A bed large enough for a squad, comfortable to the point of making one fall asleep instantly, water of perfect temperature mixed by the skilled servant girls to bathe in, soaps she`s never even heard of before to pick from, the smell of delicious breakfast already placed on a small table before one even wakes up.
She had nothing to complain about, other than missing her family.
Being allowed into the royal palace even once, was something her former classmates would brag about incessantly for weeks. Their families being let in this soon, meant that Lunor has dealt with all the necessary steps in advance, maybe even before bringing her two toys in. Why two? Probably so that a single one wouldn`t feel lonely. Her friend wouldn`t complain. This was an opportunity to experience something many could only dream of.
“Did you use the blue soap? I`ve been thinking about trying that one too,” Selea said, lying next to Ellyn on the massive bed as the two were unsure of what to do now. She had the same kind of bed in the guest room just across the corridor, but preferred to eat breakfast together and then just spend time with her friend.
They`ve been silent for a while.
“I`ve been thinking… doesn`t it seem strange to you… Lunor mentioning that you shouldn`t have presumed that your mana condition is the same as those of the others, yesterday?”
“Are you saying that she might know more about it? Maybe she was simply worried and told us the worst case of what could have happened. Our line of thought was not wrong, I only messed up because of my frustration and impatience.”
“Maybe, but don`t you think that she could have told you the same thing in the morning? Why wait until she was without her entourage? Why not train with a measure at the private training grounds, where others can see and hear? Why not let you cast any of your spells at school in the first place? Maybe I`m just making big leaps here and it has no connection, but consider this… there was no mention of mana conditions in books, but those were only the books that could be found by us.”
What Selea said made sense to Ellyn. It wasn`t impossible that there were mentions of similar past cases written somewhere that weren`t available to them. Maybe there is more than one reason for Lunor`s fascination with her spells. If she really is some rare case the divine princess has read of somewhere, then taking her in as a toy would have made even more sense.
She could have told her friend about mana sensations, but the predicted response was that Ellyn must be imagining things, because she`s in love. It might even be the case. Mana is known to not act that way. What she thought was happening, was that the collapse and the following unconscious state did something to her brain. Falling for Lunor and her brain perceiving it as her mana acting differently might be a side effect. Maybe not even a permanent one.
This was the morning of March 19th 1218.
“… Anibalma has a reddish-brown oblong leaves and long clusters of yellow flowers that can even …” Lunor was saying in front of a shrub, when a loud male voice coming from the north-eastern direction distracted those paying attention.
“You won`t catch me this easily, newbies!”
Most women of the group covered their eyes pre-emptively upon hearing, others were looking for the source of the commotion, while Lunor only looked at and gave a nod to Cathe.
Ellyn was among those looking to see what was happening. A naked, well-built man was being chased by a squad of guards, his floppy battle-thing posing threat to any of them, since the man has been changing directions abruptly, jumping, sprinting and the guards were obviously scared of harming the presumably important person, attempting to surround rather than to catch him, while trying not to get slapped by it.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
[Niriel Irato casts Target, level 1]
[Niriel Irato casts Haste, level 10]
“Rueeeeeeelm!!!” the enraged Cathe shot forward screaming, her speed about doubled.
“Aaaa! Help mee, pleease!” the naked man surrendered to the guards immediately and placed them between himself and the incoming female high noble.
“I`ll spank your shameless ass black and blue!!!”
Their gods were very battle-oriented, just like nature itself. Temples had paintings and statues of the said gods from their battle-filled stories, often naked and battle-ready. The stories also contained natural emotions, emphasized consent in relationships, the value of love and family and often offered a useful wisdom to those listening. Even people who were only drawn in by the art filled with battles, found some wisdom.
Ellyn had never seen a real battle-thing before. This was at some distance, but still very easy to see. Nothing like what she saw at a temple a long time ago. Those were either much smaller or battle-ready. Her family did not visit temples often though, not being much into religion, so she couldn`t really be certain.
“My lady, please, we`ll handle it from here,” a soldier pleaded.
“Out of my way!” Cathe ordered.
The soldiers had no choice.
“No, please, save mee! Sister, please!!!”
“Cathe! That`s enough,” Lunor ordered loudly.
“Dress yourself and don`t bother our guests, Ruelm.”
“Thank you!”
“Where do you think you`re going, Shamelessness?” Cathe asked.
“I wanted to thank Lunor.”
“Do that after you dress yourself, you fool.”
“But my clothes are too far away…” he protested a lot more silently, then gave up, gestured thanks and turned around to leave, surrounded by soldiers.
“You will report to me whether he got dressed or not,” the female high noble ordered.
“As you order, my lady.”
Ruelm, Princess Lunor`s brother. His full name was Ruelm Argela and he was the 2nd son of Duke Argela. From among Lunor and Cathe, the latter had a closer relationship with him, most likely. The divine princess was raised in City of Argela, 5 days of travel away from the capital- City of Aspion, which was the city where all 3 Argela brothers were being raised since 3-year-old. Lunor would normally have been raised with them, but due to her being promised to marry the crown prince, she received a royal exception and the “Hostage Law”, as it is often called, did not apply to her.
"As I was saying, Anibalma has a reddish-brown oblong leaves and long clusters of yellow flowers..."
Ellyn would never complain about walking with and listening to Lunor. Not even when she talked of... urgh... plants. Some were even useful, having its use in potion or tea production, but it still didn`t interest Ellyn very much.
In any case, no one mentioned the incident while the princess continued the walk.
"My lady, the young lord has dressed himself," the soldier from before reminded them of Ruelm Argela shortly after Lunor`s free time had ended and the princess returned to dealing with her numerous duties. Ellyn would bet that when the soldier joined the royal guards, she did not imagine her days being spent on attempting to contain a nudity loving young man or reporting to someone that he had, indeed, dressed himself.
"Thank you, soldier. Remind the young lord that I`m angry at him for disrupting Princess Lunor`s walk."
"As you order, my lady."
"He`s been doing this for a long time. Whenever the weather allows it, Ruelm likes to lose clothes."
"Really? That`s the first time I`m hearing about someone doing something like that," Ellyn tried to say convincingly and failed miserably, the ladies-in-waiting looking at each other and then pretending they`ve heard nothing and Selea looking at her shoe, as if inspecting whether she didn`t step into anything disgusting recently.
"Yes, most people would get caught and punished, getting a record of it into their personal file," Cathe replied.
Why was it so hot all of a sudden?
Ellyn`s sister Marys used to do the exact same thing 10 years ago as a 6-year-old and, as a result, their parents changed the rules about nudity a little, making Marys` room a clothes-free one for her, never entering it themselves without knocking and always waiting for a relatively long time until she herself let them in.
She didn`t like how long the following silence was. It seemed like no one had anything to say while heading towards their destination.
What was that about a record?