Chapter 126: Book 3 Chapter 2: Creating your own tension

Taminarda’s POV

Well, this was all getting off to a rather bad start. Taminarda could tell this princess was definitely going to be a hand-full. He sat on the rather lavish couch watching the princess’ humans chatting with a baby elf who he had been told was to be the princess’ knight. He had also been warned not to ever call the princess’ humans “pets.” The conditions under which this information had come to him though had recently shaken him to the core and left him absolutely petrified at the idea of further interaction with her.

Soon after he had been allowed into the princess’ room and introduced him to her attendants, explaining his situation, she asked something about an imp in a cage that had been placed on her tea table. Apparently, it had been brought here by her familiar by the orders of the dryad of Cundo village. This seemed to upset the princess quite a bit. That was not something Taminarda ever wanted to experience again.

She had been muttering something, and she let off a terrifying aura. It was not the first time Taminarda had felt a dragon aura, but the aura of someone at the royalty level was just in a different league entirely. He could hardly even breathe. Normally, as a gnome, a dragon’s aura had less of an impact on him than it did to the elves in the area. It usually wasn’t any more than an unsettling feeling, a feeling that let him know he would likely be killed by the one letting it off if he made a wrong move. However he always felt as though he could still move and flee if the one letting off the aura actually decided to make a move against him. In this case however, he knew that while under the effects of such an oppressive and overpowering aura the princess could calmly walk right up to him and stick a blade in his gut and he would not even be able to clutch his wound to keep the blood inside as he fell to the ground and bled out.

All this was without her even focusing on him. This anger was clearly directed at someone else, the dryad. It was also only this intense for a few seconds before it tapered down significantly. But, those two or three seconds were absolutely terrifying. Terrifying enough that even after it was just a memory, that memory was enough to keep the fear rattling around inside his brain.

The princess left the room shortly after that, and Taminarda was relieved. However, upon a quick look around, he very quickly realized he was the only person still conscious. The attendants, as well as the imp, had all simply collapsed and lost consciousness. This left him, a person who had only just arrived a minute ago, to care for the two fairy nobles.

Once they had woken up, they told him about how this was not the first time such an event happened. The previous time she had gotten this worked up was apparently when lady Gwilitphen had called the princess’ humans pets. This had offended her a great deal as well, but apparently it was absolutely nothing like the pure murderous rage she had just let off. They had asked him not to tell the princess about the fringe effects her anger just had on them. It seemed she was unused to how strong her aura was an the effects it had on others, and finding out she had likely just nearly killed her attendants was not going to help her already rocky mental state.

Seriously, how was he supposed to handle a situation like this? Well, at the very least she seemed to have had the presence of mind to draw her aura in a little, even as it was very obvious she was only growing more and more angry. This likely meant she was somewhat conscious of the effects her aura was having on them and did not want to hurt them, but the lack of control when it could do that much damage was…

Taminarda was snapped out of those thoughts as the princess re-entered the room. She seemed to have regained some of her dignified air. When she had last left the room, she had a creepy air of false sweetness about her, but now she seemed quite serious and contemplative. Perhaps she just had a talk with someone who had helped her to settle her mind a little? Taminarda tried to find any cue he could in her behavior to indicate her thoughts. He had been so shaken by what just happened earlier that he felt as though reading her had become a task his very life depended on. He was deeply regretting his agreement to be her companion now.

When she came in, she had a brief talk with her humans and young knight-to-be in a strange language that seemed to only be spoken by the four of them as well as her familiar who likely learned it as a result of their bond. Taminarda had heard the human language before, he even went to the effort of learning enough to communicate in it somewhat, but this was nothing like that strange lilting language. It sounded a little more harsh than the human or elven language with a lot of hard consonants, he really couldn’t understand how a people could communicate in a language like that. His ears were starting to hurt just hearing the princess speaking it.

After her conversation with them, she had her changeling familiar fetch her a paper and a quill pen with some ink, and began writing out rows and rows of information in a language he did not recognize as well as a rough drawing of a diagram with seven circles. This was starting to get his attention. He might not recognize the language, but he could recognize from the way it was put together that it was something technical. His curiosity was peaked, and he also knew he had to somehow make a connection of some sort with this princess for the sake of both his mission and maybe even his safety depending on how short-tempered she could really be.

This seemed like a pretty good opportunity. He could state his curiosity as well as have a chance to approach her. But, how was he supposed to approach? He decided to walk around to her side of the table, watching carefully for any kind of reaction for her. She glanced up at him, but quickly went back to work. He took that to be a lack of rejection and took a seat next to her. She finished writing the line she was in the middle of and let out a sigh as she pressed a hand to her forehead. “Hello mister… uhh… it was Taminarda, right?”

“Yes, that is correct your highness.” He replied. She let out a sigh. It seemed like she was annoyed. Great, it looks like he DID manage to do something wrong. But, all he could do was remain where he was as stiff as a statue until she let him know exactly what it was.

“So, your reason for being here is because you were supposed to be some form of casual companion for me, was that correct?” She asked.

“Y-yes, that is correct your highness.” He said.

“Well…” She paused in the middle of whatever she was thinking. “I think you are probably going to have a hard time with that if you are going to insist on all those formal ways of addressing me.” After saying this much, she pushed herself up off the floor and sat on the couch next to him. “You can call me Aerien, or princess if you must be formal. You had probably best drop that whole ‘your highness’ thing though, that’s just putting yourself beneath me. That’s not going to work for making any kind of companion dynamic.”

The princess threw herself back on the couch and sighed. “Actually,” she continued, “I think I would probably appreciate it if you could act the same way with me as you would behave with your peers. I was actually very much like you in my last life, I heard from Sagel that you were some kind of master craftsman. I was a master of a combat art as well as a healer of sorts in my last life, and it actually hasn’t been too long since then. I am used to a little bit of formality because of that position, but I can feel the (screws) slowly tightening on me with all this formality stuff everyone pours on me since I became a princess. It would be really nice to just have someone I can relate to as though they were an equal and just disregard all this status stuff.”

Taminarda was stunned by her suddenly opening up to him like this. What had gotten into her all of a sudden? Why now? This was all getting to be a little much for him to handle. She wanted him to treat a powerful royal with the ability to wipe out half the lower court with a thought like he was equal to her? That was… really stretching the realm of what he could do. That was a ludicrously risky thing to actually do. If she were to suddenly change her mind, a mere word about the way he had been interacting with her would be enough to have him executed. But, if he didn’t do as she said, would she become angry and do it herself? Also, what is that word she threw in there? “screws” it sounded like it was likely a word from that language she was using before. Well, whatever it was, he was starting to feel like it was him who was having this tighten down on him.

She got a displeased look on her face as he continued to remain silent. Not good. He had to at least say something. “I, uhh… I am not really certain it is the same, umm… princess. I have some power that I can use in metal crafting, but I find it strange to call anything that can bring someone the degree of power you possess a mere art. It really is a different level.”

“Hmph!” She gave a scornful and dismissive expression to his words. “My world had a particular quality to it. The power those who come from my world possess is just something they gain by nature of living in our world, it is not a product of any form of cultivation or anything. Their souls come to this world and they are simply born incredibly powerful.”

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“Ah, yes, I believe you said something about that before, uhh… princess. But, didn’t you also say that you had engaged in some cultivation that brought you above the others from your world?”

“Our old world resisted the very concept of power that could be granted by cultivating your spirit. Despite the imense spirit energy in the very air enhancing anyone who was exposed to it, the very same over-abundance of energy made it so everyone was also simultaneously driven down in their power. It was effectively as though every single person in my world was stuck eternally at the first rank, and all that cultivating did for you was to give you a greater presence of mind and calmness of the spirit. This whole concept of my being so much stronger than anyone and everyone around me is an entirely new experience. To be quite honest, it terrifies me. I nearly killed Guilitphen the first time I encountered her, all I wanted to do was to express I did not like something she had said. I thought I was only talking, but it turned out my aura had a power to harm people and I was unaware… oh no!”

The princess suddenly sat straight up and looked around the room. “Taminarda, you said earlier that Gwilitphen and Esgal were out gathering food for the boys. Is this true? Please at least tell me they are Ok.” It seemed she had just realized how the manner in which she’d left the room earlier must have affected them, and it looks like she really was devastated by the realization. They had made him promise not to tell her about it, this had unsettled him when he heard it, but now he could clearly see why they had said it. This princess was not the dignified picture of nobility he had seen her as when he was first brought to this place, she was an average person thrust into a position and trying her best to adapt out of necessity, just like him. She was also not the raging tyrant using her great power to attack everyone who displeased her, she was someone unaware of her own power which had increased a thousand fold without giving her time to adapt.

In it’s own way, such a person may be even more frightening to be around than a tyrant. You could keep a tyrant happy with enough groveling and careful action, but it was entirely different with someone who genuinely means you no harm but causes harm anyway. Even when they show the best of intentions, even when they try their hardest to be aware, the slightest misstep or miscalculated thought put into action can cause the people weaker than them to suffer immensely even when they only wished those people well. This meant that remaining near her meant hoping and trusting that she would be putting in the effort to watch her actions very carefully. But, the situation they were in now and the people they were dealing with made caution something that was unlikely.

As Taminarda was concerned about what this meant for himself, he quickly realized the mistake in his own actions when he saw the princess studying his expression, and her own face began to show fear and panic. “Taminarda! Please! What happened to them!?” She demanded. Well, it looked like he was going to have to break his promise to them.

“They did survive your highness, but they did not fare well when they were exposed to your aura. They asked me not to tell you anything about their condition, they are very kind attendants, they did not want you to worry.”

The princess sighed in relief at these words and a lot of the worry disappeared, but she was still quite concerned. “How bad off are they?” She asked in a much stronger and less panicked tone of voice.

“They are still able to function, but their spirits were injured enough that they both feel they cannot afford to remain in your presence. One more similar injury could mean their deaths.”

The princess sighed and rested her face in her hand. Or rather, her thumb, index, and middle fingers which were placed on half of her face. It was definitely a very adult motion, and the reason you don’t often see kids doing it immediately became obvious as her head was simply too large compared to those fingers, causing her to immediately fumble and then look at her hand in annoyance. She sighed again.

“Thank you for telling me this.” She said. “Ta-mi-nar-da, hmm… do you mind if I call you Tam? As I told you, I would like for us to have a more casual interaction, so it is perfectly acceptable if you refuse.”

“Hmm… I…” Taminarda sighed. He was softening up now that he had seen the princess so vulnerable and genuinely remorseful at the harm she had caused unwittingly, but… “I am afraid I cannot allow such disrespect to this name, I inherited it from my master and it is a point of pride for any master craftsman. It would dishonor the entire lineage of the position from before myself and also to any apprentice I pass it down to.”

“I… I’m sorry, I was unaware.” The princess responded.

“However, I suppose if you wished to be more casual in our interactions as you’ve said, perhaps if you wish for me to call you by your name, I ought to do the same. My name before I took on my master’s name was Logim. It should be perfectly acceptable for you to call me that.”

The princess nodded and had a gentle smile. “Well, Logim then. Good to meet you once again.” She offered her hand. Taminarda was confused. “Ah, I am sorry. My world had a custom when two people meet of grasping each other’s hand and shaking them.”

“Shaking, you say?” Taminarda responded, slightly confused. However, he extended his own hand in a manner similar to the motion the princess just performed. He was still unsure of what he was doing but, as he had hoped, the princess took over the motion and firmly grasped his hand and lifted his slightly before just as firmly lowering it.

“Yes, just like that.” She said with a smile on her face. “We also had a number of subtle cues one could portray about themselves in their handshake in terms of how confident you are when you extend your hand and how firmly you grasp the other’s hand. Gripping hard enough to cause pain is considered a bad move, but a firm grasp that doesn’t cause discomfort is considered good. So, it acts as something of a show of understanding of the other as well as cooperation.”

“Hmm… it sounds kind of like dancing in that way.” Taminarda mused as he took in this information.

“Yes, very much so, something of a shortcut for all the things that dancing can show you about another person.” She sighed one more time after this as her face showed her mind was going off of this subject. “Now then, I have to figure out how I am going to make this up to Esgal and Gwilitphen. I suppose it may not be the best time for me to go to them in person. Hmm… would you be willing to tell them what we just talked about, and also that I would like them to take the time they need to recover properly before they return? I feel that if I ask Sagel to go then they may blame you for telling me and you would have no chance to defend yourself.”

“That is probably for the best.” Taminarda replied. “Yes, I will go immediately.”

That had worked out better than he had expected. As he was leaving though, he realized that he never really got to ask about what she was writing. But, now that he’d had the chance to consider it, perhaps it was a good thing he didn’t ask. It probably had something to do with her power anyway.

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