Unbound Book 1: The Failed Duke

CHAPTER THIRTY ONE: THE BEGINNING OF THE END

It was sometime in the morning when Lucan began to head towards the dining hall.

The past few days had flown by as he had finally been able to move onto more advanced material with Stella.

As he walked, he saw a group of servants putting up decorations for the Meeting of The Marquesses.

Lucan made sure to greet them, but one of the butlers walked over to him and said, "Excuse me sir, I was wondering if you would be able to point me towards the Dantalion Wing.

He looked at the butler, who wore black gloves and said, "That's pretty deep in the castle? Why does Duke Nothgard want it decorated?"

The butler sighed and said, "From what I was told, he wants to show off several of his magical artifacts to the other marquesses as a sign of strength. The reason we're decorating is to make it seem less obvious that the marquesses are being led there."

Lucan raised an eyebrow and said, "That doesn't sound like him."

Despite this though, Lucan gave the butler directions, and after he was done, a maid approached them and said, "Honey, it's almost time for our break. You packed me a peanut butter and mayonnaise sandwich right?"

The first servant saw Lucan's expression and said, "I would like to apologize. My wife has quite the taste. She enjoys putting strong flavors together."

"No. No no it's fine. Just a little odd to me is all."

The two of them bowed and walked away, which allowed Lucan to pass by and continue to make his way to the dining hall.

When he entered, he saw that it was pretty empty. This is the issue with food being served all day, people tend to come in waves.

As Lucan scanned the room for a spot to sit, he saw a familiar looking white haired girl who sat at a table by herself.

He walked over and smiled. "Eating by yourself Alana?"

Alana glared at Lucan as she said, "Yes, the Jack of Devils is busy today with a meeting. He told me to treat myself to a day off."

Stella entered the room and ran over to Alana. "That's great news, why don't you spend the day with us."

She looked at Lucan and said, "Today's our rest day for training right?"

"Well, actually."

"Great!"

Stella sat down, and upon seeing her smile, Lucan shook his head and sat down himself.

As Lucan and Stella began to fill their plates from the servants walking around with trays and skewers of food, he asked, "I know you joined up before me Alana, but how long have you been a member of The Deck of Devils?"

Alana looked down and placed her crossed arms in front of her. "About a year. Duke Nothgard became aware of my exile seemingly as soon as it happened and offered me a position in his deck."

She smirked as she said, "I've seemingly gone from being one nobleman's pawn, to being another's. It appears that the only valuable thing about me is my last name."

Stella frowned and said, "That's not true, my father."

Alana slammed her fist on the table and said, "Then explain something! If I'm not a glorified bargaining chip, then why did your father invite me, the daughter of his rival, into his home!"

Alva appeared behind her and hit Alana lightly on the top of her head with the back of her hand. "I can answer that much."

Alana looked at Alva as she placed a hand on top of her head where she was struck. "Duke Nothgard has a tendency to bring home stray animals, regardless of how useful they are."