Courtly Training

Lysa struggles with her new appearance.

12.

Courtly Training

 

When he returned with her armor, he found that Lysa had made a fort of his dressing screen.

“My Lord, if you would just slide it underneath.”  She said from within.

He sat the leather armor and undergarments on the floor and slid them under the screen, then retreated to the window so she wouldn’t feel more awkward.

“I saw Mew passing by outside when I was retrieving your armor”, he said to her from across the room, “I told her that you were alive and what had happened.   She was elated.    I gave her permission to tell Wulf-wuf, for he too was grieving your loss, but I asked her not to tell anyone else, so you can have time to adjust to your new appearance.”

“Thank you, my Lord.   I’m not sure that I ever will.”

 

A short time later he heard her groan in frustration.

“A problem?”   He called across the room.

“They don’t fit!    The pants are too big, the shoulder pieces are too loose and the breastplate is too tight!” She called out in frustration.

“Can you use a belt on the pants, at least?   I’ll get one of my shirts.”

“Okay.”  She said somewhat dejectedly, “This is so embarrassing, sir.”

He tossed one of his loose-fitting tunics over the top of the screen, and then went back to the window.

Some time later he heard her open the screen and she emerged, still frowning.    She had tightened her belt enough to keep the leather pants up, but they were notably baggy.    His shirt however, seemed tight across her chest and she was certainly conscious of this, for she kept her arms crossed in front of her.   

Lysa’s form had certainly changed.   Aaron remembered the lovely figure of the Hutcaiah princess " Lysa seemed to have inherited her shape.

“My boots don’t fit, either.”  She said sadly, “Even my feet have shrunk.   In fact everything has shrunk… except…”  

He didn’t want to embarrass her, so he just nodded, “We’ll get you refitted for new armor.   Don’t worry about it.”

“Do you still want me as a squire, sir?   I’m not sure, with my current shape, if I am cut out for the job.”

Aaron smiled, “I don’t think that will change anything, Lysa.    You’re worrying too much.   You look quite lovely.”

She looked down at herself, “Thank you, my Lord, but you are just saying that to make me feel better.”

“No I’m not.”

“It all feels… wrong, sir.    I feel almost lightweight now.”

“You’re just wearing the frame of an Elf, Lysa.    I think you were reformed with that Hutcaiah princess’ shape.”

“Really?   She was very beautiful, my Lord.”

“Well, now you are also very beautiful.”

Again she looked at her feet, “No, I’m not.   I’m an oddity and I won’t fit in among my people or with anyone, really.”

“You’ll fit in fine, Lysa.    I think you look wonderful.”

“Oh, you’re just saying that, my Lord.    I feel ashamed going out in public looking like this.”

“You shouldn’t, you are lovely.”

“I don’t feel lovely, sir.”

Aaron could see that he wasn’t getting anywhere, but an idea came to him.

“Well, you are going to just have to deal with it, I’m afraid, because I have a responsibility to train you.    There is training that you really need and it needs to be dealt with immediately.   Come with me.”   Though he tried to sound harsh, he smiled as he gestured for her to follow him.

“My Lord, I don’t even have any boots.”   She protested.

“You won’t need them for this.” He responded, and again motioned for her to follow him.

Reluctantly she complied and to her horror, he led her -barefooted- out of the Keep and across the parade ground toward the ducal keep.    She hurried behind him and tried to keep a low profile, but several people saw her and stared.

“My Lord, if you’ll just let me-“

“Shh!   You will obey me, Lysa!”   He said to her and she meekly nodded, having never seen him so forceful with her before.

 

Into the grand hall of the ducal keep they went and he told her to wait there for him.   He almost ran up the grand staircase, leaving her standing awkwardly at the bottom, trying to avoid the stares of the servants.

“Lysa?”   A tall Elf man spoke to her, touching her on the shoulder.

“Yes?”  She turned and glanced at him to find that the man was grinning.

“You don’t recognize me, do you?   It’s me, Wulf-wuf.”

“Wulf-wuf!”   She exclaimed, forgetting her embarrassment for a moment, “Look at you!    You are an Elf!”

“Yes, but wait and see Mew!”   He called up the stairwell for her and a moment later a graceful pale-skinned woman rushed down to join them.

“Mew, it is amazing!   You are so beautiful!”

“They think I am now a wood nymph.”

“You are so lovely!”

“Well you are too, Lysa!   You’ve changed too!   I detect some Elven features.”

“Only some, and the rest are still Orc.    What an insane mixture.   I dread showing my brother.”

“You are beautiful, Lysa!”   Mew reassured her, “You look so exotic and mysterious!   You will drive all the men wild.”

“I don’t want to drive anyone wild, Mew.   I just want to be my old self.”

“We can’t do that, I’m afraid.    Tell me, have you slept since you’ve changed?”

Lysa looked confused, “Slept?   Yes, in fact I was asleep when Duke Aaron found me.   Why?”

“Did you have the Burning Tree dream?”  Mew asked.

“I think so; at least that is what Duke Aaron believes it was.”

“Lysa, do you know what that means?    In the eyes of Yesh you are an Elf.”

“Yeah, but Elves don’t have green skin and yellow eyes.”

“It also means that you will no longer age, Lysa " the dream was given to all Elves and fae creatures to tell them of the change.”

“But I’m not really an Elf, Mew!    Maybe I received part of that Princess’ essence, but I’m obviously still mostly Orc.”

“You may be the first Half Orc, Half Elf mixture in the world.”   Wulf-wuf interjected.  

“That’s impossible, Wulf-wuf!”

“Nevertheless, that is what I would guess.    And all Half-Elves are given the gift of immortality too.    I dreamt the dream this morning when Mew and I took a nap after we arrived.   Mew dreamt it as well.”

Lysa brought her hands to her head, “This is too much!   I’m not an Elf.”

 

At that moment Aaron came down the stairs, and following him was a group of men holding musical instruments.    Lysa recognized them - they were some of the members of the Royal Orchestra.  

“Hello, Mew and Wulf-wuf!   You can join us.”  Aaron said when he saw the Talminor couple.

“Join you in what, sir?”   Wulf-wuf asked.

“I found that my squire is unskilled in dancing and I intend to teach her today.    Do the two of you know how to dance?”

Wulf-wuf looked to Mew and then back to Aaron, “Yes, we do, sir, though we never danced around anyone other than the other Talminor.”

“Well then, would you be so kind as to assist me in demonstrating a waltz so that she can get the basics before the lesson begins?”

“We’d be delighted, Your Grace.”

The band members took their places and to Lysa’s horror, began playing a merry waltz.

“My Lord, I really don’t know the first thing about dancing.”   She protested desperately.

“Well, that is why we are going to learn today.”

“I don’t know if it is proper for you to teach me, sir.”

“You are my squire, Lysa, certainly it is proper.”

“But would you teach a male squire, Lord?”

“Of course, Lysa.  I learned to dance with King Aedric when we were squires.    It was humiliating, but we learned the basics and at the next courtly dance, we were ready.”

“But it is different in my case, Lord.    I’m a woman.’

“Actually, that is much better, Lysa.    Not only is it not so embarrassing, but now it is easy to know who leads.”   He laughed and gestured for her to watch as the two Talminor began to waltz across the floor.   The music brought servants to the grand hall to see what was going on.

“Oh no,”  Lysa groaned as she saw them, “Please, my Lord, I really don’t need an audience.”

“Shh, be brave; you are a Paladin, remember?   It can’t all be swordplay and cavalry drills.   Sometimes we have to do the tough stuff and learn court etiquette.   You’re going to have a lot of young men wanting to dance with you, Lysa; you have to be ready.”

“I doubt that, sir.”   She replied, almost hypnotized by Wulf-wuf and Mew’s gracefulness as they swept across the floor.

“See?   It really isn’t that hard.   Now let’s try it okay?”

“Do I have to, Lord?”

“Absolutely.   Now come here.”   He held out his hand to her and she took it hesitantly.   He pulled her in close to him and put his arm around her.   She stiffened in alarm.

“Relax, Lysa, this is part of your training.   King Aedric and I danced this close too, though to be frank it is far more pleasant to be dancing with you.”

“Sorry, my Lord, I’m just afraid I will make a fool of myself.”

“You may surprise yourself, Lysa.”   He said, “Now we’ll start with the basic step and once you get that, we’ll move on.”

“Okay.”   She meekly replied.    Though she was scared to death of dancing, having him so close to her electrified her.   Minutes later, after a few awkward starts, they were waltzing fairly well across the floor.    

She found it shamefully exciting as they moved in union and she did not realize she was grinning happily, but Aaron saw it.

In fact, he could not keep from staring at her as they danced.

“You’re doing quite well, Lysa.”   He said as he began to teach her the turns, “We’re almost through for today.    But we’ll be practicing every day.   It is my goal to have you ready for the Midsummer Ball in a few months.    I expect you to attend and to have an appropriate ball gown.”

Lysa groaned slightly, “Oh no, sir!   Please, Lord, I’ll stick out like a sore thumb.   No-one will want to dance with me.”

“No-one will be dancing with you because I’m not going to let them.    At least not at first.   You see, you are going to dance with me at that ball.”

“Lord, I don’t think Lady Allea will take kindly to that!”

“She won’t mind, Lysa.   We’ve reached an agreement and are no longer dating.”

“Oh no!”

“Don’t worry, it was a mutual decision.”

“Still, you shouldn’t be disgraced at that ball by having to dance with your squire!   You are a Duke, sir; you have a reputation to think about.”

“Lysa, I don’t plan to be dancing with my squire at that ball, I will be dancing with a lovely young lady.    Now I don’t want to hear any more protests from you, alright?   I am your Lord and you will do as I say and if I say you will dance with me at the Midsummer Ball, you will.    Now let me show you a few turns and then we’ll go see Mrs. Jariston about designing you a ball gown.   Don’t worry; it is part of your training, so I will pay for it.”

“Yes, Lord.”  She said, looking up at him with her heart racing.

“Good.”  He replied, “Now don’t be afraid of me, come closer and let’s work on your footing, okay?   We have a busy day ahead of us - aside from your dress, we both need to find replacement armor.”

 

He continued to talk of the chores of the day, but Lysa found that she could not focus on anything he said right now, as she was lost in the bliss of the waltz.

 

The End

(Look for further stories of Aaron and Lysa, coming soon.)

Reviews

[Elina]

What a lovely little bit of writing! I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.

[Eddie Davis]

Thank you, Elina, I have another tale of these characters begun, but it will be some time before it is finished. It should be about the same length as this story.