Chapter 26. Jackass Swings Into Action!
Ed's departure is quite low-key, all things considered. Well, as low-key as a royal messenger and royal carriage could be. I could see Ed being... puzzled about it, but going with the sudden summons without much hassle. Alistair accompanies him, but not Selene. Which, if we're honest, is about how I'd expect things to go. Alistair is his future chief of security, of course he would go with Ed pretty much everywhere outside Ed's bedroom. Hopefully, he did warn Selene about the upcoming events, because it's highly likely the king would want both of us in the palace to hear our sides in this before actually making Ed do anything. It's good enough that Alistair had managed to get things rolling to begin with. That being said, I expect the summons to be no earlier than tomorrow. Not unless they find something sufficiently alarming on Ed. Which, given Alistair didn't locate anything, would be pretty weird. I did subject him to a low-level scan, but... he does not seem to have any on-going influence. So that rules out things like being charmed or replaced.
On the other hand, his departure spawned a lot of rumors.... But none of them are anywhere close to the real deal. Hopefully, they will remain at their current state of disinformation, because assuming Ed is really under influence, letting anyone know would be a scandal. And assuming he's not... it's already a scandal, then. With me in the middle. Bother bother bother BOTHER!
The classes pass without much issue. I have a fascinating post-class discussion with the alchemy professor who actually knows a thing or two about iterative compounds. My own insights into base elements (chemical ones, not magical ones) are received really well either. I am recommended a number of books, and I recommend two from my side to represent my side of the things, and we part well-satisfied with discussion... well past dinner. Well golly, I just spent three hours talking shop with the professor. Time sure flies when you're talking about SCIENCE!
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I make my way to my rooms quickly. Bridgit has gotten worried enough to go look for me, and this is not good. I'm not keen on worrying my maid, after all. Especially right now. Because she's about to meet with one guy I most emphatically don't want paying attention to her. And, of fucking course, he does. He fucking DOES. I round the corner just as Abbas stretches his grubby mitts towards my waifu. BAD move. Very bad move, sand frog.
"...a nice face, too. Come, you will serve me tonight." - he offers, no doubt with a leer. I clear my throat right behind him.
"Emir Abbas ibn-Salaadin." - I say crisply. Crisply, as in there is actual frost condensing on the floor and walls around me. Yes, I'm annoyed. "This is MY maid." - I tell him to his face as he turns around - "She is NOT available to serve anyone but me."
"Do you know who I am...!" - he begins hotly, only to trail off as he realizes that he's just been called by his full title and therefore looks like a tool asking this.
"Sure do. Not impressed. Trot along, little prince. This maiden is not for you." - I sneer at him. I probably shouldn't, but I'm tired of his jackassery. He needs to pull his head in a little, Ed's absence does not mean he gets to be king of the roost now.
"How dare you! I will have you..." - I cut him off with an impatient wave of my hand.
"I'm going to be at the king's court tomorrow. If you think you have the balls, you're entirely welcome to challenge me to a duel there. Not that I think you would." - fuck it, I'm going to upset him to the very bottom of his soul and use this as a pretext to start doing bad shit to Sultanate. There is neither time nor resources to wage warfare conveniently, and I honestly don't want to wait so long to do this, so magical terrorism it will be. I already have a perfect spell in my mind, and Abbas is helpfully providing me with a reason to engage in hostilities. Maybe. I'm hoping he is hotheaded and dumb enough to try and go through with my challenge.
It is a sad truth, but I have come to believe that Sultanate is built on pure evil, as far as statecraft is concerned. It's the only country that still accepts slavery as legal and they carry out regular raids on all of their neighbors, both for profit and to get more slaves. Special attention being paid to children and relatives of high-placed people to serve as potential hostages. So I'm going to wreck it as a country. The sooner, the better.
...This is going to be a hot wire gamble. I'm... a little irritated over him trying to proposition Bridgit. I'm more than a little irritated about the fact he tried to do the "not taking no for answer" shtick. And I'm especially irritated over the fact he just tried to slap me. Key word, tried. His hand waggles funnily as I block his wrist with my elbow, and he pulls back his arm with a pained hiss. I lean over him - "Oh, so that's how it is? Emir Abbas, I hereby challenge you to a duel. Tomorrow at king's castle, so that king himself may witness it. Bring whatever weapon you want. Won't make difference." He stares up with the most peculiar expression on his face. I take it he had never been menaced by a woman before, if the conflicting storm of emotions is if any indication. In the end, he decides that he is better off trying this somewhere with witnesses next time, and departs muttering imprecations under his voice. Given what I've seen of him, he might... try to force earlier resolution. He has some manservants here, I think.
Bridgit is not taking this well, but she notably relaxes once I take her back to our rooms. "Mistress, why." - she says - "Why are you risking so much over me? Would it really make a difference if I..." I shush her.
"Bridgit. Dear. Love. Shush." - I tell her, struggling to keep my ire under lid - "When he said serve, he intended to use you like a whore. AND I WILL NOT PERMIT THAT. YOU-THIS-LITTLE-ENDEARING-LOVELY-UNIQUENESS BELONG/CLAIMED/RESERVED FOR ME-THIS-SPECIFIC."
She goes limp in my arms, her eyes wide open. Oh. Fuck. Vocal range. GG, Alyssa, really. Fuck your maid up, will you? And she's already frightened by the jackass.
"MISTRESS!" - she offers suddenly, and claps both hands over her mouth when she hears what came out. Ooh phew. Thank gods and everything, no san damage. Well, nothing malevolent, in any case.
Taking a deep breath, she tries again, offering "Mistress..." - in a normal voice and slumping against me, relieved - "...What was that?"
"Further manifestation of your actual station in life?" - I offer to her simply - "I wasn't jesting when I called you wives before. You get to share a little bit of OUTER with me. Your magic powers will grow as your DEFILEMENT progresses. Ultimately, you will become far more powerful than most nobles. Speaking of which, Bridgit? I'm going to be teaching you more magic from now on. You are at the stage of power where you can handle conjurations."
She pulls a little back, flexing her fingers in front of her face wonderingly. "I'm.... defiled?" - she asks curiously, yelping as the embroideries on her sleeves kick in and her fingers are abruptly full of floating embers. A firesetting spell that usually requires her to touch a potted tulip to perform, now just at her fingertips like that. "...OOoh..."
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On one hand, it takes a while to get Bridgit to stop playing with her new magic powers. On other, the distraction was very distracting and she didn't harangue me any further for duffing Abbas up?... Oooh, speaking of which, here he comes, with two hefty servants. No doubt to "teach me a lesson". I distract Bridgit further by tasking her to prepare supper, while I take a little stroll in the garden to clear my lungs before sleep. She buys it, thankfully, and I walk out just in time to intercept Abbas right at the door of my dorm building. I have to hand it to him, he was pretty quick at identifying me and gesturing for his goons to rush. I kick the first one in the knee from the side, my usual combat suite of spells already activated on my walk outside. The crunching and the grimace across his face as his leg bends under its own weight tells me he is out of the brawl. Manages to stay quiet, though, despite the fact I just cracked his kneecap. Second jerks back, obviously alarmed.... and I follow him, directing another kick into his gut. He twirls aside, hand going for the knife... and passing right next to my fingers. In the next moment, his wrist is seized, and twisted behind his back hard enough to make him stand on his toes, free arm swinging fruitlessly in the air. He hisses from pain and grows still as I manifest the osmium knife. He doesn't know it's osmium, of course, but the sheer density of metal against his cheek quickly tells him movement is a very stupid idea. I can see the other fellow trying to crawl closer to presumably grab my leg, and take a quick step forward, yanking on his arm further to lift him off the ground. He swears in Oijan as I dislocate his shoulder completely, letting him fall down on the path and take another step towards backpedaling Abbas, flipping the knife in my hand as I go. "I said tomorrow, little prince. Unless you're looking to be found, quote 'dead in a robbery gone wrong in the bad part of the city'." He RUNS, without even pausing to check on his servants. Too bad, so sad.
"Right. You two." - I grumble - "I frankly don't care. Crawl back to your master as you can. Or just sit here till morning. Your call." Judging by their faces, they wholly expected me to put the knife to good use. Whatever. Fuck them. I stroll off into the garden, pointedly disregarding their existence. Of course, I'm actually tracking them with eyespiders. A few moments later, after listening carefully, the guy with cracked kneecap drags himself towards the other.
"Nahn bihajat 'iilana dabt katfik ya 'akhya. Alsaahirat albayda' mazqatuha min almuqbis.1We need to set your shoulder, brother. The white witch tore it from the socket." - he whispers to his comrade, who winces but rolls over to give access to his shoulder and brings the free hand to his mouth to bite on the sleeve. The other guy sits himself up, braces, and yanks on the arm, setting it in with a nasty crunch. Well, I can tell they're not strangers to injuries. Soldiers, perhaps? They manage to clamber to their feet and slowly, painfully, limp off into the night after their cowardly master. I... Fuck this. I surreptitiously hit the guy with busted knee with a minor healing spell through the eyespider. He's not going to recover in a day, but he will recover eventually.
Spying on Abbas reveals that he is... rolling on his bed screaming?... Seriously?... What the hell. You can't be throwing a tantrum. You're fucking EMIR. Your father entrusts a good chunk of Sultanate to your governing. How... just... Fuck. I really, really, REALLY hope at least one of your brothers is less infantile mentally, because I don't want to take over the whole Sultanate. And I will have to, because consigning people to your rule is a crime.
Coming back to my rooms, I see Bridgit AND Moon Unit both sitting there at the table, waiting for me worriedly. I come in, and both of them smile and reach up. What can I do but dispense kisses? A nice supper later, we're all cuddling on the bed discussing the situation tomorrow. Both of them are worried, of course, but accept the reassurances that all is according to plan. Moon Unit is most curious about Bridgit showing her defilement stage, and starts comparing against her own, resulting in them making all sorts of otherworldly sounds as they try to SPEAK. From my viewpoint, they're doing babytalk, and it's ADORABLE.
