Victoria was annoyed. Her audience with the queen had been thoroughly irritating to say the least. The monarch had no idea how fortunate she was not to have experienced the full brunt of Victoria's temper.
She stood on one of the castle ramparts, looking out over the city, one finger tapping her irritation against the forearm of her folded arm. Her lips were pursed, her eyes glimmering with annoyance as she considered her frustrating position.
“How much trouble are you in, Victoria?” Leo appeared by her side suddenly. She hated how he did that, but as a master assassin he was accustomed to moving silently and the habit was hard to break, or so he told her. She was certain he enjoyed it too. She was rarely startled and he clearly loved the fact that he was one of the few capable of the feat.
“Apparently I am to blame for the crown prince's decision to run off with one of the maids,” she said with curled lip.
“You were his tutor.”
“Very, very briefly,” Victoria admitted. “I don't see how that makes me responsible.”
“You turned him into a goat because he disobeyed you.”
“Still,” she replied. “I didn't send him out to rut the maids.”
“You had already turned one of the maids into a nanny goat for much the same reason.”
“I had forgotten about that.”
“If you didn't turn people to goats, you wouldn't have to remember who you've polymorphed,” he said, his tone all too judgmental for Victoria's taste. “Thanks to you, we have to look for a pair of goats and hope that they have not been slaughtered by man or beast.”
“I cannot go rushing about after livestock,” Victoria said. “They will come to their true forms at the next full moon. It is only a week away. ”
“A week in which the prince and the maid could both come to serious harm.”
“Leo! Why are you fussing so! Besides, it's not as if it's even the crown prince. They've dozens of others to cover for this one if need be.”
“I am fussing because you are not the only one who has been charged with the prince's safe return. If anything happens to him, it will be my head along with yours. They have some idea that I was involved.”
“That's likely because you involve yourself where you should not, dear Leo,” Victoria smiled sweetly but sharply, her red lips spread malevolently. “As you are now.”
He let out a growl underneath his breath. “Cast a seeking spell, witch.”
“Call me witch again and you will find yourself part of the prince's herd,” Victoria scowled sharply, tossing her head to glare at him with her emerald eyes. “You forget yourself with me, Leo, as you always have. You may command strong men and bed swooning wenches, or vice versa, but in any event I am not one of them and I will not be spoken to as such.”
“I know you have your pride, Victoria, but I'll not lose my head for your pride. So cast your damn spell and let's be on our way.”
“First I will need a small beast of burden. A donkey.”
“You're stalling.” He let out a sigh and shook his head, practically stamping with impatience as his steed had.
“I am not. I am telling you what I will need if I am to carry out this errand of royal mercy.”
“What will we be carrying that we will need a donkey?”
“My apprentice, Kelsie, has already walked over a hundred miles. Her feet are in an unspeakable state. She will need clothing and a mount. I don't want her on a charger or a nag that will take flight if we run into trouble. I want a vicious donkey to balance her temperament. Attend to that.”
Leo's thick brows rose. “You want me to outfit a girl?”
“Yes,” Victoria smiled. “You do that. I will seek our little goats.”
“Surely this is a job for one of your many servants, no?”
Victoria's eyes sparkled. “No.”
***
That was how Leo, scourge of seven kingdoms came to be leading a donkey through the rain with a young woman trailing behind him swallowed in a damp cape. Every time he spoke to her, she mumbled and looked away. He hadn't understood a word she'd said in her country accent since they'd met.
Judging by the peasant's gait, he very much doubted that Kelsie had walked anything close to a hundred miles. Victoria was given to exaggeration, and, occasionally, outright lies. It was a habit she sorely needed to be broken of.
Still, if Victoria wanted this girl kitted out to ride, he assumed she needed something other than a dress. He really didn't know anything about young women aside from how to bed them, and in this case that was both out of the question and out of his realm of interest.
There were eighteen year old women who could bring kings to their knees. And then there were eighteen year old girls like this one, gawky and ever awkward with youth not quite bloomed. That was to some men's tastes, but not Leo's.
“Come in here,” he said, stopping in front of Englred's finest outfitters.
“How may we help the gentleman today?” A beautifully obsequious tailor approached him with a broad smile. He did not even notice Kelsie, as usual. The girl had an incredible talent for hiding in plain sight. Leo would have taken her to show the students at the king's academy, if he'd had time.
“She needs traveling clothes.” Leo jerked his finger over his shoulder at Kelsie, drawing the tailor's attention to the girl.
“But of course, of course. Would the lady like a traditional Englred riding skirt? Or is she more of the breeches persuasion?”
Leo glanced back at her. “What do you want?”
She mumbled something he did not begin to understand and hid her face so well he may as well have been talking to an animate cape. What on earth was Victoria Varys doing with a girl like this? She was the oddest, most awkward little female he had ever come across.
“Look at me, girl.” He snapped the words sharply, his impatience growing.
She whimpered and took a step back, turning around on herself so that she was practically wound up like a little ball.
Leo took a deep breath. This was work for a woman. Victoria no doubt thought it very amusing to imagine him attempting to deal with this country chit.
“Kelsie,” he said more softly, bending down to meet her closer to her level. “That's your name, isn't it?”
The cloak nodded.
“Whatever we get here today, you're going to be wearing through the next hundred scrapes Lady Victoria drags you through, so I'd take this opportunity to get something you like, if I were you.”
Another incoherent mumbling emitted from the girl. Leo straightened and took charge.
“She'll have breeches,” he said, making the decision for her. “And a thick doublet. Doesn't need to be armored, but one dense enough to stop an arrow at distance would be nice. High collar to protect the neck. And boots of moleskin, waterproofed. Let me look at those daggers...”
***
“You've dressed her like a boy!” Victoria could not help her exclamation when she next saw Kelsie, nor would she have helped it if she could have, for it was true.
With her slim figure and the bulk of the doublet hiding her small but undeniably feminine charms, Kelsie did look very boyish. The tailor had done a wonderful job of finding breeches to fit her long legs, and boots that would protect her in water well above her knees. There was even a weaponry belt at her waist, and in it, a little dagger. Aside from a gray undershirt keeping the doublet from rubbing against bare skin, most of her attire was black, giving her the appearance of a rather willowy shadow.
“You sent her out with a man,” Leo said. “I did the best I could.”
“You made her into a little image of yourself,” Victoria smirked. “Complete with a dagger to slice herself with should she ever be so foolish to draw it.”
“I'll teach her how to use it,” Leo rumbled.”Besides, she stands taller in these.”
It was true. Kelsie wasn't cowering. She still wouldn't win any awards for posture, but for the first time it was quite clear that Kelsie was actually rather tall for a woman. Almost as tall as Victoria herself.
“Very well,” Victoria nodded. “As it happens, we must leave at once and those clothes will suit our journey well.”
“You've found the prince?”
“I've found a story,” Victoria said. “There's tales of a satyr harassing locals in Samilton. I have reason to believe it might be our prince.”
“I thought you turned him into a goat.”
“I did,” she said. “But one never knows quite how magic is going to wear on a person long term. It is like perfume. The same scent can smell quite differently on different ladies.”
“Let's go,” Leo said, his eyes darkening at Victoria's vague words. “Samilton is five days ride from here.”
“And we have seven to do something about him, or else when the full moon comes, the magic might become something more like a curse.” Victoria tried not to smile at the idea, and failed.
“I thought you said they would return to their true forms at the full moon,” Leo scowled.
“Did I? Hm. I must have been mistaken.”
“Mistaken, or misleading,” he growled, shaking his head at her. “Victoria Varys, I cannot trust a word that falls from your lips. You are the most wicked wench in all Englred !”
Victoria's smile only grew broader.
***
Kelsie stayed silent throughout the exchange, as was her wont. If she were not being spoken to directly, she thought it best not to open her mouth. Even if she was spoken to directly, she preferred to answer with a shrug or a nod or some other physical response that avoided the need to form words. It was a habit she had formed growing up around sometimes brutal peasants and it had served her well.
Victoria's opinions of boyishness aside, she liked her new clothes, though the boots pinched a little and the doublet felt tight. She had been assured both would soften with wear, and she had no reason not to believe that.
She liked Englred City too. It was incredible. She had no idea how large it was, but it seemed to go on forever and ever. There were stalls and markets and grand houses three stories high and a lot of smaller ones that were little more than hovels. There was a cathedral, and Kelsie could only imagine what else beyond.
As Lady Varys and Lord Falkroy argued, she cast her mind back over her recent experience, how it had felt as they passed under the great stone arches leading to the drawbridge across which Englred Castle stood. A bolt of frisson ran down her spine. The castle was even more impressive in person than she had imagined. It stood with turrets and towers rising skyward, ramparts rounding the outside. The seal of the Englreds, the falcon and the bear, was displayed proudly on yellow and green banners. She wondered how much of the castle she would get to see. Thus far she had only seen a waiting chamber which had been a fascinating place in and of itself with flowers and statuettes and ladies whispering to one another about various intrigues.
“That is enough day dreaming, girl!” Lady Varys lectured her swiftly. “Follow us to the stables.”
Kelsie followed, of course, wondering how things would be now that the Lord Falkroy had joined their little party. He was a very handsome man, one who still scared her quite a bit in spite of the fact he had been rather nice in having her fitted for clothes. There was clearly a great deal of history between the lord and the lady, a tension that seemed not entirely friendly, but not at all hostile.
Once she reached the stables she saw that Victoria had ordered the stable hands to ready their steeds, and for the first time Kelsie had one of her own. Her donkey looked quite ridiculous next to Leo's black stallion, and Lady Varys' chestnut mare, but it was a mount and she had never had one before and she was certainly not going to complain.
“You've no doubt got no idea about riding,” Leo said once he'd helped her into the saddle, which was quite different from the low flat ones he and Victoria's mounts were fitted with. Hers was like a bucket chair, high in the front and in the rear. He took her hands and placed them on the high pommel.
“If this were a battle steed, I'd be telling you to steer the beast by shifting your weight, or failing that, a gentle knee or pressure on the reins. As it is, this thing will most likely follow along nicely in our stead, so sit tight, hold on, and if the donkey starts heading in the wrong direction give me a shout. I'll come and round you up.”
She nodded and gave him a little ghost of a smile, all she dared express.
“You can give a shout, can't you?”
He winked, and she blushed.
“Yes,” she said softly. “I can if I have to.”
“Good girl,” he said, reaching out to ruffle her hair. She was surprised by the gesture, his large gloved hand landing on her head with a dull thud. A squeak of fear escaped her before she realized she was not being hit.
“Easy,” he said with a reassuring smile. “If I'm to beat anyone on this journey, it will be Lady Varys, not you.”
Her eyes went wide at the thought. “I don't think that would be a good idea, sir.”
Leo chuckled as he turned away, and she was left not knowing whether he was joking or not.
“Oh, one last thing,” he said, turning back to her before mounting his stallion. “Donkeys are more effective protectors than guard hounds. You're in good hooves there.”
Kelsie reached forward and rubbed her fingers over the animal's neck. The donkey gave a grunt which seemed to indicate its approval of her touch.
They rode out of Englred and turned to the south. Falkroy and Lady Varys rode side by side, talking about something or other Kelsie could not hear. Her donkey did follow along for the most part. The pace was not hectic and her animal seemed happy enough to wander along, swiping the occasional long strand of grass from the road side.
The more she tried to puzzle out the lord and lady's relationship, the less she understood it. Falkroy did not look like a man who usually brooked disrespect from anyone. On their shopping trip through Englred, everyone who met him had been obsequious in the extreme. Victoria was plain rude to him many times, which he did not seem to like, but clearly tolerated. And they seemed to like one another in spite of the near constant bickering.
The ride was long and mercifully uneventful. As night fell, they sought shelter in a tavern. It was busy with merchants and locals alike and the tavern keeper only had a single room spare, a room they all had to share. A room with a single bed, which, of course, went to Victoria.
“I'll take my bed roll and sleep before the door,” Falkroy said. “Kelsie, you take the corner farthest from the window.”
Kelsie made herself comfortable where he'd told her to, impressed by his instinct to protect them by covering the points of entrance. The position put her at both the foot of Victoria's bed, and at the feet of where Falkroy had stretched out. She had a cozy little nook to herself, and it was more than enough. Most of her life she'd slept in a corner of the sty with pigs for warmth. This room was small and simple and cramped, but it was already a significant improvement on her previous accommodations.
The three of them soon settled down with the rations they had bought with them for dinner. A nice wine and a selection of cured meats and breads made for a delicious supper.
“We will have no idle talk tonight,” Victoria declared from her perch on the bed. “It is time your education began, Kelsie. It is time you learned who your ancestors were, and who you are as a result.”
Kelsie gnawed on a corner of tough bread and listened with true fascination. Across from her, Leo Falkroy lay propped up on his left arm, swilling a goblet of red wine in his right hand, a pleasant smile on his handsome face as Victoria held court.
“All those of magical blood lead back to one woman, Lyra the Terrible. She lived well over a thousand years ago. Her blood runs strongly in my veins, and to a lesser extent, yours.... yes, girl? I can see the question in your eyes. Ask it.”
Kelsie hid her mouth behind the bread, but gathered the courage to speak. “So you and I, we are related?”
Victoria gave her a long look, then nodded. “In a distant sense, yes, we must be.”
Leo let out a laugh. “That galls you doesn't it, Lady Varys.”
“It does not,” Victoria replied haughtily. “Those who spread the blood around may have thinned it, but they have also preserved it. You see, Kelsie, the main lineage of Lyra's sorceresses – my familial line, have been subject to systematic slaughter over the years.”
“Some say it was because the sharpness of their tongues caused men to sharpen their blades to match,” Falkroy grunted.
“Silence, or I will render you silent by merit of turning you into a hound,” Victoria narrowed her eyes at Leo, who shook his head at her imperiousness, but did not interrupt again. Kelsie was sure she could see a certain light in his eyes, an indication that Lady Varys might not be getting away with quite as much as she imagined.
“So, Kelsie, your mother, whoever she was, no doubt inherited the blood from her mother and her mother before her. At each successive generation, a little more was likely bred out of your line. Only those who chose to mate with Lyra's sons and their offspring preserved the blood and created stronger lines...”
“Isn't that inbreeding?” The thought escaped Kelsie's lips before she had a chance to catch it.
A chilly silence fell, broken only by Falkroy's laugh. “Yes! And enough of the inbreeding made them feeble minded. There's a reason we refer to mad witches, and why it's said you can tell a witch by her extra toe...”
“Enough!” Victoria cast a scandalized glare at the pair of them. “There is a difference between inbreeding and maintaining good breeding.”
“And the difference is why you never take your shoes off in good company,” Falkroy snorted.
For the merest split second, Victoria's face fell. She looked... hurt. The facade returned immediately, along with a cutting comment Kelsie didn't hear because she was too caught up in her thoughts. The little she could remember of her mother was locked away inside her mind, somewhere so deep even she had trouble remembering it sometimes. She knew ladies in the village had come to her mother before her passing... she'd helped them with their lady's days, love affairs, other little matters. Kelsie pushed the memories away. She didn't like thinking of her mother. It made her chest ache with a sadness best avoided.
“Falkroy, I tire of your insolence,” Victoria declared. “You will sleep outside the door.”
“I will not,” Leo snorted. “And if you don't stop ordering me about, I'll throw you out of that bed!”
“Oh I suppose you will take the bed, will you?”
“I'll give it to Kelsie. She looks like she could use a good night's sleep. Not like you, Ms Varys. The only thing you could use is a good thrashing.”
Kelsie tried to hide her giggle and failed.
“Pay no heed to his ramblings, Kelsie,” Victoria said dismissively. “Men are tedious, brutish creatures at the best of times and this one is no exception. You are right on one count, Leo. Kelsie needs her sleep. As do you and I.”