the Leathermines

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The Lady Engrid Pearl, Baroness of the house of Pearl and Ruby, Dam Aunt of the Royal Throne was well enough to transfer her titles and lands to her unrevealed heir.

Laun and her people once again went from the yurlodge to the death room, Edgar staying to look after Gem’s baby again.  Silver nodded to Laun, a small smile on his lips, but nothing else outward than that.  Laun stood near one of the walls and watched the people about her.

Lady Engrid was looking better after having rested from the trip up to the plateau.  That, and Laun thought she smelled the slight spice scent of several medicines in the room when she had entered.  Powerful drugs that should have had the Lady asleep.  Laun had just a spark of sympathy for the pain she must have been in, but it was quickly extinguished when Laun saw the look in Lady Engrid’s eye.

Evil.  That was all Laun could put to name what she saw.  On her death bed and Lady Engrid had a haughtiness about her, and a withering look, that most would have cringed from.  Laun let it wash over her.  She was there to observe, nothing more.

The herald who had announced the travelers in the welcoming ceremony was in the room, a scribe set up with a little desk beside the bed.  King Ifahyd was the last of the people to arrive and Lady Engrid gave him a withering look, but bowed her head slightly to acknowledge him.

It seemed the thing to do to approach her and let her see who was there, even though she was not that far gone.  The herald knew the order of precedence and motioned people to her side one by one.  Ifahyd was first as he was King.  Laun was next because she was a Princess.  Then there was a Duke.  And the Marquis.  And many more people than Laun really wanted to remember.  And Gem.

Gem had been beside Laun, almost hiding at her side.  The herald had to motion to her twice to get her to step forward.  Engrid’s eye was on her, the expression changed slightly, and not for the kinder.

Laun saw the way Gem held one hand clenched, thumb inside her fist, as she approached the bedside.  It was one of the ways Laun knew that Gem was terrified.  It was one of the only things she could not control even with working on it for over a year.

“Nona...”  Laun saw eyebrows go up in the room, but did not know what the word meant.  Engrid softened her expression slightly and then waived the blonde away.  She was looking at the next person, but Laun saw a look back at Gem as the young woman came back to Laun’s side, and the flash of a smirk on the Great Lady’s dry lips.

Everyone had been to her bed.  There was the reading of Lady Engrid’s titles.  There was the reading of the lands she had title rights to.  There was the reading of who currently had occupation rights to those lands.  There was the reading...  Laun’s mind drifted.  She tried to listen, and she knew that it was being read in the Midland’s language for her benefit.  But there was so much, and she did not know any of the places they named.  She hardly knew any of the people that were mentioned, and she didn’t know the heir that had just-

Gem gasped.  She went pale.  Laun’s arm was around her to support her.  There was a sob, and then a panic as Gem looked up into Laun’s eyes, a pain Laun had not seen before plain to read.  Then Gem pushed away and would not look at Laun as she moved slowly to the side of the bed.

Laun did not understand.  And then she did.  And her heart fell through her, her own breathing becoming quick and shallow before she controlled herself.

“As the only living daughter of the hidden child Fionne Mas’a’Drid Pearl, Yevette es’cai Pearl is the only blood descendent of her Excellency, Lady Engrid Pearl.  All other petitioners have been vetted and Lady Engrid has chosen Yevette as her title heir.”

It was not a quiet and polite murmur that went through the room.  It seemed only three people in the room were not talking, the sick and dying Lady looked between the other two, a hideous smile on her face showing her remaining teeth.  Laun saw back and remembered several times that Gem... Yevette... had said things slightly off about Engrid.  It had been about Engrid, not about Blue Master.  Gem...  The heir seemed to be on the edge of fainting and gripped the side of the bed as she looked into her Grandmother’s face.

The herald motioned and most of the conversations around the room stopped.  “Her Excellency has requested several particular witnesses for the title document.  King Ifahyd.  Princess Laun.  Marquis Justin Blaque.  Count Ahmid Cour.”

Each of the people to be witnesses gathered on one side of the bed, the flow of people around the bed changing, the people who were still there vying for a chance to see the signatures as they were witnesses to the witnesses.

A thin, dry hand came from the bed and held onto Laun’s tunic.  Engrid pulled Laun close and whispered, “I saw that you had the spark.  I pushed you and you blossomed.  You were what she needed.”  Laun pulled back and saw a triumph flash through the woman’s milky blue eyes.

That made another wave of murmurs start through the room, but stopped at the look from the herald.  He directed Yevette to sign on the large parchment on the table, the scribe taking the glass quill back and making a notation next to the signature.  Each of the witnesses signed in status order, a little mark made by the scribe at each.

If Laun had been able to think of anything but the betrayal she felt, she would have been interested to see that the scribe was noting that each person was there, signed their own signature and was not under duress.  The Rosemond Laun had not seen was run very much on the paperwork of bureaucracy, the trade routes and the titles.  Ceremony was the tip of the mountain of laws and forms that everyone who lived there had to deal with.  But Laun was not thinking of that.

Laun stepped back to let Silver sign on the parchment.  She stepped back further, nodding to several of the others in the room, a bland smile on her face.  She was able to make it to the open door to the courtyard as those around Yevette started to congratulate her.  No one was looking when she stepped out into the courtyard, waiving her people away.

Laun found a little wood bench next to a small rock pile that had been carefully placed in the garden.  She was not seeing the pinks and creams of the rock.  She was not hearing the light bird sounds from a swallow nesting in the eves near one of the second story windows above.  She did not notice the scent of roses and jasmine from the blooming plants in the carefully tended courtyard.

All Laun could think of was how her Gem had deceived her.

The Peaches who were in the courtyard watched their Mistress.  She seemed very still, and very young.  What had just happened had gone right through all of her defenses, had caught onto her heart and dragged it out.  She could deal with pain of wounds caused by weapons.  She could deal with the uncomfortable nature of most court life, both in Rosemond and in the Midlands.  She had been able to look at shocking things about people around her, and herself, and pushed past.  This was more and had undermined part of her core being, sapping her self confidence.

The one person who saw that Laun was not among the nobles vying for the new Baroness Pearl’s attentions was King Ifahyd.  He could not get away as he could not show preference to Laun in such a public event, even though he had done so before.  There was a motion calling one of the nobles to his side and a few low words to send the noble to Laun under the pretense of making sure she had water.

A silver goblet was in the Duke’s hand, clear, cold water within, shining with the reflections of the sky.  Laun stood from the wood bench and took the goblet, marveling at how cool the water could be in a desert.  She sipped, looking at the man.  He bowed and stepped away.

The courtyard was designed to have some sun, but to have shade and air movement at all times.  It was pleasant.  Laun tried to focus on the sensations of the small dry breeze coming through and taking the small amount of sweat from her.  She was wearing one of the almost sheer tunics that had been brought by some of the attendants to their smaller, almost tent-like outer building.  It was enough to cover, the weapons she would normally wear not hidden beneath and only one of the long, thin blades was on her, hanging off the silver mesh belt that had also been laid out for her.  

It was still too hot.

Thinking of the differences and the heat was not letting Laun distance herself enough from the shock she had just gone through.  The look on Lady Engrid’s face, even with her propped up on her death bed, was enough to let Laun know that the old woman enjoyed the little show.  Gem... Yevette...  Laun felt her stomach drop even further knowing that one of the main assassins in her troupe, a lover, her family, had been hiding this from her for so long.  It had been fast, Gem being pulled from beside her and proclaimed the new title holder and heir to Lady Engrid.  No time to really react.

Laun walked along the shadow in the courtyard, sand scraping beneath her light sandal against the brightly colored tiles.  There was little she could do to physically distance herself from what had just happened, but she felt caged, trapped beyond that.  She had not been able to see into Gem, past the veil that had been put there.  Who else was hiding such things from her?  Would she be able to react at all if one of the secrets came out and was deadly?

A small, pale yellow flower on top of a large, bulbous green cacti had Laun’s attention when she heard a purposeful slide of a step on the sand.  Laun turned and saw Gem on the King’s arm, several of the nobles standing just inside the open doorway, watching but giving them some space.

“Mistress...”  Gem’s face was flushed and her eyes were large as they looked at Laun.  “I...”

Ifahyd knew there was tension, but did not know what it really was from.  He tried to diffuse it by saying, “Now you have even more of a reason to come back to Rosemond, Highness.”

Laun felt her jaw tighten and had to turn slightly away to compose herself.  She took a small sip of the warming water and said, “It was getting quite warm in there.  I hope I did not break protocol by coming out here.”

Gem stepped closer but did not reach for Laun.  “I thought you knew when she sent me to you...and then...  But you are...”

Laun was smiling when she turned back to Gem, the new Baroness Yevette Pearl.  Gem stopped and seemed to shrink a little, even as Laun’s tones were smooth and tender, saying, “With what you have been through, you deserve your own titles and your own household.  I congratulate you in your inheritance and your new status.”

Even Ifahyd flinched, hearing the deadliness behind the words and tone.  It reminded him of his Aunt, and that was not good.  “Laun, my Midland Rose, shall we retire to my chamber and have something cool to eat?”  He held out his hand and Laun looked at it for a moment.

Gem heard the hurt and the dismissal in Laun, even if the others around could not.  “Thank you, Iffy.  That would be pleasant.  I think I shall take you up on your offer to stay with you for a few days.”  Laun smiled and nodded to Gem before turning and being led by Ifahyd into the cool building.

Silar came to Gem and put a hand on her shoulder.  “We all have secrets.  We need to go tell Edgar.”

The blonde nodded, but absently.  “I can’t forgive myself.  How can she forgive me...?”

The dark man moved to behind Gem, touching her back with his stomach, but not too much because of the heat.  “It didn’t take too long with me, even with my... lapse.  She loves you as a Sister and she needs to work things out.”

Gem turned and leaned into Silar, his arms going around her.  “I don’t want the Barony.  I don’t want the title.  I want my family...”

The nobles in the doorway mumbled among themselves, watching the dark Prince from the other continent comfort the new Baroness, gossiping about how the Midlands Princess had been discomfited by what had happened.  The barely awake Engrid smiled as she saw one of the strings she had laid years ago become taught.

 

Onto Chapter 10 Laun is hit hard by the realization someone close to her could hide something for so long