Angelique nodded her head politely and lead the two elven men along after Tehr's suggestion, the more friendly Asre waving with a smile on his lips, the more sour man seeming to nod respectfully and head along after Angelique in a calm step, leaving the Duke with the people he obviously trusted. Moving over to the living room saw the Duke take a seat so as to face Tehr proper there, with Rosalyn walking in soon to take a seat at the side, close but moving to sit besides either of them directly at least at the time. When Tehr began to address the Duke, he listened quietly and seriously, nodding a hint at the time when he praised Rosalyn and smiling in a proud fashion, nodding again at the mention of trying to court her if not for his position. He seemed to regard this admission quite calmly, speaking only briefly at this point.<br/><br/><strong>"While Rosalyn may be young by some standards of our people, she is smarter than many of the others, and I trust her to make her own decisions in such matters. While we are of 'noble lineage' amongst the elves, both I and Rosalyn's late mother sought to teach her to not look down on people but live the way she wants, and to make her own path. I trust her to know to reject unworthy suitors, and if she chooses a lover, I trust her to maintain sufficient discretion. I have no intent to try and marry her off to someone she'd reject for sake of power, though that kind of thoughts may be decades in the future still, possibly centuries. I have no particular rush other than to secure the Duchy's prosperity and her place on the throne should she eventually be willing to ascend. I don't plan to drop dead anytime soon if I can avoid it though, so so she should have plenty of time to explore the world still. Admiring her for what she is, well, I would have to chase plenty of people away with a drawn sword if I took offense of people gazing at her and appreciating what she was given, but I hope to not hear that spoken of in a demeaning manner. So far, I've felt that Clan Caelor has found a worthy friend and perhaps an ally to last in House Wynt."</strong>He smiled in a relaxed manner, before Tehr moved on to speak about their own kin.<br/><br/>Rosalyn took a breath and then looked at Tehr and then back over at her father, seeming a little reluctant to talk about it but doing so regardless, sharing that which she seemed a tad reluctant to tell, seemingly trusting in both Tehr and the Duke to not regard her poorly for speaking her mind of it.<br/><br/><strong>"Unfortunately, it seems that in your absence your younger brother, and his younger daughter in particular, have been getting a tad power-hungry. They seemed to imply that they had been courting the old families to side with them about a change of leadership. Not that it matters now that you are back and alive. They questioned your survival however, and seemed intent to push through a change while referring to my own preference to spend time amongst humans. Not that there is anything wrong with it, especially in this company,"</strong>she said while smiling to Tehr and glancing at the Duke, before continuing again.<strong>"-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."</strong>She scoffed at the end of that bit of words.<br/><br/>The Duke sighed and rubbed his forehead before glancing at Tehr seriously.<strong>"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 ? If so, you can probably understand exactly what sort of people we are talking about here. There are some individuals amongst our people who are too stupid to see if we isolate ourselves and try to keep to ourselves we'll only weaken ourselves further, and be more readily caught off guard by any changes coming to take place. We are part of the kingdom, and while officially a duchy, some of our people prefer to think themselves as nobles of their own right, and that the throne of the Duke should be the throne of a Elven king instead. Not that our holdings are extensive enough for that. We have three counties and the central city and territory to call our own to form the actual duchy, but in those regions the old families tend to govern, while the Duke or Duchess is the one governing our region for the King or Queen of the nation. It is safe to say that while two of the counties are more progressive in views, the last one with the larger section of people is focused on isolationists and those who would prefer to keep our borders shut even to traders. As for our family, suffice to say, I have two brothers and while one of them is content to serve the Gods, the other is a schemer, and his daughter was raised with the same values. Unfortunately they seem to see things more along the lines of power they find themselves 'deserving of' rather than 'a burden and responsibility to wield wisely'. Which is why I refused to even consider leaving them in charge."</strong>He let out a weary sigh while nodding to Tehr.<br/><br/><strong>"I thank you for taking care of Rosalyn in my absence, I know it was a longer time than originally intended. I trust the old families to keep the reigns back in the duchy, and our laws are clear that even if a Duke would be missing at least a year must pass before any declarations can be sought to name another. As a Duke I named a regent until my return, and my daughter receives important matters to decide upon by private letters, if there is something that big, for the others to try and maneuver her out, I have to wonder. Would it be rude of me to ask you to let her stay a while longer? I am tempted to gather my strength a bit of time in Londinium to then return to the Duchy to teach my brother and niece a lesson in proper behaviour."</strong>For a moment it seemed like the Duke was almost growling to say this much.<br/><br/>Rosalyn took a moment to step forth and placed a hand on Tehr's shoulder before speaking again.<strong>"I was hoping to stay here to be honest, I rather like being here, and while the court can be tiresome at times I believe I can help bring things to the Queen as necessary, and present a good image of the elven folks in the Kingdom, I have merely been worried that 'she' gains too much support with the old families in the meanwhile,"</strong>Rosalyn said seemingly a tad hesitant.<strong>"I am not sure if the presence of guards and the magic around the household has lent to it, but I feel safer here than I did during most ouf our journey, even when we were together touring the nearby counties earlier. Having the trade agreements with the halfling families certainly helps, but I feel more at ease here."</strong><br/><br/>The duke let out a short chuckle at this before grimacing and holding his side lightly, earning a careful look from Rosalyn but she said nothing as he shook his head, then sighing faintly.<strong>"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."</strong><br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">OOC</div><div class="spoiler_body">Sorry, ended up feeling this was lacking and didn't provide much hooks to grasp onto and even having a moment of embarrassment noticing I have misplaced my notes about the cousin visiting earlier, not having the name written up on my own notes here. Ugh. Embarrassing.</div></div>