Storme Family/Aila/AilaxKenneth

Duchess of the Hunt

Her letter to Kenneth contained an unintentional understatement, the hunting lodge she had planned to host the Caligan ambassadors at for their hunt was not abandoned at this time of day, it appeared to be plain abandoned. Overgrown weeds and fallen trees tell her instantly that the place has not been used since the Autumn, and with the help of Gideon she manages to pry open the lock on the door, seized locked after being left untouched over two seasons.

Inside is in thankfully better shape. A large main room greets her, all windows still in place, everything looking dry and just as it should. A huge hearth with a massive mounted trophy is the focus of the room, two male moose heads with antlers interlocked. Stuffed and mounted, forever telling the story of their conflict with each other and serving as little more than a conversation piece for smarmy nobility as a result.

A short walk around the building pulling back heavy linen covers reveals rows of trophies bolted to nearly every inch of the walls in the hallways, from deer racks to bear teeth, furniture carved with all types of animals, closets packet with linens for the few bedrooms and a kitchen stocked with implements. All of this confirms to meticulous Aila that with some cleaning and a fire in the hearth it should be more than suitable to host some nobles for a hunt.

When she returns to the main hall Gideon has already left to look outdoors again. As he had said earlier, he was about to set to work clearing the tree that had fallen across the road to the lodge in order to let the horses through. The echo of his axe reaches past the log-cabin walls of the place to the young Duchess standing alone among the dusty furniture covers. Whether Kenneth decides to join her or not, this trip was not a waste…Having seen the place herself she already had a mental list miles long of things to tell her staff.

Kenneth and his entourage rode up to the lodge, the sound of axe strikes guiding the way. He nodded to Gideon, and seconded a few of his burlier retainers to assist with the tree as he dismounted and made his way in, waving the rest to stay with the horses.

His nose wrinkled somewhat as he made his way to the hall, taking in the general air of abandonment, but he then nodded approvingly. A little sprucing up was really all that was needed, yes...

His breath caught momentarily as reached the main hall and saw his quarry, but a momentary effort brought his reaction under control.

"A good choice, my lady. Let me know if you need anything, I can bring people from Nascot quite easily."

Around them the cabin loomed empty and silent, but the setting matters very little when Kenneth is near. A handsome figure set against the sunlight pouring in from the open doorway behind him. The silhouette she had been dreaming of her time long in Isadril.

Logistics of the event had left her mind the moment she heard others approaching outdoors, when Kenneth entered to find her waiting and mentioned staff straight away she was at a rare loss. Standing before him still in her riding gear tailored of supple black dyed leather, with her long golden toned hair tied in a braid tousled by a day of horse riding she looked more like a hunter in that lodge than a Duchess; But there could be no mistaking what she was based on the perfect Peradanese accent always present in her voice. “You look Wonderful! But how have you been? Really.” Where for most there would be a steely glare or superior sneer for Kenneth there was genuine interest, maybe even a tinge of concern as she took one cautious step toward him. He knew as well as anyone that she had more staff than a hunting event could ever require a hundred times over, and had come alone inside so Aila takes the leap and adds on the sentiment “I have missed you.”

His smile brightened.

“I could say the same to you, oh Duchess of the Hunt. I have been...Better.”

As she adds her codicil, he looks uncharacteristically hesitant.

“I have missed you...I...Mm, I think there is something we might need to resolve, first. We had discussed being...Authentic, which is very…”

His hand jerks up in a frustrated gesture.

“I am not used to it. It felt...Very good...However…”

The normally suave Ambassador’s face was almost anguished. He closed the remaining distance between them, catching her up in his arms.

“When I drop the artifice, I also lose any self-control. And without any self-control…”

His arms trembled around her.

“I am not...Always kind or gentle.”

He is agitated, she sees it at once and a smile does not rise to her face as he approaches her. Caught in an embrace she wraps her arms tight around him. While he trembles, she holds fast as he makes his confession and when done Aila tips her head back, pushing away from him slightly just to get another long look at him. She wants him, and best of all she feels he wants her as well- but cannot help but push the boundaries. Nose to nose she quips “Well I am never kind and rarely gentle” before catching his lip in an audacious love-bite and urgently pressing further into a passionate kiss before he can protest...

He stills, and then kisses back fiercely. The trembling is gone, the hesitancy is gone. And as they finish the kiss, his lips curl up into a predatory smile, as his fingers wrapped her braid around one firm hand.

“Well, then. If I need not worry, then I can just…”

He pulled her hair back, exposing a vulnerable throat, and returned her bite, before growling out.

“Enjoy”

In an instant the so-called Duchess of the Hunt became prey to the Duke ensnaring her symbolic mane in one forceful fist. Her heart is pounding straight away, and she instinctively cradles the back of his neck in her palm, letting out an involuntary whimper as treats her so roughly. The fiery nature inside her says to push him off and show him she is the one in charge but there is something enticingly adverse to her nature about letting go of power. Instead of attempting to get the upper hand she submits, agreeing through ragged breathes “Enjoy.”

---

Outside their retainers worked diligently to clear anything else fallen over the walking trails while thinking that inside, two very important people were working very hard. In a manner of speaking, they had worked very hard though very little work got done. The sun that had made Kenneths arrival so breathtaking to behold had faded into a gray cast by the time the two Dukes had conducted their business in the lodge.

Only partly dressed, Aila sits beside Kenneth on a still covered seat dabbing his back with a square of fabric pilfered from his own jacket. She got a bit of a shock, as they recovered from the encounter when she had noticed stains on her hands... There is only bewilderment in Aila’s voice as she explains “I don’t know what came over me, I have never done this before” while holding his long dark hair out of the way, insisting on cleaning the collection of cat-like scratches on his shoulders herself.

Kenneth’s breath hissed a moment at a particular sting before he responded.

“Well, that makes two of us, certainly…”

He twisted around to catch her eye with a wicked grin.

“Fair’s fair, though, if a few-”

He winced as her hand pressed on a deeper scratch.

“-several scratches are what I have to pay, then I’ll have come out well ahead in the exchange.”

Aila can tell Kenneth is trying to make her feel better but it does not help her much, hearing him hiss and seeing him wince. In her eyes he is a lovely man, and after what they agreed he shouldn’t have to suffer anything at all. “I will not do it again” She assures him quietly, sure there would be no more specks of blood to appear before scooping his shirt off the floor and handing it to him. She pulls the bottoms of her riding gear off the dusty floor, flicking them once before pulling them onto her legs, standing shortly after to the sound of the silver latch on her belt clinking as she fastens it in front of him. Finally, she tears her eyes off of him to check outside, rising to the tips of her toes to see out the dusty windows. Their men had built a fire, all sitting together around the crackling branches of some of the trees they had worked together to clear.

Seeing they had more time together she dares to accuse “But you did not say anything, either”.

He had been enjoying the view of her dressing, but his eyes moved upwards with a grin as he stood, shrugging into the sleeves of his shirt, though he did not bother with the ties.

“I believe I was saying everything necessary. Or were my actions not speaking loudly enough? Perhaps I need more practice in speaking your...”

His hands wrapped around her hips, pulling her back against him as he leaned down to breathe in her ear.

“Language.”

This man...A strong arm around her waist and a whispered word sent a shiver of desire through her again, so soon after such a satisfying interlude together. How did he do that so easily? Kenneth has always had an intensity that came easy, but had never directed it at her. It is addicting, she finds herself hovering close to him again… The quiver in her breath is cut short by the sharpness of her tongue attempting to save herself from getting lost with him once again “Try; AILA! You’re bloody killing me! Next time.” she offers with a playful grin.

He laughed, arms tightening around her as he shook a little.

“I will bear that in mind! But I will repeat, and I am certain you can feel that I am not acting even had our rules not disallowed such artifice, that I quite enjoyed myself.”

She could feel his grin against her cheek as he gave a quick kiss.

“Now, the question is, shall we wander out and have someone prepare us a meal? Or simply have them bring something in while we explore more leisurely?”

His hands and lips left little confusion as to what he preferred.

He takes her with good humor as always, something else she had always admired about him. Knowing her since she was so young, he had plenty of reasons not to like her by now but seemed to look past them all to what? She couldn’t decide. The business of his hands and lips gave a hint, perhaps the beauty she possessed was the key to her success with staying on his good side? She answers his question simply with “If we wait long enough, Gideon will feed us. He will not let me skip a meal even if I try. Look at the place with me, you will see the work that needs to be done and we can talk. You spoke of many things in your letters, your dealings with commoners and their guild. Eros Harte? It all left me rather curious”. As she speaks, Aila coaxes him along to inspect the place again with her.

Kenneth followed her lead willingly enough, though he captured one arm and continued running his fingers over it while they continued.

“Ah, loyal Gideon, I should have remembered. Fair enough. We do have some work to do, yes...Ah, the Guild? In essence, a place where we can find adventurers for various services. Item repairs, the rediscovery of forgotten lore, and the hunting of various things that go bump in the night. Quite useful, in all, and the Guild helps finance the equipment of the commoners so they can be of more use, and thus we all benefit.”

He frowned at a splintered section of wall, which looked as though someone had used it for target practice, pointing it out briefly before continuing.

“Duke Eros is quite the character. I think he founded the Guild to secure a steady stream of scrolls, as much as for any other reason. And he is well-practiced with them, so I suppose it was a reasonable investment. Not the sort of man to bother about much beyond that, however, and after a dispute that nearly saw Perdan found its own guild for a similar purpose, I convinced him to make me an Elder of the guild to oversee things. And I have done…”

He waggled his free hand, then nodded as she pointed out a good staging area for some of the food, assuming the tables were still sound.

“Middling-well, I would say. The finances are still a mess, and we need more guildhouses, but membership has increased and the guild is certainly thriving. I am tolerably proud of things so far, and hope my next round of reforms will sort out the finances further. Does that assuage your curiosity, my lady? I am happy to continue babbling on if you wish, but I know this is not normally a favourite topic of yours.”

“I have always found them to be troublesome,” Aila agrees reluctantly but goes on “Yet over the years I have been slowly gaining an appreciation for their uses. Still I cannot bring myself to join that guild. But! I opened the museum for them did I not?" She muses defensively “And I had food for them on Leandra's day, and after the disasters I did not drop the efforts to support them so” she shrugs, obviously struggling under her own ambivalence.

Not entirely sure why she was defending herself she offers “If you are at the helm then I would see fit to, perhaps help fund it. The war is over, afterall.” As she says this Aila jerks open the large doors of a wardrobe in one of the few bedrooms, revealing lots of folded up, white sheets. She shuts it again “You asked about Oliver too. I was impressed at how close tabs you keep on your Steward- meanwhile mine sits happily in Alyssa’s pocket, well paid by me and no doubt tattling at every turn...She is good at her job, though.”

He arches an amused eyebrow.

“You keep the city in good form, I doubt any of your smallfolk have reason to complain. And while I would welcome more funding for the Guild, you need not join on my account. ‘Authentic’ was the name of the game, after all, and I do not want you to be someone you are not. Not for me.”

He noted a particularly impressive spear rack, built of a fine dark wood with bronzed trimmings, which would show nicely in the main hall.

“Oliver has a great deal of potential, if he can learn to control his tongue. He has already put me in two difficult situations, though served well in a number of others, and I have hopes he will grow out of his hotheadedness.”

The Duke’s voice grew teasing.

“And do you have so many things for Isabel to ‘tattle’ on, my lady? Admittedly, she does rather leap to conclusions. Utterly convinced that I had improper designs on Alyssa for ages, even after…”

His words hitched for a moment.

“After I took up with Dustiria. I haven’t heard much from her lately, perhaps she eventually learned better.”

Kenneth compliments her first, warms her heart with the suggestion that she need not change, then tries in his own gentle way to tease her. As she is admiring how endearing it was to finally have a friend not trying to ‘groom’ her to be better, something in him shifts. Her friendly little smile drops to concern and as he speaks /that name/ she feels a pang of guilt for having brought up a subject that left him in pain. She knows the feeling well, the smell of a cigar or the label of a certain brandy on a shelf...Bottled ships.

He makes it easier and easier to forget how fresh his wounds are every time he takes her into his arms. Charisma pours from him, that straight white smile and handsome face, always seeming to have things in hand, planned out, controlled...But as he had said their agreement had to do with authenticity. She tells herself that the man everyone else sees is not her concern anymore. It is the man underneath the finery and cool composure that is who she must take care of. His wounds are fresh, while hers have been bandaged and bound for years, but she remembers how it felt...

As a result Aila does not hint at the twisting in her stomach or the reluctance to speak on the subject, instead she resolves to keep on with their conversation supportively, not calling attention to what he seemed to want to let blow on by them. That is, except for the hand that had reached out for him the moment he faltered. She couldn’t help it, Kenneth didn’t seem to resent that she had identified it...they continued on hand in hand, accepting what had just happened without a word passing between them about it.

Distracting him, she goes on about Isabel “She is a strange girl, but diligent and there is nothing of importance in her view.” Kenneth had asked what she was up to for Isabel to tattle about, and Aila assumed it was rhetorical. Would he have answered her truthfully if she asked the same? She had her doubts on that. He was a lovely man but from the way he had implied in the past that like her had no one to confide in... they had much in common. She could not hold against him that one of those common things was that it took more than a few tussles to get the real information.

“She sent me a personal letter meant for Alyssa by mistake, twit” she insults her steward within the natural flow of her sentence, a talent of hers. “Started it without a title and ended it sweetly with yours truly. Naturally I will not intervene. I care not what or who Alyssa is after but it does prove my concerns, which is all I needed to know. “

He squeezes her hand back in appreciation of not pressing on that particular scab just yet.

“That does sound rather like Isabel, yes...At least she is diligent, I suppose. Now, if I had to guess Gideon will come looking for you sometime soon, shall we get our story straight on what we wish to present to the court of public opinion on us? You know that I am not overly concerned with labels and the like, but I am happy to follow your preferences on whether we endeavour to keep this a secret entire or slanted in a particular direction.”

Where Aila had avoided his tender spot he jammed a proverbial finger into hers without a second thought. Anger swells in her, she fights back the urge to bark at him but there is no hiding the curl of her lips as she considers her reply, “I do not have anyone to answer to.” But there is something simmering under the surface as they pause in front of a second story window, she can see down to the little campfire in the yard that Gideon is already cooking something. As much as she hated being chased with food three times a day, his consistency was appreciated. It is seeing him work diligently despite how cruel she knew she could be that softened her demeanor. Reluctantly she asks Kenneth “What would you like?” already dreading his answer.

Immediately realizing he had made some misstep, but not quite understanding what, he answered cautiously but truthfully.

“While I am good at keeping secrets when necessary, I prefer not doing so if I have the choice. I am not precisely certain what we are, but I think ‘courting’ might be a reasonable term.”

He turned, holding her eyes closely in some concern.

His reply in the end is not what Aila expected, and the simmering anger resides as she meets his eyes, pondering his words carefully. “Courtship implies intention to marry” she submits, unsure if that is what he had meant. Whether it was or not, it was what the rest of the nobility would think if they found out. Not tactful enough to think of a gentler way to word it she asks Kenneth bluntly “Are you ready for that?”

His lips turned wry.

“Currently, no. I am not suggesting an engagement. But, in the future...I fully intend to marry eventually. And I would say that implication would not be inaccurate. There is more to learn, of course, for both of us I am sure, but I would at least like to explore the possibility.”

“Well, if you call it a courtship that is what people will think” She can see the look on his face, it doesn’t bother her as much as she thought it would. “That is what I would think. So if that bothers you we probably shouldn’t. I know that you intend to marry, eventually.” Aila is not saying something in an attempt to spare his feelings, but it is written on her face; She will not wait for years. “So do I. But it is if you are comfortable with it that I care about...If you are then I am.”

Kenneth nodded.

“It does not bother me. I am thinking months, perhaps a few seasons, not longer. This is recent, and intense, but it is not the first heartbreak I have suffered. And...This already feels...More right, is the best way I can put it. I am cautious, but not a fool, and I want to seize the opportunities I have while I may.”

He grinned down at her.

“Especially since the opportunities seem to enjoy being seized…”

She has finally shed the look of uncertainty, in favor intrigue “Does this mean I get you to myself?” A tongue in cheek way of asking a very obvious question, will she get to keep her toy knight? “Will every lady in Bescanon weep when they hear the news that they are losing their Duke?” Her imagination is getting the better of her quickly, she lingers close to him threatening a kiss as she muses further “Or will we bless them with both of us?”

The saucy question is interrupted by the sound of the heavy door of the lodge swinging shut, Gideon has come in looking for them. She is not willing to lose her answer, and prompts him “hm?”

Kenneth chuckled.

“Something you should know about me, my family were all raised rather differently with regard to sex than it seems most are. So long as I know who my children are, I am not likely to be jealous on matters of the flesh. Love...Is a more complicated question, but taking the ladies of Bescanon together sounds like an excellent hobby.”

He gently tugged her hair, getting in one last murmur before Gideon’s approaching footsteps found them.

“That is not to say they might not also weep from that, of course…”

Gideon reaches the landing in time to see Aila nudging Kenneth mid-laugh, a big smile on her face from whatever he had said to her. “Your Grace” He addresses them both with a dashing smile, and then realizes they are both -your grace- and clarifies “Lady Aila” with a sheepish smile.

“I know” And a sigh is the response from Aila, not because of his clarification but because she knows why he is there. “Shall we join them for dinner?” She asks Kenneth, them being her retainer and his entourage. “Probably peasant food”

“It is!” Gideons voice echoes up the stairs he has already begun jogging down ahead of them.