Messy Office

Exhausted from her training, Raquel placed her practice sword back into the rack holding other practice weapons. There she spotted Nicole standing just outside the training arena, holding a towel in her hands.

Raquel hurried over to Nicole, taking the towel from her. “Thank you.”

“Of course, your highness.” Nicole replied, sounding more upbeat than normal.

Raquel stared at her maid in confusion as she wiped the sweat off her brows. Nicole normally spoke to her in an indifferent tone so to hear her sounding so upbeat…

“Did something good happen?” Raquel asked, not able to hold her curiosity.

Nicole’s face went instantly blank. “It’s nothing, your highness.”

“Hmm…” Raquel murmured, handing her towel to a waiting servant. “Ïf you say so.”

Raquel knew pressing Nicole would only make her more tight lipped so decided to let it slide. If it was important, Nicole would tell her.

“So, did anything happen while I was training?” Raquel asked, wanting to change the subject.

“Duke Ryker had an audience with your father. I believe they spoke about your marriage but you’ll have to ask him for more information.” Nicole answered as the two made their way to Raquel’s office.

“That so…” Raquel mused, wondering what they had spoken about.

They had probably spoken about the marriage, making Raquel wonder if Ryker had brought up their visit to Westerwyn after their wedding. She had decided to leave it in Ryker’s hands seeing how great he was at manipulating situations.

He probably already has a foolproof plan. Raquel smiled at the thought.

Of course, while she found his actions amusing, it was only because they were allies. Had they been enemies, it would have been a much different story.

When Raquel got to the office, Nicole left her to get refreshments. Raquel at first thought nothing of it, but when she entered the room, she found the reason her maid had decided to get refreshments suddenly.

And what was so amusing to her earlier…

All her furniture had been moved to the sides of the room. Across her wooden floors lay books, papers, a stack of plates and several crystals.

And in the center of all the chaos in her office, sat Duke Ryker, wearing a tunic unbuttoned at the top and glasses. He was so deep into what he was doing, the man hadn’t realized Raquel had walked.

“Ahem!” Raquel coughed loudly to get the cuke’s attention.

The startled duke looked up, quickly running a hand through his disheveled hair in what seemed to be an attempt to straighten up.

“Your highness!” Ryker stood up and bowed. “I didn’t expect to see you here.”

“You and Nicole seem to have some funny jokes about me doing work in the office.” Raquel muttered under her breath.

“Excuse me?” Ryker asked in confusion, not hearing her words.

“What are you doing here?” Raquel said instead. “Did I move offices or something?”

“Oh um.. Well, I needed some office space to do some work and your maid recommended this was the best place to do so…” Ryker paused for a moment. “The emperor called me for an audience to discuss the marriage.”

“And?” Raquel questioned, not sure how this was going to lead to the mess in her office.

“It was mostly to settle the bride’s dowry. Of course, I also brought up my mother’s illness and explained that she couldn’t make it.” Ryker explained. “Anyway, I was able to get us permission to go to Westerwyn after the wedding.”

“But…”

“You have to complete two months worth of work. And when Nicole told me about the backlog of stuff the emperor was dumping on you…”

“You started working on it.” Raquel finished.

While she was upset about Ryker and Nicole doing this behind her back, she was still thankful about the help. And that Ryker had gotten the ball rolling for their plans.

“Please don’t get upset with your maid. I was the one who made the decision.” Ryker looked at Raquel sheepishly. “She actually wanted to let you know but I didn’t want to distract you from your training. So, instead she watched me like a hawk, judging everything I did.”

Raquel smiled at the last comment, her last traces of her anger gone. “That sounds like Nicole. So, what have you done?”

“Oh yes…” Ryker murmured, hurrying over to her desk where a pile of documents lay. “I mostly got paperwork done with you just needing to review them and sign. The only important thing here is this case from Governor Elis.”

Raquel frowned. Governor Elis was the head of the northern territory, specifically the lands where her mother’s tribe roamed.

“What is it about?” Raquel asked, walking over to her desk.

“There seems to be an increase of monster sightings among hunters.” Ryker explained as he handed the document to Raquel. “He’s asking for help to get rid of the monsters.”

Raquel looked over the document quickly, her mind spinning as she read on. Monster sightings were normal but for so many and when the harsh winter was coming in…

“Someone’s planting monsters in the region.” Raquel murmured. “And if what your mother was saying about Hale’s Text being true…”

“They’re trying to get control of the area.” Ryker finished. “It’s a smart move on their part. No one will question it and if they do, it will not be welcomed.”

“No one seems to know about the request yet seeing as it landed on my table.” Raquel murmured. “We can send a response privately to the governor and take care of the issue ourselves.”

“Are you sure?” Ryker asked. “These are Level 5 monster sightings and you have to consider the governor…”

Raquel smiled. “There’ll be no worries there. The governor was my mother’s right hand man. Besides, you’re looking at the strongest warrior in the Continent. I can take on two Level 5 monsters at once.”

She’d barely win but Ryker didn’t need to know that. Most Level 5 monsters traveled alone anyway. She was more worried about the goblin sightings though.

A big enough pack of them could cause some serious problems.

“Alright.” Ryker nodded in understanding. “I guess you’ll send the message.”

Raquel nodded. “Yes.”