Queen Farida led the tour on Duke Dominis’ arm. Lady Gyla trailed just behind them, taking in the sights with Sylvia and Cur. 

True to his word, the duke gifted Gyla a thick shawl of fur to wear during her stay. It kept her warm from the stone that radiated the chill of the previous night. 

“A gift!” Lady Cur teased in her ear as they headed up to one of the tallest towers. 

They had little chance to talk as their voices echoed off the vaulted ceilings and stone walls. Gyla swore she saw no wood in this entire place but for the chairs and tables. Even then, the duke had stone slabs in the rumpus room with carved in chess boards. She almost choked at the thought of sitting on the stone benches that matched them. Her ass would freeze in minutes!

“It is not,” Gyla corrected her. “A mere necessity.” 

She would have liked it much better if it had been a gift. Nevertheless, she accepted the shawl with all due grace. 

“I think Her Majesty knew all along…” Lady Sylvia trailed behind them and winked at them when they glanced back at her. 

“It is not like Her Majesty to be so ill prepared,” Lady Cur agreed. 

Gyla could offer no argument and instead focused on the sights once they reached the top. 

What marvelous sights they were! Forests of green stretched to the north horizon. The servants in the courtyard like ants. The guards could be heard, though not seen from the vantage point, practicing and laughing. 

“Does this make you homesick, Lady Gyla?” Lady Sylvia asked as they leaned out the open windows and glanced below. Her high ponytail kissed her cheek as her head ducked to watch a crew of servants disappear. 

“A little,” Gyla admitted. “From here the trees appear the same, but I only need to walk through them to know they are not mine.” 

“You know your forests very well,” the duke noted. 

“I do.” Gyla nodded her head, though she did not peer back at him. 

“Is it not dangerous to wander them?” Lady Sylvia pried. 

“It is.” Gyla pushed back from the window to address her, the corner of her eye seeing the duke’s gaze on her. “But, it is no more dangerous than walking through the villages and towns.”

“Discus are prone to wandering through, I heard.” Queen Farida piped up. 

“Yes, Your Majesty. And the capseni do not care if we have wooden walls.” She shook her head sadly. 

Capseni swarms did not attack often, but when they did, there were always casualties. 

“But,” Gyla smiled at them, “we northerners are a hardy breed. Is that not right, Your Grace?” 

Her quip pried a small smile from him and his gaze softened on her. 

“That is right, my lady.” Then, as if the attention became too much, he swept the queen back to the stairs. “We still have much to explore.”

Lady Cur and Lady Sylvia each grabbed one of Gyla’s arms and held off following to ensure a moment of privacy. 

“He softened his gaze on you!” Lady Cur squealed in Gyla’s left ear as a rogue curl poked Gyla’s eye. 

“And his smile! How endearing!” Lady Syliva cooed in her right. “I would never dream of being able to make him smile so easily the way you have.” 

Gyla flushed a bright red, rivaling her hair and her lady friends cooed at that too. Thankfully, by the time they all managed to rejoin at the bottom, her cheeks cooled to their usual soft pink. 

They completed the tour in time for supper, legs aching and breath taken from their lungs. 

Queen Farida walked Gyla back to her room. 

“I am a bit disappointed to see you’ve lost your zeal, Gyla.” The queen stopped a few feet from Gyla’s door where Phlad currently waited. 

“I must admit to being quite nervous.” The queen nodded in understanding and Gyla dropped her voice low to whisper, “I also feel terribly guilty about this talk of hunting the poor duke. Every time I think of him hiding away in a rabbit hole, it makes me cringe as much as it makes me laugh.” 

Queen Farida threw her head back and let her laugh ring down the corridor. Poor Phlad jumped at the noise. 

“You are much too sweet, my dove. He should be so lucky, then, for any other noble lady would have tossed such compassion to the wind and cornered him already.” She sighed happily and stared at the wall for a moment. Once she returned from her thoughts, she kissed Gyla’s cheek and said, “Hares never win the race and I assure you, no matter how bumpy this track gets, you will win it.” 

With that, the queen left her to rest and promised to see her bright and early in the morning. She wanted to see the duke blush, at least once, during this affair.