The sunrise was beautiful out here. It painted the eastern horizon in shades of red, orange and yellow, and since the terrain was relatively flat, it wasn’t obstructed by anything. Watching the sun slowly rise over the plains was a memorable sight. The open balcony allowed her to feel the cool morning breath and the smell of the world just waking up, a hint of rain from yesterday still making the air feel fresh.
Arms snaked around her, and she stiffened slightly on reflex before she relaxed into the embrace. Turning her head, her girlfriend’s eyes sparkled at her. “Enjoying the view?”
“I was, but the view in this direction is just as beautiful,” she answered with a grin.
Kiara smiled at her, pulling her tighter against her chest for a moment before letting go. “Then I have the perfect view from where I’m standing.” She raked her gaze briefly across Janis’ form, then frowned slightly. “Aren’t you cold, however?”
Janis shrugged and shook her head. She didn’t often make a point of it, but she suspected her tolerance for cold temperatures was slightly higher than an average humans’s from this region. “It’s not that cold, yesterday was pretty balmy and it looks like today’s going to be very sunny,” she replied instead.
“You’re only wearing a nightshirt that doesn’t even cover your arms,” Kiara pointed out. “Please, put on a robe.”
Janis resisted the urge to roll her eyes. A part of her wondered if Kiara was afraid of them being seen and wanted her to cover up because of that, but it didn’t seem like it or she wouldn’t have hugged her like this. “Fine.”
She stepped through the balcony door into their bedroom. Technically Kiara’s assigned room, but Janis hadn’t even bothered stepping foot into hers. There were no nosy people around who might make trouble because of it, one of the things both of them had wanted to ensure. She opened the chest of her clothes that some War Drones had carried in yesterday and took out the first robe she saw. Luckily, she could get away with wearing traditional mage’s clothing here without having to make it fancy. After quickly throwing it on and running a comb through her hair, she joined Kiara on the balcony again.
This time, as she stepped up beside her, Kiara wound an arm around her waist and pulled her to her side. Janis smiled and shifted so she could lay her head on her shoulder. It was a bit awkward since they were close to the same height, but still nice. They watched the sunrise in silence for a moment.
“This feels nice,” Kiara sighed after a minute.
Janis smiled. “So it turns out you get clingy after sex, I should have guessed.”
That remarks caused a sharp elbow to jab her in the ribs. “I do not.”
“Sure,” she drew out the vowel. “Don’t worry, I guess I’ll just make sure to provide you with plenty of cuddles this evening.”
Kiara withdrew a bit to look up into her face, giving her a look. “Awfully bold of you to assume there will be a repeat performance after a remark like that.”
“It’ll be fine, my girlfriend is kind and forgiving.”
That made Kiara laugh, which made Janis’ chest feel slightly tighter in a warm way. “I suppose I am.” She turned a bit and leaned against her again.
“I am glad you’re allowing yourself to be this touchy,” Janis said quietly after a moment. “It is indeed nice.”
She felt Kiara sigh. “I really needed to relax, I think,” she said. “The expectations and pressure at court can be stifling. It’s nice to be with you away from it all.”
“I get that,” Janis agreed. “This is basically a vacation. It’s why we’re away from the court or the center of the Hive, right?”
Kiara hummed. “So, not to question you or anything, but this time …”
“I shielded us entirely,” Janis assured her. “Don’t worry about it.”
“Good. As much as I respect Regina, I truly don’t need her to know details like this. Or the drones.”
“Yeah, believe me, we’re all happier this way.” Janis smiled against the strands of Kiara’s hair tickling her nose.
They were close to the northern border of Cernlia, as well as a bit further east than the capital. It wasn’t far enough to challenge the range of the psychic link, but Janis fancied she still felt a difference.
It was a bit weird to be far away from other members of the Hive, at least sapient drones; she had taken along some Swarm Drones for protection. But having privacy with Kiara was good. They would have to take advantage of it.
Of course, they weren’t here just to have fun and take a vacation. Officially, this was part of a continuation of Kiara’s tour through her kingdom. They were currently in what would probably be one of the furthest locations of her route, though, and Janis didn’t really intend to accompany her through all the rest of it. Depending on if there were issues with local nobles or if any other problems cropped up, it could take weeks, maybe even months. Kiara had already interrupted her tour for the negotiations with the gnomes and then returned to the capital for a while, though, so she was determined to finish it now.
“We should probably get ready and get to work,” Kiara said with a slight sigh, her thoughts clearly following the same path as Janis’.
She nodded, then reluctantly lowered her arms and turned to head back into their room, not that she had much to get ready. Their current location was a bit of a sleepy town, nested beautifully between some hills, fields and a river sparkling in the sunlight. She frankly didn’t care enough about the local noble, some earl or other, to bother with looking very regal. From the briefings she’d sat through and what Kiara had said, he wasn’t important, anyway.
“We’re close to Esemen here,” Kiara mentioned as she sat down to braid her hair and put on simple earrings.
“Hm,” Janis responded distractedly, checking the room and the building outside it again with her magical senses to ensure she hadn’t overlooked anything. There was no one too close. “Do you think there’ll be trouble?”
Kiara paused for a moment. “I don’t, no,” she finally said. “I imagine they might be a little concerned to learn that both of us are here. But the Esemen have been rather quiet recently. I rather doubt they’re going to launch an unprovoked attack across the border just because we have come a little closer than usual.”
Janis snorted. “They should know Regina would burn down their country around their ears to get us back, and we’re not exactly easy targets. I wasn’t thinking about that. But we are also closer if some people want to talk to you without traveling all the way to the capital.”
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
“Or to you, Imperial crown princess,” Kiara pointed out. She shrugged. “Let’s just go see what the locals have to say before we start speculating, alright?”
Janis smiled and offered her arm, waiting until Kiara had placed her hand on it. Then she adjusted it until she had hooked her elbow instead of just escorting her with a chaste touch on the arm. Kiara gave her a look and Janis only smiled.
Without further ado, they left the room and made their way down the manse they were staying at. Due more to the nice location than any political imperatives, Kiara had decided to remain here for several days instead of moving on right away, and Janis had agreed. Not that her input was really required, she was mostly just along for the ride while Kiara actually planned her tour.
As they stepped out from the side wing containing their bedrooms to the bottom level of the building, Kiara disentangled their arms and Janis regretfully let her go. She knew why her girlfriend insisted on maintaining a halfway proper distance in public, even if it still rankled a bit. Then again, they’d probably invite a lot of trouble if their relationship was public even if they hadn’t both been women, so maybe it was just as well, this way. And they didn’t have to pretend around the Hive or their family and close friends, that was already something to be thankful for.
“Breakfast first?” she asked lightly.
Kiara nodded and they turned towards the dining room. As usual, Kiara wanted to eat with the members of their escort, in a slightly less formal setting. Janis made a point of pulling out her chair for her as they arrived before sitting down beside her girlfriend, giving a distracted nod in response to the bows from everyone else. There were only a few people present, Kiara had only taken a handful of courtiers and a few knights. The local noble wasn’t here despite his queen coming to visit, so it was rather relaxed right now.
“Are there any news of import?” Kiara asked as she spread some butter on a slice of bread.
Lady Margaret shook her head. Her gaze was drifting from Janis to Kiara and back, and Janis wondered for a moment what she was making of it. But she knew Kiara’s friend wouldn’t say anything. “Nothing of critical importance from the capital, Your Majesty,” she answered.
“There have been some updates regarding the settlement of the soldiers,” another man cut in. Janis didn’t know Baron Theraln well, although she knew he was loyal. “However, there are also news from closer to us, Your Majesty.”
"The Esemen?”
“In a manner of speaking. We have been alerted that Delvers from Esemen are going across the border and appear to be traveling here. They should arrive soon. At least, some appear to be from Esemen, but there is a second group from the northern lands, as well.”
Kiara frowned. “Why weren’t we alerted before now?”
Janis glanced around and checked the psychic link. Now that she knew what to look for, it didn’t take long to see the Delvers, mostly riding horses on the road leading to the town. Several Winged Drones were flying high above them to keep a discreet eye on them. Someone must have set them to the task, though her quick look with the psychic link didn’t tell her who. She’d have to ask around, but instead focused on the conversation right now.
“We received word in the middle of the night, my Queen,” Sir Willard answered evenly. “Sir Alf used one of the War Drones in the assigned escort to convey the message. I decided that it was not urgent enough to disturb your or the crown princess’ sleep.”
“We were just about to send someone up to tell you if you hadn’t shown up,” Margaret added with the hint of a smirk.
Janis gave her a look, but didn’t comment. She supposed she should be grateful they had waited to send someone to wake them. However much the people in this room might know or suspect about their relationship, finding her in Kiara’s bed would have still been hard to explain away, a bit too much for plausible deniability. Plus, it would have ruined their morning, and they hadn’t exactly slept in very late, anyway. From what she could see, there wasn’t any particular hurry.
They finished breakfast without talking much, except for a few light remarks and meaningless chatter. Janis felt her thoughts drifting back to the psychic link. She checked her surroundings regularly out of habit, and kept note of all the drones’ positions around her all the time.
Kiara glanced at her, then pushed back her chair and stood up. “We should get ready to meet our visitors. A word, Princess Janis?”
“Of course.” Janis stood as well, nodded at the others and let Kiara lead her from the room.
“Are you alright?” Kiara asked as soon as the door closed behind them, leaving them alone in the hallway. “You were rather quiet.”
“Sure.” Janis ran a hand through her hair. “I guess it feels a bit like our nice vacation got cut short, but that’s stupid. I know we’re here on business.”
Kiara’s eyes darkened a bit. “I think you might be more in need of a vacation than me,” she commented. “You worked hard and won a war for the Empire. You should have received more praise for your deeds than you did.”
“Don’t worry about that,” Janis scoffed. “Regina offered to hold a large ceremony in my honor, but I declined. I just wanted to forget about war and fighting for a bit. I think she’s still got some things planned for our return, though.” She turned to go and paused as she caught Kiara’s gaze. “What?”
“Nothing. How did you sleep?”
“Good. Better than expected, actually.”
Kiara tilted her head. “Were you expecting a nightmare? You have been having some, have you not?”
She hesitated for a moment. “Yes,” Janis admitted. “More nights than not recently.” She knew Kiara had noticed, there was no point trying to hide it.
“I had nightmares as well after the civil war, even if I didn’t fight as much as you did,” Kiara admitted, her gaze lowering to her hands. “It can take us a while to leave the fighting behind. There’s no shame in needing or wanting a bit of support in that time. So my mother kept saying, anyhow. And to be fair, spending time with her and Robin helped me get used to all the changes.”
“I know.” Janis took her hand, then tugged her down the corridor. “Come on, let’s get going.”
They walked a few steps together before Janis spoke up again. It felt a little uncomfortable to address this topic, but she did want to tell Kiara about it. “I have been talking about it, or maybe seeking support, I suppose. Not that it was on my own initiative, the drones kind of made me.” She shrugged and smiled a little. “Actually, Regina wanted to do it herself, but Galatea reminded her that it’s better for the person talking to the, uh, person in question,” not ‘patient’, she wasn’t ill — “not to be very close with them. So instead I’ve been talking to“ — she decided not to use her name — “one of the Keepers, one who’s spent a lot of time with humans.”
"Oh? Has it helped?”
“I suppose so? She can get what I’m feeling over the psychic link even when I’m having trouble putting it into words, or point out what I might have missed.” Janis shrugged. “I don’t think drones really get — issues like this,” mental illness, but she wasn’t suffering from any, she’d simply seen a few potentially traumatic things, “at least not the way humans do. For that matter, I’m demihuman myself, so for all I know my reactions are different, anyway. Still, it’s nice to talk to someone.”
“Good.” Kiara squeezed her hand briefly, but seemed to decide that was all she needed to say about it. They walked the remaining few meters in silence.
Janis reluctantly released her hand as they stepped through the main doors into the yard. She paused, glancing to the side, where several Swarm Drones were gathering. Then she turned her focus to the psychic link.
After a few seconds of looking through it and checking through various drones’ eyes, she laughed.
“What’s the matter?” Kiara asked.
“They’re not actually coming to see us.” Janis shook her head. “They were on this road, sure, but probably just because it leads deeper into Cernlia. There’s a crossing a few hundred meters outside of the town, and they just took the road leading south, bypassing the town.”
Kiara blinked, then rolled her eyes. “We might have guessed. Of course they might not have heard we were here, yet. Our route is hardly widely publicized and we haven’t been here for long, certainly not enough for most people across the border to hear of it.”
Janis nodded, a bit distracted as she was still watching the group. “I wonder if these are the only Delvers heading to the Imperial capital?” she mused. “Either way, it’s probably better that they talk to the loyal Delvers first. Let’s just let them go on their way.”
Kiara nodded, then reached out to grasp Janis’ hand again, entwining their fingers. “It seems our schedule has suddenly opened up,” she noted. “Maybe we can practice our magic together?”
Janis smiled and, after quickly glancing around to make sure no one would see, leaned forward to kiss her girlfriend quickly. “I’ll Conjure you whatever you want,” she promised.
Kiara smiled back, her eyes shining again. “That’s not what I meant, but who am I to turn down such a gallant offer?”
Janis chuckled and started to pull her to the improvised training yard. She was already considering whether a golden necklace or earrings would look better.