I got up and walked over to within a few feet of Sasha, and her tail thumped against the couch as she looked up at me queasily.

“Sorry, Master, I didn’t mean to listen in… not that I really understood much of it… just, Master and her highness were having a conversation, and that’s more important….” I frowned a little at that reasoning.

Chapter 13: In Which I Stand In The Hallway With A Woman Whose Name I Don’t Know For A Very Awkward Five Minutes

It took me a moment to process that offer with a very hot and extremely naked Princess pressed up against my own naked body, but then:

“No.”

She blinked, tilted her head to one side, raising an eyebrow as she tapped my nose with her finger.

“I mean, no, sorry, your highness… anything that involves the death of Master is not something I’ll ever agree to.”

“Okay, I can respect that. What if your Master agreed to it?”

Chapter 11: In Which The Cards Hit The Table, Metaphorically That Is, I Mean Like, There Aren’t Any Literal Cards

I glanced around, nervous– how had she just disappeared like that? Valentine was huge. No, wait– why had she disappeared like that? That was probably the more important question.

Chapter 9: In Which I Share The Secret With Someone Else For The First Time, And Begin To Learn Something Even More Valuable

We stopped by another town on the way, at which Master said she had an errand– she did not elaborate, and no one asked her to.

Chapter 7: In Which Sparring, Which Seemed Harmless At The Time, Leads To A Great Quandary

I awoke in the morning the sound of a loud thwack, two objects impacting each other at an incredibly high speed. My eyes flickered fully open, body surging with adrenaline, and I rushed over to peek outside of the tent.

We stood over the fallen tiger lady… she seemed to still be breathing, at least.

Master stared off into the distance with a slight smile and a sort of vacant expression.

I blinked… I hadn’t seen that look on her since she switched places with me. “...you okay there, Master?”

“Shhh, quiet, trying to think, Master.” From her superior tone, I gathered she hadn’t meant to say ‘Master’… actually, maybe she had said my original name instead, whatever that was. Maybe I should try to read her lips next time… but how would I even know when or if there would be a next time?

“Okay, Sasha. Cast the spells you know, and tell me which ones you’re casting as you cast them.”

Master had released the control on my collar until sunset, and she sat in one of the chairs in our room, while I stood in front of her. Naked. I really didn’t get why I needed to be naked, and it was more than a little distracting.

“Mmm, I just know two spells: Fire,” I raised a finger and shaped my mana into the proper pattern, and a small gout of flame raised from my finger. I blinked a few times. That spell would usually just get a lighter-sized flame.

When I woke up, Master was gone. I sat up and looked around frantically— had she suddenly abandoned me? She wouldn’t, would she? What could I do in this world alone, powerless, and looked down upon?

I saw a note on the table. “Went out to get some info. Be a good girl.” I wondered if she was going to one of my informants, or had some I didn’t know about, and sighed a little as I realized my tail was wagging from the "be a good girl" part. Some part of me really liked being a girl, huh? ...but was that my own mind, or…?

Well, not much point in worrying about it.

Chapter 68
“Kettle on, love? We’re gasping, hint, hint”

I had no choice, and stood aside. “Tea’s already made, should be enough for two more, but I’ve already got visitors”

Blake nodded. “Yeah, couldn’t miss the other car in the drive. Who’ve you got?”

CHAPTER 66
We went through the same performance yet again, bobbing up and down as the judge entered and took his seat. I really missed my wife’s presence beside me, her strength being all that had kept me from screaming at the miserable old bigot, but I had boys and girls with me, and that meant I had my own responsibilities to face.

CHAPTER 65
Once again, we trooped into the court, taking our little block of seats, and once again we got to see the unusual spectacle of a defence barrister doing precisely sod-all.

Angharad had delivered a whole salvo of bombshells, if bombs came in salvoes, rhat is, and I would have expected any honest lawyer to have picked it all apart, chewing away on everything from the fact that she seemed to have no evidence other than her memory to the vindictive nature she had demonstrated in her outbursts.

CHAPTER 63
The cross-examination by the defence was a farce. I couldn’t see where it was going, but Delyth seemed to dismiss it out of hand. It didn’t involve Scripture, therefore it was beneath contempt. I was caught squarely between enjoying seeing her slapped down and at the same time stitching up Carwyn. My head span.

CHAPTER 60
It went better than I had expected, at least as far as his embarrassment went. He actually seemed to be looking forward to it, so after an obligatory bit of teasing about how the pot had been filled, he started in on his own questions.

“I don’t know, Tone. Thing is, we’re looking at a sort of simultaneous birth thing. If we can manage it, that is”

CHAPTER 59
Annie’s face worked once more in little twitches, her breath catching.

“Diane? What….”

“Lainey’s told me it all, or I suppose what she thinks I should know, A—nnie. I didn’t want to rock your boat, and, well, Elaine, this is a bit of a surprise, isn’t it? Not quite what we agreed, not at all”

CHAPTER 57
In the end, I spent two weeks off work. My bosses were very clear in their instructions, and I was told that it was being recorded as ‘gardening leave’ rather than sickness absence, to avoid the stigma such things bring. Effectively, I was suspended on full pay, but without the implied misbehaviour.

CHAPTER 55
I really, really couldn’t accept that in any meaningful way. Miserable bigot goes to stay with Magic Monks, and lo and behold she is turned back onto the fluffy paths of rainbow unicorns, kittens and righteous tolerance. No, not likely at all. There were better-documented cases of airborne pork. Ambrose had a wry smile on his face, though.

“She also predicted that you wouldn’t believe her, either of you. I can see a lot of her in you, Siân: the stubbornness for a start. Look, my cards on the table. You are not the only ones who do not believe her. I gather that neither of you share her faith—no, please. Distorted, unpleasant, confused, call it what you will, she still has faith. Still a deep belief in our Saviour, strange as her image of Him may be. Please…”

CHAPTER 54
Siân’s tone was clipped and precise.

“Who are you and how do you know my mother?”

“Do you mind if I come in?”

“Answer the question first”

The scruffy man sighed.

“My name is Ambrose. Brother Ambrose”

CHAPTER 52
Life was almost back to normal then, and I was up past my ears in sodding budget allocations. I had some hopes, though, as my seniority slowly grew, and kept my eyes on the job adverts.

CHAPTER 50
She looked like a rabbit in headlights, checking around for someone to support her.

“Inspector Powell, aye?”

Sod it. I initiated a hug; get the personal space closed down before she runs, Lainey.

“Annie now, isn’t it? Sar told me the story, no way I could miss out on this one, so we brought the family, aye? You know Siân, my missus?”

*Before…

We sort of stop and we’re doing this sort of linked up kind of processing about all of the stuff we’ve been talking about and she steps up to the food tables.

“After we eat you and me we’ll take Bhlaze out and we’ll practice.”

“Flying patrol, and isn’t it dangerous out there?”

“Flying patrol and it is dangerous and we have Bhlaze with us so we have a dragon to watch over us.”

“And while we’re gone?”

“We help Kyte out with her family and leave her in charge.”

I smile. “That’s actually a good idea, her cousin Rafe might have a WTF over that and if not at least it’ll be a good thing for her and her men.”

*And Now…