All great houses and buildings have a name.
Duke Lurris lived in Emerfeld.
It was Emerfeld that held power all over Lurris, and it was there, Aelis and Orsha were to make their home.
Built next to dense woods, the mansion stood tall, bigger than some of the palaces in Orira's Palace Complex. The building was old, but there were some new additions and embellishments refining the look. The carriage tottered to a stop before the magnificent doors and the servants bowed to greet their arrival.
"This is Devontelle," Duke Lurris made a quick introduction of a light-footed, greying butler, and nodded at a prim & proper woman, likely the housekeeper, "And this is Philomena. They will take care of you."
"A lovely pleasure," Aelis said.
"Philomena, won't you help the ladies get settled?" Duke Lurris said, "I have some work with Devontelle."
"Of course, my lord." Philomena curtsied. Philomena nodded at one of the maids and she stepped forward. "My lady, this is Sylla Pom, she will be taking care of Lady Orsha for now."
Aelis bundled Orsha and her cloak towards Sylla Pom and watched them walk inside together.
"My lady," Philomena said, "I will show you, your chambers at Emerfeld."
The province of Lurris - dukedom & all was situated east of Orira, sharing the border with the United Kingdom of Pholisia. Although the people here participated in the same religion as back in her estate & Orira, she had heard that they were stricter and more rigid, primarily because of their strong resistance to the Way of Gournas, which was growing more and more popular in Pholisia. Aelis wondered uneasily if the Duke was religious too, something she had never really considered before until she was shown a little chapel from their bedroom.
"Um," she paused and turned to the prim and proper housekeeper - Philomena, "Does the Duke believe in the power of Kursk The Unchanging?"
Personally, Aelis had never really paid attention to the aspect of religion. She knew what she knew because she had overheard her mother say something to that effect before purchasing a Holy Book for her luggage. So far, Aelis went to the House of Lord whenever her mother told her to - barely a few times a year, and she vaguely remembered a few concepts but it was a domain that hadn't held her attention for long.
Philomena to her credit didn't take much offense to the question. She withdrew the curtains and said, "I cannot personally answer for the Duke, my lady. However, his family had been ardent devotees. We hope you might be able to convince him to visit the chapel now and then."
Yikes, it sounded like Philomena was a devotee herself.
"I shall do my best," Aelis smiled.
She took a long glance at what was given as her room and felt a contented sigh escape her mouth. They were large, comfortable, and extremely expensively furnished. The bed alone was huge enough to engulf her and her sorrows.
"Would you be interviewing the governesses today?" Philomena asked.
They closed the door and the housekeeper guided Aelis to the staircases. The house looked much bigger on the inside. Philomena had offered a proper tour of Emerfeld tomorrow, once Aelis had gathered enough rest.
"Yes, are they all here?" Aelis asked folding her palms together. She had been given to understand that the staff at Emerfeld will be doing their own rounds of interviews and the final call for the hiring would be hers. She had no idea that they were already ready with the final list.
"They are waiting for you in the library. It's just three of them,"
"Just three?"
"I dismissed all candidates unsuitable to serve at Emerfeld,"
Aelis wondered if she herself was unsuitable for Philomena's standards, but she said nothing. The housekeeper had clearly served the Emerals for a long time and she wore her loyalty on her sleeve. Her hair was graying and pulled into a tight knot and her clothes were an austere olive green - plain and serviceable.
They descended the stairs and Philomena gestured at the library, allowing Aelis to enter first before following in.
"Good evening," Aelis said pleasantly to the three ladies who had been made to wait there. Two of them had been at the table sipping the cold tea, while one had taken up the opportunity to survey the Duke's large collection of books. They were all older than her. The one observing the books, in fact, had grey hair coiled around her head.
"Good evening, Duchess,"
It seemed that Aelis's working title for the moment was Duchess, even if she was contractually not. She wasn't quite sure she liked it but bore with it for the sake of simplicity.
"I am terribly sorry for having you all wait for me,"
Murmurs of "Not at all," and "It's okay," were resounded, after which, Aelis took a seat at the tea table inviting them to sit. Philomena chose to stand to her right stiff as an oak tree while the ladies took their seats.
Aelis had already given a long and hard thought about her sister, but she knew very well that she was clearly not qualified to be conducting interviews for a position she honestly had no clue about. But she wanted to ensure that there was a gentle but firm hand guiding her sister. And this would be her first job as Acting Mistress of Emerfeld.