Moonmount Castle - LGBT, manXman - ON HOLD

19

Lodareth

Father and I were atop the steps of the castle, waiting for Lady Mirande and her daughters to arrive. Jakke was panting loudly at my heels.

The past six weeks had seen my black mood deepen, as no word had arrived from Coda; I didn't expect to hear from him for another several weeks, but knowing that didn't assuage my fear that something had happened to him on his journey.

Cassius had become a practically constant companion. He crept up to the castle almost every night and we played chess together, or I continued teaching him to read and write, as I had promised Coda I would.

Cass was a quick study, and his writing was improving daily.

Without his understanding companionship, I would have become very unpleasant.

As it was, Espan had spent two weeks in a state of distress, fearing I was sickening for something given the trouble I was now having getting to sleep, my pallid skin, the dark circles that were now perpetually around my eyes, and my increasingly frequent temper tantrums.

My father, too, had expressed concern at my appearance but I had waved off his anxieties as my merely being anxious about meeting his future bride, and he had said nothing more on the matter.

I had appealed to Sigan for a sleeping tincture the week before, and was feeling moderately well rested now. The circles beneath my eyes were almost faded, and several rides during the hottest days of summer at Cassius' suggestion had started to return colour to my cheeks.

My father looked appraisingly at me as we waited.

"You're looking better," he said. "Espan says you have been sleeping well this week."

I frowned at him.

"You've been questioning Espan?"

"I was worried about you." He shrugged off my annoyance. "He knows you better than anyone."

"I asked Sigan for a sleeping solution." I said. "It's helping."

"Good." He paused, before smiling faintly and looking away. "I'm very proud of you, Lodareth. You know that, don't you?"

He barely gave me a chance to nod before continuing.

"I have been evaluating your management of the castle during my absence, and I have had nothing but good reports from the servants. They all seem very pleased with you."

"Thank you, father. But I did give them a day of feasting and drinking," I said with a laugh. "I should be surprised if they were displeased with me."

He smiled.

"Yes, but also before the fair, they all said you were doing well. I no longer have any reservations about your ability to manage the castle after my death."

I blushed with pride.

"Thank you, sir."

He clapped me on the back, and ruffled my hair affectionately; something he hadn't done since I was nine years old.

A soft horn sounded from the Gatehouse, a signal that a carriage had passed through the gates, and we straightened.

The carriage came into view around the bend in the path; it was pulled by six chestnut horses and carried an inordinate number of luggage trunks.

The coachman drew the carriage to a halt before the steps, and the piquer and the outriders drew back.

A footman sprang forward to open the carriage doors and pull down the three-step ladder to aid the occupants' descent, and three more footmen began to unstrap the luggage trunks from the roof and underside of the carriage.