Lady Marwen's Request

"I will not let fear drive me. I make my choice and accept what consequence it brings. I have stared down chieftains, merchant princes, and the empire alike. I give no home to doubt." Staring into the hard gaze of her own reflection, Liana would be the first admit that this was a bit melodramatic, but she felt stronger for saying it. The naked figure staring back at her from the ornate, full-length mirror was graceful and slim. Her black and rust colored fur faded to cream on her front and muzzle. There was gray here and there these days, but a little touch of powder was all it took to hide them from prying eyes. Lady Liana Marwen turned, admiring the slender lines of her own body. She was proud that she had kept at bay the fleshiness that was all too common among the court. Alas, this honor came with a modest bosom at best. "Boyish" was the word sometimes passed around by those who thought she didn't hear.

She was a daughter of lords and had indeed stared down chieftains and merchant princes. Tonight's tension in her gut came from merely facing her own pride and shame. In comparison they were inconsequential. Behind her, the short, plump otter who had been her maid and friend for years was busying herself over a corset and frilly things that was as much her battle attire as her husband's mail and helm were. Her father and her husband both were active and vigorous wolves who could wore their mantle as leaders in battle with a practiced ease, but Liana was the politically astute lady of this court. She was the velvet glove and her husband the hammer held.

Liana stood before the long mirror in the wood paneled interior rooms of Castle Marwen, a great stone edifice that crouched low and wide in the broad and flat valley that made up much of the clan's lands. Most of the castle, and even the surrounding village, was stark and austere, but here within her and her husbands chambers the traditional woodwork and draperies had made the chilly stone rooms feel considerably less barren. The room was lit with warm golden glow of oil lamps and the fire in the hearth. On wood panels lain over stone, she strode expensive rugs brought from the imperial capital to the south. The dressing room was warm and cozy, a stark contrast to the chill autumn night outside, darkness fast approaching on sunset's heels.

Finery peeked from closets and jewelry glittered from open drawers and cabinets as she looked herself over, appraising what she had made of herself. Nearing the middle of her third decade she felt that perhaps, finally, just maybe, the blush of her youth had begun to lose its luster. Faint traces of gray in her muzzle and hair had to be tactfully masked to match her deep red-brown fur. She thought she looked a bit weary, as she gazed into the glass, but arranging this banquet had been keeping her busy for weeks and would have left her worn thin even had she not been plotting behind her husband's back. The idea of what she was doing niggled at her, it wasn't right and her husband would never understand were he to discover her plot. She looked into the mirror, repeating the litany once more, finding her resolve. He would never know.

"Ah, Verona." She said, grateful for the distraction, as the otter walked forward in the awkward gait of her kind. They were always slightly out of sorts on land, Liana thought, but they were amazing swimmers, clever with their hands and quick witted. "Are we ready?"

"Yes'm." Verona said, her carefully groomed whiskers less unruly than most males of her species and her bright brown eyes almost worshipful of the lady wolf. She was a bit shorter than Liana, a bit plump with her round hips and thick tail that held her dress off the floor. She wore a simple black and white maid's gown. She was both sweet and diligent, though shy around those she thought of as her betters. Verona was a commoner they had first met when they were both teens living in Liana's father's estate. The Lady had become fond of Verona and in the intervening years they had shared many confidences as friends, "It's near time to go greet your guests. We need to hurry."

"Ah, Yes! What had we decided on?" Liana asked, grateful for the distraction from the web of thoughts.

"Satin and the bell, Ma'am." The otter chirped as she rolled the mannequin with Liana's dress across the wooden floor into the changing room.

"Ah, the bell." Liana muttered acidly, that damn tight waist and the explosion of hips. Still, it would suit tonight's needs.

Verona stood as high as her squat legs and long torso would let her, helping Liana begin to dress in the rich deep crimson and gold she favored. The simple mundane task of hands and fasteners and of standing still as Verona tugged and tied and clasped helped Liana put aside the thoughts of the betrayal of her husband that was to follow.

"That's good, Verona. Not too tight." The lady turned and regarded herself in the mirror once more as her maid went to fetch the jewelry that she had chosen for the night. "And you delivered the letter?"

"Yes, ma'am. This afternoon."

There was a moment of hesitation that made her turned to see that Verona was blushing and looking embarrassed, "And?" Liana prompted.

"He's... uh... very big ma'am. Big as M'lord. And..." The otter bit her lip, the insides of her ears burned and the round muzzle's whiskers fluffed out in embarrassment before she blurted out, "He'll be a fine sire, strong pups."

Liana caught a hint of lustful jealousy in that appraisal. She considered her old friend and servant for a few moments, wondering if the otter regretted not having left her service to make a family. There had been many potential suitors of her species in the capital, but almost none since she and Lady Marwen had come north with the, then, courting clan leader that was now her husband. It was a moment before before she pushed those thoughts aside. As much as she cared for Verona, now was not the time to address her long lonely, possibly lonely service.

Taking the jewelry from Verona's hands, Liana settled the necklace into place and sought her reflection to judge the result. She turned slowly and let the illusion of composure fall into place. Here, in her chambers, with her friend, she could be just Liana, but dressed and adorned, back straight and about to step out into the hallway, she was Lady Liana Marwen.

Some weeks prior and far from the wide northern valley that Lord and Lady Marwen called home, in a small parcel of land along the edge of the eastern sea a curious message arrived in a remote county. Hemmed between jagged peaks of tall mountains and the icy sea, Winterrock is connected to the capital via rail during the warmer months and by memory alone during the long winters. In an estate scratched out in the stony hills overlooking the county's largest village, a letter is unfolded by hands much larger than the one that penned it and a servant waits to learn the contents of the queer missive with the unfamiliar seal from so far away.

Dusk watched the tiger's green eyes skim the parchment held delicately between his thick fingers. There was a sense of the scale being off as he held the small folded note. He was one of the largest people Dusk had ever met, around nine feet tall he loomed even without meaning to. It was easy to forget that when he was surrounded by furniture of his own size and the overall feeling was one that made her feel dwarfed until she was outside of his private chambers.

At nearly seven feet tall, herself, she was by no means some small creature to feel diminutive in anyone's presence. Her stature was of great aid in providing a powerful presence as Partran's steward. She would carry out his orders or, more often, anticipate them and see what needed to be done for his estate to tick over smoothly was done before he had to order it. Now, however, she stood near his immense desk and watched him reading. Grey-blue eyes and snow white hide on her somewhat muscular equine body filled the high-necked and austere navy blue dress well. Her white hide gave way to black towards her hands and ink black hooves. The only thing she didn't care for, when she considered herself, was the smooth, slightly curved, horn that sprang from her brow just before her dusky black mane began. The glossy black spire stood over her forehead and marked her "shameful" mixed parentage.

Her employer, for lack of a better term, was taller still. He was a tiger, built large even for their kind. He towered over most people, but when speaking with an equal of lesser stature he often found excuse to sit or crouch so as not to loom more than he could help. His orange and black fur were smooth and well groomed and while there was grey around his muzzle it suited his bearing. At the moment, his large, square muzzle had perched upon it a pair of half-moon spectacles that he rarely allowed others to see him wear. Otherwise reading the fine script on the relatively diminutive letter would require him to squint in an undignified manner. He was composed and his finely tailored suit cut sharp lines on his powerful figure as he sat behind his desk. The only thing not quite in matching that fashion was a large and irregularly faceted ruby hanging on a cable about his neck.

The tiger silently read the letter twice before laying it on his desk. He reached up and removed the glasses and, as he folded them, said, "It appears the Countess Liana Marwen is considerably more versed in the Obscure than I would have guessed."

Dusk's mobile equine ears perked up at this in genuine surprise "Oh? What does she say?"

"She's aware of the nature of my amulet, for one."

Dusk was surprised. It wasn't easy to fathom the significance of the tiger's particular choice in jewelry and the lore about it was forgotten by all but a few. The "Obscure" was the catch-all term scholars often used for the oddments of latent magic or religion that persisted from the ancient eras. The legends of ages past were often filled with references to the Obscure and some devoted their lives to the pursuit of it.

"How?"

"I don't know, yet." He rumbled. "She has offered that answer as well as her discretion on the subject if we are willing to attend a banquet she is hosting and for me to "provide her with a certain service." Her words, those."

Dusk scowled at this, the taste of it feeling wrong to her, "Blackmail?"

"No. She says that she shall pay the traditional fee but that for her discretion we must provide the same."

Dusk considered this for a moment, digging into her extensive knowledge of the various nobles both major and minor and the ever changing web of intrigues that kept the Empire's ruling class busy. Partran had no interest in such perpetual social play and counter-play and that was most likely the reason he'd been effectively exiled to this far-flung county when he had been granted a title for service to the Imperial Crown. He had simply no interest in playing that game and took the quiet and remote outcrop on the frigid coast as a sanctum as much as a land holding to govern.

Dusk recalled that Countess Liana Marwen was originally from the inner provinces, her family had done very well financially and they were on that odd middle ground between traditional nobility and the financial elite that had taken advantage of the rapid progress and growth of industries. Her father was well known to be shrewd and far sighted, able to play the stolid old guard nobles as well as the younger merchant lords well and rumor had it that Liana had learned a great deal of her savvy from the old wolf.

"Interesting." She mused, "And does the letter give any indication of that service?" She had a suspicion what it would be, but it didn't quite fit. Liana was married to another wolf, the tiger's business in that regards wasn't something she'd likely need either. Still, they'd been married for some time and Dusk had not heard of any heir.

The large feline turned to her, sitting at the leather topped desk. "No. It could be something alchemical I suppose, or maybe she has a golem that needs work? But neither of those beg the kind of discretion she's asking for. It doesn't make sense unless the stone is needed for the task at hand. I'm a fine alchemist but there's as good nearer and just as discreet."

Dusk approached the desk, glancing at the letter meaningfully. Partran nodded permission and she reached to pick it up, turning it over and looking at the careful script of someone who'd learned to write at one of the best schools in the empire.

"I assume you plan to attend?" She asked as she scanned the lines of the letter, impressed at how circumspect Lady Marwen was and never saying specifically what she was discussing. Should this letter have been read by someone else they'd like as not have no idea what obtuse phrases like "No knowing what special providence brought you into the possession of so singular a bauble" meant.

"Yes." His reply was flat and he shifted in his chair, unable to get comfortable in his chair as he thought about the letter. "I'm concerned as to how she found out and hope to make it harder for the next inquisitive sort. I also admit I've a bump of curiosity about the whole situation."

She finished reading the letter before laying it on the desk. "She aimed well, then." She knew well that Partran's curiosity would lead him across the continent even more surely than the payment or what Dusk was still trying not to consider blackmail. "If you've no further need of me, sir, I will go begin preparations for this trip and inform the sisters."

"I want you to join us, as well. I'll have need of someone who plays the game better than I do to make sure I don't end up offending some priestess or lordling whose sole purpose at being there is to bed the servants."

Dusk smiled, "Of course, sir." With that he smiled and then turned his attention to writing a letter accepting Lady Marwen's invitation. Quietly, Dusk turned and her long tail swished as she stepped out and drew the door closed behind her.

The early autumn event was still two months off and positioned at such a time that Partran and his retinue would be able to attend and be back through the mountain passes before winter cut Winterrock off from the rest of the empire until spring. Liana had planned this well. The season wouldn't allow for an excuse to be made and she had done well in hooking the Master's considerable curiosity.

She walked along the long corridor from the Master's study, the wide hallway echoing her footfalls as she thought about her preparations. The trip there and back would likely take the best part of a month and without her here to manage the estate she'd have to let Layla and Max know what needed to be done in their absence. Heading out of the manor house via the servant's entrance she walked the winding cobbled path through the extensive gardens towards the stables where she found the red panda sisters, Sying and Yuying, sparring.

They were in a cleared area of packed earth surrounded by a low wall and a variety of targets and practice dummies. When not attending to other duties they were often here training or lounging in the sun. As Dusk approached she could hear the clatter of wooden weapons and, turning the corner, saw the sisters passing through a drill of sword and buckler.

Sying was slightly taller than her half sister, more muscular and with short, bobbed hair. Her blue eyes were serious and she naturally wore a stern expression. In contrast, her sister was more curvaceous and generally jovial with long hair tied back out of her way. It was rare to see her serious and Dusk was aware that she did her best to keep her sister from sinking into the dour moods their father was rumored to suffer.

They were both skilled and seasoned soldiers, having been raised in a large and accomplished military family. Sying was an excellent swordswoman, favoring the sword and shield whenever possible. Yuying was more comfortable keeping her distance in a fight, favoring the bow or crossbow.

"Sy, Yui, When you have a moment please." Dusk said as she approached the practice area, standing outside the ring and being careful not to let her dress brush the thick, dust covered rope hanging in a circle about the practice area.

The sisters paused in their block and parry drill and approached the imposing mare, taking off their helmets and revealing their fur stuck to their heads with the sweat of a long session.

"Yes, Dusk?" Sying asked as she approached, helmet under her arm. She was, as she often was, formal in her speech and posture, while her sister contented herself to listening.

The sisters were comfortable the tall half-unicorn mare and they respected one another as equals. Rank, while established here, was only acknowledged in a polite manner. Other estates, other holdings, far more rigidly observed these stations. Dusk explained to them about the trip and the region they were to be visiting and the sisters listened closely. Dusk was always amused at how different the sisters were, Sying was as serious as her father, stolid with guarded humor, usually relaxed only with her sister. Yuying, on the other hand, was as upbeat and cheerful as you could imagine any young woman could be.

"A banquet?" Yuying delighted, "Oh goddesses that'll be amazing. Sy we'll have to go see Wisp about dresses."

"Of course we will." Sying said darkly, the acid tone utterly lost on her exuberant sister.

"Don't fret, Sying." Dusk had to suppress a chuckle at the sudden difference between the two red pandas' expressions. "This is a frontier fortress we'll be at, not an Imperial ball, I suspect you might even be able to wear pants without causing a scandal."

There is only so much warmth that long banners and tapestries can give to a slate grey fortress of stone and steel. The low and wide castle that was the Northern edge of Clan Marwen's holdings was built first and foremost as the central stone upon which any other clan seeking to seize power would break. Once their clan had allied itself with the empire and become the northernmost border of the empire's holdings, imperial solars had been invested into making this keep the northern bastion. Clans allied with Clan Marwen had benefited from the stability of the fortress there as well as the surrounding city acting as a trade hub for the northern reaches. The empire had, in a remarkably short length of time, built the northern stretch of the railroad through the mountains and provided their new province access to the trains that had already become the arteries of the slowly growing empire.

Partran and his retinue had arrived two days before the banquet and had been installed in a small house along a side road of the city's Imperial district. In this low and wide valley ringed in the distance by mountains that were capped with snow year round, the castle crouched like a prowling animal. The village that had quickly grown up within the guarding walls did little to hide the stark edifice along which guards and golems marched. As their carriage approached the gates of the keep Partran, Dusk, and the sisters watched the austere buildings lit with the honey-colored light of sunset cast their long shadows and lights along streets, as lanterns in houses began to replace the quickly dwindling autumn sun.

"They've done an unbelievable amount of work in the past few years." Dusk said as she looked out the window, the fading day's light catching the dark blue of her gown and the silver accents she'd tastefully worn for this.

"It's amazing what thousands of solars and the artificers guild being pressed to provide the golems for construction can accomplish." Partran was busy adjusting his cravat as he stared out the small window in the side of the carriage. He was dressed in a well cut suit of somber black with gold embroidery and red at the cuffs and collar. His heavy ruby pendant lay like a slightly out of place accessory and his fur shone with a light brushing of oil. His green eyes were fixed on the long, nearly perfectly straight streets as their carriage, among many others, made its way along the main street.