"Shit", Lyra cursed as Octavia laced up her dress.

"Too tight?"

"No, I just used my parchment that had my to-do list on it to write the question to my father." Lyra snorted; she had at least scratched what she wanted to so down, so she would be able to remember it. It was just nicer, in her opinion, to have the physical copy. "I will be okay without it. However, I will need something to nibble on before I meet with..." Lyra grabbed the note she had been sent back with the list of names. "Duke Carlson, Octavia, do you think that this is the original Carlson or his son by now?"

"No idea; you will find out when you go and see him. Now, won't you." Octavia said, tucking in the strings to her dress so they wouldn't show.

"I hope it is the son," Lyra said, tucking the note into her bosom where no one could see it, but she knew where it was at. "He will be more relaxed than the father, and since this will be like my first run as Queen for argument's sake. I would rather deal with new and gentle than old and judgemental."

"I hope you realize that you indirectly said that you hope the old Duke is dead."

Lyra thought on her words, "I suppose I did. Though not how I wanted it to sound."

"Don't worry about that, know; I doubt you will be saying anything like that to the Duke when you see him," Octavia said as she finished tying up the back of Lyra's dress. The old maid pushed back some of her brown locks, tucking them behind her ear and out of her face.

Lyra silently agreed with her maid, quietly pondering how the conversations she needed to have with them would go. Lyra went over multiple ways to go, both bad and good, and she adjusted the answers in her mind for each outcome. This caused her to allow Octavia to finish her hair for her; Octavia wasn't horrible at hair; she just always thought Lyra should have her hair up and not down. Though Lyra never liked the look of her neck with no hair around it.

"There we go, you better hurry off now," Octavia said, pulling Lyra back into reality and out of her head. Lyra looked in the mirror at her hair pulled up into a twist, it looked decent, but it left Lyra with that exposed feeling she got with her hair up.

All the Prince could do was bear a grin and thank the maid for helping her.

Lyra entered the tea gardens, set up with a large and lovely gazebo with a table in the centre. This area had two central flowers planted, one that could be seen in the spring and summer months and the other in the fall and winter months. Since the lather was soon approaching, it was small but bushy looking flowers with a pink and purple hue.

The paths up to this outdoor sitting space was a proses brick made from a mixer of clay and plants that stayed warmer in the winter months and was efficiently heated if needed but never burned the bare skin in the summer. The technique was complex and expensive, so only the Royal Castle and Royal's lands had this as the paths and outdoor ground.

The Duke was waiting, his back turned, and the wooden bars of the gazebo hid his face. Unfortunate for Lyra, as she couldn't see if it was father or son that sat there. She mumbled her wishes as she ascended the short staircase up.

A young woman shocked Lyra; her face was soft and showed an age no older than herself. Her topaz skin seems to glow in the sun as tight curls bounced around her head. This woman was wearing clothes Lyra would have associated with Dukal garments, yet neither the Duke nor his son was here.

"Who are you?" Lyra asked, stopping in her tracks, looking around for the guards that should have been here. She could see a few yards off, and none of them seemed to be minded by this person who indeed wasn't the Duke.

"I'm insulted, Lyra; we've been friends for years after all." The voice didn't quite match the face, but she could catch on to who this was. Her jaw drops as she drew in a breath with the realization.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

"Nash?"

"It's Nisa now,"

Lyra sat down in awe of her old friend, "You look absolutely stunning." she looked at the woman over and over a few times. "When did you?"

"Roughly six months ago, I found an old witch that was able to lean a hand," she said promptly as she reached down at a sugar cube and plopped it into her drink.

Lyra smirked, "Is that why you stopped replying to my letters?" she too grabbed a teacup, adding three cubes and then pouring her own.

A soft, airy chuckle came from Nisa, "Yeah. Pretty much, you think magic is magic, and nothing could hurt you. That would be the biggest lie; I was bedridden until last month."

"Not to change the subject, but how is your father? It is a bit concerning he is not here, but you are."

Nisa smiled, "Oh, yeah, dad is alright. I just fought with him until he let me come. I wanted to see you, plus my girl is getting married, so I needed to help her out."

"That is good news. Speaking of marriage, what are we going to do for the selection process? I can set up with you how to do it, but in the end, you will have to see your section through while I will have to wait for the men to show up." Lyra curled her fingers around the cup, slightly anxious.

Nisa reached her hand over and grabbed Lyra's arm, "Don't worry, Princess," Nisa winked, "We got this; let's start at the top and work our way down. Simple and painless."

"Then where do we start since you seem to have a plan already." Lyra gave Nisa a warm smile.

"I got your head on straight; why do I also have to know where to start?" Nisa said teasingly. "No, I don't know exactly where to start, but I do have an idea, maybe. Let us start with this simple one, is there any requirements for them to have? Certain height? Knows so much? Perhaps a certain cock length?"

"Quite Vulgar, are we?" Lyra shot Nisa a glare but was also smiling; those two were never ladylike around each other.

"As someone who may or may not has taken a few carriages out for a spin. The size of the body does contribute to the feel of the ride."

Lyra was awed by the metaphor she was witness to, "How long did you take coming up with that one?"

"Oh, only a few moments."

Lyra's eyebrow raised as she could feel something more to this than just a few moments.

"Don't give me that look unless you want the whole story."

"I want the whole story."

"Let's say that men from the Calvary are the best, especially in the back of a carriage."

Lyra threw her hands up in defeat, "Alright, I have heard enough. I will not ask for the full story next time." Her eyes were closed, and she shook her head a few times, "Moving on, moving on!"

Nisa busted into belly giggling laughter, "You are so red, Lyra; how on earth are you going to survive your wedding nights."

"I will survive just fine, Nisa" She felt the new name roll through her teeth for the first time. It was strange to her, but it felt suitable for the one she was looking at; in time, Lyra knew she would grow accustomed to the new name. Which, in the end, didn't matter as her best friend was still the same person they always were, just more themselves now.

Nisa pulled out a parchment and quill; she jotted a few notes down on the paper. "I will make sure to keep notes of what you wish, and then we will go from there."

Lyra finished her tea before she started rattling off what she knew, "As far as I have been told, there aren't any requirements, at least for your section. As my mother didn't come from Koirale, we will not have to be cautious of possible crossed bloodlines."

"Where did your mother come from?" Nisa asked after writing down that bit of information.

"She came from Ambra."

"Isn't that the port district?"

"It is, my mother's father- If I remember the story correctly- was the captain of a fishing boat." Lyra pondered over the old stories of where each of her father's wives came from; those were told years ago when she was just a girl.

"Do you have any connections with that side of your family?"

Lyra shook her head, "None of us do; when my father's wives came to the castle, they left everything about their old life behind."

Nisa's jaw dropped, "That is awful; they don't know what happened with their family? Nothing at all?"

Lyra poured herself another cup of tea, just shaking her head no to the questions. She didn't know what she would do if she left her family behind one day, never knowing what happened to them.

"You don't plan on-"

"Never. Just think how horrible that would be, though I will have to wait till the crown is on my head. They are cut from their families because the people in the Capital believe that the peasants can be a security risk."

Nisa snorted, "I am glad I am not in the Capital cause my father and I would never treat our people like that. But, I will go ahead and prioritize people who don't have families, encase something is pulled out from under you. I don't want a future husband to resent you for that."

"If you think that will help, then I will allow it."

Nisa grinned and looked back at Lyra, "So about that cock length?"

"Nisa, No!" Lyra growled

"Nisa, Yes!" the dark-toned female smiled back. Lyra could tell that they were going to take a while.