Purpleland: Chapter 8

I did not see her until I left the next day. She stood between Marcus and Shay. They were all wearing black and I could not help but think of the day of Lord Stephan’s funeral when I had fallen in love with Alena. Marcus stepped forward. I had told him all about Alena’s rejection the night before and he, with uncharacteristic emotion, told me how he had received a similar rejection from the red head he had courted. Now he grasped my shoulder and said, “If you ever need a friend”. I clasped his shoulder and replied, “You will be the first to know.” I looked back only once as we rode off and saw that only Alena and her sister were left on the parapet Alena’s Golden hair blew out behind her like a banner in the wind.

I rode for two days before we reached the capital. Britt said not two words to me the whole way, nor I to him as I was brooding on Alena. When we reached the capital and my father’s castle it seemed nothing was changed. The glittering lords and ladies still had balls and played at lunch parties and morning parties and washing parties and parties for seemingly no reason at all. I had not changed either. I hated all of them.

My father had not change in appearance, he was still feeble and too thin and his hair was still prematurely gray, however he had change his views about how I should deport myself. He had formerly been content to see me once a day for perhaps a quarter of an hour and had not bothered himself with what I did with the other twenty three and three fourths hours. Now I had tutors in war making, tutors in courtly manners, and lessons on economics, politics, and dancing. On top of that I was expected to spend two hours every day attending the courts in the city so as to see how justice was to be dispensed. I also had to attend balls almost every night and was expected to make myself agreeable to everyone there.

I was so much depressed by my thoughts of Alena that constantly being busy was a relief to me and I threw myself into my studies with more vigor that I had yet spared for anything, aside from my love for Alena. My father was pleased with this and called me into his room for about an hour every day for lessons of his own.  I learned from him how he managed his vassals, how he arranged the finances of the country, who he trusted and who he did not. I minded these longer visits less than the former shorter ones as he seemed to have realized that he could not expect me to treat him as a father and had begun to treat me as nothing more than an heir.