by Alma Boykin
“Indeed. You are dismissed, Lady Elizabeth. You will find quarters prepared for you, and material for writing your battle report,” Rudolph told her.
She managed to stifle her groan as she curtsied and departed. Lord Armstrong was right. No good deed goes unpunished.
Chapter 11: A Place in the World
Two weeks later Elizabeth stared at the words on an ornately written page, then looked up at Aquila Starland, Archduke Arpad, and the others. She pointed to herself, eyebrows raised, stunned speechless by what she’d just read.
“Yes, you, Lady, or should I say Countess, Elizabeth of Windthorst, if you choose to use the title,” Arpad laughed.
That broke the spell. “No, thank you, your grace. I do not want to cause a diplomatic incident with the Grand Duchy of Sarmas. I prefer Lady Elizabeth von Sarmas.” She looked back at the document, adding with a sense of relief, “Besides, your grace, the Windthorst holdings still belong to the crown. I’m not old enough to claim them in my own name.”
They had gathered in one of the many small parlors within the Babenburg Palace, this one not far from the stables. The blue and grey colors soothed the eye, and the furnishings could withstand people in boots, which described everyone present. Aquila, reading over her shoulder, frowned before nodding his agreement. “That’s right. The law says that, since you are not a legally confirmed heir, you must be twenty one, unless you marry someone of age who is approved by his majesty or by one of the emperor’s deputies, such as me or his grace.”
“And as much as I admire Matthew, he’s taken, and I do not want you as my father-in-law, your grace.”
“And I’m not making a cradle betrothal, either.” Aquila chuckled.
Arpad backed up, hands spread. “Do not give my honored brother ideas, please.”
“Your grace, I will do my best not to.” She looked back at the document and sighed. “His majesty has given me more than enough to do as it is.” She had no illusions as to what she might find in the Windthorst lands, now hers by default: hostility, incompetence, traps, more missing people, and probably bad bookkeeping.
“Speaking of ideas, Elizabeth, do you have any ideas as to what you want to do with Windthorst House?” Aquila gave her a shrewd look.
“Nothing yet, your grace.” She took a swallow of the spiced wine. “First I want it blessed. Then I am going through it room by room, from attic to cellars, making an inventory for his majesty, and for anyone else who has a claim against the late count.” There are at least four families who are owed blood-price for their daughters, and I wager relatives will squirm out of the woodwork as soon as the news of his death becomes widespread. She drank more wine. “Once all that is done, and repairs and redecoration has been finished, I might allow people to borrow parts for, oh, housing excess relatives or special events.”
“And once you get the lands inspected, next spring you will go north, with Lord Matthew and Lady Miranda, to represent Starland and the crown at Miranda’s wedding,” Arpad informed her. “And to get to know Imre Sobieski-Corbin.”
“And I doubt that Tayyip the Invincible is going to roll over and turn peace-loving,” Aquila reminded them.
“Or that Laurence V will be struck with sudden-onset wisdom,” Elizabeth muttered under her breath. The men pretended not to hear her words. She finished her wine, waving off the servant who proffered a refill. “And then there’s the mule project.”
Arpad gave her a confused look. Then his blue eyes lit up as he remembered. “Oh yes, Lewis’s fantastic idea for improving the quality of the empire’s mules. Using Lady Sarmas’s expertise in training and raising said animals.”
“Indeed?” Aquila took more wine.
Elizabeth poured water into her glass. “Apparently Archduke Lewis has decided that Lazlo Destefani’s warning about crossing mammoth jacks and Oberlanders does not apply to royalty,” she shuddered. “He’s looking at bloodlines as we speak.”
Aquila’s eyes danced and he smiled broadly. “So you get to spend the next years dealing with jackasses on a daily basis. Welcome to administration, Lady Elizabeth.” As she groaned, he added, “Oh, and I’m sending you Lazlo, Gary, and a few others to help you keep order, and so you will have a core of men for training the Windthorst soldiers.”
“Which, all jokes about jacks aside, should be your first priority, Lady Elizabeth,” Arpad warned.
She nodded. “Yes, it will, your grace, because I suspect that neither Tayyip nor Laurence will take the Kidron Valley defeat well.”
The three soldiers ate more of the savory sausage bites and late-season tomatoes. “And you must learn more about artillery, Elizabeth,” Aquila reminded her. “As well as getting a new warhorse.”
All the things she needed to do, Elizabeth sighed, her head spinning. She felt much as she had when she and Snowy plunged into Martin’s River, water frothing over her head. But she’d survived that, and everything else thus far. Holy Godown, I do not know what You want from me, but I will try to do whatever You ask. And that was all that Godown wanted of His servants, she knew. That thought comforted her.
“So, while we are thinking of pedigrees, Lady Elizabeth,” Arpad began with a wink. “Are you prepared to start fending off offers of marriage?”
She stared at him until she realized that he was serious. Then she laughed so hard that tears streamed down her face and her ribs ached. With my face and reputation? ’Tis to laugh indeed. “Your grace, the young men of court are safe, at least for the near future.”
Someone knocked on the door and a servant opened it. A stable servant bowed. “Your pardon Archduke, Duke, my lady, but my lady?”
“Yes?”
“You need to come to the stables. Your mule tried to eat Archduchess Marinka’s youngest son.”
Now the men laughed as she turned beet red and covered her face with her hands. Aquila squeezed her shoulder. “I hope someone tells his grace Archduke Lewis about this.”
“Don’t give him ideas about war mules, please, you grace! By your leave?” The men nodded.
“Come back when you finish rescuing the killer mule from that dangerous eight-year-old,” Aquila told her. “There’s a lot you need to know.”
She curtsied, then followed the servant, thinking, Yes, there is, and Godown willing I’ll learn it and make you proud, your grace.
Here Ends Part the First of the Tale of Elizabeth von Sarmas
About the Author
Alma T C Boykin lives somewhere between the Sierra Nevada and Appalachian Mountains, south of Canada, with the semi-obligatory writer’s cat and enough books to open up a decent-sized library.
She’s held jobs ranging from lab tech to charter pilot, and writes western history books under a different name. Over the years her research work has included military history, geology, range science, and ways to stay sane while completing an advanced degree.
She can be reached at [email protected].
Other Books by Alma T.C. Boykin
The Cat Among Dragons Series
A Double-Edged Wish
Book 3 in the Cat Among Dragons series.
Rada Ni Drako soars to a new height—a moment of carelessness brings her crashing down. Rada and her business partner Zabet survive a King-Emperor’s anger, a contract that leads to plague and discovery, and motherhood. But when inattention, famine, and a conspiracy from Earth’s future combine against her, Rada proves once again that there’s nothing so deadly as a cornered cat. Especially one who already lost her soul.
A Cat Among Dragons short story collection, including the novella Famine, Fortune, and Justice. 92,000 words.
Available from Amazon.com at:
http://www.amazon.com/Double-Edged-Among-Dragons-ebook/dp/B00FP46K96
Justice and Juniors
Book 2 in the Cat Among Dragons series.
A collection of short stories following the exploits of Rada Ni Drako in a universe full of danger, excitement, and strange alien species.
Available from Amazon.com at:
http://www.amazon.com/Justice-Juniors-Among-Dragons-ebook/dp/B00CA95AP4
Hairballs
Short fiction from the Cat Among Dragons series.
Rada, Yori, and some of the other Scouts are unwinding from a mission when they hear that the Division is testing new battle armor. Yori gets the idea that someone needs to put the armor through its paces, and against Rada’s better judgment, Yori ropes her into the adventure.
Available from Amazon.com at:
http://www.amazon.com/Hairballs-Among-Dragons-Story-ebook/dp/B00B1DR544
Available from Kobo Books at:
http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/Hairballs/book-2AAElfAXE0GqvVYtFPvjnA/page1.html
A Cat Among Dragons
Book 1 in the Cat Among Dragons series.
They started it. Rada Ni Drako just wanted to do her job, but her father’s people declared her a corrupt half-breed, one unfit to live. Now she’s on the run and in need of a new identity and a job. When she fled back in time to join an interstellar mercenary company, she did not anticipate becoming the Pet of House Nagali, becoming the student of a mysterious but very well connected Healer and diplomat, and fighting her way into power as the only sentient mammal in the court of a reptilian empire. And falling flat on her face several times in the process.
This collection of short stories, the first in the Cat Among Dragons series, begins the saga of Rada Ni Drako and her odd assortment of allies. Join the adventure as Rada takes on her father’s people and tries to keep her head, and the rest of her, intact.
Available from Amazon.com at:
http://www.amazon.com/A-Cat-Among-Dragons-ebook/dp/B00AMNB0N6
Available from Kobo Books at:
http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/A-Cat-Among-Dragons/book-CxG93VuofUCBb8KEKoYS4A/page1.html
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