Blood Shaper

“There you are!” Eleniah stormed up to Kay and dragged him close. “Where have you been?”

Kay leaned away from th sudden intrusion into his personal space but didn’t try and escape from his irate friend. “I was doing the testing thing, then the spy who was doing all the talking dumped me in a room with a bunch of officials, then Alahna found me and took me to Bev’roa and she decided it was best if I go do other things and they do some regular investigating for awhile, then Alahna did some looking into what I should do right now and decided the best idea was just doing some sightseeing while she did some groundwork on some other stuff and now I’m here waiting for someone to go find you.”

She glared at him with narrowed eyes, but slowly let go of his arms. “That’s…” She trailed off, “Fine, I guess, but we should really stick together!”

“That’s what I thought we were doing, but then you weren’t there all of a sudden.”

“They said it would stand out too much if the queen’s recognizable cousin was there, so they asked me to stay out of the room. I thought they were going to let me know when you were done, but when I started getting worried about how long it took and I went out to check you were gone!” She spat with a scowl, “They’re asking a foreign king to help them find shapeshifting monsters I don’t see how I stand out that much compared to that.”

“I don’t think most people here know what I look like yet. They certainly didn’t tell anyone who I was while we were clearing people.”

“Whatever. Did you find any of them?”

“They didn’t tell you? Yeah, we did.” He explained what had happened, including his momentary freak out over the seemingly robotic nature of their foe along with a brief summary of the Terminator franchise. He’d kept his theories about the shapeshifters being some kind of machines close to the chest since he didn’t know if he was right, although he was pretty damn sure, and because he knew from past experience that trying to explain concepts to people who didn’t understand the foundational concepts that made up the original concept in question was a long and difficult process. He knew many people from Torotia that were more than smart enough to understand the idea of robots, but spending multiple hours explaining details to people that wanted every nugget of information he knew regarding a subject that might not even apply to this enemy sounded like hassle that wasn’t worth his time yet.

Exactly as he expected, Eleniah wasn’t happy with the quick summary of ‘they might be non-magical metal golems that run on lightning’ and he could see the urge in her to drag him aside and get more details, but she was kind enough to at least wait until later. She gathered up her frustration in a deep breath and slowly let it out. “So what are we doing?”

“Being tourists, I guess? Bev’roa wanted us to be out of the palace and somewhere at least moderately public, so now that you’re here we’re just waiting on whoever gets to be out guide for the day.”

“What? This is my home town I can show you around without anyone else.”

“I definitely want you to, but officially you’re part of my… I was going to say retinue but that doesn’t sound right. Whatever the right word is, you’re one of my people and it would be a political faux pas to have me wandering around Alahna’s capital without at least one person who answers to her present. If there wasn’t a covert emergency going on it’d probably be Prince Carlile or someone of similar ranking, but we’ll probably get someone a little lower ranking due to the circumstances.”

“Well, I agree that I’m certainly below Prince Carlile in the hierarchy, but I hope that I’ll be an acceptable substitute.”

Kay and Eleniah both flinched away from the person who was just suddenly there, at least from their perspectives. Eleniah’s fists came up and a trickle of blood started pooling in Kay’s hands before he realized the newcomer was only standing there looking unthreatening. It took Kay a moment to recognize the woman as the lady who’d burst into the testing room, ready to take someone out with a candlestick.

“Who just pops out of nowhere like that?” Eleniah demanded. “Wait, Miri? Is that you?”

“Lovely to see you again Lady Eleniah.” The woman lifted the edges of her dress and curtsied. “It is also a pleasure to formally make your acquaintance your majesty, King Kay of Avalon. My name is Miri, I am employed as a maid at the royal palace of the Seramist Isles, and I will be your guide in your exploration of our lovely island of Sel today. Second to Lady Eleniah of course,” She added, “I am sure that she is most capable of showing you around the island, but I will be available should you need me.”

“Yes, a pleasure to be introduced to you as well.” Kay gave her a quick look over, a little taken aback by both her abrupt arrival and her general air of competence that radiated out from her. She was a human woman who looked to be about his age, but appearances meant little on this world. She was shorter than Kay by a foot or more and had thick wavy brown hair that was cut into a shoulder length bob. She was wearing the same uniform as earlier, which consisted of a two piece dress made of light fabric with a thigh-length bottom.

“You knew Miri before this?”

“I was going to ask you the same thing, but I guess it makes sense since you’re from here. I can’t say it really counts as having met her, but she was one of the people I tested today. The fake we found was the person right before her in line and she ran into the room ready to beam someone with a candlestick when she heard fighting.”

“It was a candelabra, to be precise, but yes. I certainly wasn’t going to charge into a situation without some kind of weapon, and the candelabra was available.”

“You could always not charge in if- Wait, no!” Eleniah shook her head and frowned at Miri. “What do you mean you’re a maid?”

“I don’t know why you’re saying it like that Lady Eleniah, being a maid is a necessary and worthwhile job.” Miri replied confidently, “I happen to be quite good at it if I say so myself.”

Kay tapped Eleniah’s shoulder to get her attention. “Could I get some context?”

“It’s a fairly simple explanation, your majesty.” Miri cut in before Eleniah could say anything. “I’m a member of one of Clan Selthoran’s outer families and was a general student of Lady Eleniah’s for a time. When I reached adulthood I was apprenticed to one of Lady Eleniah’s aunts, but portions of the curriculum were a bit beyond me and I found that the lifestyle that that particular profession required was one I didn’t want to live. When I decided to make a change there were openings in the palace for employment and I had quite a few recommendations from members of the clan to get a good spot.”

Eleniah continued to stare at Miri, looking concerned. “Are you… alright?”

Miri smiled, “I am doing quite well, thank you for asking. Your esteemed aunt was disappointed but was very understanding with my discomfort toward her way of life and we’re still on good terms.”

“Alright, good. There’s still no way I’m believing that someone talented enough to be picked as one Janielle’s direct disciples is just a maid.”

Miri drew herself up and puffed out her chest. “I am not just anything!” She held the pose for a moment before smiling again. “But yes, I’m not a basic maid in charge of cleaning sheets or dusting. My area of responsibilities includes workspaces for certain private projects and while I am in charge of cleaning, I also make sure that none of the important items or documents go mysteriously missing.”

“That explains why you were in one of the first batches of people to be tested.” Kay commented.

“Yes, not to brag, but if I were to be replaced by an enemy it would be something of a problem. Not cataclysmic, but certainly a problem.”

“If your job is an important one why are you here to guide me around?”

“The projects in my area are being sidelined for the duration of this excitement so I’m free to do other tasks. I’m also already in the know so you won’t have to worry about me if you need to speak about the issue at hand, I’m a trusted employee of the palace and a member of the clan, and I’m well know for being a prime example of a duteous maid, so I won’t shame my queen while guiding around a foreign monarch, your majesty. Not that I believe that would be an issue, since you’re accompanied by Lady Eleniah, but one should always put their best foot forward.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Eleniah complained.

Miri looked at her with one eyebrow up and Kay wondered if that was something Clan Selthoran taught it’s members. “You aren’t one to suffer fools Lady Eleniah, so I suspect that his majesty wouldn’t be insulted if one of the palace’s staff wasn’t a perfect paragon of service.”

“Oh.”

“Yes, well.” Miri turned a perfectly cheerful smile on Kay, “Is there anywhere particular you’d like to go, your majesty? I’m here to be of assistance, so I’ll be able to make any arrangements you need.”

Kay knew that being on edge all the time wasn’t healthy, and he had ways to detect any eldritch replacements of people and would be alright in a fight against them, so he decided to relax and enjoy what vacation like moments he could wrangle out of this trip. “Know anywhere that would embarrass Eleniah? Just in general or because of any attached stories will be fine.”

“Of course your majesty, how would you like to arrange them on the itinerary? We can sort them chronologically, by ease of transport, or from least embarrassment to most in order to build the excitement as we go.”

“Hey!” Eleniah whirled on Miri. “Don’t you dare! This is my trip and we’re not going anywhere like that! And you!” She spun to Kay and slammed a finger into his chest, “No!”

“I’m sorry, Lady Eleniah, but I’ve been instructed to follow any reasonable requests from his majesty.”

“No! I’m in charge. We’re going to Machone’s to eat because I’m hungry, then we’re going to check out some of the city and the clan’s holdings, and then we’re going to the dungeon to blow off some steam.”

“That might not be possible,” Miri cautioned her, “At least not today. One of the arrangements her majesty is handling at the moment is getting an open spot for his majesty and she said it might take a few days to convince some of the adventuring teams to move their spots.”

Eleniah grunted in acknowledgment. “Well, we can shift if that’s the case, but I still want to show Kay the entrance at least, it’s a cool spot.”

“You have a dungeon here?”

“Yeah, it’s not a naturally spawned one. During our adventures Alahna got an item from a Quest reward that created one or dragged it from someplace else or something like that. She’s put in a lot of resources into building up over the years and it’s pretty impressive. We can actually get in decent fights down in the lower levels, even at our tier.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah, it’s great. But I’m hungry, so we’re going to Machone’s first. It’s one of my favorite restaurants, its been around before Alahna became queen, you’ll love it.”

Miri drifted closer to Kay as they walked and leaned in close to him. “Don’t worry, your majesty, I’ll make sure we hit at least a couple of good spots while we’re out. I know quite a few entertaining stories about Lady Eleniah.”

“Miri, no!” Eleniah turned and grabbed the other woman and dragged her next to her, furiously whispering as she dragged the shorter woman away from Kay so he couldn’t hear what she was saying.