CLOTHESHORSE OF SWORDS
By Rodlox
rodlox@hotmail.com

NOTE: the merciless teasing continues! I hope Maril doesn't kill me for borrowing her OFC.

~~~

The Queen rappeled down to the wooden floor with astonishing silence. Probably practiced on canyon walls and peoples' homes, Robert Helm figured. Once she let go of the rope, he grabbed her by the arm and dragged her to the most-shadowed part of the ship, where nobody would see what he was about to do. "It would seem you've left me no choice," he hissed at her.

The Queen gulped. Once they were in the dark, and the moon went behind some clouds, "What are your intentions?"

"To get you out of that outfit...and I hope you realize your jaw might seize up when its clenched that tight, senorita Alvarado." And now her jaw goes figuratively through the floor.

"How - how did you know? Why didn't you say anything before?" All those times...?

"Until now, it was a matter for you to sort out on your own -- your mind, after all. But your anonymity won't work here."

"Wha- what will you do to me?" Tessa asked, ready to start quailing.

Robert rolled his eyes. "Not what you're thinking, likely. I'll go see if Iza has something you'd wear - you're her size."

Tessa raised an eyebrow, stepping back. "And what makes you so sure?"

"Well, for one, I'm your doctor. For two, I have experience with tailors' eyesight. For three, would you rather wear a sailor's uniform?" Seeing Tessa's face as the moon came back out from behind the clouds, "I thought as much. Be right back."

As the doctor left her, Tessa mused on her new situation. I can't be the Queen, she realized. People would suspect the newcomers in the area...which would be me. Am I worrying this beyond reason, or will the hero now have to be Maria Theresa? Tessa blinked at the phrasing.

It was a number of long minutes before Robert came back and told her to follow him.

~~

Tessa tried fluffing her pillow up again. The cot was uncomfortable, but it was the only thing available. Tessa looked across the room at Patricia, sound asleep on her own cot.

Mevrouw Mueller had reluctantly given in to her cousin's request of loaning Tessa some day clothes suitable for England... Good thing I packed my own nightie -- she might've drawn the line there.

Mevrouw - it was easier to think `Lady' - Mueller's eyes had been as steely as Tessa's own aunt Tia Damona, though her face had softened an infantisable amount when she saw Tessa wearing one of her dresses... A lot like when I saw my cousins playing dress-up in my dresses, Tessa figured.

"Havin' trouble sleepin'?" Patricia's soft voice asked Tessa; unlike the Queen's, Patricia's voice wasn't sultry...more of a childlike quality to it. "Wouldya like me ta sing you a lullaby?"

"Thank you," Tessa told her. "I wouldn't want to keep you from your sleep, senorita - Lady Washington," Tessa said, correcting herself.

The serving girl laughed, something neither a chuckle nor a giggle. "Call me Patty, miss. An' I sleep on the light side anyways, not your fault, nope."

~~

When Tessa woke up, Patty was gone, likely gone to see to the welfare of young Neil. Tessa shed the nightie in the privacy of the room - or walk-in closet, depending on your social perspective - and got dressed in what Yvonne'd loaned her.

Robert wasn't kidding - I wore less than this during when Papa took me to visit the Royal Court! as she donned another layer of garments.

Once done that, she stepped out of the `closet' and into Lady Mueller's quarters, which were likewise empty -- and fastidiously clean.

As Tessa stepped out of the cabin, she looked up to face the sun - and had a bad feeling she'd been moved to another ship during the night. There, on the mast, was a British flag!

Did Doctor Helm carry me to another bed last night?

~~~