Jaya made a split second decision and detoured to her chambers. She brushed through the door and walked over to the rectangle table, accompanied by four chairs, that took up the less-private part of her rooms. In the middle of the table there was a large silver platter of fruit. Grapes and apples mostly. Jaya grabbed the first apple that she laid eyes on and walked back out of her room, lightly stepping around the heavy wooden door as it lumbered itself shut on it's hinges.
Ridire looked up from where he had thrown himself down on the cool flagstones of the hallway, his head at a strange, uncomfortable looking angle against the wall. He scrambled to his feet and trotted after Jaya, his scruffy black ears perked at the realization that she had food. He caught up with her and bumped his nose against her right hand, smiling a toothy grin when she looked at him.
"You think you want this, do ya?" Jaya asked, as she began to rub the apple on the small piece of cloth on her left collarbone that didn't have metal in it.
Ridire leapt a little, though not at her, his excitement barely contained.
"I don't think you'll like it." Jaya brought the apple down to nose level.
Ridire made a motion to grab it, and stopped with his mouth almost closed over it. He sniffed it once and pulled back to look at Jaya like she was mad for eating it, or trying to poison him.
"Don't look at me like that," Jaya switched the apple to her left hand and took a bite of it while she ruffled his ears. "I told you ya wouldn't." she slowed to a stop in front of the next door down from hers. She rapped the knuckles of her right hand against the wood just loud enough to be heard, but didn't go in right away. She had every right to, but she waited a moment longer before knocking in earnest.
"Come in." a tired sounding voice almost whispered through the door.
Jaya pushed the door open, stepped inside and held it just long enough for Ridire to come in before closing it again. She smiled at the girl on the bed and started toward her before Jaya's progress was stopped by the food tray that she had dropped off earlier that afternoon. Jaya peeled back the cover of the napkin she had placed over it and frowned when she noticed that the food was untouched. "Ya didn't eat, Fey," she mentioned in a playfully chiding tone. "How are ya supposed to get better when ya don't eat?" she asked, looking up from the food to the girl in the bed.
"I'm not hungry." she complained, folding her arms over her stomach.
"Freya," Jaya's voice took on a mothering tone, "It's only bread and broth. Not a feast. Who am I supposed to explore Camelot with if you're lying here in bed sick?" She asked, stuffing the apple between her teeth and swooping up the tray to bring it to the bed. She set the tray down next to Freya's legs and sat down on the corner nearest to the door. Jaya plopped her feet down on the covers of the bed and crossed her ankles. She lightly grabbed the middle of the napkin and tossed it at the other girl.
It hit Freya just above her arms. She looked at Jaya for a moment, her expression longsuffering and tiredly amused all at once. "It's sure to be cold by now." She mumbled in way of protest, picking up the napkin and setting it neatly folded in half on her lap. A dark green triangle with swirls coming off the points was emblazoned on the inside of her right arm, a few inches below her elbow.
Jaya watched her do it, a hint of a smirk on her face. "Because that's an impediment that can't be hurdled." She mused. Her eyes flashed silver for a moment, and the broth smelled warm and inviting, the steam gently rising off it. "I know that you feel like you can't eat. But just eat a little for me."
Freya didn't protest or try to stop Jaya from pushing the tray onto her lap. She took the hunk of bread that sat next to the bowl and ripped off a bite-sized chunk, dunking it in the broth before easing it into her mouth to chew slowly.
Ridire, summoned from his sleep near the middle of the room where the shaft of sunlight hit the floor, walked up to the bed and leaned his head on it, looking every inch the dog starving to death.
Freya smiled at him and shook her head. "He acts like he hasn't eaten in as many days as I have," she mumbled around the next bit of broth-soaked bread.
Jaya swallowed the bite of apple she had been chewing. "Don't let him lie to ya. He caught a rabbit while we were in the forest."
"I won't let him lick me either." Freya's bites were picking up speed, and in size slightly.
Jaya snorted and coughed, nearly choking on the bite of apple that she had in her mouth. "That might be wise," she agreed around the mouthful that was really too big to be proper for a lady of her standing.
Freya looked at Jaya for a moment. "How was your ride?" she asked, her voice sounding stronger and quite musical.
Jaya dissolved into giggles. "You'll never believe what happened, Fey." she said in the small breaths that she was able to take between the giggling.
Freya watched her for a moment, saying nothing, just taking one bite after another. Her tattoo winking as her arm moved up and down.
Jaya finally sobered enough to take normal breaths.
"So? Where did you go, and who with?" Freya prompted gently.
"Arthur invited me, Merlin went along too." Jaya started.
"He fancies you?" Freya asked, her warm brown eyes bright with girlish excitement.
Jaya shook her head. "No. I think not. He brought us to a nice little clearing. Merlin had a picnic lunch with him."
"Arthur's manservant," Freya clarified.
"Aye." Jaya nodded taking a smaller bite of the apple, her right foot dropping off the edge of the bed to rub back and forth on Ridire's back where he threw himself down next to the bed, the morning's excursion proving more tiring than the willpower to keep begging.
"Are you sure he doesn't fancy you?" Freya asked, using the last piece of bread to sop up the little bit of broth left. "You're not very good at these things. And you're very beautiful."
Jaya paused with her teeth sunk into the apple and looked at the other girl, her left eyebrow tipped down. "Who's telling this story? You or me?" she asked, her tone full of amused annoyance.
Freya simply kept chewing.
Jaya sighed. "I know he doesn't. But you're jumping too far ahead." Jaya cleared her throat and took another bite of apple. "Ridire spooked the horses-"
"Not Courage, of course," Freya quietly interrupted.
"Of course not," Jaya shook her head stoutly. "And while Merlin was chasing them through the woods-honestly, Fey, I don't know how he caught them. He was making almost as much noise as they were-Arthur started talking about how different I was, and the like. And a few minutes later he kissed me."
"What?!" Freya squeaked, her normally quiet voice hopping up an octave in surprise. "He did?"
Jaya grinned mischievously. "I don't think he meant to."
Freya looked at the other girl and her eyebrows knit together slightly. "You...don't."
Jaya shook her head. "He didn't plan on me turning my head at the last minute I think," her accent get thick with held-back mirth.
Freya smirked slightly. "And he doesn't fancy you?" Freya's musical tone betrayed how unsure she was that Jaya realized her situation.
Jaya shook her head slightly, her nose scrunched up and her eyes closed for a moment. "He thought that I was here to marry him. A bit forward of him, don't ya think?"
Freya looked at her and raised her eyebrows. "It's only natural, Jaya."
"I know it's customary," Jaya allowed, taking another bite of the apple, "But still."
Freya sat up a little straighter and manhandled the tray toward Jaya.
Jaya picked up the tray, with noticeably more ease, despite the awkward angle she picked it up with, and stood up off the bed, the apple wedged between her teeth, and her feet barely missing Ridire.
He caught sight of the tray and leapt up, excited anticipation on his face.
"Oi! Careful there!" Jaya complained, the apple falling from her mouth and clanging onto the tray, which bounced the spoon off to skitter across the table and bounce off one of the candlesticks with a loud ring. Jaya slowly closed her mouth, her lips pursing on their own. She looked sideways and down at her dog.
Ridire looked up at her, his tongue lolling out to the side, completely unfazed by the noise his leap to his feet caused.
Jaya shook her head and rolled her eyes. She set the tray down and put the spoon back on it, picking up her apple. Her hand jerked out of the way, just before Ridire's teeth snapped together where the apple had been. "Oi! That's mine. Go lay down," Jaya ordered, glared at him and pointed, with apple still in-hand, toward the sun beam that was still painting the large rug with a golden hue.
Ridire lost some of the spunk in his ears and lowered his head, walking obediently to flop in the rays of sunlight. With all the grace of a sack of rocks.
Jaya shook her head at him, then smiled at Freya.
Freya eyed her.
"What is it then?" Jaya asked, her head tilting.
Freya motioned her forward with a curled first finger. "You look like no one's brushed your hair since I did it last. Not very princess-like."
Jaya froze, mid-bite. She extracted her teeth from the bite marks, that's not true! I brushed it last night."
Freya looked at her for a moment. She scooted up so that she was sitting straight. "Bring that brush over here." she pointed to the brush that sat on the top of the mirror-topped dresser on the other side of the room.
Jaya snapped off the bite of apple she had just taken before walking over to grab the brush. She walked over to the bed and sat on it, her back to Freya.
Freya pulled a face at the messy braid away from Jaya's face. "You didn't rebraid this since last night!"
Jaya shrugged, handing back the brush. "It didn't seem that important."
"I'm sure it didn't, what with a handsome prince asking you to go riding with you." Freya mused, working the tie out of Jaya's hair and pursing her lips in frustration as she tried to carefully pull the braid apart without pulling the hair.
Jaya looked back over her shoulder. "You're not going to let that go, are ya?"
Freya smirked slightly and pulled on the hair. "You really tangled you hair, Jaya," she chided.
Jaya frowned. "Sorry."
"Makes me feel useful." Freya shrugged it off, her sweet voice slightly teasing.
Jaya bit another bite off her apple and hummed in agreement. "You seem to be getting better."
Freya nodded, her attention on a single knot that had stopped the brush cold about halfway down Jaya's shoulders. "I feel a lot better. I almost feel…" her voice faded as she looked at the other girl thoughtfully.
"You almost feel?" Jaya looked back at her, around the handle of the brush and Freya's forearm. "What is it?"
"Magic." Freya looked at her sternly.
"Is it now?" Jaya asked, innocently enough.
"What did you do?" Freya asked, looking at her pointedly.
Jaya looked at her and raised her eyebrows.
"What did you do to my food?" Freya's eyes narrowed.
"I don't know what you're talking about?" Jaya pursed her lips and slid them sideways to the right.
Freya sighed and shook her head, gently working the brush out of Jaya's hair and finishing the last few strokes. "You enchanted my food, didn't you." It wasn't a question.
Jaya hurphmed.
Freya shifted so she was on her knees on the bed, now shoulders and a half taller than Jaya. Her fingers worked their way into Jaya's wild curls and started braiding a thin strip from her left ear over toward her right. "Why?"
Jaya cleared her throat, but didn't offer anything.
Freya dropped the braid she was working on, and started another one, this one a little wider, going back toward Jaya's left ear. "Jaya…"
"You're terribly bossy for someone who's supposed to be taking orders from me, Fey," Jaya grumbled, a teasing note edging her voice.
Freya smirked and pulled the two braids down under the rest of Jaya's hair, twisting them together. She clammered out of the bed and grabbed a container of pins. Once she was perched back in the spot that she had been a few moments before, Freya started to twist and pin Jaya's stubborn curls into a controlled, planned mess. "I can't believe you did that." her words lisped slightly because the front mouth held three pins tightly as her hands worked.
"Who else is going to explore the city with me if you're sick?" Jaya asked, like her reasoning should have been clearly obvious.
"We're in Camelot. Didn't your father warn you about magic here?" Freya asked, sacrificing a strand of hair that she was holding in place to fumblingly catch the pin that she dropped halfway between her mouth and Jaya's head.
Jaya shrugged. "It seemed like a good idea at the time."
Freya shook her head and leaned heavily on Jaya's shoulders as she rocked back to make sure that her hairstyle would stay in place despite the princess's movements. "Because following the rules is so terribly stuffy." she agreed sarcastically.
Jaya looked back at her, her head turning slowly. "Would ya like me to undo it? You looked so miserable, but I can bring it back if you'd like," her tone was both playful and seriously offering.
Freya frowned at her. "I'm better now, and more magic wouldn't make up for the fact that you did it in the first place."
Jaya smirked and looked back over her shoulder at Freya. "No going back to being sick then?" her eyes twinkled with mirth.
Freya looked at her and shook her head. "Not today."
Jaya grinned and nodded. "Maybe next time then."
"Jaya, really! We don't have that much time. You must pick one." Freya held up the redish-orange dress to her body in way of a demonstration and then nodded to the dark green dress that hung from the door of the wardrobe. "Pick one," She repeated again.
Jaya looked back and forth between the two dresses. There were elements that she liked about them both. But her normal decisiveness was lacking. Much like the remaining time before dinner. It was going to be a celebration dinner. The treaty would be signed, Camelot's full court and the Ó Caiside knights would be present. It was a big to-do, and Jaya was wasting time that she really didn't have being indecisive about what she wanted to wear. "What do you think?" she asked, exasperation creeping into her voice. "I wore the blue one last night." She flopped backwards onto her mattress from where she was sitting on the edge of her bed, her outflung left arm almost hitting Ridire's nose.
Ridire's eyes half-opened for a moment before he rearranged himself on his corner of the bed and sighed heavily. He was propped up against half the pillows, his nose neatly tucked into the crook of his front legs.
Freya dropped her hands, the dress falling into a heap of fabric the color of hot coals. "Are you sure?" she asked.
"You already know which one you want me to wear, might as well tell me." Jaya sat up and looked at Freya with a small smile. "Especially since I can't seem to decide myself."
"Green it is then. Brings out your eyes, and there's more jewelry that matches it. I can put the emeralds in your hair if you like?" Freya's voice was half muffled for the last part of her question as she fought the dress she hadn't picked back into the wardrobe to be worn later.
Jaya stood up and unbuckled the belt that held her swords in place, laying the whole thing on the nearby table. "If you think that it's appropriate."
"Jewelry is always important." Freya smiled at her, unhooking the green dress and closing the door behind her.
Jaya bobbed her head back and forth. "Do ya know why I have so much of it here?" she asked, nodding to the chests that contained different pieces of jewelry.
Freya hummed thoughtfully but shrugged. "You are a princess," she observed, meeting Jaya behind the changing screen to help her out of the breastplate and the other clothes that she was in.
Jaya made a thoughtful noise but didn't reply.
Freya spent the remaining time fussing with her hair, and jewels, and jewels in Jaya's hair. She chatted the whole time, pausing here and there to ask Jaya's opinion on which necklace, or earrings she'd prefer.
When it was time for Jaya to make her way downstairs to the banquet hall, Freya was satisfied with how she looked. Jaya's hair basically hadn't changed, it was an organized mess of curls and small braids, and overtop bright silver chains criss-crossed over her head, with bright green and piercingly white gems winked at key places in the chains. In the middle of her forehead a teardrop shaped emerald, the size of Freya's thumbnail rested against Jaya's skin, surrounded by diamonds. Tight to Jaya's throat was a silver necklace of the same bright green and dazzlingly white gems and two emeralds dripped off her earlobes halfway to her jawbone.
Her dress was the same color green as the Ó Caiside livery. Silver embroidery outlined the neckline, and went around her arms in thick strips at the bottom of her biceps. A finely braided silver chain wrapped around her hips and the tail draped off over to her left. The sleeves were so long that they went down to a point at the first knuckle of each of her middle fingers. The skirt was narrow enough for such an occasion as the one she was facing, but full enough that she could run if she had to, she had run in this dress before.
"Absolutely perfect," Freya pronounced after walking around Jaya for the third time, adjusting things here and there, mostly fussing over little things that no one would even notice.
Jaya patiently pulled her head away from Freya's reaching hand. "You just said it was perfect," she reminded snickering. "Should I leave now before you accidentally change something you don't mean to?" She asked, her brogue teasing.
Freya's hand fell to her side. She looked the princess over one last time and then nodded. "You look stunning. Everyone is going to love you. You look like royalty."
"Well I am," Jaya smirked and swished toward the door. She paused halfway in and out of the doorway. She leaned around wood, with her hands on either side and smiled broadly at Freya. "Thank you, Fey. It's nice to have you back."
"It's my pleasure, Your Highness." Freya dropped a deep, proper curtsy. "I'm glad to be back."
Jaya waved her hand at her, a look of disapproval on her face. "Don't call me that! Makes me sound like royalty!" she protested, shaking her head, the emerald on her forehead rolling back and forth, winking playfully.
Freya shooed her out with a flip of both of her hands. "Go on! You're going to be late!" she caught Ridire's leather collar as he launched off the bed to run out the door after Jaya. "Not you. You have to stay here."
Jaya looked at her and stepped out of the door, pulling it closed behind her. "Who's fault is that, I wonder?" she wondered, just loud enough for Freya to hear before the door closed behind her.