Duchess Claes eventually left her seclusion with her husband and responded to Maria's request for a meeting.
They met once more in a private sitting room. Outside, Katarina was tending her fields as Lady Hunt, and the princes made nuisances of themselves. Keith was supposed to be doing the work he'd neglected, but he was probably watching from a window, reay to send a dirt doll to get his sister out at the first sign of impropriety. Well, some sign of impropriety that wasn't from Katarina, anyway.
They exchanged greetings and pleasantries over tea and cookies. Maria was vaguely disappointed that it wasn't I Scream. The duchess congratulated her on her engagement, and Maria congratulated her on a safe trip and complimented her on her niece, who seemed a fine young woman.
Eventually though, they got to business.
"Katarina has asked me to take her on as a squire," Maria said.
Her grace blinked in surprise. "Really?" she said.
Maria nodded. "She said something about not wanting to be fat and corrupt and only spending money on her hobbies. Also doing her duty, though she was a bit unclear as to what this duty was. I was left with the feeling it's all a ploy for her to secretly become a farmer."
"Knowing my daughter, I would not be surprised she had managed to include farming at some point," the duchess said, nodding tiredly. But she was smiling fondly too.
"Regardless of her initial reasons, I have decided I am amenable to acquiescing to her request," Maria said. "However, I wished to speak to you about it first. I would rather not accept her plea only to find you strongly against it."
"Would you refuse, if I were opposed to the idea?" the duchess said.
Maria tilted her head. "Say, rather, that I would take a more measured approach. I am certain that if I refused, Katarina will likely just seek someone else to squire herself to. Dame Lalatina Dustiness, for example."
"I could forbid her," the duchess said.
Maria coughed politely. "With all due respect, your grace…how often does telling Katarina not to do something work?"
The duchess sighed. "True," she said, sounding almost fond. "That girl… do you think she can become a knight?"
Maria considered. "I know she will work hard and obey orders as long as she can understand them," she said. "I know she'd never think of hurting anyone, but will come to another's defense without thought should she see them in distress. I know she seemed greatly concerned when she asked me to take her in. I believe she has what it takes to face the training of a squire. As to whether she can be a knight…" Maria shrugged. "That's up to her. It won't matter whether I think she's ready. What will matter is whether she will step up and act like it when she needs to. If so, then everything else is just a formality."
"A strange thing for a knight to say," the duchess said.
"Better to have the heart and not the title than to have the title and not the heart," Maria said. "One will gain the title in time. The other is merely a disgrace."
The duchess nodded. "An excellent point." She looked at Maria intently. "If I allow this, what will it involve?"
"Traditionally, a squire will move to their knight's lands, in a way similar to a commoner apprenticeship," Maria said. "For all intent and purposes, they will be stripped of rank, and must answer to their knight, who will have the power to punish them for transgressions. They will be made to labor, learn the use and care of arms and armor, how to maintain a knight's equipment, how to tend to and care for their horse… there will be a lot of common toil and drudgery involved. It is meant to break the squire from their reliance on luxuries and servants and acclimates them to working on their own."
"So, basically… Katarina continues acting like Katarina," the duchess said flatly.
"Yes…" Maria said. "I begin to see why she might have chosen this path above any other. I believe it's also traditional to have a squire assist in all the different labors of the estate so that they may familiarize themselves with it in preparation for campaigning. Though, of course, Sorcier has not needed to field such armies abroad in a long time."
"Hmm…" the duchess said, prompting her to continue.
"The training will take many years," Maria said. "It's not unknown for a squire to be trained for a decade, especially if they start young. And while they are being trained, they must traditionally forswear many things. For example, they are not allowed to marry during this period, and depending on how strict their knight, they might not be allowed to attend parties or socialize on their own. Some are so extreme as to require a vow of celibacy. "
"Really…" her grace said. Her smile was… not Katarina-like.
"Oh, yes," Maria said. "In fact, in extreme cases, it is not unheard of for the knight to strike down one who would interfere with their squire's training. Of course, some socializing is still expected, as the squire must also be taught proper knightly conduct, and they must be tested in the real world to see they are utilizing it properly. All under the strict supervision of the squire's knight, of course."
"Of course," the duchess said, nodding along in solemn agreement.
"On occasion," Maria continued, "some exception is made for a chaperone, usually a maid or butler of some sort. While they cannot assist the squire in any work that they are assigned, they are usually there to provide some degree of comfort and supervision to ensure that powers are not abused. And to teach the young squire the finer points of washing their own clothes, I believe. They are also a way for the squire's family to receive reports on their wellbeing."
"How useful," the duchess said.
"If I may, your grace?" Maria said.
"You may, dame knight," Mili said.
"I believe this is a good opportunity to enact our plan under better circumstances," Maria said. "Apprenticing Lady Katarina to me to learn estate management, while certainly feasible, would likely quickly break down. Lady Katarina had many surprising talents. The patience and disposition for clerical duties is not one of them. She could do it if pushed, in short bursts, but ultimately I believe it is unsuited for her. Katarina is a very physical person. This would suit her much better, and the fact it is her own idea reinforces it."
"And if the unthinkable should happen?" the duchess said quietly.
"Forgive me your grace, but many unthinkable things could happen," Maria said. "Could you specify what in particular?"
"Should she be called to war? To fight? To…" the duchess trailed off.
For a moment, Maria was strongly reminded of her mother.
"If she is called to war, then I would be at her side, as her friend, her sister in arms, and her teacher," Maria said. "If she must fight… that is why she will be trained. She has been trained. Even now, I have confidence in her skill in the sword."
"And if she needs to kill?" the duchess said quietly. "If my little girl is asked to kill?"
"She won't," Maria said. "Katarina does not have it in her to kill. Not if she is ordered. She's a gentle soul."
"Then why is she becoming a knight?" the duchess said.
"You raised her to become the woman she is now," Maria said. "You would know better than I."
For a moment, they were both silent.
The duchess took a deep breath. "I'm being silly," she said firmly. "Sorcier is a peaceful country. We're not likely to go to war any time soon. Probably not in the next hundred years!"
Maria merely nodded.
"You're probably right, she'd just be some kind of farming knight or something," the duchess continued. "Probably go around helping farmers plant or whatever it is they do."
Maria nodded again.
Silence stretched.
"Is this too much?" Mili asked. "Being married is not so terrible a fate."
"I cannot answer that yet," Maria said. "I am unwed still."
"I mean, he can give her a good life," Mili said. "She could have anything. All of Sorcier would be open to her. He actually does feel for her. I was married for years, thinking my husband didn't love me, and I did fine…"
Maria didn't think she was meant to hear that last.
"Do you wish me to refuse?" Maria asked.
For a moment, her grace said, nothing, her head bowed, staring into her cup. The slowly, she raised her hand.
Maria watched as Millidiana Claes touched her forehead contemplatively. Then, her face hardened.
"No," the duchess said. "He might say he loves her, but that brat called my daughter ugly. His entire engagement is rooted in this insult. Let us give him time to realize his mistakes."
"And if he does not?" Maria said.
"Then he will marry her over my dead body," the duchess said. "They can stay engaged all they like. But until this insult my daughter's honor is paid for, he will never have my permission to marry her."
"And if Katarina wishes to marry him?"
"Then I shall respect her wishes," the duchess said. "But only then."
"So, to be clear… you are allowing your daughter to be a knight to spite the Third Prince?" Maria said.
"I allow my daughter to be a knight because it's what she wants," the duchess said. "She sees it as her path to fulfilling her duty. How can I keep her from that?"
Maria tilted her head pensively. "So be it. I will teach your daughter to be a fine knight, your grace. I swear."
Two days later, Katarina Claes, wearing simple clothes, smiled at the off-duty members of the royal guard in their dormitory. "Hello! I'm Katarina. I'm going to be staying here from now on!"
All the knights, clad in shirts and pants, doing maintenance on their weapons or comparing their shooting scores, all stopped and stared. They recognized Katarina. She was very recognizable, after all. As one, they turned to stare at the woman next to her.
"Katarina will be my squire from now on," Maria said impassively at their looks. "Be sure to treat her as such. From now on, she will be living with you, sleeping in the dormitory with you, and will be part of the food preparation, cleaning and other rotations. I expect you to heap all the difficult work on her, as is traditional for new squires."
"Don't worry!" Katarina said cheerfully. "I'm not afraid of hard work! You can leave the manual labor to me!"
She made a show of flexing her arms. Surprisingly for a noble lady, she did actually have muscles to bulge on her biceps.
"We begin tomorrow bright and early squire," Maria said. "I expect you up before the sun. There will be no one to wake you. If you are late, you'll be punished. Is this understood?"
"Yes, Dame Maria!" Katarina said.
Maria nodded. "Get your things into your trunk, you can have that bed furthest from the fireplace."
"The one in the middle of the room?" Katarina said, looking between the two fireplaces.
"Yes. Afterwards, you may help the children with their field."
"Yay!" Katarina cheered.
The knights kept staring, watching the duke's daughter cheerfully put a few simple articles of clothing into the trunk provided at the foot of the bed. A few farm tools were placed on the weapon rack next to her bed, along with a single, solitary wooden practice sword.
Humming happily, the new squire put on a cloth around her head, grabbed the hoe that had been stood on the rack like a spear, and skipped off.
The knights all looked at each other.
"The prince," a senior knight by the name of Alicetaria said clinically, "is going to go absolutely mound-maker over this."
All her fellow knights nodded in solemn agreement.
Then they all started placing bets.