Author's note: This update catches bigcloset up with the other sites I've updated this story on. <3 Three chapters feels like a lot to update as one, but I really think chapter 11 should be read following chapter 10 - and I don't want to flood the community with my series, so. Hope this works!

Chapter 9

Hood thrown back to show her face, dark skin and red hair on proud display, Lonna stomped her way out of the clothing shop and into the streets.

Behind her walked a confused Melissa driven forward by three armed men and one brown furred rabbit Sapphi, who’d apparently been keeping watch out front. The silver krakens on blue indicated their fealty to the countess of Koleff. That, combined with the quality of their plate, said they probably served the countess’s manor directly rather than the city as a whole. It was likely they had each had detailed pedigrees, dating back through generations of service - and knights sworn to them, who they'd bring to Koleff's defense in war.

Their blood would run red as any others’, though, if anyone dared touch so much as a clod of Talith’s clay.

“Lonna?” Melissa called out to her, voice hesitant, eyes wide. “Why did he call you a princess?” The same question Melissa had asked in the store. 

As before, Lonna chose to ignore it.

The people around her were less inclined to do so. Already, Lonna could hear the whispers spreading through the populace. Snippets of conversation, including “Princess Lonna?” and “The runaway?” 

It made her grind her teeth near to dust.

At least they were all smart enough to get out of her way. In fact, they were all but rushing to clear the streets, pressing themselves up against the store fronts so that Lonna could stomp forward.

Mere seconds after Lonna passed by an area, the cityfolk would slam into the space she’d occupied, and begin to whisper among themselves. As such, Melissa and the guards had little choice but to follow closely in Lonna’s wake.

Not that Lonna actually knew where she was going. She’d never actually visited the countess’s manor, as a princess - or if she had, she must have been too young to remember it. Sorissa had marched her out of the castle, occasionally, if only for carefully curated events. 

The rest of the time she’d been kept behind walls, so that she wouldn’t learn of Sorissa’s villainy.

Not that she could tell Melissa that. It wasn’t as if Melissa would understand, or even care. All she’d hear was that Lonna was Sorissa’s daughter. That she was Sorissa’s heir. Just like everyone else did.

There were only three people who’d ever accepted her for herself: her dead mother, her captive brother, and…

Well, Vellos was probably fine, but still.

“Lonna?” Melissa repeated, yet again. “Please. I can’t understand if you don’t talk to me.”

“There’s nothing to understand,” Lonna replied, finally turning to glare at Melissa. For some reason, Melissa’s tall and muscular visage looked blurry to Lonna. She blinked her eyes, a few times, and things seemed to clear. 

“There’s nothing to understand,” Lonna repeated. “I’m the princess. The queen’s daughter. The rightful heir. It’s just like you heard. I’m the runaway princess! The tree-forsaken daughter of a dragon and the tyrant queen, the epitome of all that is wicked and rotten in this world! Everything you, the heroine, are meant to destroy - all right here, in one tiny little package! Maybe after you take on Sorissa, you can have me for your damn dessert!”

Lonna wasn’t sure when her feet had started moving. She only knew that she was now standing directly in front of Melissa, glaring up at the heroine. Her vision was blurry again, for some reason, and her cheeks were wet.

“Lonna… You’re crying?”

Lonna looked up at the heroine, mouth opening and closing, unable to respond with grace. After a moment, she snapped her jaw shut, wiped the tears from her eyes, and turned to glare at the guards. 

“Well!? You were ordered to take me to the countess, weren’t you? Do so!”

The four guards exchanged glances. Only one stepped forward; the lapine Sapphi. She bowed her head to Lonna, briefly, and led the way forward.

Lonna followed, a silent Melissa in tow.

***

Melissa stood, shifting nervously from foot to foot, in front of a large desk.

On the desk was a small, polished, wooden box, a sheaf of papers, a writing quill, and an inkwell.

Sitting behind the desk was a woman.  Her short blonde hair was cut right at the nape of her neck; she had deep green eyes. A sword, hilted with a large squid with tentacles for quillons, was sheathed and belted to her waist. Her eyes shifted continuously between Lonna and Melissa, studying them with the intensity of a bird of prey eyeing its dinner.

Lonna, meanwhile, was staring not at the sitting countess, but at the brunette maid standing behind her. Melissa wasn’t sure if it was some sort of power play, or what, but the maid was clearly nervous from the attention. She kept fidgeting and the smile on her face was under growing strain.

“If you have something to say to my maid,” the countess declared at last, “perhaps you’d like to discuss it aloud? That way we can all be privy to the conversation.” The woman smiled sweetly as she spoke, but her gaze was hard.

“I have nothing to say to her,” Lonna replied, finally shifting her gaze to the noblewoman before her. 

There was a squeak from the maid, at that, which caused the countess to lift an eyebrow. “I admit that when Tabitha said she knew the runaway princess, I had my doubts. And when she insisted you’d definitely be the one accompanying our 'heroine…' Well. I’m ashamed to say I might have questioned her sanity.” 

The countess chuckled, faintly, to herself. “I’ll have to make it up to her, later.”

“I’m sure you will.” Lonna scowled as she spoke, her gaze still almost boring a hole through Tabitha.

“Of course, I assume you do have proof that you’re the true princess?” The countess lifted an eyebrow as she spoke.

“Why should I prove anything to you?” Lonna demanded, turning her glower to the countess. “I’m not doing a tree-forsaken thing until I know my brother is safe.”

“Your brother. The Lapsi, you mean?” The countess frowned for a moment, then shook her head. “He is well and good, I assure you; you will be free to join him shortly. But first, I really must insist that you prove yourself to me.

“Otherwise, I fear I will have no choice but to dispose of the seditious heroine, and the imposter princess. I will promise not to hurt the Lapsi, though, if it’ll make you more cooperative. He’s of no use or worth to me, regardless.”

Lonna glared at the countess for a moment longer. Then, slowly, she reached a hand up to her head, and undid the twine from one of her hair buns.

Beneath the frizzy red hair was a small horn - a small, brown protrusion, smooth at the base but broken and jagged at the tip.

“Satisfied?” Lonna snapped, quickly tying her hair back into a bun.

“...A dragon’s antlers are usually gold. Yet yours are as dark as a dryad’s tree. You truly are the child of those monsters, aren’t you?” The countess smiled as she spoke, but it didn't reach her stony green eyes, and her voice was cold enough to send chills down Melissa’s spine. 

Which made it all the more shocking when the countess stood, and bowed stiffly to the waist.

“I am Liliath, the countess of Koleff. Loyal servant to the queendom of Resperan.” Straightening with those words, she turned her cold gaze to Melissa. “Now tell me: what in the world are you doing with the heroine?”

“...Sorissa always told me, as a child, that she’d be with me until the heroine herself took her away from me. So I summoned the heroine to do just that.” Lonna jutted her chin out as she spoke, as if daring the countess to speak against her.

Liliath smiled in response, eyes still lingering on Melissa even as she spoke to Lonna. “A loyal subject would bring you to your mother and have your royal behind spanked for such comments about our queen. After seeing to the heroine’s death, that is.”

Melissa swallowed, hard.

Lonna glared at the countess. “Are you a loyal subject, then?”

“I am loyal to the queendom of Resperan,” Liliath responded, smoothly. “Long has it stood, and long may it stand yet.”

“And the queen who rules Resperan?” Lonna pressed, placing her hands on the desk and leaning forward.

Liliath glanced at the small hands on her desk, and smiled faintly. “The queen’s word is meant to represent the queendom.”

“You know it doesn’t…” Lonna snarled back. “Unless you think it was the will of the kingdom for your brother to die?”

Liliath’s hand darted to her sword, a clear threat. Smoke was curling from Lonna’s lips.

“May I say something?” Melissa asked, voice soft, and a little scared, but trying to keep firm.

“No.” Lonna’s eyes snapped to Melissa with that word.

The countess, however, took a step back from the desk and removed her hand from her sword. 

“Speak,” Liliath commanded. “I would hear what the heroine has to say before condemning her to death.”

“...I’m no heroine…” Melissa said, voice quiet. She kept her eyes on the table, not looking at either woman, but she could imagine their reactions: Liliath, eyes wide, staring. Lonna, glaring with all her might. 

“I’m really not the heroine,” Melissa repeated. “I’m not… I’m not even really a girl. My real name’s... I mean… I was born male, and. I just…” 

Melissa sighed.

“I got summoned into this world, in this body. So. I went along with it? I asked everyone to call me Melissa, made them all use she and her pronouns. Played at the idea that I could actually rescue people… But I’m not the heroine.

“I’m not even a girl. I’m just… I’m just a guy, trying to get home. I’m only even trying to defeat Sorissa, so I can use her library to find a spell that’ll take me back. And give me my proper body.

“I just…” Taking a deep breath, Melissa finally lifted her eyes to meet Liliath’s steely gaze. “I’m just a guy. Not the heroine.”

“Why would you reveal this to me?” Liliath asked, voice soft, gaze hard.

“Because if I’m honest about this… Maybe you’ll believe I’m being honest about something else: That from what I’ve seen, the queen isn’t representing this land at all. From what I’ve seen, the queendom would be better off without her. From what I’ve seen… I think you all could do better.”

“I see…” Liliath murmured, a dark chuckle rising from her throat. “Tell me, my self-proclaimed good man. What does it feel like, being in that body? Compared to your old one, I mean.”

“It’s… Lighter?” Melissa offered, blinking in confusion. “I mean, I’m a lot stronger, so. Everything feels… lighter. And smoother. And soft, and nice? Like… Like it’s… I don’t know. Like it’s right. Even though it isn’t.”

“I see,” the countess repeated, a small smile on her features. “Guards!”

The moment she called, the door opened, revealing the rabbit Sapphi that had guarded them earlier.

The countess smiled, sweetly. “Please, take the heroine to her guest chambers. And get her properly dressed.

“We’ll be dining together, tonight. Tell me, Melissa. Have you ever had goose?”

“I… I don’t think so…” Melissa admitted, a little confused.

“Then let tonight be the first time. Now, if you’d please go with my bannerlords? I have a few things to discuss with my Princess.”

Melissa shot Lonna a look, but her companion’s eyes were only for the countess.

After a moment of uncertainty, Melissa nodded her head, and then headed out with the Sapphi guard.

***

Lonna stared into the countess’s eyes, full of resentment. Resentment over Talith. Resentment over Melissa’s refusal to accept the role of heroine.

Resentment that the tree-forsaken countess was still standing, too. Lonna’s neck was aching and stiff, raised towards a woman who towered over her. Not that she ever let that stop her when it came to Melissa or Talith. She’d let the trees take her before she let go of a staring match against someone only a hand and two fingers taller than she was!

“You seem to be taking this as a personal grudge…” Liliath murmured, shaking her head, breaking eye contact. She dropped back down in her chair.

“Tabitha. Bring Lonna a chair, would you?”

Tabitha bowed, and scurried out of the room, leaving the two women staring at each other once more.

Once again, it was the countess who broke the silence.

“If the queen of Resperan falls, the queendom will fall into the same chaos as the rest of Auroris. What are your plans to prevent that?”

“E-Excuse me?” Lonna demanded, taken aback by the sudden line of questioning. “I… The people will-”

“Without a proper line of succession, the queendom will fall to infighting among nobles. From there, it’s only a matter of time before the outlaws outside our border try and worm their way in for a slice of the apple.

“Sorissa has made the border towns dependent on the warm bodies she provides - loyal to her, and no one else. They keep the chaos at bay for her alone.  Who will they listen to when Sorissa is gone? Who can keep them untied?”

“I… I don’t know…” Lonna whispered, finally looking away from the countess. “I don’t know.”

“Even Sorissa is better than chaos,” Liliath declared, her voice flat and hard as steel. “But there is a third option.”

“A… What?” Lonna asked, attention now raptly focused on the countess.

“Despite being known as the runaway princess, you are still Sorissa’s one and only heir. The only child born of a handfasting between the dragon and the false queen.”

“The dragon princess had no more right to rule than Sorissa, though,” Lonna pointed out.

“Does any queen? Sorissa founded her rule on Arasitelle’s right to all of Auroris. It was Arasitelle who officially annexed Resperan, and gave it to Sorissa, for all that she had already conquered it herself.

“You are their child. You are their heir. A decision Sorissa has not, to this day, undone. Every house that is pledged to Sorissa will lawfully and rightfully pass to you.  By laws Sorissa legislated. 

“Which means those who respect her law will in turn respect your claim.  Not that you won’t have to work to keep it, of course - we’ll have a lot of work ahead of us, even after Sorissa’s gone, if we want to keep ahead of things.”

“But…” Lonna felt like she’d dunked her head into a stream and came up dry. Nothing was making sense. “The people. The people will never accept me! Not after everything Sorissa’s done!”

“No?” Liliath chuckled. "But they will accept the heroine." 

Lonna’s eyes widened in shock. “The… The heroine?”

"The one who deposed Sorissa. If she were to wed you, and the two of you ruled together as Queen and Princess-Consort, then the people and the nobles both would bend a knee.”

“Melissa would never agree to that,” Lonna protested. “She wants to go back home. She doesn’t even believe she’s the heroine. She…” 

Lonna sighed, looking down at the floor. “She isn’t even a girl.”

“Yet you still call her one in your head, do you not?” Liliath asked.

“She just asked me to use she and her, so…” Lonna frowned, uncertain. “I mean, you can be one thing and call yourself another, I do that all the time, so…”

“...As you say, dear.”

Liliath was still smirking when the door opened, and Tabith came in carrying a cushioned chair. She deposited it quickly behind Lonna, and attempted to scurry back to her position behind Liliath, only for Liliath to raise her hand.

“Take Lonna to her bedroom, would you dear? Her brother is waiting there. I’m sure they’ll want to be reunited, while I have my dinner with Melissa.”

“...Yes, my Countess,” Tabitha said, tugging her skirts up. “If you’ll follow me please.” 

Without so much as meeting Lonna’s gaze, she walked toward the hallway.

Lonna spared the countess a frown, but quickly followed after Tabitha, catching up just in time to catch her as she turned down a hallway.

“What are you trying to do?” Lonna complained. “Get me lost in here?”

“I’m sure it wouldn’t be a problem if you got lost, Princess,” Tabitha responded, her voice pitched low enough that no maids they passed might hear them. “You’d simply have to find another servant to guide you.”

“Well, maybe I don’t want another servant to guide me,” Lonna declared, picking up her pace to try and keep up with Tabitha’s longer stride. “Maybe I want to have a little conversation with this maid.”

“And what conversation would that be?” Tabitha asked, voice dripping with all the sweetness of poisoned honey.

“Oh, you know. About how the guards knew I’d be with the heroine? Because it’s funny - back in Ife, Melissa’s poster didn't mention me.”
Lonna picked up her pace until she was side by side with the maid. "You’re the only outsider I told about my plans to, Tabitha. The only one I kept in contact with after leaving for Ife.”

“I…” Tabitha’s footsteps faltered, though only for a moment. “Fine, it was me. Is that what you wish to hear? The countess has been… The countess has been very kind to me, offering me a job here despite my inexperience... and I saw a chance to prove myself.”

“You saw a chance to prove yourself?” Lonna’s voice broke a little, mid sentence, drawing the gaze of an errant blonde maid as Lonna and Tabitha walked through the hallway. “After everything we went through? I thought we had something-”

“Shhhhhhhh!” whispered Tabitha, desperately, gesturing with her hands for Lonna to lower her voice. “You know how maids talk…”

“...Are you ashamed of me?” Lonna demanded.

Tabitha came to a dead stop, before turning around with a quizzical expression on her face. 

“Well. Yes. I thought that was obvious. I mean, Lonna - you’re the runaway dragon princess. Who wouldn’t be ashamed of having slept with you?”

Lonna stared into Tabitha’s eyes for a long moment.

Everything made sense again. Everything was exactly the way she’d always expected it to be.

“...Your room’s here,” Tabitha said, pushing the door open.

Lonna nodded, without a word, and walked right in.

Chapter 10

Melissa walked behind her guard in silence, largely staring at the ground as the dark furred rabbit guided her down a series of hallways. The guard, who looked menacing with a spear in their hands, eventually came to a stop in front of an unadorned wooden door. It was when the guard reached for the doorknob that Melissa noticed something that had escaped notice thus far.

“You have thumbs.”

The rabbit glanced back at Melissa, and tilted their head to the side. “Why wouldn’t I have thumbs?”

Despite the lupine looks, the rabbit’s voice came out as smoothly as any human’s, and with a definitively feminine ring.

“Are you… A girl?”

The rabbit gave a small nod. “Yup yup. I’m Joanie. Nice to meet you, heroine.”

“It’s… Melissa. Actually.” Melissa rubbed the back of her head as she spoke, but Joanie only gestured to the open door.

“You’re supposed to wait in there, Miss Melissa.”

“Until dinner?” Melissa asked, voice trembling from nerves. “By myself? Why are they separating me from my friends?”

“Wouldn’t know. Guess the countess has taken a special interest in you.” Joanie shrugged as she spoke, then gestured toward the doorway again.

“The room won’t eat you, or anything,” Joanie promised. “Bed looks pretty comfortable.”

“Will you… be guarding the door?” Melissa asked. She had the vague thought that maybe she could go looking for Lonna and Talith.

That was dashed when Joanie nodded her head. “I’ll keep you safe, yup yup. Me and Lucinda.” She thumped the butt of her spear as she spoke, drawing Melissa’s attention back to the weapon.

“Is your weapon… Named Lucinda?” Melissa asked, a little taken aback. “Is it a sentient weapon, or something?”

“...Nope nope. Just a six foot redwood shaft and an iron point. You’ll find fifty like her in the armory - none half as pretty.” 

So far, it had been difficult to read Joanie’s emotions; her head mimicked that of an oversized rabbit, after all. When she spoke of her spear, though, her blue eyes seemed to sparkle, and her voice was filled with affection.

“You. Must really like her. To have named her and all.”

Joanie eyed Melissa for a moment. She looked strangely wary.
“Wait inside. Countess Koleff might get mad, otherwise.”

“Mad that you’re talking to me? Or mad that I’m not in my room?”

The rabbit shifted uneasily, looking up and down the hallway. “The countess likes things just so. Said you wait in the room, while I guard the door.”

Melissa frowned for a moment, then walked past the threshold of the door and turned back around. “So. What if we do it like this? With the door open? That way we could talk while we wait.”

“...” Joanie hesitated for a moment, clearly torn. Then, slowly, she shook her head back and forth. “Nope nope. Sorry Miss Melissa. You’re interesting, but if I’m following the countess’s orders to the letter, door definitely has to be closed.”

“But-”

Joanie didn’t wait for Melissa to finish her sentence, but instead slammed the door shut on Melissa, who stared blankly at the wooden surface for a moment.

“...Miss Melissa, huh?” she whispered to herself after a moment. “Maybe I should have told her the truth, too…”

Sighing, Melissa turned to look about the room that she was effectively trapped in. There was a large mattress, on a frame with four wooden posts. Each post was carved to resemble a large squid, with the curved pointed head being the top of the post, and the tentacles clinging to the length of the wood. When Melissa pressed a hand down on the bed, she found it remarkably soft. She was sure if she laid her head down on it, she would be asleep in no time.

Melissa hadn’t even realized it, before, but the meeting with the countess had left her exceptionally tired. The idea of putting her head down on the bed and sleeping was incredibly tempting.

Instead, she took another look around the room, looking for something to distract herself with until dinner. Being in a strange house, locked away from the only people in this world she knew… it didn’t seem like the proper time to sleep.

The only other things in the room, however, were a writing desk, a floor length mirror, and a window - not quite large enough to fit through - currently letting in the light of a late day sun. She peered out of it for a moment, looking over carefully trimmed hedges, before turning her attention to the mirror.

It was the second time Melissa had seen her reflection since coming to this world.

She looked fairly similar to the wanted poster. Not exactly right: her eyes had been a little closer together in the poster, and her nose had been a touch too big. Still, the artwork had done a good job capturing the softness of her face, the roundness of her cheeks.

It hadn’t captured her long eyelashes, or the vibrant green of her eyes, of course. No more than it had captured the fullness of her lips.

Melissa reached up to touch a finger to her cheeks, feeling the soft smooth skin. The mirror image of her did the same.

Melissa reached out toward the mirror, next, fingers touching the cool glass. The image in the mirror reached out as well.

“It really is me…” Melissa whispered. “I look like… Like a girl…”

A half-forgotten memory stirred, as Melissa looked at herself in the mirror. It had been Halloween. She’d wanted to go as a cheerleader. Some of the more popular kids in school had gone in drag the previous Halloween, and it had been a big hit.

Her mom said they’d only pulled it off because they were popular. That Melissa would just get beaten up if she tried, and had outright refused to buy the costume.

Which was why Melissa had saved up her allowance so that she could buy the costume herself.

It had taken months. She’d been… What? Thirteen? And the allowance she’d gotten for her chores had only been about five dollars a week.

She’d managed it, though. She’s gotten the costume. Put it on as a test. Stood in front of the mirror.

She had known she’d look funny. A guy, with a few stray hairs on his chin and a lot on his legs, dressed in a too tight skirt and a too small top, wearing a badly made blonde wig.

She’d expected to look ridiculous.

What she hadn’t expected was for it to hurt. Looking into the mirror, and seeing a man in woman’s clothing.

She’d just broken down crying, on the floor. Where she stayed until her mother found her.

Her mother confiscated the costume. Said that she wouldn’t see her son bullied or beaten up.

Melissa hadn’t argued.

She’d never put on feminine clothes again.

This was just another costume. Just a really good costume. One that would come off, when this adventure ended. One that she’d never get to put on again.

A tear slipped down Melissa’s cheek; then another. She didn’t know why she was crying. She’d known all along that this would one day come to an end. She was going to transform back, go back home, and put this entire crazy adventure to an end. She was going to watch television, and read books, and know better than to dream of a fantasy land.

She was going to go back to how things used to be.

Why was she crying? 

Melissa didn’t understand. She couldn’t comprehend where all these tears were coming from. Did she want to stay so badly? Did she want to live in a fantasy world, in a fantasy body, nursing this fantasy? Of being the heroine, being a girl?

Being Melissa?

Unsure of the answers, Melissa wiped away her tears.

She was still wearing the green dress, with the tiny little tear. She had barely even processed, until now, that she was wearing feminine clothing again. The realization only drove her deeper into confusion, though, and soon she was forced to wipe her tears away all over again.

Eventually, she stopped crying. She wasn’t sure how much time had passed. The sun was a lot further down, though, and the room had started to darken. It would probably be dinner, soon.

As if on cue, the door to the bedroom opened. On the other side was Joanie. With her was a familiar figure: a slightly chubby lamia, with blonde hair and blue eyes. The shopkeeper’s daughter.

Melissa stared at her for a moment, completely nonplussed to be meeting her again, in the countess’s mansion. “What… What are you doing here?”

The lamia, meanwhile, slithered into the room as if it was the most natural thing in the world to be here. She was holding something in her hands: a white piece of cloth, marked with symbols and lines. Melissa wasn’t sure what it was for, and she took an uncertain step back from the girl.

The lamia only tilted her head to the side, though, as if confused. “What do you mean what am I doing here? I’m here to take your measurements, so mom can try and get through that emergency order on your wardrobe.”

“Emergency order…?” Melissa asked, numbly.

The lamia nodded, firmly. “Yeah. Ten pairs of trousers, ten blouses, three dresses, and a riding corset? In two days? Mom nearly screamed. She’s going to have to get outside help, even with me casting spells…” There was obvious worry on the lamia’s face but when she saw Melissa noticing, she put on a broad smile.

“I’m Clattara, by the way. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss Heroine.” Saying so, she gripped the white strip of fabric she’d been holding between both hands, and pulled it taut. Between what she’d said, and the markings…

“Is that a measuring tape?” Melissa guessed.

“Uh-hm. Like I said, I can’t do a thing until we have your measurements and we never got around to that during your last visit. Mom’s busy readying the fabric and getting people to help, so she had to send me.” There was an easy grin on Clattara’s face as she slithered toward Melissa. “Put your arms out, please.”

Melissa glanced at Joanie, her guard.

Joanie shrugged, and closed the door.

“Arms please!” Clatarra repeated, more firmly. “If I’m going to pull an all nighter on your clothes, the least you can do is make the measuring easy.”

“S-Sorry…” Melissa muttered, spreading out her arms.

Clattara calmly began to take Melissa’s measurements, humming faintly under her breath as she did so. She measured Melissa’s chest, waist, hips, and more, each time whispering the number out loud before continuing to the next. She did not, however, write a single measurement down.

“Are you going to be able to remember all this?” Melissa asked, frowning. She didn’t want to imagine how the clothes might misfit if the girl forgot anything.

“Don’t insult my memory,” Clattara scoffed. “Now. Off with the dress, if you’d please.”

“W-What?” Melissa shying away from the girl.

“What? I need to get a measurement on your bust for the riding corset. Don’t tell me you’re shy about that sort of thing?”

“Yeah… A little…” Melisa admitted, wrapping a little bit of hair around her finger and tugging softly.

“Seriously?” the girl shook her head, then pursed her lips. “Tell you what - I don’t have time to argue with your modesty right now, so if you’re a good girl and do everything I say I’ll give you a handy little spell to get rid of that voyeur curse on your friend.”

“Voyeur… Curse?” Melissa asked, frowning faintly. “What are you talking about?”

“You know, the spying spell someone slapped on the princess! You couldn’t feel that?” Clattara frowned. “Felt like spiders crawling up my spine.”

“I… I didn’t think there was such a thing as spying spells, though?” Lonna had said there weren’t any, at least.

Clattara just shrugged, though. “Believe me or don’t. I mean, considering which of the two of us comes from a Root with sight-based magic, I know which of us I’d bet the ox on, but. Up to you.”

Melissa frowned for a moment, before reaching down and pulling her dress over her head. That left her in only a pair of boxers and a too small bra.

“You’ll need to take the breastband off, too,” Clattara insisted.

“...Fine.” Melissa knew she was being stubborn. She’d allowed Lonna to see her naked, just a few days prior.

Lonna had known Melissa to be a guy, though. Clatarra was looking at her entirely as a girl. It made Melissa feel both guilty, and entirely too self conscious.

The measurements went quickly from there, though, with Clattara thankfully remaining professional throughout. Before long, the bra was back in place - with Clattara’s help - and the dress went back on after.

“That’s everything I need,” Clattara declared, before slithering toward the writing desk.

Pulling open a drawer, she pulled out a quill, an inkwell, and a piece of parchment. Moving with swift assuredness, Clattara drew a series of symbols, before bisecting them with a circle.

“Just have your friend Breathe through that,” Clattara told her. “I don’t know how the spell is anchored to her, so this is just a one day shielding spell. Should make it impossible for the spell to connect, as long as she casts it daily!”

“Thanks,” Melissa said, reverently taking the paper in her hands.

“Don’t lose it!” Clattara commanded, moving toward the door. “It’ll be worth a lot, once I’m a famous magic user! One of Clattara’s originals!”
She pulled open the door, then turned and waved goodbye, before sliding out.

Melissa waved goodbye herself, and then turned to stare at the paper. She didn’t have pockets anymore, so after a moment’s hesitation she folded up the parchment and tucked it into her cleavage.

Then she sat on the bed, wondering how much time was left before dinner.

She didn’t have long to wait.

Chapter 11

Sitting in the massive dining room, at the upper right hand side of a very long dining table, Melissa couldn’t help but feel out of place. From the four different forks, to the sommelier in black and white currently pouring her a cup of wine, everything about this dinner felt too rich for her blood.

It didn’t help that the dining table, large enough to fit twenty, had only two chairs: one for Melissa, who was sitting dead still from nerves, and the other for the dark skinned countess, who sat with a faint smile on her lips.

Once the servant was done pouring, he bowed his head stiffly to Melissa, bowed at the waist to the countess, and then left the room. Melissa was now alone with the countess.

Liliath, for her part, took a small sip of her wine, before picking up one of her forks and a knife, and cutting into the bounty on her plate: goose breast and asparagus, with a white sauce, on a bed of aromatic white rice. 

After reciting one prayer for grains and another for miscellaneous foods, Melissa did her best to pick the fork that matched Liliath’s. She was fairly sure she’d messed it up, but the countess didn’t so much as raise an eyebrow. She only took the food to her lips, chewed, and swallowed, before moving for the next bite.

Compared to the quiet grace with which the countess ate, Melissa couldn’t help but feel her own attempts at cutting into the bird were clumsy. Liliath had cut into it without a sound, but Melissa’s knife clacked jarringly every time it hit the plate. By the time Melissa got her first bite done, the countess was on her third.

Still, Liliath waited until Melissa had finished her first bite before speaking.

“I hope that you’re enjoying dinner, Melissa. I understand that soirees like this aren’t always comfortable, for those unused to them. That’s most of why I had the servants leave. I had hoped that you would relax with no one watching.”

“Thank you, uh -" she suddenly realized she had blanked on the term of address.
Which the Countess seemed to sense. "Lady Liliath will do," she said, chuckling.
Melissa sighed. "Thank you, Lady Liliath. But I’d like a lot better if Lonna and Talith were here.”

“Is that so?” the countess smiled, faintly. “You seem quite attached to Lonna. You said something about being summoned? Does that mean you came from another world?”

“I… I guess so…” Melissa admitted, staring down at her goose breast. “I’m from a place called Earth?”

“You will have to be more specific,” Liliath said, smiling, taking another bite of her own meal. “Earth is a common name for a world.  But perhaps you will tell me about it one day. Though we have more pressing matters to discuss, first…”

“We do?” Melissa asked, confused. “I’m. I mean, I don’t really get why you even wanted to have dinner with me. I’m not a princess, like I guess Lonna is? And I’m not really the heroine, so…”

“Tell me, Melissa: do you know how I came to know Sorissa?”

“Um… no?” Melissa frowned, uncertain how to process the change in subject.

“I was thirteen. The runaway princess had yet to run away, and the Queen was discussing with my parents an event where she would come to visit.

“I was… Very different back then,” Liliath smiled, faintly. “Unkempt. Wild. My hair a shaggy mess, because I’d refused to let anyone cut it. My trousers constantly torn, and myself often muddied and dirtied. The result of getting a little too rough with my sword training.”

The countess stopped talking, for a moment, to cut another bite sized piece of goose, and bring it to her mouth. After chewing, and swallowing, she continued.

“I was born to a commoner. My father loved her dearly. Enough to hold a quiet bonding ceremony - do you know what a bonding ceremony is, Melissa?”

Melissa shook her head.

“It’s a religious ceremony. A pledging of love. Quite unlike the political handfastings we nobles use, when merging bloodlines through our heirs.

“Being born of a bonding ceremony, instead of a handfasting, means being born outside the noble line. I was well taken care of, given anything I desired - but I had no status. My blood was seen to be as common as my mother’s. Only my father’s love kept us in the house. When he died, it was likely that we would have been shown out to the streets.”

Liliath took another bite of goose, chewing slowly.

Melissa leaned forward, her own dinner forgotten. “What changed?”

“...I was chasing after a particularly fascinating insect, in the gardens, when Sorissa called out to me. I had no idea who she was, but her fancy dress made clear to me that she was important. So of course, not wanting to be punished, I came when she called.”

“And she… Made you a countess?” Melissa asked, frowning.

“In a way. I’m wataba, you see. Sorissa was the first person to see it.”

“Wataba?” Melissa asked, lips pulling into a puzzled frown.

“I was born into the wrong body. Born masculine.” The countess took another sip of wine, as Melissa stared.

“I was raised as a boy,” the countess continued, “and to Sorissa, it was plain as day that my form was wrong. As such, she offered to design a spell for me, that would give me whatever form I desired. I accepted - and was transformed.”

“And… You’ve been transformed ever since?” Melissa suggested.

“I’ve been myself, ever since,” the countess corrected, a small smile on her face. “Sorissa was right - I am wataba: an individual born in the wrong body.”

“You’re transgender?” Melissa knew the word, and the concept, even if she’d never actually met a trans person before. Wataba sounded like a similar, if more restrictive, concept.

“Is that the word for it, where you’re from?” Liliath asked. “Apt.” A small smile touched her lips, for a moment, before dropping off.

“Of course, Sorissa wasn’t done. She asked me next if it would be okay to talk to my family. To reintroduce me, as their daughter. I hadn’t even picked out a new name, yet - but Sorissa insisted that it be done while she was present.”

The countess cut into her goose breast, again, but this time did not lift the poultry to her lips.

“...She took me in front of my family. I still didn’t know who Sorissa was. I didn’t know why my family was bowing. I only knew I was scared. Terrified of how my family would react to the new me. But when Sorissa told them that I was wataba, my commoner mother, my count father, and even his handfasted wife, who’d so far never bothered with me - they all bowed their heads as one.

“So did my half brother. But he sniggered.”

Liliana lifted the bite of goose shed precut to her mouth, chewing methodically. Swallowing.

“Is that… Is that when she killed him?” Melissa asked, softly.

“She melted his head clean off his neck.”
Melissa dropped her fork, as the Countess took a forkful of rice.

“Then she turned to my family and ordered my father adopt me into the noble line. She said that they had all best get used to the future countess, or that she would be back for them as well. And simply walked out the door.”

The countess reached for her wine glass, emptying it in one long sip.

“...I heard you’ve hated Sorissa ever since. Is that true?” Melissa asked.

“Hate isn't complex enough to describe what I feel for her. The anger, the despair, and the knowledge that my life turned on a whim of the Queen. They all exist, in ever shifting measures.”

“How did she know?” Melissa asked. Her voice felt dry. Her throat parched.

“I expect she used a spell. One that gave her the ability to look into the depths of my being.

“Now ask me how I knew.”

“How… How did you know?” Melissa’s heart was beating fast. Her fingers clenched in her lap, meal long forgotten.

“It just felt right.”

The words hung heavily in the air, for a moment.

Then, a small strangled cry escaped from Melissa’s lips, and the silverware clattered down to her plate. All at once she was sobbing into her hands.

Liliath stood, walked over to Melissa, and gently stroked her back, a small smile on her features. “It’s okay. None will mock you here.”

“I… I’m…”

“Shhh…” the countess whispered, rubbing Melissa’s back again. “It’s fine. It’ll be okay. Rebirth is a painful process, I know. I know it better than most.”

She put her hands on Melissa’s shoulders. “You can say it. To me first. And then to your friends. We can say it together, if you’d like. Or you can go it alone. But why don’t we practice first.”

The countess backed up a few steps, and then smiled. “My name is Liliath Koleff, a countess and a woman. And you are?”

Smiling through the tears, Melissa looked up at the other woman.  “M-Melissa…. Drewski… I’m Melissa Drewski, and I’m… the heroine.”

***

“Lonna. How long are you going to lay there?”

Lonna made a noise between a grunt and a groan, containing no words whatsoever, but she trusted Talith to receive the intended meaning.

“Lonna. You walk in. You throw your cloak on the floor. You kick off your boots. You collapse into bed. And you don’t move for five tree-forsaken hours! At the very least, you could tell me what happened?”

Lonna rolled onto her side, just long enough to glare at Talith, before sliding back onto her stomach.

“Come on, Lonna. Did the countess do something? Did something happen to Melissa? Give me a clue here! Even if it’s just a name.”

“....Tabitha.” That was all Lonna said.

“Tabitha!?” Talith demanded, pressing his knuckles to the ground and swinging himself forward. “What the fuck is Tabitha doing here!?”

Lonna kept her mouth shut, face plastered against her pillow.

“...Wait… Your contact…? Don’t tell me your contact was Tabitha?”

A curl of smoke rose from between Lonna’s lips in response, a bit of fire formed in her mouth and rapidly extinguished.

“Of all the burning - in what tree-forsaken world did you think it would be a good idea to trust Tabitha!?”

Lonna shifted so that she was on her side, again, and facing toward Talith. “Thought we had something.”

“Had…” Talith stared for a moment, clay mouth sealed shut, glowing red dots boring into his sister. “Lonna. You’re talking about a girl who broke your damn antler off!”

“So? I broke them off all over again when we had to go back to Ife…” It had taken a lot of courage, and a lot of alcohol, but she’d done it by her own two hands. All so that she could slip into the castle, and get the heroine summoning spell.

“I really thought I could change the world,” Lonna muttered, mostly talking to herself. “I thought I could summon the heroine, and she’d defeat Sorissa, and everything would be great. But I can’t even convince Melissa she’s the heroine… how am I supposed to do something as impossible as making her marry me?”

“Marry… Lonna. Why the hell would you want to marry someone you barely know!? You’re a gynophile, for goodness sakes, and she’s a-”

“Don’t say it,” Lonna whined, clutching the pillow against her ears. “I don’t want to hear it.”

“Lonna…” Talith’s gravely voice held concern, as he slowly walked toward his sister. “What’s going on? I know you’re attracted to how she looks, but you can’t tell me you’re actually falling for him.”

“Her, Talith.” Lonna turned her head to glare at her brother. “Melissa asked that we keep to she and her.”

“Yeah. To keep herself from getting noticed. As if there aren’t plenty of wataba who don’t have access to a transformation spell.”

“It’s what she wants…”

“But why!?” Talith demanded, voice growing in anger. “Why does she want to be called Melissa? Why does she want to be called she and her? Why would a guy want any of these things?”

“That’s not our place to question… People are free to have any gender expression they want. If you start questioning-”

“You start invalidating,” Talith finished, shaking his head. “You sound just like Vellos.”

“He did teach me half the things I know,” Lonna pointed out, propping herself on one arm. “Especially about gender expression. And being born in the wrong body.”

“And about being a thief,” Talith reminded her. “Damn man’s going to get himself caught one day.”

“Not if you make an honest man of him, first,” Lonna countered, smiling faintly. “I mean, assuming he forgives you for abandoning him and coming with me to Ife…”

“He’ll still be ranting about it when he’s old, and wrinkly, and every last feather’s fallen out,” Talith predicted, a small smile on his face. “How I cared about my sister more than him.”

“Even though you really just didn’t want him in danger…” Lonna pointed out.

Talith shrugged. “Don’t want you in danger, either. That’s why I followed you. Though if you’re going to pull something as stupid as trusting in Tabitha, it’ll all be for naught.”

Lonna scowled, and let herself drop back down on the bed.

This only lasted for a moment, before she straightened up.

“Why do you hate Melissa so much?” Lonna asked.

“...What makes you think I hate her?” Talith asked, not quite meeting Lonna’s gaze.

“I mean. You try to push her away at every opportunity you get? You used to do it with anyone I got interested in the village, but…”

“You mean the ones who bullied you, threw rocks at you, and called you names?” Talith responded, voice taking on a menacing growl. “What a mystery as to why I didn’t want you dating them.”

“That was when we were kids. And I’ll remind you that you let them do it, when we first moved out there.”

“...I was… I didn’t…” Talith’s gaze sank to the floor.

“We were kids.” Lonna shrugged, dismissing it with that.

“I was fifteen. I should have known better.” Talith’s voice was heavy.

“You barely knew me. You just saw a stuck up, half dragon princess who’d run away from home. Someone who put you and mom in danger, and caused you to relocate to a remote farming village. Which everyone was terrified was going to get wiped off the map, when Sorissa came looking after me!

“Kids make mistakes. Then they grow up and make new ones. Like sleeping with Tabitha. Or thinking I had something special with Tabitha. Or thinking I could have something special with anyone, when I’m just a half dragon, runaway princess…”

“Lonna…” Talith started, reaching out a hand.

Lonna slapped it away, glaring up at her brother. “Tell me why you hate Melissa.”

“I don’t… Hate… Melissa. I just don’t think she’s any good for you.”

“What, like, romantically? I mean, I’m not going to date anyone who isn’t a girl, so-”

“No. I mean. To be around…It’s just...” Talith sighed, lifted up a hand, opened his mouth, and then let the hand drop and his mouth close.

“What?” Lonna asked, leaning forward.

“She makes you think you can do this. She makes you think you can take on Sorissa, and fight her. She gives you hope - even though she isn’t the heroine, isn’t a girl, isn’t even capable of fighting. She makes you want to keep going. That’s why I don’t like her, Lonna.

“Because I think she’s dangerous.”

Lonna stared at Talith. “...You think I can’t take on Sorissa?”

“I think she’s your mother, and you shouldn’t have to. And… also that… You’ve never been able to figure out how to kill her, other than the heroine. Which Melissa isn’t. So.

“Yeah. I think you can’t take on Sorissa.”

Lonna stared at Talith for a moment longer, not sure what to say.

“...I…” Talith started, only to stop when a knock came on the door. “I’ll… Get your cloak.”

“Don’t bother,” Lonna muttered, putting her feet on the floor and standing up. “Everyone knows what I am already. What’s the point in hiding it?”

***

Melissa stood awkwardly in front of the door. She was flanked, on either side, by Joanie the rabbit sapphi, and a human guard who insisted on looking straight ahead at all times. Joanie, too, was staring straight ahead, but in her own words it was to give Melissa “a little privacy.”

A very little privacy.

Still, Melissa had gathered her courage, and knocked on the door. After which, she’d heard muffled conversation, footsteps. It was only a moment before the door opened, but considering the news she had that moment felt like eternity.

When the door actually swung open, though, Melissa simply stood and stared for a moment at the girl on the other side.

“Lonna you’re…”

“Not wearing my cloak?” Lonna muttered, crossing her arms. “Go ahead and stare if you want. I’ll even do a spin.”

Lonna turned about, and walked back into the room, leaving Melissa staring.

Of course she was staring. Lonna had wings. Small, dull red, leathery wings, with a thin membrane stretched out over a bony framework, and a tail; small, thick, reptilian, colored red like her wings.

Not to mention the fact that her feet looked like a cross between roots and talons, with elongated toes that ended in claws.

Melissa couldn’t help but stare at her, for a moment, before hurrying in. “I’m… I’m sorry. I mean, I guess if your moms are a dragon and a dryad, that means you’re not human? But I didn’t know…”

“That I looked like a freak?” Lonna suggested, back still turned to Melissa. “That I’m an ugly chimera, with horrible dragon traits?”

“...Actually, I think you look beautiful…” Melissa admitted, shrugging her shoulders. “I mean. You’re part dragon! And I’ve always loved dragons, so-”

“In what tree-forsaken world would someone love dragons!?” Lonna demanded, spinning around to face Melissa at last. “Maybe that’s fine in your confusing little world, where guys want to be treated like girls, but here? In Mistina? Dragons are bad. They’re horrible. They’re evil. And I’m descended from them! Okay? It’s not beautiful, it’s not…”

“Lonna…” Melissa hesitated for a moment, before getting onto her knees. Now at eye level with Lonna, she reached out a hand to gingerly brush away the tears that were starting to form in the corner of Lonna’s eyes. 

“Lonna. You’re beautiful. Okay? You’re gorgeous. I don’t want you to ever doubt that.”

Lonna stared at Melissa for a moment. Then, without warning, she leaned forward to press her lips against Melissa’s.

Melissa’s eyes widened in surprise, but she didn’t pull away. It honestly felt nice - like a warm tingling spreading from her lips, down throughout her body.

After a moment, Lonna parted, looking down at the ground. “S-Sorry…” She muttered. “I uh… shouldn’t have done that. I don’t even like guys, so-”

“I’m not a guy.”

“...What?” Lonna asked, voice barely more than a whisper.

“I’m not a guy,” Melissa repeated, a small smile on her lips. “My name is Melissa  Drewski. I’m a girl. And I guess that means I really am the heroine.”

A soft groan of frustration could be heard from Talith, in the background. Melissa didn’t turn to face it, though, too happy to care.

“You’re…” Lonna whispered. “You’re a girl?”

 Melissa nodded, in response, a happy smile on her face.

Though she still couldn’t help but asking… “Um. Lonna. About that kiss?”

****

Sorissa sat on her throne, a small smile on her features.

Before her were three feminine figures - a young woman with blonde pigtails, blue eyes, and a manic grin upon her face. A rotund woman, dressed in layers of colorful silk clothing. And a slightly more mature, rakish woman whose head was decorated with cat ears. All three of them were kneeling before their queen, as was proper.

“It seems my daughter is after the Scale of Mount Drogone. I want you all to go after them - and ensure they do not get it.”

Two of the subjects remained silent. The blonde, however, lifted her head, revealing a faint scar that ran from her scalp to her right eye, and from beneath her right eye down her cheek. 

“Thank you for entrusting me with this, mother," she said. "I won’t fail you.”

“...Tell me, Kylee. What have I told you about calling me mother outside of designated events?”

“N-Not to do it…?” Kylee muttered, looking back down at the floor.

“Correct. And what have I told you about Lonna?”

“That she’s… better than me. In every way.” Kylee was gritting her teeth as she spoke, the anger evident on her usually manically happy features.

“Of course she is. She was grown with a seed from my tree, within my dear departed wife’s body. There is not a single piece of her that would lose to you. That’s why I’m putting Dame Belinda in charge of the mission.”

A feline pair of ears twitched at the mention of their owner’s name. “It will be my pleasure to serve,” Belinda said, her voice and gestures deferential.

“Of course it will. Or I’ll have Maeve, here, pin your heart until you’re practically begging me for a torture session. Now. Off with the three of you.”

The three bowed their heads, then stood and filed out of the room.

Sorissa smiled as she watched them leave, but the moment they filed out the door the smile dropped from her features. 

“An abandoned toy, a scheming knight, and my personal inquisitor. I know I didn’t want to make things too difficult, but I do hope this isn’t going too far in the other direction… If I don’t challenge Lonna properly, I don’t expect she’ll ever grow.” A small smile touched the corners of Sorissa’s lips, then dropped away.

“Being a parent is hard, Arasitelle. Making the people of Respiran hate me - that’s easy. And fun. But making Lonna despise me…”

A small sigh escaped Sorissa’s lips. “Losing Nadell hardened my heart. Losing you shattered it. And now it’s like someone is stomping on the pieces.”

Sorissa shook her head, forcing a smile back onto her lips. “Ah, well. An immortal queen does what she must, for the chance to join her loved ones.

“Not that I believe in the Valley, of course. But if it truly is a place where all our mortal mistakes are forgiven… I hope to see you both soon, my loves.

“I hope to see you very soon, indeed.”