A Sophia 'Most-Definitely-NOT-The-Paledrake-That-Would-Be-Wrong-And-Very-Silly' Interlude
Sophia glared at Mary.
Mary glared at Sophia.
Without looking away from each other, they both raised a fist and knocked on the door to the suite that Maria and Katarina shared.
When the door clicked and began to open, both had put smiles on their faces and had turned to face the opening portal, which they could not open from their side before.
"Hello, Anne!" Sophia said cheerfully. "Is Lady Katarina in? I managed to make a reservation to the baths and wondered if she wanted to join me?"
Mary might had twitched, but if she did, she hid it well. "It's a reservation for four," the socialite said, not missing a window to parry, "so Maria can come join us too."
It was Sophia's turn to twitch. Hexes! If was there too…
"I'm sorry Lady Sophia, Lady Mary," Anne said, her face professionally blank and as always giving off an air of 'please leave me out of this.' "I believe Lady Maria took Lady Katarina to go train. She had Lady Katarina change into her training clothes and bring her sword and shield."
""…""
Double hexes!
"Do you have any idea where they went?" Sophia asked in resignation at being foiled yet again in her attempts to spend time with Lady Katarina in the castle's luxurious baths that were only rarely opened to guests, where she'd have been able to help Lady Katarina wash her hair, maybe scrub her back, and then Lady Katarina would complain about an itch and Sophia would ask where, and Lady Katarina would tell her, and then…!
"They did not say, Lady Sophia" Anne said, and the two young women sighed. "Should I tell them you were looking to invite them when they return?"
"If you please," Mary said smoothly, already looking poised once more. Hex Mary and her ability to quickly recover her poise! "Could you also tell them we'll meet them for dinner?"
"Of course, Lady Mary," Anne said. "Will that be all?"
Mary opened her mouth, then paused. "Is Shana busy?"
"She has just finished preparing her next lesson plan for Lady Katarina."
"Oh! May I come in then?"
"If you wish, Lady Mary," Anne said, stepping back from the door to let them pass.
Mary eagerly entered, to a happy exclamation of, "Lady Mary!" followed by a hasty, "Ah, this is a wonderful surprise, my lady. Would you like to sit down?"
"Well… they're having fun, at least," Sophia muttered, shaking her head. "Well, if they're not here, then I might as well get going then. Got a reservation and all. Thanks, Anne."
"Of course, Lady Sophia."
Sophia walked away, the door closing behind her and cutting off what sounded like the beginnings of Mary exclaiming what a wonderful student Shana was. She began walking down to the ground floor, where the castle's luxurious baths—made in the style of ancient Friedonia—were located, and paused as a thought occurred to her.
Then she sighed. "Well, I suppose she wouldn't be bad company… "
It took some time for Sophia to be directed to the correct room, but after running down into the basement, down along the inner moat walkway, back inside the castle, climbing up a long ladder, and then opening a gate that probably didn't open from the other side so she could get down to the rotating staircase and up the other side, she found herself standing in front of another room, very conscious of the stairs she was getting for her hair and complexion.
Ignoring them with the thick skin of years, Sophia waited as the servant who'd accompanied her to the right room once she gotten to the right part of the castle knocked on the door for her. Another servant opened the door a crack, and they exchanged words. Then the door closed, and there was a pause.
Then the door opened. "Her Ladyship will receive you now," the servant inside wearing unfamiliar foreign livery said.
Sophi nodded, and almost thanked the man before remembering he wasn't one of her servants, nor any of the servants of her friends, and so ignored him as protocol dictated. Instead, she entered the room, trailing behind him but otherwise ignoring his existence.
In the suite's sitting room, the servant announced her presence. "Lady Sophia Ascart is here, my lady"
Lady Hyetta Carim sat, the blindfold around her eyes doing little to hide her surprise and nervousness. Her chaperone from before, Lady Zorayas, sat next to her, leaning forward in a way that was probably bad for her posture. "Thank you, Delicata," Hyetta said, her face staring straight ahead, not turning to look towards Sophia. For a moment, Sophia was annoyed at being ignored… then winced as she reminded herself that Hyetta was blind, you idiot. "Greetings, Lady Sophia. Please, make yourself comfortable. What can I do for you?"
"Hello, Lady Hyetta," Sophia said cheerfully as she sat down opposite ethe other young woman. "Sorry to drop in like this, but I have a reservation to the castle's baths, and I wondered if you'd like to go with me? I'd love to talk to you some more."
Lady Hyetta hesitated. "Surely I am not your first choice," she said, voice suddenly neutral.
Sophia was about claim that of course she'd been first choice, but paused, then eyed the woman. That blindfold made it surprisingly hard to read her expression.
She decided to try for Katarina-like honesty. "Nope," she said. "Honestly, I was going to invite my friend, but she was dragged off for squire training, and my other friend couldn't go because something suddenly came up. I was about to go my myself, but then I thought 'Hey, I met someone new today who seemed nice. Why don't I invite her and get to know her better?' So here I am."
Lady Hyetta's mouth dropped open slightly, and Sophia hoped that meant what she thought it meant. At least Lady Zorayas raised an eyebrow, and how had she never realized a lot of nonverbal cues came from the eyes? "That's… surprisingly honest of you, Lady Sophia." She used the name hesitantly.
"Honesty is a pathway to many abilities most politicians consider unnatural," she quipped. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Hyetta's servant turn his face away, shoulders shaking slightly as Lady Zorayas' lips quirked upward. "If you don't want to, that's fine, but I thought I should make the offer. There aren't many new people who still bother to consider what the pendant could be for after all."
"It's… a generous offer, but I'm afraid I cannot accept if I must leave Lady Zorayas behind," Hyetta said.
"Oh, that's no problem," Sophia said. "My reservation was for three people, so she can come with us." After all, if she was inviting Lady Katarina, then Maria might have insisted on coming along, so Sophia had been prepared!
Something in Hyetta's shoulders relaxed slightly. "Well… in that case…would you be willing to wait a moment whilst I speak to my father?"
Sophia raised an eyebrow, then shrugged. "Sure. I can wait a little, I suppose." It wasn't like she was going to miss any potential time with Lady Katarina, after all. That was already happening.
She watched as Hyetta stood carefully, holding out a hand which Zorayas took and guided her away from the furniture and towards a door deeper into the suite fo rooms. Sophia leaned back to wait, wishing she had books. Alas, she couldn't bring books to the baths, as there as no way to waterproof the pages that wouldn't ruin the book even worse than the water would have.
A few minutes later, Lady Hyetta and her chaperone came back to the room, an excited smile on her face. "Lady Sophia, I believe I am in a position to accept your invitation after all, if it is still open. Would you be willing to wait while Lady Zorayas gathers everything that I will need."
"Sure!" Sophia said. "While she's doing that, have you finished the latest Night Fall book yet?"
"Oh, yes! Fires of Convergence was wonderful!"
"I know, right? Especially that scene where that knight, Orball the Ninth, came back again! I thought he was dead for good after his battle with Sir Raven!"
In the background, a silently smiling chaperone began to gather bathing implements.
A/n: We apologize for the fact that this chapter, like Sophia, is very short and most definitely not the paledrake. That would be wrong. And very silly.