A new chapter and thanks my betas for their help

Blood Bonds

Chapter One

Dawn of a New Life

This essential point is the first finger of the way of the exposed palm. The five part way is concentration, reaction, equilibrium, speed, breath control. To master unarmed combat all five digits must be mastered.

-Way of the Exposed Palm-

The light of the twin moons reflected against the broken glass of the mold-covered windows. With its tall walls and flourishing gardens, Manor de Brig might have been an imposing building some fifty years ago, the remains of marble statues and fine paintings suggesting money and power, but now the wild was slowly taking over the territory that had been stolen from it. Weeds were forcing their way through the planks of the floor, and bird droppings stained what must have been expensive furniture back when the place was still inhabited.

Kirche might have stopped a moment to appreciate the poetry behind it all, if it wasn't for the three goblins that were chasing her.

The mission was supposed to be simple. Go to the deserted manor and find some flowers for the innkeeper. He had told them that some dangerous animals were roaming around the place, but had failed to mention the tribe of goblins that had moved in. Finding them had been a nasty surprise.

With the sound of her mad dash echoing through the empty hallways, she rolled under a fallen stone column. She almost lost balance at the end of the rotation, when she let the momentum push her back up to her feet, but she forced herself to keep straight and keep running. Without aiming, she pointed the wand back over the shoulder and cast a fireball. Her efforts were rewarded with a high-pitched scream of pain, but the sound of chasing feet didn't cease.

It was a well-known fact that those creatures were only as tenacious as they were ugly.

Taking a turn to the left at full speed, she found her way blocked by a rotten door. Without stopping, she crashed against it to force it open.

She released a muted scream when she realized that the door led to a balcony, the handrails broken, and only darkness beneath. She managed to keep her footing, and thinking quickly she pressed her body to the wall next to the door.

A moment later, the first of the chasing creatures crossed the threshold. The green humanoid, barely taller than a child and dressed in animal skin, managed to stop in time to keep himself from falling into the abyss, its bare feet grazing the edge. Its luck ended there, as a moment later the second pursuer rushed into the balcony. Failing to react in time, the incoming creature crashed against its companion, pushing it into the darkness.

The shriek of fear and anger only lasted for a second, before the sound of bone against rock put a violent end to it.

A second shriek soon followed, when Kirche kicked the survivor in the back so it could join its accidentally murdered companion.

With the death of her last pursuers announced by a wet smash, Kirche used the moment to catch up her breath. Then she remembered that she hadn't been alone when it all started, "Louise!"

She dashed back through the corridors, ran past the charred remains of the goblin she'd killed first, jumped down a set of stairs, and soon she reached to the inner courtyard, where they had gotten separated after the attack.

"Louise! Are you all…" and what she found there, took her breath away. She had heard stories about her accomplishments from the Tristanian's own lips, but that didn't compare to looking at it with her own eyes.

The place was painted red, dotted with the corpses of the creatures and their pet wolves. Body parts were scattered around the ground, indistinguishable from each other. The tents had been burned to the ground, and the chief goblin shaman was… on the roof of the chapel… impaled on its own staff.

How the heck had he ended up there?

It was said that goblins possessed the magic of the Firstborns, and even if they weren't as powerful as the elves, their shamans were still forces to be reckoned with that could make a triangle mage pause. This one hadn't been just killed, but downright brutalized.

"Kirche. There you are." And there was her girl! Standing in the middle of it all with fresh blood dripping from her blade. Kirche smiled at the sight. It was as if someone had taken a hero of old directly out of the pages of a book and into the present. A proper, Germanian hero, not one of those Tristanian knights that were said to spend more time angsting and crying than doing stuff. "Are you alright?"

With a smile on her face, Kirche stroke a pose with a hand on her waist, "Oh, were you worried for me, my dear?"

With a swing in the air to wipe off the blood, Louise sheathed her sword, "I know you're hard to kill." She shrugged, "Just like a weed."

Kirche leaped forwards, and lowered her head to be at eye-level with Louise, "Besides, if anything bad were to happen to me, I know my Louise would come rushing to my rescue like the knight in shining armor she is."

Louise took a step back, averting her eyes, "Goblins are nasty and vicious creatures. You should never underestimate them."

"See? You do care!"

Narrowing her eyes, Louise turned her back at her, "You're awfully cheerful, despite the circumstances."

"It's nice to do things together!" Even if she couldn't see it, Kirche was sure that Louise was rolling her eyes.

"Let's get the flowers already. They should be in the back of the gardens, assuming these beasts didn't destroy them."

"Shouldn't we… you know, check them for anything useful?"

"All the shiny stuff they found or stole, they gave it to their shaman," With a thumb over her shoulder, she signaled at the impaled corpse, "He didn't have anything, so I doubt any of them do."

"Fair enough."

"And be careful where you step."

Following the Tristanian's suggestion, Kirche let herself be led through the goblins' razed camp, making sure to step wherever Louise did.

A pity she had missed the main spectacle. She'd have loved to see her in action.

At the back of the courtyard, they reached a circular building made of stone. It once might have been the place where the lady of the manor had kept her plants, but it had been years since someone had properly tended for it and most flowers had died out, consumed by the insects and wild plants.

Inside they found the remains of a fountain and entangled around an archway they found the climbing plant they had been looking for.

Kirche approached to inspect the flowers. They could fit into her palm, and were bright blue with white centers. "The guy asked for two, didn't he?"

"Let's take four, just in case." Louise broke them with her hands and put them inside a sack. When she turned to leave, she found Kirche staring at her, "What?"

"Hey, do you know what he needs them for?"

"I didn't really ask." With a shrug, Louise stepped around her and kept walking.

"Don't you want to know?"

"Not… really? Maybe a gift or something." Feeling Kirche's curious eyes piercing the back of her head, she stopped, "Fine. Once we're back, I'll ask him."

Kirche giggled, clapping her hands, before taking a leap forwards to join Louise on their trip back to the town.

After leaving the Academy several days ago, the duo had wandered off into random directions, letting the roads be their guides. To Louise's surprise and mild annoyance, instead of being discouraged by the lack of planning, Kirche had been giggling in excitement at the idea of challenging the unknown.

That's how they found Recess, a place to the east of the kingdom.

The trip back from the Brig Manor took them the good part of an hour, and when they arrived at their destination, their stomachs were rumbling and their eyelids were heavy.

"We're back!" Kirche announced, stepping into the Inn.

"Oh, my ladies! Were you successful?" The innkeeper, and their current client, was a man who had passed his fifties some years ago. They found him by mere chance when they were looking for a place to sleep, and when he noticed they were armed nobles, he agreed to let them stay in exchange of a favor.

"We were," Louise told him, placing the bag with the flowers on the counter.

"Excellent!" After inspecting them, he kept two flowers and discarded the other two, "As we agreed, you'll have free food and housing for the night.

"We did run into some goblins!" Kirche told him excitedly, "But nothing we couldn't deal with."

The eyes of the man widened in a mix of surprise and fear, "Goblins, you say? Monsters get bolder every year, I tell you."

Smelling the opportunity for more work, Louise leaned forward, "Have you been having troubles with them?"

"Nothing major, the worst were some wolves that came too close to town and unearthed fresh graves. We managed to chase them out ourselves. But if those vermin are starting up trouble, we'll have to send a word to the Count just to be safe. Now, anything else you need?"

Louise opened her mouth to reply, but then she felt Kirche nudging at her shoulder. "Well, there's something," She threw a thumb back at the redhead, "She wanted to know what the flowers were for."

The man pressed his lips together with his arms folded. He looked them up and down, and after a moment of consideration he gave them a nod, "I guess you did earn it." He crossed the counter and walked to the front of the inn to lock the door. Then he closed the curtains, and after he was done he turned to look at the duo with a smirk on his face, "All right, follow me."

Behind the inn, there was a garden surrounded by a fence, and at the back of that garden, there was a shed locked by a heavy padlock. That was where the man led them, their way illuminated by an oil lamp.

"How much do you know about the history of Recess?" He asked them with a mischievous smile.

Louise shrugged with her reply, "Not much, we must confess. We were exploring the countryside and it was by pure chance that we got here."

"Well, you're lucky then! Tomorrow you two will participate in one of our proudest traditions."

He opened the shed with a key he carried around his neck and pulled the doors opened as he cast the light of his lamp inside. Kirche flinched and Louise narrowed her eyes at the sight of what was there.

"What the heck is that?"

"This, my ladies," He told them, walking to the side of the object, "Is my Grimace for tomorrow's carnival!"

"I've seen boats that were smaller than that!" Two meters in diameter, it was taller than any man. It was also beautifully decorated, with a mane of colorful feathers and complex designs painted on the white face.

"That's how we like things here. The bigger the better!" Kirche giggled and Louise rammed an elbow into her ribs. Ignorant of what was happening at his back, the man continued his explanation, placing the flowers they had brought for him on the cheeks of the mask, "The same day, every year, we hold the Carnival for the Wandering Souls! And at the end of it, the best mask receives a prize."

"Does that mean you build a new mask every year?"

"Indeed! It's not easy work, but one that we all accept with gusto." The last additions done, the man led them back outside and locked the door.

Louise's eyebrows knitted in deep concentration, "How is that I never heard of such a thing? This Carnival sounds big."

A sad sigh accompanied the man's reply, "People from nearby towns usually come to visit, but I'm not surprised that most nobles and city-folks don't want to remember us."

"What do you mean?"

He paused, looked at his right, and with his arm he signaled at them to follow him. Once they reached the edge of the garden, he pointed at a nearby hill, "Do you see that building over there?" The girls focused their sight. It was barely visible, but under the moonlight they could recognize a square shape that contrasted sharply with the trees that surrounded it, "That used to be a hospital that was in operation some fifty years ago." He spat on the ground, "Well, 'hospital' I say, but it was mostly a hole in the ground where the victims of the plague were dumped into. Those that didn't have the money for a healer, or couldn't be cured, were brought here to, well, die. Their families would come to visit the first few days, they always did, but eventually they all stopped and the sick were left alone."

"Weren't you worried you'd get infected?"

"Nah," The man replied with a shake of his head, "It wasn't very infectious and the patients were kept well isolated up there."

Kirche sniffed at the story, bringing a handkerchief up to her eyes, "That sounds so sad!"

"Tell me about it. Many were children, you know? That's why, one day, some of us got together and decided 'hey, maybe we could cheer them up!' We started thinking, more of the town followed, and the result was the Carnival. We dressed up and played music around the hospital. It was a way to cheer them up."

"And you too," Louise observed, noticing the man's haunted eyes.

It took the man a moment to reply, "All those people coming. The families crying. The carts with bodies piled one on top of the other. It's hard to forget," He shook his body, maybe in an attempt to dispel the old memories, and took a deep breath, "Eventually, well, the last of them succumbed to the plague. And then…" The muscles of his neck went tense, together with his words, "They didn't even bother to take the remaining bodies out! They left them there and covered the entrances up. They never received proper burial! So, to appease their spirits, we kept the Carnival going."

The silence that followed his story was broken by the sound of Kirche blowing her nose, "That's so beautiful!" She said with teary eyes, and Louise found herself agreeing with her.

"It's a nice tradition, yes."

"Thank you." The man said with a chuckle as he scratched the back of his head, "It's a good way to keep the spirit up and remember those that left us. Tomorrow we'll have food, music, and games for all those that wish to participate. For a modicum price, of course." He added with a wink.

"Of course. Well, we…" Louise looked and Kirche, and found the Germanian staring back with wide, shining eyes, "I guess we could stay and see what it is about."

"Yes!" Kirche beamed, hugging her.

"You're going to like it, I assure you of that."

Back at the inn, the girls ate a quick dinner, Kirche tried to start a conversation but was ignored, and once they were finished they departed for their respective rooms.

"I still think we should have paid for a single room." Kirche said outside Louise's door with a wide grin, "We could have shared the bed!"

"In your dreams, Kirche."

"Oh, you will be there, I assure you." Her reply made a vein on Louise's forehead pop, "Come on, I can control myself, you know?"

"Until I have evidence of that, we'll be sleeping with a wall between us. Goodnight, Kirche." And with a slam, Louise closed the door shut.

In the corridor, Kirche released a sigh. Any conversation, any interaction they had, it always ended that way, the two of them arguing and Louise shooing her off. Kirche just didn't know how to fix it! Bantering with Louise was just so fun, so stimulating!

If only the Tristanian could see things her way… she was so stiff and unfun! She took everything far too seriously.

Walking to her own room, Kirche unlocked the door and made her way inside.

She'd tried to be friendly. She had stopped calling her Zero, she thought they had fixed things, but it hadn't been enough. Even if Louise wasn't as hostile as before, she remained distant. Why couldn't the girl just relax a bit?

Just… how to make Louise realize that Kirche wanted to laugh with her, and not at her?

Well, Kirche's inability to answer this question by herself was what had ended with them in this position. But she'd find a solution, and unravel the mystery that was Louise de la Valliére!

She undressed, but instead of going to the bed, she let herself fall to the floor. With her back perfectly straight, she placed her hands at either side of her body. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and pushed herself up, "One," She lowered herself, and then pushed herself up again, "two, three, four…"

The arrival of the morning sun was accompanied by the sound of moving feet and heavy lifting. An hour after the break of dawn, and with their bellies full with a hearty breakfast, the girls started their travel around the town by following a street in the direction of the market plaza. It was amazing to see how the town had changed overnight. There were multiple posts down the way, each one offering sweet treats or a different game to dozens of people, and from the distance the sound of music and merriment came to their ears.

But it wasn't only that. Louise had seen many festivities (even if she hadn't participated in most -if any- of them), and at a first glance this one didn't look any different. It was when she paid attention to the details that she realized how different it was.

Children rushed past them, laughing and screaming, with their faces covered by masks in the shape of human skulls. It would have been an off-putting image if it wasn't for the vivid color the masks were painted in, and the intricate floral designs that adorned them.

On a stand, a man was selling a toy. It was of a horse rider, a noblewoman, with an expression of panic and with her hair fashioned in a way that resembled a honeycomb. Chasing her was the Grim Reaper, his scythe held high. When the vendor pulled from the rope tied to the front of the toy, the mechanism of the wheels it was mounted on made it so that the scythe descended, cutting the hair of the flying lady.

And it didn't stop there! All around the town, there were murals and banners depicting scenes of death and loss. The image of the wheel of fortune was a frequent one, showing a man as he rose, ruled, felt, and finally died, only for the cycle to start anew.

These people had lived with suffering but hadn't let it defeat them. They had adopted it. They hadn't just accepted death, they had turned it into a part of their lives, they had domesticated it. For them, death wasn't something be feared, it was just another part of their daily lives.

"Impressive, isn't it?" The voice of Kirche came from her side.

"Yes, it… what are you wearing?"

"Well, I wanted to fit in! What do you think?" Of course, the moment Louise took her eyes away from Kirche, the Germanian wandered off to buy junk. She was wearing one of the skull masks, black, with bright red flowers painted on top.

Why had Louise invited her again?

She had wanted to recapture some of that old Skyrim thrill. Traveling to distant places, facing new challenges, and not having to think about her mother's disappointment or Henrietta's distance. Get away from all that.

But she hadn't wanted to do it alone, and a part of her had wanted to see the Germanian out of her element. See her in that same 'swim or sink' situation Louise had been forced through.

Not that Louise had wanted to see her seriously hurt. She'd never admit that the previous night she had followed her with Aura Whisper to ensure her safety against the goblins. But she'd wanted to see her struggling for once.

That hadn't happened.

"Keep it. You actually look better with it."

"Thanks! I knew you'd like it." She stepped in front of Louise and her hand went to her bag, "I also bought one for you…"

"Forget it." She stepped aside and kept walking.

"Come on, Louise! It's part of the town's tradition!"

Turning a deaf ear to whatever else Kirche had to say to her, Louise sped up the pace, but was stopped by a voice calling for them.

"My ladies, my ladies! Do you want me to read your fortune?" It was a man from one of the stands.

Louise faced away pretending to ignore him, but Kirche used the brief moment of distraction to grab her by the arm and drag her to the fortune teller, "Me! Me! How does this work?"

"Well, my lady," He replied giving Kirche three dices and a wooden cup, "You first make a wish, but don't tell me what it is! Then you throw these and I write down the number combination." He pulled out a small book and placed it on the table, "With that, I search for it in this book of mine and the result is your fortune."

"Okay, let's do this," She closed the eyes, "I have my wish," She put the dices inside the cup, shook it up, and then dropped them on the table, "A three, a four, and another four."

"Ok, let me see…" He started searching, passing page after page, "here it is:

When the Light flees,

And your Breathing becomes unease,

Remember you're the Sun,

That can have the Shadows undone,

He closed it, "So, what do you think, my good lady?"

Kirche pressed her lips together with a finger against her chin. She cocked her head to one side and then to the other, before nodding in satisfaction, "Awesome! That's what I wanted to hear." After paying him, they kept walking with Louise still trapped in Kirche's grip.

"I take it that you liked what you heard?" The Tristanian grunted.

As a reply, Kirche tapped a finger against Louise's nose, "Indeed I did, my dear! My wish is going to be fulfilled!"

Louise made her tongue click as she rolled her eyes, "You do know that's not real, right?"

"I don't know! I'll have to wait and see."

"Fortune telling is like having one key and an infinite number of doors." She snorted dismissively, "Eventually your key will fit one. That doesn't mean that there's something mystical about it."

Kirche stopped, forcing Louise to do the same, and the let go of her arm. She walked in front of the Tristanian so they could look eye to eye, "Come on, Louise, I know that! That's not the point."

"Then what is it?"

"The point is to pretend it's real and have some fun! It's like reading a good story. You do know that those aren't real either, right?"

"Yes, I do." She replied with puffed cheeks.

"Well, this is the same. You allow yourself a moment to pretend that what you're reading is real and have some fun that way."

Shifting her weight from one foot to the other Louise folded her arms, "I guess..." But whatever else she was going to say got interrupted by the sound of trumpets.

"Oh! Look at that!" The conversation was discarded in favor of the music, and without wasting a second Kirche grabbed Louise by the wrist and darted in direction of the music.

Crossing the fair, they reached a circle of wooden seats, with a platform in the middle. On the platform, there was a band playing music, and all around them were people dancing to the tune. One of the dancers… was a man whose partner was a skeleton made out of wood. Surprisingly accurate on top of that, Louise should know.

"Now this looks like fun!"

Louise managed to break free of Kirche's grip and take a step back, only to crash against a man.

"Oh! Hello there, do you want a drink?" He was holding a tray with several cups and was wearing a belt with two bottles tied to it. Louise's nose wrinkled at the strong smell of lemons.

"I don't drink."

"Don't be like that, Louise! I'll take one." Kirche stepped in front of her, accepted a cup, and took a small sip. "Founder above, this is strong!" That made the man laugh.

"That's how I know you aren't from around here!" He prepared a second cup, this time for himself, "This is how you drink this," And in a single gulp, he emptied it, "Delicious!"

Kirche eyed her drink with some doubts before accepting the challenging and drinking the rest, "Oh-hohoho! That hits the spot. But are you sure it's a good idea to be drinking this so early in the morning?"

"Then dance, girl! Dancing is healthy for you!"

"I like how you think." Tracing a beeline to the center of the dancing floor, Kirche followed the man and soon enough she found someone to dance with.

Louise remained standing in her place, doing little more than following the Germanian with her sight until she lost her in the flowing mass of people. With a shrug, she made her own way to one of the seats. There she kept watching the dance as people spun and laughed. Every now and again she found Kirche again, always with a new partner whom she'd eventually discard before moving to the next one without looking back.

Kirche looked so unconcerned with anything. So carefree. So happy.

Away from the Academy, in a completely new environment, Kirche behaved just the same, and somehow she still found a way to be on top.

'It's not fair!'

No matter how much she studied or trained, the Germanian always managed to perform just as good, if not better, than her.

How?

Louise had never seen her putting any effort into anything! She just spent her time lazing around with her boyfriends, doing… whatever the heck they did in her room.

Kirche was infuriating, and yet... who else did Louise have? She didn't want to see her family, things with Henrietta were complicated, those she considered her friends were in another world. Once everything had been said and done, the only person who had stayed by her side, had been Kirche.

Could she truly be the closest thing Louise had to a friend in Halkeginia?

She suddenly got the urge to stab something to death with her sword.

By the corner of her eye, she saw some boys talking, some throwing furtive glances at her. One actually dared to approach her, but a look and a hiss were all that she needed to make him back away. Some others tried to talk to her, but she ignored them, and soon enough a circle of empty seats was formed around her.

That was perfectly fine for her. She didn't need them. And, by the looks of it, they didn't need her either to have fun as they continued with their partying pretending Louise didn't exist.

Typical.

They would never get to know or understand her, how could they? These people weren't like her.

Maybe she should return to the inn and…

A shadow looming over her put an end to her train of thought.

"My lady, may I have this dance?"

Louise looked up, sure that there was a grin behind that mask. "Not now, Kirche."

The Germanian was standing with one foot on the seat next to Louise, and with her arms resting on her raised thigh, "What is going on, dear? You look down."

"I'm perfectly fine," The reply came through clenched teeth. Why couldn't she just leave her alone? Louise was fine that way.

"If you say so," Kirche sat next to her and crossed an arm over Louise's shoulders, "So, about my question…"

Louise groaned, folding her arms, "Dancing's not my thing."

"Isn't it? I remember you were quite the dancer back at the academy."

"That was ballroom dancing! You go in, move a bit and leave. I didn't even have to worry about my partner! It was all simple protocol."

"In and out without commitment or attachment. I can relate to that," Kirche nodded with a hint of amusement in her tone, "After all, the academy's dance room was my hunting ground, you know?"

"Figures," Louise's voice was devoid of humor as she pressed her fingers together, making them crack to release tension, "Are you hunting anything of interest here?"

Kirche pulled her arm back and then leaned forward, scanning the dancing people with narrowed eyes and with the chin on her thumbs, "This prey is an elusive one," She said in a quiet voice, "And is putting all my skills to the test." Then she leaned back and looked at Louise, "You do know I'm talking about you, right?"

The Tristanian groaned, massaging her sore eyes, "A bit hard not to notice. You're as subtle as a drunk orc! But I don't like dancing. Not like this."

Kirche hummed in deep thought, "Something you want to share with your friend Kirche?"

"Nothing you'd care about."

"I care about many things! Come on, give me a chance."

"You're not going to give up, are you?"

"Nope! You should know by now that I never do. But, you know what? Maybe this could help you." She placed something on Louise's lap. It was the second skull-mask that she had bought, the one that she had intended for Louise. Unlike Kirche's, this one was white with pink flowers. It was a strange combination of beauty and horror. "I selected it especially for you!"

"I can see why," She replied absentmindedly, tracing the lines of the mask with her fingers. She pressed it against her face, found the cords strapped to each side of the skull and tried to tie them to the back of her head. It was more difficult than she had anticipated and kept losing the grip on them. Kirche tried to help her, but she slapped her hands away and after a moment of raw stubbornness she managed to make the knot.

"There you go!" Kirche palmed the back of Louise's head after the mask was in place. "So…"

Louise shifted uncomfortably on her seat, "Fine. I guess I could concede… eep!" Without waiting for Louise to finish her reply, Kirche jumped to her feet, took her hand, and dragged her to the center of the floor, "W-wait! What am I supposed to do?"

"Just relax, dear! And let the music take you!"

"But I don't know how to dance this!"

"That doesn't matter! This is not ballroom dance, my dear, it's folk dance! There are no mistakes here. If you mess something up, you just dance on! That's why it's so great!"

She twisted and she turned. The music sped up, becoming a frenetic rhythm accompanied by the sound of laughter and the moving feet of the other dancers. But Louise couldn't see them. The mask she was wearing had restricted her field of view to two small holes that were focused solely in Kirche's own masked face. The Germanian took her arm and pulled her closer, guiding her feet.

No.

No, this would not do.

It would be a cold day in Dagon's Deadlands the day Louise let Kirche lead her. She changed the grip of Kirche's hands and pulled back, forcing the Germanian to imitate her. In response, Kirche locked her arm around Louise's own and twisted around her, moving her legs in ways the Tristanian had never seen before.

It became a competition, a duel, over who'd force the other to follow her rhythm, over who'd dominate, and Louise discovered she didn't mind the idea at all. In a moment of brilliance -if she was allowed to say so herself- she also incorporated Akavir and Khajiit forms into her movements. Her limbs started aching and her heart started pumping. Just how she liked it.

It was a good thing she was wearing the mask, she wouldn't have wanted for Kirche to see that she was smiling.

An hour later, the door to Louise's room at the inn opened with a kick, and in came Kirche, "Oh, that was fun!" She beamed, stretching her arms over her head, as she let herself fall on the bed, "At least it was for me. What about you?"

Behind her entered Louise, who closed the door and placed her mask on a nearby table so she could massage her tired face. "It was different," She mumbled.

"Different is usually good!"

"No. Not always." She said quietly, "But… I did have fun with you. Thank you."

With a smile on her face, Kirche straightened up and place a hand next to her ear, "I'm sorry, what? I couldn't hear you!"

"Don't push it."

"Fine, fine." The Germanian shrugged, "But, what's with you and dancing? I feel there's a story back there."

Louise shifted her weight from one foot to the other while thinking what to say, "It was my mother."

A roll of the eyes punctuated Kirche's reply, "Figures."

"Do you want me to tell you or not?" Kirche pressed her lips together and pinched them. Without her saying another word, Louise continued. "It happened when I was… twelve, I think, and was still living with Henrietta at the castle." The memories of that brought a smile to her face, "We went to watch a dance at the theater, and later I told my mother I wanted to be a ballerina."

"I can't see that going well."

"She told me that no daughter of hers would be a prostitute."

Kirche straightened up, her focus solely on the Tristanian, "She actually said that?"

"Not… with those words. She used others that I didn't understand at the time, but yes." Her eyes dropped to her hands, "She has a low opinion of ballet dancer, and made her displeasure very clear." She flexed them opened and close, remembering old pains, "Later Éléonore made sure I understood that too." Without saying a world, Kirche rose to her feet. She crouched next to the bed and looked below. That made Louise raise an eyebrow, "What are you doing?"

Kirche didn't reply and instead walked to the windows. "There's no Karin under the bed. There isn't an Éléonore outside the windows. And I'm going to bet that they aren't inside the wardrobe either, waiting to spook you."

A low growl escaped Louise's throat, as she folded her arms and looked away, "That's not funny."

"Come on, they are not here! You can go crazy and enjoy the time, who cares about what those two think?"

Kirche placed a hand on Louise's shoulder, but the Tristanian batted it away. "I do! And they were right. It was nothing more than a stupid, childish dream. Do you any idea how hard the life of an artist can be? Always depending on the whims of the public, traveling from here to there chasing money. Studying is not easy, much less forming a family. And once you get old, what then?"

"Says the adventurer." Kirche replied sharply, sitting back on the bed, "But no one was asking you to drop everything and join a circus! I just wanted to dance with you for a bit."

"I know. It's just… it's just..."

At Louise's unwillingness to continue, Kirche placed a finger under her chin and nodded knowingly, "Ah. It's that little voice in the back of your head constantly yelling at you that what you're doing is wrong."

"I'm surprised you know what that is."

"Used to have one. I torched it years ago."

"That explains so much."

Kirche pointed a finger at Louise, "You know what your problem is, Valliére? You're so afraid of failing at new things that you never try them! I don't care if you mess up as long as we can have fun together."

"How can you say that?!" Louise's hands curled into fists, her nails digging into her palms, "You were always the first to laugh at me when a spell blew up in my face."

"Do you want me to say I'm sorry? Fine, I am! I just want to have some fun with you."

"At my expense, you mean." She made her tongue click, "You never cared about anyone but you."

"Oh, that's precious coming from you," A frown marred Kirche's face, "You're such a pig-head, you know? You always were, little miss 'I'm better than anyone'. We all broke our backs studying, we all had to work hard to pass our exams. Just to be 'acceptable'. We all had our own problems and were fine that way! But for you, that was never enough. You were never satisfied with anything, you always had to be the best, and raged at everyone when you were not. That was infuriating!"

"I had to be the best. Why should I resign myself to mediocrity, like you?" Louise raised her voice, but that failed to intimidate Kirche.

"You know? Sometimes, I really want to punch you."

"Good!" Louise pulled her lips back, revealing her teeth, "The feeling is mutual."

Kirche raised a fist, "In that case, I have a proposition for you." She rolled on her back, over the bed, and let herself fall to the ground when she reached the edge. She walked up to Louise, and it was by sheer strength of will that she didn't hit her right there.

"What the heck are you doing?"

The Germanian looked at Louise in the eyes, her wide grin making the Tristanian flinch. "Louise..." Impossible as it might have been, her smirk seemed to grow larger at Louise' dumbfounded expression. "I want you to train me!"

Louise blinked, unsure of what she had heard, "Excuse me?"

"Yes!" Kirche jumped back, "I want to learn to do this," With her opened palm she swung her arm as if she was chopping with a sword, "And that!" She threw a kick, "All those things you know!"

A headache was forming, Louise was sure of that, "And you ask me that… after all this."

"After helping you have some fun at the fair. Yes. I think it's just fair!" She giggled at her own play of words.

"No one will find your body."

Kirche dismissed the comment with a wave of her hand, "Besides, an argument between us? That's tradition at this point. I already forgot all about it! See?" She pushed her fingers up, into her cheeks, shaping her mouth into a smile.

It was unsettling. Kirche was planning something, Louise just knew it.

"Why would I… why would you want to learn that?"

"Because it looks fun! And you look so cool when you're jumping and fighting like that!"

"That's it? Is that seriously all?"

"Well…" She pressed the tips of her fingers together, "Yeah. I don't think if you noticed but I'm not big on all that 'long-term planning' nonsense. I see something that's new and looks fun, and I try doing it. So… what do you say?"

With folded arms, Louise breathed in sonorously through the nose. She refused to believe her, but Kirche sounded… honest.

Things hadn't developed as she had been expecting them to go. She had been expecting Kirche to have given up at this point and returned to the Academy, but the redhead had stubbornly remained with her.

Yes, they had argued, they always did. But despite that, Kirche's company had proved to be surprisingly tolerable.

"Fine. I'll teach you. Starting immediately, of course."

"Really?" Kirche's face lightened up, but then turned into an expression of panic when she processed what Louise had said, "Wait, what? Like… right now?"

"Yes. We'll find a nice clearing where we can start your training." She signaled at Kirche with a hand, "And you'll need something else to wear because those clothes are too bulky. Maybe your underwear, or…" She was forced to take a step back when something smashed against her face. It took her a moment to realize it was Kirche's shirt. "Hey! What's the big ide..." Her jaw dropped to the floor, and the shirt slipped off her grip.

"Like what you see?"

"W-what are you wearing?"

"My underwear, of course," And to accentuate her words, Kirche winked.

That… that wasn't underwear. The black lingerie barely counted as strings! Louise failed to understand how they remained in place and didn't burst open.

"That's not what I was talking about!" Her cheeks started to burn.

"Then what were you referring to?" Kirche took a step forwards, and Louise took a step back.

"Something other than that," Another step, "L-like shorts or…" Another one, "Bandages to wrap your chest." Suddenly she found herself with her back against the wall.

"I don't own one of those. Would you like teaching me how to wrap these?" She crossed an arm underneath her breasts, pushing them up.

And there it was.

"Idiot!" With a yell, Louise pushed her away, dropping Kirche on her rear.

She'd been a complete idiot.

'Stupid, stupid!'

She'd played right into Kirche's game, and had made a fool of herself.

"Hey! What's the big idea? You didn't need to react that way!" Kirche picked herself from the ground and walked to Louise, "Hey… are you alright?" She poked her in the shoulder, "Hey, Louise. Lou…" With a furious slap, she pushed her hands away, "Ouch! What's the big idea?"

Old frustrations rose back to the surface. "Is there anything you actually take seriously?"

"Fine, fine!" Kirche groaned throwing her hands up in the air, "I was just having some fun but I guess you already covered your daily dose of fun, right?"

"That's not fun," Louise's anger was barely contained as she forced her word through her teeth, "Not for me. I thought you had learnt that after La Rochelle."

That made Kirche's smirk banished from her face, "I… I messed up again, didn't I?"

And now she pretended to be sorry?

"Yes, you did!"

"I… I'm sorry." Kirche's voice was barely audible as she scratched the back of her head, "My mouth and body tend to move faster than my brain does, and... I'm sorry. I'll just pick my things up and return to my room, okay?" In total silence she dressed up, and walked to the door, "See you… see you later? I guess?"

Her anger was rising, and her teeth were grinding. But then a wicked idea formed in Louise's mind. She'd show Kirche her place. "Don't you dare to take another step!" Her commanding voice made the Germanian flinch, "You got into this, and now you're not getting away that easily."

"You mean?"

"Yes!" She looked Kirche up and down, with her jaw held tight, "You wanted to do this? Fine! But stop fooling around, and come help me find some appropriate attire for you."

With a returning smile, Kirche gave her a salute, "Yes, ma'am!"

Thirty minutes later, the two girls entered a clearing close to the village, a small patch of land, surrounded by trees and bathed in the sound of a nearby river.

They were carrying the rest of their clothing in bags and were dressed in short, tight-fit pants, with bandages wrapped around their chests. But, despite their matching appearance, they couldn't be looking more different. Kirche was almost shaking on her feet, barely capable of containing her excitement. It looked as if she was about to explode at any moment. For her part, Louise kept herself inexpressive. Her face only marred by a slight frown of annoyance.

When they reached the center of the clearing, Louise stopped, forcing Kirche, who was walking behind her, to do the same, "This looks like a good spot." She said, dropping her backpack to the ground.

"So, what will you teach me first? How to kick? How to punch? How to throw a man twice my size over my shoulders?"

If Louise heard Kirche's question, she didn't give any signs of the fact, "What would you say the perimeter of this circle is?" She asked in turn, gesturing at the edge of the clearing.

With a finger against her lips, Kirche hummed in deep thought, "I'd say… some hundred meters? Hundred and twenty maybe?" Her answer seemed to surprise Louise, "What? Surprised I know maths?"

"I'm… honestly surprised you know what a perimeter is."

"I have many hidden talents! Maybe I could show you some of them."

With a wave of her hand, Louise dismissed her comment as she looked away, "We start with a ten-lap run around the place."

That seemed to deflate Kirche's excitement, "Oh, really? That's boring!"

Once again ignoring her, Louise started jogging away, "Stop complaining or I'll leave you behind."

"Oh! You're going to run with me?" With a hope, Kirche pushed herself to catch up.

"Of course! I'm not going to ask you to do anything I can't do." The 'better' seemed to go unsaid.

"It's nice when we can do stuff together."

They started moving. The first lap they completed together, shoulder with shoulder. During the second one, Kirche tried to start a conversation, but Louise put an end to her attempts by just running past her. The Germanian made a noble attempt to keep up, but soon fell behind gasping for air.

She hadn't finished her fourth lap that Louise had already won one over her. "Do you need a moment to recover?" She shouted at her across the field.

"I'm Kirche von Zerbst! I don't need moments to recover!"

Her bold claim proved hard to maintain, as during the eighth-lap her limbs started itching as if they were covered in ants. Louise won two laps over her during Kirche's ninth run, and it was only through sheer willpower that she finished her tenth one.

"There! I did it!" Kirche cheered, letting herself fall to the ground, "Yay me!"

"You finished. Congratulations." The insincerity was clear in the Tristanian's voice as she looked down at her, standing perfectly straight next to the prone Kirche.

"Come on, you barely look winded!" With some difficulties, the Germanian managed to pick herself from the ground, "How many laps did you end up doing?"

"Sixteen," The reply was punctuated with a shrug, "But I have much more training doing this than you do. Now here, take this." She hurled a water skin in Kirche's direction that the Germanian caught in mid-air, "Drink, but not too much. If you do, you might end up throwing up as we continue forward."

"There's more after this?"

"Of course! Next, we'll do some hand-to-hand combat."

"All right!" Kirche beamed, hurling the water skin back to Louise as she raised her fists in a fighting stance, "I'm ready! Bring it on whenever you're…" And suddenly she realized she was staring at the sky, "What the heck just happened?" In just the blink of an eye, Kirche had gone from standing in front of Louise to having her back on the ground, "Not that I mind our current position, mind you," Louie was on top of her, with a wicked grin on her face, one arm crossed over Kirche's shoulder, and the other hand locking one of Kirche's arms in place. Louise had effectively rendered her immobile.

The smile of satisfaction didn't leave Louise's face as the stood up. "Come, on your feet!" She offered Kirche a hand, which the Germanian accepted.

"How can you keep moving? I always prided myself on working all-night-long, but after the warm-up, I can barely walk."

"Good exercise is not just about toned muscles, it's also about flexibility, speed, and endurance."

"Good to know. So, are you going to teach me how to do that?"

"Not yet." Without warning, Louise threw a punch in Kirche's direction. The Germanian yelped and pulled back, getting entangled in her own feet and falling to the ground.

"What was that for?"

Louise's smile seemed to grow even wider, "I'm not going to teach you how to attack with fists and kicks. At least, not yet."

"But…"

"With your fire magic you're far more useful as a ranged fighter, and if you find yourself in the melee then that's because something went wrong. That's why my first lesson will be about the proper form of dodging."

It took a moment for that to sink in, "Oh, you're going to enjoy this so much."

Louise's reply, was a crack of her knuckles.

Kirche panted as fat drops of sweat ran down her face.

Yet again her body was sent hurling through the air, and with the sound of a dry blow, it hit the ground surely adding another bruise to her sore back.

She had lost count of how many times that had happened.

Pushing herself up, she look at Louise who was patiently waiting for Kirche's next move. The Tristanian was standing there, relaxed, and with that savage smile that made the Germanian's heart race. That's what she loved of her! That conflict. That pushback. That desire to keep fighting until the breaking point. That only served to strengthen Kirche's fervent desire to win, no matter the costs or consequences.

And win she would! If Louise thought that Kirche von Zerbst was going to go down without a fight, she was sorely mistaken. She was a fire, an inferno. If it wasn't put off, she'd just keep burning until she reduced everything that stood in her way to ash and cinders.

But Louise was fast, incredibly so. Kirche had never seen anyone move like that before, and had no doubts that Louise could go even faster if so she wished. Following her was like trying to follow a flying arrow that turned and twisted like a wild flame.

Louise threw a left kick. It went wide, and thanks to that Kirche managed to dodge it.

That had been on purpose, Kirche had no doubts about it. If so Louise had wanted, Kirche would now be nothing more than a broken mess on the ground.

"Did you have enough?"

"I never do!"

And yet here she was playing with that fire, fanning it, knowing that at any moment she could die. That knowledge made her feel so alive!

"Aren't you afraid of getting hurt?"

"That just adds to the challenge!"

That seemed to strike a nerve, and Louise went into the offensive once again. But she was getting overconfident, and Kirche had been watching. Had been learning. Whenever Louise put a foot forward, she attacked with the other side of her body, be it a leg or a fist. It was for barely a second, but Kirche was getting better at predicting her.

It was very similar to when Louise casted spells, now that she came to think about it. She handled her wand with her right hand, but always put her left foot forwards when casting.

The next step was learning how to counter her. Well, who better than Louise herself to teach her that? She didn't trust herself to be able to kick like her, but punches should be easier.

Far from being angry, Louise's smile seemed to widen the first time Kirche went into the offensive. She grabbed Kirche's arm, hit the inside of the elbow, bent the arm in the opposite direction, and then dropped her to the ground. She let the Germanian get back to her feet, and the exercise continued.

The second time Kirche tried the same punch, Louise surprised her with a new lock, moving to the right and hitting her overextended knee. She lost her balance, and once again Kirche and the ground had a very personal and intimate encounter.

That pattern repeated itself a third, fourth, and fifth time. Then she stopped counting. But all that she needed was a good grip. She needed a moment of opportunity and… there!

Louise took a step forward with her left foot, which meant that she was preparing an attack from her right. Kirche wasn't disappointed when, a fraction of a second later, she saw a closed fist coming in her direction. She tried to catch it, but her fingers were too clumsy. Still, with the swipe of her arm she managed to push the incoming attack away. Kirche took a step to the left and lost her balance, but not before pushing her leg up. Louise smirked at the sight of the Germanian falling, but her face turned into a scowl when Kirche's improvised kick connected with her right knee. Then her eyes widened in surprise when she discovered that she could no longer support her own weight.

With a smile of victory, Kirche hit the ground, this time taking Louise down with her. "Take that, Vallière! Did you like it?" She called, raising a fist in victory. She waited a moment for Louise's reply, but it never came, "Eh… Louise? Are you there?" Crawling on all fours, she picked herself from the ground. Louise hadn't moved from the place where she had landed, silently staring into the sky, "Are you okay?" Kirche walked to her and offered a hand, but with a slap, Louise pushed it away.

"I don't need your help," The Tristanian said through clenched teeth, getting back to her feet.

"Come on, don't be like that! I believe your training…"

"This was not training!" The yell made Kirche flinch. Louise seemed to try to contain a scream as she turned her back away, "This… this entire thing… it wasn't supposed to go like this!"

Had she hit her head in the fall? "What do you mean?"

Louise stopped, her fist shaking in barely contained fury. Then she turned back, and Kirche realized that her face was red in anger, "Why won't you give up?"

"Eh… what?"

"This was my thing! Something that could be mine! But you… you just keep getting back up! Why?"

Kirche blinked, trying to understand what she was saying, "I swear you're making no sense. Also, come on, giving up? It's not like you ever gave up at the academy."

Louise started walking from left to right, muttering under her breath as if she searched for what to say, "I never had a choice! I had nothing. Mother…" Her voice trembled, "Mother wanted to marry me off. She wanted to arrange my life because I couldn't do it on my own! I was useless! I needed to prove to her that I was not! But you…" She looked at Kirche with disgust written in her face, "You have magic, you have beauty, you have money! Why are you here? You don't need to be here!"

"I'm here because you invited me! And because I want to be here. Also, you know what? What you said is true." Kirche replied, keeping her tone neutral, as she crossed her arms in front of her chest, "I don't need to be here but, but I'll remain here because being with you is fun."

"Stop smiling! Why are you always smiling? When I invited you… you were supposed to fail. You were going to mess up so I could mock you for a chance. Don't you care that I tricked you?"

Kirche blinked once, then twice. "Wait. Are you telling me that the reason why you let me come with you, was just so you could show off? Oh my God, that's adorable!"

"Stop laughing."

"Come on! It's funny."

"No, it's not!" Louise clenched she sides of her head, "I… I insulted you! I tricked you! I hurt you! Why aren't you angry?"

"Would you be happy if I started screaming at you?"

"Yes! It would be understandable! It would be reasonable! It'd be what I'd do! Why don't you?"

"Because I'm not like that. I can get annoyed, maybe frustrated. But when was the last time you heard me raise my voice?"

"Never!" The moment the word exited Louise's lips, she went silent, as if surprised by her answer, "You… you always have that insufferable smirk on your face."

"I'm not one to get easily angry. Not like that. I thought you had already noticed that."

Very slowly, Louise let herself fall seated on the ground, "I don't understand you. I just wanted to have something I was good at, that you'd utterly suck at! Why does… why does everything come so easy for you?"

"That's not true."

"It is! Tell me one thing you didn't pick up immediately."

Kirche walked to Louise to sit next to her. It was mildly surprising that she didn't try to move away. "Oh, there are many! Studying, for example. Mind you, I'll gladly pick a good novel, but one of those heavy essay book with the complicated words? I go cross-eyed trying to understand them!"

"That never stopped you from always being ahead of me."

"That's not fair! No one knew what element you were. Also, another thing I wasn't good at? Fire magic!"

The look that Louise gave her was as if Kirche's hair had suddenly turned blue, "You have to be kidding."

"I'm not! I mean… ok, throwing around flames wildly was always easy, but the more complex and delicate spells… give me a second," She rushed to where they had left their bags, and a moment later she returned with her wand, "Now look at this," With her arm stretch, and with her wand at a perfect thirty-angle degree, she drew an ascending 'S' in the air, "Candela!" A flame emerged from the tip, intense enough to force Louise to look away.

"Yeah, congratulations on performing a textbook example of a candlelight spell." Louise hissed.

"It is! But I didn't learn it from any silly book. Come on, don't you remember our first day of fire lessons?"

"I remember I blew the classroom up!" She yelled, and the grew quiet, "Then everyone laughed at me."

For the first time during their conversation, Kirche's smile vanished, replaced by concern, "You… you don't, do you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Louise, dear," Kirche cleared her throat, "They called me first to give a demonstration. And I messed it up."

Well, she did manage to make Louise laugh, but that sardonic laugh of disbelief hadn't been her intention, "You, messing up? Please."

"I did! I tried casting the candlelight but the only thing I got was an anemic puff of soot."

Slowly, Louise's eyes opened in remembrance, "You… yes… you did, didn't you?"

"Then you told me that so much fire had cooked my brain! That was a good insult, by the way. It made me laugh."

"I didn't want you to find it funny. I wanted to hurt you with it."

Kirche looked away, scratching the back of her head, "Yeah… I didn't understand that at the time. But it was after that, that the professor called you to give an example."

"And I blew the room up."

"Let me finish, will you? Yes, you messed up, but your technique… it was perfect! Your grip, the angle of the wand, your pronunciation… Colbert complimented you for it!"

"It wasn't good enough."

"Maybe not for you, but for me…" She raised her wand up and repeating the incantation, summoning the flame, "It was just right."

Louise stared at her through narrowed eyes. She looked at the wand, and then realization dawned on her, "You copied me." Her voice was devoid of anger or malice, it was only filled with confusion.

"Of course I did! I was always good imitating what other people did. Not so much at coming up with my own stuff or, you know, reading. Why do you think I always let you perform before me in class?"

She'd never forget the face Louise gave her, "What? Was that why you always… what?"

"Yes! You were always so eager to show what you knew, and, well… no matter how much I try, no matter how much effort I put into it, things just don't… 'stick', you know? I have to read the same line two or three times before I get what it means. Sometimes more. And professor could be speaking in elvish for all I understand of their lessons. It's only when I do the things, or see someone else do them, that I understand," She tapped the side of her head with a closed fist, "I'm kind of stupid that way."

Louise suddenly looked very uncomfortable as she fidgeted with the tips of her fingers. She looked at Kirche, directly into the eyes, and held her gaze for what felt like multiple uncomfortable minutes to the Germanian. Kirche released the air she didn't know she had been holding when she finally looked away, "I… refuse to believe that my rival was a stupid person. What would that say of me? You just think different."

"Oh, my!" Kirche poked her in the shoulder, "What a charmer. But you said it, I don't think as others do. You were always my best teacher, and... I kind of admire you. Those boys I dumped or those girls I stole them from? They never fought back! They were boring. Cowards! But you were different. You always knew what you wanted and weren't afraid of fighting for it. To hell with anyone that stood in your way!"

A faint smile spread over Louise's face, "I always had my duty. Be the best noble and the best servant my kingdom would ever know. All I ever did, I did it with my objective clear in sight."

"Not me." Kirche shrugged, "I don't know what I wanted to do. That's why I try everything I can, get bored, and move on." She rolled the words on her tongue, "You… you're right. I could get everything I wanted, but I couldn't care less about it." The last person she'd talked with about stuff like that had been Charlotte, "I want to find something… something I'll fight to the death to keep. I'm afraid I'll never find it. That's why I'm not one to think about the future." She giggled, trying to add some humor to her words. It was proving to be difficult, "It scares me a bit. It scares me to think that in five, or ten years time I'll still be doing the same things, still searching. Or dead. Most probably dead with my lifestyle."

Louise just stared at her, not saying a word.

"I mean, they already tried to have me killed once! That's how Charlotte and I met."

The silence remained.

"It's a funny story. I should tell you about it one day!"

A blink of the eyes was the only evidence that Louise was listening to her.

"Well… you were actually there! But you probably weren't paying attention. It happened during…"

"You speak too much."

"Yes, I tend to do that, don't I?" Kirche said with a forced giggle. "I do that when I get nervous."

Louise hummed, folding and unfolding her arms, "What about this? Won't you just wake up one day and decide to go back to the Academy? Or to Germania?"

"Oh, dear. You kept me entertained for more than a year. That's more than anyone accomplished ever before! I'm starting to suspect I'll never get bored of you."

Louise sighed, "Turn around."

"What?"

"Turn around. I want to check your back." Kirche obeyed. She opened her mouth to say something but the only thing that came out was a yelp of pain when one of Louise's fingers pressed against a bruise, "You look like a bunch of grapes." She deadpanned, "When we're back at the town I'll buy some ointments for you." An image of Louise applying them crossed over Kirche's mind, but she bit her own lips to keep quiet. When Kirche turned back to look at her, she realized that Louise had changed her position and was now seated on her knees, her back perfectly straight, and her hands on her thighs, "Sit like I'm doing."

"Okay?" Kirche did as told, her joints cracking as she forced her legs into position, "Ouch! Ouch! This is harder than it looks like."

"Don't worry, you'll have time to learn it properly," Before Kirche could digest what Louise had just said, Louise did something that she hadn't been expecting: the Tristanian leaned forwards until her forehead almost touched the ground. "What I did was unacceptable." She spoke from that position, "In La Rochelle, I declared you my friend. We shook hands. But even after that, I believed myself in the right to abuse you. For that, I ask you to forgive me."

A soft laugh escaped Kirche's lips, "Of course I forgive you! I don't mind. Besides… I kind of deserved it, didn't I?"

"It's not about that!" Louise continued without raising up, "I was angry! I was frustrated. I used you to vent all of that out. It wasn't fair."

Kirche pressed her lips together, looking down at her, "Come on, honey!" She stretched an arm to pat the Tristanian on the back, "My Louise was never the gloomy type! Even when sad or down, she was always a loud volcano. That's what I like about her."

"I… thank you." Louise straightened up, then tried to look at Kirche but lowered her eyes to the ground, "If you still want to, tomorrow we'll start your training. Your true training, not this mockery I did today."

"Of course I want to! I'm ready."

That made Louise seriously laugh, then she narrowed her eyes staring at Kirche, "No, you're not. It'll be worse than this, I assure you of that. You will bleed, and you will cry. But," She took a deep breath, "That's acceptable. What I will not accept from you, is quitting."

"I won't give up." Kirche boasted, flexing an arm, "Once something catches my interest, I'm too stubborn to give up on it until I finally have it in my hands."

"We'll put that to the test. For now, let's go back. We'll need a good dinner and then a good night's sleep."

"Yes, ma'am! And… mmh… could you help me? My legs went numb."

In the capital of Tristain there were rumors circulating. For several days now, no one had seen Queen Henrietta. Some said she was sick, and just wanted to rest, others that she had traveled abroad, but some other frightful voices suggested that she had been kidnapped by her enemies.

Whatever the reason for her disappearance, there had been a shift in the movement of guards and knights. Karin de la Vallière had returned to her lands, and Princess Tiffania had been placed under strict guard. And, as the saying went, when the cat was sleeping the rats could fester.

A carriage arrived at the gates of the Royal Opera and Ballet, and from it descended Lord Richmond, Royal Judge of Tristain. There was a line of women already there, waiting to buy an entrance ticket, but he ignored them and made his way inside.

When the women eventually entered, the first obstacle they found was in the presence of the attendant. He was a mage, and as he checked their tickets, he subtly scanned them with his wand. If the wand were to flare red, it would have detected the presence of unauthorized magic.

It never did, so they were allowed to continue.

Inside, they found the place almost empty, and the Judge seated alone, not really paying attention to what was happening on the stage. There had been persistent tales of Richmond and his practices, that he censored plays that displeased him and only allowed those that bought his favor with the actresses' bodies. True or not, the drop in the quality of the plays, and the rise in prices, meant that fewer and fewer people went to see the plays.

One of the women broke from the group and sat next to him.

"That seat is already taken," He replied in a dry voice without looking at her. The woman didn't move, "Didn't you hear me, mademoiselle?"

"You should focus on the play, Richmond," The man's eyes widened at the sound of that voice.

"Your Highness, you're fine!"

Henrietta didn't turn to address him, her eyes focused on the stage, "Why didn't you wait in line and buy a ticket like everyone else? What you did was against the law."

A cold and stiff smile marred the man's face, "Since when is the crown interested in the theaters?"

"Since the Royal Judge started breaking the law. I wonder, how many other laws did you break?" She slowly turned her head to look at him, "We intercepted your messenger last night. He told us about your contacts in Albion, and is currently awaiting your company in Chernobog Prison."

If she was waiting for him to lose his composure, that didn't show on his face. His smile broadened.

"You have been a very naughty child, Henrietta."

"'The Queen's disappearance is not my doing', you wrote in that message, while also asking if it hadn't been the work of some other hand you hadn't been informed of."

Richmond pushed his lips back, revealing yellow teeth, "You're nothing more than an ignorant child. Being ruled by Reconquista will be much better than being ruled by the likes of you."

"The words of a traitor," She replied without missing a beat, "And you'll be punished like one."

What followed happened in the blink of an eye. Richmond lunged at her, grabbing the queen by her wrist. As he did, the women that had accompanied Henrietta to the theater rose up, revealing pistols and sabers they'd hidden within their clothes.

"Now, my dears, let's not do anything rash," He said, pressing his wand into Henrietta's neck, "Why don't you all sit down? Keep watching the play!"

The women took aim, "Surrender, Richmond! You're surrounded."

A vicious smirk stretched across the man's face, "No, my dears. In that, you're mistaken."

The actors, who had been pretending to be paralyzed in fear over what was happening, rushed to the front of the stage, aiming wands at the women.

"The troupe," Henrietta said through clenched teeth, "They were Reconquista's spies."

"Oh, did you manage to figure that out all by yourself? You must be so proud! But you'll see that you cannot compete with me, your Highness. My intelligence is superior to…"

The sound of broken windows and doors interrupted his speech, heralding the arrival of the men of the Manticore Corps, their sword-wands at the ready to protect their Queen.

Then everything exploded into chaos.

Taken by surprise, one of Richmond's allies died when an ice-bomb exploded next to him, and another when half a dozen bullets pierced his chest. But their counter-attack was fierce. They erected walls of wind and rock, and a flash of light signaled the death of one of Henrietta's guards, a lightning strike digging a clean hole through her belly.

"You imbecile!" Richmond raged as he dragged Henrietta away by the neck. To the side of the auditorium, one of the actors was waiting for him, her wand aimed at the Tristanian knights.

"My lord, over here!" She said, pointing at the opened trapdoor next to her.

Richmond pushed Henrietta into the darkness of the escape tunnel, a sadistic smile forming on his face at the sound of her hard landing. A moment later, he jumped after her.

"You believe yourself so clever, don't you?" He grabbed her by the hair, forced her to her feet, and smashed her face against the wall. "You aren't more clever than me!"

"My lord, shouldn't we kill her?"

"Am I surrounded by idiots? She'll be our ticket out of here. They won't dare to attack us while we have this pretty birdy with us."

Henrietta's breathing became heavy as a thin line of blood ran down the side of her head, "What are you going to do with me?"

"Oh, do you want the details?" He pressed his body against her back, "You gave us so many troubles these past months. Now, after we leave the city, you and I will make a trip to Albion. Reconquista wants your head, but if you behave I'm sure I could convince them to leave you alive and well under my care. How does that sound?"

"You… you were the leader of Tristain's cell."

"Of course I was!" His hands roamed her body, from her shoulders to her legs, "My letters went directly to Cromwell. Even that kid, Wardes, had to ask for my permission before acting. How does that feel, pet? How does it feel to know that one of the people you trusted the most was biding his time to stab you in the back?"

She lowered her eyes, "Just… just tell me something, Richmond. Where you responsible for D'Angleterre?"

He chuckled, "Why would you care about that putrid place, your Highness?" Then his eyes narrowed, disgust clear in his face, "It's about that heathen Agnes, isn't it? That commoner you turned into a knight. Repugnant."

"Tell me the truth! There was never a plague, was it?"

"No! But they paid me handsomely to make it look like there was. I used it all in harlots and wine! Coin well spent."

"I see." Henrietta replied in a low voice, "That's all I needed to know." An elbow connected with the High Judge's stomach, forcing all the air out of his lungs. He lost his grip on Henrietta, and using the chance the woman dressed like the Queen took his wrist and threw him over her shoulder, slamming his back against the floor and forcing all the air out of his lungs.

Richmond's guard was too slow to react, surprised by the sudden attack. The sound of two gunshots followed, and the spy's head disappeared into fine, red mist.

At that moment the trapdoor was blown open, and in came the members of the musketeers squad that had been waiting outside.

"Are you alright, ma'am?" One asked as they apprehended the High Judge.

"I am," Henrietta replied in a voice that wasn't her own, holding a pistol in each hand. As she did so, her figure melted away like ice on a hot day, and in a moment the one standing in her place was Chevalier Agnes. She had four pistols strapped to the front of the vest, and two to the back, with two empty holsters.

"H-how…" The barely conscious Richmond asked, but the only reply he got was a kick to the stomach.

"Is this our man?"

"He is." Agnes spared a dispassionate glance at Richmond, her hands trembling in desire to aim at him and see the contents of his skull sprayed over the wall, "Take him out of my sight. I don't trust myself around him, and we still have information to take away from him."

"Ma'am!"

As Agnes looked as her squad took away the traitor, she couldn't stop thinking about her dead family and her razed town. After fifteen years of pain and suffering, she was finally close to discovering the truth behind the massacre. She'd discover who'd paid Richmond, who'd given the order, and then she'd have her revenge.

She'd later have to thank Lady Tiffania for the illusion. Without her and her Void magic, they'd have never made it this far.

...

A/N: And with this I'm proud to officially start act 4, yay!

This last couple months life kicked me hard in the teeth, I had to search for a new job, but now things have stabilized and I'm better than ever!