28: Trojan horse

Trojan horse

The afternoon was quiet, but Adela's breathing was shallow and quick, racing the scenery blurring past her as she rode her mare, irrelative, unseen, and unthought of.  0

The monotonous gushes of wind in her face were what connected her drifting mind to her body, and unlike standing in that cold hallway earlier, the cool temperature was now refreshing and called for, much like the lemon balm Baroness Frieda rubbed on Adela's forehead as a child to treat fever, the damp wind felt safe and comforting.

You shall represent me there.

The words turned round and round in Adela's flummoxed mind like an anchorless ship, unable to dock. They were beyond meaningless on any given day let alone on one that overflowed still with the humiliation of getting dragged out of that invested property.

The young Lady of house de Lanark was not the Archduke's male heir, which meant that by Emorian law, she was unable to fill in for him at any of his formal duties. However, there was a way around Emorian laws when royal blood pulsed in one's veins.

She willed her scattered mind to focus on the messenger bag she wore over her shoulder with a strap that went across her chest and rested on the small of her back, inside that bag was a light parchment that was larger than life to her.

With the absence of an Emorian Queen, the esteemed orders written on that roll made her the most powerful woman in all of the kingdom.

What is father thinking? 

Kaiser's delegation of authority was wrapped with the many layers of an enigma, but that was not what shook Adela to her very core. As if the written edict that was sealed by de Lanark's signet ring was not enough proof of the Archduke's consent, he took the house representative's ring off of his little finger — something she never thought him capable of — and put it securely on her thumb.

Her dazed eyes drifted down to her hand that clutched her mare's reins with unnecessary force and loosened a bit afterward. The action was a repetitive one, it came with the need to check for the safety of the treasure left in her care with all of her available senses.

Her heart ran faster than her horse as the two of them went by the sunflower meadow, but crossing for the third time today felt natural, the firm command she received about leaving without so much as looking back seemed like a faraway memory. Letting it slip off her mind was evidently easy. 

With minutes separating her from the manor now, she slowed her horse down to a walk. What will I say to him? The sudden question was followed by an assault of more answerless ones: Is he even in here? Will he even want to see me? 

Did he worry about not seeing me ever again for even a little?

The last question had her pulling on Evita's reins, "Stop," she asked her with a dejected tone.

"You're here,"

She flinched hearing his voice that came from an impossible place behind her. I could not have missed seeing him had he been there. She braced herself and then looked over her shoulder.

Adela blinked many times at the sight of the man who stood tall and uncharacteristically disheveled in the middle of the road she had just passed through.

"You... You were here…" 

The answer to one of her previous questions was hardly a polite greeting, but the relief on Egon's face was so clear, it was contagious for it could only carry one meaning in the current circumstances.

She dismounted excitedly, "Did your guards retrieve Andreas?"

He slowly shook his head instead of articulating an answer. 

There was a long moment of silence between them until his roaming eyes settled on the rein she held on to.

She instinctively recoiled when his dark eyes seemed to devour her hand, she hid it behind her back and pressed the unfamiliar ring against her flesh to make sure it was still there. 

"What happened to your hand?" He murmured.

She frowned as she glanced sideways, her eyes checking her hand as if it did not belong to her. She was so mesmerized by the ring earlier that she did not notice how it was all red and swollen.

"I asked you a question," He scolded dryly as if she was an ill-mannered child standing across from him.

"…I knocked on a door for... a while..."

The cold expression on his handsome face thawed out sufficiently allowing a small smile to appear. She did prefer those rare moments to his usual brutality, but certainly not when they came at her expense, nor when they came at peculiar times like this one.

Is he not concerned with Andreas's safety at all? Her curiosity grew into exasperation when his smile widened.

"What is so funny, Master," she asked sharply. 

His big, gloved hand covered his lips as he scratched a one-day-old stubble she had not seen on him before, but she still heard him mumbling something about paradoxes. 

Recollecting herself, she decided to present him with the reason why she came back to this place.

She held the strap on her chest with her right ringed hand, "I am here to assist you as a representative to house de Lanark, the Archduke has authorized it," 

Egon was nowhere near her, but Adela still felt the sudden need to step back when that familiar spark of anger lit his dark eyes at the mention of her father.

"He is sending me a Trojan Horse now?"

Having learned of that story before, the immeasurable pride she had come with left her entirely, disappointment taking its stead.

What did father ever do to you? She asked the question with her eyes only; her lips were prepared to say something else. 

"You are entitled to your own impression and views, just as I am entitled to mine,"

"And what might those be?"

"The Archduke trusts me; it is why he has sent me here after inquiring sufficiently about our agreement... He is kind enough to support you without cause for aggravation at such a sensitive time,"

Egon's face dripped with pure anger.

"Did you ever try turning that high and mighty head of yours around to see what is taking place all around you?"

His vague words were undoubtedly hidden insults, but Adela was not about to fail the task her father had entrusted her with.

"I suggest we leave our differences aside and focus on the rescue mission,"

"...You are limited to only what your eyes choose to see,"

Her chin went up, "...Yes," she went along with it.

Disappointment was easy to read on his face. 

"Care if I show you something different? Something you have never seen before?"

The temptation of the words spoken with his deep voice slightly dazzled her.

"...Yes,"

His smile was wrong beneath his vacant eyes, "Do you know what that ring on your finger is?"

Somehow, that simple question made her doubt everything she knew about it.

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