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When Attia walked into Finn's office, there were more people than usual. She was forced to weave through all the men standing around to get to Finn's desk. When she heard the unmistakable sound of girlish giggling, she almost turned to leave the office, knowing there was no way it could be Claudia or Anne, quite possibly the only two women at Court she could stand. They had far too much self respect to make that noise in public. That, of course, left Keiro's latest victim to be the originator of the noise. Though she and Keiro were on relatively good terms—considering that even when they had been romantic they could hardly stand one another—she didn't know how well she'd handle actually seeing him in the midst of seducing some poor woman. Keiro had been exceptional at hiding his women away from her in the last few months, and if she had to say anything nice about him at all, that would be it.

Nonetheless, she reached Finn's desk, noticing the majority of the men in the room weren't politicians as they usually were, but instead the highest ranking Royal Guards. Finn was engaged in conversation when she reached the desk with Charles, Commander of the Royal Guard, and she just waited for him to finish before she spoke. In the few minutes that the two were speaking, Attia could no longer stop herself from peering up at the far corner where she did in fact find Keiro and the giggling woman. Dressed in a floor length Era dress, the woman had a well defined waist from the tightly pulled ribbon on her corset. The vibrant blue of the fabric made her blue eyes stand out against her pale skin. The way she laughed and smiled gave off the impression she was fluid and natural even under the constraints of a corset Attia knew nobody could be that comfortable in. Even her hair, dark brown curls, looked natural when such a hair style required quite an amount of time to achieve.

"Attia," Finn called and she turned to look down at him quickly. She knew Finn was aware of what she'd been looking at, but he said nothing and gave no indication he'd even notice. "What are those?" he asked as he reached out for the stack of papers she'd been holding.

"Thank you notes for the rest of the wedding gifts from Lords and Dukes who didn't make it to the wedding," Attia answered as she handed them over. Finn nodded as he thumbed through the stack quickly. "And I put in your finances for the month. They should get to your desk by tonight. Both Casper and Keiro went over their allowances for this month, so I deducted the extra from the Wardendry's spending account to pay the Jeweler, the cellar keeper, the seamstress' office, the blacksmith, and the Master of the Stables. I also lowered the monthly amount that goes into the Wardendry since nobody accesses that account except me."

"Ok," Finn nodded as he pushed aside the stack of paper's she brought him. "Can you tell Claudia we lowered the amount into the account every month because her father is… god knows where?"

"You want me to tell her news that is potentially detrimental to your relationship?" Attia clarified, earning a stare from Finn. "Just making sure," she said when he let his look convey his response.

"You just said she doesn't access that account anyway."

"She doesn't have access to it, Finn," Attia answered. "It belongs to the Warden and she won't be the Warden until her father is dead or presumed to be dead for two years."

"Fine," Finn said. "Just don't tell her you use it to cover Casper and Keiro's spending."

"Of course not. You can do that one yourself," Attia assured him before she glanced around the room. "Why are there so many Royal Guardsmen around here today?" she asked curiously when her gaze returned to Finn.

"Come to the next Council meeting," he answered as he met her gaze. "Tomorrow at three."

"Do I have to?" she replied. In the last year, she'd enjoyed the quiet of Court during Council meeting she conveniently forgot to attend on a regular basis.

"I want your opinion on something," Finn told her.

"Alright," Attia agreed, though he knew it was not out of her own interests. When Lady Morgan giggled again, both fought their annoyance before Attia turned to leave the room. She was not required to be there at all times the way Finn was, and she took full advantage of such a privilege. It did not escape Attia that in her strange position as a woman technically in the King's household she was able to escape the everyday gossip and nuisances that was the Queen's household while also avoiding the masses of the King's household under the pretense that she was a woman somehow trapped in a man's world. Nor did the reasons Attia so vehemently deny joining the Queen's household escape Finn. Attia could manipulate Finn in a way Claudia never would, but it would take a fool to think it meant anything more than that wordless bond she, Finn, and Keiro shared.

As she stepped into the hallway, the door shut behind her, and blocked out the sound of Morgan mid-giggle, an instant relief. She walked down the hallway with the intent of returning to her office, which was now a much larger and comfortable room that she no longer shared with others, she heard the sound of heels clicking against the wooden boards the floor. Silently hoping it was a maid hand, Anne, or Claudia, Attia continued forward. She had no patience for the female courtiers. Thankfully, it was Claudia and Anne who led a small group of women around the corner. At the same time, Attia heard the door to Finn's office open and shut, but she didn't turn back to see who'd exited the room.

"Attia," Claudia called. "We just came looking for you. Wondered if you wanted to go for a ride." Attia held Claudia's gaze as the Queen spoke, but noticed her attention had been pulled from Attia to something behind her. Attia turned to see what had distracted Claudia, only to find Lady Morgan leading Keiro down the hallway by the hand. As Attia looked back at Claudia and Anne, they met her gaze.

"Where are you ladies headed to?" Keiro asked casually as he and Morgan approached the group. When Attia turned, and he noticed her, he withdrew his hand from Morgan, but only Attia and Claudia even noticed the movement. It had appeared so natural to everyone else, including sweet and somewhat naive Anne.

"We're going out for a ride," Anne answered. Attia screwed her eyes shut as she bit back a remark and held back a stare. Even Claudia reacted to Anne's admission but nobody said anything. Except Morgan.

"Oh, it's a beautiful day for a ride! I hope you don't mind if I'd join you," she exclaimed as she beamed towards Claudia. Then Anne realized what she had done and let out a breath.

In the moment of quiet, Keiro eyed Attia, then Claudia carefully, gauging their responses to Morgan. "Well, actually it was just going to be myself, Anne, and Attia, Lady Morgan," Claudia responded with her diplomatic smile. But only Attia and Keiro could recognize it.

"Well, I haven't been able to do much for you since I've been at Court. I would like to get to know you, Your Majesty," Morgan replied, focused only on Claudia. Only Keiro noticed Attia roll her eyes at the girl.

"Well, if you're free from entertaining the High Duke," Claudia replied and Attia turned to look at her, jaw tensed, eyes widened, ready to flee if Morgan would be anywhere near them for the duration of the ride.

"I am," Morgan answered, seemingly to be only slightly embarrassed at how Claudia described her time spent with Keiro but wouldn't dare correct her.

"Then you can accompany the other ladies back to my chambers and finish organizing all those wedding gifts," Claudia replied. Morgan's face fell slightly, but she forced a smile and nodded once before dropping into a half curtsey.

"Of course, Your Majesty," she responded gently before she joined the ranks of the women who'd followed Claudia and Anne around the corner. When Claudia looked up at Keiro, he stared at her with narrowed eyes. She nodded at him once before she turned and began leading the way down the hallway. Attia and Anne followed on each side of her, both grinning as they bit back laughter. Keiro stalked behind them, poking his head into the space between Anne and Claudia.

"That was a little harsh, Claudia," he commented well aware the other ladies behind them could hear their conversation but not really caring enough to stop him.

"She doesn't get special treatment because you're attracted to her, Keiro," Claudia answered. Though she knew the comment was somewhat detrimental to Morgan's image among the other women, she hardly cared.

"Anne gets special treatment because Casper's attracted to her," Keiro replied with a well thought-out and acceptable response.

"I like Anne," Claudia answered.

"You like Morgan," Keiro said. Even he knew that was a stretch, but said it anyway for the sake of argument.

"Attia likes Anne."

"Those are not fair standards," he declared as he stopped walking. The three women who all but ran Court turned back to face him as well.

"What part of those standards are not fair, Keiro?" Attia questioned. He stared at her for a long moment, knowing any possible answer he had couldn't be said in public. He was also aware it wasn't his place to force the three to accept any of his romantic interests into their circle. With a groan, he waved his hand at the three in a gesture of defeat.

"Fine," he told him bitterly as he narrowed his eyes at them. "I hope you get attacked on your ride," he commented in a jokingly tone of voice as he turned away from them and began walking in the opposite direction.

"That's treason, Keiro," Claudia called back at him. He only raised one arm and waved it back at her without even looking back. With laughs, the three women turned back to continue their walk to the stables. After a few more hallways, the women behind them split away to head towards the Queen's chambers to complete their assigned task. In the privacy, the three struck up conversation they could not have had otherwise.

"That was a little mean," Anne said. She was the only one to feel for Morgan, but she was the only one of the three who was not of great importance at Court. To some extent, that excluded her from her closest friends at Court. But at the same time, she was excluded from the other ladies and lords at Court who were in her same ranking. By having such high ranking friends, she wasn't a favorite to keep around when the lower classes were up to things they shouldn't be.

"It's not like she honestly believes she had a chance to stay with us," Attia replied. "She really can't think we're going to invite her just because Keiro's lonely."

"Maybe she just wants company," Anne answered. Though it was naive, neither of her companions replied. They knew it was simply Anne's nature to see the best in everybody and it was that trait that Casper had been so attracted to in the beginning. "She's not well liked by the others," Anne admitted, but only Claudia showed interest in what she'd said.

"Why?" she asked. Though Claudia did care about the well being of her ladies, it was difficult for her to really know about them and their lives. She simply couldn't fit in with them enough for her to know the details. As Queen, she was their mistress and not their friend. Very few would trust her with their secrets for that simple reason. Anne, however, did have the opportunity to bond with the other ladies as she was one of them herself.

"The only ladies who want to spend any time with her only do so because they think that she's-" Anne stopped speaking so suddenly that Claudia and Attia turned to look at her. Her eyes had widened as she snapped her mouth shut, though it did nothing to suck the words back into her mouth.

"Think she's what, Anne?" Attia probed.

"That she going to be the… the High Duchess of the Realm," Anne answered slowly, keeping her eyes on Attia but didn't get the response she'd been expecting. Instead of heartbreak or pain, Attia displayed only mild curiosity or feigned interest.

"So they're just playing nice in case she gets power?" Claudia asked when she was sure Attia would not respond to the idea of Morgan as Keiro's wife.

"Yeah, I mean she doesn't have any real friends. I have, you know, one or two in the Seamstress' office, but Morgan just has none," Anne said.

"Why only one or two?" Attia laughed. "Everybody loves you. Its ridiculous."

"Because most of the women at Court, especially the ladies-in-waiting, think that I just…" Anne trailed off as she kept her gaze forward.

"Fooled Casper for your own ends?" Claudia asked, but Anne only nodded slowly.

"They exclude me from a lot of things," she admitted but said nothing further on the matter. "It's that Morgan was only here for a week or two before she started flirting with Keiro, and a lot of the women think that says she's only here to get a husband. And since the King is already married and Casper otherwise preoccupied, she went for the next best thing. The three highest titles a woman can get around here are Queen, Princess, and High Duchess, and she's set her sights on one of them."

"She really thinks he's going to marry her?" Attia asked and Anne only shrugged.

"She hasn't admitted it as far as I know, but you've seen the way she acts."

"Maybe somebody should clue her in. Keiro isn't what he seems like the first night. Or the second night for that matter," Attia commented. It was a rare occurrence that she spoke of her intimate relations with Keiro, but it was also a different setting when it was only the three friends. It wasn't the same as when having dinner with their male counterparts.

"Well how many nights before he actually shows who he is?" Claudia asked curiously. She thought she might've crossed a line when Attia didn't respond, but when Claudia looked to Attia, she wasn't pained by the memory. Instead, Attia seemed somewhat confused.

"I don't know," she admitted as she turned to Claudia. "I don't really know if he put that much effort into pretending to be who he wanted to be because I already knew going in."

"Maybe that's who he is, then," Anne commented.

"What?" Attia asked and Anne looked up at her, somewhat taken by surprise.

"I just mean that it's one thing for twenty girls to spend the night with a man when he's done everything in his power to convince them he's someone he wants to be and have them all fall in love with him and want to stay with him. But for a girl to know who he is and stay anyway is…" Anne trailed off when Attia's face changed. "I mean, I don't really know what Keiro's like because you don't really say, and even Casper says that he can change his personality to fit any kind of situation. I'm just rambling now," she said and cleared her throat as she turned away from Claudia and Attia. Neither said anything, but Claudia touched Attia's arms gently before the three crossed the threshold of the main entrance into Court.

Anne was a simple country girl who grew up on a farm. Her mother taught her how to sew and she got so good at it, she was offered an opportunity of a lifetime to go to Court as the King's seamstress. Yet she could see things in a way nobody else could, even when she wasn't sure what she was looking at. It amazed Attia and Claudia how someone like Casper could get a woman like Anne who in a backwards world just happened to be born on a farm instead of in a manor to nobles. She would've gone so much higher than the Prince's mistress if ever given a real chance reserved for nobility, and yet she was so content with her place in life. All Claudia and Attia knew as they stared at each other with equal bewilderment was that in all his faults, at least Casper wasn't foolish enough to cast Anne aside when he thought he was through with her.