10-21-2019, 01:05 PM
The accommodations provided were within reason for the short notice. Cecily never felt more ready to take a warm bath and turn in for the night. But once she settled in her room, said 'good night' to Satsume, and rolled herself up in her bed sheets, her thoughts ventured home.
Surely the Marquess of Laus did whatever he could to vilify her, though whether he was successful in turning public opinion was yet to be seen. There is more to consider: why did he think that Cecily was a threat to the throne? It is true that she is third in the line of succession, with the marquess' own son, her cousin, being the heir. But Cecily never expressed interest in usurping the throne for herself. In fact, having relatively low expectations of becoming ruler meant that she had the freedom to pursue her hobbies. There were still expectations that she had to satisfy as a noble, but never as a marchioness. Her late father never yearned for the throne either, as far as she knew, though it was known that he rescinded his position as heir.
Another thing bothered her. It seemed so out of line with what she knew, but it bothered her nevertheless. Her cousin and uncle jointly accused her of being a bastard child. They called her mother a commoner, but Cecily could not say for sure whether it was true or not. But even if she was a commoner, that would not necessarily make her a bastard child.
Her mulling finally ended on Captain Miles. He placed his faith in her when he unlocked her prison cell and likely paid the ultimate price for it. Perhaps there is a pocket of hope after all...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was during the very welcome breakfast next morning that General Trott stepped in to speak with them again.
"Lord Elbert expressed his desire to speak with you, Lady Cecily," Trott said, bowing his head as he passed his message.
"Thank you. I will be with him shortly," Cecily replied.
She finished her meal and allowed herself to be escorted by Trott to Elbert's private study.
There, the lord was sitting at his desk and reading a book. The sound of the door opening raised his attention and Elbert IV stood up to greet Cecily.
"It is good to see you again, milady," he said as he came around to the front of his desk to offer Cecily his hand.
"It is always a pleasure to enjoy your hospitality," Cecily said, presenting her hand for him to take.
Lord Elbert IV is a far cry from the treatment she receives at the hands of Lord Faren.
"I have three guesses to why you are here," Elbert continued.
"Oh? Do tell," Cecily feigned surprise, though they both knew it was all an act.
"My first guess is you are asking for a favor in whatever scheme you conjured," he began. It seemed a little stereotypically Lausian.
"The second is that you are looking to settle down in Pherae." Perhaps if Cecily had given up on the world.
"And my final guess is that you wish for my help in returning to Laus," Elbert finished.
"Let us assume your final guess is correct; would you grant me your assistance?" Cecily gave him a coy gaze as she replied.
"Not directly but, at the very least, your timing could never be better," Elbert said as he guided her to a map of Elibe that decorates a side of the study.
"Lord Hannes' failures to eliminate you has made him increasingly paranoid of retaliatory action and has dimmed the march's reputation in the eyes of the Emperor. Simply deposing of him and placing his son on the throne would likely, as you would surmise yourself, maintain the status quo. One with a younger paranoid ruler hoping to eliminate the storied Lady of Laus."
"I am flattered," Cecily said.
"It's more truth than flattery. Your survival in Bern caused quite the scandal for Lord Hannes, painting a picture of ineptitude and near obsession with pleasing the Emperor," Elbert continued. "He has resorted to planting blame and causing trouble for us border marches, especially since what happened in Tania."
"Pardon?" Cecily was taken aback. "Tania?"
"Castle Tania is destroyed. Without anyone to maintain order, the entire march is in chaos. We are doing what we can, but there is little aid we could offer."
Cecily been to Castle Tania many times along her trips between Laus and Bern. She had tea and traded stories with Orica in the garden, more vibrant and colorful than the garden in Castle Laus.
"I presume Laus is seeking to annex the territory," she guessed.
"We do not have any proof, but this is likely the case. Lord Hannes has been denouncing the response the neighboring marches, Pherae included, to the disaster," Elbert explained.
"You guess that I wish to return to Laus, but it sounds more like you want me to," Cecily gave Elbert a sly gaze.
"I cannot deny that there is benefit for me. But, at the very least, knowing that there is mutual benefit would sate your curiosity," Elbert replied. He backed away from the map to his desk, where he had his half-finished glass of wine.
"Or would it not?" he added, taking a sip.
"I may be sated after you offer me something to drink," Cecily quipped, hands at her hips.
Elbert IV only chuckled as he flipped over an empty glass. Once both had their own glasses, they toasted to each other. For Tania. For Lycia. For Laus.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Cecily figured there were many questions waiting for her once she returned from Elbert's study, so she prepped a quick meeting with her companions right in the dining hall where she had left them.
"I intend to return to Laus," she said plainly, allowing a moment to let those words sink in.
"Lord Elbert is gracious enough to provide means of passage through the gates into Laus' castle town, but everything else will be up to us to take the castle itself. I understand that most of you present have no obligations to me, so I will not make any demands. Only that I wish to know who is willing to follow me into danger. Know that I have no intention of dying in this endeavor: I have a plan that I know the Marquess of Laus will fall prey to, but I need the warriors to make the rest a reality," Cecily continued. "Does anyone object?"
Surely the Marquess of Laus did whatever he could to vilify her, though whether he was successful in turning public opinion was yet to be seen. There is more to consider: why did he think that Cecily was a threat to the throne? It is true that she is third in the line of succession, with the marquess' own son, her cousin, being the heir. But Cecily never expressed interest in usurping the throne for herself. In fact, having relatively low expectations of becoming ruler meant that she had the freedom to pursue her hobbies. There were still expectations that she had to satisfy as a noble, but never as a marchioness. Her late father never yearned for the throne either, as far as she knew, though it was known that he rescinded his position as heir.
Another thing bothered her. It seemed so out of line with what she knew, but it bothered her nevertheless. Her cousin and uncle jointly accused her of being a bastard child. They called her mother a commoner, but Cecily could not say for sure whether it was true or not. But even if she was a commoner, that would not necessarily make her a bastard child.
Her mulling finally ended on Captain Miles. He placed his faith in her when he unlocked her prison cell and likely paid the ultimate price for it. Perhaps there is a pocket of hope after all...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was during the very welcome breakfast next morning that General Trott stepped in to speak with them again.
"Lord Elbert expressed his desire to speak with you, Lady Cecily," Trott said, bowing his head as he passed his message.
"Thank you. I will be with him shortly," Cecily replied.
She finished her meal and allowed herself to be escorted by Trott to Elbert's private study.
There, the lord was sitting at his desk and reading a book. The sound of the door opening raised his attention and Elbert IV stood up to greet Cecily.
"It is good to see you again, milady," he said as he came around to the front of his desk to offer Cecily his hand.
"It is always a pleasure to enjoy your hospitality," Cecily said, presenting her hand for him to take.
Lord Elbert IV is a far cry from the treatment she receives at the hands of Lord Faren.
"I have three guesses to why you are here," Elbert continued.
"Oh? Do tell," Cecily feigned surprise, though they both knew it was all an act.
"My first guess is you are asking for a favor in whatever scheme you conjured," he began. It seemed a little stereotypically Lausian.
"The second is that you are looking to settle down in Pherae." Perhaps if Cecily had given up on the world.
"And my final guess is that you wish for my help in returning to Laus," Elbert finished.
"Let us assume your final guess is correct; would you grant me your assistance?" Cecily gave him a coy gaze as she replied.
"Not directly but, at the very least, your timing could never be better," Elbert said as he guided her to a map of Elibe that decorates a side of the study.
"Lord Hannes' failures to eliminate you has made him increasingly paranoid of retaliatory action and has dimmed the march's reputation in the eyes of the Emperor. Simply deposing of him and placing his son on the throne would likely, as you would surmise yourself, maintain the status quo. One with a younger paranoid ruler hoping to eliminate the storied Lady of Laus."
"I am flattered," Cecily said.
"It's more truth than flattery. Your survival in Bern caused quite the scandal for Lord Hannes, painting a picture of ineptitude and near obsession with pleasing the Emperor," Elbert continued. "He has resorted to planting blame and causing trouble for us border marches, especially since what happened in Tania."
"Pardon?" Cecily was taken aback. "Tania?"
"Castle Tania is destroyed. Without anyone to maintain order, the entire march is in chaos. We are doing what we can, but there is little aid we could offer."
Cecily been to Castle Tania many times along her trips between Laus and Bern. She had tea and traded stories with Orica in the garden, more vibrant and colorful than the garden in Castle Laus.
"I presume Laus is seeking to annex the territory," she guessed.
"We do not have any proof, but this is likely the case. Lord Hannes has been denouncing the response the neighboring marches, Pherae included, to the disaster," Elbert explained.
"You guess that I wish to return to Laus, but it sounds more like you want me to," Cecily gave Elbert a sly gaze.
"I cannot deny that there is benefit for me. But, at the very least, knowing that there is mutual benefit would sate your curiosity," Elbert replied. He backed away from the map to his desk, where he had his half-finished glass of wine.
"Or would it not?" he added, taking a sip.
"I may be sated after you offer me something to drink," Cecily quipped, hands at her hips.
Elbert IV only chuckled as he flipped over an empty glass. Once both had their own glasses, they toasted to each other. For Tania. For Lycia. For Laus.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Cecily figured there were many questions waiting for her once she returned from Elbert's study, so she prepped a quick meeting with her companions right in the dining hall where she had left them.
"I intend to return to Laus," she said plainly, allowing a moment to let those words sink in.
"Lord Elbert is gracious enough to provide means of passage through the gates into Laus' castle town, but everything else will be up to us to take the castle itself. I understand that most of you present have no obligations to me, so I will not make any demands. Only that I wish to know who is willing to follow me into danger. Know that I have no intention of dying in this endeavor: I have a plan that I know the Marquess of Laus will fall prey to, but I need the warriors to make the rest a reality," Cecily continued. "Does anyone object?"
![[Image: QddvI0w.png]](http://i.imgur.com/QddvI0w.png)
Insurrection - Lady Cecilia "Cecily" of Laus, third in line to the Laus marquessate