"Indeed," Tehr nodded as he led the duke and his daughter out of the hall, "I do not doubt that there are many who wonder about my disappearance from the court for neigh on a week."  He was careful to keep his tone light as he walked to the duke's left, allowing Rosalyn to take up the man's right side.  The buffer between the two of them seemed to put Tehr at ease a little bit and he slid back naturally into his role as a diplomat for his home.  He was well aware that even here, in the halls of the palace, the walls had ears.  "I am aware of course of the rumors that began circulating of my role as the queen's prince consort.  Rumors that had their seeds in a royal hunt almost three weeks ago now."<br/><br/>"A hunt?"  Rosalyn asked with a slight look of distaste.<br/><br/>Tehr held his hand up and nodded, "I assure you, this was no rich man's fancy, using hounds and horses to chase down a single defenseless fox."  He made a face of disgust himself and added, "Especially not one with those obnoxious smoke powder rifles that seem to blow up in your face every so often."  He sniffed disdainfully then continued, "There'd been reports of monsterous beasts and abberations in the queen's wood south west of Londinium.  So 'hunters' like myself went into the woods to try to claim the best trophy.  I came across an elven woman, and saved her life in a battle against a rabid and mad grizzly bear.  It had been... changed somehow, by some dark magic or simply by some natural disease I did not ever discern.  But it had changed, it's jaw distended, it's eyes mad with whatever drove it...."<br/><br/>He paused as they exited the palace.  They walked to their horses and he was glad to see that both the duke and Rosalyn were riding mounts of their own and not a-carriage.  The graceful Rosalyn managed to sit side saddle in her dress with an ease that spoke of a long time practicing such a skill.  Tehr smiled, he approved of men and women who cared for his horse.  Patting Blondies neck, he rode towards the two once they were ready and the three rode out of the palace gate along the Wall street.  The large shadow of the Londinium Wall rose to their right as the rode, but the warm sun, now nearing it's peak, warmed them from the south.<br/><br/>He picked up his tale, "Sorry, as I was saying, I let the elven lass take the head of the beast for her trophy, and I brought back the body of a slain nobleman who had sadly succumbed to his wounds fighting the beast.  In the end, the elven woman told the tale of how I saved her, forfeited the trophy, and then cared more about the nobleman then the contest.  The queen judged my actions and trophy to be the most impressive and I'd won the hunt.  That's when the rumors started I supposed.  The elven woman, you may meet in fact.  She goes by Tera, her voice carries a lilt of the mainland, and she is now the head of my personal house guard."<br/><br/>Tehr stopped his horse and nodded to an old statue, one built into an alcove in the wall itself, "The inscriptions on these statues were chipped off when my great grandsire was not yet born, but no one is sure how much longer before that.  But most people agree that this statue was once the center of a town square that sat upon this spot when Londinium was young and still in the hands of the Roman guard.  Long long ago, no one is sure who the statue is supposed to be anymore, but they built the wall around it."  He prodded Blondie back to movement and added, "My  mother, the Lady d'Wynt, was originally from Italia.  She brought my brother and sister and I up to respect the old ways, the old gods.  I hope this does not offend, I make the assumption that your family are not followers of the new church?"<br/><br/>It was a calculated risk, even elves had converted to the church of the one god, which had been around for centuries and was far from 'new' in most senses of the word.  But it was the Duke who confirmed, "Nay sir, we are not, you have given no offense by asking."  His lips were curled in the hint of a smile.<br/><br/>Tehr continued, "Good, I've no wish to offend anyone for their beliefs, but my house does run in a very casual state.  For I give my servants much leeway and freedom, finding the carrot a far better motivator than the stick.  I tell you this before you arrive, so you would not be startled at what some in polite society would claim is a shocking display of familiarity between my family and our servants.   Indeed, the head maid of the house is a wonderful woman I've known my whole life, Angelique Hlaford, a half elven woman.  The Hlaford family of half elves has been serving the Wynt family for generation after generation stretching back hundreds of years.  They are more akin to cousins then servants if the truth be told."<br/><br/>Tehr dismounted and opened the gates to the estate, until the halfling guards were installed, it was best to keep the gate locked for now.  After leading the guests in, he showed them where a key hung in the currently empty guard house, then locked the gates again behind them.  He led them around the south end of the house towards the stable and stopped at the porch, "M'lady Rosalyn, Duke Caelor, if you'd care to wait here, I'll stable our mounts.  My stablemaster is several days from being here, and truthfully I enjoy the tasks."<br/><br/>Rosalyn slid from her horse gracefully and ascended the stairs to the large back porch, but the Duke remained mounted, "I'll join you, two pairs of hands will make the work go more quickly."<br/><br/>Tehr smiled and the two men rode away from the elven beauty for the moment to the stables to feed and stable the horses.  Tehr took off Blondies saddle first and it was the duke who spoke, "Tell me Master ir'Wynt, I sense you have something on your mind.  Speak plainly now, and I shall respect what you have to say."<br/><br/>Tehr nodded, and sighed, pushing aside thoughts of Rosalyn, he focued on what was far more important at the moment.  "Sir, the Queen offers a return of much land that had been lost to my family.  It is a huge boon to my house, but only if we can make the land safe and the roads more passable.  I don't doubt that we could do so, but the cost might drain our coffers to a dangerous level.  I spoke the truth to the queen, it is something I need to write my mother about.  I know not how well the mining operations on our land fair.  The family funds may be doing much better than I expected, or they may be doing worse.  There was a problem with bandits in our lands, though..."  he paused remembering how it had been the orc warrioress who had put him on his back but a week ago and used a bit of tact, "... I've taken steps to try to rectify that problem.  But in any regard, I'm sure you realize that much of that land lies directly in between Londinium and your own holdings in Wales.  Certainly your own fortunes would be much brighter if there were an overland trade route that was reliable from Wales to Londinium, yes?"<br/><br/>The duke's eyes narrowed, he wasn't willing to give anything away just yet, but he did nod his head to the obvious point.<br/><br/>"So," Tehr said as he finished brushing down his horse and moved onto Rosalyn's.  "I'm sure you could see some sort of benefit to assisting house Wynt with this project.  Of course this wouldn't be one of charity or pity, but we'd be glad to work out some form of recompense.  Maybe something along the lines of toll free transit for any carriage with your mark?  Or what have you, I simply suggest that, but would be open to any ideas you have."<br/><br/>With all three horses unsaddled, brushed, and now with feed bags on, there was little reason to remain in the stable.  Yet the duke moved a little slowly as he considered the offer, "Allow me to think on it for a bit Master Tehr," he said diplomatically.<br/><br/>"Of course sir, but come, let us find your daughter, I regret leaving her alone even this long."  Tehr said honestly.<br/><br/>The duke's grin and nod showed that he saw more than he was speaking of when it came to Tehr's attraction to Rosalyn.<br/><br/>The pair of them walked back on the path and saw Rosalyn talking to someone on the porch.  Closing it was obvious that it was Christina, wrapped in a robe.  An odd choice of clothing, and certainly out of place here on the back patio.  But as the gentleman approached Christina could be overheard to excuse herself as she hurried into the house.  Rosalyn smiled as the men mounted the porch and she explained, "Your sister is lovely, she was sunning herself, but had a robe handy.  She said she'd join us shortly after she made herself more presentable for such a handsome nobleman.<br/><br/>Tehr smiled and thought he caught a hint of a blush on the Duke's cheeks, though that could have just been his imagination.  "Well, allow me to show you Hewthorne hall,"  he said as he began the tour of the newly renovated home.<br/><br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide</div><div class="spoiler_body">I figured I should leave it here to give you a chance to respond.  Of course, you may want to go in and put in stuff in between where I wrote.</div></div>