Captain Hector was waiting for me. I hadn’t actually been troubled by either of my suitors since the festival, but that wasn’t to say there hadn’t been trouble. The two of them had clashed on a few occasions in the days following. Not fought, just expressed a full and frank exchange of views, as the politicians liked to say.

I knew about it, not because I was there, but because their voices had been sufficiently raised for everyone present to make out what they were doing and who they were talking about. Gossip spread, and it made its way straight to me because everyone wanted to see my reaction to the latest spat. It was like being a YouTuber — everyone wanted to see my reaction videos.

Not that I gave them one, of course. It was mortifying enough that the whole town was gossiping about my prospective partners, I wasn’t going to add to the fire. This was… not what I had in mind when I asked Hector to dance. At least it kept the pair of them busy. Or had kept. Hector’s presence suggested a new phase was about to begin.

“Captain,” I said as he bowed politely. “Is there a reason you’re accosting me in the street?” I cast an irritated glance at a number of gawkers. People avoided the Griffin Academy when they could, but even so, there were a few people around, and he’d already attracted their attention. After a glance at me to check, the rest of my team gave us some space.

“There is,” he said sourly. “That annoying envoy… he’s been having me watched — every time I go near your street, he shows up and sticks his nose into my business.”

“So you had the Griffen riders report to you when I took a trip. Have you been waiting outside since I left?”

He flushed. “I also had the watch inform me when your griffin was sighted,” he admitted. “It gave me enough time to get down here.”

“I guess Mr Parkes missed a trick,” I said. I would have continued but I was interrupted by a notification.

You have defeated Arno Brasseur in an Intrigue. You have earned 31 XP

Who? What’s going on? I thought.

“My Lady?” Hector asked, noting my confusion.

“It’s nothing,” I said. “I just got an unusual notification.”

Arno Brasseur didn’t spring immediately to mind, but a few moments of searching my memories did bring him up. An adventurer, melee fighting type. I’d talked to him briefly, looking for investors, but he hadn’t been interested. Why was I Intriguing him? Or, rather, why was he Intriguing me?

“Hector,” I said, returning to the matter at hand. “Tom doesn’t control my social schedule. If you want a private meeting when you show up at my house — I’d prefer if you arranged a time in advance — he can’t force his way in.”

“He’s very aggravating,” Hector admitted. “He easily provokes me to a state where I’m not fit to be in your company.”

“That’s…” I paused. What was that? A skill? [Charm] used in reverse? Did fighters get a taunt ability? Or was Hector just easily manipulated? “That’s a pretty poor showing for a Captain of the King’s guard.”

“I’m aware, my Lady,” he said looking at the ground. “Social [Skills] are not my forte, as you are well aware.”

“Fine. So I’m not going to have a serious discussion in the street, so do you want to escort me home?”

Emotion flashed across his face, too quickly for me to read. “As you wish, my Lady.” For a moment he looked like he wanted to offer me his arm, but when I stepped forward at an angle to move well clear, he gracefully turned and let me walk beside him.

We set off, not saying anything further. I thought about how he’d been speaking. [Charm] informed me that all the ‘my ladies’ hadn’t, strictly speaking, been correct. I was no lady, and as a Knight, he shouldn’t have been offering me the courtesy. It was a courtesy though, not an insult, so it suggested that he was trying to butter me up — and that what he wanted from me was more personal than political. Which was about what I had expected, so I turned my attention to my recent [Intrigue] victory.

I checked my logs as my entourage and I progressed down the street. I didn’t normally think of my crew as an entourage, but something about the situation seemed to demand it. Perhaps it was the way they deferred to Hector, while Hector deferred to me.

My logs showed only a recent test against [Bureaucracy], which was a surprise. I hadn’t expected to actually see [Intrigue] tested — despite having the same name, Intrigues were all about competing through others. They normally involved a bunch of skills being tested over a period of time — or no skill tests at all. I hadn’t yet seen a direct [Intrigue] to [Intrigue] conflict.

[Bureaucracy] was a surprise though. I had picked up the skill — for free, via ‘demonstrated competence’ when I had finished setting up the policies and procedures for the Talnier Bank. Despite it quickly going up to rank three, I hadn’t actually felt it was doing me any good. I’d chalked it being because I was writing the procedures, rather than learning them. Seeing it there suggested that I should check at the bank for answers, but I wasn’t going to do so while I had Hector with me.

Once we got home, I received Hector in my sitting room. He looked around, surprised, but I couldn’t tell if his expectations had been disappointed or exceeded. It had taken a while, but I was pretty pleased with how the room had turned out. I had no idea if it met the standards of a lady's parlour, but it served well as a room for a councillor’s informal meetings. Hector was seated on a lovely couch across a small table from me on my matching couch. We smiled at each other, as I wondered if he’d wait for tea to be served before starting his pitch.

He did not, which meant Felicia got to interrupt him just as he got started.

“Ah— thank you,” he said, as she passed him a cup and saucer. Startled by her sudden entrance, he didn’t say anything until she’d left the room.

“Please, you were saying?” I prompted him.

He hemmed and hawed a bit, but eventually started his pitch.

“My lady, are you… at least it was my understanding that you would be… the one to present the case for continuing the current Charter.”

I sipped my tea. “That’s correct.”

“You must be aware that there is considerable opposition to the proposition.”

“From the nobility, yes,” I allowed. “But unlike Talnier, it’s not a matter for a vote. The King will decide.”

“Of course, but he does not make decisions in a vacuum. The nobility advises, and they can bring considerable pressure to bear in pursuit of their favoured option.”

“Can they,” I said noncommittally. I knew this of course, but I still didn’t know where he was going.

“The process would go more smoothly if the nobility’s goals were in alignment with yours.”

“I’m sure, but we’re both aware they want a new Baron installed here.”

“There is still room for compromise,” he insisted. “If you were willing to bend on the necessity of the Charter, they could support a bid to raise your station.”

“Could they.” Was this their offer? It seemed… uncharacteristically generous. “You’re saying that if I switch to pushing for a barony, they’d support me getting the title?”

“Well…” Hector hedged. “You’d also need to tie yourself to someone that they thought was… sound. By marriage.” He added, looking embarrassed.

“This offer isn’t coming from the nobles,” I said as it dawned on me. “It’s your offer.”

“It doesn’t have to be me,” he said, backpedalling furiously. “And I can’t give you assurances yet as to whether they would accept it. But I think they will.”

I sipped my tea, while I tried to think about how to turn him down. He took this as permission to continue his case.

“You’ve attracted the attention of the King, which makes them nervous,” he explained. “They’d never agree to your ascension unless you showed them that you would be subordinate to them from then on.”

“Wouldn’t they rather install one of their own?” That one being him, from what I could gather.

“Better to turn a potential enemy, then spend resources replacing them,” he said. “And… from what I’ve seen, what I’ve heard, you prefer compromise and deals to direct conflict. Doesn’t this fall in with your own preferred method?”

True enough. But there were a few problems with this plan. For one, I had no intention of being subordinated to the nobles. For another, I didn’t want to become part of their corrupt hierarchy. Hector was handsome enough, but I didn’t want to get married to him.

On the other hand, if I stated that marriage was out of the question, we would probably be back to ‘kill or be killed’, which I wanted to avoid — especially the second part of that.

“Well, that certainly a very generous proposal,” I said. “I’m sure you’ll understand that I’ll need some time to consider it.”

His face fell, but he rallied strongly. “Of course, my lady.” He hesitated. “Please don’t think of this as a deadline — the offer will remain open, but… it would be much easier, for all concerned, if you could answer me before you leave for Dorsay.”

“I’m sure that’s true, but I think I’ll need to go to Dorsay before I can give an answer. I need to evaluate the situation at court before I make any permanent commitments.”

“That’s disappointing of course.” He swallowed a gulp from his own cup. “At the dance — I thought that you might be encouraging such an offer from me.”

I gave him as warm a smile as I could manage. “I was certainly aiming for a more amicable relationship, but marriage was very far from my mind.”

“Then, if there’s nothing else, I shall await your decision, my lady.” He took a last gulp of tea and set the cup carefully down on the table.

“One thing,” I said. “The Nobles you represent, they are a faction at court, yes? Which one?” Who’s your backer?

He looked surprised at the question, but after a short delay, answered it. “The faction led by the Duke of Arryen. Are you familiar with the factions at court?”

“Not in any great detail,” I admitted. “But it will help to know which one is a potential ally.”

In the privacy of my head, I was thinking something completely different. Duke Finlay was the one behind the assassination here, and was probably behind the old Count Duvost’s death as well. As Hector took his leave, I let [Charm] handle the formalities while I focused on what this meant for my immediate survival prospects.

“So… are you going to marry him?” Cloridan asked with admirable diffidence. I noted that his act didn’t extend to pretending that he hadn’t been listening in from the other room.

“No,” I snorted. “I’ve seen what the ‘backing’ of a Noble faction looks like, and it involves one too many poison daggers in my back for my tastes.”

“Wouldn’t it help you though?” Felicia asked, coming into the room with Kyle. She’d either been eavesdropping as well, or Cloridan had filled her in. “You’d be able to deal with them as an equal… well most of them.”

“That’s part of the problem,” I explained. “I’d be buying into their bullshit power structure, when what I want to do is replace it.”

“Sounds good to me,” Kyle said. “One good noble can’t make up for the damage one bad noble can do.” We all looked at him, and he got embarrassed. “That’s what my dad would always say.”

“Well, your dad knew what he was talking about,” I decided. “So no title for me — I’ll just keep delaying answering Hector for as long as I can. Right now though, I have to figure out how I beat Arno’s Intrigue without even knowing that I was fighting him.”