I did not expect to find a dress that specifically compensates for my bandaged arm, but I guess Avernian upper society has its quirks. Nor did I expect a single fancy dress to cost almost that entire absurd purse that Antoine gave me, leaving me without enough to buy shoes. I pray no one looks down at my feet and notices I’m wearing my marching boots to this party. I doubt this is particularly 'hoity toity' of me but they are the only shoes I have, and I need to be here and... Will Her Majesty look at me like a freak for this? Like an uncultured weirdo? Like a disgraceful peasant who can't even afford stupid, fancy shoes?

My eyes drift upwards, as if the stupid glass structures above my head might hold the answers in their endless dance of color. Stained glass mosaics, chandeliers, little mirrors, a sea of utterly disorienting light which would be pretty if it wasn't overwhelming. And empty. I find no answers up there, just a little more anxiety. Am I supposed to be impressed by it? Is the fact I’m not impressed a sign I shouldn't be here? ... Is Antoine better in places like this?

I am a depressed, slumped creature, stalking the grandest ballroom in Avernia... At least until my eyes catch a glimpse of Her Majesty. Now I’m faced with the opposite problem, having two new and different energies overpowering me. One which wants to run towards her, and one which wants to flee…

"I've gotten some good headlines, maybe I won't be a threat-"

My thoughts are cut off by Her Majesty's eyes finding mine and lighting up considerably. She... She’s happy to see me! ... She is in fact very happy to see me, she makes her excuses to the well-dressed sycophants taking her attention and rushes to me at the highest speed polite society allows.

"Y... Your Majesty-"

Before I know it, she is hugging me. And I try my absolute hardest not to cry. Both at the sheer feeling of unbridled beauty that I feel from the very first time I have ever touched Her Majesty, and from the tearing pain of my left arm as she holds me tightly. It's okay, she doesn't know I am wounded, it's okay... She's touching me, and I won't let a little thing like pain keep me from that.

"You... You saved my little girl! It's all over the papers and... Thank you!" Her Majesty looks about to cry herself, giving me an agonizing, beautiful, soft, and plush squeeze.

"A... And I would do it again." I try my best to project confidence and flair, but it’s difficult to be anything but worried about how much Her Majesty might know about my interactions with her daughter. "... She returned home okay?"

"She did, eventually. She didn't even tell me she was leaving!" Her Majesty's hold is still tight, I worry she might reopen my wound at this rate... But I can't tell her to stop. "... All I know is that you were the one who saved her, she told me herself when she returned today."

"Oh! ... What precisely did she tell you about-"

"Let's not get into that, Mademoiselle Pollineux." Her Majesty slowly detaches herself from me, looking away for a moment... But just a moment. "Regardless... Thank you. Dearly. For your service to my family."

"You're... You're welcome."

This feels weird, this bittersweet praise. I don't want to serve her family, I want to BE her family! But... I want to make her happy too, and this absolutely did that... Serving her family... Will she be happy if I defend her husband in the way I defend her? I don't want to consider that possibility, but…

"You're certainly doing a better job of protecting me than my useless husband... Ah, don't tell anyone I said that." Her Majesty's nervous little giggle is angelic, but I hate that the world might dare make her nervous.

"I would rather die than spill your secrets, Your Majesty! I would rather be eaten by a troll or crushed inside a golemized loom than dare violate your confidence! I would-"

"Hehe, I get the point." Her Majesty gives a less awkward, more genuine laugh, and in this moment Her Majesty is more radiant than any lights above me. "You really are a spirited girl, Mademoiselle Pollineux. Whatever you do, you do with such sincerity!"

"I... Well, I can have no secrets from you, Your Majesty." My smile is an anxious one… In spite of Her Majesty's clear joy, she has yet to call me 'Serena'.

"Hehe..." There isn't as much amusement behind that giggle, it carries a bitterness I am not privy to. "I only wish we weren't in ‘polite’ company; I could be more candid. More sincere."

"... Are you afraid of prying eyes and listening ears?"

"Yes... There are rumors enough that I'm a scheming foreign harlot without being rather wantonly open with a General. It's that you saved my little girl that I can risk being even this close I'm afraid. No one would judge a mother hugging her daughter's savior that harshly." I realize now that she's making a concerned effort to whisper quietly, while trying not to look like she’s whispering.

If she was anyone but Her Majesty I doubt I'd be able to hang on her every word like this. "... How much leeway do we have?"

"Mademoiselle Pollineux, I didn't take you for a greedy sort!"

"W... Well!" I suddenly realize just how loud I’m being, and try my absolute hardest to emulate her little whispers. "I just so happen to value your attention more than the gossiping of these... Grown-ups."

"Hehe, I'm a grown-up too, you know."

"Not one of them. Not to me, Your Majesty."

She looks down, but I swear I see a blush upon her cheeks. Something that surely couldn't just be my imagination, something which must be real! ... She's just so gorgeous, I can’t help but adore her even when her eyes are directed to the floor before me... The floor... She’s going to see my shoes! Oh gods oh dear oh heck!

"I... I can explain-"

Her Majesty's tone seems to waver a little as her eyes catch my footwear. "Look at what my castigation has done to you... You can't even afford proper shoes."

"W... Well they are pretty expensive, but-"

"I'm sorry, Serena."

"No!"

My shout is louder than I intend for it to be, but I don't care if I catch every eye in Alesia right now, I will not allow Her Majesty to be sorry! She is my goddess, everything she does is entirely necessary, so she doesn't need to be sorry! And everything I've done was to let us have this moment... Everything…

I reach under Her Majesty's chin and pull her head upwards, bringing her eyes back up to mine. "Don't be sorry. I am here for you, so you never have to be sorry."

"S... Serena..." For a brief moment, she seems genuinely affected... Before her eyes dart around the room, her expression frightful. "... I think we overdid it."

"O... Oh..." I unhand her face, she’s genuinely terrified... And I will not have that. "... You know, I'm sure if I cut the right rope all these glass things will fall on everyone's heads. We wouldn't have to worry about prying eyes then."

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

This is a horribly morbid thing to say, and yet it seems to absolutely delight Her Majesty, enough to shake her out of her little moment of terror. "Hehe, even from what little I know of you, that might be the most 'Serena' plan I've ever heard of."

Lazierte... No, it's okay, I'm with Her Majesty now, no one else should be on my mind! "I'll take that as a compliment, Your Majesty.”

"Maybe one day I'll be bold enough to pull off some 'Serena'-ish plans myself."

Her Majesty looks rather contemplative, and I wonder if I've somehow influenced her thinking... Surely not, I'm but a mere supplicant, that we're even having this conversation is a miracle... That she's being so human in my presence is a miracle... It's strange, after worship and prayer and... Blasphemy... When I'm finally face to face with my goddess, she is a perfectly normal woman. A girl I want to know.

A girl I might like to dance with. Even the people staring at us are dancing, arms and hands upon one another and yet they seem more interested in everyone other than their dance partners. It's honestly a little sickening that they could be so neglectful, and that it could be so normal. Surely if you dance with someone, it should be because you want to... Right?

Her Majesty studies me closely, taking a brief glance down at my shoes before returning her gaze to my eyes and giving me a rather mischievous grin. "I know what you're thinking. And I think we've already lost the opportunity to not be talked about. May as well dance like nobody's watching, right?"

I audibly swallow, I think I love Her Majesty... Of course I love Her Majesty, I worship Her Majesty! What a ridiculous thing to think, that I love Her Majesty when I already do! ... Very ridiculous... I take a little step closer to her, and then I realize…

"I ummm... I have no idea how to dance."

"I'll take the lead then, just follow me."

Putting her hand on me, Her Majesty looks rather confident. Trying to move my left hand to hold her though…

"Oww... Owwwww!" ... I finally can't take the pain anymore, I am such a failure. "Uhhh, sorry! I just, my left arm was recently almost sliced off so-"

Her Majesty’s eyes go wide, staring at my left shoulder with alarming concern. "... Are you sure you should be at a ball, and not in a Cotton Grove-"

"I'm okay! I just... Can't use that arm."

"... If you insist then."

Her Majesty takes my right hand in hers, and we fall quickly into what must be the clumsiest dance of her entire life. I follow her lead as well as my leather combat boots allow me, I hold her hand tightly and let myself be close to her. Close enough to smell her, close enough to be intoxicated with her.

But not close enough that I can't hear people's little comments, little private barbs about the pair of us. "Isn't that the younger General Pollineux, dancing with Her Majesty?"

Another step, a little half-turn. "I thought the Pollineux family was in bed with the Aeduian Restorationists."

A sway, a step back. "Well, this one looks like she wants to be in bed with Her Grace. Maybe the family's not so united after all."

A turn, a slide. "Isn't she staying with that Rosierte fellow? Rising star of the Humanist Salon? Are they trying to court royal favor by sending their pet General?"

A dip... A temptation to kiss Her Majesty in front of everyone in the world. "She'd be dancing with the King if that were the case. That foreign whore has no real power."

... With every second that passes, my plan to collapse the glass of the Glass Garden upon the well-to-do of Alesia becomes more and more tempting. Her Majesty seems to be trying to put on a brave face, but I see something in her eyes, something that is holding back tears.

"... How can people say such awful things? Do they have no soul?" I can't help but ask, that Her Majesty is subject to this bullying must be a sin.

"You get used to it after a while..." Her Majesty pulls me up from the dip, and the steps continue, as do the barbs.

A blonde waitress approaches us, carrying a pair of glasses on a platter... She seems familiar somehow. Either way, Her Majesty takes a glass, filled with some golden, bubbly liquid. I suppose this was as good a situation as any for drinking, but I decided to refrain from taking the other glass. I want to be as present as possible for this moment.

"Awww, Serena. Don't make me drink alone, I'll feel like a lush!" She lets go of my hip to hold her glass, but she doesn't let go of my hand.

"I... I've never drunk alcohol before." I really can have no secrets from Her Majesty, not even the pathetic little ones.

"You never danced before today either, you know. Hehe, I'll lead you with this too." She offers the glass to me and puts it near my lips.

... This morning proved that this is completely normal and not even slightly intimate, but Gods do I feel flushed. I lean in and accept, letting myself take a little sip, not wanting to be greedy and take too much of Her Majesty's drink... And I immediately start to feel heavy. Her Majesty has been stepping this whole time, I've been following, but now my legs feel like they're made of mud, formless and heavy. Holding Her Majesty's hand is getting more difficult, my arm quickly becomes too weak to support the weight of my fingers... And my eyelids seem determined to fall, the eyes behind them are determined to dim... Is this really what alcohol does?

"S-rna?" I catch maybe a handful of Her Majesty's words. "Are- kay?"

I try to nod my head... Or shake my head, I can't remember which one I’m trying to do, but my neck simply sways messily. I open my mouth to speak, but end up slack-jawed as the words fail to make it from my brain to my throat.

"Oh G- You- Poison?" Her Majesty is panicking now, her eyes appear to be darting anywhere and everywhere in the room. "Some- poison- Gods- Fuck."

I didn't know Her Majesty used such language. Maybe she and Pasche would get along well... Oh dear, Pasche will get worried if I’ve been poisoned, she was upset enough when I was almost de-limbed... I'll have to apologize to her again. Thank goodness she and Xena are at that buffet table together; I can go apologize right now…

... Wait, what? No no no, this is surely the poison doing weird things to my brain, these two simply would not be in a place like this, and Xena absolutely would not be wearing a frilly pink dress... Still, I weakly raise my hand, pointing at the pair, as if I can somehow disprove their presence by having someone else observe it.

"Those two? What- important?"

"Friends..." I think the words come out... Wait, Her Majesty can see them too?

And she can apparently drag my useless, stupid body over to them, and upon closer inspection they both appear to be very real. Pasche even has dancing shoes, quite elegant-looking ones. Red dress and white dancing shoes... It suits her. Xena in pink... Looks a lot more awkward.

"You two! Serena- Help- Poison!" Her Majesty seems so very far away, even when I'm in her arms like this.

Pasche meanwhile does as I expect of her and freaks out. "How?! How- how- how-"

And Xena... Simply tries to extract me from Her Majesty's grasp, trying to work that science magic on me. "The diagnosis- Smoother if- Not being held."

Her Majesty quickly releases me, and Xena gently guides me to the floor while examining my useless form. Playing with my eyelids, lifting and dropping my limbs. Eventually, to the horror of Pasche and Her Majesty, she reaches a finger in my mouth and takes some saliva, before tasting it herself. Perfectly normal friend behavior, naturally.

"-Not dying. -Drugged." Xena sighs, turning her attention to the buffet table, grabbing seemingly random items from atop it.

"Seriously- How- Happen- My girl-" Pasche, having put me in Xena's capable hands, seems to be castigating Her Actual Majesty, apparently being bold enough to talk back to a goddess.

"She- My drink... Oh gods- Drugged her. -Sorry!"

Please don't be sorry, Your Majesty... I got to save you again...

Just as I feel my consciousness begin to fade, Xena shoves something in my mouth. Perfectly normal thing to do, so I swallow.

I never thought I'd have to miss the feeling of my eyelids being eyelids, but I am about ready to kiss Xena for making me a person again... Would that be normal? It was normal with Pasche after all, I had decided it was…

As I consider this perfectly normal, non-blasphemous thing Her Majesty leans down, looking into my eyes and stroking my hair. "Thank the Gods! ... I... I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, this is all my fault!"

"... It’s okay, Your Majesty. Don’t you remember?" I still feel a little out of it, but I can at least talk now. "I will never not protect you."

Her Majesty actually sheds a tear. It splashes onto my nose and leaves me very confused for a few moments. Pasche is utterly apoplectic, and I note that she appears to have worn her cavalry gloves to this event... She better not even think of harming Her Majesty…

Just as the four of us are having this little drama a voice booms throughout the Glass Garden, a familiar voice... "Ladies and gentlemen, The High King demands your attention for an address to all those attending! Be standing and show His Majesty the proper respect!"

Her Majesty winces, hearing the booming voice of The Marshal, and looks about ready to spit in disgust. "... Well, we might just be fine after all. Whatever stupid bullshit my husband comes up with will probably take our spot in the headlines, Serena..."