Sapphire of the Fairies soh-1

by Richard S. Tuttle

  Fredrik sat studying the elderlyswindler. He had to admit the plan had great merit and he hadnothing to lose. The servants needed him or some other person witha claim to inheritance if they ever hoped to stay employed.Obviously, the servants were not about to just hand over everythingwithout some safeguards for themselves. That is why Orthan insistedon holding the purse strings. That was purely a minor matteranyway. Whatever document he signed would be void if Orthan shouldsuddenly die. Orthan could not do the same towards him or theestate would be empty again and the servants would be back in theposition of being tossed out into the street. All in all, theagreement was fair and slightly in Fredrik’s favor.

  “Well, partner,” Fredriksmiled, “it looks like we will have a mutually beneficialrelationship for some time to come. If you will fetch some brandy,perhaps we can toast our new relationship.”

  “Certainly, My Lord,” Orthansmiled. “It will be my pleasure.”

  Orthan retrieved the brandy decanterand two glasses. Expertly pouring the liquid into the two glasses,he picked one up and offered a toast. “To the new Lord of AlrechtManor, Lord Wason, may he live in splendor ‘til a ripe old age.”Orthan sat back in the chair as they sipped their brandy. “Will thenew Lord be available for company around the noon hourtoday?”

  Fredrik squinted at the old man. “Thatcan be arranged, Orthan. What do you have up yoursleeve?”

  “A painter friend of mine willbe calling to ask for a sitting,” Orthan chuckled. “He will bepainting a portrait of Lord Alrecht with his favorite and onlynephew. He will be most discrete for as long as I wish.”

  Fredrik laughed. “You certainly havethought this out well, Orthan. Why have you figured to leave theLady out of the portrait?”

  “No one will believe youbrother and sister, Sir,” Orthan stated. “People will accept her asthe Lady of the Manor believing that she is your kept woman, butnot as your sister. I hope that is acceptable.”

  “It will have to be, Orthan,”Fredrik replied. Niki could get to be a problem in this wholeaffair if he didn’t handle her well. It was obvious that she hadset off on the wrong foot with the servants, but she was sobull-headed that she would never back down if confronted with theirknowledge. Best if he tried to head off her objections with somepositive news. “Orthan, have my things moved to the Master’s Suite.I need to have a talk with my Lady.”

  Orthan nodded as Fredrik rose and leftthe room. He walked to Niki’s room and knocked. Niki answereddressed in a beautiful, red satin gown and a red bow in her hair.“What do you think?” she asked.

  Fredrik closed the door and sat in oneof the chairs. “It is perfect,” he replied. “You look absolutelygorgeous, turn around.”

  Niki twirled with a broad, beamingsmile on her face. She strode over and gave Fredrik a kiss. “I amso happy,” she declared. “This is going to work outperfectly.”

  “There is a problem that Iwanted to talk to you about,” admitted Fredrik. “It seems that theservants know that Lord Alrecht did not have a niece. They arewilling to accept me as his nephew and you as my . . . woman. If wego along with this, we will be accepted by the whole community andhave great wealth. Orthan knows a great deal about Lord Alrecht’sfinances and I have asked him to handle them for us.”

  Niki looked stunned. “Why don’t we justget rid of the servants?” she asked.

  “No,” Fredrik quickly said.“No, we can not do that. Without their acceptance, we will have noclaim to the inheritance. It is only because of the servants thatwe have any chance at all of holding on to this mansion. Niki, wemust take care not to upset them.”

  “Upset them?” Niki shouted.“You expect me to care about upsetting the servants? They were bornto serve us and we to rule them. You can’t be serious?”

  Fredrik needed a way to keep Niki quietand docile long enough to get the inheritance taken care of.“Niki,” he lectured, “if you want to rule somebody, we will beruling from Beggars’ Corner. If you want to live in splendor andwealth, you will treat the servants civilly. I don’t know how to bemore clear about this, Niki, but if you get the servants mad, wewill be running for our lives. If you keep them happy, we will bevery happy. Do you understand?”

  “I will try,” Niki pouted. “Atleast for a while, but I expect you to find a way around thisproblem. I cannot be a proper Lady when I have to go aroundworrying about whether or not the servants are thrilled to beservants. When are we going out to see the town?”

  “Tomorrow at the earliest,”Fredrik answered. “I need time to make sure that we are on solidfooting before we chance answering the inevitable questions aboutour late uncle. I need to learn all about him and the servants knowa great deal. I will uncover some more about him in his study andlibrary. I also ordered Orthan to move my belongings into theMaster’s Suite to get them used to the idea of a new Lord. You mayjoin me there or keep your present suite whatever pleases you.Either way, you are to give the appearance of being my lover. Wehave a great chance here, Niki, but it will require constantattention to details if we are to pull it off.”

  “I will put on a greatappearance,” nodded Niki. “Don’t you worry about me, but rememberyour promise to discover a way to replace the servantseventually.”

  Fredrik shook his head as he leftNiki’s suite. The best way to clear his head would be toconcentrate on learning more about Lord Alrecht. Orthan came intothe study with a paper for Lord Wason to sign and to announce thatthe artist had arrived. Fredrik looked at the paper, which gaveOrthan the powers that he was looking for and he signed it. Theartist proved to be quite capable and quick, as well. Within threehours he had completed a portrait of Lord Alrecht and his youngnephew, Fredrik Wason. He had painted Fredrik a year or two youngerthan he was now, but everyone would believe now that Fredrik wasthe nephew of Lord Alrecht. Orthan showed the artist out andreturned with Fredrik to hang the painting in the Lord’sstudy.

  “Your artist appears quitecompetent,” Fredrik remarked.

  “He is that, My Lord,” smiledOrthan. “I think it is best to bring you up to date on the life ofLord Alrecht this evening. I have arranged for a barrister to cometomorrow at noon to secure your rights to the inheritance. The manknew Lord Alrecht well, so he will not be easy to fool, but Ihappen to know that he was gone from the town for three months twoyears ago. That is why I had the painting made with you beingslightly younger. The story will be that you visited during thattime frame and that is the only time you and your uncle ever met.The barrister will, of course, state that your uncle nevermentioned you. You will laugh and explain that he was probably veryembarrassed about your existence because of the way his sister shuthim out of her life.”

  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 tha
t 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.

  Chapter 9

  Gypsy

  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.”

  Arik was about to say that he had neverseen Kalina when the woman stepped into view and waved to them.“That’s the woman who wandered into our campsite,” Arik whisperedto Tedi.

  Tedi nodded and whispered back, “I toldyou I didn’t believe in coincidences.” The boys kicked their horsesforward and entered the clearing, followed by Garth leading theextra horse.

  “Is everything okay?” Kalinaasked. “I can tell by the horses that you ran into some DarkRiders.”

  “I suppose they are busycounting their dead,” Garth stated. “They had these boys surroundedand they seemed pretty determined to get their hands on them. Can’tsay as I ever recall hearing of Dark Riders wading in the surf tocapture anyone.”

  “Take care of the horses,Garth,” Kalina instructed, “I will get some food and blankets forour guests. They must be hungry with what they have been throughand I can see that they are soaked. Stoke up the fire some moreafter you’re done with the horses and we’ll see if we can dry themout.”

  “Excuse me,” Tedi interrupted.“I appreciate your hospitality, but I am not a believer incoincidences. You wandered into our campsite in Lorgo and now youjust happen to send this bandit after us to protect us from DarkRiders. Who are you really and what do you want withus?”

  Arik looked stunned at Tedi’simpertinence, but Kalina just smiled. “I would be sorelydisappointed if you believed that I would risk Garth’s life just toplay games with you. You boys are destined to greatness and anyperson who would stand by and allow you to fall into the hands ofthe Dark One is a person whom I would not want to associate with.Allow me to introduce myself. I am Kalina. I am a gypsy and havesome sense of foretelling. When I walked into your campsite theother day, I was struck with an aura of greatness and goodness,which emana
ted from you two boys. I mentioned this to Garth and hetold me that one of you had tried sneaking into our campsite beforewe reached Lorgo.”

  “I wasn’t trying to sneak in,”protested Tedi. “I thought you were a gang of bandits and I wantedto know your intent with regards to Lorgo.”

  Garth laughed out loud as he wassecuring the horses and Kalina smiled. “I am sure,” she continued,“but I also do not believe in coincidences. When Garth told meabout the witch who was interested in you, I vowed that I wouldlook after you until you were capable of protectingyourselves.”

  “So, if we decided we werecapable of protecting ourselves, you wouldn’t stop us fromleaving?” Arik asked.

  “I would never stop you fromgoing your own way,” Kalina declared adamantly. “Did Garth forceyou to come here? If he did, I will have words withhim.”

  “No,” Arik admitted, “he didnot force us, although our choices were slim at thetime.”

  “Well, your choices are notmuch better now,” Kalina said, “but you are free to leave at anytime. Before you decide to up and leave, though, let me give yousome advice. I doubt that you boys have ever been out of Lorgobefore, because you seem totally unaware of what is waiting for youout there. Garth can train you to take care of yourselves. He canteach you how to ride a horse, use a sword, be quieter in theforest, lay false trails, and read the trails of others. There isso much that Garth can teach you that I would think you foolish ifyou did not avail yourselves of the opportunity to learn from him,but the choice is yours. Should I bring you dinner, or will you beon your way?”

  “As long as we are free toleave when we wish,” Arik said forcefully, “we will stay andappreciate your generosity.”

  Garth strode over and stood before theboys. Reaching down slowly he took the sword and scabbard fromArik’s hand. “I can stitch the belt on this for you,” Garthuttered. “Unfortunately, I was in a bit of a hurry when I cut itloose.”