Chương 138: Chapter 135: First Come, First Served.

"Duck!" Violet growled as she charged. I did not duck. I jumped. I jumped clean over the leg that would have swept mine out from under me, and Violet rose just in time for me to fall on her. We both went down in a tangle of limbs. The world became dirt and red hair and dirt again, over and over. She tried to pin me. More than once, she tried to lock me between her legs. Each time she did, I condensed mana and heaved as hard as I could. We broke apart, though only because she kicked away.

I rose, and Violet rose with me.

"You didn't duck," she muttered.

"Did you think I would fall for that a third time?"

"Kinda," Violet grinned, and then she was charging again. It was our fourth practice duel of the day, and while I had never needed convincing, by now I was thoroughly convinced. Violet was insane. I might not know much about fighting, but I knew the basic laws of self-preservation. People didn't like getting hit. They avoided pain. They chose the paths of least resistance. Violet looked at all three of those laws and punched right through them. If anything, she only seemed to get more excited the more I hurt her.

Or the more she hurt me. A few more duels like this, and I would need to call an S-rank healer just to be sure I could walk in the morning. I charged to meet her head on. The ground between us split, and a moment later a great wall of earth rose to block us. I stopped. I couldn't see Violet on the other side, but I could certainly hear her.

"What the hell, rockboy?! We were just getting to the good part!" Damian stood at the edge of the ring. He raised his hands from the ground and pointed vaguely in the direction of Violet's manor.

"Estovan said it's about time you both stopped. You don't want to get hurt before tomorrow, do you?" The wall between us collapsed into rubble, just in time for me to see Violet sigh.

"Yeah, yeah," she said. Then, in a lower voice, "Buzzkill." I wiped the sweat from my brow and moved to join her.

"We'll pick it up again in a couple of days."

"A couple of days," Violet muttered.

"Like I'll have a couple of days after I become Duchess."

"Violet-""I'm not complaining," Violet said.

"I'm just annoyed."

"I… don't think those are that different." Tomorrow was the day of Violet's coronation. All of the preparation had been done. All of the many invitations had been sent. A team of men had been working behind the manor for a full day now, making certain everything would be ready. By this time tomorrow, Violet would be Lady Indri. Technically a rank above me, not that it really mattered. There were a dozen other things clawing for my attention.

The letter to Evelynn had gone out yesterday, and somewhere in this city, the Information Guild was already digging into margins that should not exist. Nothing had come from the wall yet, though I got the distinct impression that was a matter of when and not if. But for now, everything had to wait for Violet's coronation. We walked to the edge of the arena in silence. Damian had already moved off to the side, where he was practicing with his Gift. Right now, that training consisted of him making… statues?

Rough figures of stone, each one a little cleaner than the last. I didn't entirely understand it, but apparently he had read in a manual that this was how many people with Gifts like his refined their control. Violet's gaze caught on them as we passed. It lingered for a few seconds. I could guess what she was thinking.

"They don't look half bad," I offered.

"Look better than the last ones," Violet said, and kept walking.

"That reminds me- how much of the speech have you memorized?" I asked. Violet didn't answer. She just kept walking, and I got the distinct impression that she had started walking faster.

"Violet." I put a hand on her shoulder.

"How much?"

"Err-" Violet made something very close to a choking sound.

"A bit of it. Don't know how much exactly."

"…So you wouldn't mind reminding me how it starts?" Violet had gone almost uncomfortably still. I waited so long I almost thought she wouldn't answer at all.

"I, uh… tell them my bloody name, and uh-" I tried not to sigh, and was not entirely sure I succeeded.

"Well, we have time," I said.

"The trick to memorizing anything is repetition. You just repeat it over and over until you're dreaming about it. Actually, I remember the whole thing. So, it starts off with-" We made our slow way toward Indri Manor, though Violet herself certainly tried to make the walk shorter. I didn't really understand it. Violet hated fancy speeches, so wouldn't it be easier for her to just memorize the one I'd written? I could only imagine what Violet would come up with if left to her own devices.

Actually, I could imagine, which was exactly why I had written her speech for her in the first place. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. Violet stopped. It took me a few steps to notice that she was no longer beside me. I turned, and the look on her face was one I did not see there often.

"Everyone in the damn city is going to be here tomorrow, right?" It was an odd question, and not one I had expected from her.

"Just about everyone important," I said.

"And every newspaper in Aelheim besides." Even my father was going to be there.

"So she's going to be there too," Violet said, nodding slowly. She looked oddly thoughtful. I didn't understand, though I had a decent guess.

"The First Princess is not invited. For obv-""I mean the doll," Violet said.

"Cordelia."

"Oh." I tilted my head.

"Well, yes. She'll almost definitely be there." Violet nodded.

"Good. There are some things I need to say to her."

"Like… like what?" I asked slowly. I did not have the faintest idea, and where Violet was concerned, that was more than enough to make me worry.

"You don't need to know that," Violet said. She huffed, tugged her braid, and was already walking. I hurried to follow her. Somewhere far in the back of my mind, I heard Vaelin almost laughing. If you know what this is about, tell me. Vaelin did not answer. Everywhere we walked, guards straightened and bowed. The maids we passed set down whatever they carried and bowed lower still. Every one of those bows was for Violet first, and me second. That was new. That was as it should be.

Somewhere behind the manor, hammers rang against wood. Sere was nowhere to be seen, which meant she was almost certainly back there somewhere, drawing the stands as they were built. I could already picture it. The workers would all be stick figures. The stage would be rendered in perfect detail. Violet stopped. A maid knelt at one of the flowerbeds lining the path, a watering can in hand. Violet crossed her arms and glared down at the bed. The maid looked up.

"My Lady?"

"Those don't look right." Violet pointed. She was pointing at a cluster of striped flowers, red shot through with yellow.

"Why the hell don't they look right?" The maid frowned and peered at where Violet was pointing. She was quiet for several long moments turning one of the blooms gently with two fingers.

"That…" she said slowly.

"These patterns are irregular. The Vrosnian should have more circular coloration. Perhaps it's the new-" She stopped. She looked up at Violet, and then she bowed.

"I apologize, My Lady. One of the younger maids has been using a new fertilizer from Dyrheim. I believe some of the flowers may be reacting differently to it."

"Fix it," Violet said.

"It's not supposed to look like that. It didn't look like that before."

"It will be done, My Lady." The maid bowed again, and I could not help but notice that this bow was lower than the first. We walked on. I waited until the flowerbeds were well behind us.

"What was that?" I finally asked.

"What?" Violet looked at me.

"You know about flowers?" Violet shrugged.

"I just know when they don't look right," she said.

"And those didn't bloody look right." I nodded slowly, and said nothing more. More maids and manservants passed us as we neared the manor proper, and each of them gave Violet the same deep bows, with smaller ones set aside for me. Mari was dusting the front steps of the manor herself when we finally arrived, which struck me as a strange task for a head maid the day before a coronation. Though, I supposed Anias wouldn't have looked out of place doing the same thing back home. The woman straightened as we drew near.

"My Lady." She bowed, and hers was possibly the lowest bow we had received all day.

"I trust your training was fruitful?"

"It was fine," Violet said. She made for the stairs, and I followed close behind. Violet took the first step and turned.

"Everything better be damn near perfect for tomorrow. Will it be perfect?" Mari seemed to consider the question before she answered.

"The stage is built to Lady Veyne's exact instructions. The food is taken care of as well. It was difficult to contact the bakery Lady Veyne mentioned, but they will have a representative present. All of the letters have been delivered, and many have already been answered. I would say that just about all of the preparations have been made. Even your gown arrived this morning, and I must say, it is a marvelous-"" Just about?" Violet raised an eyebrow.

"The hell does that mean?"

"Erm." The woman paused. She looked from Violet to me.

"Well, there is a minor issue or two. There always are, when one is planning something of this magnitude."

"Mari. Answer my damn question."

"Well, there is one thing," the woman said at last.

"There will be a great many carriages, and they will somewhat clog the pathway leading to the manor itself. As such, several houses have requested reserved spots beside the manor." She made a sweeping gesture with one arm.

"My Lady, there are not enough spots." Violet nodded slowly. It wasn't exactly an important issue, if you weren't a noble. I suspected this had everything to do with prestige and nothing to do with convenience at all. If it were me, I'd make certain the three Counts serving under House Veyne had the easiest time of anyone. Perhaps I would ensure the same for Duke Thalos. Either way, my priorities would be plain for all to see, which was rather the point.

"Whoever the hell gets here first gets here first," Violet said finally, "and they can have whatever damn spot they want."

"My Lady?" Mari's eyes had gone wide. The poor woman looked momentarily scandalized.

"There will be…there will be some…discontent, if we do that. Many of the nobles believe that the order-""Then they should get here early," Violet said.

"In fact, tell them all to get here early if they care about this kind of thing. Otherwise, they can walk the long way. Won't kill them to use their legs a bit." The woman nodded slowly. Then, for some reason, she smiled, and bowed. Violet was already walking past her and up the stairs. I hurried to join her. It wasn't, strictly speaking, the smartest thing to do. And yet it had made the head maid of House Indri bow anyway. A woman who had served this house for decades, and so surely knew everything that I did.

"You're not half bad at this," I murmured.

"What?" Violet looked back at me.

"You take action," I mused.

"And after years of your father sequestering himself away, maybe having someone willing to make choices -even strange choices- isn't a bad thing." Yes. Maybe that was the key here. Maybe I had gone about a great deal of this completely wrong. House Indri was not House Veyne. Violet was not me. That didn't have to be a bad thing.

"…I know what that look means," Violet said slowly.

"It usually doesn't mean anything good."

"Huh? Oh." I looked back up at her.

"About that speech-""Yeah, yeah, I'll memorize it. Just because I haven't yet doesn't mean I wasn't gonna. I'll memorize the stupid fucking-""Tear it up and throw it into a fire." Violet stopped on the cusp of the manor's door and stared at me.

"What?" She was frowning. I grinned and patted her back.

"I have a much better idea."