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How To Deliver Justice (with KiraMusani

Cinnamon smiled, "Look at you! Getting your own horse as a payment! See, getting paid for your inventions doesn't have to be coin. Remember back in the village when I would sometimes pay for things from the general store with bread or pastries to cover when I didn't take enough coin? Bartering for things you need, or could use is the key to good business practices!"

Avenger looked around at everyone as another half-hour passed. Amethyst finally pushed off from leaning on the wall. "We have to get back to the King with our report. It'll be nightfall in about a few hours. Dunwyn is a goodly amount to travel." She huffed, folding her arms across her chest.

Avenger shook her head. "Come ON, Amethyst, we're not going to be that much longer, certainly."

Amethyst glowered. "You best hope not. You are a new guard, you don't want to be guarding a princess on the road after dark. You'll learn... And I'd rather it not be tonight."

Dr. Benjamin Monroe came out, advising the old farmer, Hazel's father, about not forgetting his medicine again, and saw three of his patients on the porch. "Avenger. Clair. Cinnamon. Good afternoon. I didn't expect to see any of you here. How are you?"
 
Clair nodded.
"Right, I just don't really know how to properly care for a horse and am worried that I won't give them their needed time or attention." She admitted.
"Bread and pasties are fine because they are just something to eat while I work."

Clair gave a gentle wave to the Doctor.
"Hello Doctor, I am okay, how are things? Are the tools working okay for you? I have been thinking of new ideas in my spare time and would like a doctor's opinion on if they hold any legitimate use."
 
Ruby both nodded and shook her head. "As the Lady of whatever you and your parents decide to name your provence of Cordonia, you will have stable hands to help you."

Avenger smirked Clair's way. "I'm the exception to the rule. I knew what Butterscotch likes and how she likes to be groomed, and unless I let you... You leave MY horse to me. It'll be something I'll pride myself on even as Ruby's bodyguard. You leave the Cordonian princess AND my horse to me."

Amethyst laughed just as Dr. Monroe stepped out, so being the good Knight that she was, held her tongue as Dr. Monroe addressed three of the girls.

Monroe patted the stethoscope. This is working like a dream, Clair, thank you for that." He wrapped the blood pressure cuff up best he could, and handed it to her. "Thank Aurora for the use of this. She told me to test it on someone for her and report my findings so I'll just give it back to you to return to her, as well as my notes. These inventions will broaden the medical community a great deal." He next handed her a sealed letter that had : Doctor Aurora Service, Cordonia written in his hand. "That letter is for her eyes only, Clair, can I trust you with it, and it remaining sealed until the new physician opens it herself?"

He then nodded. "Yes. By all means, let me know in a letter, if you think of anything else that will farther our medicine. And Congratulations on becoming Cordonian Nobility, milady."

After chatting with Avenger, and congratulating her on her knighthood and job protecting Princess Ruby, and talking to Cinnamon, then he bowed to his old patient and now his princess, he smiled and waved, before heading towards his own horse to ride back to Dunwyn.

Avenger had grabbed the screen door so it wouldn't slam shut. "Let's let the inventor tell the farmers how to handle the charged fence so we can head out."

"I need to talk to you about wanting to leave your horse to you, anyway... Any knight worth his or her salt would know not to step on your toes regarding the princess, even if you screw up."
 
Clair seemed a little relieved at that news.
"Oh, I never considered that, I suppose that works just fine, though I don't see the point of me owning a horse that someone else takes care of, I suppose perhaps I could sometimes use its assistance in my work" she rubbed her chin.

Clair took what was offered and placed them in her bag, pausing briefly at the letter.
"Heh, as temping as it is to see the thoughts on my invention I would never read a letter intended for another without permission. Also I'm glad, they are working for you at the least, and I'm hoping my next invention my be a lifesaver of sorts." She nodded making a note to try and make a letter that could describe it properly.

Once he was gone and Clair needed to explain the fence to the farmers she did the best she could to explain what they needed to know to keep it charged and fix any potential issues that came up safely.
 
It was just after dark, when the five got back to the castle, just in time for dinner to be served. Nobody who worked on the farm had time to even rinse off their hands.

"Your Majesties, I must respectfully disagree with Princess Ruby, Princess Cinnamon, Avenger, Clair and Amethyst sitting down to sup without first, at least, washing hands and arms over a basin." Aurora said gently.

Phillip Arden concurred. "Your Majesty Kenna. We both showed you the strange things we cannot see with the naked eye, that lives on our hands with normal activities. These five were on a farm. Who KNOWS what they may have picked up."

Kenna nodded. "Yes,yes, but that's under what you call a microscope. You know I trust you explicitly, Phillip and Aurora, but we are used to eating at a certain time and shouldn't these five have the right to eat the food hot? Let's leave it to them if they wish to rinse their hands in a basin of warm water."

Avenger, Ruby and Cinnamon definitely did, because they had always done so before they ate. Amethyst was hesitant and looked to Clair to see if she would.
 
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Clair nodded, knowing they were referring to her invention
"I also had an idea to shine light from under the observed material, thinking that might help see better. Also, I am most definitely wishing to wash my hands before we eat." She clarified.
 
An ewer full of water and large bowl was brought for the five to wash off their hands and the princesses were allowed to rinse their hands first, followed by Clair.

Avenger looked to Amethyst, who shrugged. "Don't look at me like that. Although we're considered noble class, knights wash their hands after the higher Nobles. That's just the way it is."

There would be no way to dry their hands, so everyone would sit back down at the table with wet hands.

Once everyone was seated again, Doctor Arden, Lieutenant in Queen Kenna's Army, addressed Clair. "Prithee, Lady Clair, but how would you manage to light your device underneath it?"

Avenger nodded as she also looked at Clair. "Yes. Although magic is real, I have not seen you with any tomes or studying anything remotely in the mystic arts."

Gregor was next with a comment. "Although it is innate in certain individuals, a girl practicing witchcraft is punishable by burning at the stake. Even men have to fall back on the natural sciences to explain their power to keep from being guilty of sorcery."



(In case you forgot, Kira, this is 1377. There's hardly anything known about electricity. They're JUST starting to learn about static electricity. YC and Ruby are ahead of the game, only by shocking each other after she got stuck on her back and rubbed herself on Clair's woolen bedspread.)
 
Clair shook her hands rapidly to try and dry them as they sat down, looking up as she was addressed.
"Oh! definitely no witchcraft! I have an idea for an invention based on a result I noticed from my battery after long use, though much testing is still needed." She held her hands up in defence. Her mother had warned her many times that her inventions might be seen as witchcraft by some if she took them too far, but Clair always had a habit of getting carried away.

"Oh, I should explain, so I know when smithing metal, when it gets really hot, it glows, right? Well, my battery warms up when being used, which means this power can also increase something's temperature, I figure. The smaller and thinner a material is, the faster it will heat up if I run it through it. If we can contain that in a transparent heat-resistant material such as glass, then we can have hot glow shine through it," She explained nervously, not wanting to be burned at the stake.
 
Olivia just watched the proceedings with a smirk across her face, just biding her time. Finally, it presented itself. "Yes, Clair, any smith could tell you that. It used to piss off my mother, Zenobia, when I would go to the smithy to learn how to make the very weapon I was to use in battle."

She looked to Gregor, "And what of some of the greatest female battle mages of all time? Nia Ellarious¹, Tyril of Starfury's¹ sister... Who's name slips me, and that girl from Riverbend²?"

Kenna put a hand on Gregor's shoulder and shook her head, before turning to Olivia. "Adrina Starfury is an elf¹, Olivia. Far different culture than ours. I am also aware of the priestess Nia. She was in my grandmother's court as an advisor as well as her lover, Aurora Parnassus³. They are both gone now, but Adrina still lives, but I know not where. Maybe Hook or Wendy have heard or seen her. Elves do have long lives."

Aurora looked at the Queen. "How old is my name? The Riverbend girl was what? 13th century⁴?"

Gregor waved his hands, "No more history lessons at this supper table, let's stay with science." He looked at Clair, almost for help to get the conversation back on track. "You were saying the forge fires and your batteries can help produce a light? We do know metal heated up to a certain degree causes it to become more pliable. It glows red, yellow and orange most times. Experiments with that can create a light much like a torch does?"

Arden and Aurora could only comment, "Fascinating⁵."




1 These are all characters in another Choices novel called Blades of Light and Shadow
2 Main character you play in above "dungeons type RPG
3 Name I chose for MC (yes, I love the name Aurora, pretty and ethereal)
4 I have set the time of Blades as 1250, to coincide with them being same universe, and for the other reason I needed an elf, which I hope my partner has guessed 😉
5 with all the science fantasy, who didn't see the two Cordonian doctors pulling a Vulcan Star Trek shout-out?
 
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Clair paused as the others started to speak, knowing the conversation was indeed going off track but not wanting to push it toward something she was more interested as that seemed rude. But luckily for her Gregor brought the conversation back around. She didn't know all that much about elves or history, other then history that involved or surrounded big leaps in technology.
"Oh! umm, yes, well sort of, the forge fires was just an example of using heat to make light, and for my battery to do so in a similar fashion. That is my current guess at least, I would need to find a material that would be well suited for it, and also find out if my guess on using my new power source can indeed produce enough heat to even get anything that hot"
 
Kenna thought for a moment as the second course was being served. "Considering forges get hot enough to melt metal, I can see your concern. Can you explain how hot your battery... This invention my daughter named for you because it didn't sit still in the compartment until she created a cell for it, causing damage to the invention you made for me... How it heats up?"

Ruby finally caught on. "Actually... I can do you one better, mother," she showed the pads of her fingers and pointed to one blister. "I got this from the battery. See, it doesn't just batter the inventions. It burned me, I kinda warned Clair as Dr. Arden was treating me, not to pick it up, afraid she'd get burned."

Aurora huffed, "Ruby, why didn't you come to me? I'm the court physician!"

Gregor looked at the pouting 20something doctor. "Court is technically over, Aurora, and she IS the princess. She should have taken her injury to the ROYAL physician." He took a breath. "Phillip Arden IS the Cordonian Royal Physician, is he not?" He looked again at Clair. "So this... Battery... Gets hot enough to burn skin, but not hot enough to melt itself, and you want to not only figure out why, but how this heat could be used as a power source in and of itself as a torch to see better? Is that what I'm hearing? If so, can you expound on that more for me and Kenna?"

"As your queen, I must say I AM intrigued." Kenna nodded.
 
Clair looked at each person talking, doing her best to take everything in before the conversation was once again brought around back to her.
"Oh, well, I am not sure exactly about everything about it, but it seems to move easily through metals and waters, some metals better than others. We learned that using a saltwater base, we could store this energy, and like Ruby explained, when used, it heats things up..." She placed a hand to her chin.
"Perhaps it works similarly to when you rub your hands together, or rub sticks together, it creates heat, right? Maybe this energy can't be seen, but it is rubbing against anything it passes through. Oh! For some reason, it does not seem to pass through wood very well at all," She guessed out loud to the room.
"Honestly, we still have lots to learn about it, and I am not even certain if this idea will work. I guess, what do you all want to know, and I can try and answer as best as I can."
 
Kenna seemed satisfied with Clair's explanation as it was, but Gregor raised an eyebrow.

Kenna patted his shoulder and said, "Well, you or Ruby keep me updated on your progress. Meanwhile, Lieutenant Arden, you have something to bring up with your findings with the cuff?"

Aurora raised an eyebrow as she said, "I just received a note from Dr. Monroe, Clair just delivered to me, shouldn't we hear his findings first?"

Arden agreed, "By all means. Mine is just my observations, Monroe is not you or I, Aurora, a third opinion could be invaluable."

Aurora cleared her throat and read from the letter. "My dear Doctor Service, thank you for allowing me to test out the blood pressure cuff with my own patients for the last week.." She silently read a bit down the letter. "Wider range of ages, both male and female, different vocations and areas around the realm... Ah. Here we are." Another throat clearing. "My findings are the device works quite well for all, without hurting the patient. Complaints have been mostly about how tight it feels as it fill with air via the manual pumping. In most cases, it's because the patient already has an elevated blood pressure of around 150 or greater."

She gave Sapphire a cold glare, that with Clair near Aurora, would be the only one who could calm her down. "So exactly what I've found, but I only have one like that. Sapphire... Do you want to find yourself on nitroglycerin?! I'm going to warn you again, in front of everyone, to stop stressing over every. Little. Thing! You're pushing for a heart attack before you're 25!" She looked at Gregor. "I want it on record, Princess Sapphire is officially on a salt free diet!" She growled. "Clair, will you please tell the table what we have learned about sodium, which is good for your batteries, but detrimental to us humans when taken in excess? The experiments I labeled as the Great Salt Test? Take heed, Avenger, your blood pressure is borderline compared to the control of 120-130."

Actually, Aurora needs calmed down, BEFORE she gives HERSELF a heart attack. Arden looked worried at his protege.
 
Clair paused, not sure how to explain more and frozen at Aurora's aggression.

"Oh! Umm yes, while we believe salt is an important part of one's diet, with our current ability to use and eat it freely compared to years ago we are likely eating it in excess, which seems poor for heart health. But umm, something my father always told some of our more, energetic customers. When pointing a finger at someone, look at your hand and see three of your fingers pointing back at you. I think it means, always consider if you need to take your own advice" Clair replied, not wanting to be confrontational but also wanting to try and help Aurora see the hypocrisy in her words.
 
Gregor looked over to Sir Handler. "Wise words." He then pointed at Princess Cinnamon. "Note, ladies and gentlemen. I'm pointing at the princess." He raised the thumb so all could see his three other fingers curled back and pointing to himself. "Avenger, when you were the princess before you abdicated... And I corrected YOU, did I ever steer you wrong? Or seem hypocritical?"

Calla gulped, glanced at Aurora, who almost everyone present knew was going to be chosen, and looked back to her father. "No, Sire."

Aurora got the hint, but still let out a frustrated grunt. "My last blood pressure was 128/77. Normal." She looked at Clair. "But, duly noted. That's why you're a good assistant, Clair." Another glare at the hapless Greek princess.

Arden then gave his report, basically commending Clair for even inventing a medical device that could revolutionize the medical community, and broaden medicine as a whole.

As desserts were being served, Clair would notice everyone except Cinnamon and herself, getting a piece of their fruitcake. Gregor looked apologetic to them. "We tried to cut the rest of the cake, after Kenna and I had a piece, for everyone to get a part of the winning dessert. When we found there wasn't going to be enough, we decided the winners should still get the next best thing... Some of the second place dessert, which was only behind by 15 points." He clapped, and Cinnamon and Clair were presented plates of the rich Grecian pastry, baklava, Diana and Sapphire had made.
 
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