The sound of boiling water could be heard and steam filled the room as Ophelia made her way down the stairs to the basement. She half expected to find the Princess asleep from exhaustion, but she watched as Lenore dragged one of the heavier pots to the clean pile. It was actually impressive how much she had accomplished by herself.
Anton and Routine arrived behind her. It took longer than normal to get to the basement as they had to sneak around the guards and take less traveled pathways.
Lenore didn't seem to notice that they had arrived until she wiped the sweat off her brow with the back of her head. She caught their movement out of the corner of her eye. Turning around, she looked exhausted. Grease and sweat covered her face, hair, and clothing.
"Why are you three here?" She asked just when Remus and Jolon made their way down the stairs. "Five."
"You missed roll call." Ophelia explained, she had more to say, but Lenore began to speak before she could continue.
"I apologize. I lost track of the time, but I will be there tomorrow." With that Lenore knelt down in front of a pot she had tipped over. She began to scrub it, as Ophelia got down on her knees beside her and picked up a scrub brush.
Routine began to speak, "We must do this quickly. Jolon and Anton, you are on scrubbing duty..."
Lenore took the brush from Ophelia. "I can do this on my own, but I appreciate the concern." She told the group.
Taking the brush back, the little brunette smiled. "We know. If we help you now, there will be a better chance of you being at roll call in the morning. Besides, this is what friends are for." With that she moved to the next pot over and began scrubbing it.
Lenore didn't argue and began to finish up the pot before her. With that Routine ordered, Jolon and Anton to get to scrubbing pots while he and Remus would finish up soaking them. Beside the sound of boiling water and their scrubbing brushes against the pots, little was said other then one person asking another to pass them something.
Santh's form made it's way down the stairs. He looked over the clean pots and then over to the Princess who looked more like a house servant. Turning his attention to Routine, he asked. "Where should I be?"
"Scrubbing." Routine informed him as he was moving a fire on a metal tray from under one pot to another.
Santh walked over to the Princess who had all the scrubbing supplies. He knelt down beside her and grabbed a brush and cloth. "Where are the buckets?"
Lenore pulled her head out of the pot and looked at Santh. She seemed surprise to see him there. "By the pump."
Looking over her face, she had several grease smudges across her cheeks and forehead. With the moist cloth, he quickly wiped the most gruesome of them away. "You don't look like much of a Princess right now." He chuckled as he stood up and moved over to the pump.
Lenore looked flabbergasted by what appeared to be a moment of kindness from Santh. Ophelia had witnessed the exchange and gave a sad smile to her friend, before she returned to scrubbing her own pot.
Shaking her head, the Princess returned to the task laid out before her. The room once again fell quiet and they finished up the chore. It would be pass midnight when they would finish, but no one complained.
Lenore came in handy on the return home. They had to bypass several heavily guarded areas, and as the Princess no one questioned her when she strolled right up to them to distract the guards while the others slipped across a pathway into the bushes nearby.
Several times, one of the boys had to put their hand over Ophelia's mouth as she couldn't help but giggle at the excitement. Once they arrived at their own pathway, Remus released the girl who chuckled as the Princess appeared. Ophelia grabbed her friend's grimy sleeve and laughed.
"You should never go into the spy service." Santh told her flatly as they arrived in the dirt court.
Routine nodded his head in agreement as he went into his dorm room and left the others to their own decisions of what to do with the rest of the night. "Three hours until roll call." He warned as he shut the door behind him.
The Princess began to giggle the more Ophelia did it. Lenore pulled a twig from the brunette's hair and showed it to her. This only caused the younger girl to laugh harder. Seeing the Princess doing it, forced it to spread to Jolon and Anton, while Remus tried his best to keep his lips pressed so he wouldn't join in.
"That was..." Ophelia tried to catch her breath. "so fun."
The others all agreed, except Lenore who just continued to laugh. "Do you know what made that even more entertaining for me?" She asked.
The group looked at her, still chuckling.
"With me next to you, they wouldn't have said anything at all. You didn't have to sneak around like that." She began to laugh harder as the others stopped laughing all together.
"Are you being serious?" Jolon asked, his eyes were wide as he stared at the shorter Princess with his hand on his chest over his heart.
The laughing Princess covered her mouth and nodded. Her cheeks were turning red she was laughing so hard. "The guards even saw the lot of you sneaking across from time to time, and I told them let you be."
"Why would you let us do that?" Anton asked. "I have leaves in my hair and my trousers." He smacked his bottom to give a hint of where the leaves might be.
She shook her head. "When we were leaving, Santh and Routine were coming up with this elaborate plan to get us back here and then everyone else joined in with their ideas." She chuckled. "I didn't want all of your effort to go to waste."
They stared at her for several seconds as she laughed at their misfortune. Ophelia finally made the first move by smacking the Princess' shoulder before she began to chuckle. "You are very cruel, Lenore."
"Oh, do not pretend that just seconds before that you did not say that was terrible fun." Lenore looked over the group.
Remus was the next one to laugh followed by the freshmen. Santh didn't say a word, but the annoyance on his face said it all. He crossed his arms as he watched the group head up the stairs to the rooms. Santh smirked when all backs were too him.
"Damn spoiled Princess." He mumbled under his breath before running up the stairs and into the back room where the rest of the dorm had adjourned.
Other than Routine, everyone stayed up all night together. When dawn broke and the bells started to ring, Lenore gathered together her bathing supplies and proceeded down to the stream behind the dorm.
"May I join you?" Ophelia asked as she watched Lenore opened the dorm door.
The red head looked over her shoulder and gave a soft nod. The younger student jumped up and gathered her homemade supplies for bathing and the two girls carried their baskets down to the stream. The water was only waist high at it's deepest point, but the spot that Lenore chose seemed to be hidden well enough by thick foliage. Even still, Ophelia feared that one of the boys might peep on them since they had both stripped down and were now bare chested.
The area was pretty enough. A small cluster of rocks behind them created a small waterfall that trickled down the smooth rocks. The air was scented by the nearby pine trees and the water cool and refreshing.
"Aren't you worried that they might catch us?" She asked as she lowered herself deeper into the water.
Lenore stood proudly and used a cloth to clean her body with a soap that filled the air with that butter cream scent. She looked toward the dorm, "They have never come down here before, and none of the other students would be caught dead near us."
Ophelia brought her lips together as she watched the confident woman in front of her. Standing up, she took her cloth and soap before she began to scrub herself. "Lenore?"
"Hmm?"
"Anton and Santh were talking last night about joining the tournament, did you hear them?"
Lenore nodded as she brought the bar of soap to her hair. "It will be a disappointment to them, but I suppose it is their choice."
"Why?"
Slipping under the water, Lenore rinsed her body and hair before popping back up. "Lesatan would be insufferable if they win and the rest of the school will be if they lose. The unmentionable's dorm hasn't entered a tournament in over three decades, and when they lost they were all driven out of the school." She moved toward her basket and pulled another bottle out. She put what looked like lotion in her hand before putting the bottle back and stroking it throughout her hair.
"What's that?"
"It's a lotion for my hair. Keeps it from tangling when I dry it and brush it out." Lenore explained before once again going under water.
Ophelia waited for her to emerge. "Can I try some?"
With a nod, Lenore waved her toward the basket and allowed the girl to collect her own. Once they had both finished their bath, they climbed out and dried off with their towels.
"How do you bath once it gets cold?" Ophelia asked as she pulled on her school uniform.
"Not as warm, so I sweat less. Therefore, I can wait to go to the bath house one or twice a week." Lenore informed her as she picked up her basket, she would make the finishing touches of dressing in her room.
The two walked side by side up the steady slop to the dorm. Ophelia talked about her dress and the ball, while Lenore pretended to listen to everything the excited girl had to say. Once they arrived at the dorms, they could hear the gentle snores of their other dorm mates.
"Did they go to sleep?" She asked as they entered their room.
Lenore sat down in front of her closet and placed a standing mirror at the bottom as she began to do her hair. "More than likely, they dressed themselves and decided to nap before roll call."
Ophelia sat on her bed and began to pull up her own wet hair. Once her bottom hit the bed, she yawned loudly. "I forgot how tired I am."
Lenore was used to working all night at times and found herself well adjusted that morning, though she couldn't explain that to her dorm mate.
"Lenore?"
"Hmm?" She didn't bother to look at the girl as she attempted to tie up her ponytail.
"They were saying that you are a good combatant and they are one person short. Do you not believe that you could defeat your brother and that he wouldn't bother us?"
Lenore finished tying up her hair and looked over at the girl. "No, he would still harass all of you. It is not a good idea to go against tradition or upset the leader of your kingdom." Standing up, she looked down at the girl sitting on her bed, her hair had been brushed but was not yet pulled up. She looked upset by the Princess' answer. "Let's wake the others up, the Mondues will be here shortly."
The Mondues arrived and began to call out names, when they got to the Princess they called out her name and before she could make any response their leader announced she was present.
"But I didn't say anything yet." Lenore stood at the end of the line and gave a gentle wave toward them.
The group immediately stood up straight, and their chubby leader began to speak. "Princess, we did not notice you there."
She frowned and looked down the line at the group, before returning her attention to the Mondues. Jumping down from the platform she continued to frown at them. "I find it interesting that you are giving me my points for being present, yet still punishing my dorm mates for my lack of being here. How can I be here and not be here at the same time?"
He licked his bottom lip and tried to stutter out an answer.
"No matter." Lenore returned to her place on the platform. "I won't be missing roll call anymore, and therefore no punishments needs to be divvied out in the future."
"Yes, my Princess." The Mondue offered the rest of the dorm the dirtiest look he could muster before he and the others disappeared down the pathway.
Everyone but Ophelia and Lenore began to wash themselves in the basins given to them. The girls simply waited for them to finish, before they moved as a group toward the dining hall. Everyone seemed to be thrilled with the new arrangement that morning, except for Remus who could already count the money he would be losing now that Lenore would no longer skip meals or roll call.
As he fell behind, so did Lenore. Ophelia kept the attention of every one else as she told of the amazing hair lotion that Lenore uses and let her borrow.
"I have trouble understanding why you didn't feel the need to inform me that Byron and Santh were losing their rest days all last year." She asked as she began to start walking next to him.
"Better profit margin." He spoke truthfully. "I have told you countless times before, my father's only concern with me is that I make my time here profitable. I have to fix the mistakes that my brother created for the Fox."
"When I began working with you, I made you promise me nothing but honesty. This is your second failure, Remus. I will not tolerate another." She spoke sternly.
The man simply grinned and placed his arm around her shoulder. "Prized mule, I wouldn't dream of it."
She shoved his arm off her shoulder and looked around at the passing students. "Are you looking to cause gossip?" She frowned.
"Ah, yes, the great and untouchable Princess in love with a commoner such as myself, what would..." His words trailed off and he thought of the lie he had told Lesatan about her seeing a man and not knowing who the man was. "Yes, I see how that would be a difficulty for us both."
"When did the two of you start having private conversations?" Santh asked as they approached the group again.
Remus smirked. "There is much of our relationship that you are unaware of."
The group chuckled except for Routine and Lenore, who both knew there was truth in the words their dorm mate spoke.
"What are we being served for breakfast?" Lenore asked Routine as they approached the dining hall.
"A potato soup. That is always scheduled for this day." He informed them as they walked up the stairs.
Ophelia smacked her stomach in the most unladylike way, "I am starving!" She announced as they entered the room. It caused others to look her way in the crowded dining hall, but Ophelia who normally seemed shy around these on-lookers just continued toward their table. Embolden that just that morning, she had washed with the Princess and had the woman sitting beside her at the table. As it would always be from that day onward.
Lenore found herself sneaking out after roll call to run Remus' errands. Since her brother had long ago stopped giving her the allowance her father sent, she had to work for the money she needed. Ophelia enjoyed talking before they fell asleep and after a while, Lenore would demand that the girl go to sleep.
She didn't know how long she could hide her late night activities from her room mate, but for now she didn't want to have to explain or even lie about why she left every evening. Ophelia worked for the Fox as well at this point, but it would be embarrassing for the Princess to be marked as one of his tools in the public eye.
Opening the dorm door, she decided that she didn't want to sneak pass the boys' doors so she went toward the stream and then around the dorm. When she found herself in the dirt court, she sighed and rolled her eyes at the lengths she was now having to go through. Of course, she wondered to herself why she didn't just address the Mondues and tell them to stop punishing her dorm mates. She didn't have to go the lengths that she did in order to end their torment.
Lenore knew deep down that her simply telling them to stop would not gain any trust in the dorm back. She had no idea why she desired this trust after all she was breaking it in these moments, but she had work to do and no one would stop her.
Making her way down the path, she quickly found her way to the East Gate. She looked at the small scroll of paper that Remus had given her, and tried to think of the best way to get to the food market. The Mondue guards ignored her exit from the university and she began to pick up the pace to meet her contact, after all she was already late as it was.
The further she got from the university, the more she felt like eyes were still upon her. Whenever she looked behind her, she saw nothing. Continuing down the muddy, narrow path, she heard something snap behind her and was able to catch a shadowy figure move into an alley. Now, she was certain that it wasn't simply paranoia.
She tried to rummage through her mind all the scenarios of who this person could be. It could simply be a stranger who wanted to assault her, she had run into a few of them in her time. There was the fact that Remus had told her brother about some lover, and now her brother had someone following her. There was the off chance that one of the Fox's enemies had figured out that she was a courier. Finally, she was the Princess and attempts to kidnap her or her brother were relatively common, especially now that they were away from the protected castle.
Either way, it didn't matter as she knew exactly how to handle it. She turned a corner into an alley and waited for her stalker to appear. Pulling a dagger from her belt, she knelt down in the darkness.
It didn't take him long to turn the corner and walk down the alley. He looked around for a brief moment, but the alley was a dead end, so he couldn't fathom where she had gone. When he turned so that his back was to her, Lenore pounced. She slammed him against the wooden wall of the nearby store and stuck her dagger point against his juggler.
"Why are you following me?" She hissed.
"I noticed that you were sneaking out, and I thought perhaps you knew where the fun would be had tonight." The man told her.
It was then that she noticed the long blonde hair and she turned him around, slamming him once again against the wall. "Authin Nele." She mumbled, "I do not appreciate being followed."
"So, I have gathered." He rubbed his neck where the dagger had previously been. Walking to the end of the alley, he looked around. "I've never been passed the East Gate before." He slapped his hands together and then snapped his fingers. "Where are we off to?"
"You are going back to your dorm." Her brows came together, "What were you doing near the East Gate anyway and out pass curfew?"
Authin chuckled, "My dear lady, you know as well as anyone else that school rules are not for those of our party. They are meant simply to keep the masses in line."
"And by the East Gate?"
He scratched his cheek, "Very well, I have heard that you enjoy spending your evenings out on the town... honestly, I thought it would be the other side of town, but this should be interesting. Shall we?"
She ignored that he didn't actually answer her question. "We shall not." Lenore snapped. "Leave me be."
"Oh, come now, Lenore. Let us enjoy an evening together. I did wait for over two hours for you to finally reveal yourself, don't I deserve a reward."
She deepened her frown and crossed her arms, "I have matters to attend to, but meet me at the Enchantress drinking den. I'll be there shortly." She shoved him against the wall one more time. "Don't follow me anymore."
"As you wish, Princess."
The drinking den was much as he expected of it. However, if he was to win any time with the Princess he would have to play by her rules for the time being. Eventually, his rules would take priority and all would be well in the world.
Sitting down at the bar, he smiled his best smile at Elsa who gave an unusual response of a frown. "My dear lady, would you mind fetching me a pint?"
Elsa grabbed one of the tankards and filled it up, before placing it before him. "We don't get many of your kind in here. The boys won't take well to a pretty one like you attempting to slum it in their den."
As she warned him, a man with missing teeth, a foul odor, and clothes that looked like they had never been washed sat down next to Authin. "Well, ain't you just sweet."
Authin turned to him and grinned. "Why, thank you. I do try."
"Look at this fella, looks better than most women 'round these parts. No offense, Elsa." He chuckled and looked toward the groups of similarly looking men at the tables behind him. The group soon followed his lead. Even Elsa laughed at his statement.
"Maybe we dress you up real nice." He touched Authin's hair, "Make you dance on the tables for our pleasure, what do ya say, pretty thing? Can you dance?"
"In fact, I am one of the best dancers around. However, I would prefer to remain in my own clothing if that is alright by you."
The scummy man laughed and smacked Authin's back. "You either dumb as they come or clever as can be."
"Why can't I be both?" Authin took a drink of the bitter ale and placed it back down. "Tell you what." He turned to face the man, "Before I begin my dance routine, which I, of course, will accompany with song, may I offer to buy everyone their drinks for the evening?"
The odious individuals who were all leaning forward with tension in their bodies, all sat back and nodded their heads. The man who addressed him, smacked his back once more.
"You're alright, boy."
Lenore walked into the drinking den nearly an hour and a half after she had told Authin to meet her there, she figured that the boys here would make quick work of him. As she opened the door, she heard the piano playing which never occurred at this den. Elsa was clapping her hands to whomever was singing.
Looking around the door, she watched as Authin danced on one of the tables, a sheet tied around his waist to imitate a dress. One of the others was playing the piano, as the blonde sang for them. Everyone seemed to be having a great time.
"And I told all the boys, dance with me for just one shilling." Authin sang the folk song about the famous whore of Ronea.
With a sigh, Lenore stepped out of the drinking den, unnoticed by anyone. She slowly shook her head, "Well, this place has been ruined for me."
Anton and Jolon found their school life to be slightly elevated by the Princess' new behaviors. Though, with the constant annoyance no longer towards her, they found that classes were becoming more difficult than ever. They found themselves being tutored by Santh and Remus on an almost nightly basis.
Of course, both Santh and Remus had formal schooling before they came to university and had been at school for five years. Anton found himself getting headaches just from the amount of thinking that he had to accomplish in one day. The only time he got to rest his mind was when he was forced to move his body in combat class.
Even though Santh had yet to convince Remus to join in the tournament, the larger man trained them whenever they had a moment's rest. Blisters formed on their hands and Santh told them that they would eventually become callouses that would be useful in battle.
"There are five events at the tournaments. Archery, melee, jousting, unarmed, and hammer throwing." Santh explained. "I am uncertain at this point who should take the lead in which sport, especially when we are one man short." He looked over at Remus who was sitting on the stairs.
Remus raised his glass full of mead to the three men in the dirt court who were practicing their battle arms.
"At this point, I won't be able to have you focus on only one event, and therefore I doubt you will be up to par with any opponent." He sighed. "I think it's just too dangerous, we should wait until..."
"Hammer throwing and archery have no opponents." Jolon interrupted. "Certainly, we could see who has more natural talent in those events and train from there." He looked to Anton for conformation and he gave a nod.
"Jolon and I are trained carpenters and thatchers, it's a great deal of hammer work." Anton add.
A small grin appeared on Santh's face. "It is much larger than the hammer you are used to working with, of that I can assure you." His attention turned to the pathway.
"My mother was thinking about making my dress, but I told her that I would have to learn eventually. You should come see my dress, it's dark green..."
"It's in the room, Ophelia, I've seen it." Lenore sighed audibly as the two girls entered into the court with boxes in their arms. Several individuals followed them with more supplies sent by Ophelia's mother.
Lenore had just been passing through and didn't know how the chatty girl had managed to pull her into the task. Though she remembered being handed a box while Ophelia hypnotized her with those fast spoken words.
The Princess looked at the boys across the way with annoyance and exhaustion. She watched them for a moment, before she brought one eyebrow up and dropped the box on the ground. Walking over to them, she studied the swords in the boys' hands.
"Practicing?" She asked and they nodded, "For class?" Both freshmen shook their heads and Lenore turned her attention to Santh. "You are really going through with this? You realize whether you win or lose, there will be nothing but torture and melancholy in your future."
Santh glared down at the woman. "Should we be afraid of your brother and the rest of the school forever then? Hide away and pretend that we don't exist?"
She blinked a couple times as if she couldn't believe his words. "You won't be the one that will be run from this school. Your precious aunt gives you that much power, but these boys are from the commoner party. My brother can make life unbearable for them."
"Lenore, we want to do it." Anton spoke before Santh could retort.
She turned to face him. "You do not understand the situation that you are getting yourselves into. If you lose, the school will scorn you. Come after you, and if you win the Prince will." She turned to Santh, "If you want to fight in tournaments again, why don't you cut the apron strings off Remus and run back to your dorm?"
"Lenore." Jolon snapped, "We appreciate the concern, but we are doing this. These are the only years we get here, and we want them to be memorable. We want to be part of the school."
She looked at him for a brief moment, "Very well, but do not attempt to beg me to hold off the forces when they are unleashed upon you. I do not have that kind of power." Her eyes turned to Santh, "I assume they are doing archery and hammer throwing to avoid injury?"
He nodded.
"Well, only Routine and myself know how to properly handle a horse, and though he hates jousting he did grow up doing a great deal of it. He will take that, and I shall take melee. That leaves you with unarmed." She headed toward the dorm stairs.
"You'll be our fifth?" Anton asked, but she didn't bother to answer. When she was gone, Anton and Jolon jumped up and down briefly to celebrate that their team was finally complete.
In less than an hour, Lenore had dragged the entire team to the stadium. Routine was not pleased to be the jouster, but he didn't argue too much with his Princess. When they arrived, there were others practicing as well. It was only the Souchans and the Mondues, which was a relief as they didn't want to inform the Royals of their decision just yet.
Routine looked at others jousting in the distance, "It thrills me that I will have to intermingle with those I purposely abandoned." He informed the Princess in one of his rare moments of sarcasm, before heading over to the jousting area.
Lenore grinned then looked to Santh, "I assume you know more about hammer throwing than I would?"
"I won the event in every tournament I participated in." He informed her, "Which is why I feel uncomfortable taking over unarmed. We would have a better chance if we all played to our strengths."
She nodded, "I agree with that statement, however with little combat experience, we must think of our dorm mates' safety. Not too mention, that against any opponent they face, they are but commoners, the higher party would surely aim to maim them." She licked her lips, "Aim to maim. That is an odd sentence to say. Aim to maim."
"Aim to maim." Both Jolon and Anton joined in.
Santh closed his eyes for a brief moment and took a breath, before speaking. "Very well, you're deduction of the situation is reasonable. I'll train the hammer thrower and you train the archer?"
"Deal. How will you train in unarmed, however?" Lenore walked over to the arms rack and selected a long bow, short bow, and a cross bow.
"I suppose I could wrestle with you." He attempted to speak the words in a threatening way and crossed his arms to look intimidating.
Her brows shot up, "Are you flirting with me now, Santh?"
Anton and Jolon chuckled.
Immediately, Santh dropped his arms. He hadn't realized that what he said could be construed in that manner. "No, I..." He grunted before grabbing a hammer and handing it to Jolon. "You are shorter than Anton, but far more stocky. I believe you might do best."
Lenore leaned her arm against Anton's shoulder and grinned as she watched the other two men walk toward the hammer throwing run. "I suppose, he isn't even going to give you a chance to try now."
"Why not?"
"He is far too embarrassed to come back over here." She held out the long bow to him. "The archery contest is for long bow, short bow, and cross bow. You'll need to practice all three in order to get anywhere..." She cut herself off and pointed up to the stands. "It appears we have admirers already."
Anton looked up into the stadium stands, and found Ophelia eating a danish next to Remus who also had one. Ophelia waved in excitement, and Remus did so to mock her, but when her head was turned he pretended to lick her without her knowledge. Lenore shook her head and looked back at Anton.
"Perhaps, we shouldn't leave that naïve girl alone with that man for long." Lenore spoke playfully, but Anton didn't seem to understand.
"He does act odd around here." He spoke softly as he continued to watch the two.
"You won't get better at archery standing there doing nothing." Lenore yelled.
Anton turned around and realized she had made it across the arena and was waiting for him near the targets.
Ophelia hopped beside Lenore as they returned from the arena. The boys had gone down to the stream to wash themselves off, except for Remus who was walking behind them. Lenore had gotten the easier tutoring job, as all she had to do was show Anton how to hold the weapons. While in the back ground, Santh had to throw the large hammer over and over again until Jolon understood the standing form he would need.
"I am so happy that you agreed to join!" Ophelia announced as they made their way into the back room. She sat down with Remus following to sit down beside her and opened one of the bottles of mead.
When Ophelia offered it out to Lenore, she waved it away. "I'm going to lay down until roll call." Lenore informed them before heading over to her room.
"She doesn't seem very excited." Ophelia whispered and offered the bottle to Remus.
He shrugged his shoulders gently. "Lenore rarely shows any emotional state except anger, calmness, and what ever you would like to call the state she uses when she is harassing Santh."
Ophelia took the bottle and got a large swig from it. "Why do they do that?"
"Do what?"
"It is as if they are flirting, but they are fighting at the same time. I have never seen people treat each other in that manner." She looked over the wares in the room until she found the strawberry cake she was looking for. Picking up the little round dessert, she bit into it.
Remus grinned. "It has always been the belief of this dorm that Santh has an interest in our Princess."
She didn't seem too thrilled by that response.
"Lenore was already living in the dorm, when Santh and I moved in. I recall that though Santh has a dislike for those of the Royal Party or authority figures in general, he seemed to be rather pleasant to her." He took a drink from the bottle. "This was, of course, before she started her bad behaviors. She was shy back then and didn't really talk to us much, but I caught him watching her from time to time."
"You believe that Santh may have had feelings for her back then?"
Remus reached forward and wiped some cream from Ophelia's upper lip. "Indeed. When she started to miss meals and roll call, his soft stare turned very harsh but he still watched her. I believe he still harbors feelings for her, but they are clouded by his disappointment and anger. However, since her change in behavior the latter two emotions seem to be melting away. After all, he would never have agreed to be in the tournament with her before this. He would have claimed she wouldn't appear and they would lose by default."
Ophelia licked some of the sugary taste from her lips after she finished her dessert, before looking at Lenore's door sadly. "Oh. Perhaps there is something there, but what of Lenore?" She turned her attention back to Remus. "Does she show signs of having feelings in return?"
He shrugged his shoulders. "Lenore's actions toward him could simply be a way to keep him from harassing her, but it is interesting how that behavior lingers even now." A grin appeared on his lips. "Hmm, you have taken quite the interest in their emotional states for each other. Perhaps, my dear Ophelia, you have your eye on our broody Santh?"
"What? No!" She stood up.
"Lenore then?"
"No!"
Anton and Jolon entered the hallway and Ophelia gave Remus a look that dared him to make one mention of this to them.
"You were amazing today. Anton, you made short work of that short bow... oh, how puny." She giggled as she handed them the bottle. "Jolon, by the time you are done with hammer throwing, you'll have the body of a god."
The two men smirked shyly as they sat down on the floor with Remus and Ophelia. They began to chat about the upcoming tournament while Lenore and Santh both took naps in their rooms. Remus' mind was less on the tournament and more on the woman beside him. It seemed to him that the young girl really felt jealous when he told her of Santh and Lenore, and he wondered why that bothered him so.
Ophelia came to bed while Lenore was already laying in the room. She had woken up a couple times during the night and noticed that her room mate was missing. At first, she thought Lenore was relieving herself, but it became too frequent. She was certain that the Princess was still sneaking out. However, she decided not to tell the others or even Lenore herself. After all, she was at roll call and all meals so she wondered why she would poison the waters with the rest of the dorm.
Changing into her sleeping garbs, Ophelia laid her head down on her pillow and turned to face Lenore whose back was to her. "Lenore?"
"Hmm?"
"I went to the girls' dorm the other day, because my mother is still sending my boxes there."
Lenore sighed, "I know, I was there."
"The girls' dorm has really changed. They have a house mother now, who I hear is very strict. Their rooms get randomly turned over three times or more a week. Before roll call, their clothing, hair, and bodies are inspected for hygiene. No more boys and no more parties." She smirked at the thought of a couple certain girls having to live this lifestyle now. "It's simply amazing how things have changed there. Why do you think your brother did that?"
"I wouldn't know. I don't speak with him often." Lenore's voice sounded tired and annoyed.
"What do you think might have been his motive?" She wasn't going to question Lenore about the time right before the raid when she saw her enter the Royal Dorms.
The Princess sighed and turned over. "He could have a number of reasons. Having more control, changing the university so he'll be remembered here, his future wife might live at that dorm now or some day in the future, but honestly, Lesatan is a bored, undisciplined child who is wants nothing more than to stir up controversy and trouble."
Ophelia turned to lay on her back and look up at the bunk above her. "All this did was make a horrible dorm into one worthy of being in Apisarn. It seems to me that Lesatan was acting in good faith, which is out of sorts for him. Isn't it?"
"Lesatan does nothing that does not in some way benefit him. He will be your king one day, but remember that he is nothing like his father."
Sitting up, Ophelia looked across the dark room at the woman laying on her bed. "I think... we all think you had something to do with it."
Lenore snorted. "As if I would waste my time on an unimportant matter such as that."
"Oh, alright." She fell silent for a moment. "Lenore?"
"Hmm?"
"You can sneak out now. I think the boys are all asleep."
The Princess sat up and looked at the girl sitting on her own bed. Lenore was fully dressed under her covers.
"I won't tell them, besides they are just happy you are here for roll call and meals now." With that Ophelia laid back down and listened to the sounds of Lenore leaving the dorm.
Anton and Routine arrived behind her. It took longer than normal to get to the basement as they had to sneak around the guards and take less traveled pathways.
Lenore didn't seem to notice that they had arrived until she wiped the sweat off her brow with the back of her head. She caught their movement out of the corner of her eye. Turning around, she looked exhausted. Grease and sweat covered her face, hair, and clothing.
"Why are you three here?" She asked just when Remus and Jolon made their way down the stairs. "Five."
"You missed roll call." Ophelia explained, she had more to say, but Lenore began to speak before she could continue.
"I apologize. I lost track of the time, but I will be there tomorrow." With that Lenore knelt down in front of a pot she had tipped over. She began to scrub it, as Ophelia got down on her knees beside her and picked up a scrub brush.
Routine began to speak, "We must do this quickly. Jolon and Anton, you are on scrubbing duty..."
Lenore took the brush from Ophelia. "I can do this on my own, but I appreciate the concern." She told the group.
Taking the brush back, the little brunette smiled. "We know. If we help you now, there will be a better chance of you being at roll call in the morning. Besides, this is what friends are for." With that she moved to the next pot over and began scrubbing it.
Lenore didn't argue and began to finish up the pot before her. With that Routine ordered, Jolon and Anton to get to scrubbing pots while he and Remus would finish up soaking them. Beside the sound of boiling water and their scrubbing brushes against the pots, little was said other then one person asking another to pass them something.
Santh's form made it's way down the stairs. He looked over the clean pots and then over to the Princess who looked more like a house servant. Turning his attention to Routine, he asked. "Where should I be?"
"Scrubbing." Routine informed him as he was moving a fire on a metal tray from under one pot to another.
Santh walked over to the Princess who had all the scrubbing supplies. He knelt down beside her and grabbed a brush and cloth. "Where are the buckets?"
Lenore pulled her head out of the pot and looked at Santh. She seemed surprise to see him there. "By the pump."
Looking over her face, she had several grease smudges across her cheeks and forehead. With the moist cloth, he quickly wiped the most gruesome of them away. "You don't look like much of a Princess right now." He chuckled as he stood up and moved over to the pump.
Lenore looked flabbergasted by what appeared to be a moment of kindness from Santh. Ophelia had witnessed the exchange and gave a sad smile to her friend, before she returned to scrubbing her own pot.
Shaking her head, the Princess returned to the task laid out before her. The room once again fell quiet and they finished up the chore. It would be pass midnight when they would finish, but no one complained.
---***---
Lenore came in handy on the return home. They had to bypass several heavily guarded areas, and as the Princess no one questioned her when she strolled right up to them to distract the guards while the others slipped across a pathway into the bushes nearby.
Several times, one of the boys had to put their hand over Ophelia's mouth as she couldn't help but giggle at the excitement. Once they arrived at their own pathway, Remus released the girl who chuckled as the Princess appeared. Ophelia grabbed her friend's grimy sleeve and laughed.
"You should never go into the spy service." Santh told her flatly as they arrived in the dirt court.
Routine nodded his head in agreement as he went into his dorm room and left the others to their own decisions of what to do with the rest of the night. "Three hours until roll call." He warned as he shut the door behind him.
The Princess began to giggle the more Ophelia did it. Lenore pulled a twig from the brunette's hair and showed it to her. This only caused the younger girl to laugh harder. Seeing the Princess doing it, forced it to spread to Jolon and Anton, while Remus tried his best to keep his lips pressed so he wouldn't join in.
"That was..." Ophelia tried to catch her breath. "so fun."
The others all agreed, except Lenore who just continued to laugh. "Do you know what made that even more entertaining for me?" She asked.
The group looked at her, still chuckling.
"With me next to you, they wouldn't have said anything at all. You didn't have to sneak around like that." She began to laugh harder as the others stopped laughing all together.
"Are you being serious?" Jolon asked, his eyes were wide as he stared at the shorter Princess with his hand on his chest over his heart.
The laughing Princess covered her mouth and nodded. Her cheeks were turning red she was laughing so hard. "The guards even saw the lot of you sneaking across from time to time, and I told them let you be."
"Why would you let us do that?" Anton asked. "I have leaves in my hair and my trousers." He smacked his bottom to give a hint of where the leaves might be.
She shook her head. "When we were leaving, Santh and Routine were coming up with this elaborate plan to get us back here and then everyone else joined in with their ideas." She chuckled. "I didn't want all of your effort to go to waste."
They stared at her for several seconds as she laughed at their misfortune. Ophelia finally made the first move by smacking the Princess' shoulder before she began to chuckle. "You are very cruel, Lenore."
"Oh, do not pretend that just seconds before that you did not say that was terrible fun." Lenore looked over the group.
Remus was the next one to laugh followed by the freshmen. Santh didn't say a word, but the annoyance on his face said it all. He crossed his arms as he watched the group head up the stairs to the rooms. Santh smirked when all backs were too him.
"Damn spoiled Princess." He mumbled under his breath before running up the stairs and into the back room where the rest of the dorm had adjourned.
Other than Routine, everyone stayed up all night together. When dawn broke and the bells started to ring, Lenore gathered together her bathing supplies and proceeded down to the stream behind the dorm.
"May I join you?" Ophelia asked as she watched Lenore opened the dorm door.
The red head looked over her shoulder and gave a soft nod. The younger student jumped up and gathered her homemade supplies for bathing and the two girls carried their baskets down to the stream. The water was only waist high at it's deepest point, but the spot that Lenore chose seemed to be hidden well enough by thick foliage. Even still, Ophelia feared that one of the boys might peep on them since they had both stripped down and were now bare chested.
The area was pretty enough. A small cluster of rocks behind them created a small waterfall that trickled down the smooth rocks. The air was scented by the nearby pine trees and the water cool and refreshing.
"Aren't you worried that they might catch us?" She asked as she lowered herself deeper into the water.
Lenore stood proudly and used a cloth to clean her body with a soap that filled the air with that butter cream scent. She looked toward the dorm, "They have never come down here before, and none of the other students would be caught dead near us."
Ophelia brought her lips together as she watched the confident woman in front of her. Standing up, she took her cloth and soap before she began to scrub herself. "Lenore?"
"Hmm?"
"Anton and Santh were talking last night about joining the tournament, did you hear them?"
Lenore nodded as she brought the bar of soap to her hair. "It will be a disappointment to them, but I suppose it is their choice."
"Why?"
Slipping under the water, Lenore rinsed her body and hair before popping back up. "Lesatan would be insufferable if they win and the rest of the school will be if they lose. The unmentionable's dorm hasn't entered a tournament in over three decades, and when they lost they were all driven out of the school." She moved toward her basket and pulled another bottle out. She put what looked like lotion in her hand before putting the bottle back and stroking it throughout her hair.
"What's that?"
"It's a lotion for my hair. Keeps it from tangling when I dry it and brush it out." Lenore explained before once again going under water.
Ophelia waited for her to emerge. "Can I try some?"
With a nod, Lenore waved her toward the basket and allowed the girl to collect her own. Once they had both finished their bath, they climbed out and dried off with their towels.
"How do you bath once it gets cold?" Ophelia asked as she pulled on her school uniform.
"Not as warm, so I sweat less. Therefore, I can wait to go to the bath house one or twice a week." Lenore informed her as she picked up her basket, she would make the finishing touches of dressing in her room.
The two walked side by side up the steady slop to the dorm. Ophelia talked about her dress and the ball, while Lenore pretended to listen to everything the excited girl had to say. Once they arrived at the dorms, they could hear the gentle snores of their other dorm mates.
"Did they go to sleep?" She asked as they entered their room.
Lenore sat down in front of her closet and placed a standing mirror at the bottom as she began to do her hair. "More than likely, they dressed themselves and decided to nap before roll call."
Ophelia sat on her bed and began to pull up her own wet hair. Once her bottom hit the bed, she yawned loudly. "I forgot how tired I am."
Lenore was used to working all night at times and found herself well adjusted that morning, though she couldn't explain that to her dorm mate.
"Lenore?"
"Hmm?" She didn't bother to look at the girl as she attempted to tie up her ponytail.
"They were saying that you are a good combatant and they are one person short. Do you not believe that you could defeat your brother and that he wouldn't bother us?"
Lenore finished tying up her hair and looked over at the girl. "No, he would still harass all of you. It is not a good idea to go against tradition or upset the leader of your kingdom." Standing up, she looked down at the girl sitting on her bed, her hair had been brushed but was not yet pulled up. She looked upset by the Princess' answer. "Let's wake the others up, the Mondues will be here shortly."
The Mondues arrived and began to call out names, when they got to the Princess they called out her name and before she could make any response their leader announced she was present.
"But I didn't say anything yet." Lenore stood at the end of the line and gave a gentle wave toward them.
The group immediately stood up straight, and their chubby leader began to speak. "Princess, we did not notice you there."
She frowned and looked down the line at the group, before returning her attention to the Mondues. Jumping down from the platform she continued to frown at them. "I find it interesting that you are giving me my points for being present, yet still punishing my dorm mates for my lack of being here. How can I be here and not be here at the same time?"
He licked his bottom lip and tried to stutter out an answer.
"No matter." Lenore returned to her place on the platform. "I won't be missing roll call anymore, and therefore no punishments needs to be divvied out in the future."
"Yes, my Princess." The Mondue offered the rest of the dorm the dirtiest look he could muster before he and the others disappeared down the pathway.
Everyone but Ophelia and Lenore began to wash themselves in the basins given to them. The girls simply waited for them to finish, before they moved as a group toward the dining hall. Everyone seemed to be thrilled with the new arrangement that morning, except for Remus who could already count the money he would be losing now that Lenore would no longer skip meals or roll call.
As he fell behind, so did Lenore. Ophelia kept the attention of every one else as she told of the amazing hair lotion that Lenore uses and let her borrow.
"I have trouble understanding why you didn't feel the need to inform me that Byron and Santh were losing their rest days all last year." She asked as she began to start walking next to him.
"Better profit margin." He spoke truthfully. "I have told you countless times before, my father's only concern with me is that I make my time here profitable. I have to fix the mistakes that my brother created for the Fox."
"When I began working with you, I made you promise me nothing but honesty. This is your second failure, Remus. I will not tolerate another." She spoke sternly.
The man simply grinned and placed his arm around her shoulder. "Prized mule, I wouldn't dream of it."
She shoved his arm off her shoulder and looked around at the passing students. "Are you looking to cause gossip?" She frowned.
"Ah, yes, the great and untouchable Princess in love with a commoner such as myself, what would..." His words trailed off and he thought of the lie he had told Lesatan about her seeing a man and not knowing who the man was. "Yes, I see how that would be a difficulty for us both."
"When did the two of you start having private conversations?" Santh asked as they approached the group again.
Remus smirked. "There is much of our relationship that you are unaware of."
The group chuckled except for Routine and Lenore, who both knew there was truth in the words their dorm mate spoke.
"What are we being served for breakfast?" Lenore asked Routine as they approached the dining hall.
"A potato soup. That is always scheduled for this day." He informed them as they walked up the stairs.
Ophelia smacked her stomach in the most unladylike way, "I am starving!" She announced as they entered the room. It caused others to look her way in the crowded dining hall, but Ophelia who normally seemed shy around these on-lookers just continued toward their table. Embolden that just that morning, she had washed with the Princess and had the woman sitting beside her at the table. As it would always be from that day onward.
---***---
Lenore found herself sneaking out after roll call to run Remus' errands. Since her brother had long ago stopped giving her the allowance her father sent, she had to work for the money she needed. Ophelia enjoyed talking before they fell asleep and after a while, Lenore would demand that the girl go to sleep.
She didn't know how long she could hide her late night activities from her room mate, but for now she didn't want to have to explain or even lie about why she left every evening. Ophelia worked for the Fox as well at this point, but it would be embarrassing for the Princess to be marked as one of his tools in the public eye.
Opening the dorm door, she decided that she didn't want to sneak pass the boys' doors so she went toward the stream and then around the dorm. When she found herself in the dirt court, she sighed and rolled her eyes at the lengths she was now having to go through. Of course, she wondered to herself why she didn't just address the Mondues and tell them to stop punishing her dorm mates. She didn't have to go the lengths that she did in order to end their torment.
Lenore knew deep down that her simply telling them to stop would not gain any trust in the dorm back. She had no idea why she desired this trust after all she was breaking it in these moments, but she had work to do and no one would stop her.
Making her way down the path, she quickly found her way to the East Gate. She looked at the small scroll of paper that Remus had given her, and tried to think of the best way to get to the food market. The Mondue guards ignored her exit from the university and she began to pick up the pace to meet her contact, after all she was already late as it was.
The further she got from the university, the more she felt like eyes were still upon her. Whenever she looked behind her, she saw nothing. Continuing down the muddy, narrow path, she heard something snap behind her and was able to catch a shadowy figure move into an alley. Now, she was certain that it wasn't simply paranoia.
She tried to rummage through her mind all the scenarios of who this person could be. It could simply be a stranger who wanted to assault her, she had run into a few of them in her time. There was the fact that Remus had told her brother about some lover, and now her brother had someone following her. There was the off chance that one of the Fox's enemies had figured out that she was a courier. Finally, she was the Princess and attempts to kidnap her or her brother were relatively common, especially now that they were away from the protected castle.
Either way, it didn't matter as she knew exactly how to handle it. She turned a corner into an alley and waited for her stalker to appear. Pulling a dagger from her belt, she knelt down in the darkness.
It didn't take him long to turn the corner and walk down the alley. He looked around for a brief moment, but the alley was a dead end, so he couldn't fathom where she had gone. When he turned so that his back was to her, Lenore pounced. She slammed him against the wooden wall of the nearby store and stuck her dagger point against his juggler.
"Why are you following me?" She hissed.
"I noticed that you were sneaking out, and I thought perhaps you knew where the fun would be had tonight." The man told her.
It was then that she noticed the long blonde hair and she turned him around, slamming him once again against the wall. "Authin Nele." She mumbled, "I do not appreciate being followed."
"So, I have gathered." He rubbed his neck where the dagger had previously been. Walking to the end of the alley, he looked around. "I've never been passed the East Gate before." He slapped his hands together and then snapped his fingers. "Where are we off to?"
"You are going back to your dorm." Her brows came together, "What were you doing near the East Gate anyway and out pass curfew?"
Authin chuckled, "My dear lady, you know as well as anyone else that school rules are not for those of our party. They are meant simply to keep the masses in line."
"And by the East Gate?"
He scratched his cheek, "Very well, I have heard that you enjoy spending your evenings out on the town... honestly, I thought it would be the other side of town, but this should be interesting. Shall we?"
She ignored that he didn't actually answer her question. "We shall not." Lenore snapped. "Leave me be."
"Oh, come now, Lenore. Let us enjoy an evening together. I did wait for over two hours for you to finally reveal yourself, don't I deserve a reward."
She deepened her frown and crossed her arms, "I have matters to attend to, but meet me at the Enchantress drinking den. I'll be there shortly." She shoved him against the wall one more time. "Don't follow me anymore."
"As you wish, Princess."
The drinking den was much as he expected of it. However, if he was to win any time with the Princess he would have to play by her rules for the time being. Eventually, his rules would take priority and all would be well in the world.
Sitting down at the bar, he smiled his best smile at Elsa who gave an unusual response of a frown. "My dear lady, would you mind fetching me a pint?"
Elsa grabbed one of the tankards and filled it up, before placing it before him. "We don't get many of your kind in here. The boys won't take well to a pretty one like you attempting to slum it in their den."
As she warned him, a man with missing teeth, a foul odor, and clothes that looked like they had never been washed sat down next to Authin. "Well, ain't you just sweet."
Authin turned to him and grinned. "Why, thank you. I do try."
"Look at this fella, looks better than most women 'round these parts. No offense, Elsa." He chuckled and looked toward the groups of similarly looking men at the tables behind him. The group soon followed his lead. Even Elsa laughed at his statement.
"Maybe we dress you up real nice." He touched Authin's hair, "Make you dance on the tables for our pleasure, what do ya say, pretty thing? Can you dance?"
"In fact, I am one of the best dancers around. However, I would prefer to remain in my own clothing if that is alright by you."
The scummy man laughed and smacked Authin's back. "You either dumb as they come or clever as can be."
"Why can't I be both?" Authin took a drink of the bitter ale and placed it back down. "Tell you what." He turned to face the man, "Before I begin my dance routine, which I, of course, will accompany with song, may I offer to buy everyone their drinks for the evening?"
The odious individuals who were all leaning forward with tension in their bodies, all sat back and nodded their heads. The man who addressed him, smacked his back once more.
"You're alright, boy."
Lenore walked into the drinking den nearly an hour and a half after she had told Authin to meet her there, she figured that the boys here would make quick work of him. As she opened the door, she heard the piano playing which never occurred at this den. Elsa was clapping her hands to whomever was singing.
Looking around the door, she watched as Authin danced on one of the tables, a sheet tied around his waist to imitate a dress. One of the others was playing the piano, as the blonde sang for them. Everyone seemed to be having a great time.
"And I told all the boys, dance with me for just one shilling." Authin sang the folk song about the famous whore of Ronea.
With a sigh, Lenore stepped out of the drinking den, unnoticed by anyone. She slowly shook her head, "Well, this place has been ruined for me."
Anton and Jolon found their school life to be slightly elevated by the Princess' new behaviors. Though, with the constant annoyance no longer towards her, they found that classes were becoming more difficult than ever. They found themselves being tutored by Santh and Remus on an almost nightly basis.
Of course, both Santh and Remus had formal schooling before they came to university and had been at school for five years. Anton found himself getting headaches just from the amount of thinking that he had to accomplish in one day. The only time he got to rest his mind was when he was forced to move his body in combat class.
Even though Santh had yet to convince Remus to join in the tournament, the larger man trained them whenever they had a moment's rest. Blisters formed on their hands and Santh told them that they would eventually become callouses that would be useful in battle.
"There are five events at the tournaments. Archery, melee, jousting, unarmed, and hammer throwing." Santh explained. "I am uncertain at this point who should take the lead in which sport, especially when we are one man short." He looked over at Remus who was sitting on the stairs.
Remus raised his glass full of mead to the three men in the dirt court who were practicing their battle arms.
"At this point, I won't be able to have you focus on only one event, and therefore I doubt you will be up to par with any opponent." He sighed. "I think it's just too dangerous, we should wait until..."
"Hammer throwing and archery have no opponents." Jolon interrupted. "Certainly, we could see who has more natural talent in those events and train from there." He looked to Anton for conformation and he gave a nod.
"Jolon and I are trained carpenters and thatchers, it's a great deal of hammer work." Anton add.
A small grin appeared on Santh's face. "It is much larger than the hammer you are used to working with, of that I can assure you." His attention turned to the pathway.
"My mother was thinking about making my dress, but I told her that I would have to learn eventually. You should come see my dress, it's dark green..."
"It's in the room, Ophelia, I've seen it." Lenore sighed audibly as the two girls entered into the court with boxes in their arms. Several individuals followed them with more supplies sent by Ophelia's mother.
Lenore had just been passing through and didn't know how the chatty girl had managed to pull her into the task. Though she remembered being handed a box while Ophelia hypnotized her with those fast spoken words.
The Princess looked at the boys across the way with annoyance and exhaustion. She watched them for a moment, before she brought one eyebrow up and dropped the box on the ground. Walking over to them, she studied the swords in the boys' hands.
"Practicing?" She asked and they nodded, "For class?" Both freshmen shook their heads and Lenore turned her attention to Santh. "You are really going through with this? You realize whether you win or lose, there will be nothing but torture and melancholy in your future."
Santh glared down at the woman. "Should we be afraid of your brother and the rest of the school forever then? Hide away and pretend that we don't exist?"
She blinked a couple times as if she couldn't believe his words. "You won't be the one that will be run from this school. Your precious aunt gives you that much power, but these boys are from the commoner party. My brother can make life unbearable for them."
"Lenore, we want to do it." Anton spoke before Santh could retort.
She turned to face him. "You do not understand the situation that you are getting yourselves into. If you lose, the school will scorn you. Come after you, and if you win the Prince will." She turned to Santh, "If you want to fight in tournaments again, why don't you cut the apron strings off Remus and run back to your dorm?"
"Lenore." Jolon snapped, "We appreciate the concern, but we are doing this. These are the only years we get here, and we want them to be memorable. We want to be part of the school."
She looked at him for a brief moment, "Very well, but do not attempt to beg me to hold off the forces when they are unleashed upon you. I do not have that kind of power." Her eyes turned to Santh, "I assume they are doing archery and hammer throwing to avoid injury?"
He nodded.
"Well, only Routine and myself know how to properly handle a horse, and though he hates jousting he did grow up doing a great deal of it. He will take that, and I shall take melee. That leaves you with unarmed." She headed toward the dorm stairs.
"You'll be our fifth?" Anton asked, but she didn't bother to answer. When she was gone, Anton and Jolon jumped up and down briefly to celebrate that their team was finally complete.
---***---
In less than an hour, Lenore had dragged the entire team to the stadium. Routine was not pleased to be the jouster, but he didn't argue too much with his Princess. When they arrived, there were others practicing as well. It was only the Souchans and the Mondues, which was a relief as they didn't want to inform the Royals of their decision just yet.
Routine looked at others jousting in the distance, "It thrills me that I will have to intermingle with those I purposely abandoned." He informed the Princess in one of his rare moments of sarcasm, before heading over to the jousting area.
Lenore grinned then looked to Santh, "I assume you know more about hammer throwing than I would?"
"I won the event in every tournament I participated in." He informed her, "Which is why I feel uncomfortable taking over unarmed. We would have a better chance if we all played to our strengths."
She nodded, "I agree with that statement, however with little combat experience, we must think of our dorm mates' safety. Not too mention, that against any opponent they face, they are but commoners, the higher party would surely aim to maim them." She licked her lips, "Aim to maim. That is an odd sentence to say. Aim to maim."
"Aim to maim." Both Jolon and Anton joined in.
Santh closed his eyes for a brief moment and took a breath, before speaking. "Very well, you're deduction of the situation is reasonable. I'll train the hammer thrower and you train the archer?"
"Deal. How will you train in unarmed, however?" Lenore walked over to the arms rack and selected a long bow, short bow, and a cross bow.
"I suppose I could wrestle with you." He attempted to speak the words in a threatening way and crossed his arms to look intimidating.
Her brows shot up, "Are you flirting with me now, Santh?"
Anton and Jolon chuckled.
Immediately, Santh dropped his arms. He hadn't realized that what he said could be construed in that manner. "No, I..." He grunted before grabbing a hammer and handing it to Jolon. "You are shorter than Anton, but far more stocky. I believe you might do best."
Lenore leaned her arm against Anton's shoulder and grinned as she watched the other two men walk toward the hammer throwing run. "I suppose, he isn't even going to give you a chance to try now."
"Why not?"
"He is far too embarrassed to come back over here." She held out the long bow to him. "The archery contest is for long bow, short bow, and cross bow. You'll need to practice all three in order to get anywhere..." She cut herself off and pointed up to the stands. "It appears we have admirers already."
Anton looked up into the stadium stands, and found Ophelia eating a danish next to Remus who also had one. Ophelia waved in excitement, and Remus did so to mock her, but when her head was turned he pretended to lick her without her knowledge. Lenore shook her head and looked back at Anton.
"Perhaps, we shouldn't leave that naïve girl alone with that man for long." Lenore spoke playfully, but Anton didn't seem to understand.
"He does act odd around here." He spoke softly as he continued to watch the two.
"You won't get better at archery standing there doing nothing." Lenore yelled.
Anton turned around and realized she had made it across the arena and was waiting for him near the targets.
---***---
Ophelia hopped beside Lenore as they returned from the arena. The boys had gone down to the stream to wash themselves off, except for Remus who was walking behind them. Lenore had gotten the easier tutoring job, as all she had to do was show Anton how to hold the weapons. While in the back ground, Santh had to throw the large hammer over and over again until Jolon understood the standing form he would need.
"I am so happy that you agreed to join!" Ophelia announced as they made their way into the back room. She sat down with Remus following to sit down beside her and opened one of the bottles of mead.
When Ophelia offered it out to Lenore, she waved it away. "I'm going to lay down until roll call." Lenore informed them before heading over to her room.
"She doesn't seem very excited." Ophelia whispered and offered the bottle to Remus.
He shrugged his shoulders gently. "Lenore rarely shows any emotional state except anger, calmness, and what ever you would like to call the state she uses when she is harassing Santh."
Ophelia took the bottle and got a large swig from it. "Why do they do that?"
"Do what?"
"It is as if they are flirting, but they are fighting at the same time. I have never seen people treat each other in that manner." She looked over the wares in the room until she found the strawberry cake she was looking for. Picking up the little round dessert, she bit into it.
Remus grinned. "It has always been the belief of this dorm that Santh has an interest in our Princess."
She didn't seem too thrilled by that response.
"Lenore was already living in the dorm, when Santh and I moved in. I recall that though Santh has a dislike for those of the Royal Party or authority figures in general, he seemed to be rather pleasant to her." He took a drink from the bottle. "This was, of course, before she started her bad behaviors. She was shy back then and didn't really talk to us much, but I caught him watching her from time to time."
"You believe that Santh may have had feelings for her back then?"
Remus reached forward and wiped some cream from Ophelia's upper lip. "Indeed. When she started to miss meals and roll call, his soft stare turned very harsh but he still watched her. I believe he still harbors feelings for her, but they are clouded by his disappointment and anger. However, since her change in behavior the latter two emotions seem to be melting away. After all, he would never have agreed to be in the tournament with her before this. He would have claimed she wouldn't appear and they would lose by default."
Ophelia licked some of the sugary taste from her lips after she finished her dessert, before looking at Lenore's door sadly. "Oh. Perhaps there is something there, but what of Lenore?" She turned her attention back to Remus. "Does she show signs of having feelings in return?"
He shrugged his shoulders. "Lenore's actions toward him could simply be a way to keep him from harassing her, but it is interesting how that behavior lingers even now." A grin appeared on his lips. "Hmm, you have taken quite the interest in their emotional states for each other. Perhaps, my dear Ophelia, you have your eye on our broody Santh?"
"What? No!" She stood up.
"Lenore then?"
"No!"
Anton and Jolon entered the hallway and Ophelia gave Remus a look that dared him to make one mention of this to them.
"You were amazing today. Anton, you made short work of that short bow... oh, how puny." She giggled as she handed them the bottle. "Jolon, by the time you are done with hammer throwing, you'll have the body of a god."
The two men smirked shyly as they sat down on the floor with Remus and Ophelia. They began to chat about the upcoming tournament while Lenore and Santh both took naps in their rooms. Remus' mind was less on the tournament and more on the woman beside him. It seemed to him that the young girl really felt jealous when he told her of Santh and Lenore, and he wondered why that bothered him so.
---***---
Ophelia came to bed while Lenore was already laying in the room. She had woken up a couple times during the night and noticed that her room mate was missing. At first, she thought Lenore was relieving herself, but it became too frequent. She was certain that the Princess was still sneaking out. However, she decided not to tell the others or even Lenore herself. After all, she was at roll call and all meals so she wondered why she would poison the waters with the rest of the dorm.
Changing into her sleeping garbs, Ophelia laid her head down on her pillow and turned to face Lenore whose back was to her. "Lenore?"
"Hmm?"
"I went to the girls' dorm the other day, because my mother is still sending my boxes there."
Lenore sighed, "I know, I was there."
"The girls' dorm has really changed. They have a house mother now, who I hear is very strict. Their rooms get randomly turned over three times or more a week. Before roll call, their clothing, hair, and bodies are inspected for hygiene. No more boys and no more parties." She smirked at the thought of a couple certain girls having to live this lifestyle now. "It's simply amazing how things have changed there. Why do you think your brother did that?"
"I wouldn't know. I don't speak with him often." Lenore's voice sounded tired and annoyed.
"What do you think might have been his motive?" She wasn't going to question Lenore about the time right before the raid when she saw her enter the Royal Dorms.
The Princess sighed and turned over. "He could have a number of reasons. Having more control, changing the university so he'll be remembered here, his future wife might live at that dorm now or some day in the future, but honestly, Lesatan is a bored, undisciplined child who is wants nothing more than to stir up controversy and trouble."
Ophelia turned to lay on her back and look up at the bunk above her. "All this did was make a horrible dorm into one worthy of being in Apisarn. It seems to me that Lesatan was acting in good faith, which is out of sorts for him. Isn't it?"
"Lesatan does nothing that does not in some way benefit him. He will be your king one day, but remember that he is nothing like his father."
Sitting up, Ophelia looked across the dark room at the woman laying on her bed. "I think... we all think you had something to do with it."
Lenore snorted. "As if I would waste my time on an unimportant matter such as that."
"Oh, alright." She fell silent for a moment. "Lenore?"
"Hmm?"
"You can sneak out now. I think the boys are all asleep."
The Princess sat up and looked at the girl sitting on her own bed. Lenore was fully dressed under her covers.
"I won't tell them, besides they are just happy you are here for roll call and meals now." With that Ophelia laid back down and listened to the sounds of Lenore leaving the dorm.