Arthur James Ambrosious gazed out over the land below from one of the upmost turrets of Caerleon Castle.  It was a rather massive and beautiful sight even in the cloudy weather Britain was famous for.  The smell of rain hung in the air refreshing the castle's lord as he stood there with his dark green eyes surveying all he owned.  Caerleon Castle had been completed ten years ago on his 31st birthday right on the site of the ancient Roman fortress of the same name.  Since that time, the area around Caerleon had grown up considerably.  Several farms now worked the land about, a couple of new ranches had appeared, two new small productive vineyards, and the commerce had easily doubled.  Nor was Caerleon the only estate to which Lord Ambrosious owned, but it was...by far...the most prestigious and most beautiful.  With estates at Glastonbury Isle, York, and even one near Amesbury; Lord Ambrosious was financially in excellent shape, and his people always loved him.  He treated them with respect, fairness, and he upheld their rights and claims.  He was, to be sure, not typical of his peers in the nobility, but that had never mattered much to him.<br/><br/>Despite this success for one who was 41 years old; Arthur was not happy.  It had nothing to do with the amount of wealth and prestige he had acquired, or the amount of honor he had gained for House Ambrosious.  It did, however, have a great deal to do with his wife:  Lady Alexandra Dubois of Sussex.  He had married her shortly after his 23rd birthday, and their marriage for the first three years had been pleasant enough.  Yet, something had always been missing even during those first years, and now...now it was missing completely.  The spark...the romantic spark that should have been there was not.  There was no fire, no passion, no desire...it just wasn't there...it never had been.  Oh, there had been the pretense of it...Arthur had noticed that from the beginning, but even after three years...nothing.  Now, at the age of 41...the marriage had not improved.  In fact, it had disintegrated further, and now...now he had no one to share any joy with...not even his wife.  He had been a stepping stone for her family to use in their bid to gain more power and wealth among the nobility.  In this, they had succeeded through her, and Arthur had nothing from her to show for it.  Oh, she danced with him at the events...once in a while, but more often than not...she didn't even do that anymore.  Mostly, in fact, Lady Alexandra had been making new friends and connections for her family, attempting to use her position in House Ambrosious to gather new estates for House Dubois, and other such things.  The two had not slept together for over fifteen years, and it would not have surprised him at all to have discovered her having an affair...or several.<br/><br/>It was a measure of how unhappy the Lord of Caerleon was that Arthur didn't even bother to investigate his wife.  He had come to the point of not really caring what she did...or even if she had other lovers.  He threw himself, instead, into making his estates...especially Caerleon....beautiful, joyous, grand, and even powerful.<br/><br/>Arthur pulled up the letter he had held up in his hands to read it again:<br/><br/>"My Lord Ambrosious,<br/><br/>I regret to inform you that we encountered a problem with the new trade for grapes from Marquis Charles Bellamy, II.  The problem, however, has been resolved, but I thought your lordship should know that the purchase of these grapes from the Maquis was nearly ruined by a trader working directly for House Dubois.  We were able to outbid House Dubois, and the trader was later questioned as to why he would attempt to make this trade when House Ambrosious...currently aligned with House Dubois by marriage to Lady Alexandra...was already doing so?  It took a bit of convincing, My Lord, but the man eventually confessed his orders came directly from Lady Alexandra on behalf of House Dubois.  That this comes from your wife troubled me, and I thought you should be warned.  I have the trader:  Daniel Warrick, and will bring him to Caerleon for testimony should you wish."<br/><br/>~Sir Thomas Arden<br/><br/>Arthur could only shake his head in sorrow, and a touch of rage came forth in his heart and mind.  He didn't care if Alexandra had been taking other lovers.  She had not once become pregnant in all their years of marriage.  Yet, to directly intervene in the affairs of his House by using her position as his wife, and aid her own family...that was not acceptable.<br/><br/>Just before heading down to see his wife; Arthur paused to gaze down at the bustling in the market square.  It was strange...he sensed something for just a moment...a spark of life...something new, but he shook it away as if it were a dream.