Going through Nirae’s checkpoint was, as Galiena expected, not an issue. Being stopped at a checkpoint was rarely a problem; it simply wasn’t an effective use of energy. Outside of a city it was easy to just run away, inside it was quite a bit more difficult, making the confrontation less of a risk of being a complete waste.
Once they were inside, Queen Maia turned to Minerva. “Alright, you’re safe to head out whenever. Just…no matter what you decide, please come tell us. Come with a retinue of soldiers if you’re worried we’ll kidnap you or something. But if you don’t return by sunset, then we’ll assume you’ve been captured and mount a rescue mission. We’ll be in the market buying supplies until then, it should be relatively easy for you to find us.”
Minerva gave Queen Maia a flat look. “You can’t seriously believe my own parents would go so far as to imprison me, right? They’ve never been anything but loving to me.”
“I really hope they won’t.” Queen Maia replied. “But I just want to be cautious in case that does happen.”
“Fine, whatever.” Minerva said. “I’ll be back before sunset. Happy?”
“I am.” Queen Maia replied. “Would you like us to bring the carriage closer to the manor? I’m assuming it’s the big one just up the road.”
“That’s the one, and no, it’ll be faster if I walk.” Minerva said. “Bye.”
She hopped out of the carriage, and, a few moments later, Queen Maia turned to Galiena. “I’m sorry, but would you be capable of following her and remaining out of sight?” She asked. “If that’s too much of an ask that’s fine, I’m just…worried.”
Galiena smiled at her. “It would be trivial, assuming they are anywhere near as lax as the gate guards. Even if I do get caught, I can simply pretend to be hired help.” She said. “Please consider it done.”
Queen Maia gave her a relieved smile in return. “Thank you, really. If it gets too dangerous, then please just bail. We can wait until sunset if we need, and hopefully your presence won’t be required anyway.”
Galiena sighed. “It will.” She said. “I return with her shortly. If I do not, then please come at sunset, as planned.”
“Will do.” Queen Maia replied. “Be safe.”
Galiena gave a nod, then left and began to walk down the street towards the manor. No one paid her much mind, people generally didn’t pay attention to servants, so she made good time on her way, and was soon standing outside of the gates. A quick survey revealed that there were no guards along the outer edges of the wall, so she simply got out of sight of the gate guards, scaled the wall by using her bones to make footholds, and dropped into the gardens.
It was almost appalling how lax their security was. There were no guard patrols, and the lock on the side door was incredibly rudimentary. Galiena was by no means an expert on the locks of this era, but it only took her a few seconds of fumbling with a lockpick made of bone, and it popped right open.
Once inside, she simply had to scale the wall up to the rafters, and she could make her way to the main hall undetected. Fortunately, it seemed that Minerva was meeting with her parents there, so Galiena got herself into the most hidden position she could find, and listened.
“I have something to admit, Father, Mother.” Minerva said. “Whilst I was out on my expedition, I may have undergone some…changes.”
“Oh dear, I told you that you’d catch some horrid disease by cavorting with those monsters.” A woman, likely Minerva’s mother, said. “I’ll call the physician for now, but later we’ll have a talk about this monster nonsense. If word gets out that you have some disease, the reputation of your father and I will be ruined, and we can’t have that.”
“You misunderstand.” Minerva replied, switching out of her human form. “I…became a monstrous maiden.”
And just like that, the gazes of her mother and the man Galiena assumed to be Minerva’s father grew cold. “And you didn’t even consult us first?” The father asked. “Did you even consider how that will affect my image?”
“It wasn’t by choice, Father, I –”
“Don’t call me that!” Minerva’s father yelled. “I refuse to be the father to some beast!”
“I’m not a beast, I’m still me!” Minerva cried desperately, returning to human form. “No one will ever have to know, I can just be human all the time! Just think of all the benefits this could bring to us!”
“No, no daughter of mine would be this thoughtless, and even if she was, it would mean she’s just not fit to be a part of a prestigious family like mine. Guards, take her to the cellar, and bring me some paper. I need to begin drafting up the paperwork to deal with this…creature. In the meantime, feel free to do whatever you please with it, so long as you don’t permanently damage it.”
Minerva gave her mother a pleading look. “Mother, surely you won’t –”
“I have no ability to interfere with these matters, even a beast like you should know that. And, even if I did, Maddox is right; you deserve this.”
Two guards grabbed Minerva, who continued to try and plead with her parents. Of course, nothing she said got through to them; they were cursed, and would never consider anything they’d say. So, Galiena kept to the rafters, following the guards as they brought Minerva to a hatch in the floor of a side room.
While she did, she couldn’t help but wonder why Minerva didn’t just…escape. She was likely physically stronger than the guards, and had a myriad of forms she could shift into to break their grip. She could flee and they’d have no way of tracking her down.
A guard nudged the shaft open, and the other shoved Minerva towards it. “Alright, in you go.” He said. “Try anything funny and I’ll push you in, understand?”
“But, Linus –”
“Now.” The guard said firmly.
To Galiena’s astonishment, Minerva willingly climbed down into the cellar, a look of despair etched into her face. Once she was down, the guard that Minerva had been talking to looked at his companion. “The duke said we could do what we want with her, right? Want to take her at the same time as me?”
“I’m not touching that thing.” His companion replied. “Who knows what kind of diseases it has? Do it by yourself.”
“Suit yourself, that just means she’ll have more stamina for me.” The first said, starting down the ladder.
The other left the room, and the moment he was gone, Galiena got down from the rafters and nimbly hopped into the cellar, a blade of bone at the ready.
“You’ll regret this, I’ll make sure of it!” Minerva cried desperately, backing up further into the cellar.
“I don’t think you understand the position you’re in.” The guard sneered. “You’re not even human anymore, much less a noble. You exist only to be used by your betters. But, generous man as I am, if you sit and beg like the dog you are, I might even consider –”
Galiena morphed her blade into a cudgel and brought it down hard on the man’s head, knocking him unconscious. “He didn’t touch you, did he?”
“G-Galiena?” Minerva stammered. “But…you were supposed to wait until sunset…”
“Queen Maia had a bad feeling about the situation, and sent me to tail you. Why didn’t you shapeshift and run away?”
“I froze up and forgot. I mean, they were the guards, and you don’t just…I didn’t even think to…is he dead?”
“No, but I need you to focus. If you want to escape, you need to come with me, now. I’m leaving, with or without you.”
“I understand.” Minerva said. “I’ll come with you.”
“Good. Shapeshift into a cat.” Minerva instructed.
“What? Why?” Minerva asked.
“We don’t have time, just do it.” Galiena replied.
“Um…one second…” Minerva said, a look of concentration crossing her face before her form blurred, compacting into that of a cat.
Galiena scooped her up and stuffed her into her apron pocket before swiftly retreating up the ladder. Not wanting to waste any more time inside the manor, Galiena threw open a window and dashed out into the gardens, scaling the wall the same way she had the first time before crouching down and letting Minerva out of her apron.
Minerva immediately shifted back, eyeing Galiena with wonder. “That was so…professional.” She said. “I didn’t know you could–”
She was cut off by a shout of alarm from the manor. “The guards will be mobilizing shortly.” Galiena said. “We’re running now, there’s going to be a fight on our hands and the two of us might not be enough for it.”
“But–”
“No buts. You either stay here, get overwhelmed by their numbers, and are captured again, or you run with me.” Galiena said. “Those are your options. Now, I assume you’ll be coming with me?”
Seeing Minerva nod, Galiena began jogging down the street. “We’re going to start running full speed back to the market. Yes, you can do it, you’re a monster girl now and you’re more than capable, understand?”
“Yes, Galiena.” Minerva replied.
“Good, that’s what I like to hear. Now, follow me, we want to put as much distance between us and the manor as we can.” Galiena took off in a run, slowing ever so slightly when she realized that she was outpacing Minerva.
After a couple of minutes, the thundering of hooves became audible in the distance, and Minerva froze. “Oh no.” She said, color draining from her face. “They’ve sent out Alexios’s unit.”
“Shift into cat form. I’ll be carrying you in my pocket so we can go faster.” Galiena ordered. “Who is this Alexios? And yes, you can talk whilst shifted. Shift first.”
Minerva hesitated, then shifted into cat form. Galiena swiftly picked her up and deposited her in her pocket, then took off at her full speed. As she ran, Minerva began to speak. “He’s a war hero.” She said, voice slightly muffled.” He was the best warrior our country has ever had, but he lost an eye and an arm in a battle and has since retired to become the head of my family’s guard. His unit is the elite of the elite, we can’t just fight them, we’ll–”
“We can, and we will, if we have to.” Galiena said cooly. “Ideally, we meet back up with Queen Maia first, but in a pinch, I can hold them off.”
“No, you don’t understand, he’s really strong!” Minerva protested. “We have to hide!”
“I was a war hero too, once.” Galiena said. “I may not have all of my old strength, but I have been fighting for longer than this Alexios has lived. I will manage. Now, unless there is something important you need to tell me, please remain quiet; I would like to focus.”
Minerva sat numbly inside of Galiena’s apron, the events of the day only barely beginning to catch up with her. She had…her parents…everyone…they had all looked at her like she was something foul they had stepped in. Linus, a man who had once been like a sort of kindly uncle, had nearly forced himself upon–
Minerva forced herself to stop thinking about it. Maybe…maybe this was all a bad dream? It certainly didn’t feel like she was in reality, so perhaps her worries had prompted a nightmare? But she could still feel the dull pain in her front legs, in a place roughly approximating where the guards had held her arms. Any time she had felt pain in a dream before, she had woken up soon thereafter, but this just kept going.
Yet she still couldn’t bring herself to believe it was real. The looks of disgust on her parents faces when she had revealed her transformation, their complete refusal to even hear a word she said…
The sound of hooves grew louder, and Minerva felt like ice had been poured onto her. This was…how she died, or worse. Galiena talked big, but she was a maid, and Alexios was a career soldier. Galiena claimed to be a war hero, but what kind of war hero would become a maid?
She only realized that she was shaking when Galiena reached down and laid an oddly comforting hand on her head. “It will be alright.” She said firmly. “You have yet to truly see what we are capable of.”
“But…”
“Remember what I said? No buts.” Galiena replied. “We are nearly at the market, and I am sure they have noticed the commotion by now.”
“H-how close is Alexios?”
“He will catch up in about a minute.” Galiena replied. “I must say I am impressed; his horse is clearly much faster than most. Monster girls can usually keep pace with ordinary horses.”
Galiena kept running, and about half a minute later Minerva was somewhat relieved to hear the voice of Maia approaching. “Galiena!” Maia exclaimed. “Where’s Minerva?! Did you run into trouble?”
“She is in here.” Galiena replied, patting her apron just above where Minerva was sitting. “I had her shift because I am a faster runner. Are you prepared for combat?”
“Yeah.” Maia replied. “Amy’s getting the carriage ready, we just need to stall a little bit. And if we get to the gate and it’s closed, we’ll just blast through it.”
“Please, leave the leader to me.” Galiena requested, reaching into her apron pocket, pulling out Minerva, and placing her on the ground. “I wish to test his mettle.”
Minerva considered shifting into human form, but decided against it. After all, she was just a cat right now, and they wouldn’t think to chase down a cat when things inevitably went wrong…right? They didn’t know she was a shapeshifter, after all.
Her heart pounded in her chest as Alexios finally caught up with them, the larger-than-life figure that once made her feel so safe now filling her with dread. “I’d like you to explain how you got Minerva out of custody so easily.” He said, pointing his sword at Galiena. “You’re clearly not human, but I can’t quite figure out what you are…”
“Thank you for noticing.” Galiena replied. “No, I’m not human, I’m a boneshifter, and that made it positively trivial to get inside. You people are clearly far too used to peace.”
“I haven’t heard of boneshifters before, but, as much as I hate to admit it, you’re right. The duke has been far too lax in his policies.”
“Speaking of war, I heard you are one of this generation’s war heroes? I would request a duel, to gauge your strength for myself.”
Alexios snorted. “You?” He said, giving Galiena a disdainful look. “You think a mere maid could be my match? A squire could trounce you.”
Galiena flashed him an uncharacteristically cocky smile. “So, what I am hearing is that you are afraid to challenge a ‘mere maid’? Have your injuries made you craven?”
Alexios’s face grew red. “Fine.” He said, dismounting his horse and approaching. “You and I shall do single combat while my companions round up your band of scoundrels. Draw your weapon.”
Galiena pulled a small dagger from within her dress somewhere, maintaining a carefree air as she stared down Alexios and his longsword. “Ready. Would you care to introduce yourself?”
“Very well. I am Alexios, Bulwark of the North, and the man who will bring your crimes to justice!” Alexios roared, pointing his sword at her. “Name yourself, monster!”
Galiena dropped into a curtsy. “My name is Galiena, and in my time I was known as the Bone Tyrant. Prepare yourself; you will find that I am unlike any opponent you have yet to face.”
Minerva froze, staring at Galiena incredulously. She was claiming that she was the Bone Tyrant? Second in command of the monstrous…the monster girls, their most fearsome warrior save for their leader? But…she was a maid.
Alexios let out a hearty laugh. “Don’t kid yourself.” He said. “The Bone Tyrant? She was felled long ago by a legion of heroic warriors! You’re no more than a maid claiming undeserved glory.”
Galiena looked unbothered. “I may not live up to that title at this moment, but I have no doubts that I will soon reclaim my former power. Now, have at you!”
Alexios dashed forward, sword held firmly in his good hand. It was a sight Minerva had seen countless times before during duels, and she had never once seen him lose. Even crippled, Alexios was a peerless warrior, and he had demonstrated over and over that he had earned his reputation.
Minerva hadn’t been sure what to expect from Galiena, but she certainly hadn’t expected the woman to dodge Alexios’s first strike by suddenly melting downwards, one of her arms stretching out twice as long as it used to be before seemingly pulling her body along with it as it shrank back to normal size. Now inside of Alexios’s reach, she slashed her dagger up at a small chink in his armor, and he responded by turning to the side so it harmlessly bounced off of his breastplate.
It was then that her other arm shot up, metamorphosing into a wickedly sharp-looking serrated blade of bone, burying itself neatly in the gap she had aimed for earlier. Alexios let out a grunt of pain as it found its mark, then his arm went limp, sword falling numbly out of his hand. Galiena knocked him out in much the same way she had knocked Linus out, and lifted him up with clear intent to take him back and have him cured, but dropped him a moment later, letting him fall unceremoniously to the ground.
She cast her gaze around, and Minerva followed with her eyes, finding that, to her surprise, the rest of Alexios’s squad had been handled by Maia’s group. Galiena walked over to Minerva, grabbed her and placed her within her apron again, then walked over to Maia. “We need to leave, now.” She said. “Alexios is being Corrupted. I will explain more on the way, but it would be unwise to attempt to cure him now.”
Those words pierced the sort of unreality that Minerva felt the world had become. “We…we can’t just leave him! He doesn’t deserve to stay like this, and he’ll become a huge problem later if we let him go!” She protested, trying to advocate for the man who had once been her greatest protector.
“We will likely see him again soon.” Galiena said calmly. “And the cure will not take properly at the moment. We need to go.”
“Alright.” Maia said. “Let’s get moving.”