Hazelmere’s uninvited appearance in Mizette’s tent led to … let’s say, a lot of confused, unarticulated screeching. The next day, Mizette tried to sort things out.

“Hazelmere, are you in there?”

Not hearing any response, Mizette entered the tent. Hazelmere was sitting in front of the table, trying her best to look busy, even though it was obvious she wasn’t.

“We need to talk,” Mizette kept her voice gentle yet firm. She noticed Galizur was in Hazelmere’s tent, but that didn’t dissuade her one bit.

“No, we don’t. There is nothing we need to talk about,” her friend didn’t hide any hostility though.

“I … I will take a … stroll through the camp,” Galizur had a very uneasy look on his face, clearly very eager to get away from the impending emotional confrontation.

Mizette continued as soon as Galizur has left: “I don’t understand, why are you like that? I thought you of all people would understand me.”

Hazelmere lifted her eyes up, without moving her head: “Excuse me?”

“I don’t understand, that was nothing to be upset about.”

“My best friend, the one person I trust, turned out to be a peasant-fucker. How am I supposed to react to that?”

Mizette gasped: “Well, I’m so sorry, miss perfect! Miss, ‘nobody is judging me for my own sexual exploits’!”

“That’s different!”

“How is it any different?”

“I’m aware of my station! I don’t fuck filthy, dark-skinned peasants! Yes, I’m far from pure, and yet, even I know better than to fuck everyone!”

Those words made the gentleness in Mizette’s voice disappear completely: “And who are you to tell me who I’m allowed to fuck! I’ve never judged you for any of your poor choices, so why are you judging mine?”

“Because your choices are unnatural!”

“What?”

“Yes, you’ve heard me right! Peasants and nobles aren’t supposed to mix! I was willing to forget what had happened the … what had happened when you were supposed to keep your eyes on the portal. I thought: MIzette is a good girl, she just got tricked into it. She just needed an outlet to vent her frustrations out. It won’t happen again. And then, I catch you fucking a peasant once again, Heartwell at that! People like you are diluting the noble blood, making all of us weaker!”

“It’s not like I’m planning to have children with them! And besides, who else is left? Show me a single noble male in the camp, and I’ll admit you have a point! Vukasin is the only one, and he’s completely uninterested! He is too pure a knight to be of any use! I didn’t get the chance to travel to the palace like you did!”

“That’s just an excuse! And do you honestly think I had the time to do anything while traveling there? The same Vukasin you’re complaining about kept his eye on me every time I went anywhere outside the camp! If I can keep my desires in check, so can you!”

Mizette grabbed her forehead while shaking her head in disbelief: “I don’t understand, I’ve never imagined you’d act this way!”

“Well, how did you imagine I’d act?”

“I’ve expected you’d be reasonable! You’ve never cared about what the others say or do! I’ve always admired that in you, you know! When you became the royal archmage, you didn’t wait for one moment to do as you wish. You knew the others disapproved of it, calling you all kinds of names, but you never cared for any of that. I’ve always admired how you are strong enough to do what you want, and I wished I had just a tiny portion of that strength. I wish I were strong enough to defy my family as you do! That’s why I got curious about you. I wanted to see what is the source of that strength. And, as I was spending more and more time with you, I started liking you enough to become your friend. Despite your many flaws, mind you! And yet, here you are, judging me just like the others judge you!”

“It’s different!”

“No, it’s not!”

“Go and do whatever you want with the nobles, I don’t care! You’re an archmage, you’ve worked hard and have sacrificed a lot, you deserve to do as you wish! But the moment you start fucking peasants is the moment you’ve turned your back on your own kind! You might as well start fucking horses at that point, it wouldn’t make much of a difference!”

Mizette’s jaw went straight to the floor. She stared at Hazelmere for a few moments, having no idea what to say.

She composed herself eventually. Her stance and mannerisms changed dramatically though. Her voice became cold as spite started beaming out of her eyes.

“Is that so?”

“That’s just how it is.”

“I see … I know why you’re so angry. You didn’t care when you caught me with several of them, but you do care now. You care a lot. I didn’t even consider bringing it up but, if you’re going to be merciless towards me, then it’s only fair for me to respond in kind.”

“Do your worst, freak!”

“You aren’t upset at me fucking peasants. You’re upset at me fucking Heartwell.”

Hazelmere’s ears twitched in irritation.

“I’ve seen the way you started acting towards him, the way you started looking at him. I’ve never seen you act like that towards any other male before. And there were so many of them.”

“You’re delusional.”

“We need him at his best … my ass! You were after him this whole time! But you couldn’t make a move because you’re too scared of what the others will say! Hazelmere, a whorish archmage who never cared about what the others think, got scared for the first time! What will my dad say when he learns I’m fucking a peasant?” Mizette said in a mockingly, high-pitched voice, “What will everyone in the court think when they realize I truly will fuck anything that moves? And now, you’re upset because someone else dared to do it before you! You’re pissed because I’ve snatched him right in front of you!”

“You have no idea what you’re talking about! I’m not degenerate like you!”

“Oh, really? I bet you’ve already fucked the entire court! Tell me, I’m curious, what does the Emperor’s fat dick taste like? Have you been performing your royal duties properly?”

“There’s no way I’d ever do it what that disgusting sack of lard! Unlike you, I have some standards!”

Mizette put her hand in front of her mouth, feigning worry in an overly exaggerated manner: “My, my, miss Hazelmere … such disrespect towards the Emperor! And you’re the royal archmage at that! What would his majesty say if he’d hear of what you’ve said about him? What would everyone else think if they’d learn of the disrespect you have for his majesty? His royal archmage disrespecting him like that!”

“You wouldn’t dare!”

They stared at each other for some time, neither of them willing to break the eye contact.

But eventually, Hazelmere realized that silence won’t solve anything.

“It was just a slip of the tongue… I didn’t really mean that …”

Mizette responded in a less edgy voice: “You’re right … I wouldn’t dare. I wouldn’t dare hurt my friend like that. No matter how vile your opinion of his majesty is, I would never dare report my friend. Not because I’d be scared to do it, but because I could never go on, knowing I’ve hurt someone I cared about. Unlike you. But, I’m slowly starting to think you’ve never cared about me at all.”

Mizette approached Hazelmere, leaning over the table so their faces would be right next to one other.

“Unlike you, I do care about my friends. I care so much, I’m willing to make some serious compromises on my part. I’m willing to share. After all, I do realize you also need some dicking from time to time. And now, when there are no nobles around, your gaping cunt has started craving some dirty, peasant dick. But it’s ok, you don’t have to hide it from me. Since you’re my friend, I don’t mind sharing Heartwell with you. I don’t mind teaching you the basics of peasant-fucking through practical lessons. After all, that’s a proper next step for a slut like you, isn’t it?”

SMACK!!!

Mizette put her hand on her cheek slowly, but her facial expression didn’t change. She just stared Hazelmere in the eyes, saying:

“Now you’ve done it.”

She jumped Hazelmere over the table, knocking the chair her friend was sitting on to the ground. Struggling for a bit, she managed to stay on top. However, instead of trying to hit Hazelmere, she settled for pulling her friend’s hair. And her friend responded in kind.

“You damn, selfish whore! I’m offering a generous solution! Is that the way to thank a friend who’s willing to compromise!”

“Get off of me, you freak! I’m not sharing some filthy dick with you!”

“So, you want it all to yourself, huh? Even though I was first!”

Hazelmere managed to shake Mizette off after some tussling, making the fight shift from a straddling into a rolling-on-the-ground, hair-pulling match with a lot of screaming and cursing involved. Being physically even meant that neither of them could get enough of an advantage to end the fight.

Not even Heartwell entering the tent could stop them.

“What’s going here? Stop it!” He said in his best, authoritative voice while inserting himself in-between as he tried to separate them. However, making two females let go of each other’s hair turned out to be much harder than stopping a fistfight.

“What are you doing here? Get out!”

“Can’t you see we’re having a serious archmage debate here? Clearly, the one with more hair left has magic on her side!”

“You can have that any time, but now! The demons are coming!”

“Get this whore off of me then! She’s the one who started it!”

“You’ve slapped me first!”

“Too bad I don’t have a peasant dick to slap you with, isn’t it?”

That got Heartwell thinking: “Peasant … what … oh, great. Does this have anything to do with what has happened yesterday?”

For a moment, both of them stopped pulling each other’s hair as they simultaneously got in Heartwell’s face.

“NO!”