Bab 67: 'I am the duchess now'
Alexander got up before the sun did as the sound of waves at the port filled his ears from the stillness of the surroundings.
Changing into some thicker outer clothes, the duke washed his face and went down. The smell of freshly brewed coffee and newly baked bread wafted throughout the halls. At the garden, night shift knights were finally relieved of their duties as their posts were taken over by others. The moon was still high up, and the walls made shadows that looked like someone was lurking behind it, waiting for the perfect time for a kill.
"Up so early?" Alexander almost lost his soul at the bold voice that crept behind him.
"Heavens, brother!" his heart pounded against his sweaty palm. "What are you doing here?" he then asked, elated this time, and stepped forward to give the unexpected guest a quick embrace and a pat on the shoulder. "When did you arrive?"
"Easy with the questions. I'm still a little light-headed from traveling," the man let out a hearty laugh before he ruffled the duke's head. "I'm famished. Why don't we talk inside? It's cold out." he declared, putting an arm over Alexander's shoulders and the two walked back to the palace's entrance.
As the entrance's light welcomed both of them, a scar across the man's left cheek came to light.
"If you're here, then Uncle must be too," Alexander pointed out. A smile slowly emerged from his face. Finally, someone who could at least share wisdom with him.
Everything would've been easy if only his uncle and Sister were around. But no. They both have the same blood running through them—blood that's always hungry for adventure. He wanted to go places too, but he's tied down to his duchy. Only his sister was brave enough to leave and follow her heart.
"He went straight to Balerno once we arrived. Not many good enough ladies for him at sea."
"And you went straight here?" Alexander's voice was teasing.
"Why, I'm cold. Don't need any reason other than that." The man sneered, looking down at Alexander. "Plus, I miss my little brother," he ruffled the duke's head once again and Alexander laughed, pushing him away.
"Tobias!" Both men looked to where another voice emerged. "I mean… Master Toby, welcome home." It was Symon. He bowed his head after clearing his throat when a maidservant passed by.
"Symon!" Toby left the duke's side and with a wide grin, stepped forward, his arms stretched sideward. "I missed you too!" the secretary grunted as Toby's beefy arms went around him and slightly lifted him off the ground. "Bet you've got laid," he elbowed Symon playfully and the secretary's eyes widened.
"How did you—"
"The wind carries the news to us, seafarers," he let out a short laugh before patting Symon's back. "Have breakfast with us. I want to know your side of the story."
"There's nothing to tell you," Symon whined, pushing off the man's arm from his shoulders.
"Oh, come on, Sy! You gotta tell me. We're brothers too, remember?"
"I don't have a huge hairy brother. Now, take your log of an arm off of me and get inside the dining hall!" Symon scolded, still trying to push Toby away, but that's just exactly what the newly arrived member of the House wanted. Just like Leticia, he loves seeing Symon's reaction, so he teases the poor secretary every chance he's got.
When they entered the dining hall, Symon pulled a tasseled lever and after a few moments, the head butler, Wallace Fyneux, passed through the opened doors.
"Ah, Master Toby, welcome home. If I knew you were coming, I would've prepared the hall earlier. I apologize for the wait."
"It's alright, old man. You know I live for surprises."
"I'll have the servants prepare the buffet and some tidy your room. I'll excuse myself, then, gentlemen. Welcome home again Master Toby and enjoy your meal." Wallace bowed slowly before he turned around and faced the direction of the kitchen down the hall.
Back at the dining table, Symon glared at Toby when Alexander asked how their travel was. Toby answered that the sea's been calmer for days and told the two that Leticia had managed to dock at one of Pradour's ports.
A sigh of relief came out of Alexander. He thought his sister would be even more delayed than planned. The sooner she gets the job done, the sooner Amelia will be out of trouble, and the sooner everything will be smoothened out between them.
"I heard that you proposed to the Duchess of Osmea," Toby started as he sipped from the freshly brewed tea a servant served them. "How is she?"
"She's doing great," was the duke's short reply before he, too, drank from his cup. "You shouldn't beat yourself too much on what happened. There was no way you would've known it was her, given that you're even barely home. You acted as what any brother would've done given the circumstances." Alexander comforted but Toby wasn't buying any.
The hall grew quieter by the second and only Toby's sighs were heard.
It was him. The guy who tackled Amelia in the western forest. Toby came to Osmea as soon as he heard from Symon that Alexander was poisoned. At that time, he was making his way to the stables to meet with some of Alexander's men and ask where the duke was when he saw Amelia lurking behind the greenhouses and into the forest.
The scar on the side of his face was from Amelia's dagger. He said it made him look more daunting at sea, saying that he got it fighting off pirates by himself, but it's also a reminder that he lost to a woman.
"I like feisty women," Toby eventually murmured after some time. "That duchess and Leticia should be protected. They're rare. Endangered."
"You should meet her ladies-in-waiting. They're a whole lot of trouble too." Alexander looked at his older brother from the rim of his cup. "The problem now is, how I would introduce you to Amelia without her suspecting that you did all those things to her."
"Or you could also not introduce me. After all, I stay most of my years at sea."
"You're my brother, of course, I'm going to introduce you," Alexander rebutted, and the man's eyes softened. He smiled gently at Alexander before he leaned forward to mess with the duke's hair again. "I am serious, brother. No matter what other people say, you are a Clement, and you are my brother."
Toby stared at him long. He raised both hands as a gesture that he surrenders. Smiling. Looking both at Alexander and Symon, Toby beamed, then the three of them feasted on what the head chef prepared for them.
**********
Today's the day.
Amelia got up early and read the papers she had set aside yesterday. Among the ones she held was the script she couldn't help but write to calm her nerves last night. In a few hours, the meeting with her Council will start.
Just for today, she chose to wear a dress. Lately, when she's doing the choosing, she always opted for those lady trousers that were ever so comfortable to wear. Amelia thought that since it was her first council meeting as a full-fledge duchess, she ought to dress like one as well—just less the extravagant pieces of jewelry and sashes.
"A chilly morning, Lia. You're up early," Laila was the first one to check on her.
"A chilly morning to you, too, Laila. Did you bring me some biscuits?" Amelia smiled gently at her lady-in-waiting, glancing at the silver tray in her hands.
"Mister Vance told me that warm milk and biscuits would calm you down."
"He's already up?"
"Yes. He didn't want to intrude so he's in the kitchen, supervising the cooks." The duchess nodded.
When Laila finished setting the milk and the platter of biscuits on the center table in front of Amelia's desk, she went to enter the bedroom to tidy the bed. It has already been made, so Laila was back in no time. She later decided to arrange the duchess' bookshelves which needed much arranging anyway.
Setting the documents on her desk, the duchess rose and gathered her robe tighter around herself, tying the matching ribbon in a double knot so it wouldn't keep coming undone.
Christa was second to arrive as Amelia was dunking some biscuits in her milk, then Constance. Arabella was the last to arrive, and in her hand were fresh towels and a small brown vial of what seemed like lavender oil used for her baths. Amelia remembered that she ran out of it a few weeks ago and took a while to find it in town.
"Mister Vance gave this to me on my way here. He said some merchants and traders came late last night in time for your birthday celebration and someone he knew bought this for you." Arabella said on her way to the washroom.
"Oh, right… there's going to be a fair starting tomorrow. That completely slipped my mind." Amelia shook her head, massaging her temples. She's been rather forgetful these past few days. The weight of bearing the news of her engagement to the duke stressed her so much she barely have her foot planted on the ground. Not to mention, Count Ratcliff's visit two days ago rattled her greatly.
Constance asked her if she was ready, and she said, though after a sigh, that she was. It was now or never. She's talked privately to her loyal council members about it, and they aired out a few concerns, all ending with different versions of 'I'll think about it'.
"I don't think anyone is ever ready," she murmured. Constance agreed, taking out the dress Amelia picked from her dresser.
Squared collar outlined with lace that hung loosely just above her chest. The pleated overdress was in a sort of powdered blue hue—like the gentle morning sky. Its sleeves were puffier than usual and tightened a little above the elbow with a bow of the same color. The overdress alone was plain in a not-so-elegant way, but looking at the box that it came with, there was some fabric underneath that they thought was just something extra.
It wasn't Madame Camellia's work so they thought it should be used to repair some future damages. It was odd when they thought of it, but they also didn't mind it so much.
Constance inspected the extra fabric and realized that it was a sash to be tied around Amelia's waist to give the dress some shape and accent. It was of the same color but had a crumpled effect. With the length, it took three of her ladies-in-waiting to stretch the fabric out and take turns putting it around the duchess. Constance took the excess and made a neatly done bow out of it.
"Loose or high bun?" her oldest lady-in-waiting asked.
"A high bun gives me a more mature aura and I need that kind of sense when I have to deal with their lot."
"High bun it is."
After her bun was done, Christa tugged on some thin hair in front to make her face gentler and more feminine. Jewelry came next; pearl earrings, her mother's necklace, her father's ring with her House's seal—besides it, on her ring finger was Alexander's ring—a pearl bracelet that matched her earrings. And lastly, her cloak gathered in front with a ruby brooch in a gold setting.
With one approving look at the mirror, Amelia headed out followed by her ladies-in-waiting. It was a good thing that she barely had breakfast because if she did, she'd be throwing up by now from the stress.
On her way to the east wing, she came across Vance who was headed in the same direction. Greeting him, she continued walking without delay and arrived earlier than usual. From the silence on the other side of the room, Amelia took a deep breath and braced herself.
"Where're the others?" she asked once Vance pushed the door open. "I was expecting some kind of defiance, but I wasn't expecting it this much." Amelia walked towards the head of the table and sat.
Excluding Vance, only three of his six council members sat in front of her. If there was anyone, she most expected to turn sides, it was Count Brant. The one in charge of the duchy's trades, Alexander already hinted him a business proposal when they last saw each other. It came as a shock to Amelia that someone as greedy as him would let an opportunity to tap with Thuenia slip through his hands.
"Those bastards," Maude whispered between her teeth, her hand clenched on the table.
"Let them be, Marchioness… If that's what they want, then so be it. I don't need people like them." With a sigh, she took the pen already on the table and found some blank paper. Scribbling something on it with a pause, the duchess let the silence hang a little longer.
Once done, she placed the pen on the side and leaned back with the paper half-covering her face. A quick read-through and a nod came from her before she passed the paper to her advisor who was seated on the first chair at the right.
"This…" Vance's widened eyes and failure to utter words after reading the paper handed to him made Maude and the others nervous. It was stamped in their faces, a mixture of impatience and curiosity.
"Vance?" Maud whispered to get some answers and instead of giving once, the advisor passed the paper to her, and then the Marchioness passed it to another with the same face as Vance had.
"I can't have people in my council who don't respect me enough to even give me a decent reason for their absence. So, I have decided to alleviate the burden. Have this made official by the end of the day, Uncle." Amelia gave him back what she wrote when it made a full circle at the people present.
"B-but Lia… They've been the Council since your father's reign."
"My father is dead, Uncle. I am the duchess now, and it's only proper that I have a council of my own choosing, and who choose me." Amelia inhaled sharply. "So, first thing's first. This…" she waved the paper, "will be made official this afternoon so it has to be sent to a scribe for an announcement. I don't want the others still running off their mouths with a position they don't value enough. Second, as you all know, my birthday celebration will be in two days. By then, I am planning to announce my engagement to the Duke of Thuenia—"
Amelia paused to look at the remaining four of her council and saw the same reactions she received from them days ago.
Uncertainty.
Disapproval.
Concern.
Hadiah
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Power 
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