We staring at each other down at the table. This seems to be a repeating pattern for me these past days: awkward silences.
Nyla is the first one to break the silence. "How did you guys meet?"
Maron scratches the back of her neck nervously. I save her from the shame of explaining, "I tried to escape. I got into some trouble, and she helped me out. I helped her out."
She crinkles her eyebrows. "Why would you try to escape the monastery?"
"What?"
My voice is shocked, and even Maron is confused now. "Nyla, he's the jester I told you about. the one who got arrested for kidnapping the princess."
She swats her hand as if in dismissal. "What do you mean you told me that that jester is a sex-perverting man who got doped into some sort of scheme—"
I scrunch up my nose at that, saying, "Hey, I didn't get into any sort of scheme; all we wanted to do was run away, and I'm not a sex pervert."
Maron and Nyla exchange a look between the two of them that I do not want to admit intimidates me. I clamp down on my fear, exchanging my hand back to the table. "Can we sit down, please, like civilized people? Tell me, how did you guys meet? Do you guys have kids?"
Maron visibly tenses at that. My sister chuckles at that: "I have two girls, but they're from previous marriages." She sits down not on her own chair but on Maron, and she seems to be liking it because she is grinning from ear to ear. I did not know that that face could make those features, but somehow it's working.
Maron's features seem so much younger, and I don't understand how I couldn't have noticed this before because of the armor and her physique. I was sure she was a grown woman, but she is about my age; my sister was only a year younger than me.
I urge her to divulge more information. "You were married?"
"Yes, twice, actually." She sipped from the tea she was pouring for herself. I don't know if it's the heat of the warm beverage, but I can see her cheeks blush at that.
Maron rolled her eyes, but Nyla gave it no attention. "My first husband gave me no attention. He was a cold-blooded narcissist who only gave a shit about himself. The other one just cheated on me constantly. Then I started cheating on him, and he started beating on me."
Then a devious cold grin appeared between her lips. "Suddenly he died in a tragic horse-carriage accident."
It seemed to me that my sister and I both shared the same terrible taste in men. Luckily for her, it looks like her story turned out for the best.
Nyla's eyes go into saucers. "You mean you're the jester from Malp who slept with the princess on her wedding night and then helped her escape?"
I couldn't really deny all that, so I slowly nodded. Nyla fumes from anger, "Dad, you piece of shit!"
She stomps away to throw the canister at the wall, but Maron stops her. She shakes off the anger, visibly steeling herself. "He told us that you went to become a priest at the other side of the sea."
Maron sits with a deep, exasperated sigh. She scratches her dark hair, smoothing out the curls. Now unbound from the confines of the helmet, the pointy helmet she adorned. She stays silent, deeply uncomfortable with the situation.
Nyla picks up her head, looking at me. "Wait, does that mean the other rumors about you are true? Are you a sex pervert?"
Her eyes narrow. If she can pry the truth out of me, I make a little smirk. "Only a little."
She shakes her head off, backing away from me. I stride after her, lifting my hands up. "Only joking. I joke when I'm nervous, which is something you should probably learn about me."
Maron grumbles as if in agreement. I add, "I never forced anyone to do anything, especially not Helena."
This time the judgment is all coming from Maron. "Helena, so you're on a first-name basis with the princess," and I think I hear amusement in her voice. "When you told me you wanted to find her, you said that you did it for the money."
Informed her, "Technically, I said that she was very rich. I never said that the money would be yours. I said that I was important enough for her that she would pay for me, and all that is true."
I purse my lips, holding back the laughter. "But knowing Helena, she would probably just vent until you drop the price to zero, and then she would just take me." knowing that was the truth, and not only was she amazing at negotiating with traders when they got cocky. But she also helped her dad with the finances of the palace. often enough that she and the financial advisor that helped the king usually went head in head with her.
Maron and Nyla exchange a look between the two of them that I do not want to admit intimidates me. I clamp down on my fear, exchanging my hand back to the table. "Can we sit down, please, like civilized people? Tell me, how did you guys meet? Do you guys have kids?"
Maron visibly tenses at that. My sister chuckles at that: "I have two girls, but they're from previous marriages." She sits down not on her own chair but on Maron, and she seems to be liking it because she is grinning from ear to ear. I did not know that that face could make those features, but somehow it's working.
Maron's features seem so much younger, and I don't understand how I couldn't have noticed this before because of the armor and her physique. I was sure she was a grown woman, but she is about my age; my sister was only a year younger than me.
I urge her to divulge more information. "You were married?"
"Yes, twice, actually." She sipped from the tea she was pouring for herself. I don't know if it's the heat of the warm beverage, but I can see her cheeks blush at that.
Maron rolled her eyes, but Nyla gave it no attention. "My first husband gave me no attention. He was a cold-blooded narcissist who only gave a shit about himself. The other one just cheated on me constantly. Then I started cheating on him, and he started beating on me."
Then a devious cold grin appeared between her lips. "Suddenly he died in a tragic horse-carriage accident."
It seemed to me that my sister and I both shared the same terrible taste in men. Luckily for her, it looks like her story turned out for the best.
I raise my eyebrows, looking for Maron for answers. She just shrugs it off as if it's nothing. "Awfully tragic. Lucky for her, when the debtors came to collect the money he owed, this charming one decided to seduce one of the debtors for protection." Marine grins.
"And then she decided to stay." Nyla gave her a knowing smirk on her lips before she slurped from her tea.
"Just like that you decided to stay?"
"Just like that." Moraine rise her cup as if to cheer. She grins mischievously and lands a smack on Nyla's cheek. A blush lining her cheeks, but she chuckles, dodging her lover's mouth.
"As much as this has been fun, I do have to find Helena." I make a move to stand, but Nyla catches my arm. "Don't, please don't leave. Stay the night, all right?"
There is so much plea within her eyes that I sit right back down. "All right."