Katari's past, and the summer ball begins

Fenrir was up with the sun the next day. He was the only one to be so, though, at least of his own party. Not that he was about to begrudge them the extra rest. They had partied well into the night, and that was coming on top of the exertion of the battle of the day before. Their own afterparty had then lasted an hour or so after they had returned to their tent as both Nelith and Koreen had wanted celebratory sex, and Katari had joined in after only a token show of hesitance.

Once finished setting himself in order Fenrir slipped out of the tent, straightening before the entrance as he took in a deep breath of fresh mountain air, faintly flavored by the myriad scents of the oni village. Few oni were about as of yet, but he could see some movement among the tents on the lower terraces.

He made his way down towards the main gate at a leisurely pace, taking in the village in more detail as he did so. The oni were only just beginning to wake up, but here and there cooking fires were already crackling merrily. An especially large tent near the bottom of the village was also bustling with activity, which judging from the supplies stacked near the entrance, could be nothing other than the medical center of the village.

As he was passing it, the flap which served as a door was pushed aside and the clan-chief came out. "Good morning," Fenrir offered politely as their eyes met.

"Likewise," Katoh answered. "Did you sleep well?"

"Like a log. How are the wounded doing?" Fenrir asked, nodding towards the tent.

"We are low on healing herbs, but now that the threat has been removed the healers will be able to gather more. There were also some in the enemy camp; the crates you see here are from them." Katoh fell in step beside Fenrir and together they continued on towards the gate.

"I assume the majority of your focus will be on cleaning up and recovering from the siege."

"Yes, but we can make time for whatever you may need."

"That's kind of you, but I only came here to establish friendly trade relations with the end goal of forming a lasting alliance. That's the kind of thing that can be hashed out over a couple drinks at the end of the day, especially now that we've fought together." Fenrir gave Katoh a sidelong glance. "And I meant what I said yesterday about helping with the cleanup. I will have to leave again in a few days, but until then I'll lend a hand wherever you judge it most useful."

Katoh bowed his head in acknowledgement. They walked through the gates in silence, stopping at the top of the slope to look out over the battlefield. Crows croaked back and forth, and towards the lower end of the field two coyotes fought over a corpse. "There is much to do here, and your help would be appreciated," the clan-chief said. "But why do you wish to ally with us?"

"Well, I'm fairly strong, but I'm only one person," Fenrir grinned. "Having a clan of oni as friends could only be beneficial to me and mine, especially a clan such as yours. Trading with you will also give me access to various resources I need, and you can also serve as another source of information. Of course, I don't expect all of this for nothing," he added. "I'll make sure you feel fairly compensated for whatever you give me, be that supplies, information, or warriors."

Katoh nodded slowly, clearly turning Fenrir's words over in his mind. "I believe we shall be able to come to an agreement with which we may both be satisfied. From what I have learned in speaking with your second in command Nelith, you have a good deal to offer us as well. And in truth, being able to call upon a warrior such as you in times of need would already be a great boon."

"Excellent. Now, I should take my leave. We were camping out in a ravine above the village ever since we got here, and for obvious reasons all our things are still up there. -Ah, speaking of, do you have anywhere to keep our horses? We have four."

"We have enclosures for our goats which can hold your horses for as long as you remain here. Did you want any assistance?"

"No, I should be fine, but thanks for the offer. -Oh, Katari, up already?" This last was said to Katari as she came up to them.

She bowed to him. "I am at your service, my lord."

"You know, I chose not to wake you up for a reason. If you wanted to sleep for longer, that's perfectly fine."

"I should not be abed when my lord is up and about. But I thank you for your kindness."

She was being more formal than usual, Fenrir noted. Probably because of the presence of the chief. And speaking of which... He turned back to Katoh. "In your invitation to come visit, you specifically requested that Katari come along. Why was that?"

The chief gave the smallest ghost of a sigh before turning to fully face Fenrir and Katari. "I should explain properly." He glanced over at the village, and Fenrir followed his gaze to see that there was no one within earshot. "Katari is not just another warrior of the clan. She is my sister's only daughter."

There was an audible gasp from the diminutive oness, but when both Fenrir and Katoh looked at her she quieted instantly. "Speak freely, Katari," Fenrir told her. "I don't understand what's going on yet, but clearly it's important."

"...You have always said that when Kataranda died, her child died with her." This was directed at Katoh.

"I have, yes." Katoh gave a greater sigh. "I should begin at the beginning. You know that Kataranda was a great warrior. She married into the Valorit clan, but her mate was killed and she was terribly wounded in a raid not long after. It was after she became pregnant with you, Katari, though before she knew she was.

"She lived until shortly after you were born, though she never properly healed from her wounds. But even as a baby, it was evident you would be a runt. My sister knew she would soon die, and feared that the Valorit clan would cast you out, so she begged me to take you back to clan Aqun. I did as she asked, for she was my sister, and I loved her. But there were some among Aqun who had viewed her marriage out of the clan as a betrayal, and I feared they would reject you the more strongly for it if it were known you were her child.

"I was newly clan-chief then, and did not yet have the power or authority to ensure your safety if the truth were known. So I arranged that you should take the place of a child that had been born too early to survive. Those who became your parents know, as do I, that you are not truly their child, but none other has ever known until now."

"If runts are so disdained by oni society, why did this couple agree to take Katari in?" Fenrir asked.

"They were friends of Kataranda. They did it for her sake."

"...Why did you never tell me?" This question came from Katari, though it was so quiet Fenrir would not have been surprised had the chief not heard it.

He did, however. "When you were young, it was better that you not know. I decided I would wait until you grew. But I have never been able to find the right moment. Even as you grew in strength and might, becoming more and more respected even despite being a runt, I always hesitated. But then you became Beholden. I knew I must find a way to tell you soon, lest I never be able to. Thus my request."

Katari did not reply. It was evident she was thinking deeply. Katoh continued. "We shall speak more of this later. For now, I return to my duties."

He walked several steps back towards the village, then paused. "Katari, you are your mother in miniature. She would be very proud of who you have become."

As the chief resumed walking, Katari's eyes filled with tears. As they spilled down her cheeks she brought up a hand to touch the wetness. "...Why? Why am I crying?" She tried to wipe the tears away, to no avail. More replaced them as quickly as she could wipe them away. Fenrir took her in his arms; saying nothing, just holding her close as he watched Katoh vanish through the village gate. The chief seemed much older just then, as though the weight of his regrets lay heavy upon him.

Fenrir held Katari until her tears stopped, only letting go once she pushed herself free. "Would you like to help me bring our things down to the village?" he asked.

She nodded, then looked up at him, wiping the last of her tears away. "You must have questions."

"Yes, but they'll keep until you're ready to talk about it."

Katari nodded. "Thank you, my lord. For understanding."

The task of packing up camp and ushering the horses down the steep trail to the village was accomplished mostly in silence. Katari remained deep in thought, and Fenrir had no problem with giving her the space she needed to process everything she had just learned.

As they walked up the path through the village with packs slung over their shoulders, however, Katari spoke. "I know the clan-chief did not lie, yet it is difficult to believe."

"That you're the daughter of this Kataranda?"

"Yes. Kataranda was an unmatched warrior. Stories are still told of her exploits, though her legend is somewhat tainted by her decision to marry out of the clan."

Fenrir cocked his head. "Are interclan marriages that unusual?"

"No, they are not, at least not between clans on friendly terms. But for the strongest warrior of a clan to choose to go to her mate's clan instead of having her mate come to her own clan is."

"I see. Do any of those stories offer a hint as to why she chose to do that?"

Katari shook her head. "None that are credible."

"Well, it's unlikely that it was some major issue with Aqun, considering she trusted them over Valorit for raising her infant daughter."

"...Could that really be me? It does not seem possible that I could be the daughter of such as her."

"I'm going to have to disagree with you there," Fenrir said, letting just the hint of a smile creep into his voice. "It seems perfectly feasible to me considering how much of a prodigy you are in your own right."

"...You need not lie to make me feel better."

"Have you ever known me to do that?"

Katari hesitated. "No..."

"Then trust me when I say that you are a rare talent. And I don't make the claim based solely on my own judgement, either. All of clan Aqun seems to agree with me."

Katari sighed, her shoulders slumping a little. "My head knows there is truth in what you say, but my heart finds it difficult to believe."

Fenrir smiled. "Then I'll keep saying it until you do believe it." His smile quickly became a chuckle at his companion's blush.

Breakfast was a simple affair, though lively since both Nelith and Koreen were in high spirits. Fenrir had decided to let Katari bring up the subject of her past, if she even wanted to, and accordingly avoided all reference to it despite it being the topic uppermost in his mind. The oness was a bit more subdued than usual at first, but soon enough the succubi's chatter drew her out of her thoughts and she engaged in the conversation to the full extent that was normal for her.

After the meal, Fenrir and Katari placed themselves at the chief's disposal, and soon they were working alongside most of the rest of clan Aqun's warriors to clean up the battlefield. Nelith decided to spend some more time talking with the village elders in the interest of creating a comprehensive list of everything the oni had that Fenrir's growing family might need, and vice versa. Fenrir was happy to leave the minutiae of the actual trade agreements to her; he trusted her judgement on such matters as much as or more than his own, and it also freed him up to focus on more important issues.

Koreen chose to wander around the village and take in the sights; as she wasn't really built for hard labor anyway, Fenrir excused her from helping with the cleanup. He would have done the same for Katari, but when she specifically requested to work alongside him there was little he could do but shrug, smile, and allow it.

It was hard work, but the oni went at it with a will, the general mood light despite the grisly work. All their own dead had been removed from the battlefield the night before, so what remained was gathering up the enemy bodies, stripping them of weapons and armor -though Fenrir noticed that the oni left any personal effects strictly alone- and readying them for burning.

When chance brought him alongside Sataareth, Fenrir took the opportunity to ask what they intended to do with their own dead. He remembered Nelith making reference to oni placing their dead in cairns not long after he had met her, when they had been deciding what to do with the dead succubi, but he thought it best to ask anyway.

"Today the women prepare them for burial, and tomorrow we shall carry them to their ****-cairns high on the ridges of the mighty Tanoso. There are many dead; it is possible that it may take more than one day, but each shall be given the respect they deserve for their greatest of sacrifices."

Fenrir nodded.

"We would be honored to have you there for the funeral rites," Sataareth added. "You have fought in defense of the same people as they, and are no small part of the reason why they still have friends and family alive to bury them."

The direwolf bowed his head in acknowledgement. "The honor would be mine."

They worked in silence for several minutes, then Sataareth asked, "Are your people all well? The blue succubus in particular got rather deep in her cup last night."

Fenrir chuckled. "Yes, Koreen did get herself good and drunk, but she seems to have come out of it with no ill effects. Not even a hangover as far as I could tell." Internally, he thought, 'I wonder if that has to do with the fact that we fucked last night as well, or if succubi just don't get hangovers. She certainly was drunk enough to warrant one.'

"That is good to hear. I was a little concerned, for I have heard most **** cannot compare to that which we brew."

"Yes, Katari warned us about that. But speaking of companions, the one you had last night was quite lovely. She seemed fairly attached to you as well; are you two in a relationship?"

"...Yes, something like that." Sataareth dropped his head and rubbed the back of his neck in a surprisingly boyish gesture. When Fenrir only raised an eyebrow questioningly, he continued, "I wish to make her my mate someday, but I have yet to do anything worthy of my love for her."

Fenrir cocked his head. "You're going to have to explain that a bit. Remember that I don't know that much about oni culture."

"When an oni bull wishes to take a mate, it is customary for him to perform some feat of strength, skill, or courage to demonstrate not only the depth of his love, but also to prove his fitness as a mate," the oni explained.

"And successfully defending your home from a greatly superior **** doesn't count?" Fenrir asked, grinning.

Sataareth smiled back, then sobered. "It is not the same. The battle was fought by all of clan Aqun's warriors. All of us helped each other; we fought as one unit."

"...I'm not hearing a reason as to why it couldn't count."

"It does not prove I could successfully stand against the world in defense of my mate."

"No man is an island. Proving you are able to work well with your clan in a fight seems fairly important."

Sataareth had no answer to this, but his furrowed brow showed he remained unconvinced.

"Clearly there's some subtext to the custom which you aren't able to articulate," Fenrir said. "So what would you have to do to prove yourself fit for her?"

"An act of great valor, something requiring tremendous strength, skill, or courage. My love is great. The actions which prove it ought to be so also."

"I see." To himself, he thought, 'Seems a bit silly to me, but who am I to judge? Not all traditions are worth keeping around, but most of them do serve an important purpose even if that purpose isn't immediately apparent. After all, if they didn't, the practices wouldn't have stuck around long enough to become tradition in the first place.'

The noble district of the capital city of Mavenia was abuzz with excitement and activity. The principal ball of the season was scheduled for that evening, and preparations had been underway for weeks. There were even rumors that several of the Saintesses would be attending this year.

Her position close to the princess allowed Grace to know for certain that the Saintesses were all invited, though the only ones likely to actually attend were the Archbishop Elmeria Levantine and the Hero Tomoko Sakurai. A part of her was quite curious to see what they would be like, though her perception of them as heroes had been tempered somewhat by her meeting with Ser Fenrir and her subsequent conversations with Princess America. It seemed the Dark was not always quite as bad as she had been taught to believe.

Not that that mattered at the moment. It was unlikely there would be any Dark-races at this particular ball. She glanced over at the princess, beside whom she was walking. She looked radiant, the beautiful red and white gown setting off her long blonde hair and blue eyes to perfection. Grace glanced down at her own ensemble, more muted than her companion's in colors of purple and black, but she was far from dissatisfied. She knew very well it looked good on her, and the princess had been most gracious in ordering it for her.

Felicity was safe and sound back in her room, the same nurserymaid that had once attended to the princess looking after her for the evening, so Grace had nothing to worry about on that front. There was still a twinge of concern whenever she thought of the assassins that were likely still after her, but since she had not heard or seen any sign of them since that first attack back in Eldfall, she was beginning to believe they had not bothered to follow her downriver.

They paused outside the door that led into the public rooms in which the ball was being held, the princess turning to her with a smile. "One last check," she said. "Is anything out of place?"

Grace looked her up and down with a critical eye, rearranging a lock of hair that fell down over the princess' temple. "No, princess, you're perfect. What about me?"

"Not even the Dowager Trakewell could find anything to criticize. Now, shall we?"

The guard opened the door for them, and they were announced into the ball, already half filled with nobles with more slowly filtering in from the front entrance. The scale was a bit grander than she was accustomed to, but Grace was far too experienced in society to let that rattle her. Plastering a polite smile on her face, she began greeting those who approached to speak to her and the princess, playing the familiar word games of the socialites as easily as the best of them.

Across the city, Elmeria sat in a carriage trying to conceal her worries from her companion. The companion, of course, was Tomoko, and the worries were about a piece of information the dark elf had uncovered just that morning.

She had been curious why, if all you needed to escape Apollyon was a Key, monsters like the White Horror had not come back to Ruyanei ages ago, and just this morning she had found her answer in a dusty old tome on Apollyon. It seemed that to leave Apollyon you needed more than just a Key; you needed a living Light-race as well. Fenrir had been able to come back to Ruyanei when she had banished the both of them only because he had brought her back with him.

But he still held both Keys and he had mentioned revisiting Apollyon to trade with the goblins there. What if he decided to go and inadvertently trapped himself there forever because there was no Light-race to bring him back? She needed to tell him about the extra requirement before he did so, but with Tomoko in the city, how was she to make the journey to Kharvionas Castle without arousing suspicion? It wasn't as if she could send someone else; there was no one to send. The only person in the city who even knew about Fenrir aside from herself was Princess America, and she wasn't even supposed to let anyone know that she herself knew.

The only option seemed to be waiting until Tomoko left again, but what if it was too late by then? Elmeria clenched her fists at her sides. If only she had been given the magical communication device Safara had used back when she had been a guest of the Cathedral. Fenrir hadn't told her much about it, but it was easy enough to deduce its capabilities from the little she had heard about it as well as what she had seen herself.

"Are you okay?"

Elmeria jerked her head up. Tomoko was giving her a concerned look. "Y-yeah, I'm fine. Just a stomachache."

"Are you gonna be okay to attend the ball? We can go back to the Cathedral if you need."

Elmeria considered this for a brief moment. In her current state of perturbation, it would be a relief not to have to play politics. But no, she wouldn't get another opportunity to meet Princess America in such a natural manner anytime soon, and she wanted to see what kind of person it was that had formed an alliance with her Fenrir. "No, I should be fine. It's already passing."

"...Well, okay. But let me know if it comes back, alright?"

"Of course, Tomoko. But I'll be fine, I promise. I can just heal myself if it gets too bad." Elmeria gave Tomoko a reassuring smile, and had the relief of seeing her companion's brows relax.

"Okay, if you say so. But speaking of the ball, they're not going to expect anything special of us, are they?"

"They're going to want to talk with us a lot," Elmeria smiled, "But no, this isn't like the banquet they threw for us after we defeated the Demon King. We were the guests of honor then; this time we're just guests like any other."

"Whew, okay. I'm always worried I'll mess something up when I go to one of these." Tomoko slumped in her seat.

Elmeria eyed her, wondering not for the first time just who Tomoko was. The little she had told of her past had been confusing and often contradictory. She had pointed ears like an elf, but insisted she was human, and it was true her facial structure was more like a human's than an elf's. Her speech patterns and accent didn't match up with anywhere Elmeria was familiar with, though it was a lot less apparent now than when she had first met her, and she had sometimes seemed not to know things that even a child could tell you, especially at first.

Elmeria had usually just used the fact that she was a Hero chosen by the gods to explain all the oddities away, but now she realized that Tomoko reminded her of Fenrir somehow. Not in personality or looks or anything like that, but in a deeper, subtler way, as though they were kindred spirits somehow.

She shook off the speculation. There were more important things to focus on than Tomoko's idiosyncrasies, such as the fact that they were pulling up to the citadel and would be disembarking the carriage soon. She set her Archbishop's robes in order, with special attention paid to the little fiddly bits that sat in the center of her chest. They had a habit of getting tangled up in each other rather lying flat like they were supposed to. Of course, that was only a problem because of the size of her boobs, but still. Someone ought to have redesigned the Archbishop's robes rather simply adapting them to fit her proportions.

They moved up the main concourse together, weaving their way through various groups of nobles and exchanging polite greetings as they did so. Several tried to pull them into conversation, but Elmeria had gotten pretty good at disengaging from conversations quickly without being rude, so they made it to the hostess of the party, the first princess Leticia, before too long.

She welcomed them graciously and after extracting a promise from them to speak more later, allowed them to enter the main ballroom. There were already a few couples out on the dance floor, but the majority of the guests were still standing and talking. Elmeria scanned over the crowd, seeing no one out of the ordinary there. Not that she was familiar enough with the high society of Mavenia to know just from a glance whether anything was off, but-

"My ladies." The voice had a strange accent, one Elmeria recognized immediately as being imperial in origin. She turned to face the speaker, a man of average height, average physique, an average face -really, the only thing not entirely forgettable about him was his outfit, which nearly blinded her with sheer opulence. The tell-tale diplomatic sash identified him as an ambassador of Tethoros, and despite its detailed border stitching was still the simplest part of his attire.

Elmeria returned his bow with a curtsy, Tomoko at her side mimicking her. "Your grace, it's a pleasure to see you again. It has been too long."

"Far too long," he agreed. "If only my august father placed as much importance on maintaining our friendship with Mavenia as I do. But alas, I must steal any opportunity I can to visit our fair western neighbors." He winked conspiratorially.

Elmeria laughed politely. "I'm sure His Imperial Majesty merely has a lot on his mind. It can't be easy keeping an empire in order, especially in such troubled times as these."

"What troubled times?" the second duke laughed. "After the heroic actions of yourselves and your comrades, the Dark has been beaten back to the Barrens where they belong. We have entered an era of peace, and it is all thanks to you."

Elmeria and Tomoko exchanged a look. If only that were true, but in the year since their defeat of the Demon King there had been several concerning signs, signs that had also been seen only a decade before, when the Demon King had first been on the rise. There had been far too many dungeons popping up all over the continent to be normal, and the armies of the Light had just recently run into unexpected resistance in their fight against what was left of the Dark's forces.

Privately, Elmeria wondered whether Fenrir's sudden appearance in Mavenia could be related, but she was hardly about to share her speculations on that subject with Tomoko. Nor were either of them inclined to share their other concerns with the second duke. Telling him would just be a waste of time.

Tomoko smiled at the man, giving him another shallow curtsy. "We were only glad the gods blessed us with the power to protect Light-races everywhere from the monsters that threatened them."

"Ah, but that doesn't make your actions any less heroic. We all owe you a debt of gratitude." He deftly swept up three glasses from a passing waiter and offered two of them to the Saintesses. "I propose a toast. To you two, for all you have done for us."

There was nothing to do but accept the toast, so they did. As they all lowered their glasses, the duke continued, "You and the other Saintesses must come to visit the empire. I will personally ensure you are welcomed as such as you ought to be."

"That would be amazing, but I'm afraid we're all kept far too busy to accept your invitation right now. Perhaps in the future," Tomoko smiled.

Her eyes caught Elmeria's for half a second, a question in them. Elmeria gave the ghost of a nod, and heartened, Tomoko turned back to the conversation. It was funny, how Tomoko looked to her as an authority on how to act in high society, when so much of her life had actually been spent in the lowest and most rotten of circles. But of course Tomoko had no idea about that. Elmeria had been very careful not to let her.

Had quite a bit of trouble with this one. I wrestled it into a state I could be happy with eventually, though, and there are some moments in here I'm particularly partial to.
There's quite a bit going on in this chapter between getting a look into Katari's backstory as well as things kicking off in the capital, and next chapter should be even more exciting. There's also quite a bit of worldbuilding sprinkled throughout. And, though we've sort of seen her before, we get to properly meet Tomoko for the first time. How long do you think it'll be before she and Fenrir meet?
Enjoy!