They talked. When Sadako and Anne came back with food, enough to feed everyone, and then just as much to feed Katarina. It had been an informal, messy meal, and Maria had found herself wishing she'd had the opportunity to bake something to add to the repast.
At one point, Sophia had passed out, laying her head on her brother's lap and curling up with her knees pulled to her chest, which necessitated a sighing Mary settling the smaller woman's skirt around her legs. Lord Nicol passed out soon after… probably. He remained sitting upright, his face set in the same expression as usual, and Maria would have thought he was simply tired and staying out of the conversation when he started snoring without a single line of his face changing.
Other people began falling asleep soon after that. The princes were the next to fall asleep, just passing out in their chairs, their hands twitching as if they were doing paperwork. Keith had leaned back his head, closing his eyes, and hadn't opened them again—although he still breathed—and Katarina had fondly covered him with a blanket as Maria and Mary Hunt had done the same for the princes'. Mary had a rare expression of fondness on her face as she'd covered Prince Alan.
Her squire had simply fallen asleep, her head lolling over the back of the sofa in a way that left her throat completely exposed and made her look like her neck was broken, her legs splayed indecorously and one arm over the sofa's back. It had been such a vulnerable posture that Maria had immediately given Mary Hunt a blank look as she had stared unabashedly. The staring hadn't lasted long, as Mary had blinked, yawned, started rubbing her eyes, and had leaned back and started dozing.
Maria had put one more blanket on Mary before settling back and leaning against a dozing Rafael. Despite the meal and the tea, the late night called them to sleep out of habit. As Sadako, Anne, Sophia's maid Laura and Mary's maid Martha started taking away the empty dishes—there was no remaining food with Katarina there, the two of them slipped back to sleep, waiting for sunrise…
Which had arrived far too quickly.
With morning properly arrived, they had to put away the illusion of the past, face the present and get back to work. The only alternative was to delay the inevitable, destroying themselves and all they loved in the process. The princes, Nicol and Rafael had left to return to dealing with their parts of the continuing crisis that had been born yesterday, pieces of bread in hand and in their mouths as they had eaten on the move. Her squire had gone off to join her mother, to provide whatever assistance she could in some capacity. As to Maria…
She did not self-consciously adjust her coat as she stood before the door of the chamber that she had been brought to, where the king had apparently spent the night because his usual apartments had been too far away to bother with. The blood had mostly come off, but that was no problem. Wearing the blood of your enemies was always considered fashionable. The knights of the Royal Guard—and there were six instead of the usual two—arrayed before the door were wearing the same. Some blood still stained the heads of the halberd and greatsword that two of them wielded, which was technically fashionable, but terrible maintenance.
The door opened as Maria once more resisted the urge to check her cravat for blood, revealing General Solcrista. The man looked exhausted, and had the air of someone staying awake on far too much green blossom tea and sheer stubbornness. "Dame Campbell," he acknowledged, swaying just the slightest bit. Far more pronounced was the way he didn't give Maria a gesture of greeting. The man must be utterly exhausted. "His Majesty will see you now, Dame Campbell."
Maria straightened. "Yes, General. I will keep his majesty safe." Holding out her hand to one side, she made a clenched fist, which the General belatedly returned. He stepped aside to make way, and Maria entered the chamber.
His majesty, thankfully, didn't look anywhere near as terrible as the General. Hopefully that meant he'd been able to get some sleep. "My knight," the king greeted. He was down to his shirtsleeves and vest, his blond hair pulled back in a tail, and somehow this made him look more feminine than usual. "We hope you have rested well. We have need of you."
Maria knelt, right arm extended to the side, left hand at her heart. "Your Majesty. I am ready to serve."
The king nodded. "We will be meeting with the other delegations later this morning," he said. His mouth twisted into a sardonic smile. "Technically, it is an emergency meeting of the International Assembly. For obvious reasons, a representative of La Sable has not been invited."
"How unfortunate for them, your majesty," Maria said blandly.
"However, to that end, I need you to see to Horntuba and his fallen knight," the king said. "I assume the latter was under the influence of Dark Magic?"
"Yes, your majesty. It seemed… needlessly callous to slay such a victim," Maria said. "That said, had I not been able to strike him when I had, I would have of course resorted to standard methods of subduing."
The king nodded. "See to it that both of them remain nonconscious until we are ready to deal with them. I would have Horntuba in a state to answer for what he has done."
"I shall see to it, your majesty." Maria hesitated a moment, then pressed on. "If I may inquire, will I be required to explain myself to the delegations?"
"It will be necessary. While we have no official agreement as to the treatment of wielders of Dark Magic, unofficially it is not something we wish to spread, and your possession of it needs to be explained, lest they think we are deliberately creating Dark Magic wielders."
Maria nodded. "I understand, your majesty."
She was dismissed, and Maria went off to keep their prisoners unconscious but alive… for now.
A/N: Apologies for the shortness and fillery-ness of the segment. February was nuts, and I had to go to the doctor today.