Part 5

The 3 guards outside the Baron’s manor were quite confused to see a very well dressed woman and what looked like bodyguards come confidently up to the manor gates. They were even more confused when she seemed mad.

"Why I never!" Rebecca shouted. "I sent a letter telling the Baron I would be coming today!"

"Umm..." one of the guards started to say.

"You there! Boy!" Rebecca shouted at him in a very commanding voice, which caused him to reflexively stand up straight. "Tell the Baron that Rebecca Ashe is here to see him and that I don’t appreciate being kept outside!"

"...who?"

Rebecca sighed loudly. "Don’t they teach you lot anything nowadays? I’ll tell you plainly. Tell him Rebecca Astrid Ashe, the Duchess of Lichfield, of Whitemire, is here to see him."

The title Duchess of Lichfield got the attention of all 3 guards. It was well known that after the Duke of Lichfield died, his sister inherited the title, but she had been missing for over a century. After some whispers between each other, 2 of the guards went inside, while the 3rd retreated back to the manor door, seemingly scared of Rebecca.

"Ashe? I thought your last name was Montague?" Jack whispered.

"An alias, idiot." Rebecca whispered back. "Quiet, the guards are back."

"I’m afraid the Baron is not receiving visitors today, you will have to come back another time." The tall guard said.

"Oh you don’t understand." Rebecca said, smiling broadly. "I was telling you as a formality." Rebecca's hands glowed as she placed her hands on the gate. "Simple runes. No matter." The gate briefly glowed yellow before melting into a pile of slag. "The Duchess of Lichfield will see the Baron of Thorns today whether he likes it or not."

"What happened to the protection runes?" The 2nd guard shouted.

"I am Rebecca Ashe, the Witch of Whitemire. I am the the most powerful Divine Creation mage who ever lived. Get the hell out of my way."

Rebecca signaled to the rest of the party, and they advanced. The guards, while shocked by the runes being so casually destroyed by Rebecca, attempted to block their way.

"H-halt!" The nervous guard stammered.

"You’re too young to die for a scoundrel. Father Hamlin, if you would?" Rebecca asked, glancing at Hamlin.

Hamlin nodded, and stepped in front of the party. "I shall be your opponent. I will be fine, Duchess. Go on ahead."

---

"What was that noise?" The Baron asked a guard.

"They uhhh... melted the gate." A guard said, looking out the second floor window.

"Melted?" The Baron asked. That gate had enough protection runes on it to kill a dragon.

"You think it might actually be her?"

"Who else could it be? Any other noblewoman would have left in a huff and gossiped about me at the next party instead. Only Rebecca Ashe would melt a gate."

"So..." The guard began, looking expectantly at the Baron.

"Oh, right. Pass on the message, let her through. Tell those idiots outside to stop playing with the Priest, too."

"Baron Andrew get out here this instant!" Rebecca yelled.

Shit. It really was her. Rebecca Ashe. Andrew gulped, and opened his door, to find all the guards in the manor lassoed in vines, and Rebecca looking quite impatient in his central hall.

"Andrew you really must get better guards!" She said, exasperated. "They can’t even handle a simple creation mage."

"Duchess, you are anything but a simple creation mage." Andrew said, shaking his head.

Rebecca responded by snapping her fingers, causing the trees outside to start shifting and growing, their branches breaking through the windows of the manor. "Marvin, Jacob, stay here and play with the guards. I need to talk with Andy privately. Come along Heather." Rebecca began to walk up the stairs, then stopped. "Remember, no deaths or I break your neck. Understood?"

"Understood, Duchess." Marv replied right away.

Once Andrew, Rebecca, and Heather were seated in what was left of the Baron's study, Rebecca held up her hand as a tree branch reached in from the hall and offered cups of tea.

"A drink, Andy?" She asked, smiling.

"I think I'll need one quite a bit stiffer than this." Andrew replied, downing the tea in a single gulp. "So now that you've thoroughly destroyed my house, humiliated my guards, and terrified my servants, what do you want?"

"I'm done with my hobby, after I discovered some disturbing news. I've been away for too long." Rebecca answered, her tone of voice much more serious. "I'm decades late in finding out, but to find out my brother's children were all murdered has made me furious. I'm not just coming home, I'm going to seize the throne."

Baron Andrew was silent for a change. He remembered how enraged his father, the previous Baron of Thorns was, when the news of the deaths first reached him. It was the only assassination contract his father ever approved, to his knowledge.

"I know your father didn't do it, Andrew." Rebecca said quietly. "He was far too pragmatic a man. But it was the Whitemire Royal Family's duty to protect the children of the nobility, and they failed. They failed 4 times. So I'm here to offer you a deal."

"My Father was furious, you know." Andrew said after some silence. Seeing no reply from Rebecca, he continued. "Finding the killers of your nephews and niece consumed him. He emptied the treasury getting revenge on your family's behalf."

This was the first Rebecca had heard of this. This changed everything, the previous offer she had in mind was now downright disgusting. No, Andrew deserved something much better.

"Andrew, I... don’t know what to say." She said, her voice cracking as tears formed in her eyes. "Except, thank you. As for, well... I had an offer for you, but this changes things. Consider this your new one. A moment."

Rebecca whispered something to Heather, and the tree branches reacted as well, retreating from the house. Some shouts could be heard from outside the room as the vines withered away and retreated as well, as Rebecca looked back over at Andrew.

"Baron, I would like you to enter into an alliance with the Duchy of Lichfield. Not Whitemire, just the Duchy."

"What's in it for me?" Andrew said, clearly more in his element, now that it was a business negotiation. "By entering in an alliance with an established power, I'd be opening myself up to prying eyes from your own trading partners." Andrew gestured outside. "Point Thoryn does not look kindly upon prying eyes."

"A private alliance, idiot. How does Point Thoryn becoming the official port of trade for the Duchy of Lichfield sound, under the guise of lower anchorage fees, compared to Nautitus?" Rebecca explained, slightly annoyed. "If you think I'm going to stop at seizing the throne of Whitemire, you're sorely mistaken. I plan to create a dynasty, and unite the fractured southern lands of Karand into one Kingdom."

"Which is where I come in." Heather said, finally speaking up. "Baron Andrew, allow me to introduce myself." Heather stood up, and opened his brown robes, revealing glimmering royal clothing. "I am the Moonfall Prince, Heather Dorchaidhe."

"Great, two fairy tales in one room." Andrew said, rubbing his nose. "First Rebecca Ashe, now the legendary Moonfall Prince, the only male rusalka."

"I will have as many children as physically possible with him, Andrew. I won't just settle for being the Queen of an insignificant Kingdom. I will be the Empress of Southern Karand. My children will inherit an empire."

"A private alliance I am in favour of... Empress." Andrew said with a wink, causing even Rebecca to laugh in approval. "When the time is right and you have crushed them all, perhaps we will discuss further terms. If it's not too much to ask though, could you repair my house before you leave?"

"Andy do you really think I'd leave your house in ruins?" Rebecca said, poking him on the nose. "What do you take me for, some scoundrel?"

"Yes."