Chapter 26
The following day an ornate carriage bearing the crest of The Earldom of The Deranged family made its way towards the Palace housing the Dowager Queen-mother. It was gilded with gold and thus shone in the sunlight as the coach driver urged the horses to a stop in front of the Palace's now closed gates.
"Halt! Who goes there?!" One of the Knights on guard duty called out while placing a hand on his sword hilt.
"How dare you stop a carriage belonging to the Deranged Earldom!" The coachman exclaimed. "My mistress is here to meet with the Queen-mother!"
"Javier, what is the hold-up?" A voice questioned from inside the carriage.
"Apologies Mistress, but these guards are denying me entrance on the property." The coachman spoke rather apologetically.
"For what reason?" The voice asked once more. "The Queen-mother and I had this meeting planned for months,"
"Well... you see... there's been a recent outbreak of criminals from the colosseum....." The Knight nervously entered.
"Are you saying my mistress is one of those criminals?!" The coachman accused. "The honorable Earldom of Deranged would never accept such an insult!"
"But the criminals might be hiding in the carriage...." The other knight reasoned.
"Why I have never....." Javier began but was stopped by the voice asking if they'd let them enter once the knights' have searched the carriage.
The knights looked at each other before agreeing amongst themselves. Dealing with Nobles was both a hassle and tricky. If this meeting with the King's mother had been scheduled before the mandate to not let Lady Theodora leave then turning away this Noble would be an insult to both parties.
The coachman scrambled down from his seat to open quickly open the door once the Knights' agreed to the inspection. Out of the carriage two, wonderfully dressed, ladies stepped.
"Please search to your heart's content," The lady with black hair uttered as she indicated for the knights to look inside the carriage.
"Excuse me, but who is she?" The other knight asked, pointing to the blonde with short hair. It was almost never that men saw women without long hair. At most the hair would be cut to just past the shoulders so that it could still be styled. Yet this woman had her hair in quite a militaristic cut.
"The future Lady of House Deranged," The black-haired woman announced, startling not only the guards but also the blonde with the short hair.
"The carriage is clear," The other knight announced as the ladies bored once more. The knights then proceeded to open the gates for the carriage to pass.
"Hey... is this really alright?" The knight asked his colleague as they closed the iron gates to the estate with a clang. "We were ordered to not let anyone pass."
"We didn't see anything, we didn't hear anything." The other knight muttered. "My experience with Nobles is that you should not anger them. We're commoners and what we did was basically accuse them of treason. It would have been worse if the Dowager Queen had personally invited them and we sent them on their way. So keep your mouth shut." The other warned.
"Isn't Javier a marvelous actor," Lady Heather proclaimed once the carriage had stopped at the entrance, thoroughly out of the earshot of the knights. The ladies were being helped back on solid ground by Javier who blushed.
"Thank you for your praise madam," The coachman bowed, trying to hide his blush, before going to park the carriage. Meanwhile, the doors to the mansion... or rather Palace opened. To greet them was one of the Dowager's Ladies-in-waiting. A woman who introduced herself as Sasha.
As they were being led to the room where the Dowager resided Lady Mala whispered to Lady Heather, "Why did you introduce me like that? You were implying that I would be marrying your brother!"
Heather scoffed for a moment and whispered back "Isn't it the truth? My brother is practically besotten with you. I had to kick him out of the music room last night because he was writing lyrical poems about your sharp wit and your prowess with a sword. And just for the record... nothing rhymes with 'Decapitate' unless you have something better than 'Masticate'."
"But I am a disgraced Noble!" Mala uttered louder for a moment before lowering her voice once more. They had already ascended the first flight of stairs in the grand foyer but it seems that they still needed to go up another. "I have no last name, no dowry even! Society will not accept me as his wife,"
"We'll be changing that soon," Heather stated cryptically.
The ladies were taken to a set of double oak wood doors. Sasha knocked once before they were bidden to enter. The doors opened to a study that had books lined from bottom to ceiling. "What a great room," Mala, who admired knowledge a lot, exclaimed aloud.
"I am so glad that you like it," A voice, that sounded rather amused, uttered which caused the woman to freeze just for a second. Both ladies looked to the elderly lady seated behind an ornate desk.
"We greet her Highness the Dowager Queen, Star of the Kingdom." Both Heather and Mala stated in unison while curtsying deeply. It was the official greeting when meeting the Queen-mother that every Noble learned as a child. The King is the Sun, the Queen is his Moon, while the previous monarchs and the monarchs-to-be are the Stars. The greeting however was starting to fall out of favour and was only used during the coronation ceremony and the Royal wedding reception. Those most loyal to the Crown used it as a way to identify themselves to the Royal family.
"Please take a seat. I have asked Sasha and Gwendelin to bring up some tea and snacks while we discuss some matters of importance." Theodora stated while gesturing to the plush seats in her office near the fireplace. "I am happy to see that you are doing well Lady Deranged, and I am glad to meet Lady Mala at last as I have heard quite the rumors about you and the Earl's relationship. Though I had thought that the Earl himself would be the one showing up,"
"My brother regrets not being able to respond to you directly but some subterfuge is needed at this time," Heather said before lifting up her skirts in a rather scandalous manner. If any man was in the room they might have blushed and scolded the maiden for such an action. The Queen Dowager however was unfazed as Lady Heather retrieved an envelope that she had fastened to the inside of her skirts for no man would ask a lady, let alone a lady of noble status, to lift their skirts for inspection.
It was a rather thick envelope bearing the Deranged insignia on the wax seal. Lady Heather held it in her hands but did not give it to Theodora yet. Instead, she said "Our family has supported the Royal family of this land for decades without ever asking much in return. While my brother is kind-hearted enough to gather this information for you without expecting anything I am not of such persuasion."
"What is it that you want Lady Heather?" Theodora questioned. "If it is within reason then I will have no trouble meeting your demands."
'For Theodora to agree so quickly must mean that she desires whatever this information was her brother had gathered so quickly.' Heather mused.
"In exchange for this information I wish that you would personally sponsor Lady Mala," Heather announced.
"What?!" Mala exclaimed as her eyes went wide from shock. 'Did Lady Heather know what she was asking... to the Queen-mother of all people...'
"You're asking me to...."
"Yes," Heather stated. "If Lady Mala had a powerful family, like the Markisons sponsoring her, then there would be no reprisals if she and my brother would wed in the future."
"You are basically asking me to adopt her into my family," Theodora raised a brow. "How bold,"
"What can I say your Highness," Heather smirked. "My brother is head over heels for Lady Mala and I do believe she likes him quite a bit too. Everyone on the estate can already guess what the outcome of their relationship will be. The only backlash we are getting is from the outside. You sponsoring her can resolve that quite quickly. Would anyone go against a person that has the backing of Royalty?"
"If I were to agree to this request....." Theodora stated as she mused for a second. "Then I will need to know your story Lady Mala," She directed her eyes towards the blonde. "Lady Heather may speak for the best interest of her family in general but I would like your input in this as well. Do you love Earl Deranged? What is your story? Do you even agree with Lady Heather's assumption that I should be your pillar of support in society?"
"I don't love Earl Deranged," Lady Mala uttered much to the surprise of Heather. "I do like him though. He's weird and I am very fond of him," She stated. "Frankly.... I don't know if I can love." She then admitted. "I've... seen things. Ugly things that were the result of love. It's a long and complicated story, to be honest,"
"Well... we have time," Theodora stated as Sasha arrived with a tray of tea and scrumptious-looking desserts.
Mala nodded... "This story begins long before I was born,"
Meanwhile, far from the happenings in the capital, Hiccup, and Astrid were fighting for their lives. Both of them were parrying blows from mercenaries.
"ASTRID!" Hiccup shouted as he saw someone aim at her back just as she was kicking another axe-wielder in the stomach. Hiccup rushed forward, sword at the ready. He managed to make it in time and parried the blow but another mercenary managed to a dagger that hit him in the shoulder.
AN: Hellooooo everyone!! (Waves). For those that know me through the years will tell you that I love to engage (torment) my readers.
Now you all may be wondering why I would end my chapter here. (has gotten death glares from friends) But I have a reason!
You guys get to vote on what happens next chapter!
Please vote:
A: If you are curious about Mala's sordid past
B: If you are curious at what predicament Hiccup and Astrid landed themselves into.
Also no worries. The vote that didn't win will be made clear after the one you all chose. You will get to see both but you guys will be deciding on the order.