Lovely Dark Things

THIRTY-TWO (ISELEN POV)

"Where did you buy that belt? I've never seen something like that before..." Argyle watches the assassin's hips with a critical eye leaned on a column near the platform where the thrones of the monarchs wait empty; apparently, this is his favourite place to wait with a boring face till the court ceremonies start.

"Iselen designed it for me... Forget about it," Ruby growls quietly. "She's not going to design your clothes, brother, the advisor is too busy. You know summers are short in Baalberith and she'll only have a couple of months to be able to work outside comfortably, fixing roads and walls, building a new shipyard and the greenhouses on the roofs to be able to use the residual heat from the fireplaces."

"Okay," Argyle clicks his tongue upset. "I'm leaving next week anyway, I'm going to try those new drakkars Iselen designed looting the coast of the human Empire beyond the island were our enemies the Light Elves live. I've been told you're going to get a 5%..." Ruby frowns while nodding at a noble that has greeted her while walking by.

"What are you talking about?"

"Queen's orders... Since the advisor has designed those ships, you'll get a 5% of the profits from the sale of the slaves and loot, that's the payment for your bodyguard services and also you'll be able to buy new clothes for her... or whatever she needs. If drakkars perform as well as she claims, you're going to be a very rich woman, little sister. And the prestige of our house will skyrocket..."

Ruby and her brother keep talking in a quiet tone of voice while nobles and ladies wearing fancy tunics fill the great hall to attend the first court meeting of the spring before raider ships leave for a new season. Temperature is acceptable outside again, above all if you're a penguin, but compared to how cold the weather was a month ago, it almost feels fine. It's been a year since the assassin came to Ingstad to seduce me and bring me back to her frozen kingdom, a year since her beautiful face and elven charm hypnotized me... although I was ready to be dazzled by it, of course. A year since that Kevan idiot died... It's amazing how many things can change in a short time.

I've made lot of progress concerning my projects these past months despite I was unable to leave the fortress given that the snow was covering the entire city and the cold wind could've killed me in minutes, but my ships and weapons are a success, the monarchs are happy with their heated floors and some nobles have asked for the same improvement in the manors... Although now I'm working in the Captain's tower where we live and his chambers in the Black Guard headquarters. He'll always have precedence over other dread lords since his men keep me alive and protected from the jealousy my successes have drawn.

The King bowed his head to me once in the Council Room, grateful because the works in his room were over, the monarch's public recognition is a coveted privilege and some people felt offended when it was granted to an insignificant human... Ruby was very busy the next few weeks, her clothes were coated in blood often so I guess several nobles tried to kill me till it became clear the Black Guard and my bodyguard wouldn't allow it. I can't help feeling proud: I went from being the slave of a stupid wizard to an envied woman in a kingdom where humans died with astonishing ease, I've survived thanks to the best and most beautiful assassin who's also my lover and shatters below my mouth every night, the Queen wears the hair pin I gave her proudly, nobles and ladies praise me for my skills and send expensive gifts to the Captain's tower while asking for their homes to be the first ones refurbished and improved.

My knowledge and prestige are my shield against all those who see me as a threat, like Sryne, Ruby's mother and the High Priestess... There're they are, chatting on the other side of the room and plotting new secret machinations, they spend their lives scheming even if only a few plans go one step further and most of them aren't successful... Nobles with high status in this kingdom keep their position in this court with relative ease thanks to their personal armies and these three stupid women have fun watching how nobles with lower status fight till they tear each other to pieces... What a waste of time. Shurien has visited us a couple of times pretending to be kind, although it's pretty obvious she'd stab my back if she could, Sryne is still friendly but a little colder than before and we only talk about the works in the new port of the City of Witchcraft... Helien has never said a word to me directly and I'm happy with that.