a gathering of noblewomen

In no moment at all, Kiera was seated down on one of the many couches in the lavishly decorated room. In between many of the ladies, Kiera felt the rise of a strong pain between her temples as she breathed in the air laden heavily with flowery scents.

The noblewomen didn't spare her with any pleasantries, they continuously spoke to her in a condescending manner, hiding behind their fans. Princess Rosalind made no effort to rein in the noblewomen's snide remarks. It seemed to Kiera that she was greatly enjoying the ladies' sharp tongues. Not only did the princess not step in to stop the ladies, but she even quipped in from time to time to poke fun at the Beast General as well. The princess' criticisms were mostly well-hidden. Each word that came out of her rosy pink lips was dripping with double meaning.

"Oh my!" Princess Rosalind remarked, her green eyes on Kiera's hands as the General held on to the delicate teacup. "Your hands," Kiera could already guess where the princess' thoughts were heading before she spoke her words.

"To have such hands, you must have worked hard your entire life." She innocently widened her eyes upon hearing the snickers of the other ladies.

"Don't misconstrue my words. I simply meant to say the honorable Beast General has had to lead a very taxing life. That is why her hands are in such a state. I earnestly applaud all your effort."

"With hands as rough and scarred as hers, she could be easily mistaken for a man." Kiera heard one of the ladies whisper, garnering another wave of childish giggles from the ladies.

Kiera peered down at her hands. They were rough and full of faint scars like the ladies said, but as she regarded her hands she felt no rising sense of embarrassment. As much as the ladies around her thought such hands were unsightly, Kiera felt her weathered hands were a testament to her many accomplishments.

With a small clink, she set down her teacup on the table in front of her.

"Like the princess had said," Kiera smiled at the ladies gathered around her, "these hands are in such a state because of the many years I have spent protecting my homeland." She made no effort to inject warmth into her smile. "My title might be one of the highest honors granted within the Beast Kingdom," she made an emphasis on her position as one of the twelve generals, "but that does not mean I can sit by idly and preen my looks like some brainless, decorative doll."

It was faint, but Kiera noticed a shift in emotion from the princess at Kiera's words.

"As a Beast General, it is my duty to do much more important work such as patrolling Wolfcrye Forest. As you all are well aware, my homeland is a beautiful albeit dangerous place. One small misstep and you could, well, you know," she made a gesture with her hand at the base of her neck to suggest a sword slicing off a person's head.

From somewhere inside the room full of ladies, she heard the unmistakable sound of a gulp. Sensing that the small tidbit of information she shared had darkened the mood a little, Kiera now knew the weakness of this particular gathering of noblewomen.

"Oh, but none of you have ever held a sword before, isn't that right?" She slightly tilted her head to one side. "None of you ladies know how to defend yourselves if there ever comes a time when you're all attacked."

"Swords are dangerous and a noblewoman would never dream of touching such a thing." One of the ladies spoke up after a moment of silence.

"Yes. Swords are very dangerous indeed. You could end up injuring yourself quite badly if you're not skilled enough. It's truly astonishing the number of body parts I've seen get cut off…" Kiera's voice sounded hauntingly calm. "You'd be surprised by the amount of blood contained inside one's body."

She looked around the room and saw a sea of pale and blank faces. Then she looked at the princess and liked that the princess wasn't smiling anymore. She decided she would keep going, only because she wanted to see how much the princess was willing to stand to hear.

Kiera delighted in recounting the most horrendous injuries she's seen, and even more, when she recounted the injuries she's personally dealt out. She only lightly spoke about the times she had to take a life.

Nevertheless, with each story she told, she could feel the atmosphere within the room full of ladies get darker and darker. None of them were laughing anymore, and none of them reached out to drink from their teacups or to even take a dessert from the tables scattered around the room piled high with scrumptious-looking pastries.

"You are truly amazing," Princess Rosalind finally interjected as Kiera finished another one of her stories. Kiera was slightly impressed the Frist Princess was more composed than the other ladies. She thought the princess would have caved in by now and pleaded for her to stop.

"You are certainly quite skilled," Rosalind wore a tight smile, "at killing, but here in Solomon we have our Knights, all of whom rather forget than recount the lives they've taken."

"Killing is still killing your Highness, no matter how nicely one dresses in their metal clothing." Rosalind clenches her hands that were gracefully kept on top of her lap.

"I heard," the princess released her clenched fists and begins smiling once more, "that you recently dueled our Head Knight, Sir Pavel. It seems you caused quite a stir at the training grounds that day."

"Yes," Kiera chuckled lightly, "it seems I did. Sir Pavel seemed quite angry that I bested him in front of his whole squadron."

"Hm, the rumors I heard were a little different." Princess Rosalind placed her laced gloved hand against her cheek, trying to recall the exact words she heard. "I believe the rumor was that you had won the duel by playing some cowardly trick."

"Is that the rumor that has been circulating inside the palace walls?" Amused, Kiera only laughed.

"I didn't think there'd be so many rules in a duel. Alas, what can you expect when that was my first time fighting in a human duel. But I honestly don't know how I could have done it any other way unless I wanted to severely injure Solomon's most honorable Head Knight."

"You see, if I had fought the way we fight in my homeland," she leaned a little closer to the princess, "I would have not wasted any time and attacked right about here." She reached out, Kiera's hand coming close to touching the princess' beautiful dress as she pointed at the princess' side near her stomach.

"I would have dug my sword into his side, and as quickly as I could, actually so quick that to the human eye it would have been impossible to follow, I would slice all the way to about here." Kiera moved her finger along across the princess' stomach. "And then I would twist." She said and followed her words with the action. "When I see the man's insides fall to the floor, only then, do I draw back my sword."

Kiera smiled as she retracted her hand away from the princess.

"I apologize your Highness if my words were too graphic. I only know the ways of my people. It's extremely hard for us to be gentle with our words." Her smile greatly contrasted with the princess' beautifully ashen face.

For a long, drawn-out minute, the General and the Princess stared at each other. It wasn't until they heard the soft thump as a noblewoman's body fell to the plush carpeted floor did their eyes peel away from each other.

That was when Kiera knew that her first salon session had well and truly ended.