Because she recognizes the stance, Chen has just enough time to think gratefully about all the anime she's seen as the electrical energy strikes her. She rolls with the force and though she doesn't fly under her own power, her landing in the arena is not the graceless thud of someone caught flat-footed, but instead the rolling flurry of poofy skirts and squeaks befitting of a little princess such as herself.

She comes to her feet breathless and, despite the gravity of the proclamation, smiling like Yue's best sunshine from ear to ear. She's not mocking Keron though, no no no, perish the thought! She's just, she's excited, that's all. She's smiling like she smiled when she knew she was going to lose to Rose that first time. Smiling like she did the day she held her first training sword and the weight in her hands just felt so right! Because, well, when it came down to it Princess Chen really didn't mind getting flung around a bit when she was having fun. Not even a little.

She looks over at Yue, halfway transformed back to a fluffy tea-color wolf, and to Tianic who seemed brilliant but not at all up to throwing herself into electrical laser fields. She's still got that silly this is gonna be great grin on her face, and maybe, hopefully, they understand from seeing her that it's okay, they're not expected to hurt themselves for this fight. If she were really going all out to defeat Keron, she'd have dropped in with a full team, rested, refreshed, equipped with all sorts of neat gear and blessings from their loved ones, and at maximum power from having worked out all their personal conflicts before the big fight.

But she never was here to go all out to defeat Keron. She came because she had to issue this challenge for both Rose and herself. But she'd been thinking about conceding or throwing partway through even before Rose had dropped the girlfriend confirmation bombshell and made her fantasize about training with her new slave and handmaid. She wasn't trying to conquer the Sky Castle, or ruin Keron's reputation out of the blue in front of an audience. Then who would defend all the other handmaidens and servants? Chen's realization from all that time with Jessic was that she had her own vision, but she wasn't out to steal it from somebody else. She was here to help them live their vision.

She let the smile at last turn to a serious face and set her sword stance: blade pointing towards Keron and hilt high gripped in two hands above the shoulder. From this reactive position, Chen could strike quickly or turn into a parry. She at last looked up at Keron and offered her not a bow but a respectful nod and dip of her sword. Because Keron might be demanding that Chen bow to her knees, but the thing about tyrants that every story agreed on was that brave princesses never just gave up when facing them. Especially when they were overmatched. How else was Keron going to get to show off those laser gauntlets properly, gosh!

"I might" she said, putting her weight on the balls of her feet to be ready to move the instant Keron unleashed her next attack. "But not before I try and rescue my girlfriend!"

There's a difference. There is, y'know? If they were all, 'hey thanks for show and all but uh, we're kinda done with you now? And we, like, need the space? So if you wouldn't mind just, like, shuffling on up to the cheap seats up there if you still wanna watch? Good girl, thanks so much~" or whatever, it wouldn't feel the same.

Sure, she'd still be watching the fight. She wouldn't miss any of the amazing action (Go Chen!!!) that's about to go down, though it'd be a little bit harder to see everything. And yeah, she can feel the clock ticking on her curse right now. Her ears are all popped back on top of her head, which is a very weird feeling all of a sudden if you were ever curious and her feet are half paws right now on legs that are feeling a little less good at keeping her, y'know, upright. So it's not like she's in the best shape for any kind've... uh, fighting?

A-and even if she was fine she probably couldn't help against that, right? R-right?! Who the heck uses laser claws?? Th-that's illegal! Maybe! Probably? Yeah! So there. But she's only got her little wooden sword and one real fight to her name, and the Countess is... big. Oh goshies, she's big. And armored. And, a little hot? Like, wow, no wonder there's so many girls in this castle who're so eager to, wait, where was I going with this?

Oh, right! There's a difference. 'Cause they, meanin' the folks who run this place and suchlike plus the Countess and Chen and... probably Princess Jessic too, come to think? Like, she's gotta have juriswhatever over this sorta thing, right? Anyway, all've them, they looked at silly, increasingly fluffy Yue (come on... not yet! Just let her hold on a little longer! Please!) and said, 'yeah. You belong down here. This is your place, and we trust you. So have a front row seat, Yue! You earned it, hon!"

So there's a difference, ok? And it's a big enough difference to make her heart wanna burst. Her eyes are all watery and even though she needs to lean on Tianic to do it, she's standing as straight as she can and, just, wow. Gosh and darn, she's never ever ever ever felt so proud in her entire life. She's so close. She's so close! If she can, just, a little more! A little harder! A little further, just a teeny tiny little bit and she'll really for realsies be inside one of the stories she's loved so much! Not like the silly flopping about she's been doing so far that nobody in their right mind would actually wanna hear about (let alone write down or film or anything!), but a proper one where you'd expect it to feature the beautiful demon swordswoman and not a silly village girl still learnin' how to swing a sword.

Ah, come on! Stupid tears, she's gonna miss the duel! She wants to see Chen fight! 'Cause somehow, she never has, even though she's a super double princess with her own legend stuffed inside that little body of hers! And she wants to see how Keron moves in all that, uh, g-gear and somebody's just gotta shoot lightning durin' this thing, right? It'd be a crime not to! So come on! Stop, nnnnf, stop with the waterworks! Besides, she's got a job to do! They let her stay here, so she's gotta have a job, right?

"H-hey Chen!" oh goshies, her voice! She's still got it! Thank you Curse! She sniffles and clears her throat, "Did you know you're amazing? 'Cause you are! Oh, I can't believe we're friends! I'm gonna tell... y'know what? Nah. I'm keepin' this one just for me. You can do this! Show me how a princess fights, for realsies! And, um! Y-your girlfriend's really cute, congrats! We should do a double date, right? Yeah, right? We totally should! If they, y'know, let me outta jail soon which oh wait no that's a long story sorry nevermind do the thing good luck!"

A giggle-cry is a thing not unlike a hiccup, if you were ever curious. Just a big, explosive hiccup fully of giddy energy and joy that's not even a little bit pretty or nice to listen to but somehow it's still beautiful. Yue's smile is full of sharp teeth, but it's still a maiden's smile and sweeter than twenty helpings of her precious tanghulu. Yeah, even the ones where she's gotta use strawberries instead. Her shiny blue, sopping wet eyes are so full of wonder you'd almost think you could dive into them and come out inside a fairy tale on the other side.

And it's for you, Chen. She's here for you, with her shining heart and tired (and cursed! Don't forget cursed! Or, do? Or, no no, if we forget it that's bad for Hyra, so just, like, take your time I guess? Whatever's convenient really) body, 'cause she can tell that whatever happens here is something she's not gonna forget for the rest of her life. So go on, Chennie! Do the thing! Wh-whatever that looks like. Your biggest fan's right here watchin', and you can't even fail her 'cause whatever path you wind up takin's gonna be the most amazin', most important thing she's ever seen.

In her life, Chennie! Imagine that!

Click!

Clack!

Click!

Under the best of circumstances, navigating down a flight of stairs in high heels is tricky. Descending while being led on a leash is trickier. Doing all of that with your ankles tied together and your hands behind your back? It’s lucky that Rose from the River is in control right now, because silly little Rose would have had to scoot down on her butt, or even be carried by the handmaidens swirling about her, all of them ready just in case that characteristic Rose clumsiness kicks in. And it looks like it will! Rose might not have laser claws or power armor, but she knows how to get some attention, doesn’t she just? What with her thighs flexing with each hop, her jingling top bouncing along, her veil flying up and showing off how firmly she’s gripping that scarf between her teeth... Rose from the River loves to show off, and if she can’t do it with a glaive and a flourish, she’ll do it one hop at a time.

She’s being led to a pillar that Keron had set up all along. Really, incredible work from her; she knew how all of this was going to go down, and knew that Chen would need a visual reminder of what she’s fighting for. Rose happily wiggles her way over and lets her friends (yes, that’s what they’ve been to her over the course of her training) free her wrists just to secure them over her head, which really helps emphasize her hips and stomach as she wiggles them in turn, dramatically tugging on her wrists as she looks out over the battlefield: at Chen (beautiful and spunky and achingly cute) and at Yue (who is shining with a very inauspicious but familiar love of battle, one that the monk knows she should quietly condemn, but the slave feels free to gasp at) and Keron (who she treacherously hopes will win, or at the very least, will try to distract Chen by, oh, shredding Rose’s top with her laser claws, for a start) and the squire (who is herself, whether she knows it or not, attuned to the Way).

Her job is to be the prize. To be fought over. To sink into the bliss of not having to make a choice between Keron and Chen— to simply accept whichever outcome unfolds. (Not that she’s going to entirely be neutral. If Chen wants to win, she’s going to have to prove her mastery of the self and her enlightenment of not being distracted by Rose’s squirming, grunting, jingling, and muffled calling out of her name. Consider it a challenge, girlfriend.)

"Ain't no love, like a real love," murmured Countess Keron, the quiet warm up to a song.
"But it goes so fast
All tied up like a captive
I'm on to you"

She raises her hands over her head, power rippling and charging around them. Perhaps once these lightning claws might have been Burrower technology but this is sunlight that pours through them now. For a moment the wind catches her and she looks like an angel even in the midst of armour from hell. Her voice rises into full music, ringing out across the arena like a prayer.

"Used up eight of my nine lives
Standing on rainbows, playing it cool
I haven't felt this in ages
I have no more patience
So won't you please -"

She has a story too, after all. She didn't get to be a Countess just by being a particularly good dom. She has her own art, her own vision, her own fighting style. And it's time for her to show it. And then her hands come down and sweep across, like a conductor. Each slash and strike into the air matched with technicolour blasts of magical energy. It's a hurricane of power, music manifesting as light and fire. The storm builds and builds as her music crescendos. A little faster, Chen. A little prouder! If you want to dance with me then I will make you show every fragment of your hidden potential as my price.

And then the storm stops and you'll have a second to react as suddenly that naginata is cutting through the air. She's a dervish with distance, controlling you with distance by adjusting her grip. In moments her dance changes and she's engaging Tianic, who was drawn in by the rhythm, and then she's blade to blade with Yue, and then whirling around to clash with Chen again.

How much do you really want it? she asks with each strike, each flex, each time her gauntlet lashes out to catch your sword in its grip. Do you really believe you deserve it? This is an interrogation in blade and fire, any lie or flaw or weakness placed under the burning spotlight of her vision. Is this the day that you defeat me? She does not ask with such fervor of blade because she needs to defend her crown. She asks because unless you're sure you want this win she has more to offer you in your defeat.

I never wanted it is the first verse of the song of swords. The Countess is more than good enough to tell. Chen's too defensive, her very first move is to use her stance to block and roll backwards, gaining distance, putting the next move on the Countess again. It's not a bad move, it's skilled and its fast.

Though, if we may make an aside from the dance, that first move isn't as fast as you might have thought, Yue. You might have been taken by surprise and gone "why does everyone have more reach than me?!" while getting hit, but Chen's dodge wasn't so quick that you missed what happened. You could see the Naginata, and Chen's move is a single clean parry going downward and out from the center of her body to put her weight into it, followed by using the force of the blow to roll and re-center further away. In fact, if you think about that later, you might even realize that if Chen tried to parry that huge Naginata with just her arm strength, she wouldn't have been able to do it, which is why she had to be able to put her legs and waist into the movement.

But back to the duel. The Countess would know immediately that Chen's heart isn't in the victory because if Chen had wanted to win, she'd have moved forward on a parry like that. She has by far the shorter reach and should not have given up that sort of opportunity, but instead she's opened herself to follow up strikes without being able to retaliate.

When the duel whirls back to her, she dodges without the parry this time, judging the measure of the timing, eyes always on the Naginata. Her response is yes I can be faster and it's asking Keron to press her, by saying that no single blow will catch her, not when she's balanced and ready.

Then there is a series of blows, each thundering through the stadium. Chen takes a step back, and uses that momentum to whirl into a parry with the force of her motion, and then ducks under a horizontal strike using her height to her advantage. And here Chen is smiling again. She's smiling a feral smile, with hungry teeth and a light in her eyes. A smile that's just for the Countess.

I never wanted to win, but I want you to see me The naginata thrusts forward. I want you to see me and know that I see you and that we're both good enough to do something beautiful together. Chen doesn't move, there's no sidestep or backstep this time, and her hand isn't moving at all, the sword is perfectly still. I want you to know, for just an instant, that if I could find a way to give this everything I have, everything in the whole wide world, that I could be transcendent...

In a movement that is too fast to see, Chen steps on the blade. She wasn't even looking at the naginata, her eyes were on the Countess' hands the whole time. This is a savant's move, possible only at the last instant, utterly stupid if done wrong. But it's not wrong and her laced up boot slams the naginata to the ground and suddenly Chen is sprinting up the shaft of the Countess' own weapon, crystal sword gleaming in the sunlight.

And this is where she might have landed a decisive blow but ...but I can't give this everything I have. I don't know how. Help me!

She hesitates. Even as she's running up the shaft of her opponent's weapon with a mixture of pure training and the sort of natural magic that animates the best masters of the sword to superhuman levels, she hesitates. Even as the audience gasps, she hesitates. Because she doesn't know what sort of blow she wants to land. She doesn't remember how to go all out, she doesn't want to defeat the Countess here. And a move like this delivered with anything less than perfect precision opens the practitioner up to a devastating counter-attack. It's only a question of how the Countess wants to take advantage of her.

[I rolled a fight here, but the dice result was a 3, so no amount of boosts would help. +1 XP]

Oh. Uh. Remember all that stuff about not having to participate in this duel to feel like a part of it? The, erm, the joy and elation and whatsitall 'bout just gettin' to watch from the best seats in the house so to speak? An honor just to see her good friend Chen fight by herself for once and... yeah, you remember. So. Uh. About that. Would you believe, uh, whoops?

It's not her fault! It's really not her fault, ok? Yue had every intention of stand-sit-leanin' (a technique known back in the village as 'stiteaning') there like a good girl and not liftin' a darn finger to mess up Chen's big moment, wherever she chose to take it. She had a plan, and that plan was to conserve her strength for fightin' her curse to stay human-bodied long enough to make it back to Hyra while absorbin' every bit of the fight that she could with her pretty blue eyes. Maybe also give Rose a little wave, 'cause she looked so cute hangin' over there like that in that soft new body of hers. But that was basically it! Not a hard plan to hold to, all in all. Y'know?

It's just, see, she was in the path of the tornado ok? See if you can just stand there when a super strong lookin' lady comes rushing up in your face with a naginata and anime laser claws without liftin' a finger 'cept to point back away from you! Yeah, s'what I thought! Yeah, yeah, darn right you're sorry! Ok then! Glad we cleared that up!! So yeah, she had a plan, but then that plan attacked her and before she could really even stop to think about it her wooden sword was liftin' itself up by her arm and clack, clack, crack! She was dancin' and part of the show like it'd been planned from the start.

Here's the thing though, Part One. It takes all of a single pass to make it, just, super duperly obvious that Yue's got zero chance to win against Keron. Her attacks don't got the reach, the speed, or the power to touch an angel like that one, and that's before you get to the part where not one part of her silly little brain is ready to even dream of a story where her winning is the kinda thing that's cooler than her losing. And the... what? Don't interrupt, I'm tryin' to-- wha, yes I can pronounce my g's thank you so very much for noticinggggggg. Z'that really worth focusin' on-- it is not an affectimatation for affasomethin-somethin's sake! It just takes effort I wanna save for... gah! You're impossible! Impossible! Who's tellin' the story here, you or me? Gonna chomp you something fierce, you're gonna wish you didn't even have ankles! Nyeh!!

Right, so anyway, Yue. Beautiful, silly, wonderful Yue. Here's the thing though, Part Two. There's actually so much goin' on here, and, goshies! She's catchin' it! When Keron shifts her grip on the Naginata's shaft to lengthen her reach and toss Yue off balance right when she goes to parry? She sees it. The footwork that pushes Yue's sword uselessly up pointing at the ground and breaks her stance apart? She notices! The way those (don't get distracted!) hips swing into a backhand just... just alive and cracklin' with crazy villain energy from those claws? Even the path the attack takes and how it's so specifically timed and intentioned to give Yue the chance to block it, but only by leaning way way off balance and puttin' her poor little sword in a harm's way it just wasn't ever meant to be in. She notices that, too.

Which is why, when that blow comes, she's able to get an extra half-pivot to one of the seventeen proper dueling stances she learned as part of cleaning up that shrine. It's why her guard comes back into place with way more power and, y'know, authority I guess is the word than the Countess ever meant for her to. This is no meek little dodge roll or a turn-their-strength-against-them pivot/parry thingie, this is raw power against power, because that's exactly what Yue wants to learn about just now. And the tiny flicker of surprise that juuuuuuuust shows up in the corner of the Countess' eyes? That earns her the biggest Yue-smile you could ever hope to get, which as you know is worth its weight in sunbeams.

That's just before those gleaming, powered up claws shift and grab at Yue's little blade. And then there's the step, and the naginata comin' back into play, and the blow so sharp you could probably split a hair on it if you really felt like it, and then spell or no it's time to admit that this poor little sword's made of wood after all. It splinters and it cracks, and bless it's adorable swordy heart it does just well enough for itself to go flyin' out of Yue's hands instead of shatterin' outright. Just a little kindness from tool to owner so it doesn't cast a big sad shadow over all the amazing stuff that's happening to her right now.

And oh, goshies, she can't see the power of that hit. But she can sure feel it, as the same strike that disarms her sends her skidding and toppling and tumbling butt over face across the arena sands so hard and fast that honestly you should just go and give her a medal right this second that she found it in her to pivot in the air as she flew so she didn't mess up the mandala still painted on her way across. She hits the fall wall with a squeak like a... and bear with me here please, like a young kit's favorite chew toy finally giving up the ghost after six long months of happy silly chormping.

And she tries her best to struggle back onto her feet, but. Nah. Just, just no. She flops back to the ground and settles for turning her face to the side, instead. And she lifts an arm up, but it's just to give the crowd and all her friends a tiny thumbs up before it comes crashing back to the sands as well. And there's a grin plastered on her face that it'll take a lot more than losin' to wash off. Because she didn't, did she? Not Yue. Not our Yue. Not our beautiful sun farmer who's finally livin' up to the dream of her first big adventure.

'Cause y'know, right? Y'do. Victory here is stayin' awake. She took that hit and she's still got the best seat in the house where she can notice the way she actually can notice every special little move and flourish and bravely beautiful expression of skill that Chen is capable of. She gets to have her breath taken away by the beauty of the real fight, and the courage of a young lady with so much expectation on her askin' for help without havin' to say a word. She sees it all, and that's a win. 'Cause victory here was making Countess Keron of the Sky Castle take silly ole Yue seriously for even half a breath.

Yue won here. Don't even try saying that she didn't.

Rose from the River recognizes that fatal moment. How can she not? That moment of hesitation. When someone’s heart gets in the way of their sword, and they leave themselves wide open.

It’s never been her. Did you know that? When she was the monster that haunted the Burrows, that moment was her cruelest weapon. Thief of faces, ruiner of hearts! But on Chen’s face, there’s none of that oh-so-familiar hurt and betrayal that Rose from the River remembers from these moments.

No, she recognizes this from a different place. From her own face, pale and gaunt and noble, with painted lips and a gauzy veil. It is desire, need, interlaced with fear that you will be tested and found wanting, that you are incapable of even knowing what you do not know, like a blind woman who has been told that the very culmination of the Way lies just across a bridge as thin as a knife. Rose’s heart aches in sympathy for Chen’s—

But foxes are still bringers of miracles, aren’t they? And Cyanis, for all her fox crimes, brought Chen here. She brought Chen where she needed most to be, where she could be confronted with someone confident and knowledgeable, willing to initiate her into those seemingly impenetrable mysteries.

So when Rose screams wordlessly for Chen, straining against her bonds, eyes wide, her heart throbs in time with Chen’s own. She knows this story, sweet little princess. She knows that sometimes, dreams are kind, and the world is in truth eager to guide you across that perilous bridge. So know defeat, Chen, just as First of the Radiants knew defeat in soft silk and gentle hands!

Here is what it is to flinch. It is to leave cards on the table. It is to leave possibilities unexplored. It is to be unfaithful to yourself. Flinching is to make a decision with your head in a moment when you are called upon to make a decision with your heart.

Countess Keron does not flinch, at least not here. There is no hesitation when she lets go of the naginata, when she switches all of her attention to her clawed gauntlets. And as she lunges into your faltering charge you're left to wonder: what would have happened if I gave it my all? Because when you're holding yourself back and losing as a result then you're being unfaithful to the moment. You're deciding before you know. You think, Princess Chen, that if you fought at your full strength you would have beaten Countess Keron.

She disagrees.

The way her hand snaps out to catch your throat in mid air. Clawed fingers tighten around your neck. The force of her momentum crashes, angled just so, against your blade, sending it skidding off her plate before the impact sends it out of your hands entirely. Did you ever have a chance? Was it the case that you were simply up against the better swordswoman, someone whose numbers were bigger than yours? Or was it the reverse, that you would have won easily if you'd simply tried harder?

And you see in the flash of iron eyes that this is the truth: You will never find out. That question will go unanswered. You see Qiu in that move, catching your blade in her teeth - don't waste my time! Because this moment, this unanswered question, was the point. There was no script, no agreement in advance on how this should go. A Princess is not an actor and duels are not staged. This conflict is a search for the truth of hearts in flashing steel, and when you hold back then you are deciding in advance what the truth is. When you hold back you are rendering a creature as powerful and prideful as Countess Keron a pawn in your story against her will. How dare you disrespect me like that? her gaze demands of you. Do you really think that things would have gone any different if you had tried your best?

But then she tosses her hair, eyes glinting red in the light, with a grin only a fallen angel could manage touching her lips. Suddenly she's nothing like Princess Qiu at all. Because while Qiu was genuinely hurt by that moment, Countess Keron is a different sort of person. More vicious. More confident. And with a much clearer idea of how to teach troublesome girls respect. Qiu may aspire to draconic ideals, but Countess Keron lives them.

Her armoured foot steps down on the haft of her naginata, flicking it out of the sand. She catches it by the neck and spins it around to place the tip of it just under your chin even as she holds your struggling body aloft one-handed.

"Pathetic," she says, and she means it. She means it with contempt, but it's a delicious contempt. It's the kind of contempt that earns girls like her devoted and flustered-to-speechless followings from girls like you. "I thought your girlfriend was useless, but you somehow know even less than her, don't you? All of that incredible ability wasted because you don't know what you're fighting for? Perhaps learning to fulfil someone else's desires for a while will fix that..."

And with that she stabs her naginata into the ground and tosses you over one shoulder like a trophy, jagged gauntlet cupping your behind. And then she starts to walk, tall and mighty and unquenchable, from the arena.

And then she stops. She looks down at Yue, towering above her like a monolith. A breeze makes her long black hair flutter and those red slitted eyes look down at the thin little waif curled up on the arena sand below her. And she's got that smirk of contempt there too, delicious and dangerous and all for you, no one else. And she says, "You, though?" she said. "You have potential."

She reaches down and takes hold of Yue's hair, talons practiced enough to put enough of the pressure on her head so it doesn't hurt too much when she starts dragging her along with her out of the arena. "I wonder if your girlfriend will have better luck rescuing you than this one did," said Countess Keron, as she carried the two girls away to the dungeons. "Or if I'll need to make the time to train her too..."

Taken seriously indeed.

It's going to be a long winter.

The silks are violet, rich as springtime.

Rose from the River doesn’t acknowledge Chen at first. She simply sets each article neatly onto the low table to one side: the tight top, the voluminous pair of trousers; the slightly less transparent bra and panty set, emblazoned with Keron’s sigil; the veil, thick and decorated with silver swirls; the gaudy hoops, the heavy rings and bracelets, the amethyst for her navel; then the collar and cuffs, set down with a definitive clink. Finally, rope, white, whisper-soft, in coils, and folded kerchiefs and panties and scarves, one after another after another, soft and smothering.

Only after making sure Chen’s fate is laid out in front of her does Rose from the River stand, make her way over to the princess in chains (without so much as a word) and kneel in front of her, hands on her thighs, butt on her heels, the very picture of grace. She holds there for a moment— long enough to make a certain silly someone wonder if that’s all Rose from the River intends to do, to simply sit there and wait for further instructions from the Countess.

Then Rose from the River reaches out with one silk-soft hand and tilts Chen’s head up, and up, and up, and shuffles closer so that there’s more Rose from the River to look up to. Close enough that if she removed her hand, Chen could bury her face in the pillows on offer. Close, but for that gentle and inexorable hand.

“Hello, girlfriend,” Rose from the River says, and her almost-visible smile is both fond and wicked. Her thumb finds Chen’s lower lip and presses down, the nail resting against her teeth. “I waited so patiently for you to come and save me. I should have known better.” Her tone is low, but not serious. Not cruel. “You took one look at me and got jealous, didn’t you~? That’s why you’re here now.”

She leans in close, close enough that the hem of her veil brushes against Chen’s mouth, and laughs. “Girlfriend. When I was young, you had to ask first. Is it the custom here to simply decide?” That thumb slips in deeper, presses Chen’s tongue to the floor of her mouth.

“Or maybe you couldn’t help yourself,” Rose from the River continues, sibilant. “Maybe you took one look at me helpless and fell in love. Is that it, hmm~? Poor little Chen, at the mercy of her heart! But I can’t blame you.”

The thumb drags on the back of her teeth on the way out. Rose from the River drags it lazily against Chen’s pleasantly plump cheek, restraining herself from embracing her and smothering her and claiming her. That’s not how the scene goes. Not yet. She is always acting in one way or another; she has simply been given permission to take on a different persona now. Thank you, mistress.

Rose from the River straightens, leans back, crosses her wrists above her head in a clash of bangles. “What do you think of me now, darling~?” She sways like a snake about to strike, or a snake lulled by music, or a coin on a string. “Do you like this? Do you want this?” She’s so close, and that’s the most enjoyable part, knowing that no matter how far forward Chen leans, her hands manacled behind her back, she’s just a breath away from being able to touch Rose from the River, but not allowed to close that final sliver. Not yet. “What my mistress has made of me~?”

She lowers her hands, cups herself, lifts— right in front of Chen’s face— and then lets them fall. They’re heavy, Chen. But so soft, too.

“Do you want me?” And that is not part of the performance. Even Rose is allowed truth, even if it’s hidden in veils and finery. She wants to hear it. She needs to hear it. After that, the torment can continue: the teasing, the seduction, making Chen beg to be owned and made helpless.

But more than she wants to obey the Countess, Rose wants to hear from Chen’s own lips that she’s wanted: not as a weapon, not as a bodyguard, but as a woman. The way Yin didn’t want her. The way she’s only been wanted when she’s worn someone else’s face. (And while she might make some changes to this face, now that she is at the helm of her own mind again… it’s still hers. It’s more hers than any face anyone else has ever kissed.)

Rose

Chen was delighted to be led. To be placed in a room and have you set things out for her and take her through whatever you had planned. You could tell the second you saw her by how she couldn't quite sit still but was quivering with excitement. You could probably think of lots of reasons for that. After all, you're giving her a special surprise, so she ought to be excited. And a proud Rose would think that Chen ought to be excited simply because it's something you're doing for her. And there's time alone under Keron's care, which is always precious in a world where much time is spent on appropriate behavior and service of handmaidens.

But do you want to know a secret, Rose? The secret is that she's excited because you're doing this for her. Because it's her Rose, and she's your Chen. And that's before we get to moment when you lay everything out!

Once you're there, you can see Chen's eyes grow as wide as saucers. You can see the way they sparkle when she looks at the deep purple silk and the way her blush gets hotter and hotter as you bring yourself closer until a little squeak escapes her and a quiver shakes her entire body when the pressure of your thumb reaches her lip and her mouth and her tongue. You'd think it perfect if not for a tiny little nibble of those teeth when your thumb is pressed in the closest that might, for just the briefest of instants, bring a blush to your own cheeks.

Of course, that's impossible because you, Rose, are completely in control here, which is devastatingly obvious when you cup yourself and bring the whole of your chest to Chen's face. She looks for all the world like she will instantly lose all coherence and melt into a puddle on the ground in front of you. And when you ask...when Chen squeaks and blushes and squirms and you demand that she answer you, there is the tiniest little nod and she manages, just barely through her squeaking and flustering and dying, a faint little yes that's enough to rocket through your whole being.

***

Yue

Today's the third day that Chen and Yue have been training together. The Countess had thrown both girls into a sparring room mumbling something about compatibility and synergy that seemed like she didn't want to give away the game when she knew perfectly well that you were already friends.

The first day had been tentative. There had been a need for hugs on both sides after everything that had been going on and how long everyone had been apart. And a need to catch up about becoming a flufferdoodle and to learn all about anime and swear to catch up together with Jessic's collection when there was time. And on top of that, Chen wasn't really sure where Yue was this whole time. She'd caught most of the duel, but that had been very much about how Yue had been bringing out Tianic's talents. And, if you remember, the first time Chen had ever seen Yue was when she showed up in her new ghost armor bearing a real sword and looking for all the world like a sword saint fit to challenge Qiu herself. So, there needed to be a bit of apologizing and adjusting when Chen's first attempt at sparring resulted in Yue dropping her sword in a fumble because she wasn't ready and that wasn't fair, actually! And then the second attempt ended in two moves with Yue's nose head bopped and Chen realizing that she had to recalibrate.

The second day was a little different because Yue was in wolf form, which meant first pets and ear scritches and nuzzles. And then Chen explaining very carefully to Yue that swordsmanship was first and foremost about knowing and feeling your body, which meant they spent wolf day working on a different variation of wolf sword style, pushing how fast Yue could move, how quickly she could turn and pivot, when she was in control of herself and when she wasn't. This was maybe the first time that Yue had seen Chen just enjoy herself like this too. This wasn't a high stakes duel, it was just play, practice, and using a skill Chen is good at. And that is visibly different. Chen darted about, laughing and teasing. She danced. She even sang a song at one point in the middle of the training, a fast-paced training theme that, though neither of you knows it, came from people playing bullet hell games in the burrow world.

And so now it's day three and this is the first time the two girls are dueling properly. Chen takes a different tactic this time than on the first day. She starts slowly, like she might if sizing up an opponent, coming at Yue with single moves that can be blocked and then backing off. It's a way to build confidence and to train certain skills because it's hard to just change what you're doing. A panicked parry doesn't become a perfect parry with one repetition. It's a panicked parry, and then a panicked parry, and then a...panicked parry. And then a panicked parry with a little note of frustration because jeez that was like the fourth time how come she's still doing the same thing?! And then because there's a little breather there's time to think about it, and then it's still a panicked parry because it's harder than it seems to go from having an idea in your head to actually executing it instead of responding according to your first instinct. But then, then it's a little bit earlier and a little bit better all of a sudden. And then it becomes something more like wondering why this was so hard in the first place, until Chen changes it up and does two attacks.

That's the point where it takes off, where the duel starts becoming an ebb and flow like water. Chen does a move, and then another, and they're not that fast, but Yue is keeping up and even trying a few of her own where she thinks Chen is going to be. Those prompt Chen to move and counter, and Yue has to counter in turn. Dueling training swords become like ocean waves as the tide rises, each move imparting energy and momentum to the other person. Yue tries to thrust and Chen sidesteps and swings just a little faster and so Yue throws her sword in the way and that's pushing Chen's sword into its next move and on and on, accelerating little by little.

The dance goes on for nearly two full minutes in which the only sound is the clacking of wooden swords and the whisper of their feet on the rush mats. Chen almost lets Yue win. She can see moves where she could let herself take a light blow and break the duel with applause and a pat on the back for her student. Except...except when she imagines that, she's not seeing Yue, she's seeing Qiu and Keron, and that hurt in their eyes. And it...it wouldn't be right to Yue to do that. She's not here to build up false confidence, she's here to show her the heights of what's possible and to help her get as far as she can towards it. She deserves to be treated with respect precisely because she's still learning. So, when Yue puts too much weight into a horizontal slash, Chen is already pushing it up and out of its proper plane and her blade is just below Yue's throat before she can even gather that her move was thrown aside.

They stop, frozen at the end of the duel, and a huge smile bursts onto Chen's face. "That was so good! Yue, that was amazing! Let's take a break and then go one more time before we're done." And you can hear, Yue, that Chen would love to hear how it felt, every little detail because she hasn't felt like this in forever and she wants to know everything about how it feels for you!

Well, one thing's for sure: she wasn't actually in prison before now. Or, well, maybe she was, kinda, sorta, who knows? But if she was, now she's in Double Secret Super Prison. It's much more like what she's seen in stories this time. The seat's too hard, there's not really enough candles to read by when it gets dark and even if there were she's only got her magic scroll for reading material, and the bed is a mere two or three lumps away from having to be downgraded from perfectly sleepable. The food is... actually pretty good, it's just mostly rice and fish and chocolate protein shakes in the afternoons, and even after a few days you kinda start to want something else just for variety, y'know? It's like, for some weird reason it's like they're more interested in helping her build muscle than making sure she's super duper comfy? Bizarre, right? Right???

At least there's lots of room to do stuff. Like practice. Alone. As in, all by herself. Sigh. She didn't ask for this, ok? She already agreed to the whole arena thingy! What was wrong with taking a while if it meant she got to do it with Hyra helping her the whole time? Only, actually... there's a warm little squiggly feeling in her chest that won't go away no matter what, that's making her feel like Hyra's still helping her anyway. Even though she's not here at all. When she first got tossed in here, she'd finally lost her fight against the curse and gone full floofyfluff (which one should never do, if one can help it). But she curled up and slept on her bed, and when she woke up again she was right back to fingers and toes and every other delicious bit of her sitting right where it was supposed to, and nobody had to tell her who was responsible for that.

Oh, Hyra. Oh, you brave, beautiful... ok! If she's gonna go and do a thing like that, then Yue can manage! In fact, she'll do better than manage! By the time they let her outta here she's gonna be so good at all her stuff that her gorgeous pretty wow-wow perfect girlfriend'll have no choice but to kiss her silly! So get to it, girl! Time's a'wastin', and it's so much harder to work on your finger positions when you don't got any!

And that's the story of how she lost most of a night of sleeping. Ocean scented candles burned down to little stubs in their holders while she sat there studying her scroll more carefully than ever, concentrating so hard she couldn't keep her tongue safe inside her mouth while she did it. And when she set it aside, she took a big huge enormous step and didn't immediately start trying, so her brain could maybe for once come up with something to help.

She ate her rice and she ate her fish, and while one hand fiddled with the chopsticks the other was busy flitting between poses without stopping to let her worry about how wrong or right they were. Like this, then like this, then like this, add one of these, and finish with a that. Again, then again, then again, then again. Put down the bowl. Like this, then like this, then like...

She felt a funny swoop where her stomach should be. She dared to look down at her fingers, and in the fading light she couldn't tell if anything was different than how it should be. She moved as if to stand, and shot so high she whanged her head on the ceiling! Ow! Ow ow ow owies ow! But! Also! Ow!! Er... n-no, wait! Did she? She...

She did! It was just for a second, and without really meaning to, but she flew! She flew! The ground said buh-bye and the sky said hullo and now she had a big ol' headache and a sore butt when the ground said oh hey there fancy meetin' you again. And that's the story of how a series of delighted squeaks echoed through every single chamber of the Sky Castle that night. It's probably the story of how those same squeaks frightened a child or two for years and made 'em never ask for a midnight glass of water ever again, and it might also be the story of several otherwise perfect and super romantic and/or steamy nights got interrupted by a profoundlish happy girl riding the giddy wave of doing an impossible thing one tenth as well as it had been taught to her.

But the first one's always the hardest. Always. It gets easier from there. Every time. It couldn't dodge her anymore, 'cause she knew what it felt like and nothing short of an Evil But Strangely Sexy Hypnotist could make her forget it ever again. This, uh, might also be the story of how one silly girl wound up having a slightly concussed dream or two while she napped into the afternoon with the dumbest smile in the whole world stuck to her adorable face. Oh gosh, I said 'or two', didn't I? Well, you can figure out the one, but I think the other's best left somewhere only a very special couple can chase it. Don't you?

*****

"Awwww, I really thought I had you! Darn it!"

Despite the sweat crawling across her skin, and the hands raised above her head in surrender, and the tiredness trying to pull them back down again in total breach of the rules of politeness (which probably have a name, but Yue's never read a book fancy enough to know what it might be), and the fiftieth loss or whatever in the last three days, and despite the sword tilted up at her throat just now, Yue's smile is more dazzling than sunlight.

"We were like... whoosh, flutter, dance, clack clack bang swoosh wowie! And then, and then, oh gosh, s'like dancin' and runnin' and spinnin' and fightin' all rolled together at once! I totally get how Tianic worked paintin' in there now! It's all one big ball of art, isn't it? It is! That's totally it!

But sheesh, I really thought I was gettin' faster, but you're on a whole other level, Chen. The way you do it, it's like... I, w-well, it's fast, ok? Fast and pretty and... I mean, y'know already, y'know?"

Yue laughs and droops a hand behind her head to play with her hair, which doesn't do a danged thing to hide the blush taking over her face. She's been doing that a lot in her time with you. The hair thing, not the... well actually, she's been blushing a bunch too, hasn't she? And not all of it's embarrassment at her form either, it's like she sees something in your heart that wasn't there before and now you're too pretty not to fluster her. Where, like, before you were just "too pretty not to smile at", so it's a whole heapin' leap forward and it's a mystery what you might've done to achieve it.

Another thing she hasn't really done much at all is shut up. You get the impression she needs more visitors. And the second, stronger impression that she's really not meant to be a wolf all the time, and all her country girl conversationalist skills can't help but burst out of her like a rush of water overcoming a dam the instant she gets a voice again. She takes a step back and wipes at her forehead before she goes and leans on her sword, which, yeah, she knows, don't do that Yue you're disrespectin' the equipment shush shush she gets it, please don't kill the vibe now kay?

"So anyway where was I? Oh right, Mei! So there I was just down in town to do my monthly shopping, right? And Bao Bao's got a sale goin' on fresh cut wooden plates and I guess he's doin' good business 'cause he's almost out of 'em by the time I make it to his stall. And like, I don't mind tellin' you, Kat'd been in a mood back then and I just couldn't get her to -- y'ever get like that with Li? -- but yeah just kept chewing through all my good plates so I was needing some extras like a waterfall needs a lake so I get to runnin' as fast as I can go with four bags've junk and radishes weighing me down and...

Can. You. Believe it?! Mei just bumps into me! Oops, sorry, didn't see you there Yue, bein' so short n' all! Tee hee! And she does that stupid little strut she does, y'know the... well I guess you don't, since you've never met, oh no wait you're a city girl so you probably see it all the time. It's the one with the big swinging hips like they're trying to attract deer with the power of their butt or something, and she goes and says all these plates are bought already just go home, and then. And then! She starts hagglin' over the price of 'em! Right in front of me! I was just... ooooooh, lemme tell you, if I was a princess like you are, I'd've smacked her butt right there so hard she'da spun!"

She's got a million stories like this. Silly, provincial tales about clashes with other people living in her village, or little triumphs like the time she won the big chili cook off, or the best way to prepare tanghulu, or a dozen different uses for leftover fruit seeds and which teas could help with your skin care routine and anything else you've ever wondered about the world but never knew you needed to ask.

She drops them while she's resting, like this, and she's been peppering you with them when she's been obviously frustrated and pouty, and she's dotted them breathlessly in the middle of every sword-stroke and sidestep she could fit them in. In fact, the only time she hasn't filled the room with stories and tips from the Terraced Lake (apart from when you've been talking, obviously) is this last little dance of yours.

She's trying her best, Chen. Not just to keep up with you, but... no, it's not even that. You're smart enough to know she doesn't really think she can match you, at least not yet. Granted it isn't stopping her from trying, but there's a quiet acceptance and a tiny joy in just seeing you be better than she is. What she's really trying to do is chase you. But what she's really really trying to do? Repay you, silly. Make you feel as loved and special as you're making her feel every day you take time off from your busy prison routine to help her with her swordplay.

It's... well, you know. You know better than even she does, don't you? The creeping pressure of expectation that builds up over everything you're doing the more people start to believe in you. When people think you might be special, and you stop thinking you're allowed to have fun with it, and suddenly every little failure's not a lesson to be learned, it's just proof you're not good enough to-- no, never mind. Don't carry that thought another centimeter further forward, kay? 'Cause you broke it today. You did. You did. There's nothing but joy inside Yue's lake-blue eyes, and there's nothing but...

Hm. There's mischief in her smile, isn't there? She's thought of trying something, and now it's your job to keep her from hurting herself while she does it. Plus rising above her to make sure she gets to keep chasing you and doesn't taste the apple too soon. How about it, Chen? Are you enjoying this? Is this the kind of challenge you envisioned? And while we're at it, are you ready for Yue to try coming at you from above?

*****

...It's actually really hard to play board games when you're a wolf. That's just common sense, isn't it? Your ears are triangles and your teeth are big and sharp and your silly paws are awkwardly enormous and just... your whole thing is running fast for very long distances and pouncing on prey and howling into the night sky (the moon thing is a myth, ok?), or alternatively finding someone very special and curling up next to them to share your fluffy warmth with them and either snuggle in a little pile or give yourself up as a pillow depending on how human they are or aren't. That's your skillset.

It's even harder to play Go. The stones are tiny and difficult to pick up with your mouth, and it's so important that you get that bit right or you'll never even have a chance to put it down on the board and try to nudge it into the exact right position without disturbing the rest of the board. It's even harder than it sounds, because, it turns out? There's rules for Wolf Go. And most of them say you can't get slobber on any of the black stones. And you always have to play Black when you're in prison and named Yue.

"You're a quick learner, Yue, but not quick enough to beat me~"

Cyanis has such a cute smile when she's being smug and invincible, doesn't she? Makes it feel worth all the extra effort to make sure she stays happy. After all, it was so nice of her to visit, wasn't it? And to bring games! It's nice to just relax with a friend, with no hidden motives whatsoever.

"Double or nothing, I win in the next fifteen moves. Bark if you're in, cutie."

<<Bark, bark!>>

"Good girl! Aww, you're such a good girl~!"

Hmph. T-takes one to know one! And honestly, you'd think somebody with such fluffy ears would be better at petting someone else's! Cyanis keeps doing this thing where she squishes Yue's poor triangles flat against her skull until she gets dizzy and disoriented and has to concentrate extra hard to remember what shape the board is right now. There's so many rules to memorize, and all she wanted to do was build pretty patterns but it turns out Wolf Go is played for stakes and... w-well, let's just say if she ever wants any underwear when she's back to being a girl again it's important she not lose too many of these games. Meep!

Gosh, Cyanis is such a good friend.

"...Wait, what did you just do?"

<<Bark!!>>

"Well obviously! If a sillyhead like you knows that, of course I do too. But you're cheating again, naughty thing!"

<<Bark?>>

"No no no, look again. That's ko! It's ko, see?"

<<...Bark.>>

"W-well yeah, you did start it, but, um--"

<<Bark bark woof!>>

"S-superior ko? Where did you find out about, erm, I mean uh..."

<<Bark!>>

"You don't understand! I need that stone! I neeeeeed iiiiiiiit~"

Yue wags her fluffy tail, and very pointedly moves her paw away from the board. Such a good friend! Such a good girl!!

Cheeeeen!

The smile on Rose from the River’s face is practically crocodilian. Not because it has too many teeth, or because she’s literally a crocodile, but that’s the only comparison that quite fits the delighted, victorious curl of her lips, the thin veneer of wicked (almost foxlike) scheming over her shared delight, and the way it slowly spreads even as you do your best to melt right through the floor.

“Well, Princess Chen of the Northern Wind,” she breathes, almost buzzing. “I’m afraid you’re too late.” One hand strokes down a shirt collar, stops at a button. The fiddling with it is intentional, artful. Maddening. “I’m under the Countess’s spell. She made me look deeply into her eyes…” Two fingers tilt your hot face up to look into her golden eyes, the lazy blink, the black slits. “And now I must do her bidding.”

She presses the advantage. Her knees flank you, trap your legs fast between them, even as she half sits on your own knees, leans her weight against them. She cradles your burning cheeks in her palms, body close enough for you to hold if only your hands were free, close enough for you to rest your face in paradise if your face wasn’t in her hands. It is like being held loosely in the coils of a serpent, knowing that it could tighten its grasp at any moment.

“I must obey my mistress,” Rose from the River asserts, the rules of the game laid out. “Once you are under my spell, I am to prepare you for her. You must be stripped,” she purrs, and a second pair of hands runs teasingly down your front, tugging lightly on fabric, cupping your soft stomach. “You must be dressed as befits a slave-girl,” she continues, and slowly pushes your head down to make you take a long, panning look over her body, and also, incidentally, her clothes. And, if you just glance over to the side, the clothes prepared just for you.

“And then I must make you as helpless as I long to be,” Rose from the River continues, and she cannot hide that slight nervous fidget. This is where she risks her story being too flimsy, being laughable, coming apart. If she doesn’t do this just right, you will surely see right through all her showmanship, or else miss her attempt at vulnerability completely. “I will gag you until your pretty cheeks are packed and you can barely make a squeak. I will tie you fast until you can barely squirm, and even that will just make the ropes rub against you all the more. And then I will be allowed to do whatever I please with you until our mistress arrives to put me in my place.”

A deep, softly jangling breath. Then, sibilant, hopeful, intentionally seductive: “Are you under my spell now, Heiress? Or do you still have some daring escape up your sleeve?”

Because if she doesn’t give you the chance to say no, your yes won’t be meaningful. And how she hopes you’ll say yes, that you’ll play with her, that you validate her choice to play like this with you, choosing to try to be a girlfriend and not a monk, to hope that you will protect her from being just a weapon.

***

Yue!

Today, the seaweed-wrapped rice balls are brought in by someone familiar. She’s big again, but sleeker, and all dressed up in the sort of maid outfit that is definitely decorative, though it doesn’t exactly give a girl with a perfect girlfriend many places to safely look, what with that skirt and those stockings and all that frilly lace and both those heart-shaped cut-outs!

She sets the tray down, with the rice balls (each one with a fish surprise inside!) and the square salted crackers and the choco-cherry milkshake, and then she curtseys so low that really it’s a way of showing off how much control over her body she’s got.

“I hope your stay in the tower has been comfortable, Yue the Sun Farmer,” Rose from the River says, and it’s her again, so serious while pretending she’s not being a little sassy. When she looks up at you, there’s a twinkle in her snakey eyes. “It is the will of our lady, the Countess, that you be entirely comfortable while you train. If you have any complaints, please share them with me. After all, I did say I would look after you, didn’t I?”

***

A Photoshoot!

Here is another thing that happened that winter.

The Countess let slip that Rose from the River, now quickly becoming one of her best girls (if her sass was silenced before it could start), was a shapeshifter, with increasing control over her body, discovering new ways that she could be a girl. And there is only one thing that must be done when a mighty dragon princess discovers that she has a shapeshifter at her beck and call.

Cosplay!!!

Imagine it, the process by which Rose from the River experiments with herself, with finding the balance between changing herself for others and staying true to herself. The printed-out screenshots of Ydian she meditates over while Jessic excitedly shares her backstory, the way her hair brightens into white-gold and forms faux curls, her flowers doing their best to blend in; how her now-smooth skin turns from rich riverbank black to Martian garnet-red, complete with the intricate white MagiSeal between her shoulder blades; how she treats the costume with the reverence of the raiment of a holy order.

Pose after pose! Set after set! They can’t stay cooped up in the castle! They need to go to one of the compact shrines looking out over the kingdoms, lugging the camera the whole way, so that Jessic can get a shot of Ydian preparing to consult her grandmother’s ghost; they need space in the park for the shots of Ydian calling upon the Power of Mystic Mars, channeling it through her bow, declaring that this time, this time, Zeryn won’t get away…!

And, along the way, maybe some pictures of Ydian posing with a giddy princess and delighted children. Maybe a candid shot or two of Ydian smiling when she thinks nobody’s watching, reveling in the joy her performance is bringing to everyone else.

(Of course, then there are the pictures that Keron takes that evening, the ones she’s going to hold onto and make Jessic ask permission to see whenever she wants to look. The Fanservice ones: Ydian, topless, facing coyly away from the camera, one heel lifted; Ydian, captured by Zeryn along with this magical dragon girl OC she’s doing a crossover with, sharing a hopeless glance with the muzzled Jezzikyn; Ydian, offering the camera White Day chocolates in a dragon-shaped box with a coy blush. And those are special, too.)

Rose

Little Chen is blushing and wiggling and squirming beneath you. She's hot and she's red, and her eyes grow so wide and sparkly when you start talking about all the things that you can do with gags. Because of course she wants this, she wants everything you'll do to her, she wants you to trust her and play with her, and most of all she wants you.

You could already be over the moon at this, but you stop and ask for something else, that moment where Chen chooses to be your girlfriend, to invite everything you're doing. When you do that, she stops moving too and she blushes even more and she bites her lip for a moment. Then she nods, slowly and shyly but with certainty. Because yes, she wants to be under your spell. She wants everything you're going to do.

And even that could be the end of it and you could be exultant. But look at her eyes Rose, and the little smile on that shy face. Look very closely at that sparkle, and the curve of those lips and you might, just barely, see that your girlfriend, for all that she's drowning in you, has more presence of mind than you might have thought. You might be able to see that for just an instant, what she thought about was where you were putting your weight and how...front-heavy you were as you were sitting. How even a very tiny person can apply force at just the right angle and take advantage of a momentary disadvantage to move something...or someone much larger. How a sudden change in balance in a wrestling match can wind up flipping who's on top and who's in the pin.

But of course, that's just a passing fancy. Her eyes are wide because of all your promises and her smile delighted and dreading and cute all at once. And besides, there's no way she chose not to do that just because she wanted both of you to share this even more. Right?

Have fun, Rose.

***

Yue

That look! That little mischievous smile! Do you see Chen's reaction? Do you? Do you see Chen's utter, unabashed delight when you get that look, or are you already in motion floating above her?

That's the look she had when she first dueled Rose. The look she had the first time she really got one over on her teacher, and then on her moms when she was younger. Because because because it's got so much happening. It's a look that proves you're having real honest to gosh can't fake or hide it fun! And it's a look that says that you feel comfortable. Not perfect, you understand, but comfortable. Like you're okay in your own skin and you've forgotten to constantly pay attention to everything you're doing because you've got a trick up your sleeve. Comfortable like you think you came up with your own idea how to move and and and it's yours! It's not just copying somebody else or trying to keep up or matching something you saw in a book or an anime or that you heard in a story.

Of course, what you may not have heard yet is that the first time Chen dueled Rose, she wound up tied up tightly and bound to a stick. The first time you pulled this sort of stunt on her instructor, she landed a single hit and then got whapped thrice in the back because she had no recovery plan. The first time she pulled it on Ysel, she found herself with a solid hit only to wind up in a headlock, which was not supposed to be legal in sword-fighting. And, well, the first time she'd tried it on Hestia she never even got the blow in, she just went flat on her face to the sort of elegant one inch sidestep that makes you not even realize you missed until it's too late to stop.

So, you should count yourself lucky because she has something to teach you here, and because she doesn't want this lesson to hurt. One of the things she learned is that if you make it too harsh like her moms did, that's when the pressure really starts, when you start beating yourself up over this stuff. But no, what happens to you is that you get one really beautiful overhand strike with Chen on the back foot, where she makes the block still in motion, and for a second you're maybe thinking "yeah, this is it, I got her, I just need to give it one more solid hit while she's off-balance and I could really win!"

But then something impossible happens and Chen shifts with your blow in the air without touching down. The momentum of it works differently airborne, almost as though she's sliding backwards on ice, and you realize that with your spell as you've done it, you don't know how to follow her this way. She simply swishes right out of your grasp and she's got her sword out and, oh gosh, oh gosh you haven't finished righting yourself in the air, which is a lot harder to do when you're panicking and she's flying forward a lot faster than when she's on the ground and suddenly her wooden sword hits with a *whap* right in your butt and you're tumbling end over end in the air like some kind of windmill, until Chen catches your ankle and holds you upside down, your face turned towards hers.

But she's smiling. She's smiling so wide she can't help herself. And when she says "first lesson of aerial combat, never leave your rear open to attack" you can tell that it's taking all her willpower to suppress a giggle fit.

***

An upper Skycastle garden, just Chen and Jessic

"I think I know what I need to do, but doing it still sounds really hard."

Chen offered Jessic a bowl of fruit, bending very low so that her purple silks and her veil hung loosely on her. She didn't quite prefer the outfit as much as Rose did, but she'd learned enough about this sort of thing in Ys and it was rather fun playing the servant handmaid. Chen enjoyed slipping into a role like, knowing how she ought to act and being able to meet it reasonably well.

They were alone in one of the upper gardens, Keron having selected Chen to wait on Jessic personally today. That was probably designed to humiliate her a bit, after she'd spent time with Jessic more as a peer. Something to really emphasize that Chen had lost a duel and now she was Keron's handmaid until such time as her training was complete. But it was also fun in a certain way, an opportunity to live differently, and this part of princessing had never much bothered Chen.

After Chen had gotten her lady of the day properly set up with a seat and table, and something to eat, she took the privacy as an invitation to talk, though she was of course prepared for Jessic to interrupt her with more requests in her new role. A good handmaid had to be prepared to be a good girl at any moment.

"I want to fight Qiu again and give her the sort of fight she was looking for, actually do the whole big archrival sword duel thing. But before that I need to talk to my moms and get them to see me differently. No more little double heir princess who's just there to be everything they want. It's just hard, you know? I'm not telling them to get lost or leave me alone. I'm trying to get them to, I don't know, to see me and not just this bundle of skills and training that they can move around however they want."

She sets down the fruit once Jessic has picked something and kneels to await a response.

Hyra of the Wolves has taught Yue many things, but she has not taught her this. Every master must keep a secret or two back. Every hero, too. She received an ideal from a great thief and considers it, its logic and precise wording, one of her hidden treasures. It's not a secret to be given; you have to walk the same road as Hyra to earn it.

She runs the precise words across her mind in secret. Feeling their reassurance. Feeling their warmth. These secret words are what she will live by, and she lets them fill her as she walks towards the Sky Castle.

This is the Handmaiden's path. The earlier Handmaidens thought themselves shields but those relationships were flawed; they pushed their mistresses to the background, engaged each other, and their hearts fell before each others blades. The internet forums she was on as a wide-eyed teenager were flooded with discussions of those warriors, idolizing their martyrdoms on the pyre of unrequited love. She'd gotten a lot of pushback for her fanfictions that actually had the Princesses kiss their Handmaidens.

But to her, being a martyr seemed miserable. Being a shield meant taking blows. Pining silently away meant not getting kisses. And in the opinion of Hyra of the Wolves, kisses ruled actually and more people should have them. She didn't want to be a tragedy, no matter how appealing some people found that idea. She wanted to be a hero. She wanted to be a hero in the way the thief had taught her to be.

Princess Yin, then, had been a mistake. A well intentioned one, one built on the battle of her shining magical knights in eternal night-time battle against the horrors of the dark. That seemed surely a path to true heroism, to shine for those who would appreciate it. It had turned out differently. Yin had been exactly the sort of person who believed that any sort of non-canon ship was somewhere between childish and barbaric and was extremely keen on everyone pining over her from a distance while she made out with designated canon ship boyfriend. There had been a brief, awkward shift after the Prince had dumped her and Yin grasped around for a rebound. That had... gone badly and ended predictably, in a rather neat illustration of why one shouldn't sacrifice one's ideals no matter how thirsty you were.

Enough, then. She would not be that kind of Handmaiden ever again. She would not fight battles on behalf of another. She would not break herself on the sharp edges of someone else's heart. The essence of being a Handmaiden, though, was to save your beloved - and that was where Hyra drew the line. She would not fight Yue's battles for her. If she lost, so be it. That's when Hyra would rescue her.

That was the kind of Handmaiden Hyra wanted to be. To escape the burning building with the girl in her arms, like the superheroes of old. So finding out she had to rescue Yue from the Sky Castle? Braving a Princess, Countess, and aeronautical army?

It was like a fanfiction come true.

She looks up at the ominous shape of the Palace above her. Steel and scale and stone and power. It tells the tale of exactly what it is, exactly what it intends, exactly who you are in relation to it. There is no question, no mistake, no deception.

And her?

She wears a black business suit and tie. Hair tied up in a bun. Sunglasses revealing nothing. This is an ancient look, at once boring and timeless. She wears it today for the same reason as those back then wore it. It reveals nothing. For a time, everyone from parakinetic directors of supernatural government agencies to tech support drones wore this same identical uniform, cloaking their splendour in generic anonymity and ambiguous power. The suit is a mask. It is the only shield that can protect her from the overwhelming power of the Sky Castle's architecture. That can make the gate guards hesitate when they see her. That can let her bluff her way right into the throne room, as slick as bureaucracy.

(The other reason she wears it is for the pockets and vague shapelessness. Both extremely necessary given how many tools, weapons and emergency costume changes she has crammed in under the surface. Of all her winter preparations, one of the hardest was making sure she still looked sufficiently hot after all of the gear had been accounted for.)

She'd chosen her moment carefully. When she pushed the double doors of the great hall open, the wind blew in a wave of cherry blossoms ahead of her. It's spring now and the Sky Castle is an ocean of pink and white, and so Hyra of the Wolves emerges in the midst of a perfumed blizzard. She comes in alone to stand before the mighty throne of Countess Keron, reflecting the mighty ruler in her mirror shades, confronting that draconic power with itself.

Her intention here is not a total mystery though. Her sword, long and silver and naked, rests across her shoulders. Armoured guards circle around her, spears readied with the cautious stance of stunt crew who trying to judge just how badly they're about to go down.

"Oh?" said Countess Keron from her throne, chin resting on her hand in the opulent arrogance of her station. "What comes calling, I wonder? Another volunteer for the arena?"

Hyra remains silent. For now, just her eyes move, crimson lights beneath the void. She picks out Chen, Rose - Yue. Where has the Countess chosen to display each of you?

Rose! From the River!!

Oh. Um. Well. Um! Hmmm. Um? D-did she mention well? Oh. Goshies.

This isn't fair! How're you gonna just... decide to be all big and hot again without even warning a gal, and then go ahead and dress so, so, so... cute!! Is that even legal? It's not, right? It's not! Right!! Cutie crimes! Oh, wily monk, y-your days are numbered! She's gonna tell! Chen's gonna find out she's dating a criminal and then, oooooh, and then! And then, uh?

The plan goes out the window with the curtsey. Goodness goshies geez! With muscles like that, you could really -- sheez that outfit really doesn't give a girl anywhere safe to -- how the heck do you get to be so firm and flexible at the same -- no, wait! No! You're taken! A-and so is she! A-a-a-a-and it's rude to look!

...Isn't it? Maybe, since she's a maid and all it's rude not to look? Oh eep heck no shoot she's blushing, she's blushing too much, abort abort abort!

See, Rose? This is why we can't have nice things. Poor Yue. Poor, pure-hearted maiden she. Yeah, that's right! Maiden! When d'you think she's ever had time to practice or get used to this kinda stuff? Were you just, like, not paying attention to the way she melted through the floor that time when Hyra lifted her shirt a little to mop sweat off her forehead and you could see her, her, her t-t-t-tummy?! Yeah, that's right! You didn't! Cause you weren't in the same room when it happened! So, uh, so, look. The point is, we had a perfectly sweet little heroine in training/jail here. And now look at her! She's got anxiety!

Yue's only hope to fight against the assault on her senses is to look at the nice, safe floor (plus, those adorable Mary Janes!) and look for an in with the conversation. Which, like, she should be up to this, shouldn't she? Any good heroine or princess would be. She should, ahhhhh. Clever, Rose from the River! A very cunning test indeed!

"...Food." she murmbles. That's a new technique, isn't it? See, she's been studying! Consider, if you would: a headpat for the poor girl.

"I'm uh, like, y'know? Yeah. I, I get s'for my health'n'all but, yeah, no, yeah, I'm workin' hard here in jail, see if I'm not. I can cook my own stuff if it's a problem but would it kill 'em to send a little variety up this way? Maybe a little red meat? For some reason I've really been...

Oh, and that's another thing! Stop sending kibble when I'm a wolf! Don't like it! Don't need it! Sure as heck don't want it! I'm perfectly fine with people food the whole time, cause I'm a people, got it! Even when I'm not! It's a magical curse, ok? You don't gotta rub it in, y'know? And, and I need a new Go board. And a nicer pillow. And honey in my tea. Some music'd be nice. The kinda stuff you wouldn't mind doing push ups and leg lifts and junk to all day. And more changes of clothes, 'cause mine keep, uh, wolfin'? I guess? And, and, and another nother thing!"

Yue looks up and finds your face, Rose. And here's the really special bit, see? She smiles, just as bright and happy as you've ever known her. If in all your long years and travels you've ever had room to wonder what love looks like when there's no romance to go with it? Well girl, here you are.

"I want... to get to hang out more. The Countess says I'm stuck here until I make use've my 'potential' or whatever, right? And I'm, uh, dunno if you know this, kind've a slow learner, ok? And it's just, s'been a while since I've seen you, y'know? You look good, Rose. Real, real good. How's it feel?"

***

Chen! Of the Twin, Um, Y'know What? Just Chen! Er, n-no! Princess Chen! Princess!!

She's looking straight at you, Chen. Upside down, mind you, but still. And she's... actually, hold that thought. How're you managing this, exactly? Even floatin' around in the air, you're a lil' shortie. Don't even try and deny it, everyone knows it's true. And Yue's a, I mean y'know, she's not exactly Rose r'anythin' but c'mon. C'mooooonnnnn. How the heck? You really expect me to believe you can - oh wow, goshies, well ok then! Carry on!

Anyway. That's not the important bit, not by halfsies. The real thing to focus on is the look in her eyes. As they tilt up, and up, and up. And up. To find your face, see. To-- sorry, sorry! The look! The look, ok! Her eyes are wide with wonder, which is normal Yue stuff whenever somebody does anythin' storybook worthy. But no no no, deeper than that. Yeah, you see it, right? The sparkle there. The razor-sharp glint of a girl who's just learned something you didn't mean to teach her just yet 'cause she saw the shape of where she went wrong, and now?

And now she thinks she can beat you, Chen. Maybe only in training, or maybe at, like, 20% of your true power or something. And definitely not right away. Like, seriously, you're one of the top 3 bestest best swordspeople persons in the world, and people say that about you even when you're not the topic of conversation. She's not stupid, ok? But even if it takes her another hundred hundred tries to get it once, she's got your number. The shape of the counter is unfolding like a puzzle box inside her brain, and if you're watching her as intensely as she's watching you, you can see it happening in real time. You've been here before yourself, right? The rush, the adrenawhatsit, the sheer impossible relief of it all when an impossible thing becomes inevitable. Which, credit where it's due, she's been getting a lot lately. Another week and you're gonna need to try a little bit. Fold in some new surprises, move a little faster every so often, maybe delay an attack after the windup a little so she parries at the wrong, oh who'm I kidding? You know what you need to do. Don't listen to me, a little dummy.

The point is, you know what's about to happen next. You know she's about to be rarin' to go again right again and throw another twenty attempts on the pile to get gooder while the gooding's get...ed? And that's the source of her big smile right now. That's the one. The one you caused. You're the advanced training course that's done more for her than a thousand duels in the arena could've because you're impossibly harder than they could hope to be but magically funnerer, too. That's a pretty special feeling, right? Go on, it's ok! You can say it! Look, here she goes! She's shaking free! She's about to, um.

"Ppppffffff..."

...Yue?

"fffffpppfffffFFFFFTTSNNRRRRK!"

Ah. Dear.

"Ahahahahahahaha! Eheheheeeeeeeee~! Your, your rear! Your REAR, ahahaha! Oh my, g-goshieeeeheeeeeee! Your... pffffffffsnrrrgrk!"

You've lost her to a giggle fit, Chen. It's all gone now, I hope you're happy. She flops to the ground whether you release her or no, rolling about like she's on fire, laughing uncontrollably until she's actually factually run herself out of breath. And even then each fresh wheeze keeps bringing new tiny giggles instead of air.

"Oh man. Oh wow. Oh, heeee! No one ever told me you were so funny, Chen! You should do shows! Your rear! Hahahahee! See, it's funny, 'cause that's another word for butt, n'that's where you hit me! Oh gosh. Gosh gosh gosh, I haven't been this tickled since, since.... pfffffffftttt!!!"

Y'know what? Nuts to this. Go get a drink, Princess Chen. Water, tea, heck go grab a beer I don't even care anymore. Yue needs a minute. Or thirty.

What a dork.

***

Hyraaaaa~

Hey cutie! Knew you wouldn't let a good girl down!

So. There's a couple of things you should probably be aware of. Number one, your girlfriend's a wolf again. I mean, you probably knew that one already. 'Cause you're not, so she's... actually I don't know that we've ever established this, is that your doing? Feels very you to be tradin' off the curse back and forth when you can get away with it or need your fingers for somethin' important like now, but maybe not. Maybe it's all hers and she's just got a bad case of the woof-woofs. By which I mean hiccups. But, like, in curse form. Don't look at me, I don't even pretend to be an expert on this kinda stuff. But it seems like the incredibly brave and kinda sexy heroism you're all about so, like...

A-anyway. Your girlfriend's a flooferdoodle. And that means she's, like, stupid easy to read right now. 'Cause her ears perked up the second she caught a whiff of your scent, and now she sees you her tail's thumpin' up a storm back there behind her like some kinda sillyhead. What you see is faith. What you see is love. What you see is a girl who's going to drown you in kisses the exact instant she figures out how. Every spare space in her heart is marked with little etchings speaking that desire to the universe. And you and she both believe that the universe is a place that listens to heart etchings. Pining is for losers.

The second thing you'll notice is that Yue's chained up behind the Countess' Throne in that way every impressive, exotic animal always seems to wind up around an evil empress or what have you in every movie and double definitely in every piece of fanfic ever written by anyone with more sappy dreams in 'em than sense. There's a big, evil looking chain leash connecting round the back of the throne that keeps her pinned in a very short area by the Countess' feet and it's all she can really do with her lanky wolf body to lie there curled up and showing off what a good girl she is (or else. but that part's implied. for flavor, probably. this whole 'dom' thing's super weird, ain't it?).

And then third, obviously she's a wolf so she's not wearing any special sexy harem girl outfit to greet you. Sorry if you dreamed about it, truly. That's gonna have to be an awkward makeout-- make up!-- session someday if you wanna catch her like that anyway. Downside of dating a little sweetie like her, she's just not going to think of this stuff on her own. But hey, consolation prize? That collar she's got on is just precious, isn't it?

Like, way out of keeping with Keron's whole murder-spike, step-on-me-mommy aesthetic. It's a darling little blue number studded with diamonds and other precious jewels that gives her the aura of an extremely beloved and pampered pet, and, mmmf, it'd be kinda nice to see her keep wearing that when she turns human again, wouldn't it? You could take her on walkies, and carry her to the bed and brush her hair behind her ear with a touch so soft it's illegal and she'd kiss you and...

Oh, shoot! No, no, no, you didn't notice that! You didn't notice that at all, ok? You're not thinking about it! Unless that motivation's good for you and then I guess think about it lots, but you need focus, so, so, s-s-so no! Unsee that right this instant. Way more important thing is that she's back there, and there's no good way to snatch and grab without having some kind of clever, daring, roguish plan to separate the Countess from her seat of power.

Nobody's managed that yet by strength of arm or speed or blade, least not that I've seen. And that's worth at least a penny, 'cause I've seen some've the very best give it a go by now. But you're Hyra of the Wolves, for goshies' sake. You're here 'cause you've got a plan. And maybe that means everything's ready. And Yue doesn't have to be here anymore.

Y'think she's grown enough by now? Is she ready to be your princess and bathe the world in the light of her little sunbeads? Next time you see her pick up a sword, is she going to set your heart on extra secret double fire? I sure hope so. But right now, the important thing's your here. You came, just like she dreamed you would. Her pretty blue eyes have never looked more in love.

You've got this, right? You've gotta got this. She believes in you.

Chen!

You are unwrapped.

Rose from the River takes her time with her work, but only so that she can linger over the power in this moment. Do you feel it too, Chen? The electric moment when her fingers are hooked in your top and she’s tugged just enough to make you feel it, and in that moment you know that she could pull it off, she almost certainly is going to, but she hasn’t yet, so all you can do is squirm there in anticipation, and she looks up at you and you can see the thrill of that moment running through her, too, and that moment she stretches out for long enough for you to say no, if you were to be frightened of that moment, if you were to change your mind, if you were to find the power and thrill and helplessness of the moment too much or too fast or too anything— then you could. Even after you said yes.

Because Rose from the River wants you, Chen. Make no mistake, she is doing this because she wants to. Why else would she look at you like that with her golden eyes, two fingers on one hand fidgeting as she drags her gaze over your skin, the faint hairs on your arms, the curve of your neck meeting your shoulders, the place where your stomach meets your skirt— and there she teases her fingers along your belly, too, light and graceful.

She touches you as if you were the hilt of a sword and she had you mid-flourish, you lucky girl. And she looks at you like a woman no stranger to intense obsession. Even only half unwrapped, that gaze is intense, as if she is trying to memorize your particulars, the things that make you you. An uncharitable mind would call it a built-in reflex, a shapeshifter’s mania; a charitable one would note how much attention she is paying to you, how she is trying to see you, not just as a canvas for a makeover but as a new girlfriend, someone who wants her loyalty and attention and prowess, maybe even someone who will not see her as a weapon, just as Keron has refused to do.

And when you let her finish, should you choose at every step to allow her to do so— oh, how she will look at you then, all of you, standing you up and raising your hands to your head, palm cradling your jaw, foot pushing your heels apart, looking at you in a way that any princess would yearn to be looked at.

She is a very old thing, Chen of the Northern Wind, and at the same time she is a very new thing; she has deep wells of experience, and at the same time, yearns for experiences she has been denied. The fact that you allow her to play this game with you means the world to her— she is not just entertaining a princess she met on the road, not this time. She is leaving herself vulnerable to you and your judgment by inviting you to share this story with her so thoroughly, by looking at you with such intensity in her eyes, by stepping into the role of antagonist to princesses she finds so comfortable and safe.

And even now she takes the power in the scene and uses it to pamper you because she can reassure herself that her interest in this story isn’t some hardcoded weakness meant to lure her into a trap, and because it lets her feel useful and desired and unselfish all at once, and because she wants you to understand the feeling in her heart when she first saw herself at that dance so long ago— and all those things are true at once, Chen.

You are the true power in this story, bright princess. The more you validate her devotion, the happier she will be, and the more likely she will be to be gentle (or clinging); the more you threaten revenge (if you can get it out, if your mouth isn’t already useless before she gets there), the more likely you can make her fingers skip a beat, can send an envious and needy thrill through this amazon, and the more you will signal you don’t want her to pull any of her punches. So what will it be, Chen? Will you melt into being the adoring and adored girlfriend, or will you try to play the part of the captured and enchanted princess?

***

Yue!

“A change of clothes, you say?” Rose from the River smiles a little wolfishly herself. “Very well. I’ll see if we have anything suitable for your idiom, ma’am. Daisies and flannel, perhaps.” Be careful what you wish for, Sun Farmer! She might even find some boots to go along with it.

“Less kibble,” she adds, smoothly (worryingly, not no kibble), “Go board, pillows, honey. And a CD player. If it is in my power, Yue the Sun Farmer, you will have what you want.”

She sets down the tray, turns to leave— and then stops! Oh, that teasing maid! The Countess definitely has her hands full with that one (in more ways than one).

“I feel… pretty,” Rose from the River concedes. “I have been statuesque, alluring, handsome, magnificent, but this?” She does a little spin, skirt floofing out, Mary Janes click-a-clacking on the floor. “This is pretty. And I think I quite like it, even though
Beauty is fleeting, a petal falling to earth;
only a bite of the heavenly peach may restore it.
Better then is the virtuous heart,
gold which will not tarnish with age.
How fortunate, then, to have both!”

And from the look she gives Yue, she’s not boasting about herself. It’s both fond and impudent, self-aware enough to know Yue will be flustered, graceful enough to not imply anything too untoward.

***

Hyra!

Off on one side of the throne is a recessed alcove for the handmaidens. It’s full of soft lounging pillows and smoky-glazed lanterns, and packed to the gills with handmaids peeking out from behind the curtains. The sort of place where a decadent countess could lounge with a handful of handmaiden in either hand and watch a private show. (Not that Keron necessarily would, but the implication is important.)

In the middle of that alcove, Rose from the River sits, surrounded by her weaknesses: a skimpy outfit, shiny ropes, and girls. Her fingers flutter uselessly at her own shoulders as a multitude of hands play with her: rubbing her powerful thighs, her taut stomach, the cups of her lacy top, tilting her face up for veiled kisses, stroking the petals in her hair. Pink and white: Rose from the River’s own flowers are blossoming in the seasonal colors.

What a pretty shrine maiden she is today! How lovely she looks in lace, the cherry blossoms caught swirling on her chest, and how bright the rose-pink gold of her collar and bracers, her earrings and necklace! How demure her cherry-pink veil! And how the ropes hold her fast, framing her like a cherry-viewing lunchbox just waiting to be opened!

A handmaiden turns Rose’s face to look over at you; another leans in close to whisper in Rose’s ear. You don’t need to be close enough to hear Rose’s helpless, needy whimpers as she breathes through several thick layers of fragrant scarves; the glazed look in her eyes is enough to tell you that the Thorn Pilgrim has been effectively neutralized, and that’s before fingers start tugging on ropes and making her squirm and shuffle on her knees, trying to find some respite from the delightful torment.

And that’s before the handmaiden who whispered in her ear, making sure Chen’s glancing over, pulls Rose’s top up just long enough for both girlfriends to die blushing. Squirming from side to side like that over a simple wardrobe malfunction is a little theatrical, though, don’t you think?

Rose

You can feel the eagerness of your subject as you work. It's perhaps the highest compliment you could hope to receive. She's letting you indulge, she's in fact intensely paying attention to you and everything that's making you feel happy and strong and powerful in this moment. But at the same time, she's not just doing this to give you a chance to feel good, oh no no. She is bursting with excitement beneath you. She shivers at your touch and it runs through her whole body. You feel a couple little kicks as she squirms and can tell that your little Chen is just barely resisting the urge to make those stronger kicks that might push your full weight onto her. Because she wants that. She wants you.

In this first part, there is no swearing of revenge. Really, there is a complete squandering of use of Chen's last moments of unencumbered speech this night. She's far too busy taking turns being enraptured and letting out noises when you touch her that bring a blush to both your cheeks. How fortunate that you'll never remind her of this in the future for any sort of embarrassment, isn't that right? Of course that's right! You'll certainly never bring up the gasp that escaped her when your fingers brushed her stomach and moved just a little further down, no that will never come up again ever.

It's only when you're done and admiring your handiwork that she offers a little different side of herself. For all of Chen's other issues, you can see clearly that shame in her body isn't one of them. She squeaks and blushes at how exposed she is to you, but so too does she touch her own thighs and run a hand along her chest invitingly. Does that bring a blush to your face? What a lucky thing that you'll be binding up that misbehaving hand very soon!

And here too, she dons the impish smile she can wear and whispers to you: "I can't wait to pay you back double for all this. My little flowerbud~" And oh, it won't do to let that little mouth keep running at all, will it now? Not when she's practically begging you to get on with it.

So hop to it Rose, your girlfriend is getting impatient!

***

Yue

Chen's look is excitement. Nerdy nerdy excitement! It's the excitement of having someone else be excited about your thing! Her face lights up and for a moment she gets lost in her own fantasies. Time spent working with Yue on honing her craft, building the right muscles and practicing things like grip and follow through, teaching the balance exercises that form the basis of strong swordsmanship air or ground. And time spent talking and comparing notes and coming up with plans and counter-plans, and just sitting and laughing. Sharing a meal and using the little bendy straw as a makeshift sword to gesture about something that just came into your mind! And then going back to it over time and pushing each other. Coming up with totally new moves in the heat of the moment, pushing each other to always be better but without that harshness that comes with needing to be the best.

It's not that Chen imagines everything happening just like that (has Yue even seen a bendy straw in the countryside?), but she lets herself indulge for a moment in the fantasy. Yue doesn't know it, but this is so much of what Chen had wanted with Qiu before. Qiu was already so skilled, so Chen hadn't thought of herself as the teacher there, she could have melted into Qiu's world and been her peer. But she had wanted that shared fun and excitement, that support for each other and shared growth out of it. She maybe still wanted that too, but she wasn't sure if that was something Qiu was up for. She'd seen a different side of Princess Qiu at the step pyramid and gearing up to meet that on its own terms was part of what Chen was working towards now.

But, in the meantime, here was Yue surprising Chen! First it had seemed like she was a master because of the armor and the spirit and the gleaming, so much gleaming! And then it had seemed that she was a novice and she had a lot going on and so much to take in and Chen knew that Keron wanted to have her trained properly but there were a thousand thousand variations of what a handmaiden could decide to focus on. So, so obviously Chen couldn't have expected Yue to delight in their shared training or to go in for the swordsmanship or to have this expression, this look! So let her nerd out for a moment and just have this whole fantasy!

Okay, moment done, moment over. Now's the time to teach Yue about good practice schedules and cooldown exercises and how you need to balance learning something to perfection with taking a break from it to let your muscles rest and your brain process and then going back again. But...she was laughing at...the rear joke and...oh no. I-it wasn't that funny. It wasn't! And Chen had already been suppressing her giggles before at her own joke, and then when Yue shouted "another word for butt!" Chen just lost it herself. Because obviously, but she was just getting it, and it was so silly, and they were both floating and she was and they were and and it meant butt! Pffffffttt ahhahahahaha!

And so poor Kat is left to fend for two completely disabled girls rolling about laughing and gasping for breath like fish out of water. Never fear, though, there will be tea. Good tea with honey and maybe some lemon because Chen's been working in the gardens for her duties this week and might just have noticed a ripe lemon that nobody would miss. You won't tell Keron, right? Or you can, that would be okay too.

***

Hyra!

It's cherry blossom festival day! The perfect time to open a door in a suit, but also the perfect time to show off all the handmaids and dress them up for the season. Rose, of course, finds herself in absolute pleasured disability as a show of Keron's indulgence and power. Chen, for her part, is positioned nearby to strategically show off a Princess in submission for the room. She's got a costume matching Rose's. Cute little wooden sandals with pink straps, and then a pink and short shrine-maiden's skirt that doesn't even reach her knees much less hide her thighs, though the pleats and ruffles give it a nice full look with some shadow mixed in as well. Above that, she's got the lace shirt with fabric embroidered with lovely pink cherry blossoms around the stomach and lower chest. But the shirt parts far below her neck, leaving plenty of skin to show off her entirely appropriate collar, necklaces, bracers and earrings all in the same rose-pink gold of Rose's outfit. Chen, not presently being doted on, also has her face veiled with thin pink silk.

But, Rose is in her full splendor today, and so Chen's barely bigger than half Rose's size. This means that Chen looks very much like she's wearing the kid's matching set to Rose's festival outfit, the little princess all dressed up to match to be shown off for the court! It's incredibly cute and embarrassing, a carefully calculated choice to both make Chen blush and emphasize the prize that Keron has captured and has fully under her control (we won't discuss the lemon theft!).

And on top of that, Keron needs somebody to wait on her. So Chen is loaded down with a big silver serving tray that she needs both hands to keep upright. On it are plates and saucers with all manner of treats: fresh nuts and candied fruits, little cakes and cookies, tiny crustless sandwiches with cucumber, and three different types of tea all freshly brewed. You can smell the scent of jasmine as you come in, and that floral one must have some cherry in it for the day! Other handmaids have been adding and removing items as they're indulged in by Keron or the entourage, while Chen has to keep everything steady and not spill a drop or a crumb, lest she face Keron's displeasure and add to her own embarrassment. She's managing with all the grace of her years training (and some past maid-play that nobody needs to be thinking about right now!), but it's clear the task takes her full attention, especially with how she's strategically positioned to both wait directly on Keron and constantly glance at Rose, the latest of which has brought a bright blush to her face.

It's not exactly the well-armed, gallant, and full-powered hero squad, but then it never actually is with these sorts of stories, isn't that right? The real trick is that the squad comes together at the last minute with a little combo of readiness and luck mixed with a generous dash of chaos. It's unexpected and exciting and just the sort of thing that a handmaid on a gallant rescue wants to set in motion like a line of dominoes.

"... another volunteer for the arena?"

Hyra's eyes snap back into place - and she grins. "Oh, no, not me!" she said. "Never mind me. I'm just here to observe - just let me pull up a seat!" She walks quickly, hands in pockets, over to the side of the room, takes a finely embellished chair, and drags it across the hall. The wood screeches against the marble, a long, drawn out, disrespectful motion, which ends with Hyra tearing the back pillow out and tossing it aside so there'd be a space for her tail to fall out the back. This is important, because her tail has a lot of wagging to do.

Keron watches all this, looks at the smiling wolf sitting upon her ruined furniture, and decides to take the bait. She raises her hand in the sign that her handmaidens place her laser gauntlet upon her wrist.

... and it does not come. She glances about. Mistrile isn't there, neither is Hena. Where are -?

*

"The Countess wants her balloon prepared at this time of night?" Hena asked, exasperated, brushing her hair away as the wind tugged at it yet again.

"It's probably for something romantic," sighed Mistrile dreamily, working on the rigging.

"Romantic? In this weather?" grumbled Hena, looking out at the windstorm. "I don't see anything romantic about it. Airplanes, sure, but balloons? They're so... cramped!"

"That's the point!" said Mistrile. "Stuck in this tiny basket alongside another person, no matter how your bodies twist they're always touching, a little world in the sky that nobody else can touch..."

"Yeah, the genuine utility closet in the sky experience," said Hena.

"You don't think utility closets are sexy!?"

The argument went on, neither girl noticed the sound of a knife sawing away at the anchor line, even as the wind raised higher and higher...

*

"Oh?" said the Countess, eyes flicking back onto Hyra and staying there. "I see what your game is, little wolf."

"Do you?" said Hyra, red eyes widening in mock surprise.

"I do," said Keron. "This is a magic trick. You're trying to distract me. In fact, I'd guess that another crisis is due to start any second now."

She paused meaningfully. The silence dragged on for just long enough to make it seem like she might be wrong - and then a shattering explosion erupted from the second floor balcony. A huge wash of fire rolled out along the ceiling, sending handmaidens running and shrieking in all directions.

Keron didn't even blink. She smiled, eyes fixed on Hyra.

"There we go," said Keron. "Right on schedule."

*

Smuggling explosives into or out of the castle was a difficult matter - rearranging the flammables already inside was comparatively easier. The airplane hangar was guarded, though, but the bathhouse wasn't. Princess Jessic enjoyed the occasional flame baths and moving around a basket full of ignitable lotions seemed perfectly in character for a handmaiden...

*

"Anybody could have set that bomb," said Hyra innocently. "Why are you assuming it was me?"

"Because I've seen this show before," said Keron, drawing herself up to her full height atop the throne. As she does a hidden compartment on the armrest springs open, the Countess' movement concealing the draw of - a tennis ball. The Countess doesn't even look at it, doesn't even show surprise, just lets it fall from her fingers without breaking her stride as she starts to come down the stairs. "Your plan is based on distraction. Surprise. Keeping me off balance. The same as any magician. Making a show with the right hand while the left hand picks my pocket. All that's required to defeat someone like you is to maintain eye contact."

Hyra continued to smile, but she could feel a bead of sweat run down the back of her neck.

"That," she said, "might be easier said than done. You've worked so hard, you deserve to take a rest..."

*

An evening of hard work in the kitchens, up to her elbows in dough. Everything smelled of bananas. Why was this so hard? Flour-caked, recipe book held open in one hand, trying to retrace her step and reverse engineer why the finished product didn't look anything like the picture.

In the end, she had to run down to the market. Passing off store-bought as her own was humiliating, but the mission demands.

*

"Are you referring to the sleeping poison in my breakfast? My food taster caught that one," said Keron.

"You have a food taster!?" said Hyra. "Seriously?!"

"No," said Keron, "but Wen Zi got up earlier than I did and ate my last piece of banana bread against my express instructions. I do not have Princess Chen feeding me grapes entirely for the spectacle of it."

In the background, a Handmaiden's eyes rolled back into her head and she collapsed into the arms of her fellows.

"I thought you could keep them in line," said Hyra.

"Such are the problems of running a household of masochists," sighed Keron. "Everyone wants to be punished."

"So," said Hyra, as Countess Keron drew closer still, "what? Do you intend to fight me with your bare hands?"

"If I must," said Keron, flexing her fingers. "But more likely I will simply take your weapon. Then your heart. Then your dignity."

"What makes you think I'll let you?" said Hyra, looking up at Keron as she drew closer.

"I think that you'll let me because -"

+Keron!+ both women flinched at the sudden sharp jolt of telepathy as Princess Jessic burst into the hall, a rolling surge of sky blue scales. +I saw the fire, is everyone all right?+

"Yes dear," said Keron, looking around. "I'm just dealing with -"

And then her arm was twisted around behind her back and Hyra's sword touched her neck. "Hi there~" said Hyra.

"..." Keron let out an extremely long and testy sigh. "Are you serious?"

"What?" said Hyra. "You said it yourself. Maintain eye contact."

"You went through all that trouble and -" the Countess pursed her lips tightly.

"Oh, I didn't go through any trouble," said Hyra. "I had a girl on the inside."

+Keron! Are you okay?+ said Princess Jessic, flaring her wings out threateningly as she moved towards Hyra and Keron.

"I am fine," said Keron tersely. "But can you do something for me?"

+Anything.+

"Grab Cyanis. She is the inside girl," said Keron. "You get her and you have leverage."

In a flash of blue lightning, Jessic is moving. She leaps, clapping her wings to the ground just enough to carry her into a crouch against one of the hall's marble pillars, eyes scanning the room. With predator's swiftness they lock onto the wide eyed fox standing trembling in the midst of a rapidly departing circle of handmaidens - and then the dragoness launches. Like a thunderbolt she crosses the distance, knocking Cyanis to the floor to the sound of a terrified and indignant shriek of "It wasn't meeeeeeeeeee-"

"Ooh, good guess," said Hyra.

"Thank you," said Keron.

"This is an injusticeeeeeeee-" said Cyanis.

"Wrong, though," said Hyra.

"No, I stand by it," said Keron. "Jessic, darling? Make sure to bind and gag her."

"Fox is innocent of crimes! I demand a - mmph!!! Mmph!!!!"

"I'm being serious, she's not actually my agent," said Hyra.

"Listen," said Keron, "I understand that you're desperate, but this ridiculous bald-faced lie has run its course. Release me or the fox will never see the light of day again."

"Whatever you say," said Hyra. "Sorry Cyanis."

"Mmph! Mmph!!!"

The Countess doesn't look around, even as the spear of Vogodoris, the stone warrior god, comes down to shatter the chain that binds Yue to the throne. She doesn't blink as the master thief Elkibrant pulls off her veil, draws two swords from hidden folds beneath her dress, and tosses them to Chen and Rose from the River. Guards yell and draw swords and race to the alert, looking to recapture the Countess' treasures in the finest traditions of martial arts movie extras. Indeed, the Countess appears serene. She has made her decision, and she stands by it.

Rose!

This one takes her a minute. Like, a big ol' minute. Really hope you didn't fire that one off as you slipped out the door. And then I hope you brought, like, a puzzle or something. Something to read? Iono what you're into honestly, I just don't want you to be bored. Maybe you just wanna watch Yue? That's kinda fun when she gets like this, y'know?

Here, lemme paint you a picture. See, she can definitely tell there's weight to your little poem, right. Some kinda... some kinda meaning behind it. It's not the done thing to burst into fancy verses 'bout beauty and time where she comes from. You more, like... well no I guess Sis had a lot of songs like that, 'cept they were mostly 'bout drinkin', and the moon, and drinkin' under the moon. Anyway most folks start up with more silly songs, love songs, walkin' to the market songs and what have you. Most of Yue's don't even have words! Not a hot audience for words when you're singing to birds and wolves and foxes and what have you.

So yeah, she's... vexed? That sounds like the kinda word you'd like. Good and proper vexed. She's got this look on her face, see, like she can tell there's a trap here and she's determined to out think it. She folds her arms across her little chest and she nods a whole bunch, as if that makes her look smart or something, and you can hear her 'hmmmmmm'ing as she digests the whole thing. And then? It sinks in. You can tell because her arms suddenly drop. And then? Oh. It sinks in. You can tell because her eyes go big as dinner plates. And then? Ohhhhhh goshies, it just sunk in!

"Y-y-y-y-y-y-y-yo-you..."

Yue's a blushing, squeaking, rolling-around-on-the-bed mess. Hope you've got another minute before you've got anything else that needs doin'. At least this time you don't need a book to keep you occupied, I'd bet. Finally she goes floppin' over and covers her face with a hand and her embarrassment with a laugh that gets maybe a quarter of the way to gettin' the job done.

"...City folk're too much. Where do you come up with-- gosh! I'm not! I mean I! I mean you're!"

She laughs, and shakes her head.

"You've changed, Rose. I think, anyway. You went and got all... soft. And big. And, goshies yeah, pretty too. I don't think a 'monster from the deep'" and here she drops her voice several octaves for her very bestful bestest spooky radio play voice before instantly switching back to normal, "coulda done it. I know last time I called you a city girl you denied it, but you're definitely one now. You talk like 'em, think like 'em, move like 'em, and you're sweet and wonderful like 'em, too. Y'know, Sis was so taken with the whole idea that she just up and, vwoooop! Adventured herself right down to the fanciest part of the Terraced Lake a few years back. Never heard a word've regret about it, like... ever. Man I miss her. Oh well!

So, just, to me, it's, well. S'about the best compliment I know how to give. And I think it's about time you took it, y'know?"

***

Chen!

You get the giggles, both of you. You get the tea. You get the honey. You get little cakes made with cardamom that fall apart in your mouths (and your tea, why did you dunk them???). You get a chance to breathe. You get a shower. Then Yue gets a shower. I don't know that either of you are quite at platonic-bathing-without-towels levels of closeness quite yet. A hot springs? Sure! Not a problem! But a shower's a bit... oh, sorry. Sorry! Moving on!!

Lesse, uh... you get stretches. You get the lectures about the importance of rest and letting all those lessons sink in with sleep and a new day and a new bowl of rice'n'fish and blah blah blah. And then when that's done you get to sneak in another three rounds of practice because it's so much fun, actually. You get all of that, together. You, Double Super Princess Chen of the Northern Wind and the Southern Sandy Stuffs, are now Yue's best friend. Congratulations! I really hope you're honored, that position's been filled for over a year, and the cutie you took it from is plotting her revenge happier than you could imagine.

But now it's over. Now it's time to let Yue grow on her own again, unless you were hopin' to turn her into another, taller, sillier you. Which you're not, I know, 'cause you've done a lotta learnin' and growin' in your own time here. Metaphorically speaking about the growin' part. Obviously. You little shortie short short. You miniature croquembouche. You tiny little... no, I will not explain how I know what that is. Turn your phone back on. Gosh.

Anyway. Now it's over. Now Yue's smiling with a distant little look on her face that makes you think she's got the world on her mind, and she's wiping down her practice sword like it's the last time she's ever gonna hold it. Which, she's probably right. The crack Keron gave that thing has basically taken over the blade with all the nonsense you two've put the poor thing through. She's graduating to a real one whether she's ready or not. You tell me, in your professional opinion.

"Oh... this is so hard. No one ever tells you how... well, no. I guess they do. I guess that's why trainin' montages are a thing and, still. Still, I... still. I didn't think I'd. Um. I guess I never really thought at all, 'cause..."

Now. Now the bill comes due. Now she's hugging you, Chen. Now she's crying, Chen. Not deep, terrible sobs, but the soft sniffles of the chronically overwhelmed. You're better than she is. You'll always be better than she is. And Yue's finally good enough to realize it.

"Ahhhhh, it's not fair. It's not! D'you know how easy my life used to be?! Got somethin' nibbling on your crops? Hiya! Foxes doin' too many fox crimes in the neighborhood? Don't even gotta ask! I was the best sun farmer for at least three mountains in any direction, go back and ask anyone! And now I'm, and now it's, I wasn't even... I only went with Hyra that night 'cause I was scared, y-y'know? An' I, and... I thought. Snnffffff. I thought I'd get to see a story. See somethin' amazin'.

No one ever told me it was my story. You'd think cleanin' out a shrine and sending off the ghost of a legendary warrior'd be the tricky bit! You'd think... you'd... I just. Everyone I know now's so good at everythin'. And it's all so hard. And, and it's fun, it is! But I... I just wish. I. I wish there was somethin' I was good at again. Lotta me wants to go home. Lotta... why's Keron think I'm so special, anyway? Why's Qiu? Why're..?"

Yue dries her eyes on her sleeve, and sniffles her last. Now. Now you're friends.

***

Hyra!

You really couldn't ask for a better audience than Yue. It's only her current form that stops her from gasping perfectly at each little twist and turn in the conversation. The reveals! The counter reveals! The drama! Two perfectly matched opponents engaged in a game of wits only they are smart enough to play! Wow wow wow wowies!

But she's, as you've noticed, a wolf. A woof woof, if you will. I'm honestly not sure how that makes you feel, but for right this second don't worry about it yeah? I only put so much attention on it because... well, wolves can't, y'know, gasp. So just in case you were worried about the wheezing barks that keep slipping out of her, that's just her trying her best. Ok? Ok.

How many layers deep does the plan go? How many threads can Keron cut through without blinking? Who's got the edge here?? And, and why does this make her feel so much better about all the stuff that's gone on since she's reached the floating castle? In fact, why does yeeeheeeheeeheeeep spear spear spear spearspear oh hey! She's free!

She blinks, as her first act of freedom. Her second act of freedom is to stand up, and her third is to stretch and shake all of the sleepies out of her big, fluffy body. It almost doesn't annoy her how natural it all feels to do it now. Almost. But girls will be girls, except when they are wolves. And then, they will be girl wolves.

The most joyous howl in recorded history rings out across the room. No more leashes, no more masters, no more Secret Double Jail, Yue! Is! Free! And with freedom comes zoomies.

It's the first lesson she learned when her love took your curse from you, do you remember? This is how she learned that she could be graceful and pretty, be sought after and admired. It's how you finally got her to see that she could be fast and strong and good, and it's what's pushed her this entire time you've been separated. Did you know she's been practicing at... basically everything? Every day? For, well, goshies it's been weeks now, hasn't it? She's been working so hard, Hyra. For herself, but also for you.

So I hope you can spare an eyeball from the impending hullabaloo to catch the moment where she goes zooming through everything like she's been shot out of a wolf cannon. I hope you have time to appreciate how smooth her body moves now and how easily she gathers her gravity underneath her so she can launch herself forward again and again and again without slipping or breaking stride. I hope you can admire the grace in her turns and the quality of her target selection. It'd mean an awful lot if it makes you smile, y'see.

She goes sailing straight into the bound and gagged Cyanis straight away, further adding to the chaos of the moment with a series of indignant, muffled squeaks. It's not that this is a rescue per se, or at least not because Yue's been fooled by your bluff. Unless she has! In which case well played, Hyra of the Wolves! She'll feel like a right sillyhead later, but provided she's got vocal chords at the time she'll also giggle about it. Also like a sillyhead. But right now it's just that Cyanis is her friend who showed up all of those days to teach her Wolf Go and keep her company when she was so bored she thought she'd die just from that. Cutie foxes deserve cutie jail, but sometimes don't they also deserve the chance to taste cutie freedom? This exercise is left for the reader to decide, yip yip arf.

Yue can't mount a full on rescue, but she can run. She can't fight with a sword the way most of her friends can (especially with no sword to chormp), but she can run. She can run like wind becoming lightning, under leg and over every place a body needs to stand to get a good swing off. She can run to so many places that it starts to feel like there's more than one wolf zipping all over the place, and she can help in every little way she can.

But she can't, and she won't, take this moment from you. Because the best thing about Yue, as we've mentioned, is that she's a sweetiemuffin. A sweetiemuffin who loves stories more than anybody in the whole world. So like we've said so many times, and like you've seen, she knows when somebody's having A Moment. And 'cause it's you? She's happier to be close enough to watch it happen then she's ever been before. Go, Hyra of the Wolves! Your girlfriend believes in you!

Chen!

Rose from the River turns dressing you into a dance. Step, step, turn; step, step, lean. Twirl, little princess; the moment you feel like you’re going to spin out of control, you find Rose from the River there to hold you fast, and silk worked up around your hips, pulled snug over your curves, draped heavily over your face. She locks bracelets around your wrists while you are breathless and being suspended by one hand in the small of your back, keeping you from tumbling to the ground; she pulls you in close and taps the earrings you didn’t even notice her slipping in. She is showing off, incorrigible, just for you. Just so you know how much control she has, how much she can do all for you.

She spins you round and round, and then slowly, her grip on your wrists keeping your hands above your head, slows you down, tugs you up onto tiptoe, makes you show off how much you can stretch. Her hair whispers at the sides of your stomach, teasing, as she tilts your chin up, makes your veil drape itself over your features.

“Good girl,” she breathes.

Then, still holding you in place, she sets the gem in your navel, a sparkling amethyst, and runs one finger over its swell. Her chuckle is deep and indulgent. And when she looks over you, the strain of your muscles, the grace with which you hold the position, it’s with a delighted hunger.

She does not insult you by giving you anything less than her best. The ropes are thorough, folded back on themselves for safety, swaddling your arms behind your back, pulling them in close, wrists resting on the swell of your rear. Your legs she secures ankle to thigh, forcing you to kneel, but with knees so easily spread. And she frames you in the rope, pulling it snug in a net around your body, pulling your top tight against your skin, dimpling your sides, wrapping you up like a present.

And then… well. “Good luck paying me back double,” she breathes in your ear, packing even more silk between your lips, and pressed so tight against you, you can feel her wicked, monster’s heart beating like a drum. How she jumps when you huff through your nose! How delirious her smile grows when she dangles more packing in front of your face and watches your eyes widen! How she shivers when she leans forward to secure the knots behind your head, burying your face in her softness, and then leans back to take up another scarf from the stack! How vulnerable she is, for all that! A single sad shake of your head or crinkle of your forehead would destroy her.

But you don’t, do you? Because you want to see Rose bloom all for you; because the sparkle in her eyes over being allowed to control the scene is giddy and joyful and hiding behind the pretense of doing this for the Countess as if it were a gauzy silk sash draped over her body; because when she is done, she reaches down and tweaks you through your top just to check her work, and her fingers are so, so clever.

When she picks you up and sets you down on the couch, she might as well have been picking up a stray pillow; she is mighty, mighty, the kind of monster that could arm-wrestle Jessic for fun. When she climbs onto the couch and growls, drinking in the sight of you underneath her, it echoes in the small chamber.

“Now,” she purrs, and her teeth are almost fangs, and her eyes are too visible in the low light, “what do I do with you now, you silly little slave-girl~?”

***

Yue!

Rose from the River gives you something that she has in abundance: she gives you her attention. She drinks it all in! The furrow of intense thought; the slow blossom of realization over your face like the sunrise; your judgment of being a city girl that you lay upon her with such solemnity!

And then she curtseys again, still smiling that too, too clever smile, the one that says she’s got her own opinion as hot as five-alarm curry just simmering away. “Very good, ma’am,” she says, all prim and proper and inviting you to join in on the joke.

Then she does it, so smooth that it might as well have been choreographed—

Sorry, that it might as well have been practiced. Hopefully that’s better, dear.

She stops with her hand on the doorknob and turns back for just a moment to deliver the piledriver right to the heart, as best as she can, unable to escape the urging of the Way forever: “If you’ll forgive me for saying so, I think that your sister would appreciate a visit, should you ever escape the mistress’s grasp. You’ve got quite a few stories to tell her now, and a girlfriend to introduce her to. If you were my younger sister, I would want to hear the whole thing from you, start to finish.”

And she’s gone! But hopefully her words, they linger.

***

Chen! Again!

Rose from the River has been more mutable, hasn’t she? Ever since she had to lock her spirit away, she’s had a little more flexibility; like a young green sapling in the springtime which bends when the wind blows from the north.

Her braids snatch the sword out of midair, and there is a dizzying flourish as she tosses it up, to the squealing delight of her companions, and spins it around, catches it, makes it hum fast like a saw, and— lets it fall into her outstretched hand?

Four arms, again: two tied tight behind her back, two slender and smooth and quick and ready to fight. She doesn’t bother to undo the rope harness, just cuts away the rope about her legs and stands with a theatrical stretch, a faint groan, and then bows to the guards.

Look, she seems to say, the treasure is here for the taking, secured and silenced and swaying! Reach out and try to grab hold of her harness, if you dare! Her eyes are lidded, but not with playful distress, and her moans are ironically sharp. She is amused, and intends to enjoy herself; to prove herself so capable, she can win a fight seemingly while flailing about and squirming uselessly against her bonds. That stance is the stance of a master, and she is ready to prove that she could win against a host with two hands quite literally tied behind her back.