The air was heavy, thunder cracked the heavens as the roar of the rain deadened the air of any other sound. The carriage had to slow down as the rain obscured the driver's vision. Luckily though with this bad weather most monsters would find shelter.
"Ooh it's really coming down huh." Amethyst commented while sticking her head out of the carriage.
"I'm staying in the carriage." Aiko spoke stubbornly while crossing her arms, but as Amethyst came back in she shook her head and Aiko leaped back with her tail leaping straight up and bristling.
"Aiko it's just rain though. Don't you wanna rinse off the dirt, sweat, and blood from the trip here?" Amethyst exclaimed, Maria glanced at Aiko, she was definitely pouting and was cute. She settled back down and frowned with indecision.
"Hehe, Aiko I didn't know you were scared of water! You've always been more serious than Amethyst. But you're being kinda cute right now." Clara spoke up while giggling, Aiko could barely contain her blush.
"We're approaching the city. If it wasn't raining so hard we'd be able to see it from here." Garth spoke up, "They'll do a search and verify everyone's paperwork. Then they'll let us in. Hopefully nothing more than that."
"It would be frustrating if the guard who does the check tries to pin a crime on Amethyst or Aiko. But with my status and reason for being here I should be able to brute force through once my paperwork has been verified." Maria replied, "We won't linger or give them time to come up with something."
"That's a good idea." Garth agreed with a smile.
"Clara, stay as close to me as possible. I don't want you to leave my sight this entire trip." Maria spoke sternly to her. "That's an order from your Master, understand."
"U-um, yes. Lady Maria I will stick by your side no matter what." Clara responded with surprise, Maria had never given her an official order before.
"I can see the gate!" Amethyst exclaimed, hanging out the window again. Maria turned and looked, her heart thumping harder as she could see the large wall and steel gate. It didn't take them long to get to the entrance, as they stopped in front of the gate the door to the guard station outside opened and a tidy looking man in uniform with light steel armor came out. A wind spell active and keeping him dry, he approached the carriage and peered into the back.
"License and registration please." He spoke up as his eyes wandered, he soon settled on Maria, the only one wearing noble clothing. She stood up and pulled a small stack of papers from her bag.
"Here you go sir, licenses for everyone here, a slave contact, and an official invitation to the Princess's birthday. My name is Maria Macuroll and I'm the current head of the family." Maria spoke formally as she handed him the papers.
"Hmm, interesting, so you three are from Blushai. Ha, have you enjoyed your time in Kozak?" He read through the papers before looking up, He laughed as he pointed his question at Aiko and Amethyst. "Maria, you're a noble of this great and holy country so I'm sure you understand." He smiled at her, Clara suddenly felt his eyes touch her, she immediately hid behind Maria. "Would you be willing to sell these two beasts to me? I'll make it worth your while and. . . My your little fox slave there is. . . Screw the other two. I can tell just by looking at her she's pure. I would pay you two thousand gold coins to borrow her for a night." Maria's face only got harder as he kept talked, she calmly approached the edge of the carriage and looked him in the eyes.
"Sir, I'm here on official business ordered by the crown. Not only are you holding me up, but you are being extremely disrespectful and making my servant and companions uncomfortable. May we enter the city now please." Maria spoke coldly, the guard froze as a bead of sweat dripped down.
"Oh, ha yes of course Lady Macuroll ma'm, I deeply apologize. But I must say before you go. Be careful. I hope nothing bad happens to any of your friends during their stay." He then offered her a hand shake, she sighed and obliged, barely hiding her surprise as she felt something in her hand. She hardened her gaze as he walked away, the gate opened and the carriage lurched as they began to move again. Maria glanced at the paper and frowned, a thoughtful look on her face.
"Maria, thanks." Clara sighed in relief as she leaned against her.
"Of course, it's my job to protect you." Maria responded, she then stood up and stepped past the group and climbed up into the driver's seat. She winced as a large raindrop landed on her cheek. Cold air greeted her as her hair began to get wet, she pulled her hood up and spoke to the driver. She showed him the piece of paper and he nodded.
"Yes of course Miss Maria. That's definitely doable. We'll be at the inn soon. I'm sure you're all quite tired.
"Yes, thank you for your help. I'll let David know how good of a job you did when I meet him at the party." Maria acknowledged the driver's quality before returning to the carriage's interior.
~
Maria sighed as she sunk into a bed for the first time in almost two weeks. She sighed as she felt Clara's fingers combing through her hair.
"It's just gonna be me and you at the ball huh, surrounded by nobles, most of which will look down or discriminate against me. Are you sure you want me to accompany you." Clara asked with a bit of worry.
"Clara, I don't care about any of these people. My territory is too far from them for their opinions to matter. I want you with me because I enjoy being with you. You put me at ease. But I won't make you go." Maria responded, reaching up to grab Clara's hand.
"I'll walk through her beside you master." Clara replied.
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"Clara, please call me Maria. . ." Maria sighed, looking up at her friend. "It's tomorrow, I'm nervous." Clara hugged Maria as she slipped into bed and pulled her close.
"It'll be fine. You were invited by the princess I'm sure it'll be fine." Clara reassured her.
In the next room over Aiko and Amethyst elected to share a room even while offered individual rooms. Garth grabbed his own room as well.
"Aiko, do you wanna go on a date tomorrow!" Amethyst teased as she leaned on her companion. "Oh, yeah of course we'll find a good sea food place. You know it's gonna be expensive though. . . Wait do you only love me for my money. How awful!" Amethyst spoke with exaggerated hurt.
"Sushi, I wanna try it." Aiko spoke up finally, leaning forward she gave Amethyst a quick kiss on the cheek. "You're loud, people are sleeping." She reprimanded her gently before she began to undress for bed. Amethyst was suddenly quiet, Aiko paused halfway through taking her top off and turned to look at Amethyst. The girl was staring. . . hard.
Bang
"Ahh, ow ow ow!" Amethyst whimpered while holding her head, "I'm Sowwy Awko. Ow ow, my twong." Aiko had given her a chop to the head and she seemed to have bit her tongue. This caused Aiko to smirk as she finished undressing. Amethyst politely looked away as she undressed herself. They then climbed into bed together.
"I hope Maria and Clara don't run into any trouble while in the castle." Amethyst mumbled as she rubbed her head with a hurt look. Aiko sighed and pulled her closer, the only sound as they drifted off to sleep was the quiet thumping of a happy dog's tail.
~
The next morning, before the sun was even up Maria was finished getting dressed and was helping Clara.
"I don't know about this, I look. . ." Clara mumbled as she fiddled with her clothes. She was wearing the most expensive dress she'd ever worn. It was themed similar to Maria's with stars and planets on a blue and purple color scheme. Hers were silver though, over the dress she wore an apron decorated with similar silver stars and two silver stylized moons on each of the pockets at the bottom of the apron. The ribbons that held the apron on were transparent with silver planets and stars drifting amongst the fabric. Her collar had long since switched from the cold metal to a comfortable leather with her name engraved on a silver plate. But Maria had tied an expensive ribbon around it. It was also see through like her back ribbon. Lastly she was wearing thigh high socks with a galaxy theme, starting black at the bottom and slowly being filled with stars towards the top. Her shoes were similar in style to Maria's.
"It's fine, if I dress you like this it should make it more clear that I value you. People who want to make a good impression on me should be nice to you due to that. And those who don't are just gonna do what they would have done anyways." Maria explained as she tidied up the outfit. "besides, you look absolutely stunning." Maria assured her before turning and leading the way out of their room. The inn they were staying at was a noble inn and they were in a multi-room suite. Surprisingly Aiko and Amethyst were up already, eating breakfast.
"Hey! We got up early to see you off." Amethyst explained as she stood up, "Also Aiko cooked some toast for breakfast. It's sooo yummy!"
Maria smiled as she sat down at the table, Clara did the same."
"You guys both look amazing, no one at the ball will come close to those outfits!" Amethyst praised then as she placed toast on a plate in front of each of them.
By the time they left the inn the sun was peaking above the horizon, and a carriage was waiting for them, unexpectedly.
"Ah, my lord Maria you look absolutely stunning!" A cheerful voice spoke up as a familiar face stepped down from the carriage. She recognized the Spearman family crest on the carriage and watched with a light smile as he took a knee and kissed her hand. "Would you let me escort you to the ball my dear?" He asked as he stood up once more, his eyes drifted to Clara and she flinched subconsciously.
"Oh my, how beautiful, you two are matching. I must say the golden planets fit so well with your golden hair Lady Maria, and the silver ones do the same for you miss Clara. You both are beautiful by yourselves, but together you become a beautiful painting." David complimented them with a smile. Maria returned that smile.
"If you don't mind, I would greatly enjoy accompanying you." Maria replied as she courtesied by bending a knee and slightly lifting the left and right hem of her dress.
David glowed at that reaction and then opened the door to the carriage for them. The two girls hopped inside and sat down, David sat across from them. Then, without delay the carriage began to move.
"Maria how have you been, I'm sure it's been tough getting everything under control after your father's defeat." David began a topic as he settled his eyes on her.
"It's been rough but I had help from several sources. As they depart one by one I feel a bit heavier, but they did most the heavy lifting so it's only right I handle it from here on out." Maria replied confidently.
"That's absolutely splendid." David spoke happily, "So about our talks, I have finalized the documents needed to implement the new regulations on the slave trade of Otalos. This will also allow us to return runaways to their Masters rather than reselling them. And tackling illegal slavery. . . That's a complicated issue It'll take me longer to implement proper regulations for that." David explained, he seemed hesitant on the implementation of legality checks. This upset Clara slightly but before she could say anything Maria's hand was on her thigh and she glanced at her and smiled.
"Anyways if someone ends up in slavery there's probably a reason right, though on a lighter note this is a party so enough business. We're here to have fun right, Maria are you looking forward to seeing the princess for the first time. I've heard she's absolutely stunning." David skillfully changed the subject, a smile seemed to dare her to ask about his deeper opinion on slaves. But she didn't, her opinion of him was dropping though.
"Ah, yes, it'll be a wonderful experience. This will be my first proper engagement at the Royal Castle. My father had been in the past but I was too young." Maria let him change the subject with a stiff look on her face. David only seemed to smile without noticing, their conversations continued for awhile. Devolving into mindless chatter as they slowly approached the castle.
Maria and Clara stepped down from the carriage, bowing and thanking David, he smiled and waved. When he could no longer see them anymore he stepped out alone. "Jack, keep an eye on them." David's butler nodded and the carriage closed and trotted away, another butler soon was walking by David's side he leaned down and whispered into David's ear.
"Sir the gate guard and inn staff have relayed their reports, Maria was almost exclusively escorted by beasts. She was visibly angry at the offer. The verdict reached is that she's a beast lover, just like the hero." The Butler informed calmly.
"Wonderful work, thank you. Ahh this is gonna be quite the eventful ball isn't it." David smiled happily as a newfound energy filled his steps as he entered the castle.
Clara stuck close to Maria as they entered a large hall filled with people, she immediately began to observe and analyze. The first thing she noticed was a divide, there were social classes even this high up. The big shots were all already here and mingling amongst themselves not one of them glanced at Maria or Clara. The class one ring lower examined them lightly as they entered but soon looked away in disgust as they landed on Clara.
The people still looking at and examining them were the lower rung nobles. A lot of disgust was directed at her. The hair on the back of her neck was standing up at the blatant hostility.
A girl in a pretty gown locked eyes with Maria and slowly made her made over. she smiled holding a glass of wine and stumbled slightly, she seemed to be in a drunken stupor even though the party had only recently started. As she approached Maria she suddenly tripped over her feet, spilling her wine as she fell in Maria's direction.