"Tell the coach driver we're heading for the Indri District instead."
Estovan paused with his hand on the latch. His eyes flicked to Violet and then he leaned out and relayed the order.
Every fight House Veyne had with Julian Greenward died at two votes to two in the Council votes. From my meeting with Duke Thalos, I got the impression he would simply vote in the direction of the status quo. Julian would always position his interests to fall perfectly in line with that.
Thalos had said the rules were the only ones we had. Fine. I was not going to break the rules. A seated Duchess Indri was a fifth vote Julian could not buy. With Violet and Duke Wardell, we would have three votes. Enough to first open the Council again, and then to force a change that would keep Julian at bay. It was rather simple, when put like that.
And I had more than votes on my side now. The Solair grain would come through the Farstep Circle in the Indri District. Violet being a seated Duchess would ensure that food had safe passage. I would not be shocked if Julian tried something when he found out about those shipments.
I watched the Thalos District slide past the window, all deep and dignified purple. Why did all of the Houses like to make their Magical Implements glow with their own colors? From above, it must make Aelheim look like the work of some particularly confused painter.
It took me a full turn to realize Violet had not said a single word. Most people could handle silence. Violet was not most people. I turned to look at her. She was staring down at her own fists, folded in her lap. "Hey, what's wrong?"
Violet did not answer. I was pretty sure she didn't even blink. So I reached over and poked her in the ribs. "Hello, Violet. Is there anyone in there?"
She finally blinked and looked up. "What?"
"I asked you what's wrong." I pointed at her. "You don't look very happy."
Only one thing occurred to me that this could be about. I raised a hand before she could speak. My stomach dropped. "Look, if you really don't want to become Duchess, we can call it off. Just say the word, and-"
"It's not that," Violet said.
"Then what?"
She clicked her tongue. "I just thought I'd have a little more time, I guess. A month, at least. To have fun." She tugged her braid. "But you probably want this to happen faster, don't ya?"
"As quickly as possible," I said. "Within the next ten days, if we can manage it."
She sat back against the seat. The braid got another tug. "It's gonna suck."
"It probably is."
Violet raised an eyebrow at me. "Isn't this the part where you lie to me and tell me it'll be no goddamn problem?"
I reached over and whacked her on the shoulder. "I won't lie to you. It probably is going to suck, and you're going to do a lot of reading."
"Right," Violet said. She sounded tired.
"Maybe we don't go back to my manor for a few days," I said. "That's probably best."
Her face fell. "Gods damnit, what the hell am I going to do alone in that-" She stopped. I could guess the kinds of things she had been about to say.
I reached over and squeezed her shoulder. "We," I said.
"What?"
I leaned over and flicked her on the forehead. "Violet, I said we, didn't I? Maybe we don't go back to my manor for a few days."
Her eyes went wide. "Wait. Seriously?"
"Did you think I'd just tell you to do something and then leave you on your own?"
"…I mean." She rubbed at her forehead. "Maybe? What about your dad, though? He just woke up."
"I'll go back and visit when I can," I said. "but you've been in my home for a while. I might as well stay in yours for a bit."
Once I had told her she always had a home at Veyne Manor. Violet had taken me up on that offer. So thoroughly that she had only ever visited her manor a handful of times, and never for a full day. It was no wonder, given everything that had happened in that house.
Violet nodded slowly. Then the frown broke, and turned into a grin. "Yeah. I guess that sounds way better."
Sere slid her notepad out in front of Violet. I craned my neck to read it. Your home have sweets?
"I have no idea, Sere," Violet said. "Bet we can get some."
Damian was going to sulk when he heard about this. I made a note to have someone break it to him gently.
The grounds of Indri Manor were well tended. The hedges were trimmed. The grass was cut short. The flowerbeds that had been well maintained even then still looked beautiful. This was all the head maid Mari's doing, I knew.
She had made sure the place did not decay into ruin without a Lord or Lady to live here. She had done her job well. Whether that diligence came from her loyalty to house Indri, or from the magical contract I had forced upon her, was impossible to say.
There was also, I noticed, a distinct lack of guards. Barely any at all save the handful at the gate and the few I saw patrolling the grounds. That was something that would need fixing, if only for appearances. We would need to get quite a few when it came time for Violet's coronation proper, and they certainly couldn't be Veyne guards.
"My Lady." Estovan's voice was quiet. He had been counting too. "I will send word to Anias tonight. And I will walk the grounds myself." I nodded. Estovan had never been anything if not reliable.
The carriage slowed before the front steps. Estovan opened the door and stepped down. Violet and Sere were already moving toward the far side when I caught Violet by the shoulder.
"We're in your house, remember?" She stared at me. I let go, hopped down first, and then turned and extended my hand up toward her. Estovan, to his credit, did not so much as blink.
Violet looked at my hand. She looked at my face. She gave her braid one short tug. Then she took my hand, and let me help her down from her own carriage, onto her own steps. She was the Lady of the house, arriving properly.
Sere held out her hand next. I held out mine. Then she jumped, and I condensed mana into my arms just in time to catch her. "Hey, you," I said, setting her on her feet. "Relax. There's no rush."
The front door opened, and the head maid hurried out with a few maids in tow. Mari was much as I remembered. Weathered and worn, with more grey in her hair than the last time, though maybe I was just imagining that part. She dipped into a bow, and the maids bowed with her. Every one of the bows was aimed at me.
"My Lady," Mari said. "I did not know you would be coming. I will make sure to get the tea running."
I elbowed Violet lightly in the side, and she took a step forward. She glanced back at me, cleared her throat, and turned to the old woman. "Mari. Get some damn tea ready. We've got guests." Mari blinked up at her. "And see if we've got any sweets," Violet added. "That part's important."
Mari blinked again. Then she straightened, and hastily nodded. "O-of course, My Lady." She whispered to the nearest maid, who hurried off, and ushered us inside.
It was not quite what I had in mind. I supposed it was a start.
The manor felt different inside. The last time I had walked these halls, I had been too in my own head to notice. The sculptures were gone. And where they had stood there were only large flowerpots now. Ordinary flowers, encased in ordinary clay.
Better. Vaelin murmured in some corner of my mind.
Bit of a low bar, Vaelin. But I suppose that's true enough. The Godblade did not feel amused at my joke, though I was unsure if a Godblade could be amused. Something for another day.
Mari led us to a room. I recognized it as we crossed the threshold. The same long table. The same chairs. Someone had put flowers on the sideboard, where I was fairly sure a sculpture had once stood. It was the same room in which I had first met Duke Indri. Before I had known him or even suspected him of being the monster he turned out to be. I sat down in a chair, and I was fairly sure it was the exact seat I had taken on that day too.
Violet looked around for a long time. Then she moved, and took the seat her father once had.
Sere settled close to me, already sketching one of the flowerpots. She was the only one of us with no ghosts in this house, and I was grateful for her for it.
A maid brought the tea, and Mari began to serve. She set the first cup before me. "Your Lady is there, I believe," I said, and nodded toward Violet.
Mari went still for half a second. "Of course, My Lady." The head maid moved the cup. Violet huffed and took it, and took a long drink, as if to prove a point. She hissed a second later. Evidently the tea was too hot to chug.
When Mari offered me a cup again, I took only a small sip of my own. I eyed Mari, who finally filled a cup for Sere.
I could not fault the woman for the reflex. The last time we two had spoken in this manor, I had shown her the cages beneath it, and I had bound her tongue with a Magical Contract so that she could never speak of the night Duke Indri died. Fear had a long memory. If I had Vaelin in hand, I knew I would see the magical contract coiled at her throat like a red thread. It was easy to forget one's master when someone else had put on the leash.
"My Lady," Mari said, once the cups were poured. "It's rare to have you back home. You usually spend your time-" her eyes went to me, and back to Violet, "-elsewhere."
"We're staying," Violet said. "For a while."
Mari made a great show of not staring at her, which only made it more obvious, not less. "And what might be the occasion for this?"
It was an odd question, when you thought about it. A head maid asking her Lady why the Lady meant to spend time in the Lady's own house. It wasn't quite insolence or insubordination, but it wasn't exactly far off. It surprised me she had even asked it.
I opened my mouth to answer. Violet answered first. "I'm gonna become the damn Duchess," she said. "So I'm going to learn. And you-" she pointed at Mari "-are going to teach me every damn thing I need to know."
Violet was sitting up now, and she pointed a finger at Mari. "You kept this place from burning down. So you're gonna teach me how."
The old woman looked at Violet for a long moment. "My Lady," she said carefully. "Are you- are you certain about this?"
Violet huffed. "Yeah. I'm damn serious. Don't know how well it'll go, but at least I'll do better than that bas-" She paused for only a second. "-than my father did."
Mari set the teapot down very carefully. For the first time since we had walked in, she was looking at Violet. Really looking. And for a moment her eyes went somewhere else. Somewhere below the ground, probably. Then she bowed. It was deep, deeper than any bow she had given me. Her back went perfectly flat, and for the first time it felt like she was truly bowing to the person in front of her, and to no one else.
"Of course, My Lady," she said. "It will be my honor." Her voice cracked at the end.
Violet's face went red. She tugged her braid, huffed, and looked away. Sere gave her a small thumbs up, and then turned the notepad around, and on it she had drawn Violet wearing a crown three sizes too large, slumped so far under the weight of it that only her scowl showed beneath the rim.
It seemed Sere didn't know that Duchesses didn't have crowns. Replace the scowl with a wide grin, and it'd probably fit Katarina better. Violet looked at the drawing and her face only got redder. She looked at me, and I gave her a thumbs up of my own.
Yes. It seemed this had been a good idea, after all.