Chapter 38: Chandra's family

I fumed while awaiting her return. There was nothing like a million dollar crown to ruin a man's day. I pulled the case that held the crown out of the wardrobe and handed it to the surreptitiously advancing form of my Postulant.

"Whose was this?" I demanded.

"Grandma Juniper's, Milord," she admitted.

"Who does this belong to now?"

"I don't know; I'd have to ask great grandma."

"Do that. Now, young lady, just who are you."

She had tears in her eyes, and looked at the floor. "Lord Charles, I'm sorry."

"I didn't ask if you were sorry, Chandra, I asked who you are." I was no longer mad, just wary of what was in store for me.

"I'm Chandra Rosewood."

"Chandra, I am new here, remember. Give me more than that." I coaxed.

"My father is King Jonas," she supplied.

She's a bloody Princess.

"There is something missing, I thought that Allard said that you grew up with him and that the queen used to visit him before she became queen."

"My mother died giving birth to my brother. Father married Kristin four years ago."

"So you are the heir to the throne?"

"Yes, until I join Kassandra's sisterhood, then I can abdicate."

"I can see that you'd rather be a sister than a queen."

"I was Called, Milord," she stated defiantly.

"I don't question your dedication, Chandra. Tell me about your siblings."

"My brother Jacob is two years younger than I am; he is studying to be king. He's nice. We get along pretty well when he is not being a jerk. Then there are the twins, Shelly and Kelly, they are only two."

"What does your family think of you becoming a priestess?"

"My brother thinks it's neat and he's happy for me. Father was mad for a while, but since Jacob turned out to be so smart he has accepted it now."

"The queen?" I prompted.

"She doesn't care. We don't get along."

"Ah. I want you to go through all of the rooms and gather all of the jewels, those are to go to Lady Janice until you want to claim them, they are yours unless I miss my guess. Then I want you to clean out all of the clothes from this room and put them in storage, or ask your grandma what she wants done with them.

"And Chandra,"

"Yes?" she asked wearily.

"If there is anything else that I should know, make sure that you tell me before I find out from someone else." I changed the subject, "There's enough on your docket to keep you busy for a while, so you can go now." I was going out back; I needed to figure this out.

Damn, a princess of all things.

I knelt and prayed for understanding. What was I going to do with a princess? I was flying blind and gathering enemies, the last thing that I needed was to have a hardheaded princess to watch over. Apprentices could be left out of the conflict, a princess was always a target. I'll just have to be careful, and she will too.

A bloody princess. What was Mother Browynn thinking?

I exercised while she ran her errands. It took a while but I worked out what I was going to do with her. For her sake, I had no choice but to treat her as a normal apprentice and deal with any consequences that came up. She needed to have the same opportunities as all of the other postulants.

Chandra returned, and waited for me to wash up before she spoke. "Milord, Lady Janice's cook has a house maid for us to interview at your convenience."

"Send her to me."

Carla was the recent widow of a soldier. She didn't have any children and the cook vouched for her. I figured that the cook was an impeccable reference, so I hired her on the spot. I had Chandra show her to her room and told her to get settled.

"Did you search all of the rooms for jewels that might have been left?"

"Yes, Milord. I also delivered them to great grandma." She looked like there was more to it than just that.

I hesitated to ask but figured that I should anyway, "Tell me."

"She said that she would hold onto them for me, Milord." There was more, but I figured that it was between them, so I let it go.

For the rest of the day we trained, working until late again. This was becoming a pattern, and the guards were getting used to our late night runs. My personal washroom had a couple of clean purple towels and fresh water. It was nice to have fresh sheets, even though the bed was a little soft and lumpy for me. I would have to see about fixing that.

A polite, early morning knock woke me. The maid brought me tea and fresh water. I sat up and received the tea and had her put the water in the basin. I was bare chested and it seemed to make her uncomfortable.

"Carla, you will see things in my household that are different than the norm. If my bare skin bothers you, then you will have to find a way to deal with it." She assured me that there wouldn't be a problem and scurried out.

After breakfast I had Chandra practice while I went to visit a couple of temples. The first was Julius'. There I informed one of the priestesses, or Daughters, as they preferred to be called, about an outstanding wager. It seemed that Duke Steven had still not paid his marker. The second temple that I had to visit was Kassandra's. I wanted to set up a difficult morning for Chandra tomorrow The sister that I spoke with was happy to help me once she heard what I wanted to do. She also had that gleam in her eye that said that other Postulants were not going to be exempt from Chandra's upcoming fun. The sister still did not like me and made it evident. Fortunately for me, she tolerated my presence.

I did ask her to let me spring it on my Postulant first. She could abuse the rest after. I also asked where I could find a reliable messenger to run an errand that was a bit outside the city. The Sister told me to go see a Daughter.

That'll teach me.

I sent off a message to Richard asking if we could visit in two days. I asked the Daughter for a recommendation for a good tailor, I would need more clothes, and so would Chandra. I figured that Megan already had enough, and if I was wrong then she could fix that herself.

I still had to visit Miss Theresa for my ring. I figured that since I was running errands now was a good time.