The Pauper Princess and the Way of the Trilobite - Part 10
Part nine is here.
What: a fanfiction for Girl Genius, featuring my literary stand-in and stunt double Mara
Time: five...ish months in from that other story. Oh, don't make me beg!
Legal disclaimer stuff:
"This story is not approved by, sponsored by or affiliated with Studio Foglio LLC or Airship Entertainment."
The Pauper Princess Fanfiction Theatre Presents:
The Pauper Princess and the Way of the Trilobite - Part 10!
Agatha yanked off the large poster hanging just inside the coffeehouse and stormed right over to its apparent proprietor, a young, tall man of two-toned hair who cringed as she went off on a tirade about it. From what Mara could piece together from his attempts at rebuttal, the poster, depicting Agatha in a flimsy nightgown and seductively pouring a cup of coffee, had been hanging there at least three years now, was a conversation piece for tourists, and how had she not seen it all this time?? As Agatha's rant droned on, Mara was drawn to the other tourist attraction: the coffee machine. She stood to its side and studied it, trying to ascertain which of it was functional and which of it just for show. It was certainly the most complicated brewer she'd ever seen.
"Care for a cup, hon?" said a pleasingly plump woman who was there to fill her tray of mugs with a fresh brew. Mara did not reply, but leaned in close to the tray and sniffed deeply. The woman huffed at her and hurried away to the paying customers. The aroma was an improvement over standard coffee, but not enough to entice her into drinking any. And why did this design seem so familiar?
"Hey, Mara," said Agatha, tugging at her sleeve. "Now that he understands about proper advertising, I'd like you to meet Mechanicsburg's seneschal, Vanamonde Van Mekkhan! Van, Princess Mara of Guildern. Mara, Vanamonde."
"Charmed, your Highness," he said, executing a deep bow before offering his hand. "Guildern, eh? That's the kingdom known for its amusements, yes?"
Mara accepted his handshake without looking. She was still studying the machine and only paid attention to him after he brought up her hand to kiss it.
"Huh?" she said. "Oh! Hello!" Suddenly she gripped Agatha's shoulder hard and pointed. "You made this! I should have realized it right away!"
Agatha peeled her fingers off her shoulder. "Correct, dear." She turned to the seneschal. "You must forgive my-friend. I'm giving her the Heterodyne Hot Spots tour, and she's, ah, easily distracted."
Vanamonde held up a hand. "That's quite all right. A Spark, no doubt. And your Highness, I'm afraid I must forbid your leaving before you've had a cup of our famous Heterodyne Spark Roast."
"Oh, thank you, but-"
"-But that would be a very bad idea," said Agatha. "She's allergic to... coffee."
Vanamonde gasped in genuine horror. "Oh, you poor thing," he said. "To be forced to live in such deprivation, it... it makes me weep for you. Truly."
Mara's puzzlement matched his sorrow. Agatha shrugged. "He takes coffee very seriously."
"At least accept a complimentary, signed copy of my book, Bean There-"
"We'll pick it up on the way back," said Agatha, and then beckoned for him to lean close. "And we will come back. And you won't try to sneak up posters like that one anymore. Right?"
"Yeees, Mistress."
Agatha pointed to her eyes, then to his, and led Mara from the shop and back onto the streets of Mechanicsburg.
"I was trying to reverse-engineer it," said Mara. "Your brewer."
"And?"
"Well..." she said, turning a bit red, "I admit that I was about to look for some tools to open it up. I think that's about when you came over."
"That's why I came over," said Agatha. "You had that look in your eye." She sighed in mock exasperation. "Sparks. Always taking apart other people's work."
This was normally a moment when Mara would fall into apologetic fits, but this time she couldn't help a small smile, which bloomed into a full one when she and Agatha exchanged looks.
Agatha took it upon herself to be the tour guide at the Heterodyne Museum. Where Violetta had fallen asleep for hours without Agatha even noticing, poor Mara nearly worked herself up into a swoon from trying to reverse-engineer everything inside simultaneously, including the sound-activated light fixtures. Agatha wisely cut short the museum visit, but promised her another try at some undetermined time.
For lunch they had roasted wyvern on a stick and something called mousse torte pie. It was good, though.
They threw coins into a local storyteller's bowl and listened to a wondrous tale of the Heterodyne Boys. Something about rowing to the moon? For once, Mara felt Agatha's gaze on her while the storyteller regaled the crowd. But now sunlight was on the wane, and the storyteller packed up his day's wares and whistled his way down the road. Mara announced that it was all a very lovely day, but she ought to be heading home. Agatha locked their arms tight. She had a pleading look in her eyes.
"One more stop?" she said. "I guarantee it'll be worth your while."
Mara debated with herself whether to regard this as a command, or what it appeared to be: a request. Still, she'd been having a good time today - as good as when she'd last visited Mechanicsburg (until things had gone a little downhill). Kelvin had given her leave to "do what she needed to do." But did she need to do this?
"All right," said Mara. "One more stop."
*****************
"Doooooollink!"
Mamma Gkika greeted her mistress with open arms, a fanged grin that took up a third of the face, and a thrust-out chest that nearly eclipsed her mistress's. Tonight she was wearing pale green, plus a dress of red and gold, lace, pearls, and fishnet. Mara tried to remember if her skin had been this color when they'd first met, but dismissed the effort quickly.
Agatha and Mamma fell into a bear hug and engaged in brief chitchat after parting. Finally she turned to Mara, who tried not to show her anxiety in the presence of this giant, female Jäger.
"Ohhh, sveetie, hyu brot de Prinzess dis time!" she gushed. "Iz goot to see hyu again, dollink!" On "goot," she gave Mara a playful slap on the shoulder which, but for Mara's reflexes, would have knocked her straight to the floor. "Mistress, vait here; hy kick out de bums dot took hyu favorite table!"
"No no no no!" said Agatha, calling her back. "Not this time. We need to go to your real bar."
Mamma leaned in close to Agatha, using only her eyes to look between her and the Princess. "Oh? Sumting special?" Agatha nodded. "As hyu vish, Mistress. Iz karaoke night, hyu know. Efferyboddy come to karaoke night! Should be fon!"
"Yes," said Agatha, "And this is extremely important: you need to make sure that only Jäger are there tonight. Not even the Jägerfrau. Can you manage that?"
"Dollink, hyu vound me," said Mamma. "Uf coz hy ken! Hyu vait here und leave efferyting to Mamma!"
*********
"What did she mean by 'something special?' " asked Mara as they settled in to their corner table in the "real" bar. Agatha had given her the basics about the differences. The "fake" bar was still real, but specifically for the tourists who might think they want to see real Jäger in action, but really could not handle it. In the "real" bar activities were allowed to get considerably more raucous, thanks to the majority clientele being real Jäger and not human girls in makeup, as the Jägerfrau were.
Though she had come to greatly respect and admire "The Boys," Mara was not, in general, at all comfortable around Jäger. Having one's home village viciously marauded and burned to the ground by a pack of "wild" Jäger and humans could put a damper on one's relationship.
"It's more sustenance for your journey," said Agatha, and grinned. "Huh. I'm not usually that poetic. Anyway, I know how difficult it must be for you to be here." Mara nodded her head vigorously. "You might feel like you're surrounded by the same enemies that destroyed your village, but... The thing about Jäger is, there may be no one else more loyal to the Heterodyne. Now, I'm going to leave it up to you. Reveal yourself to them now - all of them - and you have a potential army ready to back you up in any fight. But if you're not ready, I'll understand."
"Well..." said Mara, glancing around the room. The Boys were here, sitting together in a table on the other side of the room, watching them. When they caught Mara's eye, they raised their glasses to her and grinned. "They can be quite... heroic," she said. "I understand what you're trying to do. And now that I've seen what, literally, they're made of, it does take a bit of... well, the terror away. I... I should do this. I should be ready to do this. Yes. I am ready to do this."
"Excellent!" said Agatha, scooting from her seat and holding out a hand. She took it, and they slowly made their way through the crowd of drinking, laughing, babbling, and feasting Jäger. As they walked, the room quieted down, until by the time they reached the all-purpose platform at the end, it was silent. Mara made use of her meditation techniques to slow down her triphammer heart while Agatha spoke. She glanced to the exit door, which Mamma herself seemed to be guarding. Wait; that wasn't a battleaxe in her hand, was it-?
"Hiii," said Agatha, waving her hand once. "Glad there are so many of you here tonight! Um... We won't take much of your time. We know you'd like to get to your singing." She hooked Mara's arm and pulled her closer. "This is my friend, Princess Mara of Guildern. Now, before she says anything, you all need to swear - and I mean swear - not to repeat anything that she says tonight, to anyone. Got that?"
"VE SVEAR, MISTRESS!!" all of them said at once, giving Mara quite a start. She put a hand on Agatha's to steady herself.
"Great!" said Agatha, grinning. She gestured to the front of the platform. "All yours, Ma'am."
"Ah," said Mara, stumbling a bit. "Hm. Thank you. Ah... Hello, you... Jägerkin!"
"Hallooooo, Prinzess!!" she heard Ognian call out. She smiled nervously at him and pointed. When she looked back, there was a sea of monstrous faces peering at her, waiting patiently for whatever it was she was there to tell them. For a moment, she started to remember that day, and forced that thought aside. It helped to keep her eyeline just above theirs.
"Hm," she said. "Yes. Uh... You know, I could make some big speech and all, but you... people... strike me as the 'get right to it' sort, so... Here it is. My name is... My full name, that is... Is... Mara. Heterodyne. Mouseheart. As in... cousin to your own, ah, mistress, Agatha here. Uh, Heterodyne, that is. I'm one... too."
Agatha leaned forward and pointed back to her. "It's not a joke, folks. She's who she says she is."
An unexpectedly long silence ensued, causing the Heterodyne Girls to trade puzzled looks. Agatha stepped forward again to say more.
"Yaaaaas!!" This time it was Maxim. He and Ognian began smacking their steel mugs in unison against their table. They began chanting, which, after a few, was joined by Dimo. "Priiiinzess! Priiiinzess! Priiiinzess!"
The chant was taken up in a wave of sound, beginning with The Boys, and then rippling through the room like an expanding circle, until every Jäger in the bar was smashing his (or her) mug against tables, benches, walls, and occasionally each other. Agatha looked to her cousin, who had one hand on her chest and in all ways appeared quite overwhelmed.
A shrill, LOUD whistle ripped through it all, quieting the cacophony into cheerful mutterings. The source of the sound, Mamma Gkika, stepped onto the platform and stood between the two women. She held up her own mug in a toast, which the other Jäger followed.
"Long liff de Heterodynes!"
"Hu-Rah!!" responded the Jäger, and downed their drinks in one shot.
Mara leaned cautiously to Agatha and spoke in as low a tone as could still be heard. "They... don't want proof? They're just accepting my word?"
"And mine." Agatha pointed to her nose. "And what these tell them." She took Mara's hand to throw up both of their arms in a triumphant pose before leading her back to their table. As they passed, the Jäger reached out to touch both of them and called out a myriad of welcoming sentiments, not to mention smatterings of applause. Never at any moment of her life would Mara have imagined this occurring to her. But it was one of the most overwhelmingly... good experiences of her life. Yes. She had to admit this.
She sat down in a daze, trying and failing to take it all in. "They just... accepted me," she said. "All of them. They welcome me."
"Hokeh, boyz!" Mamma called from the platform. "Ve gonna start de singink! Und in honor of our big-time guests de Heterodynez, all de songs gotta be about Luurrrrrve!"
Some groans erupted from different parts of the room, but were interupted by "Hy go forst!" To Mara's surprise Maxim was running to the front of the room. A random Jäger chortled; he mimed a backhand at the heckler, then whispered to Mamma his choice of song. She grinned, nodded, then went behind a curtain. Suddenly the bar lights dimmed except one above the platform. Colored beams of light snapped on and swayed about the room. A karaoke track of the typical quality of most karaoke tracks began. Suddenly Maxim became solemn. He looked down and swayed to the music, waiting for his cue. When it came, he looked straight at the two Heterodynes and held out a hand.
"Hyu izzzzz so byootiful..." he sang... much better than Mara had expected. "To meeeee...." She tried not to, but couldn't help a quick laugh at the sight, and sound, of a ferocious supersoldier now serenading a room of fellow soldiers with a tender love ballad.
"-Hyu izzzzz so byootiful-"
Mara leaned close to Agatha. "Is now a good time to explain why I'm here?" Off Agatha's dismayed expression: "I don't mean that this hasn't been a wonderful day. Much better than I would have imagined, but you did stress the importance of my being here."
"I know, I know," said Agatha. She sighed.
"-Ken't hyu see?! HYU IZ EFFERYTING HY HOPE FOR--!"
"I need you to be ready," said Agatha, not quite meeting her gaze. "You know that we've been examining wreckage and bodies from Dupree's ship. Between the three of us - and I can't believe it took that to finally get us to work together - we've managed to work out the tech she was using, but that's not enough. We need to know from whom. From where. And that remains an extremely baffling, irritating mystery. And I don't want to alarm you more, but Dupree? We haven't found her body. And we know well enough not to assume her death for it."
"My goodness," said Mara.
"-Such joy und heppiness hyu bring-"
"But..." she continued, "What is it you need me to be ready for?"
"Anything," said Agatha. "I say that because I have nothing specific. But... you're family, and it's not that I'm trying to put you in harm's way, but strategically, two Heterodynes are better than one. Understand?"
"-Like a dream-"
An unwelcome chill shot down Mara's spine. "Agatha-"
"I know," she said. "You follow the path of peace. I can appreciate that now. But at the same time, this is a new and, as you experienced for yourself, extremely dangerous new threat. You know it's not just over and done. You need to be ready. For anything. We all do."
"I know," said Mara quietly. "I accept that now." The two were quiet, allowing Mara's attention to drift. She propped her head on her hand and indulged Maxim's soulful balladeering. She made a gentle half-smile and pointed his way. "Have you noticed? He's just singing his heart out, isn't he?"
"Yeah," said Agatha with a chuckle. Maxim was, indeed, singing his heart out and gesturing broadly to their table.
"-Heaffen's gift to me-"
Agatha furrowed her brow, then slowly leaned away from Mara. Maxim did not follow her, but kept directing his song at-- Oh, dear.
"Hyu iz so byootiful...To Meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee...." As was proper for the song, Maxim let the last note die out on its own, and he lowered his head until the music ended. The room erupted into applause. Mara joined in enthusiastically. Agatha also clapped, but cast glances her way all the while.
Maxim removed his hat and bowed with a flourish before leaving the platform,winking at the last moment. Another Jäger ran onstage to prepare for his song. He seemed less confident than Maxim, and less welcomed by the others.
"I have to admit," said Mara, "I thought he did quite well. And that was just adorable, his singing to you like that. They really do 'lurve' you, don't they?"
"Uh... he wasn't singing to me."
"Lurve...Excitink und new..."
Mara cocked her head, then scoffed and waved it off. "Oh, you, pretending to be modest. Well, I could tell. You were serenaded, my dear. Maybe this one will, too."
"Uh-huh," said Agatha, and clasped her hands together. "So tell me: how many 'smoochies' have you given The Boys?"
"How many-?" said Mara, and stiffened. "What makes you think-? I do not give smoochies!"
"-Ve iz expectink hyuuuuuuuuuuuu-"
"I'm just passing on what the Boys told me," said Agatha. "Sometimes they do like to go on, and recently they dropped something about you and them and...smoochies."
Mara slapped the table. "They were-! They were just little pecks on the cheek! As-as a friendly greeting! As a sign of respect!"
"Okay, I believe you-"
"Smoochies. For goodness' sake, I am a happily married woman!" she fumed, flashing her wedding ring. "Deliriously happy!"
"Calm down, he was just flirting," said Agatha. "Heavily, but it's not like he's a threat to you and Kelvin. Right?"
"-Let it flow... It flows back to hyuuuuuu-"
"I should say not," said Mara, eyeing The Boys, who again held up their mugs in a toast. "But in future I shall be more, ah, mindful of my conduct towards them. It didn't occur to me that my friendliness would be misconstrued asOHMYGOD."
Mara suddenly gripped Agatha's arm tightly. Agatha winced thanks to the digging in of fingernails, and worked on extracting her arm from under them. She grumbled at her cousin, then stopped. Mara's face was white, her expression one of pure terror. Agatha followed her gaze to... the Jäger currently onstage and trying, but failing, to lead the room in a rousing chorus.
"De Lurrrrrrve Bar...".
Mara's mouth was moving, but she spoke too quietly to be heard. Agatha leaned close enough to put her ear right next to the mouth. "Kesthoj..." She heard. "Kesthoj..."
Agatha straightened up. She looked from Mara, to the Jäger, and back. It was bound to happen some day. This was a risk she decided to take by bringing her here. Mara had recognized a Jäger - now no longer "wild" - from that day when her home village had been razed to the ground.
Agatha was watching the Jäger onstage to see if he had noticed anything amiss. He did not seem to. She turned her attention back to Mara, whose expression had suddenly and completely changed. Not terror - not even a hint of it. Pure rage.
Mara slammed her hands on the table, pushed herself up and was halfway across the floor before Agatha could react.
"Set a coz for adven-VOT DE-??" was as far as the confused Jäger got before Mara, with a roar to rival a Jägergeneral's, hurled herself with one giant leap onto the platform and solidly into his chest. Being caught by surprise, and confusion about how to handle an enraged Heterodyne, caused him to fall flat on his back. Mara wasted no time straddling on top and laying into him, throwing furious punch after punch onto his chest, his face, his ears - anywhere that her flailing fists could land.
"YOUUUUUUUUU!" she roared. "WHY DID YOU DO IT? WHY? WHY? WHYYYY?"
"Mara!!" She felt Agatha trying to wrap her arms around her to restrain or drag her away, but that was easy to shrug off. Agatha quickly regretted trying to exert herself, given her injuries. The Jäger on his back made feeble attempts to defend himself, knowing that a true effort could injure or even kill her.
"Mara, stop this!" shouted Agatha, and called over Mamma. She looked back at the crowd, half of whom had stood up, the other half still sitting but just as stunned. None of them knew how to react, barring direction from their Mistress.
Mamma was there in an instant and wrapped her arms fully around de Prinzess's waist. Mara tried to push her away and to loosen her grip, but fruitlessly. In one smooth motion Mamma hauled her into the air and leaned back, causing Mara to flail about loudly but helplessly. Agatha grabbed an arm and tried to steady it, but was pushed aside and almost off the platform. The other Jäger in the room gasped, but still did not know what to do.
"Hyu eediots!" yelled Mamma. "Sumvun grab sumting and hold her!"
"NOOOO!!" shouted Mara. "Let me go!! HE MUST DIE!!"
Before anyone in the front rows could react, the Boys were here, each grabbing a flailing limb and holding on tight while being careful not to injure her. To their surprise the Prinzess had quite a bit of raw strength, but not enough to prevent her immobilization.
The battered Jäger rose slowly from the ground and backed away from the others. He removed his hat and held it, squeezing and twisting it in apprehension. He stole glances at a table seating three other Jäger, who were standing and watching him with great concern.
Mara's yells and loud protests eventually died away. Her struggling finally ceased, and she went limp. The only sound in the room came from her inarticulate sobs. Agatha stepped between the others to get close to her. She put a gentle hand on Mara's stomach.
"Are you all right now?"
Mara rolled her eyes at the question and shuddered. "Do I look all right?"
"Mamma, may we use the private room in the corner?"
"Uf coz, mistress," she said. "Prinzess? If ve let go, hyu gonna keep fightink?"
"No," she whispered. Mamma nodded to the Boys. Her legs were lowered first, allowing Mamma to support her until she proved she could stand on her own.
"Vot hy do?" said the battered Jäger. His voice wavered enough that it was clear that he was near tears. "Vy hyu hate me, Prinzess? Vot hy do?"
Mara glared at him, then growled and lunged, but not so violently this time that Agatha couldn't hold her back and turn her around. She began leading Mara off the platform.
Mamma pointed at the Jäger. "Hyu. Piotr. Follow dem."
"Vot? Me?"
Mara whirled around, her eyes flashing. Agatha stepped between them. "I agree with her," she said. "You should talk this out. Right, Mara? Talking is your way, not war. Not violence. Remember?"
Mara glared at Piotr, who was contrite without understanding why, and finally allowed a slight relaxation. "You're right," she said. "I beg your forgiveness, Agatha. Mamma Gkika. I don't know-That is, I've wondered about this day for ten years, and I thought-I thought I could-"
"Let's go," said Agatha, grabbing her arm and leading her the rest of the way to Mamma's office. Piotr followed from a distance, until being beckoned inside by Mamma. Piotr entered, but then so did the three other Jäger from his table. They had quietly followed him.
"Vot's dis?"
"Ve iz vit heem," said one.
"Ve iz alvays vit heem," said another. Mamma narrowed her eyes, then waved them all inside and shut the door behind herself.
"Hokeh, boyz und gorlz!" she shouted to the rest of the assembled crowd. "Ve svitch de theme. How about sum goot old-feshioned drinkink songs?"
"HU-RAH!"
"What is this?" said Agatha, eyeing the quartet. "We only want him."
"Forgiff os, Mistress," said Piotr. "Ve iz, how hyu say, vun for all, all for vun?"
"Ve iz blood brodders," said another. "Ve share fates."
"Hmph," said Agatha. "Mara?"
"I don't care."
"Have a seat, all," said Agatha, gesturing. She waited for them to finish before seating herself between the quartet and Mara. She clasped her hands together on the table. "Mara? Do you want to start?"
Mara shrugged, then slowly raised her head. She tried a few times to speak. The Jäger waited as patiently as ever.
"You've been to Denmark," she finally said. "Haven't you? I don't exactly recall the rest of you, but I know you were. About ten years ago? A tiny village called Kesthoj? Ring any bells?"
The Jäger turned to each other and conferred, then parted and resumed their previous spots. Piotr was their de facto spokesman here.
"Ve tink so, yas," he said. The others nodded.
Mara nodded to herself. "Hm. That's good that you remember. Would you also happen to remember... raiding that same village? Pillaging it and plundering it and slaughtering everyone - man, woman, child, young, old, sick, healthy - and burning it to the ground?? Do you remember that??"
"Mara..." cautioned Agatha. "Path of peace, path of peace."
The quartet traded furtive looks. All of them removed their hats at once. "Yas," said one. "Ve remembers."
"Your honesty is," Mara growled, "Refreshing. Now perhaps you could explain to me, why you did that??"
"Dot vas hyu village?" said Piotr.
"Yes," said Mara. "I may or may not be its only survivor. But yes. Kesthoj was my home village. Until you and your ... people... destroyed it."
"Ve din know!" said another Jäger. "Ve din know dere vas a Heterodyne in dot village! Pleaz belieff os, Prinzess!"
"What does it matter if there was a Heterodyne or not??" she snapped. "Why did you do what you did in the first place?"
Ve vas lost!!" cried Piotr. He looked to Agatha. "Mistress: ve iz de Lost Vuns. Ve iz de vuns who-"
"Not to me," said Agatha. "To her."
Piotr nodded and turned her way. "Prinzess, mebbe hyu dun know dis, but ve iz de Lost Jäger. De Heterodyne, dey vas lost, und most uf de Jäger joined de Baron. But ve couldn't do it! Ve tot, beck den, ve vas doink de right ting und not sorving heem. Ve stood firm und vould sorve no vun but de Heterodyne!"
"But de trobble vas, dot meant ve sorved...no vun. Ve had no porpose. Nottink to liff for. Ve started to lose hope, und vit no vun to keep order, ve vent...krezy. Ve-Ve ran vit ennyvun dot could point os to a fight. Din haff to be a goot fight. Ennyting to pretend ve vas doink sumting. Ve vent mad vit despair und pain und...ve attacked und keeled de veak. De sick. Keeds und bebbies. Ve din care no more. Dot is dishonorable for us Jäger, und honor iz efferyting! Ve- Vas- Lost!"
"Prinzess," said another. His hands were clasped together as if in supplication. "Ve iz not proud uf dot time. By de time de Baron's pipple found us, ve vere villing to join heem. Or ve four vas. De rest vas not. Not de odder six. Dey eider fought beck und vas keeled, or keeled demselfs! De odder Jäger, dey dun like os. Sum tell os, ve shoulda all keeled ourselfs. But ve iz tryink to...to..."
"Redeem ourselfs," continued yet another. "Now dot de Mistress iz beck, ve been sorvink de Heterodyne as good as de old days! Ve iz tryink to be de best Jäger dot enny could be. Mebbe ve neffer be again, but ve try."
"Prinzess," said Piotr. "Vill hyu forgiff os? Even if no odder Jäger does again, if hyu do..."
Mara just stared. Not at them, but somewhere random, like a spot on the table.
"Piotr," said Agatha. "I am sorry; I should know the rest of your names. Could you help us out?"
"Axel."
"Augustus."
"Dietrich."
"Pleased to meet you all," said Agatha, nodding. "I think it's admirable of you to try to mend your ways. The times of the Great War, my father and uncle missing... Those were dark times for everyone. A lot of people did things they deeply regret. Terrible things. But can they still be forgiven?"
"When you attacked my village," said Mara, "Do you recall seeing a particularly large man? Blonde, like me? Braided hair, including his beard? Standing on high ground and fighting like a beast?"
The quartet traded looks. Axel and Dietrich nodded. "Yas," said Axel. "He vas de only vun puttink op a fight dot day!"
"Wrong answer, boys," said Agatha. They seemed puzzled, then cringed in contriteness.
"Ve iz eediots," said Piotr. "He vas hyu fadder. Vazn't he."
She nodded.
"Hy knew he smelled goot!" said Dietrich. He pointed at her. "Hy remember seeing a gorl by heem. Fighting vit heem? Togedder? Vas dot hyu, Prinzess?"
"Yes," she said. "But I wouldn't call it 'fighting together.' I need to know what happened to him."
"Ve dun know, Prinzess," said Piotr. "He vas fightink, den he vas gone. Keeled, escaped, captured? Ve dun know. De Baron's pipple came. Dey came vhen de village vas burnink. But hyu escaped, Prinzess. How hyu do dot?"
"It's not important," she said. "So. After all these years."
"I see this as an opportunity," said Agatha. "Such as: for forgiveness."
Mara sighed, long and loud. She threw Agatha a Look. "I'm the one who needs it," she said quietly. "Piotr: I apologize for my outburst. I have renounced violence, and then... tonight I took a million steps backward from that. All this time trying to cleanse myself of anger, gone in an instant. I had no idea so much was still there. I am sorry."
"Hyu iz Heterodyne," said Piotr. "Ve iz Jäger. Hyu dun apologize to os."
"I do," said Mara. "I must. I'm hardly above reproach. My behavior was... dishonorable. In that sense, we are not so far apart. And... I do forgive you. All of you." They grinned and exchanged looks of great relief.
"Boys," said Agatha. "Please stand up now." They did so immediately. "I want you to greet your new mistress properly."
"What? What?" said Mara as the four of them looked her straight in the eye, then bowed their heads and dropped to one knee.
"Ve svear to sorve hyu, Prinzess," said Piotr. "To de death." The others murmured the same.
"Agatha! No! I-I can't have...!"
Agatha looked down her nose again. Mara sputtered unintelligible protests a few moments before forming proper words. "What am I going to do with Jäger... in Guildern??"
*****************
The kids were already asleep by the time Mara returned home. She threw her arms around Kelvin's neck and covered his face with kisses before settling into several long, deep ones. When they finally parted, it was Kelvin who had the bigger smile.
"So how was your day, Honey?" he said. "Without divulging any super-secret secrets, of course."
"Ah-ha-ha," she said. "Yes. Secrets."
She was quiet a long time.
"Honey?"
"Sorry, Darling," she said. "Um... do you remember my little 'joke' about not bringing any Jäger home with me?"
Part eleven is here.