Lovely Dark Things

FOURTEEN (RUBY POV)

Damned human, they're going to kill her and all my hard work will have been for nothing. What she was thinking about when she dared to talk to the Queen without her permission? And why did she answer one of her most powerful acolytes in such a disrespectful way? Has she gone crazy? She's forgotten everything I taught her, we've been practicing this audience for weeks, I thought the basic rules of etiquette were clear but we should've gone over it again this morning... But this morning I was too furious and trying to restrain myself from tying her up to my bed and punishing her in a thousand different ways till hearing her begging for mercy after she lied to me. And later, I was too busy enjoying the terror in her eyes while we walked down Baalberith streets and got in the castle... She was so obviously scared and her eyes looked for mines constantly waiting for me to reassure her, but I didn't do it despite she seemed on the edge of a nervous breakdown.

I admit I was tempted, a kind sentence and my hand grazing her shoulder would've been enough but suddenly, Iselen was staring entranced at the priestess' breasts and I got mad in an irrational manner. Even I, that I'm used to live with those beauties, can't help staring at them entranced since most of the inhabitants of this kingdom are always wearing wool clothes and fur coats to protect themselves from cold. All that soft skin exposed can grab your attention, that's for sure, and I guess it's a shock for a human, above all if she's used to date only women... But Iselen's reaction only managed to piss me off even more. Later, I was too busy obeying the Queen's command and keeping her adviser alive, making clear for everybody in the antechamber that she was under my protection and I was taking it seriously.

Unfortunately, the only thing we couldn't train was the human's response to My Lady herself. I told her she was beautiful, fascinating and that she was able to absorb our energy like a psychic vampire but my words aren't comparable with being in front of her in real life and it's pretty clear that Iselen is about passing out, although she tries to keep her poise with all her strength and the Queen looks pleased with her effort. Maybe the human will have a chance to get out of this situation alive after all, it all depends on whether she messes things up with her words... I don't like to waste my time and I fear the head of the girl will end up rolling across the audience room floor after all these weeks of hard work. In addition to this, I have to find the way to convince the Queen to be entrusted with her protection, I haven't finished with Iselen yet and I owe her a punishment because she dared to play with me.

"It's good to know that I'm the most beautiful woman in two worlds..." My Lady's eyes sparkle with amusement while gesturing at her acolytes to step back and she leans back on her throne, restraining her magical power so it doesn't drain the human's energy in order to let her speak without passing out. A surprised whispering echoes through the room while I frown confused, the Queen has never done something like this for anyone before. She must be really interested in Iselen's knowledge. "What's this?" The human blinks shocked when she realizes the beautiful Lady of the Dark Elves is holding one of her notebooks in her hand and that's when I understand: the Queen has been trying to decipher the jumble of mathematical calculations, designs, symbols and sentences in different languages but it was futile and has understood that the adviser is the only one who can read those documents, just like I told her.

"The recipe to get concrete from volcanic sand..." The entire room stare at her baffled and she clears her throat. "A construction material that hardens even in wet environments, very useful to build walls..." The Queen nods and turns one page, holding the notebook higher. "The diagram of a famous battle where 6,000 soldiers under the command of a king managed to beat a 6 times bigger army and taking 1,400 prisoners of the highest nobility among their enemies." My Lady smiles and nods, looking at the weird symbols covering the piece of paper. "That's the design of a tactical knife..."

"We know this one, how many of these can you make in one month? How much time does it take for a blacksmith to get one done?"

"It doesn't work like that... My Lady..." The advisor keeps looking at the carpet respectfully and seems to have remembered all the etiquette rules I taught her finally. "One single blacksmith doesn't make one knife." The Queen taps on the arm of her throne with her fingertips, impatiently, and my guts get tensed for a second thinking that this will be the end of Iselen but she gestures at the slaves for them to bring us two chairs and allows us to sit down while the acolytes stare at us in disbelief. Once again, this is an honour reserved for very few privileged people in this castle but it's necessary because the advisor really looks like she's about passing out... or maybe throwing up on the Queen's shoes... that would mean her death sentence.