by A. R. Rend
“Certainly, but you’ll need to put your gold away into a temple for now,” said Phillip. “There’s nothing to invest in yet, and I don’t think you want that kind of gold sitting around idly.”
“I… okay. I’ll go put it in a temple,” she replied and then slowly leaned in toward him.
Oh!
My brave Dread Maiden wants a kiss.
I’ll give her one to remember.
Leaning toward her as well, Phillip reached out with his right hand and laid it on her stomach. His left hand moved up her leg to her thigh.
A shiver ran through Mildred as her eyes closed, her large frame moving over his own.
As soon as their lips met one another there was a sharp knock on the door.
“Philly!” Tonie called through the door. “Messenger just rode up real hard!”
Ignoring the knock, Phillip kissed Mildred for a handful of seconds before finally moving away with a sigh. Turning his head to the door, he considered how to respond.
Tonie had warned him so he could stop doing whatever he was doing with Mildred.
She thinks I’m bedding her.
“Alright, I’m coming,” he said and then looked to Mildred. “Sorry, Milly. Go take care of your coinage. I’m going to greet the messenger.”
Getting up, he went over to the door, unlocked it, and opened it.
All four of his guards were standing there and then immediately peeked into the room.
They almost looked equal parts disappointed and relieved that they could see Mildred sitting on the sofa.
And that both her and he were clothed and looked undisturbed.
Rolling his eyes, Phillip grabbed Frankie and Bobbie around the hips. He started pulling them along with him until they finally met his pace.
“Come on, you two, you’re my personal guards for the moment,” he said as he released them.
Reaching the front of the manor home, Phillip arrived as the messenger entered from the main door. They had a hard messenger tube in their hands.
She was a young woman in supple leather armor and riding clothes. The look to her was that she’d ridden quite hard and fast.
“Ah, I’m looking for Phillip Curis,” said the messenger, walking straight up to Phillip.
“I’m he, though I’m married. It’s Phillip Rias,” he replied, holding his hand out.
“Ah, yes. Phillip Curis Rias,” confirmed the messenger and then laid the tube in his hand. “From Duchess Curis.”
What? Grandmother?
Breaking the seal, Phillip tore the top off the tube and upended the contents.
A single piece of paper slid out and landed in his hand.
Dropping the tube, he unfurled the letter and began reading.
Dear Pip,
I’ll make this as brief as I can.
Your mother has been taken as a prisoner of war. I plan on traveling to meet with the queen to discuss her release. Please relay this information to your mother-in-law and see if she’d be willing to travel to the capital. I would appreciate her assistance in this matter as a close friend of your mother’s.
I’ll wait for a few days to give her the possibility to join me here at the Ducal manor.
As is always the case with these situations, the more people involved in the petition for a ransom to be paid, the more likely it is to be paid.
Realizing there was no more, Phillip flipped it over to the back.
There was nothing there either.
It was almost too short for it to be his grandmother. She had often been quite verbose with her letters in the past.
But then again, she’d never written about such a situation.
Except… Matilda isn’t home.
So what do I do?
I could see if Alice is willing to travel with me. Perhaps Mim and her mother?
Though they’re not of the nobility.
Technically Alice and her mother are in an off-hand sort of way by marrying me.
Shaking his head, Phillip looked to the messenger.
“Thank you. I have nothing to send in return. Did my grandmother pay you already?” Phillip asked.
“Yes, she did. Thank you,” said the messenger with a bob of her head. Turning on her heel, she left quickly, closing the door behind herself.
“My mother was captured as a prisoner of war,” Phillip said, staring at the door.
Bobbie and Frankie both stiffened at the news.
“What?” Vinnie asked from behind him. She sounded incredulous to Phillip’s ear.
“No. The general-no. She’d never get caught,” denied Tonie.
Phillip shook his head and then turned around, holding the letter out to Tonie.
“See for yourself,” he mumbled and walked past his guards.
I’m going to go myself to see the queen with my grandmother.
First… I need to pack, change, and then track down Alice.
I’ll also need to send a note to Mim explaining what’s happened.
She can’t help me, but there’s no reason I shouldn’t at least tell her what’s going on.
Twenty-Eight
Walking into Alice’s city office, Phillip found the receptionist and waved a hand at the man.
“Good morning,” Phillip said.
“Ah, good morning, Mr. Rias! It’s so good to see you up and around,” the receptionist said, getting to his feet with a wide smile. “Miss Alice told me about what that nasty sheriff did to you. She was so angry and morose when she first came back to work but… I can see why she was so happy when she came in to work today. You’re clearly looking much better.
“And probably why she said she’d be leaving work early today, too.”
Unable to help himself, Phillip smiled and ducked his head at the fact that Alice was apparently that concerned with him.
It was gratifying to hear such a thing said, even if it made him feel somewhat silly for enjoying it.
“Is she seeing anyone right now?” Phillip asked, trying to change the subject.
“Yes, but she left standing orders to interrupt her no matter what’s going on if you showed up,” the receptionist said, coming around the desk.
“That’s okay. How long is she expected to be in the meeting?” Phillip said, holding his hands up. “I can wait, I really can.”
“Oh, not long. It was an impromptu meeting and she only had a short time before her next meeting anyways. Are you sure?” asked the receptionist.
“I’m positive, thank you,” promised Phillip with the same smile. Turning, he walked down the hall toward Alice’s office.
For whatever reason, he could see her door was open, which was certainly out of the ordinary.
He couldn’t remember the last time anyone ever in the Rias office had their office door open for a meeting.
“-not interested,” Alice said clearly and with a firm tone. “It doesn’t matter which way you say it, how you say it, or the words in what you say. I’m not interested.”
“What? It doesn’t have to be like that does it?” asked a male voice.
Phillip raised his eyebrows at that and then considered what to do. If he stood and waited outside her office door, it’d be tantamount to eavesdropping.
If he walked in on whatever meeting she was holding, it’d be almost just as unbearably awkward.
“Yes, it does have to be like that,” stated Alice frostily. “My husband wouldn’t care for you to come around the house. Nor would he care for you to even be here at my office. You got this meeting only because you showed up without asking. If you had asked, it’d have been declined like every other.”
“But that’s just it. You decline no matter what. I just want to talk. And he doesn’t have to know, do-”
“Yes, he does have to know,” said Alice, the sound of a chair scraping following her words. “And with that said, this is done. As I told you previously, it was a mistake to even talk to you.
“I’m not interested, I have not been since I met Phillip, and
you’re no longer welcome in any way. The second our arrangement was ended, our paths diverged. I want nothing to do with you.”
It’s… Jay. Isn’t it.
That’s why the door’s open.
She didn’t want a closed door meeting with him.
Her receptionist could hear everything. As could anyone in the office or who walked by.
Smiling at Alice’s actions, and feeling a single patch of warm sunshine on his soul considering his mother was a prisoner, Phillip walked right up to the door.
Knocking on it firmly, he let his eyes inspect the room.
Alice was standing behind her desk looking extremely angry. She was dressed exactly as he remembered her when she left this morning.
He’d even gone so far as to see her off at the door and watching from the doorway as her coach left. It’d been an interesting experience for him.
An experience he had not attempted to re-initiate since he’d stopped trying early on in their marriage.
Sitting across from her was indeed Jay. Dressed quite well and looking very depressed with the conversation.
“Husband!” Alice said with genuine joy in her voice as a wide smile broke across her features.
Moving around her desk, she took his hand in hers and pulled him into her office.
“Jay, this is my husband, Phillip,” Alice said, formally introducing Jay to Phillip. She wrapped her arm around Phillip’s shoulders and drew him up into her side possessively. “Phillip, this is Jay. He was attempting to get me to agree to meet with him without your knowledge.
“I declined, and I’ve told him to leave. I’ve also told him I want no part of him in the future and to leave me be. He has a fiancé he should be focusing on from.”
Feeling very odd, though extremely warm and safe, Phillip nodded his head at Jay.
“Good day, Jay. And goodbye. Please do not darken my doorstep, office or home, again. Don’t come back, or I’ll have you thrown out,” Alice said in an absolutely chilling tone. There was no room for interpretation in her demand.
Getting out of his seat without a word, Jay slunk away, leaving the office.
The second he crossed the threshold of her office doorway, Alice left Phillip’s side. Marching to the door, she slammed it shut behind the man with far more force than needed.
“Hopefully he’ll finally get the hint and leave me alone,” Alice declared loudly. Loudly enough that Jay could probably hear her in the hallway even through the door.
Shaking her head, Alice turned back to him and once more a smile blossomed on her face.
Unexpectedly, she skipped across the distance to him and wrapped him up in a hug. Drawing his head up into her neck and practically crushing him with her arms.
“It’s so good to see you, Phil,” murmured Alice, holding onto him. “And even better that you’re up and about. Did you come to have lunch with me?”
Not waiting for an answer, she kissed him. After a short period she finally leaned back and looked to him, allowing him to respond.
“I… I’m glad to see you, too,” Phillip said and meant it. Having walked in on what he did had smothered over any lingering shadows of doubt he had for Alice. “I have poor news though. My mother has been made into a prisoner-of-war. I received a letter from my grandmother. I’m going to head to the capital to see what I can do.”
Phillip pulled the letter out of his pocket and held it out to her to read.
“I’m going to take four of my guards and Mildred. The rest will remain here. I need to travel quickly and light,” Phillip explained as Alice took the letter.
Reading it quickly with a furrowed brow, Alice shook her head and looked to him.
“Pip?” she asked. The question surprised him. He hadn’t expected that to be her first inquiry.
“Uhm, it’s… what Grandma… always called me. Pip. Her little Pip. I’m her only grandson,” admitted Phillip. “She… doted on me considerably.”
Alice grinned for a second before it slipped away. Holding the letter back out to him, she seemed unsure.
“Mother won’t be back for a while,” murmured Alice. “Shall I go with you?”
“Ah, no. It’s alright. It isn’t dangerous and I don’t think it’ll be long. You have business to worry through and… honestly… I’d ask you to watch over my own. Though, may… I speak on your behalf?” Phillip asked.
“Of course you can, you’re my husband,” affirmed Alice with a chuckle. “I trust you, Phillip. You’re not just a house-husband or anything like that. You’re my partner. I’ll have something written up to that effect just in case.”
Tucking the letter back away, Phillip couldn’t quite meet Alice’s eyes.
Finally, he lifted his gaze up and met her own.
She was still smiling at him, her hands on her hips.
Nothing like the cold wintry woman who had rebuffed him so frequently.
“Thank you… wife. Alice,” said Phillip quietly. “I’m grateful.”
“Though… I… uh-” mumbled Alice before she cleared her throat with a firm cough. “Maybe I’m just being a sex-crazed and foul woman but… do you think we could have a quick go? Here on my desk? Before you leave? I’m going to miss you and-well, I missed you while I was gone, too. And I didn’t want to push you into anything after your ordeal.
“But if you don’t want to I completely understand. It’s not very romantic and it’s probably not going to be very comfortable for you. Ugh, I’m just being a sex-hungry idiot aren’t I?”
Phillip’s body responded on his behalf, his loins stirring in his pants.
Something it hadn’t really done since he’d gotten home from the prison.
“No. You’re not. It’s-okay,” he said, feeling a little adventurous. “On… on the desk. Okay. Get up there.”
Maybe more than a just little adventurous.
***
Rolling in through the opened gates of his grandmother’s estate, the Curis family head’s home, he felt rather nostalgic. That he was going back to a place that was more akin to revisiting a past self.
A time that no longer existed outside of his memories.
Past the cultured gardens and walkways. Across the smooth and well-maintained driveway that led to the manor. Straight up to the door that he’d so often ran to, to give his grandmother a hug.
Coming to a stop, Phillip opened the door and hopped out. Just as if he were a little kid again.
Though his grandmother wouldn’t be there at the door to greet him. Nor would his mother be behind him to admonish him to be careful on the steps.
Before his foot had landed on the first step however, the door swung open and his grandmother stepped out.
She was dressed in what would be expected of a Duchess. The Curis stamp was particularly strong with his grandmother and his mother.
Her straight blonde hair was going white, though her bright-blue eyes had lost none of their sharpness.
“My little Pip!” said the elderly woman with a heart-warming smile on her face, holding her arms out to him just as she used to.
Moving quicker, Phillip started to take the steps at a very quick hop, moving up them two or three at a time until he reached his grandmother.
Hugging her tightly, he was given what he’d used to call “grandma hugs”. Which was where she tried her darndest to crush him into herself.
“Not so little anymore,” his grandmother said as Phillip wheezed an unintelligible response. Letting him go she took a step back and looked at him. “Look at you. A grown man.
“And a good-looking one. Goodness, you inherited a great deal from your grand-father and father, you lucky man. Scratch that, your lucky wife and mother-in-law. Your father is a splendid son-in-law and husband. Best one any of my girls have had.”
“Don’t let my aunties hear that,” Phillip said, smirking at his grandmother.
“Ha, they’re well aware. I managed to do right by your mother, but not as well for the other three. Alas, your father h
ad no brothers, or cousins I could steal away,” his grandmother said with a dismissive wave of her hand. She looked like she was about to get into a tirade. “Now if only your aunt could just… settle down. Ending her first marriage as soon as she had her children was foolish.”
“I like Aunty just the way she is. Be nice. No bad-mouthing her,” Phillip said before his grandmother could get started.
Laughing, his grandmother regarded him for a second then sighed.
“She always did smother you in compliments and kind words. It’s no wonder you still have a sweet-spot for her,” his grandmother muttered, patting Phillip’s cheek kindly.
He couldn’t deny that he did.
His aunt was vulgar, crude, unashamedly interested in men, and quick with her emotions.
But she’d always defended, was kind to, and looked out for him amongst all his cousins.
“Now, why are you here?” his grandmother asked. “I don’t see any of the Rias household with you and that’s not their coach either.”
“They’re attending their grandmother as she passes,” Phillip said simply. “Alice allowed me to come and speak on her behalf. I have a signed and sealed note to that effect as well.”
“Well, let’s get everything ready for the trip then and get going. There’s no time to waste,” his grandmother said. “I’m certainly not going to leave your mother in the hands of the enemy any longer than I have to.”
***
In no time at all Phillip and his guards were swept up in a much larger procession. To the point where Mildred, Tonie, Bobbie, Frankie, and Vinnie were more like guests than guards.
His grandmother treated them all fairly, given that they had been soldiers for her daughter first, though she did keep her “noble distance” as his mother had called it once. That there was an expectation to keep one’s self away from the commoners.
It only took a day to reach the capital, where his guards were all left at his grandmother’s estate. They wouldn’t be allowed into the quarter of the city they were going anyways.