The Legend of Rosewood House

All characters are over 18 years of age.

————————Prologue————————

The rain hissed as it fell through the leaves and drummed on the roof. Ailianor sat in her coach huddled under a blanket with Eilleth, her handmaid, for warmth. The little iron stove had gotten swamped by the rain and the inside of the coach was frigid. Across from her, Enaia, her lady in waiting was huddled in close with Adleth, the twin to Eilleth and handmaid to the lady in waiting. Even with the four of them in there with the shutters closed it was cold and the droning rain only added to the misery. It was dark and they could barely see and the grunts of the men outside and the occasional rocking of the coach did nothing to take away from that misery. Finally there came a rapping at the door and Enaia slid open the little hatch that permitted them to speak to whoever was outside. The familiar face of Aeren, the guard captain, was framed in the door.

"Begging your pardon, milady." He said, tapping his forehead with his finger in respect. "And to you as well, Enaia." He added with a smile for the woman he loved. "But one wheel is shattered and the other is cracked badly." The two handmaids groaned in anguish, for this meant that they would have to venture out of the carriage so the repairs could be effected. And the idea of going out into the rain was worse than remaining where they were, cold but at least mostly dry.

"We'll pitch a tent and once this rain lets up we'll see what we can do to get it moving again. But we've no wheels and the axle well..." He sighed and shook his head.

"There was supposed to be a village around here." Enaia said, resting her hand over his in the hatchway.

"There is, but in the rain and the mist we've lost the road. Rald, the coachman, thinks that we got off of it a ways back, perhaps an hour or two ago. Either way, there's naught else we can do tonight."

"Is there any dry wood for our firebox?" Enaia asked and her intended shook his head grimly.

"No it's all soaked through, this damned rain has us all wet to the skin. At least in there you'll be dry. I'll find some dry food for you, if I can; there's some biscuits wrapped in waxed paper that might still be dry, but aside from that, there's nothing to be done but..." His words ended abruptly as a cry came from one of the other guards. He looked away then back a the women inside, his hand turning to catch Enaia's for a moment before he vanished away from the door and she stared out after him with a worried expression. Fingers of rain-driven mist curled inside like fingers reaching toward her face and Enaia irritably waved them away even as her breath fogged with every exhale.

"Pray close that hatch, mistress." Adleth begged, the blanket pulled up to her nose.

"Hush, Addie." Her sister said with a scowl. It was clear that Enaia was worried for her man and missed his touch already.

"I see a light." Enaia said quietly, her brow furrowed. "And some of the guards have gone over toward it, Aeren with them."

The four women waited in the dark, all of them quiet as Enaia stared out into the rain through the little hatch, the only sound was the hissing of the rain through the leaves. "I hear something, someone talking..." She turned her head slightly, trying to hear and see at the same time, and after a long time she turned back to Ailianor. "Aeren is returning, with one of the other guards.

The guard captain appeared at the hatch again, his hand covering Enaia's as he looked inside. "There's a rider yon." He gestured with his head to one side. "He says he is stablemaster for an estate that is nearby. Someone saw us pass up this way and he came out to see who we were and why we are about. He has extended an invitation on behalf of his master for us to come and get out of the rain and the cold."

The two handmaids gasped in pleasure, a nervous laugh escaping from one or the other of them. Enaia shushed them both with a gesture and a look. "Do you think it is safe my love?" She asked and Aeren sighed.

"The stablemaster lives in Bellcrest, the village we missed, and he says it's on the other side of this damned ridge, a day or more away as the crow flies. On horse or afoot it will be days before we could get there, get what we need to repair the coach and return, let alone repair this damage. Days you would have to sleep in there or in a tent out on this ground, which has already gone completely to mire. The manor is old, but dry and warm. You'll have to be bundled onto horses for the trip, but you could rest there while we get this stack of kindling rolling again." He looked grim as he shared this and all of the women felt the worry in him. Guarding them was his task and he would die before he let anything happen to them. But at the same time, he wanted to get them out of the rain and the cold while the coach was being repaired.

"Ready horses." Ailianor said firmly. "We'll get wet to get there, but a fire and perhaps a bed for the night would do us all a world of good."

"Aye milady." Aeren said with a nod. "We've two remounts, so I'll pick a pair of my lads to stay behind with the baggage, along with Rald. Tomorrow I'll send a pair of lads down to the village to fetch out a wheelwright to get it moving again."

"Be sure to bring along my teak chest." Ailianor said as she sat up and felt around with one foot for her shoes. "I would give the lord of this manor a gift in thanks for this hospitality."

"Of course, milady." The captain said and, with a last squeeze to Enaia's hand, he went off to make preparations for them to make the trek to the nearby manor.

Chapter 01

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Welcome

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The stablemaster rode with a stout iron lanthorn on a pole at his stirrup, the encircling mist casting the light back as they went. His mount was the sort of short-legged horse bred less for speed and more for surefootedness and stamina and it went through the dark land without hesitation. The lanthorn cast enough light to let them see their way but did little to illuminate the world around them so the riders could see little of the way and less of their destination as they passed through the open gates. The shoes of the horses finally clattered on good cobbles as the stablemaster led them into his demesne and out of the rain. The stables smelled of horse and hound, old hay and manure but there was more than enough room for their mounts, with only a handful of the long row of stalls currently filled and one of those by a hound with her pups. Ailianor dismounted as one of the guards came to take her reins and she smiled and touched his arm.

"My thanks, Stefend." She said and he bobbed his head in acknowledgement. She knew the names of every guardsman in her retinue and she knew of their families and their futures as well; to her it was a part of being their Lady. They were not just servants, not just nameless faces who served her, they were people with their own hopes and dreams and desires, their own loves and lives and she protected them just as they protected her.

The stablemaster, Eoin by name, was nearly as stout and broad as his mount. He was a thickset man with powerful arms and while he sat the saddle with ease, he walked with a slight limp as he lead them to the manor itself by way of the covered causeway that connected the big house to the stables. The group of them was all but soaked to the skin from the long ride in the rain, but they were all grateful to be out of the deluge. Two of the guards lit torches and remained to see to the horses as the rest of them went up the causeway and to the sturdy if ancient doors of the manor. Eoin opened the way and bowed, indicating that they should go inside and Ailianor thanked him with a word and a smile before she led her retinue into the main hall of the house where an elderly woman and a pair of equally elderly men awaited. One of the men stood a step higher than the others and she knew immediately that he was lord of the house. He was dressed in faded, worn finery and held himself with a poise that was familiar to her. She curtsied deeply to him in thanks before introducing herself.

"I am Ailianor of House Sangray of Cahmery and I thank you milord for your hospitality." She said with all of the poise and grace that she might use when speaking to a king on a golden throne. The two handmaids came forward at the same time and helped her out of the heavy riding cloak and lighter dressing cloak she wore and she saw even the old woman's eyes widen at the sight of her. She had deep blue eyes and blonde hair so pale it was nearly white that was kept in a complex braid at the back of her head. She was slim, almost petite, with pale skin and pretty features that she had been praised on her whole life. She had seen others stare at her face and she felt no shame or embarrassment for the quiet gasp that escaped one of them now.

"Ah your Grace, I am no lord to be given such a due, merely an old, retired soldier living in a familial estate that has sadly been in decline for some years." He said with a grandfatherly smile and a formal if arthritic bow. "I am Soran Lerient, formerly of Cosea and I bid you welcome to Rosewood House. This is my Chamberlain, Aaran and his wife, my mistress of servants Danilia." As he introduced them, the other two bowed or curtsied in response. "Though now all of my servants who remain are my cook, Nellin and her daughter Rika, the scullery maid and Eoin, my stablemaster whom you have already met"

Ailianor introduced her retinue and Soran bowed again and now she could see that he depended upon a cane for support. "I daresay I have rooms for you and your ladies, but I am afraid your guards will have to make due in the great hall. There is a hearth there and plenty of dry wood put by, but I've not beds for so many. But you can all sleep easily, for none here are apt to disturb you. I am too old now to go lifting skirts or espying on ladies in their chambers." His words grew increasingly strained and descended into a coughing fit. Aaran took his master's arm for support and Danilia looked concerned.

"Master, you should be abed." She said with a tender voice but Soran waved off her concerns.

"I could not... be so rude as to... not greet so noble a guest... to my home in person." He said between laboured breaths, forcing a smile as he straightened again. "But I will... away to bed soon enough... with your permission... of course, your Grace." He said, deferring to Ailianor with a look and she nodded, clear concern for his health on her face.

"Of course, Master Soran, I know it is late and the chill and damp are heavy in the air." She said, giving him all the due that his station as head of the house required.

He bowed again slightly, leaning on the balustrade as well as his cane and his chamberlain for support, his smile unwavering. "My thanks, your Grace." He turned his attention to the Mistress of Servants then. "Dani... I believe the rooms in the west hall are still liveable. Could you show her Grace to them, as well as the baths. Aaran please rouse Nell to brew tea and see what we have in the larder that could feed our guests." He said, his voice strained but his breath largely returned and his servants nodded while the two handmaids looked at one another with giddy smiles at the mention of baths.

"Of course, Master." The two servants said and Soran smiled again, nodding in thanks.

"Now your Grace, if you will pardon the rudeness of it, I must off to my bed. I am afeard you are correct about this cold and damp." He said with a gesture at the room to indicate the cold, humid air. Then he bowed again with the aid of his chamberlain and at the nod from Ailianor, allowed Aaran to assist him up the stairs where the two old men vanished into a hallway. Danilia turned to the group again and curtsied deeply, smiling a little as she did.

"If it pleases your Grace to follow me, I will show you to the rooms. They may be a bit musty from disuse, but they are dry and the hearths stand ready." She led the group out of the entry hall and through a wide door into a larger hall where trestle tables looked ready to seat some thirty or forty guests and a broad hearth stood at one wall, a cord of firewood set nearby. The rafters were hung with dusty sackcloth against the cold and cobwebs thickly populated the corners while the tapestries that hung from the walls were more utilitarian than ornamental and if any scenes were depicted they were too faded to be seen. Boards creaked underfoot as they passed down the length of the room in the wake of the Mistress of servants.

"Here is the great hall, which we have not used for a long while, but Master Soran insists upon its upkeep. With no children or grandchildren of his own, it is his hope is that when he dies his great-nephew will come up from Cosea to take possession of the house and then it will see life again. Your guards can bed down here as they like, the flue is just there." She showed Stefend where the catch was and all but two of the guards remained to lay out their bedding and start a fire while Aeren and another man, Benich, went with the ladies to a short stair that led to a hall where several doors stood locked against the passage of years.

"Most of the rooms are filled with unused furnishings and the like, though a few I am afraid, have succumbed to time and are not safe to enter, for the floors and rafters are weakened. They are all kept locked for Rika is a precocious child and is given to roam and explore when boredom overtakes her. But these two rooms are kept against any guests or visitors that might happen along." Danilia explained as she removed a heavy ring of keys from her apron and unlocked the doors. She removed the key without being asked and entrusted it to the guard captain before she led them all inside. She enlisted Benich's aid to remove dust cloths from furnishings and she showed them the privy and the flue for the fireplace before she stepped back to the door.

"Rosewood house was built some hundred or so years ago by the great-grandfather of Master Soran. He chose to settle here and build his home in so remote a place for a singular reason; a hotspring wells from the hillside here. The spring has been well tended and it still flows to this day. If you so wish, I can show you the way." She said and Ailianor nodded and she and her escort followed the Mistress of Servants back the way they had come and then down three flights of stairs to a broad room cut from solid stone. The floor was laid out with flagstones and she could see where vents would take some of the heat up to the rest of the house. There were some pipes where the water was drawn to the kitchens and other rooms, but central in the chamber was a series of broad basins cut from the stone. The springs themselves filled the first pool and each successive one was cooler than the last. The air was filled with steam and smelled of sulphur but the heat was heavenly after the cold rain they had endured this night.

"The first Master of this house had this built for his wife, who suffered terribly from arthritis, and it is said that this was a great comfort to her in her declining years just as it is for Master Soran now." She explained and Ailianor couldn't hide her smile. It had been some weeks since she had done more than bathe cold in streams or at the very far-spaced roadhouses that dotted their long route.

"It looks heavenly." She said, sharing her honest smile with the elderly servant. "I thank you and your master for this hospitality.

"Is there aught else I can do for you, your Grace?" Danilia asked and Ailianor shook her head.

"No, but I thank you. We shall try not to be too great of a draw upon your time and your home. As soon as my coach is repaired I will be on my way and I will see to it that your larder is refilled and some coin is paid for the aid you have given us."

"Master Soran will not accept any coin, your Grace, it is just his way." She said with a small shake of her head and Ailianor nodded. She would not impugn on the man's honour by insisting that he take her coin if he refused, but there were other ways that she could aid without being as obvious as leaving behind coin in her room when she was gone.

"I will still make the offer to him, if I may." Ailianor said and Danilia bobbed her head as she curtsied.

"Just as you like, your Grace. Is there aught else you require of me?" Danilia asked.

"No, but thank you Mistress Danilia." Ailianor said and the old woman curtsied again.

"Then I will leave you and I will see to it that a meal and some tea are readied for you in your rooms, your Grace." She said and then she departed and left Ailianor and her escort in the baths.

Enaia took charge immediately, dismissing the two guardsmen to the hallway where they would stand watch at the door before she turned to Eilleth and Adleth. "The men will have unloaded the horses by now, go and start fires in the rooms and fetch clean clothes for us all. Shake out the bedding and draperies and check the rooms over, I will aid her ladyship here. When we have finished the two of you will have your chance." She said and the two handmaids curtsied and turned to go. "And do not dally with Riar and Cagan, I am warning you." She said and the two girls, who could not have looked more guilty if they had been caught with their hands in the coin coffer, curtsied again and fled the room to do as they were told as Enaia turned back to her mistress.

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Iavris swore as the tent leaked on his head again and Emain snorted a laugh and shook his head. "Bloody tent in the bloody rain in the middle of the bloody night." Iavris swore. The two of them had been picked by Aren to remain behind with the coach and guard it. With them was Rald, the coachman, who was tending to the horses.

"Ya knew it would be yer arse if he caught ya peepin at that last stop." Emain said with a chuckle. Iavris had tried to spy on her Ladyship when she was bathing and Aeren had caught him at it. He was lucky to only be relegated to all the worst duties instead of having his teeth kicked out, which some other lords and ladies did for similar infractions. But Ailianor had spoken up and granted him a measure of leniency, though he was still in the bad books with their captain.

"Yeah, then why're you stuck out here with me? What'd you do ta piss in the captain's boots?" Iavris asked and Emain waved it off.

"I asked ta stay with you." He said, grinning. "So's I could hear yer bellyachin."

"Bah!" Iavris swore, pushing his friend with one hand but still smiling. The two were close friends and had been all their lives, even going so far as to join the house Sangray guards together. "But ya can't blame me fer wantin ta look, her Ladyship is the most beautiful woman in the kingdom."

"In just the Kingdom? Nay, I hear told that she's the most beautiful woman in the world an that Lord Esgaat paid a handsome sum to Lord Sangray fer her hand." Emain said, shifting and trying to get comfortable. They had pitched the tent under a tree, but it was still pissing down and they were soaked.

"Yeah, well, I had ta try an see." Iavris said, shifting out of the way of the leak. "Just a look was all I wanted, couldn't've done anything else anyhow. If you had the chance wouldn't you get an eyeful?"

"Oh sure, any man would... and most women too, she's a real beauty. I just wouldn't do it where Aeren could catch me. Might as well give Enaia the long stare right where he could see ya." Emain said and they both knew that nothing would save them from a beating if they tried that; the Captain was very protective of his lady.

Iavris groaned and wiped the water from his face again. "Even I ain't that thick." He said. "It'd be suicide ta stare at her that way, even with them big, soft tits."