Caitlynn let out a vibrating, satisfied hum.
Elayna felt it against her mouth and made a small happy noise back without meaning to.
They were on Cait's bed, had been for a while now. Elayna was sitting on Cait's lap facing her with her legs loosely wrapped around Cait's waist. Cait sat with her legs crossed beneath her. A position that had become...familiar.
Cait's strong and gentle hands were running warmly over her back and sides as they kissed languidly.
Then her hands moved lower from Elayna's sides.
Both of them. Slowly and very deliberately. Landing where they always ended up these days. On Elayna’s rear. They started out gently caressing it before cupping it from beneath and carefully lifting and shifting Elayna on Cait’s lap to a more suitable position.
Cait's hands were still on Elayna's rear for a moment before her hands started kneading the flesh shamelessly.
Elayna immediately leaned back from the kissing.
She opened her eyes and looked at Cait with an expression she was trying very hard to make look frustrated and serious. She could sort of tell she wasn’t entirely succeeding with how good she was feeling and how heavy she was breathing.
She took a calming breath, “Cait,” she said firmly.
Cait looked at her with an alluring gaze, still groping Elayna's butt, “Hm?” She hummed pleasantly.
“S-stop your... C-calm your hands down.”
Cait’s eyes narrowed and her expression turned playful. “Are you still going to pretend you don’t like it sweetie?” She squeezed down hard to emphasize the question.
“...!” Elayna’s back arched, and her frustrated expression visibly lost some of its conviction. She closed her eyes. Roughly snapped her face to the side and tilted her chin up. ”I — I will leave.”
Cait didn’t respond but her hands stilled.
Elayna slowly opened one eye.
Cait was watching her with a large grin. “Hmm. Is that so?” she said, amused, in the tone of someone who did not believe this for even one second.
Elayna’s haughty pout held for about three seconds.
Then she gave up, and turned her head back to face Caitlynn.
She reached down, grabbed both of Cait’s hands firmly, then dragged them up to her waist and pressed the hands in hard. Stay here. Then put her own hands back on Cait’s shoulders and looked at her with a look that was both a silent warning and a desperate plea.
Cait smiled at Elayna’s antics and decided to play nice, and leaned in to kiss her.
Elayna held back for a moment, trying to keep up the act of still being mad at her, but quickly gave up and let out a relieved exhale before she started kissing back.
They kissed for a while. Elayna's eyes drifted close. Warmth settled low and thrummed pleasantly in her lower belly, a feeling that wasn’t alarming or nerve-wracking like it used to be, but had instead become something rather nice in these moments.
Then she felt Cait's hands moving again. Slowly. Drifting down from her waist, causing tingles and goosebumps to dance along her skin as they went down her hips, then further—
Landing gently this time, again, on Elayna’s rear. Just staying there. Cait's hands moved in slow and careful circles over the leather pants, warm and unhurried. Then she reached underneath, and ran her palms slowly along the underside where Elayna's butt met her thighs, before moving back up again.
Elayna exhaled heavily through her nose at the feeling.
She kept on kissing and chose to not move away Cait's hands this time.
The last two weeks had gone by pretty quickly.
Classes passed by as usual. The training classes had become the part of the day Elayna always looked forward to, they had also gradually become considerably longer and much more intense. They took up most of their days now, spanning from early sunrise to late afternoon, leaving just enough time for one theory class and a break before dinner.
And after the training came the showers, or on the more intense days, the pools. The training sessions were almost always intense lately. So naturally, the pools had become a near-daily event for the five of them, the pools always started with a collective satisfied exhale, everyone lowering themselves into the warm water at once.
Cait had started joining them at the pools consistently, the first time had been about a week and a half ago.
She had walked in, arriving a bit after everyone else. Had spotted the group in a pool and walked over and greeted them before lowering herself into the pool next to Elayna. And she had within approximately thirty seconds made it very clear that she found the view next to her extremely agreeable. She had not been subtle. Not even a little bit. Her feline eyes had gone to Elayna's slender neck and collarbone, then the moment Elayna had stood up to walk over to a deeper spot in the pool Cait's pupils had widened as her eyes had been blessed to see Elayna’s bare thighs below the towel. Cait had sat completely still while her eyes roamed shamelessly over Elayna’s glistening legs and had followed their movement with an appreciative, sultry look.
Zyvara had looked at Caitlynn and had lasted about two seconds before she'd had enough.
"Caitlynn," she'd said flatly from across the pool, with an edge of something sharper. "If you're going to sit there and do that with your eyes, I think you need to leave."
Caitlynn’s eyes never left Elayna’s legs, she'd only put on a small smile in response and said: "I mean, can you really blame me?"
There had been a short moment in which Zyvara had appeared to be considering that this might actually have been a reasonable point.
However. "Yes," she'd said finally. "Leave."
Cait had looked slightly chastised for one second. Then smiled. Then looked at Elayna who had sat down with a pink face and was choosing to stay silent, before looking at Zyvara with an expression that was pleased and completely unbothered.
“Don’t worry,” Cait had told Zyvara. “I can behave.”
And after that she had actually mostly behaved. Mostly. As soon as Kiri, Evelyn and Zyvara were all either not looking or had their eyes closed in relaxation, her eyes came back to roam over Elayna’s bare skin again. Elayna had chosen to not reprimand Cait. Because she'd felt she was not allowed to... It would be hypocritical of Elayna. As when Cait had arrived earlier and walked over, Elayna had shyly but very shamelessly ran her own eyes all over Cait and her legs especially. So. She'd felt she was in no position to chastise Cait.
Elayna had caught her looking more than once in the days that followed. Cait would give her quick, sideways glances in the pools when nobody was watching, her eyes had been heated and almost shamelessly lewd in those moments, but quickly became innocent the moment Elayna caught them. Elayna had decided the most dignified response was to pretend she hadn't noticed, which maybe wasn’t the best response since in turn, Cait started looking at her more frequently and more heated.
Elayna had once tried to gently chide her about it, but Cait had only smiled and told Elayna she’d have to admit she didn't truly like the looks Cait gave her and then she'd stop. And so, Caitlynn had figured out a way to beat the system since Elayna was not able to lie convincingly enough.
But what Cait and no one else seemed to have realized, was that Elayna also kept stealing glances. Much sneakier and much less frequently, but every bit as shameless and wanting as Cait's gaze. Just quieter about it.
The theory curriculum had also shifted in the last two weeks. Mana theory had partly given way to two new subjects that had been split between them. Monster theory and magic-beast theory, which were not the same thing, there was a clear distinction.
Monsters were mostly hostile in nature, creatures that almost always attacked on sight, creatures that were generally seen as necessary to kill, which was why there was always rewards for doing so. Monsters were the goblins, thornbacks, cave-spiders. Aggressive creatures that lived everywhere in the world, mostly concentrated at the edges of civilization and villages.
Magic-beasts were different. More sentient, and not always hostile. Some were beings of extraordinary intelligence. Creatures that could think and reason and in some cases even communicate with people, dragons and phoenixes being the most obvious examples.
But even the less intelligent magic beasts were rarely killed simply because they were dangerous. Almost every part of a magic-beast had value. The parts were used in alchemy, crafting, blacksmithing, medicine, potions. Their bones, blood, hides, almost every part of them down to their limbs had some value or use. Even a single, lesser magic-beast could be worth more than what most common people earned in months.
Monsters were killed because they needed to be. Magic-beasts were killed because people wanted what they had, what they were. Which was a different thing entirely, and when people thought about it long enough, that specific distinction became a pretty controversial topic.
Elayna had paid more attention in any single day these last two weeks of classes than in the entire first week combined.
Kiri also paid a lot of attention. Elayna had noticed her drooling twice during the magic beast lessons. Nobody had mentioned it. Kiri hadn't noticed or hadn't cared. It was unclear which.
Elayna had then remembered Kiri saying her favorite food was Kaervyn, a very dangerous magic beast native to the southern jungles, and could conclude then, that Kiri just hadn’t noticed herself drooling because she was probably thinking about how the magic-beasts tasted.
And after classes, came Cait's room.
This had sort of also become an expected part of the normal every-day. Cait would appear at the dorm door or find Elayna in the corridor after classes sometime and say something like "Coming sweetie?" or just look at her in a way that said basically the same thing, Elayna would always follow her up, and they would spend an hour or so in Cait's room kissing, talking, or sometimes just lying on the bed with their shoulders and legs together while Cait caressed her thighs, and Elayna would mostly stare at the ceiling thinking about random stuff, which was usually about the person lying next to her.
And about four days ago Elayna had gone up to Cait’s room on her own.
She still wasn't entirely sure what had made her do it. She'd just been sitting in the dorm after a class of monster-theory, the others had been settling in on their beds or at their desks. And she'd thought that Cait would come get her soon anyway, she always did. And then Elayna had found herself standing up, leaving the dorm and going up the stairs before she'd fully decided to.
She had walked up the stairs with an empty mind, knocked on Cait's door.
Cait had opened it and looked down at her for a moment with an expression that had gone through a few things quite quickly. First surprise, then recognition, then a smile of someone pleased and satisfied.
"Is there something specific you came for? Did you need something?" she'd asked.
Elayna had then realized she'd come up to Cait's room expecting one specific thing, a specific thing that almost always happened when they were alone. She’d looked at the floor. Face gone red.
"...No..." she'd said quietly. "I just... came here... I mean... You'd come get me later anyway..."
The smirk that had arrived on Cait's face had been enormous, betraying how completely and arrogantly satisfied she was with herself.
Elayna hadn't done that again, walk up to Cait’s room. Cait had been insufferable for the rest of that evening. She'd smiled at Elayna and said how happy she was that she came on her own. Then later, after they'd been talking for a while, she'd said with clear amusement that she could see Elayna had come expecting they'd be kissing, and that it was very sweet and cute that Elayna had assumed they would be.
Elayna had firmly and stubbornly insisted that was not why she had come and that she hadn't assumed anything. She'd argued that sometimes they just talked and lay on the bed, and had continued on reasoning that she didn't always expect them to kiss in Cait's room and that she was perfectly okay with only talking. She'd told Cait that she was the one being silly and that she was the one who shouldn't assume they'd be kissing.
...They had then spent the entire next hour making out on the bed until the dinner bell rang.
Elayna had not once tried to stop the kissing or suggest they do anything else after they'd started.
After-classes training with Cait had become regular too. Most evenings after dinner, Elayna would go to the training halls. Sometimes Cait was already there with Thra'kara. Sometimes Elayna went with Cait and sometimes Elayna arrived on her own. The evening sparring sessions with her had become something Elayna looked forward to with a gleeful, almost childlike anticipation. She was getting better every day, and she could feel it clearly in the fights. She was moving and striking faster, she deflected and countered more than blocking and retreating.
And about a week ago Elayna had made the mistake of suggesting the group spar together.
She'd meant it as a fun idea, had thought it to be a great way for everyone to bond and improve simultaneously. Everyone had met at the training halls together for the first time — Evelyn and Zyvara and Kiri had come as a group after dinner and had walked past the courtyard where Cait and Elayna were fighting. They’d had a light conversation which had quickly turned into a warm and spirited atmosphere and Elayna had gotten completely swept up in the moment and had said: “We should all spar together!” without really thinking it through. It really had sounded like a good idea to her at the time.
And no one had found any reason to disagree.
What followed had been approximately two hours of Caitlynn completely dismantling each and every one of them with sadistic glee — first Evelyn, then Zyvara, then Kiri and then Elayna. They’d all been completely beat several times. Cait had proposed they come in pairs, and they’d all been a bit frustrated from losing and had agreed immediately, jumping on the chance to beat her even if it meant doing it as two against one.
Maybe they shouldn’t have been so surprised. Cait finished each fighting pair quickly and with ease. Towards the end, Cait was carrying an expression of someone who was having an extremely wonderful time at the expense of everyone else's.
By the end everyone had been sitting on the courtyard floor in various states of defeat. Zyvara had been staring at the ceiling with an expression that suggested she was considering doing something impulsive that involved her destructive magic. Evelyn had looked more troubled by everyone else’s depressed expression than her own feelings. Kiri had been sitting very still with her knees drawn up, running a finger slowly through her tail for a long time, expression much more emotionless than usual.
Elayna had gotten used to losing to Cait and hadn't felt bad necessarily, but she had privately felt very guilty about suggesting the whole thing. She even tried apologizing albeit very awkwardly, Zyvara had then gotten slightly mad at her, saying there was nothing to apologize for, and Elayna had just been left still feeling guilty and then also confused.
Another significant thing that had happened in the last two weeks was Cait and Eiric.
Karzen had paired them up during a training class about a week ago. It was a proper official fight between them, Cait against another of the top three, in front of the group of about seventy students from the first and second year who all chose to cancel their own fights to watch, Karzen hadn't commented on that.
The fight had revealed Eiric not only used earth and wind magic, but gravity magic as well. That had caused an uproar in the first year. It was pretty rare for a person to use two types of magic, most people chose one kind, since mastering even just one could take a lifetime. But Eiric was adept at using three, one being gravity magic, a notoriously difficult one. That had left Elayna and most first years completely and utterly dumbfounded, but that wasn’t the most surprising thing that happened during the fight.
Eiric had been saving his gravity magic towards the end to catch Cait by surprise, and he had. He’d managed to catch Cait off guard by revealing the gravity magic only at the end when he pushed her to the ground with it, pressing her down and rendering her unable to move while he cast several boulders and rocks guided by wind magic aimed for her.
Cait had then cancelled out her body enhancement magic, the red shimmer disappearing completely. Some people thought she’d given up.
And then Cait just stood up. As if Eiric had stopped suppressing her with his gravity magic, but by the look on his face people could only conclude that he had not. His gravity magic had stopped working on her and Cait had then quickly and easily dodged all of his attacks with incredible agility, dancing around in the middle of the barrage of rocks flying at her, before she caught a few fist-sized rocks and then hurled them back at Eiric. They’d been thrown with incredible velocity and strength which Eiric had barely managed to dodge.
Even though the red shimmer around her had dissipated, Cait hadn't become any slower like everyone expected her to. If anything, she seemed faster.
His gravity magic never worked on Cait again after she’d cancelled out her red shimmer. And it hadn’t taken long before Cait’s speed and ruthless ferocity became too much for Eiric and he ended up with a sword at his throat.
The watching group had been quiet for a long while after that. No one in the first year understood how Eiric could use three types of magic so efficiently, and no one in the second year could understand why Cait had been immune to the gravity magic after cancelling out her body enhancement magic.
Elayna. Had watched it and had thought, that there was now only one person in the first and second year Cait hadn't beaten yet.
Ael'aendir. The Sun-Elf.
She thought about the three times she’d watched him fight. About how in every fight he opened with intense, long range fire attacks and immediately followed up with a devastatingly decisive move that had always ended his three fights in less than a few seconds.
The last time he fought had been against a second-year girl. Ael'aendir had opened the fight with five consecutive fire-slashes at range. The girl had barely managed to dodge them only to get her feet completely charred, by a circle of flame that had expanded outward from beneath Ael'aendir along the ground, which he had cast somewhere between the fire-slashes. She'd shouted in pain as her feet were burnt and rendered completely useless, and Ael'aendir had been beside her in the next second.
He really was terrifying.
Elayna wasn't sure who would win. Cait or him. She wasn't sure anyone knew.
"—Hello sweetie. Did you hear me? Dinner," Cait said, against her mouth.
Elayna made a small sound of acknowledgement, snapping out of her thoughts.
"Did the bell ring?" she asked.
Cait kissed her and hummed the affirmation against her mouth.
Elayna made a small sound of protest. And pressed her lips against Cait’s. "A few more minutes." she said, after a kiss.
Cait leaned back, then leaned in one last time to peck Elayna's lips. "We should go sweetie."
Elayna hummed impatiently in a small pout.
Cait looked at her with warm eyes. "Let’s go before your friends get impatient and mad at me."
"Why do you think they’d only get mad at you and not me?" Elayna asked as she leaned in to rest her cheek on Cait’s shoulder.
Cait kissed her forehead before saying, “Because they wouldn’t believe you’re the one who refuses to let go of me. And it not being the other way around.” Cait looked up to the ceiling with a thoughtful expression for a moment, “I should probably tell them that if we’re ever late.”
Elayna looked shyly up at Cait with a slightly apologetic and embarrassed expression.
“W-well... Maybe we should leave then...”
Cait looked down at her and rolled her eyes as she smiled.
They untangled themselves and got up. Elayna went into the bathroom to look into the mirror as she straightened her clothes and her hair. Two weeks of regular visits to Cait's room and comments from Zyvara about her appearance after said visits had made this a practiced and necessary routine.
They left the room together, Cait's hand found hers in the corridor and Elayna felt the warmth from the calloused hand spread throughout her body.
Cait's room was in the top left of the fifth floor. The floor was shaped like a sideways H — two long corridors connected by a shorter one in the middle where the stairs were. They walked the length of the corridor and turned the corner into the connecting passage—
They stopped.
A person was just around the corner, coming from the direction of the stairs. Green hair. Grey eyes. A bag over one shoulder, slightly above average height, a face that was pretty in an approachable way, she was wearing a first year uniform that was pristine, it looked brand new.
The person stopped too.
She looked up from the room-card she’d been looking at. Her eyes landed on Elayna, then she slowly tilted her head.
"... Young mistress?" she asked slowly, with a small smile forming.
Elayna stared. Then—
"Elly!" She shouted.
She crossed the corridor in three quick steps and threw her arms around this person, hugging her tightly and burying her face in her shoulder.
"Elly!" she said, slightly muffled. “I'm so happy to see you!" She nearly shouted into the green-haired girl’s shoulder
The girl's arms came slowly up around Elayna. She hesitated in what looked like mild surprise before she hugged Elayna back warmly.
"Young mistress," she said, with a quiet warmth. "It's good to see you too."
They separated after a few seconds. Elayna stepped back, face bright and extremely happy. "Why... What — what are you doing here?"
Elayna felt an intense warmth in her chest as she looked at the Half-Fae in front of her. Elly — whose full name was Ellyria, was one of the maids who had worked in a group directly attending Elayna under Elayna’s personal maid Mira. Ellyria had been assigned as a maid working for Elayna many years ago, and as Ellyria was only two years older than her, they had quickly become friends.
"I was offered to study here," she said, with an easy smile. "I declined at first. Then I reconsidered. Simple as that." She adjusted the bag on her shoulder. "I've just come from meeting with the headmistress since my admission is somewhat irregular. I've been assigned a room on this floor actually." A small pause. "I was just going to find it."
Elayna listened to all of this and thought it made complete sense. Elly had always been extremely adept and talented at combat, always expressed interest in it as well, it was completely reasonable that she would be offered a place and want to enroll here—
"—the count was very gracious in allowing me to study here," Ellyria said.
Elayna blinked.
Oh, she thought.
The count. Count Aie'atelle. Right. Our identity right now is that we’re both of house Aie’atelle. Not from the imperial family. She can't say palace. I can't say palace. Can’t give that away.
Father, the emperor, sent her. Not count Aie’atelle.
... This is the familiar face he mentioned in the letter. Elly was sent here to look after me, Elayna thought. Maybe father wasn’t lying when he said she might benefit from the academy. Elly would probably really enjoy it here...
Elayna felt warm and happy about it, and slightly exasperated in equal measure. Which was more or less how she felt about everything considering her father.
Ellyria smiled fondly as she looked at Elayna. I see your face still betrays you, young mistress. But you’ve got nothing to worry about. I won’t let people take advantage of you, I’ll protect you from now on. Ellyria thought with great feeling as she looked at her young mistress in front of her.
Elayna smiled and pushed her thoughts aside for the moment, "I'm so glad you're going to study here," she said, and meant it.
Ellyria smiled back, inclined her head slightly. "I'm also glad to be here and study alongside you, young mistress."
Elayna’s eyes widened, realizing something, she turned around. "Right. This is Caitlynn," she said, gesturing to Cait. "My—" she paused briefly, "my uhm... My — my girlfriend." she said, in a small hesitant voice.
Elayna’s face went pink. It was the first time she’d introduced Cait to someone as her girlfriend.
Ellyria’s gaze moved to the other person in front of her.
She looked over Caitlynn with a measured look. A calculating look of someone confirming something. Her eyes weren’t hostile exactly. But definitely not warm or kind. Cait didn't know it but Ellyria was currently comparing the information her eyes were giving her to the information she’d been given prior to arriving at the academy.
Cait looked back at her. Paid attention to Ellyria’s expression and in approximately two seconds Cait could tell this person already knew about her.
Whether she knew her as Caitlynn Stormborn, or as the person kissing her young mistress, she wasn’t sure. She kind of suspected it was both. Either way, the look Ellyria was giving her wasn't a ‘we are going to be best friends look’.
Cait made a decision to find out exactly just how much she knew about her while simultaneously trying to get a better understanding of Elayna and Ellyria’s relationship.
"Cait, this is Ellyria," Elayna was saying while stepping to Cait's side. "She's one of my maids, I've known her—"
Cait leaned down, took Elayna's jaw gently in her hand and kissed her. Deeply. Slipping her tongue past Elayna’s lips and doing things she knew would prompt some reactions from her.
After a couple of seconds she leaned back from Elayna, and the sound of their wet lips parting was the only thing heard in the quiet corridor as Cait straightened up and looked at Ellyria.
Ellyria was smiling with a kind expression that didn’t quite reach her eyes.
A vein had appeared at her temple.
“... Well aren't you guys cute together,” Ellyria said cheerfully. “But. Young mistress.” Her voice went slightly cold. “I had no idea you were in such a relationship. I must confess I am a bit surprised.”
“...!”
Elayna had just been kissed in the way that always emptied her head completely, and as she heard Ellyria speak she realized with horror that she'd probably made some very undignified noises in front of her.
Elayna felt a cold shiver run through her as she remembered how scary Elly could be when she'd catch Elayna do something she shouldn't be doing.
Elly never raised her voice or got mad. And that was the thing. She never needed to.
One time, when Elayna had been perhaps nine or ten, she had stolen a large slice of cake from the kitchen and run into her room and crawled under her bed to eat it in secret. She remembered giggling and being very pleased with herself. She had gotten maybe four tasty bites in when the door to her room had opened.
She'd seen the feet from under the bed. Watched them walk in and then stop. Directly in front of the bed.
There'd been a long moment of silence. Then she'd heard the voice of a girl two years older than her perfectly calmly say:
"Young mistress."
Elayna had gone completely still. She hadn't moved. Hadn't breathed. She'd lain with the cake in front of her on the platter, chin pressed to the floor, hoping very hard that somehow Ellyria didn't know she was under the bed and was only calling out to see if she was in the room.
"Young mistress," Ellyria said again. The exact same, calm tone.
She'd known.
And Elayna had quickly crawled out crying.
She'd stayed on her knees and looked up at Ellyria standing over her and had immediately started apologizing in a tearful barely coherent stream, rubbing her eyes with her fist. Ellyria had looked down at her for a long moment. Then sighed softly, then she'd crouched down and pulled Elayna into her arms. "Shh," she'd said, quietly. "It's alright young mistress. It's just leftover cake." She'd held Elayna until the crying stopped, which had taken a while, and then she'd gently taken the comically huge stolen slice of cake and set it on the desk and told Elayna she could finish the cake if she wanted to, but that she probably shouldn’t due to how large the slice was.
That was how it generally went with Ellyria. Once she caught Elayna in the act, Elayna usually ended up crying.
“Elly! You — you can’t tell father about this! I — I still haven’t told him!” Elayna shouted in panic as she flailed her hands in front of her.
Cait looked down at Elayna and found the reaction unexpected but cute.
Cait looked with amusement at the trembling head of lavender in front of her. "Is Elayna's father a very strict person?" she asked Ellyria, still looking at the back of Elayna's head, slightly curious about her reaction.
Ellyria looked at her with a small smile.
"The count is a very loving father," she said. "He is the sort of man who would go to any length to ensure his daughter's happiness." A small pause. "And to protect that happiness he would assuredly do anything." Another pause, and said in a much clearer tone: "...Anything."
Cait then looked and smiled at the green-haired woman. Ellyria smiled back.
Okay. So that’s definitely a threat, and she’s delivering it while smiling so innocently... Well... She does seem to genuinely care for Elayna. I think we might just get along fine.
"Ellyria please—" Elayna pleaded, still.
"Does he know?" Ellyria said pleasantly, looking at Elayna now, with a gently scolding and slightly disapproving expression. "About..." She gestured between Elayna and Cait. "This. About the young mistress having a girlfriend. About her girlfriend kissing the young mistress so vulgarly in public... And the noises — oh the noises you made young mistress. How could I ever defend you when you sound so happy at being treated like this..."
Elayna's eyes went even wider.
"Elly," she said, slowly, voice trembling. "Please—"
"I'm not sure I have a choice in the matter," Ellyria said apologetically, in a tone of great regret that wasn’t really convincing, she looked at the floor and sighed dramatically. "You must understand, it's my duty, your father deserves to know his beloved daughter is in danger of being corrupted—"
"Elly! Wait! P-Please" Elayna was walking towards Ellyria and making pleading gestures with her hands, not so different from that of a beggar.
Ellyria dramatically put the back of her hand over her forehead and closed her eyes. "—Even I, young mistress. Feel betrayed. Oh, I never expected our precious young mistress to become such a wanton woman. Your father will be—"
"It’s not what you think! Please, be reasonable and n-nice Elly. I will do anything," Elayna said in a quiet voice. "Anything. Please, just let me explain."
Ellyria opened one eye and looked at her for a moment.
Then smiled. A real smile, dropping the act and her hand from her forehead. "Hmph. Well. We will need to discuss this later." She said in a magnanimous tone.
Elayna looked up at her. “T-thank you Elly! I promise I’ll also let father know.”
Cait stood behind Elayna, smiling as she looked between the two of them with a very entertained expression.
A short silence settled over the corridor. Ellyria adjusted her bag. Elayna stood nervously in the middle, not sure what to say or what to do with her restless, fidgeting hands. And Cait stood with her hip cocked out, her tail swaying slowly behind her.
"... Oh right! We were going to dinner," Elayna said, finally composing herself. "Would you like to come eat with us? After you've settled in."
Ellyria considered this for a short moment. "I'd like that," she said with a nod, then glanced down the corridor toward the rooms. "Just give me a few minutes."
She then gave a small bow to Cait and Elayna before walking past them.
Elayna watched her go.
"Sooo... She’s one of your maids?" Cait said with a teasing smile.
"She's been my maid for a long time," Elayna said. "Since I was young."
"No, no sweetie, hold up for a moment, you mentioned her being one of your maids," Cait said, emphasizing the word further. The warm amusement in her voice was obvious. "You grew up with several personal maids."
"...Well... I suppose my father is very—" Elayna started.
"Doting. Obviously." Cait supplied.
"It’s not strange for a father to be doting," Elayna said, slightly defensively. “He has two daughters and he just—it's not strange, he just loves us very much and just because I had a few maids doesn't mean I can't do things on my own—"
"I didn't say that," Cait said, smiling widely.
Elayna crossed her arms and looked to the side. "You were probably thinking it."
"I was thinking," Cait said, with a wide smile, "that it explains a few things."
Elayna cast a side glance at her. "... What things."
"Well. Judging by the looks Ellyria was giving me," Cait said, voice very amused. "I’d guess your father was not the only one doting on you. I'd bet everyone who grew up around you doted on their adorable little young mistress. She looked like she wanted to stab me after I'd kissed you." Cait added with a teasing look that made Elayna think she was just joking.
Elayna then looked embarrassed for a moment before she looked down the corridor where Ellyria had gone with a look of deep contemplation.
...Huh, she thought quietly.