Ves and her group sat in a cozy drawing room in Senator Varsray’s manor. The guard captain, Roland, had his aide escort them there while he set off to inform the Senator. Alice had insisted on coming along as Ves’s handmaiden otherwise, it was the same group that spoke with Roland in the guard house.

  They were thankfully treated as proper guests and even served snacks and refreshments. Here Alice was in her element, serving Ves tea with a skill and grace typically reserved for servants of the upper crust of nobility. Despite having grown up as a fellow servant, Ves knew she could never compare. Alice was in a league of her own. Even if some looked down on the profession, Ves knew the level of skill and control on display took as much practice and bodily control as that of any trained fighter. She could also see that the manor servants and even Roland’s aide were impressed.

  ‘Ves I must say you're handling this pretty well,’ Nell commented.

  ‘What do you mean?’ Ves asked as she took a sip of her tea.

  ‘You and Alice act as if you belong here, and seem to understand all the little nuances of dealing with these aristocrats and their servants. You even seem to sip your tea with a grace I haven’t seen before’ Nell explained.

  ‘Nell, we do belong here, for better or worse, we are consorts of a Dragon Queen. In terms of Nobel ranking, we are right below a given nation's royalty. You also forget myself and I suspect Alice, have lived around and served nobles all our lives. That said, I will admit Alice is something else.’ said Ves in admiration.

  ‘I suppose’

  Ves suspected they may be waiting a while. It’s not like a City Lord could just drop what he was doing to meet with unannounced guests. Looking around to see how the rest of her group was holding up, Ryuko looked stiff as a board and hyper-focused on her guard duty. Alice couldn’t speak. Farren seemed to be looking around the room and mumbling to himself, lost in thought. Ves was surprised by Taythes though, she figured the dragon would be impatient, being forced to wait on a lesser species. Yet here he was, taking a nap in a chair. Just how hard did Sen work the poor man? He always seemed on the brink of collapse. So to break the awkward silence in the room, Ves looked to one of her only options in the room for conversation, Roland's aide.

  “Correct me if I’m wrong, but you are Sir Roland’s vice-captain, yes?” Ves asked.

  The aide looked seemingly a bit surprised that she was being spoken to. “That is correct, my Lady.” The poor woman looked like she was also about to collapse from exhaustion, with dark bags under her eyes.

  “May I ask your name?” Ves asked, trying to keep a conversation going.

  “Lyra, Lyra Rovas, my lady,” she said.

  “Rovas? Isn’t Sir Roland's surname Rovas?” Ves asked, trying to remember from last time she was here.

  Lyra’s eyes opened wide a bit, “That is correct. I’m surprised you know that. He is my Uncle.”

  “As am I, the Rovas family isn’t even that well known in Kohdessia. I’m surprised a foreign noble has heard of them,” Said a newcomer to the room, followed by several guards. He was an older man with grey hair and a slightly unkept bushy beard. Well into his seventies, he looked to be in good physical shape for his age. His eyes had faded, but likely were a similar shade of green to her own in his youth. A youth spent on the battlefield before retiring to the countryside, if Ves remembered correctly. This was the man she came to see, City Lord Varsray.

  Ves stood and curtsied to the man, “Greetings to you, Lord Varsray. I do apologize for the sudden visit.”

  The lord's eyes went a bit wide for the briefest of moments as soon as he heard Ves speak before he went to sit down across the table from her.

  “I don’t hear an accent. Are you from Kohdessia yourself?” he asked.

  “Yes, I was born and raised in this country,” Ves answered truthfully.

  Turning to Roland's aide, “Lyra, may I see the document Roland told me about?”

  “Here it is, my Lord,” she said as she handed him the document.

  After flipping through a few pages, “Ohh, exciting, this is some gift indeed.” He mused while stroking his beard before handing the document back to Lyra.

  “I hope you can make good use of it,” Ves said with a smile.

  “If what is written there is true, I can think of a hundred ways to use it. I assume you are not fond of Senator Berkandis?” he asked.

  “I loathe him with every fiber of my being,” Ves replied without pause in a cold tone.

  “I suspect you would,” the count replied.

  Ves raised an eyebrow at that. Did he suspect who she was? They had only ever met tangentially at a distance. There was no way in this heavy clothing and a veil that he could recognize her.

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  “Now I think proper introductions are in order. Before that, Roland, Lyra, I would like you to stay. Everyone else, clear the room and ensure we are not disturbed.”

  The servants refreshed everyone’s drinks, then promptly left the room with the extra guards next, closing the door behind them.

  Taythes merely opened an eye, though she supposed for him no one here was truly a threat. Ryuko, on the other hand, tensed up. Setting Lyra equally on edge.

  “Ryuko, calm down. This is what we wanted, a private conversation with Lord Varsray.” Ves said she placed her hand over Ryuko’s own that had a death grip on her sheathed weapon. Realizing what she was doing, Ryuko apologized and removed her hand from her dagger.

  “Lyra, you need to stand down as well,” Varsray ordered.

  “But my lord, we don’t even know these people.” Lyra protested.

  The old man simply chuckled and looked towards Ves, “That’s only partially true, isn’t it, my dear. We have met before, haven’t we? Your name wouldn’t happen to be Ves now, would it?”

  “How the… we only met once, and not even directly at that…” Ves stammered out.

  “While true, it also was only a few months ago, Lady Elaine may have also tipped me off that you may end up on my doorstep,” Varsray explained before turning to Taythes, who was now glaring at the Count. “Good sir, I may not know who you are, but the pressure in that glare does these old bones of mine no favors. I promise I bear no ill will to your charge.”

  “Very well, know if you try anything, I will burn this city to the ground,” Taythes remarked before laying off the pressure. It wasn’t even directed at Ves, and she found it hard to breathe. She had to give the count credit for not losing his cool. She could see that both Roland and Lyra had broken out in a cold sweat.

  “Wait, Lady Elaine knew I was coming?”

  “Not exactly, it was just a guess on her part when she learned you were still alive. Now then, would you mind explaining what is going on? I had heard you escaped. But now you show up in strange company and spilling secrets your brand should prevent you from sharing.”

  “My lord, may I ask. Who is this woman?” Roland said his confusion clear as day.

  “Ah, where are my manors, Roland, may I introduce you to Ves. Senator Berkandis escaped branded. And more importantly, my granddaughter.”

  “Branded!” Roland and Lyra shouted.

  “Granddaughter!” Ves shouted.

  The count stood there confused for a moment before his eyes went wide, “Wait, you didn’t know! I thought that was the whole reason you sought me out.”

  “No, I didn’t! And how!” Ves shouted.

  “Well, this is a bit awkward. It’s an open secret at this point. I’m pretty sure over half the nobles in the country know, so I assumed you did as well. It's why Lady Elaine guessed you may come here in the first place,” The count said while rubbing his beard. “Long story short, in my youth, I fell for a branded woman owned by another house visiting for the summer.”

  “I thought people of this country viewed branded as little more than livestock?” Ryuko asked.

  Ves responded, “In polite society, yes, sleeping with a branded would be looked upon the same as if one slept with a farm animal. Behind closed doors though…”

  “She has the right of it, add in being only a lad at the time, and I can assure you that was the farthest thing from my mind when an attractive older woman gave me her attentions, branded or not.” The count added with a chuckle.

  “She came on to you?” Ves asked.

  “Just so, which should have been my first warning sign. Unfortunately, after that summer, I learned she had been ordered to seduce me by her own master as a means to discredit my family. The whole situation resulted in a child, your father.” The count stated, looking dismayed.

  “I’m pretty sure my father would have disowned me had he had another option for an heir. That’s actually why I served in the army, my father made me join to earn back my honor. The whole situation left a bad taste in my mouth for the institution of branding. As a result, I’m one of the few outspoken opponents of the practice and a bit of a social pariah. Ironically, that very stance made it easier for me to form relationships with nobles from other nations. So despite being a pariah internally, I hold too much sway and wealth outside of the country for anyone to easily act against my household.”

  “That is quite the story, but have you any proof of your claim?” Taythes questioned.

  “Aside that bloodline branded lineages are very well documented and easy enough for me to show you the legal records. We share an eye color, though mine has faded with my age my eyes used to be just as vibrant an emerald as hers. Which is not a common color by any means.”

  Taythes leaned back. “Fair enough”.

  “If I’m your granddaughter, why don’t you own me or my father, for that matter? I understand you can’t free us, but you should have at least been able to purchase us.” Ves asked.

  “I tried many times. Unfortunately, the Royal family manages all the branded. It's more accurate to say that rather than any nobles owning branded, we lease them. In turn, the royal family maintains true ownership as far as the magic involved is concerned and are able to veto any request to take custody of a branded.”

  “I suspect Senator Berkandis purchased you just to rattle me. It’s likely the only reason we even met last time you came through here. He was trying to show you off. Before you disappeared, he even alluded to harming you or worse if I didn’t back him up in the upcoming legislative session.”

  “Sounds like something that bastard would do…” Ves fumed.

  “Back on topic, though, may I ask why you are here and who these people with you are? Your brand should have prevented you from revealing any of the details in that document.” The elderly man said.

  Now that there was no point in hiding it, Ves removed her veil and stood up. “To explain that it may be best, I reintroduce myself. I ask that you keep what I am about to tell you a secret until the time is right.”

  Ves curtsied and spoke, “I was wed recently, granting me a new name. Ves’Nell Sei Verdantscale, First Consort of Queen Senotraxia of the Verdantscale dragonflight.”

  Varsray, Roland, and Lyra looked at Ves, not believing a word, before their eyes went wide and they turned toward Taythes in absolute horror as he gave them a toothy grin.

  Lyra, who was standing at attention behind a couch, stumbled forward, barely catching herself as she looked like she was about to have a panic attack. Tossing herself on the ground before Taythes, she prostrated herself. “My lord dragon, I sincerely apologize for any offense given. Please spare our city.”

  Taythes looked at the human awkwardly before looking at Ves, who just laughed. “Taythes, you are a being out of legend. What did you expect would happen when you revealed yourself?”

  Taythes sighed and looked back to the shaking woman before him, “None of that now, human. We are not here to cause any harm. If you must prostrate yourself, at least do it before the Consort.”

  Lyra slowly got up and staggered into the couch next to Varsray.

  Roland just looked at the ceiling for a moment before taking a deep breath. “My Lord, I know I am on duty, but may I pour myself a drink?”

  Varsray, who also lost all composure, leaned back into the couch and simply responded, “Only if you get me one too.”