The Arete - Princess-Consort Ch. 03

The servant piped up when the noblewoman didn't immediately answer, "It's not sufficient. Not when milady has had to waste her precious time in tracking this thief down."

"Fine. I'll pay half again your losses. Name your price and I'll sign a note redeemable at the Bank of Qwine."

"What good would your money do?" the noblewomen countered, "The thieving little wench will learn nothing but that she can cut purses without consequences. Send her to work it off for me for a few days. I'll return her no worse for wear. With a more compliant attitude even."

I wouldn't leave a dog I didn't like in this offputting woman's hands, let alone a young person in my care. "She is valuable to me and I would not have her absent my house."

"Now we get to it," the servant rubbed her hands together, "how much do you want?

Wait, what?

"Wait, what?" I spoke my thought, "Why are you offering me money?"

"It's more important that the girl learn a lesson," the noblewoman answered.

"Then I'll talk to her as I've previously offered and I'll pay as previously offered. There's no need for her to be removed from her home."

"But that's the point," the servant blurted, "Why else should we come here?"

"What's the point?" They'd come for the noblewoman's stolen purse? "Were you robbed or weren't you?"

The noblewoman raised her voice and tried to infuse it with some authority. "Look, there was no robbery, but that's not the point-"

"The hell it's not," I took umbrage and was well-used to speaking with authority, "Then you have lied to me."

"Milady warned you about calling her a liar and do not interrup-"

"I'll speak as I like and I say you have given me conflicting statements," I stood my full height and spoke with force, "To wit, that you have been robbed by a member of my household and that there has been no robbery. Manifestly you are a liar and not to be trusted. Whatever poorly-devised grift this is, have done with it. Name your price to leave my household in peace. Otherwise, I'll have the guardswomen remove you from my door."

"I don't think calling guardswomen would work in your favor. But it's not my intent for this situation to become more complicated," the noblewoman held up her hands in a conciliatory manner and spoke more softly, "I'll admit that I misled you in an attempt to simplify this transaction."

I stood warily and said nothing.

"Look, I'm...inclined to the girl. Strongly. And I'm willing to pay handsomely for her for a few days, afterward you can have her back or not as you please."

Finally, I understood.

I stepped between those monsters and my door, thinking of the innocent frightened child behind it. "Begone. This instant. Now. If you ever come near me or mine again, I will beat the life from you."

"That's a bit much. We're not talking about a personage here, just some-"

I punched her. I punched her so hard that her cheekbone cracked and she spat out teeth.

"Guards," the servant screamed as the noblewoman cowered away and held her cheek and upper jaw in pain. "Arrest this crazy person! She assaulted milady!"

Within a minute, four guardswomen arrived, Mitrux, Chasox, Teprex, and Bippux. I'd trained with all of them.

"Ser Taiglox?" Mitrux reported to me instinctively for orders for the four of them.

"Ser," the noblewoman spat, "some upstart knight who believes her own oath. Arrest her!"

The guardswomen made no move to arrest me. Rather, they awaited orders.

"Take these," I gestured at the two, "to wherever their place is. If either one comes back to this portion of the fortress again, alert me. I'll come out and kill it."

"Aye, ma'am," they answered together smartly and each took an arm of one of the horrible women and hauled them away.

I waited until the still protesting noblewoman was out of sight and then out of earshot before I knocked on my own door.

"Miriam, honey, it's me Taiglox. It's okay now. Please let me in."

She opened the door and I stepped in and locked it behind me, but a look of pure terror stayed on her face.

"It's okay now," I repeated, not sure how to proceed to make her feel safe again, "you're okay."

"Milady, are you going to sell me?" she mustered the courage to ask.

"No, never," I pacified her fear instantly and chased the alarm from her frightened eyes, "You and your sister have a place in my household until if and when either or both of you want to leave. I'll never let anyone take you away from her."

She leapt up to throw her arms around my neck and I hugged her trembling little frame. She had no idea the unspeakable plans those two monsters had for her, only that they intended to take her away from her only family.

"It's long past time you should be in bed," I ended the hug. "I'll read you to sleep."

A few minutes after Miriam drifted off, Kemptrux and Imogen came back. They felt terrible for having left Miriam alone, but couldn't have predicted such an awful outcome.

I warned them that Miriam didn't fully understand and admonished them that she shouldn't, but they should all be vigilant for a time, at least until Princess Caeli's added household granted safety in numbers. They eagerly agreed, happy to pay vigilance to offset the guilt they couldn't help feeling.

Moments later, Vostiv lumbered back home to my door, found it locked, and tried to open it with her brawny shoulder, nearly succeeding. Should she not have been as vocal as she was physical, I might have taken her for the two monsters returning with backup.

"You two go to bed," I sent the teenagers away, "I'll see to my squire. I suspect she may have partaken of wine."

She had. Given her large frame, she could drink more than most grown women. Still, she was a child, albeit a giant child, and couldn't handle her alcohol yet.

Her cousins helped her in, all apologies and guilty smiles for letting her make herself so drunk.

"Come along," I locked the door behind her once more as she staggered in, "Let's go then, Vostiv."

"Sher," she slurred and tried to point at the door, a process taking much longer than it should have and underlining the waning of her reasoning and motor skills, "the door wash locked."

"So it was and so it is," I agreed as I steered her toward her room, "Did you have fun?"

"Yesh, but my cousinsh brought mae back unto the palash, becaush you were worried 'bout mae."

"I was, but I'm not now," I reassured her as I opened her and Kemptrux' door and guided her through, "because you're going to have such a magnificent headache tomorrow that you won't want to drink again for some time."

"Okay," she agreed as I lowered her onto her bunk.

"Her family did that to her?" Kemptrux laughed. "Did you curse them for letting your squire make such a fool of herself?"

"No, they seemed to feel remorse enough. They brought her home and clearly kept her hydrated. They're probably just overly proud of her tolerance and let her go too far to prove her robustness."

"I'm glad no one is proud of me."

"Me too."

I tried to go to bed then. Less than a page into The Quandaries of the Scout by Prewtax however, there was another banging at my door.

Leaping to my feet, I dashed to the servants quarters, carrying out a confused Miriam while followed closely by a frightened Imogen. I brought them both into Kemptrux and Vostiv's room, wanting the lot of them together and thinking a passed out hulking squire would be the hardest to move.

"Corporal, bar the door behind me and open it to no one but me," I instructed quickly and turned to leave.

"Ma'am, I should-"

"You should follow orders and not debate them. Now, bar the door behind me and open it to no one but me," I repeated tersely.

"Aye, ma'am," she responded and shut up the door behind me.

"Open this door," I heard the shrill voice of the servant from outside, "By royal decree, open this door."

On my way, I picked up a solid iron candlestick with no candle in it. Others might have been offended not to have merited finely detailed and exquisitely delicate gold or silver decorations in their rooms, but the heft of the iron bar felt good in my hand and the weighted base made the candlestick into a decent club.

Brandishing my makeshift blunt force weapon, I answered in a deep and forbidding voice. "You are not welcomed here and you have been warned to that effect."

"Open the door, Taiglox," Heoldax ordered.

"Aye, Your Highness," I obeyed reflexively and opened my door to the Crown Princess, eight hetaireias led by Ser Gharntex, and the two vile creatures who'd finally gotten through my door.

"I'm not sure what need you'll have of a candlestick with these fine guardswomen here," Heoldax rebuked me. The hetaireia guardswomen she brought were different to the green ones throughout the palace, more seasoned and scarred and all wearing house colors other than the House Royal.

I set my club down and stood still.

"Perhaps you can answer the charge of unprovoked assault made by Woicib, secondborn of Vexendya?"

"I committed the assault," I admitted freely, yet conditionally, "But I was provoked. Despite being given more than sufficient warning to leave my door, they did not. They also attempted repeatedly to procure a child in my care for... unsavory purposes."

"Only a servant," Woicib waved her hand dismissively.

"A 13 year old child," I reiterated, setting my jaw and glowering. "You attempted to kidnap or purchase a 13 year old child in order to abuse her."

"As I said, a servant. There are no laws against my...habits."

"A child. A human little child. And there need be no law. Were we anywhere else, I'd put you down as I would a rabid dog. Then I'd leave the body to feed the birds of the air and the beasts of the field. No burials for base cowards."

Heoldax ignored me and asked Woicib, "You admit that you were warned to leave and continued to seek entry?"

"I do," Woicib conceded grudgingly.

"Then I find no crime. Ser Taiglox is charged to allow no one but her household entrance to her apartments and warned you to leave. You continued to seek entrance and she popped you one."

"But-" she started.

"Woicib, be silent," Heoldax stopped her, "Do not mistake my forbearance for approval. Breaking no laws makes your behavior no less despicable. Nor is there any moral redemption in only preying on children who aren't protected."

"Miriam absolutely is protected," I answered, making my position on the matter clear again, "If you come near her again, I will kill you."

"You'll do no such thing," Heoldax contradicted me. "She's guilty of no crime."

Mayhap she was? I thought, and it felt horrid, but Miriam had better protections under the law as my possession than as an innocent child.

"Theft?" I suggested, "Or attempted theft. I arrived on them banging my door to get at Miriam. Once they were caught in the act, a lie was told to me about a fictitious pickpocketing in an effort to filch her away without payment."

"Only because the idiot soldier was being unreasonable. I offered to pay after too."

"So you lied to a fellow noble and attempted to steal from a fellow noble?"

"Hardly a noble," Woicib scoffed, "Some upstart knight, thirdborn of someone I'd never heard of in House Laerdya. Just some soldier who needs to adjust her thinking."

"She's a princess-consort and a knight of the Order Royal Indomitable. By deceiving her and attempting to steal from her, you have insulted the Queen. For wronging your own class, you may be removed from it," Heoldax pronounced, "You, Woicin, are no longer worthy of your house or rank. Your welcome here is rescinded and your possessions are property of the state. You and your henchwoman may leave with the clothes on your back."

"I must protest this-" Woicin started.

Much as she hated to be interrupted, the former noblewoman was immediately cuffed to the side of her head by Ser Gharntex. "You will not be so familiar with Her Highness."

Clutching the side of her already damaged face and ushering her servant before her, Woicin stalked from my apartments, unable to resist adding, "My mother will hear of this!"

Reflexively, I reached for my candlestick as my feet turned after the offending woman.

"Hold, Taiglox," Heoldax dissuaded me, "You are a princess-consort and cannot do the thing you wish to do."

I set the candlestick down a second time.

"Ser Gharntex," Heoldax commented in an offhanded way, "Those two won't last long on their own in any case. Better they don't leave the city though."

Ser Gharntex nodded silently and left my apartments as well, taking four hetaireias with her. There was no change to the expressions on the remaining four guardswomens' stony faces.

"We're not so different here at the palace, Taiglox," Heoldax explained, "We're just a touch quieter when we put down a rabid dog, so as not to rile the pack. It is greatly disturbing to me that she was so open with her preditions though. Clearly her people knew and enabled her."

I nodded and said nothing, relieved that the level of society I'd joined at least had some bar for human behavior.

"And it riles me too that - by law - I can judge her for lying to and attempting to steal from you, but not for clearly intending such harm to a child. Nonetheless, neither one of us gets to ...use candlesticks," she looked at me sternly. "Should you find yourself reaching for a candlestick, you will alert me. Or Ser Gharntex, as she's granted a measure of autonomy. You, however, will keep your hands clean outside battle."

I frowned. No fighting in battle as an aide-de-camp. No fighting outside of battle period. A lot of physical training to no purpose.

She smiled wryly, reading my face, "It's not lost on me that I've the assuagement of giving my little sister to a woman such of moral rectitude that she'd risk her life and freedom to protect a servant girl, and I'm very glad of your bravery and benevolence for Caeli's sake. Just try to stay out of trouble though and be sure to call on one of us in if you get into trouble. Okay?"

I nodded.

"Now, if you are done getting into scrapes for the night, I'm going to get some sleep. I've a very important day of sitting for hours on end tomorrow."

We said our good nights. I stood Kemptrux down, put the girls back in their room, and made sure a stone sleeping Vostiv wouldn't drown in her vomit in the night. Then I lay in my own bed for two hours of sleep before needing to get up for the morning melee.

Come morning, my household unanimously preferred to stay home, except for Vostiv. (She remained unconscious and therefore did not voice an opinion.) I left even Savaran behind, since the unmounted melee was the only event in which I'd be competing.

Upon my early arrival, I checked my own arms and armor and prepared mentally for the melee at the Laerdya tent as the morning events were run. Mostly, I just stood around engaging in simple small talk with distant cousins while I hefted my leaded, wooden tourney mace and kopis. Many seemed to be trying to engage me in one intrigue or another, but I honestly had no political capital or personal interest to commit to whatever their courtly causes might be.

Most hadn't been in any real battles or had only held minor positions of command in battles. That is to say, few fought for a living. One Master of Infantry. One light horse regimental commander. But mostly just tournament knights. That didn't bode entirely well for our success in the melee.

Melees aren't complete free for alls. They generally at least start with houses banding together until the melee thins, because otherwise hundreds of combatants couldn't rightly know which way to swing. Without many experienced en bloc fighters, we couldn't expect great success.

General Trogox gathered us all for an inspiring speech.

"Smash 'em all! Anyone who falls before me stays sober tonight!"

...and into the fray we went, Trogox charging into the center of the arena, bravely I guess. Foolishly, certainly.

Trogox fell in minutes. About half our house had fell soon thereafter, other houses closed in on three sides of us. No plan of attack seemed forthcoming. We'd soon be cut off from one another and lost to the tide.

"Laerdya, back, back! On me, on me!" I called out, backing up to make use of the corral fence to our rear.

Of the maybe 20 or so Laerdya knights still standing, about a dozen heard and responded. The Master of Infantry to my left and the light horse commander to my right, we held against the edges of other houses as they pressed into us.

We lost three more, but several other houses were knocked out entirely. As more and more knights fell, the ten of us were an appreciable force, hanging in the fight much longer since we took a defensive stance.

The field narrowed to about 50 knights with seven of us left, continuously rebuffing advances from those remaining, but keeping together where most houses had descended fully into the chaos. Soon it was 30 and five, then 20 and five, then 10 and four.

A quick blow to the undefended right flank of knight who took out our fourth brought us to an even match with three other knights still standing.

If those knights had any sense, they'd have faced us together. Two were from rival houses though and rushed each other on seeing each other free. The third ran at us, but the Master of Infantry cut her down.

I fully expected to wait until the fight of rivals resolved itself before taking on the victor with my two remaining house members, but then I was hit in the back of my head again. (I'm growing tired of that.) As a bonus, I took a blow to my knee in the same millisecond from the other side.

Together, my two remaining erstwhile allies took me down hard. The booing of the crowds was poor solace as I looked up at the sky.

Apparently, that's why the houses couldn't fight as a unit. They'd only wait to take each other out at a prime opportunity.

Turning my dizzy head, I watched the Master of Infantry knock out the light horse commander, but then lose to the last woman standing nonetheless.

Without a squire and with no one offering help, I picked myself up, dusted myself off, and limped from the field.

General Trogox congratulated me on my return to the House Laerdya tent, "Nice job out there. You might have won it all if you'd have watched your back better."

I nodded. That the general populace could see attacking a person who'd been their comrade the moment before was dastardly, but an actual general couldn't, was a disquieting reflection on the level of society I'd unwittingly joined.

Still, there didn't seem a tactful way to say that or any purpose to expressing the thought, so I remained silent.

"I'm not staying to see you wed. I'll be returning to House Laerdya directly after the tournament ends." I wondered if Trogox had been invited to the wedding, given her history with my bride. "We're unlikely to speak again, but you will serve with me in the spring campaign."

"Understood, General," I answered without committing to anything.

The General left to schmooze more important people. I started my long walk home.

"Tai!" A somehow already drunken Yonjax caught me "Where are you off to so early?"

"Home, Yonjax," I answered evenly, my head still pounding and my knee still throbbing.

"You're just a big ball of no fun, aren't you, Tai?" Yonjax clapped my shoulder.

"I am at that, Yonjax, I am at that," I nodded along, but kept walking.

"Don't let it get to you," she slurred, but spoke kindly, "the brutishness and the vipery. It's okay that you're better than that. We'll look after you. Keep you out of any real trouble."

"For Caeli's sake?"

"Yes, partially. Mostly probably," Yonjax agreed, "But no one with a heart likes to see a dancing bear get mobbed. Caeli even urged the Queen to override the melee results because they played dirty against her dear honorable soldier."