A bow is tied into my hair, helping to keep it up in the elegant hairstyle Enna put it in. Apparently, putting your hair up is much harder to do with horns in the way, I probably wouldn’t be able to do it myself without help.
My dress is cute and frilly, but significantly less comfortable than my Vess made clothing. The tailor looked like he was going to faint when Enna had to correct him, adding a hole for my tail in the design.
No makeup is applied, Enna claiming that I look ‘Cute as a button as I am’. She doesn’t let anyone else get close to me, choosing to do everything herself, which I appreciate. I’ve been feeling really sleepy lately, and I don’t like talking to the humans, Sarah excluded.
Sarah leans down to tie a matching bow around One. He yips his approval and preens under her care.
“Finished.” Declares Enna, helping me stand up.
One is plopped into my arms, and I’m guided out of the dressing room. The halls of the castle are as opulent as ever, plush red carpets, old suits of armor standing shiny and tall, chandeliers lighting the way; the king’s got good taste. Soldiers stand at attention and salute when we pass; I miss my Vess soldiers. Their silent devotion makes me feel safe.
A door is opened for us, and I find myself in a great banquet room. Someone announces my arrival, Queen Renna of the Vess. A host of hushed conversations washes over my ears, I don’t really care what they are saying, I’m still sleepy.
I yawn, rubbing my eyes, “Mmm how long do we have to stay?”
Sarah takes my hand, leading me towards the refreshments, “Not long, maybe an hour or two. However long you think you can go.” She glances down at me, the concern clear in her eyes.
One yips and jumps down to sniff around the tables, a glass of some kind of red liquid is placed in my hands. I sniff it, and it doesn't smell alcoholic. Taking a sip, my tastebuds are met with a pleasant fruity flavor, not too bad, probably would have been better before my transformation.
With great effort, I look around the room. Groups of nobles mingle together, many sneaking glances my way. A few musicians are performing on a nearby stage, and there is an area marked for dancing where a few couples sway back and forth.
Enna and Sarah are both standing a step behind me, hopefully nobody will be brave enough to approach.
A bald man with an important looking bushy mustache ruins my dreams of going undisturbed, “Greetings, Vess Queen. I am Baron Von Escarto.” He bows slightly, “I hope everything is to your liking, I’m sure all of this is new and overwhelming. I would be happy to answer any questions you might have.”
Sarah steps forward with a light bow, “Baron, good to see you again.”
The baron looks surprised, “Ah! The Spellblade Hero! I wasn’t expecting to see you here, my condolences for the loss of your fellow heros.”
“Thank you, Baron.” The sour look on Sarah’s face says it all.
“Pity they all died so young, and before they could reach their full potential! Truly a disaster, I was against sending you all out, you know.”
I can practically hear Sarah’s teeth grinding as she repeats her thanks.
I stare up at the baron with my best innocent smile, “Forgive me Mr. Baron, but I didn’t realize humans grew tails on their upper lips!”
The baron just stares at me, stammering, trying to find a polite way to refute me, so I just keep going, “What happened to your hair? I thought humans all grew it on the tops of their heads? Or did it somehow get confused and end up on your lip?”
“T-that’s uh, well.” His face turns red as a few nearby nobles laugh at his expense.
“Sarah, can I have more juice?” I hold up my empty cup to her.
She tries to hide her smile behind her hand, “Of course, Queen Renna.” My cup is quickly refilled and returned to me, giving the poor baron amble time to escape.
A woman steps up to fill his place, she has huge breasts that are practically spilling out of her gown. It's too easy, I’m ready to shut her down when she says, “Good evening, Queen Renna. How lovely to make your acquaintance.” Followed by a curtsy. “I am Lady Marquess. May I say, you look radiant tonight, your grace.”
I really don’t feel like doing this, but she hasn’t been outwardly rude yet… I decide to return a polite curtsy, “Hello, it’s nice to meet you. Your dress is really pretty!”
Enna radiates ‘you are so adorable’ energy so loudly, I’m surprised the whole room doesn’t pick up on it. I’ve never been so glad humans can’t sense our Vess link.
Lady Marquess smiles, “Aw, thank you dear. So polite. I’m sure you would get along famously with my daughter, you should be around the same age.”
I frown up at the Lady, “I’m nine months old.”
“Ah,” She stutters for a moment, but swiftly recovers, a true noble, “I apologize, I assumed the Vess must age the same as humans. My daughter is twelve years old this year, I just meant that your personalities seem to align.”
She thought I was twelve? That’s better than I hoped for, I kinda like this lady. “Sorry, I don’t really have much time to play, I have an army to raise!”
She tries to hide the disbelief on her face, “Oh dear, you are much too young for something so serious. Surely there is another who can shoulder that responsibility?”
I shake my head, “No, I am the Queen. Only I can do it.”
Lady Marquess looks genuinely sad, “Such a terrible burden for a child. Please, try and let the adults handle as much as possible, and be sure you have trusted advisors.”
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“I trust them!” I beam up at the lady.
“Indeed?” Lady Marquess looks between Enna and Sarah, “Well, at least you have the Hero of Goldwall,” She smiles warmly at Sarah, “She has more than proven herself on the battlefield, I’m sure you couldn’t find a more trustworthy individual in the capital.”
Sarah blushes from the compliment, clearly unused to being recognized for her efforts. She exchanges a few quiet words with the lady, after which the lady politely excuses herself to return to her husband.
“There” Sarah points to two girls dancing together, “First Princess Alana and Second Princess Lanna. They have been looking over every now and then, probably going to come talk soon. The more immediate problem is him,” She adjusts her arms to indicate a man walking towards us, “Prince Astar, he’s got a short fuse, so don’t piss him off.”
Prine Astar comes to a stop and bows, “Queen Renna, my apologies; I couldn't find the time to greet you until now.”
I shiver as I feel the effects of what I think is an inspection skill wash over me. Enna growls her displeasure, causing the prince to take a cautious step back.
“Sorry, Enna is really protective of me.” I try to brush it off.
“Yes, well.” The prince straightens his jacket, “I had my reservations about allowing that beast in here, but apparently you need her to care for you. What she does, I couldn’t say, does she breastfeed you perhaps?” He ends with a sneer.
My face flushes immediately and I can hear Enna’s claws extend with a Shick. Trying to defuse, I say, “I wouldn’t be surprised if that happened, maybe if I was younger.”
The prince doesn’t relent, “Playing cute?” He scoffs, “You may have fooled my father with your act, but I am smart, much smarter.”
“Uh, okay?” I really don’t know how to handle this, and honestly, I’m too sleepy to get upset about it. I glance at Sarah, doing my best ‘help me’ eyes.
She steps in front of me, “Really, Prince Astar? Bullying children now? Or is this your version of flirting? She is much too young for you either way.”
What happened to not pissing him off? His face gains a shade of red, he looks extremely displeased as he addresses Sarah, “Ah, the ‘Hero’ of Goldwall, so odd to see you without any of your friends.”
Sarah visibly flinches at his jab, but is quick to snap back, “Better to have had them and lost, then to have never had them at all. I wouldn’t expect you to understand, you couldn’t even bully any nobles into following you over here.”
“Silence,” He hisses, “I have plenty of-” Stopping himself, he clears his throat, “Enough of these games, I just came to have a look at the creature, and I am left wanting.”
“She’s undoubtedly a higher level than you.” Sarah crosses her arms and pushes out her hip, looking very smug.
The frown on the prince’s face turns into a thin line, oh, he looks pissed. The two princesses choose now to come over, giggling at the prince’s expense.
Princess Alana looks very amused, hiding her smile behind her hand, “Oh he just hates it when his low level is pointed out, it is rather shameful, after all.” Princess Lanna seems content to stand a step behind her sister and continue to giggle.
“Sisters.” The prince greets curtly, “Come to gawk at the creature?”
“Oh yes!” The first princess agrees, “And she is so adorable! Why, if all monsters were so cute, I fear no one would be able to gain any levels!”
The second princess sneaks a comment in, “I wonder how much XP she would give.”
“Is that a threat?” Sarah’s hand drifts towards her sword.
Princess Alana dismisses her with the wave of a hand, “Oh, little sister meant nothing by it, never you mind, hero.”
“Can we be done now? I’m tired.” I whine. All the aggression is starting to get to me, I feel small and not in control at all. I knew this ball would be stupid.
Enna lays a claw across my shoulders, “Would you like me to remove the heads from their bodies, your grace?”
“Sure.” I shrug; she probably won’t actually do it.
The princesses both take a few steps back, the younger hiding behind the older, who demands, “Control your monster before I have it killed!”
Taking a few unhurried steps towards them, Enna relaxes into her full height, claws on full display, and lets out a primal growl. “Run along now, little humans, the Vess have no patience for your games.”
The prince and princesses fully retreat across the ball room. Curiously, no guards come to challenge us. I guess everyone is worried about the political situation? Can I just threaten people to get my way, without consequence?
A tense silence hangs over the ballroom. I look around for the king and spot him, speaking hurriedly with a few important looking people, he looks quite stressed. I’ll just let him clean up this mess, it’s not my fault anyway.
I tug at Enna’s skirts, and she slowly shrinks back down to a less intimidating height. She still looks pissed off though, looking down at me she cautions, “You shouldn’t let others walk over you, your grace. It sets a dangerous precedent. One example, that’s all you need, pick a human, any human, and gut it. The humans will know not to bother you with petty games after.”
“I dunno…” I trail off, looking at the would-be angel on my other shoulder for her advice.
Sarah sighs, “Look, I don’t know how the Vess do things, but I do know how people on earth do things.” She grimaces, “I guess it’s not all that different from here, but in America at least, people are not killed just to make a point. You threatened them, hopefully that will be enough.”
Do I go the upstanding earth route or the indomitable Vess route? I guess it’s too late to gut someone, it would be kinda awkward if Enna just walked across the room and killed one of the princesses this long after our spat.
“Ren,” Sarah places a hand on my shoulder and bends down to make eye contact, “It’s really not my place to tell you what to do, I’m sure going against your Vess instincts would be really hard, but would you at least consider doing things peacefully? These aren't bad people,” she stops, a conflicted look crosses her face, “Well, they aren’t the worst, I don’t think the prince would do anything worse than shit talk you, point is, they are just scared. You know, classic humans are scared of what they don’t understand so they kill it.”
I cross my arms, “So I’m supposed to be the good monster who would nobly let the humans kill her in ignorance?” The idea makes me feel sick, “No, I’d rather use force to get the respect I deserve. I’m going to be mistrusted either way.”
Sarah looks sad, but nods her head anyway, “I know, I didn’t full on reincarnate here, I have no idea what you’ve been through. I’m not trying to judge.” She smiles a tight smile, “Thank you for at least hearing me out.”
I hug Sarah to show that we are good, she seems to appreciate it and returns it, fluffing my hair and even rubbing a horn. I can feel my short tail wagging a little.
“Not gona lie,” I say quietly into Sarah’s shirt, “I think my instincts don’t particularly value human life, it’s kinda scary.”
“It’ll be okay” Sarah gently encourages, “We’ll figure it out.”
After we part, I try to lighten the mood. I gulp down the rest of my sweet juice and hold my glass up to Sarah, “More please!”
“You're enjoying the juice?” She says, surprised, “I thought you only really like raw meat?”
“Mmm,” I nod, “It’s true, the juice is just okay. My plan is to need to pee really bad by the time the next rude human comes up to us, so I can get you to take me away to the bathroom.”
Laughing, Sarah gets me a new glass of juice, “Devious, shouldn’t be long now; you’ve already had two.”
“I already kinda have to go,” I admit, squirming a little.
