21 The Pup and the Unruly (3)

I knew that the date had really gone for the best when I woke up to a well-placed kiss from the lips from a certain young woman. Mya's mood was brilliant despite how early in the morning it was.

I was relieved that my hard work had been well-received, and I was given further confirmation of this when I saw her happily spend her time talking with guards and other courtiers around. I knew she was trying to make an effort to entertain herself as I went through the first batch of papers, being quite sure myself that she had planned to check on me just before lunchtime.

Having a lot to unravel after yesterday, I decided to start the usual signing session by dealing with my new knights. Both were easy to register as part of the Kingdom, the only limitation being that I would've to find them later that day to have them sign the documents that confirmed their legitimate connection to my fief, while also bringing them the proper cloaks and uniforms to wear from now on.

Since Gareth was still young and not that developed in terms of curves, it was going to be easy for her to wear the masculine clothes… while also making sure nobody but a few knew she was actually a woman.

Testing the waters with Altuos about the matter, the man was quick to point out that one thing was being a female warrior, while another was being a female knight. The real difference lingered on the basis knighthood is bestowed to men and only men. There was no restriction to limit women to become fighters, but they shouldn't be able to become a 'chevalier' in official circumstances.

I knew she was going to accept, albeit reluctantly and unhappy on the fact that she was meant to dodge some awkward situations and be subjected to others all for the sake of keeping her gender a secret. Not something I liked, but society wasn't something that could be changed in a single stroke of laws. Social changes were gradually implemented. Some took little, some can take whole centuries to become firmly accepted by everyone.

And knowing how many obstacles I would have to face to implement even the simplest recognition of women's valor in roles beyond the ones of housewives and 'fair maidens' was going to take a fair lot to be implemented.

I settled down for minor probings to see if it could be done in a year for now, and maybe try to push for more in the next five. Not ideal, but at least it was progress of some sort. And definitely more than I expected to be able to do compared to the act of trying to convince the Church that killing Jews isn't justifiable through the crime of 'king-slaying' since they are 'behind' Jesus' crucifixion.

Like seriously, the current state of society had a lot more problems to be brought up, and some of which were going to be essential to reach the same degree of equality I was familiar with. There was some hope of fixing that in due time… and by 'due time' I meant hopefully the next few decades from now. And if I manage to live that long.

There were so many threats that just pushed me to evaluate a tougher foreign stance against the neighbors up above. The Lothians were already showing some troubles in keeping hold of the new territories. When the news that my people were enjoying better conditions than the ones King Lot offered to his subjects, the brief relief of being spared from the Germanic yoke was finally wiped out from their minds as riots started to intensify in the area.

With the main army still focusing on keeping some current issues by the small gap to Ireland contained, only small forces had been deployed to deal with the revolts… which meant a swift attack to conquer these lands was doable and a brilliant opportunity to exploit. And since Marcus was eager to put to work the current state of the big professional army we had under our control, I decided to make a risky move and see if I could dodge official war through an ambitious and reckless plan of mine.

Medieval times had a noble concept of war that was widespread in many cultures. The simple process war: There is a proclamation, then the battle, and ultimately the loser has to pay plots of land and money to the winner. But there was a concept that was well known in modern times that was going to sound pretty 'outrageous' in the eyes of many rulers. And that was the use of assassins, spies, and the terrifying military tactic that was false-flag operations.

While at first the concept might sound odd and not easy to connect with the entire situation, the plan was fairly simple in terms of application, and devastating if everyone went with their parts accordingly. Having secured contacts with the rebels, it was easy to get them to accept in their midst professional assassins and have them send flags, clothes bearing Lothian Coats of Arms, and other pieces of fabric that could be used to easily make a large number of men pass as some reinforcement from the north.

The chosen squad would enter through a small opening in the border and then, after making contact with the uppermost village that had sympathies with our kingdom, marched downward to close up on the distracted armies and crush them. The assassins would then attack and kill anyone trying to run or any officers living through the event, depriving any information beyond what we were going to tell the world to be heard about. And while it wasn't a big of a blow to the Picts' full military and since it was particularly slow since it would take a little more than a week to get the entire thing going and done, the act would prevent any good reason for Lot to try and see this as an illegal move and proclaim a 'right war' against Londinium.

In the public's eyes, despite what Morgan was going to make of it if she learned of the truth, the rebels won against the loyalists and were happily integrated within my kingdom. It was going to immensely piss off the big neighbor in the north but… I also knew they would have little legitimacy to declare war directly at my kingdom. They could, but then I would have an army already set to strike at various sections of the border and chase them up to modern Scotland's borders.

Even without Ria's own support, I could technically overwhelm a good part of the land owned by King Lot, but then I would also need to keep an eye out for any backstabbing attempt from the petty kingdoms in the middle of England. And that kind of security was going to need part of the army diverted onto it if I didn't want for any greedy bastards coming in and sweeping over some of the conquered land.

Despite how easy it was right now to strike at Lot, the rest of the mad ride was going to be incredibly unpleasant to handle. Especially if the man decides to ally himself with Vortigern. That was actually something that I partly feared about since… I knew that there was a lot of frightening stuff the guy was remembered as in some accounts of his existence. Most of those labeled him as a necromancer- as someone that ended up making contacts with Demons and summon other satanic creatures through magic.

Knowing Magecraft is a thing, and having learned that Demon Boars were pretty common to find in the Land of Shadows, I was legitimately worried that I was going to face a dangerous problem the moment I ended up dealing with him. Maybe I should really wait for Ria before going for a full war with Lot. Still, I was going to risk it with that plan of mine. I needed to appear legitimately concerned with my fellow man's plight if I wanted to get all that sweet rep to legitimize the kingdom even more.

Just as I mused over these grim topics, a knock by the door brought me back to reality as I turned to the origin of the sound with a frown.

"Yes?"

"It's me."

I smiled in minor relief, glad that now I had someone to distract me from falling once again in that kind of thoughts.

"Come in, Mya," I muttered calmly, and thus the girl entered the room and took a seat in front of me.

"Are you busy?"

"Not really, no. Today it's just simple things I can continue for tomorrow since it's not much," I admitted with a nod.

"I'm happy. That means we can spend some time together after lunch?"

"I don't see why not," I replied with a smile. "Were you thinking about some more dancing?"

Her smile widened at that reminder. She was a little surprised when she first heard classic music through my phone, but then she took a distinct liking for anything that was made by German composers. Beethoven was so far her favorite, and she loved dancing at his tunes.

"Maybe, but I was thinking about something else," Mya added with a huff. "Something… new."

"Like what? Do you have anything in specific you want to do in the afternoon?"

…

"How about we cook something?" She proposed. "Like something that isn't cakes or anything sweet. Something for one of the big meals."

"Lunch or dinner?"

The young woman took a little longer to get that answer out, and she started with a quick nod.

"I think I've an idea what we can do for dinner."

"For… dinner?" I was perplexed by the fact it was for that much later.

"How about… we try to make something from your homeland?"

I blinked. "Really?"

"Yes. I don't think you've actually tried to make something you're more accustomed to," She explained with a curious hum. "So why not try now that we have the chance?"

I didn't have anything to use against that point. To be honest, I thought about trying my hands at making something on my own but… most of the dishes I knew about were based on ingredients that I couldn't create or that weren't there to begin with. Considering Tomato is still limited in America, I could cross out standard pizzas and a good half of possible pasta variations off the list. Same for anything that required spices and other stuff beyond Europe itself.

I spent a couple of quiet minutes thinking about this very matter and I eventually decided to settle for something quite tame but still good.

"I've a good idea. But we will have to start to work on it once we're done with lunch. The preparation is quite long."

"We can do it," The girl happily accepted the challenge. "Can you tell me what it is?"

"A secret. But I can tell you it's a salt-based food, and that you will probably love it."

"Probably?" She frowned while saying that. "Of course I will love it."

…

"You don't even know what it is," I pointed out and she giggled at that.

"Well, are you going to prepare something bad?"

"No-"

"Then I know I will love it."

…

"Are you reading more of these books?"

"Yes! Can you tell?"

I nodded. "I sure can. But make sure to not get too influenced by those. Sometimes they can be wrong too."

"I know. I'm not… that silly."

That pause really got her to sell the point across, and Mya could only pout as I regarded that adorable response with an amused smile.

The rest of the morning was wasted in more words, but the topics didn't stem from anything beyond simple and unimportant. Some fun back-and-forth would ensue from time to time, but nothing that actually resulted in serious bickering. In the end, I did make good promise of what I told Mya we were going to do, and started to prepare the first step needed to get that particular dish done.

Teaching her how to handle the unique dough we needed for the food ended up taking a while, but she seemed to take quick interest in the applications of this specific compound. Eventually the resulting four small balls of dough were put inside one of the cupboards that was meant to be used to leave specific ingredients, only to be recovered later that day when I had to mold the dough and fill it with the rest of the ingredients.

Despite my high expectations for today's dinner, I was quickly surprised to learn from one of the guards that a certain someone decided to pay a quick visit. And I was quick to walk up to where our current guest was patiently staying by.

"I didn't expect to find you here now," I muttered as I took a seat beside a certain distracted teacher.

Scathach hummed quietly, her stare aimed at the small courtyard which was being used by Marcus and his newest student. Gaheris was surprisingly having a tough time trying to keep calm with the taunts used by the rowdy man, and that lessened his capacity to fight the veteran at full strength.

Instead, the blond was getting pushed left and right by the relentless attacks from the military leader, and he seemed to fail to understand why that was happening to him.

"I didn't expect you to recruit a new warrior to your court," She hummed quietly. "Gaheris, he has potential to be great."

"He sure does," I admitted calmly, looking as the boy recoiled and recovered from two kicks landing on his cheeks. "But I believe it pales a little when compared to his sister. She is currently with Lancelot."

Interest appeared within her red eyes, but the proud woman didn't inquire at first as she allowed the news to linger without answer for a little while. Then, she sighed and turned at me with a curious look.

"And why do you believe so?"

"Both siblings have the same drive to improve, but Gaheris is quite stubborn and difficult to work with if his teacher doesn't know how to handle his strong personality," I explained quietly. "I would dare to say that Gareth is someone that listens and knows how working on her mistakes is better than turning every comment into a full-fledged session of bickering."

"I would be lying if this reminds me of the past. Cu was a little less… foolish about his pride," The former queen pointed out. "He was fiery, but never too arrogant in displaying this when the situation called for seriousness."

…

"Teacher… can you tell me more about him?"

"I remember telling you to not ask me about that," She lamented quietly. "Are you a fool too?"

"At times," I confessed with extreme guilt. "But I guess that's why I'm studying under such a brilliant teacher."

Scathach sighed. "Flattery will hardly take you anywhere."

"Which is why I'm trying to stay here and ask. Moving would be tough and-" I paused, my body tensed up as the woman silently moved her arms to hand by my shoulders and… then she wrapped it around my neck to pull me closer to her.

"Right now I can strangle you and put an end to this conversation. Do you want to perish because of this?"

…

Instead of directly answering that query, I merely lifted my hands up, between her arm and my neck. Then I turned to her and smiled.

"If I don't try, then I can't exactly call myself your student, you know that, right?"

I wasn't surprised when she actually went through with her threat, I felt my arms hurting as I tried to unwrap her own away from my head. She was quite stubborn and her hold was deadly strong, and it was all with a single arm. I slowly felt my resistance falter and her arm calmly approaching my face… but then it stopped as a jolt went down her spin.

Surprise appeared on the woman's face as I had sneakily pulled one of my hands away from her 'attack' and quickly reached her belly. With her clothes still offering a close sensation to her body, I gave a quick poke on her left side, swiftly gaining a shiver out of her. It was in that moment that I caught sight of a real weakness that I hadn't noticed until now.

Scathach was ticklish… and I was in range for a full-fledged counterattack. She barely had enough time to realize what I had planned, but I was too quick and too close for her to dodge my hands as I started to tickle her mercilessly. And in that exceptional moment of pure victory, I was blessed with a pitch of voice I hadn't ever thought of hearing.

Her lovely chuckles filled the halls and she was forced to let go of my neck as I continued with my brilliant counter… that is, until the woman managed to regain some control over herself and went to punish me for doing that to her. At first I didn't notice it, but then I felt her own hands grasp at my sides and… push me to the ground.

I tried to not stay on the ground for too long, but I was surprised with her agility in moving in for the 'kill'. I groaned as she sat down on my chest and stared down at me with righteous fury plastered on her face.

"Is… Is it too late to apologize?"

"Yes. Right now, you leave me no choice… but go ahead with my plan."

"Your what?"

Her answer proved to be much more than I had expected. Leaning down her face close to mine, I was swiftly engaged in a sudden kiss as the woman pressed herself on me. Surprise was what drove me to a sense of inaction for a while, but soon I managed to push her off and look at her in shock.

"What was that?"

"A reward, but I believe it's officially a greeting between two close individuals."

"I mean- Why? You know that I'm going to marry Mya!" I remarked, getting a little angry at that sassy response.

"Oh, I'm well aware about this. But I took precautions to avoid any problems with your lady," The former queen admitted. "It wasn't easy, but she came up with a curious agreement to allow me this little chance of… relief."

"W-What?"

"One minutes spent kissing… is equal to a full hour she gets to have me around to cuddle with."

…

"I… I think I've to ask again… WHAT?!"

"No yelling," The fierce warrior commented. "Or else I might have to silence you with an unorthodox manner."

"Y-You can't be serious."

"I've been sealed off from the world for centuries, and you're my apprentice. Apologies if it wasn't clear that I might start feeling rather interested in your body," She flatly commented. "Still, I've to remind you that I will keep things rather simple and not too sinful considering the teachings of your God."

"You actually told Mya!?"

"Yes. She was annoyed at first, but then I voiced the fact I wasn't trying to steal you from her," Scathach recounted. "And then I brought up that I would've done pretty much everything for a chance at that. She seemed rather keen with the whole… cuddling process."

My jaws dropped at this. I wasn't sure if I wanted to be more shocked by the fact Mya had just gone through with that without much resistance or… because my own teacher was still aiming at me despite my own reluctance.

"I-I thought I said that-"

"You weren't going to touch me the same way you would with your wife," The former queen interrupted and concluded for me. "Which is why I've only asked for this. And why I made sure to have Mya know what is happening instead of betraying what little trust she has for me."

"I still didn't-"

"Do you want me to stop?" She asked. "Do you really want me to stop giving you leverage on myself? To be subjected to this kind of care on my part?"

"I- This isn't just right."

"By what definition is this wrong? There is no cheating, and I'm not forcing you to taint your wedding. In fact, you can see it as a preparation of sorts since kissing becomes an important part of a relationship, so it would only be proper for you to be prepared to deliver when the time is right," The woman pressed on. "Plus, you can consider this as training too. You can test your capacity to keep yourself from breathing for long times."

"I don't think that works."

"It's either that, or something Mya might find rather… distasteful."

"I will not ask," I decided, getting a nod from the teacher.

"Good, I wasn't planning to offer that very tale on my own volition."

For a moment, I felt rather glad that there was no escalation out of this. But as I regarded this situation once again, I couldn't help but realize that she was still pressing herself onto me and… she was sneakily trying to get another kiss out of it.

"W-What about me?"

"I thought we had that point solved already."

"I believe we don't," I remarked. "In fact, you just brought up some benefits but-"

"Do you want to do this, yes or not?"

…

"I… why?"

"Because why not?"

"I mean it, why?"

…

She sighed. "I guess it's because I know you will not abuse this offer. You're not someone that asks more than they are offered in this kind of thing and… I believe we can both find a greater connection as mentor and apprentice."

…

"I… I suppose- if Mya is fine with this-"

"I will take that as a yes," She interrupted again, and I sighed.

I was actually going to say yes on my own, but I suppose her nerves had to be close to explode in this intense situation. I half-expected her to go down for just a couple more kisses and then set me free…

And then I realized how wrong I was.

"By the way, how long until it's time for dinner to be ready?"

I frowned at the unexpected query.

"I… I think an hour or so?"

Scatchach nodded, a chilling smile forming on her face.

"Good, then I guess I will have to lend my body as a pillow to your curious wife for sixty hours."

"Wha-Mffht?"

And from that moment until dinner, I was solely smooched for a solid hour. With pauses, very few of those… but still enough to not see me die by asphyxiation.

I wasn't sure how to treat this kind of circumstance but… now I had this new problem to handle. And I knew this was going to be scandalous if I wasn't able to moderate any possible leaks about this very situation.

Scathach didn't seem to mind, and neither was Mya as she snuggled close to her new pillow. Sleeping in the same bed soon proved to be an awkward circumstance than an adorable one.