Chapter 8.1

Sunlight creaked through the curtains onto Eirwen's face. She woke from it, opening her eyes and then narrowing them against the intrusive sun. That explained why he had switched the furniture around since the last time she had been in this room. Use the dawn to wake up, rather than depend on a servant or bells. She wondered how many times he had slept here on this couch, rather than staying in his own quarters. Enough times to know the perfect blanket for her, it seemed. 

As she sat up straight, she looked at the carafes on the table. One an ordinary ale, empty now, not really her taste but easily enough identified as free of toxins. The other containing water, mostly empty but enough left for a good gulp. It had been smart for him to recommend a light drink, rather than a bottle of strong liquor. At least now she wouldn't face a hangover. She took a towel and freshened up a bit, before finishing off the water.

A knock on the door drew her attention. The voice of one of her doorguards rang out. "Your Grace, Sir Caerbychan would like a brief word before going to sleep." So they had indeed rotated guard duty. And her behated advisor was already gone. She moved her senses around, expanding her range to find him. She found him asleep in the private library all the way at the other end of the estate. A place with some comfortable alcoves, granting a lovely amount of privacy from prying eyes.

"Let him come in." She almost had forgotten about Caerbychan. The moment she answered, they let him enter. He greeted her with a bow, awaiting her orders. "Sir Caerbychan, I see you took your orders serious. That's good. So what question did you have for me?"

He was about to speak up, when she saw the gears in his head run. He narrowed his eyes at her in suspicion. Brave. "Your last order to me was to keep your advisor out of the Vicomte's sight. While I have done so, that is not the order you're referring to. Are you secretly criticising me, your Grace?" She responded with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.

"I see. Well, I'm sure you'll get to that later, your Grace. As for my question, I was wondering something about your advisor's actions yesterday. He aimed to decrease your burden. Then why not take the dagger from you and make the cut himself?" Intriguing that he felt the need to ask. 

"Tell you what, Sir Caerbychan. I'll answer you, but only if you answer a question of my own afterwards. Do we have a deal?" He thought that over for a few counts before nodding, letting her continue. "When I gave him a sword, I said to use it only if necessary. The same restriction applies to his abilities. Yesterday did not qualify as necessary, because it wasn't to keep me safe. So as much as he wanted to, he wasn't allowed."

Caerbychan thought that over for a while. "I must admit, one could argue semantics still. But I understand why he wouldn't want to overstep any further at that point." That comment hurt Eirwen, because yes, after she blew up at him, he wouldn't have dared to overstep again. But she made sure to hide her feelings of guilt, keeping the knight from realising as he continued. "And what would be your question, your Grace?"

"Why did you follow his instructions? Because, as you admitted, I gave no orders. Yet you still followed along, even his suggested shift rotation." She saw him grew pale as he finally understood what so-called orders she had meant before. But he also focused on thinking things through. It took him so much time to gather his thoughts, she was getting annoyed. 

A quarter of a moment later, he finally answered. "Because he's willing to hurt himself to protect you, so as long as he's not actively manipulating you, there is no harm in following his instructions. That is why I went along with them." A decent answer. Not his entire answer, but close enough. She did feel like giving him a hard time, though. 

"Then why did the others? Only the three of you witnessed yesterday's events. Yet the staff, the soldiers, even the knights followed his instructions without even verifying anything with me."

"That is a second question, your Grace. But if I were to hazard a guess, it is because we all know he knows you well. And truth be told, you do seem to enjoy him aiding you, even spoiling you, your Grace." She sent him a reprimanding eyebrow. "Of course manipulation is not allowed, but he was open to you, and us, yesterday. I guess people put faith in his judgement."

He slanted his head for a moment. "Actually, there's something else to it. Both Vicomtesse Pertrellan and the honourable Bethan have known you for many years, as have your doorguards. And all of them are deferring to his judgement. So if those who know you do so, who are we to contradict them? Of course the true problem there is that they remember him from before the war, so they aren't without bias."

Eirwen remained silent for a bit as she thought that through. He had a point there. She would need to make sure everyone, including her, avoided their personal biases. "Very well, thank you for your analysis. I will permit you a second question."

He smiled, then his face turned serious. "I will be greedy and pose two. But I do not need the answers myself, I just hope you think them through. Yesterday, you lashed out at the advisor. My questions are, first, did you intend to severely hurt him?" Her eyes turned thunderous in an instant, which he ignored. "And second, do you regret it?"

Yes on both. But he was out of line. Her voice turned cold, fire and ice fighting each other in it. "You are overstepping, Sir Caerbychan. I do have to ask you not to interfere in affairs of the heart." He provided an apologetic bow, more performative than sincere, to her annoyance. "If you want to understand me better, Sir Caerbychan, may I suggest you try to understand his actions first. So, was that all then?"

"Not yet, your Grace. I was provided with a suggested itinerary for you. Breakfast first, then a bath to be delivered here, with fresh clothing and writing utensils. The advisor suspects there will be a visitor from the Carraig family somewhere in the fourth hour, though he isn't sure whether it will be Baroness Aoife or one of her siblings. You may want to take that into account in your schedule. Do you approve?"

It seems like she shouldn't let Caerbychan hang out with the advisor too much, the advisor was a bad influence on the man. Though yes, the itinerary was excellent. And the term advisor, she liked that one. It felt better than calling him nameless all the time, which honestly was starting to feel like rubbing it in.

She nodded. "Very well. Please pass on the proper instructions, then go to sleep. I'm expecting you to escort the advisor here at the ninth hour. Off you go." He bowed and left, closing the door behind him, which greatly muffled the conversation he then engaged in. Eirwen, meanwhile, was wondering why the advisor thought Aoife would visit. That would put both the Vicomte and his heir in her hands, a risky move under normal circumstances.

And of course he turned out to be right nonetheless. Only a few moments after the third bell's sound rang through the town, a messenger came to her door. "Your Grace, Baroness Aoife Carraig has just arrived at the town's gates!" She suppressed the urge to curse. A good thing the advisor was asleep, for if she had actually asked him about it, he would have been insufferable right now.

"Vicomte Carraig should be with the reeve right now. Go call for him at once, he must come here as soon as possible. As for Aoife, she must leave her entourage at the courtyard and her weapons at this door."

The man ran off again, while the doorguards arranged a weapon rack. A sleepy presence slowly approached her mind, but she told him off and ordered him back to sleep. This was her responsibility, not his.