Book 1 Chapter 6: Etiquette Training

Vero was hardly surprised by the noise the next morning and this time he stayed tight in his room, refusing to face another blade near his head. He had noted the night before, that the initial dagger was still stuck fast in position, as she hadn’t retrieved it. When he was certain she was asleep last night, he had attempted to dislodge the weapon, but to no avail.

He counted to twenty as the dull thudding and clanging of metal came to a halt before walking to his door and checking, gingerly, to see if she was done.

A resounding whack hit right next to the door and he jumped in fright. Peeking around the corner, he saw a satisfied smirk on Ylva’s face. She quietly began to walk to her side of the courtyard, but with a little more elegance to her step. Vero rubbed his eyes, wondering if he was seeing things. There was no way she would be doing so well with only one night’s practice. Nevertheless, there she was, walking with a bit more elegance and poise.

She glanced back at him and then the elegance was gone. Instead a powerful aura radiate from her being.

Perhaps he was imagining it. Perhaps she, in the moment had put a lot of effort into showing him that she could do it. He didn’t know why it would matter to a warrior like her, but perhaps his words last night had penetrated her armor, just a little.

He made his way through his morning chores, then entered the instruction room, grateful to have a few minutes to prepare his lessons for the day.

At the appointed time, Ylva appeared, dressed in her etiquette attire, sighing before changing into a slightly more queenly air as she entered. Vero nodded slightly. She would learn quickly. That in and of itself was good news. But would she be able to hold up under the scrutiny of others.

He began the drills and only took breaks for meals. She was unrelenting in her diligence, something he surmised had been drilled into her as a warrior, and one that he admitted that he admired.

Over the course of the next few days he began to get an inkling as to why the master favored her, despite her attitude and air. Her diligence to maintain her warrior skills while accepting her future role as an Ulrikan was admirable. Her quiet nature unless provoked proved to be another characteristic that he found useful for court life. She remained calm, despite calculating, and he had to admit, that she was quite a fast learner, despite his teachings. By the end of the first week, she could pass for a noble for a few minutes.

The next week, Vero worked hard on curtailing her tongue. She had an disposition to say what was on her mind. And while her vocabulary was not lacking, her word choice and decorum in situations needed some work.

“Now Mi lady, if you were to come across a human noble, who wanted your assistance in fighting a war with another province, what would need to be said?” he asked, looking over a book on propriety and manners.

“First, what does he want out of it, and what do both sides stand to gain,” she stated calmly. He glanced up. A major improvement from the last time he had brought up a situation like this.

“Strategically, yes that would be important. But remember the key point here. This is a human. As they look down on our way of Ulrikans and you are a lady, he would assume that you would not be educated in manners of warfare and tactics. Most likely he would be dismissive,” Vero closed the book. “Allow me to give more context.”

She nodded, something that he noted was an improvement, since he had started to become a master and she a disciple in this. Her eyes didn’t waver, and she was ready to absorb the information.

“Your husband, in this context, has gone out to ascertain the situation with rumored bandits and rouges attacking outlier, developing villages. During this departure, by happenstance, these nobles come to you to ask for our army’s help. By our judgments, their arrival is suspiciously good timing on their part. There is definitely something to gain, and they seem to believe you are a pushover, just a girl,” Vero stated. Ylva sat there quietly, but underneath, he could tell she was furious. He was honestly proud of how she was presenting herself while he explained the scenario. Finally, when he was done, she closed her eyes, a habit she had gained to keep herself from sighing or exploding in exasperation.

“For one, I would not want then near me, and would drive them out, however, offending nobles of any nation can lead to war and foretold consequences. It would be wise to figure out how to politely refuse, or cause him to desire to leave, without it leading to us,” she said softly. Vero was glad that she had taken his instruction to heart and openly began to explain her thinking. This oration style had allowed them to get as far as they were, simply because of the understanding he had gained of her. He nodded in agreement.

“And what would you propose to do to achieve this result?” he asked.

“I… I would either resort to subterfuge, or see if I can hold out till my husband came back,” she said at length. Still vague but she was grasping some things.

“And if one tried making advances on you, or belittled you to attempt to persuade you?” Vero asked, knowing how much the humans did this sort of thing. In fact having witnessed the few ladies who had wanted power from marrying his master, who had resorted to all sorts of clever and revolting quests.

“For one, there is a certain knowledge of who I am, and what I have been through that will never let me succumb to belittling or persuasion. As you said, ‘take pride in who you are’,” she remarked.

“It is simple in theory, but not so simple in practice,” Vero reminded.

“Hmph,” she grumped, rising gracefully and striding to a small window. “There is always a way to shrug off the fake shackles of lies and deceit,” she said. As she said that, Vero felt that she was talking from experience. He sighed. Even though they had spent quite a considerable time together, she was still a mystery: absolutely silent about the past. Even though he was curious, if it wasn’t slowing them down in their preparations to train her how to be proper, then he wouldn’t pry.

“Very well. On this one, I’m going to allow you to have the rest of the day off, but consider what you would do Mi Lady, and report your ideas to me tomorrow,” he said with a humble bow. She flicked her ear, a sign that she had heard and understood.

“I’ll take my leave first,” he muttered, silently walking to the doorway. He glanced back at her before closing the door behind himself.

As he walked back, silently padding down the hall, he nearly ran into someone else. As he hastily muttered an apology, his ears perked in surprise and delight.

“Young Master Vero, is that you?” a grizzled older Yowlume asked.

“Bartemaus, it’s good to see, you, but I thought you,” Vero started.

“Had been removed or placed somewhere else, correct?” he asked. Vero nodded. “Well you wouldn’t be too far off. I’ve been the personal servant to the master, now that you have your hands full. But even that isn’t much. He insits on helping with the chores and work, even taking care of himself. I’m mostly like a glorified secretary,” Bartemaus answered. He let out a chuckle. “But in all honesty, I believe after seeing the mistress, he wants to be her equal, to prove something.”

Vero smiled, it was good to see other servants and friends to talk with. It had been a long week, and hearing the normal gossip and suggestions, made his heart relax. Ylva had indeed put him into a role that he was not the most comfortable with.

“It’s good to hear from you again, but why are you here?” Vero asked.

“Ah, I have a missive for the young lady. I thought you both would have been in her instruction room,” he said, “So I was heading there to give it to you, but this will save me time.” Bartemaus pulled out a letter, unsealed, and placed it in Vero’s hands.

“Are we privy to know the contents?” Vero asked, curious. Usually an unsealed letter, meant it could be read by others.

“I’m afraid not,” Bartemaus answered. Vero shrugged. If the master had wanted him to know, then that was one thing, but since he was not, he would deliver it to Ylva, without any further due.

“Thank you Bartemaus, I will make sure she gets it,” Vero said softly, tucking it into his shirt. “Is the letter because he still can’t see her yet?” Vero asked and Bartemaus gave a knowing smile.

“Aye, milord can’t help but steer clear of the lady servants. Their insistence is rather persuasive,” Bartemaus teased. Vero chuckled.

“Well it’s good to see you, but I better be going now,” Vero said, turning and flicking his tail in farewell.

He walked back to their study room, but as he peaked inside, he could see she was not in there. The dress, however was neatly packed away and her weapons and other items were gone, meaning she was all done.

As he withdrew his head he caught the sight of a tuft of fur in the window sill.

Curious, he padded over as his eyes widened. The window had a slight outcropping, but it was a couple floors up. Despite this, there were obvious signs that Ylva had passed through and out the other side. He quickly looked around outside and saw her walking down below.

“Mistress Ylva!” he shouted and she paused, looking back at him. He reached behind and grabbed the letter, holding it out. “I have something for you!”

She was still for a while, long enough that he wondered if she was waiting for him to come down to her. As he shifted to come down, she sprung quickly scaling the walls and appeared in the window. Her silhouette was extremely intimidating in that instance. He handed her the letter and she turned, sitting, leaning against the sill as if this was the most normal thing to do. Her brows frowned and then in a rare display she sighed.

“Mi Lady?” Vero asked, hoping to help her. She shook her head and then jumped down the window, leaving him feeling helpless.

As he watched her leave, he realized the warrior had grown on him. Her attitude was harsh, but it seemed to be there for a reason. Silently, he returned to his duties and took care of the things that really could have waited, but he figured his mistress would want some peace and quiet.

His mind kept playing that instance where she had climbed up and appeared before him. It was like something out of a story, but she had done it with such intimidating skill that he felt she could beat all the Yowlume in the army. He smirked, imagining the human nobles who would find it hard to ‘tame’ this new alpha. She was no pushover.