Home and Test
POV: Alexandra
I got Blake back to the castle successfully. They immediately called a press conference and Blake announced that his brother had fallen ill. He explained that while the King was bed-ridden, the Elder Council thought it would be prudent to appoint him as regent. The papers went out immediately with this announcement and soon people were talking about it. I thought they probably should have specified what illness it was so that people wouldn’t speculate. I had thought the whole idea of an immediate press release would be to quash speculation but they left a small hole in their logic that no one really thought about at the time. I had many approach me when I was in town shopping for things for the ball for myself and Lucy. Children of nobles were allowed at the ball for the first two hours of the night and she was excited to attend with us. Thanks to the anonymous gift of a dress from a ‘friend’ as Seraphia had stated, I wouldn’t have to look for a dress for myself. That didn’t mean I couldn’t accessorize and since I was going home that very day, I could shop as much as I wanted and not feel like I was intruding on Mordred’s space. As I was looking at dresses for Lucy, I was approached by one of the older lower nobles. She had asked me if Lucien had caught the disease that had once ravaged the Glades. I told her it was nothing that serious and that he would be fine in no time. I made a mental note, after the third lower noble approached me about Lucien’s health, that we would need to come up with something to tell people should they ask us so we could be consistent.
I finally got everything I wanted and I turned to Jheelis, “We should probably head home.” Jynx stepped forward, “Priestess, you should probably let me take you via portal since you don’t have your carriage. It would be infinitely safer for me to take you through a portal to Blackwood Manor.” I looked over at Jheelis and Toby, “What do you guys think?” Both of them nodded but Toby spoke, “It seems to be your safest bet, Your Grace.” I looked back at Jynx, “Alright, Jynx. Let’s get going then but…why don’t we wait until we step outside of Tarn? I think there are rules against opening portals on the streets. It’s all about safety, you know?” She nodded, “If that is what you command, Priestess.” I sighed, “Can I ask you something, Jynx?” She nodded and I asked my question, “Do you absolutely have to call me Priestess or can you call me Xan or, hell, even Lex like Derek does?” She shook her head vigorously, “I don’t know if I can be that casual with you.” We walked along the streets heading towards the entrance to Tarn and I rubbed my chin, “We can compromise then. You can call me by my name, right?” She nodded, “I can do that, Alexandra. It will take me a while to not use honorifics with you but when I am in King Mordred’s presence, I hope you won’t mind me at least calling you something like my lady.” I giggled, “Whatever makes you comfortable, I just hate honorifics. I spent eighteen years of my life without them and they frankly weird me out.” Jheelis gasped, “So you mean you don’t like being called Her Highest Highness?” The tone of his voice suggested that he was being rather sarcastic which was never lost on me. I barbed back, “Oh well that’s the one honorific I enjoy the most. I wish everyone would call me that.” Jynx widened her eyes, “Oh I didn’t know! Perhaps that is what I should call you from now on?” Jheelis chuckled and held his sides, “Jynx, you need to learn the art of sarcasm around this one.” I sighed, “You’re one to talk. Oh look we’re here.”
We stepped outside of Tarn, off of the road, and a little trip into the meadow that bordered both Tarn and Blackwood. I remembered the first time seeing this peaceful looking green meadow. At the time, the summer was just wrapping up and there were still some pretty little blue flowers that randomly dotted the field. This was where Lucy got her little sun rabbit familiar. I smiled thinking about that day and the look on Lucy’s face when we found out that we were able to give her a home along with her babies. We were told that she was probably going to hang on until we returned to the manor. They gave birth usually the day after the last full moon in a cycle. We would probably just make it today. Modred had promised that he would return Lucy to the manor before I got home. He was bummed out that we were moving out of House of Dark. I told him that we couldn’t live there forever and he argued that we could. It took Vanessa convincing him to let us go back home but we had to promise that we would spend the next full moon with him. I had wondered how that would work if I was married by the time the next full moon came around. I snapped out of my thoughts in time for me to notice that Jynx had already opened the portal and was staring back at me, “Is everything okay….Alexandra?” She was still struggling to call me by my name. I knew this was going to be an issue for her, it’s just the way she was. I had faith she would get used to as time went on. I smiled at her and patted her arm, “I was just thinking about your King and his unwillingness to let me go home. Do me a favor?” She looked at me waiting for me to speak, “Take care of him when I’m not around and you are. Okay?” She bowed at me, “Of course…Alexandra.” I nodded and stepped through the portal.
When I came out on the other side a carriage was just pulling up to the front of the house. I could just barely make out that it was a carriage that belonged to the Elder Council. I had wondered to myself who it was and why they were visiting us this time. As the carriage pulled up, a friendly yet neutral face poked his head out of the window, “Excellent timing. Hello, Your Grace. I wonder if I might take some of your time today?” I nodded, “Of course, Elder Enzo. You may ask for my time any time you wish.” I was always going to be friendly with Elder Enzo. Even though he never explicitly told me that he liked me, he was friendly enough to me to treat him with the very respect he deserved. He stepped out of the carriage, “Thank you. I won’t take too long but I might wonder if I can see the child as well.” Immediately I knew what his purpose was this time, it was time for Lucy to get tested to see if she truly was a Beast Tamer or if she could just talk to animals as her ability. I nodded, “Yes, of course.” He smiled, “I am so glad that you understand my purpose. Oh, how is His Majesty and His Highness?” I sighed thinking about the obsessive way those two had passive aggressively demanded my attention through the day. I had to threaten to quit twice today if they didn’t knock off their shenanigans. It seemed to do the trick. I put on a smile, “Well enough. It’s a bit of a…trick to work with both of them at the same time. Far be it for me to question the decisions of the full council. I just can’t help but feel like the Queen Mother would have been more suitable. I suppose though if a job didn’t have its own…unique challenges, it wouldn’t be worth doing.” He chuckled, “Indeed, I cannot say I disagree about the Queen Mother. I was one of the few who had opposed the appointment of His Highness. I must say though, things are still running smoothly. I give Malinus’ office a lot of credit for that. Clearly we appointed the right people to do that job.” I smiled at him as I ushered him inside, “I appreciate the compliment.”
I looked down at the bag he was holding in his hand, “Would you like me to lighten your load there, sir?” He looked down and shook his head, “Oh no, we just need to set up on a table. The study or the dining room should do.” I nodded, “Let me check if either are occupied right now. You can have a seat there if you would like in the meantime.” He nodded and sat down on chairs my mother had placed there for guests who would have to wait for us. I stepped to the left so I could check on the study. I walked up to the door and lightly rapped on the door. I heard my father call out and I poke my head in, “Are you going to be doing work late tonight?” He was at his desk but he looked up from his papers and smiled at me, “Nope, I’m actually wrapping up. I worked hard today so I could have dinner with the family. I was excited to see my children back home. Why? Did you need the room?” I nodded at him, “Yes, Elder Enzo is here to test Lucy to see if she is a Beast Tamer.” He put the paper down and scribbled on it before hopping up from his seat. He strode over to me and smiled, “This is a huge deal then. Let me go get her for you then. I believe she’s out with Tyleesh monitoring the rabbit. She said she’s not quite there. Probably another day. Tyleesh disagreed, of course.” He stepped out to the foyer and greeted Enzo and let him know that he was going to go get Lucy for us. I showed him into the study and over to the table that I had often used as a desk when I had to study something about Vellum either independently or with my mother. He placed the bag up on the table and pulled out a long white divider. He smiled at me, “I know you are curious, Your Grace but I must ask that you don’t watch me. If you could, would you mind somehow taking that beautiful blue bird out of the room? It might skew the results.” I turned back to look at Azula and grabbed her cage. I stepped out of the room with the cage in my hand as Dana was walking down the stairs. She gasped as she saw me holding the gilded cage, “Oh my, Your Grace! Let me take care of her for you. Did you have a place in mind for her?” I nodded, “Just place her in the ballroom for now. We will move her back after Elder Enzo is through here.” She nodded and took the bird from me, “Right away, Your Grace.”
I turned to find my father and Lucy coming into the house from the greenhouse. I smiled down at her, “Hi, did you enjoy your time at House of Dark?” She nodded, “I love Uncle Mordred. He’s sooo nice but I hear I have a visitor.” I nodded, “Yes, he’s a very nice old man named Elder Enzo. He is here to talk to you about your abilities with animals.” She nodded determinedly, “I heard he wanted to test me to see if I am the first Beast Tamer in a long time.” I nodded, “Yes, that’s right. Are you okay with that?” She smiled and grabbed my hand, “Let’s go!” We all stepped into the room and Elder Enzo was sitting behind the small folded partition, “Miss Lucy, my name is Enzo. It is very nice to finally meet you.” She smiled and curtsied at him, “Pleased to meet you too, sir.” He waved at the seat across from him, “Have a seat, let’s get started. Do you know why I am here?” She nodded and repeated the answer she had given me earlier. He asked her a series of questions and she answered them after some hesitation. It wasn’t that she wasn’t sure of her answers, it was just that she seemed like she was waiting for the answer from somewhere. After about ten minutes of this back and forth exchange, he smiled and pulled the partition away and revealed a turtle sitting on the table along with all the objects that Lucy had described back to him in detail. He smiled up at me, “This is exciting indeed.” My father, who had not been in the room the entire time, asked him, “What is exciting?” He smiled up at my father, “It seems we have a confirmed Beast Tamer for the first time in ages.”
