Being Cordial
POV: Alexandra
Elder Edgar had me tending to Countess Kastilidan but I was nervous about how I would feel around her knowing she may have been complicit in all the wrongdoing against my family. How would I find the grace to be civil to her? I thought back to the times my mother would put on her fake face to hide the quiet rage behind her eyes. I had always wondered how she did it and I would need to channel my inner Talia quickly because I was walking towards the medical tent with Derek. I stopped in my tracks to give myself more time to think. Derek asked behind me, “Why did you stop?” I turned and looked up at him, “Do you ever find yourself in a difficult situation where you have to be civil to your enemy?” He began to laugh at me and I pouted, “Why are you laughing? This is a serious question.” He shook his head, “You realize you’ve done that several times since you’ve arrived in Vellum, right?” I cocked my head to the side and asked, “What do you mean by that?” He sighed and placed his hands on his hips, “You are very civil to Melody, especially when she’s insulting you to your face. I understand that you were also bullied by the humans and I imagine you handled that with grace as well.” I cleared my throat and looked down, “I don’t know if I would say with grace. One of the last times I saw my human bully, I kicked her.” He shrugged, “She likely deserved it. I’m just saying that you have the capability to be civil to the Countess. You have it in you.” With Derek’s reassurance that I am capable, I nodded and turned to walk the rest of the way to the tent.
As I ducked my head inside, I saw Doc waiting for me. He handed me a clipboard of information on the Countess, “She hasn’t really come to just yet. She’s in and out of consciousness so you likely won’t have to speak with her much. You will need to help nurse her today per Elder Edgar’s orders.” I nodded at him, “I understand.” He left me to check on some other things and pulled Derek along with him. I sighed and walked to the separate area of the tent they had set the Countess up in. A nurse was in there changing an IV when I walked in, she smiled up at me, “Your Grace, I had heard you would be assisting with nursing the Countess today. How are you feeling?” I shrugged, “I am okay. I’m just wondering what you need me to do for the Countess.” She turned to the side table and shuffled through the drawer until she pulled out a book, “You have a rather nice voice, Your Grace. I think it would be lovely for you to read to her. She might not be conscious but she will be able to hear you.” I took the book from the nurse and sat down and began to read to her. Every once in a while I stopped to drink a sip of water but I was committed to keep reading to her until I was told otherwise.
After a while, I heard her stir and she woke up. She looked over at me and I could see tears forming on her face. She reached out to me, “I’m sorry.” I placed the bookmark in the book and looked up at her, “You keep saying that. Can I ask what you are sorry for?” I thought I knew what she was sorry about but what she said next was shocking, “I’m sorry for going against you in court. You didn’t deserve that but I followed the lead of my husband.” Her apology wasn’t for having a hand in kidnapping my brother which elicited a sort of anger within me. I said as calmly as I could, “Can I tell you, something Countess?” She nodded, “Yes.” I sighed, “In clearing out the manor, the General found a box of documents of shady dealings from your husband. Did you know what he was up to?” She was silent for a while before she looked back at me, “I knew of the contract for Celia and I knew he was dealing in contracts but I was never privy to the details or who had been contracted where.” I was looking into her eyes as she said this and I realized that she wasn’t lying to me. I sighed, “Your husband was doing some awful things. One of which was directed at my family. I realize you aren’t lying but you should know he wasn’t a good man.” She started to fiddle with her fingers and nodded, “I know that. In honesty, my father sold me off to the Kastilidans when I was a young woman around your age. I didn’t love him but he was hungry for power. I think you have seen what that does to people being a victim of it yourself. I am glad to see you are well after the last attempt on your life.”
I patted her arm in sympathy, “Let me guess, you are of Maigny blood?” She nodded, “The Marquis is my brother. I am ashamed of the underhandedness of my family. I have a feeling my husband did some terrible things at my brother’s behest. I imagine he was helping to have you assassinated. I didn’t like any of what I suspected and I can’t say as I am sad that he is gone. My only loss in all of this is the loss of my daughter.” I sighed, “I can’t say as I know what it feels like to have a crappy family so I cannot sympathize with you on that but I can have empathy. I don’t blame you for anything Countess so don’t fret about it. The only problem you now face is convincing His Majesty, the General, and my father that you are innocent.” She shook her head, “I will gladly take any punishment for the misdeeds of my family. I turned a blind eye to it and in that respect I am complicit.” I chewed the inside of my cheek, it was a habit I had from when I was little to help me focus my thoughts, “I don’t think you should take the brunt of punishment just because you feel guilty, my lady. I think if you feel guilty and feel like you deserve punishment, you could appeal to my father’s sensible nature since he may ultimately decide your fate.” After a while of her staring off into space in quiet contemplation, she nodded, “You are right. I do deserve punishment but I shouldn’t have to pay for the sins of my husband and brother.” A thought had occurred to me at that very moment, “Oh but you cannot tell your brother that we know of his misdeeds. I imagine they won’t punish you until they investigate this thoroughly so we will need your silence.” She reached over and weakly grasped my hand, “I am not a fan of my brother either. I will keep this silent as is required of me from my King and country.”
I smiled at her, “We don’t have to speak of it anymore. I’m concerned about your comfort. How are you feeling? Do you need anything?” She looked at the almost empty glass of water on the side table that I had been sipping out of, “I am rather parched.” I stood up and told her, “Say no more, I will bring you a glass of water.” I walked over to the cart the nurse had set up for the Countess. I poured her a glass of water and brought it back over to her. She smiled up at me, “Thank you. You know? I had always hoped my daughter would have been friends with you. You seem far more grounded than her cousin. Sadly, she got the same greed gene that comes with being a Maigny so she naturally gravitated to Melody. I was upset seeing this all go down. She had her flaws but she wasn’t completely bad. She wasn’t really aiming for His Majesty for marriage so she wasn’t terribly upset with being cut. She wanted to pursue His Highness. She had a crush on him from a very young age. She was jealous of you which is why she may have acted poorly against you. If she did, I am very sorry.” I shook my head, “She was rather rude on one occasion but I don’t hold grudges in that sense. She would have had to have done something really atrocious. You don’t have to apologize.” She sighed and grasped the water glass hard, “I had heard from the nurse that you were the one who found her.” I nodded, “I did. I’m sorry that we didn’t find her sooner.” She looked up at me, “Was she alive when you found her?” I reached over and gently grabbed her hand, “She was. I am sorry we didn’t find her sooner. Perhaps she would have been able to survive.” She sighed and placed the glass next to mine on the table, “I think the Gods intended for her to die that day. It is a lovely sentiment from you but perhaps they were punishing her and my husband for their greed.”
Doc walked into the room with Elder Edgar, “Oh splendid that you are awake Countess. How long have you been up?” She smiled at me then looked at Doc, “It’s been quite a while. I woke up to a lovely voice reading to me. We had a nice chat.” Elder Edgar winked at me, “So my assigning Her Grace to attend to you was therapeutic after all. I’m glad to know that I was right. How are you feeling, my lady?” She sighed, “Very sore but much better than I was a couple of days ago.” Doc came over and checked a few things, “My lady, you look like you’re on track to heal up nicely thanks to the intervention of our rather talented magic user here.” He patted me on the shoulder, nodded at Edgar, and left the room of the tent. Edgar sat in the other chair on the other side of the bed, “Now that you are up, I do have a few questions to ask you about a box we found in the manor.” She looked at him shocked, not alluding to the fact that I had already told her of this box’s existence. He looked at me, “But first, Your Grace, I will need you to clear out of the room. His Majesty has asked that you come to see him since he has a special assignment for you that I had given him to give to you while I speak with the Countess.”
I rose from my chair and walked into the main floor of the tent and looked around for Derek but I couldn’t find him. Doc approached me, “If you’re looking for your escort, she’s at the front of the tent. She didn’t want to come in.” I smiled at Doc, “What happened with The Chalshin?” He was scribbling something on his clipboard, “He was pulled away to do some muscle work on rebuilding. The General sent Lady Kellen here but she has been posted outside of the tent.” I ducked out of the tent and Jess was pacing outside. I tapped her on the shoulder, “I guess we need to go see His Majesty.” She sighed in relief at the sight of me, “Oh good, I cannot stand to be here. One day, I will get the proper training to suppress negative feelings but until then being around so much pain is painful to me too.” We started to walk towards Lucien’s tent and she asked, “How was keeping the Countess company?” I smiled, “Not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. She was rather cordial so I reciprocated. Do you know what these special orders are that His Majesty has for me?” She smiled sweetly, “I do but you’ll just have to find out when we get there. I don’t want to ruin the surprise.”
