25.

Denrich begins his trip back to St. Wemrichshire

25.

 

Denrich felt like a caged bird as he was led around by Reddric’s servants who were determined to give him a wardrobe fit for a prince.

For over an hour he tried his best to select the most mundane options presented to him, all the while anxious to speak to Xael before he left on the train.

Yet that wasn’t in the cards for him, and he suspected that this was part of the High King’s plan.    When he finally made it back to her room, she was gone and he only had time to gather up his things before a servant summoned him to the carriage that would carry him to the royal depot to board the arcane train.

In frustration he rode there, thankful that for a while at least he didn’t have anyone else hovering around him.

The ride wasn’t long enough to give him much time to collect his thoughts.    Soon he was standing on the loading platform as the Archbishop’s luggage and then ‘Duchess’ Avalynn’s things were loaded into the baggage car.

He had hoped that he could avoid both of them, at least for a leg of the journey, but that was not to be.    A few minutes after the last bit of luggage was loaded, an ornate coach rolled up, some footmen rolled out a red carpet from the coach door to the nearest entrance to the train and then stood reverently on each side while one servant opened the coach door.   A cloud of Darx smoke rolled out, followed by Avalynn, dressed in purple and gold.    Behind her exited Archbishop Hobst, waving away the smoke as he was assisted in stepping to the platform.

Immediately upon seeing Denrich, Avalynn grinned prettily and rushed over to him.     As she neared, he was struck at how greatly she resembled Xael.    The Duchess’ eyes were of a darker blue and her shape was not quite as mature as Xael’s, yet they easily could have passed for sisters.

“Your Highness, how wonderful to see you again.”  She purred, batting her lovely eyes as she curtseyed before him.   He noticed that she seemed to be subtly thrusting her bosom out as she did so and he could not help but notice that this was an area where she almost matched Xael.

“Duchess Avalynn,”  He bowed in return, “Congratulations on your appointment.”

“Thank you, Your Highness.”  She again addressed him as royalty and he knew this was probably at Reddric’s suggestion.

“None of that, Duchess; just call me Denrich.”

She interpreted his command as a sign of intimacy due to their earlier acquaintance and smiled beautifully as if she’d won a victory.

Looking into her gorgeous eyes, he noticed another difference between her and Xael; Avalynn had a naïveté that betrayed her youthfulness.   Xael’s eyes hinted at wisdom beyond her physically apparent age.

Archbishop Hobst joined them right then and he was smiling and pleasant though Denrich suspected it was merely to pacify him into doing what the King had demanded.

 

The three of them boarded the train as royalty, porters taking their things and servants falling over themselves to give them anything they desired.   Unseen by any of them, a darkly cloaked figure waited until all of the servants had boarded the train and then quickly slipped into the rearmost car in the train.

This occurred without any notice from the three passengers as they were escorted aboard.

At Hobst’s suggestion, they retired to the royal observation car, which had been hitched into the arcane train.

It was a very ornate car with an exceptional amount of glass for better viewing and extremely comfortable couches to better survey the scenery.

Hobst selected a divan for himself, leaving Denrich to sit across from him.    The half elf was not surprised when Avalynn slid down next to him on the couch, sitting just a bit too close for a casual acquaintance.   Remembering Xael’s warning about the former princess, he was polite and friendly to her, yet very reserved.

Clearly she was trying to flirt with him and her sudden interest in him was doubtlessly caused by his abrupt rise in status as Reddric’s b*****d son.

He had to give her credit, she was extremely effective as a flirt and he had to fight to keep from slipping under her charms as they sat there chatting lightly and commenting on the scenery as the train made its way north.

Hobst seemed quite pleased at her interest in him, which made Denrich only more suspicious.  

Of course they were brought fine wines, fruit and cheese to snack on and servants stood by to answer any beckoning call.   Hobst kept the conversation going, asking Denrich a multitude of pointless questions about trivial things in St. Wemricshire.   From his expression when Denrich answered, he could tell that the Archbishop was merely asking to appear friendly and interested in the ‘young prince’ as he kept referring to Denrich.   Avalynn listened intently to his answers, smiling sweetly as she sat close to him placidly smoking one Darx cigarette after another.

Though she appeared mellow and relaxed, he sensed an underlying nervousness that was only betrayed by her constant use of the drug.    After a few hours, the car was hazy with Darx smoke which made his eyes burn slightly and his head hurt.    If it bothered Hobst, he didn’t say anything, though he seemed to clear his throat more and more frequently.

Avalynn just happily smoked on, oblivious to the effect of her drug on her travelling companions or perhaps not caring at all.

As they stopped at Mulshaven, the capital of the Duchy of Mulstonford to deliver mail and change conducting wizards, Denrich decided to try an excuse to get away from Hobst and Avalynn for a while.

When the train pulled into the Mulshaven station, Denrich stood up and excused himself, explaining that he thought he’d take a nap to ease his headache before dinner was served on the train.

His suddenness caught them both off guard and so they had no choice but to allow him to go - after first affirming that he’d join them in about an hour and a half for dinner.

Slipping into his cabin, he was amazed at how luxurious the royal car was.   Locking the sliding door, he plopped down on the bed, rubbing his eyes.     How he longed to be out in the fresh air of St. Wemricshire getting some much needed exercise and focused on the real problems of common people rather than the foolish trivialities of the royal court.

He’d planned to just close his eyes for a few moments, but jerked awake when someone knocked on the cabin door.  

“Prince Denrich?”   It was Avalynn’s candy sweet voice and he debated not answering at all, hoping she’d go away, but she knew (no doubt) where he was.

With a sigh, he sat up and unlocked the door and she slipped inside uninvited and sat down on the bed next to him.

“There you are!”  She purred, “Did you have a nice nap?   We’ve pulled out of the station and they wanted me to inform you that dinner will be served in thirty minutes.”

“Oh, okay…thanks,”  He replied with a yawn.    Avalynn was smiling as if there was something she knew that he didn’t, but she was eager to share with him if he asked.

“Archbishop Hobst won’t be joining us for dinner,”  She finally told him when he didn’t say anything else, “He is entertaining Bishop Calric of Mulshaven who came aboard to discuss some theological issues.   They’re dining in the Archbishop’s room, and after their dinner, I’m told that the train is going to stop briefly to let him off before starting up again.  So we’ll have the dining car to ourselves!”

“Ah,” Was all he could respond to her excited glance.

“I’m rather glad, actually - I feel more comfortable when he’s not around,”  Avalynn confided, but the way she said it seemed not completely sincere, and Denrich suspected that she was following (more or less) some sort of ‘script’.    But why?

“Maybe we can get to know each other a bit better,”  He replied, knowing that this would probably be exactly what she wanted him to say.   

Her expression confirmed this and she grinned, “I was hoping you’d say that!”

Taking his hand, she stood up and pulled him to his feet, then led him down the aisle through the observation car and into the dining car.    She didn’t say a word the entire way, but kept his hand clamped tightly in her somewhat sweaty palm.    He knew it wasn’t him that was making her so nervous.    She was someone’s pawn, following orders to wine and dine him and - perhaps- even seduce him.

He just watched her closely, putting on his best air as if he was already a slave to her considerable charms.

 

   Denrich wasn’t surprised to find a fancy table set up for them in the empty dining car with several servants standing by, awaiting their orders.    He just played it through, seating himself across from her and allowing the servants to pamper them for a few minutes before going off to take their dinner orders to the train’s chef.  

“Now we’ve got some time alone before dinner to talk, “  Avalynn purred.   Denrich noticed how her hands slightly trembled as she brought out her Darx cigarettes and lit one without asking him if he minded if she smoked.    She was trying her best to appear cool, sexy and seductive and if he had not been watching her closely, he might have believed that. Though she tried to hide it, he could see that she was quite edgy.

He decided to try to subtly unsettle her, to see if she’d let anything slip.   Leaning forward with a gentle smile, he said, “So you are returning home now as a Duchess after leaving there a Princess.   How do you think the people of Baylcothrom will respond when they see you?”

For a few moments she looked at him as blankly as a cow standing in a field chewing its cud.    Then she blinked twice, finally registering what he had said and immediately she paled as the smile faded momentarily from her face.

“I hope they will understand why it has to be like this,” She replied, a bit icy at first, but as if remembering some orders that she was supposed to follow, she forced a weak smile on her face.

“I’m sure they will be relieved to have one of their own as their duchess,”  He answered and then added, “Your father would be proud to see you taking the reins of Baylcothrom.”

Avalynn nodded slightly, deliberately taking a slow drag on her cigarette so she would not have to verbally respond.   He could see in her eyes that the mention of her father troubled her, but she was trying her best to resume her act as a seductress.

Denrich sighed and leaned back in his chair, “Well, I know that I will be very glad to see St. Wemricshire again.”

“You’ll be returning as the son of the king,”  She said, perhaps trying to make him uncomfortable.

“Unfortunately,”  He responded.

“You don’t care for King Reddric, do you?”

“He’s a complex man and one that is not afraid to use violence to achieve what he wants.”

For some reason, his words seemed to make Avalynn pale again and she swallowed hard, her eyes cast down away from him as she focused on tapping ash onto one of the empty dishes in front of her.    Violence, Denrich thought, she knows that Reddric is planning something violent.  Perhaps against me?   Maybe he is setting me up for a mysterious assassination attempt?”

“Are you afraid of him, Duchess?”  He asked after a moment of silence.

She paused, the words catching in her throat, but after a moment’s hesitation she said, “No; he seems fair enough.   He didn’t have to make me duchess; that shows he trusts me.”

Denrich wondered if perhaps there were conditions to the appointment that was upsetting her.   Perhaps she was supposed to trump up some charges against him of some sort of rebellion.    He decided to fish and see.

“Well, he seems to trust me, too, which really is surprising.”

Avalynn looked up, slightly wide-eyed, upon hearing this, “Why do you say that?”

Denrich smiled, “Well, he’s sending me back home where I have considerable influence.    You’d think he’d be scared that I would try to raise an army and try to overthrow him, and then assume the throne myself.”

He laughed after saying this to indicate how ridiculous it was, and though she laughed with him, her laughter was forced and she just nervously smoked for a few long moments as she tried to come up with something to say.

“You wouldn’t rebel against him, would you?”  She finally asked, not looking at him as she asked it.

“No more than you would,” He countered with a non-committal answer.

“I wouldn’t rise up against him!”  She quickly said.

“Well, of course not; neither would I.   But we could, you know - in fact, we could combine forces and overthrow him - then you could be queen of Baylcothrom instead of duchess.”

“And you could be king,”  She almost whispered it, as if she suddenly realized that he was actually wanting that.

“I could, if I wanted to be king…which I certainly don’t!”

She smiled weakly at his assurance and clearly didn’t believe him.    Denrich now knew with certainty that she was here to test his loyalty to the High King.

“Let’s talk of other things,”  He suggested, and he began a rather foolish discussion of the fashions in the royal court.    At first she seemed too distracted to join in the conversation, but it was an area of high interest for the young duchess and soon she had relaxed some and gave her opinions of the clothing styles.

This topic carried them up to the time that the servants brought in their dinner, about fifteen minutes later.

 Of course the food was spectacular, since it was now for the ‘son of the High King’ and his party.

The quality of the food became the topic of conversation and it was a topic that Denrich found easier to keep going.

For a while, Avalynn seemed to relax, which made her much more charming of a dinner companion.

 

She was a lovely young woman and he felt himself enjoying her presence more than he imaged that he would.

They lingered over dinner and the new duchess seemed to be deliberately flirting with him at an increasingly intense level as the evening progressed.

It was almost as if she was under a time limit. 

As soon as the food was removed, Avalynn resumed her nervous smoking and began laying heavier and heavier hints that she would love spending the rest of the evening with him in his quarters.

Denrich was certainly not used to having a beautiful woman seek his companionship for the night, but he was now extremely sure that she was someone’s pawn.

 

At first he was going to refuse, but he wondered if perhaps he could find out quickly who was controlling her if he agreed to her suggestion.    It would probably make her feel confident and convince her that he was under her spell.   If he could trip her up; catch her off guard when she felt that she was in control, maybe he could learn who was pulling her strings.

But he had to be careful; he didn’t feel it was proper to get intimate with her for these reasons.

“You should show me your quarters,” She was saying, which was about as pathetic of a hint that he could imagine, especially since she had been in his cabin earlier that evening.

“Alright,” He replied, which surprised her to such a degree that for an instant she looked frightened and unsure - but just for an instant, and then her confident, seductive mask was slipped back into place.

“It’s going to be cold tonight, you know,” She continued on with her seduction, after regaining her composure, “These trains quarters are very chilly.”

He knew where she was leading and decided to try to unsettle her again, “Then you should join me in my cabin and we’ll keep each other warm.”

Her eyes widened, but aside from this, she kept her surprise contained, “Really?”

Denrich smiled and shrugged, “Why not?”

Avalynn just nodded and he noticed that her hands trembled slightly as she took a drag from her Darx cigarette, “I’ll have to get a few things… before I join you.”

“Fine,”  He stood up, “I’ll be waiting for you in my chilly quarters.”

“I won’t be long,” She called after him as he left the dining car, but he suspected that she had to report the turn of events to someone - probably Hobst- before joining him.    Denrich hurried to his room and locked the door behind him, then made a few adjustments so he would not be taken by surprise, for he sensed that he had set something in motion that would involve a degree of danger.