Intrigues of a Princess
XXIII: Who's Going to Ride Your Wild Horses?
Meiden's 'illness' didn't cause the stir Aston had feared it would at the summit. The majority of delegates accepted the story at face value. Some, like Van Fanel, welcomed the change to the younger Fassa and couldn't care less what the story was. General Adelphus, for whatever reason, seemed to agree with Van. Perhaps military men didn't care for those who stayed out of harm's way during battle and then swooped down afterwards with profit in mind. Dryden's reputation of helping rather than fleecing the victims of war would sit better with Adelphus if that were the case.
The most notable aspect of Bennor's absence was how solitary Marqesita looked sitting at Egzardia's large table by herself. Under any other circumstances, the princess would have been thrilled to be given such control. Under these circumstances, the most celebrating she could manage was spreading her papers out a bit more than usual. Her little brother trying to kill her older brother was not her ideal method of coming to power.
If anything, Dryden was the only delegate who acted affected by the changes. He'd had a lot of catching up to do on the summit alone. Toss in the crisis with his family and a budding friendship with the hope for more with his estranged wife and he'd been overwhelmed. He'd spent the first few hours of the morning session fighting off weariness from being awake for over a day trying to handle all of it. He wasn't successful in staving of the yawns that came to him at regular intervals but he was able to snap himself to attention if he kept his eyes closed for too long.
As a sign of how plodding summit proceedings had become, only Eries noticed his sleepy behavior. Everyone else must have chalked it up to boredom.
Dryden was more awake after the noon break. Eries didn't have to ask why; the smell of coffee was so thick on him, she wondered if he'd rubbed the grounds onto his robes.
"And my old man actually liked all this crap," he muttered to Eries when the lead Cesarian delegate suggested a motion to recap some trade specifications discussed yesterday.
"No one likes it, Dryden. He was just aware of what he could gain by paying attention."
"Yeah, that's my father – always aware of the game. At least that was him until last night…"
Eries detected a protest within the remark but ignored it. There was a time and place to discuss Dryden's lingering doubts and this particular time and place were categorically not it.
Dryden knew it too and switched the subject. "I don't suppose we can get some time off to go over all this stuff? I crammed as much as I could, but I still don't know half of what's going on."
"Tomorrow is a scheduled break. It's some holiday back in Basram and they requested the day off to celebrate."
Dryden looked over to Basram's table. Two of the delegates fiddled with notes while the third watched the Cesarian speaker with what Dryden could swear was nervousness. He had no idea what could be threatening about trade specifications. He didn't want to know either. "Bunch of party animals, those Basramians."
Eries' plans were no wilder. "If you want, I can review our strategy with you then."
"You mean you'll tell me what your strategy is and expect me to follow it."
Eries coughed delicately. "I'm not your father."
"And neither am I. But even though I've been dragged into this, I'm going to do things my way."
"Understood." And it was acceptable as well as Dryden's way wasn't likely to be anything like Meiden's way.
"It's a date," Dryden concluded. Proving he had no hard feelings, he joked about where to meet. "So you'll be coming by my family's estate sometime tomorrow? I'm sure Dad would love to help out."
Oh, he would Dryden. But now that Meiden was gone, Eries would be damned before letting him interfere with the summit again.
0-0-0-0
Eries and Dryden settled on a much more neutral territory for their meeting: the Royal Library. It would give them access to information they might need and provide plenty of privacy because, as the name suggested, the admission standards limited the amount of people who could browse its shelves.
So they were surprised to find the main table at the library's center already occupied though the woman sitting there certainly had every right to be there.
"Millerna," Eries greeted her sister, "I thought you'd be with Father this morning."
"I was," she answered without looking up from her book. It was a thick medical tome, brand new going by the crispness of the pages. "But he was in such a weird mood I thought I'd leave him to the doctors. Besides, the librarian told me the books I ordered came in yesterday and I wanted to see them."
She held out the book for Eries to see. The page it was opened to a drawing of a human body – sans skin.
"It's…um, very nice," Eries managed.
Dryden, naturally, was more straightforward. "That's kind of disgusting. How you doctors put up with looking at that stuff is beyond me."
Millerna brightened at being called a doctor and invited Dryden to look at her other books. He sat down readily despite having a full-page spread diagramming various human organs being shoved in his face.
"And that's completely disgusting."
"Oh, it's not so bad once you get used to it."
"Why would I want to?"
The answer to Dryden's question was rather obvious. Millerna talked him through the diagram, so excited by the subject matter, she forgot to act awkward around him.
With Millerna and Dryden thoroughly occupied with each other, another man felt more relaxed as well. Allen left his guard post at the Library's entrance to talk to Eries.
"I gather this is more important than the summit business?" he asked.
"I place no priority on it one way or the other," she solemnly vowed. "But I believe interrupting them would be considered interfering with the natural progression of things, so why don't we find another table far, far away from those horrible books."
Allen glanced over to the table where Millerna was still extolling the wonders of the liver. "Regretting those sausages you ate for breakfast, are we?"
"Now, Allen!"
In their search for an area clear of any nausea inducing reading material, they found Revius loosely following his guard duty by occasionally peering around a bookshelf to make sure Millerna was still alive and then burying himself back into a book.
"What is that?" Eries asked him. "Once of those anthropology books with sketches of women from a tribe that eschews clothing?"
He frowned at her and her crude assumptions. "Please, Princess, they have shadowgraphs these days."
Revius closed the book and wedged it back into place with a sigh. "I think I liked it better when she went around yakking to doctors. If I have to spend all day stuck in this library, I will go into a coma."
"That must be her plan," Allen muttered and Revius showed his appreciation with a hand gesture.
"I might have said the same thing yesterday, but I do believe Her Pinkness has warmed to me."
"Forgive me if I sound too incredulous," Eries said, "but what are you talking about?"
Revius waved over to Millerna's table where she had moved onto explaining a second book to Dryden. "Just look at them. If it hadn't been for my great advice about her treating him better, she probably wouldn't be giving him the time of day let alone an entire lecture series on anatomy."
"Your…ad…vice?" Eries didn't care how incredulous she sounded now. Revius giving romantic tips to her baby sister – some concepts were too appalling to bother with politeness.
"Yes, my…ad…vice," Revius repeated. "And you can wipe that look of horror off your face. It's not like I gave her tips on how to consummate the marriage. I just pointed out how, well, how bitchy she was being to him – using nice words, mind you. I think it woke her up a bit. You can thank me with a small gift or monetary compensation."
She should find Revius giving nice advice less objectionable than Revius giving naughty advice but Eries was still annoyed. Even though she'd promised not to meddle in Millerna's affairs, she wished her sister had gotten it from her instead. That's what big sisters were for. Millerna shouldn't have had to go to a philandering knight instead.
She needed to get over it. For whatever reason, Millerna was voluntarily spending time with Dryden and that was a good thing. She couldn't begrudge Revius for being helpful.
She would, however, offer more help of her own. She decided to let Dryden have her summit notes so he could spend the day bonding with his wife. She had the things pretty much memorized so she no longer needed them and she'd written nothing she wasn't afraid for him to see. It was two birds with one stone really – Dryden would get time with Millerna and he'd see how open and trustworthy Eries was by giving him complete access to her summit plans.
And, quite honestly, she was getting tired of having to recap summit business to people.
She told Allen her plans and he was happy to know they'd have a free day together. He didn't quite phrase it that way exactly, but Revius interpreted it that way anyway.
He pretended to smirk at Dryden and Millerna instead. "Yeah, that sounds great. Our sweet princess will have the entire day with her man."
Eries brushed him out of the way so she could go give Dryden the notes.
"Did I say something wrong?" Revius asked.
"You usually do," was all Allen would allow. It was one thing to let Revius guess, another thing entirely to give him confirmation by trying to deny it.
At the table, Eries ran her suggestion by Dryden. He thought it was a good idea. "Looks like we'll be studying together," he said to Millerna.
"Oh, actually, I was going to go to the market in a little while." Sensing disappointment from Dryden, she quickly continued, "I mean there's something I need to get and I've been so busy with Father, this is the first chance I've had in a while to get out."
"Something you need to get…" Apparently Eries' incredulity had spread to Dryden.
"Yes, something…" she said and tilted her head slightly at Eries. "I need to get it soon too."
Wonderful. Eries had come over to be helpful and now Millerna was implying she was the reason why she had to get away. All that meant was if Eries could be even more helpful by volunteering to run Millerna's errand for her, she would be canceling out the meddling she had done by walking over in the first place. Or something like that.
"I was going to the market myself," Eries said, "if there's anything I can get you, I'd be happy to pick it up."
"You can't pick up your own birthday gift, Eries," Millerna insisted and that announcement of her intentions brought relief to everyone else in the room. She really wasn't trying to escape.
Eries should have guessed that's what Millerna had meant but the only thoughts she'd had of her birthday as of late was the needling she had done of Allen when they were trapped in the storage room. She hadn't considered what her family and friends might do to celebrate.
"Hey, if it's a present worthy of a princess and dear sister, I should come along and help you," Dryden said. "I do have quite the eye for quality merchandise."
And an aptitude for making successful sales pitches. Millerna hesitated briefly than agreed to the company.
With their plans set, they didn't hang around the library long. Millerna loaded Revius up with her medical books while Dryden carried the lesser burden of Eries' notebooks. As the trio walked out, Revius bemoaned a foreseen afternoon of lugging around Millerna's purchases like a pack mule.
Eries almost hinted that she would like a nice heavy trunk for her birthday but she'd need to be on Revius' good side if she was to get a report from him on how the day went when he returned.
"You want to follow them," Allen stated.
"I do not." I'm perfectly willing to let Revius spy on them instead.
But Allen knew her mind. "You're willing to rely on Revius then for such an important matter?"
He had a point. 'Revius' and 'reliable' were not words put together lightly. Still, she had faith. "If I were asking him to eavesdrop on council members discussing politics, I'd be worried. But this is gossip. I have no worries."
"If you insist…" He let that matter drop but there was another issue to be decided. "What do you want to do today? Nothing that takes place remotely near the market district, I presume."
She hadn't been lying about shopping, but Allen was smirking a little too much for her to go ahead with it. "Something in the theater district perhaps?"
"Given my record with plays recently, I'd rather not."
She offered other suggestions; he made a few of his own. None of them managed to strike both of their fancies, until Allen said he wouldn't mind getting out of Palas for a while to check on the progress at the Schezar estate.
Getting out of town wasn't a bad idea at all. Eries had been so wrapped up in palace business since the summit began that going somewhere where the palace was only a scenic spot on the horizon was very appealing.
This path was not without caveats, however. As much as she loved the girl involved, she was hoping for some privacy with Allen today.
But it was not to be as Allen pronounced, "We'll have to bring Celena with us, of course."
0-0-0-0
Celena was not the only addition to their party. Eries had expected Aelia to come along - the Schezar estate was her home as well. What she hadn't expected was for Aelia to be out when they arrived at Micha Revius' guest house and waiting for over an hour because Celena refused to leave without her.
"You're very fond of her, aren't you?" Eries asked Celena, thinking she wouldn't have minded a motherly figure of her own when she was sixteen.
Celena shrugged. Her deepest sentiments were expressed in actions, not words. When Aelia came back from the market, the girl was the first to greet her and helpfully carried the morning's purchases to the kitchen. That she rifled through the sacks looking for treats didn't take too much emotion from the gesture.
Groceries were not the only thing Aelia brought back from the market. She had news too. "I'm sorry it took so long, Sir, but the market was very busy this morning. Princess Millerna and the Prince Regent were out together and you can imagine how excited that got everyone."
Eries felt pretty giddy about it herself. She hadn't quite appreciated the enormity of a joint public appearance after Dryden had been gone for so long until Aelia mentioned it. She wondered if Millerna had recognized the significance either.
Celena, on the other hand, didn't care at all. It was time to go!
"Oh, but we can't just yet, Miss Celena," Aelia said. She turned to Allen. "My apologies for being so presumptuous, but the Princess and the Prince Regent were so overwhelmed by all the commotion, they sort of needed an escape and I'm afraid Sir Revius used me. He saw me leaving and he hurried up everyone to catch up with me and then once we were out of the market, I thought it only polite to ask them if they would like to come over for some tea and such."
She didn't particularly want this question answered, but Eries had to ask. "Where are Millerna and Dryden now?"
"Up at the main house. Sir Revius wanted to introduce them to his parents."
That seemed unusual for Revius.
"Said something to me about it helping out his father's business," Aelia continued.
That was more like it.
"But they do want to come over. Princess Millerna wants to see Miss Celena and the Prince Regent was, ehm, interested as well." The phrase Dryden had actually used was 'so how weird is she?' but Aelia wouldn't have her precious Celena hear a word of that.
It didn't sound as if Celena cared to meet Dryden anyway. "But we're supposed to go see the house."
This sent Aelia into another apology for inviting guests over without Allen's permission but Allen told her it wasn't a problem. And on the surface, it shouldn't be. Hosting royalty should be an honor, even if the royalty in question is a princess who formally had a large and problematic crush on him and whose presence was interrupting a secret date with her sister.
Eries understood this too, so that left Celena to be the lone protestor. She had learned enough manners to cease immediately once Revius brought Millerna and Dryden over. She even helped Aelia with the tea and tossed some biscuits and jam onto a platter to serve. It wasn't the neatest presentation in the world, but it was food and it was served with a smile.
And a question. "Hey, do you two want to see my real house?"
0-0-0-0
With so much company coming along anyway, Eries could have extended an invitation to Marqesita as well but she knew the answer would have been no. Marqesita had two brothers to look after, one with a very real stab wound and one with a very fake cold. A casual daytrip was a luxury she couldn't afford.
There wouldn't have been room for her anyway. They were taking two carriages as it was – Dryden, Aelia and Allen in the lead carriage while Eries, Millerna, Celena and Revius trailed behind. No one had really chosen the seating arrangements other than Celena practically dragging the two Aston sisters into her carriage. Aelia was going to join her fellow females but Allen decided it was prudent to have a Caeli in each carriage. For some reason, he also concluded it was prudent for Revius to be the Caeli in the company of the young women. Being stuck in a small space with Dryden probably was preferable to spending that time with Eries and Millerna and Celena's unpredictability.
Both she and Revius were behaving themselves though, commenting on the passing scenery or otherwise being quiet. There wasn't much noise in general as neither sister was feeling chatty.
Well, Eries wanted to chat. She just wasn't so sure Millerna would be agreeable.
Eries started out gently, acting as if she was doing no more than fishing for hints on the birthday gift Millerna was supposed to have bought for her. "Did you go to any interesting shops this morning?"
Millerna caught on to the surface ploy at least and wouldn't play along. "You know why I went shopping. I'm not telling you a thing."
This naturally piqued Celena's curiosity and when Millerna told her the purpose of the shopping trip, the girl tried to make Eries equally inquisitive.
"Allen's already got your gift. I helped him with it. Very nice – I wouldn't mind having it myself."
"If that's the case, Jichia only knows what kind of monstrosity it could turn out to be," Revius muttered.
Celena rewarded him with a punch to his shoulder. "I have really good taste. Ask Eries. I picked out her dress and jewelry for the last ball."
Revius well remembered the ensemble. His appreciation for Celena's judgment rose measurably.
Millerna, though not a fan like Revius, did like finally having an explanation for Eries' appearance that night. "I didn't think that was a dress Eries would ever choose to wear on her own."
"I did choose to wear it," Eries protested, feeling as if she were somehow being challenged.
"Because she realized she looked so good," Celena said.
"No arguments there." Revius was spared another blow to his arm but if he kept making comments like that, he might receive a swift kick to the shin.
"Yes," Millerna said softly, "you did look beautiful that night."
Eries didn't know why her sister was being so serious with her compliment but then she remembered the original reason Millerna had thought was behind Eries' dramatic attire.
"It was only to show off in front of the other delegates. A woman in politics has to use every means at her disposal to command attention," she said.
"Learned that from Marqesita, huh?" Revius asked.
"She had some influence…"
Millerna wasn't convinced but she wasn't going to bring it up again, not in front of Allen's sister and most assuredly not in front of Revius. He'd been helpful in getting her to be more open to Dryden but he'd accomplished that by being brutally honest. She and Eries had reached an understanding based on implying acknowledgement rather than doing any actual acknowledging. It was a delicate balance that could easily be undone by someone fumbling around ungracefully with direct honesty.
This understanding spread throughout the carriage as even Revius let it drop and Celena got distracted by the appearance of her home through the side window.
"Almost home," she said, "it's going to be so much fun."
0-0-0-0
Even after it had fallen into disrepair following its abandonment by the Schezar family, the estate house still conveyed a romantic air of old Asturian grandeur. Newly renovated, the house retained that quality through the preservation of the old architecture but had also gained a dazzling sheen of beauty that commanded the attention of the entire party as they toured it, taking in the rooms drenched in sunlight let in by the large windows. Work had reached the point where the old furniture was being moved back in and the dust clothes were coming off, revealing antique after antique set upon meticulously restored floors.
Aelia nearly swooned at the thought that all this was hers to take care of.
The actual owner of the house was pleased with the work as well. Allen had nearly forgotten how wealthy his family had once been. Away from the house for so long, the symbols of that wealth had seemed more like relics of an irretrievable time. With everything out in the midday sun, impressing literally the highest members of Asturian society, it felt as if the house – and he by association – had been lifted to its former and rightful glory.
It was a feeling that held until Celena flopped down hard on a hundred-year-old chair and put her feet up on a table that was ancient when the chair had been built. "Jeez, this chair's kind of stiff," she complained.
Dryden, with a great deal more care, sat down in the chair facing Celena. "That's how you know it's fancy furniture. Looks great, feels like crap. You should see some of the stuff at my family's house. I used to sit on the floor all the time because it was more comfortable."
Celena didn't think that made much sense. If you were shelling out that much money, you ought to get chairs you could sleep in but Dryden kept insisting it was otherwise.
"That's how it is in the noble classes. Form over function every day of the week. Meanwhile, the lowly craftsmen that churned out these gorgeous torture devices retired to the nice comfy couches they bought with all the money they got from overcharged for the things."
"I seem to remember some of those lowly craftsmen made quite impressive names for themselves," Eries said. To prove her point, she examined the leg of the chair beside Dryden and found the trademark of such a craftsmen delicately engraved at the bottom.
"I sit corrected."
Celena giggled at Dryden and it was unclear if the smile on Millerna's face was in response to him or to Celena. Dryden decided to give himself the credit.
With the tour momentarily stalled, Aelia excused herself to go explore her new kitchen. Revius went with her, not because he wanted to see it, but rather out of an instinct to follow maids like Aelia every time they set out for any place where food could be prepared with an industrious gleam in their eyes. The only foodstuffs that would be there were the ones the workers lived off of, but limited ingredients seldom translated into limited meals where those type of women were concerned.
"Can we see my bedroom next?" Celena asked when they were gone. "I can't wait to see how they did the window seat I wanted put in."
"If you are so impatient," Eries asked in return, "why wasn't that the first place you went?"
"You know how Allen is." She waved her still propped up foot at her brother. "He would have complained about how improper it was for a young lady to be showing off her bedchambers to strange men. And if he hadn't, Aelia would have."
While Allen huffed at this jape to his sense of propriety and protectiveness of his young, vulnerable sister, Dryden snickered.
He wasn't laughing for long; Eries sought to clarify Celena's comment. "So I can understand you waiting for Revius to leave, but what about Dryden? Do you not consider him strange or do you not consider him a–"
"Hey!"
"Shush, Dryden. I was asking a question."
The source of Millerna's laughing was now unquestionably Dryden, though at his expense rather than benefit. He would have pouted if he hadn't known it would only make her laugh harder and perhaps even drive the grin Allen was trying to suppress into laughter as well.
He no longer considered Allen a rival but that old, stubborn pride would be damned before he would let the man laugh at him in front of Millerna.
"Very funny, Eries," he answered instead. Making sure to add in just the right amount of self-deprecation to deflect any further remarks, he offered his own explanation for what Celena had said. "I'm sure Miss Celena was only taking into account my upstanding reputation when she discounted me from being strange."
Celena snorted, causing everyone to turn and stare and for Dryden's delivery to go straight to naught. "I don't even know you except for what Eries says about you. I just figured since you're married to Princess Millerna, nobody would care one way or the other if you saw my room, not unless you really are a strange – and you'd have to be kind of scummy too – man. You're not, right?"
"He's not…" Millerna started and Dryden breathed a sigh of relief.
Which promptly caught in his throat as Millerna continued. "Well, technically we are still married, but it's…um…" She stopped, not knowing how to go on or even why she should. Celena didn't require that thorough of an answer and Dryden didn't want to hear it at all.
"Um, okay, so you're not married, but that doesn't really address the matter of his strangeness or his scumminess."
With that, everyone was back to the lighter mood and Eries thought it a little too canny how Celena's awkward boldness had defused the situation so quickly. The girl gave no outward sign of knowing what she had done and how artfully she had done it. Celena kept plowing ahead – perhaps thinking her grace had earned her immunity for her next comments.
Or maybe she was just as lucky as she was tactless.
"Of course, I don't think it's fair that Allen would get mad. He sees Eries' bedroom all the time."
He could huff later. Allen needed to shut Celena up now. "I'm her guard, Celena. I'm required to be in her quarters."
"But you went there before you were her guard."
"Yes, in the sitting area, taking breakfast there as you have on occasion." Celena, on the other hand, had never spent a single night sleeping alongside Eries in her bed, let alone two, but Allen didn't think it would help to get bogged down in details.
"Okay, if you say so…"
Whatever point she was trying to make made, Celena switched back to convincing everyone to check out her brand new bedroom. Millerna, out of genuine fear of what Celena would bring up next, was the first to volunteer. She was not the last. The entire party was shuffling out of the sitting room and up the stairs to the second floor where the sleeping quarters were.
They were all very vocal in their admiration of how expertly the wood in the banister had been restored – everyone except Celena. She kept to herself, a sly smile the only clue as to what she was thinking about.
0-0-0-0-0
As expected, Aelia was able to improvise a full spread from the meager offerings in the pantry. She nonetheless felt that the meal was not grand enough to be the inaugural meal of the new formal dining room. This was despite was Revius' assessment – obtained through numerous samplings during the course of the meal's preparation – that it was fitting of the palace kitchens.
"But the two princesses and the prince regent-" she protested.
"Pfft, one of the princesses is just Eries and you're used to her. And look at Dryden. He's probably got stains from crappier food on his robes. As for Millerna, she's too polite to care."
To Aelia, 'too polite to care' simply meant she'd find the meal horrible but had the manners to hide it. That didn't help at all. She didn't even want to contemplate a food-stained prince regent because then she'd feel compelled to try out the house's new laundry.
Besides, she didn't think Revius could be serious about that. Royalty didn't go around in dirty clothes, even the ones that married into the crown.
In the end, she had little choice but to serve the meal as is. Revius started taking out dishes while she fretted and had declared 'Soup's on' before she had a chance to do proper table settings.
The disarray of plates and utensils didn't bother the diners. They grabbed what they needed and found their own seats, Allen of course as the head of the household taking the head of the table. Celena slid into the seat to Allen's left, despite Eries standing in front of it as if she were about to take it. Celena shrugged and said she liked the view from this side of the table even though as the lady of the house, she really ought to be sitting at Allen's right. Decorum already out the window, Eries took that seat instead, putting her next to Millerna while Dryden sat down beside Celena. Revius seemed to be staking out the other end of the table judging from how much of the flood he placed down there.
Though she didn't quite believe Revius, Aelia sneaked peeks at Dryden's robes as she served the meal. She didn't see any stains but did she ever have an ache to find a good shaving kit.
Dryden neither noticed nor would have cared if he had; he was wrapped up in a pleasant dinner conversation that had nothing to do with who had seen whose bedchambers and how scummy said person might have been. For that reason alone, he was enjoying it.
Other persons were enjoying it less so. Eries had always had a weak stomach when it came to the details of Millerna's medical studies. Discussing those details during dinner wasn't helping strengthen it despite the workout it was getting turning over and over as Millerna became more explicit.
Eries would have asked her to stop, but Celena was goading Millerna on, the inner workings of the human body apparently a subject that caught Celena's fancy more than any of her regular studying ever had.
"So if you stretched them all out, your intestines would be taller than you?"
"Much taller, Celena."
"That's really weird."
Allen sighed his sister's name, hoping she would start occupying her mouth with the chewing of her food instead of more questions about where said food went after she ate it. He'd already suggested this wasn't the most appropriate topic for over dinner, but Celena had twisted his words and accused him of protesting because she was a girl participating in the discussion. He'd never win that fight. Millerna had immediately come to Celena's defense, Eries (though he was sure she would love nothing better than for her sister to never talk about blood and guts again) would have joined in if it had gone on long enough and Revius and Dryden would have sat there grinning at him the entire time. It wasn't worth pursuing, even to claim his innocence at never trying to pursue it in the first place.
"Once they're stretched out, can you squeeze them back together again?"
"I don't think it works that way, Celena," Millerna answered. "I don't think anybody's ever tried."
"I know there's a saying that there's a first time for everything," Dryden added, "but I don't think it really applies in this case. And I don't think you should aspire to making it apply."
Celena crinkled her nose. "Eww, as if I would ever touch somebody's guts. No offense, Millerna."
"It's all right." At least Millerna thought it was all right. She didn't really know what to make of Celena just yet and it was doubtful if she ever would. She enjoyed talking with her regardless and picked up where she'd left off, skipping over though the more visceral bits. Eries was looking paler than usual.
Neither Celena nor Dryden seemed to notice because they kept Millerna busy with questions and wry comments well into dessert.
"You'll love it," Revius told Eries as he got up to help Aelia bring it out. "Pie with a crust made from scratch and a bunch of berry chunks in a thick, red syrup for filling."
Eries threw her napkin on the table. "I'm done. Discuss whatever you like; I think I'll get some fresh air."
Allen excused himself as well. Unlike Eries who'd picked at the offerings on her plate like a tiny bird, he'd eaten a large meal and couldn't take another bite.
"Sure," Celena muttered at the excuse. Revius had thought the exact same thing, in the exact same tone.
The two did head outside, out the back of the house and to the small gazebo that stood in the middle of the garden. This late in the season, there were few plants blooming but a feint perfume from the heartier flowers hung in the air. The breeze had died down with the approaching sunset but Eries felt a chill and wrapped her arms across her chest to keep warm. Allen, after glancing back to the house to make sure no one was watching, moved behind her and laid his arms over hers.
"You really shouldn't," Eries chided. She ignored her own advice and leaned back against him.
"I don't think we have to worry. Once Celena's interested in something, she doesn't stop asking about it. Millerna seems to be enjoying herself and I highly doubt Dryden would try to interrupt her. Aelia won't leave the kitchen until every last dish is spotless."
"And Revius?"
"As long as pie remains in my house, so will Revius."
"Then it's extra good thing that we skipped dessert."
"I never said I was skipping dessert; I merely had something else in mind."
He lifted his hand to brush away the long strands of platinum hair at Eries' neck. His lips were soon grazing the spot he had just cleared.
The chill be damned; Eries felt flushed. "You really, really shouldn't," Eries said and she couldn't tell whether she had spoken aloud or not.
Regardless, Allen continued, his fingertips now trailing up and down along her spine while his kisses varied from light touches to longer, lingering tastes of her skin.
Eries gave in. She no longer cared if anyone found them. She only wanted this moment to continue, to deepen as she pressed harder back into Allen and turned her head to meet the lips that were teasing her so.
"Ahem."
The cough came from the house and immediately she and Allen moved apart, standing rigid when they had been folding into each other before.
Allen tried his best to cover for them. "There, I think I got all your hair untangled from your necklace."
Their audience wasn't impressed. A combination of a cough and a snort came from Revius and it wasn't to get their attention.
Eries would not turn to face him if her life depended on it, leaving Allen to make another effort. Rather than digging a deeper hole, he simply refused to acknowledge anything was out of sorts. "Do you want something, Revius?"
"I want you to be aware that your little sister is about to invade the garden the second Aelia finds a wrap suitable for protecting such a dainty creature against the harsh elements of the early fall."
"Is that all?"
"That's all that won't make you want to punch me until I vow myself to secrecy."
Eries knew the small pond in the garden was too shallow to drown herself in but she walked over to it anyway. Her face was unbearably hot, from the embarrassment and other, more primal feelings that made the embarrassment even worse. A quick splash of cold water was exactly what she needed.
Gratitude for the warning and annoyance at the interruption prompted Allen to sigh in defeat. "How much did you see?"
Revius smiled and held up his hands. "I didn't see a thing except a guard helping a princess with a silly problem."
"Revius…"
"With that long, fine hair, Eries should be more careful. You can really mess up a chain when it gets tangled up."
"Revius…"
"What, Allen?" Revius asked flatly. He walked over and through a conspiratorial arm around Allen's shoulder. "Look, I sort of already figured something was going on with you two since every other time you were together as friends, it's been a battle who can stoically brood the most – I think you won those, by the way – and now, you're both all happy and crap. Getting confirmation is no big deal. And I swear to you I will not tell another soul. Unless Alucier asks, because he thinks something fishy is going on too but he won't admit it because you know how he is."
Somewhere in that mess, Allen found a reason to thank Revius and Eries found the courage to finally look at him. Speaking was another matter entirely. She assumed a look of indifference while her insides swam with questions. How had Revius become suspicious? He had made that remark in the library this morning. What had they done to trigger it? And had anyone else noticed?
There was a worse question she didn't want to contemplate: What if someone other than Revius had been the one to walk in on them? She pictured Celena reacting with a great deal of attention attracting yelling, Aelia fainting and Dryden…Eries couldn't picture him caring one way or the other. The threat with him was the very small radius he was keeping around Millerna and the problems her presence would have caused.
Millerna had hinted at understanding and accepting but they had been speaking vaguely, dancing around the matter so as not to get a truly clear picture of it. The scene Revius had stumbled upon – Allen's weak necklace excuse notwithstanding – was about as clear as you could get.
So Revius wasn't such a bad choice if they had to get caught. They'd be in for some ribbing for the next few days and the rest of their lives, but Revius never caused a scandal he wasn't the center of. Hopefully.
"You're not going to tell Alucier anything, are you?" Eries ventured quietly.
"I'm supposed to say no, right?"
"I think it would be in everyone's best interests," Allen told him. He slid out from under Revius' grip to join Eries. "The fewer people that know-"
"I know how this stuff works, Allen. Jeez, I'm not naïve. But we're talking about Alucier. He's not some noble craving the latest gossip. He's practically family."
Considering how little they wanted their actual, biological families to know, Revius' argument should not have held much weight.
But it did, more and more as Eries realized, conversely, how much lighter the relief that sharing this secret among her closest friends might make her feel. Not having to lie to those who mean so much to you – even if it's a lie of omission – had its appeal.
"If he already suspects something…" she said, her conviction already wavering.
"Yeah, he does. I mean, I think he does. Like I said, he's plays it cool like he doesn't know or isn't interested, but I can tell."
"You can tell." Allen said flatly. There was a lot hinging on this. Revius' intuition wasn't necessarily the firmest of foundations.
In his mind, it was just fine. "I can tell. My hunches aren't so bad you know. For instance, I had a hunch that when you two sneaked off, it might be for the best if I rushed through dessert to keep an eye on you so nobody else would. That seems to have panned out, you know."
Allen gave up. He was going to defer to Eries. They both ran risks if their affair became public but hers were greater than his. The Schezar name had been dragged through the mud already by Leon. A little more tarnish from a fallen knight wouldn't mean much. If anything, Celena would be overjoyed at the isolation from high society.
But Eries… What was the saying? The higher you are, the further you can fall.
Not that Eries had any fear of Alucier ever letting her fall. "Don't tell him," she told Revius. "I will."
"Are you sure?" both men asked.
"As you said, Revius, he is like a brother to me. I know he never betray my trust. I owe him a similar level of trust."
The decision pleased Revius though he couldn't help but complain that he'd been left to walk in on them. Were Eries' feelings towards him not fraternal enough?
"Please," Allen snorted, "I thought thinking of you as a brother was the absolute last way you wanted women to regard you."
"Just the single ones. Eries is obviously taken."
He was begging for retaliation but it had to wait as Celena emerged from the back door, a second helping of pie in hand.
She took one look at the serious Allen and Eries and the less solemn Revius and promptly lost interest in finishing dessert. "What's going on here?"
"Nothing, Celena," Allen answered. "Now, why don't go back and finish eating in the dining room?"
"Uh, huh, nothing. I know you, Allen. You've got the extra uptight expression that means you were talking about things you don't want me to hear."
"Doesn't it stand to reason then, that I'm not going to tell you anything that we were discussing?"
"So it was something good!"
"Celena…"
Once the Schezar siblings were in full bicker, there wasn't anything for Eries and Revius to do but let them hash it out. Eries walked back towards the house and gestured for Revius to come with her.
He was reluctant to go. Celena could, at any time, say anything. Such unpredictability and its effect on Allen were a hard show to walk away from.
Being dragging wasn't any easier but Eries held onto him, eventually using her fingernails as a prod for him to get moving. It was a shame because just as the door began to swing closed behind them, Celena launched into a tangent about Aelia never letting Gaddes finish all the good stories about Allen's days at the Castello.
"Oh, come on, don't you want to hear Allen wiggle around that?" Revius pleaded with Eries.
But she had no such desire. She'd come to the conclusion long ago that she didn't need to know all the details of Allen's colorful past. She had the basic summary and if Allen wanted to fill in any gaps, that was his choice. She had no need to listen in on a silly fight with his sister.
A serious discussion between her sister and Dryden was a horse of a different color. As the approach the dining room, she could hear the two still deep into discussion of medicine. The topic now was how Dryden could help Millerna set up her medical schools.
Eries stopped, not wanting to interrupt. Then she found a nice obscured spot behind a large cabinet, wanting to hear.
Eries was no lip reader but she was sure Revius mouthed the word 'hypocrite' to her before joining her behind the cabinet.
"Habit of yours?" he whispered once they were settled out of sight.
"Oh, shut up." It wasn't a habit per se. More like something Eries did on important occasions when in need of otherwise unobtainable information. A necessary evil, you could call it.
Revius did as told and kept quiet. His own experiences with eavesdropping had proved fruitful and having been the giver of the advice that had convinced Millerna to be nice to Dryden, Revius believed he deserved to see how those crazy kids were making out.
So far, they were making out in the most boring way possible. They had at least gone further than medical supplies and were discussing Millerna's skills. She insisted they weren't that impressive. Dryden objected, bringing up the surgeries she'd performed on both Allen and Van Fanel. Revius might have found the anecdotes interesting if he hadn't already prized the details out of Allen earlier.
"Isn't the point of eavesdropping to overhear good stuff?" he whispered to Eries.
She informed him the definition of 'good stuff' was highly subjective. Revius might be bored to tears but she was enjoying every word exchanged. Proclamations of love or even a speck of romantic interest were a long way off, but every word Millerna and Dryden shared meant they were taken a step towards them.
Possible steps, Eries had to remind herself. She was counting an entire hennery of chickens before a single egg had been laid.
"You seem awfully vested in your sister's love life," Revius said.
"I want her to be happy."
"And here I thought your goal was to see her wretched and miserable. You know what I mean."
"No, I don't."
"Oh, come on!" But Eries wouldn't budge so Revius did the budging for her. "She could be happy if she stayed single too. You of all people should get that. But you keep wanting her to get with Dryden like he's the only way she can be happy."
"I don't want to know where going with this, do I?"
"You want her married off to Dryden so you don't have to feel guilty about Allen."
"I…That is the….dumbest…thing," Eries stammered.
"I'm not saying it's your only motive, or even your main one, but you've got to admit. It might make things easier for you. Millerna wouldn't have any hard feelings because she's got her man and if the prince regent and princess got back together, a nice line of succession that leaves you free to do pretty much as you wish would be reestablished."
"I've never even considered that." And she hadn't considered the succession business. It would be to her benefit if she were removed from the line in terms of a future with Allen.
But she wouldn't want that, not at the expense of Millerna's happiness. But again, if Millerna did reconcile with Dryden, there'd be no expense to pay at all.
She still repeated her demand to Revius that he shut up. Her primary interest wasn't for herself and he'd better get that through his head.
"Defensive much?"
She gave him a glare that very clearly meant he did not want to be told to be quiet for the third time.
Very defensive, he thought to himself.
While Revius and Eries were having their little spat, Dryden had gotten bolder. He was openly encouraging Millerna to resume her studies.
Then he got bolder still. "On my trips, I've met with some pretty prominent people in the medical community. They're always eager to get funding any way they can and a wealthy merchant is a great source. I could take you with me next time, introduce you to them."
Revius clapped silently at Dryden's offer. Perfectly altruistic on the surface, perfectly opportunistic once you dug deeper.
Millerna sensed the implications hidden in Dryden's generosity and balked. "I don't know, Dryden. It's seems like a big step. You saw how those people reacted to us in the market. If we went on a trip together…"
"A business trip," Dryden clarified. "We stay in separate cabins and spend as little or as much time in each other's company as you wish until we meet with the bigwig doctors."
A completely fair, on-the-level offer, but Millerna wasn't in any hurry to accept it. Traveling together carried certain connotations which led to certain expectations she didn't feel prepared to meet.
Before he could get a 'no' for an answer, Dryden took the offer off the table, or at least placed it on the side. "I'm not saying we leave tomorrow. I've got all this summit crap to deal with and who knows when that'll be over. And after that, winter's never really a good time to travel."
With a reprieve until spring, the idea became infinitely more appealing. Millerna would love to meet with all those doctors. Dryden's presence there might actually help her out too. Asturia wasn't the only country that looked upon female doctors with disapproval. As much as she would prefer otherwise, having a man standing beside her would probably grease the wheels as it were and result in more profound discussions instead of the mighty intellectuals patronizing the pretty princess.
And spring was months away – plenty of time for her to get to know Dryden better, perhaps even enough time for her to want to meet those certain expectations.
"That sounds interesting, Dryden," she said. "We should talk about it later, when it gets closer to when we would go."
It wasn't a rock solid confirmation but Dryden was not going to complain about his progress. It wasn't that long ago he was traveling from country to country to avoid Millerna. Now there existed the very real possibility that he could be making those trips with her. Definitely an improvement.
Eries was also pleased with his progress and she knew Aston would be thrilled. Without any real prodding, Millerna and Dryden were coming together. Such a development occurring without outside pressure could only bode well for their future, she was sure of it.
Revius nudged her to indicate they weren't going to alone much longer. The back door had opened and Celena was already bounding towards them, wondering why they were standing behind a cabinet.
She didn't have to ask though. Celena overheard Millerna and Dryden talking in the dining room and had an answer. "I think Allen would remind you that eavesdropping isn't the proper behavior for a lady," she said, loving the ironic twist of being the lecturer on bad manners instead of the audience. "It's also not good for a gentleman but I don't see how that applies in this situation."
"Har, har," Revius replied. When Allen joined them, his manners became deplorable. "You know, for somebody who supposed to be a complete ditz, your sister can work in some pretty sharp digs."
Over Celena's objection and the importance of defending family honor, Allen could only agree. "It's amazing the subtle details and minor nitpicks she'll find and use against you."
"Hey!" Celena's protests became so loud they attracted the attention of the previously oblivious diners.
Dryden and Millerna exchanged looks. They'd heard Celena and Allen come in, yet somehow had missed Eries and Revius, meaning the latter two must have been very quiet and not without reason.
"Hey!" Dryden shouted. "Can you guys hear us okay or do you want us to talk louder?"
Her chance for revenge at hand, Celena answered for them all. "I think they heard everything or else they would have hid behind something closer to the dining room than this cabinet."
"All right, then. I hate repeating myself." Dryden didn't think his comment was all that clever but upon seeing a smile bloom across Millerna's face he felt like the wittiest man alive.
"I guess you can't blame them for being curious," she said softly. This was for Dryden's benefit only.
"Nah, I don't blame them. I can still fault them for it though."
Smiling expanded into chuckling and Dryden added luckiest man alive to his qualities.
At this point Eries had moved from behind the cabinet into full view of the dining room. What she saw was even better than what she had heard. It was so good in fact, that she decided she didn't need to see any more of it. "Let's leave them alone, shall we?"
Allen agreed and sent Celena off to help Aelia clean up in the kitchen. Revius went with her, mumbling something about how happy couples needing their privacy.
Eries' mood was so light she didn't care. She and Allen's relationship had had its first public exposure with no harm done and she was confident that the second to Alucier would go as well as the first. And then she had walked back into the house to discover that Dryden and Millerna might actually have a relationship too. She didn't even care if Revius' theory on her motives was true or not.
If everybody's happy, what could possibly be the problem?
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Next Up: We hear Bennor's side of the story and Dryden listens to Meiden's. But our charming mystery Cesarian has stories of his own.