Chapter 21 - Just so you know

Gabrielle and the girls went on to do their own thing after we got dressed although I did notice how Sabi was trying to stay with me and Suha until her mother could convinced her that she would see us again later. We both decide to return to her study. "Well then as I was saying before, you have to be aware of the court and their influence. I am certain that over the next few weeks we will get many visitors that want to welcome, trick you or threaten you. And which of three it is will be hard to decipher in some cases. Has anybody told you why Laris is one of the richest duchies in the whole Kingdom?" I shook my head slightly while we walked upstairs crossing trough the living room again. "Not really no. I assumed that the mine and city, as well as slave trade had something to do with it. And that it is close to the desert."

She nodded. "Yes the closeness to the desert and the mine certainly helps but they are not the biggest source of income for the duchy. The slave trade in Laris is big but far from being the biggest source of revenue. The real source of income is because of the desert in some way. The desert that prevents all armies from marching trough. You need only small towers to keep the peace from that direction same with the sides that have the protecting from the mountains or the large river Naran. There is only two neighbors that even could in theory attack the dukedom, but the borders are well defined through smaller rivers and well they have to much shared culture and interest to be a real threat most of the time."

"Do you know that you have command over the largest standing armies of the Kingdom? With the highest quality of equipment and training?" I looked confused for a moment. "Why would he ... He was selling them to the highest bidder?" She smiled and nodded. "Got it in one. The Lords are not allowed to hire mercenaries from outside of the kingdom without the approval of the crown. But the retinues of another lord are not mercenaries. Some of the lord's simple need more troops to guard the borders, others need them to intimidate their fellow lords, In a few rare cases even to fight a war against their fellow countrymen to support a claim. But those are far and few in between since the crown frowns on such things. So they request them from Laris and pay large sums of money for it. Large sums and personal favors. The Dukedom is large, well feed and well protected so it can raise way more troops then most others. Not as many as the Crown of course but those have to help to prevent wars or protect against large skirmishes and border raids."

She stopped and looked me into the eyes as if she as checking if I understood what she was talking about. "If it is not to impress their fellow Lords, wage wars or to guard the borders, the troops of Laris are getting hired to hunt bandits and stop small scale raids. And now guess who encouraged such raiders and bandits from time to time?" I shook my head slightly. "Really?" she shrugged. "He had bragged about it, anyway now that he is gone there will be some powerful lords that want to have your troops to booster their ranks. Or those that had shady dealings with him trying to keep their deals alive. I don't mind helping you to be aware of all of those things as long as you behave yourself like you did today."

I shook my head slightly. "I promise that you and your family have my protection and service. You were given into my care, so you don't need to bargain for anything. Nor do you need to serve me in any way. Of course, I welcome assistance and support, including useful hints like that one, but don't feel the need to offer them or yourself in trade." She stopped completely and looked me deep into the eyes. This woman had already a profound effect on me, so I felt extremely nervous with that.

I tried to of course to appear calm but I knew that she saw trough that with ease. We stood still for a moment longer then a small smile appeared, and she nodded. "We will see then" She opened the door to her office and steeped inside. It was just like we had left it earlier, only this time we both noticed that in one of the large arm chairs was Lizbeth her knees under her chin and her nose deep inside a book, way to focused to even notice that we were in the office. Her free hand gently caressing the white sleeping squirrel, curled up against her side.

I could clearly see the love and care when Suha looked at her. I suddenly had an idea and noticing how focused Lizbeth was I gently tugged on the older woman's hand and pointing outside. She raised an eyebrow but followed me quietly. "I just remembered something our mother did. Lizbeth eats normally but simple doesn't gains to much from it right?" She pondered for a moment then nodded in confirmation. "She doesn't mind dinner, but she can't seem to eat as much as she used to." I nodded. "I remembered that my mother used to offer my sister small dough balls, that where basically really filling. They stay fresh for quite a long time so you can have them next to you while you work or in this case read."

"My sister would eat them while she did work on her stone statues. Of course, you still need to eat the big meals, but they helped a bit. It might be that it won't help her, or she won't like them, so we just offer the as a test. No pressure of course." She pondered for a moment then nodded. "But who can cook those?" I chuckled. "Well mom tended to be a bit busy and cooking for many was quite a tiring task so she forced us the children to help or even cook on our own. Everybody in my family can cook because of that. Especially those dough balls. So guide me to the harem kitchen please."

She hesitated for a moment before shaking her head with a smile and showing me the way. "The old duke wouldn't even bother to accept that she is in need of attention, so thank you." I only could give her a shoulder shrug. "It is not certain yet that it will work. Everybody is different but we can at least try. After all I must take care of my new family now. My sisters are so going to love that the family suddenly got bigger." There was another long pause before she asked quietly. "Is it really that easy for you?"

I stopped and looked at her then sighed. "No it isn't a big part of me just wants to leave this city and leave everything behind. But I accepted responsibility, the second I asked if your marriage contract isn't included in all the contracts, I made my choice. So I promise I will try my best to give you all a home that is worth of being called that. I know I could have just walked away or sold everything or just took the money and left. But I wasn't raised to be like that. And I like to imagine that living with me isn't going to be so bad." I winked to her. She chuckled and mumbled a "We will see." When we continued our way to the kitchen. The kitchen itself was quite large and definitely build to impress. It was clean but had marks of use, that no simple scrubbing could remove.

There was a large iron cast oven that was the dominating piece in the center of the kitchen. A second oven made out of stone that was designed for bread making was part of the left Corner. Next to it was a staircase going down that was definitely for the storage and some ornamented cupboards with small colored class windows. I could see some porcelain behind those. Between the cupboards and the oven was a large counter top big enough that multiple people could work on it at the same time. On the opposite wall was a table with chairs. On the walls were some utensils like stoneware baking dishes. Some frying pans and such. Next to the table was a large window that showed that we were on the ground level next to the garden. You could see the swimming spot from here as well. In general, this kitchen felt like an important part of the harem. There were even raised chairs for the little ones. As well as some books in a small cupboard with dark green glass doors, that indicate someone sitting here and reading. They were definitely not cook books, because those where placed in an open cupboard closer to the working area.

It didn't took me long to find what I needed to get started. And after a watching me, Suha joined silently. It felt good to make these again. It reminded me about my home. Because even after my sister returned to a normal weight, we kept on making these from time to time. Because we all had started to enjoy having them around. The first part was just a simple flour egg mixture with some more ingredients for the dough filled with either marmalade, meat or greens. You never would know which one was which but that was part of the charm. And it all tasted quite nicely if baked correctly. While I was still was forming the balls on the tray Suha had started to heat up the baking oven. She was using some dried wood and tinder, arranging it was the ease of someone who had used this oven for many years.

Soon she joined me again to roll the dough for some time in silence before talking again. "Do you know why Lizbeth is not send back to her parent even though she is so young? And why nobody talks about asking them for permission for the adoption?" It surprised me for a moment before I shook my head. "No it was suggested by my aunt to me and I accepted the idea because it felt right at that time but now that you mention it that are important questions." She shook her head slightly. "She wont go back because there is nothing but empty halls waiting for her at home. Her parents died, both to the same sickness two years apart. And her older sister has been lost in the western expedition. She might be still alive but she is already a year overdue." I smirked grimly. "Why did her sister join that expedition instead taking care of her own?"

Suha nodded to that question. "Because if the expedition would have been a success, she would have been able to buy back the land from the duke. Lizbeth and the land had been promised to the Duke in case of the parents being unable to pay. He didn't care for her that much but without marrying her the land would fall to the crown. What would you do if her sister would return?" I tilted my head slightly while rolling the small dough balls. Suha had joined me in forming them clearly showing that she wasn't afraid of doing a bit of manual labor. "It depends. If Lizbeth wants to return to her she can go of course. If I think that she can't take care for her. I would try to offer for them to live in this house. Or a side house. The gods know we have enough space here. But I would definitely talk it through with you and them both first." I shrugged. "As long as she is happy both options are fine. How would you feel now that she will become your daughter officially?"

She hesitated for a moment. Really thinking this question trough. "I think i would need to take a long hard look at her sister.  Regardless it feels good to be able to give her back some childhood that she has lost. I cannot replace her parents of course. Nobody can, but I like that I am able to give her a safe home. Thank you by the way. You still have to prove yourself but if you keep you word you are a blessing to this family." She mustered me again. "What were you before you were imprisoned?" I stopped for a moment and thinking back. "I tried out many things, but nothing really worked out for me, so in the end I became a caravan guard. I traveled through the big desert three times a year and the rest of the year through the kingdoms on either side. If you told me back then, that I would be imprisoned and after that I would become a duke. A married duke with children. I would have not believed you." She looked a bit concerned for a moment before nodding. "So you don't have any education as a stateswoman?"

I shrugged slightly. "I have what Marie taught me and gave me to read over the last eight years. According the advisor of the Queen I was not doing too bad and they wanted to introduce me some teachers later. I mean I learned a bit in the palace but with the whole trial going on and the whole earning a dukedom it was mainly focused on that." She sighed a bit silently. "I think that Gabrielle will be able to teach you better than most out there and well will be only biased towards our family. Who is that Marie person? What standing does she has with you?" We took out the first round of the baked balls and filled the second one. You could put two rows of them stacked on top of each other. My little sister is going to love this. I sighed slightly thinking about my family. I finally could see them again. I will see them again and nobody Is threatening to kill me for no reason ... well apart from the ... "Misra?"

I looked up. "Sorry lost in thought for a moment. Marie was the slave put in charge of the area of my cell. She was the one to clean and cook and such. Well cook for the guards. I was supposed to only get some hard bread and water but she simple could not watch me drain away. I was the only prisoner in that part of the prison anyway. It was to far away from the entrance to be useful. So there was not much to clean or many people to cook for. She was so bored so she basically taught me to read and write. As well as smuggled some food to me. After a while she got a bit more bold and smuggled books and similar things in addition to spending her lunch break with me. Johanna the other guard that was basically permanently assigned to that area joined us after a while. Together with the old Johnsen. He was the one who finally managed to get a message out to my people after retiring."

"Anyway after we got out there, it turned out that she was supposed to be set free ages ago but never was. Something that was changed now. She and Johanna are basically the two closest friends that I have. I want to hire both to work officially for me. I mean Johanna was already ask by the royal family to protect me but I have not yet got around to formally hire them." She listened quietly to my rambling she did not seemed to mind about her being an ex-slave or that they are close friends. When I mentioned that I want to hire them she just nodded briefly. "Why is she helping Gabrielle with the books?" She took out one tray of finished balls using some heavy padded gloves and a long flat wooden shovel on which the plate rested safely. "She used to be a bookbinder and has a really good understanding of many topics. I completely trust her judgment and she learns quickly. We still might hire someone to take care of the books but maybe Gabrielle wants to take care of that. She seems to have a real talent for that. Anyway, we all tried to understand the simple question of how many slaves where there and such. But we didn't make much progress until Gabrielle showed up." She chuckled while moving the next round of them inside the oven.

"You can say that she has a hand for that stuff. Without her, we would have starved or looked like a group of beggars. She always found ways of keeping us financed and get what we needed and even a bit extra." She looked at me and then seemed to remember something. "Can you dance?" That took me really by surprise. "Um what?" she shook her head once. "The big spring festival is coming up in three months. We don't get much of a spring in this part of the kingdom, but it is still one of the biggest festivals of the year. And as a duke you are expected to be present. And since you are below 50 most will expect you to dance. At least with me and Gabrielle. But with other high nobles as well. Many will use the opportunity to try and win your favor, or at least try and get an understanding of what you are. A few are already going to try and make you look bad in front of the others. It is unlikely that they will be able to find out that you used to be a Caravan Guard before and most won't dare to ask you that, so if you behave more like a noble they will be even more confused. So back to my question ... can you dance?"

Sweat was gathering on my forehead. When I accepted to be a Duke I knew that I would have to do some festivities and such that I would have to attend to and public speeches and stuff like that but .. dancing? "Umm ... I know my cultures dances a bit ...but umm no?" She sighed. "We will need to work on that. I think Neile will be able to help you the best. And Gabrielle if she has the time. It is in three months so ... I think if we spend every day a few hours on it, it should be fine ... and we need to get some knowledge about the current nobles into you. Hmmm the teaches from the palace should help there. I have to ask the guard captain who will come." I noticed that she already was starting to plan on how to make myself a better duke. It was interesting for me the change from yesterday.

Enough time had passed now, and I tried one of the still warm dough balls. I closed my eyes while eating it and so many memories flooded trough me for a short moment. It so reminded me about home. Still I started to analyze it. "Hmm not bad ... I think we should leave the next batch a bit longer. Try one." She hesitated a moment before she did. At the moment they where softer then they would be when cooled down but that was fine they tasted great in both states. I could see her surprise on her face while she did eat it basically in two bites. "I think they are a bit too big, but they are tasty enough. I think Lizbeth and the others will like them." I took another bite myself then smiled looking at the large amount of dough left. "I think we might have enough to share them with the servants as well. I might have made a bit to much."

I could see a smile appear and she nodded. "Where did your mother learn this recipe?" I stopped myself from snacking on more of them it really made me miss my home. "She learned it from one of the old local shepherds and she had learned it on the road. Although we did modify it since we didn't have to keep it fresh for multiple weeks." She nodded and started to silently decorate a plate with them. A few leaves of some eatable greens between them and suddenly it looked way better than the pile I was going to make.

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YAY finally got myself to go through it ^^ Sorry for the long delay. I am currently on sick leave so my rythem is all over the place and it is tricky to find the patient and time to sit down and go through all of this.

It was mainly stress with me but that really doesn't help to get yourself to write and edit stuff. A large part of this chapter had been written ages ago and came directly after the dinner ... Then i realized that, that was stupid and put in the swim scene to a.) Get a bit of time with the two cuties and b.) get a bit of time to pass since then. Getting timing right and not rushing things to quickly is important for me like Suha for example welcoming her this quickly ... if that character had not reacted that way in earlier chapters i highly doubt that moma bear would have calmed down so quickly.

At the moment the seas are calm but who knows when the next storm will hit ... well apart from me ;)

So again sorry for the long delay. The next chapter will hopefully not take as long since i will be able to write on the travel again ... until the next lock down hits *sighs* 2020 yay ^^

Hope you all enjoy and stay healthy out there! Byeeee