Chapter 8 #2
“She didn’t know. But as word got around, fewer and fewer applied. Why bother when they knew they’d simply be shamed into submission?”
“I assume you’ll be offering a more balanced trial?”
“Yes, and I have other ideas for change which will make some of the lords quite apoplectic. Did you know the ladies in Okkilam wear trousers and not just skirts? Some even show their ankles.” Josslyn’s bright eyes shone with mischief.
Avera couldn’t help but giggle. “Oh, it’s not just the lords who would be appalled. My seamstress might have a fit.” But Avera was intrigued. The idea of not fighting fabric when riding or training… How revolutionary.
“Now, while I do have an idea of some of the duke’s duties, I have to admit I’m also woefully ignorant of their extent. You’ll have to guide me in the beginning.”
A demand that led to Avera snorting. “I don’t know any more than you.
I have no idea what I’m supposed to be doing.
Thus far, I’ve been reading reports and signing documents, mostly relating to resolutions of disputes and doling out monies for items that seem legitimate. I have no idea how to rule.”
“Then I guess we’ll learn together.”
Together. Avera liked that word.
“Where should we start?” Avera waved to the pile of documents on her desk.
“If I might suggest a tour of the palace. I’ve only rarely visited as I was never one who enjoyed court. My understanding is the duke oversaw its upkeep and the staff.”
“More like he bossed around the heads of each section.” Avera ticked her fingers. “Let me see there’s the kitchen, stables, supplies, housekeeping, maintenance. The army is handled by Gustav and his band of rooks.”
“I wouldn’t dare try and poke my nose in his affairs. But I would like to meet those in charge of the sections. Find out what they’ll need from me in my new role.”
“Shall I have them fetched to your office? As duchess, you have the room across from mine.”
“I’d rather see them in person if you don’t mind. Get a feel for them in their environment.”
“A fine idea. I’ll join you since I need to stretch my legs.” Avera rose from her desk, and they exited, picking up a pair of rooks as shadows.
They began their mission by first finding the head cook. Lester managed the kitchen with a spoon-clutching fist. The moment he spotted Avera entering his domain, he barked, “Her Majesty is visiting. Look sharp!”
People stopped their tasks to drop into curtsies and bows.
Avera waved a hand. “As you were. I know you’re busy. I’m just here to introduce Duchess Druuven. She’ll be the one assisting me in managing affairs for our kingdom.”
“She’s the new duke?” Lester didn’t contain his note of surprise.
“I am.” Josslyn cocked her head. “And you must be the chef who makes those delicious cream pastries.”
“They’re a specialty of mine.” His chest puffed out.
“A delectable pleasure for the mouth. I assume you’ve been working on a fabulous menu for the coronation?”
“I’m still trying to coordinate the dishes based on what we have in the pantry. I’m afraid we’re running low on some items and thus I cannot be as elaborate as I like.”
“Running low? How so?” Josslyn asked.
“The previous duke appeared to be having difficulty in the past few months sourcing the items on the lists I gave him. Something about a shortage in the market at Horizon’s End, which is strange as we’ve never had problems before.”
The claim led to Avera frowning. “I’d not heard of any supply issues with the traders.”
“Must be something happening as I was lucky to get a third of what I demanded.”
“Send me a list of what you need,” Josslyn stated, “and I’ll see what I can do given the coronation is only days away.”
“Right away, Duchess.”
As they left the kitchen, Josslyn murmured, “What’s got you frowning?”
“I remember seeing Lester’s lists in the ledgers my mother left.
They were all marked as completed. What happened to the food if it wasn’t making it to the kitchen?
I should add that while it was boring, I did look through several years’ worth of invoices that I might better understand the palace’s needs.
The amount of food being ordered increased the past few months, and not decreased as Lester claimed. ”
“You think he lied?”
“No, I think the duke was stealing. His son stated he caught him taking large sums from the family coffers to enact his plot. However, it seems he also took some from the crown by invoicing for full groceries, but only buying a portion and pocketing the difference.”
A theory that solidified as the same situation repeated with each section head they spoke to. Linens not being replaced. The stables being provided with poorer quality hay and oats than previously. The level of corruption they discovered was on a scale that shocked.
How could her mother not have realized? Or had she been preoccupied with other worries? Avera couldn’t help but recall Gustav mentioning she seemed out of sorts.
Late afternoon, they found themselves back in Avera’s office with the rooks standing watch outside. Avera collapsed in her chair and sighed. “It would appear we have much work to do.”
“Yes, but nothing we can’t handle. We can start by actually supplying what’s on the lists being handed in. I’d also like to do a roster check to ensure wages are going to actual people as I wouldn’t put it past the previous duke to have been pocketing some of those sums.”
Avera grimaced. “I never knew how many tedious details ruling entailed.”
“Running a country is much like a business. You track expenses, purchase what’s needed, optimize operations where you can.”
“I’d much rather be taking stuff apart to see how it works.”
“Who says you can’t do that with your kingdom?” Josslyn smiled. “After all, it is like a machine with people as cogs, everything working together to make it hum.”
“An interesting way of looking at it. Here’s to hoping we don’t uncover more dirty secrets.”
“Speaking of secrets, is it true there’s tunnels in the walls?” Josslyn asked eagerly.
“Yes.” Avera turned somber. “It’s how the assassins moved around during the massacre.”
“I assume you had them sealed?”
She shook her head. “No, not yet at least, but we have made it so that anyone using the doorways won’t be able to do so quietly.” She pointed to the bookcase. “For example, that shelving unit swings out. The fireplace tools set in front of it will fall and make a clatter if that happens.”
Josslyn’s mouth rounded. “That’s an interesting way of handling it.”
“Gustav wasn’t as polite. He called it dumb. He thinks I should have them all bricked over, but I kind of like the idea of being able to move unnoticed should I not be in the mood for people bowing and scraping.”
“Useful for sneaking to see a paramour too,” Josslyn slyly added.
“I don’t have one.”
“Yet,” she laughed.
Avera’s nose wrinkled. “First I’d have to find a man who doesn’t annoy.”
“Perhaps your tour of the continent will allow you to meet someone.” Josslyn moved to the bookcase. “How does it open?”
“The carved flower second shelf from the top. Press and hold its center.”
Josslyn reached and pushed, jumping back as the shelving unit full of books shifted, causing the fireplace set to rattle. She snared it and dragged it out of the way before it fell. She poked her head in the opening. “I see a pinprick of light.”
“It’s the spyholes. Not all of them have covers over them.”
“Meaning people could be watching and listening?” Josslyn turned wide eyes on her.
“Yes. There’s quite a few actually.” Then because Avera needed a distraction, “Would you like to see them?”
Josslyn glanced at the office door. “Should we bring your bodyguards?”
“And have them tell Gustav?” Avera shook her head. “I’ve got my dagger. Besides, Gustav has had knights sweeping the tunnels at random.”
“Making them not so secret anymore.”
“I guess. Maybe it would be better to seal them.”
“Not today. Let’s go for a peek. I’ve always wanted to go on an adventure.”
Trekking through a tight and dark passageway hardly seemed to count and yet Avera found herself more intrigued than expected.
She grabbed a lantern and lit it before entering, the light illuminating the stone walls of the narrow passage.
They walked until they reached an intersection with the left section sloping upwards.
“Which way?” Josslyn whispered.
“Up leads to the royal chambers. To the right there are more choices, like the throne room and cellar as well as the small receiving parlor.”
“And they all have spyholes?”
“According to Gustav, yes, but let’s go see for ourselves.”
Indeed, each chamber the tunnels passed had a small aperture, some uncovered if a bit high, made for taller people.
Other holes had bolts embedded above them from which hung slim discs of wood that could be slid aside to spy.
They glanced through each one, observing the palace staff at work, chattering about their lives as they did.
Avera blushed when a glance into a receiving room showed a pawn and a housemaid in a torrid embrace.
Josslyn whispered, “He’s well endowed.”
A comment that only made Avera’s cheeks hotter.
They ended up following a ramp downward. It was a long stretch of seamless stone with no holes for spying and finished in a wall with one last peeking slot and a door that had a newly set bar across it.
Avera held up the lantern. “Seems we’ve reached the end.”
“Let’s see what’s on the other side.” Josslyn slid the wooden shield and put an eye to the hole and announced, “Cellar. A rather empty one at that. I’ll see to it that it’s filled promptly.” She let the cover drop back in place just as they heard a voice.
“Couldn’t we have met in a tavern?” grumbled a man.
Josslyn leaned close to whisper, “That sounds like Admiral Venne.”
Avera’s brows rose. Why would Admiral Venne be meeting someone in the cellar?