“Welcome Countess Graham.” Gerald made a formal bow to Lani as she and Roan entered Cliforge Castle on their horses. He was just as surprised as Braydon had been to see her riding, but that was quickly replaced by intrigue. Having grown up with Braydon he shared a similar attitude towards most things, and his more playful nature meant that he cared even less about what people did. One of the reasons why Rhydian had such a hard time trying to drill proper formal procedure into Gerald, such as speaking to superiors or knowing when and who to bow to.

“Thank you Gerald, has Nela returned to the castle yet or is she still outside?” Lani asked from her horse, she knew that it was not practical to continue travelling as it was already late at night but could not help but ask anyway. The sun had already been setting as they had set off from Mapjess.

“Not yet, but I do not think that it will be much longer before she returns.” Gerald said with some confidence, causing Lani to be confused. Nela had not returned when her own father was in the castle, would she really immediately return now that he had left?

“How can you be so sure?”

“If she does not come back soon, I am sure that someone will go and drag her back.” Gerald said with some mild amusement, giving Lani an idea what he was talking about.

“This Mireille girl that I have heard about? She is not with her?” Braydon had said something similar before Lani had left, but Lani had presumed that, from Braydon’s description, Mireille would be attached to Nela’s leg.

“If she could have her way then she would be with Nela all the time.” Gerald said, as Lani dismounted her horse before handing the reins to Roan who had already dismounted. Roan bade Lani a goodnight before going to leave the horses in the stable by the side. They would likely be up early to head out to see Nela, so he was going to get some rest.

“I presume that she is not still awake at this hour. Then do you mind showing me to a room?” Even if Mireille was awake so late, Lani was not going to disturb her at such a time. It was not a polite thing to do and there was not going to be much of a difference meeting her in the morning instead.

“Certainly.” Gerald was more than happy to show her to a room, he was also eager to get some sleep as well. The only reason why he was awake was that Roan had sent someone ahead to tell him that they were going to arrive at night.

“I have to say, it is much quieter than it is in Mapjess in a morning.” Lani said idly as the servant girl helped her put on her dress. She knew it was not really a fair comparison since Mapjess had more than 10,000 men camping just outside the walls, but that did not matter much to her. It meant that she had much better sleep than she had in the past few days.

It gets much more lively when Sir Rhydian is here, my lady. The garrison gets trained early in the morning for several hours.” The servant girl said as she finished tying the lace on the back of Lani’s dress, a smile on her face thinking about the complaints that she often heard from the troops.

“I can imagine. Would you mind showing me to the great hall?” Lani noticed that while they still used the proper respects, the servants were comfortable calling a knight such as Rhydian by his first name. Clearly they were treated very well, but she wondered how the servants even found out that they were allowed to do that in the first place. It was very well known that offending a noble or a knight could carry wildly varying consequences depending on whom they offended.

“It is common to refer to the Knights by name here?” After walking through the corridors for a while, Lani could not help but ask. 

“It was something that Lady Nela requested, that we refer to everyone here by name, my lady. I’m not exactly sure why though.” The servant girl replied after looking to see if Lani was asking out of curiosity or offence. Lani was already thinking about asking Nela why she had asked something that seemed so trivial and odd, not paying attention to the probing look from the girl.

As they arrived at the great hall, the servant girl bowed to Lani before leaving to take care of other tasks. The guard at the door already opened it upon seeing Lani, her arrival already having become known amongst everyone in the castle. As she walked in, Lani noticed a relatively short girl already sat at the table eating. She had stopped when she heard the door open to watch Lani as she entered the room.

“You must be Mireille, it is my pleasure to meet you. I am Lani Graham, but please call me Lani.” Lani greeted as she looked at Mireille. She was every bit as pretty as Nela had described to her, and from the long pause every bit as quiet too.

“...Welcome?” Mireille finally said, sounding unsure. Lani did not know if that was because she did not know who she was or if she did not know what to say, but took it as a sign to sit at the table anyway. Lani could tell that she would have to be the one to initiate any conversation if she did not want to sit in silence the entire time.

“I came here to visit Nela.” As she was waiting for the servants to deliver her food, Lani slowly continued whilst watching Mireille. The girl was so silent that she found that she could get more information by watching her than talking to her, and that was with her relatively neutral expression. At least when Lani said that, Mireille seemed to perk up and start paying more attention to her.

“Not here though?” Mireille responded, showing a slight displeasure as she did. It was clear that Mireille would prefer that she was with Nela than not.

“If she does not return before we finish eating, I intend to go to her. Do you want to come with me? Ah, one of Braydon’s knights will be accompanying us.” Lani offered, and upon seeing the slightly suspicious look, she immediately added that Roan would be going with them. She had almost forgotten that Mireille had not much clue who she was, and that being asked to come with by a stranger was not reassuring in the slightest.

“Yes!” When she was assured that one of Braydon’s people would be coming with them, Mireille replied with much more enthusiasm. Lani was slightly surprised that such a strong reaction could come from someone who had been so quiet, but then she realised one thing.

“Do you know how to ride a horse?”