“I know that was harsh. I ask that you believe I did not do it without reason. Clearly, today's events have shown me that I have failed Hatula. I shall not make a similar mistake to its dearest child,” Christopher said. “Though, if you can handle it. We need to report to the king.”

  I stood up. “Tell me, how much more bad news am I going to have to go through today?”

  “Hopefully none, but I can answer that more truthfully after,” he said as he began to walk, but I grabbed his sleeve.

  “I need to know. What else do you have in store for me today?”

  He sighed. “I cannot say with accuracy what the king will say. But I do not consider it likely that he has sent anyone yet. Even if he had, we are very close to the border. Even the fastest horse would take about two weeks to get from the capital to here. I predict that the king will accept my report that you did well. Meaning he will begin looking for teachers, or, if he already has them, he will send them. Beyond that, we shall likely face nothing. So after this, if you so wish. You may retire to your room for the rest of the night.”

  “And tomorrow?” I asked.

  He gently touched my chin. “Julia. I understand you want reassurances. I don’t want to misinform you. So I will tell you what I believe, but understand that this is not necessarily what will happen. I shall argue that you should remain here for at least one month. That way, you can see your family as I promised. It will likely take two to three weeks for your teachers to arrive, so this will likely be granted. I wish I could say that this month will be all easy, but time is critical. Your teachers will be stricter than I.”

  I flinched at that. “That sounds awful.”

  “Zurein,” he said as the warmth coated my face, and my teary eyes once again stopped aching. “I can’t pretend they will be pleasant. I could be wrong, of course, but the more we work together, the less painful it will be. We can go slow. I don’t want to overwhelm you. Okay?”

  I just felt like I was gonna start shaking. “You promise?” I asked. Perhaps I was being childish. But he said he would never break a promise, and right now, I needed that more than I could put into words.

  He bent down on one knee and looked down. “This gesture is when a noble is making a vow. It is the noble version of a promise, for as long as you are trying to uphold the duty of the Maiden of Wind. I shall fight as best I can for you. Both for a future you desire, and for the rest you need. I swear this to you, the Maiden of Wind, and to every God.”

  “Thank you,” I said. My nerves really did calm down. I don’t know exactly why. But I was thankful that they did.

  We arrived at the room before, dark and eerie, with only a single candle to show us anything. The same large bowl of water. He looked at me with a bit of a worried glance. “Are you ready?”

  I clasped my hands together to fight the tremble within them. “Do we need to do this in such a dreary room?” I asked.

  He nodded. “The walls are magical; they block all attempts outside this bowl to see or hear into this room. This ensures that no one else knows what we shall soon see.”

  “People can see and hear from such large distances?” I asked.

  He giggled a bit. “Did I not tell you that the King lives about two weeks from here. Was it not apparent that magic can bridge such things?”

  “Oh, right,” I said. That was dumb of me to say.

  “It is okay. I am under no illusion that you were educated in magic, but let us begin, Zuweit Kaiser.” The water swirled, and once again the king’s face emerged.

  “That took longer than expected. Do you wish to explain, Baron Christopher?” the king asked.

  He bowed his head. “My deepest apologies, it had seemed time got away from me. It was my fault, your grace. I had allowed my eagerness to show both the Maiden of Wind and her parents the simple joys of nobility. As you did wish them to leave in a good mood, I worked to ensure that.”

  The king stroked his beard. “Then it went well? She has performed this task well?”

  Christopher nodded. “She could hardly be asked to have performed better.”

  “Good, good. I am glad to think the previous unpleasantness is behind us. Then make haste to the royal capital. Both of you.”

  Terror gripped me as I felt as if I was going to throw up. My stomach was churning harsher than I could ever remember. Christopher! You promised! Please don’t let him.

  “With all due respect, your majesty, but I think that would be a mistake.”

  “Explain,” the king said with the kind of tone an upset parent used.

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  “Our Maiden of Wind is quite inexperienced. I believe introducing her to other nobility would only weaken her status at this time. I believe it would be more favorable to teach her in secret here for at least one month. Though perhaps longer.”

  The king resumed stroking his beard. He hummed a bit as well. “I thought you said she performed as best as could be expected? Your current statement contradicts that.”

  “The fault lies with me. As noted in our previous discussion. The Maiden of Wind did not fully appreciate the status of nobility. She is not an outlier in this viewpoint, as all of Hatula village seems to be this way. She has come to understand her circumstances in the briefest of terms and is working hard to understand them. But, tossing such a Maiden into the royal capital would be unfair and unproductive.”

  The king groaned. I was worried he would ignore Christopher. A look like that did not appear all too pleased with what was happening. “One month. If I cannot announce we have a Wind Maiden by then, then we shall have to get rid of her. A title this important cannot be held by one unqualified.”

  Too much. I puked. It was just liquid, but the thought of only having a month terrified me.

  “What happened? Where is the Wind Maiden?” the king asked.

  “She is a bit weary; she is resting for a moment,” Christopher lied. “Though, if I may. You do host a gala in two months to celebrate the end of summer. Would that not be a good place to introduce her?”

  “You're asking for twice the time I offered?” the king said. I was still on my hands and knees, but I could hear a twitching in his voice.

  “I don’t quite agree. I may be able to teach her some things, but she needs a real teacher, who will take two weeks to arrive here. And two weeks for us to get there. Announcing her in literally one month would require her to leave here the day her teacher arrives. I understand the doubts she had accidentally given you. But you should punish me, not her, for such.”

  “Seven weeks. She arrives in the capital, one week before the end of summer gala. I shall hear no more on the matter.”

  So, with two weeks to get there. That meant five weeks to get ready. Oh, I was getting queasy again.

  “I shall make the best use of the time. Thank you,” Christopher said.

  “Wind Maiden. I wish to hear from you before this meeting ends,” the king said.

  Christopher bent down and whispered something in my ear. He told me to say exactly the words he mumbled as he helped me up.

  I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. I feared I would lose the words if I looked at him right now.. “I thank you, ever so much, your majesty.”

  “Yes, I think Baron Christopher has made a good judgment. But, he shall pay for his mistakes. For three years, I shall raise your taxes by five percent.”

  “I fine judgment your grace,” he said, and the water once again returned to normal.

  I collapsed back to my knees. Oh gross, I could feel my own sickness touching my dress. Ugh.

  Christopher took a breath. “That… could have gone better. Five percent for three years. Quite the blow, but it is my own fault.”

  “I don’t know what that means,” I said.

  “To explain it simply. When I said it was my fault, he agreed, and instead of doing anything to you. He demanded I give him stuff. Not because he needs or wants it. Just to make me go without it.”

  “That does suck, though you do seem to have more than you could ever need,” I said. I couldn’t really compare that to the fate of Hatula that rested on my shoulders.

  “Well, what he demanded is quite a lot. So, for whatever it may be worth. My life shall be harder for three years, but I don’t matter right now,” he said as he tried to lift me in his arms. “You are dirty, and you need your rest. We shall get you ready to retire to your room. Though if you have the strength, I would like to ask you one last thing today.”

  “What do you want?” I groaned, thinking about it. But I couldn’t deny the reality of my timeline. I had no idea what I needed to do, and I only had a little over one month to do it.

  “I wish to get you measured, so that people may begin working on things for our Wind Maiden.”

  “My name is Julia,” I said. I was getting rather tired of being called something I didn’t pick or want.

  “Hmm, that is. As you wish, Julia, but I must warn you. In a noble society, not to use one's title is a sign of disrespect. Since it is just us for now, I can do it. But once your teacher arrives. I am afraid they would only scold us both.”

  I clung to him just a bit. Was even my name too much to ask for? I wanted to cry, but I feared giving in to my emotions would just make me puke again. “What did you mean by measuring?”

  “The maids shall take measurements of your body,” he said.

  “What are measurements?” I asked, still confused.

  “Oh. Uhm, how big are you? So that we can make clothes for you,” he said.

  “What is wrong with my clothes?” I asked a bit defensively. I just got this outfit. It was my best outfit. Mom handmade it for me as my coming-of-age gift. It was nearly perfect by basically any metric.

  He gave me an awkward smile. “I did not say anything was wrong, but would it not be beneficial to have more clothes? You left the rest of yours at home, right?”

  That was a point I couldn’t counter. Unless I wanted to wash this while naked, I would need another outfit. “So the maids just wish to take a look at me?”

  “More or less. It should not be a difficult process. But we can wait until tomorrow if you deem it needed. Once your teacher arrives, I will not be able to argue with them. So, this is the only time I can make it a bit easier for you.”

  It almost hurt to realize how this man could be so sweet and yet so evil at the same time. I had never encountered anything like it before.

  “You said the more we do, the easier the teacher will be?” I asked.

  He nodded as he set me down. We were near a doorway, and he waved to a maid. “Draw her a bath,” he then looked back at me. “Well, like any list of chores. The less we do today, the more we have left to do tomorrow. This is a concept that is the same for nobles and commoners alike.”

  “Okay then, but then I can rest?” I asked.

  He nodded. “Measure her and then allow her to retire to her room for the rest of the night.”