Eyo! So, I make a map of Erik's castle. (Basic map.) Just for reference, if you want to see it, feel free to look at this link-

the-luminist/art/Castle-design-830734198

Christine's nose prickled, there was a new sensation she couldn't identify, she frowned sniffing the air. "What's the smell?" She asked Erik, sitting behind her, his hands at the reigns.

His deep voice rumbled against her back. "My lands are mostly by the sea." He said.

Christine smiled, sitting up in the saddle for a moment, hoping to see it on the horizon. "Does that mean we're close?" She asked.

One of his arms reached up to pull her down, she sat in the saddle with a thump. "Yes, but it still more than two hours away. My castle is on a cliff next to the sea, you won't see it until your almost to the edge."

"I've never seen the sea." Christine admitted. "I cam close to it a few times, but I've never seen it."

"The water is cold." He told her. "Not warm enough to swim in."

She shrugged her shoulders, settling back into Erik's chest. "I wonder if I could. I used to swim in the lake up North, it's much colder there than here, certainly."

"Then I will take you to the beach sometime." Erik told her. "The cliff is very long, a four hours ride to the first beach, but it's quite beautiful."

Christine nodded. "Thank you."

His gloved hands on the reigns pulled the horse into a trot. Ever since the rest of his servants had come with the rest of his things, he'd been dressing in finer clothing than what he had arrived in. These gloved were embroidered, and had a small jewel in the center of the back, they were tailored to his long, thin hands. Christine wondered how much they had cost.

Nadir galloped to the side of Erik. "Should I ride ahead and prepare them for your arrival?" He asked.

Christine turned to look at Erik for his decision. Erik seemed to hesitate.

"If Christine does not mind."

Nadir looked to Christine, his eyes sharp as they waited for her decision. Christine wasn't exactly sure why, but he'd seemed wary of her ever since he'd found out that Erik had proposed to her, perhaps it had something to do with the fact she was a peasant. Or, at least, she had been.

Still, he'd been kind to her. He'd answered every question she'd had about Erik. In fact, it had been his high praise of Erik that had largely convinced Christine to accept his marriage proposal.

She nodded to him. "It's all right, I do not mind."

He nodded, then pulled into a trot and raced ahead of them. Christine watched him go.

"A wise decision decision." Erik said behind her.

Christine turned to him. "Really, how so?"

"The servants might not accept you at first, they expect a noble woman from birth." Erik said uneasily. "But seeing that we are riding to together might help."

"I see." Christine gripped the front of the saddle a little tighter. "I don't blame them, they expect a Lady."

She felt him tense behind her. "And they will be receiving one." He insisted.

"High praise." Christine said, her eyes watching Nadir hurry down the road. "Thank you."


The castle was much, much larger than she'd expected. They rode along the coast for a few minutes, she could see that in one area it poked out like the lump on Janet's leg. There, the castle lay, it's back to the sea.

Not only did it have a tower that must have been six stories in the inner castle, but an outer wall with round towers dotting every so often. Inside, the land rose to reveal the castle itself. There was the tall tower, a hall connected to it. It was all made out of the strange, dark stone she'd noticed that were embedded into the waving hills of the lands they'd been riding over. It was almost black, she blanched at how dark it must be inside the buildings.

"The easily accessible dark stone is what allowed me to make the outer wall." Erik said softly. "I never could have afforded it otherwise."

"It must be dark inside." Christine said gently. She hoped he would allow her to brighten it with tapestrys and carpets.

"Lady Giry has noticed as much." Erik said. Christine watched the castle steadily grow in height and width as they rode around to the front. She leaned back to see the top, she had never seen such a large castle. Even when she had visited her old Lord's castle with Lady Valerius.

She was a duchess now. The thought made her stomach twist.

"She had done her best to bring in as much color and life as she can." Erik told her. "She wishes to whitewash the entire castle, but I do not care for the expense."

"Lady Giry?"

"She runs the household for me." He said. "She will help you until you feel you are capable yourself."

"Does she know I'm coming?"

"If Nadir tells her, and I think he did, she will know. She is his wife." He shrugged. "He also thinks we should whitewash the castle."

"Doing this much would be very expensive." Christine murmured. She tried to think how many people and how much time it would take. It would take weeks, and at least twenty men. She decided that Erik was correct in that it was too expensive to be practical.

The outer wall must have been at least thirty feet tall, he had carved a moat along the outer edge, the sea itself spilling into it. Christine was impressed by his ingenuity as they crossed the bridge.

Two towers framed a single iron gate. Christine knew it was a newer style in castles. They waited while they slowly lifted it, it creaked and groaned. The iron was rusting a little. Christine wondered if the salt in the air made it rust faster.

They rode into the castle, there was a fair amount of green grass inside the outer wall, and then the courtyard with the center castle. There was a rusting gate they had to wait to have lifted as well.

They rode inward, Christine sat straight and tall as Lady Valerius taught her. She was glad she did so, inside dozens of people stood in lines, ready to receive their Lord. She'd never seen so many serve in one place before. They barely had ten at their her old caste. She tried counting their heads and gave up somewhere around thirty, but guessed there must have been at least fifty.

Erik stood and dismounted, giving his hand to hers as she slid down. She stood and faced all the people she was a lady of and gave a small curtsy. As she rose she noticed the sharp gaze of a woman. She had dark hair, and wore the best clothes out of everyone, in addition, she was standing ahead of them, next to Nadir. Christine guessed it was Lady Giry.

She felt Erik's hand at her back. "This is Lady Black." He said, his voice echoing around the courtyard. "My wife. She is your duchess now, and I expect you to treat her as such." He waved his hand and they all scattered save Lady Giry and and Nadir, they walked forward.

Lady Giry curtsied low, murmuring to Christine. "Your Grace."

That was her title now, wasn't it?

Erik's hand slid around her waist. "Yes. She will have the northern bedroom. Will you please have her things taken there? I will show her the castle."

Madame Giry nodded and left.

Nadir stepped forward. "Your Grace-"

"You may have the day off with your children." Erik cut in, Christine suddenly imagined a knowing smile behind it. It seemed odd that she didn't truly know what her husband looked like. The mask, the white mask seemed to be all there was sometimes.

Nadir nodded and walked off.

"He has three sons and a daughter he's very fond of." Erik explained. "May I show you the castle-" he stopped. "Or perhaps you wish to rest." He said, his shoulders hunching up in embarrassment.

Her legs where sore after two weeks of riding, but Christine thought that a long walk would do them good. "I'd like a tour, thank you." She told him.

"Very well."


It was a very large castle, at least thirty rooms. He showed her the chapel first. It was in the grassy area just inside the outer wall. It was very large, two stories high with a large glass window at the end. Entirely made of stone, it was the only building whitewashed. It's benches were new and polished, you didn't have to fear splinters breaking through your behind.

Next, he took her to one of the towers in the outer walls and helped her climb it until they reached the top. There he showed her the sea.

Never in her life had she seen something so vast and so large and so powerful as the sea. Going on and on, she felt she could stare at it until nightfall came, but Erik nudged her along, murmuring something about how they had much more ground to cover.

There were eleven towers in the outer wall, most of them were barracks and servants quarters. Each one had animal painted on the door to differentiate one from the other. She found out they sorted the outer towers into the "Sea Towers" and the "Land towers" There was one prison tower in the middle of what they called the "Sea Towers"

They moved inwards. He showed her the enormous kitchen that doubled as a bakery, the full storage room, and the basement underneath. It was almost fall, they needed all the food they could get.

One of the inner towers held three seamstresses, all furiously sewing over one thing or another. There was an icehouse near the kitchen. Christine had never had an ice house before, she thought how useful it must be.

There was the Hall, which housed an enormous fireplace. There were windows on every side, indeed, there were multiple windows in almost every room. She mentioned this.

He didn't seem surprised. "I tried to add as many windows as I could when I built it, I knew it would be dark inside with the stone."

He then showed her the Solar, the floor where she and Erik would be living in. It had many colorful tapestries, and even a rug in the main floor. The windows had heavy curtains, though they were open, with light shining through the glass windows.

Erik ushered her down a hallway, opening the door into what he explained would be her room.

There was a large bed, with curtains to draw about them. A wooden trunk with iron wrapped around it at the end of it. A rug to the side of the bed. There were two windows against one wall, the sun was on the other side, so not much light shone through, but-

Christine walked to the window, pushing aside the curtains. The window looked over the sea. She smiled, looking over the waves, her hand touching the glass over the window.

"I thought you might want the view."

Christine nodded. "Yes, I do. Thank you."

"Is there anything else you wish for?" He asked.

Christine tore her eyes away from the ocean to look around the room again. "A table." She decided. "And a chair."

He nodded, his hand reaching up to touch his mask again. "It will be done."

"She will also need a handmaiden."

They both turned to the doorway, where Lady Giry stood, her arms crossed. "She is a duchess now, after all."

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