POV Rebecca
The royal castle. Something so many fantasy stories of reincarnation chose to start in. An audience with the king! Pah, I wanted to slap them. They didn't really understand that a royal wouldn't risk themselves like that with a potentially hostile individual who'd just been brought to this new world.
I stopped my musing as I entered the hall of heroes. It contained several dozen statues of those who'd been summoned from another world and a few individuals of this world that had stood ridiculously far above their peers. The first statue I walked up to was of the later case.
"Lady Aneria… first griffin knightess of Monrovia and shield against the dragons and wyverns of the south…" I read the plague before looking at the statue. Aneria was a surprisingly well endowed individual, even wearing the armor of a griffon knight as she was depicted. Behind her carved into the wall was a relief of a Rilnan griffon.
A soft hand clasped mine. "The order griffon. Isn't the story amazing?"
I smiled as I looked at my companion. Blue eyes sparkled in the torchlight underneath her amber hair, her sun kissed skin glowing with vitality. Her voluptuous figure made me burn with envy. Veria Alison Yuri Vandame, crown Princess of Monrovia.
"Not as amazing as you were last night." I said with a wink.
She blushed and quickly looked away as I teased her a bit more. I moved down the hall, looking at a statute that caught my eye with its grandeur. Even faded with age I could tell this was an important individual to the Queendom's history. The plague read more like an epic.
"Bianca Vandame… first Queen of Monrovia. Vanquisher of the Hurdanese, Bane of demon kind, slayer of the thirteenth daemon king." I looked up at the statue of what could be described as an ordinary woman. In a crowd of women you'd never notice her unless she wore something garish.
"My distant ancestor." Veria muttered darkly. "She ruined the perfectly good system of the first hero, Tacitus."
I looked down the hall a bit to see who she was talking about, there was nothing but an empty alcove. There remains of the relief were still on the wall. A house of justice and coins was all that remained.
She looked into the empty alcove with a sigh. "Monrovia used to be a prosperous kingdom before Bianca. Her arrival changed so much for the worse for our people."
"How so?" I asked as I looked at her profile.
"She married into the royal family of the time, she pushed laws that franchised nobles at the commoner's expense. She consolidated power that had been dispersed among the people back into the hands of the nobles. The large group that refused her ascension to the throne upon the king's death would form the breakaway kingdom of Verdan."
I nodded along. "Was everything she did bad for Monrovia?" I asked.
She shook her head with a giggle. "Of course not, you're a full Countess aren't you?"
She motioned for me to be quiet, and we listened for a few moments. Hushed whispers came from further in the hall. Veria's face frosted over as we crept towards the whispers.
"Like This?" A quiet voice asked.
"Alexious! What do you think you're doing?" Veria shouted loudly at the pair making out behind the statue of a former royal. I stared, a bit shocked to see the Prince getting felt up by a maid.
"Your highness! I was merely…" the maid stammered.
"I don't care! Now get out of my sight." The maid scampered off.
Alexious glared at us as he straightened his shirt. "Thanks for ruining everything Veria." He spat.
"Do you know what you almost did?" Veria hissed.
"What if someone else found you? What would be going on now?" Veria grabbed Alexious's arms. "You must protect your chastity, it'll affect your chances at marriage!"
"Like you?" He shot back. "I know you diddled viscount Arongoth."
"It's different." Veria ground back.
"How? How is it any different?" He shot back.
"Because I'm a woman. You're a man."
The young prince's eyes smouldered as they landed on me. "Not going to gloat hero?"
I shook my head. What's the point? I looked at Veria. "Is it really that bad for a man?"
"Yes." She said forcefully. "Even this could ruin him."
I looked at the Prince again and his hateful eyes. "I'm sure my older brother has 'diddled' quite a few people."
The Prince stared at me in shock and Veria did as well. "What? I get that this is a different world from our home, but we aren't from here either. This place is strange to us." I said with a wink at Veria.
"Perhaps when my brother arrives in a few days you can talk to him about it?" I told the Prince.
"You're encouraging this abhorrent behavior?" Veria muttered in shock.
"Well mom used to yell at David about his frequent escapades…" I chuckled. "It felt like a new girl every week at times."
Alexious blushed crimson and stared at the floor while Veria looked at me in horror as I described some of my brother's more memorable adventures.
"Is… he really like that?" Alexious muttered.
"Not anymore. But I'll show you what he basically did." I replied as I drew close to him and grabbed his hands. Our noses were so close they almost touched.
"You're my type." I whispered in his ear. I felt his knees turning to jelly and I backed away with a teasing smile. "Had you there didn't I?"
He glared at me and bit his lip. "Your detestable!" He ran off.
"Alexious!" Veria reached out but I grabbed her hand.
"Let him sulk." I gave her a meaningful gaze.
She sighed. "What were we doing before?"
I drew close to her and stared into her eyes as my fingers traced her shoulder. "We were going to do 'that'." I licked my lips.