Their diplomatic relationship had gotten off to a false start, what with their initial retreat devolving rather quickly from an introduction to the Sbaian language to a day and a half of the sort of debauchery that Freyza hardly knew himself capable of. Yet, when they returned to Souchon, at the time that he had promised to return the Queen, both sore and hungover, with their fingertips still shrivelled from the bathwater, they had to face the music: there was not a stitch of Sbaian that she had learned.
It was still to Freyza’s great amusement to find that he would be teaching the Queen of Ilworth Sbaian twice a week, and that even a little room in the Ilworthian wing would be cleared. Whether her lessons would continue during her time in Ilworth, considering time would come where she would be asked to return, was yet to be decided, and Freyza had the impression that this depended mostly on how Katherine herself would vouch for their necessity of them. Freyza had set up in the room, unfavourably located in the top of one of Souchon Palace’s towers, drafty and cold, a desk with two chairs, one on either side, a chaise-longue by its little window, and an assortment of Sbaian books, knickknacks and other cultural objects he still had lying around.
He found it difficult to admire his work, as he was used to adhering to impossibly high standards, but the short notice and the odd shape of the room left him grappling with the little things he still had to put in it. Besides being drafty, a single footstep two floors down could easily be heard, which left him feeling rather somber about the plans he had, even if he had tried to muffle the sound of the room with carpets. It was unfortunate to know that despite all his efforts, if he heard the footsteps coming up, he was certain that whoever was coming up the stairs in that moment could hear him sit down in his chair, scraping the legs over the carpet.
That morning would be the first of the Sbaian lessons to come. Though Freyza was nervous, in fact had not slept and was living off of sheer anticipation, he had kept himself resembling calm by imagining that there would likely be a chaperone to accompany her, who he just had to bore so thoroughly and give the impression of his purity, in order to get rid of them. Therefore, when he did indeed hear footsteps, he managed to remain somewhat cynical even though he had not seen Katherine, even out on the estate, since they had returned together from Sanlieu. He opened the door as if to signal that the person coming up may enter, and peered down the spiral staircase.
His heart leapt when he heard the footsteps at the threshold, but as he looked up to meet Katherine’s gaze, it could not have disappointed him more that not Katherine, but another young noblewoman greeted him with a bow. She was wearing a riding habit and her face was red from exertion; from her dated headdress a few bits of ruddy brown hair escaped.
‘My lord,’ she began timidly with another bow.
Freyza raised his brows. ‘I’m afraid you have the wrong person.’
‘No, my lord,’ she said with a snicker, her Massouric accent thick and noble-sounding. ‘Her Majesty unfortunately sent me for she was doubly booked this morning, so your appointment will unfortunately be rescheduled to next week Friday. Her Majesty is out hunting at this point in time.’
‘We have each and every Friday blocked, so I’m afraid there’s not much to reschedule,’ he sneered. ‘May I have your name, at least, my lady? I’m not used to my appointments being cancelled by people I’ve never seen before.’
She smiled. ‘Lady Margot,’ she said, ‘Lady-in-waiting — since a few weeks.’
‘Lady Margot,’ Freyza began. ‘Pleasure to make your acquaintance. I’m afraid I will need you to forward a message to Her Majesty. Quite simple. Tell her, if you will, that of course the royal agenda is packed tightly, and that it is with the utmost understanding that our lessons will commence next week. However, please do mention my name — that’s Lord Freyza of Tougaf.’
Margot seemed to be slightly worried by Freyza’s insistence. ‘Will do,’ she said, then quickly added, ‘My lord.’
Freyza offered her a watery smile. ‘Often, Massouric nationals wish to write it down so they don’t forget. It is a rather unusual name.’
‘I needn’t,’ she said. ‘But I will be on my way, Lord Freyza of Tougaf.’
He watched her leave and waited for her to go before sighing deeply. What was he to do with all of the anticipation that had plagued him for days now, that had built up as friction and agitation in his body? Out of sheer frustration, he picked up one of the books and slammed it with as much force as he had in him into the carpeted ground, letting out yet another sigh when its paper produced a muffled thud into the pile.
When he had recovered from the initial frustration, he looked around himself and cursed his idiotic thoughts. That he had convinced himself, and much worse, Katherine’s advisers, of this idea, was now beyond him. The gaudy Sbaian carpets, the ugly little desk with its plain legs, the mismatched chairs, the hopefully soft and elongated chaise-longue, it all looked childish to him now. It was clear that there was little he could do to contain Katherine within his grasp, and that she would always step out of reach just in time, that she would only appear at her own time like a cat seeking food at an unfamiliar doorstep.
It was then when he started considering taking it all down, starting with the landscape painting of his own shore. That painting, small and clumsily done by a local artisan early in his career, having hung opposite a portrait of a redheaded odalisque, now felt too vulnerable to keep out. All of a sudden, he heard footsteps again, and feeling annoyed already at yet another intruder, he got up to lock the door.
As he looked down, however, it was not the face of yet another intruding lady-in-waiting, there only to trample on his heart, and instead it was Katherine there for likely the same reason. She too was wearing a riding habit, and unlike Margot’s heart-shaped hood, Katherine wore a man’s flat cap with feathers that matched her dress.
She was looking up when he looked down. ‘Morning,’ she cooed. ‘Sorry I’m late.’
Mischievously she sprinted the rest of the way up the stairs, hiking her skirts up with her hands so she did not stumble, and made her way past him through the doorframe.
Freyza had his jaw clenched at first. ‘Your Majesty,’ he began. ‘I thought you’d cancelled for you were out riding.’
Katherine sat down and looked around, putting her hat down before her. ‘What?’ she asked. ‘Well, I’ve had a change of priorities. I wasn’t having so much fun after all. Besides, I’m hardly any good on a horse. Given that my advisers told me I’ll have to be taught the Sbaian tongue after all, and I can’t precisely wait it out for the Sbai Empire to fall, I should be prudent.’
With newfound poise, Freyza sat down opposite her. ‘Had you decided upon the hunting trip no longer being fun before or after Lady Margot told you that it was I who would be teaching the class?’ he asked. ‘More importantly, perhaps, that it was only I?’
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‘Margot hasn’t said anything of the sort,’ Katherine said. ‘And I knew it would be just you here — you hadn’t told me and it would have been likely that you were accompanied by a member of the embassy, but… I was aware this would be the situation, of course.’
‘Really?’ Freyza asked. ‘I’d asked her to mention that - suppose I’ll ask her when I see her around.’
There was a shift in Katherine’s demeanor from sly to rather bashful. ‘There’s… really no reason to question it,’ she said. ‘She’s new.’
He decided it was best to drop it, lest the checkmate he had created turned her against him. ‘My condolences, by the way,’ he said. ‘For your cousin’s death. I did not know about this when we were in Sanlieu, of course, so I haven’t been able to extend my condolences.’
‘Oh,’ Katherine said, chuckling a bit. ‘Thank you. We know very little at this point. I don’t even know if it’s been confirmed that condolences are in order.’
It was the truth that Freyza did not know either whether condolences were in order, he had just assumed that they would be. Shamefully, he scraped his throat and stood up again. ‘Tea, my lady?’ he asked. ‘I’ve been looking ever since I received word that this would be an activity I would undertake, for a good supplier of Sbaian teas. It’s been quite the journey.’
‘Yes,’ she said simply, not even turning her head.
Putting the full kettle — filled strategically in order not to idle with servants that would bring him water — on the heat, he asked forth, ‘Long or short tea?’
Katherine perked up. ‘What on earth does that mean?’
Freyza smirked. ‘Why, Lady Katherine… you’ve never heard of long or short tea? You’ve much to learn until your advisors send you, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, to meet His Excellency.’
‘It feels as though you are making a fool out of me,’ she said.
He stood by the fire until he thought the water would be hot and took a pair of cups from their equally calculated position on the dresser. ‘I suggest you pick one. If it’s not to your liking, I’ll happily make the other for you.’
Her eyes narrowed. ‘Long tea,’ she declared.
‘Long tea, as the lady wishes,’ he mused.
There was just one tin of tea by the cups. Freyza placed a sieve over the cup, spooned in some of the tea, and spread it out over the surface of the metal sieve. Katherine still sat, but was leaning over to the side so she could see what he was doing. When he had filled the two sieves, he placed one on the ground, just by the fire.
The moment Katherine saw him taking the kettle and pouring the piping hot water over the sieve, all while holding the kettle at chest height, she was unsure of whether to laugh or to scoff, and instead she sat looking rather mesmerized by his unlikely gift of nerve. He had briefly looked whether he was pouring into the cup, and even so, much of the water ricocheted off of the bottom of the cup or the surface of the water, but thereafter he completely ignored what he was doing, and instead looked to Katherine.
‘Do Fridays suit you, actually?’ he asked.
Katherine was perplexed by the display. ‘I’m sorry, but is long tea just tea poured from a high place?’ she asked.
‘Indeed,’ he said. ‘And short tea is tea poured from a lower place.’
‘And the point of this is…?’
Freyza quickly poured himself a cup as well, from a less acrobatic height, and swiftly walked over to the desk. ‘Frankly, the point of this is breaking the ice,’ he said, handing her her cup.
‘Consider it broken,’ Katherine said with a smile. ‘Though you needn’t play these charades. There simply is no point. You know as well as I do, that you live in my grace. It is high time you become more comfortable in my presence.’
‘That is simply an honour too great to accept,’ he said quickly, taking a small moment thereafter to bask in the glory of his accomplishment. ‘You needn’t say it. I am honoured to teach you.’
She smirked, flicking her gaze up to his face and down at her hand, the teacup perched elegantly against her fingers. ‘That’s another thing,’ she said. ‘Whose idea was this, if I may ask? I’ve not heard of the grandeur of your countrymen, at least not from my advisers. What’s the hurry?’
He scraped his throat. ‘Interesting that you should ask. The thing is, Lady Katherine, the Sultan has had a warm trade relationship with the Baradran Gineforts for as long as he’s purveyed anything. Many of his women are Baradrans, and those of sultans before him as well — you and him may be related by blood, I’ll say as an aside. Now those are unavailable, a slot has opened up for a new trading partner. I imagine Lady Louise will wish King Henri to fill that role, but the Sultan has spoken warmly of you, and at the embassy we decided that it would be the wisest to see if you would be responsive to learning the Sbaian tongue and humouring him. We all believe this will be enough to cull any budding cooperation between him and the Massouric king.’
‘I’m glad I’ve had a say in this, then,’ she complained. ‘What did Richard and Harcourt say? Whatever to get her out of our hair? As long as it won’t cost us anything?’
Freyza felt called to briefly raise his voice if only to stop her. ‘A brief interjection, Lady Katherine! You’ve any idea what this may bring Ilworth?’
Katherine clicked her tongue. ‘I haven’t a clue and I don’t particularly care.’
‘Do you care what it would bring you?’ he asked.
She simply shook her head, exasperated.
‘I think that you’ll be happy to know that the Sultan has agreed to a fool’s bargain,’ he began. ‘When I say he speaks warmly of you, by God, do I mean it. If you manage to write him in Sbaian, I’m sure you’ll be granted whatever you wish for. Houses, bolts of brocade, gold, gemstones, military interventions, ships, servants, wine, whatever your heart desires. And aside from that, isn’t it nice to have a little alcove to yourself twice a week, and not have to worry about your impending husband?’
Katherine huffed. ‘Do you really think I’d rather sit with my nose in the books rather than amuse some dimwitted, inbred Massouric prince? You imagine my talents are more suited to learning a whole new script and language, than they are to smalltalk and bawdy entertainment?’
‘Indeed, I do,’ Freyza said in protest. ‘I believe you are more intelligent and scholarly than your upbringing has taught you that it is ladylike to be.’
‘Well, you’d be wrong in believing,’ Katherine said. ‘Sorry if this was your idea. I don’t think this is a very good way of strengthening the relationship between our countries.’
‘Humour me,’ Freyza said. ‘You won’t be sorry you tried. Nobody ever regrets learning a skill. With all due respect, of course, Lady Katherine.’
Her expression suddenly softened, and she put the cup down. ‘Say… this is your idea, isn’t it? I don’t believe I’ve spoken to many others in your delegation. Everything goes through you.’
‘I— Well, Lady Katherine, I appear to be responsible,’ he began. ‘And as you know, we of course have a great rapport, what with the plentiful negotiations in our past.’
‘Negotiations…’ she echoed, ‘Is this your way to have an appointment scheduled with me twice weekly, simply to see me?’
The corners of Freyza’s mouth twitched. ‘Would that be selfish of me to wish, or would this be mutually beneficial?’ he asked.
She remained quiet, sitting back in her chair and grinning with the sort of sly madness brought on by realizing she had been right.
‘I do look forward to our mornings together,’ he continued. ‘I’ll say that much. To say that the initiative is purely amicable, however, would be too far.’
‘You’re too diplomatic,’ Katherine said. ‘What is it that you really mean to say? Or am I reading too much into it, perhaps?’
Freyza began to go quite red in the face. ‘You are owed a prosperous relationship with my country,’ he said. ‘That is the price I pay for the occasional presence of you that I have secured — a sort of diplomatic loyalty I cannot extend to your host, for example. I will cherish our time together but I do intend to teach you Sbaian.’
‘You speak to me like you intend to send me your portrait,’ she chuckled.
He laughed with her and leaned over his desk, elbows on the edge. ‘Lady Katherine, I harbour no illusions. And besides, if I were to pursue you, or anyone else for that matter, you wouldn’t question — you would know.’
‘Hm. Almost threatening,’ she said.
‘Threatening? Don’t be ridiculous.’
‘In a good way,’ Katherine added, gesturing with her hand playfully. ‘Threatening in a good way.’
Freyza huffed. ‘There is such a thing?’
‘Certainly,’ Katherine said, furrowing her brows. ‘No man would be half as interesting if not for the mystical intersection of tenderness and vehemence.’
He chuckled, realizing he had reached the great orator Queen Katherine rather than the woman Katherine of Courtenay, the former of which he did not admire nearly as much as the latter. Demonstratively, he dusted off what appeared to be an ancient tome and opened it with a loud thud.
‘And the Sbaian language would be half as interesting if not for the mystical intersection of you writing the sultan a letter, and the sultan sending you a chest full of gold pieces back,’ Freyza said.
Katherine chuckled. ‘I’ll consider paying attention now.’