Author's Note: I do not own any of the Character's that Anne Bishop has created. The character's I have created came to mind one day while I was sitting at work. This story may only be a couple of chapter's long, or it may be longer I don't know. Please be kind in your reviews because I want to be able to continue this story without getting depressed. I am pretty sure I will, just want people to know I am trying. I would love to have a beta if anyone is interested.
Chapter One: Letters.
There were only two things that Mirana remembered vividly about the day of Birthright Ceremony. She remembered her White jeweled witch mother's hands shaking as she granted her Tigers-Eye jeweled Warlord father all parental rights while her own small hands clutched her uncut Sapphire jewel closely to her chest and she also remembered her mother's conversation with her later that night.
"You are no different than anyone else," her mother, Kerin, told her that night while tucking the covers around Mirana's shivering body. Mirana wasn't cold as much as she was frightened about how her family would feel about her now that she was the darkest jeweled member of the family. Her Uncle Alec was the only adult member of the family who wore a dark jewel, Green, and everyone was afraid of him because he was a Warlord Prince. What were they going to do when other people outside the family found out she was a Queen as well as a Natural Black Widow and Healer? As if reading her mind, her mother sat on the edge of her bed and ran her hand over Mirana's hair. "Sweetheart, you are safe. Your father and I will make sure of that. But you have to keep in mind that you are just like every other member of the Blood society."
"But I am a Queen," Mirana yawned.
"You are a girl, and when you are older, you will be a woman same as I," Kerin said. She gave Mirana a smile and kissed her forehead. "You just have to show everyone in your life that you being a Queen doesn't mean that you are better than they are. You are Blood, just like them, and you should be treated just the same."
Mirana tried to believe what her mother told her that night, but after that even her own cousins treated her differently. Her mother and father moved from Hayll to Challiot in one of the poorer districts to open their confectioners' shop, which afforded them the ability to be creative with their art as well as keep Mirana out of the aristo society. "I don't want her growing up being the eye of some aristo's lust for power," her Uncle Alec roared one Winsol after a particularly brutal season at court. "Every Queen out there is under scrutiny and being looked at like a broad mare. I am giving you the money to move shop. Since she is registered at the Keep we can avoid them for a while longer, but unless you take her away from this town it spells trouble. None of the aristos visit that island, not since Briarwood became the new Black Widow school. Most of them would not be caught dead around that many Black Widows. You should be safe there."
"Yes Prince," her father, Andrew, sighed. The money went a long way to establishing the shop, as well as pay for private tutors for Mirana. When Mirana wasn't practicing her craft or studying her other school work, she was helping her family in their kitchens. By the time she was thirty-two, the age when most of the longer lived races psychic scents were fully developed, her training taught her how to mask her scent enough that when she was running the front for her mother all the people smelled was the scent of chocolate or whatever she had decided to bake. To the people in the area, she was Mirana, the confectioner's daughter. Plain looking with violet eyes, dark hair, and her figure was nothing to brag about according to most, but she was sweet as the treats she made to everyone who can into the shop.
After her Offering Ceremony, everyone in the family was shocked when she walked away with the Ebon-Gray. All but her Uncle Alec didn't talk to her or visit her for at least two years. When they finally realized that she was still just Mirana, the family began to trickle back. Her deeper well of power did nothing to change who she was, and it even helped disguise herself even more since her power was so much deeper than anyone around. Being registered at The Keep in Ebon Askavi made it almost impossible for anyone to find out that she was a Queen, and the entire family thought that she was safe from ever being summoned to serve or rule.
Then the Presentation letter came.
The Presentation was started not long after the Purge. With most of the women wiped out as well as quite a bit of the males, it was realized that Terrielle needed to figure out a way to get the few females together with males so they could create the society that followed the Old Ways. It took a couple centuries after that to come up with Presentation. "It is just like a Queen setting up her court, just modified," Queen Jordyn, the only queen willing to step up and rule Hayll after the Purge. She may have only been a Yellow Jeweled Queen, but people were willing to follow her. Queen Jordyn's fairness and ability to rule made people truly believe that good Queens were still in the Realm. It took another forty years after the idea first came up for all the details to be ironed out. Uncle Alec somehow got the Queen to order candy from the shop, so her father was there to serve the treats to the people there. Lord Andrew watched as woman after woman went on the stage, all of them of the highest aristo standing of course. He was told many years later that the women who were in the presentation had to put in the large sum to even be able to be considered for Presentation.
After a couple of centuries, the money was no longer part of the Presentation as far as the females were concerned. There was a group of women appointed as officials after the first Presentation to oversee the arrangements, and they figured out that they would make more money from the men wanting a good solid female to serve. So, eventually the Presentation was hammered out into more caste driven than aristo. It was soon found out that the males would pay top dollar at a chance, any chance to be with a female. The officials ate it up the first years after they instituted that males pay to look at all the beautiful aristo women.
Then, the other males came, the ones who wanted to serve and work to make the realm better and not just go to parties and dances. So, they came up with certain number quotas that had to be filled, so if they had all the aristos of Healers, for example, they would have to look in other classes. They later added hearth witches in it after some of the higher aristos had a couple of hearth witch daughters they wanted to Present. Mirana even overheard from a gaggle of aristo females who "slummed" it to have the prestige of patronizing a poor person's shop one afternoon when she was out front one afternoon that some of the aristo families were paying to have their daughters presented before some of the "more deserving members" of society.
When the Presentation letter came telling Mirana that the Queen of Hayll was requesting her presence, the silence in the kitchen was almost deafening. "Well, we knew that it was going to happen," Andrew sighed.
"We can always tell them that she is unwell," Kerin said, wringing her hands. "Alec has connections in the court still. I am sure we can get it taken care of for her sake."
"It is fine Mum," Mirana said, reading over the list of suggested items that the officials sent with the letter. "We just have to figure out how we are going to pay for some of this stuff. I have some gowns that I can use that are leftover from my Offering, and the little money I saved will probably buy the two new gowns I know I will need if I go to a second hand store to get them."
"We have been saving for this," Andrew told her, plucking the list from Mirana's hands. "The entire family has in fact."
"What?" Mirana squeaked.
"Look, we still have a couple of weeks to worry about it, so let's just finish this order we have to deliver tomorrow," Kerin said, grabbing Mirana and guiding her toward the stock room. When the door was shut, Mirana broke down in tears.
"Mummy," she whimpered as Kerin pulled her into a hug. Mirana started to sob, hoping her mother had not forgotten the shields so her father would not hear her. "Mummy, they will all find out. They will all know."
"I know sweetling I know," Kerin murmured in soothing tones.
"I don't want to rule," she wailed.
"Mirana, listen to me," Kerin said, pushing Mirana back slightly to look her daughter in the eye. "We knew we could not keep you under wraps forever. You knew too darling."
"Mummy…"
"You could not hide in our kitchen forever," Kerin said, taking Mirana's chin in her hand with a smile. "You will make a wonderful Queen. I just know you will. Now, let's get your face washed and get to work. We can worry more about this tomorrow." Mirana called in a flask of water and rag to wipe her face as her mother left the stockroom. She sat down on a bag of flour, and took some deep breaths before contacting Christopf.
*Chris?* she sent.
*What?* he answered, annoyance coming through the line. She looked out the window and mentally kicked herself for not realizing it was still too early for most of her cousins to be awake.
*I got the letter today.* she told him. Confusion came from his end of the line.
*What letter?* he asked, the line becoming clearer as he started to wake up.
*I am to be Presented.* she sent, making sure that sarcasm was dripping off that thought.
*Oh shit.* he replied, bafflement and shock mixed in that peculiar flavor she was becoming accustom to feeling as she and her cousins got older. She smiled in spite of herself as she felt him become more aware. *Does Dad know?*
*Not yet, didn't want him to find out till later.* she told him.
*Well make sure you are prepared for the worst.* he said.
*I better get back to work or Papa will come looking for me.* she sent.
*And I will tell Dad.* he laughed.
*No-*
*Look, Dad will take it better coming from me.* Chris said. *Besides, I am supposed to meet him for lunch today. Let me tell him you got your letter and he will have a couple of days to calm down before he has a chance to visit with you.*
*Thank you Lord Millstone.* she sent, acknowledging that it was not her cousin doing this but a Warlord serving his Queen.
*Have a good day!* he sent before disconnecting the thread. Mirana sighed and hoisted herself off the sack of flour. She grabbed one of the jars of mint so she would have an excuse to tell her father why she was in there before stepping out of the stockroom to get started on her day.
"I don't believe it," Coren's mother cried happily at the letter in her hands. "I just cannot believe that you got a letter."
"That worthless Yellow Jewel bitch got in the Presentation and I didn't?" screeched Coren's sister Doris, an Opal Jewel witch. "Just because she is a hearth witch doesn't mean anything! It isn't even an official caste!"
"Your sister will never have the power to attract stronger males otherwise," their mother snapped. "You will respect the fact your sister got an invitation and be grateful."
"Father will fix this when he gets home!" Doris yelled. Coren took the letter from her mother and quietly retreated to her room as Doris continued to rant about the unfairness of it all. After shutting the door to her meager room, she read the letter for the first time herself. The officials were requesting on behalf of Queen Jordyn that she attend the Presentation, that she was one of the last ones to be selected due to her rank and social standing. However, that did not make her any less important the assured her. She was still shaking as she sat on her bed to read over the list of suggested items. That list only made her shake more. There was no way, even with the pittance of a salary she earned cleaning rooms at the local taverns that she could afford even enough of these to fool anyone that she was more than a dockhands daughter. "I'm Seventh Circle in the District Court! It should count for something!" she heard her sister wail as she stomped past her room and up the stairs to pout in the large attic space given to Doris when she came away with a dark Opal. Coren was waiting for her Offering, hoping that she would have her Virgin Night with someone before then. She only wore the Yellow, but most of the escorts she trusted work nothing darker than the Rose. If she had her offering and came away with Summer-Sky…
Her father only wore a Rose, his Birthright and Offering rank. With him only being a Warlord, if she wore the Summer-Sky she would outrank him and be able to possibly stand up to him. She could leave. If she was claimed, if someone wanted her, really truly wanted her, she may not have to come home at all.
"Coren! You are going to be late if you dally much longer!" her mother called. Coren swore and tucked the letter in the pocket behind her apron in her grey work dress. She flung open her door, grabbing her cap as she quickly told her mother good-bye before dashing out the door. As she briskly walked to the tavern she worked at a couple days a week, her hands quickly tucked her fiery red curly locks that were atypical of the long lived races up in her cap. After the Purge there was much mixing of short-lived and long-lived blood to help the population climb back up to where it needed to be. The results were people like her whose coloring was not the normal. Along with her red hair, she had extremely fair skin with chocolate brown eyes that made her typical Hayllian colored sister almost green with envy. When she dashed through the doors of The Knotted Net, her cheeks were a nice rosy color which made her blush seem like she was wearing rouge when she showed her boss Lacey, a Purple Dusk hearth witch, the letter.
"I got a letter," Coren told her shyly as she slid it onto the counter next to the register before going over to the list on the wall of people who were checking out of the tavern today.
"Your father got another bill behind you have to pay again I suppose," Lacey said tartly, shutting the register with a sharp clang. Coren stood with her back to Lacey, forcing herself to focus on the list as she heard the rustling of the envelope. She turned around after a few moments of tense silence to see Lacey grinning from ear to ear, tears in the older woman's eyes. "Oh, oh my dear. You are being Presented!" The woman wrapped Coren in a hug, laughing and jumping up and down.
"What's this racket about?" Geoff, a grisly old captain on a crabbing boat that wore a Green Jewel and a Prince that made sure since the first day of work fifteen years ago Coren was not prey to some of the predators that sometimes wandered into The Knotted Net without realizing what kind of protection the tavern had.
"She is getting Presented!" Lacey said, letting Coren go and waving the letter in his face.
"No shhhhugar!" one of the newer youngsters on his boat said, correcting his swear when Geoff gave him a sharp look. "My sister is a Purple Dusk Healer and couldn't get in a Presentation before she was asked to serve in the Third Circle at the District Court this past year. That is great!"
"Let me see that letter," Geoff said, making a forking over motion.
"I need to get to work, have six rooms to clean this morning," Coren said, stepping away and leaving them to her letter.
"Why do we have to go?" Luc asked the Shalador Elders Council.
"When we have had a formal request that we sent by the Queen of Hayll that we send one man of each rank to the Presentation and not have to pay the fees, we honor the request," Blade, a Sapphire Jewel Warlord and Luc and Yarek's grandfather, explained as he handed over the letter for Luc to review.
"I have no problem with this," Jared said cheerfully. "In fact, I would love to see Hayll." Yarek just grunted on the other side of Luc. Luc sighed, taking the letter and read through it. It was clever really. Queen Jordyn had been trying to get the Shalador people to come to the Presentation for centuries, but they haven't had the money to pay the fees without beggaring themselves since the men from less desirable Territories were charged almost triple no matter what the Queen said. So, if a formal request from the Queen saying that the fees were waved for this year, there was no excuse for the Territory not to send males. Of course, with he and the other two being the highest ranking single men in Shalador Nehele of the three ranks, they would be sent. Luc sighed and set down the letter.
"I suppose I don't have a say in this," Luc sighed.
"The sickness wiped out most of the females, and the few Queens we have now aren't ready to start ruling for a while," Blade replied. "As Warlord Prince of Shalador Nehele, it is your responsibility to go and represent our people. Even if you do not bring back any females, you will show the people there we are the same as they are. It might bring new people here to live."
"Well, I suppose we best go home and tell our families," Jared said, standing. "Mother wanted me home before midday meal."
"You will be expected to send your own letters of acceptance," Blade said.
"Of course," Luc said as he stood, Yarek following his lead and standing as well. "We will do right by our people."
"Thank you Prince Grayhaven," Blade said.
"I will be going Lord Grayhaven," Yarek said in his deep rumble of a voice. Luc's eyebrows went up in shock. Yarek left the Queen's Residence, still her residence even if a Queen did not live in Eyota because The Rose Queen chose to honor this village as the place she chose to rule from and this was her home till the day she died, and Jared followed after him. Luc stood there, eyeballing the other members of the council before giving them all a nod and leaving without another word. Yarek and Jared stood at the steps of the residence, waiting for Luc.
"Uncle Daemon isn't going to like us going to Hayll," Jared said.
"We aren't going to tell him," Luc said, looking at his cousin and studying him. The dark hair, dark eyed Sapphire Prince never willingly left Eyota to go anywhere but The Keep to meet with their Uncle's or Janelle when it suited her to have someone accompany her to their local festivities. Luc was a Black Jewel Warlord Prince; the only Black Jewel in the realm unless Uncle Daemon was at The Keep, and he was still not the one Janelle chose to escort her. Luc thinks it had something to do with the fact Yarek was a century older than he was and Janelle has known him longer.
"Tersa told me I should go," Yarek said, understanding the unspoken question in the look Luc was giving him. Jared rocked back on his heels in shock.
"When did you see Tersa?" Jared asked, his voice coming out strangled. The Green Jewel Warlord only met Tersa once, and he didn't like to talk about it. Luc understood that sentiment himself since the one and only time he saw the Broken Black Widow that was Uncle Daemon's mother she gave him a vision that made his blood run cold. Best not think of that, Luc thought to himself as he watched Yarek shift his stance and give them both a shrug.
"She was there when I was making the business delivery last month," he said, giving them both a little wave before walking off towards the Healers house where he and his mother resided.
"Have you ever wondered about him?" Jared asked Luc as the both of them watched him go around the corner.
"There are many things I wonder about in life," Luc sighed. "Well, best get home to tell our mothers where we are going."
"I bet I will hear yours all the way in the landen settlement," Jared chuckled.
"Your mom still taking up weaving lessons?" Luc asked as he and Jared headed down Main Street.
"Oh yea," Jared sighed, smiling at the children running through the street and chasing a sheltie holding a ball in its mouth. "She is trying so hard to be good at it, they wonder if she will get better if she stops trying and just weaves."
"Luckily, my mother doesn't have that silly notion and just sticks to woodworking," Luc sighed. Most of the women in the area took up any type of craft they could get their hands on to have something to do while the men were out rebuilding the community when a flood came through a few centuries back. His mother's family excelled at carving wood and making furniture, which earned them a decent cash flow to pay the tithes and have Uncle Daemon invest in case one day the business dried up.
Luc stopped at the end of the village, letting Jared go on to the Landen settlement and looking back at his home village with pride. His great-grandmother told him stories of when she was a small child, when Daemon Sadi, Warlord Prince of Dhemlan, High Lord of Hell, and his honorary uncle, came to the village for the first time as a courtesy to collect the last payment of the loan he gave The Rose Queen so long ago. She told him that the man was terrifyingly beautiful, but was polite and took the money with grace. He never thought he would meet the man that helped his people build their life till he walked away from the altar with the Black Jewel. Uncle Daemon wanted to be a part of his life, to help show him that his power didn't have to make him so different. Luc learned almost everything he knew from his Uncle Daemon since his father died when Luc was a small child in an accident while he was out gathering some wood for a project that was commissioned by an aristo in Dena Nehele. His father's death still weighed on his heart, but he was happy that he is often told that he is the honoring the memory of the man by being the man that his father wanted him to be for his people. He was proud that the children could play in the street without fear, that the women could spend their moondays with males without losing their craft, and the Landens could come into town without worrying that the Blood they have lived with side by side for centuries would do them harm. He was proud that he protected that, even though he did not have much privacy because of it.
He turned from the village and walked toward his home, glad that he had at least one place that he could get away from it all. His mother inherited the house that his great-grandfather fixed up when he found it near the edge of the woods on one of his excursions to find some material. His grandmother told him stories about how her father would drain his jewels every day to get it ready to move into since it seemed like no one had touched the home since before the Purge almost two thousand years ago. Now, his mother and him live there, they only two of his mother's family left. His mother and father were both half breeds, each having some short and long lived races in them like most of the people who lived in the village since they had such a close relationship with the Dhemlan, but his grandparents on her side had perished in the sickness like many of the others in his village had decades ago.
As he came over the last rise, he saw the cottage in the distance with his mother on the roof. He chuckled as he heard her yelp and shaking her hand. The amount of times that he told her to wait and let him help was in the thousands, but she would never let him pick up another woodworking tool after his first and only attempt to make something. That particular piece of wood was sitting on the mantle as a reminder every time he even thought about helping his mother with a project. He smiled and stuck his hands in his pockets, slowing his walk to a leisurely stroll to give her time to hide whatever injury she caused herself before he saw it. When he reached within hearing distance, he could hear her cursing instead of singing her usual songs.
"Blasted roof!" she finally shouted before gathering all of her tools and using craft to air walk off the roof like she was walking down the stairs.
"I could get one of the Landens to come out and help with it Mum," Luc chuckled as he took the tool box from her.
"That is all well and good but I most certainly can do things on my own," she snarled trying to taking the tool box back from him without success. "The roof is just giving me trouble more than usual. So what did the elders want to talk to you about? You didn't get into more trouble did you?"
"Why do you always assume that I am in trouble?" Luc sighed, using craft and opening the door for her. He ignored the glare his mother sent him as she flounced into the house since he could count the days better than his mother cared for him to. "It could have been important business for all you know!"
"I know my son and his friends better than that," she snapped, using craft to put a kettle on.
"Mum, I need to tell you something," Luc said.
"Well tell me in a minute, I want to make you some tea I bought from the market when I went last time with our baubles I made for some quick marks instead of dipping into our investment fund for something as trivial as supplies for our roof," she said as she bustled around the small room. Luc set down the tool box and grabbed the mugs from his mother.
"How about I make you some tea and you sit down since you were working all day?" he told her as he set the mugs down. He guided his protesting mother into a chair and helped her sit in a way that was just short of shoving her into it before bustling around the small space to prepare the tea. He and his mother knew that this house was smaller than they both liked, but the advantages of people not bothering him for every little thing that the local males could take care of was the deciding factor on living so far out from town. The brief period that they lived in town when he became the Warlord Prince of Shalador Nehele was proof of that. There was never a moment's peace or a day when there wasn't someone in his sitting room wringing their hands over something like a neighbor stole their garden area or the male was being too forward and not accepting that the female was not acknowledging a claim. The former was more bothersome than the latter, but the latter would easily be dealt with if the males in the Districts and Providences would man up. The only Queens in the Territories that were alive were too young to rule or males didn't want them too. A Queen serving in a court was one thing while ruling was another. He poured the water into the mugs when the water was hot enough and sat across from his mother while it steeped. His mother had calmed down enough that she studied his face, and he saw her anger fade to worry.
"You are in trouble, aren't you?" she asked gently, reaching both of her hands over the tables for his. Her grip was firm on his hands as she looked into his eyes, her gold ones looking deep into his own gold colored eyes. "Not the mischievous trouble, but real trouble."
"Not exactly," he sighed, giving his mother's hand a reassuring grip before explaining what was to come for him.
"You need me to wait tables before I head home?" Coren asked Lacey as she came out from the back to see The Knotted Net packed. All the washing was done and she even helped out in the kitchen some since the other tavern and the only Red Moon house she would ever catch herself in to clean sent her messages that they didn't need her that day. It was well that they didn't because all she could think about now that the excitement of receiving the letter was how she was going to pay for the things she needed, and her head was not in her work. She even burnt a couple of baskets of rolls because she didn't keep track of how long they had been in the oven. Her mind just kept turning over the figures she knew her sister had paid for her gowns for court, and those were second hand that Coren herself made look brand new. It was not looking pretty.
"Oh, good you are done," Lacey smiled, waving her hand at her bouncer. Coren took a good look around and was shocked to see the owner of the Red Moon house with most of her girls as well at the owner of the other tavern. A lot of the regulars were there, some of them being dockhands and fishermen that worked with Geoff but the rest just men who came in on nights to have a glass of ale when their work was done. Lacey turned to her with a smile and waved her over. "Come here love. We have something to tell you."
"What's wrong?" Coren said in a panic. "Are all of you firing me?" Her panic grew as she realized that if all of her employers fired her she would not be able to earn more money for the things she needed as well as help her family support themselves with the way her father drank and gambled.
"No darling," Geoff laughed as he stood up from his seat at the bar. Everyone fell silent as he turned and faced the common room full of people. Lacey pulled Coren around the counter to stand beside him as he started speaking. "As many of you may have heard today, our little Cory has been summoned to be Presented." The crowd cheered and stomped their feet, making Coren blush. Geoff laughed and waved his hands. "Now settle down you lot. Settle down. I know it will be difficult for us to get by without her for the month that she will no longer be with us, but we all hope things go well for her!"
"Hear hear!" someone in the crowd said.
"Now," Geoff shouted over the cheers that erupted. "We all have agreed, you lot included, that we take care of our own, so for our little Cory we have a gift to help her out." He called in a large envelope, and turned to Coren. "We were going to save this for your Offering present, but we have a bit of money set aside for you."
"Geoff," Coren said.
"We all love you dearly, and one of our own going means that you will show them who we really are, so we want you to look your best to impress them," Lacey told her.
"I don't…I don't know what to say," Coren said, turning to look at everyone in the bar. She felt her eyes mist up as she took the envelope from a beaming Geoff. "Thank you. All of you. I am sure this will help me immensely. I do not know how I can thank you enough for this."
"Make sure you bring back the man for us to get a good look at!" one of the girls from the Red Moon house shouted.
"Or men!" one of the others yelled, sending the common room into an uproar of laughter.
"All right everyone who isn't staying tonight needs to go back to work or their homes!" Lacey shouted, having to use Craft to have her voice heard over the crowd. After everyone but the owners of the businesses she worked at, Geoff, the few patrons staying the night, and a man she never met before left, Lacey sat Coren at the counter so she was sitting next to the strange man and Geoff on her other side.
"Coren, I am Lord Richard. I am a man of business that handles the financial affairs of people in this area," the man she never met before told her.
"Please to meet you Lord Richard," Coren said, shaking the hand he offered her.
"Lacey brought me here tonight so we could go over your trust and businesses before you go so you may see what kind of funds you have to work with," Lord Richard told her as he took the envelope from her hands and started to place the paperwork on the bar.
"I don't understand," Coren said, giving a gleeful Lacey a confused look.
"Coren lass, have you ever wondered why we didn't give you anything more than a pittance for pay or that Lacey required your father to give you your majority before she hired you?" Lady Thalia, the woman who ran the Red Moon house, asked as she helped Lacey pour some drinks for the few patrons left. "We know who your father is and what he does with all the extra money that comes into the household."
"It isn't a secret around these parts," Geoff said. "Lacey decided when she hired you on that she would pay you the minimum amount that your father and mother would expect from a girl whose first job was just cleaning rooms, and if you happened to do more than that the extra money you earned would go into a trust your father could not find."
"And of course you did more," Lacey snorted with a twinkle in her eyes. "Hiring a hearth witch is something I should have done long ago. Didn't have to tell you to do anything twice and always did more than you needed to do. Knew you would earn your keep and more when you wandered in here like a terrified waif, asking if I needed someone to do some light work for a few coppers. We all decided that all your extra money should go in the account so your father couldn't gamble or drink it away."
"We also took the tips from your room cleanings and put them in the account as well," Lord Harris said.
"The girls also gave me money to put in your account for all the mending and clothes you made for them," Thalia chuckled. "I never figured out how they were getting newer looking outfits till one of the girls told me they were setting aside money for you in case you needed it. Betsy and I took it to Lord Richard with the intent to set up our own account for you, and found out that you already had a trust, so I started putting your extra money in as well."
"That's…that's…" Coren felt her head start to swim. She reached over the counter and took one of the brandy bottles, uncorking it to take a long drink. When she stopped coughing, Lord Richard handed her a paper.
"This is what your investments and pay have earned you have earned you over the last fifteen years," he told her. She set down the brandy bottle, and almost fell off the stool when she saw the amount of gold marks she had.
"This…this is all mine?" Coren whisper hopefully. There were enough gold marks in this account to move into a slightly better area of Hayll. She could leave her family behind. If she lived carefully, she could make this money last a century at least. Maybe two if she stayed in this area and worked for the others instead of trying to work for herself.
"All yours love," Geoff said gruffly.
"Now, about your businesses," Lord Richard said, calling in his briefcase and opening it to show a large envelope with her name one it.
"Businesses?" she said, looking at Geoff and Lacey. "I don't have any businesses."
"Do you remember Salty?" Geoff asked.
"Oh of course!" Coren said. Salty was an Opal Warlord who had a fishing boat business that came into the tavern when his main ship was in port and got his name from the fact his hair was always crusted with salt from the sea. He had no family, no one to really care for him, so she always made sure to go out of her way to make his stay comfortable.
"Salty told me before he died he wanted to make sure you were taken care of, so he left you his businesses," Geoff said, giving Lord Richard a nod.
"You have this fishing business of course," Lord Richard said, placing a stack of papers in front of her. "Then you have his fruit import business, his cloth import business, his livestock farms, and of course, his rental company. All yours my dear." Each of the businesses had its own separate stack on the counter. Thalia threw back her head and laughed.
"You should see the look on your face love," she chortled. "You look like you are going to throw up all over the paperwork."
"Why?" Coren asked. "I just took care of him."
"Because you acted like the daughter he wished he had," Lacey explained. "You scolded him for working sick, you let him fuss over you when it was your moontime, and when he was so far gone he couldn't get out of bed you made sure he was cared for in his last days personally. Lord Richard can attest that he was grateful for your kindness."
"So, are they doing well?" Coren asked, setting the paper from her personal trust on the counter and picking back up the bottle of brandy to take a long swig.
"Thanks to your profits being reinvested most of the first years, all of them have grown exponentially," Lord Richard told her. "In the past twenty, even with the bonuses and fees I have been granting to the various people who have helped me see what the right way to use the funds was, your profits are averaging about two million gold marks a year."
"Two million a year…is that money I can use or…"
"You can use it or reinvest it, though I urge you to use some of it since you have more than enough to make any repairs or cover any losses you may have," Lord Richard told her as he handed her yet another paper with figures on it. She blinked, processing the amount of zeros on the paper and tried to breath. With these funds she could disappear without anyone in her family finding her.
"I am giving you various notes, verifying that the funds are more than available for any purchases that you wish to make for your Presentation, and they will send the bills to me to deduct from your account," he told her warmly as he handed her another envelope. "Now, I must get home to my wife. If you need anything, feel free to contact me." He snapped his briefcase shut before vanishing it and giving everyone a polite goodbye as he walked out the door. Coren vanished all the papers and turned to a misty eyed Lacey.
"Lacey, how can I ever thank you?" Coren asked.
"Just do us proud at the Presentation," Lacey said.
"And don't forget about us," Thalia said as she came around the counter. "Now, give me a hug and get some rest. I don't want to see you around till you are done with the Presentation, to work anyway. I do want to see your new gowns." Thalia left with a sway of her hips, Lord Harris following close behind. Coren looked around to see the common room now empty except for Geoff, Lacey and herself.
"I have a request to make before you go for the evening," Geoff said quietly. "Think of it as payment for all we have done for you."
"Anything Geoff," Coren replied.
"We want you to have your Virgin Night before you are Presented," Geoff told her. She started to protest but he cut her off. "Look girlie, I know you wanted to wait till you felt the time was right, well this is it. You have your own money, you are about to be basically put up for auction to the highest bidder, and your father is going to not be too happy with the fact his main money maker might be leaving since it will no doubt get back to him that you got your trust today. I have a nephew who said he would do it. He is a Purple Dusk Warlord in Lady Beyna's Second Circle and has a list of references the length of my arm that says all of them came out intact. Salty would kill me if he knew I was sending you off without making sure you were safe from at least that danger." Lacey nodded in agreement when Coren looked at her for affirmation. Coren sat for a moment, the bottle of brandy still in her hand while she worked over the idea in her mind. If she had her Virgin Night, she would not have to go home. The only reason she stayed was the thought that being in her father's home offered some sort of protection from males, but if she wasn't a virgin…
"Can he get here tonight?" Coren asked. Geoff was taken aback, and Lacey dropped the glass she had in her hand. Coren stood, determination giving her more courage than she had in her life. "I cannot wait anymore. When my father finds out about my money he may do something drastic. All of you have helped me more than I can ever imagine, but I will have to take my future in my own hands now." The both of them gave each other a look before Geoff stood and put his hands on Coren's shoulders.
"I am so proud of you," he told her gruffly, his eyes misting over before pulling her into a hug.
"Well you can't go home," Lacey warbled. Coren stepped back from the hug to see Lacey standing behind Geoff, wiping her eyes on her apron before making a beckoning motion with her hands. "Come on love, let's get you settled."
"Do you need a note since you obviously know I am good for it?" Coren teased as she followed Lacey up the stairs with Geoff behind them.
"Bite your tongue!" Lacey said. "I will never take money from you child." The three of them walked up two more flights of stairs before Lacey put her hand on a painting at the third landing to trigger the craft-locked panel that lead to the private residence quarters. Coren stood just inside, taking in the small personal kitchen that Lacey used when she closed shop and didn't want to go all the way downstairs to make herself something to eat. She had only been up here once, which was only because she had to help Lacey when she got that flu that swept over the Territories like wildfire a few decades ago. Lacey recovered and Coren never got it, which was a small mercy since almost everyone in her family got it right after Lacey was well enough to work again.
"You didn't have to walk us up Geoff," Coren sighed as he closed the panel and triggered the craft-lock next to the door while Lacey bustled around the kitchen.
"Well since this is my home I guess I did have to Coren love," Geoff told her with a wink. Coren took in Lacey's blush as she put the cups on the table while a pot hovered over witchfire and Geoff's familiarity with which he moved around, and her jaw dropped when she realized that the two of them were lovers. Geoff chuckled at her face and shook his head. "Not observant are you?"
"Don't pick on her Geoff," Lacey said as she poured the tea into three cups. "Did you contact you nephew?"
"He said give him a couple of hours and he should be able to come over," Geoff replied, taking a sip from his cup.
"Then let's get you to your room Coren to get ready," Lacey said as she hustled Coren down a hallway.
"My room? Shouldn't I go downstairs?" Coren asked, remembering the room Lacey had set aside for her when it was too late for her to go home or when it was not safe to be around her father.
"I have another Offering present for you," Lacey said, using craft to open the door to the room across from her own. Coren was shocked to find an entire suite of rooms behind that one door. As Coren wandered through the sitting room, taking delight in the fact that the rooms had large windows overlooking the port, Lacey continued to talk. "We figured you would leave your parents' home after your Offering, and Geoff suggested that we have this set of rooms ready for you. Took a real shine to you he did when he figured out Salty started staying in port more because you were working here. We told him for years to stop being out on the boat so much and all it took was a request from you to come back more often to visit. So, these rooms are yours."
"Why don't you take them?" Coren asked, running her hand over the back of the couch before looking at an embarrassed looking Lacey.
"Geoff said that he likes small cozy little rooms," she replied. She gave Coren a sheepish grin before gesturing to the door next to the large bed. "That's your own personal bath, and when Geoff's nephew comes we will make sure to let you know. I will let you get freshened up and relaxed and-"
"Why are you doing all of this?" Coren asked. "I just work for you."
"No you don't 'just work' for us," Lacey snapped. She took in a deep breath and closed her eyes before taking Coren's hands in hers. "The day you came in, I knew I had found something special. You seemed to be such a scared little mouse till the first dockhand tried to grab your ass and you tipped a tray over his head. I thought you were going to throw up when you realized what you did. Geoff made sure from that day on you were known as off limits because he couldn't stand to see you cry like you did when you understood that you did the right thing and I wasn't going to fire you. I watched you try so hard to do a good job, come in scared on your moondays because you knew your father would never forgive you for taking the day off, and even when you could barely move from the beatings that your father gave you for holding back just a little bit of the wages for something extra you wanted your work never faltered."
"And in turn, you watched over us. When that sickness came through within the first couple of weeks of you working here, you could have robbed me blind while I was down but instead you took care of the entire tavern and me as well. You would scold me for doing too much work when you were around to help, and Geoff got more than his fair share of tongue lashings when you realized that he worked more than his fair share when his men were lazy. We watched from the bar you grow relaxed enough to treat the men who have been coming here for years with teasing remarks and ask them how they were instead of just serving them. You became the daughter Geoff and I wanted but never been able to have. This is your home, if you will have it."
"This is…this is more than I could ever dream of," Coren said, unable to stop the tears from flowing down her cheeks. Lacey pulled her into a hug and laughed.
"Now no more of that," Lacey said before pulling back. "Geoff will take care of your father, so you can relax tonight and try to enjoy yourself."
"Thank you Lacey, for all of this," Coren said. Lacey gave her a smile and pat on the cheek.
"Get freshened up, and I will send in some tea while you wait," she told her before going out, leaving her with her thoughts.
Mirana almost cried when she saw her Uncle Alec stroll into the shop that afternoon at closing time. If it weren't for the fact she was serving a customer when he walked in she would have burst into tears. She should have known better than to assume that she would have a reprieve from his wrath over this. As soon as the customer left, her uncle locked the door behind the customer and flipped the sign closed before the Warlord Prince turned to face his Queen. "I will be your escort for the Presentation," he told her.
"My father has said he will be my escort, and I will be taking him not you," she said, taking off her apron and throwing it on the counter. The fact that he demanded got her back up. "If you had asked Prince Millstone I would have granted your request, but your demand now makes it so you are left home."
"I will not stand back and just let you go up on the auction block!" he roared.
"Prince Millstone, why don't we take this conversation upstairs and out of the viewing range of curious onlookers,"Mirana said, gesturing to the back. He glided past her, leaving her to finish closing up the shop and to prepare herself for the conversation that she would have to wrangle upstairs. She let out a sigh as she called in a broom to sweep with. "Being a Queen would be easier if I didn't have male relatives."