Rendezvous
POV: Alexandra
Mordred and Vanessa worked as fast as possible to get together the item that would hold my power to keep my uncle warm. All that was left was for me to imbue it with my ability, all I had to do was touch it and it would take some of my Healing Heart ability and keep the item charged for a few days. Vanessa said it was the best she could do without a Tarny crystal in her possession. She was petitioning the Council for one that she could make a better item for Talon and he wouldn’t need to rely on my having to charge it so much. This took one of my stresses off my table and I was happy to see my uncle was adjusting back to life in Vellum. He didn’t quite know what to do with himself at first but he asked me if there was something that he could help out with. They weren’t going to let him back into the Citadel until he could get counseling and they felt that he was emotionally stable enough to resume is duties as a soldier for the crown. I had told him that I was trying to set up a home hearth for magical tool practice that I hadn’t gotten around to creating. To my surprise, he had been the one to make Vanessa’s hearth in her cottage and I knew that her’s was probably one of the more reliable to hearths in all of Vellum. I told him I would ask the manor foreman to get with him about materials. My mother stood behind to take care of the household duties that the lord or lady of the house was responsible for. It wasn’t much since the King was going to be away so he didn’t have many duties to give to Blackwood. Ordinarily, the duties of House Batiste included the overseeing of exports of goods that could only be found in Blackwood. We also maintained the royal hunting grounds and the King’s Forest Lodge, making sure no one disturbed them. I had not been out there since living in Vellum but I always sent a man out to do that for me. I told myself that I would check it out for this month once I got back from the retreat.
I had packed my bags for a few days worth of leisurely clothing and a bathing suit since I had been told that one of the main features of the retreat was the hot spring. It had restorative properties in the water which was likely why the Queen Mother had suggested to the Lucien that we go there. Jess’ birthday was tomorrow so we wanted to get there the day before. Luckily her birthday happened to fall on the fall break from university. I was waiting out front for the rest of the party from my household to appear. We would have to take my carriage to a rendezvous with Lucien and take his carriage to the retreat. The guards there would not let anything but royal carriages into the grounds so Lucien said that we would take two carriages to carry everyone. Jess emerged from the front door with her bag in hand. She smiled at me, “Xan, how are you feeling today?” I smiled back at her, “I am feeling pretty great today. One of my stresses was worry for my uncle and he seems to be doing okay. Mordred is working to find out what my curse is exactly so it doesn’t bother me for now. Those are the two major things. I think the ability to spend the next couple of days not having obligations or worries will do me some major good.” She nodded, “I hear that the King’s Retreat is one of the more relaxing spots in all of Vellum. This should help all of us out, I am not going to lie but I feel the stress I’ve had worrying about everything is being felt in my shoulders.”
Derek spoke over her shoulder, “I can give you a massage while we are there. I’ve been told my massages are legendary.” She looked down at her bag and blushed which caused me to giggle. I looked over my shoulder at him, “I believe they have therapists there for that, Derek.” He sighed, “Well darn, I was looking forward to give my two lovely ladies that I live with a nice massage for taking good care of me. I will have to come up with something else.” I shrugged, “I guess, I was told that Lucien has a surprise event for us but he wouldn’t give me details in the letter he wrote to me. I tried to ask Blake too but he said he had no idea either.” Jess looked at me, “How is Blake anyhow? Is he okay and out of the wheelchair?” I nodded, “Yes, he was still staying at the castle until after the retreat. He’s going to ride back to Blackwood with us after and Dorothea has agreed to portal him back to Mesha. It’s the most secure way to get him back home. He has eyes on the House Delnaro so he isn’t stressed about them anymore. I asked him to find out how involved Litha was in The Order.” Derek sighed, “It has been stressful not knowing if you can trust your own friend.” Jess elbowed him, “Isn’t the point of today and the next few days is to de-stress Xan?” He rubbed his rib, “Sorry Lex, I forget. If you ever need a hug, I’m your guy.” I smiled up at him, “I will keep that in mind, thanks.” He spread his arms and I giggled, “I don’t need one now silly.” He looked down dejected just as the carriage rolled up.
A short ride to a place just outside of Tarn later and we saw where the two royal carriages were sitting. We all climbed out and stood by for the coachman to unload our bags with help from Derek. One of the carriages opened up and both Lucien and Blake climbed out and walked over to our carriage. They both were smiling widely and wearing jeans and button up shirts, looking far more relaxed than they usually do. Lucien walked over to help Derek take the bags over to the other carriage and Blake shrugged, “My brother won’t let me lift things. He’s paranoid that I will open my stitches.” I nodded, “I agree. You should take it easy.” He smiled wider, “I am happy that you care so much.” He offered his elbows to both Jess and I. We both took his offer to escort us over to the carriage and we all stood outside of the carriages as we waited for Litha, Alesha and Meldon to show up. Derek was asked to invite another man to come along with us and he happened to choose his best friend. Sadly, his best friend was part of the House Maigny. Meldon had promised not to tell his sister and family about the purposes of this retreat so that he could be around Alesha. He had a major crush on her and had hoped that the panel would not select her for the Queen competition. Alesha was likely not aware of Meldon’s feelings and I wasn’t going to tell her since I hadn’t met Meldon or knew anything of him to help him out.
Just then a carriage was pulling up, the logo on the side was a shield with ivory and yellow colors with a raccoon and the motto stating “Domit Et Focis” with the sides of the shield lined with snapdragons. The inclusion of the flowers helped me to know that this was a Delnaro carriage and I tensed up a little. Blake placed a hand on my shoulder and whispered in my ear, “I haven’t seen anything to indicate that she knows about what her father is doing. I have merely confirmed that he sneaks out to meet up with The Order.” I let out a relieving breath, “I will choose to trust that is the case then. Thank you for helping to put my mind at ease.” He smiled and nodded at me, “I intend to dig further during our time up there.” Lucien helped to bring Litha’s bag over and she smiled at Blake. She greeted me and then went straight to flirting with Blake so I excused myself to go talk to Lucien. He smiled at me as I approached, “Hi Lucien, I am wondering if you might have some water. I’m a little thirsty and I hadn’t thought to pack a bottle.” He chuckled, “Well I didn’t think anyone thought to do that. I have a whole case of water bottles in this box. They aren’t going to be cold but they will be refreshing.” I smiled at him as he handed the bottle to me, “Oh gods bless you. I was wondering if I was going to get dehydrated on the way up.”
Another carriage pulled up and I turned to see which one it was. This one had a shield with blue and black with a tiger. The motto was “Fiduciam In Omnibus Faciemus” and lined with tulips. It was Alesha but it looked like she had picked up Meldon on the way as he hopped out to help Alesha exit the carriage. He and Lucien grabbed their bags while he escorted Alesha over with a large smile on his face. He was telling Derek that he used an excuse that Alesha’s family had asked him to escort her on a trip to Mesha to take in the sights of the sea. They seemingly bought the excuse because he was easily given permission to leave with no interest from his sister about where he was going. Lucien then got everyone’s attention, “Hi all, before we load up, I want to inform you that titles will not be tolerated on this trip. I am simply Lucien.” He walked over to direct to Meldon, Alesha, Litha along with Jess, who had volunteered to sit with them, to the back carriage. Derek turned to Lucien, “So what’s this surprise that you were talking about anyhow.” Lucien snapped a finger as if Derek had reminded him, “I have one more thing to announce. I have set up date scenarios for each of the men to go out with each of the ladies.” All of us stared at him in astonishment as he walked over to the front carriage and held out his hand, “Alexandra, let’s go.”
