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The first time Marta went to a Tridentarii birthday party she didn’t realize that something was really off with Judith until the day after.
The invitation came attached to a bouquet of beautiful lilac flowers neatly placed at Judith’s desk by the delivery person. Her necromancer flinched at the sight and had to take a deep breath before opening the envelope. She quickly read and slipped a small note to her coat’s pocket, turning to face Marta with the two invitations in hand.
“I believe I already told you about this, but as the heir of the Second House I must attend a few events of political and diplomatic importance. The birthday party of the Twin Princesses of Ida is one of these events and this year, as my cavalier, you're also invited.”
A simple statement of her necromancer, and they were back to work. As the date approached Judith began to become a little… restless but it was probably because of the incident with the new cadets at the cafeteria. Despite being one of the most, if not the most, competent officials Marta ever met, she was still so young and had already a lot of responsibilities.
The day finally came and, after taking three times the time she normally took to get ready, Judith met Marta at the shuttle wearing the most impeccable uniform the cav ever seen, even for Judith’s standards. The trip was tense and her necro wouldn't stop fixing non existent mistakes on her outfit.
The party itself was the most obnoxious and fancy event Marta has ever been invited to. Hundreds of guests in impeccable attire, good music and a never stopping flow of waiters carrying food and drinks. As soon as they arrived and went in line to be greeted by the Princesses, all of the restlessness left Judith’s body. Marta wondered briefly if she was so nervous that her body had simply given up showing signals. But no, she knew Judith and despite being at an admittedly pompous party, there was no real reason for her to get nervous. The Second and the Third didn’t have any diplomatic conflicts in ages, and was just a birthday party, one she went every year since she was nine years old. Judith must have realized this because she was standing erect and proud by her side, the perfect image of a Cohort official.
“Happy birthday, Princesses.” said Judith bowing politely with Marta following her cue “It was an honor being invited to such an important event”
“Always so formal, Jody! We're really glad you managed to come, especially when you look this handsome wearing an uniform” Coronabeth Tridentarius said with a playful smile and Marta suddenly understood what her necromancer meant when she described the princess as ‘someone quite difficult to describe but generally considered beautiful’.
She was beautiful, but not only that, there was something quite magnetic in the way she carried herself. Maybe it was the curve of her smile, the charming way she tossed her long blond hair over her shoulder, or the way she seemingly shined more than the other people in the room. Marta could picture wars being fought for the right of her hand, could see people dying for a second of her attention. But the flirtatious tone of the remark got no reaction from Judith, who simply stood there and politely nodded.
“Yes, ~Jody~” Followed the cold mocking voice of Ianthe Tridentarius “we truly are glad you are here, some might say we’re even ~counting the seconds~ to meet you”
From a first glance, the other princess was almost a sorry sight. As richly dressed as her sister, Ianthe was cold where Corona irradiated warm, sharp where the other seemed soft. The same face, same height (tall for a couple of fourteen years old), but with the wrong colors, like pale shadow, with nothing of her sister’s magnetism, a mere sketch for Coronabeth’s masterpiece. After a moment of consideration Marta concluded that the problem wasn’t Ianthe per se, by herself the princess could even be considered beautiful, it was just an unfair setting to be this close to her sister.
“Don’t mind her, Jody,” said the Crown Princess of Ida rolling her eyes at her sister, and then added getting closer to Judith with a conspiratorial grin “she’s just mad because her attempt to prank Babs didn’t go as planned.”
“One would be wise not to antagonize their cavalier” was Judith's serious response but the corner of her lips tilted slightly upside, an easy thing to miss, barely visible. But Marta noticed and, by the gleam of her eyes, so did Coronabeth.
“Well, you might be right” the princess continued now turning towards Marta “speaking of with, you haven’t introduced us to your cavalier yet”
“I apologize! Princesses Coronabeth and Ianthe Tridentarius meet Lieutenant Marta Dyas. Lieutenant meet the Princesses of Ida”
“It’s an honor, your Graces” Marta bowed respectfully. When she raised herself to face the twins again they were looking at her like she was an insect in a petri dish, and, for a split second, the look in Cornabeth’s eyes was almost homicidal. But then she blinked and smiled the most stunning smile the cav has ever seen in her whole life, and was almost like she had imagined it.
“Nice to meet you, Marta” the twins said with the exact same tone at the exact same time “please, enjoy the party”
And enjoy the party she did. The food was delicious, the drinks even better, and when the dancing music started it was the most fun she had in ages. Her necromancer absolutely refused to join her at the dance floor, saying that she hated to dance and was more than happy to observe by the side. After she lost the count of how many dances she had, Marta decided to look for Judith only to find her at a balcony having a private conversation with Coronabeth Tridentarius. She respectfully kept her distance and couldn't hear what was being said but her necro looked as impassive as ever while the Princess, towering over her, seemed to be trying really hard to get a reaction from her. Marta actually felt a little sorry for her, before hastily tossing the feeling aside. It was none of her business, so she went to grab a drink.
The way back to their post at the Cohort, Judith couldn’t face her cav, when asked if she was okay the necro merely nodded with a lost look in her eyes. The following week had Marta worried out of her mind, Judith only left her rooms to work, barely ate, barely acknowledged Martha’s presence and absolutely refused to tell her what was wrong. And then, as if it had never happened, Judith was back to normal.
The following years allowed Martha to recognize a pattern. Every year Judith would receive the invitation for the birthday along with a bouquet of flowers, some years the necromancer would ignore them, other years she would throw them straight to the trash can with apparent indifference. But every time -without fail- Marta would notice that the younger girl kept something, either the personal note addressed to her or a single flower discreetly rescued from the bouquet. One time, many years after that first party, Marta found crumpled at the bottom of a drawer a note that came with the flowers that Judith received for her latest promotion.
‘Congratulations, Jody! Captain is such a sexy title. I wish I could give these kisses in person. XOXO, Coronabeth Tridentarius’
The birthday invitation would be followed by restless weeks of preparation. And then would come the party where Judith stayed in a corner, refusing to have any fun, having small talk with other guests and politely talking with Coronabeth Tridentarius for a while. And then would come the following week with an absolute sour mood.
And yet, Judith would never, ever miss the party.
Not even the princesses 16th Birthday party, only a few weeks after her necromancer declared her romantic feelings to Marta. The cav tried to decline her as gently as possible but, despite Judith’s valiant efforts to hide it, Marta could still see the hurt behind her eyes. That year, when the invitations arrived she saw the younger's official face get positively gray, her face open with so many raw emotions that was actually difficult to read and the cavalier wondered if somehow it would be too hard for Judith to attend the party that year. But as soon as she noticed her gaze, Lieutenant Deuteros’ impeccable mask of professionalism went back on. And it was like nothing has ever happened.
The only time something different happened, it has little to do with Judith herself. By this time Judith had already been promoted to First Lieutenant but the rituals regarding that particular celebration had still failed to change. The food was still exquised, the guests were still a bunch of snobs and the princesses were still an impressive sight. This particular party started the same way it always did, with restless anticipation, formal greetings and birthday wishes for the twins.
This time, as Coronabeth Tridentarius managed to escape the crowd to have her mandatory talk to Judith, Marta was still by her side.
“Jody! Dyas! How are you guys liking the party?” and without waiting for an answer “Dyas, could you be a darling and go grab me something to drink? I’m desperately thirsty!”
She was gone with a polite curtsy before Judith could even begin to protest. She knew that these moments between the crown princess and her necromancer were private. Judith wouldn’t talk about it, at least not explicitly and definitely not sober. The rare occasions when these interactions were even acknowledged, Judith - a little tipsy by alcohol- would only declare that ‘The Princess mocks me, Marta. Don’t let her performance fool you, it’s all just a game’.
Judith didn’t even need to say which princess, there was only one that mattered to her. Marta had learned after all these years of silent observation how precious these moments were, and that - despite the cool indifference around the princess; the flowers thrown in the trash - the real reason why Judith would never miss the party were the stolen moments with the mocking princess' full attention.
Even though the princess was always the one doing the stealing part, escaping the crowd, sending Marta to do useless errands. But that was none of her business, for she had also learned to stay as far away as possible from her necromancer’s love life.
Nevertheless she decided to grab a drink, even if only for herself. As she standed there, drinking her whiskey at the opposite side of the ball room, she also allowed herself to observe the curious pair from afar. The Crown Princess, tall and imposing, glowing in her golden dress, with all the glory of a 20 year old looked almost like a mythical creature, something close to divine. Next to her Judith seemed so frail but so real at the same time, so human with her impeccable uniform and perfect soldier stand. And yet, the goddess was the one talking to the mortal like she was the only one worth of adoration.
And Judith would barely acknowledge her presence by her side.
Was this a game too? A facade played by the princess? From afar it sure seemed that Coronabeth’s interest was real, but Judith - who knew her from childhood - would vehemently deny it.
“I know the rituals are intricate, but they are absolutely ridiculous, don’t you think?”
The cold bored voice of Ianthe Tridentarius startled her
“Sorry?”
“Them” the princess gestured towards the couple with the hand that holded a cup filled with some kind of sparkling drink “after all these years they can barely pretend anymore, at this point is not even ridiculous, it’s just annoying”
“I have no idea of what you are talking about”
The affirmation made the princess turn to fully face Marta, measuring her with that pair of cold purple eyes
“No?” a sip of sparkling drink “I see…”
And then she stepped in the cavalier’s personal space with a gracious movement and a wicked smile
“You know, I’m not much of a uniform girl myself, but I’m willing to make an exception for you”
Marta didn’t let the surprise show in her features, and didn’t dignify the princess with an answer. She simply stood there with a blank expression in her face until the princess sighed dramatically and stepped aside.
“You are no fun, you know?”
But Ianthe’s disappointment barely last ten seconds because the princess was already back in the crowd, with a girl by each arm, happily asking them
“Did I ever tell you ladies about the time I threw Babs out of a window?”
When the cavalier looked back at her necromancer she was all alone, looking just a tiny bit heart broken, and Marta wished very hard that she was the only who could notice it, or at least - the memory of Ianthe sent shivers down her spine - she wished to be the only one paying enough attention to notice.
Later that night, lying on her bed, Marta couldn’t help but replay the conversation with Ianthe over and over in her head, along with all the stolen looks and moments, the flowers and invitations, and the most mundane interactions she ever witnessed between her necromancer and the Crown Princess of Ida. Drifting into sleep she grudgingly admitted to herself that perhaps Ianthe Tridentarius was right, the rituals were indeed intricate.