Disclaimer: I don't profit from this story and all creative rights to the characters belong to Richelle Mead. The original content, ideas, and intellectual property of this story are owned by Sarah Marie Cross. Do not copy, reproduce, print, or translate without express written permission from the author.

Ch.2

She was nervous, nay troubled, or maybe it was excitement? No, she was definitely not excited, but she was a mixture between anxious to get out of the perpetually swaying carriage, and nervous to see what her new lord would be like.

Suddenly, she felt a hand a hand she knew very well smack the back of her head.

"Quit daydreamin' lassie! We're just 'bout comin' to the entrance to the castle," said Merda, her Scottish brogue coming though quite clearly.

"Ow! Bugger off! I wasn't in reverence for Christ's sake-"that earned her a scowl from Maudy, "I was wondering when what are you talking about a castle?" she demanded.

Merda pointed out the other side of the carriage, and almost poked out Edwina's eye in doing so, towards the looming brick estate off in the distance. It was a large estate, and that was saying something considering Lord Alkan's had been one of the largest in all of Turkey.

Snow covered everything, the lands, the walls, the gate, the wooden and stone bridge that crossed over the stream in front of the gravel drive, but it did not hide the fact that the Duke of Hampshire's home was something you read about in the London papers, or was gossiped about at royal dances. The East wing was especially large; protruding from the estate like it had been added to every year for the past ten years. In the center of the round drive was a massive, frozen Greek water fountain with a mer-woman holding a fish, who likely spout water in the springtime. From this distance Rose could also glimpse around the West wing and see what looked like a large green colored glass house presumably for the winter gardens.

The prince surely doesn't live this lavishly, Rose thought.

Edwina answered Rose's unspoken question, "He's said to be the richest Duke in all of Britain! His lands are the most expansive, and the most beautifully tended, of any of the other surrounding noblemen and it's said he has over 30,000 workers on his lands. He's also third in line for the throne, of course there's the Queen and the Prince ahead of him, but that may not mean much now that the Queen is getting on in years and the Prince is rumored to have a permanent ailment. It's also rumored that he is to be one of the most handsome, eligible bachelors in all the count-ow!"

Maudy had pinched Edwina's ear to silence her. "Now that's no way to be talking about our new master Edwina. You will behave as a proper young lady and keep that buzzing mouth of yours shut when we arrive. Gossip is frowned upon when one is being set to work in a new household. You do not want to be stirring the pot anymore than it already will be. As for the rest of you, you are to be silent unless or until our new lord asks questions of you directly. This is not like our beloved Lord Alkan's estate God rest his soul this is a Duke's estate and I will expect all of you to present yourselves properly."

Everybody seemed to quiet down in the carriage after that, settling into their awaiting fate that lay only a few more minutes ahead. Rose sighed again and looked outside…where she saw fences about a quarter mile away from the Duke's estate, bordering at least 40 acres of snow covered land, where she then wondered if it was for his leisure horses. Surely a man of his repertoire engages in gentlemanly sports such as polo and the like. Carriage team horses are always kept in the stables, for they needed to look their best especially when they represented a Duke, so they surely wouldn't be out in the blistering cold.

She peered closer to the glass and saw a herd of very wooly horses hiding amongst patches of trees out in the pasture. They stared at the carriage with owlish eyes and pricked their ears in that direction. Rose could see their breath plume out in front of them like steam from a boiled kettle. Probably just finished running around trying to keep themselves warm, she pondered.

Even with strange surroundings and stricter rules she presumed at least she would have her friends and of course, her beloved horse Lucifer alongside her. Along with the servants, Lucifer was the only animal taken along with them.

He was an 18 hh, white, Percheron stallion imported from the Netherlands, who was supposed to be part of Lord Alkan's head carriage team, but he had been so wild nobody could get a handle on him. So of course, Rose being herself crept out into the pasture at night and spent time with him and his herd of mares when did Lucifer not have a harem of women with him? every night for months. Slowly but surely the stallion grew to understand her, because she treated him as another horse would, not like a demanding human.

Lord Alkan had ears everywhere and once he had heard she had tamed the beast, he told her that Lucifer would now be hers. In his will he had given him to her officially, so Ralph couldn't sell him for a momentous profit like he'd planned.

Wasn't going to happen anyways, Rose thought snidely, because no one else can touch him. Thus was why he was tethered to the back of the carriage, so he couldn't hurt the driver or kick anything behind him.

Rose felt a big lurch forward, and then slammed back against the seat. Two things she was sure of: they had just hit a lovely patch of ice that led them to that abrupt halt, and that it seems to be they had arrived at the gate to the Duke of Hampshire's estate.