Chapter 13: An Uneventful Evening

3rd of Month of Earth, 1822

9:37 PM

The guard leads us into the library, followed by Hayes, the Emperor, Lady Jessamine, and myself at the end. There's an air of merriment that's not quite snuffed out by Euhorn's usual brooding. His Lord Protector is never truly relaxed, but even he has a small smile as he watches for anything the patrols missed. My eyes focus on the ceiling, checking for shadows darker than the rest. Paranoia is a part of our lives, but we're going through the motions tonight. It has been too good, too full of wine and fun to dwell on the assassins we have to imagine are everywhere.

Sergeant Sykes stops at Euhorn's chambers, opening the door without ceremony. Hayes passes him to inspect the room while I keep watch. After a minute, the Emperor's Lord Protector returns. "Clear, Your Majesty."

"Thank you, Edward," Euhorn says, turning to his daughter and me. "Corvo, take Lady Jessamine to her chambers, then you are dismissed for the evening."

I nod. "Once Amata arrives, sir."

"She should be waiting for you." He doesn't bother hiding his slight aggression, something I'm used to. Though his tolerance of me is less than usual tonight.

Jessamine steps forward with open arms. "Good night, Father."

Only then does his old face show any hint of softness. He smiles down at her before huging her tightly. "Did you enjoy yourself, Jessamine?"

"Of course."

Euhorn towers over me by a full head, and his daughter only just comes to his shoulders. They hardly look related, except in their faces. They both have the slightly pointed chin and nose of the Kaldwin bloodline. But with their backs turned, the relation is easy to miss.

The Emperor smiles. "Then it is a good night. Sleep well."

As the two separate, Jessamine gives her curtsey and continues through the library. Euhorn's gaze turns cold again when it lands on me, but I pretend to not notice. I give the standard bow before following Jessamine. Neither Sykes nor Hayes follow me.

I catch up to my benefactor before she gets through the door. Another guard on patrol nods without stopping. We turn left before we reach him, taking the hallway leading east.

Jessamine drifts closer to me as we walk, until she is nearly leaning on me. "Father was not unfair to you tonight, was he?" she asks quietly.

"No more than usual," I shrug. "I would have liked to get a drink or two in him, make him relax. The Shaws were paying for it anyway."

"Parliament is bothering him again. A vote is not going the direction he hoped."

"The tariff, if I heard correctly."

"But that doesn't give him the right to take it out on you. I'm sorry, Corvo." She grips my hand on the last statement, adding emphasis. But the touch is gone before I can dwell on it.

I consider telling her my assumption on his anger. It was his precious daughter asking me to dance. Euhorn is having trouble coming to terms with the suitors pining after his daughter. His adviser suggested she accept a dance from one of them tonight, if only to make the public see her as an adult. He eventually agreed, and Jessamine did partially. She chose me, claiming I "have the best footwork of them all." Caught between the rock and the hard place, I sided with Jessamine. It was a wonderful, short dance. But it damaged the already rough relationship I had with the Emperor.

"We all make mistakes," I say and return the brief touch on her hand. "It will take more than that to scare me away."

She smiles at me. It fades when I take my hand back.

Reaching her room a moment later, I briefly search it as Hayes did Euhorn's. My hand rests on my sword while I check behind her curtains, under her indecently large bed, and in the wardrobe. No assassins tonight. I circle the room a final time before waving my charge in.

"Amata is running late," I think aloud.

Jessamine agrees, taking a seat at the small table in front of her fireplace. A kettle for tea rests in the center, surrounded by ornate cups. She removes her heels, then rubs her feet. "Could you get-"

I already have her lower drawer open, and remove the false bottom. A sealed bottle of Dunwall whiskey, flanked by four crystal glasses, rests in the hidden case. Her father doesn't approve, but he doesn't stop her. As long as she does not drink in front of him, they both pretend the other doesn't know.

"Hopefully Amata brings ice," I say quietly. This room is against the Emperor's, sharing a fireplace with his. There is a bit of brick to divide them, but it's not hard to listen through.

Jessamine opens the bottle and pours herself two fingers' worth. "Only to help with my sore feet," she defends. It should do little other than numb her pain, and she barely touched alcohol at the ball tonight. No reason to protest.

I sit across from her and make my own drink. "There are worse things than warm whiskey."

"Like suitors competing for your hand," she smiles, then raises her glass. "To the Void with them."

With a soft tap, we salute. The alcohol still needs ice, but it's acceptable. "How many did you count tonight?"

"Two admirers with the courage to ask, another three without," she laughs after finishing a large sip.

My reply is interrupted by her raised finger. She closes her eyes to focus on recollection. "There were four guards in disguise, two watching us while the others mingled in the party. They met with their Captain by the kitchens every half hour."

"Good. Did the uniformed guards miss any thieves?"

"Only one. They arrested the man trying to take silverware, but not the woman who stole a wolf statue from the study."

"And how many exits were there? Not counting windows."

"Three…" I can see the tension in her face, the slight doubt. She was confident before, but I may have stumped her this time. "No, four. Kitchen, main door, servant's exit, and upstairs balcony."

"You pass," I say, smiling as she opens her eyes.

With her own grin, she leans forward on the table. "I knew I would."

I drum my fingers on my glass, satisfied with my student. "With a little more practice, you'll notice more than the Watch. Never a bad trait to possess."

"And more fun than discussing politics. Now it's time for my reward." She pauses briefly, never letting her mischievous eyes leave mine. "Was Lord Danforth flirting about again?"

"I saw him attempt with Ladies Zann and Pierce. Gardner was his last target: she drove him out by pouring wine on his shirt. I heard this after the fact, unfortunately."

"And we missed it?" she says with amused disappointment. "I wonder if we could repeat that at the next ball. Do you think we can get one of the Watch to say he's spreading rumors about her?"

I laugh, loud enough for Euhorn to hear. We'll see how long it takes for him to check on us. "Lord Shaw had to be carried to his room after too much to drink. His wife danced with father Pendleton as retribution. Lord Harris burned off his coat tails when he tripped into the study's fireplace. And one of the Roberts girls was bitten by a guard dog trying to sneak away from the party. It was a mostly uneventful night."

She nods with a slight giggle. "Yes, no one was stabbed, but it was still entertaining. Was anyone worried about the Tyvian merchants from last week?"

"I heard bored chats about it, nothing more. Few seemed to have noticed or care."

"Good, I suppose," she says with less of her previous smile. "One less thing for Father to worry about."

I lean towards her, trying to be stern. "And nothing you need to worry about this evening. Even if it was something you could solve, it wouldn't be tonight. There is no point in troubling yourself over it now."

"I know." She stands and walks towards the fireplace. Her fingers spin the family ring on her right hand absently. "But there will be. Eventually, I will have to take Father's place. I will have to balance the needs of everyone and pretend it's easy. Choose who deserves to be fed more, how much we are allowed to interfere in their lives. And I will have to pretend I'm sure of my choices."

"Eventually, Jessamine," is the best answer my mind can create.

She laughs darkly. "Father knows it will not be long. That's why he's bringing me to his adviser meetings now. He wants me to be ready."

"You will be," I say, leaning towards her. "Your tutors will make sure of that. For now, all you can do is defeat the problem in front of you. If you spend all day worrying about next week's meals, you will forget to find food for today."

As she turns back to me, the doubt on her face is apparent. It's fading, but still there. She feigns a small smile. "That's the best I can do, then? Place one foot before the other until something stands in my way?"

"No, you walk towards that something knowing you'll find a way to beat it, as you always do. And knowing that worrying about it will not make it any weaker."

This time, her grin and small laugh are genuine. "I should have warned you being my Lord Protector included providing my moral support, I suppose."

I raise my glass. "As long as you don't ask me to cook as well."

Her light blue ballgown, an almost exact match to her eyes, shimmers as she giggles. The fire's light ripples across the fabric and her pale flesh. I feel myself smiling at the sight, a little unsure if I can stop myself. It's not an unpleasant sensation, even if I'm not in complete control of it.

"We have Amata and Christopher for that, do not worry," she replies, still chuckling.

"Then we are all safer for it. I have a question if you will allow it, Lady Jessamine," I say as I relax back into my chair. "Will my duties include vetting admirers in the future? Or will you trust someone else to investigate them?"

Her smile flinches for a moment, but remains. Odd. "It will likely be you, if only so I can scare them away."

"And why is that?"

"Knowing an embarrassing secret is usually enough to dissuade them. If they can avoid my father, I trust you will find something that will help me dodge the leeches." The sarcastic disgust she has on the last words says she's not overly serious.

Her tone makes me laugh loud enough to remind Euhorn where I am. But until he comes in to interrupt us… "I will be happy to help. What shall I do if we come across one you take a liking to? Surely there will be at least one you don't wish to chase off."

An odd look comes across her face for only a second. The fire's flicker accents a shadow on her gorgeous features, a worried seriousness. The expression is common enough when we are alone and the doubt she hides finally creeps out. I can usually pick out the source of it, which is the odd thing. Nothing about our conversation stands out enough to cause this.

She recovers quickly, though her smile does not quite return to its former humor. "I doubt you will have to worry about that, Corvo. None have captured my interest, and I do not see that changing."

I top off my glass, then stand to fill hers. My smile is feigned, but is hopefully enough to convince her. "If I may speak freely, I doubt the Emperor will like the sentiment." The new seriousness of the conversation drips into my tone.

"Father does not want his little girl to be courted: you know that," she says with a bit of mirth.

"But his advisers will. A bit of bullshit about a female ruler needing a strong man beside her for appearances. He will fight them on it, but he'll give in like he did tonight," I say calmly, looking slightly down towards her.

She maintains a bit of her good nature, what little remains. "And what is your point?"

"I could help," I shrug. "I can find out everything about the suitor, ensure whatever one you take is tolerable. What skeletons are in his closet, how he talks behind your back, his preferred breed of dog. It keeps the advisers happy, and you get company you enjoy. Everyone is happy."

"Mostly." The same odd look comes across her face again, the mysterious doubt. "It will force me to feign affection for someone. And that someone to pretend they do not know the truth."

"It's called making the best of a bad situation. Sometimes, it is all we can do." I try to sound understanding, unsure of how successful I am.

Almost instantly, she grows a genuine smile. "Or, I could create my own solution. Perhaps you can be the strong man beside me. Dunwall is afraid of you as it is."

"Then I am doing my job properly," I laugh.

"It could work. And I prefer your company to any admirer Father could find for me." Her smile is as wide as it has ever been. She looks up to me with a happy hopefulness in her blue eyes, making me smile back.

"All you have to do is convince the advisers their soon-to-be-Empress having a public relationship with her Lord Protector is a good thing."

"They do not need to approve of everything," she says quietly, her smile a touch softer than it was a moment ago.

This is the second time I've seen this glee on her tonight. The first was at the ball, when we were dancing. I managed the best I could, desperately remembering my Lord Protector etiquette lessons. The slow song helped, as did Jessamine talking me through the steps. When I looked at her, she held the same smile she does now. Somehow distant as she dreams, but only partially. Her imagination adding something to the moment, rather than replacing it.

I smile at her and begin to talk when a knock sounds at the door.

"Lady Jessamine?" Amata asks from the other side.

Stepping back from my charge, I never let my eyes leave hers. "It appears I'm dismissed," I say quietly.

She sighs as her smile fades. "Unfortunately. Come in, Amata."

The young servant enters slowly, and upon noticing me, nods politely. "Good evening, Lord Corvo."

"Evening," I say with the same motion. "Emperor Kaldwin told you to relieve me, I assume?"

"He said you should be dismissed before I arrived." She flashes me a small, knowing grin. "To my knowledge, you escorted Lady Jessamine to her room and retired for the evening."

I give her a gracious bow before turning back to my charge. "Good night, milady," I whisper.

"Before you go, a final toast," Jessamine orders with a raised glass.

"To?" My drink is far enough away I have to reach for it on the table. I must've been stepping towards her when she leaned against me.

"To making the best of a bad situation." The quiet smile she wears reminds me of the dance again.

I grin back, allowing myself to dwell on the memory. "To making due." I tap my whiskey to hers, and finish it quickly.

Our glasses clink softly on the table as I move to leave. Amata smiles, closing the door behind me. I pause in the hallway, finding it strangely hard to keep going. It's like a gravity is pulling me back towards the room. I pop the bones of my knuckles and convince myself to move on. Maybe after a night of sleep, my head will make sense again.

I know, long time to wait for such a short chapter. Blame the holidays and stress. But hey, it's something and it's up, right? Whoo.

Anyway, I make no promises when I'll get the next one up, but I'll be working on it soon. Believe me, I need the distraction. In the mean time, enjoy a look at Jessamine and Corvo before their lives were totally upended (or ended, depending on which one you're talking about.) Cheers! ~MGA