Kenric mutters under his breath, “Unlike this frozen pit.”

  While I sob into Kenric’s shoulder, Duke Jellema knocks on the door, and Melina opens it. Frowning, Duke Jellema looks around and notices the soot-covered furniture and floor, with clear boot prints where the steward had been standing.

  Despite himself, the duke begins to chuckle. “That explains why I saw the steward rushing back to his chambers covered in soot.”

  Sniffling, I lean into Kenric again.

  Sighing, Kenric keeps comforting me but grins at the duke.”He told her to build a bigger fire to warm the place up. She’s had me complain about the blocked chimney twice. He appeared in person and asked that she build a larger fire, so Larissa and Maria built it up as he directed. You can see the results,”he says.

  Duke Jellema looks around and shrugs.”I hadn’t realized that this part of the palace was so run down.”

  I turn a tearful face to Duke Jellema.”The fires in here aren’t small because we lack firewood and coal. The fires in here are small because that’s all the chimneys can take without doing… that.”

  I wave a hand at the soot covering everything.”I can’t have any of the ladies in here. This would ruin their dresses. They’d never forgive me.”

  Pouting, I look up at Kenric.”I want to go home, too. Are you sure that we can’t? I’m certain that I can get Ellisar to waive the clause about the marriage ceremony once I explain to him how miserable things are here.”

  Duke Jellema looks at Kenric with concern before turning to me. “Dear Víl?, don’t worry about your rooms. I’ll speak to the steward and see if they can find you some that better suit your station than this. I’m sure he placed you here because of Kenric’s somewhat low position in Oskar’s court. You present him with a bit of a dilemma. Your own status is much higher than Kenric’s, so he’s unsure how to handle both of you. If he gives you rooms that match your rank, some will say they’re above Kenric’s level, leading to complaints and efforts from other viscounts to secure better rooms. If he assigns you rooms appropriate for Kenric’s rank, well… that’s what you get. Court is crowded this time of year, and rooms are scarce.

  I shrug and start crying again. “I can’t imagine there’s anywhere in the palace that’s comfortable. I don’t know what’s happened, but clearly they’ve fallen on hard times. They’ve sold off all the trim and decorations. The hallways used to be covered in murals, but someone whitewashed over them rather sloppily. The old murals peek through in places. The wooden floors are missing, so we trip constantly at every threshold. I’m guessing rugs and tapestries are also gone. The windows let in some light, but they’re very drafty. You can see the state of the chimney. The entire place was quite dirty when we arrived, and I had to hire a cleaning crew to come in and tidy up. Now I’ll have to call them back again to deal with all the soot. The garderobes don’t work, and my duennas from Imelenora left rather than stay in these conditions.”

  Deciding to push my luck a little, I gave Duke Jellema a tearful look. “Your palace was much more comfortable than this place. Can we return to Varpua?”

  Duke Jellema looks around and nods to himself.”I wasn’t aware that anyone traveled with you.”

  Kenric jumps in with the story we decided on.”We did. They came ahead of us on a ship from Ikedena instead of Imelenora. We met here in Dobile. Everything seemed fine until we reached the palace. They weren’t happy with the inns, but there was no talk of leaving. They stayed one night here, just one – and that upset them so much and put them right off Centis. They left for Varpua to return to Imelenora on The Hamadryad.”

  I sniffle a bit more.”My aunt lives near Ikedena, and my cousin will be getting married soon. They wanted to visit for a while since they’d miss the wedding.”

  Duke Jellema shoots Kenric another worried glance, and Kenric gives him an almost unnoticeable nod. “They were her kin.”

  Shaking his head, Duke Jellema sighs heavily.”The Hamadryad leaves port tomorrow. They’re just waiting for the tide to change. We might be able to catch them.”

  Kenric chuckles and shakes his head. “I don’t know that anything you could say would convince them to stay. They were quite set on getting back before the winds change, and they can’t leave.”

  Duke Jellema mutters something that sounds suspiciously like, “Damn those two.”

  Taking on a more fatherly tone, Duke Jellema pats me affectionately on the head awkwardly. “Don’t worry, Víl?. If I can borrow Kenric for a bit, I think we can get all this sorted out.”

  I squeeze out of Kenric’s lap and rejoin my ladies, who ply me with tea and condolences. Kenric leaves with Duke Jellema, while I bundle up in one of their clean beds to take a nap.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  Duke Jellema walks swiftly down the hallway and scrubs his face. “Gods above! What were those two idiots thinking? Don’t they realize she’s got connections to nearly everyone who’s anyone in the Fey Court? If she writes home about this, we’ll never get any credit from any of the Fey merchants or their king.”

  Kenric shrugs and sighs. “I tried to tell the steward, but he’s refusing to listen. At a guess, there’s some secret passage there that lets Oskar listen in or maybe even spy on her. He’d want to find some way to blackmail her into his bed.”

  That stops Jellema in his tracks. “Will he find one?”

  Smirking, Kenric shakes his head. “No. I’d sooner bet that I’d find one of the moons in my pocket.”

  Snorting, Duke Jellema nods. “There’s more to her than meets the eye. She’s not just some simple, empty-headed female. You’ve outclassed yourself in so many ways by marrying her.”

  Nodding, Kenric agrees. “Well, I know it. I plan to spend every day of the rest of my life showing her just how grateful I am, too.”

  Duke Jellema gives Kenric an assessing gaze and nods again. “You might just do after all. If you ever want a better lord than that snake Vellam, see me. I’d happily count you among my liegemen.”

  Kenric shrugs. “I’m not an Earl. With Víl? unwilling to bed the king, I’m not likely to become one either.”

  Duke Jellema snorts dismissively. “I have two Earls, both of whom are likely to die childless. It wouldn’t be difficult to get one or the other of them to make you their heir.”

  Kenric looks at Duke Jellema curiously. “Why would you help me?”

  Duke Jellema laughs. “I value competency and loyalty. You’ve got both. With this trade deal, it wouldn’t be that hard to get the king to agree to it. I wanted to send you back to negotiate the next trade deal for a lot of items that you and Víl? suggested, but that second marriage ceremony threw a spanner into the works for that.”,

  Kenric considers this and nods. “Ellisar offered me a place in his court. He seemed to think that I’d be able to rank well there.”

  Duke Jellema shakes his head. “What are you doing here then? Why didn’t you stay? I know Víl? didn’t want to come here. She already wants to go back. We could have sent someone to look after your estate here.”

  Kenric hesitates briefly before answering. “A lot of the smallholders have been with my family for generations. It didn’t seem right to abandon them, and I’ve been gone so long already that…”

  Duke Jellema cuts him off.”That… That’s what Víl? and I both see in you. Well, part of it, at least. Too many forget that once we take someone’s oath, that obligation isn’t just the small holder’s. It’s their lord’s obligation, too. Tell me, what are your plans for your estate?”

  While the men walk toward the steward’s office, Kenric explains his plans to attract more smallholders and bring more of his estate under cultivation. When Kenric finishes laying everything out, Duke Jellema nods approvingly.”All of that seems quite sound. Let’s see if we can’t get this room business sorted out.”

  Without knocking, Duke Jellema enters the steward’s office and finds the Queen, who appears to be furious with the steward. Without a word, Queen Grethe whips her dress around and marches out, stiff-backed, followed by her ladies.

  Casting a curious glance at Queen Grethe’s retreating figure, Duke Jellema clears his throat. “I’ve come to see you about the rooms you put Víl? and Kenric in. What’s wrong with you, man? She thinks we’re as poor as church mice, and she’s either friends with or related to half the Fey court. We’ll never get any credit from Ellisar or the Fey merchants once her relatives and her letters get back to Imelenora.”

  The steward blanches slightly but shrugs. “I had direct orders from King Oskar to place her in those rooms specifically.”

  Duke Jellema harumphs. “Well, that certainly explains what Queen Grethe was so upset about.”

  The steward blanches again, but Duke Jellema presses his point. “That whole part of the castle looks run down and disreputable. Is that really the impression you want her to convey to our new trading partners? Has our king even seen that part of the castle recently? Does he know just how much you’ve been skimping on maintenance?”

  The steward frowns at the duke. “He keeps cutting the budget, so the funds just to keep the roof watertight have to come from somewhere. I’ve already agreed to have her chimney cleared tomorrow.”

  The duke leans heavily on his cane and gives the steward a long, hard stare. “What about sealing the windows? Putting the wood floor back in? Plastering the walls? Where’s all the trim and the murals? What happened to all the trinkets that used to adorn that hallway? You know, the tapestries, the paintings, the statues. Where are they?”

  The steward flushes angrily. “None of those rooms have any of that.”

  The duke gives the steward a hard stare. “She’s a princess, Arvo. You can’t just shove her into some pigsty and expect her not to notice.”

  Arvo becomes huffy. “It’s not a pigsty.”

  Duke Jellema arches an eyebrow at him. “Really? Did you know she had to hire her own cleaners because the place was filthy when she moved in? It’s dirty and cold. For a princess, that’s a pigsty. She can’t even build a proper fire. You’ve seen what happens when she tries it. I saw your boot prints on the floor, plain as day. She has complained to you on several occasions. You haven’t lifted a finger to help make it more comfortable. Ye gods! No wonder she thinks we’re impoverished. She thinks you don’t have the funds to fix any of it. She spent the entire morning asking some rather pointed questions about the state of our kingdom's finances. We, as in all of Centis, need to make a good impression on her. She’s here, as a member of her king’s court.’

  Arvo sniffs dismissively. “What king would take the word of a woman?”

  Kenric laughs at this statement. “Her king places a great trust in what she has to say. He told me that himself. She’s ranked second only to him in their court, even above the males there. He trusts her and values her advice. I’ve managed to land someone well above me in rank. I know that causes issues for you, but if this isn’t handled, it will create problems for Centis in dealing with the Fey kingdom. If they keep thinking we can’t afford the goods we’ve contracted to buy, we’ll never get credit from their king or any of their merchants. We need credit to fulfill our part of the trade deal. If I didn’t know better, I’d think King Oskar set out to ruin this trade deal.”