Foxtails and Fairytales: Facades and Fables of the Phantom Prince

[Arc 13] Ch.10 Red Cousins

A/N Sorry this chapter is so late. I did actually catch covid thanks to thanksgiving and have finally recovered and caught up. Weekly chapters should continue. I just want to express my gratitude for you all who are still around and healthy. You guys keep me going sometimes and I'd just like you to know how truly precious you are and how blessed I am for having all of you.

And I hope you all have a Merry Christmas.

May the winds of fortune ever fill your sails

- The Captain

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[Elkwood]

"It is you!" The bright-eyed girl bounced up to Lady Ulster. Her wavey dark red locks were all too similar in color to Lady Ulster's clean straight rivers. "It's been so long."

"You've... certainly grown up, your highness." Lady Ulster gave a short bow.

"No need to be so formal, we are family." Minerva smiled brightly.

"Indeed, you seemed to have matured into a remarkable young lady." Lady Ulster relaxed a little.

"What brought you so far north?" Minerva asked.

"We are here on business. Prince Vance has recruited First Sorcerer Turner for a job in the Elkwood territory. Right now, he is observing their class as they dissect rodents for study."

"No wonder you are out here. Who is your friend leaking enough bloodlust to be recruited as a teacher?" Minerva asked.

"This is Marquis Benedict Elkwood, he is a personal friend of Prince Vance. We are in talks about an engagement." Lady Ulster introduced me.

"Princess Minerva, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance." I saluted with my hand over my heart.

"Marquis Elkwood. Your reputation of valor proceeds you. I hope you will take care of my cousin." Minerva curtseyed.

"Should she become my bride, I shall ensure that she will want for nothing." I said simply.

"He's really stiff." Minerva said. "He's really scary looking, kind of reminds me of Hyde. Does he growl a lot too?"

Lady Ulster gasped. "How did you know?" Then she covered her mouth as if she said something she shouldn't. I simply rolled my eyes. She looked cute when she was embarrassed too. This woman is dangerous.

"Just let me know if he bites when he shouldn't, I know a warlock or two that owe me a favor." Minerva winked.

"Unfortunately, I feel I may be better at socializing with that warlock than you noble ladies." I said.

Minerva let out a giggle. "If he thinks I look like a lady then I've either made bigger strides than I thought, or Marquis Elkwood has no knowledge of my dark past."

"It is like night and day, you have truly grown into a proper lady." Lady Ulster patted Minerva's head. "I'm proud of my cute little cousin."

"What aren't you telling me, what is this dark past?" I asked.

"As a Berserker spawn I was an unholy terror growing up. Even now I claim to a battle mage, but get me riled up and I'm a berserker at heart." Minerva threw a punch that created a gust of hot wind I wasn't expecting. "And speaking of which. My cousin doesn't lose in that regard. Isn't she a knight, shouldn't you be able to speak with her like a fellow knight when she is in uniform like this?" Minerva slapped Lady Ulster on the shoulder.

There was enough strength behind it that there should have been a shockwave but instead watching Lady Ulster fall over I watched her catch Minerva's arm and flip her over. Instead of landing square on her back, Minerva managed to catch herself with her feet on the ground and with impossible strength she managed to grab lady Ulster and hurled her down the hall. Lady Ulster managed to roll with her shoulder and land in a crouch with a pair of throwing knives in her hand.

Lady Ulster has instinctually narrowed her gaze and was ready for a fight. This was not the clumsy Noble lady I had come to know. This was a knight worthy of her uniform. I had to blink a couple times to make sure I wasn't seeing things.

"Sorry, I'm sorry. That was my fault, I got a little excited. I'm still working on holding back, I've just had a really good week." Minerva said while waving her hands awkwardly.

Lady Ulster's expression softened until she was bashful. "No, part of that was my fault. I Shouldn't have thrown a princess. My apologies."

"What's going on out here?" Liz popped her head out of the classroom. "Oh, it's you. Doc, your other other other girlfriend is here!"

"Stop teasing everyone, I swear I raised you better than that!" The boy with glasses reprimanded from the classroom which only made Liz smile all the bigger.

"Actually, I just came by with a letter." Minerva nervously pulled out a crumpled letter and tried to smooth it out on her leg before handing it over to Liz. "Can you have Doctor Jekyll deliver this to Mister Hyde for me."

Liz took the letter and sniffed it. "You even added your own perfume to it." She grinned mischievously while looking at Princess Minerva's thigh.

"It's not that much!" Minerva argued. You would expect that a lady would say something either denying the fact or brushing it off as natural. Not that my experience is vast, but it was obvious that the letter was not one of passing sentiment.

"Liz, stop teasing her." Jekyll peaked out the door and snatched the letter from Liz's grasp. "I'll make sure this gets to him..." He looked between Princess Minerva and Lady Ulster. "...do you two...?" He asked and left the question hanging in the air.

"Cousins. My father's sister married for love in the southern kingdoms." Princess Minerva said brushing her wild hair a bit with her fingers, so it didn't look so unkempt next to Lady Ulster's finely maintained hair.

"I see." Jekyll looked back and forth. "Actually, I did want to speak with you. It seems we'll be taking off for a month or more with these people so you may have to wait until then to send another letter."

"That's fine, I'll just wait for you to get back." Minerva responded.

"Oh my, cousin. Are you blushing?" Lady Ulster asked.

"She went on a couple of dates with the resident bad boy Warlock Mr. Hyde over the holidays last week." Liz grinned. "Spring has come to our fierce Red Dragon of Sudaven."

"Didn't I tell you to stop teasing." Jekyll chopped Liz on the head. "Apologies Princess, I'll take care of this one." Jekyll pulled Liz by the ear back into the classroom.

"If I remember correctly didn't you have a fiancé, some Fox prince?" Lady Ulster raised an eyebrow with a sly smile.

"It's complicated..." Princess Minerva fiddled with her fingers.

"Well, if it is so complicated, would you like to talk about it over some tea?" Lady Ulster suggested with a twinkle in her eye.

"Actually, I know a great Sundae shop in town I've been wanting to try. If you're not busy." Princess Minerva's eyes sparkled.

"I am on duty until tonight." Lady Ulster said.

"Just go now." I suggested. "It's about our lunch break anyway."

"I won't just shirk my duty, Marquis." Lady Ulster narrowed her eyes at me.

"On the topic of duties, scout out a good location for dinner. His highness would like to try out the local cuisine. As his guard it is your duty to find a suitable location and do recon so we can properly coordinate with the secondary forces. It's important to have potential ambush points and escape routes figured out." I said, giving an obviously nonsense answer. My rangers were more than qualified to do that on their own. But it will be a good test to see how good she really is.

There seems to be more than meets the eye with Lady Ulster, she a strategist by her reputation but her stance with those knives tell that she isn't a pushover either. Besides she is also too dangerous when she smiles too. I need some time to cool my head as well.