It was a beautiful spring day, with the sound of birds in the courtyard below, and the warmth of a late morning sun warming the stones beneath her feet. It was a good day to air out her Mistress and Masters room. Then, perhaps she could spend the afternoon in her garden. A few weeds had appeared amongst the growing things as Spring thawed the cold ground.

She made her way back up the stairs to the floor she shared with Briar, and into their large room. She opened the windows as wide as they could go, and began to sweep the chimney. Best to start with the messiest job in the room. In no time at all her glossy glowing coat, and gleaming new fire opal horns were as dark as the night.

"Speech"

"Marigold, could you go find Artorias and let him know that the inventory of the store room is done? We'll need to talk about getting a hunt together now that the weather has cleared up so we can restock a bit." The antlered fox nodded and went off down the hall in search of the Hallows Aegis and Briar smiled a little as she watched her long time companion go. With all of her new duties as Queen it also meant her sweet Marigold was just as busy, but the cross fox didn't complain—well, at least not much. Her companion was always vocal in her displeasure of certain things, but she always did them anyway.

Briar started to make her way upstairs to the room she shared with Artorias to freshen up a bit and relax until it was time to go out and do a patrol with Artorias, glancing down at her ankle as she walked to look at the diamond bracelet that had taken up residence there along with the topaz one she had been wearing for a year now. She supposed at some point she should go tell her parents about the proposal and start planning a wedding as well, but for now she was just basking in the happiness of it all and enjoying the fact that she and Artorias were officially engaged. She didn't really have any doubt that she would be his wife one day, but it was still exciting.

She stepped into he room and looked up from the floor—only to stop in the doorway when she saw Lia in the fireplace absolutely covered in soot. She blinked with surprise and stood there for a moment before a fit of giggles took over her with snickers that grew into full on laughter, grinning while her braided tail wagged happily behind her. "What have you gotten yourself into?!" she asked between her giggles, walking over to Lia while still keeping a safe distance so she wouldn't get soot on her as well.

"Briar Fatalis"

Lia glanced up at the sound of pawsteps, and the door opening. Blinking soot off her eyelashes as found Briar looking across at her. The surprise on Briar’s face was genuine, and so was the laughter that followed it. Lia couldn’t help but laugh too, mostly at the pleasure of hearing Briar’s amusement. Lia managed to fight the urge to shake herself, she couldn’t imagine Briar would have liked a soot bath at any time.

“I’m trying a new camouflage technique. I’m thinking all the warriors will go for it.. What do you think?” she asked, that newly developing cheeky smile on her lips as she did a very careful twirl before Briar so she could see the full extent of the black dust throughout the woman. Despite her care, it did send some soot through the air, and no doubt they’d both be sneezing soon. “Sorry, Briar. I didn’t realise anyone would be coming home yet. I’ll have this mess sorted in no time” she promised

"Speech"

Lia's joking of her new "camouflage" technique got Briar laughing all over again, her cheeks hurting with her smile as she was forced to sit back on her haunches so she could wipe a little tear from her eye. Lia was oh so slowly beginning to fully come out of her shell and Briar was enjoying it so much. There was a wonderful humor hidden in there and it was something she hoped she could foster more of in her friend and handmaiden. "Oh yes, it's going to be all the rage! Everyone will be jealous they didn't think of it first!" she insisted between her giggles, leaning back a bit to avoid some soot that drifted through the air around Lia as she turned. She was an absolute mess and the neat perfectionist in Briar was internally screaming, but it was just too funny to pass up.

Once Lia apologized and insisted she'd get this cleaned up Briar shook her head and waved off the apology with a motion of her paw. "No no, it's okay. I thought I'd just come relax for a bit since I got done with my inventory early. I'll help you get cleaned up." She glanced past Lia to the fireplace, adding, "Well... Actually, is there any other cleaning to be done in there first? I guess we might as well get that all done before I stick you in the baths!"

"Briar Fatalis"

“I've never been a trendsetter before. Is that how Queens normally feel?” She wiggled her brow at the beautiful Queen before her. Briar didn’t always have confidence, she’d admitted as much to Lia. But she was beyond a doubt beautiful and a figure she imagined every young girl in the Hallows would wish to emulate.

Her eyes widened a little as Briar admitted to wishing to relax a little. Instead, she’d come back to find her room in shambles. “Oh, no, My Lady! You don’t have to do that. You could rest in my room until I'm finished up, if you like” she would hate to mess up Briar’s coat, and those braids would all have to be washed and re-tied as well. “There’s still a bit to clear out, but I can have it done for you in no time” She promised, bending down as she began to sweep more of the soot into the bucket. A little horrified at the idea of Briar getting down on her hands and knees and helping with the filthy work.

"Speech"

Briar scoffed with a grin and a little roll of her eyes when Lia asked if this was what being a Queen felt like, being a trendsetter. Briar certainly didn't feel like much of a trendsetter herself and still didn't really feel like much of a Queen other than she fact she was engaged to the Aegis and had far more work to tend to now, but maybe that would come with time. She was still very new to her position in the grand scheme of things so she tried to give herself some grace and time to grow into the new role, but sometimes it was hard. Having wolves like Artorias and Lia in her corner cheering her on certainly helped and that was why she was so willing to do anything and everything for them.

Briar fought between her instinct to help her friend and her complete and utter distaste for getting dirty for a moment while Lia got back to work after offering her room to her to relax in while she waited for her to finish. As much as she wanted to help Lia with the task at hand, she knew she would hate it through the entire thing and Lia would just end up feeling like she needed to bathe her to make up for it anyway. In the end, Briar got to her paws and replied, "Well, let me at least go get a nice bath prepared for you! I'll be in the baths downstairs waiting for you when you're done." Knowing Lia she'd probably still protest so Briar turned and left before she could say another word, heading down to the main floors to the baths just past the infirmary.

She picked one of the smaller tubs off to the side and gathered up a few supplies while she waited. She added some lightly fragranced oils to the water and made a quick trip out to the castle grounds to gather a small bunch of flowers, bringing them back in to the baths and snipping their stems from them so that the sweet smelling flowers could float across the surface. Spring was always her favorite time for baths and spa days cause it meant the water was never too cold and there was no shortage of things to perfume the bath with. She settled down and waited for Lia to join her, chuckling to herself again at the mental image of Lia absolutely blackened.

"Briar Fatalis"

“Oh, no my Lady you don’t need to…” She looked up, and realised she was talking to an empty room. She laughed softly, shaking her head. Her heart swelling for the Hallows Queen, who went out of her way for Lia despite the little handmaid's protests. She turned back to the fireplace, and finished her sweeping as quickly as she could. She then grabbed the water and cloths she had put aside early and gave the room a quick once over, hoping she wasn’t taking too long and holding up her Mistress.

Room looking much better, and airing out, she made patted herself down with a spare cloth quickly to get rid of the worst of the soot. She didn’t want to walk it all through the castle after all. She left her cleaning things aside to sort out later, and made her way to the baths. Finding Briar near the fragrant water, and a quick peek showed her the flower petals bobbing lightly on the surface. “Briar!” she gasped, and half scolded. It was far too good for the likes of her. “You’ve out done yourself”

"Speech"

A bit more time passed before she eventually heard Lia enter the room, looking up at her slightly less soot covered friend as she came over to see the surprise Briar had prepared. As expected, Lia gasped and scolded her for it to which Briar only grinned and chuckled. "Oh stop, it's not that much." She motioned for Lia to get in while she reached for some of the soaps she had prepared. "You did so much work cleaning out that fireplace and fixing up our room. The least I can do is help you get cleaned up afterward!" She waited for Lia to step into the tub of warm water before she started frothing up the bar of soap in the water and building up a good amount of suds on her paws. She started working her paws through Lia's fur, bringing back the fire-hued colors in it while the soot started to rinse out into the water around her.

"One of these days you'll stop acting so shocked every time I do something nice for you," she insisted with a chuckle, giving Lia a smirk. She knew that adjusting to this new lifestyle had been difficult for the former slave, but Briar was determined to get through to her how much she mattered and how much she was cared for. She wouldn't take anything less for an answer. Once most of her fur was pristine once more she reached for a rag and dipped it in the soapy water, ringing it out so it wouldn't drip in Lia's eyes before she started using it to wipe Lia's crystal antlers clean.

"Briar Fatalis"

She shook her head in gentle amusement, and accepted defeat gracefully. Lia kept trying to cram herself back into the box she knew, and Briar and Artorias kept dragging her back out of it. One of these days, she was going to find that the box was gone entirely. She stepped into the bath, and made a soft sound as the warm water touched her dirty coat. She eased herself in with a sigh of relief. She didn’t like feeling dirty any more than Briar, but she’d gone a little more accustomed to it.

She opened her mouth to protest as Briar put her hands in her coat and began to wash her, and then stifled it. Knowing arguing wouldn’t get her anywhere. “You're supposed to be the Queen, and I the handmaiden ' she said instead, closing her eyes and letting herself enjoy the feeling of being pampered.

It did feel rather good, letting Briar wash the soat from her coat, and she could feel the gentle tug of Briar cleaning her antlers. “It is shocking, it’s like you have no idea how special you are” She whispered through closed eyes.

"Speech"