Though, the first thing to do was to get something to eat. She was confident that she'd either meet up with her friends at the dining hall or soon after that. Especially with how Ralph seemed to like to sleep in, making those who served them breakfast annoyed when they needed to bring some food back out for him.
If it was the Marquis who did that, Beth was sure the servants would do that happily, but with Ralph, it was clear he was working on their last nerve with him doing that.
That was another potential reason to leave but it felt more like a side benefit rather than the primary reason to leave the Marquis' residence. Much like not having to deal with Kystia's lessons would be a side benefit, as she could be rather intimidating when she wanted to be. Especially when it came to her 'etiquette lessons' which she seemed to take especially personal when they didn't get it down the first time she said something.
Before Beth knew it, she'd run out of time to figure out what she should say to Kystia when she arrived at her room to start her 'lesson.' Even eating breakfast seemed a blur to Beth.
Tim, Amelia, Hannah, and Wes were all waiting for the 'lesson' to start, all they were waiting for was Beth and Ralph. Which made Beth feel a little more out of sorts than she was already feeling. Though, it also didn't help that Kystia was looking rather impatient. Beth hoped she'd take that out on Ralph instead of her with how he still hadn't shown up, but she doubted that she'd be that lucky as Kystia tended to not take things like that into consideration when it came to showing her displeasure.
"Beth, you know I wanted to start right after breakfast!" Kystia snapped, looking like she was ready to say more, even though Beth knew that it was still 'right after breakfast' right then, but she wasn't in the mood to try and talk to Kystia about that simple fact.
"Sorry, I've just been preoccupied with something else," Beth replied, not expecting her response to get Kystia's annoyance to dissipate. "I have something I was wanting to talk with you about."
"We can discuss it after," Kystia responded without missing a beat, sounding like almost like what Beth imagined a drill sergeant to be like. "Right now you're holding up the class."
Beth had a feeling that when Kystia had said 'right after breakfast,' what she really had meant was right after most of them had finished breakfast. That she expected them to show up all at once, pretty much. Which made Beth suspect that Kystia was aware, at least on some level, that they were leaving soon. Making her want to get in as much as possible before they left her.
Then as Beth moved to join her friends who were there, Kystia turned to them. "I guess we can start now, Ralph can just catch up with what we'll have gone over once he arrives," Kystia told them, her voice containing an air of authority that seemed to be almost physical with how Beth felt it.
Wonder if some of my teachers in school could use whatever trick she's using, Beth mused as Kystia paired them up for a dancing lesson.
Beth was paired up with Tim and Wes with Hannah, leaving Amelia to have Kystia as her dancing partner. Amelia looked like she wished she'd have Tim or Wes as her partner, but Beth had a feeling it had more to do with Kystia herself and the way she looked at Amelia rather than anything else about the situation.
The positive thing about Kystia having to partner with one of them was that she couldn't clap her hands when she called out the beats. Somehow that annoyed Beth more than even Ralph when he was at his most annoying. Beth wasn't able to say what it was about Kystia's clapping that annoyed her so much, but each clap just seemed to grate on her nerves.
When they were all in position, Kystia started counting. "Okay and one, two, three, four, five. One, two, three, four, five."
Even though she was dancing with Amelia, Kystia wouldn't hesitate to stop and correct any of them with a very aggressive attitude. Beth could only imagine what Kystia would be like when she was old enough to start drilling soldiers with combat training. With how Kystia was in regards to being a dance instructor, Beth imagined she'd be rather not stick around and see how Kystia was when it came to military drills and the like.
One thing that didn't surprise Beth when they'd started learning these dances about the dancing was the fact that she was supposed to be leading. As it certainly tracked with what she'd learned about the culture on this world worked.
When Ralph showed up, Ksytia didn't waste time complaining about how he was late but rather had him take her place as Amelia's dance partner. While she didn't say anything, Beth knew that Kystia just didn't want to stop the lesson in the middle of it. She tended to save her complaints of about tardiness for when they were taking a break from the lesson.
A point which never seemed to bother Ralph. While he appeared contrite, Beth knew it was only an act to help pacify Kystia towards him, an art that he seemed to have polished with his teachers from his frequent pranks back on Earth. Although, Beth had to acknowledge that he was at least effective in getting Kystia to move one rather than how Kystia seemed to treat Beth.
Unless that had to do with how Kystia had been taught to treat men, Beth suspected. Much like how there was a common line of thought on Earth about how men were supposed to treat women more delicately than other men. While it was possible, and probably likely, Beth didn't care enough to voice a complaint about it. She just focused more on trying to figure out what to say to Kystia about them leaving and why they needed to figure out how best to handle hers and Hannah's bodyguard duties.
However, Ralph's appearance did at least make Kystia free to do her clapping with the beats. A point that made it harder for Beth to concentrate on what the next step in the dance was, regardless of how many times they'd already been over this.
At their first break, after Kystia complained to Ralph about his being late, Beth walked over to Kystia, hoping that it'd be a good chance to talk with her, but Kystia dismissed her with another 'after' and walked away, not sparing Beth a second glance. After which she ignored Beth completely during breaks, only paying attention to her during the class when Beth made a misstep or other mistake.
While it grated on her nerves, Beth did her best to not let it get to her. She knew Kystia could be obstinate, but she also knew that Kystia liked to focus on one thing at a time rather than deal with several things at once. Where even dealing with two separate problems could cause her a bit of trouble. An issue Beth wondered was something that more of a personality trait for Kystia or if it was more of age issue for her.
Regardless of which it was, it just made Beth to bite her tongue every time Kystia told her 'after.' It almost seemed like it was a different kind of dance they were doing. One that Beth wasn't sure what the end result was going to be.
It was about time to break for lunch when they finished with their dancing lesson. One that Beth hoped would be her last. As while she didn't mind learning some of the dances that were on this world, she would rather spend her energy focusing on things closer to what they had come to this world to do. Though, when they were dealing with these lessons, she couldn't help but feel that their purpose had gotten either sidetracked or completely sidelined.
When the others left Kystia's room to get something to eat, Kystia then approached Beth. "From how often you tried to talk to me before the lesson was over, I have to assume that you find what you want to talk to me about important?"
Beth nodded, grateful that 'after' didn't include the rest of whatever Kystia had planned for their etiquette lessons. "It is," Beth assured Kystia before going into what she'd been able to piece together of what she should say. "My friends and I need to leave to work on what we'd been trying to find when we first came to this world. It's been great getting to know you and your father but we need to get back on what we were doing before we started getting lessons from you."
Kystia looked more thoughtful about the matter than Beth had expected. As if she herself had been considering when they'd be moving on from here and while it was clear the girl enjoyed being a teacher to them, Beth supposed that Kystia was aware of the fact that it couldn't last forever. Not when they weren't native to this world.
"Well, I guess I'll just have to see how quickly we can build an airship for all of us to travel on," Kystia said after a minute of considering Beth's words. A response that nearly floored Beth.
It seemed almost like the girl wasn't seeing the problem with them moving on being a reason why she had to stop these lessons. Although, Beth was at least confident that the marquis wouldn't let them take Kystia away like that. Especially when it was easier to keep her safe with so many people loyal to him and Kystia here rather than with just Beth and her friends on an airship that still hadn't been fully tested to see how well it would function.
However, Beth couldn't be sure about anything in regards to the 'airship' aspect as it wasn't something that she knew enough about. The only think she really knew for certain about it was that they were still testing to see how long the fuel source on the airship's engine was still going on. Besides, that was something Ralph was supposed to be working on and she wasn't sure where he was with that point or even if he'd begun on it.
_
Jenn woke up when she heard movement around her. When she opened her eyes, she found out that she was the last one to wake up, including Maelias, Hiliash, and their children. While she felt like it shouldn't matter, she couldn't help but feel like she should have gotten up at the same time rather than sleeping longer. Regardless of how long she'd been kept up by the noises of Maelias' and Hliash's lovemaking.
"Looks like someone has finally decided to join us," Yaelish teased Jenn as she got up and looked around.
"How long have you been up?" Jenn asked, still feeling part asleep.
"Not long. Though, I wouldn't have thought that you'd snore so softly. Almost like a man."
Jenn sighed, she didn't really care to deal with the preconceived notions the people of this world had about men and women. At least not at this time of the morning. Especially when she felt like she could easily fall back asleep if given the opportunity to do so.
"While I haven't decided to take you up on your offer, you're still welcome to stay here as long as you need," Maelias said, surprising Jenn as she hadn't thought that they'd be welcome there for more than one night in the first place. Even before Maelias had learned about their plans of buying slaves.
"Thank you," Jenn replied, bowing her head slightly at her. "We'll keep that in mind when we finish our business at the slave market."
A shadow seemed to cross Maelias' face, but it was gone as quickly as it came and Jenn suspected it was because of Maelias' conflicted feelings on the subject. Though, Jenn had a feeling that Maelias just needed time to see how they treated any slaves that they found that they were looking for. Or at least Jenn hoped that'd be the case.
After all, even if she looked into Maelias' mind, she wouldn't know what the woman would choose to do when it was time for her to make her decision. As Jenn couldn't say that she was good at predicting what a person would do just by what thoughts they had. Maybe she could get good at it if she worked at it but at the same time she had other things that required her attention more than frivolous pursuits like that. As she was at least confident that it'd take longer than she'd like to get good at that.
A moment after she had that thought, Jenn stopped herself, suddenly feeling cold all over. The only way that she'd be able to predict what a person would do based on their thoughts was if she used her magic to peek into their heads and look at their thoughts. Which Jenn realized she'd been considering doing just that to someone who could be a potential ally without considering what would happen as a result.
While Jenn knew that Maelias wouldn't be likely to know what happened, even if Jenn somehow made Maelias aware someone else was in her head, she didn't want to set a precedent for herself that would make such an action okay. Yes, it was a temptation, but one that she knew she needed to keep from engaging in. For one thing, it would only damage any relationship she had with Maelias from that point on, even if Maelias didn't realize it. Another thing was that it would make it just that much easier to do so in any situation from that point on.
A fact that Jenn wanted to avoid as much as possible.
"Is your friend okay?" Maelias asked Yaelish, glancing at Jenn, making Jenn realize that her internal struggles were getting noticed. Especially with the look of concern she was receiving from Yaelish.
"I'm fine," Jenn said, hoping she actually sounded fine. "Just worrying about other things. That's all."
Jenn watched her guards and hosts looking at her, hoping they'd believe her words, even as Jenn felt like she was lying through her teeth. Why she felt that way, she couldn't say. After all, she was confident that it was true, but that didn't stop her from feeling like she would get called out on it in general.
Only the children seemed oblivious to Jenn's discomfort. A fact that didn't offer Jenn any comfort as she didn't exactly care what the children thought of her.
Fortunately, no one said anything more about the subject after that, though Jenn had a feeling some of her guards were merley biting their tongues instead of saying what they thought. A fact that helped Jenn relax and annoyed her at the same time. She wanted her guards to treat her as they did each other rather than as just the Blue Rose.
After a quick breakfast, Jenn led her guards out into the city, determined to find slaves with the skills she was looking for. Though, she had a feeling she might only be able to get one or the other with the amount of coin she had on her, she was still determined to do what she could about it. Especially since she doubted that sending out a recruitment notice would have the effect of getting people willing to relocate to her settlement. Which also carried the possibility that she would be drawing attention to the settlement in general. A point that she didn't want to think about as she wasn't sure if that would be made part of this queendom or if another lady would try to claim it as part of their territory.
"Are you really alright?" Yaelish asked Jenn as they walked down the street in the early morning traffic, pulling her out of her thoughts.
Jenn sighed as she nodded. She didn't want to speak because she couldn't be sure if her voice might give away something that she wasn't even aware of about herself. She wasn't in the mood for introspection right then, even though she was pretty sure it might help her dealing with everything going on around her. It just felt like her attention would be better spent dealing with her task at hand rather than doing any soul searching of any kind.
When they were just outside the slave auction house, Jenn spoke. Mostly because she had a feeling she should do so, if only to keep Yaelish from creating her own answers to her question of if Jenn was 'aright' or not.
"I'm doing better than I was at the end of when we fought in that battle royale."
"I knew it!" Yaelish exclaimed quietly, looking as if she'd received confirmation about something that she'd long suspected but couldn't prove. "You are holding that against me."
Jenn chuckled, glad she was able change what Yaelish had been thinking about. "I don't hold it against you. If I did, I'd have talked to Tchisa about getting you the worst assignments possible."
Yaelish stared at Jenn, a dawning horror on her face. "You wouldn't, right? I mean, I've apologized for that already, so you're really not holding against me, right?" Yaelish paused and Jenn couldn't say that she wasn't enjoying the look of dread on her face. "Right?"
Jenn didn't say anything but was amused at the look of distress on Yaelish's face. Not because she enjoyed her friend's discomfort, but rather because she was enjoying teasing Yaelish right then.
As they walked through the building, Jenn couldn't help but wonder if they'd need to wait until the next auction before they'd be able to even have the chance at purchasing slaves with the skills they needed. As aside from a few people walking around going whatever job it was that they had, Jenn couldn't see any slaves around, let alone any sales being conducted. Although she knew she shouldn't be surprised at that fact, she couldn't help but wonder if she should have tried timing her arrival better than this. While if she had, she probably wouldn't have encountered Maelias, let alone being able to help her out of that situation she'd been in, Jenn had a feeling she'd have been in a worse position then. Why that was, she couldn't say, only that she just had a hunch on that fact.
After asking one of the people around them randomly, they were able to learn where the slave pens were, which was where the person they'd need to talk to about any non-auction sales would be. Which decided where they'd be heading.
As they walked, Jenn realized that she had been dreading coming here because she'd thought that it would draw up bad memories about when she'd been here before as a slave. Yet, as she walked, she couldn't say that it bothered her at all. It almost seemed like it was another lifetime ago.
However, one thing occurred when they reached the slave pens that Jenn hadn't foreseen at all. In the cage she saw someone she recognized. Not from this world, but from Earth. Shirley.