#although i guess this is how a lot of historical royal and noble families were tho. a bit circular.

[bmpmp3]

the villainess flips the script is a really fun manhwa with gorgeous art and my wonderful son luca who is a little bitch who i love so much BUT i will say. the family tree situation as the story has gone on makes my head hurt

[barely-alive-shrimp]

About PSP Jeanne d’Arc ’s historical references

You know, Jeanne d’Arc for PSP is a funny game: while clearly not being very historically accurate (orcs and magical armlets in the Hundred Years’ War? Huh, they don’t tell you about things like that on History lessons), it still contains some interesting nods to history, some of which are quite obscure. I’ve collected some of them, mostly about historical figures and some events that I consider to be most interesting. This is going to be a long post, and there will be some spoilers, but I’ll put a warning so you could skip that part if you haven’t played the whole game yet. Oh, and sorry for any mistakes – I’m not a native speaker, so I hope there won’t be too many of them. I tried my best :P

[Note: I kept referring to her as Jeanne d’Arc here, although, as far as I understand, it is more common to call her Joan of Arc in English. I’ll leave it as it is, if you don’t mind ^^’]

Okay, I think I’ll start with the characters. There are quite a lot of characters who were based off real people: aside from the most obvious ones (Jeanne d’Arc, Gilles de Rais, Henry VI, Charles VII and some others), we have the following (I tried to find some paintings and pictures where possible):

Jean and Bertrand are based off Jean de Metz and Bertrand de Poulengy, who were Jeanne’s trusted allies during the Hundred Years’ War. They both had great respect for Jeanne and escorted her on her journey to the dauphin.

Colet’s prototype is most likely Colet de Vienne, a royal messenger who also escorted Jeanne d’Arc on her way to Chinon. Little is known about him, other than that he was accompanied by an archer named Richard – probably a prototype for Marcel. I guess they changed his name so he won’t be confused with the other Richard, who is also a playable character. By the way, it seems that the name ‘Marcel’ means “little warrior” in French, so if game developers chose that name intentionally (and I think they did), that’s a very nice little touch!

Étienne de Vignolles, more known as La Hire, was among France’s best commanders and was one of Jeanne d’Arc’s most trusted allies. Described as quite an arrogant man, he was a fearsome warrior and fought alongside Jeanne at Orleans and during the Battle of Patay. You can also find this prayer of his: “God, I pray Thee that today Thou wilt do for La Hire that which Thou wouldst have La Hire do for Thee, if he were God and Thou wert La Hire.” – perhaps, much like his in-game version, he did have a habit of talking about himself in the third person.

Richard was probably based off Brother Richard, a Franciscan monk who knew Jeanne. I couldn’t find any other information about him, though, except for this design for an opera.

The next one is a bit of a stretch, to be honest. It seems Bartolomeo does have a historical prototype, but it’s not clear who it was; he may or may not be based off Bartolomeo d'Alviano, an Italian captain who fought on the side of Spain against France. He didn’t have much to do with the Hundred Years’ War, though; moreover, he was born after Jeanne was burned at the stake.  

Robert de Baudricourt was a captain of the royal garrison at Vaucouleurs. When Jeanne d’Arc came to him, saying she has a mission from God and asking for assistance, he was very skeptical at first, but since Jeanne was very persistent, he eventually provided her an escort to visit the Dauphin. The game didn’t change it much.

John Talbot was an English military commander known as “English Achilles” for his bravery. Despite being one of the most feared warriors, he was respected so much that when he was captured, Charles VII released him without asking for ransom.

Sir William Glasdale was an English captain who commanded the troops in the fort Les Tourelles. Jeanne d’Arc wrote a letter to him, pleading him to lift the siege of the fort, but he refused to do so, and Jeanne’s troops started the assault to take Les Tourelles back. During the assault, Glasdale fell into the Loire River and drowned, as his armor was too heavy. 

Both Georges de La Trémoille and Arthur de Richemont were indeed Charles’s trusted servants. Georges also survived an attempt of assassination – as described, “thanks to his obesity”, and, as you can see in the game, the developers had that part in their heads, as well. :) Here’s a picture of Arthur de Richemont, I couldn’t find any paintings of real life Georges de La Trémoille, but I’ll add a picture of his in-game version a bit later.

There’s an interesting detail about Charles VII himself: have you ever looked at his in-game portrait and thought: “Man, they didn’t have to draw him such a big nose”? Well, that’s probably because real Charles VII was actually described as a man with a big nose! That’s another “well done” to the game developers.

As for Bedford – his actual name was John of Lancaster, ‘The Duke of Bedford’ was only his title. I don’t know, maybe that’s obvious, but I spent a good part of walkthrough thinking Bedford was his name. His real name not being mentioned and all the other characters calling him just “Bedford” certainly didn’t help. :P

                                                             * * *

All right, now I’m going to dive into some historical events and characters’ relationships that might spoil some events of the game for you. Please, go to the “SPOILERS END” mark if you haven’t finished the game yet and want to see everything for yourself.

                                                          SPOILERS

  Okay, first of all, the game heavily implies Charles VII had a difficult relationship with his mother, Isabeau of Bavaria. Real life Isabeau of Bavaria claimed that Charles VII wasn’t the trueborn son of Charles VI, thus couldn’t be the rightful king of France, so I doubt the queen loved her son very much. The game tries to explain it with the demonic possession of Isabeau – still, her last words before she was (presumably) killed by Henry VI/Gilvaroth were confusing and quite out-of-nowhere to me.

Georges de La Trémoille disliked Jeanne d’Arc and, as some historians believe, was involved in a plot against her that ultimately led to her death – both in real life and the game. Of course, we all remember that in the game it wasn’t Jeanne who ended up at the stake…

The Battle of Patay (June, 1489) was one of Jeanne d’Arc’s greatest victories during the Hundred Years’ war. In this battle, the feared “Terror of French” John Talbot was finally captured. I’m not sure if this one was intended or not, but this stage in the game is the last time you see Talbot – well, not until he suddenly reappears late in the game, only to help you and never to be seen again. 

Do you remember the part where Liane went overwhelmed with her great power and responsibility (hehe) and tried to recapture Paris by herself? Real Jeanne d’Arc also tried to break the siege of Paris, but the attempt failed and she and her troops were ordered to withdraw. After that, the nobles’ disappointment with her had reached its highest point, and Jeanne’s fate was pretty much sealed – much like Liane’s. 

And, of course, the darkest nod to the history is Gilles de Rais, known as a serial killer and possibly a pedophile (there are some historians who believe he was framed, but that’s not the point for now). On the other hand, in-game Gilles is a nice and noble guy and never betrays you or does something violent. At the end of the game, he sacrifices himself so Gilvaroth would be trapped inside of his body, and, considering the real history, the demon probably got him in the end. This reference is more well-known and has been discussed at several forums, but I still cannot help but mention it. 

Also, on a less disturbing note – see how Gilles is drawn with a lily? That’s because Charles VII allowed de Rais to add this flower on their family crest, which was considered a great honor, as lily symbolized the power of the Crown (that’s what I heard, at least). 

                                                    SPOILERS END

 These are the most interesting historical references of the game, in my opinion. Thank you for reading and feel free to correct me and/or add the details I’ve missed! My DM is closed for now, but you can correct me via reblogs, if you want. ^^

[starsailorstories]

So! Given, uh, everything, any chance you could talk about how various Astraea cultures deal with sicknesses and quarantine? Especially since some (especially Bell Town) are extremely or entirely genetically identical, and so more at risk?

Also, how would the cast members react to self isolation and social distancing?

FIRST OFF, sorry this took 10 years to answer, I was super busy and there’s kind of A Lot Of Spec Bio to discuss here

Also, this question made me feel very Seen lol…why yes i DO use worldbuilding as a coping mechanism for the stress of watching the wet tissue paper my country calls a social safety net dissolve

Most sickness that astraeas deal with day to day isn’t actually contagious*, but more a result of individual reaction to the environment (in terms of public health response, think seasonal allergies, although physiologically speaking it’s nothing like that). Communicable, infectious disease tends to be a less frequent problem but purely for that reason is more feared, especially as the most common source for novel diseases is interplanetary shipping (like, astraeas on one planet who have immunity to something unknowingly ship contaminated goods to another planet where people don’t). All that is nowhere near as devastating as it could be in a human context–for one thing astraeas’ bodies are hella dry compared to ours, so if a microbe isn’t airborne it’s almost a non-issue (on the other hand, infection is almost a guarantee if you have an open wound)–but most planets, stations and orbiters have a list of OTHER planets, stations and orbiters categorized by how long it’s been since first contact and how long shipments need to be in quarantine based on that, and that kind of thing runs the same gamut from “rigorously evidence-based” to “completely political and petty” that it does on earth.

Speaking of which, the issue of genetic similarity as a disease risk is as politicized as you’d expect in a society where people said “oh, with our genetic technology we can just design the working class to be however we want.” The Hyperians, being, you know, A Rigidly Hierarchal Interstellar Empire In A Space Opera as they are, tend to present the genetic homogeneity as sort of a good thing, what makes Us Us and Them Them, and the royal family themselves subscribe to the very historically royal (and also very eugenicist) idea that genetic “purity”–which for astraeas mostly just means having children in a very chemically controlled environment–helps keep em’ royal or something. Spoiler alert: it doesn’t it just makes hemophilia, and the more conservative Basileans minimize the environmental variance that keeps them from wiping each other out like some kind of aggressively graceful banana monocrop, the easier it is for epidemics to escalate in general because whole colonies become vectors together.

You won’t read about it in your galactic history book til after the revolution, but the dangers of genetic homogeneity were actually observed by lux units, who noticed that “variant” and “off-order” clones were a bit more likely to survive outbreaks of disease. Supervisors in clone factories have tried HARD to excise the superstition that variant units who remain un-decommissioned into adulthood are good luck to have on your cabin crew or manufacturing-plant shift, but it’s never completely gone away, and once Bell Town goes topside their medics and scientists immediately get to work testing, peer reviewing and proving the mechanics of diversity as a factor of public health because it’s a helpful argument for legitimizing their seizure of the means of their own reproduction and fighting the prejudice against “defective” lux that don’t fit the mold.

To really get into your question, Bell Town at least has the advantage of being small and having a busybody mom friend for a de facto head medic, so I don’t think they’ve ever had a quarantine situation get much bigger than four or five people just because Bolt is very up on how everyone’s doing and very very persuasive–the medics know that that’s just a matter of luck though, and I’m sure a factor in the push to go topside is the potential for tragedy involved in having a settlement of mostly/nearly genetically identical people in somewhat adverse and scarce conditions. That’s not to say there’s no plan–the shortages in Bell Town tend to be of immediately consumable raw materials, like air and fuel and very basic multi-use medicines, whereas raw materials for manufacturing specialized equipment are a lot easier to get because organized factories in DT’s network can have them smuggled out. And a majority of the town’s population, at least by vol. 2, are former manufacturing-plant labor with working radio receivers in their heads, so it’s fairly feasible to expect even a small portion of them, with an emergency push, to manufacture A Lot of vaccines, or intensive care equipment, or whatever was needed practically overnight with the direct guidance of the medics to ensure as much safety in the process as possible (they do just that with medical and defense supplies in vol. 2 for various spoilery things).

Up top, the aula’s responses to any and all large-scale social crises tend to be erratic but sweeping. There are some advantages–in terms of expertise, there are certainly things that well-paid doctors with fully equipped research hospitals can accomplish that a dedicated crack team of self-educated medics can’t, including proactive study of new strains of disease. There’s also feudal insanity–technically individual hospitals/institutions aren’t supposed to issue info without the aula’s permission, though legally local nobles can give it on the Hyperians’ behalf if they’re willing to risk Drama. The internal weirdness of the court both logistical and interpersonal (which I need to make a post about) can sometimes mean, in any emergency, that different parts of the empire receive conflicting information, or an edict followed after a day’s delay in the satellite network by a retraction. Public trust (among citizens of relative status at least) that the Hyperians know what they’re doing tends to decline exponentially as you move out from the inner Rings for this exact reason.

Derafior City on Caesura B dealt with a wave of multiple epidemics a couple hundred turns before the official rise of the empire that still affect how the city is laid out–leaders at the time issued quarantine orders in cooperation with individual colony matriarchs, and as those orders became enforced in physical “zones” neighborhood identities, reputations, and rivalries became increasingly defined (Crater culture being what it is, quarantine boundaries were often pretty literal battle lines as the situation became desperate). A lot of historians trace the factionalism of the Crater to this era, although outside imperialism was also a major instigator of both factional conflicts and disease exposure. Keep in mind too that while outsiders like to portray Derafior as violently fractured and there’s a grain of truth to that, there are just as many deep loyalties between neighborhood/colony factions as there are rivalries and as we see in vol. 3, Caesurans are certainly not allergic to closing ranks when shit really hits the fan. 

I don’t have specific canon examples from other ante-dome cultures but another thing of possible interest that I’d like to talk about is that in places touched by Basilean culture, a lot of what we consider “social distancing” is just normal because cleanliness is highly ritualized and valued. Although platonic adult friendships tend to be very cuddly by American and British standards, at the same time, hand touches between strangers outside specific social rituals are seen as quite inappropriate, so things are more thoroughly designed to prevent them–for example, most trading of goods is done purely on paper at the point of sale and nothing actually passes from hand to hand, you go get it out of the crate or pick it out of the field yourself (which is also a practicality of the relative non-ubiquity of flexible currency–and actually, one of the complaints about the use of currency among more traditional astraeas is that it spreads germs). Basically everyone who can afford it wears gloves in public, which are changed and washed every time a person re-enters her home (disposable gloves are mostly limited to medical and laboratory settings, although it’s not unheard of to use them in a pinch if you don’t have a place to launder gloves at home. Side note, if you’re translating directly Altamaian actually refers to manual labor that makes it impractical to wear gloves as “barehanded” labor and the summary conceptualization of such as unhygienic represents a MAJOR vein of classism among Basilean citizens). The reason for the glove thing is that for a species with an exoskeleton regular hand washing can be kind of involved (You know how sometimes it takes a lot of scrubbing to get the dirt out from under your fingernails? Now imagine you have fingernails all over your hands). 

Oh and to answer your second question: out of the main cast the one you’d think would suffer most with self-isolation is Bolt, but being a healthcare worker she’d still see people. Rugsy would complain the loudest but also paradoxically be secretly kind of relieved to not have to worry about People for a while. DT experiences virtually no change from her normal lifestyle lmao

*There’s two kinds of disease that can affect astraeas–what they call “miasmic”, and infectious. Miasmic disease (which as you might guess I named after the precursor to modern germ theory–it’s kind of true in this instance!) is basically when an individual’s body and light chemistry can’t maintain its normal balance in certain atmosphere conditions. A big reason for the kickoff of the artificial atmosphere industry after the settling of Altamai is that the cloud cover tends to trap a lot of carbon dioxide, and for i.e. Basillans and Sitherians (who have come to be based on G-type stars, like the sun, and K-type stars, slightly smaller and cooler than the sun) there’s just not enough hydrogen atoms in there to run their bodies optimally. This mostly affects very young children, the elderly, and those whose cores were formed in suboptimal conditions (comparable to a human who has a chronic health condition because of a birth defect) and if it can’t be remedied by a move to more hydrogen/helium rich air, it’s treated by sucking the pure hydrogen out of a water electrolysis device through a hose on the daily, which side note, is also a reliable hangover remedy for them.

[trueloveseyeroll]

The Dancing Thief (11/13)

Summary: Pretending to be a noblewoman might be the dumbest thing Emma has ever agreed to do. And she’s not sure if meeting Lord Killian Jones made the whole thing better or worse. (Better. Definitely better.)

Rating: T (language and mild violence)

Beta: The wonderful @forget-me-not-s​

Artist: The lovely @captxinswans - check out her amazing artwork for chapter 1, chapter 2 and chapter 8!!

Word count: 4302 (62k words in total)

Chapter 1

AO3

For the past months, Killian’s life had been a whirlwind. The signs of dealings between his father and Lord Gold had made him wary, and meeting Emma had turned his world around in a most unimaginable way. Then, King George had fallen ill, which only succeeded in putting everyone on edge – bloody hell, someone had even tried to assassinate him! However, Killian hadn’t been too shocked by the attempt on his life – Emma saving him had rather overshadowed the assassination itself.

Now, Killian stood at the door to a townhouse about forty minutes away from his home on foot. Belle stood by his side, giving him some comfort in the fact that he wasn’t alone. She, too, found the whole ordeal rather strange, but simultaneously, it felt like they were at the cusp of something important. Something likely to be historical even.

“Nothing to do but knock, I suppose,” Killian said, stepping forth to do just that. He took hold of the door knocker, banging it thrice against the wood, and that simple action alone lifted Killian’s spirits. He was no longer standing in the corner, reading books or discussing politics with his friends. He wasn’t just scowling at Lord Gold from afar or confronting his father with no clear plan. No, coming here to the townhouse gave Killian a sense of control, a feeling that he didn’t have to be passive anymore.

The door opened.

Killian came face to face with Emma, and at once, all control, every concept he ever had of anything, just blew away. Her soft curls fell against her shoulders and down her back, a simple knit sweater and a pair of trousers keeping her warm. He’d seen her in ballgowns and in tight, dark garments fit for a thief, but the sight of her in such comfortable and common clothes didn’t fail to take his breath away. She was simply stunning. And as she smiled softly at him, everything seemed to settle down inside him, but in a much better way than before.

She really was turning his life upside down.

(And he couldn’t be happier about it.)

“Hi,” she said, her eyes quickly turning to his right. “You must be Belle.”

“Yes, I am. And I guess you must be Emma?”

“Yeah.” Her hand lingered on the side of the door. “Yeah, uh, come on in.”

Killian and Belle followed her inside the foyer, and he could sense that Emma found the situation strange as well. Awkward was perhaps a more fitting word.

“So, uh,” Emma began to say, but what she meant to tell Killian and Belle would never be known, as Will entered the foyer in just that moment.

“Belle! Lord Killian! Glad you could make it!” He pressed a light kiss to Belle’s cheek and Killian wondered what it might be like to greet Emma in such a way. Absolutely brilliant, that’s what it would be. He caught her looking at him, and the blush added to the quick aversion of her gaze made him wonder if she was thinking along the same lines.

Killian was quickly thrown out of such thoughts as Will made to kiss his cheek instead. In jest, obviously, but Killian kept him away with an outstretched hand.

“Were you always a coachman?” he couldn’t help but ask. Such behaviour didn’t exactly seem fitting for a man used to working with nobles.

Another man answered as he entered the room. “For the past many years, yes.” Killian recognized Emma’s steward from the balls - Robin, was it? “Unfortunately, our employer, the Dowager Lady of Sherwood was a bit too encouraging towards Will’s boyish indecorum.”

“But at least she kept him out of the worst sorts of trouble,” another voice said, this one belonging to a woman with long black hair, half of it pinned behind her head. She had pale skin and a beautiful, kind face.

Killian looked at Will, whose ears were turning the colour of his surname. Having friends discuss you in front of a lady you were halfway in love with was bound to cause a bit of embarrassment.

“And I’m sure you already know he can be a perfect gentleman when it counts,” the dark-haired woman smiled at Belle.

“When it counts?” Will repeated, offended. Belle merely laughed and said he’d been lovely so far, the compliment only succeeding in further reddening Will’s ears.

“It’s so nice to meet you, Belle,” the woman said. “I’m Snow, a former maid at House Sherwood. And you must be Lord Killian Jones,” Snow said, gracing him with her warm smile. “I’m very happy to meet you as well.”

Killian nodded in respect, returning the polite greeting.

“Emma and Will have told us a lot about the two of you - all good things, I promise - so it’s only fair I tell you what role I play in the scheme of things,” Snow said. “I’m the one who initially asked Emma to infiltrate the noble court in order to help my fiancé.”

“Your fiancé?” Killian asked, wondering if the man would be present this evening as well.

“Yes. And I’m afraid things could go terribly wrong if his identity is revealed to the wrong people, which is why Emma and Will have been so cautious. But I’m sure our trust in you isn’t misplaced.” Snow could have made the statement sound questioning or even threatening, but her words were nothing but genuine.

“And I’m sure that with all of this secrecy, you may as well already have guessed who he is,” Emma said, wryly.

“Aye, well, I have an idea,” Killian admitted.

“And do I live up to that idea?” In the doorway stood a man with longer hair than Killian had imagined, but it was the same shade of blonde, and though there was a bit more stubble than he remembered from seven years ago, the face was the same.

“Prince David,” Killian greeted, bowing his head.

“Well, exiled prince anyway,” David said. “Though I don’t mind the gesture.”

Killian heard a faint snort come from Emma.

“So the rumours of your return were true after all,” Belle said. While Killian was sure she had had an idea that she was about to meet Prince David, she sounded more awed than he’d expected. Then again, Belle hadn’t met any of the royal family before - only the book-enthusiastic nobles such as himself.

“Yes. Although the reasons for my return seem to have drifted away from the truth in most of the retellings.”

“Not here to place dung-beetles from Agrabah under the pillows of all who wronged you?” Killian asked humorously. He’d enjoyed hearing that one.

“Not all, at least,” David said. But there was only a slight hint of amusement in his tone as he stood there with crossed arms. Or perhaps Killian just wanted to think there was some amusement there.

“Right, well, moving on from the topic of dung-beetles, I think supper is just about ready,” Robin said, clapping Killian on the shoulder before heading through the door from which he’d come. Killian assumed the clap was another way of saying ‘good luck’.

Snow went to help Robin, but David made no move to go anywhere, still surveying Killian with his arms crossed. Killian allowed himself to survey the exiled prince in return.

Emma looked between the two, unsure of what to do or say. Thankfully, Will decided to break the silence by clearing his throat in a very non-subtle manner. “I don’t know about you lot, but I’ll be heading in the direction of the food.”

Taking Belle’s hand like the gentleman Snow said he could be, Will led her to the dining room. David made to follow them, but he didn’t seem keen on leaving Killian and Emma alone with each other. While Killian wanted nothing more than a moment alone with her - a chance to tell her how stunning she looked, or perhaps lay that kiss on her cheek (or her lips) - he thought it best to humour David, who, apparently, didn’t seem to like him all that much.

----------

Emma didn’t know her parents, and had never really known what a family was either. She’d been a part of a few thieving crews, but had never stuck around for long. The crews she had found had just never been worth staying for; getting attached was not something Emma made a habit of.

But the crew she had found in David, Snow, Robin and Will - and Ruby, too - was special. She couldn’t see herself leaving them behind easily. And when Killian entered the townhouse, she couldn’t help but feel like she was introducing him to her family.

David certainly took the role of disapproving father to heart.

Killian complimented the townhouse, and Snow informed him it was owned by her godmother Johanna, while she brought in a pot of stew. She apologized for the simplicity of the meal, explaining that their funds were small, and they had greater priorities than rich food.

“Nonsense, Lady Snow, it smells heavenly,” Killian said, and Belle agreed. Both offered to help with any last-minute things, but Snow waved them off, telling them to sit.

Emma took her seat next to Killian’s, wishing they could have had a moment to themselves. The awkward greeting in the foyer just hadn’t felt like a real ‘hello’.

Robin came in with a warm, sliced loaf of bread and a flagon of wine. He set both down on the centre of the table before taking his own seat. At the townhouse, they were all equals. Despite previous or false titles, none waited on others, but everyone helped each other.

Snow offered Belle the first serving, and soon everyone was eating, but unanswered questions lingered in the air, making for a strained meal. Emma took a few heavy gulps of wine, hoping to calm her nerves.

Finally, Killian said, “I presume I know the answer, but perhaps someone could clarify the reason you’re all in Misthaven, infiltrating the court no less?”

And so they all began explaining.

----------

“George’s illness has been a complete coincidence - whether fortunate or unfortunate, we don’t yet know,” David said at last.

Emma looked at Killian and Belle. Neither of them looked like they were about to bolt from the table, and she supposed that was a good sign. Still, she was well aware of how crazy their plan sounded. And it wasn’t much of a plan anymore - at least not a detailed one.

“It’s causing agitation amongst everyone, for sure,” Killian commented.

“About that - have you learned anything from the assassin?” Emma asked.

“He hasn’t been very forthcoming as of yet.” Killian’s grip on his spoon tightened, and Emma could only imagine what it might feel like, knowing someone out there had paid to have him killed. It certainly angered her to the point that she’d gladly knock the assassin around a bit more until he started speaking. “After a few days without food and water, however, he might reconsider his loyalties.”

“Isn’t there a way to get him talking faster?” Emma asked, unsure if they had time to wait around for a few days.

“Aside from physical torture or bribery?”

“Well, if you offered a large enough sum, and he refuses to speak, we’d know that his emplyer is either rich enough to offer more, or powerful enough to frighten him into silence,” Snow said.

“Which would likely mean Cora or Gold.”

Emma sensed those two were already high on Killian’s list of suspects.

“I still wonder what anyone would gain from your death - and what Zelena had to gain from informing Emma about it,” David said.

“Why, David, I’m flattered you think no one would prosper from my death.” Killian sat up a bit straighter, smiling widely at David.

“Don’t push it.”

“A rival of House Jones would gain from having your father rattled and without a direct heir, just as the decision of the regent is to be made,” Robin said, answering David’s former question.

“While my father has always been interested in wealth, he’s never been much for power though. I’m not sure he’d even want to be king regent.”

“Fear is still a powerful tool,” David said. “Having an important noble figure murdered would cause panic amongst the nobility, and whoever manages to calm everyone down would be favoured in an election.”

Emma couldn’t imagine anyone being better at calming down a crowd than David. Cora and Gold would only unsettle her further. Unfortunately, it wasn’t likely that everyone amongst the nobility thought so.

She finished the last of her bread, having absent-mindedly torn it into small pieces during the conversation. She wasn’t one to waste crumbs like that normally.

Snow noted that everyone had finished eating, suggesting they move to the drawing room. A pot of tea - and a few cups of hot chocolate - couldn’t hurt anybody.

Once seated in the comfortable couches, Emma in the same armchair as always, though now with Killian sitting in the one next to it, the conversation turned to the future. They still needed to figure out how David could make his appeal to the nobles, after all. At least without being seized by guards first.

“So far we’ve just been focused on sorting out allies and foes,” David said. “But it seems the time for playing it safe is over.”

Emma rolled her eyes at the way he glowered at Killian from behind his cup of chocolate.

Killian seemed to notice the snide of David’s remark as well. After all, it wasn’t the first of its type that David had thrown his way.

“I’m sorry, mate, but what is it I’ve done to cause you to have such little faith in me?” Killian finally asked, the question having weighed him down since the first scowl he’d been treated to.

David didn’t even need time to think about how to answer. “You’re a young man with a reputation for trouble - drinking, lacking propriety and flirting with every girl you see. The passions of young nobles like you can change as quickly as you can turn your heads; so in short, mate, you’re unreliable.”

“David!” Snow admonished.

“No, it’s alright,” Killian told her, although David’s words had a way of making him feel like shit. They were true after all. But only partly. “He’s just speaking his mind. And I know that’s what people tend to think of me, but they also tend to forget that losing your brother - your hero - is something only alcohol seems to remedy. And that my lack of propriety is a lack of interest in the small things nobles find so important. I’m bloody well spending my time at balls reading books on politics, discussing ideals with my mates, ideals you seem to believe in! And I’ve never felt the way I do about Emma, and I value the trust she’s put in me more than anything else, but sure, I can see why you’d think me unreliable.”

The cup in his hands was ready to break under the pressure of his grip by the end, and Killian had no clue where those words had come from. They’d just spilled out. And while he wished he could take them back, that he could have kept his temper in check, he felt a sense of relief at having let it out.

Surprise washed over David’s features, giving way to something that looked like guilt. “I’m sorry, Killian. Captain Liam Jones was a good man - and no doubt an equally great brother.”

The fact that David knew - and remembered - Liam’s preference for being called Captain rather than Lord, touched Killian in a way he never would have expected.

“Aye, he was the best man I’ve ever known. And he always believed that you would make a great king someday. As do I.”

David took his words for what they were - honesty. “And I’m sure you’ll do your best to help me make it there.”

“I will.”

----------

The evening had grown late, and everyone was tired after the hours of conversation. Inviting Killian and Belle over had been worth it though, especially after an understanding formed between David and Killian. Emma kept replaying Killian’s words in her mind, the emotions so clear on his face as he spoke. There was nothing but honesty there.

“You know I feel the same, right?” Emma asked. She’d pulled Killian aside, leading him into her bedroom for a moment alone to say goodbye. “That this... it’s so different from anything else I’ve ever felt. Good different. It’s like...”

She trailed off, incapable of describing it. Killian probably could. Growing up as a gentleman and reading all those books gave him a language like no other, but this time, she didn’t give him a chance to use it.

She just leaned forward and kissed him.

Emma doubted she’d ever tire of kissing Killian. And it wasn’t lost on her that once again, there was a bed right next to them. Her bed.

Killian was the one to pull away, but he kept his forehead against hers, his nose still right next to hers. “I probably shouldn’t push my luck too far with David by staying in here for too long.”

Emma laughed. “No, I’d rather not have to see him drag you out of here and throw you on the curb.”

But both of them were a bit too weak, leaning in for one more chaste kiss.

This time when they pulled away, Emma made sure to take a small step back, just to limit the temptation (as if that were truly possible). Killian seemed to notice something over her shoulder and he nodded towards it.

“Are those the paints I sent you?”

Although she knew the answer, reflex had her looking over her shoulder to see the paints lying on her desk. “Yeah. I never got to thank you for them - it was a very sweet thought.”

“I’m glad you think so,” Killian said, a hand going up to scratch a spot behind his ear. “But I suppose you might not paint that much after all.”

A smile got the better of her lips at his understanding. “No, I’m afraid that was one of the lies I had to tell. I didn’t really think scouring for food or shelter, or climbing buildings was a good answer for a lady.”

Killian smiled as well. “No, perhaps not. But I’d love to hear the real stories someday. Anything you’d wish to share.”

“Perhaps I should tell you the story of what really happened when I was away for those two weeks.”

Killian quirked an eyebrow.

“Some other time,” she said with a slight roll of her eyes, trying to turn him back towards the door.

“Swan, you can’t send me away with a mystery such as that!” he pouted, doing his best to sound as dramatic as possible.

Emma laughed. “I can and I will. Now hurry before David comes and throws you out.”

Killian gave her his best puppy dog face. And she had to admit, it was rather good. “How about instead, you show me your work? I see you’ve opened the paints.”

Emma’s face reddened at the thought of the painting hidden in her wardrobe. “I didn’t paint anything,” she lied. “I just opened them for fun.”

Killian saw right through her. “A really quick glimpse?”

“I threw it away.”

He just kept looking at her, and Emma knew he wasn’t likely to let it go. Maybe a kiss could distract him... but it was bound to distract her as well.

“Fine. But promise me you won’t laugh.”

“I swear on everything I hold dear,” Killian said. Emma shook her head at his antics, turning to find the painting in the wardrobe.

“Here - just a quick glimpse.”

The puzzled look on his face wasn’t really something she could blame him for.

“It’s lovely... a flower, right?”

Emma sighed. “A swan actually.”

“Oh... oh yeah, I can see-”

“Just shut up and go,” Emma said, rolling her eyes at him. He was sweet - too damned sweet.

He stepped over to give her one last kiss. Leaving her with every nerve buzzing and her knees weak, he looked just about as wrecked as she felt.

“As you wish.”

----------

With Killian as a part of the team now, Emma felt lighter than she had in weeks. Possibly her entire life. She’d didn’t sleep easier though, her head too full of thoughts. Thoughts of Killian, of the plan and the assassin starving in the cells of Keep Jones.

Still, just knowing that she’d be seeing Killian again soon - without pretences of a ball - brought a smile to her face at any moment.

And that’s when she knew she had to be careful.

Good things just didn’t happen to Emma. Her own parents didn’t want to keep her, and since then, it seemed no one in the world wanted to. She had spent years doubting that Granny and Ruby actually wanted her around, and when she’d finally come to believe it, Granny had died. Thieving crews had come and gone, people, opportunities... nothing ever stuck.

Who was to say the bonds she’d made the past few months were stronger than her bad luck?

Two evenings after Killian’s initial meeting with David’s crew, they had planned for Killian to bring over Thomas, Phillip and Eric. Killian was sure they’d support David. He wouldn’t have suggested letting them in on the plan if he wasn’t.

First though, he had to explain things on his own, as regretfully, they all still believed Emma to be a spy for someone less agreeable.

Six hours before the young lords were meant to arrive, Emma was putting on her boots, ready for lunch at The Red Wolf. When Ruby had heard there’d been a dinner with Killian, but without her, she hadn’t been too happy. Words like “betrayal” had been thrown around. No matter that she’d been too busy running the tavern anyways. But now, on top of making sure she’d be able to dine with them in the evening, Emma thought a lunchtime visit was a nice consolation.

She never made it out of the door though.

Snow came barging in, looking all for the world like she’d been chased by a ghost. Upon seeing Emma, she stopped to catch her breath. “Good. You’re still here.”

“Yes?” Emma’s gut twisted. “Is everything alright?”

“Is everyone else here, too?” Snow asked before having time to even register Emma’s question.

Emma nodded. “In the drawing room. Snow, what’s -”

But Snow had already left for the drawing room, and Emma sensed she’d get her answers if she followed. From the look on Snow’s face, however, she was sure that things definitely weren’t alright.

She hadn’t made it past the doorway before Snow spoke to all of them.

“King George is dead.”

  ----------

  King George is dead. The words echoed in Killian’s head and all around him, as no one talked about anything else. Servants whispered in the halls and the guards exchanged concerns for the future.

The king was dead, and there was no one to replace him.

Just two days ago, Killian had been sitting in a townhouse, trying to make plans for Prince David’s appearance at the council meeting. The meeting that would determine the future of the land. But now, the meeting had never been held, and people were already panicking.

Which, of course, was the perfect opportunity for Lord Gold.

Killian sent word for his friends as quickly as possible. There was no time to wait for dinner plans - they had to make real plans, important plans, and they had to do it before Gold managed to convince everyone that a quick vote with himself as the winner was the best course of action.

Killian would rather die than see that crocodile on the throne.

With the prince’s permission, Killian had told his friends about David and his hopes to take the throne - and Emma’s part in it all. All three of them had apologized. Especially Eric had been rather guilt-stricken. Killian wouldn’t deny that he took pleasure in seeing his friends so regretful, be he knew holding grudges against his best friends would be a terrible mistake. They had only been trying to look out for him after all.

And now, together, all of them would try to look out for the future of the country. They had the chance to turn George’s death into something truly good - a future where the land could prosper, where the people were given choices and support. A future where less people had to live the way Emma did.

They gathered in the townhouse, the drawing room soon becoming terribly crowded with nobles and commoners, all united in one goal. Killian sent word for his friends amongst the knights and the guard; Phillip, Thomas and Eric did the same. They sent for Aurora and Ella, the young lady Grace and her father, Lord Jefferson, as well. Ruby and her barmaids did everything they could to spread word amongst the people, to walk the streets and shout for King David.

There was so much to do, so much uncertainty and danger to face, and so little time.

But surrounded by friends and strangers who wanted nothing more than the good of the people, Killian had to believe it would work. He was a born pessimist, so perhaps Snow’s speeches were getting to him, or perhaps it was having Emma at his side that made him feel invincible. It mattered not. The only thing that mattered was that David succeeded.

[licorescence]

The Court Musician

Fandom: 終わりのセラフ | Owari no Seraph | Seraph of the End

Rating: T

Pairing: Mikaela Hyakuya x Yuuichirou Hyakuya (MikaYuu)

Notes: So… Allow me to explain how it got to this. Recently, my father has been downloading and watching numerous Korean and Chinese dramas during the time where historical monarchy was a major thing. I do enjoy a whole lot of them cause their plots are very interesting, and do you know what they reminded me of? Lysia’s Ancient China AU! I don’t know if the AU was already planned out and everything since I did hear that it was a WIP, but for the sake of indulging, I wrote this. Hence, I dedicate this piece to @absolute-exclusivity.

“Your majesty.” Shihou addressed seriously with his head bowed a bit in respect for his king. “I know that you do not wish to hear this again, but as your adviser, I have to speak to you about the matter regarding a royal harem.”

Mikaela’s teeth was clenched when his adviser so much as to remind him of that one thing he hated the most once he took up the mantle as Emperor of China. His hands curled in fists while he frowned in displeasure.

“I already told you, Shihou, I do not wish to have one.” Mikaela sternly replied and he took a rolled scroll report to busy himself with, hoping to drop the subject. “I have more important matters to deal with than to spend time with women who I probably won’t even have close relations with.”

“But, your majesty, the people are expecting you to take in women for a possible heir now that you have come of age.” Shihou pursued further, glancing at Mikaela’s direction. “Empress Dowager Krul will be most upset that you haven’t taken at least one lady in court.”

Mikaela slammed the scroll mercilessly on the throne table enough to rattle the furniture while he took a deep breath in to calm himself. “The Empress Dowager has no say in this matter. It is my choice as the Emperor of this land if I want to take in consorts or not.”

Mikaela rolled the scroll back neatly. “I am aware that you are concerned, but my decision to not have a harem still remains. You can’t change my mind, Shihou.”

Shihou sighed tiredly at Mikaela’s decision and bowed lowly to accept Mikaela’s decision, a look of dismay etched his face. “As you wish, your majesty.”

Mikaela looked at Shihou for a short moment before he stood up from his throne, taking great care of his formal xuanduan robes as he descended, prompting Shihou to immediately come to his side while the emperor walked away from the throne room and into the outer corridors. The scent of freshly bloomed cherry blossoms was the first thing that Mikaela took note of and he closed his eyes as he savored the relaxing fragrance, giving him the temporal feeling of freedom from the stuffy throne room he secluded himself in since morning.

All day, he had done nothing than to sit in the throne room and listen to his council going on about the distribution of food and gold to the people which proved to be a daunting task for the young emperor. And to add more salt into his already sour mood, one of them even dared to suggest him to wed a noble woman whose father was a prominent figure in the army to lessen the tax and give honor into the family. It made Mikaela want to send a rather nasty glare to the man, but his position prevented him from doing so.

Although when given some thought, Mikaela did admit that there were benefits to political marriages but he didn’t want to wed for that purpose. He personally wanted to marry someone who would love every single part of him, both the good and the bad side of himself; all of his perfect imperfections. However, his mother was obviously against this idea because love couldn’t give him honor or influence to his family and subjects, especially if said romantic interest was a commoner. They all sought noble bloodlines to be tied together with him but Mikaela wouldn’t have any of that, and thus it reached to his decision to have no royal harem until he found the one that was perfect for him – regardless if they were a noble or not.

Unfortunately, Shihou’s constant reminders of the matter was giving Mikaela a headache almost every day since Krul last addressed it, and it was annoying. He just wanted to run away and pretend that he was a free man even for one day.

This made Mikaela’s eyes widened in realization before a mischievous smile curved on his lips.

“Hey, Shihou…” He slowly began. “Since my schedule is pretty lax today, I want to take this opportunity to go and look at how my country is fairing. That is what a ruler should do, right?”

“Indeed.” Shihou agreed as he pushed up his eyeglasses. “Then, allow me to assign some of your best soldiers to escort you.”

Mikaela raised a hand. “That isn’t needed for I wish to go alone in a disguise.”

Shihou made a choking sound before he composed himself righteously.  “Your majesty, with all due respect, I can’t permit such an outrageous request unless there is someone protecting you. A royal such as you shouldn’t go without an aide.”

Mikaela immediately looped an arm around Shihou’s neck, forcing him to duck heads together with Mikaela. “Come on, I promise that it won’t be long, Shihou. I’ll just take a quick stride around to see if everything is okay and I’ll be back before the Empress Dowager took notice of it.”

“I already said that you can’t—”

“—I’ll reward you with cherry blossom cookies from Yoichi if you let me do this.”

Shihou immediately stiffened at the mention of the cookies and he was left shaking in contemplation at what to do, letting Mikaela’s mischievous smile widen more especially at the small blush his adviser was sporting. Mikaela knew that he was playing dirty by exploiting Yoichi against Shihou but he couldn’t help in wanting to leave the palace even for a little while. He needed the breather.

“… Alright.” Shihou finally gave in after a moment but not after he threw Mikaela a glare. “But should problems arise once your subjects realizes your disappearance, you’ll have to explain yourself to them, do you understand?”

“Perfectly.” Mikaela smiled mirthfully as he removed his mian guan and gave it to Shihou. “Well then, I’ll be off for now. I’ll see you very soon.”

Shihou sighed in exasperation as he watched Mikaela walk off merrily before he looked down at the head dress on his hands with a small scowl. “… Your son is a real handful, Empress Dowager.”

But despite that, there was a fond smile forming on Shihou’s lips as he turned away and began to hide any evidence that the emperor was away from the palace for the time being.

With some thorough planning, Mikaela was able to leave his territory and stretch his arms freely once he went out from the palace through a secret passage, donning a simple shenyi and head cap to appear like he was a scholar on his way for a research. The loose clothing allowed Mikaela to move without restrain as compared to his royal robes. It did wonders to Mikaela’s body, giving him a refreshing feeling that he never felt for a very long time.

Mikaela couldn’t help the smile at having obtained the freedom he sought for so long, his eyes shining with absolute happiness.

“Ah, but I did promise Shihou that I would return as soon as possible once I finish my observation around…” Mikaela reminded himself with made his sunny expression falter a bit before he sighed at the inevitable. “I guess it can’t be helped… I have to make do with what I can…”

With a nod of determination, Mikaela then began his trip around town. The little adventure he started went well with people greeting him every now and then because they thought that he was a respected scholar in the palace. The etiquette they show made Mikaela smile as he greeted back with the same amount of respect. His formal mannerism seemed so out of place in such a lively setting, but thankfully, the townspeople didn’t mind it. In fact, they find it very endearing which flustered Mikaela to no end.

As he was talking with some of his people, he heard an instrument being strummed harmoniously not too far away from him. Mikaela’s face lit up in curiosity as the children were attracted to the same music and quickly went towards the source of it with their cheerful and excited smiles.

“What’s going on?” Mikaela asked at the person beside him.

“Ah, it’s that boy again.” The man answered. “Every day, he would go here and play under the cherry blossom tree as a way to let people listen to his newly composed music. He doesn’t accept any payment when he does this since he already plays for the Bureau of Music within the palace court.”

Mikaela hummed as he thought of anyone that could have come to mind but he found it to be fruitless. There were so many musicians in his court to take note of and their names were too daunting to memorize each and every one of them. He didn’t pay much attention to them since the Bureau of Music would only play during special ceremonies being held in the palace such as coronations and rituals. It caught Mikaela's interest at how a member of such a section would freely play music outside the palace despite the consequences that could happen should he be caught in the act. It would cause a possible demotion on the musician's part since the Bureau of Music solely play music for the emperor and no one else.

As being the emperor in question, Mikaela should naturally be furious but instead he was left in awe when he saw the said musician and heard his piece being played. The musician's eyes were closed as his fingers moved skillfully on the guzheng before him, eliciting a rhythm so soothing and peaceful enough to lull a person to sleep. His black hair swayed gently to the breeze that allowed small petals from the tree to shower the musician with its beauty as if to praise him for making such lovely music. It didn't help that the musician's shengyi robes were also dyed with colors similar to the cherry blossom tree behind him, making the entire view gorgeous in its simplistic ways.

It caught Mikaela's breath the more he laid his eyes on the musician, and he found himself wanting to know more about him. His relentless curiosity for this man surprised Mikaela himself and he was left speechless even after the performance where the musician was thanking everyone who witnessed his little show.

However, when he turned to Mikaela's direction, a look of recognition dawned on his face which made the musician grew wary in insecurity and fear. Mikaela immediately hated that look and he resolved to turn it around to change the situation at hand.

"You showed an amazing talent with the guzheng. As expected no less from a member of the Bureau of Music." Mikaela complimented as a start but it just made the musician nervous, especially when Mikaela approached him. "If it's not worth your trouble, may I know your name?"

The musician looked astonished for moment before he became apprehensive with the question. Mikaela could tell that the musician was hesitant because he knew who Mikaela was with a simple glance at him and one wrong word could cause trouble.

So, Mikaela added on with a gentle smile, "Fear not, I am just a scholar passing by to see if the townspeople are treated well and were satisfied being under Emperor Tepes' rule. I just so happen to see you perform today and I was astounded by such a show that put smiles on the faces of many. For that, I'll keep this one as a little secret of ours, okay?"

The musician's cheeks blush in embarrassment and green eyes shyly looked away. "... Thank you, your maje--I mean, good sir. It's an honor to hear such kind words from you."

Mikaela's heart fluttered by how the musician react so cutely in front of him that it made him stutter just a bit. "I-I'm glad. But please, tell me your name so that I could remember you by. It would be a shame to not know you who are."

The musician looked back at Mikaela for moment in contemplation before his shoulders relaxed and he smiled warmly towards the emperor in disguise as he bowed respectfully. "My name is Yuuichirou and I'm a member of the guzheng part in the Bureau of Music, good sir. It's a great honor to be in your presence."

Yuuichirou. Mikaela was going to remember that for a very long time from now on. Even when there were a multitude of names Mikaela needed to know for the sake of politics, Yuuichirou's name would still be in his heart and mind, together with his appearance.

Mikaela may not know who Yuuichirou was as a person for now, but just by seeing and talking to him for the first time, Mikaela knew that he was smitten and that he fell in love with this simple court musician.

[samuraiko]

Semi-Useful Notes for Writing for THE ROYAL TUTOR

(Author’s Note: This includes all twelve episodes of the anime (plus the movie), as well as up through Chapter 84 of the manga (18 Oct 2019) and what info I can glean from the Character Book (unfortunately it’s all in Japanese). I will continually update this post as the series progresses and new spiffy stuff shows up, so visit my Master List of my ROYAL TUTOR Stuff to see the latest version.)

While writing A Noble Soul (which is done, by the way!), I had the idea that I personally love the little touches of authenticity that make a story more 'real,' and hey, if nothing else, I learn a few things along the way. (I *am* a researcher, after all!) So I did a lot of searching to find the real-world analogues of the buildings, references, history, and so forth from the series. As you’ll see in the descriptions, I explain how I determined which ones were which.

You’re welcome to post questions, comments, share this, etc. Hope it helps anyone else who wants to write for the ROYAL TUTOR fandom! (Quick question - would everyone prefer me to include chapter references for stuff? It’d make this post much longer, but if the fandom thinks it’d be useful, I can give it a shot.)

So, here we go!

GRANZREICH FAMILY INFO

Viktor von Granzreich, current ruler of the kingdom of Granzreich, assumed the throne at 18 (considering his father’s much later death, this may have been for reasons of health on his father’s part, possible abdication on his father’s part, or other political reasons)

Maria von Granzreich, Viktor’s mother, still living

NOTE: Her sibling (name and gender as yet unmentioned) is the Queen’s parent

Father’s name as yet unmentioned, died of natural causes at ‘a ripe old age’

NOTE: The princes mention in earlier chapters that they do remember their grandfather from when they were small, so his death is relatively recent)

Viktor’s wife (appears only once in flashback, name as yet unmentioned)

NOTE: One of her siblings (not sure if brother or sister) is the parent of Beatrix von Lothringen

(Beatrix also has three younger brothers and one younger sister)

Viktor’s children:

Eins von Granzreich, Viktor’s eldest child and firstborn son

Kai von Granzreich, Viktor’s second son

Currently engaged to Beatrix von Lothringen, first cousin to the princes

Bruno von Granzreich, Viktor’s third son

Leonhard von Granzreich, Viktor’s fourth son

Licht von Granzreich, Viktor’s fifth son

Adele von Granzreich, Viktor’s sixth child and only daughter

LOCATIONS:

GRANZREICH (real world analogue: Austria)

Granzreich population: ~6 million

Side note: Both Viktor and Leonhard are shown riding white horses - these are the famed Lipizzaner stallions, from the Spanish Riding School of Vienna, Austria

Other side note: Viktor’s typical outfit is clearly inspired by the military field uniform of Franz Josef I, Emperor of Austria (the white variant that the princes wear on some of the covers/inside art is the gala/formal version); the three medals shown on Viktor’s uniform are the Order of the Golden Fleece around his neck, what appears to be a simplified version of the Long Service Cross over his heart, and what appears to be a simplified version of a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Maria Theresa just below that (a round circle with a cross).

90% of Granzreich’s population is Gherman (see below)

3% of Granzreich’s population is Kvel (see below)

Wienner (capital) (real world analogue: Vienna, Austria)

Wienner's population: ~1.3 million

Weissburg/Weisburg Palace (both spellings are used) (real world analogue: Hofburg Palace, Vienna, Austria) - specifically, the part often shown as denoting the palace is the Neue Berg wing

Karl Theater (real world analogue: Carltheater) - operettas

Remnant Theater (possible real world analogue: Raimund Theatre) - operettas

National Opera House (real world analogue: Staatsoper (originally Vienna Court Opera)) - opera house

National Art Museum (real world analogue: Kunsthistorisches Museum - directly opposite the palace, it is the largest art museum in the country; the image of the museum behind Heine when he announces the prize matches the façade of the building)

Granzreich University (real world analogue: there is no University of Austria, per se, but there is the University of Graz (the second largest city in Austria), which is the second largest and second oldest university in Austria)

Wienner University (real world analogue: University of Vienna, the building shown in both the anime and the manga is the main building - this is where Doctor Dmitri (and later Bruno) comes to lecture – it is also recognized as a leading institution for studies in Humanities – Bruno would do well here studying Philosophy!)

Prunksaal (real world analogue: Prunksaal) – the national library (also housed within the palace in another building)

Within the Prunksaal is the Royal Archive, where historical documents, judicial records, going back hundreds of years, and other documents the royal family keeps from one generation to another are preserved; only royals and a fraction of statesmen are permitted to use it (this is the place referenced in the anime that Prince Licht says even princes can’t visit without the king’s express permission)

The plaza/fountain where the KaseKrainer stand is (real world analogue: Donnerbrunnen Fountain in the center of the Neuer Markt)

Granzreich Military Academy (real world analogue: Theresian Military Academy (one of the oldest in the world) - yearly had 100 nobles and 100 commoners enrolled)

Princes are enrolled at the age of 15 (in-series)

Schwarz Palace (real world analogue: Schloss Neuwaldegg, aka Villa Schwarzenberg - at first I thought this was the Palais Schwarzenberg, but double-checking the architecture confirms it's the Schloss) - in-series, given to a general who played a major role in the war 150 years ago by the reigning king, Friedrich IV, and currently Prince Eins’ residence

Kohl Street, the site of Café Mitter Meyer's second location (real world analogue: Kohlmarkt, which is indeed right next to the palace, and leads past the Catholic Church of St. Peter)

The train station (mentioned in-series when Viktor gives directions, as well as the departure point for various trips) (real world analogue: Wien Südbahnhof, Vienna’s main train station)

Wienner Grand Hotel (mentioned in-series as Herman Koenig’s previous place of employ) (real world analogue: Grand Hotel Wien, Vienna’s first Grand Hotel, opened in 1870, and *the* last word in elegance - Herman would have worked in the Kavalierbar, the hotel’s bar/lounge) 

Augustinian Church (Augustinerkirche) (not mentioned in series, just a useful note) - the parish church of the royal court (located next to the Hofburg)

Salzichl (the royal villa and hot springs) (real world analogue: the Kaiser Therme at Bad Ischl, aka the ‘Emperor’s Spa, favoured holiday resort of Emperor Franz Joseph I - and yes, the architecture as shown in the manga is exactly what the villa looks like... Leonhard would his own reasons to love it there, as it also has a renowned pastry shop)

OTHER NATIONS:

Fonsein/Fonseine (both spellings are used, though Fonseine is used more often) (real world analogue: France)

Capital - Fleur (real world analogue: Versailles - while the capital of France is actually Paris, Versailles was the primary residence of French royalty until the revolution, and the art in the manga depicts the Palace of Versailles and its famed gardens (which, as Bruno ruefully notes, are in fact larger than the gardens of Weissburg Palace, aka the Hofburg). Rather than differentiate between Versailles and Paris (approximately 15 miles away), the manga conflates the two of them together, as the map that Claude shows the princes depicts Paris’s center. Also, the manga accurately states it’s a half-day from Wienner to Fleur by train - at a guess, the train station that the princes arrive at is Gare de l’Est.) Some of the famous sights in Fleur include:

The Etoile Arc (real world analogue: the Arc de Triomphe, and as Claude points out, is a monument to France’s endurance through war and hardship, and is carved with bas-reliefs indicating peace and friendship)

The Opera House (real world analogue: the famed Paris Opera House (immortalized in literature by Gaston Leroux in his novel The Phantom of the Opera), stated to have been completed “five years ago” (as the Paris Opera House was completed in 1875, this puts the current date at 1880-ish)

The Art Museum (real world analogue: the museum depicted here is the Louvre, and Claude is not kidding when he says you could spend a week and STILL not see all the art museums in Paris)

The Cathedral (real world analogue: Notre-Dame de Paris - immortalized in literature by Victor Hugo is his novel The Hunchback of Notre Dame, although Leonhard possibly mis-translates Claude’s description as to when it was built - Notre-Dame de Paris was completed FIVE hundred and fifty years earlier, not FOUR hundred and fifty)

The Department Store (real world analogue: because the interior art is so limited, this is likely one of three places - Le Bon Marché, the Bazar de l’Hôtel de Ville (BHV), or Printemps Haussman)

Current queen: Queen Isabelle (distant blood relatives of the same family as the von Granzreichs) (real world analogue: debatable, as post-1870, France was ruled by republican government, rather than a monarchy - also as of Chapter 69, Claude confirms that his mother and father are both abroad (so yes, Isabelle is currently married).

Her son, Claude, first prince of Fonseine, the only child (and a child not much older than Adele, and THIS is Adele's intended fiance!) (I was under the impression she was affianced to someone else already!)

Granzreich and Fonseine have been in friendly relations for the past 200 years through royal intermarriage

AND EINS IS TO BE ENGAGED TO SOMEONE IN FONSEINE (correction - Eins is later revealed to be engaged to the Princess of Belgian (see below); however given the close intermarriages between their real world analogues of France, Austria, Spain, Germany, and Belgium, this may have been a negotiation point between Fonseine and Granzreich for upcoming treaties or other political purposes)

Beyer (real world analogue: Bavaria (southern state in Germany))

Belgian (real world analogue: Belgium)

Current queen: Queen Charlotte (real world analogue: Charlotte, Princess of Wales, wife to Leopold I of Belgium)

Princess Paola, second princess of Belgian (later referred to in Chap 77 as Charlotte) (real world analogue: Charlotte, later Empress of Mexico - possible reason for the name change is to avoid confusion - her brothers are also mentioned in the chapter... real life analogues for them would be Leopold II and Phillippe (their third brother died in infancy)

Viktor confirms in Chap 77 that the two nations are still on good terms

Ghermany (real world analogue: Germany)

Iel (real world analogue: Palestine/Israel)

Kingdom fell 1800 years ago. Kvel is used more as an indication of the Jewish populace rather than a specific nation, both in terms of bloodline and social/religious heritage

Madri (real world analogue: Spain)

Nederland/Neterlanden (both spellings are used) (real world analogue: the Netherlands)

Orosz (manga)/Erosz (anime) (real world analogue: Russia)

Capital - Pietarigrad (real world analogue: St. Petersburg - while the capital of Russia is Moscow, St. Petersburg (at one point named Petrograd) is Russia's second largest city, is Russia's cultural capital, and is the port city referenced here) (and it's 1800 km from Wienner to Pietarigrad, and the railroad route they show IS accurate to travel from Vienna to St. Petersburg!)

Grand Hotel Orosz (real world analogue: Grand Hotel Europe (confirmed via pictures of the architecture compared to the manga; opened in 1875, and one of the three most luxurious hotels in St Petersburg)

Orosz University (real world analogue: Saint Petersburg State University, the oldest university in Russia)

Doctor Dmitri references an art museum while discussing Pietarigrad (real world analogue: the Russian Museum)

Grand Theater (real world analogue: Mariinsky Theatre, the preeminent music theatre of late 19th century Russia, and the site of the premieres of most of Russia's most famous ballets, operas, and other music)

Romano (real world analogue: Russia or POSSIBLY Poland, more on that in a second)

King: Alexander Alexandrovitch Romano (real world analogue: Czar Alexander II)

Crown Prince Ivan Alexandrovitch Romano

Prince Eugene Alexandrovitch Romano

Russian uses patronymic names, so your middle name is a derivative of your parent)

ALTERNATE real world analogue: Poland - since Austria and Russia do not share a border (and mention is made of inspecting mines on the border between their nations), it’s possible that instead Romano (while borrowing heavily from Russian inspiration for names) is actually Poland. (Rationale: what is modern-day Czechia was originally part of the Austro-Hungarian empire, which DOES share a border with Poland.) While Polish is traditionally written in Latin script, it *can* be written in Cyrllic.

I’m still nailing down whether the Romano flag is based on an actual nation flag.

Venezia/Veneto (both are used) (real world analogue: Venice)

Laguna Empire (real world analogue: TBD)

Kingdom of Kataro (possible real world analogue: Qatar)

Yapan (real world analogue: Japan)

Eastern Continent (real world analogue: Asia)

Western Continent (real world analogue: Europe)

GRANZREICH’S ECONOMY:

1 florin = 100 kreutzer (real world analogue: the florin and the kreutzer, ratio the same following Austria-Hungary's decimalization of the currency system in 1857)

A doll costs 55 kreutzer

The Royal Guard makes 30k kreutzer/year (300 florins/year, as per the anime and the manga)

The ransom for Maximilian and Heine was to be 1500 florins, or 150,000 kreutzer… meaning the ransom for Kai at 1 million florins was 100 million kreutzer -- Heine wasn't kidding when he says it's the annual budget for a small country in the 1880s, (In the manga, the ransom is set at 300,000 florins for the prince, and 1500 florins for Heine and Maximilian)

Licht, on the other hand, earns 120 florins working at the cafe... which strikes me as odd because he only works one shift a week (even if a shift is potentially 12 hours). Now, this might actually be him figuring he works full-time, which would make more sense. But this has to be a YEARLY income, there’s no way he makes this much in a month if a member of the Royal Guard makes 300 florins a year.

Rosenberg quotes a rent of 150 florins for a 2br flat... again, this has to be for a year, there’s no way this is monthly.

Economic crisis 30 years ago (real world analogue: the European financial crisis beginning in the 1850s)

Granzreich's main industries: porcelain and wine

Also agriculture, according to the author's notes at the end of Vol 2

1880s TECHNOLOGY:

COMMUNICATION: Cables/telegrams are now fast enough for a 24-48hr message even all the way across Europe -- and crossing the English channel by ferry takes 1.5-2hrs

LOCAL TRAVEL: Primarily carriages, horseback, and walking -- trains are for longer-distance travel

INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL: You can get from London to Perm, Russia within SEVEN DAYS

TRAINS: The Orient Express (1883) went from Paris to Vienna in 15 hours overnight (not much different from now, actually!)

TELEPHONES: The telephone exchange does exist but the infrastructure is still VERY new and not heavily in use yet

POWER: Electricity is rapidly gaining ground for newer construction, but older buildings are still using gas, lamps, candles, etc.

1880′s EUROPEAN CULTURE:

Ballet, opera, operettas, plays, music

Social halls are still separated by 'class' (nobility vs commoner)

Popular dances in Europe at this point include the waltz (DUH, this is Vienna), the redowa, the mazurka, the polka (big shock with Germany next door), the cotillion, and the varsouvienne (another Polish dance)

Social etiquette at an event included the use of 'dance cards' (or fans!) - these were presented with a list of the songs/dances to be held over the course of the event, and if a gentleman wished to engage a lady for one, he wrote down his name (like making a reservation)

There is a TON of information out there about how one does (and does not) behave at a social event during that day and age, and safe bet that our dear princes have had it drilled into them from the time they were small. Some fun ones include:

WHY one wears gloves (because bare hands indicates holding hands, which is SHOCKINGLY intimate)

Not dancing with the same partner more than once (unless you're either engaged or about to be, because it puts you on intimate terms with your partner)

What is socially acceptable to eat at a party (the reason trifles and 'snacks' are served is so no one can embarrass themselves at table)

Games are occasionally combined with dancing (if you've seen AMADEUS, where during the masquerade they're playing Musical Chairs as they dance, and the loser has to pay a forfeit, you get the idea)

[jonsalways]

From Costumes to Sigils -  A meta about Jon’s future.

So I’ve been wondering about how Jon’s appearance will change once he finds out about his true heritage in the show, and that led me to tinfoil a lot.

Jon’s clothing concept is connected to his status as a bastard, so all his outfits resemble the Stark’s clothing in reversed colors, just like the bastards reverse the colors of their families sigils in the books. It’s a very nice concept to be honest, but the most important thing about Jon’s appearance is his hair.   Since season 1, Jon’s hair is his trademark. As the seasons go, his hair grows until his resurrection when he changed his hairstyle for good. So most likely his hair will have a change after he finds out about his true parents. Jon used to wear his hair loose at the first 5 seasons, and now he’s wearing a half up half down. So my prediction would be a full ponytail or a hairstyle more similar to Rhaegar’s after he finds out who his father was, because the show will not give him a hairstyle he already used before. Targaryen men in the show have the same hairstyle, and if we look at Rhaegar’s hair I’d dare to say the wig was meant to mimic Kit’s hair not Viserys’s. I’d love to see a man bun but that’s just me I guess. I think at episode 7x5 we have a glimpse of how his future hairstyle will be. I kinda like it.

His colors will certainly change as well. When asked about why Daenerys never weared black and red before, Clapton said “somethings need to wait until the proper moment”. I think the same is for Jon. Even though he’s (was) King in the North and weared the Stark sigil he doesn’t wear grey, the official Stark color.  I’ve always wondered why until I read this interview. Because he still sees himself as a bastard he never dared to wear the Stark color before. Clapton was waiting for Jon to finds out about his heritage to finally give him grey clothings. As for the Targaryen colors I don’t think we’re going to see red on his outfits at all. Red is a color connected to the Targaryen madness. The more villainess Daenerys goes, more red she will wear. That’s why Viserys used to wear way more red than Dany. If Jon would choose a Targaryen color it would be black indeed. Black was always his color. Of all Starks he was the one who weared black the most since the beginning, even outside the Night’s Watch. My guess is that Jon will wear only grey and black after he finds out who his parents were.

The biggest problem about his heritage is that Jon will most likely not truly relate to any of his parent’s Houses. His whole dream of being a Stark was related to Ned, finding out he’s actually Lyanna’s son will be problematic for his identity. After all his life as a bastard, Jon will find difficult to embrace the Stark name since is now related to Lyanna whom he have never met. Of course if it’s going to be difficult to embrace the name of the family he was raised with, there’s no need to say it will be even more difficult, if not impossible at all, for him to embrace the Targaryen name either. Jon will probably siding to the Starks, and that’s when the grey color will show up finally, but just like Aragorn had to embrace his identity as Isildur’s heir to protect Gondor, Jon will have to embrace his identity as Rhaegar’s son in order to protect the North (or maybe the Seven Kingdoms, who knows where  Daenerys is going, right?). That’s where his own sigil comes in.

I do believe ASOIAF’s bittersweet ending will relate somehow to the end of all noble houses, or at least ending the huge influence these families possess. I think GRRM is trying to tell the end of monarchy and the transition period to democracy somehow. For that the old structure of power needs to be destroyed. That’s probably where Daenerys’s speech of “breaking the wheel” comes from. If we notice houses Tyrell, Baratheon, Bolton and Martell are already gone in the show, and houses  Arryn, Lannister, Targaryen, Tully and Greyjoy are very close to their ends as well with only one member alive or with few chances of having a future heir. House Stark depends on Sansa’s child or Jon’s to continue but if we’re right and Jonsa is endgame (AND IT IS) their children will receive the name Jon decides to take it. And I don’t think he’s going to choose neither Stark or Targaryen. So House Stark is going to die as well. It would be a dagger in my heart but it would fit the bittersweet ending GRRM promised. And no, a Targaryen restoration is not an option, I’m not even going to talk about it, because is not going to happen at all. Stop it.

The thing about Jon’s future name connects to the historical inspiration for the ASOIF: the Wars of the Roses. I’m not going to talk a lot about it because we’ll know how the Lancaster’s relate to the Lannisters and how the Yorks relate to the Starks because we’ve seen it a thousand times. But the thing is, I believe at the beginning of the series the Lancaster’s were represented by the Lannisters, but at the end of the series, the Targaryens will take their place as the representation of House Lancaster . If we think about it, Henry Tudor had a claim to the throne from the Lancaster side, and he ended up married to Elizabeth of York, daughter of Edward IV, putting an end to the conflict. Jon has a claim to the Iron Throne from the Targaryen side, and will ended up married to Sansa of House Stark, daughter of Eddard, putting an end to the conflict as well. Just like Henry didn’t have the Lancaster or the York name but was sided with one of them (the Lancasters in this case) I think Jon will not adopt the Targaryen or the Stark name even though he’s sided with the Starks. It’s most likely he will create a “new house” for  himself and his children, and that’s how the Stark and Targaryen houses will die. If we look at the  Tudor’s rose, Henry fused the Lancaster and the York roses into a new one. That’s exactly what I think Jon will do. To be comfortable to embrace his Targaryen side, Jon will probably embrace his Stark  heritage as well, and since he doesn’t truly connect to either of them he’ll create a new one that although resembles these families sigils is not quite them.  

The Dragon has only one head.

The Targaryen sigil comes from Aegon the Conqueror, and the three heads represents himself and his two sisters wives. Daenerys keeping this sigil makes a lot of sense, since she had three dragons as well. But just like many Targaryens created a personal sigil with only one dragon, I think Jon will do the same. A single red dragon is my bet. It would remind the people he is related to the Targaryens at same time it would send the message he’s different from Daenerys and her ancestors.

The White Wolf.

Jon’s speech to Theon at S7 was actually a speech for his future self. He doesn’t have to choose. He’s a Stark and a Targaryen. So when the time for a sigil comes he’ll keep the Stark sigil somehow as well. Jon’s direwolf is white with red eyes. That’s the sigil he’ll probably choose. It’s also ironic he was raised as a Stark bastard and the only sigil he could wear as a bastard was the Stark sigil in reversed colors (a white wolf in a grey field). Since in the show he was referred as “The White Wolf” during his coronation, it’s possible that Jon as KITN in the books choose a similar sigil for himself. That’s why I believe he’s going to keep it for his coat of arms. If we look at Henry Tudor’s coat of arms it’s a white dog facing a red dragon. I think Jon’s new sigil will look similar: a red dragon with white eyes, and a white wolf with red eyes facing each other. It’s almost like a Yin/Yang between House Stark and House Targaryen. A fit choice for a sigil to end a war between these two houses.

Yep, I suck at editing LMAO

If we think about it, Joffrey used a  very similar coat of arms and that’s exactly why I think Jon will adopt this one.

The Joffrey Parallels.

Jon and Joffrey are characters that connect through Sansa. And it’s ironic to see how they are so opposite to each other that they almost look similar.

Joffrey was born a bastard but was raised as the future king. Jon was born as the future king but was raised as a bastard .

Joffrey and Sansa had a intimate relationship at the beginning but it became distant at the end. Jon and Sansa had a distant relationship at the beginning but it grew more intimate with time.

Joffrey grew up believing his father was his uncle. Jon grew up believing his uncle was his father.

Joffrey was meant to marry Sansa but the arrangement was unmade. Jon and Sansa were never meant to marry but will certainly marry.

Joffrey was supposed to have black hair but was born blonde as his father. Jon was supposed to have blonde silver hair but was born with black hair like his mother.

There’s a lot of those minors parallels between them. Jon is just the opposite of Joffrey at everything. So it’s ironic but not surprisingly such different characters ended up with similar sigils. Jon is the first character at ASOIAF to notice Joffrey was wearing his mother’s sigil as well.

“The Lannister’s are proud” Jon observed. “You’d think the royal sigil would be sufficient, but no. He makes his mother’s House equal in honor to the king’s.”

Arya I, A Game of Thrones

Maybe GRRM were foreshadowing Jon’s future sigil right there. That’s something he would do. I guess all my questions and predictions will be answered or confirmed next season. I’m very excited to see it.

[qqueenofhades]

Hey, so I read your post on Richard the Lionheart and sexuality from a while back, and I found it interesting, but I was also wondering how much of that is colored by our modern view of things? Like, can we really know or is it just our way of reading things that they wouldn't? Thank you for your time.

Hooooo boy.

Fair warning, this will be long. It will also be ranty about queerness and history and other things that I have strong feelings on, so if that is not someone’s bag, I suggest you just keep on a-scrollin’, scrollin’, scrollin’ in the deep.

(Also in case anyone is wondering, the post being referred to is here.)

Honestly, I am not sure where to even start with my views on Straight Historians writing Straight History (as I have been complaining to @extasiswings about) and how I have encountered a particular amount of it around Richard. Basically, most of it ends up in two different camps: one, to “prove” that he was straight and also a good king, or to “prove” that he was gay and also a bad king. In short, the discourse around his sexuality has become tied to value-judgments on his success as a ruler. John Gillingham, much as I otherwise respect his work, is probably one of the biggest culprits in the former regard. After a lot of frankly sloppy work had been done on Richard, reacting against the idealized Victorian image of him as a glorious/righteous crusader and essentially painting him as completely undeserving of his heroic status, Gillingham showed that the historical reality was (surprise!) a lot more complicated and in many ways a lot more admirable than that. However, this involved having to bend over backward to discredit the numerous pieces of primary source material/comments in chronicles that seemed to suggest, shall we say, some questions around Richard’s sexuality. Whether Gillingham realises it or not, his agenda has pretty clearly been to strip any suggestion of queerness away from Richard, since in the existing paradigm, it would not be possible for him to be both not straight AND a good king. (And frankly it surprises me, although it shouldn’t, how much people have never even tried to go for a middle ground. I have never once seen a suggestion that hey, Richard might have been bisexual, or at least strategically so, in any published work on him, even though it’s imho clearly so.)

I dealt with some of the chronicle evidence commenting on Richard’s questioned sexuality in the post. There is more. There is the 1187 reference to his and Philip’s “vehemently” intimate friendship that alarmed Henry II. There is the 1191 penance in Messina for sexual sins (prior to leading the crusade, i.e. he really needed to be in squeaky-clean spiritual standing), there is the 1195 rebuke in Roger of Howden referencing the “fate of Sodom,” (which Gillingham is helpfully at hand to explain just means not obeying God well enough – WOW, GOOD THING SODOMY DIDN’T ALREADY MEAN A SPECIFIC SIN AT THAT TIME PERIOD AND EVER SINCE, JOHN, NOW THAT WOULD JUST BE CONFUSING, BUT I’M SURE IT WAS JUST A SLIP OF THE TONGUE. YEP DEFINITELY NO CORRELATION HERE AT ALL.) There is the 1198 rebuke from Hugh of Lincoln, once again for sexual sins. There is also a chastisement from Fulk of Neuilly, a traveling preacher, that referenced Richard’s transgressions in this regard. And oh boy have I listened to/read so much commentary from Straight Historians on how apparently this was just a particularly naughty kind of sex with women. Nothing to see here. Move along.

Let’s then ignore the fact that Richard’s father, Henry II, his brother, John, and his great-grandfather, Henry I, were rampantly known for their womanizing, that they had multiple illegitimate children (in Henry I’s case, more than twenty) and that we generally know some of the names of their mistresses, if not all. The lengths chroniclers went to excuse this, if they noted it at all, were vast: William of Malmesbury claims that Henry I only did so much porkin’ because he had a noble duty to beget royal blood into the world. You can also then helpfully ignore the fact that none of these men, again known very well for womanizing, were rebuked the way Richard was even once, let alone repeatedly. Yes, he had an illegitimate child. He had one. One son. And no recorded names for his supposed mistresses at all. So we can, following the Straight Historian paradigm, just assume that he was banging tons and tons of women, whose names we know nothing about, and apparently had really great 12th-century birth control because he had no children as a result, even though the rest of his family had done the same thing and indeed, had a lot of little Jon Snows running around. And that this was somehow Kinky enough to get the church on his case, explicitly referencing sodomy, multiple times from many different places, rather than turning a blind eye to it as they did to every other king of the time period because… well… The Gays Are Bad, I guess.

Frankly, I am not interested in reading the inevitable “here’s why all this evidence is definitely wrong” disproving section that comes up in most stuff about Richard. Protip, if you have to really labor to explain why multiple pieces of evidence, from multiple different sources, are all out of context, wrong, or Nothing to See Here… you might just be doing it wrong. 

On the other side of the coin, then, we have people like James Reston. I’m not going to link to his book, because frankly it’s terrible, but he wrote a historical study, purportedly of Richard and Saladin, that congratulated itself for “dealing frankly” with Richard’s homosexuality, or confirming it, or some other wording to that effect, and then went on to claim that Richard’s marriage was never even consummated, total sham, he was basically a really awful person and also Gay, Gay, Gay. Aside from the fact that there is no way we can know half of the stuff Reston claims with such confidence (and it goes against what we do know of Richard and his wife’s relationship, again in the context of the 1195 excerpt from Howden), it was just as clear that in Reston’s mind, Richard’s success or worth as a king was just as linked with his sexuality. Gillingham had to scramble to explain how all the pieces of evidence did not actually apply to Richard because he was a good king; Reston’s project is to tie Richard to them as closely as possible to confirm that he was in fact Bad all the way around.

Oy mother fucking vey.

I likewise don’t want to hear about how “we didn’t think Richard/William Shakespeare/so on and so forth were gay until the modern period, so it’s clearly just a matter of cultural context!” I have actually seen the argument made for Richard’s straightness that nobody actually wrote down/accused him explicitly of being gay (or the medieval equivalent), therefore he cannot have been gay. Yep. That is actually the criteria. None of this other chronicle evidence which exists uniquely around him, and nobody else of his famously womanizing family, can prove it, because nobody says it outright. We can barely get the Straight Historians today to write about it, when LGBTQ is a recognized and high-profile demographic with pride months, equality drives, political battles etc. What on earth makes you think that they would even remotely think of doing it beforehand? That is the entire f’n point of any academic discipline: to look at things with new information and to draw new inferences. We didn’t “invent” the fact that, say, germs made people sick instead of “foul miasmas” or whatever else; we learned that it had always been the case. We didn’t “invent” that the earth was round; we looked at the evidence and realised that it was. Likewise, we didn’t “invent” queerness; we just realised (very slowly and still in some goddamn cases not at all, in the year of our lord 2017) that it was the case. Which is why you get the Straight Historians, and the general operation of that system, working overtime to “prove” that no, no queer people ever existed before the 20th century, just as apparently feminism and resistance to the patriarchy was only invented in the 1960s and women were just silent and passive and resigned or even happy to be oppressed before then.

Oy MOTHER FUCKING vey.

We also see this with the other king who was almost certainly Not Straight, Edward II, in the 14th century. He is blamed as a bad king because he was too busy Gayin’ (remember the effete prince whose boyfriend gets pushed out a window in Braveheart? That’s him) and likewise, Braveheart goes as far as to (wildly implausibly) suggest that William Wallace was Edward III’s real father, because clearly Edward II could not a) have sex with a woman, when in fact he and Isabella had four children, and b) could not have fathered a famous warrior like Edward III what with all the fancy boy, limp-wristed homo bangin’ he’d evidently been doing. The other side of the coin is to describe Piers Gaveston and Hugh Despenser the Younger as Edward II’s “close friends” (he gave Gaveston the jewelry he was supposed to give Isabella as a wedding present, and had Gaveston sit in her place during the wedding feast, THEY WERE BONING) and try to blame Isabella and Roger Mortimer instead. In both cases, Edward II is presented as a Bad king because he was gay, or a Good (or at least Not That Bad) king because he was straight. Again. Bisexuality Does Not Exist. It Has Never Existed. Shhh.

Because the Plantagenets are also a popular subject for historical fiction, I always see this come up in some way as well. Take for example Sharon Kay Penman; I have read most of her books and enjoyed them. However, in her most recent novel about Richard, she basically apologized for writing him as gay in a passing mention in one of her earlier books, and said something to the effect that it was based on “limited research.” Evidently, she has now read the Straight Historians and can basically breathe a sigh of relief and make Richard safely non-queer again. Her version of Richard, likely not coincidentally, is also fairly likable. There are minor critiques of his peccadilloes here and there, but he’s still a character you can root for with no major flaws. Removing any “mixups” about his sexuality has made him a Good Guy again.

I encountered this in my own novel about Richard, on which I once got a review remarking that the reader liked my writing and my earlier stuff, but disagreed with all the “assumptions” I made about Richard’s sexuality and that basically the Plantagenets were interesting enough without getting into any of that Stuff, heaven forbid, and they didn’t like that I had included it. So yes. Evidently I made “assumptions” rather than doing, you know, research, and that if I was going to write a fictional version of Richard, the only one I should have written was one where I didn’t deal with his sexuality (or just made him Straight, I suppose). Because it was interesting enough if I didn’t.

Aaaaaand people wonder why THEY DIDN’T WRITE DOWN THAT THEY WERE NOT STRAIGHT ™, THEREFORE THEY WERE STRAIGHT ™!!! is almost entirely still accepted as an actual legitimate counter-argument.

It is also not the case, of course, that everything ever has actually been queer. I disagreed that medieval “brother-making,” or adelphopoiesis, was an actual, full-fledged form of medieval gay marriage once I looked at the evidence more closely, as while it was used to join two men together in a church-sanctioned relationship, it was probably then to live together celibately. However, I agreed that the practice of matelotage in the 17th-18th centuries absolutely was, and likewise, if historians have to write 12 books and pull all the receipts to even try to suggest that someone was, y’know, Not Straight, why don’t they have to do the same for the Straights? Because we are still operating in a system in which everyone is inherently and default-assumed straight, and which the Gays have never existed prior to the system finally acknowledging that they did in the 20th century. So, as we’re just barely starting to get a discourse acknowledging the existence and agency of women in history (you know, HALF THE GODDAMN HUMAN RACE), and that has come with considerable pushback anyway, we have even less that for a discourse of queer history that isn’t a very niche subject. Because history as a construct (and I say this as someone with multiple degrees in history, working on her doctorate) is still an incredibly white, androcentric, heterosexual space, so it’s NO FUCKING WONDER that it doesn’t accept the entrance and possibility of accommodating something else easily. Does it mean that those others don’t exist at all, and never did?

Spoiler alert: No. It does not.

IN THE YEAR OF OUR GOD DAMN LORD 2017.

OY MOTHER FUCKING VEY!

So yes. This leads me back to Richard. Can we “really know?” No, because we can’t get into the actual head of someone who’s been dead for 800 years. But that is the same with literally every other person ever on every topic and feeling they might have had, and it’s always funny how the sufficient level of “proof” necessary to claim that anyone was Different gets higher and higher, the further you get away from the “default” (that Straightness is the natural state of all human beings and anything else is a “deviation.”) And yes, of course we’re looking at it differently now, because we’ve learned new things. At least some of the time, and you can see how much resistance there STILL IS. We have figured out some absolutely amazing things, and yet sometimes we are so incredibly fucking god damn dumb about what should be the simplest and most evident fact of all of humanity: that people are different from each other, and always have been. There’s a surah in the Qur’an about God/Allah making us that way on purpose, so we could then get to know each other.

If only.

Lastly, I don’t give a big ripe fart if all the evidence about Richard is somehow, as Gillingham would like to think, totally wrong and he was Straight, because I have written a fictional version of him that fits with that evidence and which allows him to be much more complex than Good king or Bad king, Straight king or Gay king. Which allowed him, in short, to be frigging HUMAN. That’s also why I wrote Sam Bellamy the way I did in The Dark Horizon. There is not an actual document somewhere saying THIS MAN WAS NOT STRAIGHT, NOTARIZED BY THE GAY POLICE!!, but as I was researching him, I discovered that SO MUCH about his character, appearance, actions, backstory, etc was easily explained by making him queer, and which made him more interesting to me as a result. I am queer. Took me a while to figure that out, but it made SO MUCH of my life make sense, and for me to realize why I had been pushing against the “I bet straight women also find women very attractive/fantasize about marrying women/want to be around women/etc, I’m still totally straight I swear,” mindset as much as I had. Guess what! Simple explanation! I’M NOT STRAIGHT!

(I’m bi. Shh. Don’t tell anyone. We don’t actually exist.)

So yes. I am gonna write queer characters as a novelist/fic writer, and I am going to write a lot of them, because you can bet they existed, and I like to do my small bit for the “representation matters” train. As a historian, I am not going to be the person explaining why 58 pieces of evidence or whatever are Wrong and clearly, Watson, Straight. Doesn’t interest me at all. I want to be more honest to myself, and the world, than that.

So yes.

There you have it.

[lesbianlametron]

Victuuri Week day 2

Title: Closer 

Author: asliverofhope-the-fangirl

Rating: Teen

Warnings: none

Summary: I interpreted the AU as a historical time period so this is set in medieval times. The two neighboring kingdoms of the Katsuki family and the Feltsman family are both struggling to financially stay afloat. Yakov proposes and unheard of idea to King Toshiya. To unite their kingdoms, his adopted son Prince Victor would marry Prince Yuuri. They come to a reluctant agreement, but Victor may have had more of a role in the arrangement then he lets on.

(I’m not great at keeping deadlines, but I’m trying. My days are busy so I end up doing my writing at night.)

Closer

             “Are you ready to go Prince Yuuri?”

             Yuuri looked at himself in the mirror one last time and sighed as he adjusted he coat so it hung just right. To say he was nervous would be an understatement. He was meeting the well-known, heartthrob prince of the neighboring country for the first time. The whole idea had been strange from the start. Sure, they were trying to unify the two smaller countries, but having two boys marry? That was unheard of. Yuuri didn’t mind the idea, but he knew there was unrest among the older nobles of both kingdoms. Their agreeance to Yakov’s and Toshiya’s idea was reluctant at best, but economically, the union would benefit both countries. Yakov had no blood-related sons, but his heirs were his adopted sons, Victor and Yuri. As for the Katsuki kingdom, they only had Yuuri. Mari had refused every marriage meeting and threatened to run away to avoid it. Yuuri had to admit, he liked Mari’s independence. Even thinking about it now, Yuuri thought it was crazy, but he couldn’t say he was against it.

             Tonight, at the ball, would be their first time meeting and officially beginning their courtship. Yuuri was dressed in his best, but since his country was the smaller, poorer one, he knew it would never compare to clothes in the Feltsman kingdom. He brushed his back from his forehead and sat his crown upon his head, hoping he looked better than he thought. Still, he could hardly believe the Victor Nikiforov had agreed to the marriage agreement. Maybe this will only be a temporary fix and the marriage with be dissolved when they find a better solution. No way would a homosexual marriage actually be accepted.

             “Your Majesty?” Yuuri’s advisor cleared his throat. “The carriage is waiting and you know the Queen Lilia won’t like it if you’re late.”

             “I guess I cannot put it off any longer, right?” He looked at the dark-haired male for confirmation, but Otabek was a stoic as usual. Otabek was only doing his job as his father instructed.

             “You are playing your role as the Prince.” Otabek responded, but only because he felt he had to. He never had anything against Yuuri, but they had never connected. He was more Yuuri’s handler than his advisor. Everywhere that Yuuri went, it was Otabek’s job to be by his side. He didn’t particularly like nor dislike it. As men, it was important to follow the roles set out by their birthright. Some were born to serve others and others born to rule. It was a simple to follow and common sense to Otabek. Sometimes Yuuri’s qualms bothered him, but there was nothing he could do about it.

             --

             Yuuri looked back at his parents one last time before he entered the ballroom. His name was announced and heads turned his way. He was the guest of honor and thoroughly embarrassed by the attention and especially by the weight of a certain pair of blue eyes. He had always admired Victor’s grace and ease at being a prince. Not only that, but Victor’s peopled loved him and he took to leading so naturally. He had a feeling he’d be taking a back seat to ruling with Victor as a husband. Victor was a gifted, dynamic speaker while Yuuri tended to blurt out his feelings.

             Because of his nerves, the walk to King and Queen’s throne seemed to stretch on for an eternity. Yet, once he got there, Yuuri felt less prepared than he had in his room. Victor was basically his idol, he didn’t think he could even speak two words to him. Barely, Yuuri was able to recover from his nerves and properly introduce himself. “Queen Lilia, King Yakov, I’m honored to be invited here today and it is my honor to be able to court your son.”

             Victor smiled when he heard Yuuri’s words and emerged onto the stage next to his adopted father. “Hello, Prince Yuuri! I would say the pleasure is all mine.”

             Yuuri looked up at the sound of Victor’s voice and his breath hitched in his throat. Victor’s formal wear was extravagant, but not in an over of the top kind of way. The cut of his jacket and pants fit him so well that Yuuri didn’t know where to look. Definitely not his face, that would just make Yuuri more nervous. “Prince Victor! I am pleased to make your acquaintance as well.” He swallowed, grateful that at least his words came out right even if they sounded too enthusiastic.

             “Please accept my family’s ring as an official sign of our courtship.” Victor had walked off the stage to meet Yuuri face to face. Yuuri quickly looked away but accepted the ring with what he hoped was grace.

             “Thank you, your majesty. I hope that you’ll accept mine in exchange.” Yuuri’s fingers were trembling, but he managed to slide the ring onto Victor’s right ring finger. It would be moved to the left once they were officially joined in marriage. The room would have exploded in applause if this were a normal courtship, but they were only met with polite clapping.

             “Yuuri, we’re both of equal power, no need to address me so formally. I hope you will call me Victor and that it will be all right for me to address you similarly.” Yuuri’s confirmation was barely a nod, but it didn’t deter Victor in the slightest. “Well then, it would be my honor to be your first dance of the evening.” Victor bowed and held out his hand to Yuuri.

             “I would l-love to. Thank you for asking.” Yuuri slipped his hand into Victor’s and followed Victor to the dance floor. He was in a bit of a daze from all that had happened. He had met the “Charismatic Prince”, as he was casually known by those that admired him. He managed to get through their first meeting so far, but he’d have to be able to be comfortable around Victor. They were technically fiancés now. It was more for show and economic purposes, but that didn’t mean that they wouldn’t be spending a lot time together.

             Of course, Victor took the lead in their dance because he was the taller of the two, but Yuuri was more versed in dance. Yuuri hadn’t really spent time imagining what his first courting ball would be like, but he didn’t imagine himself in this situation. Like all princes, he should have imagined falling for a beautiful noble girl or a neighboring princess, but he honestly couldn’t picture it. He always thought, maybe he’d fall for a princess or girl once he got to know her. At this point, he couldn’t say he didn’t see himself falling for Victor. Victor, after all was a proper match, suitable and sought-after. He had a charming, eccentric personality that drew others to him. If Yuuri put his investment into Victor, then maybe his heart would follow.

             Yuuri took another deep breath and distracted himself from his star-struck daze by focusing his attention away from Victor. It would be one thing if they’re relationship could actually be accepted, but he felt they’d be fighting against the tide for the rest of their lives. Swallowing the lump in his throat, Yuuri took his focus off the other people in the room. He lost himself in the monotonous ease of ballroom dancing. It was his only natural marketable skill, in his opinion, although he wasn’t used to being led.

             The Feltsman grand ballroom was greater than the Katsuki one in every way. It’s high marble ceiling and glass chandeliers were of the best quality. The crystal caught the light from the candles and sparkled in a way that was almost magical. The whole place had a warm, inviting feel to it. The tapestries had been changed for the event. They no long only bore the deep red color and crest of the home country. Next to them were the royal blue flags of the Katsuki kingdom. Yuuri had to admit, the colors looked good together. He closed his eyes and got lost in the chatter of the room. He took in the smells of a well-cooked meal waiting for them and the fresh lilac in the vases around the room. His favorite was the clicking of heels on the hard-oak floors. It was calming in a way and Yuuri felt a bit of the tension within melt away.

For how unconfident and shy Yuuri had been, he was a true artist on the dance floor. It both surprised and amused Victor. He accepted the following role well and Victor barely had to give him any direction. His step squences and footwork were graceful and elegant, and Victor was draw in by Yuuri. He wanted to see what Yuuri would be like leading a dance when he wasn’t worried about the other eyes in the room. “You seem nervous, Yuuri.” Victor commented in a low tone.

“Well I am meeting the famous Prince Victor for the first time. I took the most eligible bachelor of the Feltsman kingdom off the market. Also, this courtship between us is completely unorthodox.” Yuuri answered and tried not focus on how nice it felt to be held in Victor’s embrace or how soft Victor’s hands felt.

Victor pressed his lips together to suppress an amused smile. “This is not the first time we’ve met.”

Yuuri looked up at Victor in surprise. “No, I would have remembered meeting you. Unless maybe it happened when we were just children.”

“Come with me, Yuuri.” Victor moved his hand off of Yuuri’s waist and Yuuri immediately missed its warmth. Even the way Victor said his name was alluring and enticing to Yuuri. It rolled off Victor’s tongue in such a fond way that it sent tingles down Yuuri’s spine. At this moment, he would have followed Victor anywhere. They stepped out into the balcony and away from the crowd. The crisp autumn air relaxed Yuuri and now that they were secluded from the crowd, he felt like he could finally breathe. “It was a year ago, at my coming of age ball.”

Yuuri properly looked into Victor’s eyes for only the second time that night and saw sincere fondness. He was hardly able to respond and was surprised his words came out clearly. “When we met? I attended that ball, yes, but I do not remember us even interacting. I was always too nervous to approach you on my own.”

“Not with a little…liquid courage… you weren’t.”

Yuuri paled at the thought. There was a point in the evening where he no longer remembered the events. In fact, he had woken up in his bed and had no idea how he got there. “Please…don’t tell me I did anything embarrassing.”

“You did go on and on about how you admired me. You wanted us to be friends and you asked me to dance several times. I thought it was completely endearing. I am disappointed that you didn’t remember.” Victor mused, but his tone was a bit sad. There was also a mystery to the explanation that left Yuuri wondering if there was something more.

“Did I do something to Prince Yuri though? He’s been giving me dirty looks all night.”

Victor chuckled a little. “You did say if I would not dance with you, then you would have settled for Yuri. He is used to coming second to me, being the second son so he did not take to that well.” Victor turned his back to the view and looked back into the party. “Though you may score some points for bringing that advisor, Altin, with you.”

Yuuri turned and saw Yuri and Otabek sitting a corner talking over drinks. He was a bit stunned to see Yuri smiling. Outside of his princely duties, Yuri tended to be harsh and very dismissive when it came to other people. Then again, Otabek was similar in a way so maybe that’s why they got along so easily. “Well, hopefully we can at least get along. It would be awkward if I could not even get along with my fiancé’s family.”

“Yuuri, I actually have a confession to make.” Victor turned toward Yuuri and reached out to take Yuuri’s hand in his own. He expected Yuuri to pull away, but Yuuri surprised him by stepping closer. “I gave Yakov the idea to have the two of us united in marriage. He protested at first, but the more logical I made it sound, he accepted. I actually insisted on this.”

“Because you care about our countries futures?” Yuuri asked, not grasping what Victor had meant.

Victor laughed lightly and Yuuri felt his cheeks burn in embarrassment. “You make me laugh. No, I insisted because I wanted to get closer to you. As a prince, there is not much that I am denied, but an affair with another male? That could get even a prince beheaded. I had find a way to make it beneficial, and with that, within the law.”

“Why me?” Yuuri was starting to come around, but he still couldn’t believe what he was hearing. The charming, charismatic, heartthrob prince had chosen him.

“Because you captivate me Yuuri. You seem like a basic prince who is nowhere near ready to rule, and yet you have the potential. I’ve known you only from a far my whole life, but your people love you, Yuuri. You have their full support and they would fight to protect their dear prince. Why?” Victor paused for dramatic effect more than anything else. “because of your heart, your kindness. You may have a heart of glass, but you also care for others above even your own needs. Your leadership could use cultivating and that is what I plan to do.”

I captive him? Me? The boring, average prince from the humble Katsuki kingdom captivates the Charismatic Prince?! All this time, he thought he had been chasing Victor, but instead he was the one being pursued. Yuuri was speechless and knew he must look like a gaping fish.

“And what’s most endearing is that you don’t know how great you are.” Victor smiled and decided to take another leap forward. “Do you believe in love at first sight, Yuuri?”

Yuuri bit his lip as he mulled Victor’s question over. He’d thought falling in love would only come with getting to know another person. It didn’t matter the gender at this point, but only if he loved his partner’s personality. “No. Actually, I do not. I would want to get to know a person before I would decide that.”

Victor grinned. It wasn’t the answer he was hoping for, but in its own way, it was a very Yuuri-like answer. It was endearing and well thought out at the same time. “How am I doing so far?”

Yuuri blushed and he had the urge to back away from Victor, but he fought against it. He barely knew Victor, but was draw to him all the same. Victor was charming because of how flirty he was. It wasn’t just the flirts, but the confidence in how they were delivered made them successful. Still, he didn’t have a response. Victor noted that, but he wasn’t turned off. Yuuri hadn’t felt these type of things before and he could wait for Yuuri. But Victor wasn’t unselfish, there was something he wanted for himself.

“Yuuri, can I kiss you?”

“K-kiss me?”

“Well, we’re engaged now. It would be natural for it to happen at some point. It would also be a test to see if we really are compatible.” Victor stepped closer and cupped Yuuri’s face, running the pad of his thumb over Yuuri’s cheek. Again, Yuuri surprised him by not pulling away. He knew without asking that this would be Yuuri’s first kiss and that lit a fire in his chest. Victor lingered for just a bit longer to give Yuuri one last chance to reject him. Yuuri didn’t move so Victor took it as a confirmation. Slowly, carefully, he pressed his lips against Yuuri’s and it felt better than he expected. Not just better, but right. Like he’d been meant to kiss Yuuri his whole life. The kiss was a bit sloppy due to Yuuri’s nervousness and lack of experience, but he didn’t mind in the slightest.

“How about now?” Victor teased when he pulled away. Yuuri opened his eyes slowly, but they were clouded over in a happy daze. The kiss had felt heavy and new to Yuuri, but delightful all the same.

“Closer.”

“I’ll take it.”

[ignis-tactum]

How it All Began

The kingdoms of Capria and Vaston have not always been at war. However, they it has been several generations since they called each other allies. Though they share a common border that passes through the center of the continent, they’ve historically kept their allegiance on their own side. Capria aligning with the West and Vaston with the East. Although their geography is much the same, their customs and values tend to differ. Where Capria is more rigid and favours pragmatism, Vaston is more lively and lavish, particularly for the upper class. Capria prioritizes its army, whereas Vaston caters to its people. That’s not to say that Vaston lacks a formidable army or that Capria is a cruel and unpleasant place to call home. On the contrary, Vaston’s soldiers are of champions and test their abilities regularly in tournaments held throughout the East. And the Caprian people thrive in their own ways. They work hard, but play hard too. Caprian festivals are a feast for the senses. Often held outdoors and touched by magic, these events are a wonder to behold. Magical gatherings are much more covert in Vaston, where sorcerers are feared and forced to conceal their talents. Although magic is not openly embraced in Capria either, those with such power are much safer in the West. It was from these opposing kingdoms that Caerleon’s parents came from.

His mother, the dark-haired Isobel Dunkirk, was a successful tailor who lived and worked in the central market of Vaston. With no family to speak of, having lost them during a tragedy in her youth, Isobel held her own and worked hard to support herself and survive against the odds.

Caerleon’s father, on the other hand came from Capria and was a knight in the king’s court. More than that, Tristan Therrin was the knight commander and an advisor to King Carrick Elirion himself.

Yet though they differed in status, occupation, and nationality, Isobel and Tristan were alike in many ways. Bright and kind, charming and confident, these two people were loved by many and, in some ways, it wasn’t so surprising that they were drawn to each other.

At the time they met, travel between Capria and Vaston wasn’t forbidden, nor as dangerous as it is today, but it still wasn’t especially common. However, on rare occasions, Tristan would venture across the border on official state business. It was during one of these visits, while walking through the market, that Isobel caught his attention.

Tristan was walking through the market of Vaston, having arrived in the kingdom a short time earlier for the purposes of meeting with a Vastonian noble, when he heard someone yell, “Ey, Capria!” Hearing his kingdom named, he assumed that he was the target of this random call and turned towards the voice. As he did this, the voice called again. “Stop him!” Tristan didn’t have to guess who the person wanted him to stop as there was a thin man running straight towards him. Although he didn’t know the what exactly was going on, he snapped into action and latched onto the man once he was within reach. Tristan then marched the now struggling citizen over to the woman whom he believed was the source of the earlier cries.

The woman stood outside the door of a small house, a house that also served as her business, he would later find out. When he reached her, she suddenly snatched the man out of his hands and pushed him against the wall. She held a small dagger in her free hand and lined it up with his sternum, effectively pinning him to that spot. Instinctively, Tristan’s hand flew to the hilt of his sword. Yet he paused before drawing it, waiting for more information about just what it was he was witnessing.

“Think you can run out on paying me, Markus? You know I can’t have that.” The man was muttering nonsense, only some of which sounded like an apology. “I may not be able to chase you down myself, but clearly that didn’t make this any easier for you. Now, you’re going to pay me what you owe and I won’t cut a hole through this fine vest you’ve got.” Tristan relaxed slightly now, but remained by her side to watch the rest of the scene play out.

“Go on! Cut it up, you crazy woman,” said the man, seemingly gaining some courage.

“You sure?” She asked, as she angled the blade up, catching it on the fabric of his vest. “And who will you have repair it? Capheus? The man who makes everything look like patchwork?” This seemed to deflate the man beneath her blade. “My stitching is the best. You know that, which is why I’m surprised you’d be so stupid to try to shaft me. Again.”

The man sighed and dug into his pocket. He produced the coin and she released him, swiftly returning the blade to wherever it was she kept it hidden on her body.

He slapped the coin into her hand, and pushed past her, cursing under his breath.

“Pleasure doing business with you,” she answered happily, disappearing the money into her skirt.

She wiped her hands on her dress and turned to Tristan. “Thank you for your help with that.”

“I thought you might have killed him.”

“Markus is a weasel, but he keeps coming back no matter how many times I’ve had to threaten him. And who am I to turn away business?” She smiled up at Tristan, who stood close to a foot taller than her. He couldn’t help but smile back.

“I’m just glad you didn’t make me an accessory to murder. I didn’t come here to get arrested.” Being arrested was obviously something Tristan always tried to avoid, but that was especially the case when he was away from home. In Vaston, his place within the king’s inner circle was more of a liability than a gift. “Speaking of, how did you know I was from Capria?”

She laughed, a sound which he loved immediately. “You aren’t exactly hiding it,” she replied, pointing to his cloak, a cloak which was emblazoned with the Caprian crest. He let out a soft huff of laughter, realizing how silly his question had been.

“Your vambraces are too loose for you.” She announced matter-of-factly. “The stitches are separating and the leather wasn’t cut right for your arm.” She pointed to the areas as she spoke of them. “I can fix them for you. As thanks for your help.”

Though he was stunned for a second by her sudden observations and offer, he easily carried on the conversation. “I leave tomorrow morning.”

“That’s plenty of time. Leave them with me and I’ll have them ready by the time you’re heading out.”

He scrunched his brow in confusion. “Are you sure?” In his experience, tailors always took at least a few days to complete a job, especially if they had a lot of items they were working on. The only exception being when the tailors did work for the royal family. Everyone worked harder and faster for the King and his court. Given his own position in Carrick’s household, Tristan did sometimes get special treatment as well. But this woman wasn’t Caprian.

“I wouldn’t have offered if I couldn’t do it," she replied. "I’m very good at what I do.” She smiled again and he could have sworn he saw a twinkle in her eye.

“Okay,” he agreed, stripping of his vambraces. “I’ll come back for them in the morning.”

She took them from him and slipped inside for a minute to put them down. It was only then that he noticed the slight limp she had when she walked.

When she reappeared, she held a knotted string. Without a word she looped it around his wrist and then around the upper part of his forearm, noting the measurements as she did. To Tristan’s untrained eye, he had no idea how she was actually counting and remembering the lengths, but he didn’t bother to question her.

When she was done, less than a minute later, she looked up at him again, that beautiful smile still playing on her lips. “See you tomorrow.”

It wasn’t until after she’d gone inside and he’d walked away that Tristan realized he didn’t even know her name.