Villainess Of Hearts

The Queen of Hearts stepped towards and joined the other two Queens, most of the soldiers were on standby, the respectable distance between a commoner and royalty but still enough to hear and answer queries. Within the barracks of the soldiers, all of them were gathered in this courtyard and they were gathered around a table that had been brought out. An assortment of multiple swords, knives and other weapons were displayed.

"Ah, Lockhart, are all the steel weapons of the Kingdom produced by your family?" Jeanne la Monique gave her a sideway glance. In spite of their luxurious dark shade of blue gown, the woman held on to a thin and light rapier in her hands. It seemed like the lady—Queen was inspecting the quality of the weapons.

On the other end of the spectrum was Olivia Deuce, the Queen hadn't chosen a weapon yet and were testing out each one. She was picking one up and gave it a swing. Perhaps the reason for the wide berth between the soldiers of her Kingdom and the Queens were for that reason.

It was quite rare for a woman to pick up a weapon, still instilled in the Kingdom were the roles of a man and a woman. Which was still funny considering who they had accepted to be their King. Alexander Hartsmichdt was a well-loved man, adored and respected—but they forget that his education and knowledge was much less than hers.

Somebody tsked their lips and crossed their arms, nearly stabbing someone with their rapier, "Lockhart? Are you deaf?"

"If you insist on calling me by my family name, you leave me no choice but to refer to you the same way, Your Majesty. But you must remember, if your memory is poor that I am now a Queen and referring to me otherwise is quite uncouth." Rosalyn Lockhart narrowed her eyes at the Queen of Diamonds.

Perhaps if they had met in a previous time, she would have attempted to do something distasteful. Harass the woman and even try to physically attack her—but things were different now. She wouldn't be triggered nor respond to such taunts.

"Her Majesty of Hearts, pray tell me if the House Lockhart is in charge of the production of the weapons of your Kingdom." Jeanne la Monique pursed her lips together but asked her much more properly this time.

She managed a smile and shook her head, "No, not at all Your Majesty. The Lockhart House... it has focused on other pursuits, as far as I am aware of. I am after all reinstated here as the Queen and haven't visited, if you wish, I can ask one of the Personnel to fetch over the documents regarding it."

It was a bother to deal with, she turned to the table of weapons and studied them for a bit. Despite her family's own focus on production, it didn't mean that she had much knowledge regarding—she had no need for it. Instead she studied each weapon with a fleeting glance. Her gaze fell on a sword not too different from the one that Sir Julius Ginellevé uses, she recounted the incident at the garden, she had picked up his sword and cleaved the blade down on the roses.

She had almost forgotten the snake incident, the man had let himself be bitten by snakes for her safety.

Rosalyn Lockhart had once assumed that she understood him, and even if she did not—he would always respond to her orders, instilled into him as he became and took the oath to be her Knight. But this time, her heart could not help but feel unease. And yet her gaze lingered on the same weapon still. It was out of pride that she wouldn't dare pick the same weapon as the Queen of Diamonds, if they chose a rapier, she wouldn't do it. 

"I wouldn't choose that if I were you," Somebody sniffed beside her.

A quick glance confirmed them to be Olivia Deuce, their green eyes looking at her with furrowed and somewhat bushy brows. Noticing her lack of response, the Queen donning her peach gown cleared her throat and continued to explain. "A sword like that suits a man, whether soldier or knight, they have the capacity to carry it with more ease than us. And though you can probably lift it up, your stamina will probably suffer."

"Is that so?" Rosalyn Lockhart murmured. She did recall that the sword of the Knight had indeed been heavy, and even she was aware that she wasn't the strongest of women. Not that she was weak but she glanced at the available daggers and knives on the wooden table. "Should I go for a dagger then? It's light and I can make quick slashes with it."

She had initially wanted to go with a sword.

The Queen of Spades once again gave a derisive snort, "If you are to spar with a normal soldier or even Her Majesty of Diamonds, you would already be at a disadvantage. We are in the courtyard and not narrow corridors, and even then, trying to attack and close in on an enemy with more strength and reach is foolish."

Rosalyn Lockhart raised a brow, "Then what, pray tell, Your Majesty. Would you choose to be your weapon?"

"A crossbow." Olivia Deuce gave a nonchalant shrug, "All it would take is one shot in the eye and the Queen of Diamonds can kiss her vision goodbye."

"I hope that you are aware that I can hear everything perfectly well, Your Majesty of Spades." Jeanne la Monique would cut into their conversation and fixated a stare on the other woman, "Please be more careful with your words, it would be a pity if a misinterpretation or misunderstanding were to occur."

The Queen of Spades gave them a smile, "Ah, I was only citing examples. You are the one currently armed after all. As you've previously said, the Queen of Hearts is not too familiar with weapons and so I was giving her some pointers."

Mere vexations even between Queens could lead to war. That much Rosalyn Lockhart had to remember, she had been freely arguing with the Queen of Diamonds earlier and even upsetting her but not once did they bring this up. Whether that was out of luck, or the two of them had bickered so much that the other Queen didn't care—it still made her all wary.

Especially when the Queen of Clovers was simply looking on and observing.