A Katarina Interlude
Katarina had no idea what she was doing.
…
But that was nothing new, so everything was okay!
All right, that wasn't true when she was farming, but she wasn't farming, so she had no idea what she was doing!
She self-consciously rubbed at a bloodstain on her breastplate as she walked with her mother, and Cousin Mashu. There hadn't been time to get it all off her formal armor—there's barely been time to get in a quick gamer nap to get all her energy back—but it was her only set, and her training armor wasn't appropriate for wearing it around the castle. At least, Anne had been very definite when she'd suggested wearing that instead on seeing the stains, and Katarina's suggestion she just wear one of normal dress had Anne insisting that wasn't safe. Eh? Why wasn't it safe?
Well, she'd worn the armor anyway because it seemed important to Anne, and Anne had been the best and made sure all the snack pockets were full and her little drink flask had tasty juice and that her first aid kit had been refilled and was full of bandages and grass jelly and moss and things.
When she'd met up with mother, Katarina waited for the scolding at wearing stained clothes, but mother had actually given her a nod of approval and hadn't brought up the stains. Eh, wait, was mother sick or something? Katarina should ask Dame Maria to give mother a look later, if her sensei had time. She glanced sideways at her cousin, mildly envious. Mashu was wearing her full armor, the purple-laquered metal gleaming and clean, carrying her full-sized shield slung on her back with one hand. For the first time, Katarina wished she had her own full armor, something other than the stained formal armor she was wearing now. Normally she didn't really care about getting stains on her clothes, but she liked to think she wasn't the kind of person who'd put on dirty clothes on purpose.
Come to think of it, her sword wasn't tied up either…
"Psst! Cousin Mashu?" Katarina whispered.
Mashu blinked. What is it, Cousin Katarina?"
"Do you have a spare ribbon or something? Maybe some string? My sword's not tied up and I lost my ribbon!"
For some reason, Mashua smiled. "I don't think that's going to be a problem, Cousin Katarina."
"But isn't not having my sword tied up really rude?"
"After what you did yesterday… no, two days ago, I think you're allowed to walk around with your sword not peace bonded. Trust me."
Katarina sighed in relief. "Oh, good. I was really worried about that. Uh… do you know where we're going?"
"We will be meeting with the lesser nobility," Mother said from ahead of them, and Katarina nearly jumped in surprise. Mother continued gliding purposefully, her movements so smooth Katarina couldn't be sure mother wasn't standing on some kind of rolling thing that was being pulled along the ground. "Given La Sable's audacity to attack not simply the capital but the castle directly, even the nobility who have remained behind instead of running like crystal lizards heading for a cliff no doubt require assurance that they are still safe and protected. As their highest liege short of the king, we will provide them that assurance with our presence, as is our duty. As most of the men are currently needed to begin preparations should Sorcier be going to war, we will be meeting with the noble ladies who are available." Mother's voice was really serious, and sounded a little sad.
Eh? Wait, you said something really scary just now, mother!
When they got to their destination—one of the larger sitting rooms, with doors on both side opening to other sitting rooms—Katarina was relieved to see that everyone she knew was there. There was Mary, and Mary's sisters Lilia, Margaretha and Charlotte, there was Sophia and her mom Aunt Radea, and over there was Aunts Eileen and Viola, and…
Katarina really wasn't sure what they were supposed to do, but it was something like making people feel safe, right? She wasn't sure she could do that, but she'd try…
What followed was a lot like a tea party. There were plates of small foods, there was tea, there were cookies and little muffins that weren't as good as Maria's cookies and little muffins… really, the only thing missing were the boys! Not that it was a bad thing. It reminded her of the ladies-only tea party that had taken place at the beginning of the International Assembly. Though there was something missing, something Katarina couldn't quite place…
"Lady Katarina, you were so amazing!"
"Thank you for saving us, Lady Katarina!"
"Is it true you're Lady Campbell's squire?"
"You were so brave, Lady Katarina!"
"Eh? But I didn't do anything special, though?"
For some reason, the young ladies around her—the daughters of the Marquis and Marchioneses who'd remained, daughters of counts, baronets, viscounts, barons…—all sighed.
"Ah! So modest as always, Lady Katarina!"
"I've become even more of an admirer since I saw you being so dashing!"
"I'm so glad you were there to protect us, Lady Katarina!"
"Do you think you could teach me how to use a sword t—Hey!"
"Ah, Lady Egret," a smiling Mary said as she placed a hand on the green-haired girl who had last spoken. "I've been meaning to speak to you. Could we step this way for a moment?" Still smiling, Mary drew Musse off to the side.
All through the party, people kept giving Katarina the strangest compliments. To her confusion, people also kept bringing up the embarrassing stains on her formal armor!
"To think you were so close to the front that blood would spray on you… that must have been so scary! I don't think I could do that!"
"is it true you didn't get hurt at all?"
"What covenant do you plan to join after you're knighted, Lady Katarina?"
"Where can I buy a fashion set like yours, Lady Katarina?"
That she was at least able to answer, giving the ladies the name and address of Staligrast Arms. She remembered how her grandmother in her previous life always told her she should buy local to support her community, and that probably applied to armorers too, right? Everyone 'ooh'-ed and 'aah'-ed as she showed them some of the secret pockets, sharing some of her cookies with them. Once she showed the other ladies that, she got even more requests for the name of Staligrast Arms.
Still, something was bothering Katarina. There seemed to be something missing…
It was a really nice morning, especially when noon arrived and servants came in to serve lunch! Sure, it was a scramble for chairs as lots of ladies who had been standing around for most of the morning tried to find places to sit. Katarina, wearing her armor, didn't have to worry about that and just found a nice wall to lean against before she plopped down to sit cross-legged on the floor, her armor easily accommodating the position as she held a plate of food in one hand and a fork in the other. Smiling happily, she started to eat.
"Daughter, what are you doing sitting on the floor?"
Katarina froze, her skin breaking out in a cold sweat. Slowly, she looked up and found her mother, Aunt Eileen and Aunt Viola, and Cousin Mashu looking down on her. Her mother's gaze was a sternly piercing as ever, and for a moment Katarina forgot that mother just had 'resting villainess' face as she scrambled for an excuse. Excuse, excuse, she needed an excuse!
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Topic: An Excuse, Quick!
In: Boards ► Fortune Lover ► Sorcier ► Morfae Londo ► Katarina's Brain
KatarinaClaes (Original Poster) (Verified Reincarnated)
Posted On Apr 17th 2024:
Quick, I need an excuse!
(Showing page 1 of 1)
►StudiousKatarina (Verified Braincell) (Verified Katarina)
Replied On Apr 17th 2024:
You've fallen and you can't get up!
►AdventurousKatarina (Verified Braincell) (Verified Katarina)
Replied On Apr 17th 2024:
You got lost on the road of life!
►StubbornKatarina (Verified Braincell) (Verified Katarina)
Replied On Apr 17th 2024:
You were trying to parry with your big sword and fell over!
►ChairwomanKatarina (Verified Braincell) (Verified Katarina) (Verified Mod)
Replied On Apr 17th 2024:
You're actually standing in a hole in the floor!
►TimidKatarina (Verified Braincell) (Verified Katarina)
Replied On Apr 17th 2024:
You dropped a cookie! and you're trying to find it before the five-second-rule runs out!
►HappyKatarina (Verified Braincell) (Verified Katarina)
Replied On Apr 17th 2024:
You were overcome with the weight of all your failures and can't take it anymore!
►KnightKatarina (Verified Braincell) (Verified Katarina) (Verified Saber)
Replied On Apr 17th 2024:
Tell her you're practicing your bonfire sitting!
►Yamada Tae (Verified Katarina) (Verified Legendary) (Verified Zombie) (Verified Idol) (Number Zero) (Verified Franchouchou)
Replied On Apr 17th 2024:
Zhazna-gab!
►ChairwomanKatarina (Verified Braincell) (Verified Katarina) (Verified Mod)
Replied On Apr 17th 2024:
The truth? Are you nuts?-! That will just get us in trouble!
End of Page. 1
A stream of excuses came to Katarina's mind, but unfortunately… all of them were so stupid even she could tell they were stupid!
"I couldn't find any more chairs," she said, the truth somehow getting out. Indeed, every chair in range already had a relieved-looking lady sitting on it, their skirts twitching as they took their weight off their feet
One of mother's eyebrows rose like she was some kind of psychic space elf scientist. "Surely you could have asked one of them to move?" Behind mother, some of the ladies in question looked pained but resigned, and a few began to get to their feet.
"Eh? I can't do that! Everyone is wearing heels, their feet must really hurt!" Katarina exclaimed. "Besides, I'm wearing armor. It's not problem for me to sit. Knights sit on the ground all the time."
"Usually, they do so on the battlefield," Mother commented, stepping forward to loom over Katarina.
Ah… oh, she was in so much troub—
Katarina blinked as mother gathered her skirts and carefully, gracefully sank down to sit on the floor next to her daughter, folding her legs to her side as she settle down on the ground. "But then, this castle was a battlefield recently," Mother said lightly as she moved her plate to her other hand, "so I suppose it is excusable." Taking one of the little dainty sandwiches from her plate with the hand she hadn't used to lower herself to the ground, Mother began to eat.
Everyone stared at her, nearby ladies of all ages wide-eyed. Mother just ate as if she didn't have a care in the world.
"Uh, mother… I wasn't going to bring it up until later, but… are you feeling all right?" Katarina said tentatively.
"I feel quite well, daughter. Why do you ask?"
"Well, when you met you didn't mention how I have stains on my armor…"
"Of course not, daughter. After all, wearing the blood of your enemies, gained in the defense of your people, is the height of fashion."
It was? Huh, Katarina hadn't known that. But if mother said so…
After exchanging a look, Auntie and Auntie sat down with them with a laugh, and Mashu did the same, though Katarina's cousin had to take off her shield and carefully set it down on the floor for a moment so she could sit down. Slowly, other ladies did the same, though it was mostly the younger ones, who let out sighs of relief and let out little laughs and shrikes as they nearly fell over in their attempts to sit on the ground the way mother had. Some of the older ladies, the ones mother's age or older, looked confused, but just as many shrugged and sat down as well, looking nostalgic for some reason.
A thought occurred to Katarina as she ate—slowly, because even though mother was sitting on the floor (!-!-!-!-!) she would probably be still annoyed at Katarina for eating too fast—and finally realized what had been bothering her about this tea party. For the past several days, at every gathering she'd attended there had been a lot foreigners like Hyetta, Lei-Lei, Lin-Lin, Sieglizabeth…
Here, however…
"Mother…" Katarina said slowly as she frowned, looking around and trying to see, really see, who else was here. Perhaps there were nobelwomen from Drang and Tasmeria she just hadn't seen because she'd been swarmed? "Where is everyone else?"
Mother did that psychic space elf scientist eyebrow thing at her again. "What do you mean, Katarina?"
"You know, everyone else. The ladies from the delegations? Shouldn't they be invited to something like this? Won't they feel left out?"
Mother pressed her lips together for a moment. "They weren't invited, daughter," she said. "There are only Sorcieri women here."
"Eh? But why? They were attacked with us, right? Don't they need to feel safe too?"
Mother's lips pressed together, and her face looked a bit more glare-like. Her voice was calm and gentle and not scoldy when she answered, however. "That is a matter best left to their own nobles, Katarina."
Katarina frowned. That still didn't feel right…
Katarina cheerfully knocked on the door as the foreign knights in the hallway of the part of the castle where the Hallig delegation was staying in—it was the closest—eyed her warily. That done, she waited, humming as she rocked back and forth on her heels.
Eventually, the door opened, and a familiar face looked out warily. Wariness became surprise, however. "Lady Claes?"
"Hi, Zorayas," Katarina said, waving cheerfully. "Is Hyetta in? I just wanted to make sure she was all right."
After all, what sort of friend would she be if she didn't check on her friend and let her know she was safe now, right? And as long as she was here, she might as well let everyone know there were safe too!