Chapter 10: Musings, A Gift, and An Engagement
Well, we shall see, we shall see. Kaio: why do you assume that Abby's going to give her cloak to the guard? Because it's obvious?!? Well think again!!!!!!!!!!! Alright, but I hate it when you assume stuff. Anyhoo, I'm still awaiting reviews from my EVER- FAITHFUL REVIEWERS...hint, hint, hint.
Just as a note: Keosha is pronounced as Key (lock, key), oh (oh my goodness), sha (do you need an example?). Key-oh-sha. Sophia is pronounced So (so what?) fee (a parking fee) ah (ah, good, you've got it). So-fee-ah. Gorison is gore (blood and gore) ih (the I sound in 'is') son (son, daughter), Gore-I-son.
The man who had welcomed Abby to the Royal Castle can at his desk, contemplating his current predicament. His orders, as far as he could tell, did not cover ex- slaves. He had been told to report any strange people, suspicious people.
For it was obvious to a man of his talents that Lady Abigail of Mattensworth's personal maidservant was a former slave. Not only did she hold herself in a servile and slave-like way, but also there was a scarred ring around her left middle finger. Her mistress must know of her maid servant's former occupation, such a thing could not be hidden from a close friend. And close friends were just what the two seemed to be.
The man reviewed what he knew. Manisanan slave owners punished their slaves for their first mistake my taking an iron ring and heating it to red- hot. The slaves would have the rings put onto their fingers then adjusted according to their size. Once the iron ring had been on the slave's finger for fifteen seconds, it was taken off and the slave was expected to continue with their duties as if nothing were happening.
This girl's scar was faded and hardly noticeable. This meant that she received it when she was quite young, ten to thirteen years ago, or if it were more recently, then the herbs and salves used on it were powerful. Still, it was there, extremely faded, but there.
To a learned scholar and surprisingly sharp man this was quite noticeable. Despite his reputation as a slow and ponderous man, the noble was really a sharp one. He noticed many things; the maid servant's obvious protectiveness was a tell- tale sign of trust towards a safe employer.
Though the man knew that the Earl of Mattensworth was the one paying Keosha Jameson, he also knew her true devotion was to his daughter, her friend; it was obvious. He mentally studied them both, still in their travelling apparel and tired.
Lady Abigail, the rightly- famed beauty. Maidservant Keosha, a beauty in her own way.
Just what was the Earl playing at, sending his daughter, three maid- servant, one of whom was attractive. Dangerous. The Earl was practically pleading for someone to seduce either or both of the two women under his protection. Though what sort of 'protection' a man like the Earl could offer was beyond this man.
The analytical man narrowed his eyes and spidered his hands together. The Earl was not a stupid man. His daughter would not just attract rich noblemen, but all men, noble or common, rich or poor. The intellectually- famed Earl was throwing his daughter to the vicious mouths of the pack of dogs that some chose to call the Arulanthian Court.
But why?
The shadow that likes to be known as Yona carried a basket swathed in black cloth of yellow and peach roses as the person creeped silently towards the gypsy circle.
The afternoon was a drizzly gray, making Yona shiver even in the warm clothing covering the sneaking body. Three roses of each colour he placed on the entrance. The gypsies would know that a yellow rose meant friendship and the peach meant the promise of a meeting.
Yona slipped away, anxious not to be caught by the gypsies or their friends, the trees. Succeeding, Yona joined with the shadows, making a path to the Royal Castle, where his friend would be waiting.
Sophia brushed back her blonde locks and paced her sitting room. Her father had been tirelessly interviewing eligible man, after eligible man for weeks. He had actually begun interviewing before Abby and Keosha had left, but at the time, Sophia hadn't known of it.
She had moped for a day and a half after her friends had left, but she was quick at re-instating self-happiness. She quickly wrote Abby with a side-not to Keosha and continued living her life prior to their departure.
Three days after they had gone, the Earl of Mattensworth paid her father a visit. Her father, the portly Baron John, received him in his sitting room.
Sophia's original reaction was disinterest. Their fathers met at few social functions, but their business affairs brought them together frequently. She supposed that the Earl was there on business.
The future Baroness continued to cross-stitch a pattern of nymphs on a book cover as the two men conversed on the floor below her. Sophia, never an avid cross- stitcher, quickly felt a profound feeling of monotony consume her.
She stood, intending to simply pick up one of the novels that she and Abby found secret and forbidden delight in. However, her stomach had other ideas.
She quietly let herself out of her room, ringing for a servant to bring her a snack would simply give her amore idle time, which was what Sophia was avoiding.
After walking down the carpeted halls of the upper storey, the girl made her way down the large 14 and 28 stairway and turned down another hallway, which took her past her father's study. As she passed the door, a thought suddenly stopped her in her tracks.
She wasn't truly that hungry, and without the servants' knowledge, the young noblewoman had gained intelligence of three passageways that were located in her home. One of these passages led through the back of the Baron's study.
Grinning mischievously to no-one, but glad to be going something remotely entertaining, she turned in the opposite direction of the study. Minutes later, she stood infront of a family portrait painted many generations ago.
Tentatively, she reached out and felt along the bumpy edges of the elaborate frame. Catching her breath slightly, she grasped the small, almost undetectable catch that would release the door hidden behind the six-foot painting. She pulled at it impatiently, and the painting swung open silently, the well- greased hinges insured that no-one heard the user of the passage enter or exit.
Sophia entered the passage and smiled wider. The servants kept their house meticulously clean, including the passages that were not part of their job description. They even kept a tiny lamp to help negotiate one's way through the passages.
She peeked out of the passage and down the hallway. Empty. 'Good,' she thought and pulled the portrait shut behind her.
Excitement was pounding through her veins, and though she kept telling herself that this was nothing new, after a few days of intense boredom, this hasty excursion kept her blood up.
She started down the narrow corridor, holding the lamp out infront of her, an impish smile resting on her features. Soon after, she reached a corridor with wood walls. This was the extension of the Baron's study, where the architects and builders and conspired, making a passageway behind the rest of the room.
Sophia held her breath, straining to hear more than the deep murmur of men's voices. She waited for a few seconds before creeping closer to the wall. She leaned up against it and brushed back a wooden panel used by the servants to 'check if the master needed refreshments'.
She held her head close and listened,
"So it is agreed upon, then, John." The Earl's voice did not give any lee- way for argument. Sophia's father replied in a weary voice that his daughter had never heard from him before, "Yes, you will give me the pieces of land I need in exchange for what you need..." Her father paused heavily before continuing, "A bride."
Sophia pushed herself up on the tips of her toes to see through the opening.
The Earl stood, forcing notice. Her father sat behind his desk, a small stack of papers in his hands.
The Baron looked towards the Earl, who stood over the desk in a crowding manner. Swallowing visibly, Baron John Lelly's Brook turned the papers and pushed a bottle of ink and a quill towards the Earl. After reading the page, the Earl picked up the quill.
Smiling in a satisfied way, the man unscrewed the ink bottle, dipped the quill and scribbled in a short, concise way.
"There, we are even. I will call tomorrow and discuss the details." The Earl straitened and handed the quill to the master of the house. The Baron took it after a slight hesitation and signed the document aswell.
"The three pieces of land, Marton's Meadow, Seldon's Farms and Tomgonry's Wood will be yours upon my marriage to your daughter. Good day."
