Kyou Kara Maou – Shining Moments
Summary: Final installment of Teodor von Trondheim's road to redemption after his treason in The Trouble with Trolls. One-shot OC side stories.
Disclaimer: Kyou Kara Maou is not mine. Its original creator was Tomo Takabayashi, with character design by Temari Matsumoto. The anime was produced by Studio Deen.
Chapter 3 – Homecoming, Part 2
The cause of peace had come a long way in five years. Teodor was idling away a rainy afternoon at the library in Krist Kringle. He had a cocktail party to attend with Krispin Lord Krist at the castle later. In the meantime, the library was Krispin's pride and joy – all the von Krists were book nuts. At last night's soiree he'd bragged about his new librarian and her foreign books collection. Teodor wouldn't miss it.
Except the only librarian in evidence was running herd on a dozen little tweenage students. Their rightful teacher was taking a wrongful powder. She'd left the librarian in the lurch for a quarter hour so far. The other patrons had left, or escaped into the stacks in a vain search for quiet. He couldn't help but admire the harried woman's grace under pressure.
It was a shame she dressed like a librarian. Her dull grey dress extended from high collar to mid-calf, over sensible ankle boots. Her hair was the most gorgeous color, waves of purplish burgundy with gold highlights, rather haphazardly caught up in a large bun, secured with a couple chopsticks. Huge horn-rimmed, bottle-glassed bifocals likewise served camouflage over enormous glacier-aquamarine eyes. Tall for a demon woman, she stood a little over 6 feet in boots.
I like that height in a woman. Fits just under my chin. Wide hips, too. Not pear-shaped with fat or anything. In fact, she was a bit lean, with normal width bones above a wasp waist, just heavy boned below the waist. His son's mother had died in childbirth. Teodor hadn't touched a woman with narrow hips since. The librarian's breasts were about as generous as could be managed without getting burdensome.
Grannock's insistence that he learn to flirt had borne fruit. Once, Teodor might have frowned at the lack of discipline in this establishment. But Kristi civilians were more orderly than Trondheim's majority half-sloshed slackadaisical Tunnis. Time was, he wouldn't have looked twice at the librarian, past the outfit's plain signal, Not seeking men.
A few of the mini barbarians got loose and approached him in his armchair. Teodor watched in amusement as a whispered conference elected a spokesgoat. The tow-headed freckled winner gulped, and spoke up. "Are you a troll?"
"Part troll, yes," Teodor agreed affably. "A bit less than half. My name's Teodor. What's yours?" He didn't rise to tower over the poor kid, just extended his huge hand for a shake. The kid bravely extended tiny paw. Teodor grasped it gently for a little shake.
"I'm Gottfried," the boy replied. "You don't talk funny. I thought trolls talked funny."
Ted smiled. "Well, I do speak Trondish, too. But you're right, I don't have much of an accent. I've been speaking Shin Makogo since I was your age. Actually, where I live now, in Kriegsbad, everybody speaks Shin Makogo these days."
That was boring. "Do you really kill people and eat them?"
Well, yes. And yes… Before Teodor could formulate an answer, the masked beauty of a librarian rushed to his aid. "Gottfried, Tronds don't kill people in order to eat them. Do they, Mister Teodor? I'm Kemmi, by the way." She winked at him and extended a hand.
"Pleased to meet you, Kemmi," Teodor replied gratefully, lingering over the handshake with a flattering warm smile. "Commander Teodor, of the Kriegsbad militia. Yes, Gottfried, Kemmi is right. Have any of you visited Kriegsbad?"
"No, it's too dangerous!" squealed one of the little girls.
"Oh, it was," agreed Teodor. "But not anymore. In fact, this year we've had less crime than Trond Hall or Krist Kringle. And this is a pretty safe city, isn't it?"
The girl looked blank. The boys looked disappointed.
Kemmi rallied again. "Is it true, Commander Teodor, that there are lots of different races in Kriegsbad these days?"
"Oh, yes," agreed Teodor. "This past year, in my… um, apartment block, we even had a family of pixies living with us! The mom was pregnant with twins, and had three little ones besides, so we didn't want to put her in refugee housing. I'll tell you, there's not much cuter than a baby pixie!" He indicated about three inches with his fingers over the vast palm of his other hand.
"Do they really fly?" asked another boy.
"Yes. Everywhere. The babies learn how to fly before they can walk. Like little hummingbirds zipping around. Screaming in really high-pitched little voices," he added to Kemmi. "Quite a distraction at supper. And you'll break their little wings if you swat at them."
Kemmi returned him an amused grimace.
The delinquent teacher returned in horror, to see her charges all ringed around the scary troll in official Trond brown and scarlet uniform, complete with service knife. The Trond definition of 'knife' being a blade less than or equal to the length of the bearer's forearm – rather long, in Teodor's case.
Into this woman's gaping maw, Teodor said sweetly, "No! Are you these children's teacher? I thought Kemmi was! You kids are so lucky. Schoolmarms in Trondheim aren't nearly as pretty and nice as these fine ladies!"
The teacher – actually rather cranky and dumpy looking – huffed in amused disapproval. "Elf, are you?"
Elves had a rather depraved and well-earned reputation. "Why yes, a bit over a quarter elf," Teodor agreed disingenuously. "That's why I'm so delicate." For a half troll.
"You said troll," Gottfried objected.
Teodor skipped the math – this crowd wasn't ready for fractions. "Yup, I'm both. Goblin, too. Mm, they tell me I'm part demon, like you. I'm not so sure about that bit."
"What is he doing here?" the schoolmarm hissed at Kemmi. "I go away for just a few minutes and – hmph!"
It had been more like half an hour. "Why, this is a public library," replied Kemmi sweetly. "Commander Teodor has been so kind, telling us all about Kriegsbad. Hasn't he, children? How about a round of applause to thank the nice militiaman?"
Kemmi and Teodor both smiled benignly as the field trip decamped. Then shared a laugh of relief when the heavy library doors closed behind them. "I'm sorry about that, Commander," Kemmi said. "I shall have to write a letter to her headmaster."
"Please, call me Teodor. You've nothing to apologize for, Kemmi. I came in for entertainment on a rainy afternoon. And I have been entertained." He bowed, still seated.
"Oh, good! Were there any books I could help you find, Teodor?"
"Actually, yes. Lord Krispin was bragging to me to me last night about your foreign collection?"
"Oh!" Kemmi clapped her hands in glee. "A fellow xenophile, as well as a bibliophile! Be still my pounding heart!" Continuing the theatrics, she peered down assorted stacks, looking for patrons. "Good, the hellions scared everyone off. Follow me!"
Beckoning him to follow, Kemmi rucked up her dowdy skirt, and pelted up the library's grand staircase like a schoolgirl. Teodor followed in delight – and slightly more decorum – up past a velvet rope marking the second floor as closed stacks.
"So," Kemmi said on the landing, rubbing her hands together before her chest. "What do you want to know, Teodor? Every good library adventure begins with a question, don't you think?"
"Ah, I hadn't thought," Teodor admitted. "How many books do you have?"
"About 10,000," Kemmi said. "In the foreign collection. Any particular region? Subject of interest?"
"Ten! – where did these all come from!?"
"My personal collection, mostly, plus odds and ends. I was away fifty years studying among the humans, and sent these back. They're organized by subject, as well as by region or country – depending on size and how stable the borders are, you know. Most volumes are industry and technology, how to. Histories. Other works I felt gave good insight into local culture, what makes people tick. Religious books, cheap popular fiction, some great literature."
"Military history?"
"Yes, some. I have an editorial bias there, though," Kemmi confided. "I'm mostly interested in what lessons they feel they've learned from the past. So I rarely bother with retrospectives written less than 20 years after the fact. With some exceptions…" She crooked a finger for him to follow as she strode down a gallery. "These, for instance, are fairly recent news, regarding the Adreschuldi civil war." She tapped a volume or three for each topic she outlined. "Roots of; Dai Cimmarron involvement in; growth of Shadrach cult in Dai Cimmarron; same in Porthic Empire between…" She looked at him apologetically. "I was in the Porthic Empire last," she confided. "Kind of regretted leaving just before all the excitement."
Teodor laughed, worrying her. "Excuse me. It's just that most women I know would run away from a breaking civil war."
Kemmi smiled bashfully. "Well… That would be more sensible," she allowed.
I think I'm in love, thought Teodor. And yes, Grannock, with this one, a three syllable declarative sentence definitely would not do …
Kemmi was still thinking of conflict. "Is it really true – the crime rate was lower in Kriegsbad than Krist Kringle and Trond Hall this year? Teodor, that's simply amazing." Sincerity shone in her eyes. "I was born in the Kriegsbad Hills – Günter von Krist's estates, once. Though I don't remember it. My parents wanted to stick it out. It was our land, after all, not Krist, or Trondheim. But, by 75 years after the war, the violence seemed never-ending. And my brother and I had come along by then. Father didn't give in easy. 'Evil wins when good men surrender,' he always said. I wish he'd lived to see this. Thank you, Teodor. You and all your men and women in the militia. Thank you."
He left the library that evening with a book, and a date to return it the next day over lunch. The library was closed that day, and lunch turned into an afternoon together.
He'd expected her to dress up. He himself was stuck with the militia uniforms he'd packed for his meetings. But to his delight, Kemmi dressed down – to worn suede Porthic riding jodhpurs over tall Mizrati-style boots, mismatched with a trim tweed jacket from Freeport, and a slouchy visored cap that was all the fashion – for men – 50 years ago in Lesser Cimarron. She brought astonishingly huge white horses, bred from the ones she'd ridden away from the Porthic Empire. The stallion was big enough for even Teodor to ride.
-oOo-
"No, Teodor!" Kemmi cried. "You cannot disillusion me like that! I shall just continue believing the author was a dashing cavalryman!"
Teodor conceded defeat with a little wave and a chuckle, and the couple applied themselves to their tea for a few smiling moments. They sat cozily on a short couch in her apartment's living room. She was within easy arm's reach. If he should reach. Should I?
This was his first evening in Kemmi's home. He'd finally braved a good night kiss at the door the night before. He wasn't sure how to proceed with her. He'd only known her a few days. He needed to leave tomorrow. She was unlike anyone he'd ever known. He wasn't interested in a one night stand, and she wasn't that kind of woman anyway. Nor was she an Aristocrat, nor a Trond. Her very familiarity with customs world-wide, left him in doubt as to which customs might apply. But he was Trond, he decided. Let's stick to my own customs. Trond custom decreed – the man invites, entices, flatters, but never presses. Ladies' choice – always.
This confused Kemmi a fair bit. She kept hoping he'd make a move on her, and thought she was inviting it. Perhaps he was, sadly, only interested in an intellectual friendship. But then she'd get so caught up in their conversation, she forgot all about it.
"Kemmi," Teodor murmured, his voice low and soft. "What made you come back? To Krist, to Shin Makoku." He didn't reach all the way to her, but almost, arm flung along the couch back, massive hand dangling a half inch shy of her shoulder.
The question jarred her out of happy reverie. She quickly covered this by retrieving her tea cup from its saucer. "Oh, I… Several reasons conspired, I suppose. Any one thing, wouldn't have…"
She shook her head to clear it, and started again. "I was fired from my job as a spy for Shin Makoku, you see. I was engaged in the Porthic Empire, though, so I stayed, and married him. It… didn't go well. Then he died and his family thought they owned me. So I left in a hurry. And now I'm back here," she concluded, with contrived smile.
Teodor frowned. "Spy?" Kemmi was no spy of Shin Makoku.
Kemmi quirked an eyebrow at Teodor's reaction. "Oh, not a real spy – they work for the military. I was hired by Franklin Lord Trondheim, when he was Foreign Lord. For deep research. But then he resigned over disagreements with Chancellor Stoeffel Lord Spitzweg, and Lord Stoeffel… Well, he didn't think a demon woman should be overseas. Though I already had been overseas for fifty years by then." She scowled, presumably at Stoeffel.
"My brother hired you!? You must be K. Guntersglen!" Teodor laughed out loud. "All this time, I never realized you were a woman! Or even Shin Makojin. Your analyses were brilliant!"
"Your brother!? You must be – Ted von Trondheim." But whereas Teodor had laughed and drawn closer, Kemmi withdrew. Hands so dramatic in their gesticulating, now folded neatly into her lap, on knees drawn together stiffly, feet and legs uncrossed, back straight. Her glacier blue eyes, huge in their bottle-thick glasses, stared wide at him.
And hope died in Teodor's heart. He swallowed. All the humiliation and shame he'd felt when he'd first lost command of the army, so painstakingly redeemed over the past five years, crashed back on him with a vengeance.
She wouldn't have dated the traitor General Lord Ted von Trondheim.
"I'm… so sorry," he murmured. "I assumed you knew who I was. Oh… Ted. Yes. I don't use the nickname Ted anymore." He shot up to leave, saying, "Madame. I am so sorry to have come here under false pretenses – Ow!" Ow, for when he straightened, he bashed his forehead on a ceiling beam again.
"Ah!" said Kemmi, rising in dismay. "Oh, please do sit down, Teodor!" As they sunk back to the couch, she peeled his thick fingers off his forehead. "You have a lot of scars on your forehead," she noted.
"Yes," he hissed, involuntarily. He cleared his throat. "Yes. The amazing part is, I do this just as often in Trondheim. I – Kemmi – I'm sorry. I thought you knew."
"Yes, that's clear," said Kemmi, sitting back, no longer at librarian-style erect attention, but thoughtful. "It's true, we probably wouldn't have become friends, if I'd known."
"I'm a traitor," he said bitterly.
She considered that for a moment. "Are you, Lord von Trondheim?" she asked. "A traitor, to Shin Makoku? I seem to recall Troll Mother entrolled you. What a vile trick. And cruel. But you wouldn't have fought for her, against Shin Makoku, outside of her spell. Would you?"
This, Teodor's mind had skittered away from, all this time. Now he faced it square on. Tempting as it was to dissemble, he quietly returned her the truth. "Yes. Probably. When Shin Makoku had turned its back on me. When Shin Makoku was in arms against Trondheim. I would have fought my best for Trondheim. But I would not have started down that road, without her entrollment."
Kemmi nodded slowly. And astonished him by replying, "Lord Stoeffel declared me traitor. A spy who remained and married native." She frowned crossly. "The Porthic Empire wasn't our enemy at the time – or at any other time in history." She dismissed that quibble with a wave. "He didn't prosecute me. Just – abandoned me. It was a long road back, coming home. Did you find it so?"
Kemmi's melodramatics were gone. The real Kemmi, and the real Teodor, spoke long into the night. They made love, slept, talked, and parted after breakfast.
And long distance, their relationship grew.
-oOo-
Teodor found himself in his bed at Skill Hall, dazed and ill, coming back to his senses, but weak as a kitten. Again. He cracked an eye open to see if the world held anything of immediate interest. The dark wooden room looked completely at peace.
Then Grannock stuck his gizzled amethyst head into Teodor's field of view. "Coming to? Good. The militia need to know if you're pressing charges against the woman. For rape. She says not."
Teodor scrunched his eyes closed again. "No. Set her free."
"Thought so. I'll be back," said Grannock, both promise and threat.
With the room empty, at first Teodor was still muzzy enough to let his thoughts drift with the dust motes. Unfortunately, the troll mating pheromones were wearing off. Brief mental glimpses of the 'shit, what have I done?' variety began to disturb his stupor.
His friend – and spiritual tormentor – Grannock returned. He fed Teodor water, checked the pupils of his eyes, and satisfied himself that Teodor was on the mend.
Then he dragged a wooden chair by the bed with an awful scraping screech, and got down to business. "Why'd you do it?"
"Private…" Teodor murmured.
Grannock snorted. "I'm not asking for my information, Teo. I already know why you did it. I'm just making sure you know."
Teodor closed his eyes, frowning softly.
Grannock continued, "You're beyond weak to entrollment. Probably born that way. Maybe if you hadn't left your Mommi too young. Maybe if you'd lived your life in Trondheim instead of Shin Makoku, gotten exposed more. But you weren't. And even if you were, you'd probably still be weak. Your father died 'going to the trolls'. And your brother."
"I know," Teodor murmured.
"It's suicidally risky. And you're in love with this demon librarian, Kemmi. Yet, you try a one-nighter with one of the Daughters, high troll as you can find in Kriegsbad. Whom I'm quite sure you don't give a damn about."
"No. What do you want from me?"
"I want you to face why you did it."
Eventually, Grannock left. Teodor had only himself to answer.
I'm sorry, Poppi. I'm sorry, Franklin. I'll never breed up-troll. You gave your lives for the restoration of the trolls. But the trolls are reborn – full-blooded trolls. And I love Kemmi, a demon woman. Your dream… it doesn't make sense, not for me. It never really did.
Forgive me.
-oOo-
"You have straw in your hair." Teodor chuckled and plucked yellow and brown bits out of Kemmi's lustrous burgundy waves, much dissheveled by the evening's festivities. They'd just sat down to eat a Midwinter's Eve midnight spread at Teodor's cafeteria at Skill Hall. "My apologies for putting you to work on a holiday, and your first night here." He didn't look apologetic, grinning and euphoric like that.
Kemmi laughed and touched noses with him. "I've never had so much fun in my life, Teodor, and you know it!"
"Hope I'm not interrupting," said Grannock. He slapped his tray down on the long table across from them. He wasn't apologetic in the slightest, either. They were, after all, in the cafeteria. "Operation Goat Gift complete, Teodor?"
"All three hundred and twelve goats have new homes with the poor of Kriegsbad," Teodor confirmed. He clunked cider mugs with Grannock in cheers, and introduced him to Kemmi.
"I think you have a marvellous holiday tradition, Teodor!" Kemmi said, glacier-blue eyes glowing on him. "Giving gifts to the poor at Winterfair. The looks on those children's faces, hugging their new goats! Was that really your only gift from your family – goats?"
"Only fair, I didn't get them anything," Ted quipped. "Tant'Alana agreed, the goats were a good investment."
Grannock nodded. "Envy and hopelessness fuel crime and violence. Not much left to do here. Getting time to move on, isn't it, Teodor?" With wide sweep of massive arm, he beckoned over another woman just emerged from the buffet line.
Teodor's eyes narrowed, though he introduced Kemmi to his second pleasantly enough. Commandant Andreya was a middle-aged burly elf-troll hybrid just a couple inches taller than Kemmi, a racial hybrid similar to Teodor but with elf instead of troll ascendant in her makeup, and close-cropped dark teal hair to Teodor's shoulder-length royal blue. She was the permanent militia leader for Trondheim's Kriegsbad region.
Andreya also had a family and her own house across town, and no particular right to eat supper at Skill Hall, much less a holiday feast. Teodor omitted those details. Andreya affably elbowed her way in to sit by Grannock.
Grannock let the two women bond for a few minutes, then cut in, "Andreya, I was just mentioning that it's nearly time for Teodor to move on. Don't you think?"
Teodor wrapped an arm around Kemmi and shook his head to her in a definite 'don't mind him' message. Kemmi ducked and laughed as a baby pixie flew by her ear, his shrill mama yelling at him to 'Get back here!' "Kind of a madhouse," Teodor apologized. "We'll go out to a quiet restaurant a couple times while you're here, too."
Kemmi shook her head. "It's all fascinating!" And it was – she seemed to be the only demon in the throng, and Trond customs reigned here. Not even mainstream Trond customs, but those of the unfamiliar Tassi minority.
"Trond Hall next, I say," asserted Andreya, eyes seeking Teodor's in challenge. Then she leaned over to confide to Kemmi, "Traditionally, in Trondheim, the Queen's right hand should be her warlord, not a politician. Not that Erick isn't a very good-looking politician. Quite the hunk, really. But Teodor's not hard on the eyes, either." She winked at him.
Kemmi smiled politely and blinked at the concept of manly hunkishness as a qualification for the Lordship of Trondheim. She'd personally worked with the ruling Lords Franklin, Stoeffel, and Krispin. The von Krists all tended to the willowy. Franklin got rather heavy later in life, and bore an earnest and homely face compared to his son and younger brother. And Stoeffel was just too much of a jerk to notice his looks.
Teodor modestly acknowledged Andreya's compliment with body language, but answered the point. "Gratz Pass, if you're actually asking." He didn't look happy about it. "Haven't agreed yet, but that's Erick's concept."
"Subdue the branded halls?" asked Grannock dubiously. "They're already locked up. Not much point in that. Think 'sands', Teyu!"
"Teh-OH," Teodor corrected sharply. That was intentional, not a slip of the tongue, for Grannock to call him Teyu, his grandfather-the-warlord's name. Reincarnation I may be, but I am not Teyu D'Oriel. I am not obliged to finish his fight!
"Igor, what are you doing?" Grateful for the interruption,Teodor ducked under the table and drew out a squirming little troll. "Kemmi, I think Igor untied your boots," he explained with a chuckle.
"Sands," Andreya echoed, looking quite taken with the idea. Her eyes were glowing. "Ambitious!"
"Sands?" Kemmi inquired, lost.
But little Igor straight-armed her. "No! Teodor is my Mommi's!"
"Hush, Igor!" warned Teodor.
"Igor's Mommi Mhairi works in the kitchens here," Grannock explained to Kemmi. "She has no claim on Teodor, don't worry. But Igor here thinks Teodor would make a perfect Poppi for him. Well, Mhairi thinks so, too. But it's not like she has a hope of that."
"Mhairi's a good kid," allowed Teodor. "And Igor's a rotten scoundrel. Aren't you, scamp?" He roughed up the boy's hair, smiling. Teodor confided in Kemmi, "He's not half as bad as I was to my Mommi's boyfriends at his age."
"Aha! Guilt drives you!" remarked Grannock with a wink. Teodor laughed.
"Did you look like him, too, Teodor?" Kemmi asked, delightedly studying the squirming little pot-bellied Igor, who grinned at her fiercely. If I had a child by Teodor… The intent little boy looked so cuddly!
"We're all descended from Troll Mother," Teodor shrugged. "Yields a strong family resemblance. Huh, Igor? He's not mine, if that's what you're asking," he clarified to Kemmi, with a wink.
"Igor's Poppi is a half-troll," Andreya supplied, "and Mhairi a demon. The father's Mommi forbade him to recognize the child, because Mhairi's not troll." Andreya, Grannock, and Teodor unanimously shook their heads in condemnation. "He used to work for me, in the militia. He chose his Mommi over his kid, and fled up into the mountains, in disgrace. Good riddance."
"He used to live at Skill Hall," Grannock explained. "So with Mhairi left in the lurch, we gave her a place here, so long as she and Igor need it."
Kemmi blinked, trying to keep up with this rapid-fire review of different customs and standards. She was unusually good at that, however.
"So we all help be Igor's Poppi, until Igor picks one. Right, Igor?" Teodor concluded.
Igor kneeled up on Teodor's thighs (Teodor winced), and confided wide-eyed, "She's a demon, Teodor!" Then suddenly screeched, "Mommi! Mommi! A demon's gonna get me!"
"Oy, Igor!" the Tronds chorused.
A harrassed looking young woman, pale blue hair steamed limp, hustled out of the kitchens toward them. She appeared to be a perfectly ordinary working-class Krist demon – only the second of them in the room, after Kemmi.
"Oy, Igor!" she echoed everyone else's sentiments. An elderly man to Teodor's right rose and pushed out his chair for her, and resumed conversation with his own clique, standing. The tired Mhairi sank to the chair gratefully, and gazed in exasperation at her little pot-bellied terror. "Sorry he's being a pest again, Teodor. No offense, I hope, Ma'am," she offered shyly to Kemmi. "Igor, I'm a demon. You don't need to be scared of demons here in the Hall!"
"Maybe Igor doesn't need to be scared of demons anywhere," Teodor offered mildly.
"Really, Mhairi," Grannock chided. "Don't try to control the child by lying to him. Life's confusing enough already."
"Well, I –" Mhairi began weakly, but a holler came from the kitchens, 'Mhairi, get your ass back in here!'
"I'll take Igor," offered a humble man intermediate in size between Mhairi and Teodor. Teodor immediately handed the little squirmer over, with a grateful and encouraging nod. "No worries, Mhairi – get on back to work. We'll see you after your shift's done. Won't we, Igor? We'll wait and have supper together."
Mhairi bit her lip, unsure, then ducked a kiss onto Igor's forehead. "Well, thank you, Bart," she said shyly. "And you behave, you little monster!" She waggled a finger at Igor, whose eyes comically waggled back and forth with it. And the Igor group left them.
"Good luck, Bart!" Andreya called after the man encouragingly. "She'll yield yet!" Teodor and Grannock gave him a thumb's-up, too.
"Mhairi doesn't have nearly that kind of sense," Grannock critiqued. "Wants a bigger man, so it looks like Igor's his all along." He rolled his eyes. "Women."
Andreya cheerfully punched him. "She'll figure it out. She's young yet."
Kemmi ventured, "Are Bart and Mhairi and Igor particular friends of yours, Teodor?"
"Not really," Teodor replied. "Igor's always underfoot here, while Mhairi's working. He's fun to play with."
"No privacy in Trondheim," Andreya answered Kemmi, with a grin. "Now, how many times has Teodor kissed Kemmi in public today?" She apparently asked their neighbors at the long table in general, who'd seemed to be minding their own business.
"Three." "No, four." "Seven." "Nose-rubbing isn't kissing. It's four kisses and three nose-rubs, isn't it?" Consensus was reached. And in fact, Kemmi's memory concurred. Including one kiss she'd thought was private, the tally was indeed four kisses and three nose-rubs.
"No privacy in Trondheim," Teodor echoed to her, apologetically. "You get used to it…"
Andreya winked at Kemmi, and rose to leave. "And we're all rooting for you! Good to meet you, Kemmi! Sands, Teodor! Or Trond Hall."
Grannock decided to go as well. "Delighted, Kemmi. Don't forget you're calling the ghosts at dawn services, Teodor. Sands."
"Sands?" Kemmi prompted.
"Mm, if you're done, I should probably show you to your suite," replied Teodor, rising.
"Suite?" Kemmi prompted, with a frown.
And they rose, to what appeared to be a sea of grinning thumbs-up, pointed in their direction. "No privacy whatsoever in Trondheim," Teodor repeated, redundantly. He bowed slightly to the audience, with a grudging grin, and his hall-mates happily returned to their own business.
"Well, it could be worse," Kemmi murmured. "They could disapprove."
"Oh," Teodor breathed, "that's not going to happen. This way, Milady?"
-oOo-
"It's… lovely," said Kemmi, lacking conviction. She gazed around her excessively white-washed suite, complete with her own private bath, sanitary facilities, and a little sitting area nook with writing desk. It was all quite plain, and remarkably color-free, yet the most Shin Makoku room she'd seen in the mostly dark wooden working-class Skill Hall. "Um…"
Teodor sat on the bed. "It's yours plus, not minus, Kemmi," he explained with an understanding smile. "My room's not much, and just the one bed, narrower than this one. I use the toilets down the hall from me, and the communal baths. They'd be scandalized if I didn't put you up in the best suite in Skill Hall, Milady."
"I'm no one's Lady, Teodor," she murmured.
"Not so," Teodor denied. He patted the bed and raised an eyebrow in invitation for her to join him. Kemmi reluctantly sank beside him. "You know that Trondheim is matriarchal, yes? Women rule? A man usually takes social rank from his Mommi, or his wife, or girlfriend for the season they're together. But, I'm an Aristocrat. My rank is a given. Thus, you get a social promotion above me. Milady."
"You're making fun of me," Kemmi worried.
"Never," Teodor breathed. "And as for separate rooms – you choose which you want to be in. And which bed. At any time. My home is yours. All of it. Granted all of it is this white suite and a small dark single. I'll show you the way to my room, later."
"Hard to be discreet this way," she said.
"I'm sorry, Kemmi. But there is not a snowball's chance in hell of being discreet, anywhere in Trondheim. Everyone in Skill Hall – and soon thereafter, everyone in Kriegsbad, and then half the people in Trond Hall – will know if we have sex, and if we do not. And they expect us to. Lots. But only at your choice, of course. Actually, you're even at choice to have sex with someone else."
"And the men don't mind!?"
"Of course they mind. I should mind… exceedingly. And my friends would not like you for it. But – ladies' choice. Always."
"I think it very strange that I don't like this suggestion."
"I find it very reassuring," Teodor quipped. He put his arm around her tentatively, asking for permission, and she promptly snuggled in, so he held her firmly. "You get used to it," he repeated.
"How would you know?" she asked. "You grew up with this. I don't imagine you had any real privacy in the army, either."
Teodor laughed. "Touché. But then, I'm speaking to a woman who actually married, to a human, in the Porthic Empire. It's hard to picture you in veil and coins."
Kemmi giggled. "The coins actually feel kinda sexy, clinking around your ears, and breasts, and hips."
"OK, now I'm really enjoying imagining you this way. Maybe a little too much… Where exactly do the coins go, around the hips?"
"Well, here, and there, and a loop down between there. I'm afraid my nipple piercings may have closed up, though."
"Sh-shall I look for you?"
"Not so fast, buster! Are you really leaving Kriegsbad?"
"Not right away. I should have another year here. The people here have put up with so much strife, for so long. I don't want to rush it, risk them backsliding. They deserve a peace at last to hold onto. Of course, I don't have much to do here now."
"Come to Krist Kringle lots."
"Oh, I will! Lots and lots."
"But then you go away. I don't suppose they have libraries in Gratz Pass."
"Oh, were you thinking of going with me?" He squeezed her encouragingly. "I think – when it comes to the sort of things I do in my career – you should probably stick to your library. And I hope I'll still be welcome to visit? Even if I must go away on my work, here and there."
"Like taking back the Sea of Sands from Suberia, and restoring the Sea of Grass? Undo the entire Great War, and restore Trondheim to its former size and glory?"
Teodor paused a minute before replying. "I should have known the analyst K. Guntersglen would have no trouble figuring that one out. It's… a definite maybe."
"With or without Shin Makoku's backing?"
Teodor paused longer. "Well, I should be very interested in insights on that from the analyst K. Guntersglen, too. Yuuri Maou… isn't a militarily venturesome king. I haven't committed to any of these reckless paths, yet, Kemmi. Friends are agitating, is all. And – I'm not eager to go 'pacify' Gratz Pass."
"Is it pretty? Gratz Pass."
Teodor laughed. "Gorgeous rugged scenery. Lots of glaciers. I would see your beautiful eyes glinting back at me everywhere."
"It would be hard to leave my career," she mused. "Books and glaciers and untame convicts don't go well together."
"Whyever would you do that?" They stared at each other. "I love you as a librarian, Kemmi. What – you thought I expected you to drop your career and become a camp follower?"
"You know, Teodor, I think Trond men shall become in high demand with Shin Makojin career women. Perhaps I should snap one up before supply becomes scarce."
"I encourage that line of thought."
"We should bathe, before your dawn services."
"Oh, you don't have to go with me. I'm sure you're exhausted from the trip."
"I wouldn't miss it for the world. And unless you need to maintain ritual purity beforehand, I think it important to my standing in Kriegsbad to jump your bones before dawn. Since everyone will be notified, and all."
Teodor laughed. "Preferably not smelling of goat? Fawn? Satyr?"
"Oh, there are fawns and satyrs in Trondheim now, aren't there? Here in Kriegsbad? Ooh, Teodor. My fidelity is being shaken by my xenophilia. I wonder what -"
She didn't get to finish her musing. Teodor laughed so hard he tumbled them both onto the ugly whitewashed wooden floor. "Kemmi, you are a soldier's dream!"
-oOo-
It was a beautiful May evening, after the worrisome slight earthquakes, when a runner from Kriegsbad arrived breathless, to hand-deliver Kemmi a note from Teodor. Kemmi made sure the runner knew where to find respite lodging with the Krist Kringle militia, and sent him on his way.
She'd promised to wear her Porthic coins when she read letters from Teodor – and she did, and he'd been most helpful with getting them all affixed properly during his visit before last – but she only wore one at the library, nestled between her breasts. Wearing any more, it would be hard to focus, clanking. Her imagination tended to get out of hand that way anyway these days. Still, it was an hour before the library closed, and Kemmi was ever a slave to her curiosity. She stole into one of the book stacks for a little privacy, and stealthily drew her one coin out of her bosom, and gently flicked her earlobe with it. She opened the note, which was uncharacteristically tiny, and clearly penned in a rush.
Dearest Kemmi,
I've been recalled to Blood Pledge Castle to assume supreme command. Leaving Kriegsbad in minutes. Earthquakes and volcanic eruption at Winvale disastrous. G. von Dienst leaving to search for his family. Death toll expected in the thousands. Wincott, Bielenfeld, parts of Gratz, covered in volcanic ash.
I'm sorry, we shall miss Gob Mob this year. I promise to take you another time. May be too busy to visit Krist Kringle for a while. But thinking of you always. Rub a coin for me now and then.
Love, Teodor vT
Kemmi folded the note thoughtfully and stuck it in her pocket, Porthic coin still drawing along her ear and jawline. She looked at the dusty stacks of books. She looked down at her dull grey 'librarian camo gear', as Teodor called it. She tapped her foot in her staid and sensible half-boot.
Well. That's disappointing.
She tapped her foot in her staid and sensible boot. She traced her lip with her Porthic coin and thoughtfully touched gold with the tip of her tongue. They were very crude coins, fighting birds drawn to Suberian art standards, with a square hole in the middle. Valuable, of course, being pure and heavy gold.
It would be undignified for a career woman and scholar of my stature to scamper after him like some floozy camp follower.
She tapped her ugly boot and gave her ugly dress an irritable swish. With a glance down the book stacks to make sure no one was watching, her coin took a circuitous route migrating back to lie clutched between her breasts.
"Books!" she shrieked, in overwhelming gratitude at the realization. "The Bielenfeld Institute's BOOKS!"
Objective acquired! Eureka!
"Out, out everybody! Yes, I'm sorry, the library is closing – it's an emergency!" Krispin Lord Krist would take care of her books for her – he always did. "Yes, there's been a volcanic eruption up north! Ash everywhere! I'm closing the library. I shall assemble a team to save the Bielenfeld Institute's books!" Library patrons scattered, amazed by the ferocious manic gleam in the eye of their mousy-sweet dowdy librarian.
Kemmi didn't pack a single thread of 'librarian camo gear'. She did bring her huge white horses, a notebook and graphite, and every last one of her Porthic gold coins.
I don't know where you're going, Teodor von Trondheim. But you're a good man, and one hell of a ride. And I'm going with you!
-oOo-
The End.
Well, end of that story, anyway. ;)
-oOo-
Teodor and Kemmi reappear in The Disaster Up North, the final story in this saga. Or, final so far anyway…
Please also check out my published non-fiction books, Indoor Salad: How to Grow Vegetables Indoors, E-Cigarettes 101: How to Start Vaping, a smoker-friendly guide, and E-Cigarettes 102: DIY E-Liquid,how to mix your own. All three are available in softcover and ebook at Amazon.
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