Chapter Twelve
The Magic Circles
After my midnight eavesdropping session, everything moved quickly, and the following two weeks were a whirlwind of chaos that had me existing in a state of constant nausea.
In my past life, I’d been someone who craved control and order.
In this life, I had neither of those things.
I was controlled. I was ordered. I was pulled from pillar to post with little regard for my wants or needs. Everything I did was at the whim of others around me.
I was officially informed that the Emperor had given his consent for the engagement and that it would be going ahead.
Apparently, he respected my lack of desire to be Empress and was happy to have me as his daughter-in-law either way.
He would officially announce our engagement during the ball at the hunting tournament in a month or so’s time, when both Kalon and I would be expected to return from Stein.
All my social engagements bar Marchioness Velian’s tea party were all put on hold, and after meeting her, I spent three days solid being poked and prodded by her people in the dowager marchioness’ boutique.
My current wardrobe wasn’t befitting of a future Grand Duchess, but Isabelle and the dowager marchioness had promised to create me one that was worthy of the position and send it all directly to Stein Castle.
Thanks to Isabelle playing my personal stylist, I’d had the time to see my friends.
Vivi, Sasha, Blair, and Georgina had all hijacked my dress sessions at the boutique, even bringing Lady Elisa along for the last session.
One of my biggest worries was that I wouldn’t be able to see them before I left, but thanks to Vivi’s terrifying ability to co-ordinate just about everything, that hadn’t come to pass.
It also meant I could settle things with Ezra. On my final fitting day, Georgina had come with a letter from him. In it, he’d correctly surmised that this was the engagement I was desperately trying to avoid and expressed his regret that he hadn’t been done with my request sooner.
He’d also assured me that if it didn’t work out for any reason and he was still single, he’d happily marry me.
He’d also told me that he’d be willing to be my lover even if it did work out.
I had yet to decide if he was joking, but I feared he wasn’t.
All my belongings were packed up, with most of my jewellery and the appropriate clothing sent on ahead. It was approximately ten days by carriage from the capital to Stein Castle, but the Grand Duke had arranged for Stein’s mages to set up magic circles for teleportation.
Apparently, that was how he came and went from the capital. The circles wouldn’t only be used for my belongings—after several hours of travel in the carriage, I was to use a circle to transport to Stein, too.
I was not looking forward to sampling what was essentially teleportation.
Magic was cool until you needed it to rearrange all your bodily matter.
Bella and Annie’s employment was quickly dissolved from House Vermillion, and they were absorbed into the grand ducal household.
They were coming with me, and while Annie remained as my personal maid, Bella’s experience granted her a deserved promotion to be my lady-in-waiting.
I was informed I would be able to select a further three maids from the household staff when I was ready.
I was not ready.
I was overwhelmed.
My father had been right when he’d told my stepmother that I’d applied myself to my studies as a child, but I wasn’t quite prepared for the level of responsibility that I would assume as a grand duchess.
Not that I had any intention of taking that title, of course, but the point remained that I had to play along and learn it all anyway.
Honestly, I should have just become the future Empress with everything I would be expected to do in Stein.
But as I sat in the carriage on the way to the magic circle with Bella and Annie, having bade farewell to my family and the only home I’d ever known, it hit me.
All this fussing over future responsibilities was a chance.
A chance to buy the time I desperately needed to end this engagement before things went too far.
In the end, Kalon would fall in love with Lillia at first sight at the autumn ball this year.
All I had to do was hold off the marriage until then, a little over six months’ time.
Then, I would have no divorce to my name, and Kalon would be the one responsible for breaking off the engagement, not me.
I would be able to claim some compensation from him for it, and more importantly, I wouldn’t have to die.
For that to happen, I needed two things. I needed Kalon to believe that I wanted to delay our marriage for six-ish months until I had sufficiently learnt my role, and I needed to not attend the autumn ball.
After all, if I never crossed paths with Lillia de Armand, I could never be accused of poisoning her, and my life would be safe.
Getting out of attending the ball would be difficult, but perhaps I could fake illness.
Fortunately, that was a problem for future Allie.
Future Allie was going to hate past Allie for that.
“My lady, we’re approaching the magic circle,” Bella said, peeking out of the window. “Would you like to rest before we proceed?”
I shook my head. “We’ll have some time while the mages work, won’t we?”
“Yes. I believe one of the mages will be coming to greet you.”
“Then that’s fine.” I clasped my hands in my lap, turning my attention to the vibrant green forest outside. “Will they tell us how close to the castle we’ll be when we travel through the circle?”
“I believe so, but the arrival destination has been kept secret for your safety, my lady.”
I sighed. “Are you both sure about this? Bella, I know you have a cousin in Stein, but that’s not the case for you, Annie.” I looked at my young maid. “Your family are in the capital, aren’t they? This may be your last chance to turn back.”
Annie shook her head vehemently, and a strand of her deep red hair fell loose from her bun. “I can’t think of anything I’d rather do than follow you to Stein, my lady.”
“Are you sure?”
“If I may speak frankly, my lady,” she said quietly.
“My father is a drunk who takes my earnings for his gambling debts and has ever since he forced me into work at the age of twelve. If I’m in Stein, at least, he can no longer steal my hard-earned money from me.
Moving there with you is a chance for me to break free of him and start again. ”
My heart squeezed.
I had to protect this sweet girl at all costs.
“Very well,” I said, looking over at her. “When we reach Stein, I will ensure he can never exploit you again.”
“I cannot—”
“It looks as though we’ve arrived at the circle site.” I shuffled across the seat and peered out of the window. “Annie, please go and seek information from the mages travelling with us. Ensure that they’ve eaten before activating the circle.”
Her spine straightened. “Yes, my lady. Of course.”
She scuttled out of the carriage, pausing only to shut the door behind her.
I smiled.
Bella raised her hand and coughed behind her sleeve. “You’re quite soft on her.”
“Am I?” I couldn’t stop the curving of my lips.
“She’s a sweet girl, but she’s new to her position.
I don’t know what the situation will be when we arrive at Stein Castle, and I don’t want her to face any hardships because of that.
You’ve been my maid for years so your position will be secure, but Annie doesn’t have that sort of security. ”
“That’s very thoughtful of you, my lady.”
“If I’m to establish any authority, I must make it clear that my maids are not to be looked down upon.” I met her warm gaze. “The two of you are leaving your homes to come with me. The least I can do is make sure your transition will be as easy as possible.”
“My lady!” Annie’s face appeared in the window of the carriage door. “This is so cool! You must come and see this!”
Bella sighed, shaking her head. “She’s such a hard worker that I forget she’s barely eighteen sometimes.”
I grinned. “Her excitement is infectious. Come, let us see.”
The coachman was waiting for me outside the carriage and offered me his hand. “It shouldn’t take the mages too long to set up the circles, Lady Alicia. There’s a waiting area we can set up for you if you’d like.”
“Oh, gosh, it’s quite all right. I’m thankful for the opportunity to stretch my legs,” I replied, adjusting the rim of my hat so I could see in the sunlight, and smiled at the young coachman. “What’s your name?”
“Peter, my lady. I work for the Grand Duke.” He straightened as if someone had shot a bolt of lightning down his spine, and I suppressed a chuckle. He reminded me so much of Harry.
“Well, Peter, thank you very much for your care so far. The trip has been quite smooth for us.” I smiled again. “Do make sure you rest while we wait.”
He blushed. “I will, Madam.”
Oh, God.
They were addressing me as his fiancée already.
“Her Ladyship would like to see the mages work, if it’s possible,” Bella said. “Can you arrange that for us, Mister Peter?”
If I thought he was blushing before, it was nothing quite like the red that coloured his face at Bella’s words.
“I-I’ll be right b-back, miss.” He tipped his hat before running off to a group of people in deep navy robes with intricate golden stitching.
One of them turned, peering at me from under the hood, and gave a little nod of their head. The person in question followed Peter back over, and he wrung his hands together tightly before speaking.
“M-my lady, this is Aerwyna, the Head of the Stein Mages.” He held out his hand to motion to her. “I will take my leave.”
“Thank you, Peter.” I smiled at him once more before turning to the robed mage and offering her my hand, which she took. “Lady Aerwyna, it’s an honour to make your acquaintance. Please accept my apologies for drawing you away from your work.”
“It’s not a problem, my lady. How could I not greet the incoming Grand Duchess of Stein on her journey to my homeland?” She raised two elegant hands and slipped off her hood. “The honour is all mine.”
Wow.
She was gorgeous.
Her hair was a mix of aquamarine and silver that blended in the kind of perfect highlights that people would pay a fortune to get back in my past life, and her eyes were the most incredible shade of amber that gazed upon me kindly, but they were not void of suspicion.
That made sense. Bella had helped me educate myself about Stein somewhat over the past two weeks, and I knew their mages were struggling.
The previous duke had all but cut off their funding, and the Magic Tower in Sada hadn’t taken too kindly to Kalon’s plans for Stein to have their own equivalent.
Kalon had increased their funding, and in turn, the empire’s mages were angry at their perceived competition and were demanding they not work together.
I was fuzzy on the details, but it seemed to be an ongoing battle that Duke Trelawney was stuck in the middle of.
No wonder Lady Aerwyna was wary of me, a blue-blooded noble of the empire coming to her home.
“I’ve never travelled by magic circle before,” I said warmly, peeking over her shoulder. “I was merely hoping to see it before we departed.”
“Of course, my lady.” She bowed her head. “If you’ll follow me, I’ll show you a circle that’s waiting to be activated.”
“I appreciate it.”
“Although… is that your maid? The excitable redhead?” She raised a hand and pointed across the clearing. “Pardon my rudeness, but can you ask her to leave my mages alone?”
Annie was bouncing from mage to mage, and her excitable questions were easy to hear from where we are.
I sighed.
“I will fetch her, my lady.” Bella spun on the balls of her feet and marched across the clearing, then grabbed Annie by the back of her cloak and yanked her up.
“I do apologise,” I said, turning my attention away from the sight of Bella frantically whispering in Annie’s ear. “Annie only recently came to my service and is still undergoing training. Please don’t think unkindly of her.”
“Your maid over there seems to have a good handle on her. Which is just as well—the Grand Duke doesn’t tolerate discourtesy in his household,” Lady Aerwyna replied. “Anyway, here we are.”
She then proceeded to explain to me the mechanics of drawing the circles and the symbols that were involved, offering a brief rundown of how they changed based upon what they were required for.
“Fascinating,” I said, peering at the intricate pattering on the ground. “I’ve seen magic be used directly, but rarely through circles.”
“Yes, smaller amounts of magic can be used without a medium,” Aerwyna explained.
“But for large scale magic such as this, it requires more than one mage, and circles are a convenient medium for us to work through. In this instance, these circles have been used a few times this week as your belongings have been moved to Stein, my lady.”
My lips parted. “Really? You’ve reused them? Astounding.”
“We don’t often have an opportunity to reuse the circles,” a man said from the other side of the circle, keeping his head down. “Your ladyship’s journey has been most valuable for our research.”
“Really? How so?”
“We’ve been able to—”
“Jasper,” Aerwyna said with an edge to her voice.
He bowed his head until it was practically on the ground.
“My apologies, Lady Alicia,” she said, schooling her tone back to one of nonchalance. “Our research is confidential, and Jasper’s tongue is loose.”
I swallowed.
Aerwyna was scary.
“Oh, no, please.” I held up my hands. “It’s quite all right. I’m sorry for enquiring onto something confidential.”
Although they shouldn’t have said they reused the circles if it was that confidential, but what did I know?
Someone in a light blue robe appeared next to Aerwyna and whispered in her ear. Aerwyna nodded before whispering back and turning to me. “The circles are ready, my lady. Please return to your carriage with your attendants. We will be arriving in Stein shortly.”