Richard Tuttle - Sapphire of the Fairies

Orthan poured another round of brandyand sat down. “You will point out how Uncle Amos had made advancesto his own sister when they were young and how she hated him forit. Explain that your mother never wanted you to even know aboutUncle Amos’s existence and that Uncle Amos probably felt the sameway. Then about two years ago, your mother died and you learned ofUncle Amos by going through her things and decided to visit. Youhad a very nice visit after a very rocky start and you returnedhome after a few months, promising to tie up affairs there andreturn to live with him.”

Orthan downed the rest of his brandyand continued. “As things turned out, you met a young woman whileclosing your affairs at home and that delayed your trip back hereuntil now, only to find that you had returned too late. A littleemotion of losing your only relative at this point would certainlybe helpful.”

Orthan continued laying out a plan thatcovered every little detail until the wee hours of the morning. Hewould not let Fredrik take notes and demanded that the young Lordrepeat everything back to him until he was satisfied that the storywas solid. During the session, Fredrik began to think of Orthanfondly and the butler appeared to return the emotion.

Fredrik would have enjoyed sleepinglate the next morning, but Orthan got him up with the coming oflightness and started grilling him about his uncle. By the time thebarrister arrived, Fredrik almost believed that Amos had been hisreal uncle and the interview went quite well. The barrister wasextremely skeptical at the start of the interview, but as he firedquestions at the young man, he slowly became convinced that Amoshad kept a grand secret from him. The testimony from the servantsabout the time that Fredrik was to have been there two years ago,sealed the case in the barrister’s mind.

Papers were drawn up certifying Fredrikas Lord Wason of the Manor and legally transferring all of LordAlrecht’s property into his name. The barrister hoped that the newLord would continue to use his services as Lord Alrecht had in thepast and Fredrik assured him that Uncle Amos’s faith in hisbarrister’s services was enough to ensure it.

After the barrister left, Orthan brokeout a bottle of champagne and all of the servants joined the newyoung Lord in celebrating their good fortune. That was when Nikiwalked into the room.

“Just what has gotten intoyou, Fredrik?” she demanded. “The whole town would die laughing ifthey could see you now. How do you expect the servants to respectyour authority if you spend your days cavorting withthem.”

Fredrik just laughed. “Come and jointhe celebration, Niki. I have just been confirmed as the new LordWason of the Manor. Orthan, see to the Lady’s glass,please.”

Orthan poured Niki a glass ofchampagne, but the rest of the servants quietly slipped out of theroom. Orthan handed Niki the glass with a slight bow. “It is verygracious of our Lord to allow us to share in his good fortune, MyLady. I assure you that the servants will not take this as anexcuse to become overly friendly or to forget theirstation.”

“If they do,” Niki clearlystated, “I will be sure to remind them. Fredrik, I think it is hightime we got out and saw our town. Orthan, ready a carriage, theLord and Lady are going out.”

Orthan shot Fredrik a glance beforebowing and making his exit to get the carriage ready. Miranda camein and cleared away the glasses and the bottle of champagne asFredrik and Niki were leaving. Miranda took the glasses into thekitchen and Alicia turned on her.

“How can you stand thatwoman?” Alicia cried. “She treats us like dirt and she is as phonyas a marriage proposal from a seaman. Do you have any idea of whatshe has put me through today?”

“Now, now,” grinned Miranda,“you’ll just have to learn to grin and bear it.”

“Perhaps I deserve that fromyou,” Alicia sobbed, “but I do not deserve anything of the sortfrom her. She had me bring her tea six times this morning. Not sixdifferent times, but six times because each cup of tea I broughther was not to her liking. It was too sweet, too tart, too hot, toocold, and finally the wrong blend of teas. The last cup I managedto leave in her room and slip out before she noticed me. Beforethat it was a whole series of problems with her rooms. She founddirt here and dust there. The curtains were crooked, crooked mindyou. All this from a girl who has probably never seen a room withcurtains before. And all of the time she treats me like dirt, likeI should kiss her arse because she is allowing me to serve her. Idon’t think I can take it much more, Miranda.”

“I’m sorry, Alicia,” Mirandaapologized. “I was bitter when you made that comment to me, but Iam willing to let that go. Still, we need to do something abouther. I will speak with Orthan when he returns. Perhaps he will havesome ideas.”

“I hope he does,” Alicia saidas she dried her tears. “That Fredrik is not so bad a boy. He’s theone that’s been given the goods and yet he treats us rightproperly. Maybe Orthan could talk him into dumping her.”

Orthan climbed up into the carriage anddrove out through the gateway. He took the couple on a grand tourof the town, waving to many of the residents as they passed.Fredrik was impressed at how many people smiled and waved at thecarriage as it passed. The old sea captain must have been fairlypopular in Cidal. Everyone treated the carriage and its occupantswith respect including the mercenaries. Fredrik mentally sethimself to ask Orthan about them later. The tour lasted about anhour and, thankfully, Niki did not demand to stop anywhere and getout. Fredrik was not sure that Cidal was ready for heryet.

Orthan helped Niki down out of thecarriage and she didn’t even nod to him as she swept in through thefront door of the mansion. Fredrik hurried after Niki while Orthantook care of the carriage. Niki was excited as she walked to hersuite. “Did you see how the people loved us, Fredrik? Just abouteverybody waved at me. It’s probably been a very long time since aLady resided here. One of the maids told me that the old seacaptain lived a quiet life alone. They are likely as excited aboutus as we are.”

“I am sure they are, Niki,”Fredrik sighed, “but we must remember to go slow here. If weproceed too quickly, we will lose it all.”

Fredrik left Niki to get ready fordinner and went downstairs to ask Orthan about the mercenaries andwhat type of relationship they had with the town. Orthan was justcoming in through the kitchen and when he saw Fredrik he headedtowards him.

“Lord Wason,” he started, “Ithink we may have a problem. I’m afraid your Lady Niki is causingsome grief with the maids. I just passed Alicia, and Miranda hastold me that the poor woman has been in tears ever since we leftfor the tour. She thinks your Lady has it in for her and is tryingto drive her to quit. Now, we both know that Alicia is not going toquit and there lies the problem.”

Fredrik looked wearily at Orthan andnodded. “I don’t know what to do with her, Orthan. I’ve never seenher like this. She has always been headstrong and stubborn, but shehas never been so foolish. I will try to talk some sense into her,but we should all try to make this thing work.”

“I agree, Lord Wason,” Orthanstated, “but part of our agreement was that the servants would berespected and treated fairly. I do expect you to hold your end ofthe bargain. We all agree that you are a right fine young man toserve and we have no grievance with you, but you must do somethingto nip your young Lady before things get out of hand.”

Fredrik grimaced and headed back forthe stairs. Somehow the task of dealing with Niki right now did notmake Fredrik smile.

Arik and Tedi halted when the wagoncame into sight, not knowing who or what lay ahead. Garth caught upto them and motioned them forward. “It’s okay,” he said, “the wagonis Kalina’s. She’ll be happy to see you again.”