Casus Belli Ch. 03: Road to Ruin

When they arrived at the training room, located at the opposite end of the private hallway from her living room, Syldan was already waiting, and so were Leavy and Polly. She smiled at the latter two, "Well well, there's a lot of interest in seeing someone getting her butt handed to her it seems. If Vala wasn't manning the reception desk she would be here too I presume..."

The maidens all grinned as she stepped onto the thickly padded mat, the soft green leather feeling cool beneath her feet. Syldan followed her, with the other maidens looking on from the side. She turned towards them, and grinned back at them, "Take off your shoes and dresses you lot, you're going to join Syldan and me for the warm up." General astonishment followed, "Come on, we haven't got all day, get those lazy butts moving."

The four would be spectators all moaned loudly, and then did as ordered. A minute later she watched them enter the mat, dressed in nothing but their underwear, with unhappy faces. "Alright," she said, "now you will just copy what Syldan and I are going to be doing. We'll start with running laps around the mat, and change direction whenever I clap my hands."

She started walking, slowly picking up speed as her grumbling maidens fell in one by one behind her and Syldan. The mat wasn't very large, some five by nine yards, and the constant direction changes seriously limited the speed at which she was soon running. After half a dozen laps she clapped her hands, and continued to do so every two to five rounds. It didn't take long for the four untrained maidens to start gasping for air. To her surprise it was Leavy, and not Polly, who first started to stumble.

She slowed down, and then stopped. "Alright, get down on your bellies," she ordered, "faces towards me." When they were all laying down she started doing push-ups, her maidens following her example. "Get those bellies from the floor too," she ordered, "I want to see those butts move up and down." By the count of twelve only she and Syldan were still coming up, the others were barely moving, and groaning their misery. She stopped at twenty, and sat herself up on her behind, "Alright, on your backs now, feet towards me."

Syldan grinned, and the other four whimpered softly as they complied. "Now you're going to keep your legs straight and together, lift your feet half a foot above the ground, and keep them there for as long as I tell you to." She laid down herself too, and six pairs of feet went up, and it didn't take long for the panting and whimpering to start. Leavy's feet were the first to waver and stray wide apart, "Come on Leavy," she teased, "you can keep those long legs together, there are no men around." The ash blonde beauty cursed softly, and then her feet dropped to the mat with a soft thud. "Alright," she chuckled, "You can drop those feet now."

Except for herself Syldan was the only one who lowered her feet slowly, the other three dropping theirs like stones. She sat herself up again and spread her legs wide, then watched her maidens follow her example, "Okay, that's something the four of you seem to manage rather well, she grinned, "spreading your legs wide..."

The four involuntary trainees all moaned humiliated, "And there was me thinking poor Vala would be missing out on all the fun," Polly whispered.

Cassandra intertwined the fingers of both hands behind her head, and then bent forward at the hips, touching her right knee with her nose. She came back up again, and then bent over towards her left knee, repeating the movement. "And right, and left, and right, and left..." A good dozen rights and lefts later she stopped and got back onto her feet. She laughed at the sight of four disheveled maidens, "Alright, that's it, you have now earned the right to watch Syldan kick my royal butt I think." The four hadn't gotten back onto their feet yet and now simply dropped on their backs onto the mat, moaning. "So get those asses off my mat...," she added.

Cassandra watched the four of them crawl off the mat, to end up sitting against the cabinets opposite the windows. Next she faced the large mirror wall, with Syldan taking up the same position to her right, and started exercising her various Krujac moves; punches, blocks, kicks, sweeps, the works. Syldan just followed her example, copying her movements. Being a woman she placed most attention on low stances and both offensive and defensive leg work. Men were strongest in the upper part of their body, but women were not, and on average they were smaller too, and Fredoman had never stopped ingraining this fact into her mind.

Coming to the end of her repertoire she stopped and moved to the edge of the mat, to pick up her head protection and put it on. She locked the padded leather protector in place, watching Syldan do the same, before they faced off at the center of the mat. "Ready?" she smiled. Syldan nodded, and both girls greeted each other the traditional way before starting their martial dance. Syldan attacked first, with a punch she saw coming from a league away, and thus blocked easily. Cassandra followed up with a kick, which Syldan blocked with so much ease she knew the girl had known the attack was coming even before she knew it herself.

It reminded her of how much better at Krujac Syldan was, and made her more cautious. They exchanged punches and kicks rapidly for a couple of minutes, with neither of them scoring a solid hit. She moved back, and they slowly circled each other. "You're holding back," she said.

Syldan grinned, "Like you are when you're sword training with Brando you mean?"

Cassandra blushed, she had started sword training at the age of six too, and her teacher had been the best swordsman in the whole of Nigawa. She, literally, held the edge over Brando, but didn't want to beat him, for obvious reasons. "That's different...," she said, "Now stop holding back..." Syldan swallowed, and she realized she had used a much too harsh a tone. She winced softly, and her voice softened, "I know why you're doing this, and thank you, but me knowing sort of makes it valueless, now doesn't it?"

Syldan nodded slowly, and then the nimble maiden moved so fast she became a blur. Still her ingrained reflexes worked, and she blocked the kick, and then the punch, but never saw the sweep coming. She landed on her back hard, with a loud thud, and then Syldan was on top of her. Her adversary tried to pin her down, with a rapid succession of chokes, strangles and locks. She wriggled herself out of all of them, rolled away from her adversary and got up. Syldan was on her feet again too, facing her, "Very good, Pryoness," she said.

She saw in her eyes that Syldan wasn't mocking her, and felt proud. And then the raven haired beauty sprung into action again, and she did get her butt kicked, literally. They fought for about half an hour, with herself only managing to land a couple of glancing blows. And then, tired as she was by now, she completely missed an incoming kick, which connected with almost full force as a result. She saw Syldan's foot come at her face, and then a huge blow landed on her left shoulder, spinning her around and making her crash down on her back violently. She barely managed to break her fall.

She noticed Syldan come down on her through blurred eyes, and tried to forecast the move the girl would make to pin her, but she just straddled her. "Gods Cassy, are you okay?" She noticed the concerned look on her maiden's face. "Why didn't you block? I barely managed to miss your face!"

She rubbed her shoulder, which was starting to hurt, "I was tired, didn't see it coming. Gods, you never kick this hard normally..." Syldan sniffled, "You never made me fight this hard before..., you were pushing me out of my comfort zone, which made it more difficult for me to pull my punches in time." The girl's hands were down on the mat next to her shoulders, her face hovering just a foot above her own, and she saw Syldan's eyes had moistened, that tears were growing in the corners. "I hurt you," she said, her voice trembling.

Cassandra inhaled deeply, then moved her left arm, working the shoulder. "Nothing seems to be broken," she grinned.

Tears started to drip down the face above her, and her hands came up in a reflex, grabbing Syldan and pulling her down on top of her. She hugged her close, "It wasn't your fault," she said, "It was mine. I should have stopped the fight when I became too tired." Syldan just nodded, her wet cheek moving against her own. She became aware of the four other maidens kneeling around them, "Now let's get up," she whispered in Syldan's ear, before the other girls start thinking we're an item..."

She heard Polly chuckle, and then Moiga's voice sounded dryly, "Don't you laugh, you little hussy, we all know where you spent last night..."

Polly gasped loudly, and Leavy chuckled, "Yeah, I was up early too, or at least early enough to notice you sneak back to your room, after Denora busted your little ass."

Syldan sat up, and then moved off her. Cassanda lifted herself on her elbows and looked at her assembled maidens, "For your information, Polly was my father's protégée. His death hit her hard, and we just comforted each other." Denora already knew this, but the others didn't. She watched the three of them shuffle up to an embarrassed looking Polly on their knees, and then make the smaller girl disappear in a three-way embrace.

Cassandra stood up, testing her shoulder again while she watched the affectionate scene in front of her. Syldan looked up at her worriedly, "Are you sure your shoulder is alright?"

She nodded at her, "Yes, just a bit sore, and it'll leave a nice bruise I think."

Syldan swallowed, "We got lucky, next time we'll wear full protective gear, I don't want to risk hurting you."

She reached down to her sparring partner, put a hand on her shoulder, "Yes, but it still was mainly my own fault."

The maidens let go of Polly, and Denora reached out and cupped her junior maiden's face, "You're our little sister Polly, we might tease you, but never forget you're incredibly precious to all of us."

Cassandra locked eyes with her junior maiden, "Pryoness included...," she added with a wink, and the petite blonde beamed happily.

After deciding the training session was over, all her maidens, minus Vala, accompanied her to the bathroom. Once in the large tub her maidens washed her again, and then started washing themselves. She grinned at her involuntary trainees, "That stuff you're busy washing off, it's called sweat..."

All four of them gave her this brooding look, and then Denora grinned, "Alright, we deserved that, I guess."

She chuckled, "You sure did. Looking forward to watching your poor Pryoness getting her butt kicked. Naughty maidens..."

"You're getting very good for a first grade," Syldan chimed in, "You're improving..."

Cassandra beamed at the compliment, and then she looked at the other four maidens and frowned, "Now I think of it, it might be a good idea to teach the lot of you the basics..."

They looked stunned for a moment, and then Leavy spoke up, "We're only your maidens..."

"Yes," she replied, "Which makes me responsible for your wellbeing." She sighed, "We're at war, it's a dangerous time." The four looked uncertain. "I'm not talking about turning you into Krujac masters, just teaching you some basic defense moves," she added. That got her some careful smiles. "And it'll also help fixing the damage done to your waistlines by those sinfully delicious sandwiches Polly is feeding us too..." she added grinning. Polly moaned softly, and she winked at her, "Don't worry, I think your fellow maidens will agree those sandwiches are worth sweating a bit for..."

The maidens in question gave Polly another group hug, and then they quickly finished washing themselves. It was past one already, so time for lunch. Her maidens got her into her black dress again and when she arrived at her private dining room, fifteen minutes later, Marecomb and Goban were already waiting for her. She sat down at her place at the head of the table, after which Marecomb reported on getting the reserves moving towards Kiran's position, and Goban on getting the couriers on their way to invite the nobles for the crowning ceremony.

By the time the two were finished, the kitchen staff started serving lunch; a green salad with smoked salmon and bread. While eating it she couldn't help thinking that, while excellent, it would taste even better with Polly's mayon... Minutes later the master cook herself appeared and approached her, to ask her if everything was as she wished for. She smiled at her, "Yes, it's excellent, as always, but..." The chef paled a bit, and she chuckled, "Don't worry Eldran, you are an excellent cook. It's just that I have lately been eating something one of my maidens made, which tastes excellent and would have combined very well with this salad I think." The cook seemed intrigued. "Her grandmother is from Loras," she explained, "and taught her a recipe of this sinfully delicious sauce called mayon..."

The heavy set woman frowned, and then shook her head, "I've never heard of it your highness."

She smiled, "I'll send her down to the kitchen after lunch, to show you how she makes it."

The woman smiled, "As you wish your highness, you're never too old to learn after all."

Returning to her chambers not much later she found Moiga and Polly behind the reception room desk. She winked at the petite blonde, "You're expected in the kitchen. The chef eagerly awaits your lesson in making mayon..."

Polly's eyes grew wide, "The..., the chef herself?"

She smiled, "Yes, the chef herself..., just ask for Eldran." Polly looked a bit overwhelmed, and she gave her another wink, "Having the Pryoness' chef as your friend would make foraging much easier I bet..."

Polly cocked her head, and then she stood up and grinned, "On my way milady!"

Cassandra moved on to her library, to check on the official procedures connected to the crowning ceremony. She wanted to keep it as bare bones as possible, and had a strong suspicion Sir Goban would be trying to get away with much more than that. It took her a couple of hours to find and study all the literature concerning the matter. By the time she was finished it was time for tea. She had it with her maidens, in the living room, as usual. She watched Moiga putting the cups on the table, and then Vala came in with the teapot and the milk and sugar on a large tray. As she put it down on the table Polly came in with another tray, which usually held cinnamon and apple cake. This time, however, it held what looked like a huge pie.

She looked questioningly at Polly, and then her junior maiden put the tray down on the table, with a big smile. Her eyes grew as she saw, and smelled, what it held, and her mouth started watering in response. "Banana Pie!"

Polly grinned, "Eldran was rather pleased with my recipe... And you were right milady... It helps being on the chef's good side." Cassandra loved banana pie, but bananas were as exotic a fruit as they came. Originating from tropical lands far to the south they didn't show up in Iriskan's markets very often, and when they did they were hideously expensive. Polly winked, "Eldran showed me how to bake it, it's still a bit warm from the oven..."

Cassandra moaned softly, "Ooooh..., I want a really big piece..."

The remainder of the afternoon was mainly spend waiting for news, but by dinner time still no courier had shown, and she started to worry her own courier hadn't reached Brando for some reason. Accidents happened, but that was why a courier always had a two man escort, so he must have gotten her message. Maybe he decided not to send a courier before he was sure the western army had disengaged successfully? She was eating in the dining room alone, with Denora and Syldan sitting at the other end of the table, waiting for her to finish. She decided for that to be one of the first things she was going to change. From now on, when she didn't have any guests, she would eat together with her maidens.

With that decision came the question of where she would be eating with them. She would actually prefer the living room, where they had tea together too, but that would mean letting the kitchen servants into her private chambers. It would also mean a longer, more restricted way from the kitchens, and from the food lifts, to where they ate. No, it was better not to change the actual location. And then there was the small problem of the kitchen servants having to wait on her private servants. That would no doubt be seen as a promotion of her maidens. So what, she thought, looking across the table, they deserve a promotion.

The sound of trumpets interrupted her thoughts. She sighed relieved, it had to be a courier from Brando. She looked down at her plate, thinking about how long it would take for the courier to get up to her quarters, and if she would be able to finish her plate before he arrived. Her thoughts got interrupted yet again, by the sound of running feet in the hallway outside. She frowned, no one would be able to get from the courtyard to her quarters this fast, and the sound was too light for it to be a soldier anyway. And then Polly burst into the dining room, "It's Brando!"

Worry was the first emotion rushing through her, was he wounded? But then Polly's beaming face registered. Elation was the second emotion rushing through her, until she realized what the probable reason was for his unexpected visit; her father's death. With it came sorrow, deep heart rendering sorrow. Her knife and fork slipped from her fingers and tumbled down on her largely empty plate in slow motion. The clanging seeming to come from somewhere far away. She slowly stood as she noticed the sound of heavy footsteps nearing swiftly. Polly seemed to float out into the hallway, and she saw her gesturing, and then Brando burst into view, and time sped up again.

She stood frozen as he rushed up to her, and then she was in his arms. "Oh honey, I'm so sorry, I came as soon as I could." His warmth and strength encapsulated her, she trembled, and then she shook, as the defenses she wasn't even aware she had put up finally dropped. The world fractured, a low gut wrenching wail rose from her core, and then everything went black.

She came to in his arms, familiar faces floating around her, the world passing her by in a blur. Syldan, Denora, Polly, doors opening, two shocked faces floating up from behind a desk. Vala and Moiga, another door, a familiar hallway, Leavy. Doors, more doors, and then the softness of a bed, her bed. His concerned face hovered above her, noise merged into words, into sentences, "Cassy, are you okay?"

There were more worried faces hovering all around her, her maidens, she managed a nod. Her face felt wet, she refound her voice, "I'm okay."

Relieved sighs all around her, but Brando's face stayed concerned, "Has this happened before?"

"No! She took it so well...," Denora's voice, "fuck! She never really had a mother, her father was all she had. I should have realized it was just a facade."

Brando came closer, his arms closed behind her back, and he hugged her. "And then I brought it down...," he whispered. He held her tightly against him for a moment, and then he loosened his grip again, "It's okay honey, I'm here now, just let it all out."

She trembled, "They killed him... I don't want to hate them..., but they killed him... They killed daddy." With it her tears started to flow, she was racked by sorrow and she cried as she had never cried before.

Cassandra fell asleep at some point, and when she woke again she found herself beneath the covers, with Brando spooning her from behind, his strong arms holding her protectively. She vaguely remembered her maidens loosening the laces on her dress and boots, and undressing her. They had then put a nightgown on her, and she remembered them caressing her, and holding her in turn. That had been while Brando took his bath, and going by the scent of Angkor it had been her bath he used. She became aware of the flannel nightgown she was wearing, it was her old favorite one, the one with the small embroidered rabbits and chipmunks.