Chapter 243 - 241: Dress Like Royalty.

Chapter 243: Chapter 241: Dress Like Royalty.

And Lord Spidra does not take personal insults lightly.

​Drogger’s a smart man. He should know that.

​And yet, the heart wants what the heart wants, doesn’t it?

​(Who’s he to judge?)

​Of the two strange things he’s noticed, he knows which of them he finds the most concerning.

Loac and Khobi’s interactions these days tend to range from hilarious to perplexing, but they’re hardly dangerous. Not to anyone but each other, at least.

​Rogard getting tangled up in Drogger, on the other hand...

​He’s happy for Rogard, truly he is, because he seems... happy .

Happier than he’s seen him in recent years.

He’s always kind of had half an eye trained on him –partly because he was a servant and they kept half an eye on everyone, and partly because once upon a time he considered him a friend –and the Rogard he knows now is so different from the cold one he had watched grow up from a distance.

Now, he’s much more like the Rogard that he once knew.

​He smiles a lot. And he seems to be quite infatuated with Drogger.

​And for what it’s worth, it seems mutual.

​But Binny is also worried .

Mostly because he has no idea who has gotten the scent.

Not many of the other servants spend as much time around Rogard Spidra as he does, and not everyone has his eyes, so it’s possible that they’ve escaped notice for now.

​But if he’s noticed, it won’t be long before someone else does, too.

And it’s impossible to know who that will be, and what they will do with that information.

The servants can be quite discreet when required, and have been known to turn off their eyes and ears when it comes to their own and those they feel a sense of camaraderie towards, but at the end of the day they aren’t the only ones who feed the whispering walls, and the walls belong to their king.

...

No, that doesn’t look right either .

​Xena sighs, and shakes her head for the third time. Dutifully, one of her maids moves up and removes yet another coat that she’s decided isn’t right.

Another swoops in just as quickly with a fourth on hand to see if this one is going to please her princess. Xena’s not feeling particularly hopeful though; even though it’s in Crades colours it still feels all wrong.

Far too formal.

​Next .

​She’s aware she’s taking a lot longer than she normally would to change after a bath, but she wishes her handmaidens would stop fidgeting.

Ladies shouldn’t fidget, and it’s honestly very unlike them to do so.

​"If you have something to say, then say it, please," she says aloud, and in the mirror she sees the pair of them immediately straighten themselves and look guilty, since it’s abundantly clear that they do.

​"Your Highness, I..." one of them begins to state, before hesitating at a sharp glare from the other.

But she steels herself, which Xena can only commend. It would be hypocritical for her to wish she could speak her mind yet chide others for doing so.

"Aren’t you...dressing up a little too much?"

​Xena blinks, and examines her reflection in the mirror. It looks confused, but largely the same as she always does.

Except that she’s changed out her dress for a skirt again –the kind that is more suited to be worn over muddied surfaces.

She’s decided that she quite likes wearing them at this length; they’re so much easier to move in and cause her father to make some quite amusing expressions.

​"The other day you were worried that this wasn’t proper," she reminds them, and they look mortified that she remembered.

It’s why she’s looking for a lovelier coat; something slightly more appropriate for a princess to be wearing.

But everything she has is either too stiff or too formal or will be far too cold to wear out at this time of year.

​It’s impossible.

​How can she have so many clothes, yet none of them look right?

​"You’re...still intending to go back, Your Highness?" the other hazards.

​"Of course," she tells her, a little surprised that they even have to ask.

They saw what she did the last time –they even clapped for her, too. And it had been so exciting to see that arrow go where she wanted it to go, even just once! Why wouldn’t she want to go back and keep working at it? "I’ve wanted to do something like this since I was a little girl."

​The two handmaidens exchange a look.

​"...It helps that Montrel is kind of handsome too, right?" one of them says, after a beat.

The words come out a little stilted; the tone not quite right to be entirely offhand.

​"I suppose he is, isn’t he?" the other remarks lightly, and her voice has a similar, odd cadence to it.

​It’s a very strange thing to say, although they are only a little younger than herself and a lot of the castle ladies start looking for husbands as soon as their mothers let them.

​"You think so?" Xena remarks, as her maid helps her into a fifth, entirely different coat. "I hadn’t noticed. He is very kind though."

This one is certainly better than the others, and she doesn’t want to be here all day.

It’ll do just this once but she’ll have to have some new clothes made.

And she already has some jewelry that will pair nicely, although she’ll have to make sure it won’t snag while she’s practicing.

​"...He...seems to be treating you very well, Your Highness."

​"Well, obviously," she reminds them. She is the Crown Princess, after all. It would hardly be proper if he didn’t.

"Shall we go?"

​Her handmaidens seem relieved that she’s finally settled on an outfit, although they don’t seem to much care for wearing similar ones themselves.

They think they look too common, but Xena thinks it’s a very understated look. And perhaps one that some of the castle nobles should consider.

One needn’t have to dress like royalty for those around them to know instinctively that they are.

It’s a mark of a good breeding, as she delighted in reminding her father when he questioned her choice of clothing the other day.

He so does hate having his own words being used against him, especially by her.