<em> "-however, they seem to have taken up backing the more isolationist voices and trying to appeal to them to drop the current changes, and revert to closing our doors to outsiders."</em><br/><br/>Tehr started at Rosalyn's words and with a teasing taunting smile he said,<strong>"You never told me that.... charming.... woman was your cousin.  I must admit, I do not see the family resemblance." </strong>Tehr shook his head.  Some people were so self centered in their isolationist views that they thought all elves looked alike, all goblins the same, they couldn't see the differences from one dwarf to the next.  He however had grown up along side the Hlaford half elven family, and then spent years at school and been exposed to many non human races.  While the cold and calculating elven woman that had come by had certainly been beautiful, that was the sole similarity he could have seen between her and Rosalyn.  Turning to the duke he said,<strong>"I admit, I try to keep an open mind, but the one time I met that woman, something about her set my hackles to standing.  I felt as if I was in a locked room with a scorpion.  I also find it interesting, and wonder if you do as well Rosalyn, that she seems to be imitating your own success."  He gestured to the duke and then his daughter, "It's no secret that Lady Rosalyn has become known in the court now, and her charm and grace have done great wonders to improve the mindset of the nobility in regards to the general attitude of our kingdom towards elves as a whole.  If your brother wishes to claim some sense of power, and manipulating Britannia suits those ends, it seems that he's trying to mimic the success that Lady Rosalyn has fallen into by her own natural talent."</strong><br/><br/>They fell into a short silence for a moment as the duke sighed and rubbed his forehead.<em> "I apologize for saying this but I wonder if humans have also had the misfortune of having people promoted simply for nepotism, bloodlines and lineage, without any bearing on their actual ability ?"</em>Tehr simply shrugged his shoulders.  It certainly did happen, though not always.  No need to address it, the duke was smart enough to know the differences.<em>"Well it seems that Rosalyn herself favors the idea of staying here a bit longer at least, but are you alright with her staying even longer ? I do plan on having a proper gift to bring when I return from the Duchy later, but before that I still need a bit of time to recover myself from the latest journeys, and that chance to talk with the queen."<br/></em><br/>Tehr waved off the idea that somehow he had been taking care of Rosalyn when the Duke had been away.  She'd more than earned her place in the household, and that wasn't even considering the love he felt for her.  No simply on the merit of her moves in the court, he'd helped bring about a shift in the identity of house Wynt for the positive in all the noble families that he wanted to court.  Those who didn't approve of his association with elves, he wanted little to do with anyways.<br/><br/><strong>"On that note,"</strong>Tehr said,<strong> "I think you should rest after your journey sir.  A hot bath and a soft bed.  We can attend court late afternoon, and I can see about getting the three of us a private audience with the queen.  Well, private save her personal guards of course.  She's been much more careful about her safety since the assassination attempt last year.  But I know many of her personal guards and they are trustworthy and discreet.  I can ask Angelique to attend to your needs, if you'd like?"</strong><br/><br/>He tried to keep his tone as neutral as possible when he said this last bit.  He knew that Angelique and the Duke had shared a bed at least once during his last visit.  He certainly didn't mind the head maid and one of his oldest friends sleeping with Duke Caledor.  In fact it made him somewhat happy that she found joy and pleasure in the noble elf's embrace.  Indeed he did generally like the Duke and found the whole situation rather made him feel warm in the heart all the way around.  But at the same point, he didn't want to seem like he was offering Angelique up as some sort of prostitute, nor forcing the woman on the Duke if it had turned out to have just been a single fling, a moment of passion.  He did know Angelique well enough to know that she could make her own judgements regarding such matters, and even if he ordered her to serve the Duke, she'd do so professionally and courteously and not share her body with the elven man unless she wanted too.  Still it wouldn't hurt to see the Duke's feelings on the matter before he did simply ask Angelique to tend to the wounded man.  He had been away at war for several months after all, and House Wynt could offer him much comfort.