Agnes, carrying urgent news, marched with purpose to the Queen's quarters. As she did, an elderly member of the royal court, with brown eyes and ear-length white hair, approached, clearly with intent to pass. As the two passed each other, Agnes felt a pang of hostility towards him, for her news was regarding this man, Lishman. She was either unaware or uncaring of any response from Lishman himself, as, to an onlooker, the two peacefully passed each other. Not a minute later, Agnes had reached her destination, knocking upon the door to the Queen's room and being invited in. Upon entering, Agnes relinquished the documents she carried and knelt before her Queen, who now began to pore over the communique.
"I am sorry to hear about Michelle, Captain. I know you considered her close," Queen Henrietta apologized. She did not see Agnes grit her teeth at that statement, feeling the weight of Michelle's betrayal and her subsequent feeling of abandonment all over again. "What more have we learned from the prisoner?"
"After thorough interrogation, she revealed the name of one co-conspirator of her organization, the Jacobins," Agnes informed. "Chair President of Legal Affairs, Lishman," Agnes revealed. Queen Henrietta raised her eyebrows at this revelation. "Shall I arrest him?"
"No," Henrietta ordered, closing the documents before her, "we need more evidence to move against someone of his status. Something concrete that not even fellow co-conspirators could refute." Henrietta paused as she thought of her next move. "Let us proceed with our plan," Henrietta confidently informed. It was now Agnes' turn to raise her brows.
"Forgive my impudence, but this plan would put you in incredible danger, would it not?" Agnes asked. Henrietta chuckled and gave her a small, knowing smile.
"I have faith in my choice of bodyguard for this," Henrietta stated, confidently. Agnes gave as subtle an exasperated sigh as she could as she was dismissed. She went down to the stables below to retrieve her horse, stopping to take more of her drug before she mounted it. It felt, to her, as though she kept needing more and more to keep the pain at bay. She could not dwell on it, however, as she had an important meeting to make as part of the Queen's plan. As she rode, thoughts of gratitude towards the Queen entered her mind, knowing that her revenge was drawing ever closer. She thought back to her village, ablaze in blinding, searing flames. And her, crying out only to the deaf ears of the dead.
They will all pay, Agnes took her horse's reins in a white-knuckle grip as she rode from the palace.
Not but two days later, Agnes arrived at the academy to conscript Louise and Siesta back to their work to unravel the kingdom's conspiracies… with orders from Agnes to position themselves at a familiar place and wait for further orders. Zeratul followed them, as he usually did. Upon their arrival at their destination, Siesta felt a small sense of comfort as she laid eyes on her Uncle's tavern, the Charming Fairies, once more. Despite the circumstances, she felt it would be good to see some family once again.
Louise was closely in tow, but almost cowering behind Siesta with anxiety as she remembered what had happened last she was here. Siesta, feeling her newfound confidence, stepped into the now-quiet tavern (as it was currently outside their business hours with the sun, though obscured by heavy rain clouds, not even having gone halfway across the sky). Once within, she spotted her Uncle, Mademoiselle Scarron, in a beautiful, frilly pink dress that hugged their taut, musclebound body tightly. Upon their head was a long blue, curly-haired wig. Before them were their "fairies", the staff of this tavern, all wearing low-cut , frilly, long dresses of their own and standing or kneeling around a tall woman dressed as a prince in short shorts.
"Oui oui, my fairies! Tres bien! You all look wonderful!" Mademoiselle Scarron praised as they looked at their perfectly-posed staff. Siesta smiled at this display while Louise looked on awkwardly.
"Uncle Scarron!" Siesta called out, joyfully to her adoring Uncle. They turned to her, a smile already upon their glossy, pouty lips, and gave her a wide grin with a squeal of excitement.
"Mon dieu! My little Siesta! My heart is so full!" Mademoiselle Scarron cried out as they marched to Siesta and scooped her up in a big, affectionate hug, which Siesta gladly returned. She could smell something upon them that was quite pleasant and pulled away to meet her Uncle's sparkling, winged eyes.
"Is that a new perfume?" Siesta asked.
"En effet! You like?" Scarron asked, hopefully. Siesta smiled wide at them.
"It smells wonderful and truly suits you!" Siesta excitedly proclaimed. Scarron clapped their hands excitedly at the niece they so proudly adored.
"Merci!" Scarron replied with gratitude. "Peut-être you may like to try it later?"
"Peut-être, indeed," Siesta confirmed with a giggle. She then motioned to Louise, who she had just remembered was there. "You remember Louise?"
"Ah, oui! I remember the winner of our tip contest! Come to claim your winnings, mon cheri?" Scarron asked with a slight tone of teasing.
"O-of course not! We're just here to wait for someone!" Louise vehemently denied as she began to blush, causing Scarron to giggle at her expense.
"May I ask, Uncle, what the costumes are for?" Siesta asked, curiously, as she walked over to admire the girls' well-made dresses.
"Oh!" Jessica, her cousin that looked like a taller, longer-haired version of Siesta piped up as she walked out from behind the bar where she was cleaning glasses, "Tonight we're going to be in the Tahiariji Royal Theater."
"C'est vrai! The world has finally accepted my beauty!" Scarron cried out as tears of happiness began to well up in their eyes. Siesta, seeing his genuine joy, could not help but to feel her eyes sting with happy tears herself. Louise looked around and spotted a poster showing Jessica, in her prince costume, holding Scarron in a mid-dip, as they were dressed now.
Vacances en Tristania, Louise read with a slight feeling of discomfort. The entity of Scarron still challenged her deeply-programmed ideas of gender and sexuality, but the discomfort, this time, was thankfully far less than their last encounter. Louise felt a gloved, strong hand clap her shoulder, and she looked up to see the perfectly made-up face of Scarron giving her an affectionate look as one would look at a younger family member. In that moment she felt safer than she ever did with Eleonore or her parents. Siesta's shoulder was clasped as well, with Scarron placing their head between the two.
"Why not join us? I would love to have you both once again," Scarron offered with a warm smile. Siesta looked to them and gave them an affirmative smile and nod before looking to Louise imploringly. Louise gave a defeated sigh and nodded to Scarron as well, causing them to clap each of their shoulders hard. "Tres bien! We were short on staff! Okay, my lovely fairies, it's time to open!" Scarron walked off to rally their staff while Siesta and Louise nursed their stinging shoulders.
"Yes Ma Mademoiselle!" the girls cried out in excited confirmation.
"You'll help, too, oui?" Scarron beseached as they turned to Louise and Siesta. Siesta gave them an enthusiastic nod and she gently elbowed a reluctant-looking Louise to give hers as well. "Merveilleuse! Siesta, as before, help in the kitchen, Louise? Your time has come once again!" Without further warning Louise and Siesta were separated, with some of the costumed girls taking Louise to the changing rooms and Jessica gathering a willing, smiling Siesta. Louise quickly found herself changed into the short, frilly white skirt with matching lace top and white gloves that she was made to wear on her last time here. The other fairies squeed with delight over her petite, adorable appearance while Louise stood awkwardly and took solace in the fact that her attire was at least more fitting than her usual school uniform that she'd been wearing everywhere.
The evening at the tavern seemed steady-paced, with a regular flow of customers and a jovial, moderate din filling the air. Siesta busied herself cleaning glasses while occasionally peeking up at Scarron's fairies serving the customers. She was interrupted, however, when a familiar sound of footsteps approached her. She turned to see Louise, adorned in her frilly, white maid-like outfit and blushing profusely.
"S-so what do you think?" Louise asked, sheepishly, as she gave a quick twirl. It took Siesta all of her willpower not to grab Louise and take her upstairs.
"So cute!" Siesta exclaimed as she nearly dropped the plate she was drying rushing forward to embrace Louise.
"Hey! Not so rough…" Louise weakly protested. They were interrupted, however, by Mademoiselle Scarron, now in their usual cropped top that showed their solid abs and hairy pectorals.
"Petit Louise! You've received a nomination! Come out here, already," Scarron gently ordered as they left to return their attention to the goings-ons of the tavern once more. Louise and Siesta ended their embrace, each giving each other a small smile before parting.
"Sorry to make you wait-Hey!" Louise began announcing as she made her way out to the dining room only to be interrupted by the familiar, cocky face of Julio, seated and already having a bottle of alcohol in front of him.
"Ciao, poca Louise," Julio greeted flirtatiously as he winked.
This is a new entity, Executor Louise. He appears to give you concern. Is he a threat? Zeratul's voice asked in Louise's head.
No, Louise answered with hesitancy in her spirit. Just an annoyance…
Siesta, once she had finished with her batch of dishes in the kitchen, had returned to the bar overlooking the dining area once again to gather more dirty dishes. She took this time to look out into the dining area to see where Louise had gone, and saw her sitting with Julio and felt irritated on her behalf. Comforting herself with the knowledge that she proved she was the superior fighter.
Indeed, Akhundelar Siesta, I sense you have faced much combat in a short amount of time, Zeratul remarked. Siesta's face dropped as she thought of all the violence she had encountered recently, and shuddered. Siesta's reminiscence was cut short by the sight of Julio once again placing unwanted hands upon Louise, causing Louise to freeze. She readied herself to remove his hand from her, but found it unnecessary as Louise, herself, slapped his hand away.
"Still as feisty as ever, I see," Julio remarked as he rubbed his stricken hand. "That will serve you well." Julio then raised his uninjured hand to flag down one of the servers, who greeted him with a wide smile. "A round of drinks, bellissima, and," Julio handed her some gold coins, "there's more in this for you and your friends should you join me." Julio winked at the young woman, who gladly took the money and blushed as she ran to gather other waitresses. Not much later, Julio, red in the face from consumption of alcohol and laughing raucously, was raising his glass for what was now the sixth toast he had done in the last few minutes.
Jeez, how many times do we have to toast before he's satisfied? Louise thought to herself, exasperated as Julio's gloved hand once again crept upon her shoulder. This time, before Louise could rebuke him, Scarron's shadow hovered over the table. They made a show of gripping the handsy noble's wandering appendage until Julio winced in pain.
"Now now, it's 'look but don't touch' here at the Charming Fairies," Scarron warned with a grave tone despite his widely smiling face. "You're new, and cute, so I'll forgive you this time, okay?" Scarron giggled as they violently clapped Julio's shoulder.
"Of course, bella Mademoiselle," Julio chuckled nervously as he rubbed his aching shoulder. Siesta smirked at this display, but noticed she had been standing there, absent-mindedly "cleaning" a dish for the entire round of drinks that Julio and the others had been indulging in and had let quite a backlog of dirty dishes build up. Once she had hauled as many as she could back to the kitchen for washing, Jessica, who was busy with her prepping and cooking, looked to her with exasperation.
"We've got quite a lot of bottles taking up space in here! Take some out back, would you?" Jessica urgently suggested. Siesta immediately grabbed one of the full crates of empty bottles and went into the alley behind the tavern. As she set the crate down, she saw a stray cat, grey and white, look to her and meow as it approached her. Siesta took a moment to crouch down and reach out to it. It sniffed her hand, and, upon finding it satisfactory, leaned into her touch for pets as it began to purr quite audibly. Siesta smiled as she stroked the dirty alley cat's soft fur.
This interaction did not last long, however, as the cat's head snapped to the entrance of the alley to their right and it sprinted away. Siesta looked after the fleeing cat with a disappointed look on her face as she gave a sigh of resignation and stood up, examining her now dirtied hand that had been stroking the cat. Just then, a sound of footsteps and a collision with her back occurred, causing her to stumble and nearly fall. She turned to see a figure, clad in a large, black cloak, that had fallen back. She reached down for this figure with her dirty hand.
"Are you alright?" Siesta asked. As she did, she felt a sharp, wet sensation upon her outstretched hand. She turned her palm upward, instinctively, and saw more droplets begin to hit her hand in increasingly rapid succession.
"Excuse me," the figure began with a familiar, muffled, feminine voice, "am I near the 'Charming Fairies Inn'?"
"Oh, yes," Siesta replied, reaching out her hand once more to the figure, which took her hand and began to rise. "You're here, though this is the back."
"That voice…" the figure said as she threw back her hood, revealing none other than Queen Henrietta's purple-haired form. Siesta looked to her, wide-eyed.
"Your Ma-!" Siesta's exclamation was cut off by Henrietta placing a hand over her mouth. As she did, men in armor went running past the alley on the opposite end from where Henrietta appeared.
"They might have gone to the Kurdone alley!" one of them shouted as they passed by. Once they were out of sight, Henrietta removed her hand from Siesta's mouth.
"I need to show you something," Henrietta announced in a low voice as she turned to the side of the alley where she came in. "Come on, it's safe now." As she beckoned, another cloaked figure appeared, carefully stepping into the alley and slowly approaching them. Siesta felt something familiar about this one as they drew closer. Once they were close enough, Siesta instinctively reached out and removed the figure's hood.
"J-Julien!" Siesta cried out as she rushed forward and embraced him. After a moment, he began to reciprocate, and Siesta could feel her shirt begin to grow wet from his tears. She heard more indistinct shouting in the distance, which caused her head to snap towards the sound. "This way, come with me," Siesta implored as they entered the Inn from an outer staircase and entered the dark, empty room where the waitresses changed. Once within, the rain began to intensify and a bolt of lightning lit up the sky, shortly followed by a boom of thunder.
Henrietta and Julien stood, looking at her as she looked at them with confusion and terror. They had found him. But why wasn't he under arrest? Why was he with the Queen? Why was the Queen out at this time at this place? Why were guards looking for them? So many questions rang in her mind and she began to feel a headache coming on, causing her to clasp her head. "I don't know what's going on… I'm gonna get Louise," before Siesta could leave, however, Henrietta took her hand.
"Wait," Henrietta pleaded, "This time I'm only here for you."
"Me?" Siesta asked, looking at her and Julien, "Why?"
"Please be our bodyguard for several hours," Henrietta requested.
"Forgive me, but, as Queen, don't you have much more capable guards than myself?" Siesta asked in as respectful an incredulous tone as she could muster. Henrietta shook her head.
"Remember, in the dungeon, when I told you of the conspiracies within the palace that I suspected?" Henrietta asked. Siesta nodded. "We're closing in on one of our primary targets of that conspiracy. A high-ranking noble in the royal court, Chair President of Legal Affairs Lishman." The name did not ring any bells for Siesta, but the rank and title certainly did.
"Then why are you here? Why not have him arrested?" Siesta asked in disbelief.
"We don't have enough hard evidence to move against him. However…" Henrietta looked to Julien, "Thanks to your brother we now know his ultimate goal, and have devised a plan to lure him out and incriminate himself. Siesta's brow furrowed as she frowned.
"And now you're using my brother in your power games?" Siesta snapped, without thinking. She very quickly regretted her outburst, as her face was overcome with embarrassment. Julien took her hand in what felt like an attempt at reassurance for her.
"It's okay, Siesta, I volunteered," Julien informed, causing Siesta to look at him with surprise. "Lishman has been aware of the Queen and her agents closing in on him, so I was given up as a distraction… I believed in their message, their organization, but it was all a lie so one rich asshole could replace other rich assholes. Sorry," Julien's growling voice was quickly replaced with apologetics as he looked to Henrietta, who nodded to indicate forgiveness.
"We don't know how deep the conspiracy goes, which is why I'm here. To act undercover," Henrietta informed. Siesta once again looked at the two of them and gave a defeated sigh.
"Okay, if you truly trust her," Siesta began, looking at Julien, "then I'll help you." Henrietta smiled and nodded at Siesta before removing her cloak.
"We left the palace in a hurry, so I must ask that you provide me with clothes to make me look like a commoner," Henrietta requested. Siesta nodded and looked in the nearby trunk, seeing nought but the costumes the girls changed out of and Louise's school uniform. Siesta felt the costumes would be missed, as her uncle was planning that play, so she grabbed Louise's petite skirt and shirt and handed them to the already undressing Henrietta. Siesta blushed as Henrietta took the clothes and gave them an incredulous look before shrugging and continuing to disrobe, causing the flustered former maid to jump to covering her brother's eyes.
Siesta found the Queen's transformation impressive, though the way she almost burst out of Louise's clothes did cause her a bit of flustration. She did not have time to dwell on this, however, as Henrietta, with slow, deliberate movements as she was attempting not to break the already overstretched clothes beckoned Siesta and Julien to exit the room.
"Wait," Siesta interrupted as she stepped between Henrietta and the door. "You still haven't told me where we're going or what we're doing."
"I can explain as I lead the way, I promise," Henrietta answered while giving Siesta an imploring look. Siesta sighed and relented, allowing them to go through.