The maid nods and smiles. "Right this way." She says cheerfully.
With a few strikes she had her sword pressed firmly to her opponents neck. "Excellent work, Misha. I'm impressed. You almost lasted ten seconds longer." Crystal teases. Misha laughs softly. "Alas, my queen has beaten me again. Perhaps one of these days I'll be as good." Crystal and Misha hug breifly before she smiles and pulls away. "Alright. Who's next?"
Elowan nodded and followed the maid, doing her best to memorize the route. It never hurt to know where all the food was. She took note of any cool doors she saw- not many, this castle was so boring- and entertained herself by thinking of what could be behind them.
The maid hums softly to herself. "Oh, I forgot to warn you. The queen told me to tell you that there are some hidden doors in the walls. I'd watch out for them, since the castle is old and we're not sure what's behind them." She chuckles. "Ah. Here we are."
Elowan immediately perked up. She wasn't very smart, but she really enjoyed puzzles. Almost as much as she liked punching people, so it was like a 3 on her 'top 10 best things ever' list. "Cool. Uh, thanks for leading me around." The kitchen was full of cabinets, which she wanted no time rooting around through. Once she located the beef jerky she began nomming contentedly. Meat tasted so good.
The maid nods. "Of course, anything you need is at your disposal. You need only ask." She says happily. There was talking in the hallways. "Interesting spar this morning." Female. "Indeed… I can't wait for the trials tonight though." Male. They both sounded extremely excited.n
Elowan tuned into the talking in the hallways, narrowing her eyes slightly. The trials were probably her trials, the ones she was supposed to overcome. They were going to be shown to everyone? She wasn't sure how comfortable she was with that. Sure, her dad had made her fight in front of crowds before. Happened to everyone- at least, that's the lie she told herself- but she never liked it. She turned towards the maid. "What do you know about the trials today?"
The maid looks up from preparing food. "Hm? Oh. Well. There are three trials. Each one tests either strength, stealth, or speed. The first two are completely private. The last one is in front of a crowd. Becoming a Valkyrie is a huge honor here. And it's hard to obtain. Each trail is different for each person." She shrugs.
"Is the order random or like… already chosen?" Elowan hoped the strength trial would be the public one. She could do strength. Speed was still iffy but doable. While she wasn't the fastest, she had more than enough endurance to outlast most people and could sprint fairly fast for a short time. Stealth was where she really failed. If someone tried to sum up Elowan in three words, they would use angry, violent, and loud.
"Yep. They're all random." She chuckles softly. "Just keep in mind, you may be the Queen's equal and her wife, you will be treated the same as all Valkyries before they became a part of her ranks. Don't expect to gain special treatment."
Elowan snorted. When had she ever gotten special treatment? Was she given special preference when people extorted her at bars because they knew she could afford to pay or was it when she got belted because she acted 'too manly'? And now she was angry. Something dark coursed through her veins as she answered, "Don't worry. I'm just like everyone else."
"That's not what the queen thinks. She was so excited to go to the gala… But after her brother passed she's had difficulty coming back to our happy princess. Of course, war has taken it's toll as well…" The maid sighs softly. "You're so lucky… She turned down several men and women who asked for her hand." The maid shakes her head. "She's very happy to have you as her bride… I don't think I've seen her smile this much."
"Really?" Elowan was caught completely off guard, if only because she had only known she was getting married two days before it actually happened. It was part of the reason she was so mad about the whole affair. If she had known a couple months ahead of time she would've been significantly less violent. What kind of lies had her mother- and it had to be her mother, her father deemed most things to do with marriage a 'woman's domain'- sold to Crystal? "Do you know what she liked about me?"
The maid pauses in her work. "I believe it was your determination. A fire in you. She doesn't care much for looks, but for spirit. That's something she looks for. She loved your fire, your fiercness. She said you were indeed beautiful and breathtaking, but she saw something more in you." She smiles.
"Are you sure? I don't mean to be a bitch and talk back to you or anything, but my mom is the person who wrote the appeal and I'm 100% sure she described me as a sweet, demure little baby who follows every order and hates violence." Elowan shrugged, ripping off another chunk of jerky. Damn this stuff was tasty.
The maid laughs softly. Shakjng her head, she says with almost a laugh in her voice. "Crystal didn't even read what your mother had sent. She has people everywhere. But the thing is, she met you before, just not as Crystal. She took a liking to you."
"Imma ignore the implication that my wife has spies everywhere and shut up now. Thanks for passing along the compliment." Elowan took another chomp of her jerky. This maid was pretty fun to talk with. "Oh yeah, what's your name? You obviously know mine so…" She gestured between them as if to signal a trade.
The maid smiles faintly and starts. "Oh. My name is Citrus." She scratches the back of her head. "Its a random odd name, but I deal wkth it. Basically everyone knows your name, Elowan. You're the Queen's wife. Her chosen one." She smiles faintly. "Anyways. Food is ready. I hope you like steak."
Well, that wasn't creepy at all, Elowan thought sarcastically, grinning back at Citrus. Citrus was actually a pretty bomb ass name. Elowan definitely approved. "That's a lot of pressure to put on a girl who might not even pass her tests, dude. Might wanna lay off on that if someone else here decides to get married."
Citrus looks up from her cooking in thought. She chuckles softly before shrugging. "No matter what happens, Crystal is always fair." She shrugs before adding some spices to the meat.
"Yeah but now my brain is all like 'what if you let Crystal down?', 'what if she secretly hates you?', blah blah blah. Chosen one is a pretty hefty title." Especially when all Elowan had done so far was bitch and make Crystal cry. Wow, she was just feeling great today. Making at the right choices in her life. How did Crystal put up with her?
"Crystal doesn't really hate anyone." Citrus shrugs. "She's very kind and considerate. She loves her people. I doubt she would hate you. Chosen one is a hefty title, but you should wear it with pride. Not many people can make her happy. She seems more… Herself now that you've moved in. She wasn't quite… How do you put it…? Sane? After her brother died. She refused to interact at all until the gala."
Elowan let out a nervous laugh. "Can you stop talking? Please? Because your just building up all the little voices telling me that I fucked up. They're not super… little anymore." While Citrus seemed to be doing her best to comfort her, it was actually making things worse. Crystal was only happy at the gala and now she was really going to get to know Elowan and she was going to be so let down.
Citrus quietens instantly at that. Her job was to objey orders. A curse if you will. Any order she received she had to listen. She works on the food quietly, biting her lip as she works. She hums softly as she does so, looking out the giant kitchen window that overlooked the courtyard.
Elowan sat down, finishing the last bits of beef jerky. Without Citrus talking, there wasn't much going on. Se realized she was still being kind of rude. "Shit. Sorry. That was really bitchy. You can talk if you want to. Just, not about Crystal, please. What do you do for fun around here?"
Citrus starts. "Oh no it's my fault. You see, I kinda have a curse where I have to obey every single command given to me. It's not you." She chuckles. "Well. We do a lot of things. My personal favorite it's taking a matress down the main steps."