Chapter 26: An afternoon with Chandra

"Milord, you need a money belt, carrying that much money is not wise." Chandra said.

I agreed with her, and tasked her to get me one along with anything else she thought that we might need. I followed her as we went shopping for the rest of the afternoon. I also filled her in on tomorrow's entertainment and my encounter with Lord Steven's lackeys.

"Be watchful Milord, Duke Steven has a dark reputation."

"I should be fine until after the duel, his lackey seemed competent and sure of his prowess." I wasn't that worried, I defeated one of the priestesses so he should be easier that she was.

"That was probably Squire Michael; be warned Milord, he is a very skilled duelist."

"Hmmm, that could work for us. Tell me about Lord Steven."

"Duke Steven is the Seneschal to the King, ever since Lord Oberon was hurt in a hunting accident early this summer. This means that he has the ear of the king, it is said that the king does not like him and he won't have that position long. His Duchy is north near the mountains. He kidnapped Lady Megan of Fairview last winter and is pressuring her to marry him, the Lady Megan, so far, has resisted, and her father has tried to ransom her back, but Lord Steven has refused all offers."

Chandra paused to warn me. "It is rumored that Duke Steven stated that if she did not agree to marry him by the winter solstice, that the king would declare war on Fairview. I think that she would have to agree to marry him just to save her homeland, since they are just a city-state and we are much larger and much more powerful."

"I plan on messing up this Lord Steven's plot. I don't believe in slavery in any form, and I figure that this is a good place to start."

"I hear that she is beautiful." She probed.

Chandra caught me off guard. I blushed, and choked out a laugh. When I stopped choking; I responded with, "Very observant, Chandra. Yes, she's beautiful, intelligent, perceptive, and oh so dangerous. Most men would give their right arm for such a woman, only to find out that they were playing with fire." I answered as honestly as I could.

"You sound smitten, Milord." She grinned.

"I can see how Duke Steven would be willing to risk a great deal for her."

Chandra just looked at me with a smirk.

"Yes, I am. There is something about her that intrigues me, and her beauty is a plus." I grinned self-consciously and paused to clear my thoughts.

"That still does not change my mind with respect to her status. I figured that it would be dangerous, but I could not stand by and let her be bullied." I shrugged. "Besides, I plan on making waves, and I figure that I can use her to get what I need. She, I believe, sees that."

"Plans, Milord?" Chandra asked.

I needed to remember that Chandra is smarter than your average bear.

"I plan on talking to the king as soon as feasible, I figure that being introduced to the nobility and getting an invite to the ball tomorrow should be a good way of being introduced."

"Lord Steven will hate you if you interfere with his plans, Milord. He will try to kill you, and if that fails he will try to discredit you." She sounded as if she knew that from experience.

"I know." I shrugged, "I rather have a known evil bastard against me, instead of an unknown commodity. I will need you to warn your family and keep an eye on yourself for trouble. If he can't get to me, then you and Lady Megan are the ones that he would strike at next." I was thinking hard. A duke would have a great deal of resources at his disposal, and if he also had the ear of the ruling monarch that might be more than I was able to deal with.

"I don't want to see either of you hurt. I need you to promise to let me know if things get out of hand, Chandra."

"I promise, Milord" She looked too sure of herself, but I couldn't watch everyone all the time. I would have to trust her, but I figured that I would give another warning anyway.

"Chandra, I'm serious, if you see something that seems out of place, then I want you to warn me, at the very least. If either you or Lady Megan look to be in immediate danger, then I want you to see to getting her to safety. This includes you; too, I don't want you to take any unnecessary risks for a while."

"Yes, Milord." She said exasperated.

I figured that that was the best that I was going to get from her, so I dropped it for now.

"Tomorrow evening I want you to make reservations for me for two at the best restaurant in town, and reserve a carriage for Lady Megan and me for the ball."

"I didn't know that you had an invitation to Lady Kathryn's ball, Milord."

"I don't. Yet. If tomorrow goes as planned, I expect to receive one." I grinned.

"Oh, I can see that. Lady Kathryn will just love you, Milord. She just adores a scandal." She did not look like that was a good thing.

"It's ok, Chandra; I can take care of myself."

"Yes, Milord." She replied resignedly.

"Cheer up; you get to have some fun tomorrow, too." I grinned in the light rain that just started up again. She looked warily at me.

"You, my dutiful Postulant, are going to wager on me. Get as much as you can from the assembled nobility of this city. Make sure that you add Steven and his friends to the list of victims. I don't care how much money you get him to lose to us." I grinned evilly at her. "How much you fleece from them is up to you." I continued in mock seriousness, "You can go up to five gold."

"You really want him to hate you, don't you, Milord?"

"Yes, remember my lesson from yesterday? I'm betting that it would work against him, too." She touched her jaw and groaned.

"I'm sorry about your jaw; hopefully the bruise will be diminished by tomorrow." She just nodded.

When we were done shopping, I took her to a restaurant of her choice. The food was moderately spicy with no meat; just a variety of fruits and veggies in a sauce. We shared a large bowl for dinner and had a light wine with it. I believed strongly that Chandra came from money, and maybe nobility.