They were not stopped at the city gates, though she'd expected to be. Instead they rode quickly passed the walls, the boundary of Reverie's entire life up to now, and headed south. Or at least, she was pretty sure they were going south. The cardinal directions, and how to recognize which you were traveling in, hadn't been a large part of her education. It didn't matter though, she reasoned. The Grand Duke knew where they were going, so as long as she didn't get separated from him everything would be fine. She wished, for many reasons, that they'd taken a carriage instead of racing off in the dead of night on horseback. Her thighs burned, and sweat dripped down her back, as she struggled to keep up with the Grand Duke's pace.
"Thoughtless bastard." She mumbled to herself, certain he couldn't hear her. Though she had to admit, their unforgiving pace was keeping her thoughts from going into dangerous territory. She didn't have time to wonder what she was going to do for a living now that she couldn't return to the Garden, she had to focus on not losing sight of her companion or falling off of her horse. Just as she was starting to wonder how long a horse could go at such a speed before stopping, she saw that the Grand Duke had slowed considerably.
"We'll need to let them rest ahead, there's a stream and a spot to graze them. Plenty of open space, you won't have to worry about falling in the water." He said as she came alongside him. Her horse, she thought it was brown, whinnied as if in thanks.
"Alright." She answered, trying not to take her poor mood out on him. She wanted to say it was his fault, for coming and giving Ilysia a chance to send her away. But she knew better. Jovan Folquet had come to find help for his son, and her brother, not to ruin her life. And what was she grieving anyway? Was it some great loss to be kicked out of a brothel, and given the chance to have at least some freedom and dignity? She scowled at herself, without thinking about her companion.
"Lady Reverie, I know these circumstances are…. Less than ideal. But I do hope one day you can forgive me for what I said before." He spoke softly, like a father who'd dealt with an angry child more than once. She snapped out of her thoughts and cocked her head at him. In the moonlight, he looked ten years younger, and a hundred years older all at once.
"Forgive you? You haven't apologized." She said simply, there was no meanness in her over it any more. In the moment, sitting in a room where she was presumed to be selling her body, it had hurt her pride too much to be chastised like it was something for her to be ashamed of. But the truth was, she did feel shame. Though none of it, not her being raised there, nor her being forced to work there, had been her fault. Or even something to feel shame over, she added to herself. And if someone was willing to apologize for judging her, well she wasn't unreasonable enough to refuse. If they apologized.
"Have I not?" He asked.
"No, you haven't. You've asked my forgiveness at least twice now. But you haven't actually said the words, 'I'm sorry', or even, 'I was an ass'. " She responded as their horses finally came into view of the rest area he'd mentioned. She wondered how a person could remember a spot like this, with no obvious land marker around. He must have traveled a lot, she thought.
"Ha! I'm glad you've got your temper left, at least. I know it's been a trying night for you. And for what it's worth Lady Reverie, I am truly sorry. I was an incorrigible ass, and I hope you can forgive me for it one day." He didn't hesitate to offer the apology, and she couldn't hide her surprise. He chuckled at her and held a hand out to help her dismount. She took it gratefully, and managed to fall in a somewhat controlled way off the horse. Her legs were stiff, and wobbly, all at once. She plopped to the grass and heaved a sigh as the Grand Duke walked the horses towards the water. She looked up at the night sky, and wished she were the sort to lose herself looking at the stars. They were just…spots, to her. She'd been given a poetry book, in which the poet compared his lover's eyes to sparkling jewels and glittering stars. It hadn't struck her as romantic then when a middle aged merchant had given it to her, and it didn't now either.
"Why do you keep calling me Lady?" She asked his back, just loud enough for him to hear. He looked over his shoulder in her direction, though she couldn't clearly see more than that in the dark.
"What do you mean? You're of noble birth, it would be your title under different circumstances." He explained as he came back from the horses. Reverie wondered if they wouldn't run away once he let them go, but they didn't. She looked at him from the side, waiting to see if he would rethink his words, but he didn't. She smiled bitterly to herself as she answered.
"Things aren't different though, are they? I've been a prostitute my entire life, now I'm just unemployed." She said. He remained quiet for a few moments, as though looking for the right thing to say. She considered then, that he might deserve an offer of peace. She didn't really have a reason to be angry with him anymore after all. And he was going to be finding her work, it wouldn't be a bad idea to treat him a little more kindly she admitted to herself.
"I don't know how to answer that, really. I know that from your perspective, that's who you are. But to me, you're the daughter of my best friend and his wife, who was herself a princess. To me, you are Lady Reverie." He said, scratching the stubble on his chin.
"I suppose I'm that, too. Lady Reverie, esteemed whore of the Garden, secret grandchild of Duke Ecoffier, and house call healer to Grand Duke Folquet. I'm an accomplished woman." She mused. She could see that he wanted to say something, probably correct her and tell her she was still a 'girl'. In the end though, he didn't say anything until the horses had rested and it was time to continue on.
"We've made good enough time, we'll reach the estate before the sun rises." He said as he waited for her to settle back in on her horse. He made sure not to look at her as her skirt rose once again above her knees.
"Well, then, I suppose we'd better go see if I can save your son, and my beloved brother." She said, and they began their breakneck journey again.
When Reverie awakens to her magic, she is hurtled towards a journey fate is determined for her to take. As she leaves behind her life as an orphan in a brothel, to learn painful truths about her family, Reverie can only trust in what she's been taught all her life; "If you want to survive, you must be useful and make use of others." Reverie soon finds herself allied with a group she wouldn't have chosen for herself. Can she survive the gauntlet of trials before her, and learn to take the hands being offered to her? Or will her own doubts be enough to hold her back, and pave way for a calamity several hundred years in the making?
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