How To Deliver Justice (with KiraMusani

Aurora smiled and patted Clair's shoulder as Olivia folded her arms across her chest and smirked. "Nailed the diagnosis again, Service, no wonder you're an assistant to the royal physician of Cordonia."

"Be nice, Olivia." Aurora said respectfully, looking at her.

"I AM being nice." She then listened to how she even said that as Aurora turned back to face Clair. "Oh. Yeah. That did sound condescending." It was the closest to an apology Aurora was going to get.

Aurora took Clair's hand. "Time to get up, the servants need to get in here and clean up behind us. We need to at least make an appearance before the king so he knows you're okay. We'll discuss actions to take with dealing with your crush." She then blushed. The way Clair had been talking... "By the by, just who is it you have these weird feelings for? So I know how to help going forward."
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"I'll defeather the birds, and see where my third arrow went." She didn't know about the caught squirrel yet, and all Diana would have seen, was it was lodged in a tree hole near Calla's felled birds. Calls pulled out her knife, and after giving thanks for a successful hunt, began plucking and skinning the birds, looking a little pale.

It's what separates the rookie hunters from the pros. It was obviously Calla's first successful kills, which meant she had never won the foxhunt during the court season either, and this would be her third appearance.
 
Clair smiled at the contact, then moved with them, covering her face with her hands as she was asked that question.
"Pfft, I can't tell you, she will hear me..." She replied, seemingly not realizing it was just the three of them, practically answering her question.

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"This will also help to harden your heart and stomach, taking life no matter how small isn't easy for all" She claimed as she helped to set everything up, though showing her how she did it as she did it.
"I'll guide you, but you need to do all the cooking yourself." She told her.
 
Olivia overheard and gave Clair a raised eyebrow, sidelong glance, before exchanging glances with Aurora. "Interesting."

Aurora, exchanged glances with Olivia, before shaking off her first ideation of whom Clair's crush was, saying, "It's only you, me and Olivia, sure you can tell."

Olivia glowered at Aurora. "For someone as sharp as a sword at times, you can be as dense as a mace, others. No she can't. Use your head, Service!"

Was Olivia TRYING to make a wisecrack?
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Calla nodded as she watched, having brought the birds to the fire to prepare them there. "I'm never going to take our preparers and cooks for granted again... Or our hunters, which are usually our knights. Now that I know exactly how we get our meats..." After lopping off the birds' heads and cutting them in such a way they'd bleed out, she looked for and found her missing arrow, pulled it out... She managed to squeak (like, literally) Diana's name, whimper she didn't mean to, and promptly fainted. Apparently, even accidental killing upset the princess.
 
Clair looked between the two as they had their little back-and-forth, chuckling at Olivia's statement.
"Pfft, because maces are very dense, that is like, their whole thing, hahaha, your hilarious" She laughed not fully getting the context.

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Diana looked to her as she heard her name, to promptly see Calla faint.
"Ugh," She rolled her eyes and walked over to her, picking her up with her arrow and squirrel and brought them to the fire area before shaking her to wake her.
 
"Precisely. There's actually some Lythikan maces that weigh about 25 pounds and don't have pointed spikes, although we're known more for the pointed spike maces as well. Good catch." She gave a smirk and light shoulder punch.

Aurora still looked confused, until they got to the king... Then the candle was lit, so to speak. "Ohhhhhh!! I got it!"

Gregor gave her a perplexed stare, then looked at Olivia and Clair. Finally, he shook his head. "Whatever the doc's got... I hope it's not catching."

Olivia pinched the bridge of her nose. "Not unless idiocy is contagious, Your Majesty."

Gregor's perplexity seemed to get worse as he looked between the two, before asking Clair, "Do I even WANT to know?" After asking his rhetorical question, he said, "Glad to see you with us again, Lady Clair. Please join us for dinner."
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As Calla came back to, she noticed the squirrel still on the arrow. "Ugh... Wait... We can eat squirrel?"

What did she think she was going to smoke and get the jerky? The grouse?

She would have to skin and prep the squirrel, but first, she needed long sticks to act as spits to roast her birds.
 
Clair blushed at the compliment and the punch.
"hehe, you punched my arm" She chuckled and seemed embarrassed.

"Hey, you did it!" Clair replied to Aurora with a smile.

"Yes, sir kingy sir" Clair replied to the king, with a sloppy salute, then a look of realization.
"Oh!" She paused and then tried to curtsy, forgetting she was in a pantsuit.
"What?"

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Diana let her try to go through the steps herself but corrected her when she needed it.
"Sticks for birds first."
She would continue just correcting when needed, for the entirety of it until everything was cooking and smoking.
 
Gregor raised an eyebrow and asided to Olivia, 'Erm. Is she drunk?"

"Oh. Most assuredly, Sire. And on only a cup of new wine." She held up the mostly full bottle. "One. Cup."

Gregor put a hand to his head like he was developing a headache. "Calla can't handle a lot either. It's why she drinks honey mead usually." He then told Aurora what he was experiencing.

Thinking about her training under Queen Kenna's royal physician, she said, "I need some lavender, clean hay and some roses. Someone find where Calla's at, or scavenge the woods for wild sage. Provided you know what you're looking for."

Olivia blinked. "Those are all ingestible!"

"They're also herbs." Aurora countered. "I have been all over Birmingham and couldn't find any mint. That's why I had Clair drink a teaspoon of castor oil to help expel the toxins. I had to go with plan B. I hate using plan B."

She looked at Clair. "Would you like to help Olivia gather the herbs to help treat the king? I know she knows what both sage and mint look like. Now that the medical emergency is over with you, we can look for plan A."
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Meanwhile, Calla tested one of the birds and frowned. "If this is going to be a while, I'm going to look for some herbs for seasoning the birds, and look for other root edibles. I know I'm weird, but I like potatoes and turnips. Maybe some beets and rhubarb for a decent dessert. Want to help, Diana?"

Athena would be sore disappointed in Calla's continued lack of discernment. Someone needed to watch the fire and their campground to keep the forest from burning down... Maybe Calla needed a whack upside her hard head.
 
Clair seemed distracted by her own hands as they had talked, not catching back onto their conversation until she was directly addressed.
"Hmm? Oh umm, yes! I'll go with Olivia, cuz she is my friend, and I will go with her because she is my friend and I will go with her" She replied in a slurred manner and moved to lean on Olivia, but missed and nearly fell over.

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Diana took a breath and pinched her nose.
"Think about that again Calla, really think and ask me again if you think it proper." She leaned toward her, hands on her hips, gesturing her head toward the fires after a moment if Calla didn't reply.
 
Olivia rolled her eyes, and shook her head sadly, as Aurora asided for only Clair's ears. "Olivia doesn't like the F word, she's a true one once you gain her trust, she's just... From Lythikos. Lythikans are born fighters, and depending on their training... You get people like Olivia, who can be friends, and are, they just don't like admitting it."

Olivia cleared her throat. "If you're done whispering sweet nothings, Service, I believe you just gave us a mission?" She then helped Clair walk as they headed the same direction as Calla and Diana. "Have you ever foraged for herbs, before, Clair?"

Aurora sighed, and gave them four sacks total. "Fill the bags completely full. One with sage, the other with mint. You aren't the only person with stomach ailments. The other two you can fill with other edibles.

Olivia would see a blackberry bush. "Fill one of those extra bags with blackberries, mind the thorns, and I'll teach you to make a fabulous Lythikan potable. I'll see if Doc Service will let us have some mint, as I'll need some for the blackberry beverage."

Olivia's communication to Clair would bring a curious Calla to them.
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Calla just stared densely at Diana until the head movement to the fires. "Oh. Right then. I'll stay near the campsite, call me when I need to check the birds again."

She would disappear from view completely for about a minute and a half, when she thought she heard voices near them. She would be right, as she would find Clair and Olivia.
 
Clair looked at Aurora with a surprised and sorrowful face.
"Oh my goodness, I didn't mean to" She replied sounding horrified.

As she left with Olivia she kept close to her, leaning on her for support.
"I am so sorry I said fr- used the f-word, I didn't know you didn't like it I swear, please don't be mad at me" She folded her hands together as she pleaded, thinking she was more quiet then she was,

"Yes, I have, with my mother before, that was before I knew what, you know, I like to do, mostly. But once in a while still go when we get herbs we use for washing." Her speech still affected by her state.

Clair nodded when directed to the blackberry bush and did her best to not get cut, though her state, made it difficult and if left to her own devices would have cut up hands and arms by the end of it.

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Diana waited and watched the fires with a nod.
 
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Olivia raised an eyebrow. "You need to take some of what Service says with a grain of salt. She's just sore that I chewed her out. It wasn't because she called me friend,oh no, she couldn't stop there. She had to go farther." She looked right at Clair. "It's because she called me her," she shivered and groaned, "bestie. I'm not a bestie."

While Olivia bagged sage and mint, Calla came into the clearing, Olivia looked up, and had pulled Clair back with a chiding, "Careful!" She would then return to her own foraging.

Calla finally pulled Clair back, and helped her getting the rest of the bag full. "Clair! Blackberry brambles are notorious pain bringers, sometimes the thorns are stuck and you need someone to pull them out! Definitely NOT a picnic with the proper equipment, which we don't have since none of us are physicians!"

Calla would lead them back to her camp. "Diana, we have guests."

Olivia wouldn't say what was in her two bags she had unless Diana asked. And only then, admit she was on an errand for Aurora, because the king had a headache.

(Yeah. She was in the woods with Diana! :p )
 
Clair nodded along with Olivia, seeming relieved at what she had said, though that glazed-over look in her eyes never really left.

Clair seemed confused and surprised as she also jumped at first as she was pulled back by Olivia, but smiled at her, face flush.
"Oh! sorry, thanks"

Clair jumped at Calla's pull back as well, indeed needing some of the brambles out but looked at them with confusion.
"Huh, I didn't even feel them," She said.

Diana crossed her arms as they returned with Calla.
"This is not supposed to be a picnic Calla, unless you want to share your limit supplies with your guests, one of them likely to be compromised to illness, meaning if you did not cook it properly, it could make things worse."
 
Calla shook her head. "I don't want to put them to that. I'm new at this cooking thing. Even the professional cooks we have at these different venues don't get it fully cooked. Why do you think I'm training with you, Diana?"

Olivia shrugged. "We're guests inasmuch as the princess found us close to her campsite."

As Calla explained things to Olivia, while also checking on her birds which would be almost, but not quite done, Diana would have a chance to help dethorn Clair before sending Olivia and her back to the main centre. Before they would go, Olivia would take the blackberries, some of the mint, water from the creek and some hops and show how to make Lythikan blackberry ale, which currently was unaged, so non-alcoholic. Her trick of stirring it really well and putting in glass would be surprising close to the Amazonian wine making custom.
 
Diana unfolded her arms and nodded.
"Very well, my apologies and welcome, I am still in a training mindset, so forgive my rudeness." She replied

Diana would take Clair to the side and remove the thorns from her hands and arms before using some nearby remedies for her injuries that would act as leaf wraps around the deeper wounds. She would also be lecturing Clair on getting this hurt in the first place from picking berries before noticing her state. She would then perform a few cognitive tests on her.

She kept Clair close as Olivia would make her concoction in which Diana raised a brow.
"It seems our techniques for brews are very similar Olivia. Though I commend you on that skill I must ask, why have your brought Clair in this condition out here? If you were attacked she would be a massive liability. As far as I can tell she is seeing double and her cognitive reasoning is practically non-existent. She placed a hand on her chin. Likely a side effect of the metallic poisoning which she endured just some hours ago." She raised a hand up.
"Look, Clair, slap your hand against mine as hard as you can"

"Okay, just don't be upset if it hurts..." She swung her hand, missing DIana's, and started to fall over, but Diana caught her.
"I would suggest carrying her back, it is a small miracle she is walking, let alone able to stick with you, her atten span at this point is nearly non-existent" She explained, Clair, looked around as Diana kept her from walking off.
"She needs rest" Diana offered her to Olivia.
 
Olivia smirked, "Blame Service when you two get back to civilization... Or don't. She didn't want her alone since she didn't have someone close she trusted, well, except the king, but like I said earlier, he's not doing well himself. Headaches, which is why I need to get this sage back to her. Some herbal headache remedy. I guess I couldn't watch her that well either white gathering sage and mint." She hoisted both bags. "You ask me (and no one did), doctors need to be like hunters and warriors, and pair off. We would have had someone there to watch Clair." She instinctively rubbed Clair's head, mussing her hair. "She had to get these herbs as well. She's probably already got the lavender and rose by now."

Olivia took two full bottles of the ale, which she put in the fourth bag, and pointed to the rest of the pot, where there was probably another two bottles worth, saying, "Rest is yours so you two have something to drink. Since you saw how I made it, Diana, I'm entrusting the recipe to you. Make little miss dense over there," she pointed to Calla, who was at least paying attention to her roasting birds, "gather for you, but you boil and stir. I'll see to it Clair gets the rest, when we get back."

It was obvious that Aurora wouldn't have been able to be in two places at once, and neither could Olivia, but it begged the question, where was Duchess Calla and Princess Cassandra? Olivia would have no idea, but saw them both rush off to handle three nobles getting into a very heated argument over seemingly the polo match that was interrupted.

Diana wouldn't find out until she and Princess Calla got back that Cassandra and the duchess actually mediated! Looked like the diplomacy lessons were sticking. (Note this somewhere for when they come back, which should be in a few more posts. Calla still needs to learn to make squirrel jerky which would be next post)
 
Diana nodded at Olivia's response.
"Fair enough, just make sure you don't push her too much, the more she is pushed in that state the harder it will be for her to fully recover." She warned, preparing the drink for them by closing the lid of the container and placing it in a flowing stream to keep it cool.

Clair smiled brightly as Olivia tussled her hair looking up at her afterward with a big silly grin, her hair was all a mess, luckily its short nature made it not too terrible, and she didn't seem to mind at all, making no effort to fix it.
"Hehe, you petted me like I was a pet" She blushed.

Though Diana was curious about the other girls she didn't ask, instead decided to ask them when she saw them next, and simply waved to Olivia and Clair as they left.
"Watch her and if she gets worse, carry her" she warned before returning her attention to Calla, explaining to her what she should do next, and how she would help.
"We need to get that squirrel marinating before we smoke the meat, we can do the same with the bird so it will be preserved, after we get those going as well as this list of herbs, we will eat the currently cooking bird."
 
Calla took the list from Diana and looked it over. She handed over the lemon grass, sage and several of her scallions, "I love eating these raw, leaves and all." She commented about the wild onions, "maybe you can add some of those leaves to the marinate rub?"

She got up and started to head for the woods when she turned around. "Wait a minute. Salt's a mineral. Where am I gonna find that?!" No wonder Olivia wouldn't entrust her Lythikan recipe to anyone but Diana. Little Miss Dense struck again. They had passed the perfect place to find the salt, a cave that sat back a little off the main path, although it might be currently occupied by some wild "wood" animal.

Before leaving for her errand to find the other herbs, and get some salt, Calla would help start the marinade rub... Minus the other herbs and salt.
 
Diana nodded and smiled, at least Calla had some sense of herbalist in her.
"precisely"

"The salt? you really don't know, it's an essential mineral for proper cooking and preserving especially." She rubbed her nose and sighed.
"Remember the cave? salt will be found there, I trust you know the risks of caves though" She asked with a raised brow.
 
Calla scoffed. "Of course I know the dangers of a cave! But unlike most English and European princesses... The dragon better watch out for ME!" She patted her crossbow and darts. "Besides... I think that one's too small." So, to answer Diana's question... No, Calla DIDN'T know all the risks of caves. Unfortunately, she was into the trees and on her way before Diana had a chance to blink.

It would be about an hour and a half later, just as it was getting dark, that Diana would hear the unmistakable roar of a bear, and another half hour after that, as a scratched up Calla dropped out of a tree, a look of wide-eyed horror on her face. "B-b-b-buh. Bear! B--b--b-biiiiig bear!" Upon closer inspection, Diana would find the scratches were superficial and caused by tree branches and not bear claws. "I think I peed my pants..." There was no lingering odor of THAT, so no, she didn't.

The good news, she'd have the rest of the ingredients, including a block (rock) of salt. She'd have to learn to chip and ground her salt.
 
Diana pinched the bridge of her nose as she took off, only thinking of high-level threats like dragons in the caves, she took a breath and knew Calla could handle the threats, but needed to learn her lesson.

When she returned Diana just looked at her hands on hips.
"So remember when I was risks and not dragons? There are more threats than dragons out there, Bears being just one of them, so what did you do? Flee or fight, by the looks of it, flee" she asked.
"At least you have the salt, there are a few steps in preparing it, I'll lead you through it."

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  Clair stayed next to Olivia getting more sluggish the further they walked, as they reached the halfway point she would see that at Clairs current rate it would take them twice as long to return then it would otherwise.
 
Calla nodded. "Of course I ran! You'd think I stole a diamond from a dragon the way that bear came after me over a silly rock¹!" She held up the salt, but then went to work chipping and grinding per instructions. Soon she would have enough ground for all the meats, and even had extra already ground for later with about half the solid left. They'd have a quiet dinner by campfire light, save any communication or lessons Diana might have planned.
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Olivia grimaced as they were just barely out of the woods, "I'm going to give Service a good portion of my mind when I see her..." She remarked, as she stopped and sat down, helping Clair sit, as Olivia unburdened herself. As she was trying to figure out how to carry Clair, the sage, mint and two bottles of homemade Lythikan ale, who should arrive but Cassandra and Calla Grovershire, talking animatedly amongst themselves about the craziness of the mediation meeting they just went through.

"Mark my words, Cass, the royals and town criers both are going to have a field day! I mean, how can they not? Those two were teammates and arguing over the attack, when it was THEIR captain and other teammate who attacked the poor girl in the first place."

Cassandra shook her head. "At least those two finally saw reason, and it's only the two attackers who will be expedited to their countries to face charges there."

Both noticed Olivia and Clair and would rush to help. Calla Grovershire carrying Clair, with Cassandra helping Olivia with her bags.

¹-Since salt in its rock form would resemble crystals, of course Calla would make the dragon comparison and call the salt silly since the crystals wouldn't quite have the same sheen as a real diamond.
 
Diana chuckled.
"Shame could have been a great deal more meat" She chuckled before helping her with the prep, then simply making casual conversation, mostly asking about how she felt about finally being outed as the Avenger, and what she plans to do after the courting. It wouldn't be long before she had taught her to cook, jerk, and preserve meats.

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Clair's eyes were heavy as they finally stopped to take a seat.
"I am sorry Olivia, you can just go on, I'll take a nap and catch up" Clair slurred her words as she was clearly in no state to do such a thing.

As Calla carried Clair she held onto her, burying her head into her as she quickly fell asleep, mumbling as she dosed off.
"Thank you, pretty lady, can you bring me to bed? I think I'm too tired to dance"
 
Calla shook her head. "I'm still not sure I'm have a stomach for the foxhunt..." She managed. "Little alone..." She shivered. Why was she not afraid to beat ogres up with her bare hands, and how did she fell two dragons (although small) if she was afraid of being dinner for a bear?! Maybe Athena WAS right. Maybe she did lack discernment. After all, the goddess of wisdom never accused her of lacking wisdom, only using it, and properly.

As the topic turned to more digestible concepts, Calla had to admit, she did feel an extreme weight had been lifted from her. However, she had no plans on quitting the heroing... Which meant only one thing... She had to turn herself in once the courting season ended in mid-January. She wasn't sure how she'd handle the tower for a whole month, but she wasn't going to stop being a hero.
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"Nonsense." Olivia said as Clair told her to go on. "You're not the only one exhausted, y'know."

Lucky for both of them, Cassandra brought Olivia to Aurora, who was over a pestle, grinding the other herbs, "That my sage?" She asked.

"Hi, Olivia, how are you? Just fine, Aurora, thanks for asking." Olivia mocked, causing Cassandra to snigger. She then handed it over. "What the hell are you doing, Service?"

Aurora added the sage and began mashing it, and meshing it with the other ingredients. "This will be added to the king's bathwater. The servants are already hanging some lavender around the tub with hay and rose petals gathered around it, to create a sweet smelling savour to relax His Majesty. What did you think I was going to do?

Olivia shrugged. "Have him eat it? They're all ingestible with roses being a delicacy."

Aurora looked up to see Clair in Grovershire's arms. "Take her to bed, and stay with her until I can relieve you." She turned to Olivia. "Rose hips are the delicacy you're thinking of, not rose petals, Olivia! And as far as I've ever known, only one country makes a lavender pastry, it's not very palatable anywhere else..." She stopped, blushed and went back to her pestle. "Right. Yours and various shepherds gathered around Western Europe and here and Ireland."

Olivia smirked. "Is that your way of saying the pastry is an acquired taste? I'll have you know it's popular in Dunwyn. I bet even Clair there has eaten our lavender pastry and liked it. That town is one of Lythikos biggest importers of it!"

Grovershire shrugged. "I go to Dunwyn to get a dozen. It only comes in once a month. It's not bad. Not bad at all."

She then took Clair to her room, helped her in bed, covered her, and took a chair nearby.
 
Diana nodded.
"Have you talked to the other girls about it, something tells me Clair and some of the others might share your hesitation, at least in Clair I doubt she has the killer instinct." she chuckled.

 "As for the heroine, when you continue you beat be prepared for a huge change if everyone knows who you are," She said helping to adjust the cooking.

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Clair looked from person to person as they spoke, looking like she had been listening but nothing was sticking, the lights were on but no one was home.

As Clair was placed in the bed she laid flat on the pillow.
"Thank you... I just rest my eyes, for a...." and she was out, fast asleep already.

----The next morning----

If not woken up Clair would not wake until late afternoon or evening.
 
In Birmingham, only the resident physician didn't have a room of her own, meaning once she relieved Grovershire to go to bed, Aurora was the one in Clair's borrowed room, especially with the fact that nearly half the suitors (25) had left after Nottingham. There would be another several cutting out before they arrived in Grovershire later that day.

She gently shook Clair and patted her cheeks. "Up and at 'em!" She pulled the curtains open in the room, allowing daylight to stream directly onto the bed. "Olivia's team has Duchess Wendy Darling from Berkshire. The king has a heart after all, not pitting Duchess Calla Grovershire against her friend. You're keeping score for Olivia's team, the Lythikos Amazons, remember?" Aurora was still in her dress from the afternoon before, but no longer had the tiara, Princess Ruby had put with the clothes. Would Clair remember Aurora even wearing the tiara the afternoon before?
 
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