Feyte’s Conscious slowly starts to stir as she hears distant voices arguing.
“Why did you knock her out, I ordered you to invite her over, not to force her to come over”
“Considering how badly you would have wanted to keep this information secret, I assumed that you meant to ‘politely’ ask her over”
“No, you imbecile, I wanted her to actually be extended an invitation, do you understand the trouble we could get in for this”
Feyte slowly opens her eyes to see a luxuriously decorated room, in the middle of the room there is a Stone Fireplace, above the Fireplace, there are two stuffed bear heads, looking to the side, Feyte sees a window and notices that it's already dark outside, As Feyte goes to stand up, she notices that she seems to have been lying on a couch. Sitting up, Feyte hears footsteps coming from behind her.
“Oh good, you’re finally awake, you don't understand how horrible I felt when my servant came back carrying you over his shoulder, this idiot never understands my orders properly.”
Turning around, Feyte sees a middle aged man, with Blonde hair and a scar on his face, going through his left eye, his left eye being blind, the scar most likely created by a sword wound, presumably from the Ocrington Invasion of Epror. The scars on his face show that he was a fighter in his younger years, although this has clearly taken a toll on him from his clear limp as he comes over to Feyte and the fact that his left eye has gone blind.
“The reason I invited you over to my humble abode, although my servant clearly didn’t have the same point of view as me when I said invite, which I am terribly sorry for, is the argument you would have seen me in this morning, since I had never seen you before, I thought it would be better to make sure that you don't work for the Ocrington government.
And Considering that Lady Christina seems to trust you to a degree as I have been told you had a meeting with her, I believe that you don’t work for the Ocrington government as there are many reasons she would not trust you if you did. Although if you do, I must say, you are very good at your job. Now I have a question to ask you, how much do you know about the Ocrington Invasion of Epror.”
“I don't know much about it, I just know that it happened twenty years ago, which was before my time.”
“Well, it was a horrifying thing to live through, Drakland had been at war with Oprenia and Uvnussayd for nearly 2 years at this point, all three countries running low on troops and peace talks were starting. While Uvnussayd was occupied fighting Drakland, Ocrington used that opportunity to invade Epror while our allies were unable to help.
Their actions were brutal, they assassinated the entire royal family, except Liliana due to the fact that she was in Ashkeep, on the other side of the continent, they invaded swiftly, and although we held them off, the country still fell within a month with the lack of leadership. Each Cities Nobility fought for their own benefits, with many nobles surrendering without a fight to keep their titles under the new leadership.
Now, I do have a request for you, if you do this, I will have more work for you, in the morning, go to Christina at the guild and tell her ‘the old times are to be restored, for hope is on the edge’ and if she asks who sent you, tell her that Rivers sent you, Christina will give you more details.”
“Do I have a choice in this matter?”
“Well, if you don’t agree, while it's regrettable, we will have to make sure that you can't say anything to the Ocrington government so we would have to keep you under house arrest, you could stay at my mansion, but you would not be able to leave for the foreseeable future. Now, as it's late, would you like to join me for dinner?”
“Give me some time to think about the other matter, but yes, I will join you for dinner.”
“Good, it's always nice to meet other people if you ask me, I would love to learn more about you.”
The man turns around and starts walking away.
“Follow me, I will show you to the dining room, oh right, I have left your stuff in the room which has been assigned to you, I will have one of the servants lead you there after dinner.”
Feyte stands up and warily starts following the man through the hallways, passing paintings that seem very similar to the man, although each one is different, presumably painting of the lineage as the paintings seem to get more and more deteriorated as they continue through the hallway.
Nearing the end of the hallway, the man turns left pushing open a set of double doors, revealing a luxurious room with a big table in the middle. At the far end of the room, there are 2 servants waiting next to another set of double doors. A Silver Chandelier hangs in the middle of the room above the table.
The man picks up a bell and rings it before from the double doors, a “YES SIR” is heard as the man gestures to Feyte to sit down and pulls out a chair next to the head of the table. “Please, sit down, the food will be here shortly.”
Feyte nods before she sits down on the chair which he pulled out before he sits down himself.
“Ah right, have I introduced myself? I am Margrave Rivers, the lord of this domain and my family has been for hundreds of years. Now, would you mind introducing yourself?”
“I am Feyte, I… grew up in an Orphanage until I left to make money, although it's been a rough journey making money.”
“An orphan? I see, I apologise for bringing up my ancestry, that must have been painful for you to recall.”
They sit there in silence for a couple seconds before the Servants guarding the double doors open them, two maids walking in carrying plates of food. The maid on the left has a perky cheer to her step with her crimson red hair as she goes to the Margrave whereas the maid on the right with blonde hair seems almost stone-cold as she walks over to Feyte as she glares at Feyte before trying to hide it, although still keeping her eyes on Feyte carefully. The two servants next to the door go through the doors as the maids place their plates down before heading over and standing where those two servants had been themselves.
On the plates seem to be a cut of steak alongside a side of what seems to be potatoes.
“Well, Ladies first, dig in, Fate.”
Feyte nods before she cuts up the steak and carefully puts a small piece in her mouth, slowly savouring it with each bite.
“Ah yes, if you don't mind me asking, what led you here when you registered in another Dukedom, it is a curious thing to say the least, even if it was just the neighbouring Barony.”“I came here because I'm traveling. I've always wanted to see the world, it's something I've always been interested in doing.”
“Ah, travel, I can understand the appeal myself, although I would like to warn you since you are traveling, if you want to get to the other side of the Divide, I would recommend one of two pathways, Travel through the tunnels of the Divide within Uvnussayd, of course, the Kobolds may have a bad opinion of you to start due to your race until they realise that you aren’t a Draklander or pay for passage with the Ashen navy, it will be a bit expensive, and a bit far to travel to be able to do so, but it's very safe, just make sure that you get on the right fleet, you wouldn't want to get on one to Storm’s Eye.
Of course, I traveled in my younger years across Epror, traveling frequently across major cities to talk to other nobles before the war happened and I have been confined to Riverglen as have most of the nobility of Epror, while we were allowed to keep our titles, we were forbidden from leaving our lands, well, the traitors don't have those restrictions, although they no longer have the trust of anyone, even the King.”
“Thank you for the meal, I would like to go to my room now”
“Oh, you're already done? Shame, I wanted to chat more, I should have assumed you would not understand etiquette properly considering that you are an Orphan. Mary, take her to her room would you?”
The Red haired maid bows before walking over to Feyte.
“Right this way, I wouldn't want you to get lost.”
The Maid walks to a side door that Feyte realises she missed when she entered the room earlier due to how different the room is compared to what she is used to. Opening the door, the maid walks straight ahead along the corridor hidden behind it, continuing through towards the end of the corridor before stopping at a door, pushing it open and stepping aside. Feyte follows her into the room.
“Please Miss, make yourself at home, although I want you to understand so you don’t make mistakes, the lord will have you dealt with if you try and leave without informing him considering what you know, now have a good night Miss.” She bows before closing the door. Her footsteps get quieter as she walks away.
Feyte looks around the room, noticing that her bag is placed gently by the bed and that her bow and Quiver are placed next to it. The bed seems significantly bigger to what Feyte is used to, the desk at the side being a luxury that most people are unable to afford, the room being quite large. Feyte sighs before heading over to the bed and laying down, still feeling a small headache from being knocked out earlier in the day.
