Chapter 20:
A Week To Weave
The scent of honeyed bread and spiced root soup filled the small dining alcove, a side room tucked behind the Ashford estate’s second hall. The afternoon sun slanted through the windows in soft bands of gold, catching the faint shimmer of silver thread in Grace’s sleeves.
She exhaled softly through her nose, steady and measured, letting the memory of that whisper — the pressure, the voice that wasn’t hers — slip beneath the surface again.
Control. Dominatus.
The familiar mantra curled around her mind like silk, smoothing over the cracks. She was herself again. And that was enough. For now.
Across from her, Clara hummed quietly under her breath, swinging her legs beneath the table, while Elen sat stiff-backed and silent, glancing now and then at the polished silverware as if uncertain it wasn’t a test.
Elyne hovered near the doorway, a bright, near-embarrassing smile stitched across her face as she watched the scene unfold, three girls, together, laughing softly over shared sweets and small talk. It was everything she had hoped for. Friends. Companions. Grace stepping into the light of noble society not as a solitary prodigy, but as a beloved young lady surrounded by loyal retainers.
Grace allowed the illusion to linger, letting her lips curve into a small, sweet smile as she set her cup down with a soft clink.
"I’m glad you both agreed to join me," she said, voice light. "It’s so dull eating alone with Elyne hovering and fussing all the time."
Elyne let out a small, indignant gasp, half-offended, half-amused.
"Lady Grace," she huffed with mock injury, "I only ever try to make sure you’re comfortable."
"And you succeed," Grace assured her, tilting her head with the perfect balance of mischief and sweetness. "But even the finest shade tree needs a bit of sunlight now and then."
Clara giggled behind her hand. Elen just blinked, uncertain if that was a compliment or an insult.
Grace bit delicately into a sugared pear slice, savoring the sweet tang. Beneath the calm surface of the meal, her mind was already weaving, threads of influence looping tighter around the two girls who, with every passing day, edged closer to being not just friends... but pieces of her foundation.
And she would need a strong foundation. Soon.
A soft knock interrupted the lazy peace of the meal. A steward entered, bowing low, and whispered something into Elyne’s ear. As the steward whispered, Elyne straightened sharply, her smile tightening with the weight of new instruction.
"My Lady," Elyne said, turning toward Grace with a formal curtsy, "a message from the Duchess."
Grace set down her teacup slowly, folding her hands atop her lap. "Yes?"
"The Duchess requests that you, and your companions, be prepared for the arrival of Lady Selira of House Velmire."
Grace allowed herself a polite nod, her expression curious but calm.
Elyne continued, voice lighter now, touched with pride.
"And both Lady Clara and Lady Elen are to be included in the instruction... as your official entourage."
There it was.
Grace allowed herself a slow blink of surprise, then tilted her head slightly, feigning modest confusion. "Both of them?"
"Yes, my Lady," Elyne confirmed, a note of excitement creeping into her tone. "The Duchess acknowledges that Lady Elen not only defended you during the incident at Maison Callaire... but also that she awakened her Mana Core yesterday."
She paused, letting the words settle, and then smiled warmly.
"The Duchess follows your retainers' progress closely. She sends her personal approval, and has granted Lady Elen a reward of ten gold crowns, in recognition of her honorable conduct."
Across the table, Clara gasped audibly, her hands flying to her mouth. Elen froze. For a moment, it looked as if she might simply stop breathing altogether.
Ten gold crowns.
Enough to outfit a young knight twice over. Enough to change the fate of a small house. Enough to buy not just favor, but memory. Gratitude. Debt.
Grace turned her gaze smoothly toward Elen, letting her smile widen just a fraction, the perfect image of quiet delight.
"How wonderful," she said softly.
Elen’s face colored violently, her hands clenching and unclenching on her skirt. She bowed her head sharply.
"I will not disappoint, Lady Grace," she said hoarsely.
Clara clapped her hands once, beaming, caught up in the excitement without fully understanding the deeper currents flowing around her.
Grace leaned back slightly in her chair, feeling the threads knot tighter around her fingertips.
Reward and recognition.
Loyalty bought in gold and expectation.
Mother moves her pieces carefully, she thought with faint amusement.
--::--
The east wing schooling chamber, was a chamber of quiet dignity, its tall arched windows overlooking the inner courtyard gardens where winter blooms shivered under frost charms. A long table of dark polished oak dominated the room, set neatly with parchment, fresh-cut quills, and a single heavy book bound in deep crimson leather.
Master Ardan stood waiting at the head of the table, his brown robe precise and unwrinkled, hands clasped behind his back. He bowed with shallow formality as Grace and her companions entered.
"My Ladies," he greeted, voice crisp. "Please, be seated. We have much to cover."
Grace settled herself into the central chair with perfect composure. Clara hurried to sit on her right, still clutching her writing slate like a lifeline. Elen took the seat at her left, her shoulders squared, jaw tight with the weight of unspoken promises.
Master Ardan wasted no time.
"Today marks the beginning of your preparation for Lady Selira’s arrival," he began. "And to prepare properly, you must understand more than mere manners."
He turned, gesturing toward the broad map pinned neatly to the board behind him, a sweeping ink rendering of the kingdom; mountains, rivers, cities, and five bold-shaded territories branching out from the gilded heart.
"The Kingdom of Virethorn," he said, "is divided into five great duchies, each bearing ancient responsibilities... and ancient ambitions."
He gestured to the heart of the map, a golden sunburst surrounded by meticulously drawn rivers and fortifications.
"At the center lies the Crown Duchy of Virethorn, ruled directly by House Virethorn, the royal family. The King governs not only his lands but the kingdom entire. The Crown Duchy is small in territory, but absolute in political weight. It is the spider at the center of the web, and it pulls the strings of us all."Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.
Grace’s fingers folded loosely atop her lap, her expression serene. But inside, her mind sharpened to the warning buried in Ardan’s smooth tone.
The Crown played favorites. Divided the duchies. Ruled not with armies, but whispers.
Master Ardan moved the rod eastward.
"Here, the Duchy of Ashford. Your home. The shield of the east. Strong, militarized, fiercely independent. House Ashford maintains the kingdom’s eastern defenses, the mountain passes, the great rivers, and the high valleys that no army can breach without bleeding for every stone."
He paused a beat longer before continuing.
"But Ashford," he said quietly, "stands alone. Our independence is our strength, and our greatest vulnerability."
Clara shifted in her seat, troubled. Elen sat stiffly, jaw tight. Grace only smiled faintly. She understood. Power without allies was simply a blade without a sheath, deadly, but easily lost.
The rod drifted north, tapping a jagged mountainous region crowned in steel ink.
"Stormvale. The northern border. Rugged. Harsh. Its lords pride themselves on martial tradition, but their loyalty is... fickle. Stormvale bleeds warriors, yes, but also ambition. It was in Stormvale," his voice grew softer, "that Duke Ashford’s sons, Alaric and Cedric, met their end."
Grace lowered her eyes a fraction, letting the polite mask of sorrow cross her face. But inside, her thoughts burned colder. Stormvale. A knife half-buried, still waiting to be twisted.
Master Ardan turned the rod westward, to the coast.
" Velmire. Ruled by House Velmire. Commanders of the sea. Merchants. Their fleets feed the kingdom’s coffers, spices from the south, silk from across the narrow, gold from the western isles. Velmire's influence is measured in ships and coin, not swords."
He tapped the coastline once, firmly.
"And it is their daughter, Lady Selira of Velmire, who comes to Ashford’s halls."
Clara gasped quietly, realizing the true scale of it. Elen’s pen scratched fiercely over the page. Grace watched the tip of Ardan’s rod rest upon Velmire’s glittering harbor marks.
Master Ardan moved last to the south, the green fields framed in soft strokes of ink.
"Caerwyn. Ruled by House Aerlyn." He nodded toward the rivers. "Blessed with fertile lands, devout temples, and the favor of the gods. They lack great armies, but their influence in the Churches of Iras and Lirien runs deep. Their loyalty remains with the Crown, steadfast, traditional, slow to change."
Grace’s mind filed the information away neatly. Caerwyn would not rebel. Nor would they save Ashford if the Crown chose to tighten its grip.
Master Ardan lowered the rod and clasped his hands again behind his back.
"The duchies," he said softly, "are a board of blades. Ashford stands proud, but alone. Stormvale sharpens knives behind smiling words. Caerwyn prays while the world burns. And Velmire... sells its loyalty to the highest bidder."
He let the silence stretch. "And the Crown... watches."
The silence stretched after Master Ardan’s grim summary, heavy and brittle as frost.
It was Clara who broke it, her hand half-raising from where she clutched her slate.
"Master Ardan?" she asked, voice small but eager. "If Caerwyn is the name of the duchy... why isn’t it ruled by House Caerwyn?"
A faint smile flickered at the corners of Ardan’s mouth, not unkind, but tinged with the quiet amusement teachers saved for questions few students were bold enough to voice.
"A fair question, Lady Clara," he said, inclining his head slightly. "And one that reveals much about how the world changes, and how names often outlive the hands that first shaped them."
He turned back to the map, tapping the fertile southern fields.
"The Duchy of Caerwyn was once ruled by House Caerwyn, yes, centuries ago. But bloodlines fade. Power shifts. House Caerwyn lost its strength during the Schism, some three hundred years past."
He let his hand rest lightly on the map, as if feeling the weight of old wounds through the parchment.
"The Schism," he said, voice quiet but sharp, "was not merely a war of kings and crowns. It was a war of gods — of temples — of faith."
Grace rolled her eyes inwardly.
He’s so overdramatic…
Master Arden tapped the map again, this time with a faint click.
"Before the Schism, the Church of Thyron held supremacy. Thyron, Lord of Earth, was the cornerstone of the kingdom’s faith, strength, shaping, mastery over stone and body."
His voice grew heavier.
"But Nature and Earth are close siblings. And when the faithful of Lirien, the Lady of Growth and Harmony, rose in number and power, old tensions sharpened into knives."
Clara leaned forward, wide-eyed.
"The Schism tore the land in two," Master Ardan continued. "Houses chose sides.Temples burned. In the end, it was the Churches of Iras — the Mother of Light — and Lirien who prevailed. Thyron’s dominance crumbled. His faithful retreated into the old strongholds."
He paused, then tapped the southern lands once more.
"In the wake of that victory, House Aerlyn, loyal to the new temples, gifted in Nature magic, and devout servants of Lirien, rose to prominence in Caerwyn."
He glanced back at them, expression cooling slightly.
"But to avoid further unrest, and to honor tradition, the name 'Caerwyn' remained."
He let the map fall still and turned toward his students fully now.
"And let this be clear," he added, voice firm, "religious devotion has nothing to do with personal magical affinity."
His eyes found Elen — steady, almost kind — and lingered there deliberately.
"You may carry Nature’s gift in your Core, Lady Elen, but that does not chain you to Lirien's faith. Magic and belief are separate paths, though many choose to walk them side by side."
Elen flushed slightly, but nodded once, understanding the lesson tucked between the words.
Grace allowed herself a soft, almost invisible smile.
Power was not loyalty. Magic was not worship. Faith could be wielded like any other blade, or abandoned when its edge dulled.
She tucked the thought neatly into the quiet recesses of her mind.
Even the gods, it seemed, were tools. Some sharper than others.
Master Ardan let the silence settle once more, the weight of history and gods still heavy in the air.
Then, with a sharp, efficient motion, he closed the great crimson book with a dull thud.
"That concludes your history for today," he said, his voice shifting from scholar to instructor. "Now, we turn to practice."
The girls straightened instinctively, Clara dropping her slate with a loud clatter that made her squeak and scramble to retrieve it.
"To your feet," Master Ardan commanded, stepping away from the table and moving toward the center of the room where the stone floor was bare and clean, an improvised stage.
Grace rose first, every movement smooth, unhurried, deliberate.
Clara hopped up a second later, face red with the effort of looking composed.
Elen followed last, steady, her boots clicking softly against the polished floor.
Master Ardan turned to face them, folding his hands behind his back.
"When Lady Selira arrives," he said crisply, "you will greet her not as equals, but as juniors, with deference, grace, and precision."
He paced a short line before them.
"The first impression is paramount. You will curtsy, not too deep, not too shallow. You will lower your gaze, briefly, not weakly. You will speak only when spoken to, unless Lady Grace," he nodded toward her, "is first addressed."
He stopped pacing, planting himself firmly before them.
"Watch carefully."
And with surprising fluidity for a man of his age and severity, Master Ardan demonstrated the curtsy:
One foot slid neatly behind the other, a slow, elegant bend of the knees, head dipped just enough to show respect without subservience.
He straightened and arched one eyebrow.
"You will practice until it is second nature. You will not wobble. You will not fidget. You will not shame this house."
Clara paled slightly but nodded determinedly.
Elen squared her shoulders, absorbing the drill like a soldier awaiting inspection.
And Master Ardan stepped back.
"Begin."
Clara moved first, half-tripping over her own feet in her eagerness.
She dipped into a curtsy, or tried to. Her front foot slipped, and she wobbled dangerously before catching herself with a little squeak.
Elen followed a heartbeat later. Her curtsy was technically correct, feet aligned, head dipped, but it looked more like a battle maneuver than a greeting. Sharp. Rigid.
Grace watched them both with patient, smiling eyes. And then she stepped forward. Her movements flowed like poured silk:
One foot slid neatly behind the other, a slow, effortless bend of the knees, her skirts fluttering like petals as she dipped her head with perfect control.
No rush. No hesitation. A portrait of noble poise.
When she rose, it was with a gentle swish of fabric and a tiny, effortless smile.
All tension and no grace.
Master Ardan gave a small, satisfied grunt. "Acceptable," he said shortly.
He did not praise. He simply moved aside, gesturing for them to repeat.
“Again.”
The afternoon wore on, measured not by the sun, but by the endless rise and fall of curtsies.
Step. Dip. Rise. Again. And again.
Sweat prickled at the back of Clara’s neck. Elen’s breath grew shallower, her boots scuffing against the polished stone.
Only Grace moved as if untouched by fatigue, smooth, patient, a serene star around which the others orbited.
By the time Master Ardan finally raised a hand to halt them, Clara’s braid was fraying from strain, and Elen’s back was rigid with tension. Grace simply dipped in another flawless curtsy for good measure, earning a faint nod of approval from their instructor.
"You will continue to practice each morning before your lessons," Master Ardan said, voice like a hammer striking iron. "Until you no longer think about it."
He turned toward Grace specifically.
"You, Lady Grace, will lead your entourage in greeting Lady Selira when she arrives. So you will practice this."
Grace bowed her head lightly. "As you wish, Master Ardan."
At last, Master Ardan dismissed them with a sharp nod.
Clara all but sagged in relief, wiping the sweat from her brow with a rumpled sleeve. Elen stood straighter than ever, the tension in her shoulders making her look almost twice her age. Grace curtsied one final time, smooth and unhurried, before offering her companions a small, warm smile.
"You both did wonderfully," she said, voice soft, encouraging. "We'll improve even more tomorrow."
Clara beamed at the praise; her earlier clumsiness already forgotten. Elen simply nodded, her face set with silent, burning determination. Grace let them have their victories. Small ones, for now. They would need them.
And so, the week passed.
Days packed with noble training and courtly drills, mornings filled with endless lessons in history, manners, politics. Afternoons spent in practiced smiles, in the sweep of skirts and the rustle of parchment. Evenings where Grace listened and watched.
By the time the seventh day dawned, and the carriages from Velmire were spotted cresting the distant hills
Grace was ready.