Chapter One: Suitable Suitor
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"Tschüs! Ja, ich liebe dich." Rue sighed, closing the door on yet another suitor. "They all wish me to say 'I love you' but it never means anything," she told the girl waiting at her side.
"The German man is most persistent," she continued, "But I do not care for him. Ahiru, who do you think I should choose?" she added, passing her coat to her servant; though servant implies that Ahiru was paid, which she was not.
"Of course Mytho-sama, right?" Ahiru said sweetly, "He's the kindest, and gentlest, and then he is most sincere." The red-head hung up the velvet coat, running her fingers along the sleeve. "I like him best too, but it's not my decision to make."
"That's true. Naturally, it's mine, though I must choose soon, and while I have many suitors, Mytho has many more."
"You are fortunate, Rue-sama, that he hasn't as many as your brother," Ahiru teased, hoping the man mentioned was not about to hear her as she followed her mistress into the house.
"Yes," Rue sighed mournfully, "But Mytho cares about his suitors; each one he treats just the same." She glanced through wine-red eyes at her closest companion. "I know Fakir treats his suitors all the same too, but it hardly counts when he hates them all. I worry about him most of all, because he doesn't seem inclined to ever just pick one." Ahiru shifted Rue's favourite chair closer to the fire, and stood by as Rue sank into it. "I have competition on my hands for Mytho, it seems. Ahiru, tomorrow Alfonse will come again; he wants a decision. Turn him away will you? Any excuse will do."
"You won't just tell him no?" Ahiru questioned.
"I'd like to hold on to him as long as possible; if I fail to capture Mytho, then I'll need to marry quickly, or I'll loose everything. If I do that, then you'll be taken back to the school."
Ahiru stiffened slightly. "Rue-sama, please don't rush into a marriage on my behalf – if I go back to the school, I'm sure I could get out like all the others."
Rue didn't speak. She didn't want to be rude. 'Of course, if I could just find a patron, I wouldn't need to marry. The trouble being, all the people who offer to be my patron want me to marry them. So that really defeats the purpose. I wonder what brother intends to do about it.' "I won't rush into marriage on anyone's behalf. I want only to marry Mytho, and I will be the one who succeeds. Correct?"
"Yes Rue-sama!" Ahiru said brightly. "Would you like anything to drink? I can prepare some tea or...?"
"No, Ahiru, that's alright. The maids can attend to that." 'I don't want another fiasco like before; you're so clumsy Ahiru-chan,' she thought. She adored Ahiru's company, and that was the only reason she was really kept around. Simple tasks often defeated the ditzy red-head. "Why don't you prepare a bath for me instead?"
"Yes Ma'am." Ahiru was being particularly subservient today. Perhaps she really was afraid of being taken back to the school; time for Rue to pay the rent was running out quickly. Usually Ahiru was more like a friend, and more often than not, neglected to tack '-sama' onto the end of Rue's name. However, Rue herself was unworried. True, she was supposed to contribute to paying the rent, but if she couldn't make it, her brother would probably pay it all in secret, and get the money off her in some unnoticed way much later. He was usually very rude and bitter towards her, but Rue was glad he still cared about her.
In any case, the person who drew most of his short temper was poor Ahiru; it was likely one of the many things she hated about living here, but at least it wasn't the school where she was forced to learn tricks to entertain the gentry.
Rue knew what that place was like. She was from there herself. Usually girls were picked out of the crowd by men who wanted to marry them, but her talent for dancing made her 'upper class' and she was free to turn down suitors. Her brother, lost to her at five, had come to save her. She never would have thought to take Ahiru with her, had the girl not been getting punished in the courtyard, in front of everyone that day. It wasn't as though Rue hadn't seen her around before, always making a mess of things, and getting punished. But they had started being quite brutal with her, and so Rue had taken pity on her and requested that she be allowed to take Ahiru out as her maid.
Ahiru wasn't much of a maid. Rue decided to call her a lady-in-waiting instead, which for some reason had Ahiru calling Rue 'princess' sometimes, as a joke. Mostly though, Ahiru was Rue's friend, the only one Rue had ever bothered to make. It didn't pay to have friends in the school (though it wasn't frowned upon either) so Rue had never taken the time.
She was shaken from her thoughts when the doorbell rang and a maid answered the door. The moment Rue heard the masculine voice, she felt disappointment. Another suitor? At least it wasn't Alfonse, the German fellow. She hated having to speak other languages, it hurt her head. Then she recognised the voice more clearly, and her spirits soared.
'He never calls in on his other suitors!' she thought elatedly and swiftly got to her feet. The maid led him into the room, and she felt her breath catch. Aloud, she said, "Mytho-san, what a surprise."
He smiled an awe-inspiring smile. His amber eyes made every expression seem soft upon his face, framed in beautiful white locks. "Rue, you needn't refer to me with that name," he said kindly, "as I have said to you before, just Mytho will do."
Smiling with genuine warmth, Rue approached him. "Won't you sit down? What brings you here?"
"Actually, I'm sorry but I can't stay too long. Of course I'm pleased to see you Rue, but it's actually your brother I came to speak to. Is he here?" Mytho said, wringing a handkerchief in his hands.
"Oh... oh yes, he is. Shall I fetch him?"
"If you would."
Nodding, Rue left the room and made her way upstairs. "Fakir!" she called out, "Mytho-san is here to see you!" From whence would her sour brother emerge? Where else but the library? She rose a thin eyebrow as she saw him, hair dishevelled and eyes connected to the pages of his book.
"So," he said without looking up, "He's finally here to discuss that is he? He's so slack."
Rue's eyes narrowed viciously. "Don't insult him," she spat, "He's a better man than you are in any case."
Usually Fakir would have commented and a nasty argument would have begun and not ended until Ahiru had come and taken Rue's place. However the business Mytho was here with must have been more important than Fakir was letting on, because he simply swept past her and down the stairs to meet with him. Rue gave a great sigh and leant against the wall. She owed Fakir too much; not only had he freed her, but he'd given her a home, status, money and anything she might possibly want. He'd let her bring Ahiru to live with them even though he greatly disliked her and made no secret of his disdain for her lack of co-ordination, and he'd even introduced Rue to Mytho, allowing her to be closer with the man than any other woman was. She was lucky, she knew, and yet she always seemed to fight with her brother.
Ahiru often consolled her on this, saying it was just what siblings do. When she did this, Rue wondered where Ahiru came from. She knew she'd probably never know, but she wondered all the same.
"Rue-sama," Ahiru called at that moment, darting out of the bathroom, "I've drawn a bath for you. It'll go cold if you don't have it now." Rue hesitated; she wanted to be near Mytho, even if she was only sitting and watching, eavesdropping on business she shouldn't. Again, she recognised the patience her brother held, despite his outward behaviour.
"Thanks," she murmured, brushing past her. "I'll have it now. Ahiru-chan? Could you please go and wait in the sitting room with Fakir and Mytho? Fetch them anything they ask you to, and be very attentive. Don't speak to them though; they seem to be quite busy, but I'd like to know what they're talking about."
"Yes Rue," Ahiru replied, stumbling down the stairs. 'There, that's more like her,' Rue thought, 'Of course she loves Mytho too. I am sorry for her, but Mytho will be mine and no one else's. I love him most of all.'
Downstairs, Ahiru stood outside the door, anxious of whether she'd be in trouble for entering. She might be here on Rue's orders, but she was still interrupting them, no matter how you looked at it. She decided upon lightly clearing her throat, a polite gesture to announce yourself subtley that she'd been taught to do in the school, and pushed on the wooden door. She was not surprised to find Fakir's deadly glare already fixed on her, but was delighted to find that Mytho lightly bowed to her as if she were on the same level as Rue.
"Miss Ahiru, isn't it?" Mytho said nicely, "Was there something you needed?"
Ahiru flushed and hurriedly shook her head. In Mytho's presence, she was always a jumble of nerves. "Uh, no, my mistress says I'm to get you anything you might need, and uh... wait here...?"
"Typical," Fakir grumbled, "Spying on us as always. And she would send the loudest maid," he added, eyeing Ahiru with disgust.
"Fakir, you're as rude as ever. I'm in a bit of a hurry, so I don't need anything. Can we please continue, Fakir?"
The dark-haired man agreed, and Ahiru faded into the background, doing her upmost to pay attention to what was said for Rue, but finding she paid more attention to the colour of Mytho's eyes. "In any case, it's getting urgent Fakir. They need you down there; no more delays or they'll withdraw support. We need all the finances we can get right now, it's hard times."
Ahiru blinked, trying to listen again. Fakir tapped the table with long tanned fingers, looking between Ahiru and Mytho. Unnerved by his attention, she turned her head to stare out the window. "I could go, of course... but his conditions are so despicable. There's something altogether sinister about it, and I don't want to accept his financial support."
"But we need it Fakir!" Mytho stressed, "People are dropping out everywhere. There was a time when we could handle this ourselves, but as you know, what with taking Rue in, and then supporting Ahiru..." he trailed off, glancing it her. It was as if she wasn't supposed to know these things. "All I'm saying is neither of us have the money to do this alone anymore. We need your grandfather to be in on this."
Fakir released a frustrated sigh and ran a hand through his hair. "I understand. Look, I'll go and see if I can negotiate some alternative. It will get better, just as soon as she or I marry."
Ahiru's eyes lowered to the floor. No matter what, Rue would never agree to marry someone other than Mytho, she loved him. If she knew that Fakir's finances were in trouble, though, she would most certainly accept Alfonse's proposal tomorrow. Ahiru didn't want that for her mistress. On the other hand, if Rue remained oblivious, it seemed Fakir and Mytho would have to do something drastic; maybe she and Rue would be sent back to the school? Or would Fakir finally agree to marry one of his many, many suitors?
She didn't want to tell Rue what she'd heard for fear that Rue would suffer. She liked Fakir less, but she didn't want to force him into the same situation. 'I know. I'll find Rue a patron. One for the family. It's about time I was actually useful.' Mytho was leaving now, and not wanting to be left alone with Fakir, she rushed up the stairs to wait for Rue to come out again.
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"You mean to tell me that they really requested you help them today?" Rue asked in disbelief. A part of her was jealous; she'd love to spend more time with Mytho.
"That's right," Ahiru lied, feeling nervous; what if Rue realised she wasn't being honest?
"That's a bit... odd. Are you sure they didn't want my help instead?"
"Positive; it'll be unladylike work, and they didn't want to trouble you with it," Ahiru kept saying, "I only mean that I didn't want you to get frowned upon by the others, so I begged Fakir-sama to allow it. It took a lot of effort."
'Ahiru isn't the sort to stop me from being with Mytho... I know that much. But she's clearly lying about a part of this; she's doing that silly little laugh she does when she's been caught out. What I don't understand is why she's lying,' Rue mused, watching her friend wobbling before her. "Well alright then," she decided, "you go help out. I'll practice my dancing in peace for a change, it has been a while. But don't forget to have one of the maids turn Alfonse away today; in just the way I told you too, ok?"
"Absolutely Rue," Ahiru assured her, hurrying down the stairs. Freya, one of the maids (who was beautiful enough to be a Lady, Ahiru thought) was passing on the stairs with a pile of linen in her arms. "Freya-san, can you please turn Alfonse away today? The German one. You have to tell him Rue-sama's busy, so she can hold onto him... or something."
Freya nodded curtly. "Yes Ahiru."
Hurrying out the door, Ahiru checked the list she'd compiled from asking all the servants and such about the latest gossip, on who might possibly agree to be Fakir and Rue's patron. "First, Erik Thomas," Ahiru mumbled, wondering where she might find him. 'I'll try the bureau. They can give information, for a price. It'll be all the money Rue's allowed me this year, but it would be worth it.' Ahiru stood on the doorstep watching the horses and busy people passing by. The oak trees across the road stretched over her head, and she delighted in the shade.
The bureau Ahiru was seeking was a fair walk from the house, and she might not have reached it until eleven, were it not for the fact that Fakir was harnessing his horse to the carriage. Checking that he was truly not looking, Ahiru slipped into the back, and hoped that she wouldn't be caught; Fakir had a mean temper.
In any case, after a short, and very bumpy ride, Ahiru realised that he was heading for Mytho's house, and was able to see out the window when the bureau was approaching. Quickly, she slammed a fist against the side of the carriage, causing Fakir to stop and check who was inside. While he was getting down to see, Ahiru jumped out the side door and hurried into the building.
"Excuse me," she asked after waiting in line for a few minutes, "I need to find the adress of all the people on this list," she said, setting it on the desk in front of the tubby old man.
"Why?" he demanded.
"I'm arranging a number of meetings for my mistress. She says I am to speak to them all, but I don't know where they live," she half-lied. She'd rehearsed this so much that she didn't even flinch.
"Money," the man grunted and she set all the coins she had on the desk. He took a long time counting them out, but finally he agreed and looked them up for her. Passing her list back with the locations filled in, she prayed he hadn't tricked her and hurried out into the sunlight again. It was half midday and she hoped she would be able to see all the people.
Possibl Patronz, her list read in her poor writing.
Baron Erik Tomas (Correct spelling: Erik Thomas)
Lord Femio Yurope (CS: Femio Yuurope (Like Europe))
Lord Peter von Ingel (CS: Peter von Ingle)
Sir Alfonse Schmitt (CS: This is the correct spelling.)
The list continued a while. She'd already crossed off Peter and Alfonse because they were suitors of Rue, and wouldn't agree to patronage without marriage.
"Then Erik is first," she said, and proceeded to the listed adress. When she got lost, she asked a passer by where she might find it, and was told he was out of the country right now. She quickly crossed him off. "In that case, Lord Femio..."
Snickers and shivers erupted around her, and she had only mentioned his name under her breath. Even Ahiru knew this didn't bode well.
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A/N: Hello thar!
Translation of German: Bye! (friendly) Yes, I love you.
Anyway, thanks for reading if you did. I'll keep this short and sweet :) Please read and review. Intrigued by Lord Femio? Wait till you see what happens next!
Next chapter: Patronage