Lucky Rabbit

Finding herself alone with a strange woman and seven minutes of people-time remaining, Pandy pointed at Empress Glory and said, “You stay here. Stay!” as if the other woman was a recalcitrant canine. Then, darting out of the room, Pandy shouted at the literally hovering elementals, “Don’t let her leave!” and ran for the stairs. Pausing at the bottom, she added, “But don’t hurt her.” Because who knew what the Apparitions would actually do if Glory attempted to skedaddle? Nyssa especially didn’t seem to be good at subtlety.

Upstairs, Pandy glanced in to see that Isidor and Eleanor were together in Eleanor’s room. They seemed to be having some deep discussion, but Pandy just shot them a thumbs-up as she went past, then jogged backward a few steps and told them, “The lady in the sitting room is Gloria, and she’s going to be Eleanor’s tutor, but don’t trust her just yet, and stay here until I tell you it’s okay to leave.”

Off again, she plopped down at the desk in the office, grabbed the Avington House book as soon as it appeared, and then retraced her steps through a monochrome hallway, down the steps, into the unobtrusive door half-hidden in an alcove, and entered the servants’ quarters. She’d glanced in here before, but just to grab any recyclable materials, not to do any real repairs. Now, she actually looked around, focusing on the areas Empress Glory would need.

There was a small shared space where Pandy had found a particularly large number of broken items that were clearly of lower quality than the furniture in the rest of the house. Now it was almost empty of everything but dust, which someone could fix through the determined application of a broom and mop, no magic required. Three doors led to bedrooms, each less than half the size of the ones upstairs, and a short hallway led to an equally miniaturized bathroom.

The bathroom was relatively easy to fix, though Pandy was going to have to explain to everyone that until the pipes were fixed, they couldn’t actually use any of the toilets or sinks. That was a problem for four-minutes-from-now Pandy, however, so she used some of the wood and metal she’d stored up to fix the rotten floorboards and rusty fixtures. That also consumed another one hundred twenty-three gold, because the space was in pretty bad shape, but Pandy fed the coins into the book in a steady stream that finished the job in less than sixty seconds.

Of the three bedrooms, two had contained multiple narrow bedframes, several of which were beyond repair, so they’d already been fed to the book. The other had only a single, larger bed, and actually looked like someone might have been using it relatively recently. If the master bedroom was the only ready-to-live-in room in the house, this one was almost there. Another eighty-two gold, some wood and metal, and the room looked like a cheap but habitable hotel room, other than the fact that it had no windows.

Back to the shared space, and Pandy realized it would actually make a decent-sized classroom, so she invested another two hundred and seventeen gold and a surprisingly large amount of wood to fix it properly. There turned out to be a weak spot in the floor that had been concealed by a tattered rug. She didn’t think it was an actual trap, since Nox and Nyssa had done a good job of disarming all of those, so it was probably just the result of age, or possibly water damage. Hopefully the stains on the boards had been caused by water, anyway.

That done, Pandy found she had two whole minutes remaining, so she tossed the book over her shoulder, already bounding up the stairs as color returned to her surroundings. In Eleanor’s room, the two children were speaking excitedly, with Eleanor petting Lord Winston nervously while Tempest glared at the door from Isidor’s palm.

“We need food, and the water doesn’t work, so don’t use the bathrooms,” Pandy told them, her words spilling over each other. “Gather anything cheap and metal so I can repair the pipes. Scraps and broken things are fine. I fixed the servants’ quarters up a bit. Glory is Eleanor’s cousin, but maybe don’t let her leave the house until we can talk some more.” What else? “Blankets! Isidor, if you can buy some, that’d be great, but use anything you can find to sleep on, or you can use the master bedroom tonight. I have to go back to Falconet when it gets dark, but-”

Shifting Faces expired.

And that was it. Honestly, it was almost a relief when she came to rest on the floor, shaking out her ears as her brain adjusted to her expanded field of view. Rabbits didn’t have to take care of houses and protect princesses from kidnapping and manipulation, and Pandy missed the days she used to spend sprawled out on sun-warmed hillsides beside Thaniel before The Father’s Demon-summoning hobby was discovered.

Eleanor and Isidor were still staring at Pandy, speechless, so she hopped over and dropped forty gold onto Isidor’s shoe. He was quick enough to pick them up, tucking them away into a pouch hidden inside his shirt while Eleanor finally managed to say, “Cousin?”

Pandy nodded, and the princess’s concern faded to cautious interest as she said, “I don’t remember a Gloria, but I haven’t memorized all of my extended family yet. Practically everyone is related to us.” That made sense, given what Pandy understood of the country’s politics. Everybody wanted access to the king or queen, and apparently the best way to achieve that was by being related to them.

Somewhat to Pandy’s disappointment, neither of the children even offered to pick her up, and she had to hop downstairs herself. There, they found Nyssa floating anxiously in front of the sitting room door, wringing her hands until they melted like warm taffy. When she saw Pandy, her face lit up, and the appendages reformed into palms and digits, rather than vaguely unsettling twisted masses.

“She tried to leave as soon as you were gone, my lady. Nox stopped her,” the elemental said, not seeming to notice that Pandy was now only about two percent of her former size, and significantly furrier.

Pandy looked up at Isidor, who motioned for Eleanor to stay back while he carefully opened the door. Pandy slipped through as soon as the opening was large enough, half-convinced she’d find Nox and the Empress engaged in a magical Battle to the Death. Instead, the elemental sat in the chair across from Empress Glory, both of them frowning at a board that perched precariously on the wobbly table between them. On the board were arrayed carved game pieces, and as Pandy watched, Nox slid one forward two squares, causing Glory to grunt thoughtfully and rub her chin.

“What?” the Empress said, not even looking up as she removed one game piece from the board, then moved another several spaces forward. Glancing at Nox, she said, “Sacrifice.”

Nox’s probably-nonexistant eyebrows rose, and he nodded in clear respect at the audacity of her move. Being a good servant, however, he rose from his seat rather than continuing the game. He gave a sort of general bow in the direction of those entering, including Eleanor and Isidor as well as Pandy, then continued waiting in a very Expectant fashion.

Eleanor peered around Isidor, face falling as she realized that she did not, in fact, recognize the woman sitting there. Straightening her spine and throwing back her shoulders, however, she strode in and offered Empress Glory a perfect curtsey.

“I’m Princess Eleanor Aeris,” she said politely, holding out her hand.

Glory sighed and stood. Side by side, there was some similarity in the delicate bone structure of the two. While Glory had darker coloring than Eleanor, Pandy suddenly found it easy to believe they were related, though Pandy guessed it was on Queen Louisa’s side of the family, since Eleanor looked so much like her mother.

“Empress Glory,” the woman said, smirking as she swept a deep bow and kissed the princess’s hand. She gave the girl a saucy wink as she straightened, and Eleanor’s cheeks turned pink as she stared in startled fascination.

Isidor came forward, inserting himself between woman and child, his own dark eyes narrow and wary. With his face not yet hardened into its adult lines and thick, tousled hair falling around his shoulders, he fit right in with the elegant beauty of the other two. Augustus had said that Isidor’s father came from a noble family, and at that moment, Pandy would have been willing to bet that all three of the people before her were fruit of the same family tree. Either that or the Gacha Love effect was in full swing, giving everyone the same kind of refined allure.

“Empress?” Eleanor asked, pushing Isidor out of the way as he opened his mouth. “Are you really?” Her huge blue eyes almost glowed with excitement.

A kind of tension drained out of Glory, and she laughed. “No. I’m an actress, and that’s my stage name. You can just call me Glory.”

At Eleanor’s feet, Lord Winston whimpered, and everyone looked at him. Glory crouched, offering her hand for the dog to sniff, and only then seemed to notice Pandy, who sat under Nox’s abandoned chair, wondering if it would be best if she just quietly slipped away now. A flicker of something that might have been recognition crossed Glory’s face before vanishing behind a mask of mild interest.

“And who are these two?” the Empress asked, extending her other hand toward Pandy. The expression on her face was far from the rebellious, belligerent one she’d been sporting since she arrived. In fact, beneath the heavy layer of cosmetics and fluttering lashes – one of which was beginning to droop in a very concerning way – she probably wasn’t that much older than Pandy herself. Well, as old as Pandy had been before she died, not the forty-something she looked now. When she was human. Because Pandy had no idea how old her bunny-body had been when it met its fate. Was she a geriatric rabbit, or a… what did you call baby bunnies? Conies? Puppies?

“This is Lord Winston Howl the Third,” Eleanor announced proudly, stroking Winston’s drooping velvety ears. “And that’s, um, Bunny.”

“Bunny?” Glory snorted as she flicked her fingers toward Pandy in what she must have imagined was an enticing manner. “Who named it?”

Firm hands scooped Pandy from beneath the chair, and Isidor said, “A friend,” as he actually petted Pandy’s back. She hadn’t even been certain he knew how to do that. No, she’d seen him petting Tempest once, hadn’t she? Speaking of whom… Pandy twisted around, already knowing what she’d see. Yes, there was the tortoise, glaring out of Isidor’s pocket in a very ‘I may not want him to hold me, but I don’t want him to touch you, either’ kind of way.

“I’m Isidor,” Isidor added, tucking Pandy beneath his arm.

Empress Glory gave a thoughtful hum as she stood up again. Settling her hands onto her hips, she said, “I need food, a bath, and somewhere to sleep, in that order. Noxxie here said I wasn’t allowed out until Eurydice got back.” Her gaze settled on Pandy in an unsettling manner, forcibly reminding her that all of the former prisoners, including Glory, had seen Augustus with a white rabbit on the night of their escape.

“There’s no food, no water, and no mattresses on the beds,” Isidor said bluntly. “Lady Avington said you could go into the rest of the house, but not leave it until she got back. Tomorrow.” For the first time, Isidor sounded something less than completely confident, glancing down at Pandy. She nodded at him, then noticed that everyone else had also followed the look and they were all watching her. Settling her chin on her paws, Pandy sighed softly. Well, she hadn’t really expected to keep any secrets from someone living with her, but if she really had just outed herself, then this was a record, even for her.

“She said she fixed the servants’ quarters,” Eleanor said, looking from Nox to Nyssa. “But I don’t know where they are.”

“Oh, I can show you!” Nyssa said, lifting a few inches off the floor in her enthusiasm. Doing that disturbing inside-out-reversal that Apparitions seemed to be prone to, she exited out the door, leading the group down the hall. A minute later, they all tumbled into the intact but empty shared space, and then spread out, peering into all of the rooms.

“There’s a bathroom here,” Eleanor called excitedly, while Isidor looked into the two smaller bedrooms, which remained unchanged other than being gutted by Pandy’s scavenging. Glory herself found the largest bedroom and went inside. Isidor had put Pandy down when they left the sitting room, so she hopped after the woman.

Giving the bedframe a good shake, Glory huffed thoughtfully. “Better than mine,” she muttered, looking around. “Room’s bigger, too.” Turning around, she saw that Pandy was the only other being in the room and gave a soft laugh. “Guess you can tell that guy, or Eurydice, or whoever you report to, that this’ll work for now. I’d better get some furniture and a mattress soon, though.” Her stomach growled, and she rubbed it through the thin fabric of her dress. “And food, too. Won’t be the first time I’ve gone hungry, but that doesn’t mean I like it.”

“I’ll go get something to eat and drink,” Isidor said as he entered, fingers brushing over the bulge of the pouch in which he’d hidden the gold. It was heavy, and far too visible, and Pandy was certain Empress Glory didn’t miss the gesture. Turning to Eleanor, who’d come up behind him, he added, “You stay upstairs until I get back. Lady Gloria, you stay down here.”

Glory’s brows rose, and she smirked. “Who put you in charge, little man? But sure, I’ll stay put.” She laid down in the empty frame of the bed, crossing her arms behind her head and kicking her filthy slippers over the side. Placing her stockinged feet up onto the headboard, she closed her eyes, appearing to fall asleep instantly. Even her breathing deepened and smoothed out.

Reminding herself that the Empress claimed to be an actress, Pandy looked over at Nox, who stood, stiff and proper, in the middle of the shared space. He gave her a nod. Good. He would watch Glory, and Isidor could take care of the immediate lack of supplies. Pandy had noted several times that children in Knightmere had far more freedom than she’d ever been allowed in her past life, so nobody should question why he was shopping alone. Hopefully there was someplace nearby to buy food from, but he had enough money to rent a carriage if he needed to.

Now the only question was, what should Pandy do? She didn’t actually have a lot of options, since she couldn’t work on the house without hands and more material. She felt like she was forgetting something, though. Something important.

Isidor lifted his face and gave a deep sniff. “Is that… smoke?”

Oh, that was right. There was still a Dragon loose in the house.