Of Blood And Royal Bones

Chapter 2: Mr. Mysterious

"My lovely Kassia. What brings you to me today? Had enough brawling for the week?" The Baron sat behind his desk in masculine grace, his hands clasped together and resting on the surface in front of him. He was a burly man and looked cramped as he sat, his desk seemingly too small for him.

    He'd lost control of his facial hair from the last time she had been to see him. "Lose a blade for that?" She gestured to his silken bistre colored beard that grew two inches off his chin.

    He chuckled and waved her comment away. "Ingrid's preference."

    "Ah," She tilted her head back in acknowledgement and considered the best path to take to voice her request. "Now that I have time to study it, I can see the captivation. Your Baroness has excellent taste and is that a new suit?"

    "My dear Kassia, this is not the flagrant manner that I am accustomed to. I know you well enough to be insusceptible to your brazen truths and this is not one of them."

    She sighed. "I have a proposition for you if you're willing to listen."

    "I am always willing to listen, I only wish you would brighten me with your presence more frequently." His dark eyes locked on her blue ones.

    "Of course."  She smiled wryly. "I've been thinking, what if I was not the only female warrior?"

    He brought a hand up to rub his chin with a finger and thumb. "Is this regarding that housemaid you seek out trouble with?"

    "Before you dismiss my proposal, allow me to elaborate. There could be a legion of us, taking the place of the third westward Silver rank flanking your centers. Or we could bring up the rear, or take the high ground and train as archers. We'd yield significant numbers in a war."

    To her surprise, he didn't immediately reject her idea. "And what should I do with the countless jobs that would be lost within the castle while we recruit these female fighters?"

    "You could hire from the village. Take in the poor and provide a place to live while they work."

    He continued rubbing his chin as he pondered her solution, a very realistic solution. "I like your proposal." A bright smile caressed her lips. "Unfortunately, politics speak louder than reason." Her smile vanished. "I dearly wish I could enforce this, but I fear any attempt at this would provoke unwelcoming results. I am not your king and if he was to find out, there might be major repercussions. He could take my seat, my authority, and goodness knows what he would do to you. If he found out it was your scheme he could banish you, or worse off, execute you."

    She looked down at her lap in disappointment. The Baron sighed and continued, "If it were any other way I'd be your strongest supporter. But you know it isn't possible. Give my sorrows to the housemaid." He waved a hand of dismissal and she swept out of the room.

    He'd leveled with her, saw the reason in her plan and heard her out, but beyond that there was nothing he could do. That was the life they were born into. She ambled down the stone hall, her boots clicking on the uneven ground as she thought their conversation over. A rattling noise neared from behind and she paid it no mind, brushing it off as a maid delivering food.

    "Sorrows, love." Said a masculine voice as the cart wheeled past her, its huge mass pinning her against the wall as it took up the majority of the small hallway. The man wore a button-up shirt of navy blue color with a brown leather vest covering his torso. His sleeves were rolled up to reveal perfectly sculpted forearms that tightened as he gripped the handles of the maid's cart.

    "I am not called Love." She growled after him.

    He slowed his pace as he tossed over his shoulder, "Sorrows anyway... Love."