by Loki Renard
“Yes ma'am,” Kelsie agreed.
While Kelsie basked in the newly heated waters, Victoria went to her saddlebags, took some herbal soap from her traveling pouch and tossed it to the young woman.
“Here,” she said. “Wash yourself thoroughly now. Every inch of you must be clean. That includes your private regions.”
Kelsie blushed but nodded and began to do as Victoria told her.
“And your hair,” Victoria added. “Wash it twice at least.”
While Kelsie bathed, Victoria set to setting up a small camp. The girl obviously needed to eat, something hot and rich.
The sorceress herself was not given to stopping for such simple things as food, but a peasant girl had animal requirements and so Victoria lifted her skirts, waded upstream of Kelsie, and caught several fish in a way that would have made the local fishermen shake their fists with envy. In relatively short order, a fire was lit and the fish were gutted and roasting over the flames on long sticks.
By the time Kelsie emerged from the river bath, Victoria had managed to magic together a simple traveling outfit for her. Soft kidskin boots for her feet and a long brown robe for her body.
“Thank you, m'lady,” Kelsie said as Victoria bade her dress, then eat. “You're too kind.”
“I'm not so much kind as I am keen not to see you starve before I get you home,” Victoria said. It would not do to be mistaken as kind. She had spent a great deal of time crafting her reputation and she would not sully it by being taken as a nice person, not even by accident.
Kelsie huddled next to the fire, her dark hair drying as she devoured all four fish and drank deep of the water Victoria had filled a skin with. She had a hunched demeanor that made her look more like an animal than ever, her shoulders bent, her head down, her fingers working food into her mouth at an incredible rate.
It was going to be no small feat to train her to be even faintly acceptable in good society. Her face was soon covered in fish grease and she let out several belches and a fart, which did not seem to concern her one bit.
Victoria stiffened her upper lip. Now was no time for etiquette lectures. Englred was quite a ride from this little village but her horse was relatively fresh and with a charm or two they could travel much faster.
“Wash your face and hands,” she said. “Then we will ride on.”
Again, Kelsie did as she was told without so much as a word. The girl was quiet, a positive attribute as far as Victoria was concerned. When all was ready, she mounted up again and reached a hand down to Kelsie.
It took no effort at all to swing her up onto the back of the horse, but a second later Victoria heard a thud. She looked over her shoulder to see Kelsie sitting on the ground, rubbing her rear quite ruefully.
“Put your arms about my waist if you must,” Victoria said, reaching out her hand to repeat the process.
This time, Kelsie did not fall off. She scooted forward and Victoria felt thin arms slide about her waist, timid and yet trusting.
A softer emotion passed through her cold sorceress heart. She pushed it away immediately.
Chapter Three
Kelsie could not believe all that had happened. In a matter of hours, her life had changed completely. Far from languishing in a dirty sty, she was flying down paths at incredible speed, swift as a bird and grasping Victoria's waist with the grip of a girl whose rear is already bruised from one fall and who does not wish to have another, especially not at speed.
She could not wait to see the city. She could not wait to see what her new life had in store for her. The fine lady was so very impressive and had already been so incredibly kind. For the first time in her life, Kelsie had some reason to hope for the future.
The walls of Englred were coming into view when Lady Varys hissed a curse word and pulled her mount to the side of the road. There were plenty of people and horses and carts milling around the outer bridges, but out of their number came a man on a black horse, riding like an arrow toward them with an intentionality that was apparent even over the mile or so between them.
Kelsie was sure that the rider was about to receive a bolt of lighting or some such elemental punishment, but instead Victoria allowed him to ride up to them without question, his horse skidding to a halt on four hooves with a well practiced quick stop.
“Madame Varys,” the man growled.
Victoria raised a delicately shaped brow at “Madame”.
“Leo Falkroy,” she said. “What do you want, boy?”
Kelsie had never seen anyone less like a boy than Leo Falkroy. He was a man, a tall broad man with steel gray eyes and thick black hair shorn close to his head. There was a light touch of gray at his temples, but he was not old by any means. He was in the prime of life. He wore toughened black leather armor studded with plate across the arms and shoulders, leggings to match, and tall plated boots that rose up to his knee. There was a tattoo on the back of his left hand, a regent's falcon, wings spread. She couldn't help but stare at it and wonder if he had any other markings on his strong body. The very thought made her blush and avert her eyes.
“You shouldn't be here, Victoria.”
“There is nowhere I should not be,” the lady replied haughtily. “A sorceress does not ask permission to enter her own city.”
“Maybe not at the best of times, but this isn't the best of times. There's a warrant for your arrest and a bounty on your head.”
“Nonsense.”
He shifted in his seat and rested his arm on the pommel, leaning forward to look her dead in the eyes with his steel gaze. When he spoke his voice was gruff.
“King Eldroy and his Queen Annabelle are furious with you. Especially Annabelle.”
“Ah.”
“Ah? That is all you have to say, Victoria?”
“Do not lecture me, Leo,” she said waspishly. “We will go on to Velderton and I will attend to matters there.”
“I wouldn't,” he said. “There are riders out looking for you. I'd turn back.”
“There's nothing but shanties and wrecks from where we've come. And plenty of creatures I'd rather not subject myself to twice.”
“Annabelle has said she will have your head.”
Victoria made an annoyed sound. “I will go and speak with her.”
“I don't think that's wise.”
“Did I ask what you thought? Come with me if you are so concerned, and lend your sword if necessary. Otherwise, go on your way after whatever criminal you seek.”
His horse nickered and stepped in place, tail swishing with impatience. “You're not understanding me, Victoria. You're the criminal I seek.”
“You will not arrest me, Leo.”
“I will,” he said. “But I'll give you a head start before I do.”
A playful smile appeared on Victoria's lips. “I don't have time for one of our games, Leo. Can't you see I have a charge to attend to?”
He hadn't seen Kelsie, any more than he had seen the broken fence post or the muddy ditch. She was part of the dirty background of the world, nothing compared to the beauty on horseback. Kelsie lowered her head so she couldn't see him looking at her, if that's what he was doing.
“This isn't a game. The cuffs will be real this time,” he said gruffly. “Not illusions you can bat away when you decide you're done being bound.”
“Leo, you are beginning to irritate me,” Victoria sighed. “We both know you will not arrest me, and we both know that you will not allow anyone else to either. Escort me to the palace and I will soothe Madame Queen's ruffled feathers.”
Chapter Four
Victoria was annoyed. Her audience with the queen had been thoroughly irritating to say the least. The monarch had no idea how fortunate she was not to have experienced the full brunt of Victoria's temper.
She stood on one of the castle ramparts, looking out over the city, one finger tapping her irritation against the forearm of her folded arm. Her lips were pursed, her eyes glimmering with annoyance as she considered her frustrating po
sition.
“How much trouble are you in, Victoria?” Leo appeared by her side suddenly. She hated how he did that, but as a master assassin he was accustomed to moving silently and the habit was hard to break, or so he told her. She was certain he enjoyed it too. She was rarely startled and he clearly loved the fact that he was one of the few capable of the feat.
“Apparently I am to blame for the crown prince's decision to run off with one of the maids,” she said with curled lip.
“You were his tutor.”
“Very, very briefly,” Victoria admitted. “I don't see how that makes me responsible.”
“You turned him into a goat because he disobeyed you.”
“Still,” she replied. “I didn't send him out to rut the maids.”
“You had already turned one of the maids into a nanny goat for much the same reason.”
“I had forgotten about that.”
“If you didn't turn people to goats, you wouldn't have to remember who you've polymorphed,” he said, his tone all too judgmental for Victoria's taste. “Thanks to you, we have to look for a pair of goats and hope that they have not been slaughtered by man or beast.”
“I cannot go rushing about after livestock,” Victoria said. “They will come to their true forms at the next full moon. It is only a week away. ”
“A week in which the prince and the maid could both come to serious harm.”
“Leo! Why are you fussing so! Besides, it's not as if it's even the crown prince. They've dozens of others to cover for this one if need be.”
“I am fussing because you are not the only one who has been charged with the prince's safe return. If anything happens to him, it will be my head along with yours. They have some idea that I was involved.”
“That's likely because you involve yourself where you should not, dear Leo,” Victoria smiled sweetly but sharply, her red lips spread malevolently. “As you are now.”
He let out a growl underneath his breath. “Cast a seeking spell, witch.”
“Call me witch again and you will find yourself part of the prince's herd,” Victoria scowled sharply, tossing her head to glare at him with her emerald eyes. “You forget yourself with me, Leo, as you always have. You may command strong men and bed swooning wenches, or vice versa, but in any event I am not one of them and I will not be spoken to as such.”
“I know you have your pride, Victoria, but I'll not lose my head for your pride. So cast your damn spell and let's be on our way.”
“First I will need a small beast of burden. A donkey.”
“You're stalling.” He let out a sigh and shook his head, practically stamping with impatience as his steed had.
“I am not. I am telling you what I will need if I am to carry out this errand of royal mercy.”
“What will we be carrying that we will need a donkey?”
“My apprentice, Kelsie, has already walked over a hundred miles. Her feet are in an unspeakable state. She will need clothing and a mount. I don't want her on a charger or a nag that will take flight if we run into trouble. I want a vicious donkey to balance her temperament. Attend to that.”
Leo's thick brows rose. “You want me to outfit a girl?”
“Yes,” Victoria smiled. “You do that. I will seek our little goats.”
“Surely this is a job for one of your many servants, no?”
Victoria's eyes sparkled. “No.”
***
That was how Leo, scourge of seven kingdoms came to be leading a donkey through the rain with a young woman trailing behind him swallowed in a damp cape. Every time he spoke to her, she mumbled and looked away. He hadn't understood a word she'd said in her country accent since they'd met.
Judging by the peasant's gait, he very much doubted that Kelsie had walked anything close to a hundred miles. Victoria was given to exaggeration, and, occasionally, outright lies. It was a habit she sorely needed to be broken of.
Still, if Victoria wanted this girl kitted out to ride, he assumed she needed something other than a dress. He really didn't know anything about young women aside from how to bed them, and in this case that was both out of the question and out of his realm of interest.
There were eighteen year old women who could bring kings to their knees. And then there were eighteen year old girls like this one, gawky and ever awkward with youth not quite bloomed. That was to some men's tastes, but not Leo's.
“Come in here,” he said, stopping in front of Englred's finest outfitters.
“How may we help the gentleman today?” A beautifully obsequious tailor approached him with a broad smile. He did not even notice Kelsie, as usual. The girl had an incredible talent for hiding in plain sight. Leo would have taken her to show the students at the king's academy, if he'd had time.
“She needs traveling clothes.” Leo jerked his finger over his shoulder at Kelsie, drawing the tailor's attention to the girl.
“But of course, of course. Would the lady like a traditional Englred riding skirt? Or is she more of the breeches persuasion?”
Leo glanced back at her. “What do you want?”
She mumbled something he did not begin to understand and hid her face so well he may as well have been talking to an animate cape. What on earth was Victoria Varys doing with a girl like this? She was the oddest, most awkward little female he had ever come across.
“Look at me, girl.” He snapped the words sharply, his impatience growing.
She whimpered and took a step back, turning around on herself so that she was practically wound up like a little ball.
Leo took a deep breath. This was work for a woman. Victoria no doubt thought it very amusing to imagine him attempting to deal with this country chit.
“Kelsie,” he said more softly, bending down to meet her closer to her level. “That's your name, isn't it?”
The cloak nodded.
“Whatever we get here today, you're going to be wearing through the next hundred scrapes Lady Victoria drags you through, so I'd take this opportunity to get something you like, if I were you.”
Another incoherent mumbling emitted from the girl. Leo straightened and took charge.
“She'll have breeches,” he said, making the decision for her. “And a thick doublet. Doesn't need to be armored, but one dense enough to stop an arrow at distance would be nice. High collar to protect the neck. And boots of moleskin, waterproofed. Let me look at those daggers...”
***
“You've dressed her like a boy!” Victoria could not help her exclamation when she next saw Kelsie, nor would she have helped it if she could have, for it was true.
With her slim figure and the bulk of the doublet hiding her small but undeniably feminine charms, Kelsie did look very boyish. The tailor had done a wonderful job of finding breeches to fit her long legs, and boots that would protect her in water well above her knees. There was even a weaponry belt at her waist, and in it, a little dagger. Aside from a gray undershirt keeping the doublet from rubbing against bare skin, most of her attire was black, giving her the appearance of a rather willowy shadow.
“You sent her out with a man,” Leo said. “I did the best I could.”
“You made her into a little image of yourself,” Victoria smirked. “Complete with a dagger to slice herself with should she ever be so foolish to draw it.”
“I'll teach her how to use it,” Leo rumbled.”Besides, she stands taller in these.”
It was true. Kelsie wasn't cowering. She still wouldn't win any awards for posture, but for the first time it was quite clear that Kelsie was actually rather tall for a woman. Almost as tall as Victoria herself.
“Very well,” Victoria nodded. “As it happens, we must leave at once and those clothes will suit our journey well.”
“You've found the prince?”
“I've found a story,” Victoria said. “There's tales of a satyr harassing locals in Samilton. I have reason to believe it might be our prince.”
“I thought you turned him into a goat
.”
“I did,” she said. “But one never knows quite how magic is going to wear on a person long term. It is like perfume. The same scent can smell quite differently on different ladies.”
“Let's go,” Leo said, his eyes darkening at Victoria's vague words. “Samilton is five days ride from here.”
“And we have seven to do something about him, or else when the full moon comes, the magic might become something more like a curse.” Victoria tried not to smile at the idea, and failed.
