Mansion Lowblom 4 - A frosty talk

Lacos and Stef followed the young queen and lord deep into the mansion. What Logar had said was true, the whole mansion was filled with laughter, luxuries and food. Which was very weird. ‘The south is supposed to be poor.’ Lacos though, ‘I know that nobles can be self-centred with how they spend money but holding this sort of festivity for a month straight?’

He could see that Stef and Sarine arrived at similar conclusions. Stef wore a very grim expression. The knight was no fan of noble’s living far beyond the standards of the people they governed. He was of the firm mind that nobles, while being the chosen of Alxer and therefore having a divine privilege of a higher standard of living, should stay humble and never take more from the people than needed.

There were only two ways how Lord Lowblom could have acquired this much wealth in his current situation. One was relentlessly pressing the taxes from his serfs and the other was him making some kind of deal.

“My Queen, if you wish to rest I understand but if you won’t mind I would like to talk to you for a minute first.” Logar said as they passed the outskirts of the festivities and entered the sleeping and governing wings of the mansion. “By all means, Lord Lowblom, let us talks.” Sarine said, her voice was collected but there was a certain frostiness in it, “My attendees will stay with me however.” Logar looked over to the giant knight and then to the Drakonoid. He hesitated for a moment before pressing out, “O-of course.”

They all knew that he was safe but the mere presence of Stef would actually send a lot of people into worry. Logar pulled out a key and opened a nearby door that lead into a middle-sized office. It was sparingly furnished and the desk looked slightly overused from years of constant usage. The only truly impressive things about the office were a panting of Lowblom senior, a dark eyed man who looked like an older, half-dead version of the current Lord, and an ornate chair at a wall.

“Please, take a seat.” Lord Lowblom said and pointed on another chair, one barely even worthy of being in a mansion. This caused Stef to growl. “You dare give your Queen a lesser seat?” Logar turned a bit pale. “N-n-no, by no means, knight. It is just…” Sarine raiser her hand and interrupted the stammered excuse. “It is alright, Stef.” She said and sat down. Lacos leaned against the wall next to the door and kept a close eye on the scene. ‘What kind of choices will you make, princess?’ he thought.

Stef took a step back with a displeased expression and Lord Lowblom walked around his table with a relieved sigh to sit down. Somehow sitting in his own barely acceptable chair filled Logar with confidence and his eyes got hard. “Why are you here, Queen Sarine?” He asked and put his hands on the edge of the table. “I got here on your invitation.” She tactfully reminded him, “But I see that you made a deal with my uncle instead.”

Lacos quietly nodded to himself. That was the most logical explanation. As Logar took a deep breath and didn’t refute the claim it seemed to be the truth as well. “How did you know?” “You flaunter your wealth too much.” Sarine stated, her voice was a disappointed tone. “Why did you do it?” “Because you gave in!” Logar said, perhaps a bit too loud. “You must have known that us royalists would not be able to hold on much longer. Regent Tolfin made sure that everybody who isn’t willing to confirm to his Falbrein would be weak. Unlike the strong nobles in the north I can’t resist him. I was hoping you would take the throne but as you left everything in the hand of your uncle and his loyalists I had no other choice!”

“You could have waited a lot longer.” Sarine scolded and gave Stef as well as Lacos a side-glance that told him. This was exactly why she wanted to go here first. She hadn’t expected Lord Lowblom himself to already turn but it undeniable that many minor lords and ladies were currently thinking about doing the same.

The lord sank together in his chair. “I couldn’t have waited another day. The harvests of the last years was mediocre at best. The people are better trained at maintaining tools that water the fields for them then they are at watering themselves. I had put my hopes with you and stored these sprinklers for the day you would claim the throne. Now you are telling me I acted too hastily after putting my people through fifteen years of this ****? No, I have bowed to his money and will have to live with the consequences.”

“You can still turn.” Sarine urged. “At what cost though?” he asked. “Tolfin could have me removed, I owe him now.” “Not If I intervene.” The queen said with a lot confidence. She looked quite sexy as she sat there in crimson red dress, the same colour of her hair, straight back, every curve of her body tightly hugged by the cloth. Logar saw his monarch and blushed before casting down his eyes. “It is not worth the risk. Not to me.” He specified.

Silence filled the room for a moment. ‘Show it to him princess.’ Lacos urged in his mind. He knew that the princess still had the throne-shard with her, she wore it underneath the dress directly on her skin, as close to her heart as possible. Sarine raised her hand to her chest but stopped, the hand lowered again. Lacos was slightly confused. Why would she not show the Lord the range and direness of the situation? Why would she not show him the weight of her resolve.

“I understand.” She instead said in a cold voice. “I hope I can convince you otherwise during my stay.” She rose. “What do you mean by that?” Lord Lagos asked, it was his turn to be confounded. “Of course, I will stay until the festivities are over, Lord Lowblom.” She gave him a sly smile. “These are in my honour after all.”