wanted you to even know about Uncle Amos’s existence and that Uncle Amos probably felt the same way. Then about two years ago, your mother died and you learned of Uncle Amos by going through her things and decided to visit. You had a very nice visit after a very rocky start and you returned home after a few months, promising to tie up affairs there and return to live with him.”
Orthan downed the rest of his brandy and continued. “As things turned out, you met a young woman while closing your affairs at home and that delayed your trip back here until now, only to find that you had returned too late. A little emotion of losing your only relative at this point would certainly be helpful.”
Orthan continued laying out a plan that covered every little detail until the wee hours of the morning. He would not let Fredrik take notes and demanded that the young Lord repeat everything back to him until he was satisfied that the story was solid. During the session, Fredrik began to think of Orthan fondly and the butler appeared to return the emotion.
Fredrik would have enjoyed sleeping late the next morning, but Orthan got him up with the coming of lightness and started grilling him about his uncle. By the time the barrister arrived, Fredrik almost believed that Amos had been his real uncle and the interview went quite well. The barrister was extremely skeptical at the start of the interview, but as he fired questions at the young man, he slowly became convinced that Amos had kept a grand secret from him. The testimony from the servants about 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 Fredrik as Lord Wason of the Manor and legally transferring all of Lord Alrecht’s property into his name. The barrister hoped that the new Lord would continue to use his services as Lord Alrecht had in the past and Fredrik assured him that Uncle Amos’s faith in his barrister’s services was enough to ensure it.
After the barrister left, Orthan broke out a bottle of champagne and all of the servants joined the new young Lord in celebrating their good fortune. That was when Niki walked into the room.
“Just what has gotten into you, Fredrik?” she demanded. “The whole town would die laughing if they could see you now. How do you expect the servants to respect your authority if you spend your days cavorting with them.”
Fredrik just laughed. “Come and join the celebration, Niki. I have just been confirmed as the new Lord Wason of the Manor. Orthan, see to the Lady’s glass, please.”
Orthan poured Niki a glass of champagne, but the rest of the servants quietly slipped out of the room. Orthan handed Niki the glass with a slight bow. “It is very gracious of our Lord to allow us to share in his good fortune, My Lady. I assure you that the servants will not take this as an excuse to become overly friendly or to forget their station.”
“If they do,” Niki clearly stated, “I will be sure to remind them. Fredrik, I think it is high time we got out and saw our town. Orthan, ready a carriage, the Lord and Lady are going out.”
Orthan shot Fredrik a glance before bowing and making his exit to get the carriage ready. Miranda came in and cleared away the glasses and the bottle of champagne as Fredrik and Niki were leaving. Miranda took the glasses into the kitchen and Alicia turned on her.
“How can you stand that woman?” Alicia cried. “She treats us like dirt and she is as phony as a marriage proposal from a seaman. Do you have any idea of what she has put me through today?”
“Now, now,” grinned Miranda, “you’ll just have to learn to grin and bear it.”
“Perhaps I deserve that from you,” Alicia sobbed, “but I do not deserve anything of the sort from her. She had me bring her tea six times this morning. Not six different times, but six times because each cup of tea I brought her was not to her liking. It was too sweet, too tart, too hot, too cold, and finally the wrong blend of teas. The last cup I managed to leave in her room and slip out before she noticed me. Before that it was a whole series of problems with her rooms. She found dirt here and dust there. The curtains were crooked, crooked mind you. All this from a girl who has probably never seen a room with curtains before. And all of the time she treats me like dirt, like I should kiss her arse because she is allowing me to serve her. I don’t think I can take it much more, Miranda.”
“I’m sorry, Alicia,” Miranda apologized. “I was bitter when you made that comment to me, but I am willing to let that go. Still, we need to do something about her. I will speak with Orthan when he returns. Perhaps he will have some ideas.”
“I hope he does,” Alicia said as she dried her tears. “That Fredrik is not so bad a boy. He’s the one that’s been given the goods and yet he treats us right properly. Maybe Orthan could talk him into dumping her.”
Orthan climbed up into the carriage and drove out through the gateway. He took the couple on a grand tour of the town, waving to many of the residents as they passed. Fredrik was impressed at how many people smiled and waved at the carriage as it passed. The old sea captain must have been fairly popular in Cidal. Everyone treated the carriage and its occupants with respect including the mercenaries. Fredrik mentally set himself to ask Orthan about them later. The tour lasted about an hour and, thankfully, Niki did not demand to stop anywhere and get out. Fredrik was not sure that Cidal was ready for her yet.
Orthan helped Niki down out of the carriage and she didn’t even nod to him as she swept in through the front door of the mansion. Fredrik hurried after Niki while Orthan took care of the carriage. Niki was excited as she walked to her suite. “Did you see how the people loved us, Fredrik? Just about everybody waved at me. It’s probably been a very long time since a Lady resided here. One of the maids told me that the old sea captain lived a quiet life alone. They are likely as excited about us as we are.”
“I am sure they are, Niki,” Fredrik sighed, “but we must remember to go slow here. If we proceed too quickly, we will lose it all.”
Fredrik left Niki to get ready for dinner and went downstairs to ask Orthan about the mercenaries and what type of relationship they had with the town. Orthan was just coming in through the kitchen and when he saw Fredrik he headed towards him.
“Lord Wason,” he started, “I think we may have a problem. I’m afraid your Lady Niki is causing some grief with the maids. I just passed Alicia, and Miranda has told me that the poor woman has been in tears ever since we left for the tour. She thinks your Lady has it in for her and is trying to drive her to quit. Now, we both know that Alicia is not going to quit and there lies the problem.”
Fredrik looked wearily at Orthan and nodded. “I don’t know what to do with her, Orthan. I’ve never seen her like this. She has always been headstrong and stubborn, but she has 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,” Orthan stated, “but part of our agreement was that the servants would be respected and treated fairly. I do expect you to hold your end of the bargain. We all agree that you are a right fine young man to serve and we have no grievance with you, but you must do something to nip your young Lady before things get out of hand.”
Fredrik grimaced and headed back for the stairs. Somehow the task of dealing with Niki right now did not make Fredrik smile.
Chapter 9 Gypsy
Arik and Tedi halted when the wagon came into sight, not knowing who or what lay ahead. Garth caught up to them and motioned them forward. “It’s okay,” he said, “the wagon is Kalina’s. She’ll be happy to see you again.”
Arik was about to say that he had never seen Kalina when the woman stepped into view and waved to them. “That’s the woman who wandered into our campsite,” Arik whispered to Tedi.
Tedi nodded and whispered back, “I told you I didn’t believe in coincidences.” The boys kicked their horses forward and entered the clearing, followed by Garth leading the extra horse.
“Is everything okay?” Kalina asked. “I can tell by the horses that you ran into some Dark Riders.”
“I suppose they are busy counting their dead,” Garth stated. “They had these boys surrounded and they seemed pretty determined to get their hands on them. Can’t say as I ever recall hearing of Dark Riders wading in the surf to capture anyone.”
“Take care of the horses, Garth,” Kalina instructed, “I will get some food and blankets for our guests. They
