Maid of Honour (ZnT)

[PhoenixAct]

Okay, added an extra paragraph after someone on another forum on another forum pointed something out to me. Nothing big, just some small character insight.

Also, I wonder how many of you have noticed that the only people to have supported Louise over her handling og the love potion aftermath were Kirche (whom she considered an enemy/rival) and Fouquet. And Fouquet is the only one to show her support outright.

[PhoenixAct]

Disclaimer: I don't not own Familiar of Zero/Zero no Tsukaima


Chapter VII - Contracted




It took Siesta too long, to find the entrance to the cave Professor Colbert had mentioned. Fortunately the time spent searching did allow her to catch her breath; she had run all the way up to the mountain range and had almost been ready to collapse upon reaching it. However, despite her breathlessness she had kept pressing forward.

The cave entrance was dark and foreboding, she could feel the first prickles of fear in her stomach and the sweat already running down her back and neck turned cold but she a deep, steadying breath she stepped inside. It got dark quickly, first dimming to the point where she could only make out even her own limbs as vague shapes but soon it grew so dark that she couldn’t see her own hand in front of her face. She had to resort to placing her left hand on the wall and feeling her way forward against the coarse, hard stone, praying that there wouldn’t be any forks or splits. Her other hand despite its shaking, kept a constant grip on the hilt of her sword, not that she had any idea how she was going to be able to fight in the dark. Because they’d had Professor Colbert and Miss Kirche with them they hadn’t brought any torches or lanterns with them, instead she had simply assumed that the fire mages would be able to light their way if needed. Not that she’d known Fouquet would be hiding in a cave.

Alone in the dark every noise seemed so much louder, the shuffling of her boots against the dirt, the creaking her leather armour as she moved, even the sound of her own breathing and her hand brushing against the wall, all of them seemed so loud in the darkness, almost unnatural. She could feel her heart beating heavily against her ribs and even it sounded loud enough to alert the world to her presence, it almost felt like she was being watched. Her legs were trembling, threatening to give out beneath her but she forced them to keep moving, thoughts of Miss Louise in the clutches of that nasty thief urged her on. Of all the terrible things that could befall a lone girl held captive by someone with Fouquet’s reputation. Eventually she felt the path she was walking begin to slope downwards and the air began to taste warm and stale.

After an unknown amount of time that had seemed to Siesta like an eternity, the darkness slowly began to lift and there was a light at the end of the tunnel. It had a soft, flickering quality that reminded her of open flames and as she drew closer she could hear a soft crackling noise that supported her assumption. At first it hurt her eyes a little after the darkness but she blinked a few times and her vision soon adjusted.

She reached the end of the tunnel and found herself in a large, roughly round cave. Around the edges of the area were several lanterns, the flames inside emitting that flickering light. In the centre his wand already drawn was the one who had kidnapped her mistress, Fouquet, with her hood up and her face masked so that only his eyes were visible. She felt her mouth go dry and her stomach clench at the sight and her legs began trembling again but another though overrode all of that; where was Louise. Almost in a panic her eyes shot over the rest of the room searching for her master and found the petite blonde leaning against the wall at the opposite end of the cave, obviously in bad shape her clothes in tatters and covered in blood. And she wasn’t moving.

Siesta felt her stomach clench ever tighter like she was going to be sick and an icy hollowness shot through every part of her. No she couldn’t afford to think like that; she wasn’t too late, she wasn’t! Despite repeatedly stating her denial in her head she could feel the tears building behind her eyes.

Her eyes drifted back to the figure of Fouquet still standing in the middle of the cavern, simply staring at her. Suddenly the sick feeling and her sorrow were replaced with something else. She had been angry in the past when her brothers had played tricks on her, a little when she’d had to leave home because her parents could no longer afford to keep her and secretly when the nobles talked to her so condescendingly; but she had never felt anything like this. Her blood was boiling in her veins, the tears were still coming but now they were being fed by another feeling entirely. For the first time in her life Siesta wanted nothing more than to cause someone pain. The mixture of emotions made her feel quite like she was going to regurgitate her last meal.

That odd anger seemed to move her arm for her as she wrapped her fingers around the hilt of her sword and drew it. The sound of it sliding out of its sheath and the feel of its weight in her hands filled her with a strange sort of satisfaction. It slightly soothed the itch that had started on the back of her hand and the runes engraved there blazed to life.

“What did you do to her?” she managed to get out and was shocked to find her voice was louder and angrier than she’d intended.

Fouquet remained silent, continuing to simply stare at her. Her vision became blurry with tears of fear or rage, Siesta wasn’t sure. She blinked twice to clear them.

“Answer me!” she cried, in a voice that sounded foreign to her own ears.

Again the thief gave no answer and the last of Siesta’s self-control vanished. Without thinking she leapt forward, raised her sword above her head and brought it crashing back down. Fouquet sprung backwards barely avoiding the furious blow and upon landing he pointed his wand in Siesta’s direction. Suddenly the ground beneath the maid’s feet grew soft and she began to sink. With some effort she managed to pull herself out, only to be struck by two chunks of earth travelling at great speed. The first glanced off her side and she barely felt it through the leather. However the second struck her directly in the stomach and even with the armour a direct hit was enough to knock the wind out of her.

With a growl the young woman glared at her enemy and spun out of the way of the next rock. Her sword still tightly clutched in her hand she released another war cry and charged forward again.

- - -

Colbert dodged yet another hammer blow from the golem. The ground beneath the professor’s feet shook but he managed to retain his balance. Despite his extensive experience he was growing both frustrated and anxious but he fought both of them down, giving in to such emotions in the middle of battle could and often did prove fatal. Still he was at a loss as to what they should do next and he worried for Siesta’s safety, even with he current abilities and the golem taking a good amount of their real enemy’s willpower she was still inexperienced.

There were at least two clear problems he thought; the first and most obvious was the construct’s ability to resist magic. It was something he had never heard done before, an ingenious move by Fouquet; in fact it could very well be something the thief had invented himself. The creature had managed to withstand every attack he had thrown at it thus far, seemingly without taking any damage. True all of the spells had been hastily created but as a triangle class mage he was capable of summoning up a good deal of power quickly and without preparation. He had been hoping that they could wear down the creature’s protection over time but that did not seem to be likely. At this point he had no option but to keep probing it for weaknesses. On top of all that its speed was deceptive considering its size, but at least its attack patterns were predictable.

The second problem was his allies. During his military days he had become accustomed to working alone and only being concerned with his own safety, and possibly the safety of hostages. Even on the rare occasions he had been part of a team they had been other professionals, people he knew could deal with problems and could trust to watch his back as he watched theirs. His current teammates were little more than children, all of them still in school and with the exception of Miss Tabitha none of them had seen real combat before today. Speaking of Miss Tabitha, her familiar was circling somewhere among the clouds above them, however she seemed reluctant to call on it. He was tempted to order everybody on to the dragon and simply float above the battlefield, however that would allow Fouquet to spend more of his willpower in his battle with Siesta.

A blast of flame struck the stone giant in the side of what might pass for its head courtesy of Miss Zerbst but it didn’t turn its attention away from Colbert. Perhaps it recognised him as the greatest threat? Certainly his opening shot had been the most powerful attack of the battle so far.

Another blow came rushing his way and once more he leapt out of the way. Unfortunately, this attack was powerful enough to send cracks out along the ground from the centre of impact, making the ground beneath him uneven. When Colbert landed his footing was sure enough and he slipped. Even as he hurried back to his feet the beast was already above him, coming in for a finishing blow. Suddenly something grabbed him tightly and hauled him forcefully out of the way before dumping him unceremoniously back on the ground. Looking up he found a bronze figure, vaguely in the shape of an armoured woman standing over him. Looking over he saw Mister Gramount with three more of his bronze “Valkyries” standing before him.

With a motion of his wand all four of his creations charged forwards and struck at their opponent with their fists. Their attacks hit home and stone chips came flying away from the impact; Colbert smirked, apparently that technically didn’t count as magic. Unfortunately the damage was only superficial and the giant lashed out with one of its own enormous arms and tour straight through one of the smaller bronze figures, turning it into a pile of scrap. However for the first time the golem turned its attention away from Colbert and headed towards young Guiche. That was until a large ball of flame struck it in the back, evidently Miss Zerbst had taken the time since her last attack to prepare a more powerful spell.

Once again the creature turned having decided on a new target; it stormed towards her and she attempted to leap out of its way but wasn’t fast enough. The creature managed to grab hold of her cloak and attempted to swing her by it, the fabric tore and the redhead was sent sprawling into the dirt and struggling to get back to her feet. He felt his anxiousness immediately spike.

With a curse Colbert leapt back to his feet and immediately started building up a more powerful spell, even though he knew he wouldn’t be in time, already the golem was bearing down on the Germainian. He should have started his spell as soon as the Valkyrie had released him, instead of gawking like a fool.

The giant fists came hurtling towards its target, two of the remaining Valkyries attempted to catch it but failed, exploding into pieces. They did however delay it a fraction of a second longer, enough for Miss Tabitha to knock her friend clear with a particularly powerful gust of wind.

His preparations finished Colbert unleashed his spell. The air around grew blazing hot, it was a familiar heat but one he hadn’t felt in years and there was a resounding roar as an intensely hot stream of fire speed towards the enemy. A massive explosion rocked the area and Colbert kept his eyes trained on the billowing smoke where the golem had been standing mere seconds before. Slowly the smoke cleared and the creature was still there, it was covered in burn marks and parts of it were glowing red from the heat but it was still whole.

He couldn’t help but sigh as it turned to face him once more. At least its attention was on him again now instead of his students and he thought, a creature like this should be consuming more of Fouquet’s willpower than he had originally anticipated. He hoped that would be enough to give Siesta a chance at victory.

- - -

As she continued to evade her opponents attacks Fouquet was beginning to feel the strain, she had never intended to confront any of the rescue party her plan was to have her golem defeat and drive them off. She had even added the magic resistance in anticipation that Old Osmund would send someone like the former Flame Snake after her but she had not expected the maid to break from the rest of the group and confront her directly.

She dodged two more swings from the girl, barely avoiding the edge of her blade this time. If this kept up it wouldn’t be long before she caught her. She was an earth mage battling underground, normally this would easy but at the moment her willpower was stretched thin, she simply did not have the strength for her more powerful spells. Not if she wanted to keep this cavern intact and avoid being buried alive.

That was another thing, the maid’s unusual violence, the girl had been trembling when she first entered and then had shifted so suddenly from fear to rage. She had been going for lethal blows from the very start, twice the girl would have separated the thief’s head from her shoulders if her timing had been even a little off. Fouquet had seen Siesta around the school since she had started working there and had witnessed nothing to suggest she was capable of such ferocity. She knew the girl had seen her Master lying against the wall and had jumped to the wrong conclusion but this display of aggression was incredibly out of character. Perhaps she should have attempted to give her an answer when she had demanded it? She had remained silent in order to preserve the secret of her true sex. Having been caught off guard and not knowing how the situation would be resolved, she had wanted to play her cards close to her chest; although the young Miss Valliére knew anyway so that had probably been pointless…

The young noble had succumb to the sleep potion hidden in her water just before her retainer had arrived, although with it being diluted and the blonde not having drunk it all she did not know how long it would last; probably not very. She had come up with the rushed plan to leave the young noble somewhere someone would find her, preferably somewhere with a decent healer and disappear.

She truly did not want to do any real harm to either of the girls in the room with her, Siesta had done nothing to deserve it and her Master might very well be one of the few decent nobles there were. However, if this carried on much longer she might have to. Then a sudden thought occurred to her, she knew what the girl’s weakness most likely was.

With a grim expression under her mask she pointed her wand in her opponent’s direction; she had to end this now.

- - -

Siesta swung her weapon wildly but accurately as she continued to press her enemy. She was moving without thinking, each attack flowing as though something was guiding her actions. She was covered in small scrapes and cuts and had received several blows that would probably leave nasty bruises but right now she didn’t even feel them. The only thought in her mind was to make the bastard in front of her pay dearly.

She spun to the side as a pillar erupted from the ground beneath her. Then she sprang forward bring her sword down in an overhead swing as she did. Fouquet barely managed to avoid the blow.

Another rock came flying her way and she batted it a aside with the flat of her sword, however she didn’t notice the second directly after the first, it struck her in her stomach and sent her sinking to her knees. She quickly rose back up and got ready to charge forward once more. Suddenly the ground at her feet erupted and she was sent flying; a brief moment of weightlessness and then she came crashing back down. Ignoring the dull pain starting to creep up all over her body she attempted to struggle back to her feet but froze. When she had been sent flying she had lost her grip on her sword and it was now laying in the dirt a couple of feet away from her. The runes on the back of her hands had faded dead.

For a brief moment her fear overwhelmed her anger and she felt like she was going to be sick again; even with her sudden skill with the sword she was no warrior, what on earth was she doing? Then she caught sight of her mistress lying at the other end of the room, only now she looked like she was stirring moving. Louise was alive. Siesta felt relief like she had never known before, if she could win then she could take Louise and the two of them could get out of here.

Having been staring down at the earth beneath her while she was thinking she suddenly noticed something strange about it. Gingerly she touched it with her fingers and they sunk straight in. It was the loose sand with which the thief had tried to ensnare her earlier and it was still soft. She looked up and found Fouquet advancing on her, his wand pointed directly at her. As stealthily as she could she grabbed a handful of the dirt and waited a couple of seconds. As soon as he was in range Siesta lashed out, chucking a handful of dirt directly into his eyes. Fouquet stumbled backwards blinded, his hands coming up to his eyes and Siesta pounced. She charged tackling him around the stomach and sending both of them crashing to the floor. She rolled to the side towards her blade and grabbed it. She quickly got to her feet and turned, spinning as she rose and lashing out with her sword, nicking her opponent’s leg with the tip. The thief’s cry was distinctly feminine but that didn’t register to the maid right now. Another full rotation and she was completely upright, with her blade lying directly against his throat.

Fouquet too, had been attempting to scramble to his feet but the wound on his leg had sent him crashing back to the floor, now he froze, on his knees, with his life suddenly in the hands of someone else. Siesta also froze, unsure of what to do next. She had Fouquet at her mercy and a small voice in her head whisper to her to just push her sword forward, to kill the one responsible for harming her master. Another part of her, her old self screamed vehemently in resistance. She had never killed anyone before and she didn’t want to, the thought only would have made her feel sick if she hadn’t already. At the same time she saw a mental image of Fouquet’s blood running down her blade and felt a sense of impending satisfaction. What was wrong with her?!

She could feel the weight of her sword in her fully extended arm and she realised she had to make a decision. She knew she had to do something but she had no idea what. Panic and fear began to claw at her mind. She couldn’t do anything and soon her sword would get too heavy and Fouquet would be able to do whatever he wanted to her and Louise. The thought of Fouquet Laying his hands on her mistress again made her mind return to the idea of just pushing her blade forward ever so slightly but she couldn’t…

Then a soft, tired voice interrupted:

“Siesta, wait.”

Siesta turned towards the voice and found Louise awake and looking straight at her. Her eyes were slightly glazed over but becoming more and more focused as the seconds wore by. She released a long breath and couldn’t help the smile that began to curl her lips, slowly the tension in her stomach began to ease.

“Siesta, keep you’re sword raised but don’t kill her unless I say so.”

Siesta nodded, even though she knew her mistress was bluffing. Miss Louise would never really order her to kill someone.

“Fouquet, do as I say and you won’t be harmed, understood?” Louise continued. To which the thief nodded in response, although not without a snort of amusement.

“Good,” the blonde said. “Now remove your hood and mask.”

The thief stiffened and seemed to hesitate for a moment before complying. Slowly he hands came up and brought down her hood, then went over to remove her mask. When her face was fully uncovered Siesta could not the help the gasp of shock that came from her lips.

“Miss Loungeville?”

This couldn’t be right. The fact that the infamous Fouquet was actually a woman was immediately deemed unimportant next to the revelation of exactly who she was. Miss Loungeville was the headmaster’s secretary and had been one of, if not the only member of staff at the school who had not been utterly dismissive of her before she had become Miss Louise’s familiar. She couldn’t imagine someone like her garnering a reputation like Fouquet’s.

“Hmph,” Louise snorted. “So that’s why your voice sounded so familiar.”

“Yes it is I,” the older woman said, sounding more amused than hostile. “And I’m assuming there is something you want from me?”

“What would I want from a thief?”

“But I am more than a mere thief Miss Valliére,” Fouquet replied, grinning slyly. “I’ve already proven to you that I am capable of learning information others keep closely guarded.”

“So you’d exchange secrets for your freedom?” Louise scoffed. “Why would agree to that, when they’ll make you talk back at the academy?”

“Because knowledge is power,” the thief replied. “And if I’m free, I can discover more secrets and report them back to you.”

“I don’t need to use such dishonourable – “

“Truly,” the thief cut in. “Don’t you want to know what’s happening outside the academy? Don’t you want to know how your family is faring after that little scandal?”

“I…”

“And who’s going to tell you? Your mother? The Princess?”

There was a long moment of silence and Louise licked her lips before responding.

“And you’ll report only to me?”

“Of course,” the thief replied.

“Very well,” Louise said slowly. “Swear to me that you’ll cease your thieving and I’ll let you go.”

Siesta blinked, did Miss Louise really just say that she wanted make a deal with the person who was a thorn in side of nobles all over Helkegenia? Then again she had already learned that her mistress was different from what she expected your average noble to be like.

“I swear,” Miss Loungeville said. “Although, in that case I’ll need some small compensation.”

“Excuse me?!”

“Well, I’ll hardly make and effective spy if I’m starving to death in a gutter.”

“Very well, I’ll pay you a small amount, for every piece of information you give me,” Louise all but growled.

Siesta almost winced; she knew how much her mistress’ purse was strained already.

“…Very well, I accept,” Miss Loungeville answered. “As a parting gift I’ll give you one piece of information for free, what do you want to know.”

Louise barely hesitated.

“Who spiked my wine with love potion?” she asked.

“The Montmorency child.”

Despite the situation Siesta suddenly felt a wave of irritation wash over her. Miss Montmorency. She remembered the young noble girl, she had accused Siesta of seducing Miss Louise and then pushed her into that horrible “duel” with Master Gramount. Now it transpired that it had been her fault all along and she surely must have known that; a dark part of her wished she’d given the young noble more than just the one slap.

“Montmorency? But why?” Louise asked, anger creeping into her voice. She certainly remembered the duel incident too.

“I can’t be sure,” Miss Loungeville replied. “But I believe the potion was originally intended for Guiche de Gramount.”

“De Gramount?” Louise responded, and then after a moment, “Siesta.”

The maid nodded glad to be able to lower her sword, the strain in her arm had suddenly decided to make itself known and was quickly becoming unbearable.

“Before I go, is there anywhere you’d like me to start with this little spying game?” Fouquet asked. Louise took a moment or two to think before replying.

“Start with the people close to me but not my family.” The thief nodded in her direction before limping towards the tunnel and the surface, stopping only to grab one of the lanterns from near the edges of the cave. Siesta and Louise merely watched the tunnel entrance until the woman’s footsteps could no longer be heard. Finally Siesta sheathed her sword and turned to look at her mistress. The blonde was covered in blood and dirt and her clothes were in tatters but she was alive; that fact alone made Siesta feel lighter than she had in a long time.

“Well then miss,” she said. “We had best be getting out of here ourselves.”

“You came for me…” Maybe it was Siesta’s imagination but she thought she heard a little shame in her master’s voice.

“Of course I did,” she replied, there had never been any question about it. “Now let’s leave here,” she continued, she really did not want to stay here longer than necessary.

“Yes, of course however…”

“However…?” Siesta asked feeling tension rise in her again. Had she been wrong to feel so relieved just now?

“…I can not stand,” Louise admitted, turning her face to the side as though she was embarrassed to be confessing such a thing.

“I see…” Siesta replied, as she knelt down to inspect her mistress’s legs. She couldn’t see what was wrong with them but then she was no healer, or even a doctor. Slowly she crouched down and reached out to touch them only for Louise to hiss sharply, Siesta quickly withdrew her hand.

“I’m sorry!”

“It’s okay,” Louise responded.

For a brief moment Siesta didn’t know what to do, she considered going to get Professor Colbert for help but she really didn’t want to leave Louise here alone. After a few moments of agonising she finally came to a decision. She marched over to grab one of the remaining lanterns and upon returning, placed it next to the young noble. Then she drew her sword and stood facing the doorway, there was really no option but to wait until Professor Colbert reached them.

“Please hold on Miss,” she said, as she took her place between her mistress and the tunnel leading to the surface. Her muscles were starting to ach now and she was tempted to rest herself but she remained standing, what if Forquet came back? After all, could you really take a thief at their word?

- - -

The Professor limped slightly as he walked alongside his students, away from the unmoving mound of rock that until mere seconds ago had been there opponent and towards the base of the mountains, musing over just why it had just stopped. He wiped at the fresh cut on his cheek, whatever had happened it could not have been timelier. He took a quick look in the direction of his companions, all of four of them, himself included, were tired, dirty and carrying some kind of injury, although thankfully nothing serious. Everything they had thrown at the creature had done nothing more than superficial damage and they had all been running low on willpower; frankly he had been running out of ideas, he was quite sure that if the battle had continued it would have won. In a way it was quite galling, proof that the Flame Snake had gone soft he supposed, although considering his past that probably wasn’t an entirely bad thing.

Given that it was extremely unlikely that it was anything they had done, he could only conclude that the cause had come from the other end; Siesta must have defeated Fouquet. He grinned a little at that, he’d felt unsure about it at first due to the maid’s obvious timidity but for the moment it seemed that the girl was growing into her new role quite well. Although he was concerned over whether or not she had had to kill the man, he had seen what could happen to a soldier after their first kill. He would have to be sure to talk to her later if she had indeed needed to end the thief’s life.

Their passage through the tunnels went relatively smoothly with himself and miss Zerbst able to light the way. The Germainian was casting the spell with her off hand, the forearm of her other arm was wrapped from elbow to wrist in bandages he had managed to recover from the wreckage of their carriage.

As they continued he found himself growing more and more impressed at the young familiar’s nerve, she would have needed to find her way alone in the pitch black and darkness and solitude could play some interesting tricks on the mind of even the most hardened soldier. Especially when they knew something dangerous was waiting for them. As they proceeded they spotted another flickering light from up ahead, the tunnel opened up in to a proper cave and there was someone waiting for them. He gripped his wand inside his cloak but relaxed when he able to see who it was. Standing there sword drawn, looking very much like she had fought a hard battle and obviously keeping watch was Siesta. He grinned, yes definitely growing into her role. As she drew closer he could see that she looked a lot worse for wear, however it was the blonde laying against the wall behind her that caught his attention, she was covered in blood and dirt and looked quite pale. Concerned he sped up his pace.

“What’s wrong?” he asked once they were close enough.

“It’s her legs,” Siesta replied. “She wasn’t able to stand by herself so…”

“I see,” he replied.

“Will she be alright,” Miss Zerbst asked from behind him. He gave the Valliére child a quick glance over (ignoring her grumblings of I’m fine) before responding. She was still conscious and her usual stubbornness was quite apparent but she did appear to be somewhat tired. However he was unable to ascertain the true extent of her injuries.

“She’ll be fine,” he replied, with more confidence that he felt. “I’ll do what I can but we really should return to the last village we came through on the way here and book some rooms at the inn. Then I’ll send word for a healer.” Seeing them all nod their ascent he turned back to Siesta ask his last pressing question.

“And Fouquet?”

The maid opened her mouth to respond and then closed it again, seemingly at a loss for words. He was about to ask what was wrong but Miss Valliére spoke up.

“He escaped.”

“Escaped?”

“Yes,” she replied. “Siesta had him beat but then the coward fled.”

“I see.” It was as reasonable explanation as any he supposed. The only reason for Fouquet to flee would be if he was running out of willpower or if he was otherwise sure he was about to lose. Even if he still had some willpower left he may have deactivated his golem to preserve what he had left for his escape. It wasn’t an entirely satisfactory answer, but it would do for now, a proper debriefing could wait.

“Very well then. Now, if you would all give me your cloaks so I can form a basic stretcher and Miss Tabitha, if you could just prepare to call your dragon.”

- - -

She stood looking out the window beside her mistress’s bed in the old inn where they had managed to find a couple of rooms, just staring at the night sky. Her armour was leaning against the wall beneath the glass They’d been lucky, it had been dusk by the time they had made it limping and exhausted back to the village and there had been almost no vacant rooms left. Siesta had insisted on being the one to share a room with Louise and there had been no real argument. The girl in question was lying in an old, slightly uncomfortable-looking bed a little to her right. She was soundly asleep but Siesta kept her vigil anyway to try and stop her hurting herself in her sleep or in case she awoke or in case she suddenly took a turn for the worst or in case one of a thousand scenarios her mind could conjure up occurred. The young noble had tended to her when she had been bed ridden after the incident in the Vestri Court, not to mention buying her clothes, dealing with Count Mott and giving her a new job, now it was Siesta’s turn to attend to her.

Down in the cave Professor Colbert had sent Miss Kirche and Master Gramount back outside to gather some wood while he with Siesta’s assistance, treated Miss Louise’s wounds, despite not being a water mage. He’d taken his bandages out of his pack and used them and a bit water to clean her wounds, then combining it with some gauze he had bound them. When the other two had returned he had been able to fashion two pairs of improvised splints and with their cloaks a stretcher.

There had been no healer in town but there had been a doctor, although he’d been able to do little beyond what Professor Colbert had already done. He had given her some potions he purchased from the healer in the next town over to ward off infection and fever, then told them he would be lodging in the same room as the Professor, just in case Miss Louise took a turn in the night. Siesta felt sick at the thought.

Miss Tabitha and Miss Kirche had visited a little earlier to check on Miss Louise as well and Siesta had found to her own surprise that she quite liked the both of them. She had already been feeling kindly to Miss Kirche because of her visit in the infirmary at the castle but Miss Tabitha appeared to be a quite girl who she found easy to be around. Miss Kirche had even tried to lighten the mood by telling some lewd jokes, it had reminded Siesta a little of life back in her parent’s village. Still, she had found her mood resistant to being lightened.

Suddenly there came a knock at the door, dragging her from her reverie and Professor Colbert’s voice called softly from the other side.

“May I come in?”

“Enter,” Siesta called in her master’s stead.

The door swung open and the professor strolled into the room and cast a quick glance at the sleeping girl. He was still dressed in the same rags as before as were they all, almost everything they had brought with them had been destroyed by the golem.

“How is she?” he asked, as he went to take a seat at the battered-looking table in the centre of the room.

“Alright, for the moment,” Siesta responded.

“Good. But actually I’m here to talk to you, about your fight with Fouquet,” he replied, “I would like you to describe the events in greater detail.”

Siesta recited the story she had practiced with Miss Louise before her mistress had fallen asleep, it was mostly the truth, although she naturally amended the ending to make it sound like Fouquet had managed to fight her way out and she had left out any mention of the thief’s true sex. The whole time the professor simply stood there looking at her, a strangely expressionless look. When she had finished her story his only response was only to give a curt nod and say:

“Thank you. Oh and yes. I’ve also received word back, there will be a healer arriving from a nearby town early tomorrow morning.”

She nodded in understanding.

“And you did very well today, Siesta,” he added before opening the door and leaving the room.

Merely stared at the doorway for a few moments after hearing those final words, unsure of how to feel. It was not often she received praise from someone who wasn’t family and to receive it from a mage was rarer yet. Although it was odd, she felt pride at the comment but not as proud as she felt when Miss Louise complimented her. Eventually she shrugged and decided to simply let herself temporarily bask in the praise he had given her.

After a few moments of that she turned once more to gaze at her mistress. As silently as she could she crept towards the edge of the bed and gently sat herself down on the edge of it. It was odd, even though she the girl could be stubborn and hot-tempered when awake when she slept she looked so peaceful and pretty, even now when she was so badly injured. Without thinking she reached out a hand to stroke a strand of Louise’s blonde hair and caught herself with it between her fingers. What was she doing?

Trying to ignore the thoughts racing through the back of her mind, Siesta all but sprung to her feet stood and resumed her place by the window, looking out at the night sky.


- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Author's Note: So, here is chapter seven.

I discovered while writing this chapter that I dislike writing battles involving earth mages. Fire, wind, water are all fine ut earth... So yeah, I decided to keep it short and sweet. I also kept the golem battle short because there is only so many time you can say "he hit but it did nothing" before it gets boring.

On the gandalfr runes. I've decided that for the purposes of this fix, the item needs to be a weapon and the gandalfr has to recognise it as such for the runes to work. So Siesta won't be killing anyone with a teacup but a machine gun would be equally useless if Siesta doesn't recognise it as a weapon. The Staff of Destruction may have worked because it's known to be a weapon even if no one knows how to operate it.

Anyway, enjoy.

[PhoenixAct]

Disclaimer: I do not own ZnT.

Chapter VIII - A Brief Rest




“So Fouquet is still alive,” said the headmaster, propping his elbows up on his desk and resting his chin on his joined hands.

“Yes,” Professor Colbert confirmed, from his seat in front of the headmasters desk. He had returned to the castle barely an hour ago but the headmaster had summoned him immediately in order to hear his report. “But we have no idea where he is now.”

“Yes,” Osmund sighed, looking weary. “Still, you managed to retrieve the staff and young lady Valliére. Also, it’s not true to say that we have no leads; I don’t know if you’ve noticed but the desk outside my office is woefully empty.”

“I noticed. You believe Miss Loungueville to be involved?”

“If not, then the timing of her disappearance is entirely too coincidental.”

“I see,” he sighed. Personally he agreed; it was both galling and unnerving that there had been a spy under their noses the whole time and none of them had noticed. What if she had belonged to someone other than a thief, like the self-proclaimed revolutionaries currently plaguing Albion? He would need to be more alert from now on.

“Now, on to other matters,” the headmaster continued. “About Miss Valliére and her familiar, you reported that Siesta had already defeated Fouquet by the time you arrived?”

“According to her and her Master,” Colbert responded, “She was able to force the thief to flee.”

“Quite a step up from defeating an academy student,” the old man mused, stroking his chin thoughtfully. “Even with his attention being divided, defeating a mage capable of creating such powerful golems in no mean feat. It certainly lends further credence to what you discovered after the summoning ceremony.”

“Are you suggesting we tell them now?” Colbert asked.

The headmaster merely shrugged and smiled.

“I think it would be better, perhaps, to give them the clues and see if they can’t work it out for themselves.”

“Another test?”

“I was thinking it would be more along the lines of a lesson. I am a teacher after all.”

- - -

Siesta walked briskly through the halls of the Tristain Academy of Magic, feeling lighter than she had at any time in the last two weeks. In fact, it might very well have been the best she had felt since before the night Miss Louise had taken that love potion.

She was dressed in a borrowed academy uniform; the clothes Miss Louise had bought for her had been damaged during “Fouquet’s” initial attack on the academy and were irreparable. At her side hung her sword, which garnered some curious but guarded looks from both the students and the members of the serving staff she passed in the hall; the teachers pointedly avoided looking. Normally no one would be permitted to walk through the school armed, especially not a mere commoner; but the headmaster had made an exception for her since it was part of her duty to protect her mistress. Not to mention that most of the other familiars could do serious harm to a person without much warning (although she doubted she would be of very much use against Miss Tabitha’s dragon). It had helped that Professor Colbert had made sure that she was properly credited for her role against Fouquet, something which she had not expected.

Many of the other servants she passed nodded respectfully at her as she passed, and she nodded uncertainly back. That was one of the effects of having “victory” over Fouquet be acknowledged. If she were honest she would admit that the attention had been novel and a little exciting at first; but it soon became wearisome when people kept asking her for the story days later.

She was on her to her mistress’s chambers, carrying a tray with her breakfast and three letters; which had arrived via private courier during the night. It was the routine she had been following every morning since their return to the castle less than a week ago. At first it was because Miss Louise, whilst not precisely confined to her bed, had been instructed to minimise how much she exerted herself. Thus Siesta had taken to going directly down to the kitchens of a morning and carrying her breakfast directly up to her mistress’s bedchamber. It had been surprisingly easy to convince the young noble to acquiesce to this arrangement; Siesta suspected that it was partly because the healer’s orders meant she couldn’t practice no matter how early she woke up anyway … and partly because of the newest gossip amongst the students.

Siesta sighed; she would have thought it would have all died down by now. Well, the whispers weren’t all new precisely but rather a resurgence of the rumours about the immoral affair she and Miss Louise were supposedly having. The recent mess had not done any favours for her mistress’s reputation; many had taken her capture by a “mere thief” to be further proof of her failure as a mage. Some believed that the fact that the thief had then been defeated by a commoner proved their claim.

She felt some annoyance at that; Fouquet had managed to bypass magical wards that were second only to those at the royal palace, not to mention avoiding capture by the chevaliers for so long. It should be obvious to anyone that the mage was more than just a “mere thief”.

As she left the main hall in the direction of the student’s chambers, she saw the last person she ever wanted to see again heading straight towards her; Montmorency with several of her friends in tow. As they neared each other the noble child caught sight of her and whispered something to her friends, who all broke in to giggles, which they feebly attempted to hide behind their hands. Siesta felt her blood begin to boil and she forced herself to keep her gaze fixed straight ahead and ignore the other girls. It was galling to know what she had done and be unable to do anything about it. She wouldn’t even be able to tell anyone how she knew.

As the two drew closer, Montmorency stared at her again and Siesta was momentarily taken aback – but nothing happened as they passed each other. Siesta continued on her way, determinedly resisting the urge to glance back over her shoulder.

She reached her mistress’s room not long after, and entered to find her already sitting at the small table, fully dressed. A walking cane rested against the table nearby; Louise would eventually make a full recovery, but it would take longer due to the amount of time that had passed between her incurring the injury and receiving treatment. Most of the students seemed to consider it yet another thing to make fun of her for, and she had seen her mistress glaring at it occasionally, when she thought she wasn’t looking.

Siesta placed the tray down and set the plate in front of Louise.

“Thank you, Siesta,” Louise said.

“You’re welcome, Miss.”

There was a comfortable silence where the only noise was that of the young noble’s knife and fork clacking against her plate as she ate.

“So, Miss,” said Siesta. “You will be returning to classes today.”

“…Yes,” Louise replied, her voice devoid of enthusiasm.

Siesta frowned.

“Are you okay, Miss?”

“Yes,” her mistress replied distractedly, before blinking and seemingly refocusing her eyes on her. “Oh, yes. Yes, Siesta, I’m fine.”

Siesta didn’t believe her, but refrained from saying anything; at a guess she would say that, although she would never admit it, her Master was reluctant to return to classes. Instead, she reached in to the pockets of her apron and produced three envelopes and a leather pouch, each of which had arrived that morning. The pouch rattled as she set the items down on the table, it was easy to guess what was inside.

“These arrived for you today, Miss,” she said.

Her master picked up the first envelope and used her finger to break the red wax seal on the back. She read the letter in silence for what felt like several minutes before speaking up.

“It’s from my mother,” she said.

Siesta felt her heart increase its pace slightly; she found even the memory of the Valliére matriarch to be somewhat intimidating. In her minds eye she could see the strawberry blonde woman distinctly, her very presence radiating authority and power.

“Nothing different than usual,” Louise continued. “She asks about how my schoolwork is going and says that the pouch contains my allowance for the next month. She hasn’t mentioned my … kidnapping, at all.”

Siesta couldn’t help the frown that pulled at her lips; surely any mother would be concerned if a notorious thief had kidnapped their youngest daughter? Yet Lady Valliére had not enquired after Louise’s wellbeing. As far as Siesta knew, no correspondence had come from house Valliére at all while her mistress had been recuperating either.

“Perhaps it’s for the best,” the young noble said. “After all, it would only make things more difficult if mother were to organise a manhunt for her.”

Laying her mother’s letter on the table and picked up the next one, grimacing as she caught sight of her name written in a severe yet elegant script on the front. Obviously, Siesta thought, her mistress recognised the handwriting.

“My eldest sister, Eleanor,” she grumbled. Her eyes briefly scanned over the page before she screwed the parchment up and tossed it in to the fireplace.

Siesta frowned; she wondered just how bad her mistress’s relationship with her family was. She had siblings of her own and although they could often be annoying, she couldn’t imagine simply discarding their letters in such a manner.

Louise reached for the third letter, and this time she smiled at the sight of her name written on the front. The hand it was written in was elegant like Lady Eleanor’s, but it was also softer and more rounded and, for lack of a better word, pretty. It seemed thicker than the other two, and when she opened up several pages fell out. She took her time and read the whole letter carefully. The tension Siesta didn’t know she had been carrying eased a little bit; it seemed there was at least one person in Louise’s family that she had a good relationship with.

While her mistress was reading, Siesta took the liberty of brewing the two of them a cup of tea. She returned to the table just as Louise raised her head from the pieces of parchment, placing the tea on the table and standing to the side.

“My second sister, Catlleya,” she explained, “She writes that she is glad I am safe, asks after my health and mentions a couple of new pets she has acquired.”

“Oh, does your sister like animals, Miss?” Siesta asked.

“…She has a fondness for them, yes,” Louise replied, giggling almost nervously.

Siesta’s brow furrowed, as she pondered the meaning behind her Master’s tone, but pushed it to the side. It didn’t seem all that important; in fact it seemed positively normal for a member of the nobility.

The two drifted into a comfortable silence, the only sounds being the clinking of eating utensil against china and the singing of birds outside the bedroom window. After a short while however the smile and enthusiasm that had appeared with her sister’s letter disappeared; instead she was frowning and chewing at her food with a grim determination.

“Are you not enjoying your meal, Miss?” she asked, despite knowing that that wasn’t the problem at all.

“Hm?” Louise responded. “No, no it’s quiet delicious.”

Siesta wondered if she should press harder, and was about to speak - when there came a light rapping from the bedroom door. Louise nodded to her, and she rose to open it. Her eyes widened when she saw just who was on the other side, and she glanced over her shoulder at her mistress.

“Hello!” their visitor said, brightly.

“Zerbst!” Louise barked, bolting out of her seat.

“Why hello, Valliére,” Kirche replied with a smile as she sauntered into the room. “I’m glad to see you’re looking yourself again.”

“Just what are you doing here?!” Louise demanded.

“Why, I came to check on you, of course,” she replied sweetly. “I wanted to see if you were well. I’ve been keeping an eye out for you all week, but you’ve been moping up here.”

“Fine, you’ve seen me. Now you can leave,” Louise growled.

“Oh, Valliére, you wound me. And after I took an injury for you too,” Kirche replied, tapping her left cheek; Siesta could see there was indeed a faint scar just beneath her eye. The maid also noticed her Master grimace at her rival’s words.

“I never asked you to come for me,” she grumbled. “And I’m surprised you’d risk your pretty face for my sake; it is the only thing you have going for you.”

“Oh!” Kirche exclaimed. “You really think I’m pretty? I’m flattered. But should you really be flirting with other women in front of your lover? “

Louise’s face turned red, and Siesta felt her own cheeks grow warm, too, although not as much as they once would have. By this point she had almost grown used to all the innuendo flying around about her and her mistress.

“Or is it that the two of you have that kind of relationship?” Kirche continued, with a grin. “Perhaps you’re looking for additional partners to spice things up? My, I didn’t know the two of you were so adventurous, you both look so very … Tristanian.”

Against her will, the image of herself, Louise and Miss Kirche forced its way in to Siesta’s head; the three of them beneath the sheets… She shook her head violently. Her face had grown so hot she feared it might catch fire and Louise had turned a magnificent shade of scarlet.

“I keep telling you, we’re not–,” Louise began, only for Kirche to interrupt her and keep talking.

“Although I must say, Siesta cut quite the dashing figure as she rushed to save her lovely lady from the dastardly bandit, don’t you think? And to defeat a powerful mage in single combat with only a length of steel … why, the bards might make a song of it, if they weren’t all so repressed.”

There was a moment of silence save for the low growl emanating from the back of Louise’s throat. Siesta herself was beginning to feel quite light-headed; if this kept up she might very well faint.

“Actually, now that I think about it,” Kirche said, her roguish grin still firmly in place. “To wield a sword with such skill would require strong and nimble fingers; no wonder you’re so attached to the girl.”

A long stream of words spewed from Louise’s lips, and Siesta was sure that they would have been very unladylike, had they been intelligible. Still, Miss von Zerbst seemed to understand what was being said, for she replied:

“You flatter me, Valliére. Now, time is getting on, and, as much as I enjoy discussing your sexual awakening, we have lessons to attend. Shall we?”

“Yes!” Siesta exclaimed, perhaps a little too loudly, latching on to the chance to end this conversation. “If we don’t leave now, Miss, you’ll be late for your lessons.”

“Fine!” Louise barked. Grabbing her cane, she lay the letters from her mother and her sister on the table next to her bed, then hobbled as fast as she could out of the room. Miss von Zerbst followed behind, her chuckling softly to herself, although Siesta thought she saw a strangely sad look in her eyes as she watched her mistress. The maid herself left last, making sure to close the door securely behind her.

- - -

Later, during lunch, Kirche returned to her own chambers for a new blouse, the one she was wearing had gotten dirty during one of Valliére’s regular accidents.

Instead of just quickly exchanging her clothing as she had intended, she found herself standing in front of her mirror, examining her left forearm. There was a nasty-looking scar stretching almost the entire distance between her elbow and wrist; it was jagged and darker than the skin around it. Professor Colbert had treated it as best he could in the field and the doctor had taken a look at it when they had reached the village; however, by the time a healer had actually been able to look at it, it had been too late to prevent scarring. She wouldn’t be able to show off her arms any more; still, she supposed it was a small price to pay for having Valliére returned safely.

She grinned as she recalled the meeting between them that morning; that girl was just too easy. She wasn’t quite sure why, but she was becoming fond of the young blonde, perhaps-because she had a fire in her, unlike so many of her countrymen?

Her eyes fell on the pieces of parchment laying on her desk. It was something she had taken from one of the boys this morning, shortly before calling on Valliére. The boy, it seemed, had quite the way with words; unfortunately he had used this talent to write an incredibly lewd piece. Normally she wouldn’t have a problem with that but this author seemed to have drawn inspiration from the rumours currently flying around the castle about Valliére and her maid. He had changed the names, certainly, but it was still entirely too easy to tell who the characters were supposed to be. She didn’t think the two of them needed to deal with this right now; there were limits to this sort of thing.

She opened her window, touched her wand to the paper and cast the now burning sheaves into the warm spring air. As she watched the pages reduce to ash as they fell, she briefly mused on how the nobles of Tristain preached about honour, but never seemed to miss the chance to kick someone while they were down.

Someone knocked on her door; it was rhythmic in a way that was instantly recognisable.

“Coming, Tabitha!” she called, as she quickly grabbed a new blouse and pulled it on before heading for the door.

- - -

At the same time as Kirche was examining herself in her mirror, Louise, with Siesta by her side, was returning to her chambers for lunch. Louise’s cane impacted against the stone floor perhaps a little more heavily than was entirely necessary, every strike echoing her displeasure.

Louise’s mood was as dark as the sky before a thunderstorm and she was determined to have her lunch apart from the rest of the student body, away from the idiots who thought she didn’t know what they were whispering about. It had been a month, why wouldn’t those stupid rumours die already!?

However, when she opened her chamber door, she froze in shock. All thoughts of how badly the morning had gone fled from her mind, as she saw two hooded figures standing by the window, both of whom turned to face her, having heard the door creak open. She felt ice form in the pit of her stomach. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Siesta reach uncertainly for the hilt of her sword.

“Who are you?” she demanded, barely managing to keep her tone firm.

One of the figures slowly reached up and began to remove their hood.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Author's Note: So, I've resurrected (again) this abomination, that gives me endless headaches, if anyone still cares.

I also went back and did some edits to previous chapters, nothing major, just changed some things I didn't like and tried to make them fit with the rest of the story better.

[Erlkonig]

I wonder who could those two be. I was almost immediately going to say Henrietta but then I saw it was actually two people and Henrietta might not have wanted to approach Louise just yet, after getting all that spaghetti dropped on her.

[Kieran]

Admittedly, I'm a bigger fan of "Bundle of Joy" (and eagerly awaiting the next installment), but since I've been reminded that this is here, and am somewhat familiar with the source material, I will now engage in a blitzkrieg read to see what it's like - opinion to follow later.