On to Meet the Count

Stunned silence. That's about all there was in the room while Kamvex changed quickly. It had only barely hit Louise, his declaration. It was unthinkable to someone from these lands. To fight a mage was foolish, yes. To fight someone with a rank inside the Royal Courts, no matter the title, was near suicide!

"Kamvex. I know you were becoming friends with her, but you can not just go picking fights with every noble you see." Louise tried to reason. He needed to understand that this is how things worked here. That this brashness would only get him killed.

"That's why we're not going to go pick a fight." He responded as he tightened the fit of his boots. "We are going to talk and scout..." he then pulled Derflinger up and slung the blade onto his back. "If he returns her and there's nothing amiss, then we'll be done."

"If you're not interested in fighting, then why does it seem you're gearing up for war?" She asked, suspicious of his intent.

He smiled as he fastened the scabbard securely to him. "Its better to go prepared for a fight and not have one, then to be get into a fight while you're defenseless." He thought for a moment before adding, "unless you have a plan."

"And what plan is that? And why did you say I'm coming with you?"

"As your familiar, it'd be best if I didn't go off on my own like this right?" At her nod he continued. "This would also raise your own reputation, looking out for commoners that may not have wanted to go someplace. Your name would start to circulate around as someone willing to go out of their way for their subjects."

Once again he met her eyes, seeing a hint of confusion this time. "That kind of reputation will help you greatly with workers that you'd hire," he elaborated. "They would work harder for you if you work hard for them. Trust me, you'll see."

Louise closed her eyes in thought. The second point was quite good, a better reputation never hurt. And keeping appearances of having control of her familiar was much better than him seemingly disobeying. However, "What if he will not give the girl up without an exchange? Or if you find... something to your dislike?"

"Then we'll jump through those hoops when we get to them. Now, are we going, or do I have to ask for directions?"

Louise stood stock still. This was crazy, what her familiar was thinking. This wasn't Guiche he was defying, it was the Royal Messenger! Anyone with an official position was at the very least a triangle class mage, Guiche was a novice dot class. There was no comparison. But the look in his eyes told her everything. He would go with or without her, and Kamvex wasn't waiting much longer. He was giving her an out. A courteous image of control over him to save some face. She gulped and exhaled heavily.

"Alright. We'll go then." He smiled and nodded before she continued. "However, when meeting Mott, I will be in charge. You will not do anything more hasty than we already are. I will make the call if we need to intervene."

Kamvex could see the statement was a bit forced, but decided against saying anything. He would go along with her decision since she was far more experienced in this political landscape. But he would do what was necessary to bring both girls home. Once again he nodded and opened the door for her. "By your lead, Miss."

With only slight hesitation, Louise strode forward to meet whatever trouble her familiar was going to unleash upon her.

Long curled blonde hair bounced a bit as Guiche turn a present over to his girlfriend. "I love this new broach you've given me, Guiche." Montmorency had tried to see to it that the boy had been healed up correctly, but he had stubbornly refused care for the small mark on his arm. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, "This isn't your way of trying to get me to forget what happened last week, would it?" She asked.

The boy sighed. He knew he would continue to pay for what had happened, and so just took the barb. "No no, fair Montmorency, " He replied. "This is truly me trying make thing up to you. And... to any others I've hurt."

Montmorency looked at him curiously. Guiche was being a bit more reigned in than usual. "Is that so," she asked. Putting the broach away she poked at the small scar. "That commoner must have truly frightened you to bring you to this."

"His words cut deeper than his blade," he replied. "He absolutely trounced me. Made me look like a fool. But his words were true and powerful." Guiche had sat thinking on things, continually looking at the mark on his arm while he was healing. His haughtiness made him careless. Though he learned everything he knew of being nobility from his father, carelessness was not one of them. Unfortunately, it seemed, he also learned his womanizing way from his father as well. Perhaps he should see how his mother was doing...

Guiche shook his head quickly. He had to focus, as the next part would be the hardest. He had yet to apologize to the maid. "Perhaps somewhere private..." he muttered to himself. He then looked to see a furious eye from his girlfriend before he flailed about to explain himself. "The Maid, Montmorency! I only have the maid to apologize to! That's what I'm speaking of!"

"Well then, I hope we can get her back so you have the chance," a voice echoes from the stairway before revealing Kamvex and Louise.

"K-Kamvex! And Louise as well? What are you talking about?"

Louise flipped her hair behind her and answered, filling both blondes of what was going on. "-so I'm taking him to see if we can't reclaim the maid from the count."

Guiche looked down in thought, troubled. He knew the kinds of things nobles of this type were capable of. His father had a few mistresses in his day, and even now. Though it was never like Mott. There were very troubling rumors from his father's circle he had heard once or twice. If there was even a kernel of truth... "Kamvex. Do make sure you relieve the count of that maid. I don't exactly know what he does, but there are worse rumors in that particular circle of nobles than I cared to listen to."

Kamvex nodded and motioned for Louise to follow him. If Guiche knew something that was making him nervous, then he would have to pull a few more tricks out of his bag.

"I'll go secure a horse for us," Louise said.

"Don't bother, I've got our transport with me," Kamvex replied. He brought his wrist up with the Null-Space Chamber and punched in a few keys. After a moment, he finally found what he needed, and brought it out. Louise looked on, curious as to what kind of transportation he had. But was disappointed when all the appeared was but an oval hunk of metal with what appeared to be fins on the end. Seeing her disbelief, Kamvex smirked, and pressed the center of the disc. It began to hum and had a blue glow to it. He punched in two more keys and threw it to the ground, where it hovered a few inches off the ground and expanded to a flat board big enough for two people.

"Wh-what is this?" Louise asked astonished.

"JetBoard," her familiar answered simply as he hopped on. He then offered a hand. "C'mon, no more time to waste."

She hesitated a moment before accepting his hand. "Is this really safe?" She asked.

"Kinda. Now," he pushed her feet to spread out and pulled her closer to him. "Hold on tight." With a shift of weight, the two rocketed off down the path.

Wind whipped in her face as her hair flew back. She wanted to scream but couldn't find the power to do so. All she could do was hold on for dear life. This was faster than any horse she'd ever ridden. Perhaps once in her youngest years she'd ridden one of her father's finest horses at full gallop, but it pailed in comparison to this. She opened her eyes to the road in front, the soft humming coming from below being the only propulsion and light they had, save the moons. This was insane! It was dangerous! It was... breathtaking, exciting, amazing!

Then she saw the path divert in the way they needed to go. "There!" She shouted. "To the right!" *Did we really get this far so quickly? * Even by horse it would have taken an extra few minutes to get to the crossroads, but this took only maybe five!

He pulled her closer, making her more aware of his presence and making her blush. "Keep those feet planted Miss! It gets exciting now!" With that he shifted their weight to take a wide turn, the humming and glow below them becoming more intense before...

~《THOOOOM!》~

The two rocketed of with a scream of excitement. It wouldn't be for a week until Louise would admit it was her's.

[Outside the Mott Estate]

After another five minutes, Kamvex diverted them off the path and into the wood for a moment. Placing the JetBoard into the Chamber, he went about retrieving a few more things.

"Why are we stopped here Kamvex? Couldn't we have just ridden to the gate?" Louise was more than a little sad to not still be riding. On the inside. She would never admit this outwardly, at least not yet. Two more items formed into her familiar's hands this time: a blue hat with a soft brim and indented crown, and a pair of thick glasses.

"Appearance is everything, Louise. It can turn things with an element of suprise. A mercenary looking fellow walks in and, regardless of a student present, people are on guard," he explained. "However, if the most threatening person there is a student mage with her nondescript servant..." Taking the hat, he placed it on his head, and his image began to shimmer. He was now clothed in his new clothes that Louise had bought for him, though the color was muted and the vest had no hood. But that was only the beginning. Pale skin now adorned his features, his face a bit harder but much closer having shrunk nearly four inches! Straight blonde hair was in a ponytail now and there was no hat to be seen. "... then what could possibly go wrong?"

The only things that remained the same were his eyes and voice. "This is incredible...!" His master stated in awe. "What magic is this?"

"Hat of Disguise. Been around for millennia now, maybe more. It's a simple enough spell, and it will fool most." He explained. He then put on the glasses, tapping the sides three times before they lit up and dimmed again.

"And what are those?"

"... special..." he looked away. "Let's go."

"Hey wait a second!" She snatched the glasses away, and before he could stop her, she put them on and looked at him.

And nearly shrieked before he covered her mouth. "They're x-ray glasses and I need them to check things out in the mansion. It's all in black and white and I don't like using them for the reason you can see."

Oh she saw alright. All right through his illusion and his clothing. To have these in just a small set of glasses was terrifying in the wrong hands. If someone like the old Guiche, or Mott had these... she shivered. She didn't want to think about that. She also didn't want to think about...

*that... was so much better then that first night...* She shook her head violently, thrusting the glasses into his care. "Just! Don't look at me with those things on!" She yelled, blushing furiously.

He cleared his throat and put the glasses on, facing away and deactivating them for a moment. "Of course Miss. I'll do my level best." He took a deep breath to calm down, both from almost giving away their position and the misunderstanding. He turned to see her still shaking and blushing, nervous about the glasses. *Or, given what I know about her and those around her, she's self conscious...*

He sighed and faces her completely, coming to eye level with her. "Listen. I don't need some cheap glasses to see through clothes to see your beauty Louise. And please don't take that the wrong way. I'd rather be blown up AFTER we get back for all this trouble." With that, he smiled, hoping to bring a sense calm to her.

Her fidgeting only stopped when he stopped speaking. It was irrational but her mind went to her schoolmates and others around her. Her logical side could see what these lenses were truly made for, but illogically... would anyone choose to look at her that way, be tempted like they would for Kirche or the maid they were coming to save? Would he...?

Yes, apparently. She took a shaky, smiling breath. "You're going to be target practice tomorrow..." she said slowly before raising her head, confidence rising. "No weapons or armor to hide behind. But I'll allow you to run."

"Heh, many have made that mistake princess. Good to see you're still confident."

"Of course I am," she stated as she walked past, a flick of her hair to his face and a smirk on her lips. "I am Louise Françoise Le Blanc de La Vallière. And I am no princess, but instead, your mistress. Remember that well," she smiled and remembered a way he introduced himself, and re gave an old title, "my Envoy."

A/N: A quick little chapter here to get things rolling. I won't make you wait too long for the next chapter though. Does Thanksgiving work? That's when we'll get to what you want. How will our heroes fair against Mott? You'll have to wait and see!