Lily changed her mind about riding into the village. The trip to the blacksmith could wait until the rest of her Virmans arrived. She would ask her apprentice to make the bells for Miranda. While the girl was eating breakfast, Lily went to talk to Shirvey Lindt and asked him for her husband’s letter.
She studied the seal on the thick envelope and nodded. She already knew the Earton coat of arms: a white swan on a green ground holding a green branch in its beak. That explained why the family colors were green and white. For an instant, she thought about finding some white wool and knitting herself a fluffy white sweater. She knew how to do it. Then she remembered that a fluffy sweater would have been more attractive on her in her previous life. Her new body was the wrong size.
Lindt left the countess alone with the words written by her significant other. She broke the seal and started to read.
Oh my.
It was a good thing that Lily was still a slow reader. Otherwise she would have ripped the letter into little shreds.
“Wife!” his lordship opened the letter. “I will arrive no sooner than next spring. Or summer. I hope the child is in good health and that you will do your duty in carrying it to term. Try not to lose this child. Medicus Craybey will be of assistance to you. I have written to Etor. He will be sure to make you comfortable. I am sending my daughter, Miranda Catherine, to Earton. I expect you will enjoy her company over the winter. Take due care of her, for I will expect a full account upon my arrival. Shirvey Lindt is my agent. You may ask him for anything you need for yourself or the child. Jerrison, Earl of Earton.”
Really?
Lily put the letter on the table and held it down with one hand.
Keep calm, girl. Keep calm.
She took a breath.
I’ll survive.
A shocking thought popped into her mind.
I wonder how much calcium there is in the body of a medieval earl? – I don’t understand this do you?
Lily read the letter six more times. The only useful information was distilled into five words: “I have written to Etor.” She would have to find that letter, read the instructions and write back. The rest didn’t matter. It was clear as day that he didn’t give a damn about his wife. She could live or die as long as she gave him an heir.
Son of a bitch!
Lily took a deep breath. She let it out slowly and willed herself to calm down. Her husband was far away. She couldn’t do anything about him yet, but his bill just got longer by one item. It was a big, heavy bill. Cast iron. Weighed at least a ton. She couldn’t wait to drop it on his foot.
In the meantime, what do I do about his agent?
She scratched her nose.
There are only two options: either I win him over to my side or he stays here as a hostage at Earton. If I keep him here, I’ll write his reports for him.
She could just imagine what he would write if allowed his freedom: “My lord, I’m afraid your wife lost the baby and gained a serious wild hair up her butt. Pardon my language, but she is racing around Earton making all sorts of changes. She is corresponding with merchants, and she has hired a whole army of Virmans. Affairs at the estate are most decidedly taking a strange turn.”
If he gets a letter even close to that, there’s a 92% chance that he’ll ride down here on his fastest horse. Another 7.9% chance that he’ll write me a letter ordering me to stop and send a cartload of men to keep an eye on me. And a .1% chance that he’ll continue to ignore me. Even less than that! There’s no way he’ll let his wife run wild on his estate. People will talk!
Lily bit her lip. She needed to play for time until Leif and his Virmans arrived. She started to sketch out a plan in her head. She would ask Shirvey to wait for her further instructions. That would keep him at Earton for the time being.
Now that she knew her husband wouldn’t arrive until the spring, it was time to move quickly. And time to get in touch with her father.
Her first item of business was to talk to the captain of the guards who had accompanied Miranda and find out how he felt about Virmans, and whether or not he would be willing to work under her command. Lily would have no one at the castle who wasn’t loyal to her. Not for free and not if they paid her, as her mother used to say.
Lily’s eyes filled with tears, but she held them back.
Not now.
After she talked to the captain of the guards she would know what to do with his soldiers: they could either stay and serve her and Leif or ride off to the devil. Lily would even be kind enough to point out the way. Shirvey, on the other hand, was no soldier. He was a hired agent. She could get rid of him any number of ways, but she needed to do it soon. If he gave her Jess’ letter to Etor, she’d let him live. Otherwise he would receive a visit from a friendly ghost in a pink nightgown. That would teach him!
A servant girl knocked on her door. “Shirvey to see you, my lady.”
Good grief, it’s like he was hanging around outside the door. Maybe he was…
She held out her hand to him. “Give me the letter.”
“Pardon me?”
“Give me the letter you brought for the manager.”
It was the same tone of voice her boxing trainer had used on her: “Give me fifty pushups. You don’t want to? Then make it seventy.”
Shirvey was tougher than a teenage Aliya. “The earl instructed me to put it into the hands of his estate manager.”
“Etor is not here. I am. Do you think I stand lower than the estate manager?” Inwardly, Lily was glad the door was shut so no one could hear. Shirvey’s face took on the expression of a stubborn goat in a bad mood.
“My lady, the earl specifically instructed me to put his letter into the manager’s hands…”
Lily breathed in. She breathed out. She looked at the man. She had a choice: theoretically she could knock him over the skull and take the letter by force, but he would never hand it over willingly.
Lily nodded. “I understand your feelings about duty. But you have to understand that we have no estate manager at the moment. We can come back to this subject later. Why don’t we write to the earl and ask him for new instructions?”
Shirvey’s face relaxed into a timid smile. He had been afraid that the countess would throw a fit. Lily might have considered it, but hysterics didn’t serve her purpose at the moment. As countess, she intended to lead and command people, not wheedle and beg favors from them.
Lily ended her meeting with Shirvey and called in the senior Virman. In a few words, she explained that she was having trouble with her husband’s agent. He was being disrespectful and refusing to give her an important letter. Could they re-educate him to the point that he was still alive but wished he wasn’t?
Ivar listened to Lily’s account without moving a muscle in his face. Yes, what she wanted was possible. He didn’t know about a prison, but he had already located the castle’s torture chamber, a most necessary part of any important medieval household.
Lily was impressed. She had not thought to look for a torture chamber, but the Virmans had found it the day after they arrived. She did not, in fact, have any intention of torturing Shirvey. She just wanted to prevent him from leaving with the letter.
“What will you do with him afterwards?” Ivar asked in a professional tone, like a butcher. “How will you want him killed?”
Lily pondered the question. Ivar had a point. Wolves got the estate manager. Nobody asked any questions because nobody had liked him.
Say wolves get the agent. And then the earl comes for a visit and wolves kill him, too. Nobody will believe that.
Those thoughts must have been plain as day on Lily’s face, because Ivar nodded in response, “My lady, I can dispatch him for you right now while you are in the heat of anger…”
That made sense. She was angry at the agent and had every right to order his death. (Lily was finding it easy to get along with the Virmans. They could see that Lily didn’t care about a person’s pedigree – she just wanted to know what he could do
. There had never been a system of hereditary nobility on Virma; the Virmans elected their leaders based on ability.) Now, Ivar was tactfully trying to show the countess that she would have to have the agent killed if his re-education didn’t go well. How many witnesses would there be?
No, I have already sent one man to his death without getting all the information I could out of him. I won’t make that mistake again.
“You are right, Ivar. I will think about this matter and let you know this evening. Do not touch him for now.”
“As you wish, my lady.”
After he left, Lily sent word for Taris Brok to come to her study. She was prepared for yet another disappointment.
My father is probably just as bad as my husband.
The package from her father was heavy. When she untied it, she found a letter and a large wooden box with a key. It was a beautiful little key on a fine chain. Lily caught her breath. She knew the value of the workmanship. She opened the box. It was filled with spices and sweet-smelling incense, both very costly. Ali had given her several sacks filled with similar goods, but she still appreciated the gift. The box alone was worth several dozen gold coins.
“My lord also sent you some lengths of velvet and silk, as well as fine leather for boots and some furs…”
Lily nodded and opened the letter.
August Broklend’s seal was a simple one: instead of a coat of arms, it was a simple shield with two stars.
That means it isn’t a hereditary title yet, and it’s been in the family for two generations. First my grandfather and then my father. If there are no other heirs, I wonder if anything will come to me?
“My dearest daughter! I hope you are in good health. Here is a small gift from your father. I have received word that you are not well. Is that true? Write to me if you need anything. My agent will try to obtain for you whatever you need. Your loving father.”
Lily let out a big sigh of relief. There were no intrusive questions about her feelings or her plans. That was hardly surprising. In her new world, women were only slightly more valuable than furniture or clothes. They were property.
It was a short letter, but it told Lily quite a bit: her father loved her, but he was not terribly interested in her inner life. The presents were lovely as a symbol of parental love.
She looked up at Brok. “Honorable Taris, I do have an errand you can do for me. I need you to go to another town and take a letter to an Eveer jeweler named Helke Leitz. He will give you something for my father. You can give that to him along with my reply.”
If Brok was surprised by her request, he did not show it. “As you wish, my lady. What town?”
“Altver.”
“When should I leave?”
“As soon as possible,” she said. Then a delightful thought occurred to her. “I will tell the soldiers that came this far with you to follow you to Altver as protection.”
That will leave Shirvey here alone against a large group of Virmans. I’ll get my hands on that letter or else!
“Thank you, my lady.”
“I will give you a letter for my father tomorrow morning.” She bowed slightly, signaling that he was free to leave.
Once alone, she looked out the window. It would be interesting to know what Brok would say to her father. Would he ask why everyone had warned him that she was a temperamental fool? Would he describe her has a lovely, reasonable woman? If he did, how would her father react?
He’ll either write me some more letters or come pay a visit. Maybe both. How will I handle that? I suppose I can always claim that the miscarriage and fever changed me. I was self-centered and out of control until I lost my child. If only I had been more careful, I wouldn’t have tripped and fallen on the stairs.
She played with the end of her braid. Yes, that would do nicely. She would find her father’s old letters and read through them before she wrote him anything in response.
The visit to the blacksmith will have to wait.
“Here you are! When are we going riding?” Miranda came bouncing in to Lily’s study. Without missing a beat, Lily caught her by the scruff of the neck.
“Stand still! Watch out and don’t sneeze!”
“Why not?”
“And don’t look at me like that. Are those the clothes you were planning to go riding in?”
Miranda looked down at her fancy dress. Lily winked. “No, you need something more practical. Something for rolling in the dirt, jumping off a horse, climbing trees and shooting rocks with a slingshot.”
“What?”
“A slingshot. Haven’t you ever used one before?”
“No. Calma says that a young lady should never do that.”
“Aren’t I more important than Calma?”
“You’re a countess. I’ll be one too, when I grow up.”
“Exactly. And I am telling you that you must try all those things. If you are a good girl, I’ll teach you how to fight, too.”
“But a young lady…”
“Don’t young ladies ever get teased?” Lily asked, eyes narrowed.
Miranda’s face fell. She knew about teasing.
Lily snorted, “What’s a young lady supposed to do? Run off and find a nobleman to defend her?”
“Yes.”
“But you can’t always find one when you need one. Isn’t that right?”
“Y-yes…”
“And by the time he gets there, the boy who was teasing you has run off. I’ll teach you how to knock anyone down. They’ll see stars.”
“Do you know how to do that?”
“A countess has to know lots of things, including how to fight.”
“Why?”
“Because when you’re a countess, you are the most important lady in these parts. You’re responsible for the people who live here. You have to be able to defend them, and yourself.”
The little girl seemed to be hearing these things for the very first time, but judging by the pleasure on her face (which still bore signs of her breakfast), Lily could tell that she was on the right track. Sure, the child would misbehave on occasion – yell, throw fits – but Lily had her well in hand. She was just bored. Miranda Catherine was an active, energetic child who couldn’t sit still for more than ten minutes. People were always forcing her to live up to the image of a noblewoman by walking slowly instead of running, moving gracefully instead of tumbling and acting like a dried fish (like her etiquette teacher). Everything was off limits. The child had nowhere to expend her energy. That was the cause of her temper tantrums and other delights. Miranda needed someone to get her good and tired every day.
Lily winked at her. “Let’s go get measured for our new riding clothes. While the dressmakers work on them, we can take care of some very important business.”
“What business?”
“We are going to make a mess and act like pigs.”
Miranda stared at her. Usually the adults she knew said things like, “Lady Miranda, don’t get your dress dirty. Don’t run around like that. Don’t fight. Don’t…don’t…don’t…” Lily, on the other hand, was offering to do something fun and interesting with her. The little girl skipped happily down the hall with her to find the dressmakers.
On their way, Lily told the dancing instructor that all of Miranda’s lessons would start the next day. Then she raced Miranda to the end of the hall and knocked over a heavy vase.
Who cares? It’s made of metal.
The dressmakers were in their room, all three heads bent over a piece of yellow material. When Lily and Miranda walked in, they jumped up and bowed. Lily smiled.
“Girls, I need some riding clothes for this little girl with big ears.”
“I don’t have…”
“Of course. For this little girl with no ears.”
“What sort, my lady?”
“Make her something that will allow her to sit astride, like a man.” Lily looked around at four pairs of round eyes. “She will look lovely, don’t worry. Do you have any birchbark?”
/>
She sketched out a plain pair of culottes. They would have to be very wide, so that no one could see that the skirt was actually a pair of pants. Best of all, the design was so simple that the culottes could be let out or taken in as needed.
“You’ll make two pair: one for me and one for Lady Miranda.”
The girls had never thought of folding pants at the waist and inserting a rope or ribbon to tie the pants, like a hidden belt. Lily made a mental note to send Helke some belt ideas once she was finished with her father’s letters.
Lily’s design for culottes was so simple that the measurements took only a few minutes. Miranda (or Mirrie, as Lily already thought of her) gave her full cooperation. She was fascinated with the idea of wearing pants and riding a horse like a man. She had no way of knowing what Lily knew, which was that the pastor would have something to say about all of this. Lily blew out a deep breath. She would make sure that he left them alone by tossing some pastries at him (or something heavier, like stone-filled pastries, if necessary). – Is this a russian metaphor? I sort of get it but do you think there’s a better expression in Engish?
After their fitting, Lily and the little girl went back to the study and launched into creating a gigantic mess: Lily lifted Miranda into the first of six large trunks that stood against the wall, and the little girl started tossing its contents in every direction. Lily caught the things that came flying out and put them into piles. Every now and then she stopped and read something before starting a new pile. Miranda was thrilled, and Lily was gratified to be getting something done.
They discovered the letters the Earl of Earton had written to his estate manager in the third of the six trunks. The letters from Lily’s father were, of course, at the bottom of the very last trunk.
I knew Etor would have kept them! Nobody throws away important letters, except perhaps Lilian Elizabeth Mariella Earton.
For the first time, Lily felt truly annoyed with the recipient of the letters.
So what if you’re lonely and overweight? Plenty of people do more with a lot less in this life.
As far as she could tell, all Lilian had accomplished in life was covering the walls of her bedroom with expensive pink silk. Self-improvement not something that had ever concerned the countess.
The Clearing Page 3
