Luna had fully expected Cassandra to show up to training at least an hour before either Mona or Aadhira put in an appearance.
So when Aadhira was the first of the three to show up, and a half hour earlier than she expected her at that, she was bemused.
When Mona straggled in twenty minutes later, right around when Luna was expecting her, Luna began to wonder if she had misread the new tutor's reliability.
By the time Cassandra finally appeared an hour after that, Luna was starting to get worried. But, seeing who she strode into the training grounds arm-in-arm with, her worry quickly faded into a mild exasperation.
Luna continued to bark out orders to the soldiers as her mom resolutely turned Cassandra's efforts to hurry across the training ground into a lazy meander, complete with conversation and laughter that Cassandra seemed to find impossible to resist joining in on.
It took the pair several minutes longer to near Luna than it should have, but at last Luna was able to turn to the abashed halfcat and unrepentant queen and ask drily, "Poaching the help for your own purposes again, Mother?"
"What, did you expect me to go shopping on my own?" Tera replied.
Luna eyed the large, awkward looking package her mother was carrying. "You do have assigned guards to help you with such things," she said.
"And Karinn was doing such a marvelous job being unseen, keeping an eye on us. I couldn't bear ruining her cover."
"Karinn?" Luna frowned. "I thought you had Danelle assigned today."
"Yeah, well, Karinn got to me first," Tera replied dismissively. "So they traded stations for the day."
"After what?" Luna very carefully did not ask. In all probability, she did not want to know.
"Okay," she said instead. "Anyway, what about the job we actually hired Cassandra for?"
"After the full moon?" The queen asked. She looked pointedly at where Luna's sisters had at some point appeared next to her. "Mona?" she asked. "Would you have had any chance to do any studying this morning?"
Mona shook her head. "Full moons always make for late mornings for me," she said. She looked over at Aadhira. "Though it seems not everyone had a late morning."
Luna cocked her head as she followed Mona's glance. Now that she mentioned it, Aadhira had put in an appearance with Selena at her awkward breakfast this morning.
"I had breakfast with Selena this morning," Aadhira said with an obvious bit of discomfort.
Curious. Luna could only think of one reason Mona would know when Aadhira had woken this morning. This combined with the fact that it was early enough to breakfast with Selena before she took off for the temple made Luna curious about what had happened with her baby sister since last night.
Not curious enough to invade her privacy, however.
Luna shrugged. "Well, what's done is done. I was hoping to have a little more time to evaluate Cassandra's current level of fighting ability, but I guess I can make do with what we have."
Her mother frowned. "Is training not lasting into the afternoon today?"
"General Hatha will be here to take over soon. I haven't heard from Father yet on the matter he brought up last night, so I thought I should attend the afternoon's audience, since it was to me he broached it."
Luna did not trust the twinkle that appeared in her mother's eye at the news. "Ah! It just so happens that I was going to go get ready for court myself," the maddening woman said with a troubling smile. "I will see you there!"
Luna kept her eye on her as she sauntered off toward the palace. "She's up to something," she muttered.
"Definitely," Mona agreed.
Aadhira laughed nervously. "Are you going to attend to find out what?" she asked.
Luna knew that couldn't have been directed at her so soon after having said that she would be there, so she turned her gaze to Mona.
Mona shrugged. "I don't know. I'm not sure I feel like sitting around doing nothing for a couple hours."
"Didn't you just get a new dress?"
Luna started and looked at Aadhira. How would she know if Mona had just – But then she saw it in her eyes. It was a wild guess: or rather, whenever was it not true that Mona had just gotten a new dress?
Luna looked back at Mona to see the battle raging in her eyes between boredom and beauty. It was obvious which half would win, but that little mischievous streak that she had never quite been able to stamp out suddenly reared its head.
Before she knew what she was doing, she pointed out, "The dress you're wearing is looking a little worse for the wear."
The silly girl looked down at the dress hanging in shreds from her body and yelped – yelped! – just like this didn't happen every. Single. Day.
Without a word she ran off toward the palace. Aadhira at least had the good grace to look back at Luna apologetically as she ran after her.
Luna turned around to see her trainees watching the scene with amusement, though they whirled back into action as soon as she did so. Shaking her head, she looked at Cassandra.
"Well," she informed the halfcat, "at least you and I can get something accomplished with what little time we have left."
Cassandra was still staring in the direction the girls had just disappeared. "Court?" she asked. "Am I expected to attend?"
Luna stepped up beside her. "Nobody is really expected to attend daily audiences," she said. "Except Father, of course. Actually, commoners aren't even allowed to attend unless they are petitioning."
"Or sponsored," she allowed, after a moment.
She sighed. "I can sponsor you, if you would like to attend."
Cassandra looked at her and shook herself. "I shouldn't. Should I?"
Luna grimaced. The poor tutor had answered the wrong question. "You've already been sucked in, haven't you?"
When Cassandra evaded her eyes, she went on. "My family is like a force of nature. Each and every one of us will suck you in and ruin you for living outside of our shadow. Even those of us you wouldn't expect."
Luna grunted in frustration. "I was so looking forward to testing your self defense myself, but we don't want to ruin your dress if you're going to be at all presentable at court."
Luna looked Cassandra over. "Which brings up a very good point. Do you have any clothes that are fit for rolling around in the dirt and getting stabbed in?"
Cassandra shook her head, and Luna snapped her fingers over her head. "Meri, Min!" The named guards stepped forward. "I believe the two of you do some moonlighting from time to time, don't you?"
When the two hesitated before responding, she pointed out, "It's no crime to do a little mercenary work on the side, as long as you don't commit any crimes doing it."
They still looked hesitant, so she got to the point. "Cassandra here could use some clothes that she could still get hit on in after getting stabbed. You know, leather armor incorporated into the designs; over, under, I don't care."
"We might know some places she could get her claws on some rough and ready fashions," Min allowed.
"We don't have time right now, but if you can get Cassandra three or four changes after court tonight, I can see to it that your costs are covered," Luna said.
Luna didn't need to see their eyes light up to know what they were thinking. Failing to specify that only the dresses would be covered meant that anything they could justify as being part of their costs – drinks afterwards, for instance – would get reimbursed.
"Yes ma'am!" they replied in unison. Their eyes drifted over toward the guard house, but to their credit they didn't break rank.
Luna glanced up at the sun. "Dismissed," she said, then louder, for all to hear. "Dismissed! But be back in ten. I'm sure General Hatha will want to punish you for my laxity!"
"Yes ma'am!" a number of the troops replied as they departed.
Luna noticed Cassandra hesitating as if she was going to stay, but then she left as well.
Luna remained, motionless, on the training ground for a full minute or two after the last of the troops had disappeared from sight before shaking herself and heading toward her quarters.
She ran into General Hatha exiting the barracks as she was entering. He looked behind her at the empty training grounds.
"Letting them off early?" he asked.
"Something came up," Luna replied. "They should be back in five."
"Very well," the general replied. "You still wanting to take point on this?"
Luna shrugged uncomfortably. "He did approach me instead of you. Besides, I have been wanting to take on more responsibility."
Hatha nodded. "You're going to do fine. But remember, if you ever feel like you start to get in over your head, there's a reason we're taking so much time to ease you into command."
Luna smiled. "And I appreciate it. I do." She chuckled. "I think my sisters already see me as the great general I hope to become someday."
"We'll make sure you get there," Hatha replied. "But for now, how about you enjoy the getting there?"
"Yes sir," Luna agreed.
"Good girl," General Hatha said. Not exactly military, but he was the one man besides her father that could get away with saying it to her, mostly because he had been an authority to her way back when the phrase meant something to her.
She dipped her head to him and they went their separate ways: he to the training grounds, and she to her quarters.
Her quarters were on the spartan side, and she was quite satisfied with that: a standard military bunk; a closet divided between the military gear she wore day to day and the few concessions she kept to her familial rank; a table and chairs for the rare occasion she needed to entertain guests; and a tiled extension housing the one luxury she allowed herself, a copper bathtub on clawed feet.
Luna entered the bathing chamber and eyed the tub, but she knew that, while she might have just enough time to use it, she definitely wouldn't have time to enjoy it; and then what would be the point? Instead, after shedding her armor, she grabbed a beige sponge the size of her head and set out washing the morning's sweat and dirt away with the cold water from the pump.
When she was done, Luna stood in front of her full length mirror and examined her nude body. The question of whether her flat chest was linked to her dryness came and went without answer as usual; she had long since given up caring, since the lightness was convenient for her chosen occupation, but still the question persisted.
Luna ran her fingers through her hair. The tight curls covered the tops of her fingers: about time for a trim. It was almost as long as her nether hair, which she took a moment to run her other hand through. It was the same peculiar white as the hair on top of her head, and her eyebrows, and all the body hair which she kept shaved due to the strange glow it lent her chocolatey skin if she didn't. Sometimes she considered shaving between her legs as well, to match her sisters, but it felt like the only link to normalcy she had.
Luna closed her eyes and stood motionless for several long moments before tightening her fingers and pulling herself away from the mirror.
Crossing to her closet, she quickly donned her undergarments before pulling out her court armor, a well polished black leather studded with iron that shone in the lamplight like stars in the night sky.
Checking herself in the mirror by the door, she made one last mental note to see the garrison's barber, and set out for the palace.
It came as no surprise that Lucine arrived at the audience hall within moments of her own arrival. Honestly, sometimes she suspected that her sister intentionally timed her arrival at places around the palace just to meet her.
"Good day, sis," Luna said jovially, holding the door open for her. "What brings you here today?"
"Not Lucas yet, unfortunately," Lucine replied. "I've had a look at the docket, and he isn't on it."
"That's too bad," Luna said as they took their seats to the side of the audience hall. They were the first to show up, not that these audiences were ever widely attended.
"Just a heads up," Luna said, "I promised a couple of the guards expenses for helping Cassandra get outfitted with some combat ready dresses." On seeing her sister's frown, she asked, "Is that a problem?"
Lucine grimaced. "Oh, no, it's fine. Just the same complaint that I've already been overruled on."
"You're still not happy with Cassandra's presence."
"No. It's not that. She seems great, and the girls really seem to like her. I'm just not sure why she was necessary. Mona is hardly going to need a tutor for much longer, and Selena gets her schooling in the temple. That leaves Aadhira."
Who obviously went without saying.
Luna nodded. "Yeah, I get that. But you know me. What won me over was the idea of having her play as sort of a last defense bodyguard."
"Which any of the guards could have done without needing extra training beyond what they were already getting anyway."
Luna shrugged. "Okay. You make some solid arguments. Again."
She let Lucine relax with her minor victory before going in for the kill. "So you tell Mona and Aadhira that they have to say goodbye to their new best friend."
Lucine stared at Luna for a long moment before shaking her head. "You jerk," she said softly.
Luna could only chuckle.
A handful of nobles had appeared while they were speaking and taken seats in the gallery. Now Mona walked through the door looking disgruntled and sat next to her sisters.
"What's up, sis?" Luna asked.
"It's Rechel," Mona scowled.
"Rechel? Aadhira's lady's maid?"
"Yeah. I couldn't find her."
Luna looked helplessly at Lucine.
Lucine rolled her eyes. "Are you upset," she asked icily, "that you had to make do with only one maid to get ready for a routine court function?"
Luna raised an eyebrow and leaned back. Best to stay out of this one.
"Yeah," Mona said, missing Lucine's obvious disdain. "I tried ringing her five times, but she never showed up. No telling where that lazy girl" – that girl being twice Mona's own age, and anything but lazy – "might be. Why, I've got a half a mind to– What are you looking at?"
Mona turned to follow her sisters' gaze to the gallery entrance.
"What is Aadhira wearing?"