Joseph
Anyanka Durkhan
Zahrada, Astoria

The man bowed, and the way he held it before rising radiated nobility. Or at least a decent upbringing. He reached inside his coat, putting a few envelopes from the interior breast pocket, and she couldn't help the quirk of her brow upwards. 

"I assume the matters you wish to discuss are preferred to be held in private?" She prompted, and turned her attention from him to a guard. With a nod, he stepped out of line, a hand pressing into the seam of the door behind him to open the small parlor that was tucked off the main room. Anyanka turned, and headed for the room, keeping a few steps before the man who had come to visit.
David
Gray Tolbert
Zahrada, Astoria

"In private or in public makes no difference to me." Gray noted as he walked inside the privacy of the parlor behind the Duchess. The view in Astoria was quite a wonder. But in the parlor, he got right down to business. He held the documents out to the Duchess, "I've come to reclaim my home. Inside these documents you will find the deed in my name and a signed letter from the previous owner, my father, that the lands known as the town of Stesk, are indeed mine."
Joseph
Anyanka Durkhan
Zahrada, Astoria

He spoke, and his extended arm that held the envelopes out to her lingered for a moment as she blinked, trying to process if he was joking or not. A laugh escaped her, a gentle puff of air through her nose as she smiled, and she leaned back a bit. The motion brought her rear to the table behind her where she'd intended to offer him a seat, but since he'd just jumped into it, she no longer felt the urge for small talks and gestures. Her fingers curled around the edge of the table as she pressed against it, letting her gaze move up his arm to his features as he stood before her. 

The platinum of his hair was almost white, and it made it difficult to determine his true age. "I beg your pardon?" She asked, and shifted a bit, letting her head move to the side. With it, her hair tumbled around her shoulders, sending chills over her skin as she returned her gaze to the envelopes. Finally she reached for them, sliding a finger beneath their seals to examine them. 

"The ownership of this territory you're claiming is from the time of the fall. All ownership of Feyshorian lords is null and void as of the establishment of the North and South Feyshores." She held the deed up, finally having a name for the man who didn't bother to introduce himself. "Deserters don't get to walk into Astoria and try to reclaim their previous holdings now that they're prospering, Mister Tolbert."
David
Gray Tolbert
Zahrada, Astoria

Gray didn't expect to be rejected, or at the very least not to be rejected for the reason that he was a lord. If anything he expected the reason to be that the Duchess had already installed someone in the town of Stesk. He tried to reason with her, "You mistake me your majesty, I was only a child at the time of the fall, forced to go along with my family. Do not put the sins of my father on me. For years after I was old enough I tried to go back. But it's hard to garner support for such a proposal when the land is still in the throes of anarchy. It was a combination of being more independent of my family than ever before and the stability that you created that allowed me to finally get enough support to come back. But I still had to part with my family to get here, that letter from my father was no small feat. Given your part in my return I thought I would pay you a visit and go through the formalities instead of just going back to the house I grew up in, for the most part."
Joseph
Anyanka Durkhan
Zahrada, Astoria

Her expression softened a bit when he insisted she not blame the sins of the father on him. She set the letters to her right, letting her fingers linger over the parchment as he continued on. "So what is it exactly you're asking of me? Stesk is an occupied territory, the home you're looking to claim likely no longer exists, and unfortunately," She tapped the letter "This isn't enough for me to uproot those who have made the territory into their home in the time since yours left. " 

Anyanka pushed herself from the edge of the table, and gave him a small, sympathetic smile. "You're welcome to join those who live there, but an old claim isn't going to put yourself in a lordship position over the town." She turned, crossing the room towards the small chest that sat beneath the window. Within it, she had notes on happenings in Astoria and South Feyshore, intentionally kept at the ready for instances when she'd be questioned. He wasn't the first to return and ask for a territory back. She moved through parchment until she came across the one titled 'Stesk', and straightened. 

"Three other houses are currently petitioning for the lordship position;" She informed him, glancing to him, then gliding her finger down the parchment. "Rostav, Bulleck, and Terrow have all submitted claims along with intentions for the territory." Anyanka set the small stack onto the table, placing Stesk's page upon the top of the list.

"No decision has been made yet by my council, so I suppose there's still time for you to throw your name into considerations."