Don't Forget to Dream (26 page)

The carriage pulled up and the Princes rode over to the carriage windows to speak to their grandmother.

“
We wish you a safe journey and a rapid resolution to this problem on the estate,
”
Prince Edwin said to Lady Emelia.

“
We shall be well my boy, with the carts of supplies following in a few days
,
I am sure we can settle the immediate problems then work on the longer term plans,
”
Lady Emelia said confidently.
“
And I fully expect to be seeing you both fit and well at the Palace before the summer is out.
”

“
We look forward to it,
”
Prince Edwin said before he waved farewell and turned his mount away.

Prince Callum smiled and waved,
“
K
eep well,
”
was all he said but his gaze lingered on Rhyla rather than his grandmother before he turned to canter back to the head of the column of men with his brother.

Lady Emelia called for them to continue and the carriage quickly pulled away. Elsie
’
s gentle weeping was the only accompaniment to the creak of the wheels, the jangle of tack and the thud of the hooves upon the road.

Chapter
10

The constant jostling of the carriage as it steadily made its way east had brought Rhyla to a new form of exhaustion. She longed for a day of physical labours rather than the aches that inf
licted every part of her body. She was sure she was covered in a
multitude of bruises from being rocked and buffeted by every rut or stone along their path. By the end of the first day she debated begging one of the men to allow her to ride astride rather than spend another day
in the confines of their cabin.  S
he refrained
,
as her elderly mistress showed no sign of distress. What excuse could she render that would not cause her severe embarrassment and ultimately regret at looking so foolish?

As the sun edged towards the horizon they drew into the town of Solwyn with its clean and respectable inn, the Flying Swan. Ryan had ridden ahead and secured two rooms for the ladies and places in the common room for the men. While Ryan assisted the ladies from the carriage and escorted them inside, the remaining guardsmen saw to stabling, feeding and rubbing down all the horses. Lady Emelia was no stranger to the inn having stayed
there
many times on her journey to and from her family home. The women freshened up using heated wat
er brought up from the kitchens
before they dined with the guardsmen in a small private room rather than
in
the common room.

Rhyla was rel
ieved when she could finally lie
upon her bed. She thought of Callum camped in a field amongst his men, seated by a fire talking with his brother and clo
sest friend. As she had done on many other nights,
she fell asleep with her last thoughts being of
her beloved prince.

With dawn
came the pain and stiffness Rhyla knew
would be upon her,
unaccustomed
as she was to carriage riding.
Before dressing she took a few moments to stre
tch and ease the worst of the offending muscles.
To her dismay Lady Emelia did not seem at all discomforted as they assisted her with dressing. Tentatively Rhyla queried if her mistress was well.

“
Yes Rhyla, I am perfectly well. Why do you ask?
”
the lady said confused.

“
You are not bruised or ill used from the journey?
”
Rhyla asked.

“
Not at all, we have only been travelling a day and these roads are fairly well maintained,
”
Lady Emelia assured her. Knowing her companion as well as she did Lady Emelia eyed her for a moment and smiled sympathetically.
“
Not many realise there is indeed some skill to travelling by carriage
my girl. One must roll with it;
feel its movement as you would upon a horse. Think of it as a fractious steed liable to shy and twitch at the slightest excuse. Don
’
t sit stiffly, fighting eve
ry tilt and bump.
Relax
and you shall have a much more comfortable day.
”

“
Yes my lady, I will try,
”
Rhyla said embarrassed. For all her mistresses talk of riding a fractious steed she would have greatly preferred to be mounting such a beast as to climbing aboard the carriage to continue their trip.

Their journey from Lestran to Dratton took the carriage three very long days to complete in comparison to the fastest couriers, using extra horses, being able to travel it in one. Aboard the carriage they carried their few bags, water bottles, food for their noon meal and grain for the horses. The guardsmen all carried the supplies they would need to tra
vel to and from the Black Swan E
states in their saddle bags. At noon the horses grazed on common lands and drank
from streams as they passed.
Each
night they had grains and hay at the inns. Despite Rhyla
’
s dislike for travelling by carriage her technique improved and as they arrived on the estates outside Dratton late on the third afternoon she was weary but not as sore as
she was that first night.

The dun on the Black Swan E
state was surrounded by an impressive stone
wall, entered via
a grand gateway of wrought iron. The wall stood easily twelve feet high with a walkway and lookout towers
situated
at regular intervals.  As they passed through this gate Rhyla noticed a second pair of
gates folded back.
These
were of solid ti
mber reinforced with iron bands.
For
all its beauty this dun was still a stronghold if required.

Beyond the gates was an open bailey leading to the dun itself. To either side th
ere were many smaller buildings.
A
row of neat little cottages with gardens
ran
along the inside
of the wall while
stables and sheds
could be seen away to the other side.
As they drew up before the grand entrance Rhyla caught a glimpse of blackened timbers behind the dun at the end of the stables.

The dun itself looked more like a large manor house than a fortification but she did note that the windows on the lowest level were markedly smaller and higher up than a typical home. It was constructed of golden stone, a simple square elegance with high crenulations crowning it off. All the windows on the upper two levels were sealed with glass and framed by curtains. This estate had been tru
ly prosperous in its early days.
This
recent set back was a hardship that Rhyla was determined to resolve and return such a proud old estate to its former glory.

As the carriage drew to a halt some of the household staff came out to great their returned mistress. Coming down to open the carriage door was a greying man of medium h
eight and build;
his shoulders told of a youth of labour but his girth hinted at a more comfortable life with age.

“
Greetings Lady Emelia,
”
he said in a surprisingly deep voice as he bowed,
“
it is so good to have you returned, even if under such in-fortuitous skies.
”

“
Master Stephen, I am so pleased to be back,
”
she said taking his offered hand to alight from the carriage.
“
It has been too long.
”

“
It has indeed my lady.
”

“
Mistress Belinda,
”
Lady Emelia said stepping towards an ash blonde woman with severa
l lines to her pleasant face.
She
had a girth to match
Master Stephen
’
s.
“
I am so pleased to see you. Your husband is very good at managing the estates but tells me precious little about our families in his letters.
”

“
Lady Emelia,
”
started Mistress Belinda curtsying,
“
It is such a pleasure to see you back on the estates. I hope you will be happy with your home.
”

“
I only hope that we can be of help now we are here.
”
Lady Emelia turned to indicate Rhyla and Elsie as they descended from the carriage.
“
Rhyla has become of great assistance to me in the past few months reading your husband
’
s letters and keeping records for me. I am sure you recognise Elsie from our previous visits.
”

The two young women stepped forward and curtsied to Master Stephen and his wife.

“
Welcome ladies,
”
said Master Stephen,
“
please come in. It is lovely to finally meet you Rhyla after exchanging so many letters. Ryan
,
you know where to take the men and horses.
”

“
Yes Master Stephen,
”
Ryan nodded and signalled for the guardsmen to follow him towards the stables.

Lady Emelia led the way up the short flight
of stairs to the entrance hall. S
he greeted the maids awaiting them before continuing on into a reception hall. There was a large hearth half way along the room with several chairs around it and long tables filling the rest of the room. Looking around as she followed her mistress
,
Rhyla could see the similarities to the Great Hall at the Palace, just on a much smaller scale.

The fire had not yet been lit as the days were warm enough, but Lady Emelia strolled over to the mantel piece and gently ran her hand over the engraved figures as if greeting old friends. Rhyla stood watching,
understanding only a little of how it
must feel to have grown up here; married and moved away;
been widowed and then to find she was suddenly the only one responsible for her families estates. It was a cruel twist of fate that had brought her back as mistress of his house at such an advanced age.

Tea and hot towels were soon provided for the ladies
with which
to refresh themselv
es.
They all settled into the chairs and stools, apart from Rhyla who declined and remained standing by the hearth, more content to stand than to be seated once again.

“
Master Stephen,
”
started Lady Emelia when everyone was settled,
“
we shall want to assess the damage as soon as possible. There are carts following in a few days with some supplies from the Palace but I am not sure of exactly what they could spare and what we are in need of.
”

“
Yes my lady,
”
replied Master Stephen,
“
I have tallied up our
losses.
We
were unable to save any of the grain in the wheat store. As you know it can store nearly forty percent of our total capacity but luckily it was nowhere near full as the harvest hasn
’
t been brought in yet. As to the adjacent storage shed that was also destroyed
, it contained
preserved and dried fruit and vegetable stores and some salted meat and fish. Again we were lucky that it was not a couple of months later or we would have been filling it up with our winter stores.
”

“
And the buildings themselves, can they be saved?
”
asked Rhyla.

“
You can see them for yourself Miss Rhyla but I doubt it,
”
Master Stephen replied.
Her
alertness reminded him that this girl was more than just a simple scribe, wherever she had come from.

“
We shall view them shortly Rhyla,
”
Lady Emelia assured her. Rhyla blushed realising she had spoken out of place.
“
And what of the
men,
”
continued the thoughtful Lady Emelia.

“
Tad and Peter died in the bla
ze. There are four more injured.
I have put them in rooms here in the dun. I hope that is acceptable.
”

“
Of course, they must have the best of care,
”
insisted Lady Emelia.

“
We are doing what we can for them,
”
replied Mistress Belinda,
“
but with no healers nearby we can only do so much. Maya
,
the local
herb woman
has been of great help.
”