Book 1 Chapter 2: New Mistress

Vero found that most of his time was spent in preparing for the wedding ceremony, leaving him little time to ponder on his circumstances.

Despite the intentions of the master, the servants would not make this very simple. The grandiose of it was getting a bit out of hand, but it was a big deal for the servants. For some, this would be the last time serving their Ulrika and the ladies were very particular about everything.

The master, being the good natured Ulrika he is, allowed them to ‘pamper’ him, but he would find ways to avoid them as much as possible unless absolutely necessary. Vero often had to tag along on these, and it did brighten his mood a bit, but the reality of it, still clung hard to his thoughts.

The day soon arrived that the Master’s intended would arrive and he diligently shooed most of the servants out. Vero chewed on his lips, making sure not to lift his hands and chew his nails, no matter how tempting it was. His ears stayed down as the carriage approached. The ladies had forbidden his master from seeing the new mistress until the wedding, and this they would not budge on. So it became Vero’s responsibility to greet her as she arrived. He tried to straighten his posture and seem proud, but no matter what he tried, his tail and ears would not cooperate.

He padded over to the door of the carriage as it stopped and opened it. Despite the protocol, he peeked inside, wondering what being could have ensnared his master so much, that he would marry her.

The first thing he spotted was her white ears, hair and tail. The next was her golden eyes. The last thing he saw was the sword and dagger at her hips and her attire was obviously not what he had suspected. She looked like a warrior, not one of those pretty ladies that always flaunted themselves at the master. It was a brief relief, but then he realized that she could easily kill him if she was indeed a warrior.

“Welcome ma’am. I’ll be your attendant while you are here,” he said with a bow.

“Hmph, stuffy politics,” he heard her mutter before standing and walking out. She was tall, maybe slightly taller than the Ulrika, but not by much if at all. She had a scar on her face, though it was fairly faded so a bit of makeup would hide that if necessary.

Vero walked in front of her, peeking back at her in curiosity from time to time. She seemed to be bored and a bit upset, so he decided not to ask much since her temperament might be the end of him. As he glanced back again she snorted.

“What is it pup?” she asked with a bit of anger in her words. Vero quickly stood straight as if she had pressed a dagger to his back, picking up his pace. He heard her ‘tch’ as she followed him. Was there anything he could do right? He only hoped she had a decent amount of patience while he tried to figure out how not to get on her bad side.

He brought her to the dressing room and had her step in first. He recalled his instructions and waited for her to walk a bit farther in before following and then closing the door behind him. She heard it click and clenched his teeth as he realized it had locked. Was that intentional? He didn’t have to think long before he felt her right behind him. He slowly looked back and saw her glaring coldly at him. He sheepishly looked back at the door handles in shock, sweat forming on his brow. She could be real intimidating if she wanted.

“Mi lady, this way please,” he heard and the two of them looked over at a simple maid seamstress. She had plastered on a smile, probably so this warrior would not notice her shaking, clammy hands. At least Vero felt he wasn’t the only one who was terrified of this lady.

“Hmm,” The mistress hummed as she walked after the seamstress. Vero watched and then noticed the seamstress flick her tail to him to have him follow. He didn’t want to be anywhere near this crazy scary lady, but he was her attendant and this seamstress probably didn’t want to be left alone with the mistress either.

He padded after them as quietly as he could and stopped at the edge of the side room. Standing on a form was an elegant white dress with golds and reds. The mistress’s ears were laid back as she saw the dress.

“If you’ll come and get changed, then we can get on with the final fitting,” the seamstress said, though her tone nearly broke. Vero couldn’t blame her. No one in their right mind would show that much disdain for something this fine and elegant. He wondered if they would ever be able to please this warrior.

The mistress walked over to the dress and in a rare brief moment her eyes softened as she touched the fabric. Vero wondered if he was seeing this right, but her eyes hardened as quickly as they had softened.

The seamstress had Vero look away as the mistress was dressed. He whispered to the seamstress why he had to be here as this was for women, not men.

“Don’t you dare leave me with this… this beast,” she replied with a growl. Vero bit his lower lip as his ears fell. He nodded and that was the end of his wonderings.

When the mistress was dressed, Vero was allowed to look back and he briefly wondered where the scary lady had gone until he saw her steely gaze. Yup, she was still in there. The seamstress had the mistress step on a pedestal and began to bring up the hem of the dress.

“Have it higher,” the mistress said and the seamstress quickly looked up in surprise.

“But,” she began and then saw the intensified glare from the mistress. The seamstress gulped but continued. “May I ask why?” she asked as she began to pin the bottom hem higher.

“I don’t want to step on the hem and trip,” the mistress said matter of factly. Vero was surprised that she would even know about that. With her previous attire, she looked like she never wore dresses.

“I can hem the front higher, but protocol requires the back be long like this,” the seamstress said, growing a bit bolder and courageous in her words.

“Hmph,” the mistress grumbled, but let the seamstress do as she deemed proper. Vero stared, surprised that the mistress hadn’t hurt the seamstress for speaking up or telling the mistress otherwise. Perhaps she wasn’t so bad.

Once the seamstress was finished Vero looked away and then later escorted the mistress around the castle.

“Here is where you will stay until the wedding, and over there is where you will be dining,” Vero said, trying to be more confident.

“Do you have any barracks here?” he heard the mistress ask and he stopped.

“Aye, we do mi lady, but I’m afraid you can’t go there,” he said, then instantly regretted it. He found her slamming him up against the wall with a dagger in her other hand. A deadly gleam in her eyes.

“You can’t,” Vero choked and then gasped for air, trying to pull her hand away from around his neck. Just what did his master see in her? She was crazy!

She blinked and then slowly released him. He fell to the ground and drew in deep rapid breaths.

“I’ll find it myself,” she grumbled and began to storm off.

“Wait!” Vero shouted, his voice hoarse and his neck raw. She paused, glancing back at him. He felt a chill run up his spine and he wanted to clamp his mouth shut, but he couldn’t allow her there.

“What?” she asked, her tone low and threatening.

“I’ll ask for permission mi lady, but until then, please,” he croaked out, then cleared his throat and stood. His head throbbed. At this rate, he probably could die by her hand.

“Hmm,” she hummed but stood still as if waiting. He turned to head in the direction of their next destination and was relieved when she slowly began to follow him.

He cleared his throat rubbing it. “Whenever you feel like it, there are baths over here for your personal use. If there is anything else I can do for you to make you feel comfortable, just ask mi lady. I have been assigned to be your personal attendant as of today. I hope I can be of good service to you,” he said bowing. She breathed deeply as if trying not to sigh. She quickly walked over to her ‘room’ and entered, not saying another word.

Vero only breathed easy, once the door closed behind her. He wasn’t sure how he would handle her, but it was his task given by the master, and he would do anything the master asked. He knew the master would never ask him to sacrifice himself, that just wasn’t him. But this task, Vero had to wonder.

“Psst, Vero lad,” a voice whispered and he looked up. He saw the ears and then the face of his master. “Is she around?” he asked very quietly. So quiet that Vero nearly missed what he asked. Vero shook his head in response, walking over to his master.

“Good,” the master sighed in relief. “If those ladies knew I was here, I would get chewed out.”

“You’re the Ulrika, they can’t just do that to you,” Vero contradicted, a rueful smile forming.

“You would say that, but I don’t think they know that,” the master responded with a disheartened pout. Then a gleam lit his eyes and they both chuckled.

“Come, I want to hear about it. The evening is coming and I know she will stay in her room for the rest of the evening,” the master said, turning.

“Why her, sir?” Vero asked as they began to walk away. “She’s…” he refrained from calling the Master’s soon-to-be-wife anything unpleasant.

“A bit off the deep end?” the Master supplied with a knowing look. Vero nodded.

“She can put others off, but she’s not all that. If it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t be alive. She’s a wonderful girl, but I understand if it’s too hard of a request,” the Master said. Vero thought about it. He really would prefer to work under the Master instead, but that would be disappointing the master and not to mention, who else would take care of that crazy lady.

“No, tis fine sir,” Vero replied and the master smiled.

“Thanks lad, I knew I could count on you,” he said, giving him a loving punch. Vero rolled his shoulders.

“So where did you find her?” Vero asked and the Master smiled as he sighed, an old memory that he held dear, flirting through his mind.

“Well, she pummeled me to the ground. Honestly it was humiliating, but invigorating at the same time,” the master said. Vero rolled his eyes. The master at one point had run away from home and had a rebellious streak. Perhaps he would never understand why it had to be that mistress, that had captured the Master’s heart.

The master dragged Vero around and had him help in avoiding the ladies.

Before Vero had to leave to check on his mistress, the master handed him a letter.

“Make sure she gets this, lad. Very important that she does,” the master said. Vero eyed the letter dubiously but took it none the less.

As Vero returned with the envelope in hand, he knocked on the door. He heard nothing and nearly jumped out of his fur when the door opened suddenly.

“What?” he heard her growl out and he quickly held out the envelope. Without asking about it, she grabbed it and sniffed it. She must have more of her wild instincts intact for her to do that, and it was surprising to Vero. She then flicked her finger and he saw her claws where sharp as she used them to cut open the letter and observed it. She turned it a bit and then her mouth curled on one side, but not one ounce of happiness showed on her face.

Turning she closed the door behind her and Vero’s ears fell back as he tried not to flinch at how they had nearly hit his face. Vero waited a moment, then, decided that it was time to retire to his own place, which conveniently was moved nearby so that he could be on call.

He padded silently over to his ‘room’ and then sank to the floor as soon as the door closed behind him. He hoped he could handle a wild and frightening new Ulrika. She was a complete opposite to his master.

He muttered a simple prayer to the black wolf god before slinking over to his bed and removing the fancy shoes he wore. Wriggling his feet to get them loose after their confinement, Vero sighed, plopped onto his bed and closed his eyes.