Disclaimer: I do not own Familiar of Zero/Zero no Tsukaima

Chapter IX - On her Majesty's Secret Service

The smaller of the two robed figures lowered their hood, revealing her face in the sunlight drifting in through the window. Louise almost felt like her heart had stopped. Why was she here? Had she not burned that bridge already?

She felt more than saw Siesta sink to one knee beside her.

Louise fixed her gaze on the edge of the rug as she heard the figure step closer to her. Suddenly her mouth felt very dry, and her throat was tight.

"Louise – Françoise," Princess Henrietta greeted her.

"Your Majesty," Louise replied, somehow managing to squeeze the words out. Slowly, she managed to force her stiff legs to bend enough for her to kneel.

In her mind she was replaying the last moment she had seen the girl who was both her princess, and her own real friend, that moment when she had confessed the truth to her. She could see the look of disappointment and disgust clearly. She felt the blood drain from her cheeks, and a sickly sensation grew in the pit of her stomach.

"Come now Louise," the Princess responded, her voice almost sad. "We are more than that to each other, are we not?"

Louise raised her head hesitantly, and saw the princess smiling gently down at her. No this could not be right, how could the princess speak so kindly to her after last time? Why, after what Louise had admitted to her, did she look upon her with such gentle eyes?

Princess Henrietta and Louise stared at each other in silence for a moment, before the Princess cleared her throat and spoke.

"Rise, Louise," she said, and Louise fancied she could hear a faint tinkle of laughter in her voice. "And you, my lady," the princess added, inclining her head towards Siesta.

Louise spared a quick glance at her familiar, and found the girl's cheeks flushed red, before refocusing her attention on the princess. She began to force herself back to her feet, she felt Siesta move to her side to help her, but she held up a hand to stop her. With some effort she managed to rise under her own power.

"Princess, please have a seat," she said, trying not to trip over her words.

"Thank you," Henrietta replied, and lowered herself gracefully into a chair at the small table. The other robed figure moved to stand beside her, lowering her hood as she went. Underneath was Agnes, the princess' constant companion and bodyguard, the expression on her face was hard and unreadable.

"Siesta, could you?" Louise asked.

"Of course, Miss," the maid replied, as she reached for the kettle.

As Siesta set about preparing the tea, Louise eased herself into the chair opposite the Princess. She placed her cane against the side of the table, and although the her eyes flickered towards it briefly, Princess Henrietta did not mention anything about it, for which Louise was grateful.

The atmosphere in the room was heavy, no-one spoke, and only the clinking of cutlery broke the silence. Louise was struggling not to fidget, but the Princess did not seem bothered in the slightest.

Finally, after what seemed like an age, Siesta handed a cup to each of them, even Agnes. The Princess uttered a polite thank you, once again causing the maid to blush. For some reason Louise felt an odd, heavy sensation settle in her chest at the sight.

"Princess, if I may?" she asked. "What is it that brought you here?"

For the first time the Princess appeared to hesitate, averting her gaze and opening her mouth, only to close it again without saying a word. She slowly raised her tea to her mouth and took her sip, seemingly savouring the taste, before finally speaking.

"Louise please try to understand," she said, reaching forward to grip Louise's hand with her own. "I did mean to come see you again after our last meeting was cut short so abruptly. I was overjoyed to hear of your safe returned, and wanted desperately to come see you but … there was never time."

For a moment Louise was speechless, and she could only stare at the Princess' hand atop her own. When she finally raised her head she saw the princess was wearing a small smile, and there was a genuine fondness in her eyes. It made no sense, she had seen house Henrietta had taken her confession, and yet her she was still acting like her friend. She could almost feel the pressure building behind her eyes.

"However," the princess continued, oblivious to Louise's inner turmoil. "I do find myself in need of your help."

That brought Louise's attention back into focus, and dark thoughts began to creep in on the edges of her mind. Perhaps Henrietta did not really like her any more, and was only pretending to because she wanted something from her? Yes, that made much more sense.

Yet, for the Princess to make a covert visit to her chambers like this, surely whatever she had to say must be important; and if it was so important, then she would only speak of it to someone she trusted.

Louise stomped down hard on both of those trains of thought. Her personal feelings did not matter, the Princess had something to request of her directly, and it was her duty to respond. She drank some of her tea to ease the sudden dryness in her throat.

"What is it you need, you Majesty?" she asked.

The Princess offered her a nervous smile, and gripped her hand just a little bit tighter.

"You see Louise I, like you, know what it is like to love someone when it is not entirely appropriate to do so," Henrietta began, her voice quite. "For some time now I have been … carrying out an affair with Prince Wales."

"Wales?" Louise responded. "The prince of Albion?"

"Yes," the Princess admitted, her gaze fixed on the tabletop. "You know of course, of what recently transpired in Albion?"

Louise shook her head, she had heard nothing of Albion since before meeting Siesta. Not that she had been paying much attention.

"There was a revolution," the Princess explained. "And the royal family was ousted."

Louise tried her best to hide her shock. A revolution?! She may not have been paying much attention to the outside world lately, but how could she not have heard that the royal family of Albion had been overthrown?!

"The rebels intercepted … correspondence between Wales and I," Henrietta continued. "If word of our affair were to spread..."

Louise understood; Henrietta was engaged to marry a prince of Germania, it was an alliance that many felt Tristain needed to secure its future. If they were to hear of this who knows what they might do, what concessions might by demanded to allow the alliance to go ahead, if it would at all?

"You wish for me to retrieve this letter then, your Majesty?" Louise asked, feeling certain that was where this was heading.

"Oh Louise, if only it was that simple," Henrietta replied, with a dull chuckle. She raised her teacup to her lips.

Now she was confused, retrieving the letter would not be simple at all, and if that was not what the Princess wanted, then what was?

"I already sent someone to retrieve the letter," Henrietta explained. "You own betrothed, Viscount Wardes."

Louise struggled against the desire to shift in her seat, and she felt her stomach grow heavy. From the tone of the Princess' voice, it was almost certainly bad news. She heard the rustling of clothe as Siesta moved beside her.

"Did he … did he fail, you Majesty?" she asked.

Henrietta shook her head.

"The viscount succeed in retrieving the letter," she said. "Although I am told Prince Wales did not survive," she added bitterly.

Then what was the problem? Louise wondered but did not say, even in her own head the words sounded callous. She understood that the Princess would be upset over Wales' death, but if the mission had already been accomplished then what did she need her for?

"However, Viscount Wardes did not return the letter to my hand as I had requested. Nor did he destroy it, which would also have been acceptable." The Princess paused and took a deep breath. "Instead he has made certain demands, with the threat that should I fail to comply he will make the letter public."

Louise almost choked on the air, Jean-Jaques was blackmailing the crown!? That could not be right; but it was not as though the princess would lie about this, like she would steal into her chambers in secret just to play a cruel joke upon her.

For Jean-Jaques to be a traitor, it was almost unthinkable. He had always seemed to be the very model of chivalry, so courteous and kind. Yet, as she looked into the Princess' eyes, she could not bring herself to believe that she was lying.

So her fiancé was a traitor, because of course he was.

At first all she could do was sit there feeling numb, and she drank the last of her tea to buy herself time to recover. Then her emotions came to the fore, and she felt her blood begin to boil in her veins.

"When mother hears about this - "

"No!" Henrietta exclaimed, and her grip on Louise' hand became almost painful. "Please Louise-Françoise, this can not go beyond those of us here, you are the only one I can trust. Even your maid I only trust because she is your familiar."

Louise met Henrietta's intense gaze, overwhelmed by the mere notion that the Princess still trusted her beyond all others, despite everything.

"Louise-Françoise," Henrietta pleaded. "Swear to me you will not speak of this to anyone else."

It took only a brief second of that gaze, and the pressure on her hand, before Louise caved. It was clear now what the Princess required of her.

"...I swear," she said, her voice solemn.

"Thank you, Louise-Françoise," Henrietta said, smiling brilliantly. She removed her hand and rose to her feet, pulling her hood back up to cover her face. Louise' hand suddenly felt cold without the pressure of the Princess' atop it.

"Now I need to return before I am missed too badly," Henrietta continued. "We shall have to get together properly once this is all over." She took one last sip of her tea and gently placed the cup back down on the table.

"Yes Princess," Louise replied, with a smile of her own.

"Farewell for now," Henrietta said.

Louise stared at the door for a few seconds after the Princess departed, trying to resolve the conflicting emotions inside her. On the one hand the news about her fiancé was troubling, she was betrothed to a traitor. On the other hand, it was a relief to know that Henrietta did not hate her or consider her disgusting.

With a sigh she turned to face Siesta, only to find her standing there looking oddly stiff, and her eyes staring into the distance.

"Siesta?"

The maid startled.

"Yes, Miss?" she responded quickly.

"Are you feeling well?"

"Of course Miss, why wouldn't I be?"

Louise frowned, the maid's cheeks had turned bright red again, or had they been red the entire time? It could simply be over having met the Princess, most commoners would not get to meet with royalty in such a personal setting, but still...

Her thoughts were interrupted by a hard, clacking noise echoing through the room. The two threw the gazes about the room, trying to find where the noise was coming from when it came again, and both of their heads snapped towards the window. Night had completely fallen now making it difficult to see, but it almost looked like there was some sort of bird on the outside trying to get in.

Siesta made the first move, creeping towards the window with one hand on the hilt of her sword, and in the same moment Louise reached for her wand. Upon reaching the window Siesta looked over at her mistress, and upon seeing the young noble incline her head she threw the window open. The creature flew inside and promptly fell to the floor with a dull thud, like a brick.

Louise approached carefully, forcing herself to breathe normally. She knelt beside the creature and found that it was a bird, but not a normal one, it was made from clay, perhaps it was some kind of tiny golem? She hesitated for a moment, half of her wondering if it might be a trap, the other half thinking that she was being foolish and paranoid.

As she was debating whether to actually touch it the creature it began to dissolve, melting to dust before her eyes, and revealing the scrap of parchment that had been hidden inside. Gingerly, with her nerves tingling under her skin, she reached out and grasped it. When nothing happened she released a breath she had not realised she had been holding.

With a glance up at Siesta she unfolded the parchment and began to read aloud:

Dearest Louise,

My apologies for how late it is, but I had to wait for your guest to leave before daring to send this message.

It occurs to me that when we last met we did not have time to establish the specifics of our new relationship. In order to rectify this please meet me in the tavern in the town near the academy at noon tomorrow.

Yours Sincerely,

F.

P.S. Please give my regards to Siesta.

P.P.S. Burn this note.

Louise stared blankly at the note for a moment wondering who could have sent it, before it clicked.

Fouquet.

Suddenly she felt annoyed, who on did that thief think she was that she could sound so familiar in correspondence? As if she needed to be told something so obvious as destroying the incriminating evidence that linked her with an outlaw. She was not an idiot!

She read the last line again and limped over to the window, but she could not see much in the darkness. With a huff she stepped back and closed the curtains, then she returned her attention to the letter.

As loathe as she was to admit it, the outlaw did have a point. They had struck their deal in haste, and the finer points had gone unaddressed. For example, she had no way of contacting Fouquet to express her current annoyance. As much as it galled her, she would need to go meet the woman tomorrow as she had asked.

She looked up at Siesta and smiled.

"Well," she said. "It looks like we have plans for tomorrow."

"Yes Miss," the maid replied, with a stiff nod.

Louise had to fight to keep the frown off her face, Siesta was acting oddly. Perhaps she was tired? With a grunt she pushed herself back to her feet.

"Siesta could you bring me some parchment and ink? Then go get some rest, we may have a tiresome day ahead of us."

Once Siesta had returned with her parchments and ink, and once she had finished washing the used teacups, Louise threw Fouquet's letter into the fire. She stood watching as the piece of parchment curled up on itself, turned black, and finally crumbled into nothing. Then she hobbled over to her desk, and picked up her quill. If she was to do as the Princess had asked, then first she would need to begin right away.

My Dearest Jean-Jacques, she began.


Siesta felt too agitated to sleep, she felt warm, flushed, and like there was an itch just under her skin that she could not scratch. So she lay there beneath her covers, tossing and turning.

She had been thrilled to actually meet Princess Henrietta, last time she had only seen her from afar. The Princess had even addressed her as "my lady", and that had sent a tingle down her spine. No-one had called her that before, except the boys who were looking to get into her skirts, the ones who fancied themselves charming anyway.

But there was something that had soiled it, left her feeling irritable, and she just could not place her finger on what it was.

Yet her mood had turned when the Princess had leaned across the table and taken hold of her mistress' hand. It made no sense, Siesta had nothing against the princess, and there had been no reason for her mood to change so suddenly. Still, she could not rid her mind of the image of the two of them staring at each other so intently. Even now she was wishing she had done something to interrupt the moment, maybe drop her teacup or something? Although she would not have dared; if only because that blonde woman's steely gaze had been locked on her.

The feeling had hit her again when her mistress' betrothed had first been mentioned, Viscount Wardes. This was the first she had heard of him, and she already could not stand him. Well, she supposed that was only natural, the man was a traitor who was trying to blackmail the Princess, and of course she didn't want Louise marrying someone like that. Miss Louise was a good girl who deserved better!

Her frustration at its peak she threw back her bed covers, but while the cool night air soothed her skin, it did little for the irritation that lay beneath. She barely kept herself from pounding her fist into the mattress like a petulant child. She was lucky that as a private servant she got her own room, and didn't have to share with the other maids.

In the silence she could hear some of the Princess' words echoing in her head:

Come now Louise, we are more than that to each other are we not?

She stared up at the stone ceiling, and glowered at it. This was stupid, she had much more important things to be worrying about, like the upcoming confrontation with Viscount Wardes. She should be thinking about what she would do if she had to fight another mage, again. Yet, the thought did not make her anywhere near as nervous as it should have done.

She sighed, she just wanted to get some sleep, but it was clear that she would not be getting any rest until she figured this out.

Suddenly she could hear Miss Von Zerbst voice in her mind, repeating all those lewd jokes she'd made, all the sly insinuations she had made about herself and Miss Louise.

Immediately Siesta's eyes snapped wide open.

No! Nononononononononono! No!

She – she was not like that! All her fantasies and dreams had been about men! What she wanted was to marry a good-looking man, and live in a nice house. Sure on occasion she had caught wondering what it would be like with another woman, someone with a more slender figure and softer skin. But that was completely normal, wasn't it? Everyone grew curious about these things sometimes, right?

She was not jealous of Viscount Wardes, she hated him because he was a traitor! And she most certainly had not been jealous of the Princess!

Suddenly the night air was not so soothing on her skin, and she had goosebumps all over. She grabbed her covers, hauled them right up over her head, and buried her face in her pillow. She tried to force the thoughts out of her head, to keep her mind blank but it was no use, now they had started they would not stop.

She could see the way Louise's eyes sparkled on the rare occasion when she was actually happy. She could see the shape of her lips, the exact shade of pink they where, and how soft she imagined they must feel. She could even remember just how smooth her skin felt.

She shoved both hands beneath her pillow and kept them there, resolutely refusing to squirm beneath her covers. Now she was extremely glad she had this room to herself.

She tried to force her mind to concentrate of something else, anything else. She thought about the lessons Professor Colbert had given her, about how she had to drill every movement in to her body, or about his constant reminders that battle was about more than simply being able to swing her sword around.

But it was no use. Whatever she tried, that same slender figure with strawberry blonde hair kept forcing her way back in. Siesta almost didn't notice she was crying until she felt the damp cloth of the pillow against her face.

Eventually she fell into a fitful sleep and dreamt of Louise.