Chapter 7: In Which Sparring, Which Seemed Harmless At The Time, Leads To A Great Quandary

I awoke in the morning the sound of a loud thwack, two objects impacting each other at an incredibly high speed. My eyes flickered fully open, body surging with adrenaline, and I rushed over to peek outside of the tent.

There, Master and Valentine were fighting… the former, serious, moving so fast I often lost sight of her for a moment, the latter more casually parrying, laughing, and taking far more hits from Master’s staff then she managed to deal back. It took me a moment to realize they were sparring, and my jack-hammering heart calmed down… if they were using blades, Valentine would be dead now… or Master. Probably Valentine, it had been a long time since there wasn’t a foe I could overcome merely with my superior speed and strength.

...back when I was in that body, at least.

I slowly walked out, watching them, entranced, as I tried to follow the fight as best I could. Was this pacifist truly one of the best fighters in the kingdom? Well… it explained how she could survive the arena without killing anyone.

The driver gently elbowed me in the side, and handed me a bowl of porridge.

“Oh, thank you.” I looked over to her for a moment-- there were dark circles under her eyes, and her long brown hair was pulled back in a braid, but she had a slight smile, as if we shared a secret. Looks like she definitely got to cum last night, and I couldn’t help but be a little jealous, but I smiled back regardless. “What’s your name, by the way?”

“Miravel,” she responded. She looked back to the two of them sparring, and shook her head, marvelling at their prowess. “Aren’t the two of them amazing? We may have slept with the two most powerful people in the kingdom last night… well, you know, physically speaking.” Her voice was a mixture of proud and embarrassed, but from the way she was looking at Valentine, I could tell she was definitely more a fan of the larger woman.

My own eyes moved back to the two. Valentine was actually giving Master advice, a few basic ways for her to feint, what sort of moves people would rely on when they couldn’t see someone coming. I sat down on a log and listened as well as I ate my porridge, doing my best to listen to… it’s unlikely that I’d ever get my body back, and the advice seemed more tailored to her insane strength and speed, but despite that…

“Fuck, just look at her… too bad I have to drive.”

“Yeah, she’s incredibly hot.” My eyes widened and I tensed, glancing over to Miravel. “I mean--! Not that… I mean, I’m not interested in her in that way, you know? Just, like, aesthetically and stuff…” Miravel laughed.

“I know, I know, you have the Hero all to yourself. I’m not jealous anyways, though. Glad I got to sleep with her once, y’know? Just… incredibly strong and gentle… they’re both incredibly popular, really. How’d you hook the hero anyway?” She gave me a sideways glance.

“Honestly, I’m not quite sure. Just kinda… played out that way? Maybe it was meeting Master right after their arrival to the world, you know? As for sleeping with her once... well, it’s a two day journey, right, so maybe…? Do get a little actual sleep, though… ” ...did this count as girl talk? We were just talking about our lovers, though, so maybe not. I wasn’t really sure.

Miravel’s eyes brightened considerably. “That’s true!”

“So um… why a driver?”

“Loved horses as a girl. Was crazy about them. But basically, you’re either a carriage driver or some kinda nobility if you wanna interact with horses all day.” She shook her head a little, and looked back to the fight dreamily. “My parents used to take me to the arena sometimes a few years back, back when Miss Valentine was still there. I had the biggest crush on her… she’s still just as pretty now… well, maybe there’s more hope in her, you know?”

“Yes,” said a man’s voice behind us. “I used to see her at the arena a lot too. Always impressive. I think she elevated the arena beyond a mere blood sport, it’s weaker for her absence.”

We turned, and there was a grey-bearded, middle-aged man with gentle blue eyes in plate armor with a sword strapped to his side and heavy gauntlets on his arms, who smiled at us. “Sorry to barge in on your conversation, young ladies. I’m just waiting on those two to get finished, and didn’t want to stand around without making you aware of my presence, lest you notice and panic.” There was a blue raven painted on the chest of his armor, but I didn’t know what that heraldry meant.

My eyes flickered back up to him, though, and my mouth opened slightly. “Adarvuin?”

“The very same.”

The last time I had seen him, we had stood together against a small band of Revenants whose leader wanted to burn down a village for... some reason known only to the dead, they never bothered explaining it to us. He had gone out of his way to protect others, and between me and him, we had zero casualties in the village, and all the revenants dispersed.

Miravel curtseyed. “Would you like some porridge, Sir? I don’t know if you’ve had breakfast yet, but, it’s all the meager hospitality we have to offer.…”

“Ah, yes, sorry! Sir Adarvuin. I forgot myself.” I curtseyed as well.

He smiled gently. “Porridge would be lovely.”

Miravel returned with a bowl of porridge for him shortly, and he took a bite of it and smiled at her. “One of the better porridges I’ve had.” She smiled back, and bobbed her head.

“Thank you, sir.” Her attitude was a little more servile now, but not full on slave… just Customer Service mode, I guess.

The three of us ate porridge in silence and watched together a bit longer, until Master and Valentine finished and came back to us, and were also quickly offered bowls of porridge by Miravel.

Valentine’s body was peppered with bruises and she was bleeding, but she seemed cheerful and totally unconcerned by it.

Master had no visible wounds, but she was panting… she had exerted her body far more than it was used to. That body had never had to fight that long or that hard.

Valentine stayed silent, just tilting her head to one side and watching our new guest, the tip of her tail twitching behind her. Not knowing him, I guess she had no reason to trust him.

“Sir Adarvuin. A pleasure to see you again.” Master smiled innocently at him, and walked over to wrap him in a hug. He coughed, a little uneasy, and she let him go soon enough, stepping back. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“A pleasure… I wish I could say the same.” He finished his bowl of porridge, and put it aside with an almost mournful air.

“I was told by one of my subordinates that the odds were high a runaway slave was travelling with the Hero.”

“Ah, well that can’t be Valentine here-- we’re taking her back to her Mistress.” The lie flowed as easily from Master’s lips as water, and if I didn’t know better, I would’ve believed she absolutely believed what she was saying.

Both Valentine and Sir Adarvuin blinked a few times at that.

“No, her Master is back in Harrisdale, where you’ve been staying.”

Sir Adarvuin’s words didn’t shake Master at all, who shook her head confidently. “She’s been illegally captured. Sasha saw her beat up in a town square, and we ran across her later, which is when she asked us to return her to her Mistress.”

Valentine nodded confidently. “That’s right.” She kept her words to a minimum, perhaps she was not used to lying.

Sir Adarvuin took a scroll case from his belt, and pulled out a piece of paper, rolling it out for Master to see, and she looked at it carefully, then glanced over at me and Valentine. “Is… this legit?”

I looked it over. It was a request by the owner of a slave, one Valentine, to have her recaptured, and everything seemed properly signed, but... what did I know, honestly?

Master furrowed her brow. “Well, neither I nor Sasha are experts on this… are you sure someone hasn’t mislead you on this?”

“Absolutely. If there’s one thing I know, it’s paperwork.” It seemed Sir Adarvuin wasn’t going to back down that easily.

“Well, how about you go back and have it double-checked? It’s no mystery where we’re going, after all… Sir Adarvuin….” Everyone looked at me, perhaps a bit surprised that a subordinate slavegirl would speak up in such a situation with her Master literally right there… but I'm pretty sure Sasha had a reputation for being a bit of an idiot whose Master let her speak her mind too freely.

“That would be a problem, as it would go against the procedures in circumstances like this," Adarvuin replied. "The best I can offer is she returns with me, and if I am wrong, I will pay for her trip back myself. I will even accompany her on her way to make sure no untoward events happen to her, should such be the case... though I can say with almost complete certainty it is not.”

Valentine shook her head firmly. “Unacceptable, my devotion to my Mistress comes before all else.”

“Help me apprehend her. The law states clearly that we must.”

Master frowned at their words. “Well... you both seem trustworthy, though I’ve known neither of you for that long… I don’t know who to believe here.”

“Why would you want to apprehend her?” Miravel was speaking up, her voice both upset and disappointed. “I thought you were her fan!” Adarvuin slowly nodded and sighed.

“Yes. It saddens me to have to do this, but the law is more important than personal feelings." His eyes hardened a little as he said this, as if he was focused on some distant memory. "I traveled the recommended speed according to regulations, and arrived here to see you two sparring.” Apparently he had exactly followed the rules rather than truly try to capture us, out of respect to Valentine, Master, or both, I know not.

Master frowned. “Well, if we had done something illegal, we would have been in a hurry to not be caught, right? But we didn’t, so we weren’t. It was Valentine herself who suggested sparring.”

Adarvuin shook his head. “Hmm. You can say all the words you like, my duty does not change. Will you aid me, or stand in my way, Master?” ...I guess the word ‘Master’ blocking my original name was happening once again. Master shook her head.

“How can I raise arms against either of you when I don’t have a firm idea of the facts nor the legality of the situation?” She sounded confused, annoyed, and frustrated. She shook her head, standing up and beginning to pace. “I have no way to retrieve information, either.”

“Well,” Valentine said mildly, “It’s not like I’ve never fought for my life before. I don’t need you to protect me, Sir.” She stood up and walked back over to the circle of ragged dirt.

Sir Adarvuin frowned, and looked over to Master, calculating if she’d come to his aid… but apparently the answer he settled on was ‘no’. He drew his sword as she kicked up the two staves, one to each hand. “Don’t you need to heal up first, Valentine?” His voice was respectful.

“Healing me before combat could be taking as helping me resisting your arrest. If these charges stick, I mean. Uh, they’re clearly falsified charges, though… but sometimes people can be tricky with words and documents.”

Adarvuin nodded, and rushed forwards without any fear… and what did he have to fear? Valentine was infamous for never killing her opponents.

Nevertheless, he was on the ground in seconds, sword ten feet away and sticking in the dirt.

“You can’t capture me,” Valentine stated calmly.

“I’m beginning to see that. Nevertheless, I am dutybound to try.” He started to get up, and Valentine dropped the staves and rushed in, grabbing his neck in a choke-hold while another arm wrapped around his waist for some reason, hugging him close. He struggled briefly, but then went limp, and she carefully laid him on the ground on his back.

Miravel made a small noise next to me, and looking over at her, her eyes were shining. I didn’t know how to deal with a fangirl who had slept with her idol, so I walked over and pressed my fingers against his neck to check his pulse. Weak, but there. As I did, I glanced up at Valentine. “...why were you hugging him? You seemed to have the situation, well, under control.”

“Didn’t wanna damage his neck too badly while I was blood choking him.”

“...Ah. Well… he’s still alive, if not very steady… he’ll probably survive. Should probably retire, judging from his physical health and age.”

Valentine sighed, but nodded. “Best we can do, I guess. If you heal him, he might wake up… speaking of, could I trouble you for a little healing, Sasha?” She sat down next to me and smiled up at me all friendly-like, and suddenly, I was staring down at her like a deer in the headlights.

Master, when she was back in Sasha's body, was famous for her knowledge of healing spells, and I hadn’t even learned the most basic healing spell yet, which was literally just called Heal.

Fuck.