The Legend of the Meta-Defying Smith Who Saved the Kingdom

Isabella found herself growing more and more frustrated.

She had been thrilled to catch the attention of the Princess herself with her enchanted knives.

She had thought to ensure higher-ranking support for when James fulfilled the terms of his contract, to ensure the Aspirant Knight didn't try anything funny like undercutting them on the value of his armor and weapons.

It hadn't worked. And worse, by pointing him out to the Princess as her partner in crafting the knives, she had set the eyes of the Royal Family on James.

Isabella had swelled with pride when she watched James' creations overcome that other angry Knight. While he had been like a blazing beacon to her [Danger Sense] and [Threat Awareness], it had been the Aspirant Knight, clad in James' handiwork, who had pressed on reality like a stone, the most real thing in the entire arena.

She had never doubted the outcome of the fight for even a second.

What had happened after the Tournament, though, had been an unwelcome surprise. To be summoned to the Castle late at night, to find James distraught and furious, and suddenly enlisted by Countess Sevilla to change his mind on behalf of the Princess, that was a surprise.

Even worse because she understood and agreed with James in his anger.

Worse still because she felt guilty.

If she hadn't told the Princess about James before the Tournament, would he have been able to complete his contract and join her family?

She tamped down those feelings, and channeled her anger into spiting the Knight as much as possible for how he had treated James. Her suggestion to gouge him on the price for his last commission had been the turning point in their discussion with James, and they had both shared a delightfully avaricious look when Countess Sevilla had pointed out that, without the contract, the Knight would have to pay basically whatever they demanded for the commission.

And the Countess had joined them with her own evil smile and promised she wouldn't let the new Viscount back out of the commission, either.

Was it wrong of them to plot to bankrupt a Viscount?

Not at all!

That was par for the course in disputes among the nobility.

Isabella was relieved to find that the Countess, and by extension the Princess, were no friends of the Aspirant Knight.

She had felt even more relief, paradoxically, after Merchant Filipe had told them what would have happened to James if he hadn't been taken under the Princess' wing. And when she had confessed to James what she had done, he forgave her instantly, saying to think nothing of it.

He was too good to her.

She could still see it, though, in his face every now and then. His eyes would unfocus and he'd look out into the distance at nothing in particular, thinking of his home and the family he had been taken from.

It made her seethe, angry on his behalf, though she hid it from everyone.

She wanted to promise him that they could find his family together; that he needn't hold himself back on her behalf; that she would protect him, so they could just go together.

But how could she promise him that when she couldn't even clear away the hindrances keeping them from marrying?

It felt like the world was conspiring against her.

First, the Aspirant Knight had avoided, over and over, simply acting as a chaperone for even one hour, and agreeing to a betrothal with her father.

She suspected that that had been intentional rather than a result of his busy schedule.

Now that the Princess of the entire Kingdom was James' legal guardian, the task was even more impossible.

How could she possibly get the Princess to agree to chaperone them and meet with her father, a mere non-hereditary Baronet?

This was made all the more frustrating because their courtship essentially had to restart, due to the change in James' station.

Her anger had boiled over when her eldest brother had floated the idea of Isabella taking over as head of the family, and her knife at his throat had instantly stopped all talk of that.

Her parents had even taken her side for once, scolding her brother by saying that there were limits to jokes.

More than ever, Isabella was grateful to James for stepping in to dissuade her from failing to choose a combat Class.

Enchanting was fine, but it wasn't a proper distraction in the same way that practicing her Knifewielding was. When she was Enchanting, she found her feelings bled into her work, and before long she was dwelling on her problems rather than designing enchantments or jewelry or knives.

When she was training her knives, she could turn her brain and feelings off and just lose herself in the movement. It was freeing, and the physical exhaustion at the end of a training session felt mentally refreshing.

A year passed. Both she and James improved steadily as Enchanters, and they both learned the finer points of jewelry design. After a year of waiting for the Princess to make time for their courtship, there was finally movement. The Princess deputized Countess Sevilla to act on her behalf, and then began the frustrating year of constant nagging.

Countess Sevilla took her duties far too seriously! Isabella was a commoner, technically! So was James! They didn't need to reach the levels of etiquette and control that a Count and Countess did! But the Countess ignored Isabella's less-than-subtle complaints, and simply instructed the Maids that chaperoned them to be even more strict.

The only one even remotely happy about this was Maya, who was thrilled to have a training partner with so much steam to blow off.

Another year passed. Now seventeen, Isabella found herself designing more and more lethal knife enchantments. She found that black suited her mood most days, and she started to wear clothes like her cousin Grim, with dark eyeliner and eye shadow and black painted nails.

James, bless his heart, found her alluring no matter what she wore.

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Everyone else was put on edge by her presence, and rightly so in her opinion.

She was on the edge, herself.

So when the Countess finally gave her approval for the betrothal, and the paperwork was filed with the Temple of Vestinia, the goddess who governed marriage and the household, and a reply came back stating that the goddess Pacifica objected, Isabella lost her composure entirely.

It took Maya and Grim and her mother working together to stop her from storming the Divine District herself.

Unfortunately for everyone else, this only inspired her to train even more, and enchant even stronger knives, so that nobody could stop her ever again.

The Countess and James and half a dozen Bodyguards rushed to the Izguardia Manor and held an emergency meeting to respond to Pacifica's objection.

James admitted he might have done something to offend the gods while trapped in the Dungeon, possibly, but was cagey about what exactly that was.

Isabella refused to let the discussion turn from the important point: how to get Pacifica to withdraw her objection.

"How can one kill a g—" she started, before James clapped his hand over her mouth.

"We don't need to discuss how to kill, uh, a goose! That's not what we're doing, Isabella!" he shouted, trying to cover for her.

She couldn't resist poking out her tongue and licking his hand secretly.

He blushed, and let go of her mouth, and her smugness helped tamp down her fury.

Slightly.

Her father narrowed his eyes at the two of them, and Isabella suspected he knew what she had just done.

She was beyond caring, at this point.

She cocked an eyebrow at him, and he raised his eyebrow right back.

"Isabella, calm yourself. Did you forget you once considered taking a Merchant class? Stop thinking with your knives."

"Quite a lot of problems can be solved with knives," she replied petulantly.

"And is cutting the only thing a knife is good for?" he challenged.

"Stabbing, too."

Bernardo sighed.

He had hoped his daughter would grow out of her impulsiveness as she grew up.

But years of forcible restraint hadn't changed her personality, just made her more volatile.

He raised a hand, and everyone focused on him. Isabella pouted, but even she remained silent to allow him to speak.

"As a Merchant, my job is to understand what people want, and supply it to them. Conversely, my job is to understand what people don't want, and sell them the means to avoid what they don't want."

He looked around the room, making eye contact with everyone.

"The gods are remarkably similar to us in that regard. They have things they desire, and things they don't desire. Now, Pacifica is harassing James, but she hasn't called for his death or cursed him or anything. This is just petty harassment."

"What, so we just pay her off?" Isabella pouted.

She could pay her off. Her bank account had quite the balance after two years of work as an Enchanter with the Princess as a patron.

But her father shook his head.

"No, that would only encourage more harassment in the future. Pacifica," he paused, "is the goddess of peace, and abhors violence."

He waited again, but Isabella just stared at him blankly. Even James didn't see what he was getting at.

He sighed.

Better to just be clear.

"Because this is petty harassment, we should respond in kind. With petty harassment. And then threaten to escalate if the objection is not withdrawn."

"So we should only kill her followers?" Isabella said, brightening, and it was James who paled and placed a hand on her arm.

"Isabella, no! That's not petty! Let's let your father finish!"

James shot his future father-in-law a pleading look, begging him to hurry and finish explaining.

And so he did, and the plan was set, and James and Isabella made a stop at the Royal Bank the following morning. From there, they formed a formal procession comprised of mainly the Izguardia family and their guards, and made a show of their pilgrimage to the Divine District, ensuring as many Gossips saw them as possible.

And they proceeded to the Temple of Werru, the god of war and violence. With a loud declaration, repeated over and over so all the other Temples could hear, they donated ten thousand dollars to the Temple of Werru and asked for his intercession on their behalf with Vestinia.

Then, still shouting Werru's praises, they proceeded down the road to Pacifica's Temple.

Pacifica's Head Priest was already out there, fuming.

"You dare come here after donating to Werru, and funding future violence?" he shouted, livid.

James stepped forward, as planned, and then Isabella pulled him back and stepped forward herself, which they had agreed was a bad idea.

She stepped forward exactly one step into the boundary of the Temple, and felt her Knifewielder class fade, suppressed by Pacifica's power.

"Can the goddess hear me speak, now?"

James clapped a hand to his face, but did no more than that.

"Yes! She is most upset with that man! And now you, too!" The Head Priest was red in the face.

Isabella withdrew a knife. A most wicked-looking knife, designed to cause terrible bleeding wounds with its serrated edge.

[Appraisal]: Black Steel Serrated Knife, Quality: Journeyman, Durability: 20/20, Enchantments: Rot (10), Poison (10), Bleeding (10), Stymie Healing (10)

The Head Priest recoiled upon seeing the knife.

"Such blasphemy—" he began, but Isabella cut him off, sheathing the knife as she did.

"Indeed. Pacifica is to withdraw her objection to my marriage immediately, this very day, or I will enchant a thousand of these knives, donate half to the Temple of Werru, and just give away the rest to anyone who looks like they would use them."

The Head Priest's mouth fell open, and he turned to James, who merely looked at him sternly and nodded.

There was the sound of a thunderclap, though the sky was totally free of clouds, and the Head Priest spoke through clenched teeth. "The Goddess has heard your plea and withdrawn Her objection."

Isabella sneered at him and turned, long skirt fluttering, and walked away with a bounce in her step.

James sighed and turned to follow Isabella, who marched straight to Vestinia's Temple, secured their betrothal, and made a one thousand dollar donation.

Unplanned. But the priest there approved the shortest possible period of betrothal, which coincidentally meant they would be married the day after Isabella's birthday.

The wedding took place at dawn, and the celebration lasted two full days. A priest of Werru and a priestess of Vestinia both visited on the second day.

"May your enemies all fall before you," the priest of Werru blessed the couple.

"May you protect your marriage with even more fervor and determination than you have shown thus far," the priestess of Vestinia blessed them. She looked into James' eyes, and he got the sense that the goddess was aware of how he had fought to survive in the Dungeon. She then looked into Isabella's eyes and winked. "It pleases Vestinia greatly to see you challenge the Heavens themselves for the sake of your marriage."

James was slightly concerned to see the priest and priestess holding hands as they departed.

And so the Smith and the Enchantress were wed, and the entire Izguardia family breathed a sigh of relief.