Ambrose Valley Kingdom - Chapter 6 up 7/26
ashaw814:
Yes it is. I like the governess too.
Iscy:
Wah, me want more! >_< I love this story!
ashaw814:
Sorry I haven't updated in awhile. Classes have been extremely hectic lately, and I haven't had time for much else. But I recently started my Spring Break, and I've had time to get this update done.
Welcome to Chapter 3. I hope you enjoy.
Lady Margaret Siegan - the dowager duchess of Southampton, and Queen Charlotte sat in the dowager's drawing room, calmly sipping tea. The afternoon sunlight streamed through the windows and flitted around the room, haphazardly illuminating its contents. Margaret and Charlotte regarded each other with guarded, yet friendly smiles. They politely conversed about the weather and gossiped about the town's inhabitants, but behind that facade, simmered a rivalry that no outsider could see.
“I have heard that Lady Hertwick is to make her debut at your ball,” Margaret remarked, her gray-tinted eyebrow shooting up, ever so slightly, into a barely discernible arch.
A sly smirk slid onto the queen's lips as she replied, “Oh yes, the poor dear. I shall be acting as her chaperon. I have such big plans for the girl!” Her crystal blue eyes narrowed menacingly at the older woman, daring her to to make a snide remark.
“Indeed,” Margaret replied. “Young Victor is of an age now, is he not? Oh, but so is my Levi's boy. They're quite similar aren't they? Why I would imagine that they would be the best of friends! Why is it, do you think, that they aren't?”
Charlotte's eyebrows shot up, obviously surprised at the dowager's blatant insinuations. But her regal demeanor never faltered. She cleared her throat briefly, stalling to gather her thoughts, “Why they've hardly spent much time in each other's presence. I'm sure once they go off to school together, they will become much more than mere acquaintances.”
The clock in the hallway sounded the time. Three o'clock. Charlotte stood suddenly and said, “I'm sorry, Margaret. I had not realized how late it was. The king will be expecting me.”
Margaret stood and curtsied to the queen, “Of course, my lady. But speaking of King Victor, when can we expect another little one in the royal brood? It's been so long since the prince was born. Your subjects are eagerly awaiting another child.”
Charlotte smiled tightly. She suddenly felt very tired, as if life had just become too much for her. She wondered if Victor had gone through with her challenge. Praying that he did, she replied, “We're hoping to make an announcement soon.” She bowed her head in respect to the older woman and quickly removed herself from the room.
Margaret sighed as Charlotte left. Her heart ached for poor Victor. Charlotte was so transparent, and she quite obviously had no love for the king. Margaret had noticed that all of Charlotte's smiles were forced, giving away the fact that she hated her station in life, hated her husband, and certainly didn't want any more of his children. She remembered the former royal couple and how much they had loved each other, how the king had worked so hard to build an extravagant kingdom – all for his queen. Margaret had been a child when Simon arrived, but she recalled living in straw huts, surrounded only by dirt, water, and guilt for crimes they had never committed. She shook her head to clear it of the haunting memories and returned to her day's plans.
Levi Siegan, Duke of Hartshire, was widely regarded as the most disreputable rake in Ambrose Valley. He was a charming man, with laughing chocolate eyes and a ready smile. He had once led a very safe, sheltered life that was greatly approved of by the rest of the ton. But his wonderful life had fallen to pieces with the birth of his son, and the consequential death of his beloved wife.
So now he sat, a broken man, across from the beautiful and diverting Cherilyss Gray. She smiled at him – the wondrous smile of a woman who knew exactly what she was doing. His eyes roved over her, alighting on her most intriguing body parts. Her dandelion hair. Her full, succulent, ruby lips. Her tiny waist and thick thighs. She had few flaws, and the ones she did possess, he chose to ignore. Fine wrinkles marred an otherwise perfect complexion, giving testimony to her age, but this just assured Levi that she was precisely the type of company he needed to keep. He had no patience with the innocent, simpering debutantes who were hardly out of the school room, not to mention younger than his only son. He shuddered at the thought of taking a mere child to his bed. He had loved once before – a pure angelic young girl. And all it had brought him was heartache.
“My lord,” Cherilyss said, interrupting Levi's brooding. “I asked if you intend to call or fold.”
Levi looked down at his cards. Rubbish. He folded them onto the table with a sigh, and flashed one of his easy grins at Cherilyss.
“I believe you have me beat,” he said with a yawn. “I tire of this game. Maybe we could find some entertainment elsewhere.” His words held a world of meaning, and he watched in delight as a smile washed over Cherry's features.
“Indeed we could, and I have just the idea,” she murmured seductively and beckoned for Levi to follow her. Only a month had passed since her arrival in this prospering kingdom. She had barely escaped death at the hands of her drunkard husband and had gladly taken the position of prostitute in Mr. Joseph Hall's gaming hell. It wasn't that she enjoyed catering to these rich and usually rotund noble buffoons, but it certainly was less dangerous than returning home and being beaten to death. Plus, the profession had its perks. And Levi Siegan was definitely one of those perks. If things had just been a little bit different, she was sure she could have given her heart to him.
Eli Siegan was a shy and timid boy. He was clumsy and awkward, and possessed not even one ounce of social grace. Which was why he suddenly decided to strike up an acquaintance with the prince. Prince Victor was everything Eli was not. He was confident and assured, charming and graceful, tall and rugged. He emitted an aura of power. Prince Victor was the model of what a noble boy should be.
As the morning sunlight trickled over the horizon and into the young man's room, he rose with a yawn and summoned his footman.
He waited by the door, his fingers twitching nervously, his feet tapping impatiently. “Deliver this to the prince,” Eli said the moment the footman approached. He shoved a piece of parchment into the servant's hands and retreated into his room, slumping to the floor in a fitful heap. He sighed, pleased that the note he had scrawled the previous night would finally be delivered, but worried that the prince would ignore his summons. Victor was royalty, after all.
The morning scrambled by, and the intense afternoon sun took its place in the sky. Eli paced through his home, ignoring his grandmother's strange looks. He became distracted by the loud gong emitted by the grandfather clock every hour. He sighed in annoyance, waiting to hear that disruptive clang sound three times.
“What are you doing?” Margaret exclaimed, clearly frustrated with the boy.
“Nothing, nothing,” Eli muttered, the agitation seeping into his half-whispered utterance. Margaret gulped down the fear rising slowly in her throat. It seemed as if Eli were going mad. She opened her mouth, as if to make him see logic and reason, but the clock in the hall finally sounded three times. Eli's eyes lit up in glee and just the hint of maniacal obsession. “I must be off,” he said, his tone deep and formal. After stiffly bowing to his elder, Eli scuttled from the room.
The sultry summer air bore slight traces of the brisk autumn to come. Eli rode his stallion, Juniper, at reckless speeds, clamoring over hilly terrain and through the abundant forests until he reached his destination. Upon arrival, he dismounted and surveyed the ruins of a previous civilization. Jagged walls of stone jutted from the earth and shattered marble tile littered the floor. Fragments of torn tapestries still hung in some of the windows, the tendrils whispering into the wind like ghosts of their former lifetime. Eli's chest swelled with the glorious intake of moisture-filled air. He perched himself upon what was, in previous times, a wall and waited for the prince.
“Just what were you thinking when you asked me to meet you at this heap?” Victor asked, his tone haughty and mocking. He walked casually toward the other boy, his stride long and confident.
Eli's brow furrowed and a deep frown was etched upon his face. “This place isn't a heap!” he cried. “It's beautiful and ghostly!”
Victor chuckled and clapped Eli on the back. Leaning in, he said in a low voice, as if telling a secret, “It's a pile of rubble.” His chuckled mounted to peals of laughter when he saw Eli's ears redden with fury. He took a few deep, almost comic, breaths and allowed his mouth to fall once again into a straight line. But his eyes still held traces of a mischievous mirth.
The two boys sat, awkward and silent, neither ready to reconcile their differences. Eli suddenly stood and proudly tilted his chin. “I see that it was a mistake to ask you here,” he said, pretending to be cold and indifferent. But beneath that nearly transparent facade, the boy's eyes shifted worriedly and his fingers twisted nervously around each other.
Victor rolled his eyes and sighed. “Oh Eli,” he said, his voice nothing more than a bored drawl. “I sincerely apologize. I didn't mean to upset you, especially not over something so ridiculous as these old ruins. Now man, what did you drag me here for?”
Eli's barely maintained grudge slipped and he smiled shyly as he said, “I need to be more like you. I need to be charming and handsome, so I can snag myself a pretty noblewoman as a bride. Granny keeps warning me that I'm going to end up with the ugly kitchen maid as my only hope for a wife if I don't get out there and practice my flirtations.”
Victor laughed and nudged Eli in the ribs, “I'm sorry, my boy. But you will never be handsome!” His light, joking tone caused even shy, timid Eli to grin. “This will be easy,” Victor continued. “We'll meet here daily for the next twelve days, until the ball. I'll teach you everything I know! You can test your newly-learned skills on Lady Hertwick. She's to debut and won't know any better than to step right into your trap! And you won't have to worry about me as competition, because I'll be chasing the more seasoned ladies. Oh yes, Eli. We're going to be great friends!”
AxelVal:
Prince seems like a right little git if you ask me. Or he did in the beginning of that chapter.
I like this Eli kid though. He's a sweetheart. :D
ashaw814:
The prince isn't awful. He's just, well, a prince. But I adored writing for Eli. He's so...twitchy!
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