Content Warning: Mention of Child Abuse, Emetophobia, Some Overprotectiveness that can come off as ableism
Odelina gave a huff as she very pointedly transferred herself from her bed, which she had been relaxing in after getting dressed, to her wheelchair and then stared down her older brothers.
She was wearing something out of Earth’s Regency era, with the high waist just under her chest and the boxy collar and short sleeves, but it would do, allowing her to get dressed by herself and ease the transfer. Elder Timo seemed mostly seemed amused by her insistence and Edmond made a noise.
“I will see you off,” Odelina insisted.
“We haven’t fixed the lift,” Thurston argued.
“Then I’ll rest on the ground floor till I feel better and do the same when back up here. Honestly, Thurston, I’ll take a rest day if that’s needed. I only get a little sick,” Odelina argued, reaching for the controls, only to stop short.
Back on Earth, Elizabeth’s mother always fed her motion sickness pills. And sometimes she was fine. But whenever they had to be in public, or take long trips, she always threw up, generally all over herself.
She was always embarrassed and horrified, and wherever they were going was either changed or delayed because of it.
But after she moved out…that never happened. Even when she took the bus one time. She had been nervous and queasy, but…she hadn’t thrown up.
Portal transport was the easiest way to move around. What…what if Mother here had done the same? Or even Father.
He had happily enabled her, after all. So had Elizabeth’s father.
She didn’t say anything though. Instead, she made sure she had the familial favor and headed for the short-range portal.
Her memories guided her in setting for the ground floor and a rainbow of light surrounded her. It wasn’t overly bright, but beautiful and when it stopped she was on the ground floor.
In front of a family portrait that was framed with black curtains. She was sitting in the center, flanked by Edmond and Thurston, with their parents standing more behind her and Thurston than Edmond.
And they all shared their mother’s green eyes in the portrait.
“What?” she muttered, before the memory tickled in.
Mother had said the black eyes would frighten guests, so had them changed to match hers instead.
Never mind that they had those eyes.
“Ah, right,” she muttered and realized they’d have to make a new one.
Probably a few new ones. Though, in this case, they had money to throw around.
“Odelina, are you okay?” Thurston asked and she nodded, Edmond having already hurried out.
They were likely low on time.
“Yeah, just the portrait throwing me,” she said and glided toward the front hall. “Come on, we have to see Edmond off.”
“I wouldn’t dare leave till you did,” Edmond promised as he opened the doors for them, Thurston easily keeping pace with Odelina.
Going outside was a sharp reminder she was not on Earth anymore.
The air held that sharp, clear, feeling that she had only ever experienced high in the mountains, but even then, all she could smell was the air around her. There was no distant scent that didn’t quite fit beyond what came off of her wheelchair, since none of the wood was ‘local’ wood.
The front of Northsend Manor seemed practical. Elegantly put together, but in that timeless classic way that said, ‘we can afford to make everything functional first, pretty second.’
The front porch was a very good example. Wide and long enough that a party of five could easily stand talking on them, yet there were subtle notices to show where the ramp started and ended.
The only thing that took away from the chilly to the point of her brothers putting their spare cloaks on her morning was the giant tree that was encircled by the cobblestone path.
It didn’t belong in their freezing north.
The tiered and bowing branches, covered in feathery leaves that brushed against the grass it stood on, should not be there. But it had been there, just as tall and impressive then as it was now, when the manor was built over a thousand years ago.
It stood the test of time, to the point those swore so long as it stood, so did they.
Right now, surrounding the tree, it was organized chaos.
Ten wagons, some with tarps over them, others fully enclosed, and one that looked like a ‘chuck wagon’ if it had a wood top instead of being a covered wagon, were the most organized part of the chaos. But even they were not fully ready to go, as their teams were yet to be hitched.
But besides that, people were rushing around. Northsend Horses of all three builds stood about, the Warhorses more numerous than the rest. “I better join them,” Edmond said with a grin and he headed out, quickly taking command.
While it still seemed chaotic to Odelina, the teams of four of the Northern Drafts, short draft horses that were built for functionality and health over appearance so they were…probably ugly to most people, were hitched. The wagons were already on the move before everyone had settled into organized rows.
Edmond was at the front, and Odelina now realized what he had been wearing was for underneath. Not underclothes, but the layer between them. Underdressed, she supposed, was the proper word for it.
Now he was dressed in layers upon layers that moved smoothly, as if liquid was made solid, yet kept the fluidity. There was an antlered griffon, Phasus the Ethereal Gryffon, across the cape of blood red he wore. He was wearing the colors of all three Ethereals in fact, though predominantly was Phasus.
The knowledge just lept to her brain as Edmond mounted up, the uniform shimmering and flaring around him. Impractical, but most ceremonial things were.
Edmond mounting up sent a ripple effect through the ranks as the rest mounted up, and Thruston led the way down the ramp. It was a long thing that, even if Odelina had been in a manual wheelchair, she would have felt comfortable going down it. It wasn’t so steep that she couldn’t go sideways into a stop, and not so slow in sloping up that it would be an exhausting slog to do so.
She wondered how they had calculated that when building this place.
“We honor Northsend Duchy with our actions on the Imperial Circuit, Duke of Northsend. We shall see you at Summer's End,” Edmond said seriously, his fist coming to rest over his heart as he bowed his head to Thurston.
Edmond’s horse seemed to be doing the same, his front left leg raising in the air and pawing slightly as he bowed his head, neck arching beautifully before he stood stone still again.
Words and actions that Odelina had never been allowed to hear, always kept inside, but she knew by heart anyway.
“Knights, Archers, and Magus of Northsend, you always bring us honor,” Thurston answered with a sharp nod.
It was followed by waves of salutes and echoing calls of honoring Northsend.
“We will see the honor and glory you bring the Northsend Duchy at Summer's End,” Odelina said warmly and Edmond grinned, all silly boyish charm.
She wanted to throw something at his head for it and then realized she had something.
She picked it up, tying it to the whorl of one of her drop spindles and huffed. “Catch,” she said and threw it at Edmond, who easily caught it.
Odelina was rather surprised she actually got it in his vicinity. He untied it and blinked when he saw the familial favor spilling across his gloved hand. “For you to come back safe,” she said simply, feeling her face heat.
Edmond smiled. “Well, now I have to win. My baby sister wishes me to return,” he teased.
“Where’s another whorl?”
Thruston put his hand on her shoulder, sighing heavily as there were chuckles from everyone. Now looking, she could see that there was a calm line of horses, out of sight from the porch, that matched the number already there.
They stood quietly as if waiting and Odelina looked up at Edmond, who grinned. “Summer's End. Don’t be late,” he teased and she backed up with Thruston as they began to ride out.
Shod hooves rung across the stones and Odelina couldn’t stop herself from waving as they rode out, the horses that had been standing, riding after them. They flowed through the formation of riders until they were on the right hand of each member going on the Imperial Circuit.
“Do you know why those Northsend Duchy Horses are so prized?” Thruston asked softly as the last rider disappeared out of sight.
“No,” she admitted as she looked up at him.
Thurston was dressed in his normal layers. He liked them, for many reasons, the main one being it kept him from damaging his left arm. As it was, if she remembered the book right, he would get a cut on the back of his elbow, where he couldn’t feel and lose his left arm when the infection spread to the part that he could feel. An accident in his youth, supposedly, had left the nerves in the outer part of his left arm destroyed.
He had worn his layers ever since.
Thurston smiled at her. “The Northsend Duchy Horses have Arcana Pathways. And they’re the only mortal beasts that do.”
Odelina stared. “What?” she exclaimed.
She scowled as Thruston began to laugh softly at her.
Thurston gave a soft chuckle as he finished packing his bags for tomorrow. He would be taking a carriage and wagon through portals to their estate in the Capital, along with the long, tiring, process of becoming the Duke, instead of just Duke.
At least Odelina had seemed fascinated by learning about the Northsend Duchy Horses. Between her and Edmond, when he got back, it would be well cared for.
Well…unless Marquise Gildhall and their third-born son, Leonhald, agreed to the marriage. And while children would be an issue, at the same time, numerous forms of magic and blessings would allow a surrogate if he couldn’t handle that.
The thought made him slightly nauseous in the way bleeding once a month didn’t. “I should probably get scooped out then,” he muttered, but he didn’t like that idea any more than pregnancy.
He made a noise.
Too heavy thoughts for right now. Well, the wrong sort of heavy for this very second. He had a complicated dance to do, if he wanted to make sure that Odelina wasn’t turned into a Hostage Bride.
As it was, he was leaving Odelina alone for the next five months, through the entirety of the spring. Spring, when floods, disease, wild beasts, and crop destruction happened in abundance. They would need the full power of the Duchy and they could not use it. Odelina would only be able to work in the bounds of the previous years, so if anything came up that hadn’t happened in the last three years, the Duchy could suffer irreversible losses.
And Emperor Balthasar Diem Ielding, Fifth of His Name, was not one to give short term allowance.
Thurston started when there was a knock on the outer door to his rooms. He stepped to his bedroom door as he called for entry. The door opened easily and Odelina, wrapped in a dressing gown, glided in.
Seeing it like this, Thruston could see where the wheelchair was likely not the best.
While there were ‘bags’ on the wheelchair, they were hard sided. And while they allowed her to hold her embroidery things, as well as her drop spindles and unspun fiber, they were constantly scrapped by the wheels. He wondered if that was even comfortable for her to sit in.
She never complained, but…
“Odelina,” he greeted warmly, sending those thoughts away.
He could deal with those thoughts after he was the Duke.
“Here,” Odelina said and held out the package on her lap. “They’re newly made and such. You never put enough anywhere.”
Thurston startled and took the package, immediately recognizing it as a delivery of monthly pads.
“Thank you, Odelina,” he said softly and Odelina smiled.
“You’re welcome. Don’t ride off into the dawn or something,” she said as she turned to leave.
“Into the dawn is entirely the wrong direction.”
One of the decorative pillows from his sofa went flying past his head in response.
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