On their walk back to Entoma's apartment, Inta brought up something Entoma had not expected. "So… you're surprisingly well connected. A sister living with the Pope?"
"Her bodyguard." Entoma explained.
"And another with an explorer priest in the minotaur kingdom?" He asked.
"Her teacher. They met when my sister was living as a secret agent in the Theocracy during the war." Entoma added.
"Oh. Still, that's… impressive." Inta said with a dark eyebrow raised. "And that letter, Keeno wouldn't have written that for just anyone… just who are you. Really, Miss Entoma?" Inta asked as they reached her door.
"Me, of course, I'm me." She said from behind her mask and reached for the door handle, "Thank you for the lunch. It was fun."
Inta accepted the polite refusal of deeper identification and after shifting about on his feet he said, "The day after tomorrow, in the evening, there's a dinner party hosted by a visiting merchant. He's the nephew of one of our largest donors and is likely going to be the next one to take up that mantle himself. I don't have a plus one. Would you like to join me?"
Entoma gave that a thought, 'The restaurant went well… nobody really even noticed me… ahhh, yes, this should be fine.'
"Alright, but on one condition." Entoma said when she opened her door and stepped inside her room.
"What?" Inta asked with a little grin on his face that made him look almost boyish.
"This will be the third time you've taken me somewhere, so the next time, I pick something." Entoma proposed, and Inta gave a quick nod of assent.
"Sure thing." He replied, "See you tomorrow," he added and began to walk away. "Oh, and by the way," he added, looking over his shoulder, "it's formal, much as I think the maid outfit becomes you, you'll be a guest, and you might confuse people being dressed like the help."
Entoma brought her hand up to her mask when he laughed at the image, "That's a good point… not to worry though, I know where I can get something."
As soon as he was gone, Entoma shut the door. Only one name came to mind. 'Lady Shalltear.'
In the years since the end of the war, Shalltear's interest in culture, the arts, and fashion had blossomed into something wholly new. Entoma quietly prayed to her divine creator that the Guardian was both in Nazarick and available to speak with.
'Lady Shalltear?' Entoma asked when the message spell connected.
'Entoma… what is it? I'm busy modeling right now.' Shalltear answered.
'Forgive my interruption, I hadn't meant to intrude, it's just that I needed some help with clothing for-' Entoma was cut off immediately.
'I'm doing this in my quarters right now, join me this instant!' Shalltear gave the peremptory order and the gate opened a moment later.
'That was easier than I thought.' Entoma mused when the black whorling void appeared.
She took a hasty step through, and her quarters were gone, instead she found herself in a room of sharp blacks and reds, the wide open quarters of the Lady Shalltear. The four poster bed had… predictably enough, restraints attached to each corner. Art along the walls had a particular thematic element to it, the exotic, the erotic, and the tease. Always with a hint of some form of power dynamic at play. A woman washing in a basin, ordinary at first, Entoma's sharp eyes caught that there was a man's eyes gazing on her from a tower outside her window, stealing the forbidden glance to embrace forbidden desires.
'Lady Shalltear… is very much herself.' Entoma thought, more than a little envy in her heart, nobody was bolder or more thoroughly comfortable with her own slew of desires than Shalltear, except perhaps Albedo, and even that, Entoma wasn't sure she wanted to lay odds on.
The living proof of this was on a small raised platform at one end of the room where a naked Shalltear lay reclined on her side with one leg up and an apple brought up to her lips, her tongue out and tracing the smooth red fruit, and in front of her were several sweating artists with brushes moving over canvas.
The only noise Entoma could hear was the sound of brushes, Shalltear simply held the pose, unmoving in her languorous ease while the five men and women in tan smocks did their best to capture the Guardian in all her glory. The one distinct addition that the maid saw to the room other than the platform, was the presence of a work desk that had not been there before the war.
Shalltear didn't move, but Entoma knew better than to interrupt, she simply moved to one side, remaining out of view of the artists and waiting in one corner. She caught sight of a stool with an hourglass sitting with the granules slowly drifting down and filling the base.
Even at a glance Entoma could tell it wouldn't take long, so she simply waited.
When the last granule struck, the artists set down their brushes and Shalltear stood up. "Now, my tribute." She said and set the fruit down. The five lined up without a word, then one by one they stepped forward, knelt, and tilted their heads to bare their necks.
One by one, Shalltear bit down, the puncturing of soft flesh by sharp fangs took place, her impossibly powerful hands holding them fast into position until she, through some means unknown to Entoma, could tell that they were weakening.
They stood up on shaky legs, each one after the other whispered a weak, "Thank you, Lady Shalltear." and withdrew, their reverential words deeply meant. A gate opened at the back of the room, then after their canvases and paints were stowed, they withdrew.
This left Entoma and Shalltear alone, and once alone, Shalltear walked past Entoma, shameless in the nudity of her lithe young body, she threw on a red robe with black fur trim, no sooner was it on than Entoma intuitively approached and bound the silk belt at the Guardian's front.
"Now, Entoma," Shalltear said without acknowledging Entoma's act, "tell me more about what's going on?"
As a Guardian, Shalltear ranked far higher than Entoma in the hierarchy of Nazarick, and was created that way, therefore true 'friendship' could never arise between the two. The divide was creation itself. However, they could still comprehend one another in their own ways.
"That is… a very nice desk." Entoma said, looking at the refined ironwood finish.
Shalltear flashed a fangy smile at the battlemaid. "A gift, a present from Governor Zaryusu, since I've taken on a more administrative role than I used to, he thought I should have something befitting my expanded role. It was given to celebrate the anniversary of the fall of the last city in Re-Estize before we went south."
"That's right, you worked with him, I didn't know, Lady Shalltear, that you were on such good terms after that." Entoma said, still looking at the desk.
"It turned out that we worked well together, uncreated beings can still have their uses." Shalltear said with a smug little smirk on her face before she touched the desk. It was as close as she would ever come to saying she'd gotten to like someone from outside the tomb.
"Did you get a look at the work of my artists?" Shalltear asked, glancing up at Entoma's mask.
"Yes, they are talented." She admitted, and used no flattery, the smooth lines and shading were done with deft, quick hands and true likenesses of the Lady Shalltear quickly took form before her eyes. Even with no knowledge of art, Entoma could recognize the emerging talents.
"Students from the Academy of the Arts, five of the best, they won the prize of painting me in a private session, the winner among the five will have their art displayed in the Papal Estate before going on a grand tour to museums around the Sorcerous Empire. It will make their careers, and if they shine for a lifetime, I may even turn them, to let them continue to produce art for another thousand years, if they can bear to live that long." Shalltear explained and stretched out, "But enough of the side chatter, you came here for something more.
"Yes, My Lady." Entoma said, and explained the recent events, her uncertainty, her move to Arwintar, and of course, the upcoming dinner party.
"Right, the Mute Merchant's nephew is set to take over the business, this would be one of the meet-and-greets." Shalltear nodded, "He's been going on a tour of the Empire meeting the important figures of various industries and fields, so of course he came here once. It's no surprise he would go there to meet with educators and staff. I see, so you can't very well go dressed as a maid, that simply will not do." Shalltear snapped her fingers, "I wouldn't do this for just anyone, but…"
She went over to the black wooden wardrobe and flung open the double doors with a flourish, that snapped the little chains of the upper corners taut and the Floor Guardian began to rummage, sliding dresses along the silver rod at the upper section.
Entoma stood by, her bug-mimic hands held together as she silently waited, watching the muttering Guardian do… whatever she was doing.
The sound of rustling fabric and sliding metal over metal were the only ones in the room, and the pitch was such that it occasionally made Entoma wince a little, until at last Shalltear uttered a loud, "Ah ha!"
She yanked a dress out and held it up, while it still held to Entoma's black and white color scheme, this was far different. A solid black piece, it was crisscrossed with sharp, almost 'aggressive' white lines and stripes that thrust down before curving up to points below the bust as if to cradle the bosom, splitting out to form an X shape that went around to the back. It came down to roughly knee length with a somewhat loose fit that would let her legs move unconstricted. "This." Shalltear said.
"And these." She added, and held out a pair of dark high heeled shoes that seemed to be composed of many shimmering black leather straps with little silver buckles. "Our bust size is roughly the same, so this will emphasize the rest of your body to make you eye catching without being gaudy."
Entoma bit her tongue to keep from saying, "No, I'm larger than you." recalling the Guardian was quite sensitive about her own appearance in that respect, and stretched out her hands to take both while giving a bow toward her superior. "Thank you, Lady Shalltear." She said with genuine gratitude.
"Oh you're welcome, and… if there are any men of interest there…" Shalltear gave a teasing look and a cockeyed stare.
Entoma was slow to answer, but added, "I'm a heteromorph with a very non-humanoid body, what could they possibly want from me?"
"You never know." Shalltear shrugged and waved a hand with a little flip motion that activated the gate spell.
"Back you go, and have fun. Tell me about it later as a show of appreciation, I have things to go do now." Shalltear ordered offhandedly, then Entoma bowed again.
"Again, my thanks, Lady Shalltear." She said, and withdrew back to her home at the Magic Academy, where she found Manaly blessedly absent. She retreated to her room, hung up the dress, put away the shoes, and lay down on the hammock like bed she'd made for herself to sway alone and think, while being warmed by the light of the sun that shone through her window, casting her shadow long across the floor.