Sammy meekly followed after the queen as the past few minutes began to register in her numbed mind. The Contract-child was looking around at the hall, but seemed to also be glancing at Sammy’s face every few moments with a bit of worry showing. Sammy placed a hand on the Contract-child’s head both to comfort it and to comfort herself. Princess Maryl and Countess Katalynn followed behind her, while several guards both led the way and took up the rear.

As soon as the door closed behind the queen’s departure, King Ista turned to his chancellor. “Greggory, inform those waiting that there will be no more rituals today.” He paused and then added, “Go ahead and establish a required class of instruction for any future petitioners. Stress to them all the Arch Duchess’ attitude towards threats and that she is not our subject, though we have taken her under our wing for the moment. We are merely hosting her assistance. The throne shall not tolerate overt acts of hostility, but we shall also not otherwise intervene in any petition made to her.”

The chancellor bowed. “I shall ensure they understand, my lord. Would it be acceptable to use a copy of the morning’s session?”

King Morstan paused, cocked his head a bit, and then allowed very small smile to emerge. “Yes. An excellent suggestion. We shall count ourselves lucky that this occurred with the Marchioness Voriest. While by no means a small matter, none shall grieve overmuch at her passing, not even her own.” He glanced over at the three other royals and then around at the guards within hearing, “But I did not say that.”

The chancellor bowed and said, “Then I shall take my leave and accomplish your command, Sire.” At the king’s permission, he strode down the hall to leave by the public entrance, collecting the herald in passing.

After the chancellor left the hall, King Warren said, “We three,” and he indicated Queen Rym-Tora, “should take this opportunity to visit Dobinstoal and collect all of the line of inheritance. I personally look forward to seeing them present themselves to our young arch duchess.” He grinned his amusement. “I truly wonder what is going to happen.”

Queen Rym-Tora quirked an eyebrow. “I am in agreement, but we should collect the full house, not just the line. It is entirely possible she shall utterly disregard tradition and make her choice based on unprecedented reasoning.”

Queen Milan gave her contemporary a sidelong look. “Yes, water is wet. Anyway, shall I also attend as an outside observer? Jet borders the arch duchess’ Contract, but has no such proximity to the march of Dobinstoal.”

“You are most welcome, of course,” King Warren readily agreed.

King Morstan said. “I also agree. Best to take the opportunity this period of Contract-contention has given us to address some of the worse conditions in the march. It will be a nice change to act directly in those lands without a contracted noble to interfere.”

“Glad we are in agreement,” King Warren said, a sharpness in his eyes giving off keen anticipation of the coming confrontations.

Queen Linda led Sammy to a bath room, though pool might be more appropriate. The oval room was easily sixty feet wide and thirty deep. An area for showering lay to the left and a small, steaming pool lay to the right. A much larger pool that steam just a bit took up the center. Benches were strewn about the room, but were mostly concentrated at the showers. There were also several mirrors here and there.

Sammy froze as her image appeared in one of the mirrors. She had not realized it, but the front of her dress sported a disgusting blotch-pattern of black ichor. Her face and hair and everything were covered. Her eyes widened and she started hyperventilating.

Countess Dorimor stepped in front of her and caught her cheeks between her hands. “Calmly,” she said in a soothing voice. She looked at the Contract-child and said, “We need to get Sammy cleaned up. Can you remain calm if she sets you down?”

The Contract-child nodded and launched herself from Sammy’s arm, landing on one foot with the other cutely raised behind her and her arms held up in a vee. She pirouetted triumphantly.

The countess clapped her delight and said, “Well done, little one. How about we call you Pira?”

The Contract-child stared at the countess for a moment and then nodded her head in assent.

“Good,” Countess Katalynn said, turning her attention back to Sammy and ordered. “Now quickly take those filthy things off. We shall ensure that a mote of that filth remains before we are done here. Maids.” With her last word, several palace maids stepped forward, surrounding the trapped arch duchess. The maids did not at all wait for Sammy to disrobe herself, the dress removed before she could even protest. That did not stop Sammy from protesting, it just meant the deed was done well before they escaped her mouth.

“Ach! What the heck are you doing,” Sammy screeched as the servants began scouring her from head to foot. And then not satisfied, they did it again, and again, and still one more time. They eventually just cut off her hair since the ichor had dyed it through and through. They did manage to get it out of her skin by using a healing glyph that forced the very skin to dies and replace itself in rapid progression while freezing the spread of the contamination the ichor tried to spread. Her hair grew longer than it had started at during the regenerative healing as well.

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After she soaked in the hotter bath to the right, Sammy emerged with reddened but unblemished skin. Coming out of the bath and putting on undergarments, she found herself in front of the dress they wanted her to wear in place of the ruined one, an elegant, solid silver dress. The fabric shimmered in the light. Cut long and tight, two opposing slits up each side allowed her legs to move freely. Her eyes widened in shock.

“There’s no way,” she said. She fingered the fine cloth of the simple yet awe inspiring dress. “No way,” she said again crossing her arms. “How am I supposed to run in something like this?”

Princess Maryl snorted a laugh, but the countess just sighed in resignation as she said, “How many times must we state that you need not run here. Your condition is completely different from the way you grew up.

Sammy stared at the stupid noble. “I know you’re not stupid that way, Katalynn. We just had a situation where running was definitely in the works. You never know when you might have to run, and being inside this castle full of little Jennas without Jenna’s common sense makes it much more likely than even normal.” She looked narrowly at the countess, princess and queen. “And I think it’s time to address the monster in the sewer. It’s way unnatural that you are taking what I did so . . . unnaturally. Even if she was a stupid jerk, she was still a noble and a person.”

Queen Linda stepped forward and placed a hand on the countess’ shoulder, but spoke to Sammy. “Indeed. First, I will say that it brings us great relief that you are concerned that she was a person. However, that and the events that played out are not truly connected. Or rather, it is only because she is a person that they could even occur as they did. The Marchioness Voriest declared war on you. Believe it or not, young lady, it is not customary for one noble to get involved with the disputes of other nobles, nor royals with other royals.”

“But she was a noble and you’re a royal. Don’t you get involved with them?”

The queen sighed. “Yes and no. A royal house has obligations to assist those nobles whose land overlaps theirs. An oath of loyalty is usually given between those whose lands overlap, in fact. The Common and Daring will normally swear fealty to a noble and a king both. Nobles swear fealty to royals and an oath primum non nocere, secondus beneficence to those Common and Daring that live within their Contract.” She raised a finger to forestall Sammy. “There are those, however, that are not so easily dealt with, the Marchioness being one such. Her bloodline is very old and her Contract overlaps three royal houses. It also covers more actual land than one of them. As it would be absurd for her to swear fealty to more than one royal bloodline, she refused to swear to any of them. In essence, she enjoyed the protection of the three royal families without herself having to pay a price.”

Sammy frowned. “I still don’t understand why,” Sammy began.

“Sammy,” Countess Katalynn said, interrupting her. “Let me put it more in how you think. The Marchioness was a very stupid noble, one quite intelligent at manipulating others. She arrogantly played the three royal families against each other in a balancing game that kept any of them from dealing with her misdeeds without seriously endangering themselves and harming the many people who look for their protection. And she was doing the same thing this time. She blatantly challenged King Ista’s authority. She deliberately disrespected the queen. All because she knew she possessed the power that if they were to take umbrage at it, a debacle equivalent to the one that killed your parents would occur.”

“In fact,” the queen added in a severe tone, “it would have been exactly like that incident if I had taken offense. It would surely have meant many would have died.”

Princess Maryl nodded with the countess in agreement, adding, “However, she over reached this time, playing her game with an unknown element. She fairly assumed that since your bloodline Contracted recently, you would have no army to oppose hers. She expected you to understand that opposing her would result in a huge loss of life to the people living on your land.”

“People you are now responsible for,” the countess interjected.

The princess continued, “But you don’t really understand that yet. Plus, you think that nobles hiding behind armies is,”

“Evil.”

Princess Maryl paused, but then nodded. “Yes, you think it is evil. She was thus not at all prepared for how you chose to deal with her threats. She wholly and completely miscalculated.”

“But.”

“Enough Sammy,” the queen said. “You merely did what two kings and one queen have wanted to do for thirty some odd years. Under the current circumstances, no one that matters is going to raise a fuss. You are offering to assist nearly every noble and royal Contracted on the entire continent and the fact that she actually had the temerity to declare war in front of four royal witnesses is beyond belief. Seriously, her arrogance has been growing more and more over the last years and decades, and it finally exceeded all common sense at just the right time.” The queen was obviously rather worked up about the whole matter, her tone becoming rather fierce by the end of her little tirade.

“Er, um,” Sammy said, glancing at the countess and princess. They were busy doing something else of a sudden, pretending not to notice anything at all. “Okay. Thanks, I guess?”

The queen instantly composed herself and smiled at the youth. “Yes. You don’t need to repeat any of that, of course.”

Sammy deliberately widened her eyes. “Remember what, ma’am?”

“Well said,” the queen nodded with a smirk. “Now let’s get you dressed.”

Sammy once more gave the dress a dubious look. “At least let me wear pants under it.”

“Non-sense,” the queen said. “Wear it properly. Wear it confidently. You are an arch duchess and need to present yourself properly from the beginning.”

Sammy fingered the fine fabric of the dress again, but then let out a big sigh. “If it gets blood on it, I am not taking responsibility for it.”

The three ladies glanced at each other for a moment, but then Princess Maryl flashed a smile. “We’ll just have to make sure none of it needs to get spilled again. Mother, by your leave?”

“Yes, yes,” Maryl’s mother said, waving her on her way. The princess turned away and strode out of the room on an ever so important mission, one paralleling the one her father had given to his chamberlain.