The Duke's Bed Warmer

Chapter 104: Bigger Game

Afternoon light streamed through the small window of the east wing. Alina unlocked the door and stepped inside. Cecily was by the window, looking at the garden below. She turned at the sound of the door, her face lighting up.

"Tell me about the party," Cecily said before Alina could even sit down. "I saw the lanterns, women dancingfrom the window. I also noticed you arrived late in a very beautiful red dress."

Alina sat down and told her everything. Cecily listened to everything carefully.

"You sewed the dress yourself?" she asked in disbelief.

"Yes."

"I’m sure Audrey would have received the message that you are an idiot for attacking a seamstress with a blade," Cecily grinned.

But after a few seconds, she became serious.

"Alina...I need to tell you something."

"What is it?" Alina asked, worried.

"Last night, during the party... I heard someone outside my door."

Alina’s hand went cold.

"Who?"

"A woman," Cecily replied. "She was whispering. I couldn’t hear the words clearly, but I think I know that voice." Cecily hesitated. "I think it was Audrey."

Silence filled the room.

"I’m not sure," Cecily added quickly. "I haven’t heard Audrey up close in five years. But the voice sounded like her."

"Was she alone?"

"I only heard one voice. But there could be someone else with her."

Alina’s mind raced.

Audrey was at Cecily’s door during the party. Is she investigating? Did Dorian ask her?

"We can’t tell Austin," Alina told her.

Cecily frowned.

"Why not?"

"If we tell him Audrey was outside your door, he’ll lock everything down again. He’ll restrict our visits and will protect you by caging you again," Alina explained. "You’ve just learned to laugh again. I won’t let him close this door again because Audrey whispered something outside it."

Cecily didn’t reply. Alina could see she was thinking about something.

"You’re hiding something from Austin again," Cecily said.

"I know and I hate that I’m doing it. But we have no other option."

Cecily nodded slowly.

"Agreed. But if she comes back again..."

"Then we’ll tell him immediately."

A little later, Austin walked in and sat in the chair across from the sofa. Cecily could feel the awkward tension between the two of them. So she decided to fix it.

"Chess?" Cecily asked.

"What?" Austin asked.

"I’ve heard about your entertaining chess matches from Alina," she replied. "Play. I’ll watch."

Cecily, without waiting for their answer, started setting up the board and placed it between Austin’s chair and the sofa while she perched on the sofa arm like a referee.

"Play," she said.

Austin began with his usual controlled style. Alina countered with her aggressive, chaotic approach.

Within seven moves, Austin lost his first bishop on move seven.

"There! First one gone!" Cecily cheered.

A few moves later, his second bishop was gone as well. Cecily laughed so hard that she actually slid off the sofa arm.

"Alina is even better than I imagined," Cecily said, laughing.

Austin stared at the board irritated with his two bishops gone. His sister was laughing at him while Alina was sitting with his bishops like trophies.

He looked at Alina who was trying not to grin.

"It looks like you’re enjoying this too much," he said.

"Of course," she admitted. "It’s not every day you got to defeat The Great Duke Of Ravenmoor," she said dramatically.

"He chuckled.

"Again," he said, resetting the pieces.

They played on. And soon the earlier tension in the room was replaced with laughter.

The next afternoon, when Alina returned to her room after the sewing circle, she found a wooden box on her desk. It was beautifully carved with eastern patterns she recognized from the book Dorian had given her.

There was no note or name but she knew who had sent it. She opened the lid and saw a small music box inside. She pressed the button gently and a soft familiar melody began to play.

She froze. It was her mother’s lullaby.

How did he know???

She sat on the bed, listening to the box play her childhood memories. Her hands trembled from the pain of hearing her mother’s voice again through a rotating cylinder. When the melody finished its cycle, she closed the box, picked it up, and carried it straight to Austin’s study.

She walked into his study and placed the box on his desk, opening the lid. The melody began to play. Austin looked up from his papers. His expression changed from focus to surprise.

"Where did you get this?" he asked.

"Dorian sent it to my room," she replied. "The melody...it’s my mother’s lullaby. Exactly the same."

Austin picked up the music box and turned it over in his hands, examining it carefully. His finger traced a small stamped mark below.

"This was made in the Arcasedian royal workshop," he informed her. "It’s original. This piece came from the palace collection."

Alina eyes widened.

"Which means..."

"He has connections inside the Arcasedian palace. Someone with access to the royal collection gave this music box to him," Austin finished for her.

"So...he knew the melody?" Alina muttered. "He chose this specific box because it plays my mother’s lullaby. How did he know?"

They looked at each other across the desk.

"The game just got bigger," he said and picked up the music box again, turning it slowly in his hands.

"Maren needs to examine it. If she can trace it, we might identify his contact inside the palace. That contact is the bridge between Astoria and Arcasedia."

"So...he is not just after me," Alina said. "He’s operating inside Arcasedia."

Austin nodded.

"This isn’t just personal anymore. It’s a state-level operation. Astoria is running intelligence inside Arcasedia through Dorian."

"And I’m the target."

"Yes," he replied. "He came prepared. He had this music box with him from the beginning."

The melody had ended, but its echo lingered in the air between them. Alina looked at the music box, trying to understand what Dorian’s gift actually meant.

The board was expanding. The pieces were moving faster. And the fragile joy they had only just begun to feel suddenly more precious than ever.