by Chris Hechtl
Ryans shrugged. “A few.”
Deidra’s lips quirked. “Try five.”
He sighed shooting her a dark look. “You would bring that up.”
“So this morning's event makes six?” the Duke's lady asked, eyes wide in surprise.
“Something like that,” he said embarrassed. “Like I said, right time, and dumb luck.”
Deidra chuckled herself. “Something like that I suppose. Though the way you fought off that wild basilisk with your bare hands was something else,” she murmured, resting her hand on his arm.
He looked at the hand then smiled. “It was good exercise,” he replied, looking up to the courtiers. “Besides, if you had a sword in your hand you would have handled it without my help. I know you princess, you're quite the fighter,” he said. He saw the approval in her eyes at that.
“You fought a wild basilisk?” someone asked in disbelief. “Bare handed?”
“Hardly, he must be wrong! Boasting! Liar!” someone else in the back said. He turned with a scowl.
The princess grabbed at his sleeve. “Show them,” she ordered.
He sighed. “Do I have to?” he murmured. Her eyes locked onto his. He sighed again, seeing the gleam but unyielding stubbornness. “All right fine,” He grumbled as he took off his jacket then rolled up his sleeve. Under it was the scarred arm. “I have scars on my hip, thigh, and chest as well. Due to the mixed company and nature of them, I'm going to forgo showing them,” he said holding up his arm.
Those closest examined his arm, seeing the white still puffy scar tissue and fresh bruises. Some jostled others to see. They murmured to each other. A few patted his shoulder. He winced. “We are doubly indebted to you then. You have shown your worth in battle then,” Duke Troy said, giving the other courtiers and lords a meaningful look.
“Crap,” Ryans murmured. He realized now he'd fallen into the trap and wasn't sure how to get out of it.
The Queen arrived to some fanfare and by announcement of a herald with a trumpet. Everyone rose and turned to her. Deidra rose with his help, still seemingly graceful though she leaned on his arm for support and kept her right foot up, resting all her weight on him and her left foot.
The Queen made her way at a stately pace through the throng, murmuring politely to one person or another in passing. Deidra’s arm clutched at his. There was something there... the Queen was wearing black. He sighed. The Queen reached the dais and rose upon it, then turned to the assembled throng. Her skin was paper white, he wasn't sure if it was the makeup, circumstances or the contrast with the black dress of mourning she was wearing. Either way she looked like a Victorian vampire.
“The King is gravely ill. He will most likely not live out the night according to our most accomplished gaijin healers,” she said. She nodded politely to Ryans whose jaw hardened. “This war must be won; our country is on the brink of collapse. The crown asks for your aide and patience in this.” She eyed several in the group then turned back to Deidra. “It's good to see you well daughter,” she said. Deidra flushed a little. The Queen turned slightly to Ryans. “And you, her protector, I see she has insisted you stay at her side. As is right and proper,” she said, noting his missing jacket and rolled up sleeve. Her eyes quirked and she smiled slightly. He flushed again. The Queen nodded politely and then turned her regal gaze on the group as a whole once more.
“The King's will shall be read when he passes,” she said, returning her attention to the throng. Murmurs had stirred at her pause but they were quickly silenced. “Until then we have to go on as the King would want. Please attend to your duties,” she said looking around. Many of courtiers took this as a dismissal and moved off. The Queen watched a few go, pursing her lips and then approached the couple.
Zara broke through the throng to arrive as well. “I didn't know you'd been clawed so badly by the basilisk!” she said, eyes wide.
He shrugged it off as he put his jacket on. “Over and done with now,” he said. “Is that why you wished for me to be here your majesty?” he asked. “To reassure them?” he asked, politely ignoring the political maneuvers she had put him up to. She knew he was unhappy about being manipulated but he knew better than to take his ire out on her right now.
She smiled, a knowing light in her eyes. “It does have its moments,” she said. To his surprise her stomach growled and then Deidra's did. “I'm famished. I think it's time to eat.” She motioned to the doors to the dining chamber. “Come.” She motioned for the girls to sit at the head of the table. The King's throne remained empty. Ryans grumbled under his breath until Deidra shot him a warning glance then he settled down and sat beside her. Duke Pyror looked amused; Duke Rojer's face was tight with anger. Duke Troy looked concerned by the sudden change in events.
“You realize you're setting me up for an assassin or something right?” he murmured to her. She looked at him. “When your father passes, the knives will come out. Guess who is number one on the list?” he asked. “Even if I don't want it,” he sighed.
She smiled sweetly to him then turned as a platter was placed in front of them. “Eat and be merry for tomorrow we may die,” the Queen said lightly. He sighed again.
<==={}------------>
After dinner he tried to retreat but the royal trio wouldn't allow it. Stymied he spoke with several of the courtiers as Deidra and her family spoke with others. At least one of them stuck to him like glue, not allowing him to leave. Even his request to go to the bathroom had been ignored. “So, the Queen shall continue her reign,” he said giving each a look. They looked at each other then to him.
“The Queen is only Queen by marriage,” one said.
His fellow shook his head. “No, hast thee forgotten? Her majesty is the true heir. She will not continue when the King passes though,” he said, turning to Ryans.
He snorted. “Why? She's got the skills for it,” he replied. “And our support.”
Duke Troy looked amused. “I don't see her on a war beast.” The men chuckled at that.
“That depends, I for one wouldn't want to go into combat against her,” Ryans said as he motioned to see her arguing with another lord. The lord she was berating quietly was shrinking back. “Granted skills on the battlefield are a part of it, but so are domestic management skills,” he said. He motioned to the hall as Troy grunted.
“You’re equating managing a party with managing a Kingdom? Surely you jest?” Troy asked.
Ryans shook his head. “Just a matter of scale actually. Diplomacy?” He cocked his head. “Organization? Delegation? Leadership, planning? Execution? Each is a skill hard taught on the battlefield, or in running a duchy or realm, as each of you should know from experience. Mishandling can lead to quite a mess as you know,” he said. Troy and his lady nodded.
The lady Troy bowed her head slightly. “Thank you for the compliment.”
He smiled politely to her. “Just observing the obvious Domina, I know you ladies don't just sit around looking pretty all day. You put a lot of effort into the world around you. We men just fail to see that from time to time and must be reminded,” he smiled. “On Terra women in many countries have taken equal place in politics, war, religion, and commerce.”
Troy shot the Queen a startled look. Ryans smiled again. “A female Queen as sole ruler?” Troy asked, suddenly trying to wrestle with the concept.
Ryans’ smile turned into a chuckle. “It's been done before on Earth believe it or not. Queen Elizabeth took the throne and ruled for nearly ninety years. She was a brilliant leader. Her descendant Elizabeth the second led her people during several wars in the past century. Granted she was never on the battlefield, but she inspired her people during a great war and was quite adept at both managing the diplomacy and commerce of her realm of sixteen sovereign states.”
Troy rubbed his jaw. “If you wish to learn more, the Doc, Sydney our historian, or Miss Yarbrough could tell you if they have time. Or one of us could show you if we have time.” He indicated his tablet. “Here,” he said. He
typed and pulled up the Queen of England. He showed it to the Duke of Troy and his lady. He pressed play and held the tablet to his chest so they could all see. They watched fascinated as the Queen gave a speech.
“Quite a firecracker,” he said smiling as the clip ended. They of course couldn't understand more than a tenth of what she had said but they got the gist. The courtiers were awed, he wasn't sure if it was due to the content or the media he used to present it. He was pretty sure they couldn't follow the speech, English may be based on Latin but it was still a transition few could leap easily.
The Queen smiled as she came up to them, timing her entrance perfectly. “How are we this evening?” she asked, Deidra on her arm. Deidra separated to cling to Ryans’ arm.
“They make a lovely couple,” the lady Troy said. “When are they getting married?” she asked the Queen.
“Soon enough,” the Queen replied airily, ignoring the fulminating look Ryans shot her way. “Soon enough, this dratted war has intruded on that. I was wondering Duke Troy, Baron Siegfried is having trouble at his northern border...” she said, drawing the Troys off to one side for a private conversation.
<==={}------------>
When the music began he managed to plead fatigue and sore muscles. In truth he wasn't at all interested in prancing around like the natives were doing. It was almost a Victorian ballet, stiff and formal, with a lot of bowing and scraping and hand holding but little else. The lilting string instruments might seem elegant to most, but he was too used to his own tastes.
Fortunately for him Deidra was injured and uninterested in dancing as well. He escorted Deidra up to see her father. He was still seething with anger; she felt it but said nothing. Deidra sat in the chair at her father's side, holding his hand. “Bad, Doc?” Ryans asked pulling her off to the side out of earshot.
Doc wearily agreed. “Nice duds,” she smiled, giving him the once over. His jaw tightened. “Wrong thing I said?” she asked tiredly.
“Not your fault Doc, I got caught up in the works and I'm not happy about it. Some people are trying to get me to toe the line and I'm... Never mind,” he sighed. “Politics at its lowest. The gloves are coming off and the knives are coming out.”
Sue's tired eyes widened. Wanda came over, “how bad?” she asked eying him.
He sighed. “Who are you talking to her, him, or me?” he asked. He was fairly certain now who he had to blame for this damn tux thing.
“Either, both, just one at a time,” she replied testily. He chuckled with Doc.
“I thought you were playing with your chemistry set?” he asked.
She snorted. “I'd be at it all day every day and still come up short, I don't have the time. I've already run out of specimen bags and containers,” she sighed. “Filled up over a hundred terabytes with data. It's insane,” she said. Nate was having a field day taking samples. He didn't envy her dealing with the dung and saliva samples, let alone the urine ones. He wasn't sure why the biologist was insisting on multiple samples from each animal, and five animals from each species. She shook her head. “It's going to take a lifetime, going over all of it,” she growled. He chuckled.
Doc snorted softly but then sobered. “The King is dying,” she said softly. That sobered them. “The only things keeping him alive are that machine and his concern for his family and Kingdom. Sheer will power has its place, but it too will falter given time,” she sighed. “There's nothing I can do. His heart isn't in it anymore. A bypass would be useless,” she shook her head.
Wanda's lips pursed in a silent whistle. “Damn, that bad huh, that's real bad.” She shook her head. “Heard you're engaged?” she asked Ryans, trying to change the subject.
His jaw tightened and fist clenched. “Yeah, I was informed the same thing right after putting this thing on,” he growled. His eyes flashed dangerously.
“Easy mate,” Wanda murmured, taking in his suppressed rage. “Else you'll blow a gasket and be in a bed right beside his nibs,” she joked, indicating the bed. He turned to Deidra who was lying across her father's shoulder. She was crying softly. He sighed.
“That bad huh...” Sue said sitting back. She took a sip of water.
He frowned. “Bad enough, they've been hinting for a while now, then getting insistent. Tonight Duke Troy and the Queen set me up and then sprang it on me in front of the court,” he growled.
Sue snorted. “Made you take it raw? Bet that went over well,” she said shaking her head.
He smiled. “Deidra had me show off my battle scars and then pulled me out before I popped,” he said looking toward the princes and King.
Sue and Wanda gave him a look then a small smile. “She did; did she?” Sue murmured. She was fairly certain Deidra had been in on the planning of that little incident now. The royal women were getting a little better at managing Ryans. She'd noticed him carrying her through the castle earlier in the day.
“Don't push it,” he growled, noting her mischievous approval and then sighed.
“Since she's going to be here, I'm going to go check in and put out what fires I can then get some down time. You need some too Doc, you're all done in,” he said gruffly, still pissed. What he really wanted to do was go to the firing range and pretend the Queen and a few of her courtiers were standing in front of the targets. She nodded wearily.
Wanda did too. “You need food and rest Sue, you're no good to them worn down to a nub. Here I'll wash up and do a couple of rounds then do a shift. I'll have Charlie cover for me in a couple of hours. That way you can get a full eight in the sack.”
Sue nodded tiredly, patting Wanda's arm. “Thanks Wanda but I couldn't...”
“Oh hell yes you can girl!” Wanda smiled. There were teeth in that smile.
“Can and will Doc. That's an order,” Ryans said smiling tightly at her. “Food, clean yourself up, then rest. At least eight hours of pillow time Doc. Not a damn cat nap.” He pointed a finger at her. She looked like she was out on her feet. “You're no fun to push around like this. You need your rest so you can boss the staff and patients around.”
“Tyrant,” she murmured.
He chuckled. “And don't you forget it,” he said leaving.
He ran into a courtier in the hall on his way to his quarters. The woman was dressed in a Victorian outfit, flaring multi-layered petticoat and layers of lacy dress despite the early summer heat. Her face was painted white, with bright red circles for her cheeks, and her lips were purple. He had a hard time not laughing at her. She was wearing a white wig, all coiffed and done up into a bun. He could see a few errant brown hairs peeking out from under the edges near her ears.
He begged off dancing, telling her he was too fatigued to learn the steps. She tried to follow him but he managed to extricate himself with the aid of a page coming with a message. He took the message, made his apologies and then hastily retreated. He shook his head. Even the pages were decked out in red or purple with white wigs and face paint. The kids probably enjoyed it a little, a bit like Halloween. There were enough frightening creatures in that ball to freak him out at least.
He checked the message when he entered his room. It was a royal summons to the ball. He snarled, balled it up and tossed it aside. “Fat chance of that,” he said then locked the door.
“Five this is six, sitrep, how's it going?” he said touching his bluetooth.
Perry came over the link after a moment, “fair to middling. They're doing better than last night. Sergeant Waters is going to run them ragged till midnight then let them pass out. Finals for this class are tomorrow.”
Ryans smiled. He was now certain as to why the night exercise had been scheduled for this night. Perry and Galloway hated balls about as much as he did. Well, he could join them. “I've got a complication. How are things on your end?”
Perry described a few bottlenecks. “I'll handle it,” he said when he was finished.
Ryans snorted. “The hell you will, It gives me the excuse to get out of this damn monkey suit and get my hands di
rty, and as far away from that damn ball room as I can get,” he growled after a moment and grim smile. He was already busy shucking the hated outfit.
Perry chuckled. “Whatever floats your boat boss. You want to get your hands dirty; I've got to check the warehouses. Seems we're losing some things again. More five fingered discounts. This time it's new stuff we're making here though,” he grumbled.
“On it,” Ryans said. He pulled off his outfit and then dressed in his black coverall. He strapped his body armor on and then his shoulder harness. “Meet you there,” he said grabbing a set of NVGs as he exited the room. “Problem with the warehouse, send the Queen my regrets,” he tossed off airily to a waiting page. The page paled, eyes wide and then turned and left.
<==={}------------>
Deidra sniffled, eyes red as she sat back. Wanda checked on her and her father and then smiled softly. Deidra sighed. “I'm sorry,” Wanda said, patting her shoulder and then rubbing it a little. “I lost my dad to cancer when I was your age. It sucks,” she sighed crouching down. Deidra nodded. “Heard you had an interesting evening?” she asked smiling.
Deidra shook her head. “You could say that,” she sighed. “He hates me.” She bit her lip. She needed him now, now more than ever. She'd come to accept it grudgingly but now... now she had finally come to terms with his being in her life and accepted it.
Wanda gave her a startled look. “What makes you... oh,” she chuckled softly. “It's not that. I know the big lummox. He's stubborn. Pig headed, obstinate,” she smiled. “He's more pissed at being forced into this... both for himself and for your sake,” Wanda explained. Deidra looked surprised. “What you think he wants to force you to marry him? Or vice versa? He's not sure what he wants, he just doesn't want to be forced into it.” She smiled. “It's not like we give the men a choice anyway, we just work them into thinking it's their idea,” Wanda smiled wickedly. Deidra chuckled. “He's used to the whole wine and dine thing I think. Dating, going out to dinner and a movie, that sort of thing. Taking their sweet time.”
Deidra smiled shyly. “Courting,” she said longingly. Oh she wished they could have gone that route as mother had. Alas it was not to be.