Chapter Three – Remy
Typically, Remy rose at seven bells. He would have a cup of tea, run through his martial arts regimen, take a brief shower, and change into his attire for the day. Prior to leaving his rooms, he would journal and plan out his schedule, and then have breakfast with his family before his courtier’s duties began.
Today, Remy had found it hard to get up. He couldn’t possibly imagine the reason why; surely not because of a princess that had invaded his mind in his sleep. By the time he had entered his family’s quarters, breakfast was already in full swing.
“Well, look what the roc dragged in,” his oldest brother called, waving a croissant. “Come, sit. I’ve eaten all the best pastries already.”
“You’re too kind, Antoine, truly,” Remy grumbled, sitting down next to the rest of his clutch, the dragonkin he had hatched with. His brothers and sisters welcomed him in turn.
Antoine was the only one of his siblings with the same coloring as him. As large as the Legrand cluster was—a collection of thirty to forty dragonkin who were descended from the same line as Lysander—they could only really designate family groups by the clutches that hatched together. In truth, Remy probably had far more siblings. But the four he’d hatched with, Antoine, Amaury, Mirielle, and Noelle, were already too much for him to handle. He didn’t need any more.
“You’re almost never late. Something we should know, baby brother?” Mirielle asked, pouring herself a cup of tea.
“We all hatched within two weeks of each other. Baby is a bit overblown,” he said, grabbing a dollop of honey for his own tea. “I simply found it hard to rise this morning.”
“And I’m sure that has nothing to do with our guest,” Amaury wagered.
“Oh, I’m sure it has everything to do with our guest,” Remy replied. “She’s so irritating.”
“You’ve barely met her,” Antoine chuckled. “Can she be that bad?”
“Well, she condescended to me and called me unintelligent within the first ten minutes, so, yes, she can be.”
“Much like you call Martin slow and dim-witted each time you meet with him? Seems like you’ll be fast friends,” Antoine teased.
“Martin deserves it,” Remy sighed, taking a few sausages off the main platter and stabbing into one viciously with a fork. “Martin can only seem to hold tasks in his mind as long as he can hold breakfast in his gullet, so it seems an apt assessment in that regard.”
“Nevertheless, dear brother, you must make a good impression. I heard stories from quite a few courtiers that you were nearly three hours late to your appointment. Especially Countess Sophia from the Lemineux cluster,” Amaury said.
Antoine glared at him. “Oh good, another thing for them to snipe at us about in court. You have to understand what it means that Lysander chose you to do this. He wanted to set his best foot forward with the empire.”
“Oh, yes, I’d hate for the empire to think badly of us,” Remy said. “Noelle, must you be so… I don’t know. What is the word?”
“Crown-chasing, I think,” Amaury chuckled. Noelle leaned over to give him a sharp nip on the shoulder with her teeth.
“The word you’re looking for is dutiful,” Antoine said. “Besides, you enjoy all of this administrative nonsense. You’re telling me you’re not looking forward to mastering another level of protocol and routine?”
“It’s not that. I just don’t care much for being looked at by the Aurelians as something they have to dutifully train. It’s like a hatchling trying to teach their parent how to walk.”
“So show them we don’t need it. Prove your mettle, and then they’ll leave us alone. Eventually, anyway. Besides, we are Aurelians now as well. Best to start getting acclimated, non?”
“Yes, yes,” Remy said, knowing he shouldn’t waste any more time. “”Pack me up some breakfast to go? Something that won’t crack her teeth like a rock, preferably.”
“That’s the spirit, Remy,” Noelle grinned.
~*~
When he arrived at her door, he was surprised to find the room empty.
“How infuriating,” he muttered, turning back down the hallway.
After tracking down a servant and two other clerks to ask of her whereabouts, he finally found his answer. She’d left her quarters before the sun had peeked all the way into the corridors, and had gone in search of the library. How utterly irksome. She couldn’t even be bothered to wait for him?
By the time he’d arrived at the library, he was surprised to see two of the archivists moving around, pulling books out of the stacks. This gave him pause; archivists were the foremost storytellers of Onson, known for their ability to turn song into living illustrations. Normally they were the ones who had assistants running after them. The older of the two, a golden dragonkin, set a pair of ancient looking tomes down on the table.
“Oh yes, thank you so much,” Isabella said in Draconic, taking his hand carefully and squeezing it. Remy scented the air, letting his senses open and evaluate what was happening. The only scent he got from either of the archivists was exasperation and amusement. Apparently they were more than happy to keep playing servant to the princess, if only out of curiosity.
Remy set his sights on the princess. She had changed into a much more delicate outfit, something not built for weeks of heavy road travel. It was a simple gown with slightly puffed sleeves that made her look… dainty, almost.The dress was in a light blue that was embroidered with tiny delicate flowers, and her dark red hair was tied back into a small black cap. It softened her, even as she busied herself with all of the books around her. He saw other small details dotted around the table that showed her mindset: journal set out to the side, quill perched precariously atop a bowl that had held her breakfast in it. In the back of his mind, he enjoyed this softer side of her. It was so odd—it was nothing like what he found appealing normally.
“Oh, finally! Hello there!”
Remy startled, unaware of just how long he’d been standing and staring at her. He regained his wits and his composure, giving a neat bow.
“Princess Isabella. I thought we were to meet at your quarters?”
“Well, yes, but it was already going on seven bells and we hadn’t done anything productive, so I took matters into my own hands. Besides, as you said, I’m still unfortunately quite inept with the Draconic tongue. I’d like to improve upon that in my spare time. So I had some of your wonderful archivists pull some ancient etymological tomes for me. I’m sure we can find the root of your language, which will make it easier for me to glean some of the intricacies. But that is a spare time project. And now, we are on your time.”
“I… yes.” Remy said, quite literally lost for words. She had taken most of them. “Right. I suppose this is as good a place as any to begin.”
She gave a smile that made parts of Remy shift in ways they hadn’t since… Well, since Olivia.
He cleared his throat and pointed to one of the books. “That is our code book. I think that’s as good a place to start as any.”
“Oh, yes, that one is mine. I procured a copy to bring with me on my journey across the continent. I’ve studied it already,” she smiled. “I didn’t want to come here unprepared.”
Remy recognized that this was also a new feeling: being on the hind foot. He straightened as he walked closer, reviewing her stacks, noticing that the bowl of oatmeal was only half-eaten. “You should have eaten already. Are you not hungry?”
“I never am when I’m at work. I normally have a clerk just to help me remember that sort of tedious business, and they chase me down with scones or tea while I work.”
“Well, I have something like scones here, but I suppose I shall send for some then. Er, tea, of course. I meant tea.”
“If you’re going to be my clerk, so be it,” she smiled. “But first, let’s discuss where the obvious comparisons are between our two codes. You have our code book, yes? I sent it along, an annotated version.”
“Yes, I remember,” Remy lied. “I’ll be just a moment.”
“All right,” she said, turning back to her notes.
Remy carefully made his way out, moving faster than he typically did outside of his martial training, and retrieved a book that he had bookmarked through and set aside weeks ago.
And so began one of the most bewildering days of Remy’s short life.
The woman seemed to forget that she needed to breathe from time to time. She’d run off into bounding paragraphs, with nary a semicolon or a comma until she had to take in great big lungfuls of air. She talked as if someone was going to steal the concept of speech away from her if she stopped for too long.
Which was… terrifying, honestly. Somewhere around twelve bells, he looked down at his notes and realized that he’d filled a notebook that he’d been working on for six months. He sent a clerk to retrieve a new one from his rooms.
Of course, the Aurelians would make everything complicated.
They’d begun with the opening to the summer court session, where nobles from each branch that oversaw the empire would come to Yaventown and discuss matters of state and governance. Just listing the opening ceremonies to this court, the first day of reviewing what they would vote on over the next few weeks, took its own book.
Isabella attempted to teach him not only the procedures, but the current arrangement of important members who would perform each part. Isabella would send him out into the wilderness of branch relations, and he’d wade back through a thicket, remembering an errant name or house that hadn’t seemed important at all when he’d seen their names and crests emblazoned on so many pieces of paper. Now each name became a person, a personality, and, worst of all, a set of opinions.
“So then the Branch Lutven--”
“No, they are called Branch Lilliplover; their central seat is the city of Lutven,” she corrected.
“I think you are taking some secret pleasure in this,” Remy said, as he scratched out his notes, flipping the two.
Isabella gave a poor attempt of hiding a smile before she ducked back into her book. “No, no. It’s just important to get it right. It’s much harder to unlearn something than it is to learn it correctly the first time.”
Remy sighed.
By the end of the day, Remy felt his head spinning. He had lost track of just how many cups of tea he’d had, but surely it wasn’t enough. He hadn’t studied this much in ages.
“And so… there you have it. A short opener on the first day of the summer court season. The winter session runs a shade differently, so we’ll have to go over that separately. But honestly, it’s much more straightforward there. So. Any questions?”
“An innumerable amount,” Remy murmured, off-hand.
Isabella nodded. “Yes, I was rather warming up to that. So, I know you won’t like it, but I do think that someone from your station should perhaps venture east. Prior to each court season, each branch has a meeting with the members of their house, in order to determine what their opinions are on each matter that will be proposed during the court season. These branch meetings are held in a separate manner, and those are truly going to be more significant to the work that your courtiers here will do. I assume most of these courtiers will not be learning Aurelian within the next four months, and will not be joining us in Yaventown, at least at first. So, even if it seems miserable, I really do think—”
“That I should accompany you back to Vinitore to see an Echtarch branch meeting?”
“—that you should, yes!” She smiled. “I honestly didn’t expect you to be so open to it.”
Remy sighed, running a hand across his snout. “I think we have both gotten off on the wrong foot. There is a reason why Lysander tasked me with this. When we worked with other kingdoms, I was the one who acted as their liaison. I speak Aurelian already. If I need this many notes just to get through the first day, then everyone else will need much more time. Once the transport runes that connect Onson with the rest of the empire have been completed, we can hire tutors. Until then, I will go with you.”
“Yes. In theory, if we leave by the end of the tenday, we should be able to return to Vinitore with a few days to spare before the branch meetings start.”
“Are you sure you’re ready to be traveling again? And for that long?” Remy asked.
“Why, of course. How often do I get to travel anywhere by carriage? I already marked places that were good and places that I’d like to return to on our way back. I figure we can spend a bit of time in Lumin under the graces of Branch Duncan before continuing. What say you?”
“I will handle things for the first leg. These are my stomping grounds, if you will. Once we cross over onto the mainland, then I will take a step back for your expertise.”
“Really? So easily?”
“Would you rather I roar and bring down hellfire?” Remy asked. “I like to think I’m an intelligent being, Princess. I would be out of my element. Unless you give me a reason to question your judgment, I’ll follow your lead. In terms of the subject matter you presented, I’ll need some time to digest all this. We should wrap up for now. There are still a few preparations I need to take care of before the fete tomorrow.”
“So soon? But there’s so much more to cover. We haven’t even gotten to the committees yet.”
“And if I try to absorb one more thought regarding all of this, you will need a committee to repair my mind.”
She nodded, seeming disappointed. “I apologize. I simply expected you to have a better handle on all this.”
Remy crossed his claws behind his back, trying to rein in his irritation. “Yes, well, there are disappointments to share, I suppose. Hopefully dancing and food tomorrow will be able to lift your spirits. Are you interested in attending?”
Isabella’s face literally seemed to glow as she got to her feet. “Of course! There’s so much more I’d like to learn regarding your culture. I brought several dresses that will hopefully be suitable. It’s always good to come prepared for any occasion.”
Remy nodded and gave a short bow (another thing to learn, the Aurelian bows), leaving with far, far more questions than he would ever have answers to.