Returning Home

[Lenore]

One guard rode ahead, a note in hand addressed to "Whomever it May Concern, Regarding the Duchess's Lodgings," and went on to read:

"Her Grace, Lenore Tassnehof, the Duchess of Thessilane, will be arriving by coach later this evening and will require lodgings along with two maidservants as well as their young charge. No less than two rooms, which must be adjoining, will be acceptable for Her Grace, and a third room will be necessary and must be adjacent to those rooms belonging to the Duchess.

Where Her Grace's rooms are concerned, please be sure that they meet these requirements:

-If there is a lock upon the inside of any of the doors in the aforementioned two rooms, it must be disabled. Doors should lock upon the outside only.

-Any mirrors must be removed from the rooms.

-Anything, such as a water basin, which might be fashioned from anything which could become broken into shards, must be removed. A wooden basin and pitcher will suffice.

-Strip the bed of excess linens. One blanket, preferrably thick and hardy, will suffice, along with one pillow.

-Please be sure that the rooms are free of any insects, especially spiders and/or their webs.

-Any and all utensils in and upon any desk, vanity, or bureau within the rooms should be cleared out.

Sincerely...
[Signed illegibly.]"

[Lenore]

"Y'sure th' ladyship's sleepin'?"

"Aye. After no sleep for a few days, she's down righ' tuckered 'erself out. She won' be up an'time soon--an' I'd stake me salary on tha'."

"Did ya read th' doc's note wha' was sent to th' inn? Abou' 'er ladyship's rooms? They're stripped righ' bare!"

"An' righ' they should be. You'll be learnin', figgerin' out jus' why they're to be tha' way. Y'see, y'weren't there before th' duke done sent 'er ladyship off to th' sanatorium--an' I was."

"Were she bad off like she be now, then?"

"Min' y'realize tha' 'er ladyship's done been through quite more than any other woman o' 'er station's liable t' be able to 'andle. I'm not righ' sure when 'er troubles all began, bu' methinks it all started-- Shh. I think she's stirrin'."

"Wha'? No, she be sleepin' still. Go on! Go on!"

"Alrigh'. Oh, righ'. Methinks it all started back th' las' time she were in Myrken Wood--tha' time th' duke was with 'er, an' got 'er with chil' again when th' wee one were bu' a year or so. I'm no' righ' sure o' what 'appened exactly, bu' I knows there were a scuffle, an' 'er ladyship done got stabbed. Rumor 'as it that th' woman who threw th' blade were 'avin' an affair with 'is lordship, bu' that's no' really 'ere nor there. She los' th' babe, an' th' two seperated to differen' rooms an' all. An' then that's where she were kidnapped."

"Oh...tha's 'orrible. Jus' 'orrible."

"Bu' that's no' th' worst part o' it, now. No. Th' duke left 'er ladyship with tha' monster, Ay Eu Dee Em Ay Tee Aych Eu Ess--an' don'tcha dare repea' tha' name -ever- in 'er ladyship's presence--for months. O' course I don' reckon 'ow long it were now, but bein' caged up like some animal took a toll on 'er, an' now she has fits what if she's lef' in th' dark or if'n she sees a spider."

"Bu' 'is lordship got 'er ou'?"

"Oh, aye. 'Is lordship came aroun' to doin' it in 'is own swee' time, an' migh've left 'er there a wee bi' longer if'n there weren' others come t' 'elp 'im in th' end."

"Wha' were she like when she comed 'ome?"

"No' 'alf so bad as she were now, an' tha's sayin' a lo'. See, 'is lordship didn' come 'ome with 'er ladyship. She were sent all th' way back t' Thessilane on 'er own while he wen' off fightin' in tha’ damnable war what nearly tore th’ country in two.â€

[Lenore]

There was no solace to be found amidst the clanging sounds of hammers working at driving nails through boards--and yet the Duchess was finally asleep. After not sleeping since the carriage ride which had brought them to Myrken four days before, Lenore lay curled atop a dismal grey-coloured blanket on a bed that had no linens covering the down-filled mattress. Unfortunately, even when she did sleep, it was never for long due to dreams of spiders or something equally disturbing.

Reann stood in the doorway looking over notes made by the old doctor, while guards worked to repair the window which had been cracked in one of the Duchess's rooms. Thankfully, she was too weak from not eating and not sleeping to have managed to break the glass--now she'd not get another chance. Both windows in her rooms were being boarded, but the planks were laid a finger's breadth apart in an effort to let some light in during the day.

"Jess?" the older maid asked, poking her head into the hallway. The younger maid was playing pattycake with Vara in the room adjacent to the ones that Lenore occupied. The door was open.

"Yeah?" Jess replied, pausing the game with the two-year-old long enough to offer the child a kiss to her forehead before standing and bridging the distance between she and the other woman.

"What day's t'day?"

Jess thought for a moment, wrinkling up her nose as she did so. Vara was tugging on her skirts and wanting to resume the game. She picked the curly-haired child up. "It's solstice t'morrow. Figure there's a little more'n half a week after this before th' next month. Why?"

Reann simply shook her head. "I don' reckon it's anythin', really. Th' doc must've noted 'er ladyship's last cycle wrong, that's all."

"Y' can't mean y' think she's..."

"No...couldn' possibly. Th' duke weren' anywhere near 'er for months an' months." But the older maid was frowning, nonetheless.

[Lenore]

"Shh!" ushered Reann, with one finger pressed against her lips to mark her meaning.

There were voices in the hallway outside the maids' door, and the eldest of the two intended to find out just who was outside speaking and to whom they were conversing. Upon knees, one grey eye squinted so that the other could see more clearly through the keyhole.

"In th' name o' all what's holy." Her breath caught in her chest. Where two guards in ivory and gold had been stationed outside of the Duchess's door, now stood two more guards--the latter were cloaked in crimson. A telling sign.

The conversation was muddled at best, incomprehensible at worst. She caught bits of it--questions had been asked by the guards-come-lately to the others, and those were answered. Sick, they'd said of Lenore. She'd been ill alright, for the better part of the past week, in fact. He's here, said the others, but presently attending some meeting.

Slowly she rose from her station at the door, turning around to face Jess who now held little Vara in her arms. Her expression was grave.

"'is Lordship's done arrived in Myrken Wood, Jess," she began, twisting and wringing the apron she was wearing with her hands. "I don' doubt tha' he'll be 'ere 'fore too terrible long, and'll be expectin' to be seein' 'is wife."

Now Reann was frowning. Jess could only imagine why, having heard stories of the duke on the ride from Thessilane to the tavern where they were presently housed.

Back to the door, Reann turned the knob slowly, opening it just enough to peer out into the hallway again, and in just enough time to catch the crimson guards' retreat. No sooner were they down the stairs than did keys jingle in her hand as she crossed the hall to the Duchess's rooms.

"M' lady, we be needin' to talk."

[Lenore]

Reann's words sounded loud within the otherwise quiet chambers which belonged to the Duchess of Thessilane. A single bed occupied this space, along with a washbasin lacking a mirror, a chest of drawers, and a battered desk and chair. There wasn't room enough to house the Duke here, the maid thought to herself, and thankfully so.

Lenore turned ever-so-slightly in the chair where she sat, occupied with her sketchbook--that was the only recognition given the maid's interruption and demand of conversation. An angular chin hovered over a narrow shoulder long enough for dull brown eyes to afix upon the person addressing her briefly. Her expression was blank.

"Now I'll not be havin' tha' from ya...no' tonigh', yer Grace. I knows ya gots a mind behin' them empty eyes o' yers...I knows ya been thinkin' on stuff more clearly o' late. Y've no' had any o' th' doctor's powders...an' y'know precisely wha' I mean t' talk t' ya about."

The piece coal dropped from dainty fingers, dirtied by the art. "No," came the reply. The only word that Reann had heard the Duchess utter since their arrival in Myrken Wood.

"No wha'? No, y' don' know wha' I mean t' talk t' ya about, or no y' don' care t' be talkin' t' me about it?" asked the maid, striding boldly to the desk where the frail-looking woman sat in gold and cream silk.

"I been takin' care o' ya a long time, yer Ladyship. Long enough t' know y' better 'an wha' ya migh' think I knows." Reann glanced at the sketchbook just before Lenore shut it. The maid crouched down beside the chair.

"I knows tha' ain' th' Duke's chil' what's growin' in yer belly. Ya're sick come every mornin', bu' fine come th' afternoon. Ya're eatin' more than I've seen ya eat in th' longest...an' y' haven't had yer monthly bill th' 'ole time we been 'ere--which don' quite reconcile with wha' th' old doc has in 'is notes." The words did not, surprisingly enough, stir the Duchess at all. She was busy staring at dirty fingers which were now laced together and resting against the desktop.

"An' 'fore too long, 'is Lordship'll be knowin' it too. Th' airship's come, an' with 'im in it. I 'eard 'is guards say as much no' but a 'andful o' minutes ago."

Now -that- news was worth a reaction. Lenore stood abruptly--so much so that the chair fell backwards, meeting the floor so sharply that the clamor was enough to cause a guard to rush in. "Jus' th' chair, boys. Nothin' t' see 'ere," Reann managed, rushing to the door to shoo them out and shut it again, before they could see that the Duchess's face had gone ghost-white.

Leaning her back against the door, the maid merely stood and watched the other woman as she began to pace. "Now tha' ain' goin' t' help ya none. My advice, take it or leave it, bu' either way I'm plannin' t' speak me mind, is t' grant yer 'usband 'is matrimonial right--once'll do it--while 'is Lordship's 'ere. Else y'll be havin' more explainin' t' do than ya've go' th' words for--or worse, 'e won' let ya explain anything. We both done knowed 'is temper."

Lenore sat upon the bed then, with one hand resting lightly upon her abdomen. "Then let's run a bath, Reann. I can't see let him see me this way."

The maid had been right--on more than one account. Burel would kill her if he knew, but then again, there were fates far worse than death.