"No, I swear I locked it before I left. A boy answered.
Having nowhere else to go he hid under the bed and pushed himself all the way to the back corner knowing if he got caught, this night would really turn into a disaster.
"That dumb girl probably snuck out again." the older woman complained. Then he heard footsteps nearing and the door to the bathroom open, he tucked himself further out of sight and covered his face and hands with his cloak. The door to the dressing room opened further and the woman stopped at the door.
"Well she's still in here." the woman commented skepticly and stepped into the room. "And she's still wearing her dress from this morning, the dumb girl. She should know better than to sleep in such things, she's going to ruin them and I refuse to buy her any more dresses."
He heard a slapping sound "Wake up," more slapping and he felt like grabbing the woman's ankle and pulling her under. "Wome on, wake up you useless girl." there was a pause as the woman just stood there for a moment. "Maybe she is truly very sick, she did seem quite miserable earlier. We should stay away least we get sick."
"I told you this morning when you thought she was faking, that she barely touched her breakfast, and that girl would never willingly skip a meal, she eats like a man, it's disgusting.
"True, it's just our luck that she picks this season's top event to be sick. Utterly useless. How will we ever marry her off if she doesn't even make any public appearances? Her looks are the only thing she has going for her."
"True, it's only at events like these that the men swarm her because they have yet to hear her open her mouth."
"It was a mistake for my brother to educate her like a boy, now she's too full of herself and lacks the submissiveness required of a wife," she said tiredly closing the door behind her as she left. Her voice was muffled when he heard it next "She'd be impossible to deal with if she knew the estate legally belonged to her.
"It's infuriating that the only way to make it yours is if she gives up the rights by marrying into another house or joining a nunnery. If she won't leave willingly we need to trick her, it's too bad we can't legally fire the workers until she gives up her status as both custodian and heir, she'd be easier to manipulate if she didn't have so many loyal dogs around her. And she'll never leave them if she thinks she has a choice. But I'm a kind woman, she can take as many of the workers with her as her husband allows." her aunt rambled.
"Any she doesn't I plan on firing. They are far too loyal to her and only her it's not normal, they don't even get paid that much." The young man's voice, her cousin, griped.
"We just need to marry her off while your father and I are still her legal guardians and we can agree to the union on her behalf." the aunt revealed.
So she was her father's legal heir? It made sense since her older brother had also perished in the war and her mother had died giving birth to her younger brother who as far as he knew had been a sickly child though he knew nothing of what became of him. Her brother hadn't talked about him much. Was he gone too? Was she alone in the world but for an aunt and cousin who obviously didn't care for her at all? He didn't know; and he felt guilt yet again for having failed to keep his promise to her brother to make sure that if anything ever happened to him, that he make sure his sister was all right.
When he got back to the duchy he was going to pull out the list of his soldier's deceased family members and personally check in on them all, no matter how long it took, obviously just sending a servant to check that they had care and a place to live wasn't enough.
When he'd visited the orphanage to make sure they had received the food, he had learned that most of the kids there had lost a father in the war, some still had mothers but they'd given them up unable to support them. He'd given the surviving families triple their fathers' last pay and any belongings they'd left behind that they could keep or sell as they wished. He'd also offered jobs to those he could and donated to the orphanages under his domain, But he knew not all domains did that.
He had also never checked to see if what he'd done had been enough. His family council claimed it was more than enough and he needed to stop giving away money, but he hated the majority of them anyway. There were more important things in life than money and power, he knew because he'd give it all up to have his father or best friend back. If only money or power could somehow erase all he'd seen and done during the war and restore all the lives that were lost.
He mentally chastised himself for slipping into useless and impossible, if only's. Instead, he forced himself to think about all of the things he needed to check on when he got back until sleep claimed his tired body and soul.
The sound of creaking wood woke him up and he hit his head on the bottom of the bed and suddenly remembered where he was. He used to pride himself in his ability to sleep anywhere which had been a very useful skill during the war but this was… well it was far from okay and quite embarrassing, and how was he going to sneak out now... was it morning or still night?
Bare feet appeared on the floor in front of his face and he feared for a second he'd been caught in a very compromising position, but then the feet ran from the room and the sound of retching followed. Worried he pulled himself out from under the bed and went to check on her, lighting the candle beside her bed. "Are you Okay?" he whispered pulling her hair away from her face in the flickering candlelight.
She turned to him in shock which turned to confusion then she suddenly turned back to the privy and retched some more. It smelled of strong alcohol and bile, realizing now that she'd drank all that on an empty stomach it made more sense how out of it she'd been and he felt bad for not thinking to make sure she'd eaten.
When she seemed done he got her a clean washcloth which she took gratefully and when she was done washing her face she whispered "What happened and why are you here? What time is it?" she seemed to have a thing for asking questions in threes.
You passed out from the tonic the doctor gave you, I brought you back to him thinking something was wrong but he said it was supposed to make you fall asleep, so I brought you back up here... but then your aunt and cuzen came back and I had to hide." he summed up not wanting to admit where he'd found her key or where he'd hidden.
"This is so embarrassing" she muttered into her hands.
"For me as well, so let us try and forget about this ever happening."
She nodded in full agreement. So what's the plan now? She asked holding her head as if in pain.
"Well first, let's get you some water, You're probably dehydrated and hung over." she just stared at him a little confused. He ignored it and brought her the pitcher of water by the cleaning bowl. She looked at it for a moment probably wondering about a cup and the indignity of drinking out of a pitcher but shrugged and drank her fill. While she did that he inspected her arm and the hard wax that covered her scratches. It looked better than it had yesterday so he guessed the doctor hadn't been such a bad idea even if his tonic had caused a few problems.
"Thank you, I guess the next step is finding out how best to sneak you out of here."
"I would be amenable to that idea," he said taking out his handkerchief again and tying it over her wound grateful her aunt hadn't noticed it last night.
"I don't need that anymore," she said and her face blushed in the candlelight.
"You might not be bleeding anymore but you don't want your aunt or anyone seeing your arm, it will raise far too many questions."
"I can wear long sleeves or a shawl," she said.
"Wouldn't that be more out of place, none of the women are wearing long sleeves yet and a shawl could be removed, besides aren't there a lot of girls wearing something similar?"
"Well yes... but then I'll have to explain which young man gave it to me and my aunt will be sure to look into it."
"Ah," he said now suddenly realizing that it wasn't just an odd fashion statement but a way of men marking their prospective targets. The silence stretched for a while. Then he smiled an evil smile, just tell her a version of the truth she'd believe. Say you went out to get some fresh air for a bit and ran into a man who took pity on you and helped you back to your room when you weren't feeling well."
She nodded and took another big gulp of water then got up and peeked into the sitting room. Then she turned back and gave the sign for 'all clear' and to 'proceed forward'. He grinned at her childish use of the hand signals and could imagine her and her brother sneaking around their house at night using them.
He pulled up his hood and followed her to the door. She peeked outside and then held the door open for him. He walked past but then paused and turned to face her but wasn't sure what to say. Instead, she spoke up first whispering "I'm really sorry about all this, and thank you for all your help, I'm indebted to you."
"Just get some more rest and feel better, your aunt will be upset if you have to stay shut in your room for the whole event," he said with a grin.
She just blushed and shut the door in his face making him grin all the more. Feeling oddly uplifted he made his way to the room the butler had told him was assigned to the duke. When he shut and locked the door behind him another door opened and he drew his sword as he turned, but it was just his personal guard holding a candle in one hand and a sword in the other.
They both put down their swords and resheathed them. "Do you realize how worried I was when I got back from that blasted errand you sent me on to find you missing?
"It's a long ride I wasn't expecting you back until morning."
"It is morning! Dawn has already broken and the sun will be rising any minute now, where have you been? And please don't say spying on the girl"
"I wasn't spying… anyway I've only gotten a few hours of sleep and I have a very unpleasant day of gossiping and small talk to deal with ahead of me and you obviously haven't slept yet so why don't we get some sleep."
"You are infuriating sometimes my lord, how am I supposed to do my job if I can't even find you half the time."
"I gave you this job so you wouldn't have to work so hard my friend, relax the war is over and our enemies are fewer and more cowardly."
"Arrogance comes before the fall" Gilbert muttered and he didn't disagree. They both went their separate ways to bed.
Later that morning after a short nap Ravi'en got up and dressed in one of the dress uniforms his friend had left in his room. Then he snuck out leaving his friend to sleep in.