No Need For A Core?

After the celebratory feast, Fuyuko spent the next three days mostly eating and sleeping. It wasn't what she had wanted to do; she would rather have been getting to know her niece Mavialeko, but her body just didn't want to comply.

So instead, once she could stay awake. she had spent most of the next two days after that playing with Mavialeko. Which she might be doing today as well, except that last night, Orchid had said they needed to have a long conversation. Now they were sitting at a table in Fuyuko's room, as Orchid had said she wanted to talk there for privacy.

"There are two things we need to discuss," Orchid said. "Let us get the simpler topic out of the way first. Your father told me that you made your first assassination while you were in Cantraberg, and he thought that it might be easier for you to talk with me about it than with him. I assume this is in part so that there is less chance that he finds himself needing to tell your mothers about the conversation."

This was the simpler topic? Fuyuko wasn't sure how she should feel about that, but it certainly made her nervous. She nodded and said, "Yes."

It didn't come out easily, and forcing herself to say it made her voice sound rough, which made her glad that Orchid had insisted on a pot of hot tea with a large jar of honey on the side for the two of them to share. Fuyuko's cup was close to being tea-flavored honey, and it helped coat and soothe her throat.

"If he had been tried by a fair court using Trionean law, do you believe that he would have been sentenced to death, presuming he showed no sign of repentance? What if it were Kuiccihan law?"

Fuyuko frowned as she considered the question. "Maybe? But I'm not very sure what the law actually says about the things he did."

Orchid tapped her lips thoughtfully. "I hadn't considered that. The rules of law were drilled into me from a young age. Then again, given your patron, I should perhaps not be surprised. Well, then, do you think that Cantraberg is a significantly better place without him? Has the harm you inflicted upon him and any who might care about or depend on him been outweighed by the harm you prevented him from doing?"

"Yes." This one was a lot easier to say. There might be people who missed the bastard, but if so, Fuyuko doubted there were many, and there were certainly a lot of people who he would no longer be hurting.

"How did that make you feel?"

Orchid's words were spoken softly and gently, yet they slid into Fuyuko's heart like cold steel, reminding her of the feel and sound of her blade gliding smoothly into the side of the man's neck, and of how his body twitched for a little while before the life was completely gone. She shivered at the memory and stared down into the cup as she tried to find the words.

"Hmm, I don't think you need to say anything," Orchid said as she rose from her seat to move around to Fuyuko's side of the table to wrap an arm around her shoulders. "It's good that you disliked the act, however satisfied you felt about the results. For all that your skills are well-suited to it, I do not think the life of an assassin suits your personality. You did a good thing, in my opinion, but for someone like you, killing coldly like that too often will harm you and make you stifle your emotions to protect yourself from the pain. So only do it if you feel it is truly needed."

Orchid's words were comforting, but— "Ya said someone like me. So you're saying you're different?"

"Yes. In many ways, you and I are nearly opposites. Perhaps I should explain more about myself, because to my understanding, most who have been marked the way we have are much more like me than like you. It is, after all, part of the more complicated topic I need to talk with you about." Orchid released her gentle hug and resumed her seat.

"That might be a really good thing," Fuyuko said. "Um, when Amrydor explained things, he sort of rushed it, and bits were confusing, but he did manage to make it clear that the whole thing didn't have to be like you and Paltira. Just, the rest was sort of garbled."

"Then let us begin that. While romantic entanglements are common between a marked royal and their guardian, or guardians, they are certainly not a requirement. I feel I should also point out that the magical bonds between Paltira and myself include another layer created through a ritual. It synergizes well with the marked bond, but does not require it."

"Oh. Um, well, how are people chosen? Or why?"

Orchid smiled and shook her head. "That was already a complicated theory before we knew about Kuiccihan herself being involved. As far as I know, she hasn't yet divulged the details of her criteria, but we know a few things. The guardians are the simplest in some ways; they need to be capable of giving themselves in complete devotion to defending and serving another, and be compatible with devoting themselves to the chosen royal. This is both a strength and a weakness, but we will get into that later."

Fuyuko suddenly found it hard to swallow. The way Orchid described it sounded a lot more intense than the knightly protector ideal that Fuyuko had been imagining.

"As for the royals..." Orchid trailed off as she stared into her teacup for a little while before continuing. "You represent a radical change. Those chosen are usually women, yes, but that mostly has to do with maintaining the idealized power balance set in our kingdom's charter, with the kitsune representing the feminine half. Lady Yuriko, the kitsune spymaster who is also in charge of the protection and education of my siblings and myself, is not actually a seven-tail, nor is that her real name. She is a princess from a much earlier generation, and a nine-tail. Her bloodline is closer to the founding bloodline than mine or my father's, and that, combined with her power, means she is capable of bypassing any of the protective wards on the palace. If my father had ever grown corrupt, failed at his duties, and refused to abdicate, then it would be her duty to assassinate him to allow my oldest brother to ascend to the throne in his place."

Silence reigned for a few moments after that, as Fuyuko dealt with that revelation. Would she be required to...? But no, there was Orchid, and Fuyuko didn't have the blood relationship in question. Which meant that some day, several generations from now, Orchid might be required to play the same role as Lady Yuriko.

"This also means that any marked Royal needs to be able to play the role of caretaker of royal brats, and this is always done by a female kitsune from Azeria, so they must be willing to take on a female form for decades at a time, whether or not it is a preferred form. Now, before we continue, I need to warn you that you will not be comfortable with certain aspects of the conversation. Alternatively, I can skip getting into the other traits common amongst the chosen royals, before yourself at least."

Which probably meant that it was going to involve sex. Fuyuko sighed. "It's alright. I think I need to learn things I don't really want to know. Tell me everything. I mean, not everything, but, er, you know..." she trailed off with an awkward shrug, not knowing how to phrase it. Azeria might not be a normal sort of nation, but Fuyuko understood that she represented Azeria, and understanding people and their motives was important for how she interacted with the world.

Orchid smiled. "It's alright, I think I understand the line. Very well then. To begin with, there are aspects of me that most would find contradictory. I am extremely loyal and duty-bound; I feel the weight of my obligations heavily. I am also capable of lying, cheating, seducing, stealing, and murdering, all in the name of my duties and what I believe is a greater good. I acknowledge that these actions are not good, and in some cases are an evil, but I am certain that the evils I inflict are less than the evils I prevent."

Fuyuko nodded; while seducing was not something she could even contemplate really, and the aftermath of killing that man had been difficult to deal with, she got the point. Stealing a loaf of bread to feed to her fellow orphans was a lesser evil committed against someone whom it would harm only slightly, but it was still a minor evil that she had performed multiple times. It simply weighed less than the thought of the others going hungry, and if pushed to it, Fuyuko knew she would steal simply for her own survival as well.

"For many people," Orchid said, "this would quickly become intolerable. While it may not be entirely healthy for me to maintain this lifestyle indefinitely, I should have several decades left of being able to operate this way, and there should be another to take my place by then. Your situation is different, in part because you overlap with me when normally there are entire generations of separation, but I think we can agree that living my type of life is not for you."

She sipped her tea thoughtfully before she continued. "A somewhat secondary aspect that is generally selected for is a high level of sexuality. Suffice it to say that I was interested in such things fairly early on, and was subtly encouraged to explore that, at least, subtle by the standards of my younger self. This was a prelude to the actual training I would receive once I joined the clan. While it is a secondary aspect, relative to mental flexibility, it has proven to be a very useful trait when acting as a spy. I can... Mm, no, that's a bit more than I should share with you. Well, let's just say it makes it easier to play some parts than it would be otherwise."

That made sense to Fuyuko, though it helped if she translated to something she understood better. It would be easy for her to pretend to be someone like a cook because she loved food and she'd enjoy learning how to make what ever food was involved. She did, however, have a question that Orchid's explanation had reminded her about. "Um, about joining the clan. So, before you did that, you weren't a kitsune at all, right? How did you become a kitsune?"

"Well, while I suspect that the connection to the clan's founder helps, we get the same benefit as other marked, and can gain the abilities of our associated clan that we train under, per our mark. We just always train with the Azeria clan, and that means we develop kitsune powers. Wait a moment. That means that you are marked to train with the clan, just like any other princess."

Fuyuko's mouth dropped open at the implication. "You mean, I could become a kitsune? Or also a kitsune?"

"I think so? But, well, I don't know. It matches everything else I know, so I don't see why it wouldn't work. I just don't know how it would interact with your existing heritages." Orchid shook her head. "I'll talk with Aia about it when I go home to make my reports. Back onto selection and duties of the marked." She blew out a soft breath. "This is going to be difficult, but bear with me."

After Fuyuko's nod, Orchid continued. "I mentioned the strengths and weaknesses of our guardians earlier. They are our shields, and like any other shield, they will perform their job better when well taken care of. This can be difficult at times, for a variety of reasons, but it is up to you to ensure that at the least, they don't do anything needlessly reckless on your behalf. Which brings us to the most difficult part of our duties."

It was clear to Fuyuko that Orchid didn't want to say whatever came next, but Orchid only allowed herself a moment's hesitation. "Ultimately, a shield's job is to protect its wielder, no matter the cost to the shield. Though unlikely, there is always a chance that you may need to spend your shield as currency. To tell him that he needs to stand fast for as long as he can, so that you have a chance to complete a mission or to get vital information home, back to your family. It... I, I am not as good for Paltira as he is for me, but if I ever had to do that, I don't know how I would live with myself afterward. I know that I would do it, if that price was the only way, but I think it would break me."

The idea twisted Fuyuko's stomach. She understood what Orchid was saying, and she could see the sort of situation where that call might need to be made, but she didn't think she'd cope with asking a friend to die for her very well either. She rose from her seat to go kneel next to Orchid's chair and wrap her arms around the suddenly frail-looking princess, and they held each other for comfort for a long while.

When Orchid spoke again, her voice was very soft. "They have a similarly awful duty of last resort. If things go wrong, whether to prevent capture by powerful people or to put an end to madness, it is the duty of a guardian to claim the life of the royal they guard." Her lips quirked in a humorless smile. "It's almost ironic; for all the power and sway we hold over our guardians, we are utterly powerless against them, should their intent to take our lives be sincere. I only know of two incidences of this ever happening, and in both instances, the guardian did not long outlive the princess. One died in an impossible last stand, the other took his own life, using the princess's blade."

That was somehow just as awful and yet weirdly comforting. Fuyuko couldn't imagine ever losing control of her transformed state again, but at the same time, she was strong enough now to be very dangerous if she ever did go insane and couldn't be returned to herself. She'd rather have someone like Amrydor stop her with lethal force than have a feral version of herself hurting or killing people.

Several minutes of silence passed as Fuyuko processed everything, and she imagined that Orchid felt at least some of the same comfort that Fuyuko felt in knowing that there was someone else to talk to who was in the same situation.

Orchid cleared her throat and said, "Well, that takes care of all the major things you need to know. As for your specific responsibilities, well, technically, you could be assigned a task by Lady Yuriko or Aia, as the king does not get directly involved with anything involving spies or the clan. But that isn't going to happen, or at least, not directly. A request for your services might be made to Satsuki."

Fuyuko stared at her in surprise. "Satsuki? Not my parents?"

"No," Orchid said with a smile, "not your parents. Lady Satsuki is taking up a role similar to the one that the clan plays, relative to the kingdom. If she asks you to do something, it may be something that she does not want your parents knowing about, but that will benefit Azeria. I think you understand why it might be best if Mordecai and Moriko do not know things that no one wants Kazue to know about. Now, let's talk about some example missions I have undertaken that seem within your skill set. Simple stealth has been my tool plenty of times as well, though you have the additional burden of not being able to lie, which restricts subterfuge."

After returning to her seat, Fuyuko took a somewhat shaky sip of her tea to make her feel better before the rest of the conversation. It was hours later when she felt a mental nudge from Mama M. "If you two are done, we want to talk with you for a little bit. Then the rest of the day is yours."

"Um, my parents want to talk with me."

"Alright," Orchid said. "We have covered the important matters; the rest was simply to expand your education and thoughts on the subject of spy craft. We can always talk more another time, and you should always feel free to talk to me about anything you need, though circumstances might require discretion. Go talk with your parents."

They left Fuyuko's room together, then parted ways, with Orchid heading out to the balcony to leave Krystraeliv. Fuyuko's parents were waiting for her at the kitchen table, which meant that it should be a fairly light conversation, and she could tell that Amrydor was there too.

She did, however, find one small surprise. Mavialeko was sitting on Amrydor's shoulders, her bare feet lightly kicking his chest as she moved and gestured. It seemed that she had declared him to be her steed for the day, which meant that he had to carry her wherever he went. Fuyuko giggled at the scene of Amrydor pacing around the table as Mavi ordered him about. He gave her some side eye when she laughed, but Fuyuko noticed that he was still smiling, and she was pretty certain he did not mind playing 'horsey' for the little dryad.

"Come on, sit down and have a snack," Mama K said. "We're just going to go over a general schedule for you over the next several months, so you know what to expect. This involved Amrydor too of course, and if there are any issues with it, now's the time for us to figure it out."

There was a tasty spread of meats, cheeses, and bread laid out on the table, and Fuyuko was happy to dig in.

"So," Papa said, "first up is about a month of light training to maintain form and fitness while you recover."

"Recover?" Amrydor said before Fuyuko could, partially because her mouth had been stuffed at the time.

"Yes. You are young enough that pushing yourselves as hard as you two did, both on the training mission and while we were freeing Svetlana, is going to have some temporary repercussions. While it won't affect your skills, you will find it difficult to put as much power into them as you have been able to for the past couple of months. It's still good for your long-term growth, but that amount of power just isn't sustainable in the long run for people your age, generally speaking." Papa's eyes flicked up to Mavialeko, who was obliviously teasing Amrydor about being a weakling now, so he had to get plenty of exercise as her steed to make himself strong again.

"Anyway," Mama M said as she finished a bite of her own snack, "After that, it seems about time for you to go back to train with the clan for a month or two, and it might be good for Amrydor to join you, Shizoku, and Derek in training. When Aia is satisfied with everyone's progress, the four of you can travel to Ekuilance together. Amrydor needs to continue his training with the temple, and it'll be the first time going to the capital for the rest of you. You'll probably be staying the winter there too."

The hairs on the back of Fuyuko's neck prickled as a sense of foreboding overcame her. "Why would we need to stay there so long?" she asked with a dry throat.

Mama K's smile looked sinister to her as Mama K said, "Well, you and Shizoku need to be introduced to court and gain some experience there, and it seems that Derek will need to be acclimated as well. Oh, and though she won't be part of your training regimen at the clan, Ruby has volunteered to escort you to the clan and then to Ekuilance. She plans on doing some separate training during your stay at the clan."

Such cruel betrayal. Months and months of having to be a 'lady' for the court. Fuyuko could feel her doom encroaching, then another stab of betrayal as her supposed guardian snickered at her dismay. When she glared at Amrydor, he just smirked. "I've had courtly training included in my courses for years. I suppose I could even help out if you need dance lessons. Hopefully, you won't step on my feet too often."

Ignoring him seemed like the best idea now, and Fuyuko tried one last desperate plea. "But that would include my birthday, and it would only be my second birthday since you adopted me. Surely you don't want me to be away from home for that?"

"Fuyuko," Papa said with a smile, "do you really think even a winter storm would keep us from visiting you for your birthday?"

She shook her head in defeat. "No, you would just change into a big ol' dragon and carry Mama K and Mama M."

Amrydor paused in his roaming about as Mavi's gallant steed to ruffle Fuyuko's hair. "Cheer up; the capital is closer to the ocean, and its food market is at least as big as Artgoi's market."

Fuyuko perked up at that idea. Well, that did make her feel a bit better about staying there. And if she was going to be at court, there were going to be feasts as well.

"Um," Mama K said, "there is one other thing, which is more about what might be happening when you get back. Would you mind having a baby sibling? Mordecai knows how the magic works that the elven queens use, so all three of us could be the direct parents at the same time." She hesitated a moment before adding, "and if it wouldn't bother you, Satsuki could be one of the fathers too."

A flood of different emotions filled Fuyuko. Part of her was excited and happy about the idea of having a baby brother or sister. Part of her was also worried; the idea that they might be replacing her with a 'real' child of theirs worming its way into her heart. But, they were asking her, not telling her. They wanted to make sure that she was ready to have another member of the family, and that thought helped calm down the fear that she might be 'replaced'. Fuyuko knew in her head that the idea was foolish, but anything resembling the idea that she might lose these parents too struck hard.

By the time she had sorted her thoughts and feelings, Amrydor had already fled, using Mavialeko as an excuse to go someplace where he could 'gallop' properly. Coward. Fuyuko ignored the fact that she'd have done the same thing in his place.

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Sorry, that was, um, a surprise. But yeah, I'd love to have a baby to spoil, and I can help out too. I've change diapers and stuff at the sanctuary. Oh, um, Satsuki... er, just making sure, would that make her..."

Mama M shook her head. "No, she'd only be a parent of the baby. Our relationship with her is different, and she wouldn't be adopting you or Carmilla. That just didn't seem like something that would work well for anyone."

Fuyuko smiled in relief and nodded. "Then yeah, everything's fine." She kind of had to ignore the whole thing about how all of that would work; she really didn't want to know, but that would be true no matter who the father or mother of a baby sibling would be. She liked Satsuki well enough, but the idea of calling her mother just didn't sit right.

The past year had been strange for Fuyuko, but it looked like the next year might be even more interesting, just in different ways.