To Love and To Be Loved

Chapter VI

The breakfast passed quickly after the debates had ended and soon the Barnes family were all riding their horses through the forest that bordered the manor's lands.

Aileen and Atlantis were in the lead with Wesley and his mare, Athena,

"Sister, dearest, there have been rumours swirling through the grapevines already that you and Master Connor are courting. Care to explain?"

Aileen rolled her eyes, of course there were rumours after just one day,
"No, because there is nothing to explain. We are not courting, we are not having an affair, we are friends."

Wesley nodded, hearing the truth in her voice,
"I understand that, sister, but not everyone understands your character and they have seen the two of you alone for most of yesterday and today. I just want to suggest that maybe you stay in larger groups and avoid letting the rumours take effect."

Aileen smiled and stretched her arm between the two horses to pat her brother's hand,
"Thank you, Wes, I know you mean well...But what about you? Any secret affairs?"

Alexander, who rode behind Aileen and Wesley, also spoke up,
"You have been awfully quiet since we arrived, Wessy-boy, any news?"

The eldest brother teased slightly but the younger rolled his eyes,

"No, no news, no drama, I'm trying to avoid that."

"That's new."
Alexander scoffed quietly and Wesley threw him a glare,

"Anyway, to change the subject, how about we have a round of chess later in the evening? We haven't played in a while."

The brothers nodded,

"But only if it's for fun, the moment we place bets, we tend to...get a little competitive."
Aileen reasoned and the brothers agreed,

"That's an understatement, sister, remember last year? I think I still have a scar from that chess piece."
Alexander complained, pointing to his jaw where there was actually still a faint white line where the chess piece had hit him and cut the skin - it was a very bloody game.

"Fine, no bets and no fights, no sore losers either, Wesley."
Aileen added, coughing as she said her brother's name in a poor attempt to hide the name, Alexander laughed as Wesley scowled.

As Aileen realised that they were slowly on a path returning to the Manor, she spurred on her mare,

"Last one to the Manor's stables is a rotten egg!"
She yelled over her shoulder as Atlantis stretched her powerful legs and stayed in the lead as they raced to the Manor grounds.

From the windows of the throne room, Connor smiled as he saw the rambunctious Barnes siblings racing to the stables.

"Connor! Is that a smile I see on your lips?"
Catherine IV exclaimed as she walked over to her brother to see what he was watching. A similar smile to her brother's crossed her own lips,

"Ah, the Barneses, yes, they do make people smile don't they?"

"They are quite delightful,"
The Marquise Isabella said from her bureau as she took off her painful shoes, since she was sitting there for the next few hours and the gown hid her feet, she thought she'd take the chance to give her aching feet a break.

"I do wish one of you had a romantic interest in them. It would do the Estate well for a family like them to be part of this one, they bring such mirth into these halls."

The family nodded, all watching as Aileen made it to the stables first and was striking the air with joy, the brothers behind her clearly complaining about the whole event.

"Do you suppose they would even want to join this life? When they talk of home they seem very eager to return."
Catherine asked her sister as she returned to her armchair and Isabella smiled,

"I imagine they would like it here and would be honoured to be part of the court but then again, I also thought they would be calm and studious children rather than energetic and boisterous ones."
She spoke fondly, not complaining about their characters but rather complimenting them.

"Well, they are all unmarried so there is hope for you all."
The Dowager Marquise exclaimed as she walked into the large room. Connor quickly took this as an opportunity to escape the study and rushed out. In the silent halls, he sighed in relief - he disliked conversations of courting and love-interests - and began to stroll through the corridors.

Suddenly, he heard loud voices arguing - familiar, friendly, kind voices that he could match to their owners within seconds. He maintained his own journey through the corridors as the voices of the Barneses siblings wandered around a corner and began fading.

"You cheated! You had a head start, no wonder you won!"

Wesley complained to his sister, who was laughing,

"The head start did nothing, I won and would have still won had we started at the same time."

Alexander scoffed,

"You would not, you know that Athena is the fastest horse out of all of ours, I would have won."

The bickering continued as they walked through the halls of the Manor and towards the largest library of the Manor, where multiple chess sets were scattered around the tables.

"Oh please, Athena is fast but in sprints, that was almost a marathon and only Europa can ride endurance for that stretch of time. Of course only if someone didn't get a head start and win."

Wesley complained as they reached the library, quickly turning the volume of their conversation to whispers, not wanting to disrupt the people that were reading,

"It doesn't matter who could've won because I actually won. So, chess?"
Aileen asked as she sat down at the table and arranged the pieces, Wesley sighed,

"Fine! But if I win, you need to admit you cheated in the race."

Aileen held out her hand,
"Deal."

They shook on it and began, Aileen starting as white.

It took ten minutes for the game to end, almost all the pieces had been lost on both sides and yet, Aileen still managed to checkmate him, a smug smile on her face. Wesley groaned and tipped over his king in resignation,

"It's not fair, you're better at chess than me anyway."

Aileen shrugged,

"You were the one who put a deal into the mix, besides, you're good, just not strategic enough."

In a matter of moments the chess pieces had been replaced to their original positions and Alexander sat down across from her, a confident smile on his face which Aileen quickly matched.

The match ended in a tie. As it usually did between the two. They managed to check each other constantly but never reached checkmate due to the defence of the other. They shook hands with proud smiles and the pieces were reset for the game between Alexander and Wesley.