So the last post ever…

I know, it’s sad, isn’t it? I’m almost choking up… Okay I’m not really but you get the idea at least?

Now, I said in the chatroom at Lothere that I would summarise what I had planned. However, in the last few days, a new idea regarding the future of this story has come to me, and for now, I’m just going through the motions of writing and planning it, seeing what works and what doesn’t. If this does get published online, it won’t be yet. I’ll need to either be finished with, or in a really good place with Feelings & Memories that I’m confident starting another online story won’t affect the quality of writing, I can’t see that being anytime soon though.

So with that important annoucement out of the way, let us summarise.

 

Christopher/Sally/Mabill (actually just Mabill)

While the affair may have been over, Mabill’s story certainly wasn’t going to be. After Sally had banished Mabill, she would have indeed gone to Lochland to start anew. Unfortunately tragedy would hit. A heavily pregnant Mabill would finally collapse outside Annelies’s farmhouse, and it was going to be revealed that Miriam had died on the journey from exposure. Later on, Mabill would have given birth to a son named Lucas. However she passed out during the birthing process, and when she comes round and Annelies presents her with her son, she is convinced that she actually lost the baby, and that Lucas isn’t her son. She becomes so agitated that she refuses to breastfeed her child. Lucas is sent away to stay with a friend of Annelies called Marya.

Meanwhile she becomes embroiled in the drama between Annelies and her husband Phaedrus. He has become increasingly abusive towards her, and one night she finds him washing blood off his clothes. It was eventually revealed that Phaedrus had lost his temper and beat another farmer to death. He would eventually have been arrested and found guilty. I still hadn’d decided the sentence so that’s where that particular plot ended.

Lombard would have been released from prison and made the journey to Hawkland where he bumped into a kind woman called Clarice (really Nadine, former Queen of Amillica who recognised Lombard. The actual Clarice died but that was just another story altogether). Lombard is determined to track down his wife and children, and Sally finally tells him that she banished his family to Lochland. Nadine however had developed a crush on Lombard, and at the end of the outline, Lombard was to travel to Lochland while Nadine looked on, tears pricking her eyes, praying that they might meet again someday.

 

Thomas/Jude/Juliana

As the engagement between Jude & Juliana was officially announced, a new arrival… um…. arrived. Jude’s sister Risa had come to town and immediately started crushing on Thomas. Soon enough, she asks him on the medieval equivalent of a date. Meanwhile Christopher observes the soon-to-be married couple and can see that Jude doesn’t really love Juliana although Chris doesn’t guess at Jude’s sexual orientation. He advises Jude to get out of the marriage while he still can.

Later that evening, Jude catches Risa in bed with Thomas who taunts him, asking if he’s jealous. Risa, not realising the history between Thomas and Jude treats the jealousy thing as a joke, and makes a few crude references to both her brother and her partner’s sexual orientation. Despite all this, Jude and Juliana are married in a ceremony that went without a hitch (although Thomas did stand when the minister said “If anyone has any reason why these two should not be married, please say now.” Luckily Thomas didn’t say anything.)

Thomas finally admits his feelings to Jude. He has fallen in love with his sister’s husband. Jude is still in denial though, and Thomas vows to make him see sense.

Determined to make Jude jealous, he gets Zarrick drunk and they sleep together. (Zarrick is straight by the way. He was just out of it by this point.) The next morning, Zarrick is horrified when he wakes up next to Thomas.

To assert that he is not gay, Zarrick and Risa kissed and found themselves in a whirlwind relationship. At first Zarrick is using Risa as a distraction but then finds that he is actually falling in love with her. Finally he admits that he and Thomas slept together. Risa is angry, but not at him. She confronts Thomas and in front of the whole family, Thomas admits his love for Jude. In the morning, he leaves Hawkland for a new life in Lochland.

 

Narvaeh investigates her mother’s death

This was the storyline that I was most excited about and the one storyline that I was actually a little sad I wouldn’t get to do. Ah well… the following plot may appear in future episodes of Feelings & Memories lol

There was going to be a little chemistry going on between Charles and Alida. They meet during a party at the palace in the run-up to Christmas. There are a few moments of near-kisses. Finally everything culminates on Christmas Day. Instead of braving the snows to journey across to Hawkland to spend Christmas with her daughter and the Mortons, Alida decides to stay in Kailden, and sleeps over at the Le Tout family home. The next morning, Charles finally gets Alida alone and they kiss. From a distance Narvaeh sees everything.

Meanwhile on the investigation side of things, Narvaeh finally pieces it altogether. Or at least she thinks she has. Brygida confesses that she has been spying for Lucien, and added to the incriminating note that started the whole thing off, Narvaeh decides to arrest Lucien on charges of murder.

From there the truth comes out. Backed up by Tom the Blacksmith (who was privy to the information), it is discovered that Lucien didn’t murder Juliska after all. It was his best friend – the late Stellan Danneville, Alida’s father!

Narvaeh knows of an old law that states that the eldest child should bear the punishment of the father and has Alida arrested and charged for the murder of Juliska Bretteville.

During the trial, which was inspired by Morgause’s trial on the Chronicles of Albion, (I couldn’t resist the idea although the story arc was planned before Morgaine wrote the trial), a truth would come out that Alida had hidden for twenty years. Whilst undergoing questioning by the lawyer for the prosecution, it would have been revealed that Sally was Alida and Rhodruy’s son, the product of an affair that Alida had before she married Roald (see here for details). With that revelation out of the way, Alida was to be found guilty of murder, and Judge Lucien sentences her to the death sentence.

Before she dies, she speaks with Sally one last time. And in what was to be a heartbreaker of a post, Sally would forgive Alida.

I had planned some sort of revenge scheme that Sally would take against Narvaeh but hadn’t worked out the kinks yet. This was probably the last idea to come to me before I got bored of the story as a whole.

 

Krasimir/John/Aira

John’s drinking was to get worse until such a point that Krasimir, worried about the kingdom being vulnerable to revenge attacks from Hawkland, gets his father to sign the kingdom to him whilst intoxicated.

John also continues to sleep with Aira, under the illusion that she is Nadine. However he then falls ill from a liver infection, which quickly spreads through his body. On his deathbed, he admits to his son that he has been sleeping with Aira.

Krasimir is incensed and banishes Aira from the kingdom. Little does he know that Aira doesn’t leave at all – she moves in with John’s brother Lyccus, or rather Abbot Lyccus now. The Abbot wants the kingdom to himself and brainwashes Aira into believing that Krasimir isn’t right for the throne; he’s too cowardly.

Attacks start to come from all side and the country is soon plunged into civil war. In the end, Krasimir and his forces win. In the final battle, Lyccus raises his sword to stab Krasimir in the chest, but Aira, who had grown depressed and still in love with Krasimir, jumps in his way and takes the fatal wound. As a fallen angel, she is mortal and Krasimir & Aira declare their love for each other on the battlefield before her death.

 

Other Storylines Planned

•  Jude’s former best friend Alban would arrive with Risa. Unknown to Jude, Alban is a serial rapist, and rapes among others, Maya, and Elise Minety (who had moved to Hawkland to find work. Giachetta stayed behind). After the rape of Elise, Jude would find Alban hiding in the closet, crying, head in his hands. Jude helps Alban escape. However things take a cruel twist when Bob Steele, newly appointed head knight, offered Jude a knighthood if he helped them find Alban.
• Victoria was to return with her son Julian. As she murdered Tyras and escaped, this would put Christopher in the impossible and unenviable position of having Victoria arrested and charged with murder without preventing it. This would put forward another revelation – Tyras and Nadine were siblings. At first Nadine refused to forgive Victoria and wanted her punished. But then Victoria confided in Nadine how Tyras used to rape and abuse her. Finally, Nadine asked for Victoria to be freed. Christopher seconded the approval, and Victoria became a firm friend of Nadine, even living with her at one time.
• And during all this, Aggie was to slowly die of consumption. Well, she was getting on a bit! The slowly dying thing? That’s just me being cruel. *rubs hands gleefully*

That’s all I had. As I’ve said, I’ve got a possible idea about the future of the story so maybe this isn’t goodbye after all. Just au revoir. And please check out my other story anytime (since, y’know, pimping isn’t above me)

So it’s goodbye from Hawkland

Joseph

 

Quitting – at least for now

I always said that I would stop writing this story when I ceased to care about my characters. That time has now come.

Over the last couple of months, I’ve had to literally force myself to keep updating this blog and as such, I think the quality of the writing has been affected by this. My muse just doesn’t want to focus on this story anymore. I’m finding Feelings & Memories very challenging but very enjoyable to write, and a story as complex as that deserves my full attention, at least to the point where I haven’t got any other online stories distracting me.

I say online of course because I actually have several offline projects distracting me. I’ve started writing something which I hope will turn into a published novel, and that is also requiring quite a lot of attention since the plot has become a little difficult to write.

I’ve also started writing scripts, and maybe one day, I’ll feel confident enough to start submitting them to production companys to air on the radio, or online.

So I’m forced to call a hiatus on this blog which may very well become permanent. If I do decide that I haven’t got the energy to continue with this blog any more, then I plan to write what I had planned next for this story because there is nothing worse than an unfinished story. There actually *was* going to be an ending to this story although it wasn’t for a while yet.

I will never delete this blog because I just haven’t the heart to. Through this story, I discovered my love of writing and that’s something I can never forget.

I shall still be updating Feelings & Memories so I’m not disappearing completely.

Thank you, dear readers, for the continued support that you have shown me and I hope you will continue to show me through my other story. This past year has been simply awesome.

Signing off

Joseph

More than meets the eye

Brygida tiptoed quickly through the castle courtyard. If anyone asked her where she was going, she would have said that she was going to see old Tom. But no one asked.

Sneaking into this part of the castle was trickier. This was where all the secret information was kept, and where Narvaeh ruled the country with her many advisors. She admired Narvaeh though, for not letting them rule her like a puppet queen. She had her own mind, and as such would do her own thing, no matter how heartless that made her appear.

“Ah, look what the cat dragged in.”

The thing she hated most about Lucien was his drawling voice. It sent shivers down her spine every time. She had the same reaction to him as she would a spider. His silver-white hair added to the sinister look he managed to pull off so well.

“So, my dear Brygida. Whatever did you bring me?”

“Yer be knowin darn well what I be bringin yer. It’s infermation yer be wantin and infermation yer be gettin.”

“Information, eh? Fancy!”

“Let’s be cuttin ter the chase. Narvaeh was askin’ me about her mother’s death. I think she be suspectin’ something.”

“Yes I suspected as much. Thank you, Brygida. You will be paid handsomely for this.”

He drew a packet of Lochlandian coins out of his pocket. More money than she’d ever seen in her life.

“S-s-sir, I cannae be takin’ this!”

“Nonsense. Run along now.”

And run she did. Her part was over.

 

• Two updates in one day! Within minutes of each other! Come on, I rock! Surely! For those who missed it, What was once a great leader has also been released for your enjoyment
  

What was once a great leader

Krasimir held his father down with all his might. After seeing Aira, his father had gone into a murderous rage for some reason he couldn’t fathom. Something about her being a whore and sleeping with him? But no, Aira would never do that. Maybe she did once, but not now that she was friends with him.

And they were becoming something more than friends. He believed himself to be in love with her. It wasn’t improbable; she was quite the beautiful lady. The only problem is that she didn’t come from noble blood, but she held herself so high that it didn’t matter. The people could be fooled.

What was interesting about what his father had said was that he’d taken one look at Aira and shouted his mother’s name. He had demanded of Aira to know why she had left him, as his mother did.

Was his father losing it? Looking down at him right now, it certainly didn’t seem so. His father had finally given up, and appeared to be sleeping. His breathing was steady, even. Carefully he let go of his father’s arms.

Was it the drink doing this to him? Or was it something more? One thing was for certain. His mother running away was killing his father. Literally.

 

The Two Ladies Meet

For three days, Sally hadn’t slept a wink. In part, that was due to her ever-advancing pregnancy. But the biggest part was that her husband had been cheating on her with that common slut. She remembered the look in Christopher’s eyes when he had confessed to her. There was guilt certainly. But there was also… love. She remembered that look well. He used to have that look in his eyes once upon a time, when they were young, courting. She remembered how shy he had been, that day nearly two years ago now, when she had proposed to him. Had she pushed him that day? Did he even know Mabill back then? Those questions, she did not have an answer to.

All she knew was that her husband loved another woman. She had lost her father in the war, her mother had gone back to her homeland, only to watch her family, Sally’s grandparents and uncle die from the plague. Alida had suffered the plague herself, and it was only a miracle of the angel Rosa that had kept her from dying.

“Sally….”

She spun around, hoping that she came across as cold as her mother used to be when she was Queen. “You will address me as your majesty, Goodwife Bolbec. Ha, Goodwife? Certainly didn’t prove to be much of that now, did we?”

Mabill closed her eyes. “I deserve that.”

“You deserve a whole lot more than you’re getting, you little whore.”

“Please, Sa- Your Majesty, listen to me. Christopher came onto me before he went off fighting in the war a year and a half ago. I came away from that loving him. I bear his baby, loving him. And I stand before you, loving him. It was so quick. I had no choice-”

“Oh you had a choice alright, you bitch. You could have kept your legs shut. But no, as soon as Goodman Bolbec’s back is turned, you grab the nearest man you can find. How unfortunate that the man turned out to be King of Hawkland.”

“That isn’t -”

“Leave now and never come back.”

“Your -”

Sally had had enough. Mabill Bolbec would affect her life no longer. And then Christopher could get back to loving her, like he did before the war had happened.

“Didn’t you hear me? You are henceforth banished from the Kingdom of Hawkland. On pain of death.

“No-”

“When they’re older, the twins will be allowed back in Hawkland. It is not their fault. But you and your bastard baby are banished. “

“You would banish my baby merely for existing?”

Mabill’s whole demeanor had changed. Whereas before she was crying openly, one mention of the children had brought out her tough defiant side. Sally knew that this was a woman who would defend her children to the death, and it scared, intimidated her. Would she be able to feel that for her baby? Sally did not know.

“I would banish your baby because I don’t want to be reminded of Christopher’s mistakes. We shall start over. Without you. Now get out. Say your goodbyes to Aggie. I would not have her hating you for not saying goodbye. You seem surprised. I may be angry,” Sally allowed her expression to soften, despite her better judgement. “But I’m not heartless.”

Mabill turned to go. “I hope you will make him happy, Your Majesty.”

Once she had gone, Sally resumed looking outside. Everything was over. Mabill was gone. Christopher would move on.

But she couldn’t. Because there was one fact that she could not deny.

The love of her life didn’t love her.

 

A New Source of Money

Zarrick Steffonson came from the poorest part of the city of Cliffden. The peasant area of the city smelt like a cesspit did at the height of summer. Disease was rife; there was always something deadly going about. It had been a miracle that the plague which had killed almost half the population in Lochland hadn’t spread to Hawkland. However, in it’s stead came the deadly killer that was consumption.

It was that gift from the devil Clowark that had killed his parents, and his older brother Tymek. He had got his sisters Maya, and Lilianna hired at the tavern, even though Lili had still been weak from the pneumonia she had caught, and his job as guard up at the castle had been enough to keep him away. He was no doctor, but it didn’t take a genius to work out that he could catch the disease if he had lingered in the same room too long.

Alas, they were all gone. Zarrick fought back tears as he remembered his mother’s smiling face, his father’s tough but caring facade. He even missed the way Tymek had annoyed him to hell. Three parts of his soul were gone, decomposing as quickly as the bodies in the cemetery.

The three remaining members of the mighty Steffon clan sat around the table, eating bread, and drinking some wine that Maya had managed to con out of Gerrick. For a while, they ate in silence, each with their own separate memories of their deceased loved ones. Finally, Zarrick cleared his throat, and spoke.

“I think it’s time I found a girlfriend,” he said solemnly. His last girlfriend had also died of consumption.

“But why?” Lili spoke softly. “Don’t you love us anymore?”

Zarrick got up and hugged his little sister. At only ten years old, she was still too young to understand the way the world worked.

He dragged himself down to her level. “I will always love you, my darling flower. And Maya too.” He didn’t have to look around to know that Maya was rolling her eyes at that proclamation. Whilst the slums had toughened Maya, it had done the opposite to Lili, making her vulnerable. She needed protecting.

“If I marry, then if nothing else, my wife would be helping out in the tavern. Who knows, perhaps if I marry well enough, there might be some sort of dowry.”

Normally the peasants didn’t go in for dowrys. No one had enough money to apply the rule. So no one bothered. It was at merchant level when dowrys were put into effect.

“At least we’d be alright money-wise,” he tried to convince Lili. “Then maybe we could move out, get a better house, one without a leaking roof, somewhere warm, and cosy.”

“Really?” Lili asked.

Zarrick cast a warning look at Maya, so she wouldn’t say anything to crush the image Lili had in her mind.

“Yes, really. We’ll all be happy again someday. And we’ll still go to visit Mummy and Daddy and Tymek, and everyone else we know up at the cemetery every day.”

He hugged Lili one more time and turned away, saying a silent prayer to the Master as he finished his dinner.

‘Please let us be alright. Please look out for us. And please, if it’s not too much, please let me find love one day. In the name of the Master, his Wife, and the holy angels. Amen.”

 

• I missed Lili from the Kingdom of Lothere so much that I named a character after her. In my defence, my Lili is nothing like the Lili in Lothere.
• So glad to be introducing this little family at last. They all have good stories ahead of them, at least up to where my outline ends.

A Marriage Suddenly Becomes Troubled

“You have today to tell her, Chris. If you don’t, then I will.”

The words repeated themselves in Chris’ mind with no sign of stopping until he dropped the bombshell to his wife, the bombshell that would ruin everything.

Okay, so maybe he was being a tad dramatic but it was still a pretty big scandal. Thing was, he loved Mabill. Thing was, he couldn’t leave Sally for Mabill. Because as much as he loved Mabill, he also cared for Hawkland. He couldn’t leave Sally to deal with attacks from Amillica and possibly Lochland as well now that the new Queen was on the throne. That was what would happen, should he abdicate.

So he came into the private quarters. And that was when he decided to tell her.

“You were doing what?” Sally hissed, standing suddenly.

“Do I need to repeat myself?”

“Several times!”

“I have been having an affair with Mabill Bolbec. And now she’s pregnant.”

“Why is that so easy for you to say? How long have you been rehearsing that little gem of a line?”

“Don’t pretend that it is easy for me to confess, dammit. I’ve been trying to tell you for months.”

Big mistake.

“Months? Are you as big a coward as you look?”

“No I-”

“I’m pregnant. With your child. You know, the one that isn’t a bastard?”

Okay, that hurt. A lot. But he had no excuse.

“So what are you going to do?”

Sally laughed sarcastically. “Oh the power shifts all of a sudden, does it?”

“You really expect me to make the decisions after what I’ve done?”

“Fair play, husband,” she sneered. “Short-term you’ll be sleeping in a separate bed until I either forgive you, or we decide to have another child. The second option looks much likelier.”

“And long-term?”

Christopher could see Sally was trying not to cry. Her lower lip always started pouting.

“I don’t know. Now leave me.”

“But Sally,” Christopher begged. “Please, we need to talk some more.”

“What the hell is there to talk about? Get out.”

“But – “

“LEAVE, YOU BASTARD.”

And with that, he was gone, leaving Sally alone. Knowing that he didn’t love her. She could see it in his face. The way he spoke Mabill’s name. The far-away look he got in his eyes. He loved Mabill.

Not her.

Never her.

Narvaeh meets with a former enemy

Marcelle. For too long, that city on the edge of the mountains had been troublesome to the old kings of Lochland such as King Hamish and his son, the recently deceased King Teodor. Now his daughter Queen Narvaeh had come to Marcelle, representing her father and grandfather, to find out where the Clawarkians now stood in regard to their new Queen.

But she would not venture into the city herself. Marcelle still held remnants of the plague, even though her father had ordered that plague victims both dead and alive were to be forced into the cathedral crypt and locked away, forever entombed in the darkness.

Instead she would meet the leader of the Clowarkian rebellion in a secret location not far from Marcelle. She was excited to meet this leader, long shrouded in mystery and intrigue. Perhaps this leader would be a handsome man, something agreeable that she could look at while negotiations were going on. Or perhaps a woman the same age, with the same sort of spirit as her own.

When this leader finally arrived though, she wasn’t what Narvaeh had envisaged. Instead she was a elderly woman with a kindly face, more suited to sitting by a fire stroking her cat, than leading rebellions. But appearances could be deceptive. After all, she had led a rebellion against the last king, and quite succesfully too. She had long, white, wavy hair and had a cane. She reminded Narvaeh of her strict tutor that her Father had hired.

Slowly she reached the armchair in this cosy room, and sat down, already out of breath from the journey.

“My name,” she began slowly. “Is Mother Peruna.”

“Mother Peruna? I was not aware that you were part of any monastery.”

“I did not expect you to understand,” she smiled gently. “But the Clowarkian units are organised in such a way that it is like a monastery. I lead the rebellion, and so everyone refers to me as the Holy Mother. My followers are sisters and brothers in Clowark and are referred to as such.”

Narvaeh leaned forward. “And why are you telling me this? How do you know that I haven’t trapped you here today in order to kill you myself.”

“Your Majesty,” Mother Peruna laughed. “I highly doubt that you would kill me. For one thing, you’ve just told me your plans. A wise assassin never does that. They just get on with killing. I speak from experience – something that I hope won’t get me into trouble in the future, Your Majesty?”

“If negotiations go well,” she replied in a suitable queenly voice. “I am surprised at the amount of respect you are showing me. You refer to me as Your Majesty, and yet we are at the moment, enemies.”

“With all due respect, your Father was my enemy. He ruled with an iron fist and had a heart of steel. I mean none of this personally of course. But even recently, when he forced those plague victims into Marcelle Cathedral crypt, cutting them off from food and water, leaving them there to die, he became my enemy once again. I hold no love for your Father.”

“Well,” Narvaeh said with an amused smile. “I ought to charge you for treason for saying those remarks. But I understand where you’re coming from, and I certainly empathise. My Father wasn’t heartless but he was notorious for making the wrong decisions.”

“As long as you don’t make the same mistakes as your Father did, Your Majesty. Then you will already be twice the ruler your Father was.”

“Anyway, moving on. You sent a message saying that you wanted to open negotiations. Not only that, but you wanted to help me. Could you elaborate on that fact please?”

Peruna chuckled. “Such manners. But in all seriousness, yes I do want to help you. You see, I know of your quest.”

“My quest?”

“You are investigating your mother’s death.”

Narvaeh gasped. “How do you know that?”

“I have my sources.”

“And do you have any new information to bring to the investigation?”

“Judge Lucien didn’t murder your mother.”

That startled Narvaeh. She drew a shaky breath. “Do you know who did?”

“No. But Lucien knows more than he’s letting on. Whether he knows who the murderer is? That’s something I don’t know. But I wouldn’t be surprised whether he did.”

“Hmm. His behaviour suggests that he is indeed hiding something. But why would he want to hide who the murderer actually is? What’s his motivation for this?”

“Money, blackmail, who knows?” Mother Peruna seemed to be taking charge of the conversation. Indeed, Narvaeh noticed the power shift. “Accept my offer and I can help you unmask the murderer. I have sources. Very powerful sources. With my help, the investigation could take a whole new turn.”

“And just what was your offer?”

“Give me control ofNorthern Lochland. And I’ll see that you are paid in kind.

 

Tullia leaves for a better place

She felt so weak, lying in her bed. She was hot and cold at the same time. Her legs had ceased to move long ago. She was paralysed. And whatever way the doctor had tried to paint it, it was obvious. She was dying.

She wanted to tell her children and her grandchildren how much she loved them, but all that came out of her mouth were horrible gurglings when she tried to speak. She wanted to tell Phaedrus to bring her grandchildren up right, especially Oliver since he would inherit the farm. Elise and Giachetta were important too. Tullia wished she could tell them all about the facts of life. She was sure that Annelies would do a good job of it though.

She wanted to tell Rhodruy to move on from Alida. It was obvious that she didn’t want a relationship with him, despite being alone up there at Danneville Manor. Then again, it would ruin her reputation if she was caught with a peasant. Tullia hated those class differences but knew there was nothing she could do.

All she could do was love her family. And even if she wasn’t going to be there any more, she would watch over them from the skies. She was leaving for a better place, but she would never abandon her family.

And even as she took her last breath, her final thought was of how much she loved them. With that knowledge, she closed her eyes and died.

• Sorry for the short post. I think it works as a short post though.

Jude hears a question that makes him pause

Jude wasn’t sure what to feel or expect when he was told by a messenger that Juliana wanted to see him. Immediately his mind had gone into panic mode. Had she heard about him and Thomas? About the kiss? He knew that there were rumours, but there was also rumours about the King having an affair. And surely, that wasn’t true!

Admittedly, this wasn’t the only thing Jude had to worry about. He had got a message from his mother, Margaret Andras, that his sister Risa would be joining him in Cliffden in just a few days time. Apparently, there was still a level of uncertainty in Lochland. The new Queen had made everything tense, and her people were just waiting to see what she would do to improve the country, or indeed drag Lochland headfirst into a pit of despair as great as the one her Father had left when he died.

When he arrived, Lady Corviser, as she was still affectionately known, sent him up, saying as he went, “She’s starting to get a little impatient.” This remark troubled him, and he wasn’t sure what reaction he would garner from Juliana when he entered her chambers. Would she shout at him? Throw stuff at his head? Perhaps not. Juliana wasn’t like that.

The reaction he got when he did enter her chambers, however, wasn’t what he expected. Juliana was lounging on the sofa, looking at him – well, lovingly, he supposed.

With a big smile painted on her face, she stood up, walked over to him, and embraced him.

“Jude,” she purred.

“Um, Jules? Are you feeling alright?”

“Can’t a girl greet her future fiancee?”

Jude was starting to get a little afraid. What was Juliana trying to say? He asked her exactly that.

“Well, if you’ll still have me – Jude.”

Masters! The way she said his name made him want to take her over the sofa and fuck her right there. But he had too much respect for her to do that.

“Jules, are you asking me to marry you?”

“No silly,” she pouted. “You’re supposed to ask me.”

“Um, well okay.” Jude laughed. After all, he was going to marry her eventually anyway. “Juliana Corviser,” he started, dropping down on one knee. “I don’t even have a ring.”

For the first time, Jules relaxed. “That’s alright. You couldn’t have expected all this yet. Just ask me.

“Right, Juliana Corviser,” he started again. “Will you do me the great honour of becoming my wife.”

All of a sudden, she leapt into his arms. Well, jumped was more like it. Since he was on one knee, and had just fallen onto the floor with her on top of him?”

“Um, Jules? Have you ever read those romantic manuscripts where I fall on the floor, you fall on top of me, and we fall in love with each other right there and then.”

“Yeah, it didn’t work, did it? I mean, I love you already anyway. Maybe that’s got to do with something.”

“Oh well,” Jude said, pulling him and his new fiancee up. “We’ve got the rest of our lives together.”

If Jude and Juliana had looked around right there and then, they would have spotted Sylvie spying on them, a big grin on her face. As it was, she backed quietly away, pleased with her daughter’s choice of man. If anyone could make Juliana happy, it was Jude.