Chapter 400: Daughter-In-Law?
A light rain fell across Lothian City, washing away the last, lingering signs of the previous week’s Harvest Festival celebrations. Soon, the rainy season would begin in earnest, and the people of Lothian March would spend days at a time under a sky covered by a wet, gray blanket of clouds, rarely seeing the sun.
Across the march, demons would grow bolder, raiding farms for livestock or striking at poorly defended villages in the hopes of causing as much devastation as they could while defenders huddled in their homes and around fires to ward off the damp chills of the season.
In the summer, Lothian March resembled a lush paradise and its soldiers fought freely beneath the sun like the anointed champions of the Holy Lord of Light. But in the fall and winter, the demons fought back with the ferocity and tenaciousness of wolves and the world itself seemed to aid them with constant storms and long, cold nights.
"This will be your first winter in the Frontier, Lady Jocelynn," Marquis Bors Lothian said, turning away from the window to look at his guest for the evening while servants covered the dining table with several courses worth of food. "Are you prepared to weather the storm?"
"The winter squalls in Blackwell County can be very fierce, my Lord," Jocelynn said from her place next to the crackling hearth in the small, private dining room. "I not worried about myself," she added. "But I am worried about my sister. She should give birth by year’s end, but she has always been weak and frail of constitution, rarely leaving her room in the winter months. I’m afraid that this winter will be especially hard on her."
"Then it’s good that she has such a dedicated sister to care for her," Bors said calmly, though it took a measure of effort to keep impatience out of his voice while two of the servants fussed over the placement of large trays of roast boar and venison sausages.
If it had been any other occasion, he would have chased them out by now to enjoy a quiet meal with his guest, but tonight, it was important that the ’audience’ heard the things that he and Jocelynn would say. After all, the gossip that would spread among the servants after this conversation was the first of his many goals for inviting the young Blackwell girl here tonight.
"I thank you for leaving the Summer Villa to help prepare for my son’s return from Blackwell County," Bors continued, speaking more for the audience than for Jocelynn. "I hope you’re satisfied with the protection we’ve provided for your sister during her stay? With so many soldiers, even if the demons were to attack, they would only be courting their own deaths."
"The defenses are more than adequate," Jocelynn said with a smile, giving a slight curtsey of thanks. "I know it pains my sister that she cannot return to give birth in Lothian City but the physicians say that she shouldn’t be moved because her constitution is just too frail."