Alex nodded gravely at the Lady of the house.  "I have two letters for you Lady d'Wynt.  One from my mother, Anne d'Hesfal Cartwright and one from my uncle John ir'Hesfal that will hopefully ease your troubled mind on these matters.  While House Hesfal is but a small house with little influence, we do have our honor.  It is that honor which we wish to restore, and we wish to pledge loyalty to your house.  If you as the lady of the house accept it, we wish to see both houses rise.  The terms of the pledge are in the letter from my uncle John ir'Hesfal, but essentially are that we retain our autonomy and lands, what little they are.  But know that we will do everything else we can to support you in any way possible.  While the financial commitment may not be large, we do hold several vassal's in our serfdem, including a small fishing village as well as farmland.  However mostly we pledge our name and backing on your desires in the courts from now until the last member of House Hesfal that lives currently dies.  Hopefully our friendship will extend beyond such a far off date as well.  But my mother and my uncle hope that you will come visit them at their family estates near Dover to make such an alliance official, and promise you every ounce of hospitality that they could possibly offer."<br/><br/>Tehr smiled, and heard the way that Alex mentioned his 'uncle' knowing that 'uncle' John was actually Alex and Alex's twin Carolyn's father, not uncle.  He guessed that Alex was couching his words for now, possibly to gauge the reaction of Lady d'Wynt, or possibly because of the Elvish Rosalyn d'Caelor.  Tehr felt that it was not his place currently to speak out about such things, especially since less than an hour before he'd seen Alex's true form, one of a female changeling, as the pair of them had rutted on a fur in front of the fireplace.  If he closed his eyes he could still see the way Alexandria's small lilly white breasts had heaved as her back had arched, the way her cunny lips, grey like her nipples, had gripped at his flesh shaft as it plundered her changeling cunt.  Fucking Alexandria while she wore the guise of Rosalyn had been energizing and made him want the elven lass again the way he had weeks ago, but he'd taken Alexandria a second time, demanding that she wear her true form if she wished to gain his trust.  He'd been surprised how reactive she'd been, how much she seemed to know what he liked at first, then he remembered how she'd also claimed to have bedded him in the past, wearing his sister's face.  That thought at least brought him back to the here and know and raised a slight bit of color on his face.<br/><br/>Tehr spoke then adding his support.   "Mother, I would not lend my support to Alex d'Hesfal were it..."<br/><br/>He paused as the eyes at the table turned to take him in, three faces slightly confused, one slightly angry.  He realized his slip up.  He'd said "d'Hesfal" which was the honorific for a female member of a noble house, and not "ir'Hesfal" which would have been the masculine.  He'd been so lost in his own remembering their passion that he'd forgotten that 'Alex' was wearing the guise of a man, not a woman.  It didn't help that 'his' chosen guise was rather effeminate.  Tehr quickly tried to cover his mistake,  "Pardon me Alex, slip of the tongue, I meant Alex<strong>ir'</strong>Hefal..."  He stressed the correct honorific, but it was too late and Christina laughed and set down her tea cup and clapped her hands slowly, a broad smile splitting her face as her eyes twinkled with mirth.<br/><br/>"I suspected!  I knew my dear brother would not so easily take on an apprentice without some cajoling.  His reputation being what it is, we all know exactly what sort of bribe would be needed too.  Tell me 'Alex' do you bind your breasts to hide your form?"  Christina's attitude was one of pure amusement.<br/><br/>Their mother however was far less amused and her mourning garb black and severe only added to the glower on her face.  She turned to glare at Christina and spoke sharply, "Christina Maria d'Wynt!"  She nodded towards Rosalyn and said, "We have guests, and it is not proper to mention such things.  Apologize to Lady Rosalyn this instant for such an insinuation about your very own brother as well as towards our guest."<br/><br/>Rosalyn's laughter broke through Lady d'Wynt's scolding however and her musical elven voice followed along after the laughter like water tripping over rocks in a stream as she waved off any apology, "My lady d'Wynt, fear not.  I was far from about to speak of such things, for everyone deserves whatever secrets they might have."  Her eyes twinkled as she looked first at Christina then Tehr.  A silent message perhaps or maybe just a coincidence as she added, tapping one delicate finger to her nose, "You see, we elven folk have very keen senses after all.  Many know of our superior hearing of course, but I was also blessed with a strong sense of smell.  I was not going to mention the light perfume of a woman's body on Tehr, nor the slight musk of his masculine scent in the air when he entered the room.  But suffice it to say I had no illusions to the reason for the sudden apprenticeship."<br/><br/>Tehr felt mortified.  It was true he'd forgotten to cast the cleaning cantrip after their passion.  He'd been completely lost in the afterglow and conversing with Alexandria about the future of their apprenticeship, and the fifteen minute window after the act had passed leaving them to clean up in a mundane non magical way.  He knew his face must be red with embarrassment, but it was not one that Alex seemed to share.  He spoke, nodding his head and said, "Yes it's true, my twin sister and I were both born female.  But since my uncle John has no children of his own, it falls to my sister and I to carry on our house legacy.  Were we a rich and noble house, we could find someone willing to marry into our house and accept our name.  But our house has barely any weight and power left.  Both my mother and my uncle married commoners, and if it came out that my mother gave birth to two daughters only, that would likely be the end of the house as well.  No one would take Hesfal seriously after having to marry in so many common men to continue our bloodline.  So I was raised as Alex, not Alexandria, and taught the ways of the court as a gentleman so that I would carry out this great deception.  I pray to all of the gods above and below that secret can stay in this room, or all of this is for naught."<br/><br/>Tehr's mother still seemed angry, but the switch in conversation from carnal suggestions to matters of nobility seemed to molify her.  Rosalyn was quick to agree, "Of course we will keep your secret, as I said, everyone deserves such things."<br/><br/>Christina quickly nodded her head as well, though her grin stretching from ear to ear still split her face.  Tehr simply looked down into his tea, feeling rather chastised for such a simple yet telling mistake.  Any response his mother may have had was cut off by several half elven Hlaford servants bearing in the dinner meal and setting them in front of everyone.  It was Alex who raised the wine glass first,  "To new beginnings."<br/><br/>Tehr drained his glass and reached for the bottle to refill it.  This was going to be a long night.<br/><br/><br/><br/><hr/><br/><br/><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 14pt;"><span class="bbc_u"><strong>25th of December, 11th Hour; Just outside of Londinium</strong></span></span><br/><br/>Nearly two weeks later the small convoy of wagons stopped on a hill looking down at Londinium.  Tehr, freezing cold and eager to return to the warmth of Hewthorne Hall pulled the reigns on his trusted steed Blondie to go back along the train of three wagons that he rode at the head of.  The first carrying his sister and his apprentice, the second Lady Rosalyn and his Mother who was finally coming to see their new estates inside the city at Hewthorne Hall before continuing south towards Dover and a visit with house Hesfal.  The third carriage bearing Angelique, Heidi, and two other half elven servants that would travel onwards with Lady d'Wynt to the south.  Normally Christina would be riding in the second carriage with her mother and Rosalyn.  But at the last stop, she'd joined Alex ir'Hesfal to talk about how they would re-position the rooms in Hewthorne Hall to accommodate him permanently.  It was no major matter.  Tehr had wanted to convert some of the empty space on the third floor into a larger workshop for his magical studies anyways.  But when Christina asked Tehr if he wouldn't like to ride Blondie for a while, Tehr knew that there was more on Christina's mind than just living arrangements.<br/><br/>After the revelation at dinner, Alex did confirm his true nature to Christina, Rosalyn, and Lady d'Wynt, as a changeling woman.  So a few days later when Tehr was approached by Christina, he wasn't overly surprised to hear her ask if he minded if she took Alex/Alexandria to her bed chambers.  Tehr graciously gave his ascent, as it would have been unfair to his sister that she have her carnal desires unsatisfied for so long.  The three of them had even managed to sneak off and find time to have a little three way in an old 'hunting cabin' in the woods that their father had kept, while under the excuse that they were going for a ride.  Alex/Alexandria's ability to shift her form between male and female, and shockingly to Tehr a combination of the two where she had her lithe female form but with a firm cock jutting from above feminine sex, made both the Wynt siblings quite pleased.  Christina was overly fond of requesting various forms in her new lover, shockingly including that of the queen herself.  It was enough to make Tehr wonder which of them truly was more of the sexual deviant as Christina seemed to enjoy both (or was it all three?) genders equally.  The only part that really made Tehr feel uneasy is when Christina asked Alex/Alexandria to mimic Tehr's form and have the two copies of her brother fuck her in quite wanton ways that seemed perverse even to his sex addled mind.<br/><br/>Still, Tehr couldn't find it in his heart to be jealous at sharing either of them.  Alexandria proved to be an apt pupil as well as a very willing and accommodating lover.  Ultimately Tehr had to realize that he now had a changeling lover for an apprentice, a sister who enjoyed bedding him on the sly as well as his apprentic not so secretly, several maids in his home that he'd bedded in Angelique, Heidi, and Sarah, as well as being the lover to the queen of the realm.  He knew that the queen would be eager to see him in fact, as he'd been gone from Londinium just over three weeks.  Or at least he hoped she would be, they'd only written each other but a handful of times, and nothing in her letters led him to believe she was anything but eager for his return.  So he knew that once everyone was settled back into Hewthorne Hall, he needed to pay a visit to the queen, and most likely would be spending the night in her chambers.<br/><br/>He pulled Blondie along side the first carriage and listened for a moment, but heard no sounds of passion within.  Knocking once he opened the door and the smell of sex wafted out from the warm air inside the carriage.  Alex and Christina were both fully clothed, though they had a slightly 'rumpled' look to them that suggested they'd finished getting dressed only very recently.  He nodded and said "We shall be taking our lunch at Hewthorne Hall, as we are at the outskirts of Londinium now."  Then with a wry grin he added, "You may want to open the windows for fresh air and set your clothing before we arrive."<br/><br/>Then to the second carriage he rode to ask his mother again if she wouldn't consider staying in Londinium for a few days.  But she insisted that she still had most of the day and should continue on towards house Hesfal lands, that if she continued to push on, she could be there by this time tomorrow, weather permitting.  Tehr accepted her answer, for they'd planned this trip for this day on purpose.  While the church of the one God was greatly weakened in Britania, he shuddered to think that they might continue to cause problems for House Wynt.  The guards driving the carriages and riding point with longbows were a deterrent, but this day was one of their most holy days.  He doubted that any of them would be stirring from their chapels or be so bold as to try to attack a noble carriage any time around this holy day of theirs.  But still his mother agreed that when her visit at house Hesfal was done, she'd take a different and more secretive, though longer, route back home to their lands.<br/><br/>Tehr nodded his agreement and then shut the carriage and moved back to the head of the three carriage procession, leading the party into Londinium, eager to return home, and eager to see the queen again this evening.