Their arrival came only days before Father Winter. All at once the late summer ended, and the autumn was brief.
Vero was amazed how quickly things were done around the castle. It took only a day for the servants to hang up all the heavy winter tapestries, and she often found herself stopping to admire the artistry. The great fireplaces all flared to life, although many around her still complained of the chill. It was certainly no summer day, but they were the warmest accommodations she had ever wintered in.
Jean was very busy, as were all the other members of his council. Judicial cases had piled up, and there were lines of petitioners seeking their lord’s justice. Vero was astounded to learn that lower magistrates dealt with more than ninety-nine in a hundred of the lawsuits themselves. Only the most important or complex disputes were passed to the Marquis, yet the queues appeared to go on forever.
After their first night there, it was already time for Jean to fulfill his marital obligations to his wife.
Consequently, Vero spent both her days and nights with Antoinette. Sometimes Vero read to her by the fire, while Antoinette struggled with needlework. Other times they explored the castle. Vero was particularly fascinated by all the servants’ corridors, and the quiet little places that could sometimes be found in the far corners.
The first snow of the year had just begun to fall. Vero and Antoinette sat by a window together to watch the flakes tumble down in the evening light. They kept hot cider to hand, and bundled themselves up together in a heavy blanket to keep warm. It was very cozy, although they had to press their faces to one another when their noses got cold.
Vero was just describing the candid lads’ talk she had overheard – to Antoinette’s rapt attention – when footsteps approached. They both quieted down to be discreet until whoever it was had passed.
“Lady Veronique?”
It was one of Jean’s soldiers. Vero recognized his face, but not his name.
“Yes? What is it?”
“The Lady Catherine has requested your presence.”
The Lady Catherine was one of the last people Vero wished to speak with. Perhaps she would be better tempered than when they had first arrived.
“Very well, take us to her.”
“The Lady Catherine requested to speak with you alone.”
“Well…” Vero turned to Antoinette. “If I’m not back by supper then send out a search party.”
“Are you sure you’ll be alright?”
Antoinette’s eyes showed concern, but Vero kissed her cheeks. “Of course. Now don’t drink all our cider without me.”
“I won’t.” Antoinette returned her kisses.
The soldier led her out into the crowded corridors, and then through into the uncrowded corridors, and then into an enormous bedchamber. Vero decided it must belong to the Marquise.
The bed was large enough to accommodate six or seven maidens, depending on their slenderness, or lack thereof. Two of her attendants were laying atop it in a close embrace. Other maids were amusing themselves with books or needlework by the fire. They were only dressed in their chemises – or less in some cases – and Vero was glad for their modesty that the soldier remained outside.
One of them pointed Vero towards the solarium.
“They are awaiting you in there,” she said, with a stout Teutonian accent.
Vero followed the direction.
What was all this mysterious business about? Perhaps the Lady Catherine was embarrassed by her own behavior and wished to apologize discreetly.
Inside the solarium were Jean’s wife, Aeolus the wizard, Ser Elan, and the Lady Catherine. Vero was surprised to see two men in the room and quickly shut the door behind her. The maids outside were not at all dressed to be seen in public.
Vero curtsied, but she was not certain if she should do so towards the current Marquise or the dowager, and so aimed herself roughly between the two of them. “You asked for me, my Lady?”
“Yes, sit down. We have questions for you.” The Lady Catherine’s voice carried a noticeable chill, and Vero did not think an apology would be soon forthcoming.
Always watch your words when you speak.
Her master’s advice played across Vero’s mind.
More so, when you are compelled to speak.
“About what topic?” Vero took a seat, as requested.
“We would like to learn more about you, Veronique.” The Marquise’s tone was noticeably warmer and softer than her mother-in-law’s.
Ser Elan stood awkwardly at attention and said nothing. Aeolus sat in a corner and appeared absorbed making markings on a sheet of parchment.
Vero decided she would be best served by addressing herself to the Marquise. “What would you like to know?”
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The Lady Catherine was not prepared to let anyone else speak for her. “Where do you come from?”
“From Loix, near the border with the Republic.”
“Elan?” She turned an eye to her paramour.
“It’s small, but I’ve heard of it. The Baron de Loix served with us in the Battle of the Whitewood. Her accent sounds about right to me. I could send letters to inquire about her further, but I doubt anyone would remember a single low-born girl. And I presume I would only be replicating Ser Frederic’s work. If she was infamous there, then I’m sure Jean’s spymaster would already have informed us.”
“So, the baron fought for his majesty during the war?” The Lady Catherine sounded cautiously elated, like a prosecutor on the verge of damning evidence.
“Not until the very end. The Baron was, and almost certainly still is, in debt to Whitegate merchants. I don’t think he gives much of a damn who sits on the throne. The suspicion at the time was that he was an agent of the Republic.”
“Hmm.” The Lady Catherine appeared displeased by her amour’s defense of Vero; although Vero herself was still not sure what she was being accused of. “How and why did you leave Loix?”
“I was… orphaned… then I apprenticed to master slayer Aquinas, until he named me a journeyman slayer.”
“How did your parents die?” The Lady Catherine’s question snapped like the crack of a whip.
“I…”
It’s your fault.
The Marquise interceded. “You don’t need to answer that, Veronique. My apologies. Lady Catherine, you have every right to wish to learn more about someone so intimately connected to your son. But that does not give you the right to dredge up this poor woman’s personal tragedies for your own amusement.”
Vero recollected herself. “Thank-you, my Lady.”
The Lady Catherine did not wait a moment before trying again from another direction. “And did you receive permission from your lord before leaving with master slayer Aquinas?”
This time it was Ser Elan who interrupted. “Kate, the lad has already made her a dame. Any obligations she owed as a serf are irrelevant now.”
“I was never a serf,” Vero added, with some indignation. “My parents were both free peasants.”
The Lady Catherine changed tact again. “What skills did master slayer Aquinas teach you during your apprenticeship?”
“He taught me the lore of the unholy things which we hunt. He refined my skills in swordsmanship, pugilism, and wrestling. He also taught me marksmanship with a crossbow, and passed on certain spells known only to our order.”
“What kind of spells?”
“I have taken vows of silence, my Lady. I cannot answer.”
“Blood magic?”
“My Lady, I cannot answer. But it’s not uncommon to use blood in any spell cast outside of a laboratory setting- because it’s so rich in azoth.”
“Aeolus?”
The wizard looked up from his parchment at the sound of his name. “Oh? Is this why I was asked to attend? Yes, blood is the universal reagent. Very useful. Sometimes we even employ it in the laboratory as well… in small amounts. If my Lady wished a lecture on the dangers of blood magic you should have called on Father Ignacio. Sun priests love to lecture about the evils of blood sacrifice, while they slit the throat of the next fattened calf to call down their ‘miracles.’ I expect those slayer oaths were probably concocted to conceal plain superstition rather than diabolism. Not that I wouldn’t be interested in hearing those spells, if your order ever gives up secrecy for open scholarship.”
If the Lady Catherine was disheartened by the abandonment of her allies, she did not show it. “And is that all you know of magic? What your master taught you?”
“No, my Lady. My mother trained as a priestess of the full moon and served as our village’s wisewoman. I helped her when she worked as a healer or midwife… when she cast divinations for the weather…”
“You had no other teachers?”
“No, my Lady.”
“Have you ever summoned forth a spirit to learn it’s arts?”
“Absolutely not! Slayers hunt witches!”
“But you’ve already confessed that your master taught you the dark lore of those you hunt.”
“Only the means to destroy them.”
“Aeolus?”
The wizard looked around in confusion again. “Forgive me, what am I being asked now? Do I believe the Lady Veronique is a witch? If I believed that I would surely have already fled from this room as fast as my legs could carry me. Screaming for the guard as I went.”
Lady Catherine ignored him and kept her gaze on Vero. “You’ve never studied the arts of mesmerism?”
Mama had known the art of influencing others with her eyes and voice. She refused to teach Vero until she was older.
However, Vero was not prepared to admit that to the Lady Catherine. She replied with a simple, “No.”
The Marquise laughed, a little. “Catherine, if she’s bewitched your son, I think she’s done it the natural way. You don’t need magic for that. And it certainly isn’t illegal.”
The Lady Catherine sniffed, then shifted once more. “Where is master slayer Aquinas now?”
“He fell in battle against a loup garou this spring. I burned his body on a pyre. I presume he now resides with the Veiled One in Sheol.”
“Were there any other witnesses to this battle?”
“None who still draw breath.”
“And were you very close to your master?”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“A man and young woman… alone together-”
“That is enough.” The Marquise cut in, to Vero’s relief. “I have all the information I need. I must say – Lady Catherine – your questions appear to have strayed into personal vendetta, and I don’t wish to hear any more.”
The Lady Catherine shot back a venomous glance. “I am not prepared to let this sorceress have her way with my son.”
The Marquise met the Lady Catherine’s gaze without flinching. “May I remind you that you are no longer the lady of this house. You are here at the hospitality of another. And Jean has already made his feelings about this matter very clear to you.”
An uncomfortable silence prevailed until it was broken by Aeolus. “Pardon me, my Ladies. But I was interrupted for this meeting with several alchemic reactions already in progress. If you have nothing more to ask of me, then I wish to return to my laboratory at once.”
The Marquise turned away from the Lady Catherine and resumed her previous, warm demeanor. “Yes, of course. I would hate to delay any of my husband’s projects by spoiling your wizardry. You may leave as well, Veronique. I’m very sorry to have troubled you both.”
With the social resilience of a stone, the wizard stood and left the room as calmly and casually as one might leave a pleasant afternoon tea. Vero was eager to escape and followed immediately behind him. The maids were still in stages of undress, and all of them were very lovely, but they may as well have been potted plants for all the interest Aeolus showed in them.
They were out.
Vero thought she was finally free, when she heard the Lady Catherine behind her. “Hold a moment, girl. I want more words with you.”
The wizard kept walking as though nothing had been said at all.
Vero turned with reluctance. “Lady Catherine, please. I know you dislike me, but I assure you- I have no ill intentions towards your son. The slayer’s code prevents me from taking any part in politics. I have no interest in the affairs of nobles and kings. And I’m certainly not a witch. I really hold no malice towards you. Can we not simply tolerate one another?”
“If you have no interest in kings, nobles, or politics, then why are you with Jean?”
“Because I love him.” Vero answered at once, surprised that the questioned needed to be asked.
Then she added, “I should think we have that much, at least, in common.”
The Lady Catherine grumbled. She acted as though she had lost interest in the conversation altogether and left. Ser Elan trailed behind her.
The Comte gave Vero a sympathetic look as he passed, and she took some small vindication in that.
Vero returned to Antoinette and did not mention anything that had happened, to her maid, or to anyone else.