Chapter 16

Tick... tick... tick... CUCKOO!! The clock in Astrid's study chimed causing the person in question to jump up from the position they decided to take a quick nap in. Stacks of paperwork were ruffled as Astrid gripped her heart at the shock before glaring at the new cuckoo clock she had been gifted.

"Thor-damn this clock!" She hissed before rubbing her eyes to get rid of the sleepiness.

"Lady Hofferson, you need a break," a voice stated from the side. Astrid looked over to the second desk also in the study. Her new hire, Minden, sat there with a much lighter mountain of paperwork. Minden had eagerly accepted the position with the rate of pay Astrid offered after they had talked for a bit.

"I'll take a break once I figure out these accounts," Astrid muttered. "Also I think I might move this clock to one of the hallways. Preferably in the vicinity of my father's new rooms."

"Is Lord Anderson still salty about the room change? It's been a week already." Minden quirked a brow.

"He knew it was coming. Not packing and moving out was his way of telling me how much he thinks of my authority." Astrid sighed as she rubbed her forehead. "Honestly, does he expect me to keep sleeping in that small room when I have every right to the master bedroom now?"

"If only you used that nice fluffy bed," Minden joked.

"I'll sleep once these stacks are sorted out," Astrid said, indicating to the large pile of paper on her desk. "How can we have such a backlog if things were run right. Father had been slacking off."

There was a knock on the door. The butler, William, entered as soon as Astrid said "Enter,"

"Your Ladyship, you have two visitors hoping for an audience." The man declared.

"There should be no meetings today on the schedule," Astrid frowned.

"If I may speak freely, madam," William asked and once Astrid nodded he continued "One of the visitors is Lord Nelson and I think he has been rather impertinent with this visit. He gave no courtesy of a forewarning to his visit and now the maid staff is rushing to accommodate him. The other visitor seems to be a young man from the Commoner class. He seemed to be quite adamant to speak with your Ladyship. I used my personal judgment and let him enter the estate premises."

Astrid thought for a moment and then made her decision. "Tell Lord Nelson to leave. If he insists on staying then he will only be seen once I finish all my paperwork. As for the young man, show him to the study."

"As you wish madam," William said, giving a short bow before leaving the room.

Nearly five minutes later there was a knock once again on Astrid's study and the butler led the young man inside. Astrid indicated for him to take a seat in front of her desk as William waited outside in the hallway. She observed the young man, dressed in a beige tunic that looked made out of somewhat coarse fabric, a dark brown vest, and trousers. He nervously wrung his ivy cap, revealing short black hair, as Astrid waited for him to speak.

"Y-Y-Your Ladyship, thank you for seeing me," He finally managed to utter.

"My butler took notice of you, and I trust his judgment," Astrid stated as she folded her fingers together and placed them on her desk. "Now, what is your business with me?"

"Your Ladyship, I've come all the way from the Marquisdom hoping to beg you to please lower the taxes this year!" The boy lowered his head as he begged. "The people cannot take anymore!"

Astrid's brows shot up in surprise as she had not seen an issue with the tax collection. "Minden, can you get me the fief tax documents?"

Minden searched for a moment before handing a folder to Astrid. She opened it and perused the contents. "The fief has a total of five villages. Three of those villages are centered around active mines while the other two are mainly for agricultural reasons." She perused. "The tax I have to pay to the crown has and still is 30 percent of the profit. There hasn't been any change in this margin for over twelve years."

"My Lady, please believe me when I say this. We peasants can't take anymore. The drought in the area has already devastated a large part of our crops for the winter. The amount of food we have to buy from the merchants has increased but not a lot of merchants visit the fief due to the high travel tax. The-..."

"Travel tax?" Astrid stopped the young man for a moment and frowned. "The fief shouldn't have a travel tax," Something was seriously wrong here.

"Your ladyship it's bad, please show us some mercy!" The boy begged with his head lowered. A lot of miners were injured two weeks ago from a tunnel cave-in, my father was among them. We and the others affected asked the overseer for a reprieve since manpower was short but we were just told to meet the quota or face the consequences. Please, Marchioness! We, your people, beg you!"

Astrid sat solemnly behind her desk after the young man had left. She had ordered the butler to supply the lad with a horse, for his return trip home, as a reward for bringing this information to her. The animal would be a great boon for a peasant family and if what the lad implied was true then there seemed to be corruption afoot in her domain. She reminded herself that the people she had to look out for in her fief were more than paper on her desk. Her decisions had real consequences so she must stay objective on this matter.

"Was it right to reward him without verifying the information?" Minden asked, shocking Astrid out of her thoughts.

"He wore his best clothing to see me. Something a peasant would wear to a wedding. I noticed the calluses on his hands, meaning he worked either the fields or the mines regularly. Also his shoes were scuffed and caked with mud and dust. He walked here, all the way from the Marquisdom." Astrid muttered. "And if he were to want to deceive me he would have been more confident with his words. While he was eloquent he never made eye-contact."

"You got all that from your meeting?" Minden was surprised.

"I am observant, I just don't show it." Astrid quirked a brow. "What matters now is that we need to prepare for a surprise inspection of the fief. I will need some knights to accompany me, supplies, carriages and able horses. The fief is four days' travel from the capital after all."

"I can work with the butler and maids to prepare all that," Minden stated. "You should have the expense sheet no later than tomorrow."

"Good, can you also call one of the estate knights here? I will need to send a letter to the Merchant guild posthaste." Astrid stated as she dipped her quill in the inkwell and began drafting a letter. Just as she was about to put ink to paper the door to her office bursted open to reveal a desperate-looking Atali.

"Your Ladyship!" Atali shouted "We have a problem!"

"What?" Astrid stood up thinking that there might have been a murder or an invasion or maybe even assassins in the manor.

"Miss Rosalinda is throwing a fit in one of the second-floor lounges! She's already injured two maids!" Atali uttered. "Mister Edwin is trying to calm her down but I don't think it will work."

Astrid marched around her desk and out the door with Atali and her sister hot on her trail. She walked to the marble stairs leading down to the second floor. There were several maids crowded around one of the lounges, all too afraid to enter, as the shattering of porcelain could be heard.

"What in Odin's beard is going on here?!" Astrid asked as the servants parted for her once she was spotted.

"My Lady, the young master, asked us not to enter for our safety," One of the older maids answered. Astrid looked towards the mess in the lounge. Cushions were on the floor, a curtain was ripped, a table upended, a vase smashed against the wall where the water stain and trampled flowers were still visible, and a maid car that had held tea was on its side. It's contents seeping steadily into the expensive rug and wooden floors. In all this mess stood Rosalinda, looking quite like a madwoman, as she clutched a piece of blue porcelain shard in her hand. The shard was aimed at her brother who stood in front of two injured maids. One of the girls was clutching her face and the other her arm.

Rosalinda turned her ire towards Astrid upon spotting her standing in the doorway. "YOU! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!" Her eyes held anger and desperation. The girl threw the porcelain shard to the ground with such force it shattered and then uttered "I FINALLY HAD SOMETHING! HOW COULD YOU TAKE IT AWAY! YOU BITCH!"

She staggered towards Astrid, tears staining her face, intent on either strangling her or punching her, but Astrid was stronger than she looked after years of training with the estate knights. Stopping Rosalinda was a piece of cake. She ended up punching her stepsister in the stomach causing her to double over in pain. Astrid then knocked her out by putting her in a chokehold. There was no hesitance in Astrid's punch, nor any mercy shown as Rosalinda crumbled to the ground. Astrid had no patience for someone willfully destroying her property and injuring her staff.

"Take her to her rooms, post two guards by her windows and doors. She doesn't leave her room without my permission. Also call a doctor for those injured." Astrid said as she surveyed the damage. Upon seeing her stepbrother's widened eyes she added "Don't try to reason with me Edwin. Rosalinda has gotten on my last nerve."

Edwin wisely kept his mouth shut as two maids carried the unconscious Rose to her rooms while Astrid walked into the lounge to survey the damage. She wondered what could have set the girl off like that. A few minutes after assessing the damage she found the answer. There was a crumpled letter under the upended coffee table and an open envelope carrying the Royal wax seal.

Astrid wasn't one to read someone else's mail but it was the only thing in the room she could think of that could have set the girl off. Astrid's brows shot up as she was reading what she thought was a rather impersonal letter.

"Lady Astrid," Atali said tentatively.

"It seems Prince Grimmel has deemed it necessary to notify Rosalinda that due to her change in dowry the engagement proceedings will not be concluded and she is hereby not to act familiar with his person any longer." Astrid sighed, rubbing a tired hand over her forehead.

Meanwhile, in the rat-infested sewers under the Colosseum, the twins were trudging through the dirty waters with a lantern, a chicken and several other devices.

"Are you sure it's here Ruff?" Tuffnut asked as he gagged at the smell they waded through.

"I'm pretty sure the information is accurate," Ruffnut stated. "The sailors I got drunk said that they used this passage to deliver some mysterious cargo to the Colosseum a week ago."

"Well, we have nothing else to go on and Hiccup and Toothless are getting restless." Tuffnut uttered as he held up the lamp. They came to a crossroads in the sewer system and Ruffnut squinted at the palm of her hand where she had drawn the map.

"Left...." She started to say but then quickly turned around, nearly crashing into her brother, and uttered "No... wait.. Right."

"We're lost aren't we?!" Tuffnut exclaimed. "Did you even draw a North arrow on that map of yours?!"

"I know where North is!" Ruffnut protested as she put her hands on her hips.

"THE MAP!" Tuffnut exclaimed and Ruffnut pulled her hand back up to see part of the ink had smudged.

"Way to go buttelf!"

"Who are you calling a buttelf you... you...cricket!"

"A cricket?! Is that the best you can do you Bride of Grendel!"

"OYE! How dare you, you toe-sucking slug!"

"Lardbrain!"

"Crab licker!"

"Dung shoveler....!"

Unbeknownst to either of the twins they weren't alone in the sewers.