This is a rewrite of a previously published work. There is a lot of new content in it, but it is not wholly new content. There will be new chapters coming.
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The castle felt a little more lonely in the next weeks.
I didn't really get any alone time with any of the girls. They'd still tease me when it was just us, but it wasn't the same when I couldn't do anything to vent out any of my frustrations beyond being thrown around the practice field. And that got old, even if I had been having more fun with it lately.
Shari was with me most of the time, though she and Carmella had begun to play that same board game a lot. I'd attend court with Meryl, do my reading, and train. Sometimes the training would be against Shari, but usually, it was still against Carmella. She even let us come at her simultaneously and working together, we got closer than I ever had alone. Shari was a remarkable fighter. Hard to hit, fast on her feet, and incredibly precise. I was still slow and clunky comparatively. But that wasn't going to stop me.
One of the things I noticed was the stark differences in the way that Shari and the First Knight approached fighting. Lady Carmella controlled the whole of the battle and tried to predict and manage what the other person did. Shari didn't do that. She'd weave in and out and wait for an opening. But not just any opening. One that would be debilitating. On the First Knight, these were few and far between. On me, they were decidedly much more common. She'd stab at my kidneys, slice at my throat. Lady Carmella almost always focused on limbs, figuring that if she could disable an attacking limb, she'd have time to deal with everything else. Shari never wanted the fight to last that long.
"The longer the fight lasts, the more likely something is to go wrong for me," was the only explanation she'd give. Which made a lot of sense. And to be fair to the knight, she didn't mince words or actions; if she could end it sooner, she would.
Against me, this had disastrous effects and Emilia had to be called out more than once. She didn't really seem to approve of what we were doing, but she didn't contradict the First Knight. She'd just say, "I don't see the point of all of this" to me as I would regain consciousness. And I'd just smile and shrug. I had grown to enjoy the time with Carmella and even Shari. It felt good to do any exercise, now that I wasn't in a forge for twelve hours a day.
Shari still spent her nights in my bed, and I was sure that was part of what drove the others away. I'll talk to Meryl after court and petition her for a room for Shari, I thought. I doubt it'll actually work, but I have to try. Sleeping next to the Ipet-Mau every night was incredibly frustrating. She seemed allergic to clothes and not nearly allergic enough to me.
One day, when the queen had come to rouse me for court, Shari spoke up. "Your majesty, could I accompany you and Johann to the court. It gets so boring here with no one to play with."
"We are not playing," I pointed out, pulling my breeches on. Shari shrugged half-heartedly at me.
"Perhaps not, but surely it is more interesting than being here all alone," her voice was as smooth as silk as she redirected. Meryl's eyes fell on me, waiting for me to say something. There was a mischievous twinkle in her expression. Great, she expects me to say something stupid.
"It can be interesting," I hedged. I didn't find it so, normally. But there were moments where I would find myself engrossed. But it was a comforting routine in some ways. Being around the queen and hearing the plight of people who had far more problems than I did. Finding solutions felt good. "But I don't know that this is a good idea. I caused the queen a lot of trouble in the court and I'd rather not give Meryl yet another headache."
The queen looked especially pleased at my response, but I think this was mostly because I was being considerate of her and not my newfound respect for courtly decorum. Shari considered this for a moment. She then laid back and looked at her brightly colored nails, examining their sharp points. Ipet-Mau fingers ended in sharp talons and apparently it was common practice for those from Desca to paint them brilliant colors. Shari had chosen the same sky blue as her eyes and reapplied the paints every few days, when it started to flake off.
"Perhaps you are right," the cat-woman replied nonchalantly. "It might do me some good to be unsupervised for a while. Though, I am surprised you all trust me so soon. I'm honored, even." My eyes widened with realization. I glanced up to Meryl who was grinning.
"Oh. No, we couldn't have that," the queen began, unable to keep the amusement out of her tone. "Shari is your responsibility, Johann. But you cannot shirk your responsibility to me and to the court either." She made her way to loom over Shari, continuing in a sickly sweet tone, "You may accompany us to the court, but heed the advice I should have given," she paused for a moment, mimicking the other woman, "our dearest Johann." She cleared her throat, stiffening some. "Do not, under any circumstances, interrupt myself or any of the petitioners. You are my guest, not my equal."
I shuddered at her tone. Her voice had a hardness that I had never heard before. Typically, when she was with me, she was a little soft-spoken, a little petulant, and perhaps a little bratty. I'd seen her give decrees before and even intervene in arguments previously. But I had never seen her so directly, so preemptively shut someone down. I would have probably wilted at my queen looking at me like that. But Shari looked pleased. She sat up straight and smiled up at the queen.
"And if I have an opinion on your ruling?" The woman asked, trying to give off an air of innocence. "Or on what I'm seeing? Am I to keep it to myself?"
"Yes," Meryl said, her tone dark and final. The playfulness had faded out of her entirely. I frowned at her. She has all this power, all of these amazing things she could do. And yet she seems the happiest when she's able to eschew all of it. To just fool around with me or Emilia. With Lady Carmella. Another voice countered, That's also when you're the happiest. And it was. Without them, none of these insane things I was being expected to do would be remotely worth it.
"I see," Shari responded cryptically, going back to examining her nails. "I'll keep that in mind."
We made our way to the court. Somehow I had been flanked by both of them and was forced to walk awkwardly as they played tug-of-war with my arms, both opting to hug them. It was awkward and annoying, but it was also two beautiful women. Which meant that I folded to their whims. Seemed like the only reasonable course of action.
When we actually got to court, I stood on one side of Meryl, and Shari stood on the other. There was a heavy load of petitioners today and people coming to discuss various issues. There was news from Babrycg. The adventurers Queen Meryl had dispatched had uncovered that the elves in the city were being trafficked. They apparently suspected that Lord Sharcaol had a hand in it and were formulating a plan to liberate them. Details were sparse,given that they were weeks out and even with magic, news could only travel so fast.
About halfway through the day, an older woman limped up and bowed deeply, prostrating herself fully on the floor. Between the etiquette books I'd been reading and being in court more often, I'd gotten better at recognizing finer clothes, and I could tell that her's were nice, but out of fashion by a few decades. They looked old and well worn, obviously fitted to her. Or would've been at one point. It now looked too large on her, like she'd lost a lot of weight.
She had two young companions with her; they might have been related, but I couldn't be sure. Both had dark eyes and looked strong. Their clothes were suitable for attendants, not too dissimilar to the clothes I'd been given. They looked just as out of fashion, as far as I knew these things. The elderly woman lifted herself from her bow, her liver-spotted hands shaking.
"Your majesty, I'm sorry for... " The old woman started coughing heavily, and I thought she would fall over. Neither of her two companions reached out to help her. One of them gave a brief glare down at the woman. I frowned at that, as unease spread out into my stomach.
After a few moments, she calmed down and continued, "Interrupting your day with a minor trifle, but, as you c-can see, my health is failing." The woman wasn't wrong. The cough was bad enough, but she looked haggard and exhausted, despite her fancy dress. "I was wondering if you might be able to spare... some medicine or a physician. None of the people in my town have been able to figure out what's happening."
I saw Shari's body language change out of the corner of my eye. She had been paying attention this entire time, in that way only cats could really do, but this was the first time she'd moved at all. That she'd reacted at all. She stepped forward so she was next to Queen Meryl and tapped the armrest with one of her lacquered nails. The queen in the chair looked over, frowning. I stepped closer so that I'd hear what the Ipet-Mau was saying. She leaned in and whispered something into Meryl's ear, and her eyes widened, and she looked back to the old woman and her caretakers. I heard the queen whisper, "Are you sure?"
Shari nodded, her face a grim mask. I looked at the petitioners again. The woman was clutching a handkerchief in her hand. It was white with red blotches on it. She really is dying. Maybe Shari's seen the sickness before? I asked myself. Before I could ask for clarification, Meryl spoke, "Citizen, what is your name?"
"Oh, my queen. I'm sorry. I didn't introduce myself. I am Mara Tripand." Without putting away her handkerchief, she curtsied deeply to the throne. "My family... we are minor nobles." The woman seemed almost apologetic for that. I had been going through some of the histories of the kingdom, and the surname pushed up some memories of my reading.
The Tripand family... They had been a more prominent noble family about 150 years ago. They were very close to the throne and had the central family been eliminated, they might've taken it. It was discovered that they had colluded with some of the Wyefalls elves and had funded an attack in Babrycg. The country was thrown into a bloody war. Things hadn't been good between the two nations before that, but this had only made things worse. Way worse. The war wound down only after spies uncovered the plot by the Tripand family. They were tried and put under the same Zone of Truth spell Emilia used on Shari and I. They still had a lot of ties and a lot of connections, so they couldn't just be executed for treason. But their land was taken by the kingdom, and they were pushed to the island's far side, opposite Wyefalls. They were still nobles, but their power had been hampered entirely.
I looked over to Meryl, who was considering her options. It was a moment or two before she spoke.
"Shari, Johann," Queen Meryl began, command and iron in her tone. "Take Lady Tripand to Emilia and have her check her out." I was in motion immediately. Shari hesitated for a beat longer, considering the queen, but did as she was instructed.
