Chapter 3: Blending in
(7,2k words, focus on humans, slight teasing, female muscle, futanari, character motivations and backstory, last build-up chapter - > I promise ;)
Day after day passed and slowly their unexpected stay turned into weeks - and the two dealt completely differently with it.
The blonde heir cherished the chance to let loose for a bit and loved the casual talks she had with her new friends and the customers, while Alexia mostly silently guarded over her and the place from the darkest corner of the inn - not interested in any conversation whatsoever.
By actually talking with people the younger hermaphrodite learned some interesting things about their new "home".
The whole city was completely independent at this point. Sure, there was technically a mayor installed to collect taxes for the crown, but he got bribed by the locals years ago. Mostly by organized gangs of militia in exchange for further privileges and to keep the new ruling class in the dark about their self-autonomy.
And so, the whole town earned a false reputation for being a complete and utter criminal mess, almost impossible and certainly impractical to rule over. This alone would cost the heads of the mayor and everyone else involved if the highking would ever find out, but their self-sufficiency - or treason, like Anastasia would put it - reached far deeper.
Many districts were ruled by sons or widows of the former rebellion leaders or well-known freedom fighters. These people earned the gratitude of the other citizens and even after their sacrifice their names still lived on and so did their legacy in form of their now respected families.
That was, odd, to say the least for the two hermaphrodites. Seeing the other side of the conflict and how the humans had to work with what little they had left ... was an admirable feat. Which made Margaret especially empathize with them, despite her mother's completely opposite teachings and world view. Alexia much less so.
Margaret's openminded attitude was surprisingly well received by the rowdy, mostly borderline wasted, but also towards her oftentimes very charming clientele.
They would often eagerly tell her from their adventures on sea or what distant places they travelled to regularly, places the princess only knew from books and tales. The new waitress - and especially her daily piano play - became a reason to come back to the "Sailor's mug" for many of its customers.
While this was certainly good for business, it wasn't always a good thing for her personally. Alexia was actually sometimes needed to jump in, kicking out the occasional scum that was getting to touchy for her and Margaret's liking, risking revealing the heir's true nature - or those who were too drunk to pay, which happened quite often.
Overall, living with the common people, and humans at that, was an unexpected but an enthralling experience - even with all its new challenges and downsides - well, atleast for the incognito heir.
Margaret's initial excitement was relatively short lived though and to her surprise the reason for it was mostly her closest friend.
While the visits at the tailor and the little tours through the district were fun and so was having the two blonde twins around her, she noticed Alexia being at times quite passive aggressive, almost even openly rude towards them - especially Remy.
There was something to his playful behaviour around Margaret, that enraged Alexia. Neither she nor the young princess really knew why, but it was obvious that the muscular hermaphrodite didn't appreciate his still clumsy advances towards the blonde princess. This wasn't the only source of anger for the former high ranked officer though.
Sure, Alexia fell at times victim to insults, especially from, mostly drunken, customers, but in Margaret's opinion it wasn't nearly as bad as her tall friend claimed it to be.
Obviously offended and at times enraged Alexia would regularly lament the world they found themselves in, but never in public - she didn't want to push her luck. She never really believed they were safe, still afraid the mob or Manuel would materialize their disdain for her or hand the two over.
The ongoing insults and this sense of uncertainty only worsened the former commander's already strained mood even further and turned her increasingly unfriendly towards almost everyone.
At first the young heir just tried to ignore how defensive Alexia was around their new colleagues, but soon it got clear that she was still taking her duties as a guard very seriously - too serious in fact. Making Margaret's security the top priority over anything else.
This behaviour wasn't going unnoticed by the blonde heir and the others as well. The twins were almost scared to be around Alexia and that after they slowly grew accustomed to having an 8'6" "behemoth" around - even with them genuinely trying to welcome the grumpy hermaphrodite into their shared home.
Manuel didn't care too much about her in the first place, but it felt like the two haven't spoken for days despite working together daily to bring in the shipments with beer, liquor and food.
The chef Agatha was the only one who she held to some regards and actually treated respectfully, besides Margaret of course.
The two friends were still enjoying each other's company, but this attitude from Alexia slowly started to put a bit of a strain on their friendship, atleast in Margaret's opinion.
The blackhaired warrior tried to keep Margaret at some distance off their new colleagues, to keep her save and reduce the risk of her revealing herself. This wasn't what the adventurous princess was expecting though, nor did she like the feeling of getting treated like someone needing constant protection.
She wanted to meet people and learn about the history of this place and its citizens ... to understand them. Alexia on the other hand though seemed to destroy this opportunity for her. This was a problem that needed to be addressed by the young heir... rather sooner than later.
"So, Maggie. Heading back up again, already?" Agatha asked worriedly as the blonde was cleaning up the last desks after the inn closed.
The uncomfortable heir sighed and kept on wiping up the last few dried stains of beer as she turned to face her older human colleague.
"I... you know. We aren't really the talking types, so..." she didn't want to reveal how much she would enjoy hanging out with the older chef and her two apprentices for one of their late-night cooking sessions, but she already knew what Alexia would say.
"Maybe your friend, but not you." She rested a hand on Maggie's shoulder and smiled.
"If you want to come over, you are always welcome. You both are... I hope you know that," Agatha grinned, but it seemed like she already knew that the offer would only be tempting for Margaret, not Alexia, who already waited back in their room, just like after every work shift.
The blonde hermaphrodite just faked a smile and nodded slowly before hanging her apron up at the blackboard next to the bar and headed up the stairs - to Alexia.
