Paladin's Oath

by M. H. Johnson

  Jess smiled and nodded. She adored her sister, but she knew how Apple loved to gossip about things she thought harmless, such as bragging about Jess's prowess and taking shameless advantage of her notoriety, for all that Apple sometimes appeared critical of Jess. As Eloquin had taught during the semester some of them were to be recruited as Agents of the Crown, it was good to plant seeds of misinformation for any malevolent third parties that might catch wind of them.

  Agda gave Jess a reassuring pat. "In any case, polishing your academic studies and social etiquette will be an excellent complement to your other talents, daughter mine. This will be a wonderful year full of learning and growth, I can just feel it!"

  Jess just sighed and gazed out the window, watching the countryside slowly roll by.

  The sun was near setting by the time they arrived at the comforting embrace of their personal estates, their home as much a fortress as a grand sprawling manor, fortified as thoroughly as royal decree allowed. At the center of their sprawling manor was the original keep, made of wood and stone, appearing archaic enough in construction that, being in the king's favor as they were, no edict was ever made to tear it down, though Jess knew well how fortified and resilient the wood and stone forming the structure really was. She had done much to strengthen it with her own gifts over time. Her training room was the first place Jess headed for, despite her mother’s gentle protestations. Having won the battle regarding finishing school, however, Jess knew her mother would be indulgent with her daughter’s whims. When it came time to actually attend finishing school, however, Jess knew her mother’s will would be as hard as iron.

  Gently Jess stroked the wooden braces of the keep, feeling them radiate a strength and resiliency that seemed to gently resonate with the ebb and flow of life she felt coursing through the ancient forests of Erovering. She smiled in satisfaction. The keep was strong. Enhanced by her touch over the years, even before her talents had been so altered by her repeated Delvings into the Shadowrealms. Gifts that some skeptics said came at the price of putting her very soul in peril. Jess, however, knew better. Though each time she adventured into realms of wondrous dream and darkest nightmare, she was well aware that she risked never coming back.

  It was with a measure of relief that she found herself in her own personal training room. Feeling at last that she could relax, as if an unspeakable weight of duty and expectation had been lifted from her shoulders. Here, at least, she could be free. Free to embrace her true nature and do what she loved.

  “By the god’s sister, that’s a rod of solid steel! How many pounds does it weigh? And could you stop with the racket? We can hear you throughout the House!”

  Jess blinked and lifted her visor, turning around to gaze at her sister who was gazing at her in both consternation and a touch of awe before shaking the latter feeling away to glare at Jess with sisterly exasperation.

  "Are you really going to stay in the keep all day and bang your sword around? Or war hammer, I guess. Whatever you call it. It's loud!"

  Jess gazed at the heavy steel rod she was using as a substitute for a training sword, not wanting to shatter good blades putting her full force into strikes and lunges against the iron training dummies and armor covered mannequins that lay all about the cavernous main chamber of the keep she had claimed, much to her father’s amusement, as her personal training ground years before. Jess shrugged.

  “A sword blade would shatter, Apple. So if you want to call a steel rod of this weight anything, it would be a bar mace.”

  Apple did something that was rare for her, entering the training room further, careful where she placed her slippered feet, subjecting the great spring mounted iron orb before them with careful scrutiny. “Jess. There are indentations half an inch deep! You’re slaughtering this thing.” She shook her head even as she gazed at Jess critically. “Even that steel rod you’re swinging looks a bit banged up. Just how strong are you?”

  Jess blinked, feeling suddenly embarrassed. “I really don’t know,” she admitted. “I just train as diligently as I can, and I’m as strong as my training makes me.” She nodded at that, a direct quote from Eloquin.

  Her sister just stared. “Normal people can’t bang massive dents into iron balls, Jess.”

  Jess shrugged. "It's not all iron. The core is lead."

  Apple sighed. “This is going to be harder than I thought.”

  Jess gazed at her sister archly. “You are acting strange, Apple. This isn’t the first time you’ve heard me training. Normally you just yell at me to use the leather padded weapons when the noise bothers you. What brings you in here today?”

  Now it was Apple’s turn to look a bit at a loss for words before shaking her head firmly and gazing at her sister. “We need to talk, Jess. About you and finishing school.”

  Jess felt her stomach churn in sudden anxiety. "I was sort of hoping we could forget that."

  “Not likely,” Apple smirked, her sea green eyes near luminous in the flickering light. “First thing we have to go over is, watch your strength. It would be really embarrassing to find out my sister accidentally broke her first dancing partner.”

  Jess laughed at that. “No worries there, sis. I actually know a fair number of dances from my time at Highrock.”

  Apple shook her head sadly. “Yes, Jess. But you always took the man’s role. You’ve never taken the lady's. You refused to even consider wearing a dress. And our family visited each Winter Solstice, so I know the dances you know, and trust me, it’s hardly anything worth mentioning. Your class was taught just enough not to embarrass their families at gatherings between going off to battle for the king, or whatever they were training you for.”

  Jess sighed. “I miss Highrock.”

  Apple smirked. “No, Jess. You are not going back to Highrock, and I’m not helping you get there.”

  Jess blinked innocently, causing Apple to laugh.

  "I love you Jess, but you've got a lot to learn if you think you can pull one over on me. I know darn well that once you are there you can claim asylum, and get out of all noble oaths and obligations. Our family is not going to allow you to hole up at your old school like a hermit, just because you're afraid to do your duty."

  Jess gazed at her younger sister, at a loss for words.

  Her sister grinned. "Our family is not made up of fools, Jess, as you well know, and we had three months to figure out what the possible repercussions would be, should you actually awaken, which you did, thank the angels above. We also had to consider not only what we'd have to do to protect you and the family, but also all the ways you would try to get out of it."

  Apple grinned. "We've had three month's time to outsmart you, dear sister. Did you really think it entirely coincidence that you encountered Father on the high road which conveniently leads both to home and to Highrock College? Or why Mother was so willing to look the other way when you so blatantly seduced Onnika in front of everyone? It gave Mother time to send out the pigeons to alert Father to come straight away."

  Apple chuckled evilly. "It was rather delicious, how outrageously you flirted with Onnika, taking her hand and leading her away, right in front of Mother! I really wasn't expecting it."

  Jess felt her cheeks burning.

  “The only thing we didn’t plan on was how quickly you had put two and two together, and bolted before Mother and I could get to the study. A good thing Father was well on his way.” She grinned. “Point and match, Sister.”

  Jess shook her head ruefully. “I lost at a game I didn’t even know was being played.”

  Much to Jess's surprise, Apple leaped forward, gripping Jess in a fierce hug. "Thank you for saving my life, you idiot! I'm glad you're my sister." When she stepped back, a touched Jess noted a definite tear in the corner of her sister's eye.

  "No, I'm not going to cry!" Apple declared, wiping her eye and holding back a sniffle. "Anyway, you may be a hero, but you're still an idiot who can't dance in a dress to save her life! Get changed, Jess, we're having lesson
s in the ballroom just as soon as you're ready."

  Jess grimaced and she instinctively stepped back. “Not the ballroom!”

  Apples’ gaze brooked no argument. “Yes, Jess. The ballroom. And if you show up in time, Mother is making her crepes.”

  Jess’s eyes widened and Apple nodded solemnly. “With butter. And honey.”

  “Mother’s making her crepes? That she almost never makes, no matter how much we beg, because she’s an artist, not a cook? With butter and honey?” Jess’s voice had fallen to an awed whisper.

  Apples indulgent laughter trailed her as she left the chamber. “And tell your familiar we’re preparing a plate of fresh poached salmon as well. I’ll see you shortly, sister.”

  Jess grinned. "I am always open to bribery, if it involves crepes!" Perhaps, she thought, dancing lessons wouldn't be so bad after all. At least her parents hadn't figured out that she hadn't been planning on returning to Highrock just to seek asylum, but to complete her training, to be ready to stand by her fellow Squires when and if war came, no matter how badly her dreams haunted her as a result of the things she would do. Fresh nightmares to add to those she already had, the screams of begging bandits and slavers she had cut down in frantic fury having plagued her sleep since long before Pomell.

  Jess had to hold back a shudder when she returned to her quarters to behold the beautiful creation of silk, tassels, and crushed velvet that was, apparently, to be her dancing gown. Though she had to admit it would look beautiful on say, her sister, or Onnika, she never thought the day would come when she would be reduced to wearing such things herself.

  "Your bath is ready," her cat gazed at her with bemusement through half-lidded eyes, even as he licked his paws and cleaned his ears before sinking back down in an indulgent heap in the middle of her dress laid so carefully upon her down-filled bed.

  Jess grinned, happy to see her closest of all friends. "You're going to wrinkle it, Twilight. Not that I care, really. By the way, where were you today? I missed you!" After a reassuring touch to her sturdy oak door that seemed to near quiver with an arboreal sort of pleasure at her presence, Jess knew none would enter her chambers without her consent. Quickly, she changed out of her sweat soaked gambeson and cotton undergarments before stepping into the deliciously hot tub, soaping up and singing a happy song, one largely involving crepes.

  Twilight tilted his ears back in mild displeasure. “Jess. Your singing. We’ve talked about this.”

  “What’s wrong with my singing?”

  Twilight sighed. “Why am I even bothering?”

  Jess grinned. "I don't know. You are the one who brought up my singing. It's about crepes. Crepes with honey and butter! I love crepes." She continued to hum happily as she scrubbed her hair thoroughly. "Have you ever had crepes, Twilight?"

  Twilight, rather artfully for a cat, arched one of his brows. “Do I look like I like crepes, Jess?”

  Jess shrugged. “I don’t know, do you?”

  "I like fish, Jess. Delicious fish fresh from the sea. Or the lake. Or any stream not close to a foundry. Fresh or poached, boiled or fried, baked or filleted. Fish, Jess. Your loyal, wise, understanding, and brilliant familiar loves fish. Not mice with their stringy meat and piteous wailing cries for their lost babies, not sheep bleating in blind terror when you disembowel them, tasting tough and gamy and stinking of their own entrails. Not wild boar which are not safe to hunt near fragile human girls, with thick stinking hides and intelligent eyes that gaze into your own with something very close to a soul, but fish. Simple, savory, light and flaky, no awareness worth mentioning fish."

  Jess nodded solemnly at that. “So you are saying you might like to try crepes with fish? Hmm… that might not work. How about a fish omelet?”

  Twilight's original look of horror changed to one of thoughtful curiosity. He at last gave the cat equivalent of a shrug. “I really don’t know. I never thought of that before.”

  Jess grinned. "The brilliant Twilight not having already thoroughly thought through an idea I had. Will wonders never cease! We shall have to make one for you, then."

  Twilight favored Jess with a much put upon look. “You are thoroughly scrubbed, Jess. Your skin is almost pink. Time for you to put on your dress.”

  Jess’s face crumpled into a pout. “You’re evil.”

  Twilight grinned. “You have no idea, my beloved mistress. But really, no more than you. Now let’s step out of our nice hot relaxing bath and put on our tight, multi-strapped dress. There’s a good girl.”

  With a put-upon sigh, Jess proceeded to do just that, making what alterations were needed on the fly, glad her knives were handy.

  Twilight gave her a once over with a critical eye for detail, nodding once in curt approval. "Only a few rips and tears. Really, your mother should know by now how large your shoulders are. And your waist is built to endure charges on horseback and vicious melee afterwards, which the tailor obviously didn't account for. To say nothing of your biceps. Oh look, another tear. Frankly, I'm surprised you can breathe in that thing. Very well then, come. Lunch awaits, and I'm starving."

  Jess smiled with delight when she arrived at the dining table to see her mother’s delicious crepes, fresh and hot and already buttered, with a silver carafe of honey on the side, just waiting for her. She scattered only a few chairs in her rush to seat herself in her awkward dress, and pretended not to hear the loud tear from behind as she sat down, knocking aside her wine glass in her race to grab the honey carafe and slather her crepes while they were still at the perfect temperature. Fortunately, her cold pitcher of milk was undisturbed.

  “Mmm! Exquisite, Mother! As tasty as I remembered. Thank you so much for making them.”

  Her mother, for some reason, appeared to be rendered speechless, just staring at her daughter, Apple by her side apparently holding back silent laughter, her eyes tearing with the effort. Even Geoffrey was grinning openly, her father's eyes also crinkling with mirth.

  “Really, Jess!” her mother spluttered at last. “Has it been so long since you’ve worn a ball gown? Must you manage to knock over every chair near you when you seat yourself? And that glass of red all over the linens…”

  Jess shrugged, causing the hemline along her shoulder to rip open a bit further. “Honestly Mother, I can’t remember the last time I’ve worn a dress.”

  Apple was now openly laughing. “Oh gods, Mother. Nature herself rebels! You can hear the dress ripping apart at the seams every time she moves!”

  Agda’s face turned frightfully pale. “That is a gown I had custom made for you that you are wearing, my daughter. If you were having trouble fitting in it, you should have called for the seamstress!”

  Jess blinked. “We have a seamstress?”

  Even Geoffrey started to chuckle. "Our poor Jess. In truth, Mother, I wouldn't be any more clued into your and Apple's staffing and wardrobe needs either, had I not also been delegated the task of managing household accounts!"

  “Yes, but you are not expected to trouble yourself with the more domestic elements of staffing, Geoffrey, you are not a woman!” Agda declared.

  Her son smiled. “Exactly. And save for the cycle of the moon, Jess has never bothered with the feminine side of affairs either. Our tastes run the same, even in dancing partners!”

  Jess grinned. “You do have good taste in girls, Geoffrey.”

  Her brother rolled his eyes. “Yes, but whenever you ask them to dance at our galas, they start laughing and refuse to take any of it seriously!”

  Apple nodded firmly. “And you completely ignore their brothers, no matter how polite they are to you.”

  Jess rolled her eyes. "They're all cads and clod-footed oafs who keep telling me how beautiful I'd look dancing with them in a dress, when I'm perfectly happy wearing my Highrock uniform."

  "That's because you are a girl, Jess," Apple wryly noted. "And they expect you to be in a dress like a proper lady, who will allow the boy to take the lead. Something we will be working on, shortly after
lunch."

  Agda gave her youngest daughter an approving nod.

  "Quite right, my child." Agda then turned to her eldest daughter. "Geoffrey will be your dancing partner today, dearest, or your father, if you prefer. We are going to teach you the very basics of how to dance in a dress, and allowing your partner to guide you."

  Jess sighed. "Really, Mother. Can we speak about that after lunch? I want to savor your delicious fare, not ruin the mood! Besides, at least my uniform is tailored by the college to fit me. This thing I'm wearing can barely fit my arms. I'll bet I can burst it just by flexing. See? Look!" Jess curled her arm, well defined yet sensual in its strength, as Onnika had assured her several nights before, and the dress sleeve burst open with a loud tear. Jess nodded in satisfaction. "See? Told you."

  Twilight gracefully leaped upon the table, inspecting the ruptured sleeve. "Made of the finest fabrics, hours of labor and care, torn apart in a single moment of pique. Much like a fragile empire held carefully together for centuries by marriage and alliance can be torn apart with a simple callous act, a single calculated betrayal. Tragic." He locked gazes with Jess. "Now ask about fishies. I'm starving."

  “Jessica de Calenbry, that was completely unnecessary!”

  Apple just shook her head. "It's Jess, Mother. What do you expect? I knew we needed to take new measurements. All those Delvings have obviously affected her proportions.”

  Geoffrey nodded. "And she was training under Eloquin for nearly three full years before that. One of the best Squires of her class, my friends have assured me, and that takes no small amount of muscle, as well as skill. When was the last time she's had a dress made? I doubt we've had accurate measurements for years!"

  Agda frowned. “But she stopped growing at fifteen when she went to the school! I’ve checked every year.”

  Apple smiled. "She stopped growing in height, Mother, and she did sprout up pretty tall, for a girl. But all that training had her grow in other ways. You just can't tell, since she's always wearing her school uniform or padded gambeson and mail when she visits, and a boy's Highrock doublet isn't tight about the shoulders, like a girl's dress would be."