Rueln Layheart

Lord Balec sat across from me in his carriage. If you didn’t look all that carefully, then it looked as if he were reading a book, but I could feel his eyes on me every once in and awhile. There was no judgment in them, just curiosity. This would be the first time we would spend the entire day together at an event like Bria’s party. My first in this lifetime.

I was absolutely dreading it. The etiquette rules had changed in Recarnia since Vhal’s era, so I couldn’t even use her as a reference. There had been little time to learn from the etiquette teacher Lord Balec hired after I gave him the invitation. I only received two lessons before the day came, but Lord Balec didn’t seem the least bit concerned about it, though he dressed me in the most awful stuffy suit.

“Do not itch there,” he said cooly, turning a page without looking up at me. “It is unsightly.” I withdrew the hand that had been scratching my rear at his order. I scowled at him and he finally closed the book and sat it on the bench beside him. “Don’t be upset with me about that. If you wish to scratch there, take it somewhere private. It’s rude to do it in front of people.”

“Well, these clothes itch,” I complained, then tugged at the collar.

“My apologies. I’ll take the fabric into consideration next time,” he promised as he moved to look out the carriage window. “We’re almost there. It shouldn’t be long now.”

“Why do we have to ride in a carriage? What’s wrong with coming on horseback?” It was a nice enough day and since we were in the capital, Vhalair, it wasn’t nearly as cold as it was in Threa.”

“Because I don’t trust you have enough experience on horseback. You don’t own a horse. You’ll muss your clothes and you will smell like an animal when you are supposed to entertain young ladies and gentlemen.” He went through an entire list of reasons, like he had been prepared to answer that question from the start.

“That’s no fair,” I grumbled. “I never volunteered to entertain anyone. It’s not even my party.”

“A party is nothing but entertainment for the host and the guests. This is noble society, not a neighborhood cookout. You mentioned Bria wishes to see you use magic, correct? Delight them with it. You will have them won over in a matter of minutes, I’m sure.”

“And what are you going to be doing?” I asked, sinking back into my bench, pouting at the chore he gave me.

He smiled, silently refusing to answer my question. “I believe that is my business, Rueln.” This secretive old bastard.

When we arrived at the Decanthe estate, I was stunned at how massive the place was. I thought Balec had a nice place, but he didn’t show off his wealth with it. The Decanthes wanted everyone to know just how rich they were. Massive gardens were in every direction, despite the season. I was sure they paid good money to have everything freshly planted just for today’s party.

Servants greeted us the moment we exited the carriage. I was pretty sure there were more staff members present than guests to make sure the event went smoothly. They were all quick to hurry out of sight as well. I watched several go as if their masters would punish them for being visible for too long.

Lord Balec saw where I was looking, and his eyes grew solum. “Many noble families believe a servant is better not seen. Some hardly even consider them human anymore.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. If you figure it out, you will be a more enlightened man than I,” Lord Balec said, motioning me forward just as our hosts came out to greet us. “Manners now, Rueln, we must say hello to our host and hostess.”

Lord Simone Decanthe was dressed in a deep forest green with silver and black trim. He slicked back his hair, with only a few black strands astray and styled to one side to bring attention to his deep gray eyes. I couldn’t see why he would need a cane. He didn’t limp. Perhaps it was for decoration, like everything else on his estate. It matched his suit, at least.

The woman who walked next to him by the arm was as elegant as he was handsome. She was tall and graceful, with long deep brown hair that curled at its ends. Braided into her hair were an array of jewels that glittered nearly as much as her purple dress with every movement. It looked heavy and uncomfortable to me, but she wore it well and seemed quite proud of it.

“Lord Milon,” Lord Simone greeted my sponsor, only half bowing to him, though I knew Milon was of higher status in the noble circles. He had at least explained that much to me when we were planning our attendance. “It is a pleasure to have you at my home. We are grateful that you accepted our humble invitation.”

I’m pretty sure you don’t have a humble bone in your body, I thought as the man’s wife curtsied. “Yes, we are so excited to have you and your ward here. Please, introduce us to him.”

Lord Balec bowed his head politely, then nudged me with a boot, reminding me I was supposed to bow, too. “Oh,” I mumbled, then hastily bowed to the pair of nobles, though mine wasn’t nearly as refined.

“This is Rueln,” Lord Balec said, leaving out my family name. I thought it odd, but he assured me that there were plenty of families of common blood who lacked a family name. He even mentioned that it was common practice for a sponsor’s ward to take on the noble family’s name instead, but he would not bother with that charade, at least not with these people. “I believe he has made friends with your ward and adopted daughter, Bria Gracy.”

If it was so common for someone to take the noble’s name over their family name, then why didn’t Bria have the Decanthe’s? I would have to remind myself to ask Lord Balec later. Until now, they seemed to have wanted the clout that came with having ‘Vhal’s’ reincarnation under their roof. It made little sense not to add her to the family registry. She sure considered them to be her parents now, at least.

“We’ve heard so much about you, Rueln,” Lady Liara cooed to me, a beautiful smile spreading across her face. “It is so wonderful to meet you. Why don’t you run around to the back garden? That is where the other children are playing today. Bria will be so happy you came.”

I looked to Lord Balec, seeing his nod of approval, then quickly excused myself. I guess now was my ‘entertainment’ part of the plan. Yay… I couldn’t say I was looking forward to it. By the lords and gods, why would I agree to this? I still haven’t figured that part out.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

Not sure I was going the right way, I stopped a servant and asked for directions. The man pointed me on, assuring me it was a little further, and asked if I needed a guide. Thanking him, I promised I would be fine and hurried on.

Tara found me first, coming out of the estate with two other girls and nearly deafened me when she screamed in delight. She wore a pretty pink dress, her brown hair pulled back in a fancy style unfamiliar to me.

“Rueln!” she cried, forgetting her manners and hurrying over to wrap an arm around mine. Her friends giggled and joined her, encircling me like a pack of frilly vultures. “I’m so happy you came! Bria has been looking forward to see you.”

“Are you going to show us magic, Rueln?” Another girl asked, and I looked over to see her leaning close to me with a ridiculous smile on her face. Who was she again?

“Oh, I can’t wait to see magic,” said the third, batting her eyelashes at me and blushing. “I heard you are very good.”

I had to extract myself from Tara, to walk straight, but I nodded to their questions. “I am…,” I said reluctantly before glancing over at Tara. “As long as Tara brought the wand.”

“I did,” she assured me. “My sponsor bought it special for today.”

Great, I inwardly sighed.

“Oh, look!” cried the girl, who liked to get far too close for my comfort. “There’s Bria. Bria!”

“No, don’t call-” I started, but my voice was quickly drowned out by all three of the girls.

“Bria, over here!”

“Over here! Rueln is here!”

Aren’t there any boys at this thing? There were a lot more skirts than anything else. I couldn’t help but look around, suddenly feeling a desperate need to escape as she dragged me forward to meet with the one person I rather avoid. I thought I spied some boys off in the distance, but couldn’t be sure before Bria was in front of me.

“Rueln!” she exclaimed, hugging me.

I stiffened and had to fight the urge to push her to get her to let go. Was she always going to be this clingy? Thankfully, the hug was brief, but she wasn’t shy about taking my hand in hers.

“Hi, Bria,” I said awkwardly as she dragged me forward into a maze of hedges and flowers. “Where are we going?”

“Oh, I have tea and snacks waiting for us,” she answered. “Everyone else is there as well. They are all waiting for us.”

“Was I the last one here?” I asked, worried for a moment, before she shook her head.

“No, there are a few more guests coming, but the servants can escort them over. Now that the guest of honor is here, though, we can have fun.”

Guest of honor? She couldn’t possibly mean me.

Bria guided us through the maze, through all the twists and turns like she came often. Elegant flowers of hundreds of varieties grew everywhere. We passed several areas with trees where their branches braided together, framing the path and giving it a feeling of elegance and magic. It led us out to an open area with an open building at the edge of a glittering lake where Bria was hosting her tea party. Dozens of kids were already there, running around and playing, including a few boys.

“Thank the Lords and Gods, it’s not just girls,” I mumbled under my breath, using a phrase I often heard from Master Esra.

Tara broke away from us and started toward a pair of boys waving a silver stick around. It took me a second to realize it was the wand she had told me she brought. “Hey! That’s mine! Give it back!” She cried.

Maybe I would be lucky and they wouldn’t give it to her, I thought before I saw they handed it over without a fight. Darn it. I thought I recognized one boy, but wasn’t sure until he turned and I saw a distinct lack of eyebrows.

Oh. It’s Marqus. Well, this day just keeps getting better.

“Don’t worry about them,” Bria said, tugging me toward the building with tables full of food, deserts, and servants bustling about with tea and drinks. “Let’s sit down and have some tea. You can show us your magic later.”

I’m not drinking anything you serve me. I wouldn’t put it past her to poison me if she had the least suspicion that I could guess she wasn’t really Vhal. Tugging on her hand, I pulled her to a stop, deciding the lesser evil was to get on with showing off.

“You said you wanted to see magic,” I said, pretending to put on a pleased smile. I wasn’t sure if it reached my eyes, or if it looked exceedingly fake. “Why not get on with it? Tara has her wand back.”

Bria’s smile grew rather pleased with my suggestion.

“Who cares about magic,” Marqus sneered, putting on a braver face than the last time I saw him as he walked up with Tara. “How about we do something better?”

“I suppose you have something in mind?” One girl beside me asked, her hands on her hips. “I wanted to see magic.”

“Yeah, what’s better than magic?” the other girl said, moving closer to me as if intimidated Marqus.

Marqus ignored her and looked at me, his confidence having returned with a little smirk. “What about a duel?”

The girls gasped. “This is a party, not a battleground,” one complained.

“A duel for the honor of the lady’s hand,” he offered, knowing that would sound more appealing to them. “Winner gets a dance with the lady of his choice.”

That got all the girls squealing. I winced as the sound cut through my ears again. Why did girls have to scream so much? I thought they were supposed to be taught manners or something.

Other kids started crowding in, and more got just as excited with the idea. More than one of boys wanted to take part, more to show off their abilities than to dance with a girl, but they were romanticizing the whole idea.

“No magic,” Marqus said, wanting that to be ruled out, since he knew he’d be outmatched if they allowed it. I caught him glaring in my direction when he brought it up and knew that was what he was thinking.

“Why not use everything at our disposal?” another boy asked, frowning.

“Because not everyone has magic. It’s unfair.”

“Not everyone’s had sword lessons either,” he shot back.

“Then maybe they shouldn’t participate.”

“But I want to try.”

“No one said you can’t.”

I finally pulled free of the crowd, listening as everyone shouted one idea or offered a rule here and there. Finally, when the game was set, a boy ran to pull a servant out of work to judge the bout and Bria ordered practice weapons sent for.

I sat nearby, watching with little enthusiasm as volunteers signed their names on pieces of parchment and drew lots to see who would fight who. Marqus at least looked less enthusiastic about the fight, since so many other people were interested in trying their luck. From the looks he threw my way, I knew his target was still me, though. It would just be more difficult to get to me and that was if he even won against every opponent he faced. Who’s saying there wasn’t a more talented hand at swordplay here?

I wasn’t counting my chickens before they hatched, at least. I knew I was still learning. Sure, I had Vhal to fall back on and she was one of the most talented swordswomen of her day, but that didn’t mean I shared the talent. At least I wasn’t blind with overconfidence, to the point I thought I was unbeatable. That was just plain stupid.

At last Tara drew names, and we had the order we would fight. I stood when I heard my name and went to retrieve a practice sword from a servant when I heard something I didn’t expect. Shortly after my name was called, they announced my opponent. I froze in horror at her name.

“Bria Gracy.”