A Katarina Vacation Arc
The next day, Matthew's swelling had gone down enough she no longer sounded funny talking, and she offered once more to spar with Katarina.
"Only if you wear a helmet," Katarina insisted. "I don't want a repeat of yesterday. Your beautiful face…!"
"Why do I have to be the one to wear a helmet?" Matthew said, feeling insulted.
"Because I can consistently block with a sword and you can't," Katarina said.
Matthew's pride as a knight twitched, but she agreed, planning to make Katarina eat those words.
By the time they walked into breakfast, Matthew's helmet had several dents and Katarina's face was blemish-free.
Matthew's pride was crying, but acknowledged that maybe Katarina knew what she was talking about.
After breakfast, Katarina went with Marie to visit the nearby town and try out the café's with her, while Matthew took the helmet to the manor's forge and, borrowing a hammer from their bemused farrier, tried to knock the dents off as she'd been taught when taking care of her gear in the field.
The next day, Matthew's swelling had gone down enough to no longer look obvious, and she offered once more to spar with Katarina.
"Is that a new helmet?" Katarina said, "Ooh, it's so cute! It looks like a big onion!"
"It's a modern reproduction of an ancient armor," Matthew said in explanation, putting the bulb-shaped helmet, painted a nice purple hue that made it look even more onion-like, on her head. "It seemed appropriate."
"Ah, sorry for denting your other helmet so much," Katarina said, settling into her own stance.
"No, that's what it was for," Matthew said. "It's no problem. Shall we?" She held up her own sword, determined to recover her pride as a knight.
By the time they walked into breakfast, Matthew's helmet had managed to hold, and the pain only had a few– okay, a lot– of scuffs that would easily come off and Katarina's face was blemish-free.
Matthew's pride was shaking, fests clenched in determined resolve, but reluctantly acknowledged that Katarina was, in fact, very good, and that maybe she herself had been a little too lax in maintain her swords skill in favor of her shield skills. Really, it was a good thing that Cousin Katarina was showing her these weaknesses in her skills, as it would allow her to correct them!
After breakfast, Katarina went with her mother and Olga to visit a family friend, an older lady who had been among the few people to not look down on Mili for being so different from her family, and had first introduced her to books about proper behavior that she would alter, as Duchess Claes, be influencing and redefining, and who had similarly taken on Olga. In past times, this would have been a thinly veiled attempt at getting some propriety into Katarina. Now, however, Mili genuinely just wanted Katarina to meet someone who had been so important and influential in her youth.
Katarina, realizing how important this was to her mother, struggled to be on her best behavior, and performed reasonably well. Her mother was bemused at how Katarina chose NOW to show she'd been listening all those times. Olga was just glad her cousin didn't do anything embarrassing.
Lady Stohelit thought Mili had done a wonderful job in raising her daughter and told her so.
Matthew, meanwhile, buffed out the scuffmarks, praising the sun for the ancient, robust design of the armor of the knights old. Thens he went, found her old heater shield, and started to get it cleaned.
The next day, only a little redness of her nose was the only sign that Matthew had gotten hit on the face– isn't Full Moon Grass Jelly wonderful?– and she offered once more to spar with Katarina.
"Oh, sure, I don't mind if you use a shield," Katarina said. "Just that little one, right?" It was a cute shield, as purple as the helmet, with a crest wreath of leaves around a shape like a breaking wave, apparently the crest of House Romani.
"Yes, just this one," Matthew said. "I realized just how rusty some of my skills have gotten in some areas, so I thought to myself that 'Matthew, you have a good sparring partner right now, it's the best time to get the rust off and reinforce your skills by +1'."
"Oh, I'm glad to help!" Katarina said cheerfully. "What are cousins for?"
"Thanks Katarina," Matthew said, raising her shield before her. "Could you, uh, please take a few practice whacks at me? I just want to check if I still remember how to parry."
"Sure," Katarina said. She still wasn't comfortable going on the offensive, but if it was just to help practice a move, she was comfortable with it. "Just say when you're ready."
"Oh no, please, surprise me," Matthew said, as she warmed up my making a few sweeping parry gestures with her shield.
"Well, okay then," Katarina said and swung.
By the time they walked into breakfast, Matthew had almost managed to get the hang of parrying with a shield she couldn't completely stand behind again. The few times she'd managed it, Katarina had somehow been dexterously fast enough to parry her riposte. Fortunately, her choice of new helmet was holding up very well.
Matthew's pride as a knight was squatting and eyeing nearby metaphorical ledges, before collapsing and crying.
After breakfast, Marie offered to teach Katarina how to ride horseback. Katarina, always willing to try any new skill that would help her make a clean getaway in case of death or exile, happily agreed. The most skilled rider in the family gently began teaching Katarina how to handle a horse, which started by trying to disabuse her of the notion that every four-legged animal would suddenly attack her.
Matthew took her shield and went to bother her friend and former knight-master Sir Galad, and asked him to spar, as she seemed to have gotten a bit rusty at parrying from carrying around only a greatshield. The one-handed knight kindly agreed, and while he could have easily told his squire 'I told you so', he gallantly didn't. The words hung in the air anyway, because Matthew hadn't been the first squire he'd taught, and he knew all the teacher's tricks.
The next day, Matthew's nose was back to normal, barring a little lingering puffiness, and she offered once more to spar with Katarina.
"A spear?" Katarina said, tilting her head at the long pole with the padded end her cousin was carrying. "Are you sure."
Matthew nodded. "Yes. Like I said, I need to get the rust off, and reviewing my spear basics is one of them. And you don't have any experience with facing spears, so it'll be good practice!"
"Hmm… well, I suppose that's true," Katarina said cheerfully. "Okay, but let's both be careful. Do you still remember the moves?"
Matthew nodded. "Yes, I did drills to refamiliarize myself with the moves."
"Well, okay then," Katarina said. "But shouldn't you put on your helmet?"
Matthew shook her head. "I want an unobstructed field of view for this. Besides, I'm sure you know how to be careful now."
"I suppose," Katarina said dubiously.
"Katarina, you're my cousin," Matthew said. "I know you wouldn't hurt me deliberately."
Katarina got a determined look on your face. "Okay! I won't let you don't Mashu!"
Mashu nodded, raising both her shield and spear. The two cousins faced each other, Katarina moving to the low guard stance she favored.
Matthew took a deep breath, and made the first move, jabbing her spear.
She watched, as if in slow motion, as Katarina smoothly sidestep, then raise her foot and slam it down on Matthew's spear as it bassed through where she'd been previously, the foot droves the spear down, the point slamming into the ground and locking the weapon in place…
The family was sitting down for breakfast when the doors to the dining room slammed open.
"UNCLE SALOMAN! HELP!" Katarina cried, carrying Matthew sack of potatoes-style over her shoulder. "I RUINED COUSIN MASHU'S BEAUTIFUL FACE! I DIDN'T MEAN TO! WAH!"
"Rearry, it's fibe! You were righb, I shoulb hab worn the helbet."
"I SCARRED HER BEAUTIFUL FACE!" Katarina wailed. "AGAIN!"
Matthew's pride faced a castle, at the top of which stood a smiling Katarina that was for some reason speaking in an OUTRAGEOUS ac-sen-tey and glared with determination, then started construction on a giant wooden rabbit…
The next day, Matthew's nose was still swollen so she talked funny, but she offered once more to spar with Katarina.
"No, I refuse!" Katarina said, crossing her arms before her in an X-shape. "It's obviously too dangerous, and I don't want you to get hurt! I'm going to go help the gardeners!"
Matthew's pride facepalmed as it realized it needed to be inside the wooden rabbit, and set about building a giant wooden badger.
The next day, Matthew's swelling had gone down enough she no longer sounded funny talking, and she went to offer to once more spar with Katarina.
There was a persistent knocking echoing through the otherwise still room, and with a sigh off annoyance, Olga gently extricated herself from her sheets and a Marie who had not gone back to her bed after her goodnight hug, and stalked towards the door of their shared bedroom. She opened the door, wondering who was knocking at the uncivilized hour of sunrise, and found her slightly sweaty cousin Katarina standing there, holding a wooden sword.
"Can I hide here until breakfast?" Katarina said. "I'm afraid Mashu might try to spar with me again and I can't take the risk of ruining her beautiful face a third time!"
For a moment, Olga just stared. Then she sighed and gave up, turning to go back to bed. "Sure. You can nap on Marie' bed, she's not using it right now," she said, pointing at the aforementioned unoccupied bed on the other side of their night table.
Katarina sighed in releif. "You're the best Olga," she said, coming into the room and closing the door behind her.
There was a 'whumph' as Katarina gave Marie's bed an experimental bounce before she snuggled into the cool sheets as Olga made her way to her own bed blind, eyes already closed, with all the confidence of someone who'd grown up in this room and had never moved the furniture. She lay down, getting comfortable, and had to readjust Marie as her twin instinctively cuddled for company. Olga fell asleep before Katarina started snoring.
It was another day at the Adeth household.