"But I'm no threat to them!" Jess declared with some exasperation. "I'm no threat to anyone, save Erovering's enemies! All I want to do is tend to my garden, be with family and friends, and adventure. I have no interest in the complications and headaches of rulership! I figured out long ago in my accounting and economics courses, which I never did finish, that a crown, no matter how fancy the title behind it, wasn't worth the headache of trying to keep track of all the various accounts and a thousand and one demands from bureaucrats and supplicants, to say nothing of having to worry about thieves, backbiters, and other rulers seeking to seize your land."
Jess gazed reflectively out at the pastoral beauty of her family's lands as she sipped her wine. “Far better to get a dependable stipend for services rendered, so appreciated that those in power leave you to your own devices. Then you would have the freedom to do absolutely whatever you liked, and you could let someone else deal with all the administrative hassles of rulership.” Jess grinned. “Dare I say it, the life of an adventure suits my temperament far better than the backbiting games of Court, where everyone scrabbles for every last lick of power and favor.”
Geoffrey chuckled at that. "Lighthearted and carefree, a contented younger daughter of a baron in good standing. Believe me, Jess, this is well known and accounted for. Had it been otherwise, it's questionable whether or not we would even be left to our own devices, able to have this conversation."
Her brother shrugged his shoulders. “I’m afraid this is for the best, Jess. A year at finishing school, with no interest in anything save settling down and embracing your garden, your interest in arms replaced by an interest in men is the façade we need to show, so as to assuage those last vestiges of concern still sent our way. Trust me, Jess. I’m not enjoying this any more than you are! But when all is said and done, the seasons will pass quickly enough, and then we will all be in the clear to live life in peace.”
Geoffrey, however, still looked preoccupied.
“Brother, what’s wrong?” Jess asked gently.
Geoffrey turned and smiled. "How serious do you think Mother was, really, about docking our allowance if we get involved with the help? You do have a good eye, sister. That new serving girl really is quite the charmer."
Jess laughed. “You are terrible, brother!” Her grin turned mischievous. “Let us see, together, which way her interests lie. I won’t tell if you won’t”
Her brother winked and nodded. “Agreed. Between the two of us? That beautiful creature doesn’t stand a chance.”
All in all,j the week passed only moderately horribly, Jess decided upon reflection. The incredibly dull and awful mornings practicing dancing with Geoffrey on days when he and their father were not discussing matters of trade with favored factors visiting the chartered town nearby began to feel less dreadful and more like she was learning a martial exercise, learning to keep pace with her partner as if, to her imagination, their carefully synchronized movements warded off all unseen foes.
By the second week Jess, to everyone’s relief, had progressed to the point where her siblings no longer felt the need to wear reinforced boots when engaging in practice dancing lessons. It was, her mother declared, a significant milestone. And in truth, Jess was forced to agree. Her inherent agility and natural gifts as a warrior, to say nothing of heightened reflexes and strength, all meant that learning any series of physical movements should come easily to her. It was her own resistance to the idea of letting another take the lead, to putting herself fully into their care, that had made learning the dances such a struggle.
That, and learning to comfortably maneuver in a ball gown. When she finally learned to relax and surrender, to let another take the lead, it all flowed together. To her mind, she chose to see it as a feint, a bluff, not a true surrender, but the result was the same. Suddenly it all began to click. The movements all made sense, and before long Jess was embracing the most elegant and graceful of swan dances, swept effortlessly away in her brother's expert hands as together they danced and spun about the ballroom.
Her mother was ecstatic, and her father’s bemused smile and approving nod warmed Jess’s heart. As much as she had sworn to herself that she’d hate dancing in a gown, she found she actually liked being her father’s princess, relaxed in his care, as they spun about the ballroom together.
“Not bad, Jess. It looks like you can dance, after all, when you put your mind to it,” Apple conceded as they shared a cold pitcher of milk together in Jess’s quarters.
Jess smiled. “Though it took endless coaching from you and Geoff to finally get it to sink in, I’m finally getting a feel for this style of dancing. I still have to be careful, though. I could break someone’s hand if I grasp too tightly, and lose a sense of where I am and what I’m doing.”
Apple laughed. "Don't worry, Jess. You'll be fine." She grinned then. "I'm sure you'll have lots of fun at the Academy, by the way. Once everyone sees how graceful you are in the ballroom, they'll realize you're utterly beyond their silly insults. You are completely out of their league!"
Jess nodded. “I agree. Of course, I was out of their league way before you and Geoff finally helped me get comfortable with the dance.” She gazed reflectively at the brilliantly burning log in her heating stove, the same one that had warmed her rooms for nearly four years. “I just hope I can stand it. Sure, kitty’s happy with the Turnsby chef’s plans to be in residence there, but as for myself? I’m afraid I’ll be so bored and restless I’ll start screaming within a week!”
Apple flashed Jess a wicked grin. "Oh, I wouldn't worry about that too much, dear sister. Trust me. You are not the only girl who appreciates the beauty of the fairer sex. You might find yourself a pillow friend before you know it, a sweet companion to savor the challenges of school life with.”
Jess smiled at that. “One can only hope.”
Apple chuckled knowingly. “And don’t think I don't know what you and Geoffrey are doing. I’ve seen the way you both have been troubling poor Rena! And one or the other of you always discretely keeping watch a short distance away, on the lookout for Mother’s confidants, no doubt. What, do you two have some sort of bet as to who can bed poor Rena first?”
Jess tried to look innocent, but found herself unable to meet her sister's gaze.
“I knew it!” Apple crowed triumphantly. “So tell me, who won? Rena went from flustered to looking as happy as a cat licking all the cream just yesterday. Don’t worry, I won’t tell. But you know Mother is not stupid, and she has her eye on Rena. She is going to suspect, you know.”
Jess sighed forlornly. “She was very sweet about it, and she says she is lucky to have someone as elegant as me pay such attention to her and treat her so graciously. Elegant, me!” she found herself chuckling a bit at that. “Anyway, when I tried to imply that I admired her beauty to a degree that transcended mere friendship, she suddenly looked so flustered that I immediately laughed it off as a joke. She seemed a bit too relieved.”
Jess sighed. “Then I felt like a cad. I’d hate to be seen as an oaf using her position to force her attentions on another. I gave her some flowers just yesterday to let her know I appreciated such a graceful and understanding member of our house staff, and hoped she’d forgive us our eccentricities, and she was blushing and grinning from ear to ear and gave me such a hug that I just knew Geoff had made his mark.” Jess pouted at that. “And Geoff’s knowing smile and teasing head rub just made it worse. At least Rena seems comfortable with me again. So I guess she likes boys, after all.”
Apple grinned, happily savoring the gossip. “Oh wow, so he did seduce her. I knew it! He just looked too smug today, carefully avoiding mother’s eye at breakfast.” Apple suddenly turned serious. “I hope he knows what he’s doing and doesn’t break her heart. Or get her pregnant.”
Jess nodded. “Agreed. Crap. I didn’t even think of that when we made our little wager.”
Apple’s arch look made Jess feel like a child. “You didn’t consider that your dear brother
might whelp a child on the poor girl the two of you were wagering on who would be first to seduce? That was shortsighted, sister, not worthy of a tactician like yourself. A bit too distracted by the view to focus on the details, hey?”
Jess chuckled. “You’re right, Apple. I let my passions guide me more than I should. But my passions are also the source of my strength. It is who I am. A Delver channels his essence through the fires of his own resolve. It is what has kept me alive in realms of dream and nightmare, so I will continue to be true to myself, and face the consequences as they come.”
Apple quirked a smile. “And that logic works for you, I suppose. But not all of us are granted armaments out of legend, nor do we have the strength of ancient Delvers coursing through our veins. So for most of us, a calm head and doing our best to avoid trouble, even surrendering to circumstances we’d prefer to avoid, works far better than charging it head on.”
Apple tilted her head then, gazing intently at her sister even as she sipped her wine. Jess found herself flushing under her sister's gaze. "Whereas you, dear sister, choose not only to charge head-on, but to use your passions to fuel your mad rush, so as to better break through whatever obstacle would dare stand in your way. Oddly enough, for you, it works. For most of us mere mortals, we'd just end up bruised and battered against the walls of our own folly."
Jess grinned. “Bruised and battered against the walls of our own folly. I like that, sister. It has as a nice ring to it.”
Apple laughed. “It rather does, doesn’t it?”
Jess nodded. “Good insights, sister. Dare I say it, I think you might be the brightest of all of us Calenbry children.”
A suddenly serious Appolonia solemnly shook her head, her rich auburn tresses flowing elegantly with her movements. “No, Jessica. I won’t claim that. Common sense? I’ll grant you. Sometimes you and Geoff are two steps short of being foolishly silly. But your intuition is nothing short of scary, Jess. And your sense of tactics? I can't even understand some of the strategies you and Malek used to devise when you would play castles and crowns or chess with Geoff and Father. Or what about when you understood what was happening at the Turnsby estates? That night the nightmare suddenly started? Mother and I were in an awful panic, unable to even believe what was going on, let alone have any idea what to do.”
Apple shuddered, and Jess instinctively held her close. “And you just knew,” she whispered softly against her sister's reassuring arms. “You just knew. You understood what was happening and somehow, you figured out how to channel some ancient art practiced by long-dead kings and queens, all to anchor the land and stop us all from plunging into Hell, for lack of a better word."
Apple took a moment to compose herself, hugging her sister fiercely. “You saved us, you silly idiot. You really are a hero, you know. And the way you took out those… things. Those hideous monsters made of bull's heads, scraps of flesh, and gods above know what else. Your sword flashed so brightly! And then after you and Karine exchanged those lines that I swear sounded just like you were performing some great saga, you rushed right into that terrible realm, all to rescue your princess from the very man who had sold his soul to demons, fighting a lord of Hell in a duel for Onnika's soul, and winning! Oh by the gods, Jess, the whole thing is so absurd, like some ancient tale come to life. And even as all of us shook in our knickers, fearing for our lives, you instantly understood what was happening, what you had to do to save us, and didn't flinch once in rescuing us all from that hideous nightmare!”
Apple shook and sobbed, and Jess gently rocked her.
"It's okay, Appolonia. It all happened long ago. We were all on the edge of Regio, the realm of dreams when it occurred. Honestly, I'm surprised you even remember it."
Apple shuddered, gazing up at her sister with haunted eyes. “The shameful truth is I how readily I forget. I have to read the accounts to remember, and then the horror of it all comes crashing back to me. But by the time I wake the next morning, even the memory of those memories fade like a dream, and then you are just the same exasperating sister that I've always taken you for, before you saved my life and a hundred other souls, all of us sinking into that terrible realm of death." She gave her sister a heartfelt squeeze. "I guess one thing I wanted to say was, I'm sorry. It's been days since I reread the bard's accounts, and my own journal, and I realize just how much I've forgotten, as if you never were the hero that saved Mother and me." Apple sighed. "I'm sure I'll forget again tomorrow and treat you the same as always, but I just wanted to let you know, right now, how much I am grateful to you, and that I will always be there for you, whenever you need me."
Jess hugged her sister close, touched beyond words by Apple's declaration, fighting to hold back the hot prickle of tears. “Thank you, Apple. Those words mean to me more than you could possibly know.” She gently kissed Apple's cheek. “Fear not, sister mine, should the world sink into nightmare, I'll find the way out.”
Apple laughed at that. "Believe it or not, I trust that you will, sister mine, and don't you dare start crying on me! Oh Jess, for all that you are a nitwit sometimes who lacks a lick of common sense outside the combat ring, should the world ever again be consumed by madness, if the moon shatters and the sky starts to bleed, and horrors start to pop out of the ground, well then, I just know you'll be the person who understands perfectly what is going on, and know exactly what to do!"
Jess nodded at that. “Well, in that case, it would sound to me like an abyssal realm was somehow breaking directly into mundus, and we’d have to renew our bonds with the sacred Tree of Life, somehow. Someone with a direct connection to the original descendants of this plane would be our best bet. They would have to form a blood pact with the Great Tree, probably die in the attempt, but hopefully the pact between the Tree of Life and this realm of mundus would be renewed. The crimson skies would fade to starry night, the shattered moon be but a trick of the fog, quickly dispersed, with the brilliant full moon shining brightly upon a land healed and whole once more, the horrors of but moments ago fading to dream, as if they had never been.” Jess nodded her head in satisfaction. “Anyway, that’s what I would do if such occurred. I’d look for a direct blood heir to the founders of this realm, if they could even be discovered in time.”
Apple just gazed at Jess, her face a mask of either awe or horror. Jess couldn’t be certain which. Really, she just couldn’t figure her sister out sometimes.
“I was kidding. You know that, right? I was giving you the most bizarre circumstances that I could possibly imagine. It was a rhetorical statement, and you actually answered! You didn’t even have to think about it. It's like you just knew!”
Jess blinked, feeling suddenly awkward. “It only occurred to me as you said it. It just seems like the most logical answer. What did you want me to say?”
Apple gave a helpless little laugh, hugging her sister fiercely. “That’s what I’m saying, Jess. You see the logic in insanity! That is your gift, and probably why you are such an idiot in terms of common sense, sometimes. Your mind was made for understanding the incomprehensible, so it doesn’t trouble itself with the boring details of daily life.”
Jess laughed. “I still think you give me too much credit, my dear little sister. I’m headstrong, and yes, at times foolish, I suppose. Honestly, Apple, as much as I was perhaps the best fighter of my class, I was in the bottom quarter in academic studies.” Jess looked thoughtful a moment. “Well, probably a lot closer to dead last, actually. Except for the arts of herbalism, of course. That was just common sense, I think. Not studying from book texts, mind you, which were boring and often as not incorrect, but just from holding and understanding, and knowing the plant.”
Jess shrugged. “At least the Healers Wing liked me. They never had cause to complain about the quality of my cuttings, and maybe they had asked for my insights regarding a particularly sick patient, a time or two, and maybe they ended up getting better with the infusions I prepared, much to everyone's surprise.” Jess grinned. “They did
n't call upon me too often, but no white mage in training has ever made fun of me, no matter how badly I was laughed at in the classes we shared.”
Apple, drying her eyes, nodded and kissed her sister's cheek gently. "That's what I'm saying, Jess. Even if you are sometimes an idiot, your intuition is scary. And from what our brother has hinted, you're not a complete idiot with military treatises either. The study of tactics sticks in your mind like glue, he says, even if everything else just washes away."
Jess shrugged and smiled. "That's because unlike most classes, the study of military campaigns is fascinating! What effects did various types of weaponry, armaments, and terrain have on the outcome of a given battle, what could have been done differently in terms of attack or defense that would have led to a different or far more decisive outcome? Such questions are fascinating in their own right, and best of all, Commander Eloquin let us practice endlessly, to our heart's content!" Jess sighed in fond remembrance. "Let me be honest, Apple, if it weren't for Master Eloquin's pull, I would have failed out that first semester. But he saw something in me, something worth shaping and forging, and well, I would like to think I did him proud.”
Apple nodded solemnly. “I know, Jess. You were trained as one of the Crown's elite Squires of War. Erovering's secret weapons to be used in future military campaigns to assure our eventual victory over Velheim in the years to come.” Apple smiled even as Jess gazed at her sister with newfound respect. “I'm not an idiot, Jess. I know what the Squires of War were really about. And frankly, it doesn't surprise me that you survived their indoctrination. You have the blood of Erovering's greatest general flowing through your veins, after all. It makes sense that your strengths would match Father's, even if you can't balance a ledger, compose the smallest piece of verse, or draw worth a damn.”
Apple gave her sister a grateful squeeze. “You aren't that good at being a cultured lady, yet, but should our family find itself once again trapped in nightmare, I have every confidence that you will be the shining light that will lead us home.” Apple grinned. “Come, sister. Let us be off to dinner, and see if our mother's intuition has picked up on the fact that Geoffrey has taken on a lover.”
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