The Move
I was directing the staff on what needed to be taken through the portal and what would stay. I didn’t feel like I needed to move my entire room to the other house since I would be back to stay here on occasion. I decided to go downstairs to take a breather because it started to feel stuffy with so many bodies in my room. It was a large room, but I wasn’t much of a fan of crowds which made my position as Duchess-in-training all the more daunting. I would be made to attend balls, tea parties and other such events amongst both the nobility and royalty. My mother was already preparing my ball gown for the opening ball where I would be presented to the King and the Queen Mother. She thought it would be best to use our house colors, so I got to choose between teal or dark blue. I chose the teal since the design looked like something out of the movie Gone with the Wind. I felt like that color would be the best for the style of dress.
I sat in my normal corner of the foyer when the doorbell rang. Delilah came to me shortly after holding an envelope that had a familiar symbol on the seal. She said, “The rider said it was for your eyes only.” I thanked her and she curtsied and walked off. I immediately opened the letter since I hadn’t heard from the King since I wrote to him and handed it off to the gate keeper. I was starting to wonder if he ever even delivered the letter to the King. Tomorrow would be my first official day in Blackwood by order of the King, so I had waited for this letter for two weeks. I started to read it: “Alexandra, That wasn’t necessarily a normal letter greeting but you certainly helped me to have a little laugh. You can relax with these letters and simply address me as Lucien. Since these are not official correspondence, we can be informal. This means no titles and no stiff language which I am happy to see you have no problem with on the latter. I won’t lie to you, insulting the Marquis Maigny was not necessarily a good thing. That being said that while the Marquis is a powerful man, your house is far more powerful so there is very little consequence. I imagine Reggie merely thought it was merely an annoyance at best. Maigny was wrong in going after you like that, but can I know what he said precisely? I know you aren’t a fan of seeking out power from what both Darren and Vanessa have told me of you, but it can be good to put in a formal complaint to me and the counsel for the punishment of the Marquis. Depending on what he said, it could cost him.” I furrowed my brow; I think I will need to set the King straight. I don’t desire retaliation on my behalf.
I continued to read, “You made a good impression on the gate keeper by the way. He told me that you are a sweet, beautiful girl and I had no need to worry about you chasing the crown in your bid for your studies as a Royal Scribe. I had little doubt on that, but this was my way of communicating with you without breaking ceremony. Do you understand? I hope you weren’t insulted in any way. Also, I have thankfully never been a target of Talia’s rage but from what Talon had told me her anger was quick and sometimes epic. I don’t envy you of that. Our mothers are the complete opposite, it seems, my own mother was always hesitant to punish. She does scrutinize heavily though, I’m sure you will see what I mean when you are presented to us at the ball.” I was so nervous about that since Ellis had been sending me material to brush up on and he even sent Josiah to the manor to quiz my etiquette. I didn’t want my first official impression on His Majesty to be a flop. He had a high opinion of me now but what would he think if I was foolish during this ball. It was to be held tomorrow night which is why I had to move today. School didn’t start for another two days so the ball rushed me along. I looked around the foyer remembering Josiah’s stern gaze as I messed up my curtsy. His admonishment made me cringe at the thought. It was a bit different from the chastising that I received from my mother who also lectured me on not practicing in my own time. I had practiced ten times a day for the past three days. Josiah was expected for another quiz later and, keeping what the gate keeper said in my mind, I would not give him the satisfaction of another goof up.
I turned my attention back to the letter, “I heard from Ellis that you are taking lessons on proper ceremony and that you had a small hiccup in your test. I will tell you not to stress over it too much. I have every faith that you will pull it off. I understand that I should hear another report from Ellis today on your studies.” I had questioned why the King would be checking on my studies, but I guess me being new to all this, it was important. I paused in reading the letter and called out to Delilah. She scurried in from the dining room, “You called Your Grace?” I nodded, “Would it be possible to send out a Toxzi rider today or tomorrow?” She said, “Not today Your Grace as they only come once a day and since tomorrow is a ball, they will likely be tied up. You could send an official courier from House Batiste though if you need something delivered.” I perked up at this, “Yes, I will need a courier in about an hour. Please send them to the study.” She curtsied, “As you will it Your Grace.”
I turned on my heel and strode over to the study. I was allowed to use it because father was gone to the UK on official orders from the King. Being his sole heir, I was the master of the house…not that that had mattered to my mother whose domineering personality took orders from no one. Usually that would tick me off, but she’s really been so helpful since he left. I won’t have her in Vellum so I would need to walk on my own there. She would be joining my father in the UK so officially this Blackwood would revert into something my grandfather would manage. With everyone being gone, I hadn’t imagined it would be too difficult to manage for the old man. He was quite at ease about it all when we made our plans together as a family two weeks ago. Father had left shortly after we did the inspection at Vellum’s Blackwood, all went smoothly since the staff there just like here were excellent. Without a master there, they hadn’t needed to maintain much though. Still, they kept on their toes in case one of us should need to visit. The head maid Dana was Delilah’s twin sister and they both had the same work ethic, so I was delighted that I essentially didn’t really need to get used to someone else. I know that twins have their own personalities but know she was just the same professionally eased my mind just a bit.
I sat down at my father’s desk and pulled the letter from the King from my pocket and finished reading it, “I will send a trusted friend from the castle tomorrow. He will be bringing you something from my mother and I that I hope you will do us the honor of adorning yourself with on the night of the ball. This would be sort of a signal that you accept our friendship without you having to say so. Trust me when I tell you what I am about to tell you next. You will be heavily scrutinized and if I show any sort of favor to you, that will put you in a very bad position with the others in attendance so this will be our non-verbal way of accepting a friendship with one another. Please accept my sincerest wishes that you find your time in Vellum to be everything you hope it will be. Always, Lucien.”
I smiled at the letter and pulled out the stationary my father normally only got to write on. I had always wanted to write on it but was never allowed. I took the opportunity to use to write back to Lucien. I had wondered who this trusted friend was that he would send. I was supposed to meet with The Chalshin, perhaps this was the mysterious present bearer. I pushed the thought to the back of my mind and started to write the letter which hadn’t taken long. I didn’t want it to be too long since I was going to meet with him tomorrow night at the ball. I know he said he couldn’t be too friendly with me, but I know there will be at least some pleasant conversation with him. I am supposed to waltz with him as well in the opening dance since I was being presented that night officially. I understood the ordinarily I would be presented during a ceremony which would pronounce to the eligible men in Vellum that I was available to propose to. I hadn’t liked that idea, I wanted to be independent like Vanessa. I know she hadn’t planned it that way, but she was free to be herself and not cater to a husband at such a young age. The Elder Counsel decided that The Batiste needed to be paraded around at a ball rather than a stuffy ceremony. I understood they almost never strayed from the official ceremonies but were advised by Grand Pretre that this was the best course. She was the only one to influence the counsel the most, not even the King could get so many wins against them. He ruled but when it came to staffing the castle and ceremonies, he had to both concede to them and be part of the decision.
I was also told that I would need to perform a ritual of fealty to my King, my father said it was different for each race in Vellum. Mine would be a blood ritual but he didn’t go into too much detail. He said I would know what to do when the time came. He said it was merely our kind’s basic instinct. I made the assumption it had to do with consuming blood. The thought made me a little nauseous since I grew up human and I hadn’t even seen my fangs yet. When I asked father about the fangs, he said that they would come out when the time was right. I heard a knock at the door, and I summoned whoever it was inside. Delilah peered around the door, “Your Grace, I have brought the courier.” Maurice entered the room, and I widened my eyes but quickly gained composure. I put the letter in the envelope and sealed it then handed it to Maurice, “This needs to go to the castle. For His Majesty’s eyes only.” I pulled out the family crest token from my father’s drawer and handed it to Maurice, “This will get you to His Majesty’s Royal Scribe, but I don’t suppose I needed to tell you that.” Maurice nodded, “No, Your Grace but I understand that you are new to all of this.” With that he kneeled and pressed his head to my hand. With him being part of my house, the ritual was different, “May you be safe in your task and come home triumphant.” I pressed my hand to his head to let him know he was dismissed. He got up, went to the door, turned, and simply said, “Your Grace, thank you for your trust in me carrying out this task.”
