by Guy Antibes
“I am observing the suspected domicile of a man rumored to be in Parth from a certain western district.”
Sara nodded. “One who will remain nameless for security purposes, of course?”
“Of course. However, I did have to leave without getting any relief so I don’t really have much time.” He kept his scarf wrapped around his neck as he sat down on a chair across from Sara. “I must admit, I’d rather look at you, Sara Featherwood, than the backside of a house in a questionable neighborhood of Parth.”
“I’m glad that my appearance is more comely than a weed strewn yard filled with garbage.”
Klark’s face took on a look of shock. “How did you know?”
Sara laughed. “Aren’t all houses in questionable districts in disrepair?”
“I wouldn’t know,” he assumed a sly smile. “Actually the house isn’t more than a ten minute walk from here. A minor noble is currently on the ambassadorial staff of our mission to Hanlee. The house should be empty, but isn’t.”
“That’s enough, Klark.” Hedge said with a flat look. “Discretion, my young man.”
Klark looked abashed. “I’m sorry. I guess I go to great lengths to impress impressionable young ladies.” He flashed an apologetic smile at Sara.
“A house in disrepair. That is what I heard, didn’t you Banna?” Sara smiled back. “Presents? I suppose that Klark can be excused for eating while we exchange.”
Sara went to the side table in the sitting room where hers lay. “One for Doctor Hedge. One for Klark. And at least a kiss of friendship for you Banna.” Sara kissed the woman’s cheek and sat back down.
“My turn,” Hedge said. He went to the sideboard and pulled out two small boxes and a bigger one. “The smaller ones are for you two and the big one is for my very favorite person.” He, too, kissed Banna, but on the lips and his lasted a lot longer than was called for.
Klark looked a little sheepish. “You’ll have to excuse me. I’ve not had the time.”
“No matter,” Banna said. She went to a bag by her seat and pulled out three book-sized packages. “There you go. Something for your minds.” She smiled. “If that’s it, let’s open them up. From the old year to the new. Something to look forward to.”
They all intoned, “Something to look forward to.”
Sara didn’t want to open her two gifts. Seeing the others open theirs captivated her interest more.
Hedge and Klark both received fine knives. “What are these for?” Hedge asked.
“Those are straps. You can strap the knife to your arm. I have a penchant for hidden weapons,” Sara said.
“Hanlese steel.” Klark said. “Very nice.” He pulled up his sleeve and strapped it on.
“I don’t get one?” Banna playfully pouted.
“Your tongue is sharp enough, woman!” Hedge said and all of them laughed.
“Sara?” Banna looked down at her package.
The gift was so obviously a book. She unwrapped it. “Oh, a book on the Belonnian language.” Sara forced a smile. She had a newer edition at Obridge.
“Open it up,” Banna said.
“Aren’t we a fine nest of spies,” Sara said with delight. The book’s pages had been hollowed out. A secret place. Hedge and Klark quickly opened theirs. Hedge’s was a text on chemical reactions and Klark’s was an adventure novel. All of them had been made into storage boxes.
“I thought I chose the appropriate books for your shelves.” Banna said.
Banna opened up her box. “Perry, you shouldn’t have.” She showed a doll dressed up in ancient dress. The head, hands and shoes were all made out of ceramic. “I must admit I have a collection of these things. She’s dressed in the style of Parth’s third dynasty.”
That left Klark and Sara’s packages. They both were small. Sara picked hers up to find it hardly weighed anything. She unwrapped it and opened the box.
Sara tilted her head. “A pass to the University Library.” She looked at Klark who twiddled one between his fingers, grinning.
“Signed by the Dean, Sara. Handy told me of your troubles and doubted if his signature on a pass would mean much to a bone-headed student. The dean’s signature, however, is well known. There aren’t many of those, you know. A student’s pass, like the one you got from Obed, looks much different.” Hedge’s chest expanded. He knew his gifts were appreciated.
Klark put his pass up close to his eyes. “Even Lord Northcross couldn’t produce one of these for me. He told me I’d have to wait until after summer.”
“And he was right. My work with Sara is well appreciated in several quarters and that tipped the scale in your favor, my dear Banna. As for Klark… it took a heavy bribe.” Klark gave his housemate a gentle shove. He looked at the clock. “I’ve got to get going.” He grabbed one of the delivery boxes and filled it with leftovers. “For later.”
He gave Banna and Sara a peck on the cheek. “I wish it were more,” he whispered in her ear. In another minute, only the three of them remained.
“That was exciting enough!” Hedge said. He tried to strap the knife on to his shirt, but couldn’t manage it. “Banna?”
His wife gave him a disgusted look and they all laughed. For Sara these people were her family at present. She missed Seb and Enos, and perhaps Natti and Nona, but no one else in Belting Hollow. She thought of Willa, too. She had no worries about her friend making a good time of it with Plant’s family.
~~~
Chapter Ten
A Noble Presentation
Lady Grianna woke Sara. She had arrived days late from her holidays, the evening before, and went straight to bed. “You’ll be presented on Fiveday, this confirms it! We’ll have to get a gown tailored. A ready-made frock will not do. And don’t worry about the price, it’s on me!” The joy of a court summons brightened Grianna’s face and Sara couldn’t withstand her excitement without joining in.
“Four days from today! That’s wonderful,” Sara said. Her mind turned to the certification from Obed Handy. No time for a meeting with Northcross. Such things should never be rushed. “Perhaps we can get started on our new proposal in case the King asks how we will proceed.” Sara said. It wouldn’t do to be unprepared for the visit.
“Of course, but first thing this morning, we visit my seamstress and shoemaker. We can work on the proposal tomorrow and the next day, so we can spend Fourday getting ready.” Sara didn’t understand why they’d have to get ready a full day before the event.
~
The seamstress had a staff of women who fluttered around Sara. She felt like a birdbath on a hot day. Grianna decided on a blue dress with gold trim. She thought it perfect for Goldagle colors, but Sara knew those were Passcold colors as well. The women pinned a dress together, creating it right on her body. It was frilly on the top with a lot of cloth around her upper body. A sheath dress flared out showing a panel of ruffles in the back from the knees down. It took fifteen minutes for the women to carefully remove the dress.
“It will be ready for delivery in two days,” the seamstress said, giving Grianna a bolt of the cloth.
Grianna hustled Sara out of the shop and pushed her across the street. “Now for shoes.” She waved the cloth at Sara. “They are required to match the dress perfectly.” The shoemaker’s shop stood down the next block. Sara tried on a few shoes for sizing and Grianna explained how the dress would look. The shoemaker would return any excess material to the seamstress.
When they returned back to the townhouse, Sara brought Grianna into the library.
“What’s this?”
“I used this technique at school. It’s a large slateboard. We use chalk and can use rubber glue to attach documents. We only have time to outline what we need for the proposal, so if the king asks about our project we can provide him with the broad concept,” Sara said. She was the schoolmaster and Lady Grianna the student, now that she had built the board with Willa’s help.
“My, my,” Grianna said. “This is so much better! I’ll be able t
o see the whole process.” She looked at the piles of the former plan papers still sitting on the table. “I never could understand all of that.”
So Lady Grianna didn’t have any idea what West had put together. That suited Sara rather well.
“Banna and I talked about the major points we needed to cover. If you’ll permit me I’ll put them on the board.” Sara said. She actually used this method while working with Doctor Hedge in characterizing the percussive powder found in one of Brightlings’ mines.
They talked for another two hours, with Willa bringing in dinner. Grianna had an after dinner engagement and kissed Sara on the cheek when she left the library to get ready. “I so enjoyed our session this afternoon. It’s so much more exciting to be so involved. You can throw all of those other papers away.” Grianna waved her fingers at the stacks on the desk. Sara would dispose of them, but not in the trash.
After Grianna left, Sara sat in the desk chair and viewed her handiwork on the board. That was more like it, but she wished Banna hadn’t left for Obridge since she worried about holes in the proposal that a person with more experience might find. However, she would take the proposal as far as she could and send the results to Banna.
Lady Grianna dedicated afternoons to the proposal and Sara came to understand that Grianna had a good mind, when she could get the focus. That focus came and went like the sun on a partly cloudy day. The dress had arrived late on Threeday and they had all of Fourday planned to prepare. Sara still didn’t know why they couldn’t continue to work on the proposal. They now had twenty pages of fresh ideas.
Sara walked down to the dining room for breakfast, surprised to find Grianna already eating. “We’ll work on walking with the dress and shoes on this afternoon, but this morning, I’ll be your instructor on how to act during your presentation.” She giggled.
So the day before presentation in court would be devoted to an unfamiliar kind of training. Sara couldn’t resist a smile. She had been so intent on the proposal that she hadn’t had time to get nervous. Now that she wasn’t the leader, her stomach started to grow butterflies.
“Your eating technique is adequate,” Grianna said. “Your mother taught you well. At court, however, if we have the opportunity to eat, you only put a few bites on your plate. If you’re hungry, you can eat as much as you want once we return here.”
Sara nodded. Perhaps she should take notes, so she went to the library and grabbed a piece of paper and a pencil.
The morning became walking and curtseying practice as well as a rundown on how to act towards various nobles.
“Lets have a look at the certification for you,” Grianna said over lunch.
Sara ran upstairs and retrieved her Goldagle certification from the hollowed out book Banna had given her.
“Oh, signed and sealed by the Royal Genealogist. It’s a wonder that you ever gained an audience!”
“One of the few contacts that I have in Parth knows him. And now I do too.” Sara wouldn’t tell Grianna about her library pass—at least not yet.
Sara nodded. “I’m a Goldagle of Shattuk Downs. There are only three of us left—my two brothers and me. I’m afraid their father is common, but Obed said that shouldn’t matter.”
“Obed. My, my, you do know him.” Grianna certainly was impressed. She clapped her hands. “I love surprises. The king won’t expect this.”
Sara only shrugged. She had expected Obed to share her story with the King.
~
The carriage wound around the palace grounds going ever higher and higher until Sara and Grianna arrived at the Royal Courtyard that was perhaps twice as big as the Precinct in Obridge. They exited the carriage.
A bitter-cold wind blew, as usual, and Sara’s cloak did little to warm her as the cold air went straight through the fine cloth of the dress. Willa had tried to tame her curly hair and ended up piling it all on top of her head. Grianna lent her a fancy gold hairpin as a decoration.
The King’s Court wasn’t any more interesting than the Grand Duke’s. The petitioners wore finer clothes and most of the men wore wigs of smooth hair that curled above their ears and then fell to their shoulders. Time moved just as slowly as it had in Stonebridge, even with Lady Grianna introducing her to a few of the nobles, but they seemed rather disinterested in her when Grianna told them that she came from Shattuk Downs. Sara left Lady Grianna talking to a few of her friends and went to look at the view of sea.
She felt a tap on her shoulder.
“Miss Featherwood?”
Sara jumped at the sound of Lord Northcross’ voice.
“What do you see down there?”
Her original thought, last year in Obridge, that he kept his hair clipped short because of wigs, seemed to be correct. Northcross’ wig echoed his golden hair color except there wasn’t a hint of gray and no curls. After the shock of his coiffure, Sara wondered if he wanted some esoteric observation. He wouldn’t get one so Sara answered honestly, “I see the dock of Parth. I’ve not been on the ocean side of the palace since I’ve been here. It’s quite a breathtaking view since I’ve never seen the sea before.”
“Ah.” Northcross nodded. “Shattuk Downs is a poor place from which to see ocean.”
Did he just say something droll? He so intimidated her that she didn’t expect it. “I have something for you, Lord Northcross.”
He raised his eyebrows. “And what is that?”
“Lady Grianna’s Women’s College plans as created by Doctor West. He wrote just about all of it. You might find something interesting in them.”
“Did you find anything of use?”
“Just that he had planned to siphon funds from the College—fifty thousand gold crowns or so. I don’t have the context in which to tell much else. Perhaps you have people who can.”
“Indeed, Miss Featherwood. I see young Brownhill and you continued your acquaintance.” Northcross looked at the carriage necklace.
“We have. I’ve met with Dr. Hedge and Klark on the grounds a few times.”
He just nodded. He probably knew all about her and much of their conversation. Northcross looked across the room at Lady Grianna. “Be careful, Miss Featherwood. West is still at large, despite our efforts. He may come calling. If he does…” Northcross pulled out a thick card and scribbled something on the back with a stubby pencil in a gold holder. “See me at once. In fact, should you ever wish to see me, my invitation still stands that I extended to you in my letter last summer. At home or at my office, I am at your service.” He bowed and walked away without looking back.
They actually had a civil two-way conversation and Sara didn’t feel demeaned. He still intimidated her, but did she sense a layer of softness in the way she had been treated? Does he know that he was her father? Handy didn’t know for sure, but Lord Northcross was capable of hiding anything he didn’t want to show—of that Sara knew.
Grianna bustled over to where she stood. “Lord Northcross. He’s the most powerful man in Parthy except for the King. He acted like he knew you.”
“Our paths have crossed before in Shattuk Downs. He gave me his card and said I could call. I’m sure he doesn’t mean it and is just being polite,” Sara said.
“That man is never polite.” Grianna stared at Northcross’ back with a peeved expression. The chamberlain pounded his stick in the hall calling for the presentations to begin. “Oh we must get in line! There are six of you today, but I only count five, including you. You’re last. I’ll bet you’re nervous.” She clapped her gloved hands with joy.
Sara realized her hands were shaking from her encounter with Northcross. “I am now,” she said and gave Grianna a nervous smile.
A page brought Sara up to the King’s throne where three men and another woman had already lined up. All of them seemed a bit tense, so Sara’s own nervousness wouldn’t be remarked upon.
The court murmured as a tardy participant rushed into the court room and took his place in front of Sara.
“Klark!” Sara said, surpris
ed at her breathless friend’s unseemly entrance.
“The Duke gave me just enough time to slip in and slip out. As soon as we’re finished, I have to rush off to monitor the weed-strewn yard again.”
Each of the participants provided a certification of their birthright to the chamberlain who opened them for the king. The king called the person forward and read off of the certificate and declared them a son of this baron or a nephew of that. None of this group was recognized with titles, but the declaration of their lineages still gave them certain privileges. Klark could use his lineage as entry into the University. Sara didn’t know what use she’d have for her presentation except that she’d then might be able to accompany Lady Grianna to social events.
Klark’s lineage seemed to be better than Sara realized as he had strains of noble blood on both sides with his father the great grandson of a previous Shattuk Downs Grand Duke.
“Sara Featherwood of Brightlings, Shattuk Downs.” The chamberlain intoned her name and it startled Sara a bit to realize she now stood alone in front of the King’s Court. She presented Obed’s certificate to the chamberlain.
The king read the certificate and seemed lost in thought for a moment. He sought out Northcross in the crowd and nodded. Could they know?
“We once knew Sara’s mother, many years ago, while in Shattuk Downs, just before taking the throne, actually. We accept Sara Featherwood as the senior member of the Goldagle family and, if she wishes it, can use the Goldagle surname. She has true claims to the estate of Goldfields and perfected claims to the estate of Brightlings Manor. Her title at present seems to be, shall we say, in flux, but our cousin the Royal Genealogist has recommended bestowal of a title and we agree with his assessment. We will elevate Lady Sara to the rank of Countess.”
Countess? Only Duchesses ranked higher and yet she didn’t know of any Counts in Parthy. Her consternation was only matched by the court, which remained silent for a moment, and then granted her new position with polite applause. She looked at the nobles in court. Not many of them wore welcoming faces.
Sara curtseyed as Grianna had taught her and withdrew from the king who, she just noticed, looked like his brother. He followed her with his own blue eyes. The chamberlain pounded his cane on the floor again to announce that refreshments would be served in honor of the new court members.
