Chapter 43: Spring (1/2)

Viv blew on her cup of hot klod and took a bite of roll. Solfis was quiet for now, and Marruk was yet to emerge from her lair. Only Arthur bounced excitedly from foot to foot, crimson eyes aimed north towards the town center.

“What’s with you?” she asked.

There was a yelp, a bang, and a pallid Kark woman politely opened the door, hair messy and eyes bloodshot to hell. Viv thought that she looked like a med student after a three-days bender.

“You got a few days of break stored up. Would you like to use them now? I think we’re safe.”

Marruk blinked. Her face scrunched in concentration as tired synapses half-assedly pushed electrons around. Eventually, the incredibly complex proposal was successfully deciphered.

“Sleep more?”

“Yes, go rest you big lug. I’ll be fine.”

“Sleep.”

The woman about-faced with the precision of an officer at parade and promptly left. The door closed. A body impacted a hard mattress. Viv heard soft snores.

“I think she was tired.”

//A good ruler keeps her servants healthy.

//A good balance must be struck between contribution to the empire and attention to the self.

//Or so it was written.

“I think I’ll just nap for a while.”

Someone knocked lightly on the door.

“Or not.”

Viv checked through the window to see a peasant boy in simple clothes. He held an envelope in his grubby hands.

“Yes?” she demanded, opening the door.

The boy jumped back and held the envelope before him like a talisman.

“It’s just.. I’m just… Beg your pardon… I’m, huh…”

“You have a message for me?”

“Yes.”

“From whom?”

“Lady Varska. Shetoldmetogetiittoyouinpersonposthaste.”

“You did. Well done.”

Viv still used her perception to observe the package because she was careful, not paranoid. She had real enemies, big difference.

[envelope]

Thanks.

Viv grabbed two iron talents and tipped the boy, who looked on with wonder in his grimy face.

“Thanks a bunch, your ladyship.”

“That is fine. Off you go now, shoo shoo.”

Feeling positively princessly, Viv went back in and opened the missive, sipping her cup in her comfortable robe while Arthur added her warmth to her lap.

“I am one world domination plan short of the Bond villain. Look at that. Hmm.”

Arthur peered curiously at the words. Viv could swear that her beautiful red eyes followed the symbols, trying to discern the meaning in the words. Maybe the dragonling had started to understand human writing? Viv had started reading slowly as a way to stimulate the adorable little terror, but… Oh well.

“And what does Varska say?” Viv wondered aloud, “Let’s read.

‘Dear Lady Bob.

It would be my pleasure if you could be so inclined as to join me for the Spring Celebration preparations. As your friend and mentor, I wish to guide you through the step of this ancient and respected tradition, and I—”

At this stage the forcibly elegant calligraphy of Varska degenerated into a smudged mess.

“Ah screw all this. Please come, I am growing mad over here. I am sorry for everything. I will explain the spring festival though. I will understand if you do not come, but please come.

-Varska’

Viv placed the expensive paper on the table.

“It appears that we are being summoned. What do you think, Solfis?”

//Although this will slow down your training, I approve.

//It is important for sovereigns to appear at public functions.

//Mage Varska will also explain the proper protocol to you.

//Additionally, I estimate that she will be 97% useless in the next three days from a training perspective.

//Spending time together is a smart use of your resources.

“Alright… then I’m going. Are you coming too?”

“Squee.”

Viv cleaned herself and dressed in a comfortable outfit. She had no doubt that Varska would find a myriad of things to say if she even attempted to pick up proper attire without knowing about the tradition. Might as well go in something that she could easily change out of, and allow the little fusspot to play dress up.

Viv walked out, taking care to leave a message to Marruk, the pay for the past weeks, and locking behind her properly. Her bodyguard was insistent that Viv did not step out of the path in the small garden, and Viv thought she was worried about something. An intrusion, perhaps? In any case, better be careful.

The streets of Kazar were filled with smiling groups of men and women preparing for the celebration, which Viv realized was going to start that very night.

“Farren did tell me. It must have passed my mind, what with the flesh eating cannibalistic monster.”

Many of the villagers greeted her politely, and she nodded so many times she thought her head might detach. People were cooking, cleaning, attaching little pennants and bouquets of wildflowers to doorways and sills. Little girls attached flowers to their hair while boys were heading to a field outside where competitions were already going at it. It was as if the monster attack had never occured. It came to show the resilience of the people of Nyil, Viv thought. Come hell or high water, they would still live and endure, because the monster attacks would never stop. They might as well enjoy it while they could.

Only when Viv reached the plazza did the atmosphere change a bit. There were more guards than usual and people avoided the place, and still they were smiling and talking about, from what Viv could hear, girls.

“I’m going to ask Litara to dance with me.”

“Good luck to you, friend. As for me, the old woman and I have planned to spend the night with another couple.”

Scandalous.

Viv finally arrived in front of the tower with absolutely no one stopping her. The damage to the pavement was only partially repaired, but it had been done overnight which made Kazaran civil engineers on par with modern earth ones, probably. The massive hole in the tower’s wall was completely closed by slightly darker bricks though. Viv knocked on the door.

And waited.

“Think she forgot that no one was here to open the door?” Viv asked.

“Squeeeee…”

But no, the door rotated inward to reveal a very flustered mage.

“Sorry, I stood up too fast and spilled jam on my shirt. Come in, come in.”

Viv was very much amused. Arthur jumped off her arms (the creature was getting heavier by the day) and scurried off the stairs with her tail high, off to sniff the greenhouse plants. For some reason, the riot of colors was a great source of entertainment.

Viv followed Varska up the stairs. The door to her housekeeper’s quarters was locked and sealed with the symbol of Neriad.

“The inquisitors found the ritual site in a cave in the forest yesterday. Most of the stuff here was mundane, except for a few dark texts and preserved meat that they purified on the spot. I’ll have everything cleared and burnt after the celebration,” Varska explained.

“Did they give you much pain?”

“Everyone was cold. Colder than usual, in any case. We are all feeling stupid that she lived under our nose for so long.”

“Shared bad moments have a tendency to do that. Don’t worry, in a few weeks, this will be replaced by another crisis and people will remember you for your contribution. We are the only two locals involved in killing the acolyte, anyway.”

Varska did not reply. She did tilt her head in consideration.

In reality, Viv knew that people would blame her for a long time simply because it was expedient to do so. Admitting that they were all powerless in keeping those hidden predators from their midst was an unpleasant prospect. Better to find a scapegoat than admit that the housekeeper had been a local, and they had seen nothing. Such was the nature of mankind, and one of the reasons why her dad was so jaded. He had shared this wisdom with her. She would not share it with Varska at a time when the mage’s sanctum had been defiled. The timing was off, and the crafty politician probably already knew it anyway.

“Enough of this topic, if you would. There will be a banquet tonight, and we are naturally invited to attend as the two local casters. We just have to show up and look official. I assume that you do not have a dress for the occasion?”

“I have plenty of dresses. At least three.”

“This one should be green to honor Sardanal, the God of Growth and Prosperity. And thieves.”

“No green dress for me.”

“Fortunately I anticipated this, and had one of my old dresses adjusted to… better fit your form.”

Varska’s eyes went to Viv’s chest. The outlander arched her back to make it a bit perkier.

Varska blushed.

“Ahem. In any case, please follow me.”

They went to Varska’s quarters, which Viv had never visited without some snogging taking place. Especially over there, by the couch. The bedroom was cut in two halves by a series of vertical panels that split the bed and wardrobe from the reading and makeup space. They sat in front of a tiny mirror, then the mage picked up a pot from the vanity table which contained a transparent liquid with a light shimmer.

“Cream for your skin. I, ah, noticed that the air in the mountain could be dry. Hale is fine, but you cannot have ruddy skin! You are not a peasant!”

Viv stopped, her face very close to Varska’s.

When she had been deployed in Afghanistan, her platoon had worked with an armored detachment to secure a city district. Tank crews were a weird bunch. On one hand, they displayed the most insane courage she had ever seen, as if anti-tank weapons did not exist. On the other hand they were massive weebs. One of the crews had taught her the term ‘tsundere’, someone with a polarized hot and cold temperament to their loved one, whom they saw as needing help.

So, Varska was a textbook tsundere.

Viv was going to have some fun with it. Her irritating little morsel had dared break her heart. She would have her vengeance.

“Would you mind applying it? I’m not sure how much I should use.”

It was an exercise in self-control not to smirk triumphantly as Varska turned a delicate shade of tulip and applied the cream, lips flushed, modest chest thrumming with impassioned breaths.

‘I’m going to make you stew in your own desire,’ Viv thought unkindly.

Varska fled a little later to fetch the dress. When she returned, Viv started to strip sensually in front of her until she was chased behind the partition by a few outraged shrieks.

“Have some decency!” her victim bellowed.

Viv made sure to hang her clothes over the panel so Varska could see them, then sat down on the mage’s bed and bounced a few times. Comfy.

“Hmmm.”

“S-stop doing that! Get dressed!”

Viv obeyed and Varska changed as well. They both wore assorted green dresses with a small cleavage opening under a mandarin collar and long, airy sleeves. The fabric was snug and thick around the shoulders and waist before flowing into a skirt. It had an Asian feel that Viv found exotic, and it was also warm enough to ward off the slight chill that the Kazaran weather could have at night.

After that, they did each other's hair. Varska’s touch was fast and professional, as if she had done this before. When Viv’s turn came to do the same, she slowed down and smiled.

Varska squirmed on her chair.

Oh, yes, Viv had done that before. Letting Viv massage her scalp and comb her hair? The poor mage was a young fool, betraying her inexperience when it came to matters of seduction. For someone who had spent so much time learning manipulation, she was woefully unprepared in the romance department. Perhaps Helock, her city of origin, took a dim view to it?

In any case, Varska was done for.

Viv took it slow and roguish, sneaking a caress here, a deep scalp massage there. Varska smelled of flowers, as usual. Viv had a good view of the poor mage rubbing her legs together when she could no longer resist. Viv most thoroughly combed, then braided the hair in a half-wild, half-traditional asymmetrical composition that her host considered with widened eyes.

“How very unique!”

“I know many such foreign techniques…”