Their arrival at Worthingham was chaotic. Soldiers and speeders littered the drive. The Captain and the rest of the men came all the way with them as an escort. One of the soldiers was also driving the speeder that Maren and Alec had taken from the palace. Maren was glad to see it since it had nearly everything she owned inside. She hadn't even given it a single thought since they left the checkpoint.

In addition to the soldiers, there were also several servants who met them and began unloading Maren's luggage. Maren stood outside the speeder, slightly stunned and unsure what to do or where to go.

"You must be starved, why don't we go to the kitchen?" The Duke had suddenly appeared beside her.

"Oh...surely you have business to attend to, I'm all right." She felt like she had already imposed a great deal on him and didn't want to be more trouble.

"None more important than you," he said with a kind smile. "Please," he added, gesturing to the house.

"Ah...thank you," she said and took his offered arm.

She found his words somewhat shocking. Who said that to someone they just met? Was he just trying to flatter her? Did he really think she was that significant just for agreeing to marry him?

She hardly paid attention to anything in the house as he walked her through it. It was large and luxurious, but Maren was in too much of a daze to notice anything else.

Fortunately, it was a short walk from the drive to the kitchen, which was a lot larger than Maren expected. There seemed to be more than enough room to prepare a banquet for several dozen guests. But it was also an inviting and homey space, with lots of dark wood and low lights, somewhat at odds with the grand interior of the manor.

There was a small woman with tidy grey hair in an apron sitting at a wooden table. She rose and bobbed a curtsy when Maren and the Duke entered.

"Your Grace, my lady," she said, and then bustled off into the cooking area.

"You didn't need to stay up, Rosemary, it's very late," the Duke said.

"Well, sir, I know you don't eat at the fort and I assumed Lady Maren and Lord Alec would be hungry."

"Well, I'm grateful to you," the Duke said.

The Duke pulled out a chair at the table for Maren. She sat down and he joined her.

"Rosemary is our head cook and, I think, the best cook in the area," the Duke said.

Rosemary came back to the table carrying two plates of cold meat and cheese. She didn't respond to the Duke, but Maren could tell she was pleased by his complement.

"Welcome to Worthingham, my lady. We're all thrilled you've come."

"Thank you," Maren whispered. She hadn't really considered that there would be a whole staff with whom she'd need to be acquainted. That would have to be a problem for another day.

Rosemary left and returned with several golden-brown loaves of bread. Maren thought she might be able to eat some of that.

"Oh, good, I was hoping I'd find both you and food"

Alec had arrived. Maren was genuinely grateful he joined them. She was completely incapable of carrying on anything like a conversation with anyone, but especially with the Duke. She had been given entirely too many things to deal with and was completely out of capacity to deal with them.

"Rosemary!" Alec cried when he saw the cook.

He went to her and kissed her on both cheeks. Then she scolded him for being too thin, before handing him another plate of meat and cheese.

Maren was not really surprised to see how informal Alec and the Duke were with someone on their staff. Both seemed to delight in dismissing proper protocol. And, she had to admit, it was a good thing. How someone treated their staff was certainly an indicator of what sort of person they were. It certainly reflected well on the Duke.

Alec sat down with them. Maren took some bread and nibbled some cheese, but she wasn't hungry. Then Rosemary brought them all bowls of soup, which Maren found somewhat more appealing or at least easier to eat.

"Can I get you anything else, Your Grace, my lord, and my lady?"

It was very awkward to speak to three different people with three different addresses. But soon, Maren thought with a shudder, she would be "Her Grace" though and that would simplify things. For the staff at least.

"No, thank you," the Duke said with a kind smile, "Please, retire for the evening. And I expect a late breakfast will be in order tomorrow."

"Yes, sir." Rosemary made to leave before turning and saying with a grin for Alec, "Oh, Josephine left slices of cake in the ice box for you all. Have a good night."

Alec looked positively ecstatic to hear about the cake and bade Rosemary a particularly energetic farewell.

Maren desperately wished to leave with Rosemary and go to bed.  But she knew that now they finally had privacy, she and Alec would have to do a bit of explaining for the Duke. It was the very last thing she wanted to do. She briefly considered fainting just to get out of it, but decided that would be more embarrassing than the conversation they needed to have.

"Well, Father, I must say your timing was impeccable," Alec said, buttering a piece of bread.

"Hm. Well, I'm still annoyed they had the gall to detain you, knowing who you both were. Although, as I told Maren, I'm positive they wouldn't have dared to take either one or you."

Maren and Alec exchanged a look.

"Or, perhaps I'm missing something..."

Alec gave Maren a questioning look, she knew he wanted to know if he was allowed to explain. Neither of them had envisioned Maren being present for the conversation where Alec explained the situation to the Duke. But she found she was past caring about being delicate or proper or really anything apart from doing whatever was necessary and then going to bed. She'd deal with the consequences later. If the Duke wanted to kick her out, he'd have to wait until morning.

"I'm quite certain that they would have received the order to arrest me," Maren said. "Possibly, both of us, depending upon how angry Kieran is."

The Duke looked surprised but did not ask any follow-up questions, so Maren continued.

"I take it you're aware that Prince Kieran loathes his older brother?"

The Duke nodded.

"I got caught in the crossfire."

The Duke sat quietly for a few moments, clearly processing this information.

"So you left early because—"

"Because Kieran decided that he wanted to attempt to prove that I'm a witch by force. For obvious reasons, it didn't work, but it seemed prudent to leave immediately."

She knew she was being extremely blunt, possibly even to the point of rudeness, but she couldn't be bothered to sugarcoat the situation. She hadn't wanted to bring up witches, but it was really difficult to keep that concealed after what happened at the checkpoint. Hopefully, the Duke would believe her denial.

Most fortunately, he did not accuse her of being a witch. However, he looked shocked at her words.

"By force?"

Alec looked like he wanted to interject, probably to explain just how Kieran had harmed her, but Maren stared him down. If he wanted to do that, he could do it after she left but she was not going to sit there and listen to him catalog her injuries.

"Let's just leave it at that," she said, glaring at Alec. Fortunately, the Duke
did not press the matter.

"And the checkpoint—"

"—Was set up for the sole purpose of Kieran bothering his brother," she said.

It was half-true, but good enough.

"I don't understand why they didn't have your name," Alec said.

Maren didn't understand that either, but the Duke did.

"Because if he didn't catch her and word got out that he was trying to arrest someone he shouldn't be arresting, it would be a problem for him. Now, should anyone ask questions, he can say it was just a misunderstanding," he said.

"He'll still probably kill the ones at the checkpoint, though," Maren said.

Both of them looked at her with shock.

"Yesterday, he killed one of the palace guards for interrupting him when he asked not to be interrupted, and then he ordered the other guard to round up everyone at headquarters who made a mistake. I have no doubt he killed them all."

"Well, fear certainly is one way to lead," the Duke said. His tone was even, but his face showed how horrified he was.

Maren realized she might have gone too far with her bluntness. But after the time she spent with Kieran the day before, she felt she understood him, or at least understood how he might behave.

She sighed. "I apologize, I perhaps was not as delicate as I should have been. I cannot mince words though. Kieran is a monster, and I'm quite certain that the only reason I'm still alive is because it entertains him more to attempt to use me as a weapon against his brother."

And, she thought, because he wanted to steal her power more than he wanted to kill her.

Judging by the looks on the faces of the two men, her attempt to improve the situation was not successful. They both looked extremely uncomfortable.

It was the Duke who broke the awkward silence. "No, my dear, we aren't upset at what you said, we're upset that you've had to deal with such a monster."

That was not what Maren had expected to hear.

"Oh...well, it could be a lot worse," she said, thinking of Lady Callista and added, "Alec has some notion of what he did to his mistress."

The Duke looked to Alec.

"Let's just say I had to confine her away from him for ethical reasons."

Maren was also thinking of the woman so desperate to escape her imprisonment with Kieran that she killed herself with shards of glass—the one he called his "pet."

Kieran wanted to make Maren his pet.

She shuddered at the thought. Fortunately, no one noticed, or at least, no one saw fit to comment on it.

"Well, truly, I don't know what to say," the Duke said. "I'm appalled."

"How did you know to come?" Alec asked his father.

Maren was grateful for the slight change in subject. She would rather not dwell on Kieran any more than she had to.

"Ah, well, I make a point of having the fort here keep an eye on anything unusual happening in the area, and a Tracker checkpoint out here is highly unusual. I knew you would encounter it, so I went to the fort to keep an eye on things since it's so much closer to the checkpoint. And it just so happened that the Tracker station's telegraph wire runs through the fort, and it seemed prudent to read the traffic today. So, we saw the telegram asking what to do with the two of you," the Duke said.

She tried not to think about what might have happened if his people had not read that particular telegram.

He looked at Maren. "I don't trust Trackers. I assumed that if you hadn't been able to get through the checkpoint on your own, you needed help."

"And I'm deeply grateful for it," she said.

"Happy to do it. I dislike Trackers interfering with my family."

"Speaking of telegrams," Alec said. "I know it's late, is your operator still here?"

It appeared the Duke had his own telegraph line. Maren was surprised to hear that because private lines were rare, but reasoned it must be for his military responsibilities.

"Can it wait until morning?" the Duke asked.

Alec shook his head. "Not if it can be helped."

Maren knew he wanted to send one to Donovan to tell him they'd arrived safely. She tried not to think about it. She knew if she started thinking about Donovan again, she would start crying.

"A long one?" the Duke asked.

"A word will do."

The Duke nodded. "I can send a short one when we're done here."

Maren thought wistfully about being "done." Now that they'd explained everything, she thought she might collapse in exhaustion.

The Duke must've seen her longing for sleep in her face because he asked, "Would you like me to escort you to your rooms?"

Maren tried not to look too relieved, but she was desperate to go to bed. So desperate that she didn't even care what the Duke might want with her when they got there. Whatever it was, she wouldn't be able to stay awake through it anyway. 

"Please."

"Oh, but you have to have cake!" Alec cried.

Maren just looked at him. She knew her exhaustion, pain, and fear were all visible on her face for him to see. It would let him know just how uninterested she was in cake.

"Or perhaps you should go to your rooms." He looked a bit abashed. "Just one moment."

He picked up his medical bag; Maren hadn't even noticed he brought it with him. He dug in his bag for a few moments before pulling out a glass bottle of pills and handed them to her.

"Take one to help you sleep," he said.

Maren nodded. She knew she'd fall asleep quickly, but she hoped the pills would help her stay asleep. She did not want to deal with another nightmare.

"Sleep late, physician's orders," Alec added.

Maren thought that sounded like an excellent idea.

The Duke rose and then offered his arm to Maren. She took it gladly.

"Ah, let's see," he said as he led her out of the kitchen. "Your things should already be in your rooms. I'm afraid I was unable to get your maid here today, but she'll be here tomorrow," he said as he led her into the house. "But, should you need assistance in the interim, I can send Mrs. Bennett, my housekeeper."

"Oh, no, thank you, I'll manage on my own."

She did not want the staff to gossip about the horrible bruise on her ribs or the various others that covered half her body. She'd make sure she was properly covered before receiving help to dress for a while.

They walked quietly through the halls. Maren was too tired to make conversation, and the Duke seemed to respect that. He led her up two flights of stairs before stopping in front of a large wooden door.

"Captain Carstairs is getting a squadron of soldiers to stand watch overnight. I'm going to have them continue around the clock for a few days, at least. Just in case," he said.

Maren was surprised but nodded.

He took her hand very gently. His hand was warm and surprisingly comforting. "I hope you know, or will know, that you're safe here. No one will trouble you in this house."

Maren wasn't sure she would ever feel safe again, but certainly, she would feel safer with a guard stationed at Worthingham. And no matter what, it was a great deal safer than the palace.

"Thank you," she said. "I appreciate it."

He smiled. "Is there anything you need?"

She shook her head. "No, thank you."

"I will see you tomorrow." He emphasized the word "tomorrow," making it clear he would not see her before then.

She hoped he didn't see just how relieved she was at that. It was absolutely for the best; she doubted her ability to get through any amount of time in a bedroom with the Duke without crying.

The Duke kissed her hand before releasing it. "Goodnight, Maren."

"Goodnight."

She turned and went through the door to spend her first night in the Duchess's Suite.

—

A/N: Okay, so do we like Jonathan or do we love Jonathan? Comment and let me know!

This is an early update because going to a Monday-Wednesday-Friday schedule! That's right, now I'll be updating three times a week! I can't promise there won't be cliffhangers but I can promise you won't have long to wait!

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