“Really?” she asked. “Did you find his body?”
The other looked uneasy, then finally shook his head.
“No, I thought not,” she continued. “We’ll leave that for now. As for Florian, yes, Thaddeus was his nearest cousin, but did you really think that was all the family he had? His grandfather was brother to my own. Thus, I am of the same line. By that right, I claim the title of Head of House Whispering Pines.”
She said it calmly, keeping her voice modulated to fit the inside of the conference room, inside the tree. It would have been easy to let it ring out, so that it could be heard over the sound of the sea, and up in the riggings of the ship. Outside, where she really still wanted to be.
“It’s not that simple, Jocasta,” another said, his voice waspish. “A new Head of House isn’t simply installed because they are family. There are qualifications, necessary experience…”
“I’m aware of that. I’ve been out getting more qualifications and experience than you could imagine. I’ve travelled the world, seen what’s out there and what the threats and opportunities are. All while you’ve stayed here, cowering in your trees like frightened squirrels.”
The meeting went downhill from there. Jocasta sat back and let it roll over her. It was going well. Keep them on edge, unsure of who she really was or how she would react. It wasn’t how she commanded her ship. There, the brutal hard truth worked best. Praise for effort and performance, discipline for failure, and derision for laziness.
Here though, the situation called for a different approach. She had been gone long enough that most of the old men here wouldn’t back her, at least not right away. When she left, she was a young woman, headstrong and impatient with the intrigues of a House like Whispering Pines.
Florian knew her feelings, even if he didn’t understand them, and she left with his blessing. He was a good man, her cousin, even with all their differences and clashes, and she was sorry that she wasn’t here when he needed her.
But she was now, even if it wasn’t where she truly longed to be. She would do her duty, by her cousin and her House. Even if it meant playing games with this pack of mongrels.
♦ ♦ ♦
“Well, that certainly set them off,” Childress chuckled as he handed Jocasta a glass of deep red wine.
Jocasta sipped and closed her eyes in pleasure. Ahh, this was something she missed. No matter how far she had gone, or what wonders she had seen, there was no wine that could compare to that of the Greenweald.
“It didn’t really go the way I thought it would,” she said, opening her eyes and looking at the aged Lord.
“Really? And how did you envision it? When you kicked open the doors and…”
“I didn’t kick them,” she interrupted.
“Threw them open, then.” Childress stopped and waited, and when she raised no further objection he continued. “And then claimed Florian’s place on nothing more than an ancient connection and bravado. To say nothing of insulting poor Jerome.”
He finished, but the twinkle in his eye spoke volumes about what he really thought of “poor Jerome”.
Jocasta sighed. “You’re right, of course. Maybe I’m not cut out for this after all.”
“Nonsense, dear.” Childress leaned over and patted her leg. “If I thought that was at all true, I wouldn’t have sent for you.”
He sat back and tented his fingers in front of his mouth. Jocasta recognized the gesture from years ago, when he was her tutor and she would ask a question that made him stop and think. She had done that more than any other student in all his years teaching, he told her. Now, she sipped her wine and watched him, waiting for him to speak again.
“Still,” he said after a moment, “perhaps it was for the best. They’ll think twice before challenging you, even if they want to. You’re opening salvo may not work in a House like Towering Oaks, but here no one will know what to make of it. They would expect you to come in softly, try to win others to your cause, show that you know how to play the subterfuge game, and so on. Now they’re not sure what to think.”
He stopped and gazed into the fire, built despite the warm day outside. For as long as Jocasta knew him, he always had a fire going.
“I have to ask,” Childress said, looking at her again. “Why? Why did you answer my summons and return? You never had the slightest interest in being Head of House.”
“I still don’t,” she grunted. “But this damn place. It calls. No matter how far I went, no matter how many miles out to sea I was, I could feel it. And when Florian died, I knew. I knew the minute it happened.” She dropped her eyes. “I never hated him, you know. We were different…but I never wanted something like that to happen to him.”
She took another sip of her wine to hide the sudden show of emotion.
“Anyway,” she said, clearing her throat. “I couldn’t sleep. Couldn’t concentrate on anything. I was letting my duties slip, and on a ship that’s deadly. I was already planning to come back here when I got your message.”
“And here you are, ready to take on your duties as our leader.”
Jocasta snorted. “Sure, why not? How bad could it be? Half our men killed in a battle they shouldn’t have been in. Childrens’ ghost stories coming to life. Oh, and let’s not forget our glorious ruler proving to be a treacherous bastard.”
Childress nodded. “All true. Are
