The Duke's Bed Warmer

Chapter 108: Oh No!!!

The sewing circle was busy with the second shipment of uniforms. Lady Talbot was sitting at her usual corner bench, but today a young woman sat beside her. Alina had never seen her before.

Lady Talbot looked at Alina and signalled her to come to her. Alina set down the fabric and went to her.

"Alina," Lady Talbot said, "This is Eleanor. She is the wife of Lord Merrick."

"Lady Talbot said I could trust you," Eleanor said, hesitant.

"You can," Alina replied as she sat on the bench beside her.

"I was sold into a debt marriage at seventeen," Eleanor began. "My father owed Lord Merrick and the marriage cleared the debt. I’ve been his wife for six years."

As always, a woman’s body was used to settle a man’s accounts.

"Lord Merrick is not cruel," Eleanor continued. He has given me his name, and I run his household. But we hardly talk to each other."

"Umm...why are you here?" Alina asked, directly.

"Because Lady Talbot told me about you and what you’ve built here," Eleanor replied looking at the sewing circle. "I came because there are a lot of women like us who are sold to wealthy men."

She sighed.

"And some of us have been communicating," she lowered her voice.

Alina glanced at Lady Talbot who gave her a small nod

"How?" Alina asked.

"Through messages hidden in trade shipments. My husband receives textiles from three other estates. The women in those estates hide letters in the fabric rolls," she replied. "We write in simple codes. We call the network the Blood Ink Pact."

"Blood Ink?"

"Because some of the women write with blood when they can’t access ink."

The words hit Alina hard. Women were writing messages in their own blood because the men who owned them controlled every part of their lives.

"How many women are there?" Alina asked.

"In the network? Forty-three, across twelve estates. But there are hundreds of more who aren’t in the network."

"What do you want from me?"

"Your position. You have access to the most powerful man in the kingdom after the king. You also run a sewing circle that proves women can actually do professional work. And most of all, you have visibility," she explained. "I don’t know whether you know, but you’ve gotten quite popular among the women of the kingdom."

She stopped and looked at Alina to make sure she was listening.

"I want you to be a voice for the women who have none," she continued.

"I want to know more," Alina replied, after thinking for a while.

"Then you need to meet the others," Eleanor said.

"I’ll arrange your meeting with them soon."

Alina nodded. Then Eleanor bid her goodbyes and left leaving Alina with a thousand questions. She looked at Lady Talbot, waiting for her to say something but she had returned to her sewing. A clear signal that the decision was hers to make.

While going back to her room from the garden, Alina took a shortcut near the kitchen as she didn’t want to pass through the main corridors and hear more whispers about her. She turned a corner and stopped.

She saw Austin crouched in the corridor feeding a cat. The cat was small and skinny. Austin had a piece of roasted chicken and the cat was eating from his hand.

And to her surprise, he was also talking to the cat.

"I will bring more tomorrow," he said. "The current supply is enough for the evening. Supplementary provisions will be available after the morning service."

It looked like he was briefing the cat on food supply logistics. Alina leaned against the corridor wall and watched him.

When the cat finished eating, it looked up at Austin and put its paw on his knee. In response, Austin scratched the back of itsear. The cat purred loudly.

"Don’t get attached," Austin said. "This is a transactional arrangement."

The cat pushed its head into Austin’s hand as if telling him it was already attached.

"I mean it," Austin said, now scratching the cat’s chin. "This is purely logistical. I’m managing a pest control resource. Cats reduce the rodent population. Feeding you is an investment for castle infrastructure."

"Is it," Alina said.

Austin’s hand froze on the cat’s belly and he turned towards Alina as if caught doing something embarrassing.

"How long have you been standing there?"

"Long enough to hear you brief a cat on supplementary provisions."

Austin stood up slowly. The cat walked to Alina, rubbed against her ankles, and purred.

"It likes you," Austin said.

"How long have you been feeding it?" Alina asked, crouching down and scratching the cat behind its ears.

"A few weeks," he replied. "It appeared near the kitchen after the harvest festival. It was thin so I..."

"You adopted him?"

"I did not adopt it. I just feed it."

Alina laughed.

"Does it have a name?" she asked.

"Why would it need a name?"

"Because every living thing needs a name," she replied. "Let’s name it," she said, excitedly.

"Tell me...what does it look like to you?"

Austin looked at the cat. It was grey and white with green eyes and was looking at him as if it was slightly offended.

"It looks offended," Austin replied.

"Not that!" Alina sighed in disbelief. "Okay...you like reading books. Do you have any favourite character?"

"Harwick," Austin replied immediately.

Alina stared at him.

"Harwick? The love poet? You want to name a stray cat after your favorite love poet."

He shrugged.

"I like it," Alina said. "Let’s call him Harwick from now on."

"Harwick," Alina said to the cat. "Welcome to the castle. Your benefactor is the Duke of Ravenmoor."

Austin didn’t say anything. He was looking in another direction, embarrassed.

"Let’s feed him together sometime," she said and walked towards the main castle.

In the evening, a state dinner was organized with a visiting delegation of minor lords from the northern estates.

Alina was at her seat and Austin was at the head with Audrey.

The first course arrived: soup. It was rich, warm and delicious. Alina glanced at Austin who was looking at his bowl. His spoon was in the soup but he wasn’t eating. He stared at it like something was wrong.

Then she looked at her own bowl and saw parsnips that Austin hated with a passion. He picked up his spoon and took a sip from the edge, where there were no parsnips.

Alina watched him with fascination.

Then the second course arrived. It was roasted meat with vegetables. Austin looked at his plate and his jaw tightened because of the parsnips again.

He picked up his knife and fork, sliced the meat and separated it from the vegetables. The carrots were moved to the left of the plate along with the potatoes and the parsnips were moved to the right side.

He did all this while having a conversation with the visiting lord to his left about trade tariffs.

Alina was mesmerized. She had stopped eating her own food and was watching the Duke of Ravenmoor fighting a war against his food.

She grinned.

I love him.

The thought walked into her mind the way Austin walked into rooms; without announcing itself. When realization hit her, she shook her head to shake the thought away.

She stared at her own plate, focused on her own parsnips and ate them immediately.

Oh no.

She didn’t look at him again for the rest of the dinner. If she did, he would see her face and right now, her face would everything away.

"Are you okay? You look flushed," Marguerite asked.

"The soup is hot."

"Hot? We are at the third course."

She stuffed her face with vegetables to avoid answering her.