Classes came and went that day. Lenore had showed for lunch which caused Santh to clamp up and offer nothing to the conversation. He wouldn't even look the Princess in the eye and quickly left before the meal hour was done. It had brought nothing but giggles to the group especially Lenore who had acted slightly more friendly that day.
Lenore found her way to the shed that she always met with Remus to find out what tasks she would need to accomplish that night. She found her delicately featured master leaning against the shed and looking over the latest lust book that she had brought him days before.
"Do you think that would even be possible?" He held up one of the pornographic prints for her to see.
Lenore didn't bother to look and merely shoved the book away from her face. "The kid grows up in the brothel, I'm sure he's seen quite a lot in his time. Now, what do you need done tonight?"
Remus looked over the print one more time before hiding it in the pocket of his tabard. "We have an issue that needs to be solved immediately." He watched her raise an eyebrow, "Your brother summoned me to his quarters the other night. Normally, there is nothing strange about him wanting to butter me up, however he wanted to speak of you."
"Of me?" She used her whole hand to point to her chest. "What of me?"
He seemed to contemplate his wording before speaking. "It would seem your dear brother has taken an interest once again in your late night activities. I believe he may fear you are looking to take his throne... which I assume is untrue, correct? Because if it were..." He paused for a moment, "I certainly have wasted a great deal of my time trying to curry favor with your brother."
Lenore folded her arms across her chest and frowned deeply. "If I were trying to take the throne would I tell someone who would only use it to benefit his pocketbook?"
"Fair enough. Anyway, if your brother were to find out that you were running errands for the Fox, I doubt he would look highly upon my venture. He would take it as a great insult that his Princess sister were doing meager work while spending her evenings watching whores work their craft at the drinking den. Not that he doesn't know the latter already, but at least at this point it is you simply rebelling against your betters." Remus tapped his chin for a moment as he thought over the situation. "So, we need a way to appease him that you are not acting against him and it also needs to protect my 'business deals' so to speak."
The two fell quiet for a moment as they each thought over their choices. Remus began to pace back and forth while the Princess' icy stare followed him. He was used to such a look as he knew it didn't come with any emotion, as most people thought. Instead, the Princess just had a bone chilling glare that cut through any man's defenses.
"How about we tell him that I have taken a lover?" Lenore suggested.
He thought for a moment and then gave a nod. "Excellent. You are going out to drink with some strange man and coming home in the wee hours of the morning after a lustful night together." He snapped his fingers. "Therefore, you are only not working for the fox, but your brother's worries will be subsided."
"My brother will ask questions though. He won't just be satisfied with that. He'll want to know who I am seeing and if they are worthy of being a Princess' consort."
Licking his bottom lip, he took a couple more moments. "For the time being, we can just tell him that it's hard to pinpoint the man because the two of you are crafty enough to escape the spies. After which, I will be able to further formulate the deception with you."
"You are going to enjoy this, aren't you?"
Remus smirked. "Do you really know me so well? Perhaps, your lover should simply be me both in our fairy tale and in reality."
Lenore didn't look amused by his jest. "My brother wouldn't see you as worthy. You may be the second son of the Merchant Guild leader, but no matter how much you people lie to yourselves you are still in the Commoner Class."
"You wound me." He playfully put his hand over his chest and fainted against the shed before jumping straight up with a grin. "Very well, this information will hold him off for now. As for tonight's activities, here you go. Ensure you burn that after you read it. Now I must get to dinner."
Lenore took the scroll and watched him disappear toward the main court. She took a deep breath before opening the orders in her hand. Part of her wondered exactly what she was doing and why.
"I wonder why Ophelia didn't come to dinner." Jolon asked out loud as the group walked back toward the dorm.
It had been strange for her not to arrive to pick them up or offer a small dessert after the meal. Even Santh had made a comment about the lack of over sweetened cheeriness not surrounding them on their way to the dining hall. She was lacking on the walk back as well. All of them were so concerned about why she hadn't arrived that no one talked about why Lenore wasn't there. Of course, they were used to her coming and going as she pleased, but normally it was all they talked about since Santh enjoyed seething over it.
"I wish Lenore was here." Anton said allowed and all eyes turned to him as if to ask if he had lost his mind. "Because she can go to the girls' dorm and see if Ophelia is alright." He explained himself quickly.
The others seemed satisfied with that answer.
"Is the South Dorm the only male and female merged dorm?" Jolon asked.
"All other dorms, but the female dorms and Royal Dorms are for men only. The Royal Dorm is broken up into floors for genders however." Routine explained. "Even the South Dorm is meant for only the male gender, however that rule is overlooked when female commoners arrive and find themselves not welcomed in the female dorms."
"And none of us can go to check on Ophelia during this time of night?" Jolon continued his questioning.
"Males are never allowed in the girls' dorms." Santh was the one to answer. "I'm sure she is alright. We haven't heard of anything happening to her and normally the dining hall would be full of gossip like that."
As they approached the dorm, Jolon and Anton had hoped that Ophelia would be there waiting for them, but the area was dark. No torches or candles had been lit in the back dorm room. Even Santh and Remus look slightly disappointed as they entered their own room together.
Anton followed Jolon into his room as he knew Routine would want to study, while Anton wanted to enjoy his friends' company. Sitting down on the floor next to Jolon, he pressed his lips together.
"So, we have our rest day the day after next. What is normally done on that day?" Anton asked.
Remus was laying on his bed and took a deep breath before answering. "Let's see, Santh goes drinking all day. Routine studies. Lenore disappears completely. All the while, I do this thing called resting."
"None of you spend your time together?" Jolon looked confused briefly.
"We spend all our time together during the week minus classes, it's nice to have time away from one another." Remus rolled over onto his side to look at them while Santh took off his shirt as he prepped himself for bed.
Jolon turned toward Anton and grinned, "You want to explore the hamlet with me then?"
"Of course."
"You two will get tired of each other eventually." Remus warned before he turned over again so that his back was facing everyone.
Lenore entered through the East gate that evening. She had been given a long list of errands to run that night and hadn't been able to drink as much as she normally did. The Mondue guards were always surprised to see her walk onto school grounds under her own power, and this was twice in one week.
As she walked near the girls' dorm, she felt her stomach beginning to turn and she quickly found herself a bush to vomit in. Once she had emptied the contents of her stomach, she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.
"I knew those damn pickled onions were sour." She mumbled to herself and began to stagger toward her dorm. "She swore they were fine, but I knew they tasted..." Her words trailed off as she heard the sounds of laughter in the distance coming from the girls' dorm. "Tonight isn't rest day, is it?" She thought out loud and then began to count the days on her finger tips, if it was their rest day she was going to go back out to drink some more. When she counted the days over four times, she knew that it wasn't and decided to investigate what was going on.
As she got closer to the lights of the dorm, she could see through the leaves of the trees and bushes that some of the girls were breaking curfew and were enjoying what looked to be mead that Ophelia often brought to the unmentionables' dorm. Lenore continued to walk forward interested in what was bringing on this obvious rejection of the rules. Normally only she had the nerve to break them so willingly.
She had to walk through some bushes that hid the back area of the girls' dorm. The large gray stone building was to her left and the wall made from the same material was to her right. The girls were dancing and there were some boys in the mixture even though no music played, though she assumed that music would only bring the authorities around. Either that or no one here could play an instrument.
The closer she got the more she wondered what brought this on, as she often entered through the East Gate and had never seen this behavior before.
A dark haired girl tripped over her own feet and stumbled directly into Lenore. The Princess helped her to stand before questioning her. "What's going on here?"
The dark haired beauty looked up at her Princess in horror after recognizing the voice. "Uh, I didn't do any of it. I just came for the mead." The girl defended herself.
Lenore followed the girl's line of sight and immediately became enraged. Hanging from a pole in the back was a topless Ophelia who looked like she was so exhausted from crying that she no longer had the urge to fight.
Surveying the area, she noticed a group playing a card game nearby. One of the boys won and he stood up, "Ok, Ophelia, what do you want? A rotten orange to the head or to lose your pants?" The boy taunted her by showing her the orange and placing his fingers on the cloth belt that kept her pants up.
Ophelia looked defeated and simply glared at him, no longer wanting to give him any pleasure in this.
"You did this to yourself, Ophelia. Hiding behind the Princess, you knew you would be punished eventually!" One of the girls in the card game yelled.
"Bring her down, immediately!" Lenore screamed from across the yard.
Everyone stood up to greet the Princess who was stomping toward them. The boy who was taunting Ophelia began to untie her. Lenore yanked a cloak that one of the girls was wearing off and threw it around the nude girl who was allowed to just fall to the ground.
Looking up at her rescuer, Ophelia grinned. "Lenore." She mumbled. "Lenore, my arms hurt."
"After hanging like that, I wonder why. Stupid girl, why didn't you fight them off?" She helped the girl up and then looked at the boys in the area. "Go up to Ophelia's room, get everything that belongs to her and bring it to the South Dorm right now. She better not tell me tomorrow that anything is missing or broken."
When the boys rushed into the girls' dorm defiant of the rules, Lenore turned to the girls who were playing the card game. "I will remember all your faces, and you won't be completing your two years here." She threatened before helping Ophelia out of the back yard of the girls' dorm and toward what would be her new home.
Santh's eyes slowly opened to the dark room as he heard the sound of movement outside his dorm door. There was a faint light of the court torches which meant someone had lit them, and he could see shadows through the paper lining of his door.
Looking across the room, he found Remus was sitting up and rubbing his eyes. It always took the man a couple moments to return to reality when he first awoke. Jolon was already off the top bunk and in the center of the floor in his pajamas.
"What's going on?" Jolon whispered.
The bare chested Santh threw his blanket off, and stood next to his dorm mate. The shadows looked like they were carrying boxes as well as other items.
"Are they taking Ophelia's merchandise?" Remus asked his question quietly.
Walking over to the door, Santh shoved the sliding door open and looked at a male Souchan who was carrying a wooden shipping box with several familiar items that he knew belonged to Ophelia. "What are you doing?" Santh yanked the box out of his arms. It was heavier then expected and fell to the floor.
"The Princess, she..."
At this point, Anton opened the sliding door in his own room with Routine standing behind him. The sound of Santh's voice had made them comfortable enough to open the doors.
From down the dorm hall, Lenore appeared from the abandoned dorm room. "Who broke something?" She snapped and then looked down the hall at the Souchan.
Santh grumbled under his breath that he knew this had to do with that Princess somehow.
"He shoved it from my arms, Princess. It wasn't done on purpose." He informed her as others tried to walk passed him to get to the back room before making their way back to the dorm to retrieve the rest of Ophelia's items.
"What is the meaning of this? You are stealing from Ophelia now?" Santh crossed his arms and glared down at the woman who jumped over the items on the ground to stand before him.
Lenore chuckled bitterly, "Stealing... from Ophelia?"
Remus came to stand next the bare chested man, "Santh, the items are going into the room not out."
Santh's accusing look did not change, but Lenore ignored him and looked to the Souchan who was waiting in horror at what would happen to him. He didn't know what was worse Santh's wrath or the Princess'.
"Clean this up." She ordered him before heading back down the hallway into the back dorm room.
The dorm mates followed. Santh was the first the arrive at the door and immediately his anger melted. Jolon and Anton shoved their way into the room to kneel at the side of Ophelia who was bruised, wet, and shivering on the floor. She was wearing clothes that had been brought over, and the Princess had helped wash the rotten fruit from her body. Lenore had then brought her to the room to apply some salves to her wounds.
"What happened Ophelia?" Anton asked grabbing her hand.
Ophelia embarrassed by what had occurred looked to Lenore for how to answer.
"None of your business." Lenore snapped. "She will be living here from now on and that's final."
Remus appeared in the room with an extra blanket and wrapped it around her. "If she moves in then the rules state she can't have a room to her own. You'll have to be her bunk mate, Lenore."
Suddenly this idea seemed like a bad one, "Why me?"
"You are the only female among us. Seems fitting that you two share a dorm, doesn't it?" Remus looked over the girl's face as he talked.
Ophelia didn't like it when he reached out his hand to touch her and jerked away, shoving her face into Lenore's shoulder. She wrapped her arm around the scared girl and looked at the men in the room. "Byron, would you mind bringing me my bedding?"
Routine was standing in the hallway looking in beside Santh and was about to nod when Anton jumped to his feet and ran from the room. "I'll do it."
Santh stood quietly and took in the entire scene. He watched as Lenore comforted the girl who just yesterday had seemed below her notice. He thought of all the spoiled Princess acts that Lenore had done to this entire dorm, but for a moment he thought to himself that she didn't seem like the woman he had always believed her to be.
Santh had sat down on the stairs and listened to Lenore hum a lullaby for her injured dorm mate. He wasn't entirely certain when the two girls had become friends enough for the Princess to be her caretaker. She never seemed very interested in having any sort of human relationship before.
Drinking from one of the mead bottles, he tried to stay awake until the candle lights in their room went out. He had promised the scared Ophelia that he would guard her room for a while to make her feel safe. What had happened to her remained a mystery to the entire group, but it was obvious that the girls weren't going to talk about it.
Morning would arrive soon and the campus was quiet. The way he sat was facing the woods and he could hear the creak nearby. The night air was crisp and everything was covered in dew. If it hadn't been for the whimpering cries of the girl in the dorm next to him, it would have been a beautiful night.
The door next to him opened and Lenore stepped outside. "It took a while, but she's finally asleep." She closed the sliding door and sat down next to Santh, who seemed surprised that she was going to keep him company. However, she reached toward his hand and grabbed the bottle of mead to chug down the remaining amount.
Of course, she wanted the alcohol. He had thought to himself. "Is she alright?"
"She will be." She put the empty bottle on the stairs. "You could have at least put on a shirt."
He ignored her comment. "How... I mean why... I am not sure what I should ask here to get answers from you about the two of you ending up like this."
Lenore opened the sliding door on the opposite side of the hallway and grabbed a bottle of mead that was laying near it. She opened it and took another drink. "What do you mean?" She finally spoke.
"I didn't realize that the two of you were friends."
"We aren't." She took another big gulp and then offered the bottle to him.
Santh took a swig from it, and then let it dangle from his hand in front of his knees.
"I was coming in through the East Gate when I saw her being picked on." Lenore added. "No one should have to go through that sort of humiliation for any reason."
He looked over at the fair skinned red head beside him as she looked out over the woods. He was certain she reeked of alcohol and vomit as it was her evening perfume. "Why bring her here?"
"Seems like the girls' dorm is a pretty violent place. Besides, now I won't have to change behind that cramped curtain anymore." Lenore held out her hand for the bottle, but Santh did not hand it over to her.
"Don't you think you should get some sleep? We have to wake up for classes in a couple hours."
"Says the man that is drinking right beside me." She reached for it again, but he pulled it out of her reach. Lenore sat back and looked up at the man beside her. "Why, Santh, are you trying to look out for my well being? I just knew you cared." With that she winked.
The soft look on his face faded, and he set the bottle down between them. "Get yourself so drunk that you will pass out during classes. It is none of my concern." He stood up and quickly made his way back to his dorm room.
Laying down on the bed on his back, he used his own arm to prop his head up. "Evil woman."
"More evidence for my case." Remus turned over and looked at the man across the room.
With that Santh glared at him briefly before turning his back to the man, "Go to sleep."
Ophelia yawned as she opened her eyes. At first, she couldn't remember where she was, but the memories soon came back to her. The dorm room was dark with graying wood for walls and floor. It looked nothing like the room she used to sleep in, but it felt safe. There would be no more bugs in her bed, at least not purposely placed ones. No more waking up fearing that someone would cut her hair or urinate on her while she slept. She could finally sleep at night. That made moving into the unmentionables' dorm worth it, and she wondered why she hadn't thought of it before.
Sitting up quickly, she clasped her hands together. "I get to eat meals with my friends now!"
Quickly she jumped out of bed with a smile on her face. She turned to the single bed that Lenore had claimed, while she slept on the bottom bunk, but the bed was empty. The smell of butter cream was the only thing that told her that her dorm mate had been there.
Getting dressed, she hurried outside to stand in line with the boys. "Morning!" She chimed.
Everyone held worry in their eyes when she came out, but Ophelia wasn't going to let last night keep her down. She had been picked on before and she never allowed it to bleed into the next day.
"Morning. Are you feeling well enough to go to class?" Jolon asked.
"Yes! Never been better." She grinned and then looked at the Mondues that were coming down the path. "Thanks for letting me move in here." She said to her new dorm mates.
The Mondues began to take roll call, and then looked at Ophelia. "And who are you?"
"Ophelia Romanus, I moved here from the girls' dorm."
The Mondue frowned, "You did not go through the proper channels, and will therefore lose points for not appearing at the proper area this morning."
"The Princess gave this command." Remus interrupted.
There was a moment of silence, before the Mondue spoke. "Very well, but get the paper work filled out before lights out tonight."
Before they left the Mondue offered Remus a paper which he already knew was a chore list and everyone began to wash themselves, Ophelia began humming the lullaby that Lenore had hummed the night before. "Lenore is really nice." She spoke her thought out loud. "I always told you guys that she wasn't as bad as you thought."
"Oh yeah, then why isn't she here for roll call?" Santh asked her.
"Looks like we are scrubbing pots tomorrow morning." Remus tossed the paper aside and began to clean himself.
"What?" Anton seemed confused.
"This was explained to you previously. Though Lenore does not lose points for not appearing at meals and roll call, the dorm is punished for her crimes." Routine was washing his feet as he talked. "Therefore, we are given tasks to accomplish that lighten the load of the servants."
"But..." He looked to Remus and Santh, "I thought you said that you guys drink and relax and Routine studies. That..."
Routine interrupted. "My name is Byron not Routine."
"That's in the evening. We are otherwise indisposed during the mornings." Remus answered and then looked toward Santh who snorted.
"Now, you know why I dislike her so much. She doesn't even care that we are punished for her childish behavior. She isn't our friend, no matter how much some of you would like to believe it." His eyes fell upon Routine and then to Ophelia.
Pressing her lips together, she thought for a moment. "Have you asked her to stop? Nicely, I mean. What about telling her about how our day off is ruined because..."
"She doesn't care." Santh told her with annoyance in his voice. "The Princess cares only about the Princess. No one else."
Ophelia frowned in disappointment. "I don't think she only cares about herself."
Throwing his towel down, Santh jumped off the platform. "Keep being delusional then. You live here now, you'll see for yourself. Reality will crash down upon you, and we will see how long you can keep saying she is nice." With that he walked down the path.
"He only gets chatty when talking about Lenore." Jolon commented with a smirk.
The others giggled, except for Ophelia, who was upset that she had angered the man that made her own heart flutter.
Sitting at the table, when Santh entered, was the Princess. She had pulled her normally curly hair into a bun and she looked like she had a rough night's sleep. He grinned to himself. Happy that his warnings the previous night had actual consequences for her. Sitting down at the table, he watched as she picked at a piece of bread in front of her.
The meal that morning was a hearty potato soup with bread and vegetables. It gave Santh an idea. "Looks a great deal like vomit, doesn't it?"
Lenore looked at her soup and then turned her gaze to Santh. "I am not withdrawing from alcohol. I started my monthly cycle this morning, and the cramps are simply terrible."
"If you think to tell me that to disgust me then I am afraid you will be disappointed. I have long ago accepted the monthly cycle as a part of nature." He smirked happily to himself.
"I wasn't telling you that to gross you out, but to let you know what I will be unavailable for pleasures of the flesh for the next few days." Lenore blew a kiss to him and watched as the smirk melted from his face. The dining hall was filling up with several people that looked Lenore's way, and seemed to give her looks of apology as they walked by.
"You play a dangerous game. What if I were to take these jests seriously and ravish you one night?"
"I would let you." She winked as the others came to the table.
"The two love birds are meeting early today." Remus took his seat next to his friend with Routine sitting beside him.
Anton and Jolon took their normal positions, and then all eyes turned to Ophelia. She seemed uncertain where she should be sitting.
"Scoot over, Annie. My room mate should sit next to me during meals." Lenore shoved him in the shoulder.
Ophelia looked relieved though she also felt some disappointment at not being able to sit next to Santh. Though, this way she could look at him from across the table even though it was Remus who was sitting directly across from her.
Sitting down on the pillow, Ophelia smiled at Lenore who didn't seem to offer her any greeting at all. In fact, it seemed that with that kind gesture Lenore was all but done with the girl for the morning. "You smell nice. Like cake."
"I know." Lenore began to eat her soup.
"You aren't suppose to eat until after the words of wisdom." The younger girl informed her.
"I know." She continued the eat anyway.
This cause Santh's nostrils to flare, but he decided that he would remain quiet. He didn't need Lenore to say something else to cast doubt on the group about his hatred for her.
Ophelia looked toward Santh, who gave her his best, "I told you so." shrug.
Once the words of wisdom were read, Lenore was done with her meal and removed her plates from the table as she walked out. The others had only begun their meal.
"She is in a cranky mood today." Ophelia frowned.
Routine looked up from his meal. "Lenore will be entering her monthly cycle and is known to be more curt than usual during this time. Also, due to the fact that her brother interrupted the meal not long ago, she has decided she will eat her meals quickly and leave, as to not disturb the rest of us."
The little brunette's frown turned into a grin. "Oh, that's nice of her. She's very thoughtful."
Santh could not believe that this girl was so taken in by the Princess. "It's won't be when you have to scrub pots come tomorrow."
Anton was slightly annoyed by this news and was barely able to look at Lenore when he arrived. "Do we really have to do chores because she doesn't show up to roll call?"
"All dorms get punished together. Well, the bigger dorms go by floors, but ours is small enough that it's the entire dorm." Remus explained. "Don't worry, you'll get used to it. I mean, it's become part of the routine, hasn't it, Routine?"
"My name is Byron, not Routine." The spectacled man continued to eat.
"Three years and not a rest day goes by that I don't seethe hate for that woman." Santh snapped.
"Not a day goes by that you don't seethe your undying lust for her either." Remus retorted, which caused the annoyed to all chuckle.
Santh did not find it funny in the least, and quickly gathered his plates to leave.
Lunch time arrived, but Lenore would not be joining her dorm mates in the dining hall. Instead, she began her march straight for the Royal Dorms, ignoring that Ophelia was calling to her with Jolon standing near by. She wasn't in the mood to explain to them why she was heading toward the building that housed her enemy.
Once inside the lavishly designed halls, she began to walk to where she knew the dining hall would be. The whole dorm was done in colors of the kingdom which was dark red with gold lining. Pieces of art or house plants broke up the monotone of colors, along with a dark wood cherry doors that she knew were extremely heavy.
"Lesatan!" She called her brother's name as she entered the hall.
The table was U shaped in nature with the same dark cherry wood that the doors were made from. A fire burned in front of them with a whole pig turning on the spit. The room smelled of delicious foods that Lenore hadn't eaten since she arrived at Apisarn three years ago.
Lesatan sat at the middle of the table with the others of the royal party gathered around him. There was other tables in the large dining hall for those that were not welcomed at the Prince's table.
Krius was the first to acknowledge the Princess. "Milady, please sit, join us for this meal."
"I have come to parley." Lenore ignored the adviser and only looked toward her brother.
Enoch sat next to the Prince with his mouth open, which was usual for him since he seemed unable to close it. Armand on the other hand sat beside Enoch, and crossed his arms and leaned against the table. He looked interested in this new development.
"What?" Was Lesatan's response.
"I said I have come to parley." She repeated.
"Parley? What do you mean?" He lifted his eyebrow hesitant to do anything that his sister wanted. This had to be a trick of some sort to undermine him.
"You don't know what parley means? It's negotiations between two enemy parties under a truce."
"I know what parley means." Lesatan snapped, annoyed by the accusation that he didn't understand such a simple word. "I want to know what it means when you say it."
"I wish to negotiate under a truce. I feel like we are talking in circles right now. Come hear me out away from prying ears." She motioned for her brother to follow her.
Lesatan looked at his advisers to get their reactions.
"I'm curious." Armand stood up and exited through the door the Princess had.
"It can't hurt to hear her out." Krius remained at his Prince's side to see what he decided.
Enoch nodded, "I agree."
With a deep breath, Lesatan stood from his chair. "Everyone return to your meals. This will take only a moment."
"Looks as though Santh won't have a conversation partner this meal." Remus teased as he sat down beside his friend.
Santh ignored him as Anton and Routine joined them for their meal. The dining hall went from silence to pure noise anarchy as the students made their way in. It was always like this at the noon meal. Breakfast and dinner were always so quiet, but this second meal seemed to bring all the students to life.
"It seems Lenore will not be joining us." Routine informed everyone. "We shared our last class together, and she informed me as such."
Remus seemed surprised by that omission. "She told you? She never tells anyone when she comes and goes." Of course, no one but Remus. He always knew when she had a package to deliver, which is why it surprised him that Lenore was not at this meal.
A shrug of the shoulders, and it seemed Routine was not concerned any longer. Santh on the other hand couldn't take his eyes off the empty seat. He was angry when she did appear and angry when she didn't.
Ophelia and Jolon entered the hall after having a class together. They took their seats and Ophelia rearranged the Princess' plates in a manner that she thought she had witnessed Lenore arrange them that morning.
"We saw Lenore heading for the Royal Dorms." Jolon told everyone.
"Jolon," Ophelia quickly turned her head to look at him. "you shouldn't tell everyone her business."
"Why was she going there?" Remus wondered out loud.
Anton sat quietly as he was exhausted from the night before, and once he had been awaken he couldn't get back to sleep.
Jolon shrugged. "We called out to her, but she just kept marching on. We tried to catch up, but once she got to the dorms, the Mondues wouldn't let us in."
Santh snorted. "I knew she was just toying with us. It makes a lot of sense now. She eats at the Royal Dorms while we get points taken away. The whole thing with her brother is merely an act."
Ophelia frowned, she didn't want to stand up against Santh, but she felt Lenore was being unjustly accused. "You don't have to be here." She snapped.
Turning his attention from Remus, he looked at her. "What?"
"You are a Mondue. You can always go back to your own quarters, and even though Remus is part of the Commoner Class, he has been invited to join even the Royal Dorms. The two of you can leave whenever you want. So, can Routine, but he doesn't seem to complain." She crossed her arms. "Even I can go back to the girls' dorm. It seems that only Anton and Jolon have any real room to complain."
"It's not about whether I can leave, it's about how inconsiderate she is. Dorm mates do not treat each other in this manner."
Ophelia shrugged one shoulder. "So take control of your fate and go back to your own dorm. You complain too much."
Santh couldn't respond to the girl as the professors had begun to read the word of wisdom, but he couldn't help but turn his glare from Lenore's pillow to Ophelia. She sat ignorant of his eyes upon her as she happily listened to the professors.
Remus also looked at the girl, but his was with a smirk on his lips. He was starting to like this one and not just for the profit he could make on her mother's wares. She seemed like a wilting flower, but the more she talked the more she seemed that she could match even the Princess' tenacity. Though he wondered why the girl seemed such a loyal subject to the dear Princess. Was she angling to get a friend in a high place or did she just genuinely see something in Lenore that no one else did?
Entering the Prince's study, he walked behind his desk and sat down. A servant brought in lunch for both him, the advisers who were sitting in chairs in front of the desk, and Lenore who had chosen to stand. She waved the meal away but Lesatan motioned for them to leave the food next to her.
"Eat, sister. You have become lanky since moving into that commoner dorm." Lesatan began to eat the pork that had been pulled from the pig on the spit.
Standing next to a waist high sofa table made from the same dark cherry wood she had seen every where else in the dorm, she stared down at the food. Even the vegetables looked better than what she had become used to eating. For a brief moment, she thought it wouldn't hurt to eat one meal here, but pulled herself back. She didn't suffer for three years to just give in now for a slab of dead pig.
Walking away from the food, Lenore folded her arms across her chest. The advisers ate their meals with forks in their laps, while Lesatan used his desk. In the regular dining hall, most food was eaten by hand and only soup and occasionally fruits brought silverware.
"I would like your assistance in cleaning up the girl's dorm." She began and watched as her brother looked sideways at her as if she had just told him she was a purple serpent. "It's akin to a brothel at this point, Les."
Tossing his fork down, Lesatan put his hands on both sides of his plate and stretch backwards into his chair. He took a deep breath. "I could not care less what happens in that dorm. It is full of merely wombs used to bring forth the next generation."
"And your future wife could be in there right now as we speak."
"Not likely," Enoch spoke, "everyone's at lunch."
Both brother and sister brought their brows together and pierced the adviser with their eyes.
"What?" Enoch asked when Armand smacked his shoulder.
"She wasn't speaking literately, idiot." Lesatan snapped and then turned his attention back to his sister. "And what if she is?"
"If she is, then she is involving herself with a great deal of rule breaking and having men sleep over in her dorm. She is having parties late at night where they torture and molest the weakest of them. Need I go on?" Lenore dropped her arms to her side. "That place is a mockery of everything that this university stands for."
He tapped his fingers on his gold lined desk. "And why do you suddenly care?"
"My reasons are of my concern. You should think of the woman that will rule beside you someday. Do you want others of the royal party or of any other party to know of the horrors she may have committed in that dorm? That are allowed to be committed!"
"Wait. You go too far. My wife would be in the royal dorms." Lesatan snickered.
Enoch and Krius chuckled along side him while they looked up at the Princess. Armand seemed less impressed by what the Prince thought was a moment he had caught his sister in a bad debate topic.
Lenore raised an eyebrow, "It's not uncommon for the king to marry outside the Royal Party, your own mother was a Mondue."
The look of humor left her brother's face. Armand tried not to grin at the Princess' retort. "And if I choose not to help in this endeavor."
"There are those I can go to, those above you that I can petition for a change, but I thought you would like this opportunity to show our father you are capable of rule. Right now, I am playing the part of your adviser as you have always wanted. All you need to do is ask yourself, do you want to be the pinnacle of a permanent change to this university? One that makes the females that come here take their two years here seriously, and not just as a chance to find a suitor." Lenore walked around the desk as she talked and sat down on it to look down at her brother.
Lesatan leaned back in his chair and stared up into his sister's eyes. He tapped the tips of his fingers together as he took a moment to think. "And you will remain at my side for this boon?"
"No." She said flatly.
"Then why would I agree to this, other than peace of mind over a wife that has not even been considered yet?" He leaned forward so his face was closer to her own.
"Other than respect from our father, you wish something from me?" She watched him nod. "Very well, I will be polite to you in public, and when I am summoned I will come... within reason."
Leaning back, Lesatan looked to his other advisers who all nodded their heads. "Alright, what is the best course of action in this situation?"
Lenore stood up. "I want a strict house mother put into place. Nightly bed room checks, everything has to be in order, no hair or blanket out of place. Also, guards put in place to protect our precious little cargo from being bothered at night... or sneaking out. However, before that you must make this look legitimate and get the other students on your side."
"And how do I accomplish that?"
She leaned in close to his ear, "A raid." Pulling back, she smiled as did her brother.
Lenore found her way to the shed that she always met with Remus to find out what tasks she would need to accomplish that night. She found her delicately featured master leaning against the shed and looking over the latest lust book that she had brought him days before.
"Do you think that would even be possible?" He held up one of the pornographic prints for her to see.
Lenore didn't bother to look and merely shoved the book away from her face. "The kid grows up in the brothel, I'm sure he's seen quite a lot in his time. Now, what do you need done tonight?"
Remus looked over the print one more time before hiding it in the pocket of his tabard. "We have an issue that needs to be solved immediately." He watched her raise an eyebrow, "Your brother summoned me to his quarters the other night. Normally, there is nothing strange about him wanting to butter me up, however he wanted to speak of you."
"Of me?" She used her whole hand to point to her chest. "What of me?"
He seemed to contemplate his wording before speaking. "It would seem your dear brother has taken an interest once again in your late night activities. I believe he may fear you are looking to take his throne... which I assume is untrue, correct? Because if it were..." He paused for a moment, "I certainly have wasted a great deal of my time trying to curry favor with your brother."
Lenore folded her arms across her chest and frowned deeply. "If I were trying to take the throne would I tell someone who would only use it to benefit his pocketbook?"
"Fair enough. Anyway, if your brother were to find out that you were running errands for the Fox, I doubt he would look highly upon my venture. He would take it as a great insult that his Princess sister were doing meager work while spending her evenings watching whores work their craft at the drinking den. Not that he doesn't know the latter already, but at least at this point it is you simply rebelling against your betters." Remus tapped his chin for a moment as he thought over the situation. "So, we need a way to appease him that you are not acting against him and it also needs to protect my 'business deals' so to speak."
The two fell quiet for a moment as they each thought over their choices. Remus began to pace back and forth while the Princess' icy stare followed him. He was used to such a look as he knew it didn't come with any emotion, as most people thought. Instead, the Princess just had a bone chilling glare that cut through any man's defenses.
"How about we tell him that I have taken a lover?" Lenore suggested.
He thought for a moment and then gave a nod. "Excellent. You are going out to drink with some strange man and coming home in the wee hours of the morning after a lustful night together." He snapped his fingers. "Therefore, you are only not working for the fox, but your brother's worries will be subsided."
"My brother will ask questions though. He won't just be satisfied with that. He'll want to know who I am seeing and if they are worthy of being a Princess' consort."
Licking his bottom lip, he took a couple more moments. "For the time being, we can just tell him that it's hard to pinpoint the man because the two of you are crafty enough to escape the spies. After which, I will be able to further formulate the deception with you."
"You are going to enjoy this, aren't you?"
Remus smirked. "Do you really know me so well? Perhaps, your lover should simply be me both in our fairy tale and in reality."
Lenore didn't look amused by his jest. "My brother wouldn't see you as worthy. You may be the second son of the Merchant Guild leader, but no matter how much you people lie to yourselves you are still in the Commoner Class."
"You wound me." He playfully put his hand over his chest and fainted against the shed before jumping straight up with a grin. "Very well, this information will hold him off for now. As for tonight's activities, here you go. Ensure you burn that after you read it. Now I must get to dinner."
Lenore took the scroll and watched him disappear toward the main court. She took a deep breath before opening the orders in her hand. Part of her wondered exactly what she was doing and why.
---***---
"I wonder why Ophelia didn't come to dinner." Jolon asked out loud as the group walked back toward the dorm.
It had been strange for her not to arrive to pick them up or offer a small dessert after the meal. Even Santh had made a comment about the lack of over sweetened cheeriness not surrounding them on their way to the dining hall. She was lacking on the walk back as well. All of them were so concerned about why she hadn't arrived that no one talked about why Lenore wasn't there. Of course, they were used to her coming and going as she pleased, but normally it was all they talked about since Santh enjoyed seething over it.
"I wish Lenore was here." Anton said allowed and all eyes turned to him as if to ask if he had lost his mind. "Because she can go to the girls' dorm and see if Ophelia is alright." He explained himself quickly.
The others seemed satisfied with that answer.
"Is the South Dorm the only male and female merged dorm?" Jolon asked.
"All other dorms, but the female dorms and Royal Dorms are for men only. The Royal Dorm is broken up into floors for genders however." Routine explained. "Even the South Dorm is meant for only the male gender, however that rule is overlooked when female commoners arrive and find themselves not welcomed in the female dorms."
"And none of us can go to check on Ophelia during this time of night?" Jolon continued his questioning.
"Males are never allowed in the girls' dorms." Santh was the one to answer. "I'm sure she is alright. We haven't heard of anything happening to her and normally the dining hall would be full of gossip like that."
As they approached the dorm, Jolon and Anton had hoped that Ophelia would be there waiting for them, but the area was dark. No torches or candles had been lit in the back dorm room. Even Santh and Remus look slightly disappointed as they entered their own room together.
Anton followed Jolon into his room as he knew Routine would want to study, while Anton wanted to enjoy his friends' company. Sitting down on the floor next to Jolon, he pressed his lips together.
"So, we have our rest day the day after next. What is normally done on that day?" Anton asked.
Remus was laying on his bed and took a deep breath before answering. "Let's see, Santh goes drinking all day. Routine studies. Lenore disappears completely. All the while, I do this thing called resting."
"None of you spend your time together?" Jolon looked confused briefly.
"We spend all our time together during the week minus classes, it's nice to have time away from one another." Remus rolled over onto his side to look at them while Santh took off his shirt as he prepped himself for bed.
Jolon turned toward Anton and grinned, "You want to explore the hamlet with me then?"
"Of course."
"You two will get tired of each other eventually." Remus warned before he turned over again so that his back was facing everyone.
---***---
Lenore entered through the East gate that evening. She had been given a long list of errands to run that night and hadn't been able to drink as much as she normally did. The Mondue guards were always surprised to see her walk onto school grounds under her own power, and this was twice in one week.
As she walked near the girls' dorm, she felt her stomach beginning to turn and she quickly found herself a bush to vomit in. Once she had emptied the contents of her stomach, she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.
"I knew those damn pickled onions were sour." She mumbled to herself and began to stagger toward her dorm. "She swore they were fine, but I knew they tasted..." Her words trailed off as she heard the sounds of laughter in the distance coming from the girls' dorm. "Tonight isn't rest day, is it?" She thought out loud and then began to count the days on her finger tips, if it was their rest day she was going to go back out to drink some more. When she counted the days over four times, she knew that it wasn't and decided to investigate what was going on.
As she got closer to the lights of the dorm, she could see through the leaves of the trees and bushes that some of the girls were breaking curfew and were enjoying what looked to be mead that Ophelia often brought to the unmentionables' dorm. Lenore continued to walk forward interested in what was bringing on this obvious rejection of the rules. Normally only she had the nerve to break them so willingly.
She had to walk through some bushes that hid the back area of the girls' dorm. The large gray stone building was to her left and the wall made from the same material was to her right. The girls were dancing and there were some boys in the mixture even though no music played, though she assumed that music would only bring the authorities around. Either that or no one here could play an instrument.
The closer she got the more she wondered what brought this on, as she often entered through the East Gate and had never seen this behavior before.
A dark haired girl tripped over her own feet and stumbled directly into Lenore. The Princess helped her to stand before questioning her. "What's going on here?"
The dark haired beauty looked up at her Princess in horror after recognizing the voice. "Uh, I didn't do any of it. I just came for the mead." The girl defended herself.
Lenore followed the girl's line of sight and immediately became enraged. Hanging from a pole in the back was a topless Ophelia who looked like she was so exhausted from crying that she no longer had the urge to fight.
Surveying the area, she noticed a group playing a card game nearby. One of the boys won and he stood up, "Ok, Ophelia, what do you want? A rotten orange to the head or to lose your pants?" The boy taunted her by showing her the orange and placing his fingers on the cloth belt that kept her pants up.
Ophelia looked defeated and simply glared at him, no longer wanting to give him any pleasure in this.
"You did this to yourself, Ophelia. Hiding behind the Princess, you knew you would be punished eventually!" One of the girls in the card game yelled.
"Bring her down, immediately!" Lenore screamed from across the yard.
Everyone stood up to greet the Princess who was stomping toward them. The boy who was taunting Ophelia began to untie her. Lenore yanked a cloak that one of the girls was wearing off and threw it around the nude girl who was allowed to just fall to the ground.
Looking up at her rescuer, Ophelia grinned. "Lenore." She mumbled. "Lenore, my arms hurt."
"After hanging like that, I wonder why. Stupid girl, why didn't you fight them off?" She helped the girl up and then looked at the boys in the area. "Go up to Ophelia's room, get everything that belongs to her and bring it to the South Dorm right now. She better not tell me tomorrow that anything is missing or broken."
When the boys rushed into the girls' dorm defiant of the rules, Lenore turned to the girls who were playing the card game. "I will remember all your faces, and you won't be completing your two years here." She threatened before helping Ophelia out of the back yard of the girls' dorm and toward what would be her new home.
---***---
Santh's eyes slowly opened to the dark room as he heard the sound of movement outside his dorm door. There was a faint light of the court torches which meant someone had lit them, and he could see shadows through the paper lining of his door.
Looking across the room, he found Remus was sitting up and rubbing his eyes. It always took the man a couple moments to return to reality when he first awoke. Jolon was already off the top bunk and in the center of the floor in his pajamas.
"What's going on?" Jolon whispered.
The bare chested Santh threw his blanket off, and stood next to his dorm mate. The shadows looked like they were carrying boxes as well as other items.
"Are they taking Ophelia's merchandise?" Remus asked his question quietly.
Walking over to the door, Santh shoved the sliding door open and looked at a male Souchan who was carrying a wooden shipping box with several familiar items that he knew belonged to Ophelia. "What are you doing?" Santh yanked the box out of his arms. It was heavier then expected and fell to the floor.
"The Princess, she..."
At this point, Anton opened the sliding door in his own room with Routine standing behind him. The sound of Santh's voice had made them comfortable enough to open the doors.
From down the dorm hall, Lenore appeared from the abandoned dorm room. "Who broke something?" She snapped and then looked down the hall at the Souchan.
Santh grumbled under his breath that he knew this had to do with that Princess somehow.
"He shoved it from my arms, Princess. It wasn't done on purpose." He informed her as others tried to walk passed him to get to the back room before making their way back to the dorm to retrieve the rest of Ophelia's items.
"What is the meaning of this? You are stealing from Ophelia now?" Santh crossed his arms and glared down at the woman who jumped over the items on the ground to stand before him.
Lenore chuckled bitterly, "Stealing... from Ophelia?"
Remus came to stand next the bare chested man, "Santh, the items are going into the room not out."
Santh's accusing look did not change, but Lenore ignored him and looked to the Souchan who was waiting in horror at what would happen to him. He didn't know what was worse Santh's wrath or the Princess'.
"Clean this up." She ordered him before heading back down the hallway into the back dorm room.
The dorm mates followed. Santh was the first the arrive at the door and immediately his anger melted. Jolon and Anton shoved their way into the room to kneel at the side of Ophelia who was bruised, wet, and shivering on the floor. She was wearing clothes that had been brought over, and the Princess had helped wash the rotten fruit from her body. Lenore had then brought her to the room to apply some salves to her wounds.
"What happened Ophelia?" Anton asked grabbing her hand.
Ophelia embarrassed by what had occurred looked to Lenore for how to answer.
"None of your business." Lenore snapped. "She will be living here from now on and that's final."
Remus appeared in the room with an extra blanket and wrapped it around her. "If she moves in then the rules state she can't have a room to her own. You'll have to be her bunk mate, Lenore."
Suddenly this idea seemed like a bad one, "Why me?"
"You are the only female among us. Seems fitting that you two share a dorm, doesn't it?" Remus looked over the girl's face as he talked.
Ophelia didn't like it when he reached out his hand to touch her and jerked away, shoving her face into Lenore's shoulder. She wrapped her arm around the scared girl and looked at the men in the room. "Byron, would you mind bringing me my bedding?"
Routine was standing in the hallway looking in beside Santh and was about to nod when Anton jumped to his feet and ran from the room. "I'll do it."
Santh stood quietly and took in the entire scene. He watched as Lenore comforted the girl who just yesterday had seemed below her notice. He thought of all the spoiled Princess acts that Lenore had done to this entire dorm, but for a moment he thought to himself that she didn't seem like the woman he had always believed her to be.
---***---
Santh had sat down on the stairs and listened to Lenore hum a lullaby for her injured dorm mate. He wasn't entirely certain when the two girls had become friends enough for the Princess to be her caretaker. She never seemed very interested in having any sort of human relationship before.
Drinking from one of the mead bottles, he tried to stay awake until the candle lights in their room went out. He had promised the scared Ophelia that he would guard her room for a while to make her feel safe. What had happened to her remained a mystery to the entire group, but it was obvious that the girls weren't going to talk about it.
Morning would arrive soon and the campus was quiet. The way he sat was facing the woods and he could hear the creak nearby. The night air was crisp and everything was covered in dew. If it hadn't been for the whimpering cries of the girl in the dorm next to him, it would have been a beautiful night.
The door next to him opened and Lenore stepped outside. "It took a while, but she's finally asleep." She closed the sliding door and sat down next to Santh, who seemed surprised that she was going to keep him company. However, she reached toward his hand and grabbed the bottle of mead to chug down the remaining amount.
Of course, she wanted the alcohol. He had thought to himself. "Is she alright?"
"She will be." She put the empty bottle on the stairs. "You could have at least put on a shirt."
He ignored her comment. "How... I mean why... I am not sure what I should ask here to get answers from you about the two of you ending up like this."
Lenore opened the sliding door on the opposite side of the hallway and grabbed a bottle of mead that was laying near it. She opened it and took another drink. "What do you mean?" She finally spoke.
"I didn't realize that the two of you were friends."
"We aren't." She took another big gulp and then offered the bottle to him.
Santh took a swig from it, and then let it dangle from his hand in front of his knees.
"I was coming in through the East Gate when I saw her being picked on." Lenore added. "No one should have to go through that sort of humiliation for any reason."
He looked over at the fair skinned red head beside him as she looked out over the woods. He was certain she reeked of alcohol and vomit as it was her evening perfume. "Why bring her here?"
"Seems like the girls' dorm is a pretty violent place. Besides, now I won't have to change behind that cramped curtain anymore." Lenore held out her hand for the bottle, but Santh did not hand it over to her.
"Don't you think you should get some sleep? We have to wake up for classes in a couple hours."
"Says the man that is drinking right beside me." She reached for it again, but he pulled it out of her reach. Lenore sat back and looked up at the man beside her. "Why, Santh, are you trying to look out for my well being? I just knew you cared." With that she winked.
The soft look on his face faded, and he set the bottle down between them. "Get yourself so drunk that you will pass out during classes. It is none of my concern." He stood up and quickly made his way back to his dorm room.
Laying down on the bed on his back, he used his own arm to prop his head up. "Evil woman."
"More evidence for my case." Remus turned over and looked at the man across the room.
With that Santh glared at him briefly before turning his back to the man, "Go to sleep."
---***---
Ophelia yawned as she opened her eyes. At first, she couldn't remember where she was, but the memories soon came back to her. The dorm room was dark with graying wood for walls and floor. It looked nothing like the room she used to sleep in, but it felt safe. There would be no more bugs in her bed, at least not purposely placed ones. No more waking up fearing that someone would cut her hair or urinate on her while she slept. She could finally sleep at night. That made moving into the unmentionables' dorm worth it, and she wondered why she hadn't thought of it before.
Sitting up quickly, she clasped her hands together. "I get to eat meals with my friends now!"
Quickly she jumped out of bed with a smile on her face. She turned to the single bed that Lenore had claimed, while she slept on the bottom bunk, but the bed was empty. The smell of butter cream was the only thing that told her that her dorm mate had been there.
Getting dressed, she hurried outside to stand in line with the boys. "Morning!" She chimed.
Everyone held worry in their eyes when she came out, but Ophelia wasn't going to let last night keep her down. She had been picked on before and she never allowed it to bleed into the next day.
"Morning. Are you feeling well enough to go to class?" Jolon asked.
"Yes! Never been better." She grinned and then looked at the Mondues that were coming down the path. "Thanks for letting me move in here." She said to her new dorm mates.
The Mondues began to take roll call, and then looked at Ophelia. "And who are you?"
"Ophelia Romanus, I moved here from the girls' dorm."
The Mondue frowned, "You did not go through the proper channels, and will therefore lose points for not appearing at the proper area this morning."
"The Princess gave this command." Remus interrupted.
There was a moment of silence, before the Mondue spoke. "Very well, but get the paper work filled out before lights out tonight."
Before they left the Mondue offered Remus a paper which he already knew was a chore list and everyone began to wash themselves, Ophelia began humming the lullaby that Lenore had hummed the night before. "Lenore is really nice." She spoke her thought out loud. "I always told you guys that she wasn't as bad as you thought."
"Oh yeah, then why isn't she here for roll call?" Santh asked her.
"Looks like we are scrubbing pots tomorrow morning." Remus tossed the paper aside and began to clean himself.
"What?" Anton seemed confused.
"This was explained to you previously. Though Lenore does not lose points for not appearing at meals and roll call, the dorm is punished for her crimes." Routine was washing his feet as he talked. "Therefore, we are given tasks to accomplish that lighten the load of the servants."
"But..." He looked to Remus and Santh, "I thought you said that you guys drink and relax and Routine studies. That..."
Routine interrupted. "My name is Byron not Routine."
"That's in the evening. We are otherwise indisposed during the mornings." Remus answered and then looked toward Santh who snorted.
"Now, you know why I dislike her so much. She doesn't even care that we are punished for her childish behavior. She isn't our friend, no matter how much some of you would like to believe it." His eyes fell upon Routine and then to Ophelia.
Pressing her lips together, she thought for a moment. "Have you asked her to stop? Nicely, I mean. What about telling her about how our day off is ruined because..."
"She doesn't care." Santh told her with annoyance in his voice. "The Princess cares only about the Princess. No one else."
Ophelia frowned in disappointment. "I don't think she only cares about herself."
Throwing his towel down, Santh jumped off the platform. "Keep being delusional then. You live here now, you'll see for yourself. Reality will crash down upon you, and we will see how long you can keep saying she is nice." With that he walked down the path.
"He only gets chatty when talking about Lenore." Jolon commented with a smirk.
The others giggled, except for Ophelia, who was upset that she had angered the man that made her own heart flutter.
---***---
Sitting at the table, when Santh entered, was the Princess. She had pulled her normally curly hair into a bun and she looked like she had a rough night's sleep. He grinned to himself. Happy that his warnings the previous night had actual consequences for her. Sitting down at the table, he watched as she picked at a piece of bread in front of her.
The meal that morning was a hearty potato soup with bread and vegetables. It gave Santh an idea. "Looks a great deal like vomit, doesn't it?"
Lenore looked at her soup and then turned her gaze to Santh. "I am not withdrawing from alcohol. I started my monthly cycle this morning, and the cramps are simply terrible."
"If you think to tell me that to disgust me then I am afraid you will be disappointed. I have long ago accepted the monthly cycle as a part of nature." He smirked happily to himself.
"I wasn't telling you that to gross you out, but to let you know what I will be unavailable for pleasures of the flesh for the next few days." Lenore blew a kiss to him and watched as the smirk melted from his face. The dining hall was filling up with several people that looked Lenore's way, and seemed to give her looks of apology as they walked by.
"You play a dangerous game. What if I were to take these jests seriously and ravish you one night?"
"I would let you." She winked as the others came to the table.
"The two love birds are meeting early today." Remus took his seat next to his friend with Routine sitting beside him.
Anton and Jolon took their normal positions, and then all eyes turned to Ophelia. She seemed uncertain where she should be sitting.
"Scoot over, Annie. My room mate should sit next to me during meals." Lenore shoved him in the shoulder.
Ophelia looked relieved though she also felt some disappointment at not being able to sit next to Santh. Though, this way she could look at him from across the table even though it was Remus who was sitting directly across from her.
Sitting down on the pillow, Ophelia smiled at Lenore who didn't seem to offer her any greeting at all. In fact, it seemed that with that kind gesture Lenore was all but done with the girl for the morning. "You smell nice. Like cake."
"I know." Lenore began to eat her soup.
"You aren't suppose to eat until after the words of wisdom." The younger girl informed her.
"I know." She continued the eat anyway.
This cause Santh's nostrils to flare, but he decided that he would remain quiet. He didn't need Lenore to say something else to cast doubt on the group about his hatred for her.
Ophelia looked toward Santh, who gave her his best, "I told you so." shrug.
Once the words of wisdom were read, Lenore was done with her meal and removed her plates from the table as she walked out. The others had only begun their meal.
"She is in a cranky mood today." Ophelia frowned.
Routine looked up from his meal. "Lenore will be entering her monthly cycle and is known to be more curt than usual during this time. Also, due to the fact that her brother interrupted the meal not long ago, she has decided she will eat her meals quickly and leave, as to not disturb the rest of us."
The little brunette's frown turned into a grin. "Oh, that's nice of her. She's very thoughtful."
Santh could not believe that this girl was so taken in by the Princess. "It's won't be when you have to scrub pots come tomorrow."
Anton was slightly annoyed by this news and was barely able to look at Lenore when he arrived. "Do we really have to do chores because she doesn't show up to roll call?"
"All dorms get punished together. Well, the bigger dorms go by floors, but ours is small enough that it's the entire dorm." Remus explained. "Don't worry, you'll get used to it. I mean, it's become part of the routine, hasn't it, Routine?"
"My name is Byron, not Routine." The spectacled man continued to eat.
"Three years and not a rest day goes by that I don't seethe hate for that woman." Santh snapped.
"Not a day goes by that you don't seethe your undying lust for her either." Remus retorted, which caused the annoyed to all chuckle.
Santh did not find it funny in the least, and quickly gathered his plates to leave.
---***---
Lunch time arrived, but Lenore would not be joining her dorm mates in the dining hall. Instead, she began her march straight for the Royal Dorms, ignoring that Ophelia was calling to her with Jolon standing near by. She wasn't in the mood to explain to them why she was heading toward the building that housed her enemy.
Once inside the lavishly designed halls, she began to walk to where she knew the dining hall would be. The whole dorm was done in colors of the kingdom which was dark red with gold lining. Pieces of art or house plants broke up the monotone of colors, along with a dark wood cherry doors that she knew were extremely heavy.
"Lesatan!" She called her brother's name as she entered the hall.
The table was U shaped in nature with the same dark cherry wood that the doors were made from. A fire burned in front of them with a whole pig turning on the spit. The room smelled of delicious foods that Lenore hadn't eaten since she arrived at Apisarn three years ago.
Lesatan sat at the middle of the table with the others of the royal party gathered around him. There was other tables in the large dining hall for those that were not welcomed at the Prince's table.
Krius was the first to acknowledge the Princess. "Milady, please sit, join us for this meal."
"I have come to parley." Lenore ignored the adviser and only looked toward her brother.
Enoch sat next to the Prince with his mouth open, which was usual for him since he seemed unable to close it. Armand on the other hand sat beside Enoch, and crossed his arms and leaned against the table. He looked interested in this new development.
"What?" Was Lesatan's response.
"I said I have come to parley." She repeated.
"Parley? What do you mean?" He lifted his eyebrow hesitant to do anything that his sister wanted. This had to be a trick of some sort to undermine him.
"You don't know what parley means? It's negotiations between two enemy parties under a truce."
"I know what parley means." Lesatan snapped, annoyed by the accusation that he didn't understand such a simple word. "I want to know what it means when you say it."
"I wish to negotiate under a truce. I feel like we are talking in circles right now. Come hear me out away from prying ears." She motioned for her brother to follow her.
Lesatan looked at his advisers to get their reactions.
"I'm curious." Armand stood up and exited through the door the Princess had.
"It can't hurt to hear her out." Krius remained at his Prince's side to see what he decided.
Enoch nodded, "I agree."
With a deep breath, Lesatan stood from his chair. "Everyone return to your meals. This will take only a moment."
---***---
"Looks as though Santh won't have a conversation partner this meal." Remus teased as he sat down beside his friend.
Santh ignored him as Anton and Routine joined them for their meal. The dining hall went from silence to pure noise anarchy as the students made their way in. It was always like this at the noon meal. Breakfast and dinner were always so quiet, but this second meal seemed to bring all the students to life.
"It seems Lenore will not be joining us." Routine informed everyone. "We shared our last class together, and she informed me as such."
Remus seemed surprised by that omission. "She told you? She never tells anyone when she comes and goes." Of course, no one but Remus. He always knew when she had a package to deliver, which is why it surprised him that Lenore was not at this meal.
A shrug of the shoulders, and it seemed Routine was not concerned any longer. Santh on the other hand couldn't take his eyes off the empty seat. He was angry when she did appear and angry when she didn't.
Ophelia and Jolon entered the hall after having a class together. They took their seats and Ophelia rearranged the Princess' plates in a manner that she thought she had witnessed Lenore arrange them that morning.
"We saw Lenore heading for the Royal Dorms." Jolon told everyone.
"Jolon," Ophelia quickly turned her head to look at him. "you shouldn't tell everyone her business."
"Why was she going there?" Remus wondered out loud.
Anton sat quietly as he was exhausted from the night before, and once he had been awaken he couldn't get back to sleep.
Jolon shrugged. "We called out to her, but she just kept marching on. We tried to catch up, but once she got to the dorms, the Mondues wouldn't let us in."
Santh snorted. "I knew she was just toying with us. It makes a lot of sense now. She eats at the Royal Dorms while we get points taken away. The whole thing with her brother is merely an act."
Ophelia frowned, she didn't want to stand up against Santh, but she felt Lenore was being unjustly accused. "You don't have to be here." She snapped.
Turning his attention from Remus, he looked at her. "What?"
"You are a Mondue. You can always go back to your own quarters, and even though Remus is part of the Commoner Class, he has been invited to join even the Royal Dorms. The two of you can leave whenever you want. So, can Routine, but he doesn't seem to complain." She crossed her arms. "Even I can go back to the girls' dorm. It seems that only Anton and Jolon have any real room to complain."
"It's not about whether I can leave, it's about how inconsiderate she is. Dorm mates do not treat each other in this manner."
Ophelia shrugged one shoulder. "So take control of your fate and go back to your own dorm. You complain too much."
Santh couldn't respond to the girl as the professors had begun to read the word of wisdom, but he couldn't help but turn his glare from Lenore's pillow to Ophelia. She sat ignorant of his eyes upon her as she happily listened to the professors.
Remus also looked at the girl, but his was with a smirk on his lips. He was starting to like this one and not just for the profit he could make on her mother's wares. She seemed like a wilting flower, but the more she talked the more she seemed that she could match even the Princess' tenacity. Though he wondered why the girl seemed such a loyal subject to the dear Princess. Was she angling to get a friend in a high place or did she just genuinely see something in Lenore that no one else did?
---***---
Entering the Prince's study, he walked behind his desk and sat down. A servant brought in lunch for both him, the advisers who were sitting in chairs in front of the desk, and Lenore who had chosen to stand. She waved the meal away but Lesatan motioned for them to leave the food next to her.
"Eat, sister. You have become lanky since moving into that commoner dorm." Lesatan began to eat the pork that had been pulled from the pig on the spit.
Standing next to a waist high sofa table made from the same dark cherry wood she had seen every where else in the dorm, she stared down at the food. Even the vegetables looked better than what she had become used to eating. For a brief moment, she thought it wouldn't hurt to eat one meal here, but pulled herself back. She didn't suffer for three years to just give in now for a slab of dead pig.
Walking away from the food, Lenore folded her arms across her chest. The advisers ate their meals with forks in their laps, while Lesatan used his desk. In the regular dining hall, most food was eaten by hand and only soup and occasionally fruits brought silverware.
"I would like your assistance in cleaning up the girl's dorm." She began and watched as her brother looked sideways at her as if she had just told him she was a purple serpent. "It's akin to a brothel at this point, Les."
Tossing his fork down, Lesatan put his hands on both sides of his plate and stretch backwards into his chair. He took a deep breath. "I could not care less what happens in that dorm. It is full of merely wombs used to bring forth the next generation."
"And your future wife could be in there right now as we speak."
"Not likely," Enoch spoke, "everyone's at lunch."
Both brother and sister brought their brows together and pierced the adviser with their eyes.
"What?" Enoch asked when Armand smacked his shoulder.
"She wasn't speaking literately, idiot." Lesatan snapped and then turned his attention back to his sister. "And what if she is?"
"If she is, then she is involving herself with a great deal of rule breaking and having men sleep over in her dorm. She is having parties late at night where they torture and molest the weakest of them. Need I go on?" Lenore dropped her arms to her side. "That place is a mockery of everything that this university stands for."
He tapped his fingers on his gold lined desk. "And why do you suddenly care?"
"My reasons are of my concern. You should think of the woman that will rule beside you someday. Do you want others of the royal party or of any other party to know of the horrors she may have committed in that dorm? That are allowed to be committed!"
"Wait. You go too far. My wife would be in the royal dorms." Lesatan snickered.
Enoch and Krius chuckled along side him while they looked up at the Princess. Armand seemed less impressed by what the Prince thought was a moment he had caught his sister in a bad debate topic.
Lenore raised an eyebrow, "It's not uncommon for the king to marry outside the Royal Party, your own mother was a Mondue."
The look of humor left her brother's face. Armand tried not to grin at the Princess' retort. "And if I choose not to help in this endeavor."
"There are those I can go to, those above you that I can petition for a change, but I thought you would like this opportunity to show our father you are capable of rule. Right now, I am playing the part of your adviser as you have always wanted. All you need to do is ask yourself, do you want to be the pinnacle of a permanent change to this university? One that makes the females that come here take their two years here seriously, and not just as a chance to find a suitor." Lenore walked around the desk as she talked and sat down on it to look down at her brother.
Lesatan leaned back in his chair and stared up into his sister's eyes. He tapped the tips of his fingers together as he took a moment to think. "And you will remain at my side for this boon?"
"No." She said flatly.
"Then why would I agree to this, other than peace of mind over a wife that has not even been considered yet?" He leaned forward so his face was closer to her own.
"Other than respect from our father, you wish something from me?" She watched him nod. "Very well, I will be polite to you in public, and when I am summoned I will come... within reason."
Leaning back, Lesatan looked to his other advisers who all nodded their heads. "Alright, what is the best course of action in this situation?"
Lenore stood up. "I want a strict house mother put into place. Nightly bed room checks, everything has to be in order, no hair or blanket out of place. Also, guards put in place to protect our precious little cargo from being bothered at night... or sneaking out. However, before that you must make this look legitimate and get the other students on your side."
"And how do I accomplish that?"
She leaned in close to his ear, "A raid." Pulling back, she smiled as did her brother.