Arillia by Illuminati Architect

Chapter Three, The Wildwoman

When I awoke on Friday, 4th Nodwin, 22nd year of Peter III, I found that Carnel had kicked the covers off us and had her arm over (but thankfully not in) my clothing. It was time to wean her out of my nest, but if her preferences matched my own, that wouldn’t be a problem. However, I still had no idea what she saw in myself. Best to put it to the test.

I lifted Carnel’s arm and flipped her onto her back.

Her eyes opened. “Good morning, Sister.”

“Good morning, Carnel. Now, while I’m very proud of what you’ve learned, the very first rule of wizardry is to never ever cast with the last of your strength. It’s always better to remain awake and be able to at least feebly hold up a dagger rather than surrender to fates unknown.”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t know how to fight with a dagger.”

“So let’s fix that. But first, go take a bath.”

“Okay, I’ll start the tub, then you can join me.”

Oh ho?

Carnel opened the door to the bath and then stopped. “Sister, there’s a woman in your bathroom.”

“That’s Dame Elizabeth, your martial arts tutor.” I saw that Elizabeth had quickly wrapped a towel around herself, but this barely covered half her breasts to the very top of her thighs.

“My what?”

“Don’t you want to continue on your tutelage? I have so much more to teach you.”

“But…”

“And despite what some people say, I don’t know everything. So you’ll need tutors for various subjects. Just give Elizabeth a try for me, please?”

“Okay.”

“If you’ll excuse me, Your Highnesses.”

“Dame Elizabeth, can you assist Princess Carnel in the bath? Make sure she cleans behind her ears.”

“Wow.” Carnel looked up and down Elizabeth’s body. I don’t think she noticed that she was drooling.

“Your Highness?” Elizabeth looked at me.

I pinched my upper arm while nodding at Carnel.

Elizabeth nodded back. “Let’s get those dirty clothes off you, Princess Carnel.”

“Carnel, I’ll have Mary bring a clean set of clothes for you to Dame Elizabeth’s room.” I closed the bathroom door and moved to my dresser.

You’re doing this just off-screen, just to torment me, aren’t you?

“But of course, Greg. It’s all about you.” I whispered back. “Also, I wanted Elizabeth to start with a complete understanding of Carnel’s muscle tone. I want Carnel to see progress from the start but not be injured in the process.”

I gathered a fresh change of clothes and headed towards Carnel’s room to use her bath. “So what is your next quest for me, you freeloader?”

Let’s see. Nobody’s fled the castle, and nobody’s looking for you. That leaves the Wildwoman.

“Sounds like another scantily clad woman for you to ogle.”

Sure, all of your companions in the game are attractive women. That’s what sells games. That you’re so on model about this says more about you than us.

“Very well, where do I find this delectable Wildwoman?”

At Lake Olgan, under the full moon.

“Any full moon, or just the 27th of this month?”

I don’t remember, but this month ought to work.

“I will consider your request.”

After a quick shower and a fumbling change of clothes without looking at my body, I met up with Carnel and Elizabeth on the way to the royal family’s private dining room.

“Big Sister Arillia, did you know that Big Sister Elizabeth was from Nordisle?”

From her appearance, I had suspected as much. The loss of an entire family must have been devastating to that small community. And given what I knew of their religion, if Elizabeth shared my preference for women, she would be especially unwelcome. No wonder she was in no hurry to return. “That’s Dame Elizabeth, Princess Carnel. If we don’t respect protocol, then we surely can’t ask it of anyone else.”

“But you call me just Carnel all the time.”

“Only in private settings between family. I wouldn’t address Mother or Father by those terms in public. Now, please excuse Dame Elizabeth so she can eat breakfast with the other servants.”

“Can I join her there?”

“Only if you promise to behave yourself. You will be an intruder into their space.”

“Okay.”

I watched Carnel lead Elizabeth by the hand, then turned to join my parents.

Once we were alone, I spoke up. “Mother, Father, I have a suggestion.”

When they nodded, I continued. “Duke Glister guards the border pass, but there have been rumors about his loyalty. His elder son Timothy is spoken for, but Simon is not. Let’s propose a betrothal to myself to take effect on his eighteenth birthday.”

“Dear, that’s five years from now. We could be seen to be stalling.”

“Yes, Mother. Hence, we need to offer some public token of our sincerity. Tell them that I shall attend the harvest festival at their estate on Lake Olgan on the 27th.”

“For my little girl to travel so far at such an important time. Let them know that if anything happens to you, then I shall crush them.”

“Yes, Father. In either case, the lingering issue shall be resolved.”

On the way back to my room after breakfast, I considered how Elizabeth’s master had operated freely right outside the city gates. What was the state of our security? I turned around.

What are you up to now?

“Checking something.” I walked up two flights of stairs and knocked on a door.

“Enter.” Then as I did, the man whose office this was bowed his head just enough to satisfy protocol. “Your Highness, what brings you here today?”

Wait, is that Sir Hoofblack, captain of the guard? It’s hard to tell with flesh on his bones. That would normally be a tough fight, but by that time you’ll have the Blade of Wraith.

“Shouldn’t that be wrath?”

“Your Highness?”

No, it’s a haunted saber and the best weapon in the game.

“My apologies, Sir Hoofblack. One of the reasons I wanted to meet with you is to share the secret of my premonitions. Hence, my behavior may seem a bit odd at times.”

“Oh, so just like Lady Mildred?”

How does everybody know about this when it never comes up in the game?

“It seems to be something similar. The second issue is the castle’s defenses and provisioning against siege.”

“I can assure Your Highness that I take great care of these things.”

“Just humor this foolish princess for a few minutes, please. Can you show me your best map of the castle’s defenses?”

“Very well, as Your Highness demands.”

I questioned each of the infiltration routes Greg said I might use, and over the next hour Sir Hoofblack’s confidence in our defenses drained away.

Looking up from the plan of the castle, he stared into my eyes. “Are we, are we about to be attacked? Should I arrange for the immediate evacuation of the royal family?”

“The earliest attack I foresee is next spring, but hopefully, I can prevent that through diplomacy. Now please make a thorough plan over the next week, then present that to the King. You can state this as just your own precaution or bring me in to bulwark your argument as pleases you.”

“Thank the gods and bless Your Highness. Is there anything further I can do for Your Highness?”

“Apparently, I must learn the use of the saber. Which of our guards has the highest skill in the blade?”

“That would be myself, Your Highness. I would consider it an honor and my duty to train Your Highness in self-defense. Which I now see is so keenly needed.”

We went down to the courtyard, and over the next two hours, Sir Hoofblack drilled me on how to hold the saber and go through the various guard positions. Though the sword I borrowed for the exercise was a fraction of the weight of Father’s two-handed greatsword, it was much heavier than my wand or dagger. Just as my wrist felt worn out, I saw Elizabeth enter from the outer yard, carrying Carnel in one arm.

I handed the borrowed blade back to Sir Hoofblack and rushed to them. “What happened?”

“The Young Highness exerted herself more vigorously than I advised in our exercises.”

“I’ll be fine. Just give me a moment.” Carnel didn’t lift her face away from where this nested in Elizabeth’s tunic-covered chest, with her thin arms weekly clutched on Elizabeth’s shoulders.

I saw that while Carnel was covered in sweat from head to toe, but the only dampness on Elizabeth was on those parts of her tunic that Carnel pressed against. “Please take Princess Carnel to her room, wash her, and dress her for lunch.”

Elizabeth nodded, and Carnel said, “I’ll be fine, just like this,” as she was carried away.

The only time I’ll ever complain about Carnel being in the way is when she’s blocking the view of Elizabeth’s wet shirt.

I ignored Greg’s comment, but given the timely reminder, I made sure not to look at or touch myself while I used water and wind magics to wash and dry myself in my bathroom.

Father invited Elizabeth to join the royal family for lunch, and I saw that Carnel now had her own freshly washed red hair in six pigtails to match Elizabeth’s Nordisle style. While my own bed was now apparently safe, I prayed that Elizabeth did not toss in her sleep, for I only had the one sister.

I shook my head when Mother asked if Elizabeth was from Nordisle, and Elizabeth responded in only general terms about her home island, leaving out any details of her family.

After a moment of awkward silence, Father spoke up. “Lass, I hear you’ve trained in the use of the sword?”

“A bit, Your Majesty.”

“Would you care to show this old man what you have learned?”

“If it pleases Your Majesty.”

On the way down to the courtyard I whispered up to Elizabeth. “Don’t go easy on the King, but remember that his safety is one of your charges.” She nodded at this.

As Father examined his greatsword, he noticed that Elizabeth carried just a broadsword in her right hand with her left hand free. “Lass, I hope you won’t complain that you lost just because you took a one-handed sword against a two-handed sword.”

“I won’t, Your Majesty.”

“You show him, Elizabeth!” Carnel cheered as she raised both fists above her head.

Father shouted as he charged across the courtyard, swinging his greatsword from behind him, over his head, and down. Did he seriously mean to kill her?

Elizabeth stepped to the side and tapped his sword with her own, sending Father’s greatsword plowing into the ground and out of his grasp. She then continued her motion to swing around and catch Father around the waist with her left arm before he could run into his own sword hilt.

Wait, what just happened there? Rewind and pause, please!

Father blinked and looked down at his now empty hands, then across to his sword as he was placed back on his feet. “I may be a bit rusty, but that was fine swordsmanship!” He reached up to slap Elizabeth on the back between her shoulder blades. “Let’s have a drink, and you can tell me all about the great battles you’ve been in.”

Carnel looked on as Elizabeth was led away.

I leaned down to whisper to her. “Don’t worry. Mother won’t let Father go too far with another woman.”

“But what if Elizabeth likes Daddy more than she does …” She stopped, unable to complete the thought.

“Elizabeth doesn’t like men that way.”

“Oh!” Carnel looked at me with wide eyes, and then these narrowed as she smiled and turned back to catch one last glimpse of Elizabeth being led around the corner.

To no one’s surprise, Elizabeth was soon moved into Carnel’s room (though she insisted on sleeping in our largest hammock, which was just barely big enough for herself as Carnel’s bed was far too small for her, much less the both of them), leaving the room adjoining my bath empty again. I figured this gave each of us princesses equal security, with my keen hearing and mastery of spellcraft balanced against the Nordisle goddess of war.

I asked Elizabeth about the slums, but she said she had only been there a few days and only witnessed her captor making a few small deals. Most of the inhabitants of the slums weren’t even from the Kingdom of Ioa, but I dismissed tossing them back to their own war-torn countries just as winter was starting. It seemed to be an issue to take up in the spring, when our farmers would need help with the plows and planting.

On Thursday the 17th, we had a feast to honor the second prince of Nordisle, Gunnar, who was visiting the continent from his home across the Spectral Sea. He stopped when he was introduced to Carnel and seemed surprised to see a girl who wore the dress of a Nordisle noblegirl with her red hair in the six pigtails style typical to the women of his island.

He addressed Carnel in his language, and she struggled to reply in the same. She looked across the room at Elizabeth, who for this evening wore the largest Angleland guard uniform I had ever seen (and even so, this fitted to her muscles and curves like a glove), with her hair in the single ponytail common to our unmarried young women.

Then Carnel looked back up at the Prince and spoke in our Albionse tongue. “I’m sorry, Your Highness. I’ve never set foot outside of Ioa, but I would like to travel to Nordisle someday.”

This was a surprise to me as I could count on less than the fingers of one hand the number of occasions she had set foot outside the walls of Kristophoro. And as far as I could recall, she’d never spent a night outside the castle itself.

“What a charming young princess. Perhaps I should ask your King and Queen about making a home for Your Highness on Nordisle?” The Prince glanced over at Mother, whose smile was replaced for just that moment with a warning glare. “Perhaps some other time.” He continued down the receiving line, returning his slightly puzzled expression to the well-practiced smile he had shown me a moment before.

I waited until after Prince Gunnar left our kingdom before explaining to Carnel the message she had inadvertently given him. I hoped that the Prince would assume that it was just his misunderstanding and not return for as long as she remembered the incident. This wasn’t much of a loss because while he was one of the very few men who appealed to me physically, I knew that he was a poor diplomatic match to my hand, and from what I had heard about his personality a very poor match on that score also.

Finally, on the evening of Saturday the 26th, I had dinner alone with my parents.

“Arillia, I appreciate that you managed to do something with Carnel, but you’re leaving her education very unbalanced.”

“I’m well aware of that, Mother.”

“Just look at this note that flew in my window folded as a paper dart.”

“Yes, Carnel is mastering wind magics at an incredible pace. She can toss a dagger to strike exactly where she intends from across the entire courtyard.”

“No, look at it. Her spelling and handwriting haven’t improved a bit in years. I can barely make out that she wants to be excused from dinner so she can continue training.”

“I’m just taking things one step at a time. I don’t want her education to topple over like last time when she wouldn’t leave her room for a month.”

“You had some responsibility for that.”

“I was a child myself at the time. All three of us just assumed that she would be just like me and when we pushed her too far too fast it broke her. But I’ll fix this. I’ll pick up each piece one at a time and turn our dear Carnel into a proper princess who’ll have her pick of which duke or king to marry. Just give me some more time.”

My Father then spoke up. “Well Dear, I think we’d best give Arillia a chance to build on what she’s done so far. We’ll see if Carnel can be a proper hostess for her own birthday party next spring.”

I met Mary and two guardsmen at one of our nicest carriages early the next morning.

Why aren’t you taking Elizabeth?

I turned away from the others to whisper back to Greg, “I can’t pry her away from Carnel with these scrawny arms.”

Call it off, then. You can’t storm their castle on your own.

“I’m not going to storm their castle. I have no need to. I am a princess in good standing who is visiting one of my loyal dukes. They can’t do anything to me without bringing the wrath of the entire kingdom down on them.”

If you at least had the Blade of Wraith.

“You said I must complete this quest before doing that one.”

Couldn’t you just go to the lake and skip the castle?

“What possible excuse could I make for going all that way yet not showing up?”

Duke Glister is an evil man who’ll sell out your kingdom to Dinana.

“I know that. That’s why I’m doing this, to force him to reveal himself or reform. We win either way and acting this quickly will upset his plans with any luck.”

Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

“And have something more solid to report on next time you do!” I stepped in the carriage, and the driver more than made up for my delay in the clear autumn weather.

We passed by Lake Olgan just before sunset, and the moon had just risen over the hills when we reached the ducal estate. We were shown to the guest rooms, and with Mary’s help, I just had time to change into the ball gown (with dagger and wand hidden within) and then be announced to the ballroom as the party began. I was reintroduced to Simon, who had only gotten worse in the three years since I saw him last. He tried to touch me in inappropriate places during the dance and then dropped his fork during dinner so he’d have the excuse to look under the table. Most likely, this was to peek at my underwear because when he returned to his seat, his expression said that he’d just realized that with my long dress, there was no chance of that.

“We’re engaged, right?”

“Not formally, just yet.” I answered him.

“That means I can kiss you, right?”

“At our wedding in five years’ time.” I eyed him coolly as I sipped on the sweet wine with the slightly odd flavor that was the only beverage in reach. Perhaps I overindulged on this a bit because the food was so salty.

I was feeling a little wavery, so I stood, bracing myself with both hands on the long table to do so. “I think I’d best return to my room for the night.”

“Just one moment, Your Highness.”

I turned to the Duke. “Yes?”

“We still need to discuss the terms of the betrothal.”

“Just make it quick.”

The Duke’s sons helped me follow him to an adjoining room, each of my arms held up by one of theirs. As one of the Duke’s servants closed the door behind the four of us, Simon reached up with his free hand to squeeze my left breast through my dress and bra. I looked down at this and, in my extreme fuzziness, counted their arms, one, two, three. Where was Timothy’s other arm?

This was soon answered as Timothy reached up his free hand to cover my mouth and nose with a cloth.

I gasped, and as I inhaled the strange fragrance the cloth had been soaked in, all strength left my legs. I just barely clung onto a tiny sliver of awareness as I collapsed back into Timothy’s arms.

“Simon, help your brother hold her up.” Duke Glister ripped open the bottom of my dress and then reached under my panties to feel into my vagina with one finger. “She’s still intact, so we can’t molest her. She’ll fetch a better price from the Prince of Dinana this way. Once his alchemists are done with her, she’ll be a perfectly docile queen, and perhaps you boys will be able to sneak in a feel from time to time. Now, Simon, go fetch some rope to tie her up.”

I told you it was a trap!

At that point, everything faded to black until I was awoken by a slap from a woman around my age and size who wore scraps of fur and carried a bow on her back.

I spat out the crushed remains of bitter berries and then asked. “What was that?”

“Antidote.”

“The Wildwoman of Lake Olgan, I presume?”

“The wilderness is my home because I was thrown out by Duke Glister, who could not accept an infant girl as his firstborn.”

“I am Princess Arillia. By what name shall I call you?”

She’s Rebecka, your raised by the wolves companion.

“Rebecka, but never Glister.”

I looked around and saw under the light of the setting moon that we were in a covered wagon with short lengths of rope under me that had apparently been cut with the knife she had returned to the leather sheath on her belt. The recently fallen snow around the wagon was stained red with the blood of three men, each with one arrow in an eye, while the reins of the horse hitched to the wagon were tied to a tree branch. “You are very good with that bow. May I offer you a job?”

“I live only to overthrow my father.”

“I pledge that you will someday inherit the Duchy of Lermont.”

“You will not strike him down now after what he planned for you?”

“I have been told that ‘Revenge is a dish best served cold,’ but I have no idea where this tribe of Klingons might be.”