Page 57 of The Fifth Life of Alicia
“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.
