"Kara? Please fix her." It was a bit of a rude way to say it, but the woman just stepped forward and examined her closely.
"Magical clothing... and disguise amulet?"
"That's right." The privilege of having a brother that was a wizard. She nearly explained that, but the purple and black clad woman just touched her shoulder, closed her eyes, and focused.
It was an intense thing and her clothing shifted first, the color going to deep green and sky blue, interwoven in a complicated pattern. It wasn't all that lovely, but was in her colors and looked a bit older than what she'd been wearing before, she was certain. Then, almost shockingly, she started to grow hair. It wasn't real, but it felt like it to her. She didn't have a mirror, but the other guards stared at her and called out suggestions. If she had it right, she'd look about ten years older,
and
actually look like a female again.
Then, after Kara nodded, satisfied enough with what she'd done, George led her to the dining room himself.
"This is a rather medium sized meal. You didn't bring a companion, which would be the norm, so that's a thing for you to fix in the future. You were a bit overdressed for this sort of function, being that it's mainly a working dinner. Remember not to discuss anything of note until after the meal. When in doubt, complain about the weather." His voice was a little clipped and efficient sounding, but she made herself listen and not get upset. That part amazed her suddenly, because there was a time when she'd have been scolding the man for trying to help her like that.
Nodding she smiled at him, though his eyes were locked forward.
"Thank you, George. Anything else?"
"Yes. If anyone insults you at this time, I suggest just ignoring it. Several will test you, most likely. The last they saw of you involved a duel with a Count. The brave will want to assure the others that you aren't going to fight each of them for their Counties now over trifling matters. I highly recommend you don't do that. The ones here are actually on our side after all." Then, out of character for the man, he actually smiled, and waived at the door. "You'll do well, I think. Remember, avoid conflict."
Then he opened the vast wooden double doors, and bowed her in. Everyone was standing still, except a few of the very old people, who had soft chairs provided to them for comfort. The King and Queen were seeing people on the far side of the room, standing themselves, so she wandered over, hoping it wouldn't be considered rude. The Royal Guard behind them saw her coming and nodded once, as if letting her know that she was doing the right thing. That was more help than she'd thought to get, if the truth was going to be told.
Tiera approached at the measured pace, and it took a longer time to be noticed than she would have thought, since they were only talking to two other people. An older looking man that she knew, and a woman that she didn't recognize at all, that seemed to be his date. That was Count Isle, who had been very kind to her when they'd met. It didn't mean that he'd get who she was now, since she looked a bit different, what with the long hair and older face.
It was actually Constance that saw her first. She smiled and then lit up, as she got who was there.
"Countess Baker! You look lovely tonight. Do you know Count Isle?" It was a bit of a trap, but she just shook her head. After all, she'd met him, but it had been in secret, while she passed him a message. Twice. The man himself turned to her and bowed, going lower than someone his age should have to, which meant she did it back, going just a tiny bit lower than that.
They were, technically, equals in station, but she was new and didn't want to give offense.
"I'm sure I'd remember meeting someone so fetching. This lady next to me is Baroness Carlotta Jesset. I'm afraid I rather pressured her into coming. It's a sad thing, but when you reach a certain age, the women stop knocking on your door." It was, almost certainly, an invitation for her to make a mistake and give offense. The man knew her after all, and had good reason to believe she wasn't going to call him out personally, even if he started a fight with her. She was glad of George's warning, but it was also a bit nerve wracking. After all, she was going to have a hard time if she didn't know who was actually coming after her.
The problem here was that, if the Count was really going to do that, absolutely any response she gave could be taken as being the wrong thing.
Instead she smiled and bowed to the woman with him, then turned back to the man instantly.
"I'm so glad to meet you, Count Isle." Then, showing what she hoped was wisdom, she just stopped and waited for someone else to speak. There was a danger in that too, but it had to be less than if she walked into things.
The King smiled at her, as if she were brilliant and rare, rather than the most common looking person in the room.
"Thank you so much for coming. I hear you were in Austra recently?" The words didn't sound loaded, but could still be taken the wrong way, very easily.
"That's right. I took Countess Ward and some others there. Her mother and sister as well. We handed off the new Space Fleet to Alice Orange, and met with some spies. The ones that used to work here? They should be coming to Warden in a few days. I'm thinking of hiring your old butler, Quavel, to teach me protocol. If so, I promise I won't let him too near the secrets." As if she could stop him.
That got a wistful look from the Queen and a grimace from the Baroness. She schooled her slightly wrinkled face quickly, but didn't seem all that happy about what she'd said.
Constance chuckled though.
"Well, please send him my love? He was the best servant I ever had, you know. I can't blame you for thinking of him in high regard. It might be a bit hard to win him though, as I hear he's running a successful business in the Austran Capital?"
Tiera had to nod there. They weren't getting rich, perhaps, but the spies were helping each other, and doing well enough that they weren't starving at least.
"That's true. I may have to visit there in that case. Oh, I think the plan is to have an influx of students for the Space works, so perhaps we should arrange to have them all Truth tested first? Just to make sure no spies sneak in? Not that I don't expect them to report what they're doing, but they can do that openly, I think." It was a real point to her, and apparently the King. The others just seemed a little baffled at what she was saying.
Richard smiled at least and touched her shoulder, then went wide eyed and pulled back, but didn't apologize for it. That was clearly something, but as George had said, she'd be best off not taking offense at anything that night. To that end she tried to smile back and seem genuine about it.
His words were very calm and even though.
"A very good idea. Would you be available to set that up? Normally a Countess wouldn't be asked to do such things for the Kingdom, but since you have a link to the Ancients, being one yourself, it might go over better. Family bonds and all that."
She had to agree. Not that Aunt Orange would be a problem about it, or Denno, but they might not see things the same way that the people of Noram did in that regard. After all Alice had no reason to care what people were doing as far as passing information along, as long as they did their jobs well, and Brown was known to send in spies, so being called on that might make him upset. Or get him to laugh. It was hard to know with him.
"Yes, Sire. It will be done. We also should have people from other lands. Vagus has already agreed to send some for instance. I'll check them as well. I doubt they'll be a problem, but it takes moments to find out now. Of course that means we'll soon see far more clever spying tricks being used, I suppose." She said it dryly, but Count Isle and his companion both laughed politely, as if it were a joke. Constance smiled and leaned into her a bit.
"True, dear. We're about to begin the seating. We'll speak after?"
That got a nod. What they had to talk about, except small talk, she didn't know.
The meal was far more interesting than she thought it would be. She was near several Counts and Countesses, near the top of the table, which were assigned by rank, as well as twenty or thirty other factors she just didn't know about. The man next to her was familiar at least.
"Count Peterson, so good to see you again." His wife was nowhere to be seen. That was a bit odd, since she was the younger Princess and it was the King's Palace, but she didn't ask about it. It could be anything that kept her away. For instance she had a new baby, and might actually need to see to her.
"Ah! Conserina Lairdgren, I almost didn't recognize you with hair. You look lovely. You haven't been around lately to visit. I trust that everything is all right between us?"
She smiled and daringly put her hand on his thigh under the table. The idea was that they were "good friends" meaning they were sleeping together. They'd done enough that it nearly counted that way too.
"Well, it's been a busy few weeks. I removed the old Count Morris and his heirs, then took over the County, a few days ago. It's been confirmed, so I'm Countess Baker now. Still, that's no excuse to not come and visit. We should get together soon, if only for a talk. If you have time?" It seemed like the kind of thing a
real
Countess would say.
Surprisingly the man stood and bowed low to her, getting stares from the rest of the table.
"Countess Baker, forgive me for using the wrong title, I meant no offense." He didn't sit immediately either, and had spoken loudly enough that the whole room heard him. She had no clue what to do, so fell back on her country ways, standing and bowing in return, going low and then helping him stand back up.
"There are no debts between friends. Don't let it worry you. Besides, it's so new that no one could be expected to know about it yet."
They sat then and the large and manly looking, great bearded Count, who was
huge
, being at least nine feet tall, or close enough she couldn't judge the difference from the ground, smiled, his eyes glinting a bit.
"So, will your forces be flying ones?"
They spoke on that for a while, since it was possible that she might be able to get flying gear, weapons and shields for her people that most others wouldn't be able to. It hadn't been her top concern yet, but it wasn't a horrible point. Then they talked about marriages and that sort of thing for a while, which wasn't really interesting to her, except that, as it turned out, Count Peterson had stood for Timon at his wedding.
"I don't know that forcing the boy to marry at his age was the right thing to do, but his lady wife is a good catch, so perhaps it's worth the loss of his childhood? I should make a point of seeing to him soon."
The food came and she managed not to choke on it, throw it up, or use the wrong fork or spoon. She ate it all too, and had the same portion size that the Count did, which got him to smile and look at her more closely then he shook his head.
"You're going into your first major growth? I thought..." He didn't say what that was, clearly censoring himself.
It was the woman across the table that filled in the rest for him, obviously trying to be rude on purpose.
"I think he was going to say that he thought you were nothing better than a trumped up peasant, playing at being above your station." The words got a nice gasp from those that could hear it and Count Peterson glared, looking ready to fight the woman, who was lean and looked to be in her early fifties, for having mentioned it at all.
Tiera just shrugged.
"That kind of thing, size and musculature, are controllable. I should end up being about seven-six or so. The beef dish is rather nice, isn't it?" She smiled, and changed the subject. If the woman was really dedicated to her cause, she'd press the attack again, but then, Tiera realized, if she did it too much,
she'd
be the one looking bad.
Not that it would stop her.
"Oh? Well, once peasant trash, always nothing more. Don't you agree, dear?"
Tiera started getting angry, but pushed it down and made herself become very calm, seeking that true mental silence within, not knowing overly what to say. It was very nearly the woman begging her to fight. If someone at school had said that to her, she would be beating them by this time.
So she shrugged.
"No. Not at all. For one thing, commoners aren't trash. They're valuable people, that do much of the work of the Kingdom. For the most part I find them inoffensive and willing to try their best, if asked. I generally don't call things of worth, trash, so respectfully, I have to disagree with you." It was, she realized, probably a bit too confrontational, but this time the woman actually shut up, since half the table was looking their way. Probably to see who'd win the fight.
It wasn't the last time it happened, two more people goading her on purpose before the dessert came. One man, several people down, openly suggested that she were a Doretta even. That he'd heard it from his own daughter, who went to the Lairdgren school. It wasn't hard to tell who
that
was, since the man was Scotty Ross, Farlo's father. He was further down the table than she was, but not that much, and on the other side, so she could look at him directly. He was big enough to be easy to see after all.
"That... Unfortunately, there's some truth to it. I've made an effort to fix things, but it will take time. How is your mother the Countess doing? I hold her as a personal friend, you know." Since the woman once offered to risk war with the Kingdom to get her to safety, even though it hadn't really been needed, she truly was.