EL BK5 | Chapter 37 - A Reason to Return to Leúchtend. (Patreon)

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Achaicus Klein

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I waited in the hall, tapping my foot against stone so ancient it made my grandfather look young. A dress bag hung over my folded arms like a monk hiding his hands in the opening of his sleeves in some sagely manner. The girl was late. Or had she decided not to come? I pushed the secondary idea to the back of my mind. A few more minutes, then I would indulge the possibility of this embarrassment. 

Saskia arrived a moment later. She stepped from around the corner with a silk fan in one hand and wearing an expectedly plain dress. “You look worried,” she flashed a devilish grin. 

“You’re late,” I responded taut with tension.

“Oh relax, I just stopped to smell the flowers in the garden, they’re in bloom you know.” Despite her casual deference she sounded breathless, and when she came closer, I noticed the slight heaving of her chest and the strain in her neck as she struggled to breathe at a normal rate. Her cheeks were rosy with a faint sheen of sweat and she fluttered the fan like an old lady dying of heat stroke.

I eyed her up and down suspiciously. “Did you run the whole way?” 

“Me? Run…?” a nervous laugh escaped her and she fanned faster. “So what if I did?”

She most definitely had. 

“I told you to wear your nicest dress,” I scolded her instead. 

“This is a nice dress.”

“It’s plain.”

“And?” She challenged, settling her shoulders back.

“And you will be eaten alive by the upper courts,” I muttered and held out the dress bag I had brought in preparation for this exact circumstance. “Put this on.”

“What is it?” she asked, suddenly curious. 

“I brought you a dress to wear, now go change.”

Saskia peeked into the bag, and closed it again with an amused smirk. “So authoritarian~”

“Be thankful I’m not my brother, he’s far worse.” I placed a hand on the small of her back to guide her toward my chambers.

“Does Lucinde know her brothers are so controlling that I'm not even allowed to dress myself~?” she purred, feigning distress.

“Yes, and if she were here, she would also tell you to go change.” 

“Fine, I’ll change, but only if you help me~” she insisted. 

I ignored her goading with a blank look of disapproval as I allowed her into the room. Charles and Halle should be readying themselves for dinner as well, although I didn’t see them as we entered. They must’ve been in the solar. I pushed aside the partition curtains to let Saskia into my bed chambers and helped remove the dress from its bag. 

The lustrous burgundy dress slipped on the sheets and Saskia grew very still staring at it.  Woven with fine threads of daylight, the fabric shimmered with a faint halo of blue like the sky and rippled like soft cloud. I’d had it made especially for her to match the dual tone of her eyes.   

“...I can’t wear this,” she murmured, turning back to me with wide eyes. “What if I spill something on it?”

“Do you have so much trouble with your drinks that you expect to spill them?” I commented amused.

“Well, no- but what if someone else spills something on me? The other ladies of the court will be sorely scorned to see me with you and in this.” 

“Then I will have another made,” I gestured her to the dress. “Now be quick, if we are late to dinner lady Ilyana won’t forgive the insult.”

Saskia delayed a moment more before sucking in a sharp breath. “Fine. But you will have to undo the lacing of my corset.” She turned her back to me and pulled her hair over her shoulder expectantly. 

I began in the middle of her back where the lacing cinched into a neat bow and began loosening them carefully. The bodice fell open in slow increments, revealing the elegant curve of her back and the smooth shape of her shoulder blades. Without thinking, I brushed the back of my knuckles lightly against her skin and she turned her head to look at me. 

“Like what you see?” 

“I didn’t mean to-...” I retracted my hand, “You have my apologies.” 

Her mirthful expression softened. “There’s no need to apologize, it’s not as if I’m not wearing my undergarments.”

Heat raced into my ears, I’d been doing my best to avoid thinking about her under garments, and anything else beneath them. “The lacing is undone, I will leave you to dress…” I tried to excuse myself but she caught my arm.

“No, stay…” she held the front of the corset against her chest. “Just close your eyes. I can trust you to do that, can’t I?”

She could.

I waited with my eyes closed and listened to the sound of rustling fabric as she got undressed. “Saskia… why didn’t you tell me your name?” I voiced the question quietly.

“I thought you knew, or would remember,” she answered in a casual tone. 

“I called you a tavern wench….”

The woman snorted out a laugh, “More than once.”

“Why would you allow that?” 

“What harm does it do? I know I’m not a tavern wench, and now I know that even if I were, you would still treat me with kindness. You’re a good man,” she asserted.

I shifted uncomfortably, almost forgetting to keep my eyes closed. “You don’t know that.”

A pause followed my statement. I felt a small disturbance in the air pass my face and frowned, confused. What was she doing? Swinging the dress around?

“I do,” she answered with an amused lilt to her voice before her hands came to rest on my cheeks. “You’re not supposed to keep your eyes closed, you know. You could have peeked.” 

“That would be impolite and indecent.”

“Achaicus, open your eyes.”

I did so, slowly, to find her standing before me dressed with a look of concern on her face. “Too much a gentleman, now you’ve missed your opportunity.”

“I would hate to betray your trust…” How should I have known she wanted me to look?

Saskia sighed, petting my cheek with her thumb before turning around, “Lace the bodice for me please.”

Obediently, I gathered the lacing and began to tighten it carefully. “Why did you think I knew your name?”

“We’ve met before,” she laughed. 

“When?”

“When we were young. You always had such a scornful expression, and you were as quiet as a mouse. I don’t think you said hardly two words to me,” she entertained herself with the memory and I realized all too well it was not one we shared. 

The quiet boy she had met was my brother. 

Was this why she sought me? Did she want Leúchtend castle after all despite what she had said? Sensing my apprehension she turned before I had finished the final knots. “Achaicus..?” She asked, concerned. 

“I can’t give you a castle,” I stated dryly.

Her brows furrowed. “When have I ever said I wanted one?”

“Why else talk to me?”

“For your muscles, obviously. I could swoon to see you shirtless again-“

“This isn’t a jest,” I cut her off. “My brother owns the castles. You and I have never met before.”

The confession slipped out before I realised what I was saying, and she, unfortunately, didn't miss it. Saskia’s confused frown deepened and her lips made a thin, hard line. “So the rumors are true then?” She demanded.

I saw no point in answering. All the pieces were there, she only had to connect them.

“Is there anything else you’re lying about then?” Her tone implied accusation.

“Perhaps. Is there anything else you’re hiding?” I returned the accusation.

“As a matter of fact, there is,” she returned hotly. “My shoes are one size too small to make my feet look smaller. In truth they are not so dainty, and these shoes hurt my toes.”

I stared at her, aghast. “What does your shoe size have to do with anything?” I snapped. 

“It has about as much to do with anything as your little confession.” She grabbed the front of my vest, yanking me forward. “I told you. I don’t care about carefully arranged piles or rocks, nor do I care for titles. You could be a shoe shiner for all it mattered. I like that stupid expression you get when you’re embarrassed, and your self-rightism, and even how dumb you are sometimes. Not whatever nonsense means you get some extra words attached to your name. You understand me?”

Hard not to, with how mad she looked.

Instead of answering, I cupped her face in one hand and moved to kiss her. She returned it for a brief moment, before slapping me across the face. I was still reeling from the surprise of it when she thrust herself back into my arms. Her arms wove around my neck and her body pressed close. Her mouth met mine for a second time and I tasted the cherry gloss coating her lips. Rude of her to slap me when she wanted to kiss me like this… The thought came and left as her hands came to rest on my face.

The kiss ended when we were both breathless, and she pulled away with a shy apologetic glance at my reddening cheek. 

“Why did you slap me?” I murmured, coiling my arms tighter around her waist. 

“For assuming I was a terrible person,” she replied with a huff. “Luckily, you’re a good kisser or I might not have forgiven you.”

“Whatever would I have done then?” I was already moving to kiss her again when we were interrupted. 

The partition curtains were pulled aside rapidly, exposing us to the rest of the apartment. Charles had opened them, and now stood frozen in place. His slate eyes grew wide and his sideburns looked as if they wished to leap off his face. 

“...Charles,” I greeted him calmly as I let Saskia go.

He blinked and turned on his heels. “Halle and me are ready, when you are,” he called while making his retreat. 

Had I upset his sensibilities? Was he so shocked? It was not until Saskia snorted an impish giggle that I realised I hadn’t finished lacing her bodice… 

*** 

The four of us entered the dining hall with simple elegance. Holding onto my arm, Saskia and I walked ahead of Charles and Halle, earning ourselves a murmur of hushed whispers. None would dare say it to our faces that Saskia was now the scorn of every noble daughter or that many of the Ethereal Council believed I were making a mistake.

“If my father should ask,” Saskia began in a low whisper. “You knew who I was all along and we were keeping this secret, that’s all.” 

“Oh?” I mused. “It couldn’t be that you lied to him about our relationship could it?”

She elbowed me in the ribs. “It’s not my fault you assume every woman you meet is a wench.”

“What else was I supposed to think? You’re the one who sat with the servants,” I whispered back, tightening my hold on her arm as if we were children arguing.

“I sat with the guards. My little brother is one you know.”

Did she not have any idea how many wenches had brothers in the guard? “My point still stands–”

“Smile, Achaicus,” she interrupted, reminding me through her teeth as she gave a pleasant curtsy for the crowd. We had reached our destination.

I mirrored the formality of the curtsy, lowering myself into a bow before my grandparents: Duke Alferic and Lady Ilyana. Beside them, Niftrik and a younger man, Saskia’s brother, sat waiting as well. Even dressed in formal attire just as my family was, they still seemed somehow more inviting.

The evening’s event was a celebration to publicly announce that I was courting. It would, hopefully, put an end to the arranged dates and families trying to offer me their fertile daughter and provide our families the opportunity to discuss betrothal. If all went well, we might be betrothed by the end of the evening. 

A small swelling of anxiety stirred my stomach into butterflies at the thought. Would I never be allowed to return to Leuchtend? Was this perhaps my grandfather’s plan all along? I glanced toward my grandparents again as we took our seats at the table and met the eyes of my grandmother. She gave a sly smile and I knew at once that this was her plan, not his. How long had she planned this?

While Ælferic and Niftrik began their negotiations, Ilyana spoke to Saskia. “Your window of fertility might only last another hundred years, do you believe you would provide an heir in such a short time frame?” she began casually.

Saskia gave a gentle smile. “My! How forward to ask such a thing over dinner,” she took Ilyana’s hand in both of hers, and lowered her voice. “Worry not. Achaicus and I will discuss it in great detail, privately.”

I choked on my drink. Did the woman have no head for politics at all? A prospective wife is supposed to assure that she can provide an heir, not insult those above her rank. Perhaps this wouldn’t go well after all. If Ilyana rejected Saskia based on pedigree I didn’t know what I could do.

“Saskia,” I coughed, “Might we have a word?”

She turned to me with a knowing spark of defiance in her eyes. “You might have several words if you wish–”

I didn’t let her finish as I hauled her from the seat by her arm. Leaving Charles and Halle to fend for themselves, I escorted my willful tavern wench from the dining room. 

“Can’t wait to get me alone?” she asked playfully.

“Saving you from my grandmother,” I corrected.

She snorted, “I didn’t need saving. I think I had her cornered considering how rude she was being.”

“You understand if she forbids it, then we cannot be wed.”

“Then I will simply have to be your mistress.” Saskia feigned weakness of the legs, forcing me to stop and catch her before she collapsed to the floor. 

“Why are you like this?” I groaned. And why did I catch my brother’s sickness for willfully disobedient partners?

The woman in my arms gave a wicked grin as she corrected her position to stand on her own again. “Did you really want to sit there and listen to our families discuss our future? Does it matter what they decide?”

“Yes,” I answered stiffly. “It’s tradition.”

“Families often discuss the terms without those involved. If my father agrees to sell me to you for a single donkey that is fine.”

Saskia offered me her hand, and I took it reluctantly. “You truly care for nothing?”

“Well, no,” she admitted while walking backward to lead me out into the gardens. “I hope my father can negotiate a better ranking for my brother. There’s a noble lady he has a crush on you see, but he can’t court her unless his rank is higher. And I hope the conservatory might be gifted some additional rare plants. My father has a list, and there are some he’s had a rather difficult time acquiring.”

My frown deepened as she explained. “What about for yourself?”

“Myself~?” Moonlight bathed her hair as she marinated the thought. 

“It’s a contractual agreement. You must get something,” I declared.

She turned from me and stepped up onto the rim of the fountain as she did every time, almost slipping on the ice. I provided a hand to steady her and when she jumped down again, we continued down the path into the darkness.

“Did you know that my mother died when I was quite young?” she asked her own question instead of answering mine.

“...Yes.” I sighed, pulling her back to halt her incessant walking. “Saskia, please answer my question. What can I give you?”

No longer able to run from the question, her light hearted expression faltered and she fidgeted. “My father is a wonderful man, but it’s lonely to grow up without a mother… I’ve always felt that my family had a ‘hole’ in it. I know I can’t ‘fix’ it, but maybe if I could be part of another family as well, I would notice the ‘hole’ less,” she paused to glance up, checking my reaction.

I kept my expression neutral despite the growing tightness in my chest, and waited for her to continue.

Saskia began to tremble just faintly, like a tiny leaf in an unexpected breath of wind and she gave a short, nervous laugh. “Wedding veils were made for women like me. Families worry my children will inherit my nose, or my eyes…”

Was that why she had wanted to leave? Was she afraid to hear what my grandparents might say of her? I exhaled a small snort. None of that was true anyway. Her nose matched her face, and her eyes were rare ametrine. Her beauty was a unique kind, that was all. “That’s nonsense…” I murmured, tilting her chin up.

She looked up at me with a glossy sheen in her eyes, and blinked back the tears shamefully. “You don’t know how many times I’ve been almost betrothed.”

“Nor do I care,” I told her firmly. “You are to me betrothed now.”

“Ahh,” she sniffled, and dabbed her eyes with the sleeve of her dress. “I think I must’ve gotten something in my eye–both of them, at the same time.”

I wiped her cheeks with my thumbs. “You didn’t answer the question,” I reminded her softly.

Saskia gave herself a moment to calm and with eyes full of skepticism, voiced her one request: “I want to have children and make a family with you…”

Annnd on that note- I just remembered I forgot to say about daylight savings: It changes in April for me to make utter chaos in Australian timezones, but it changes in the US and Europe are this month on different days, so this month might be be the month of weird post times x'D

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