one person who had six, and he was a Teacher, not even a College Professor either, just a grade school teacher.”  

This startled Adel quite a bit.  “You’re saying you’re not a Noble, but you have schooling?  Is that normal?”  I nodded.  “Back home, it’s mandated by the Government.  Every child from the age of Five at the oldest, is required to attend school until roughly their eighteenth birthday.  That’s the age of adulthood there.  After that, many elect to pay for further education, that is typically more career oriented, or at least that’s the idea, usually doesn’t work out that way though, they end up wasting money on schooling, while they just get drunk, and attempt to be shall we say intimate with as many people as possible.”  Adel’s eyes tried to open even wider.  “I wasn’t one of those idiots though, I just got a Job, and worked it, all the way up till I came here.  The place I come from is so far away, that I shouldn’t be here at all, there shouldn’t be a way for it to happen.  Some power beyond my understanding pulled me from there, and brought me here.  It seems like I was put here Specifically to help guard you on the way home in fact.  I’ve only been in your country for two days so far, this is the third day now.”

Adel looked at Jeanette who nodded.  “It true Milady, when Jane arrived, it was in a flash of light, she landed face first, and was completely naked.  Teleportation is supposed to be impossible, so whatever brought her here, is beyond my understanding.  Then to be able to meet you in only two days after her arrival, it does seem rather orchestrated.  Plus last night someone tried to take her from our Inn.”  Adel was shocked again.  “What happened to that person?!”  “We killed him, tossed him out the window, and went back to sleep.”  I answered casually.  “Good, that’s one less thing to worry about.  How are you funding yourself by the way?  You seem to have excellent gear, all things considered, though I don’t see any weapons, you aren’t relying solely on your Claws are you?”  I chuckled a bit.  “Well the morning of the second day, I was attacked by a particularly troublesome Boar.  I killed it within a few seconds, but as it turned out, that Boar was Jeanette’s quest target.  So with my share of that Reward, and yes Jeanette TRIED to make me take it all, I wouldn’t let her, and then the sale of the Materials, and Meat, I was just able to get my weapon and armor, clothes, and shoes.  Jeanette spotted me on camping equipment, my water skin, and food though, expecting to get paid back out of an escort quest.  Imagine our surprise when we went to look for an escort quest, and we discover one actually going to our destination.  Then finding out you were here as well, it was impossible not to take the quest, like I’d trust anyone else with it, we’re going to be family soon I expect, I’d have felt awful if I found out later that something happened to you, and I had been that close.”  Adel grabbed my hand, and squeezed it in gratitude for the sentiment.  “You said you had weapons made, but I don’t see them.”   I reached for my Knuckles, and showed them to her.  “These are Knuckle type weapons.  So I can punch things full force, without worrying about my fingers breaking, then there’s the spikes on either side.  Also,”  I reached for the Crossbow, which was already loaded, and the safety was on. “This is a covert Crossbow.  It fires bolts, not arrows.  Less effort to aim, I just have to release the safety, then pull the trigger once I’m lined up.  The range isn’t as great as a bow, but the power is higher.  They can punch through most armor types.”  I handed it to Adel, and she marveled at the simple, yet deadly design.  

“Incidentally I taught the local smith how to build full sized versions for guards, as well as oversized ones for wall defense.  The oversized ones are call Ballista and are anti siege weapons.  Then there’s the metal, it’s Stainless Steel, it won’t rust.”  I pulled out the one Ingot that I was bringing with me.  “This is a Stainless Steel Ingot, I’m bringing this to show the King, and intend to teach the Royal Smiths the technique to produce the Stainless themselves.  It only requires a Chemical that Alchemists tend to be overstocked on, and raising the temp higher, also using scrap metal tends to improve the process, so that reduces waste.”  Adel positively beamed at the new metal.  “We can make similar things with Mythril, but it’s too expensive for general deployment, this will be very well received.  As will the Crossbow, and to a lesser extent the Knuckle weapon.  It’s good for someone who has yet to be trained to use a more conventional weapon, but most Nobles won’t want it, and the Army needs more reach.”  I nodded at that.  “I understand that, but weaponry back home is far more advanced.  Nobody can survive with just a sword, arrows are too short ranged even.  Some of our weapons can be fired from our country, and fly all the way across an ocean to attack an enemy, only it makes a sort of poison that would render the land uninhabitable for a century or more, thus we only ever used it twice, each weapon destroyed a city, and ended the war instantly.”  Her eyes looked like saucers, and she trembled in fear.  “Like I said, it should be impossible for me to even be here, those weapons can’t reach here at all.  I also don’t have the slightest idea how to build them, and even if I did, I wouldn’t, they’re a weapon of last resort in a world of too advanced warfare.  I don’t want that coming here.”  

Adel relaxed slightly.  “If I couldn’t smell your conviction, I’d be tempted to have you assassinated after that sort of a revelation.  To think such terrible weapons can be created, I’m glad you’re smarter than the country you came from.  Would you please discus any technology you want to introduce with the King, or his advisers before you do anything else.  The Stainless is of no Consequence, even if every Smith starts using it, they still have to craft the weapons with their own skill, so it changes little, and the Crossbow is perfectly fine, it’s sort of a Lazy person’s weapon, something that can be handed out to even the young during a Monster Raid, and the larger size can’t really be moved, so it only bolsters our main defenses, so those things are all well, but with the vast difference between what you know, and what we have, I worry about what may happen if you just do as you please.”  I nodded firmly.  “That was my intent, if I hadn’t casually mentioned Stainless at the Guild, I wouldn’t have done anything, I just assumed you already knew about it, likewise, the knuckles were for myself, but I figure it doesn’t hurt for previously unarmed fighters to have something that works with their style, and the Crossbow is exactly what you said.  I feel like I’ve already stuck my foot far enough into my mouth for starters.  Your father is much more capable of deciding what should, or shouldn’t be introduced.”  Adel smiled at that.

I made a decision, and opened the screen to the Driver’s Bench.  I handed my Crossbow to the lookout, and explained how to release the safety, and fire the weapon, and handed my bolts.  “Better you have it, and not need it, than need it, and not have it.”  He gave me a firm nod.  “Thank you Milady, I will not squander a shot!”  I closed the screen again, and returned to my seat.  “That was an excellent notion Jane, I heartily approve!”  Adel looked proud of me.  “I may not be the smartest person, but I hope I’m not too stupid.”   Everyone chuckled at that.  “Still the thought of even the lookout being able to help in a battle never crossed my mind.  A normal Bow wouldn’t allow that, but your crossbow is a different story.”  At that point, the carriage hit a particularly nasty rock, and we came to a stop.  I immediately got out to see what was wrong.  “The wheel is cracked!  How are we supposed to replace it out here, there aren’t nearly enough men to lift it!  Ugh!”   The Captain was rather agitated.  “Captain, do we have a spare wheel, or is that the reason you’re so stressed right now?”  He turned to me, his tension slightly lessening as he replied.  “We have the wheel, but not enough people to lift the carriage so we can replace it.”  “Ah, no problem then.  You there, go fetch that rock over there, and you, with the ax, I need a tree, almost as thick as the axle, let’s say five times your height, you don’t need to limb it, as long as we can reach the trunk at the upper end, roughly five times your height from the base cut.  Hurry with that please!”  They didn’t even hesitate, the Boulder was brought first, and I had it placed where I wanted it, and within about fifteen minutes, the tree had been felled, and brought over, I had them place the base of the tree under the carriage, and put it on the Boulder.  I then went to the other end, and leapt up to grab the trunk, smooth as silk, the carriage was lifted up, until I was touching the ground again.  “Someone else needs to help me push it down to get it high enough to replace the wheel.”  The captain pointed to one man, and even with the wonder on his face, he wasted no more time in changing the wheel.

Repair completed, I let the trunk rise back up, and conversely the carriage settled back down.  “Sorry for barking orders at your men, but explaining leverage without a demonstration is practically impossible.  We aren’t strong, but we weight plenty, and with where the Boulder was placed, we were lifting with four times our combined weight.  More than enough to lift a Carriage.”  He shook his head.  “No, thanks to you, we’re back on the road in less than half an hour.  We’d have had to send someone to fetch help otherwise, and been stuck here for over a day.  I can overlook a few well timed orders being barked, and besides, it’s good practice for you.”  He smiled broadly at me.  “Don’t tell me they’re going to expect me to lead people in battle or anything.  I’d rather roam the country doing inspections, and adventuring quests along the way.”  Adel had witnessed the Lever in action, which pleased her, but seeing my casual interaction with the Caption didn’t.  Once inside the Carriage again, she spoke. “You seem quite relaxed with the Captain.”  

“He seems an ok sort, didn’t throw a hissy fit when I ordered his people around.  Too bad I won’t be able to act so casually later on.”  Now Adel pondered my words, I clearly knew I wouldn’t be allowed this sort of casual behavior as a Noble, but at the same time I wasn’t a Noble yet.  “Well I suppose this is the last time of you not being a Noble then, and you’re trying to enjoy it as much as you can, while you can.”  I nodded my head.  “I refuse to accept any Noble Decorum one second before I have to.”  “I wonder, which one of us will you Marry?   Do you have any Preference?”  “Um,… I don’t have any knowledge of any of my options, but I’m not into men.  So hopefully some Nobles Daughter will take pity on me, and offer herself so I can avoid the worst case scenario.”  Adel was Radiant.  “There’s nothing to worry about there, my Sister would probably want you for starters.  I’m into men, or else I would.  I was rather vexed with your casual nature around the Captain, because well.”  “I can guess, best not to say it aloud, until you manage to ask him directly.  Though I expect he will refuse as long as he’s on your personal guard detail.  Maybe you should ask him to switch with your Sister’s guard captain instead.”  Adel’s eyes widened.  “Do you truly think that’s the problem?”  I nodded.  “It would be too much of a distraction to be in love with his charge, or more accurately, to be in a relationship.  You can love someone, and still focus, but when you’re allowed to embrace them, then your focus is reduced.”

Adel smiled thinking of the thought of finally getting somewhere with the Captain.  “I think one thing I will introduce, is Leaf Springs, this carriage is rough on the body.”  Both Adel, and Jeanette looked at me.  “Leaf Springs are a collection of different length metal bands that are stacked together.  They allow the carriage wheels to bounce while the Carriage itself stays relatively still.  It’ll be more of a swaying, rather than a hard bouncing.  Then a lesser version under the seats will help too.  That coupled with proper cushions, and this will become a much smoother ride.  Although the roads leave a lot to be desired.  Tar and Chip would be a good option, assuming tar can be found cheaply that is.”  “I expect you can get Tar without any difficulty, but what for?”  “You heat the Tar, then mix it with rock chips, then spread it on the road, and tamp it down.  Once the tar cools, it’s practically a single rock, and you can level, and crown the road so there’s no bumps, and water runs off to the sides.  It needs to be resealed every couple years or so, maybe ten years at a stretch, but that’s just for cracks, and the occasional pothole.  Carriages, and horses will be able to move quicker on that kind of road too.”  Adel smiled.  “This is an example of something Father needs to handle, tell him how it’s done, and let him handle the rest.  That’s a National investment, but I’m sure he will implement it, gradually over time.  Most likely connecting major trading hubs first, improving shipping times across the board will be worth the investment.  As to the Leaf Springs, you’ll need the smiths to manufacture them, but the Carriage Rights will need to redesign the Carriage to use them, can you help with that aspect?”  I nodded to Adel’s words.  “Yes, the modification isn’t difficult, I will have to explain the processes on both to the craftsman, but they’ll pick it up almost instantly.  Also, has the concept of a Stage Coach come into being?”  Adel shook her head.  “Explain it please.”  

I sighed, “A stage coach is a public transportation carriage.  It’s designed to hold around sixteen passengers between two compartments, then the luggage rack on top, and the driver, and lookout just like on your carriage.  They accept fares to take people between cities or towns, and carry mail, and parcels as well.  They’d only go between two locations, and the fare is per person, unless it’s a child that can sit in its parent’s lap.  Those children can ride free, as long as the parent pays.”  Amazement, simple amazement is all that Adel’s face could reveal.  “Couple that with a Government Sanctioned Postal Service, where the Coachmen drops off all the mail, and it gets sorted to be sent on, or else handed to the recipient, and you’ve got a pretty good infrastructure and can send out Royal decrees without dispatching individual riders.”  Adel was positively shaking with joy at this.  “We are beyond lucky you came to us!  I know my Sister is going to love you, that is, if you can accept her as she is.”  “What do you mean?”  “No, it’s best you see that part for yourself, it’s what she looks like, nothing about how she behaves.”  “Ah well I don’t hold anyone’s appearance against them.  As long as she’s an actual girl, that’s all that Matters, well that, and I don’t really want to be a Mother myself, maybe someday, though I doubt I can make myself go through with it.”

The lookout shouted, and I heard the unmistakable sound of my Crossbow firing.  We suddenly stopped, and I flew out the door, with my Knuckles ready, and Jeanette with her blades.  What we saw were five grotesque toad like monsters, one with a bolt stuck in its eye, clearly dead.  “Damn, must be mating season!  Damned Toads never group up outside of mating season!”  I didn’t care, I just leapt into action.  Halfway to the Toads, a second bolt slammed into a head, which stunned it long enough for me to finish it off with a pierce of my Knuckle’s spike.  I pulled it out, and leapt over a darting tongue.  The retaliation of my fists caved in its skull, as a third bolt slammed home killing the fourth Toad.  I performed a Back flip, avoiding another tongue lashing, and kicked the final Toad in its head, slamming my spikes down a split second later.  “I love my instincts at times like this!”  I collected the bolts, none of which were damaged.  I returned them to the quiver, as the guards stood in amazement.  “Your Silver plate, it’s a Lie right?  Surely you must have at  least Gold!”  “It’s only my second day as a registered adventurer, so I think Silver is pretty high at this point right?  Maybe I got some more power from that one assassin, or whatever he was, but I bet these guys are worth more.”  Jeanette looked a little sad. “I’m starting to feel useless here you know!  First the Boar, and now this!  Let me have some fun too!”  “Are you telling me you seriously wanted to play with the Nasty Toads?!”  Jeanette shuddered, “On second thought, I’m not mad at all, feel free to kill the Toads,…and Slimes too, I look forward to seeing that!”  All the men Chuckled at that, and I suspected slimes had a particular effect on clothes.  I grinned, “As long as there’s no men around, I’ll deal with as many slimes as you want!  What’s more, I’ll strip before hand, so I don’t need to replace anything later!”  Jeanette blushed mightily.

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“Speaking of Slimes, if that’s something likely to happen, we should make Chain mail Bikinis, then we don’t need to worry about our clothes getting dissolved right?  They only effect cloth, and maybe hide, or am I wrong?”  Jeanette looked dumbfounded again.  “So simple, Chain Mail can’t be dissolved by slimes, why has nobody thought of that?  Sure it’ll be a little expensive, but not to the point it will matter when you continue to clear out all the slime requests that keep building up.  We should totally do that, I don’t have a problem with slimes, it’s always the loss of clothing, the slimes themselves are kind of cute honestly.”  All the Men stared, another brilliantly simple concept shaking their common sense.  “Before that, is there anything on these things that we need, cause I’m hoping not!”  Everyone shook their heads.  “Good, then let’s pull these things out of the way, and leave them for scavengers.”

“That was truly impressive, the Kingdom is lucky to be gaining such a talented fighter!”  The Captain was very happy with my performance.  “Well I can’t really take any credit, I just move on instinct at this point.  I hope someone can give me proper lessons soon, put this raw ability to use in a more refined manner.”  He looked baffled “I can naturally arrange for a trainer, but do you really need it?!”  “Seriously, any true martial artist would laugh at my fumbling around, no matter how well it turns out, I’m an amateur in terms of actual skill.”  “If you say so, I’ll see if there’s anyone who can teach you to use those weapons with more intention when we reach the Capitol, which thanks to your efforts is only half a day away.  If only we had a light mage, we could make it tonight.  The horses had a decent break with the Wheel repair, so they could handle it.”  I thought for a Minute, then decided why not try.  I pictured the light from one of those ten thousand lumen LED spotlights, and willed it into being.  Surprisingly it worked, unfortunately it was aimed at me.  “ACK!”  Temporarily blinded I cancelled the magic.  “I think I got the Light Magic covered, just give me a second to get my eyesight back, and I’ll try aiming it forward instead.”  I couldn’t help but laugh at myself for that fumble.  “Silent magic!  Something so advanced, yet performed like you’ve never cast a spell before, it doesn’t make sense.”  “Well, I never tried it before, but I thought what’s the harm, just don’t make any noise, and nobody would know if I failed.  Didn’t fail totally, but blasting my own eyes feels more like a fail I have to admit.”

Once my eyes recovered, I climbed up between the lookout, and the driver, and activated my new light magic now facing properly forward.  We were able to continue despite the darkening night.  The road had improved as we neared the Capitol, and our speed had increased as a result.  Two hours later, and a group of bandits appeared on the road in front of us.  They raised their bows, and I instinctively increased the light to about ten million lumens, causing every bandit to scream in pain as their eyes were seared with pure light.  Then I dimmed the light back down to the previous setting.  The Men, and Jeanette didn’t hesitate to take advantage of the opening I had made.  I decided to sit this one out.  Less than a Minute later, every bandit had been bound, and disarmed.  They were then tied in line behind the Carriage on my insistence rather than killing them.  “You can’t interrogate dead people, those cloaks look very similar to the guy who tried to take me out, I’d rather not take chances that there’s a larger structure involved in this.  Too coincidental for my taste, seems like a Plot at this point.”  The Captain was startled at the thought that the incidents might be connected, but agreed instantly when I had explained my concern.  Four hours later, having had to slow for the bandits being blinded, and we reached the Capitol wall.  

The gate guard was about to demand us to halt, when they noticed me, and the crest on the carriage.  Instantly the gates were opened to allow us inside before we halted.  “These bandits attacked us, don’t kill them, they need to be interrogated, there might be a conspiracy since they resemble the person killed by our Light mage here, she doesn’t like the thought of someone having targeted the Princess, so we need to be thorough here.”  The gate guard saluted, and took the Bandits away.  “I’ll see to the Interrogation personally, I know just the people, mage breakers all of them.  We can get every scrap of information out of them without any resistance.”  I spoke up.  “Not to but in where I don’t belong, but please don’t kill them if there is a conspiracy, we’ll need them to testify in court in that case, their deaths can be postponed until after anyone else is brought to trial, and depending on their behavior, their sentence might be commuted to slavery instead, at the King’s discretion.”  This startled the Gate Guard, but he bowed politely at the suggestion.  “A wise notion, I’ll see to it personally.  Having their own Bandits forced to testify in front of the Court will certainly be a powerful move.”

With that settled, I returned inside the Carriage, there was enough torch light for the horses to return to the Castle on their own.  “This has been a Tiring journey, but you cut over half a day off.  I’m sorry you won’t be able to rest properly until after Father has met you though.”  “I figured, I’m used to long nights at my former job though, I can manage, just please cover for any social blunders I make out of ignorance.”  Adel smiled.  “Naturally, your situation is most unique, I think much can be forgiven, and besides your behavior isn’t unpleasant.  You aren’t Rude, and some polishing will set you straight when you have to address the court in future.”  Soon we reached the Palace steps, and we exited the Carriage.  I asked for my Pack and Jeanette’s.  “There’s no need, the staff will tend to it.”  “Maybe so, but handing them directly ourselves to be placed in whatever room we’ll be assigned is a better idea, and besides that, we have good clothes in our packs, not quite Noble quality, but originally made for a Merchant, so it should avoid any embarrassment for the Crown in that light.”  “Ah, splendid, we can take a few moments to freshen up on the way, I prefer to Don new garments as well.”  Carrying our packs we were led by Adel into the Palace, and to a side room with some maids, a full length mirror, and several dresses of the Princess I presumed. Jeanette and I changed into our good clothes, as the maids aided Adel.  I kept my Crossbow, but placed the bolts in the pack, and my knuckles as well.  “You intend to show the Crossbow, but are leaving the, bolts did you say?  So as not to alarm the Guards yes?”  “That’s the idea, I want to showcase my assets as it were.”  “In which case we should have your rank examined before we enter the Audience Hall.  We have one here luckily, so it won’t take a Moment, and your Plates can be updated if warranted.”  Adel led us into another chamber where indeed there was a Guild member with a Tablet.  He startled awake, but took no notice of dealing with our update, and sure enough, Jeanette and I both increased to the next tier.  “I’m an Iron rank already?!  Then you’ve already reached Gold, you only have Cobalt, Mythril, and Orichalcium till you reach Obsidian, which is the highest tier anyone has ever gotten!”  “Huh, this is some crazy progression, even I don’t get it!”  Adel positively glowed with Happiness.  “Father is going to be so thrilled, luckily at this late hour it will only be Mother Father, and my Sister when we reach the hall, my Brothers are all off on Missions, and even if t hey weren’t, they couldn’t be bothered to attend my return in any event.”

We moved quickly with our new plates to the Audience Hall.  “Welcome home Adel, I’m surprised you arrived so late, and who might you have brought with you? … A Tiger I don’t know, how is this possible?”  Adel beamed at her father as she curtsied.  “I am glad to be home, but more so to be bringing miss Jane Rae Richards of a foreign country, and her Companion Jeanette who witnessed her arrival in our Country only three days past.  In just those three days, Jane has already reached Gold rank as an adventurer, as just confirmed prior to our entrance.  Furthermore, she has brought a new form of Steel Ingot that she has taught one Smith how to make, and intends to teach our Smiths as well, it is called Stainless Steel, and doesn’t rust, though not anywhere near as strong as Mythril, it is affordable for the Military’s use, relying heavily on reusing scrap iron during the formation of the Ingots.  She also has introduced two weapon types, one of which she left in her Pack, because it’s a Melee weapon, while the other is a Projectile weapon, and she left the ammunition behind out of respect to the Guards.”  The equally Beaming King addressed me.  “Please approach Jane, show me this Weapon, and I hope to see the other one later.  Also I hope you realize that I will need to Marry you into the Nobility.”  

I rose and approached.  “I do understand that need, but I must state that I can neither Marry a Man, nor be a Mother, so that will need to be taken into account when asking who will offer for me.  It feels as though I’m some sore of dangerous creature, and someone must sacrifice themselves by covering me with their own body to protect others.”  I chuckled a little.  The Princess on the Dias next to the Queen spoke up.  “That’s perfect for me Father, I’ve always wanted to be the Mother, but none of the Noble ladies who would have taken me would have let me do it!”  I flinched a little.  “There’s a Cultural issue to consider too.  I say this due to your apparent age, which may not be your actual age, but in my original country, nobody under eighteen years of age was allowed to engage in physical intimacy, or to Marry.  I would find it difficult to accept someone under that age, and Impossible if she were under Sixteen.”  “If it’s only the number that’s the problem, and not my appearance, then there’s no issue, I’m actually the first Princess, you’ve just come home with the Third Princess.”  My eyes widened.  “That I can work with, if your sure you want me that is.”  She smiled.  “Well do you like what you see, or is it more that you can accept what you see, because I’m actually old enough?”  “I would have liked what I saw either way, but I can accept it because you’re old enough, even if you’re still younger than I am.”  Now it was the Princess who looked startled.  “Your Majesty, if I may ask, how old are you?”  

“Thirty Five my dear, why do you ask?”  I chuckled again.  “Well that means I’m the oldest person in the room, I’m forty Two.”  Total Silence.  “You two are indeed perfect for each other.  This will be a wondrous occasion.”  “There’s more to tell besides my age.  My country, the one I came from, is in another world entirely.  I was falling to my death, when a Blinding White light enveloped me, the next thing I knew, I was falling face first onto the ground in a Forrest, naked as the day I was born, right in front of Jeanette.”  The King looked like he was about to explode at what he thought was a lie, when the Princess who’s name I still didn’t know said “She’s not telling a Lie, my senses are better than most, and her scent is super strong, I think most people could read her if they were close.”  The King looked startled at his Daughter.  “I see, is there more to tell?”  “Two things, one is that My species changed during that transport, it seems like my original species doesn’t exist here at all.  The second thing, I feel only pertains to the Princess if she truly intends to Marry me then she deserves to know this last fact, which will explain my behavior much more than what would generally be needed.  It’s her right to know it, and I’ll accept her Judgment on if you should know too.”  The King nodded at that.  “Go daughter, learn this last secret, and make your decision .”  She came down from the Dias, and I whispered into her ear that I was originally a Man, and that my Gender change is why I can’t be the Mother, and would never be comfortable in a Dress.  “Father, as it is my choice, I find the information though indeed startling, something that can be a general family secret.  It turns out, Jane was formerly a Man.  The transportation altered his gender, as well as his species.  This explains the near lie of her Name earlier.  Obviously she changed it to fit her new gender, and for no other reason.”  I nodded now nervous about the reaction.  The King went from shocked again, to actually smiling.  “So you have a Man’s fighting spirit, in a Woman’s body, I couldn’t be happier, tell me what was your original name, I’d like to know just how much you changed it.  Three names is quite startling here, but perhaps it is different where you come from.”  

“Yes your Majesty, my original name was John Ray Richards, so I altered to the Female versions of my first, and middle names.  My original country had Massive numbers of citizens, and all registered, with instant communication between facilities over the entire country, and travel across the whole country within a week at the outside, people had to have three names to prevent any repeats.  If someone else in my extended family was named John, and I know there were quite a few, each one would have a different middle name, thus avoiding any legal confusions.”  A look of startled understanding could be seen on both the King, and Queen, Adel was smiling with Pride for having brought me to her family directly.  “That makes me curious about those Massive numbers, what was the average size of a City in terms of population?”  “Most settlements were no less than five thousand, and no city would have less than a Million, and major cities might be slightly over a Billion.  Medical Care, and Good Nutrition, along with decent Police Presence makes for long lives, and decent birth rates, despite all the birth control methods available.”  I let those numbers sink into the King’s head for a bit.  “Your Majesty, your Grace, and your Highness, I’m afraid I am unaware of your names, having only been in the country for three days, that information was never taught to me yet.”  “Ah, Understandable, I am King Donican Marion, this is my wife Queen Vanessa Marion, and our First Daughter, who has decided to accept you as her Wife is Princess Alian Marion, our Sons are currently abroad in the country, and our Second daughter is soundly sleeping, I shall introduce you to her in the Morning, and our Sons as timing allows.”  

“Also, in case there is any confusion, Jeanette is my Companion, we haven’t become Lovers as of yet, at least in the Physical sense, but she has expressed a desire to be my Concubine, and I have already accepted this, I hope that doesn’t upset you Alian.”  She shook her head, with a smile on her face.  “As long as I’m your first wife, and can bear children for you,. I’ll be ecstatic, besides I like the way Jeanette looks too, I hope she can accept me too?”  “Yes Milady, it would be an Honor, I’d gladly bear a child for you, as well as Jane!”  “Huh, I wonder if that’s possible?  A blending of two Tigers in a third woman, blending three bloodlines at the same time.  We’re all cat types, so nothing bad should happen, either it would work, or it wouldn’t I think.”  Absolute shock. “What?”  Smiling impishly Alian responded “What do you say to that idea Jeanette?  Would you agree to attempt to bear a blended child of the two of us?  The idea has never even been suggested to my knowledge, it might indeed be worth attempting, practically allowing for another new bloodline that way.”  Jeanette had a stupid grin on her face.  “That sounds wonderful I can’t wait to be Married to both of you, so we can try that, no need to rush on your part your Highness, if you want some more time just loving us before a child is conceived.”  Alian shook her head, “No way, I’m not waiting, as soon as the announcement is official, and we’re on our Honeymoon, we two start trying.  Besides raising our children together just makes sense, we’ll be able to share feeding duties that way.”  

“That brings up another question, if Magic allows Pregnancy, could it also allow the non Mother to produce milk?”  More shocked expressions.  “My dear soon to be daughter in law, you are full of original ideas.  I’ll contact my best Mages, and have them begin thinking on the matter, often times the woman who can’t conceive truly feels left out for that very issue, having a spell to do that, would save so much suffering for those women.”  I then remembered the Crossbow.  “We’ve gotten a little distracted, you asked about the weapon, it’s called a Crossbow, and this one is a covert variant for self defense mostly.  The full sized version is great for Guards, because it takes almost no training to use, and provides a ranged offense if needed.  It’s rather short ranged in comparison to a Bow, but it’s more powerful, and can punch through most armor.  There is a larger version than that, which is called a Ballista, and is an anti siege weapon, which gets mounted on the walls.  Those can usually damage, or destroy any siege towers an enemy might bring, and they have a decent range.  Takes a team to crank back the rope, load the massive bolts, aim, and fire, but it is a real game changer at times.”  I demonstrated how the cocking lever worked to pull the string back, and the safety that prevents accidental firing, then the speed of the string snapping taught when the trigger is tapped.  “So far, only one Smith knows anything about this Weapon, and he knows it’s basically useless to anyone but the Guards, because a true hunter, or adventurer will use a Bow instead.”  The King nodded in pleasure at the display.  “I think these Covert versions are a good notion for those Nobles who would rather not train in warfare, so they at least have some self defense, and yet can hide it away from site when it’s not needed.”  Adel spoke then.  “It was rather effective in the hands of the Carriage lookout too.  It accounted for two of the Toads, and stunned a third, before Jane killed the rest.”  That startled the King.  “Truly a warrior’s spirit to kill three Toads single handed.  Did anything else happen on your trip?”  

I nodded my head.  “Yes, and it’s rather disturbing.  While I was in the Inn, in the same Village the Princess’s Carriage was at, waiting for replacements for the two Guards they had lost, someone in a peculiar, yet distinctive dark hooded cloak attempted to kill me, and probably Jeanette due to proximity.  That could have been a one off, but about six hours from the Capitol, a whole group of Bandits dressed identically tried, and failed miserably to attack us.  I blinded them with light magic, and the Men had them trussed up.  They would have just killed them if I hadn’t stopped them quickly enough.  They are now in the care of the Gate Guards, being interrogated.  I asked that they not be killed, so they can be made to testify in Court if it’s needed.  With the potential of having their sentence commuted to slavery for cooperation, pending your Majesty’s decision at the time.  I feel there’s a bigger conspiracy here, and the first person thought I was Adel, and didn’t even know I wasn’t connected to the Nobility at all.  That’s a chance I won’t take, so I hope I didn’t overstep here.”

The King looked grim.  “You promised nothing, only suggested that Cooperation might change their punishment, and you were right to keep them alive for interrogation, and the Court testimony is wise as well, should it be required.  All is well on that front.  Truly the thought of a Conspiracy is disturbing, but we can’t ignore this just because we don’t like the notion.  I completely agree, it’s too coincidental to be ignored.  Did the Guards say what they intended?”  I nodded again.  “Yes, they said they were getting some top tier mage breakers, to ensure they can’t resist the questions, and won’t die either.  I just hope they don’t have hidden poison pills or something.  Don’t want them committing suicide before they are forced to talk, I hadn’t even considered that till just now.”  The King called for the Guards.  “Send a runner to the Gate, tell them to check the Prisoners to be Interrogated for any hidden poisons, or other means of committing suicide.  We don’t want to lose out on any information they may have.”  The Guard saluted, and left at a double time march.  We all agreed to retire for the remainder of the night, at which point Alian stated that under the circumstances we should all sleep in her rooms.  I looked in some Panic at the King and Queen who correctly interpreting my expression, stated that it’s perfectly fine, since we’ve all agreed to the wedding, and to who will make the heirs, as long as the conception is left till after the Marriage itself, there would be no issues with anything else.

In a Daze with a goofy grin on my face, I left with my now two women.  There wasn’t too much fuss, we all undressed, down to nothing, and climbed into bed together exchanging nervous kisses all around, and cuddling to begin building some skinship.  We all dozed off fairly quickly having had quite the long day.

When we woke in the Morning, after I had relieved myself, being the last to do so, I found myself attacked by a Passionate Princess.  “I couldn’t wait anymore!  You drove me practically crazy last night, being so respectful, even though we were both Naked.  Please take me, if you need more time before you can accept my attentions in return, I can wait, just please don’t hold back from me, either of you!”  Jeanette was beaming, and grinning like a fool.  “Me too please.  I can receive both of you, and I’ll gladly tend to the Princess anytime.  Like Alian, I can wait for you to be ready.  I truly love you, already.”  Grinning like a fool, I did exactly as requested, we were all panting, and sweaty when we heard giggling from the bathing room.  The maids were happily readying the bath, and clothing.  We entered the room, and the Maids bowed while clearly overjoyed.  “We are delighted at the news of your upcoming marriage Princess Alian.”

I found it awkward when the Maids helped to wash us all.  “I’m accustomed to bathing myself.  This is kind of weird for me.  If it’s possible, unless there’s some special occasion, like today’s first Breakfast ever, I’d like to tend to myself.”  Though Alian was shocked that I had bathed in the past, the Maids were understanding.  “Have you truly Bathed before?  Not just wiped off with a Cloth or something?”  Jeanette asked the question Alian clearly wanted the answer to.  “Yes, back home everyone has a Bath in their homes, or at least a Shower.  We have running water provided by the City Government, and we pay a Bill every other Month, it’s combined with the Sewer, and Garbage Bills.  With the electric water heater in the plumbing lines, the water came in already at the perfect temperature for bathing.  We also have ready access to Soaps and Shampoos to get ourselves fully clean, I know a few recipes for some scented soaps, my Grandmother insisted I learn.”  The Maids, and Alian stiffened in surprise.  “Recipes for Soaps?  Please teach us!  We will make it immediately!”  I looked at the Maids who were beyond excited at the thought of scented soaps.  “Sure, I’ll even teach you how to make liquid hand soaps for Kitchen Staff, and to have in any of the what do you call them in here, where you relieve yourself?”

“Privy chambers, that’s what they’re called, what do you call them?”  “Depends, at home, it’s typically called a Bathroom, even if there isn’t a Bath in it, in another country, they call it a Water Closet, but in public we call it simply a Rest Room.  Public ones are Segregated, one for Men, one for Women.  They’re not like yours, they aren’t just a hole leading to a collection area below, they have plumbing attached, and you flush the waste away with water.  The toilet is a Porcelain piece with a tank to hole water attached to a bowl that’s half full of water, when you flush, the water from the tank forces everything out, and the new clean water keeps smells from coming back up, and the tank refills itself till the float switch reaches the top.  I know how to make everything, except the rubber for the flapper that holds the water in the tank, but for a simple version, I could just make the bowl itself, and we simply dump water in instead.”  Wonder, amazement both were plastered like growths on everyone’s faces.  “I think my Love, that you have MUCH to teach us!  Do discuss everything with father, how does the running water work, is it magic?”  I shook my head.  “No, you have to build a water tower.  It’s a massive tank on top of a tower higher than any building that will be served.  It has a small pipe connected to a pump powered either by electricity, or in old times a windmill, then there’s a gigantic pipe coming down from the center of the tower, that connects to the Plumbing network under ground, with each split leading to smaller pipes, until the ones in houses are about an inch around, this allows for water to flow through all the pipes at a decent pressure, and speed.”

We got out of the bath, and I was presented with a Dress.  “Um, No, I can’t do Dresses.  If you intend to pick clothes for me, imagine you’re dressing a Man, then alter it in the cut to fit me.  I’m sorry for the trouble, but I just can’t do Dresses.”  A Maid bowed at me, and took the offending garment away.  Soon she returned with something a lot more acceptable for me.  “I’ll adjust some more options, but this will have to do for now.”  I smiled, “Thank you very much, this is just about perfect!  The Style is on point, once it gets fitted to me, it will be perfect.  No frills mind, less is more, trust me.  The only embellishments I’ll accept are badges, or pins if I ever earn any that is.”  Alian quirked her head.  “Is that something your Rulers did?”  I nodded “Yes, there was the Purple Heart, for getting injured in the line of duty, and continuing to serve, rather than breaking, the first order of merit, for service above and beyond the call of duty, the Marksmanship award for exceeding the standards for aim, which since almost all our weapons were ranged, that was important, there’s tons of different awards that can be earned in any of the the armed forces.”  “Armed Forces, not just the Army?”  “Police is the civil authority, Army deals with ground forces, Navy for shipboard service, Marines serve aboard the ship, but are the ones who make a foothold on an enemy land, the coast guard is similar to the Navy, but they mainly deal with water rescues, but also piracy, and smuggling.  Then there’s the Air force, they dealt with flying machines exclusively, while the Navy had fighter jets, and aircraft carriers, a few helicopters, but mainly they were about boats and submarines.”

“You had Flying Crafts?!  Also what’s a Submarine?”  “Submarines are a special type of Boat, that has canisters of Compressed air, and is capable of going under the water, and traveling that way for months without surfacing.  With weapons that could be launched under the water to damage enemy ships.”  “Your world sounds so wondrous!”  “Everyone there thinks this world, or the ones they imagine, are Wondrous.  Between having nobody back home, all my Family has passed away, including aunts and uncles, and they never had children, so I have no cousins either, and I never found anyone I could really call a Lover, well I simply couldn’t be happier to be here.”

My two Lovers squealed in happiness, and squeezed me tight in a hug from each side.  “I think it might be a good idea to set me up with writing materials, so I can describe all the public works projects I can explain, and basic descriptions of the various weapons, and quality of life items I know how to make.  Probably take me quite a while, and your Father should decide which aspect I should focus on.”  Alian nodded, “That’s an excellent notion.”  Now fully dressed, we left for the Breakfast table, and my first meeting with the Second Princess of the realm.

We entered a dining hall that was much too vast, and about a quarter full with various members of the King’s Court.  All eyes focused on me, with shock, and amazement.  Alian pulled us along behind her, as we approached her normal seat, which now had two additional seats beside it.  Less adorned than her own, but still far more opulent than I personally feel comfortable with.  As we reached our seats, before we sat down, the King stood, and addressed the court.  “My people, wondrous news.  Through methods beyond understanding, a new Tiger has come to our Nation, having only been in our Nation for three days, she has already reached Gold Tier with the adventurer’s Guild, as confirmed by our own Guild Tablet.  In addition, she has knowledge of Materials, and Weaponry beyond our current capabilities, and has already created two unknown weapons, as well as the method of making a version of Steel which does not rust.  Though she was raised as a Commoner in her own Land, she is Educated far in excess of any in our own Realm, and has three names to our two.  This is a cultural difference only, and her second name is intended to protect against confusion with extended family only, and is not needed in casual conversation.  It is however required for signing any Legal Documents, and as such, I believe it may be a tradition we adapt ourselves to reduce forgeries in future, though that is a matter for future discussion.  She will be Joining my own family, as the First Princess Alian has agreed to Marry this Woman, at long last she’s chosen a Wife, who comes with a Concubine of her own, who is Iron Ranked in her own right.  This will greatly improve my Daughter’s Safety, and an Heir will be conceived as soon as possible after the Wedding, which we will not delay.  I intend to hold the Ceremony within the Month, giving sufficient time for the Princes to be informed, but we will not recall them.  They may meet their new Sister in Law when they come home normally.  She will not introduce herself, and her Concubine.”

I took a deep breath.  “My lords, and Ladies, members of the court at large, I bid you greetings from the United States of America, which is not a Monarchy, or Matriarchy, but a Democratic Republic.  My name in full is Jane Rae Richards, during my time here, I have maintained the position that I am NOT of the Noble line of this Nation, that position will not change at all until this Marriage is officially concluded.  I am not Joining for my own sake, but for the Nation, I want nobody to think they could use me as a tool to rebel, and offer me as legitimacy being that I happen to be a Tiger myself, were it not for this worry, I would rather serve instead of joining.  Please treat me as a respected commoner, or merchant, rather than a Noble.  I intend to support my Princess Wife, not take her place.  It’s her place to rule in the unfortunate death of her Father, and anyone ahead of her which I personally hope will never happen.  As to my Concubine, her name is Jeanette, and she is also equally devoted to supporting the First Princess.  For those of you who believe me to be too young to be believed, my actual age, is forty two years, I ensure you all, I can take direct criticism without taking offense.  I look forward to aiding this great Nation, and I hope to get to know all of you to some degree, if time permits.  Thank  you all for taking the time to listen to my pathetic fumbling attempts at public speaking, which I hope for all our sakes is kept to an absolute minimum.”

To my utter surprise I saw a sea of genuinely happy, and welcoming faces, not one person was upset, or irritated that I existed.  A round of applause from all those present reached my ears.  “Please be seated, and let us eat.  There will be time for individual introductions, as Jane will not be leaving the Capitol until after the Ceremony.”  We took our seats, and began our Meal.  I was slightly less disappointed in the food, and intended to see about improving the food quality.  The Second Princess couldn’t wait to pipe up, looking slightly older than Adel, she was never the less beautiful in her own right.  “My Dear Future Sister, please permit me to introduce myself, I am the Second Princess, Cassandra Marion.  I look forward to hearing all about how your Democratic Republic works, and any differences in lifestyles, of the people, not the Nobles.”  I chuckled a little, and smiled.  “There are no Nobles, only elected officials.  Typically from wealthy families, the people vote them into office, usually by telling the best lies.  Promising improvements on Taxes, or Education, lowering the unemployment rate, increasing the minimum wage, better healthcare, whatever they think will set the hook.  Yet even knowing they’re telling lies, we still vote them in.  It’s by no means a better system.  Sounds great on paper, but when push comes to shove, all systems fail in the end.  The first King earned their title, were given it by the People, but with every generation, the children get more spoiled, and the greed takes a firmer hold, losing the old Nobility, and becoming Nobles in name only.”  Cassandra blinked. “Truly you believe that will happen?”  I nodded.  “It will take centuries, but Parents have a tendency of spoiling their children, especially if they feel guilty about spending so much time working, as a Nation’s Ruler has to do almost all the time.  I’m sure that as much as you love your Father, and Mother, neither can spend nearly enough time with you for your own preference.  Especially when you were little.  So they’d get you a Pony, or a new Dress, a Fancy Toy, that super rare Book, whatever they think will make you smile, because they don’t really know how to interact with you, they never had the chance to learn.”

The King and Queen looked amazed at me.  “That is exactly what we did!  Was that truly the wrong thing?”  I smiled.  “So far, I don’t think it did much harm.  It’s when Generations repeat the cycle.  It’s like a mild poison, it doesn’t kill right away, but your child is weaker than you were, and their children become weaker still.  Presents should only be for Birthdays, special Holidays, or if you come home from a long trip, a small souvenir to show you wished you could have taken them with you.  Anything else must be earned, a reward for excellent work in studies, or being better at archery, or swordsmanship than a person their age is expected to be.  Every child needs responsibilities too, chores, splitting wood, making their own bed, cleaning their own clothes.  Sewing clothes, not needle point.  Cooking meals on Occasion, everybody should know how to cook, and where food comes from.  Wealthy people tend to believe that farming is easy, because it takes no education.  Farmers have years of education in their trade, there’s so much more information to teach a Farmer than even the King himself.  It’s also a labor intensive job, more difficult than even being a Knight if less dangerous.  It’s truly back breaking labor, and that’s before transporting the harvest to market.  If you don’t understand the value of the common people, you have no right to rule them.  The most important thing for any child, is to be told NO often.  That one little word, is Vital to a healthy child’s growth.”

Though most Nobles were shocked at my words, the King, and Queen both nodded in understanding, and complete agreement.  “Your words are very wise.  I apologize to you my beloved daughters, I truly wish I could have given you all the time you deserved.”  The shock faded as the Nobles realized I was talking about a future disaster that needed to be avoided, and how to do so.  “I presume you will be a doting parent, when your children are born.  Will you help with your new Siblings children as well?”  The Queen’s question seemed almost laughable.  “Naturally Queen Mother, I will cherish all my nieces and nephews, and my new Siblings as well.  Family is precious to me, and I lost all mine from before.  Outliving your blood is not a pleasant experience.  You will find nobody as Loyal as me as a direct result of simply being Family.”

Once Breakfast was finished, I asked to be excused to the Kitchens for a moment.  Confused, the Queen, and Alian, as well as Jeanette decided to follow me to see what I was about.  I entered the Kitchens to the surprise of the entire Kitchen Staff.  I pointed at several ingredients and asked for a portion, then I went just outside into the Kale Yard, where I found several Herbs growing wild, and to my absolute joy a Potato Plant.  I harvested everything I wanted, returned inside and quickly prepared a dish.  The Staff was watching in wrapped attention, and the surprise of the herbs was only paled by that of the Potato.  I cooked those separate with some of the herbs.  I took a test bite once the Potato was done, and focused on the taste.  Once I was satisfied that it was the exact same as I remembered from home, I added Onions, and some of the Mushrooms they used to that.  Once everything was done, I turned to my Audience.  “Ok, everyone come and give it a taste.”  All the staff rushed, only to freeze, as they remembered that the Queen, and Princess were present.  “Please, your Ladyships, you should taste first if you intend to do so.”  The head of the Kitchen stated with a determined grace.  The Queen stepped up, and took a mouthful of each, eyes widening in pleasure with each dish, Alian also sampled each dish, as did Jeanette.  “That is Marvelous, if I wasn’t already full from Breakfast, I doubt I could have refrained from eating the full amount.  You must all try this, and perhaps we can learn some of Jane’s cooking secrets for the Court, I certainly hope it’s possible.”  With permission given, the Staff swarmed on the dishes, and finished both off.  “Well, opinions, and do you think you can copy those dishes on your own?”  

“It’s Marvelous Mistress Jane, I heard your introduction speech, so I know not to call you by Noble titles until after the Wedding.  In the interim, perhaps you wouldn’t mind teaching me a menu for the Wedding?!  PLEASE teach me!”  I smiled.  “I’ll be glad to give you as many secrets as I can remember.  I’m no Chef, so I’m sure you can take whatever I give you, and improve upon it.  I wish I could get a Dehydrator setup, so we could preserve some of those herbs for the winter.”  She looked confused.  “What’s a Dehydrator?”  I explained the concept, and how removing the moisture keeps it from rotting, and intensifies the flavor for up to half a year.  She seemed excited, especially when I told her it could make Jerky, which is a food that didn’t exist.  The Head of the Kitchen said that what she tried had given her ideas of improvements for all her dishes, and she was certain that lunch, and dinner both would be greatly improved.  As I was walking to leave the Kitchen, something caught my eye, and I whirled back to the Kale Yard.  I ran outside to a bush growing like a weed at the very limit of the patch, right next to a wall.  “Jalapenos!”  I grabbed one decent sized pepper, and another Potato, and enough herbs, popped back into the Kitchen, and quickly made a new Potato dish, using the Jalapeno as well.  “Try this one!”  Everyone, Royals first, followed by Jeanette sampled the new dish, and marveled at the Spicy Flavor that now filled their mouths.  “Marvelous!  To think something so tasty was growing like a Weed in our Kale Yard.”  The Queen and Head of the Kitchen seemed to be of the same mind.  “If we make some cooking oil from plants, we can pulp the Jalapenos and mix them with the Oil, and some Vinegar, then it can be used as a sauce.  Adding it to dishes that need a little kick.  Just make sure to let one, or two peppers ripen fully, so you can use their seeds for next year.”

Now we really did leave the Kitchen, and the excited Kitchen Staff started brainstorming improvements for their future dishes.  “That’s going to improve things so much, I truly thank you for teaching our Kitchen Staff.  Your Nation must have had many different foods, I look forward to sampling more.  The Wedding Feast will be Amazing, and I have no clue what it’s even going to be.”  Queen Vanessa stated enthusiastically.  I grinned impishly.  “That’s the first thing I’ve eaten that wasn’t bland.  Even if it was only a bite of each thing I made.  This is purely for self interest, despite how good it’s going to be for everyone else.  Also, my Bride deserves good food at her Wedding, not to mention all the time.”  I looked fondly at both my Lovers.  I’d like to go to the Guild Branch for the Escort Reward, I still owe Jeanette, and I might want to buy something in town too.”  Vanessa nodded.  “I’ll arrange an escort, I know you’re not a Noble, and you can take care of yourselves, but you’re going to have to get used to being escorted around, and besides, you don’t know the city.  I also want some assurance that you will actually return home tonight.”  She chuckled with a genuine affection, and understanding how uncomfortable I was with all the Pomp and Circumstance.  “Can you at least choose an escort that isn’t used to being formal yet?”  She nodded.  “That I can manage, most Noble dislike them, and usually there’s only one in any detail, as long as the Captain of your detail is more proper, to maintain discipline when needed, that actually solves more problems than it causes.”  

With a snap of her fingers, she summoned a runner, and gave her instructions for my detail.  “Mother, may I attend Jane on her tasks?”  I subtly shook my head, and winked at the Queen.  “I think not Alian, with the attempt on Jane’s life, and the seemingly connected bandit attack, having both of you out of the Palace at the same time, is just asking for trouble.  We must wait for the results of the Interrogation.”  Alian looked sad, but understanding.  “Please don’t take all day, being separated feels like it’s going to be horrid.  Is it strange I’m already that attached to you?”  “Not too odd, though the intensity is higher than I would have expected back home.  However, I think maybe it’s because my Scent might be stronger, and affecting you.  Making both of you more, I don’t know, Aware of your feelings, and less willing to delay anything.”

The Guard Detail selected for me assembled, and all of them, especially the Captain, were surprised at the Mix.  “Hello Captain of my personal Detail, I am sorry in advance for all the trouble that I’m undoubtedly going to cause you.  However, all of you were chosen, because I was NOT raised as a Noble.  I’m sure Rumors have reached you to some extent, but Rumor is never accurate.  So all of you keep being yourselves for the most part, it’s true you have a Job to do, and I am your Primary, never say my name aloud, someone might be listening, and target me specifically, you call me your Primary, and Jeanette here, as my Concubine is your Secondary.  What those titles mean, is that I am the one the Crown charged you to protect, while you will protect Jeanette, so long as doing so doesn’t put me at risk.  As much as I’d like to say she’s more Important, this is an official duty station, so I’m explaining how it actually works.  Captain don’t worry about Formalities for the most part, only deal with that when other Nobles, or some official, or Merchant that needs the decorum that I Loathe to be happy.  Worry about their duties, not their manners otherwise.”  The Captain visibly relaxed, understanding that the Hell he perceived didn’t actually exist.  “Certainly Milady, I fully endorse the Titles of Primary, and Secondary as well.  Your security is paramount, so avoiding using your name, now that you mention it, is a wise course of action.  These lads, and lasses are actually quite good at their Jobs, and if needed they can straighten up their acts for short durations.  This detail is perfect for them in my opinion.”  I smiled.  “The Queen selected them all at my request for a less formal detail.  May I have your name Captain, even if I don’t get to use it, I want to know it anyway.  God forbid something happens to you, but if it did, I want to know the name of the person who was lost on my account.   Though part of me feels almost like this is a Jinx, or an Ill Wish of sorts, I know intellectually that superstitions don’t actually effect anything, but not knowing your name would effect me terribly if the worst happened.”  

He Bowed to me, and answered.  “You Honor me Milady, my Name is Freddrick.  If you’ll forgive me, I feel that introductions to the rest can wait till later.”  I smiled broader.  “It is truly an Honor to make your acquaintance, and I agree.  Our first stop is the Adventurer’s Guild, to collect a Quest Reward.  If you hadn’t heard, I am Gold Rank, and Jeanette is Iron now.  Your Protection Detail isn’t as troublesome as most in some ways, but I will tend to jump into the fray, rather than huddling in fear, or simply ignoring dangers entirely out of arrogance.  These are my weapons, they’re a Knuckle Type, allowing me to punch at full power, without risking my fingers, yet my Claws can still be used.  My Backup Weapon is ranged.  It’s called a Crossbow, and is much easier to aim than a traditional Bow.  We will visit the Palace Smiths later, and commission one of these for each of you, because you never know when a bit of range will be needed, and a traditional bow isn’t very practical in the city.  I only have twenty bolts, but they’re strong enough to punch through most armor.  I intend to visit several shops as well, but the reason is private.”  We left the Palace as Alian waved forlornly.  

It took nearly forty minutes to reach the Guild Hall, but when we entered, there was almost nobody there, and those that were, all were seated, and staring openly at me.  I approached the Receptionist, and Jeanette and I handed our plates, and the Quest Tile.  His startled gaze found the proffered items after a while, then he had us place our hands on the Tablet to confirm that we had indeed completed the quest, and that our tier was what was presented.  He handed us our equally split payment.  I then transferred what I owed Jeanette to her stack, and pocketed the rest.  Jeanette also pocketed hers.  I thanked the Receptionist, and left the still stunned audience behind.  We then headed to the Market Place, and after a short while I found a Jewelry stand.  I zeroed in on the stand.  I found three elegant rings that were perfectly identical.  “I’ll take these three rings, and I’d like to commission three additional rings with diamonds in them which need to sort of twine with these three when they’re on the finger.”  The clerk was eager to comply with the request.  I instructed him to deliver the completed secondary rings to the Palace addressed to the Queen, and I wrote a note for the Queen’s Eyes only, explaining the purpose of the secondary rings, and their significance in my Culture.  I sealed the letter with wax, and my thumb print.  Signing my full name on the back.

We then continued to look at the marketplace stalls, but then I saw a young girl, being yelled at by someone who was clearly not related to her.  She was being berated as a useless Chit, and not worth the coin he spent on her.  My Rage Boiled, and I barely restrained myself from killing the Man outright.  I tapped him on his shoulder, and he turned in Rage, only for his face to Pale at the sight of me, and my Guard Detail.  “You have two choices, First sell her to me for one Gold, Second, I kill your useless ass, and take her anyway.  Which is it?”  He took out the girl’s slave paperwork, and handed it over, accepting the coin.  “Good choice, no get out of my sight you pathetic piece of Scum, who isn’t worth the money I just spent!”  He ran, full out ran, never looking back.  I turned to the girl, paperwork, and collar Key in hand.  “I’ll serve you as best I can Mistress!  What do you wish of me?”  I went to her, and knelt down, inserting the Key into the lock, and removing the collar.  “If you remove the Collar, I’ll be freed, that’s in the Contract!”  I smiled, “Good, cause I didn’t buy a Slave, I paid a Ransom to get a Family Member away from a Bad Person.”  The collar fell away, and I embraced the Girl with a fierce hug.  “You’re mine now, you hear, nobody can ever hurt you again.”

Her happy tears burst forth, and the misery escaped through racking sobs into my shoulder as the Guard detail smiling at the tender moment kept watch around me.  Once she calmed down a bit, I asked her a Question.  “Do you know where a Florist is?  I need to get a Bouquet of flowers before I can take you home, get you cleaned up, and dressed in better clothes.  This isn’t how I expected to get my first Daughter, but I’m not complaining.  At least you won’t have to worry about any of the Noble stuff.”  She wiped her teary face, and nodded smiling.  “Yes, it’s this way, the flowers are super pretty.”  She led us down the street to an intersection, then around to the back of the left side of stalls, where indeed a Florist was setup.  Clearly the Florist couldn’t afford a better spot, and they were struggling for certain.  “Make me a Bouquet worthy of the First Princess’s Private room.  It’s a gift for her, and I have the Money.”  Jeanette came up behind me.  “Never got me a gift!”  “Never had the chance, but you’re not left out, you saw I got three rings right?”  She smiled, and grabbed our new daughter in a side hug.  She looked at Jeanette in confusion as to why she was hugging her too.  “I’m one of her soon to be wives, so in a way, you’re my daughter too, and you have another mother to meet still.  You’re overloaded with Family now!”  The girl, who couldn’t be more than twelve if even that, hugged Jeanette back, hard, afraid to lose this new found warmth.

The Florist did a marvelous job of assembling a Bouquet the likes of which I had never seen.  I beamed at her, and forced ten Gold onto her.  “You’re excellent at your Job, and I want you to provide flowers for my Wedding.  I don’t know the details, about the Color Scheme yet, but I want centerpieces for each of the Banquet Tables.  You will provide them at that time.  I’m paying ahead so you can ensure you have enough of the right flowers for the Job.  I’ll write a Note for the Queen’s Eyes, so you can go to the Palace, to receive instructions.  I’ll take no buts on this.”  She bowed repeatedly, and agreed to do as asked.  I wrote the note, and sealed it, signing my name on the back.  Then took the Bouquet and left with my new Daughter.  I noticed a food stall with meat skewers, and bought ten, and handed four to the girl.  “Eat those, and I’ll hand you more once they’re gone.  All ten of these are meant for you.  You’re too skinny, that evil thing didn’t feed you enough.  I’m half tempted to hunt him down and end him anyway.”  She didn’t need a second urging, I had to slow her eating a few times explaining that she wasn’t to throw up, and eating too fast could cause that.  Chew properly, take your time, it’s not going anywhere besides her belly.

She had just finished off her ten skewers by the time we reached the Palace to the astonished gazes of the Palace Guards.  One of the Maids approached to see is I needed anything.  “This is my adopted Daughter as of today.  She was a slave, and wasn’t treated well.  She’s been fed, but she needs a Bath, any wounds tended, and decent clothes.  Something pretty, but more like what you own children might wear when you bring them to the Palace, assuming they live elsewhere that is, I don’t know anything after all.  I just realized, I still haven’t asked your name sweetheart.  Haven’t even told you mine yet either.  My name is Jane, and your other Mother here is Jeanette, once you’re cleaned up we’ll surprise your third Mother ok, her name is Alian, but don’t go saying it to anyone else till after you meet her.  So what’s your name?”

“Gabby is my name, Mother Jane Mam.”  I smiled at her, and gave her another Fierce Hug,  Joined by Jeanette on her other side.  “It’s a lovely name, now you need to run along with the Maid here, she’ll take care of you for me ok?  I need to run interference for your third Mother, till you’re all cleaned up.  Don’t take too long ok, I’ll miss you, so hurry up, and do what you’re told, no matter how weird it seems to you.”  “Yes Mother Jane,  I won’t take any longer than I have to.”  She smiled, and nervously followed the Maid who couldn’t help but shed a little tear at the tender moment she just witnessed.  The detail broke away, now that I had returned to the Palace.  Jeanette and I followed another Maid as she led us to the Audience Chamber where Alian was attending Court along side her Parents.  When we entered, it was apparently the perfect timing between one matter and another.  “Your Majesty, may I intrude for a Moment, it’s somewhat urgent.”  Donican raised a Brow, and noticed the Bouquet hidden behind my back from Alian’s sight, then nodded.  “As long as it’s brief, I have no objections.”  I approached, and Knelt on one Knee, with both my Lovers in front of me.  “First Princess Alian, Jeanette, Will the two of you do me the great Honor of wearing my engagement ring, and will you together place your shared ring upon my finger in return, to carry the symbol of our betrothal for all to see?”  Saying so, I held the first ring to Alian, as she joyously nodded her head, “Yes, a thousand times YES!”  I placed her ring on her Finger, then turned to Jeanette.  “You didn’t even have to ask, YES!”  I placed her ring on her Finger, and the two took the third ring, and together placed it upon my own Finger.  I then handed the Bouquet to Alian.  “The Flowers are something of an Apology, as something happened before I came home, which altered our family, without your say so.”

Just then, a Maid entered with Gabby, Clean and Dressed, and I reached my hand towards her.  “I adopted a Daughter, she was enslaved, and being mistreated.  I bought her, rather forcefully, and then freed her, explaining that I didn’t buy a Slave, but paid a Ransom to get a Family Member away from a Bad Person.  I hope you’ll forgive me for this surprise child of ours.”  I kissed Alian’s Hand, while hugging Gabby.  “Of Course I forgive you, I would have done the same, if I had the courage at least.”  She Knelt to Gabby, and opened her Arms.  “May I have a Hug too Daughter?  Gabby was it?”  Gabby nodded, and happily entered Alian’s warm, and genuine embrace.  I could tell she was truly overjoyed to have Gabby to pamper.  The crowd applauded, with one exception, who I noticed.  The very same man who had mistreated Gabby, he noticed my Gaze, which had turned cold as ice.  I pointed directly at him.  “That, is the very piece of trash in question!”  He tried to escape, only to be grabbed by the Guards.  King Donican called the Maid to him, and whispered into her ear, then got a response.  “The Maids inform me, that this child has been abused, which is a direct breech of the Laws protecting Slaves.  The punishment for this Crime, is to be Enslaved yourself, and be sold to a Salt Mine.  Collar him, and take him away!”  A slave Collar was placed upon his neck, and he was hauled away.

Profound satisfaction was all I felt at that moment, as all three of us embraced Gabby from all sides.  “Thank you your Majesty, for indulging my interruption, and I am glad this situation was also solved.  I suspect the trash thought he could cause trouble for me by complaining about misappropriation of his “Valuable” slave, that he treated “Oh So Well”  Never thought it would involve the Royal Family Directly.”  Donican huffed in annoyance.  “I see what you mean about Power Corrupting.   He had Power over Gabby, and Abused it, ignoring the Law.  Good Riddance!”  Just then, a runner from the Gate Guard arrived with a Message Scroll.  “I bring a Message from the Guard Captain.”  A Palace Guard accepted the Scroll, and brought it to the King.  “Hmm, it appears your fears were well founded.  Guards, seize the General Talos, under the charge of treason.”  A muscular Man, who was no Surprise NOT a Tiger, roared in anger, and drew his weapon, beginning his charge towards the King.  I cast my super bright light beam into his eyes, and then instantly raised my loaded crossbow, and pulled the trigger.  The bolt flew straight, and true burying itself in the bear man’s eye.  He dropped like a stone, and everyone in the room marveled at the Weapon that saved the King.  

“My thanks future daughter, I’m glad you kept that weapon on you, though I imagine it was an oversight on this occasion.  Do try to remember not to bring weapons into the Audience Hall in future.  I can overlook it this time.  It’s fortunate that the General seems to have acted alone, rather than a major conspiracy throughout the Nation.  The Bandits didn’t even withhold anything before the Mage Breakers verified their testimony.  As a result, I will commute their sentence as you suggested, so enslavement in the Salt Mines, the same as the Trash from earlier.  Enough of this, take your new Daughter, and mine, and go relax for the day.  We shall speak this evening after dinner.”  He patted my head, actually felt good.  I then left with my girls, two lovers, and one adorable daughter.  “Huh, I just realized, technically I’m the first one of us with a child.”  The two slapped my shoulders affectionately.  “”That doesn’t count, and you know it!””  They both stated in unison.

Alian handed her Bouquet to one of the Maids, asking that it be put into a Vase in her room.  Then all four of use went to the Library.  Alian wanted to visit the Gardens, but I countered suggesting that I’d like to start teaching Jeanette, and now Gabby how to Read, and Write.  Then all three of them to do Math with my Numbers.  Adel, and Cassandra were already in the Library.  So I decided to start with numbers, and math.

“There are ten symbols that each represent a value.  Zero, meaning nothing, One, a single item, Two, a pair of items, Three, a trio of items, Four a quartet of items, Five a quintet of items, Six a sextuplet of items, Seven a septuplet of items, Eight, Nine.  Having drawn the symbols, then using dots to show the value in a visible representation.  You can make any number with these ten symbols.”  I then explained the places that changed the value of the symbols.  They all picked up on the numbers instantly.  Then I started with the operation symbols.  All of them picked up addition, and subtraction, but Cassandra got Multiplication, and Division just as quickly.  Then I explained the math of variables called Algebra.  Giving some very basic examples, and explaining how it can be very useful for Military Projects, supply and management.  Cassandra struggled with that, but did manage to understand it at least in part.  Then Geometry, only very rough examples, without the whole Pi R Squared, or A squared plus B Squared equals C Squared.  All the Princesses had a fairly good grasp of the Mathematics, and though they verified their work with an Abacus, they weren’t making any mistakes.  Jeanette was really only able to manage the Multiplication and Division.  Gabby naturally wasn’t quite as good, but addition, and subtraction wasn’t too difficult for her.  “Don’t worry, you’ll get there.  It takes time, and effort.  I’ll help you and we’ll get you caught up to Cassandra in no time.  Besides, you’re already better than anyone outside of this room.”  I hugged her, and she cheered up.

All the Princesses helped me teaching Jeanette and Gabby how to write.  It took almost an hour before they were both confident at copying the Letters and what each one meant, and did in their singular form.  At which point we were called to Dinner.  A new chair was set, with no adornments, but taller legs next to Jeanette’s  Clearly they expected Gabby to sit by us.  Dinner was MUCH improved.  Everyone was stunned at the change.  “I take it this is thanks to your intervention Future Daughter?”  Donican asked, and Vanessa giggled. “And clearly my Wife knew in advance.”  I bowed.  “Yes your Majesty.  Shortly after breakfast, I went to the Kitchen, attended by Alian, Jeanette, and the Queen herself, I made three simple dishes and had everyone taste them.  The first two dishes I had made before I spotted a particular plant  in the Kale Yard, that strangely nobody knew the value of.  That’s the spicy taste in some of the dishes.  They’re called Jalapenos, they’re a type of Chile Pepper.”

A joyous meal was had by all, and faces beamed with pleasure at all the enhanced dishes.  Even their favorites had improved.  “I started teaching the Princesses Math today, and they’ve all progressed quite well.”  The King looked confused.  “They already know how to use a Calculation Board.”  I shook my head.  “I taught them the numbers from back home, and how to calculate on a slate.  Cassandra has learned some Algebra even, but all of them can do Multiplication, and Division.  Next is Fractions, and Percentages.  Those concepts are a little trickier, then there’s Long Division, remainders, and powers to deal with.  I expect Cassandra might have a decent grasp of everything I know within the year, she’s quite the little Brainiac.  Jeanette, and Gabby can both sign their own names now.  I’m feeling like a Proud Parent here, and I can only even marginally claim that with Gabby.”  Now the King looked Intrigued.  “You must give a Demonstration Cassandra, I want to see just how well you’ve actually learned this new method of numbers.”  Cassandra eagerly nodded.  “Oh yes Father, I truly adore these numbers, and the complexity of Algebra is such an enjoyable challenge, with it’s potential application to Military Record keeping, it’s going to be invaluable in its way.”  “Indeed, Military Record keeping.  How will it help, this Algebra?”  “It will help with Supply and Distribution records, and Requisition Forms.  To keep things ordered, and recorded for quick review.  Inventory will be much quicker.”  Donican smiled warmly.  “You truly are a Blessing for our Nation.  You stamp out a rebel, and provide new knowledge, all without a care in the world, aside from keeping your family safe.  I’m certainly glad to be a part of your new Family.  The peace of mind knowing my daughters can all count on your aid when they require it is priceless.”

Just then the Dining Room Door swung open, and a Handsome Tiger Man walked in.  Clearly older than Cassandra, but at least visibly younger than Alaian’s twenty three years, he strode in, and the doors closed behind him.  He headed confidently towards one of two chairs that though ever present, had been empty till now, on the King’s other side.  “Darnel, welcome home my son, how was your mission, did anything go amiss?  We had an incident here involving General Talos, so I hope he hadn’t setup any surprises for you.”  Darnel, who had smiled at the welcome, was shocked at the statement about General Talos.  “An incident Father, of what kind?”  “Treason of all things, and when confronted, he didn’t even attempt to defend himself, but attacked.  Luckily, you future Sister had forgotten to leave her Crossbow outside the Audience Hall, and was able to Drop him in an instant.”  “Future Sister?”  Only then did Darnel notice me, and his Eyes practically bulged out of their sockets and onto the floor.  “Clearly some monument us events have occurred in my absence, but as to my Mission, there were no surprises, at least not that I am aware.”  I spoke up.  “Perhaps Bandits wearing matching, and too fine dark hooded cloaks your Highness?”  Darnell thought a moment, then nodded.  “We did indeed kill a group of Bandits that match that description, I wouldn’t have thought much about it, but the Cloaks did stick in my mind somehow.  Only when you said they were too fine, and matching did I realize what bothered me. They posed little threat to my Mission though.  Might I presume you are my Future Sister that was mentioned, and perchance, may I have your name?”

I bowed my head in respect.  “Naturally your Highness.  My name is Jane Rae Richards, I don’t mean to sound pretentious or anything, I’m not even Noble Born, your Father, and everyone in the immediate family know the details, and I’m certain you’ll be told in Private.  Then I expect you’ll come to ask, maybe twenty million questions that the others wouldn’t, owing to different interests, and specialties.  I have barely begun to dump information out and have already advanced both weaponry, and metallurgy, and as you’ll notice once you take your first bite of any dish, the food quality.  Not that I cooked the dishes, only that I revealed some uses for plants in the Kale Yard that nobody realized were edible.  Beside me is my Concubine Jeanette, though Alian and I both think of her as a wife, and beside her, is our newly adopted daughter Gabby.  Obviously Gabby isn’t recognized as a Noble, but a direct Ward of the Royal Family non the less, so I hope you will treat her with the Love I expect out of an Uncle.”  I bowed my head again.  “A niece is it, that’s wondrous news.  Might I request a welcome home hug young Gabby?  I’m certain Father won’t mind indulging this once.”  The King nodded his ascent, and Gabby being overjoyed at yet another person claiming her as Family, and clearly cherishing her, leapt off her seat, ran over to her new Uncle, and gave him a Monster Hug.  “Welcome home Uncle Darnell!”  He chuckled as he gave her a squeeze.  “This doesn’t mean you won’t be making heirs the traditional way does it Sisters?”

We all three shook our heads.  “Dear Brother, you know I’ve always wanted to be a Mother, to give birth, and how no previous Marriage offers were seriously considered, because they insisted I shouldn’t have to bear the Child myself.  Now I have a Betrothed that not only will allow that, but is genuinely relieved about it, for reasons you’ll learn in Private, I surely won’t give it up, and neither will Jeanette.  Jane even came up with two ideas, that we are going to attempt.  First if two Tigers can jointly impregnate a third female.  Naturally that’s Jeanette, and secondly can Magic induce milk production of a Woman who didn’t give birth.”  Darnel was gob smacked at both suggestions, but the whole hall was abuzz with the second idea.  “That, both of those Ideas would be Stupendous if they work.  You’d create a whole new bloodline with the first, and the second could help so many women, who for whatever reason aren’t able to give birth.”  Alian smiled, “Father said the same thing!”

Darnel’s eyes lit up at the first taste of the food.  “You weren’t kidding about the food, it’s amazing!”  I chuckled again.  “I’m just getting started, there’s so much good food to share.  More depending on availability of ingredients.  There weren’t many Potatoes in the Kale Yard, and everyone thought they were weeds, I’ll have to see about setting up a farm field somewhere to grow them, they’re a National Staple crop back home.  One of the States is Famous for their Potatoes.  Something else I want, are Sugar Beets, the ones that are too hard to eat.  They are called Sugar Beets back home, because you can make Sugar from them.  That in turn allows for many deserts.  Cookies, cakes, pastries, puddings, Gelatins, Ice Cream, if I can figure out ice magic, or else make an Ice House, and stock it during the winter.  There are ways, and ways to improve food.”  The whole hall went silent at this revelation of Sugar being something easy to acquire.

I couldn’t help but outright laugh.  “I come from a Nation that can provide fresh vegetables, Fruits, Nuts, Berries literally ALL YEAR!  Not because of the Climate, but because of our methods of preserving foods, and shipping them hundreds of miles within a single day.  Unlike here, where traveling less than forty miles took nearly a whole day.  Our Nation, at least the main part of it, what we call the lower 48, is thousands of miles across, and it only takes a week to travel casually from one side to the other.  There’s one State slightly north, and west of the lower 48, only a couple hundred miles, but we have to cross the Border between us and Canada, so by ground, there’s two border checkpoints to cross.  Passports required, and it’s usually a decent wait for Inspections.  Checking for Contraband, and Criminals.  Then the same thing again on the other side.  The last of the States is an Island Archipelago called Hawaii.  It has its own unique culture.  Then we have a couple territories that are protectorates.  Basically their governments went corrupt, picked a fight with us, lost everything, and we installed a new government from their citizens, and oversee them, while using our own Navy to protect their shores.  Keeps them in line, while letting them be themselves.  We don’t want to ruin their cultures.”  All of those are hundreds of miles out at Sea, and people can reach them the same day the depart.”  

Darnel’s eyes were full of amazement at the distances involved and the speed of travel implied.  “With such speeds, how is it we’ve never heard of any of these lands?”  I smiled, “That’s a Private Family Secret, you’ll find out later behind closed doors, but suffice it to say, that even with our speed of Travel, we wouldn’t ever be able to reach this Nation.  Some power beyond my understanding brought me here, and dropped me face first, and Naked out in the Woods, directly in front of Jeanette when she was on a Quest to hunt a Boar, which I later Killed when it surprised me in the Morning, when I was relieving myself.”  Complete bafflement on everyone’s face. “As my future Daughter has stated, the exact details are Private Family Secrets.  She is here now, and is staying.  She’s our Family now, and we will benefit from her very presence.  Her knowledge of her People’s inventions, foods, tactics, all sorts of things will help us all.  Forgive us keeping the precise details secret, but the Truth is quite startling, and if uttered in the wrong place, could cause a Panic, it shakes the very core of our understanding of the world as a whole.  She has trusted the Family with this Secret, but for the rest of you, ignorance is bliss.”  The crowd settled, accepting their King’s word that they were truly better off not knowing the details.  That the potential threat of my old Nation couldn’t even reach them with all their might, and that I had no method of returning, nor wish to do so was all they needed to know.  

Once Dinner was over, we retired to a private setting, specifically the King’s Study.  We discussed Darnel’s Mission, which was a simple monster suppression.  Apparently a pack of Wargs got a little too large, and decided humans were acceptable prey.  Now the Pack had been culled, the people were safe, and surprisingly there were no casualties, and the Minor injuries had already been healed.  I then revealed all my Secrets, and Darnel was splendidly shocked at the fact I used to be a Man, and a different species into the Bargain.  “So does that mean I should call you Brother then?”  “Hell no!  One person outside of the know hearing that, and it’s going to cause a ruckus.  You can treat me like a Brother though, while calling me Sister.  Gabby looked at me in Wonder.  “So you’re kind of like my Father, and Mother all in one then?”  I hugged her tight.  “You could say that, but if anyone asks who your father figure is, tell them it’s Uncle Darnel ok?  Nobody needs to know it’s me.  Can you do that, keep my being a Man before a secret?”  She smiled, nodding furiously.  “Yes Mother Jane, I wouldn’t do anything to make you mad at me!”  “Awe Honey, I wouldn’t be Mad at you for that, it could cause trouble for everyone else though, even you.  People might make fun of you if they knew, as stupid as that is.”  Gabby hugged me back tighter, happy to be so loved.

The girls and I retired to Alian’s Chambers, and setup Gabby in what would typically be the Lady’s Maid’s side room, since she wanted to stay close, and Alian had never seen the point in a Lady’s Maid, when all the Maids showed up in the Morning every morning anyway.  I had a thought, and wondered if I could alter the walls to sound proof them with Magic.  I placed my hand on the wall, and thought of exactly what I wanted to happen, and willed the changes.  Sure enough it worked, and everyone could hear the difference, if not see it.  “What did you do Love?”  Alian asked.  “I can apparently use Earth Magic too, I altered the walls shape inside to block sound, so it won’t carry through the walls.  Should help Gabby sleep, if we make any, … Loud noises during the night.”  Alian and Jeanette blushed, knowing exactly what Loud Noises I was referring to.  “An excellent notion Jane.”  Jeanette said, still blushing.  “Do the rest of my rooms too if you can, did that drain you at all?”  I shook my Head, “That’s the thing, I’ve never felt drained doing magic, I just don’t really know what all I can do.  I’m totally new to Magic.”  I altered all the walls, and the quality of the Silence altered noticeably.  “All done, so is there an evening Bath, or just Bed?”  “We Bathe in the Morning, which is good, because it removes the Sweat from our Night time fun.  So we can strip down, and have our fun tonight, before sleeping, if you’re up for it?”  

She truly looked doubtful that I would want more so soon, couldn’t allow that misconception to last.  “What’s this IF word you speak of?!”  I pounced on my girls practically frantic to remove their clothes, and they returned the fervor kissing whenever possible as clothing flew all around us.  We climbed into the Bed together, and spent hours pleasuring each other, before passing out in a pile, not even bothering with covers.  

I awoke to a pretty sight in the Morning, and I kissed what I found.  Not the normal location to kiss, but she didn’t mind.  All of us grudgingly climbed out of the bed, and went for the Bath, Gabby following behind us shortly, after a Maid woke her.  She happily climbed into the Bath, and went around hugging all of us good morning.  The tenderness made all the Maids smile indulgently.  “Gabby, today I have some not so fun things to tend to.  Would you maybe like to meet some of the Maid’s Children, perhaps you can play with them for a while, while I do the adult stuff.”  Gabby looked dubious.  “My own daughters are in the Palace today, they’re roughly your age, and they run all over the Gardens playing all sorts of games.  I’m sure they’d like to have another Playmate.”  Gabby nodded.  “Okay, I’ll try, I didn’t have friends before, I don’t know how.”  I suddenly learned a major fact in Gabby’s Life.  “Gabby, were you the only girl in the place you grew up?”  She nodded.  “Yeah, boys can be mean to girls, they don’t know how to treat them, so they end up hurting girl’s feelings, even if they don’t really mean to.  Her daughters might be nice, but they might not know how to deal with you either, knowing you’re the Princess’s adopted daughter, they might think they need to be extra polite, instead of just treating you like a Normal Girl.  Tell them how you want to be treated, like any other girl, and maybe they’ll loosen up, so you can all play and be happy together.”  A determined look was clear as day on Gabby’s face now.  “Okay, I can do that.”  Once she was dressed, the Maid who had spoken bustled her off to meet her own children.

Now dressed myself, I asked for a place to make the soap.  Needing a Hearth to boil things, and a list of ingredients, and pots, containers, and various other requirements for the process.  Within two hours, I had a decently smelling batch of Soap curing in molds.  A half hour after that, and several bottles of Shampoo had been made.  I used the rind of a Citrus fruit to scent that.  Then we took another half hour to make some Lavender hand soap.  I spent another hour demonstrating how to make a Lotion for soft skin.  Grandma taught me better than I had remembered it seemed.  Alian loved the Lotion, and insisted we introduce her sisters, and Mother to it immediately.  I just chuckled and went along with her.  Breakfast was a Private affair that day, with Darnel being home so recently, the King was expected to focus on him for the day, to ensure nothing was forgotten from his report.  So we had waited for our Breakfast till after the Soap and Lotion making.  I asked that the Maid’s Daughters join us if they were getting along with Gabby, so we could eat, without separating them.  So three bubbly girls were at Breakfast, talking excitedly about everything they played, clearly Gabby had made friends.  The Queen joined us before we had finished, and Alian insisted she sample the Lotion at once.  She was just as appreciative as Alian.  “Truly wonderful Jane, you have my thanks, and I suspect all the Noble Ladies will be singing your praises for this alone.”  Having said that, seemed to be a summons, or a Magic word.  A tiger woman came in at that moment.