(EOO) Chapter 2

"Wake up." Kerani shook my shoulder.

"A little while longer." I mumbled and covered my head with the blanket.

She giggled and pulled the blanket down, "We aren't in your father's home anymore, Valora. You can't sleep in like this. Lord Blaine arrived home last night and he and Lord Durril are waiting for you in the dining hall."

My eyes turned to her and I sighed loudly, "Tell them I am still exhausted from my trip."

Again she giggled, "You can't put off meeting him. It's going to happen sooner or later."

"It happened last night when he arrived." I sat up in my bed and she finished pulling the blankets off of me. "I heard him come home and ask about my homeliness to one of the guards. He then snuck into my room while I was pretending to be asleep to see if the rumors were true." I had told Kerani about the rumors after my lunch with Durril.

"Not only was that childish on his part, but it was quite improper. What if one of the servants caught him sneaking out?" She grabbed my upper arm and pulled me out of bed and into a standing position.

"That is what I told him." I said as I watched her scurry across the room to grab a dark green dress from the wardrobe. "Did you see him?"

"Lord Blaine?"

"Yes, it was dark, I could barely make out his features."

Kerani grinned, "Yes, I saw him." She brought the dress over to me and began to remove my sleeping gown.

"Well?"

"You'll have to find out for yourself. I am not going to take all the magic out of your first true meeting. And do not mention what he did last night in front of his brother. That is something best left between the two of you."

I rolled my eyes and stepped into my dress. "I just want to know if he has the right to judge me based on appearances alone."

"Yes, he does." She teased and began to tie my dress shut. "Now, do you want your hair up or partly down?"

"It's warm, let's place it up. Perhaps a few loose curls." I said as she led me over to the mirror and sat me down. "Did you spend more time with Endre last night?" I asked her as she began to brush out my hair. I could see her smile in the mirror. "Is that a yes?"

"Such a thing to talk about." Her smile widened, "Yes, we shared a lunch out by the lake. Though we were suppose to be bringing water to the stable boy."

"That's not something you would normally do?"

"I know, Endre asked me if I wanted to join him on the walk. I, of course, said yes."

I smiled and watched as she placed pins into the bun she had created on the top of my head. "Doing chores that are below you to be with a man. I never thought you could sink so low." I mocked her and she laughed.

"Oh, I would and I will again!" She laughed and came to stand in front of me to look over my hair. "Lovely, what do you think?"

I nodded after I looked at the loose bun and curls and stood while she went to fetch my shoes.

"Now, remember, Valora…"

"I know. Act like a lady and don't mention last night."

"I was going to say not to eat like a starved beggar, but I suppose that falls under acting like a lady." Kerani kneeled down and helped me step into my shoes.

Crossing my arms, I frowned. "I do not eat like a starved beggar."

"You and your brothers had speed eating contests every morning for breakfast since I arrived. These two men are not your brothers, remember that."

I grinned and released my arms from their fold, "How could I forget?"

Kerani looked up at me, "Just don't and everything will be alright. Now…" She stood up and took a couple steps back. "Perfect. Only slightly homely." She winked at me then rushed me over to the door and down the hallway.

---***---

As I reached the dining hall, Durril was the only one inside. He smiled at me and greeted me with a kiss to my knuckles. I didn't bother sitting down because the table was not yet set.

"Blaine just stepped out for a moment." He told me and pivoted back and forth on the balls of his feet to his heels. "Did you sleep well?"

"Yes, I did, thank you." I looked at Leora as she exited the kitchen with the plates and silverware.

"I am so sorry, milord. It must have slipped my mind." She continued to apologize as she set the table.

"It's quite alright, Leora. None of us were prepared to be seated anyway." Durril patted her shoulder as she walked past him.

"Lady Valora, good morning." Blaine's voice said from behind me.

Durril grinned at me as I turned around and allowed Blaine to kiss my hand. "Lady Valora, this is my brother, Blaine."

Both Blaine and Durril stood about a hands spread taller then me. Blaine, however, had the masculine mass of a warrior and his hair was slightly longer. I couldn't tell in the dark from the night before, but they both looked remarkably similar. There was no denying that the two men were related. Both had sharp squared jaws, dark hair, and deep brown eyes.

"Pleasure to meet you." I said with a smile.

"You look lovely this morning." Blaine returned my smile.

I gave a gentle nod, "Yes, my lady-in-waiting told me that I am only slightly homely today."

Both men seemed to choke on their own tongues before Leora announced that the table was ready. Blaine walked ahead of us to the table and Durril playfully smacked my arm. He didn't know about my meeting with his brother the night before and most likely thought that I had given him away. Blaine, on the other hand, probably didn't want his brother to know that he had snuck into my bedroom to take a peek.

"You two should take breakfast out to the lake." Durril suggested.

Blaine nodded, "Would you be inclined to do so?" He asked me.

I wanted to mention something about why he was always trying to get me out by the lake, but knew that would break our unspoken vow to not speak of last night. "It would be fine."

Durril jumped to his feet, "I'll tell Leora to pack it in a basket for you two."

"Won't you be lonely?" I asked him.

He grinned, "Thank you for your concern, but I think I will manage." With that he spun around and entered the kitchen. He never returned to the dining hall after that.

"I have read your father's letters about your skills. It's a rarity for a woman to be as intelligent as she is beautiful." Blaine broke the silence.

"Oh so I am beautiful now?"

He smirked, "I don't believe I will ever be able to live that down, will I? You will be teasing me about it until the day I die."

"I rarely forget an insult."

"Should I have one of the servants take the blanket and basket out there for you?" Leora asked appearing with a beige blanket and a larger brown basket.

Blaine stood up and took the items from her. "We will be fine, thank you." He said as he threw the blanket over his arm and headed for the front door.

I jumped from my seat and scurried after him. After all, the man did have my meal with him. I opened the front door for him since his hands were relatively full and shut it as we stepped out onto the stairs. Once we were a good distance away from the manor, I decided to ask about the lake. "Why are you so set on taking me to this lake? Do you plan to drown me?"

He looked shocked for a moment then smirked, "It's my favorite location in the entire estate. Didn't you have a place that you like to go to in Requanar?"

"It depends. Am I suppose to honestly answer that or make up some story about flowered trees?"

Blaine laughed, "I do not know how terribly improper the honest answer is, so I can not answer that."

"We had a stream near our home and my brothers and I use to go fishing there. Though there were few fish in the stream so eventually we would grow bored and someone would throw a mud ball at someone else. We would always return covered in mud and get a lecture from my mother on how unacceptable it was to allow me to join in such barbaric games." My eyes were straight ahead so I couldn't see Blaine's reaction to my story, though he didn't laugh.

"That certainly was not the story I thought you would tell." He finally said as we reached the lake. He set down the basket and began to spread out the blanket.

"What tale did you think I would tell?"

Walking over to me and the basket, he picked it up and set it on the blanket. "Something about sneaking away to see a boy or going into town without an escort." He opened the basket and began to pull out the pastries and sausages.

I sat down on the blanket across from him with the basket between us. "I am sorry to disappoint, but my father would of slaughtered any young man that thought I was for anything other then polite conversation. And the town knew who I was and would have informed my father. It would then be me who would be slaughtered." I watched him take out the wine glasses, though we would be drinking juice for our breakfast. He looked a little upset with what I said and I couldn't decide why. "Is there something the matter with me playing in the mud with my brothers?"

"No, no." He offered me a plate and napkin. "I just assumed a lady such as yourself would have had many suitors back home trying to gain your attention."

"You mean you hoped."

His eyes shot up to me, "Excuse me?"

"You hoped that I had some lover back home to make you feel better about your own." I stared into his eyes and could see the answer turning over in his mind. He wasn't entirely certain how he wanted to reply.

"Who told you about that?"

"It was the rumor being told about you, Lord Blaine. I may have been homely here, but back in Requanar, you were promiscuous." I watched him pour some juice into my wine glass and then offer it to me.

He shook his head gently, "You do not keep many of your thoughts to yourself, do you? This is not something I would expect most women to confront me with."

"If we are to be wed, I do not see a reason that I should hold my tongue. Unless you want me to and then I will remain perfectly silent to you for the rest of your life."

"One extreme or the other, I see."

I nodded and took a sip of my juice. It had a strange berry-like flavor that I couldn't quite place. "If you don't wish to speak to me on the matter that is fine. I just wanted you to know that it is no secret to me."

"It does not bother you?"

I shrugged, "From what I understand, she is gone now. Unless I have misheard?"

He shook his head, "No, she is gone. Her father married her to a man far away so that she would not be stuck in the midst of the war."

"And because he was tired of waiting for you to convince your father to end our engagement." I added and took one of the sausages off the plate with my fingers.

Blaine smiled at both what I said and my obvious unladylike eating habit.

"It's a picnic, I can eat with my fingers." I defended myself.

He shrugged and scooped up a pastry in his hand, "Fair enough."

I laughed when he took a large bite out of his pastry and watched as he had a hard time chewing it down. "Eating with your fingers doesn't entitle you to choke yourself on your own food."

"Doesn't it?" He took a drink of his juice. It was silent for a moment as we ate and watched the small wavelets on the lake's surface. "I suppose I should be glad that you already know most of the reason why I didn't bring you here. Though, I would have thought you would be more upset."

"There is very little that I can do. No sense in worrying myself about things that I can not change. If I had loved someone and thought you to be horribly ugly, I probably would of done the same."

"There is a difference. I am a duke. You are marrying up in society. If I were ugly or not, you would of came out here to gain both the title and the money."

My eyes turned from the waters to his cold staring eyes, "Are you accusing me of being a gold digger, Lord Blaine? I will have you know that I would much prefer to marry a knight like my father was."

"I am a knight."

"You are not of the same order as my father. I had several well off suitors who were part of the same order as he, who sent my father requests since the day they heard you were postponing our wedding. One actually came to our home and argued with my father about whether or not you would ever summon me here. And may I remind you, that my father's order is not part of Seria's war. I would of remained in a country that was not part of this greed obsessed bloodbath."

Blaine's mouth had opened slightly halfway through my speech.

"If you would prefer after we are wed, you can send me back to Requanar, where you can forget that I have ever existed. Then you may continue having as many affairs as you wish. You may even plant your seed in the belly of as many women as you can convince to join you in bed. Now, if you will excuse me, I am no longer hungry." I tossed my sausage down and stormed off towards the manor.

The nerve of the man to accuse me of being a gold digger. I had not been a part of the entire engagement process between us. Our fathers had been the ones to arrange this whole matter.

I was surprised that Blaine did not try to stop me from walking away or even attempt to apologize. When I reached the manor, Durril stepped out and greeted me.

"Where is Blaine?"

"At the lake!" I barked and stepped inside the manor.

He came after me. Grabbing my upper arm, he stopped me from heading up the stairs. "What happened? What's wrong?"

"Your brother has accused me of only wishing to marry him because of his money and title. I had nothing to do with this engagement and would rather be in Requanar. I was only two months old when this was all agreed upon and had no concept of greed." I growled, "Now…" I ripped my arm from his grasp, "if you will excuse me, I am going to read in my room."

---***---

Sitting on my bed, I had opened a poetry book and was enjoying the quiet manor. In Requanar the town was so close to the manor that I could hear all the shopkeeps and the people. I could even smell the smoke from the blacksmith shop. Here it was peaceful and I found more enjoyment in my books.

My eyes looked up at nothing in particular when I heard the sounds of someone yelling. After several more minutes, there was a loud crash and the argument continued. Kerani appeared at my bedroom door and looked over at me with worry.

"What is happening?"

"Lord Blaine and Lord Durril are arguing about you."

"Me? Whatever for?" I tossed my legs over the side of the bed.

Kerani came to sit next to me, "Apparently Lord Blaine said something to you that he should not have. That is all that I understood."

It could be difficult to have a servant who didn't speak the common tongue. Most ladies-in-waiting would hear gossip and report back to their mistress, especially if it involved her or someone they knew. However, Kerani was more likely to tell me of something she saw than heard.

My door opened again, it was Leora. "Lady Valora?"

"Come in, Leora. Is everything alright?"

The elder woman stepped inside, "Lady Valora, I want to apologize to you for what Lord Blaine said." She sighed, "I know it's not my place to ask for forgiveness for my master, but that is such a horrible thing to say to a lady. You have been nothing but kind and…" She shook her head, "This was none of your doing and you can not be blamed for it."

"None of my doing? You mean the engagement?"

Again her head shook, then she seemed to change her mind and nodded,. "Yes that and his loss of Maita."

"Maita is the name of his lover, I presume."

"Yes, milady. He loves her very deeply and blames you for not being able to wed her. It is not your fault. He should of never of allowed himself to grow attached when he has known all his life that he is engaged to another woman. His hopes ran high that Lord Manten would change his mind, but were destroyed when he died." Leora sighed, "We weren't suppose to speak to you about this. I felt that it was important for you to know. Please don't tell anyone I told you."

I nodded, "Your words are safe with me."

She smiled and then flinched when she heard stomping footsteps in the hall.

"If you like her then you marry her!" Blaine screamed.

"If there was a possibility of convincing father to then I would. And I wouldn't be a blind bastard like you and not see how lucky of a man I am!" Durril yelled back and then two doors were slammed shut.

Leora bowed her head and exited the room.

Kerani gave me a questioning look as she couldn't understand what Leora was saying. I explained what she had said and saw the unhappiness in her eyes. "What a bastard!" She growled.

"This might be partly my fault." I sighed, "I told him that I didn't want to marry him either and that I wanted to marry a knight from my father's order."

"Valora!" She cried out, "Why would you say such things? Now, he thinks you blame him for ruining the life that you envisioned for yourself."

"And shouldn't he? He blames me for the same thing!" I realized that I had yelled and bowed my head, "I apologize, I shouldn't raise my voice to you."

The worry on Kerani's face vanished, she wasn't use to seeing me angry. "All this situation needs is some time for you both to calm down and then some apologies would be in order. After that, you will both need more time to realize that the other isn't as bad as you each believe."

Leaning back on the bed, I began to read my book again, while Kerani mended one of my dresses.

"It's so quiet here, isn't it?" She said after what seemed to be a half hour.

I smiled and looked out the window to the green meadows, "Yes, it's lovely. I…" There was a knock at the door and Kerani went to answer it.

When she opened the door, Durril smiled down at her and then his eyes found me. "Lady Valora, I thought perhaps you would like to go riding with me. I have to check in with the guards at their posts, but there is a lot of distance between them. After that I can show you where a few berry bushes grow."

I smiled, "I would love to join you. Allow me to better dress myself and I will be right down."

He bowed his head and walked away from the door.

"I need my riding dress, Kerani."

She smiled and went to fetch it from the wardrobe after she shut the door. "You be carefully riding alone with him." She warned as she dressed me then rearranged my hair into a tighter bun.

"And why is that?"

"There is no telling why he would want to place you two in a situation where you'll be alone."

I sighed, "He probably just wants to make me feel at home, since Blaine clearly isn't going to."

"Just be careful." She said before pushing me out the door.

---***---

I met Durril at the front door and he already had two brown horses ready for us. Since I was a lady, I had to ride sidesaddle, but luckily Durril had them place a normal saddle on the horse. At least, I could ride it the way I was meant to in between posts. Or I hoped that Durril would allow it.

We started out by speaking of the book that I was reading, though poetry did not seem to be something that held his interest. He told me a couple childhood memories that he had had with his brother. It seemed like he was trying to make Blaine seem like a good man in my eyes, though I already knew the truth of the matter.

Whenever we got to a post, he would climb off his horse and take their reports. They would go into a case that was attached to the side of his saddle and we would continue on.

"If he loved her so much then why didn't he just marry her and lose the land?" I suddenly asked and I saw Durril wince at my question.

When I looked over he was looking ahead of us, "Without the title and the land, he would lose his position in the knight's order and as the king's advisor."

"He would still be a knight though, wouldn't he? He could perhaps earn his way up the ranks rather than having them handed to him."

Durril nodded, "I suppose. It's not easy to be at the top, however, and then to have to start at the bottom."

"Why didn't he just tell my father no after Lord Manten past?" I was playing with the reigns between my fingers and had completely forgotten that I was riding sidesaddle.

With the next post in sight, he stopped his horse which made me do so as well. "He could have just married the girl behind my father's back and then denied the engagement to you when he died. However, Blaine wanted our father's blessing. He has always been a man of ceremony and rituals. He knows that our father's blessing for marriage was with you and not the other woman. She is with her husband now." Durril swallowed, "You have to understand that he is heartbroken, Valora. You have come at a rather stressful time for everyone. He knows that he has to love you and no one else, but you can't force yourself to love someone. Especially, when your heart is broken and not ready to love again."

I nodded, "Alright."

Durril smiled and we began to move forward again. We got the next reports and continued on with our short journey. "I've always been jealous of my brother." He grinned, "To be honest, I was rather hopeful that you were dreadfully ugly. Alas, my brother has always been the lucky one. Born first, father's favorite, made it to knighthood, king's advisor…" He looked over at me, "and now he will wed probably one of the most beautiful women in all of Seria."

I ignored his compliment, "Did you try to become a knight?"

"Yes. I am not made for battle though. Father eventually put me to work here as head of the guards and Blaine asked me to stay after his death. It's nice of him, but I think I may eventually have to journey out on my own. When I finally marry and have children, I don't see Blaine allowing my wife and children to live in the manor."

"Maybe he will have another house built for you. That would be the brotherly thing to do."

Durril smiled, "If you have his ear then that might just happen."

I winked at him, "You've got a deal."

"Oh and what's my end of the deal?"

"To find a wife, I thought."

He laughed, "So, I have the hard part I see."

I shook my head, "You are a wonderful man from what I have seen. I doubt it will be hard for you to find a woman that swoons whenever you walk into the room."

"Oh, now you are flattering me, I see." He stopped his horse and pointed to a line of bushes near the wall. "There they are." He dismounted then helped me off my horse. "I'll show you the best ones."

We kneeled down in front of one bush and he pulled a couple off. "Here try these." He put them both in my hand.

"They are a little green, aren't they?"

"Just trust me."

I popped one into my mouth and crushed it with my back teeth. As soon as the sour, tart flavor hit my tongue I began to spit it out.

Durril started to laugh and nearly fell over. "I am sorry, I couldn't resist."

I threw the other berry at him with a smile. "That was disgusting. I'll have that flavor in my mouth for weeks now."

"No, try this one. It should clear the taste out." He reached over and pulled a purple berry from the next bush and offered it to me.

I looked down at it in his hand then back up to him.

"I swear it's good."

"You lost my trust. You eat it."

Durril laughed and popped the berry into his mouth, then grabbed another one and offered it to me.

"How do I know it's the same kind?"

His smile widened and he bit half the berry, then placed the other half at my mouth. I opened my mouth and he dropped it inside. It was sweet with just the right amount of tartness.

"Am I going to have to test all the berries like that from now on?"

"You'll never gain my berry trust back." I jested.

Durril stood up and offered me his hand which I took. "I think I can live with that." He brushed his thumb over my bottom lip, "Your lip is stained."

"You touched the berry to it when you put it in my mouth." His sudden contact had made my lip shiver and I had hoped he didn't notice.

He didn't seem to and turned his attentions to another bush with red berries. "Blaine and I buried the seeds for all these bushes when we were eight and ten. Our father brought home a packet of berry seeds for our mother. She was going to bury them around the house, but Blaine and I kidnapped them. We wanted to hide the bushes so only we could eat the berries. So, feel lucky. You now know the secret hiding place."

"Against the wall? How well hidden."

He smiled at me and picked two red berries. "We were eight and ten. We thought we would find them if we just followed the wall. Unfortunately, we forgot all about them for three years and one day while we were riding just stumbled upon them."

I laughed as he bit half the red berry and then offered it to me. He tossed it into my mouth again before I could take it. "Are you afraid I am going to bite you?"

"After what you said to my brother this morning, I wouldn't be surprised."

I sighed, "What did he tell you I said?"

Durril shrugged, "That you didn't want to marry him either and would rather marry a knight from your father's order. Also mentioned something about sending you home and that he could plant his seed in any harlot that he wanted."

"I didn't say harlot. I said any woman he could get into his bed… Though I guess that would only leave women that he had to pay for."

He laughed with his lips pressed together as if he was trying to stop himself. "Not a very nice thing to say."

"I apologize."

He popped the other berry into my mouth without biting it, "May I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"Why… why didn't you marry someone behind your father's back to stop this engagement? You had other suitors."

I looked at him for a moment, "The thought never crossed my mind. I may have had other suitors, but none would have married me without my father's consent. They were knights of the Blood Rose Order like my father."

He nodded, "This may seem like an odd thing to say and I hope you don't take offence. I wish my brother had summoned you out here before his lover was wed and my father died."

"Why is that?"

"He use to tell me that if you and Blaine didn't seem to get along that he would have no choice but to end the engagement. He, of course, never told Blaine that because he would only summon you here to argue with you. Had that happened, I may of asked my father for the engagement to be transferred to me."

I chuckled, "Flatterer."

Durril smiled, "If you had been willing."

My mouth ran dry for a moment when I realized that he was being serious, "That would have been kind of you, Durril. I would have been willing, I think."

"To give up a duke or a knight of the Blood Rose Order for a head of the guards? I do not believe you, but I thank you for humoring me." He turned around and headed back for his horse.

Helping me mount, we made our way back to the manor. Our horses were taken by the guards and I gave my goodbye to Durril as he had work to do.