The next morning before break fast I reached out with my senses to locate Lion-Grim, my mother the dowager Duchess' star-metal sword.
Ah.
Lion-Grim is - for unknown reasons - currently located in the south garden.
Star-metal - other than being extremely dense and durable - has another special property.
It absorbs magic.
As such instead of actually finding the sword, I just had to sense where my spread out tendrils of magic vanished.
Because there were various star-metal objects all over the manor, it takes quite a bit of concentration to discern which is which.
Last night I was just too tired from dealing with sniveling impotent court "jesters" all day to bother searching for the sword.
Well, I will go pick it up after I break my fast.
Having taken care of my morning ablations, I arrived in front of the Duchess' quarters.
Before I could knock, the door opened.
"Ah, good morning dear husband Nitram - were you successful at court yesterday?" [Katiana]
"Annoying red tape and yelping insignificant courtiers, that was all. Will you break fast with me?"
"Of course - I have asked the kitchen to make something I really like, for today..." [Katiana]
I held out my hand palm up and this time Katiana immediately put hers into mine.
No more hesitation - I must really be growing on this mysterious person who was claiming to be my wife.
Her dress today clung to her figure and covered her neck and arms.
It was made of pitch black night-silk - a semi-magical material so dark, all light falling towards it was erased.
It hurt the eyes just by looking at it.
Some of the... shadier... members of my information network used night-silk cloaks on their more sensitive missions.
One could easily purchase a nicely built commoner's house for the cost of a single bolt of night-silk.
And that scent of hers this morning is what?
Strawberry?
Today, I will need to talk to Katiana and clear up how we unexpectedly became married without me remembering anything about it.
And...
Somehow I will have to get my "wife" to pull those funny faces again that she made the first day we met, when she was calculating what project to start with first.
It was quite entertaining, I must admit.
Break fast was spread out on the table - since Katiana's arrival, the estate kitchen spared no pains for our meals.
On both our plates was a small tower of what looked to be flat rounds of some sort of foreign bread.
Small cuts of melting butter crowned the towers, and a golden liquid that was darker than most honeys I knew had been liberally poured over the whole thing.
Various berries had then been carefully placed on one side of the plate, with a sprig of mint as garnish.
"Some form of... cake?"
"Close! Voila! Fluffy fluffy buttermilk buckwheat pan-cakes with maple syrup!" [Katiana]
I quickly checked my short term memory - yes, she had indeed repeated fluffy twice.
"And what exactly is maple syrup?"
"Eh? They make maple syrup in the north part of the Dukedom every spring... don't tell me you never... " [Katiana]
Katiana made one of her unexpected funny faces at me again, a sort of innocent half snarl with both eyebrows rising high.
Then she looked down, twisting her napkin while frowning, and mumbled something under her breath.
"Oh right, I almost forgot - he isn't a big fan of sweets... but he does like honey. So... this should be alright, no?" [Katiana]
Of course with my excellent hearing I heard it clearly - how would she know something private and detailed like that?
My eyebrows slightly bent in a mini-frown - again without my permission.
This new affliction of mine to show emotions on my face was getting serious - I will have to do some extensive poker face training this evening, that is for sure.
I took a few bites and after a while my plate was surprisingly quickly empty.
Putting down my fork, I glanced at Katiana - who was finishing up her second helping.
"Well dear wife Katiana, it is indeed delicious - this syrup has a very slight bitter aftertaste to it that is pleasing, as it offsets the sweetness that would be otherwise over powering."
Katiana's face - who similar to mine normally was a serene blankness - broke into a smile.
"Aha! I suspected as much, my calculations worked! And the slight sourness from the buttermilk in the fluffy fluffy pan-cakes also helps balance things out, yes yes!" [Katiana]
As I was finishing my coffee I looked up again.
"I will need to take care of something now that we are done with the meal. We ended up not discussing any of your projects yet - could you join me in my office in an hour?"
Katiana looked up from her third helping of syrup drenched pan-cakes that had silently arrived while I was talking.
"Mph... Oh. Kay. That sounds goof... I mean {swallowing} good." [Katiana]
First, who is Kay? That question still has not been answered. Was it some sort of non-sequitur nick-name she had given me, maybe?
Second, I had noticed already the last few meals... where does this skinny woman put all that food?
Any normal person doing the zero amount of physical labour that Katiana did would end up a rolly-polly in no time.
Maybe having been starved for most of her life has played havoc on her metabolism... hm, perhaps I'll consult with one of the family physicians on this, when I have a moment.
I stood in the south garden after having looked around.
......eh......
Where did Lion-Grim get to now?
I reached out with my senses to locate the now again errant sword.
After a while, I sensed it where it should be - on its reinforced stand in the dowager Duchess' quarters.
Someone was pulling some sort of prank.
There are no ghosts in the manor - of that I was sure.
My grandfather had evicted them all when he was young.
Was it one of the 100 elites, maybe?
Some of the younger elites still had a playful side to them, so it is possible.
One time one of them left a thirty foot boa constrictor in my sleeping bag.
Ah, fond memories - I had the prankster hike up the mountain upside-down only on their hands, balancing their sword across their feet.
Well, time to set up an elaborate trap to catch me a cheeky monkey who has been playing poltergeist.
But, before I go back indoors...
"Report"
A black clad figure resolved into view from behind a tree.
"Sheesh Dukey, I was all the way over here... how did... whatever never mind. We have some more info on your wife." [Shadow]
"About the dungeon outside of Maldeva."
"Oh, you guessed... Yes seems she was selling a lot of the drops from that dungeon. Our current working hypotheses is that she was handling the drops for the unknown person who ended up clearing it - and earning a good commission." [Shadow]
"That would explain why Katiana seems to have funds now, though she left her father's house with next to nothing..."
"And as per your last command, we are also trying to track down the person who cleared the dungeon.... Pfffttt...." [Shadow]
My disrespectful but useful shadow agent held both his hands in front of his mouth trying to stop himself from laughing out loud.
"What now?"
"Wheeellll.... I guess you know about it anyway. Your wife came to the bakery the other day and she used the highest code level - so we knew you had sent her. The weird thing is she asked us to get her all the data possible on the royal family... It just made me laugh thinking we are sp... ah.... looking into her actions while she is employing us." [Shadow]
"Yes. You can leave now."
Shadow bowed and vanished - I could still hear a muffled giggle now and again until his presence faded and he had left the estate.
That woman... is getting to be even more of an enigma.
There are only 3 people outside of the bakery who knew the highest code.
I certainly did not divulge it.
My mother was away travelling and had not yet met Katiana.
So...
Steward, have you been compromised?
Poor Steward! Hope he got something for his trouble. Thank you for the story.
I like it. Keep up the good work,