Ari awoke to the peck-peck-peck of a raven at the–
She threw back the covers on her bed. Natty was by the hearth. Again.
Please…
===Welcome to Day 2. Again?===
Her voice took on an edge of panic that she didn’t like. What was so bad about no more Claribel anyway? She’d have this body all to herself. A relief. And Natty could be her guide. Teach her how to navigate this unfamiliar world.
~I bid you a good morning.~ Claribel’s spirit floated through the window, calm and composed once more. ~I apologise for not being immediately in your vicinity. I was trying to converse with this crow, but unfortunately I cannot speak its language. It just looked at me sadly and shook its head.~
~What palace?~ Claribel blinked her own amber eyes back at her.
Ari’s head spun. Then she must be…
Wait.
There it was.
A crack of a smile in Claribel’s eyes gave it away.
~Oh, but it is…~ At that, Claribel burst out laughing. ~Sorry! Time loops? What even are those?~
===Welcome to Day 3.===
~But… Thanks for getting me home last night. You were right. We would have made some bad decisions. As my body lay there, resting, I’ve had time to regain my calm and think upon matters at hand properly. Many things went wrong last night.~
~I don’t mean those parts. I mean what happened after. When we headed to the palace, what should have happened?~
~I should have gone through the gates, been asked for a purpose for my visit, even if I was accompanying Sir Edwin – you even noticed that at the time, but I was too consumed by anger to give it any thought – and then I should have travelled through the gardens, past a few guards. When I reached the Queen’s quarters, I should have struggled to find her trusty chambermaid, and then she should have taken longer to relay my message to Her Majesty. Instead, we were treated to a most ridiculous sight of Sir Aurelius entangled with Lady Jehanne. Late at night, in the palace, when he should have been on duty, outside, in winter. Does it not strike you as a scene from a badly-written play?~
Ari didn’t have the heart to tell her that they were, indeed, in a badly-written story, and worse, she wasn’t even the main character. A thorn pierced their shared heart. It didn’t seem right to dwell on any of them people in this world as anything but real; they were no more a character than Ari herself, and– OPEN YOUR–
~We’re not in a work of fiction. This is our reality. Real life does throw us coincidences, but last night had one too many. The results were so far from what we planned, because we’d fallen into someone else’s plan. At least that’s what I think now. And I need to know. I need to know if Ros sent me into His Majesty’s room on purpose, thinking I’d be angry enough after seeing Lady Jehanne humiliate me that I’d have thrown him across the room with my wind magic.~
Ari breathed in Claribel’s self-proclaimed calm. Its chill was a razor’s edge from cold rage.
she pried, as gently as she could.
~Until Aquilon remained neutral when she asked us for help, yes. Some people like to keep count. Still. This is one step too far. To risk so much… I have to know. So let’s summon Lady Jehanne to Wingshill House.~
*
Ari understood the implications of being from a ducal family on paper. They were somewhere high up on the pyramid that Mrs Hart had drawn in the one lesson they’d had on the feudal system, nearly ten years ago.
Still, she didn’t expect a carriage bearing Lady Jehanne and her father, the Earl of Witton, to arrive before she’d finished breakfast. Granted, she was demolishing yet another whole roast chicken, while Duke Aquilon merely nursed a tankard of melomel, accompanied by pats on her hand. The duke was in a pensive mood this morning, yet completely unpanicked; Sir Beren, Sir Dagon and Sir Edwin must have held true to their promises, keeping the contract of Claribel’s marriage a secret between them. For now.
He was just telling her that Lady Agatha had cancelled her party out of respect for the horror Claribel must have experienced, having to identify Tristram’s body, when Badd announced their entrance.
‘Very well,’ she said, dipping her fingers in the golden bowl that Lucy offered her, then drying them on a blue silk handkerchief, ‘Please make Earl Witton at home here. I shall see Lady Jehanne in my solar, alone.’
Earl Witton looked like he might never feel at home anywhere, including his own home. Or did that make him at home everywhere? His sunken eyes darted this way and that. Ari had seen the look in some Agents who’d taken one mission too many. Every shadow of a tree branch became a promise of a barrel, aimed at your head. Click. Bang. Done.
Duke Aquilon fixed him with a smile frostier than the winter wind that the earl had brought in with him. The door to the Great Hall shut. Bang. Click.
‘Welcome,’ he said, staying seated at the table, under the flags of his vassals, under the glowing eyes of a flock of painted ravens. A flock of real ravens cawed outside. Caw-caw. Caw-caw! Or were they crows? That’d make it a murder.
‘It’s so good to see you, Your Grace!’ He yanked at Lady Jehanne’s wrist, making her bow as waist-low as his. ‘It has been a while since I last saw you. Really has been. Must have been at the last tournament! I hear you have been visiting my liege. I hope he is looking as filled with vigour as you.’
‘I didn’t summon you here to hear your honeyed words. Neither did I call upon you to inform you of the health of your liege. If he does wish to tell you, you can write to him and pray for a response from Auster himself.’
‘I… I…’
‘You are here because your daughter wronged mine. I am a man known for my understanding nature. I say, why shouldn’t we let our daughters resolve it between themselves?’
‘Oh of course! What a great idea, Your Grace! They say you are all brawn, no brains, but I, for one, am blown away by your discretion and diplomacy!’
‘Oh, people like to say, don’t they? They also say that your brawns can’t stand up to your brains, but I, for one, know that they lie.’ He let his gaze linger on Earl Witton’s fleshy palms and let his meaning sink in. ‘That is why let us men train together while our daughters talk. Come, come, my dearest Witton, there’s no need to let your mouth hang open like that. That is not part of my morning training. My daughter does a neck-lengthening exercise that involves a move like yours, but let us leave that amongst ladies and chambermaids. Today is the time for us men to focus on the strengthening of our legs. What luck!’
When Earl Witton rose from his seat, his legs were already shaking.
Though perhaps not as much as they were by the time Ari led Lady Jehanne up the stairs on the same side as the study, emerging in front of the library, then down that hallway that was a showcase for colourful Aquilon glass. Through the window that overlooked the garden, Earl Witton was shouldering a rock the size of his head while repeating the same lunge with his rapier over and over again, while Duke Aquilon parried him lazily, swooping his left arm down to a row of rocks in between lunges, picking one up and throwing it into the bullseye of a target between parries.
When this was all over, she had to get him to train her. Whatever this was. Whatever over was.
*
‘Sorry about the smell,’ said Ari. Not that there was any; there was no glass over the windows of the solar, so that nature merely claimed death as part of its own, as things should be. ‘Sir Beren tried his best to pick up all the dead parts, but they’d been blasted all across the room.’
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‘Was that from your hunt, my lady?’
‘Oh no. Not at all. You saw me with Sir Edwin yesterday, did you not? Truth be told, he didn’t announce his visit. I… am a wind mage, and I can react badly to surprise visitors and people I don’t expect to see.’ She paused to let it sink in, mirroring the way that Duke Aquilon had done, then clapped her hands together and put on the cheeriest smile that Claribel’s face would allow. ‘Anyhow, it’s all settled. Mayhap I shall recommend him a new squire.’
What little bravado Lady Jehanne had left left her then, wriggling on the chair that had borne a smatter of Malory. Good. Let that rumour spread. She fancied fewer intruders.
‘About last night… I… I was foolish, my lady…’
‘You were.’
‘I… I thought you were just toying with him, you see. Your stations are so different… It’s difficult to imagine that you would truly be with him, so I… I…’
‘You were foolish, but not about that.’
‘I beg your pardon?’
‘Sir Aurelius cannot match my station. I am the daughter of a duchess, the only sister of a future duke. Beyond that, I am a Warden to a Royal Guild, mistress of Wingshill House. Tell me, who would be my match?’
‘I… Well… Everyone knows there’s only Lord Darien.’
Out popped a name that hadn’t been part of their rehearsal.
~Lady Oriana’s eldest brother… She’s going to say Lord Flavien next.~
‘Or Lord Flavien. He is also a… a choice.’
~He’s the younger brother who might as well be married to the Church. Definitely a choice.~
‘There… there used to be Tristram,’ she rambled on, getting increasingly frantic to fill the silence that Ari had gifted her, ‘though he’s no good to anyone now, dead! Not that he was your type to begin with! If you like rugged blonds like I do, then it has to be Lord Darien.’
‘Then why haven’t I married him yet?’
‘Because… I mean… I guess you don’t want to put Her Majesty in a difficult position.’
Not such a fool after all. ‘Go on.’
‘You are close to Her Majesty, are you not? I suppose… I suppose courting Sir Aurelius would be a safe choice, because he is loyal to the Queen and only a knight, but also has the prestige of being the Captain of the Royal Guards. If you’d married Lord Darien, that’d mean an alliance between House Auster and House Aquilon. One is – please excuse my language – one is a handful, but two is an undeniable threat.’
‘Whereas if I’d married Tristram…?’ She studied Lady Jehanne more closely.
The lady had a pair of dark, wild eyebrows the same shade as Steps’ coat, but more importantly, they danced as she spoke. It took merely a glance to see her thoughts rewritten all over her face: her eyebrows had lifted last night to form that perfectly obvious gloat, and had pulled up yet scuttered towards each other earlier, painting a textbook image of fear. Right now, they were creased together with concentration.
‘Then it would have been bearable,’ she said, biting her lips.
Was that the answer? It was most likely Lady Jehanne’s honest answer. She might dally with cheaters, but her face wasn’t much good at lying. Couple that with the high opinion of herself that she wore as a permanent smirk… Ari could work with that.
‘Do you see now why I am not angry with you?’ said Ari, looping back to their script. ‘True, I did look angry last night, but that is because in my agreement with Sir Aurelius, I had asked him to be discreet. Falling out of a bush in front of Sir Edwin, and making Sir Edwin challenge him… That was not it. Not that it was your fault, Lady Jehanne. I am guessing that you were not the one who chose to meet him in the palace on a winter’s night?’
‘Oh no, I… He sent a messenger to me, and asked me to meet him in the garden because he wanted to see me, but he was on duty tonight, so there was no other way.’
‘And…? When you got there, the guards let you through?’
‘Oh. Yes. Yes, I guess he must have told them to let me in. But yes, they just… opened the gates.’
‘Oh, did they…?’ She let the question linger, watching Lady Jehanne’s eyebrows fight through her deepening confusion. ‘What an audacious decision. Did he explain himself once you got there?’
‘He did! He… He spoke at length. He said he was worried about me, as someone had harmed Tristram, so he wanted to see me as soon as possible to make sure that no harm had come to me.’
‘An interesting reason, considering he had just asked you to travel across Eirene, at nighttime, alone.’
She blushed and shook her head, sinking deeper into Claribel’s chair. ‘He can be very convincing when he is speaking at such proximity. You should know well enough.’
‘That’s the point. I don’t. I’m afraid you still don’t grasp the truth of our relationship, Lady Jehanne. Sir Aurelius was the one who approached me, sending letters professing his love, serenading me outside my walls. I dismissed him at first. It took me a while to think through the points you so quickly grasped just now, and then I realised he would be the perfect man to stop other suitors. I approached him with the proposal of a fake courtship. He agreed. However, yesterday’s actions have left me with many questions. Why did he speak with you at length, only to engage in other activities once I had passed through the palace gates?’
‘You… don’t think…?’
Ari didn’t, but Lady Jehanne was welcome to. The taste of betrayal on the tip of her tongue gave her a boost of eloquence. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, but to be honest, fury was hard work. She had enough on her plate already. Might as well outsource it on a minor distraction. ‘Now you see. The reason I have summoned you here today isn’t because I am angry with you. We are both victims here.’
She let the silence sit with them, thankful for a break from the sound of her own voice; time to let Lady Jehanne take the lead. She saw fury gather in those eyes. Sir Aurelius might not have meant much to her, but he’d slighted her, and that was worse than being scorned.
‘He used me! I rode across the city for him, in the dark, in the cold, and you know what? I even got mud on my favourite pair of shoes. It was windy too, wasn’t it? Look at my lips. Look!’ They were dry and in dire need of lip balm. ‘They are cracked and peeling! I thought he was worried about me. He sent flowers too. The messenger boy brought me those stupid bunch of flowers, and in the end, he was playing me for a fool! Think he’s going to jingle my bells, does he? I even… Oh…’
Lady Jehanne’s hand darted to her mouth. Perhaps she meant to look demure, but gave off a scheming look instead. Ari didn’t offer her that desired what-is-it, and merely cocked her head and blinked at her. ‘I… I… Well… I’m not sure if I should say this…’ Another pause. ‘I saw another lady leave in a hurry right before I got there.’ … ‘I didn’t quite see her face, but from her dress, it looked like Lady Kathleen. She had that ridiculously gaudy hairpin on that she’s always so smug about, when everyone knows the sapphires aren’t even real – it’s just iolite – and the thing that she calls a ruby? Garnet! Can you believe that she shows that off in front of everyone, like she’s so much better than us? Like she’s–’
‘Do I know her?’ Ari broke the silence, because Claribel didn’t seem to.
‘She’s… She’s Earl Langsley’s daughter. Of course! You won’t know her. You lunch and hunt with Lady Guinevere, Lady Proserpina and the Lady Casses, don’t you. Well. There are rumours that Lady Kathleen has been… has been… involved with Sir Aurelius.’
‘Are you suggesting that he’d invited a string of ladies along yesterday, one after another?’ Well, it was only two, but two could be a string.
‘I think he scheduled us so that you’d bump into one of us. Which means…’ Red climbed up from Lady Jehanne’s neck: difficult to fake. ‘Which means he asked Lady Kathleen to visit during the afternoon, when the sun still warmed the garden, and asked me to arrive after dark. What is he trying to imply about me?’
~Scheduled them in?! That’s not Sir Aurelius. He’s not that organised. This plan has Ros written all over it. The Lord Chancellor… Sir Aurelius… Ros’s men, all of them. Though I thought… I thought Sir Aurelius would have the decency to honour our agreement and not cause me embarrassment. His Majesty has his Chamberlain, of course. Otherwise, he just spends his days entertained by a court of jesters and musicians. That was the fair Ventinon that Ros envisioned, and this is what she got. No, it’s all her. I thought, perhaps, someone had had the audacity to forge her signum manus, but no, it was her all along, and now she’s refusing to see me because she knows she’s messed up… Or maybe she thinks she’s right. The means justifies the ends.~
‘He thinks I don’t have a face for daytime?’ Lady Jehanne ranted above the drone of Claribel’s voice. ‘I have one of the best necklines in Eirene, and I have beautiful eyes. Everyone says so. A realer sapphire than what Lady Kathleen can afford. How could he ask her to be the earlier shift?’
‘Then what,’ said Ari, cutting through both sets of voices, ‘are you going to do about it?’
Above Lady Jehanne, Claribel’s ghostly face stilled.
Lady Jehanne mirrored Claribel’s silence and the hard-set look that had settled into her face, as if they had become part of the same spirit.
‘Lady Claribel, leave it to me. He embarrassed us. I will return the favour seven-fold, on behalf of both of us.’
‘Thank you, Lady Jehanne. House Aquilon is, in truth, a friend to House Witton. I know my father can be passionate about his physical training. Please explain to your father that he only trains with friends, because why would he want to strengthen our rivals? I am sure that your father’s reputation for physical prowess will only increase after the events of today.’
~Witton’s land neighbours both the jurisdiction of the royal court and Aquilon. They are both insignificant and highly significant. We’ll need to manage Duke Auster next, but if it falls through, it’s good to have back-up.~
~No, but I think I can provide her with a suitable reward.~
‘I hear that Marquis Valery is looking for a wife for Lord Eleus. Do you know him?’
~Are you talking about Lord Eleus? I happen to know him well. They would be a good match. House Valery is just north of Witton. It’d take just a day to ride to her friends and family.~
Lady Jehanne’s left brow arched above the right. ‘I thought Lord Eleus is courting Lady Gabrielle?’
‘While trying to court Lady Cass – daughter of Earl Henly, not daughter of Duke Parime – not knowing that they run in the same circle. That is precisely the reason that Marquis Valery is looking for a bride for Lord Eleus. They are currently set on Lady Agatha.’
‘Earl Raynar’s daughter?’
Ari stifled a yawn.
~Focus! This is important! I’m trying to get this right.~
‘No,’ Lady Jehanne’s voice cut through their internal dialogue. ‘She seems too sweet and innocent for a man like him.’
‘Exactly my thought. Whereas someone like yourself would be a much better match, if I am not mistaken. Lord Eleus is looking for someone who will not interfere with his affairs – within the manor and otherwise. In return, he is willing to allow the lady the same freedom. She’d still need to produce an heir, but otherwise, the lady will be supplied with all the luxuries that he can afford.’
That was a lot of detail to just–
~The very same. We were going to group together to find a solution to her troubles, but looks like one has landed on my doorstep.~
‘Even though we must not speak of our friendship, for I hardly wish to damage my image further by being on friendly terms with Sir Aurelius’s other lady friends, I am willing to make you a recommendation in private.’
‘Shame he’s not a blond,’ said Lady Jehanne, ‘but I can’t turn down a man with four mana stone mines.’
And they shook on it. A canon shot into the dark.