I turned and saw that the speaker was the woman who was with the king in our earlier meeting. I guessed that she was someone important, so I gave her a quick bow.
She nodded in acknowledgement before continuing, "We will be working closely together in the future. Kharilo, you will be working as the head of my honour guard. This is one of the most honourable positions we can give you that will still allow you to fight on the frontlines, where you will definitely be needed if and when other nations send their Magic Knights against us. Mourastor, as I am sure you are already aware, you will be recording and embellishing Kharilo's exploits, making absolutely certain that our enemies believe that he cannot be defeated. I will be doing what I usually do, leading our armies, acting as a foreign diplomat, and dealing with internal strife as necessary. Kharilo, you are to guard me at all times, except when I order you to sortie on the battlefield. Mourastor, you will be close to me and Kharilo, as often as possible. Any questions?"
…
"…Who are you?" I say, embarrassment colouring my voice.
The woman and Mourastor turn to look at me. The woman's face has an expression of absolute shock. She looked like I had just asked what the sky was. Mourastor on the other hand, had an expression like he was trying to figure something out. Like he had encountered an unexpected problem and wasn't sure how to solve it.
"Y-You don't recognize me?" stuttered the woman.
"I recognize you, you were the woman who was standing next to the king when I met with him earlier. Judging from the fact that you didn't leave the room when he ordered it cleared, you seem to be someone he trusts very much. Perhaps an advisor or counselor?" I answered.
"You risked your life to save me, and yet you cannot recognize my face," said the woman.
Oh shit. OH SHIT.
I immediately went down on one knee before her, "I apologize for not recognizing you Princess."
"You didn't answer my question," said the princess coolly. What question? Oh, right, she asked "why?"
"I didn't save you because of who you were. I stood my ground, because it would have been wrong to let you die. I know that it was a foolish decision, and that it likely would have changed nothing whether I stood my ground or fled, but I…I couldn't just let someone die. Especially not someone I had sworn to protect," I said.
Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Mourastor furiously scribbling something down. Before I could ask him what he was writing, the Princess spoke, "Well, since you do not know who I am, I suppose I must introduce myself. I am the Crown Princess of Kours, Kashara of House Khalimor. Pleasure to make the acquaintance of the Son of Karikhan," she said, extending her hand towards me. I looked at it for a second, before giving her a firm handshake. She barely suppressed a sigh, and said, "Do I look like a man to you?"
What does that mean?
"Obviously, you look like a woman, my Princess," I responded.
"Then why did you shake my hand?" she asked.
"I thought that was why you had extended your hand to me," I answered.
"That would be the proper way to greet a man, but that is improper when greeting a lady, or at least, a lady of my station. You are supposed to take my hand, and, while bowing, gently brush your lips against the back of my hand," she instructed. I thought for a second, digesting what she said, before putting it into practice.
"Excellent," she said, and then she hesitated a second before turning to face Mourastor, "Actually, do we want him to know the proper etiquette? Or should we shape his image to be more of a wild and uncontrollable force?"
Mourastor considered a moment before saying, "If we don't teach him the proper etiquette, there is a chance that he will come off as a country boy trying to pretend he is something that he isn't. Obviously we want to avoid this, as it will cause people to doubt whether or not he is the "Son of Karikhan". I would rather not risk it."
"Also," I said, "making me seem wild and uncontrollable may boost enemy morale rather than lower it." The Princess and Mourastor turned to look at me, seeming surprised that I was still here. Quashing any embarrassment that I felt, I continued, "If something is wild or uncontrollable, no one wants to deal with it, but also no one wants it to be undealt with. People will be afraid of me, yes, but it will be the kind of fear that pushes them to act, rather than the fear that pushes them to run."
"I don't mean this as an insult Kharilo, but I didn't expect such an astute comment from you," said Mourastor. I eyed him, trying to determine whether or not he actually meant it as an insult, but all I could see on his face was genuine surprise. "After all," he said, "With what you were saying about propaganda being lies, I thought you didn't care at all for politics."
I grimaced at the thought of me being a politician, before responding, "When I was young, there was a starving bear near my village. No one wanted to fight it, since it was a bear after all, but they all knew better than to leave it to its own devices, since it would steal livestock or attack hunters. That's not politics, it's just understanding how people think." Mourastor seemed like he was about to say something, but all he did was shrug his shoulders.
"So, I suppose that this means we will need to spend some time teaching you etiquette. I think we could best use the next few weeks, claiming that it is time spent for recovery. Hopefully we can teach you this quickly, so we can claim that you weren't too injured after the battle with the Magic Knight, thus furthering the idea of your divinity and skill," said the Princess.
"What if, instead of doing that, we actually let me use the time to recover, and set aside some other time for learning etiquette," I asked.
The Princess shook her head, "It will be too difficult find time for that later. I will busy leading troops and drafting treaties, and other such duties of state, and you will be busy guarding me. I think that it is best we get this done now."
"And don't worry about what we will tell the people. They will not think that you are being taught anything, at least not anything of importance," added Mourastor.