Death of the Marquess

Political event

News spreads throughout Flottenheim of the Marquee's, Nikolai Malenthot, untimely death. The family claims he died from the flu but there are many different rumors and speculations. Fenneck and Naertho are charged with creating funeral wear for the royal family.

Fenneck woke from his meditation, still holding Erikur to his chest. He looked down to see Erikur's eyes were puffy and red from crying all night but he seemed to be resting peacefully. Fenneck gently kissed his head and looked up as his father entered the living room. "Good morning," Leonid told his son, still quiet and upset from the night before. "Morning," Fenneck responded. He watched his father nervously getting ready for work and grabbing a single roll of bread to get him through the day. There was still an unsettling feeling in the air after the unfortunate things that had transpired yesterday evening. Leonid walked over to Fenneck and kissed his head, giving him a loving, yet somewhat fearful smile before he left the house to head to work.   As the door closed, Erikur looked up into Fenneck's eyes. "Hey," Erikur muttered softly. "Hey, how are you?" Fenneck asked him before gently caressing Erikur's long sandy brown hair. Erikur still looked dismal but he managed to shrug and sit up on his own. "I guess we should get to work, huh?" Erikur said, looking downcast. "Maybe she'll come back," Fenneck suggested, trying to sound hopeful but failing miserably. Erikur shrugged. "You should go. I'll be fine. I want to speak to your mother about something before I leave. Besides, your big promotion is today," he said, trying to sound cheerful for Fenneck.   Fenneck felt sick to his stomach though as the events of last night really started to settle. He wasn't sure if he was ready to leave behind his family and friends. It was no small thing to move up in the caste system. His entire life would probably change. The idea crept into his head that there might be a world in which he could be with Evelyn. A world in which his skill and rank could put him in a position to marry and court a princess such as herself. Besides, he was a handsome, blonde, bright eyed, male high-elf. He would fit in with everyone else on the first level.   Fenneck looked at Erikur, feeling guilty for thinking these things. "I guess you're right," he said, conflicted about leaving his hurting friend and going to start this new adventure. He quickly changed and grabbed some food and turned back to Erikur one more time before leaving. "I love you, Erik. If you need anything, let me know." Erikur nodded to him, smiled softly and then collapsed back in the couch to wait for Faina. Fenneck left and headed up to the shop.   As he waded through the market place, the town seemed abuzz with gossip. Fenneck ignored it and went straight to the shop. He opened the door and saw Naertho reading a paper excitedly. "Morning," Fenneck greeted him. "Morning," Naertho said without looking up. "Have you heard?" he asked his apprentice. Fenneck realized something must have happened. "No, is that what all the chatter was about in the market place?" he asked, gesturing to the newspaper. Naertho nodded and turned to paper to show Fenneck. "The Marquee died last night. Supposedly from the flu but there are many rumors that claim people saw him these last few days seeming perfectly healthy." Fenneck skimmed the article in surprise when it suddenly hit him that the marquee was Evelyn's brother. The two people in his life that he seemed to care about the most, both losing their siblings on the same night. Fenneck felt sick to his stomach again.    "How... unfortunate?" he said, trying to gauge what his response should be. Naertho started moving gracefully about the shop. "Indeed," Naertho said, barely masking the fact that the Marquee's death wasn't terribly sad to him. He clapped his hands together as he looked over several bolts of black fabrics. "We need to get to work. The royal family will want new funeral attire. They already sent in the order this morning so we are going to be working overtime today. Perhaps you'd like to start with Princess Evelyn's dress? She's really taken a liking to you. Which is odd because I've never seen her take a liking to much of anything." He casually scooped up a few bolts of black, lacy fabric and carried them over to their workspace. "Of course," Fenneck replied, feeling conflicted about the situation. "I'd be honored. Do you have designs already?" He walked over to Naertho who had clearly spent the morning excitedly sketching out funeral attire for the family. Fenneck wondered if that was the healthiest response to such news. "Of course. Here, you start on Princess Evelyn's while I get to work on the Grand Duke's."   They got to work and Fenneck couldn't help but feel morbid as he draped out the beautiful gown created for his beloved to mourn in. After a few hours of tedious, stressful work, they heard the bell on the door ring and Fenneck walked out of his work space to see the Grand Duchess Milena Malenthot herself, Evelyn, and a posse of guards around them. Fenneck quickly dropped into a bow. "Your grace," he addressed the duchess. "Your grace." He heard Naertho behind him. "Naertho," Milena addressed him. "I wanted to look over your designs for the funeral service. I also have one more order for you to fill," Milena addressed Fenneck's uncle as they rose from their bows. Fenneck tried to catch Evelyn's eye but she was avoiding his gaze. "Of course, your grace. And what is this other order?" Naertho asked her cordially. "My brother, Emperor Staladin, is heading straight here from Leniscow and his Imperial Majesty will need new robes for the funeral as well. You will come up to do a fitting for him tomorrow in the palace with his double. I want to see the designs you have, quickly. I have a very busy day." Naertho waved his head to tell Fenneck to get back to work and Fenneck bowed to excuse himself. He went back to his workspace and quickly got back to work on Evelyn's dress.   After a few moments, the curtains parted and Evelyn, with two guards at her side, entered the small room. "Naertho said I could check the design for my dress in here," she explained formally. She was wearing a long dark blue dress with black lace and embroidery. She had her hair in an elaborate pile of braids on her head and she wore a black lace veil. "Of course, your highness," Fenneck said, bowing and waving her over to see the designs. She leaned over the table and studied the sketch for a bit. There was some scrap paper lying around it as well and she lightly grazed a sheet of it causing the words to appear before him: I'm so sorry. I'm trying to find a way to see you but it might be impossible in these coming weeks. You are still ever present in my heart through these rough times. Fenneck was close enough to smell her sweet perfumes and she lingered a bit too long looking over the design before finally standing up. "It should be fine. I'm sure you understand it's been a hard time for my family," she explained, keeping a very formal air between them. "It's hard to focus on dresses when one mourns the death of their brother." He nodded at her understandingly and suddenly heard her voice in his head. "I miss you dearly, Fenny." Fenneck could see the pain in her eyes and wanted nothing more than to hug and comfort her. "I understand, your highness. My sincerest condolences," he said, bowing again before she collected herself and left his office. Fenneck was sad to see her go and turned back to his work to busy his mind.   After a very long day, Fenneck finally headed home well into the evening. He opened the door to his home and saw his mother, father and Erikur eating and talking at the table. "You're home late," his mother observed as he came in. Fenneck sat down and hungrily started fixing a plate. "I assume you heard?" Fenneck asked them. "About the Marquee," he explained. "The Grand Duchess herself and Princess Evelyn came into the shop today to place an order for funeral attire." He hungrily bit into a roll and noticed the party at the table exchange worried glances. Fenneck continued. "Naertho is making funeral robes for Emperor Staladin himself. I guess he decided to head straight to Flottenheim at the news of his nephew's passing."   Erikur choked on a piece of bread at this news, prompting Leonid to thump a hand on his back. Fenneck looked around at their worried faces, confused by their response to his juicy gossip. Leonid cleared his throat. "Um, we did. It's uh... quite unfortunate," he said without a hint of remorse on his voice. "He was quite young." "Indeed," Erikur chipped in awkwardly. "Staladin is... here?" Faina asked Fenneck, with noticeably more composure than the other two elves, but a bit fearful about the idea of their emperor visiting. "Oh yes," Fenneck explained, still finding the news exciting. "Naertho is doing a fitting with his double tomorrow. He was quite frazzled by such a request. I guess Emperor Staladin didn't have time to work with his own tailor in Leniscow ." Faina and Leonid shared a worried look and Erikur cleared his throat. "Well, that's a great opportunity for Naertho," he said, clearly trying to steer the conversation elsewhere. "Considering it goes well..." he added under his breath as he turned back to his food. "Why wouldn't go well?" Fenneck asked, confused by their lack of enthusiasm for such an exciting event. The three of them shared a look and Leonid spoke. "Well... his Imperial Majesty is very... particular, is all-" Faina cut off her husband. "But did anything else exciting happen today? Are you helping Naertho with any of the funeral attire?" Fenneck nodded. "Yes. I'm building Princess Evelyn's dress and possibly Jasna's now that Naertho has Emperor Staladin to worry about." Fenneck was dying to brag about Evelyn and chose his words carefully. "Like I said, Princess Evelyn was there today and she came in and looked at my designs and work. She seems to like what I do." Erikur glanced over and squinted at Fenneck knowingly. "I bet she does," he mused. "She's pretty, isn't she?" he asked Fenneck. Fenneck felt his ears start to blush and he gave Erikur a stern look. "Quite," he said sharply, trying to hide his affections for the princess from his voice. "She is a princess, after all. I suppose being pretty is part of their job." Erikur tipped his glass of wine to him. "I suppose it is."   Faina sighed in relief to move the conversation to something else. "Well that's wonderful, Fenny. Did Naertho talk about the promotion today?" she asked him. Fenneck shook his head. "No. He was too busy and stressed about the emperor. Perhaps next week when the royal family isn't so occupied with such matters." Leonid nodded. "Well, it will give you some time to really consider it. Getting your own place is... it's a big deal. I'm very proud of you," he said, a bit passively, as if he didn't really care about it. "In the first layer of the mountain too!" Faina added trying to spice up the air. "Oh, I'm so happy you'll be somewhere safe, dear." His parents' demeanor seemed off to Fenneck. It seemed fake. Fenneck felt his nerves of distrust start to creep back up in him. "A big deal indeed," Erikur said proudly. Fenneck felt uncomfortable. "I, um..." Fenneck tried to invent an excuse to retire to his room. "I had a long day, so I think I'm going to go rest early tonight. Naertho wants me to get to the shop pretty early tomorrow," he told them. "Okay, dear," Faina said, a look of concern hinted in her eyes.   Fenneck excused himself and went into his room. He laid down and breathed for a moment before he heard Erikur knock on his door. "Come in," he said. Erikur came in and closed the door behind him. "Hey, are... are you okay?" Erikur asked him. Fenneck sighed. "I feel bad. You obviously are going through a lot right now with Catherine missing. I'm worried about Evelyn because of her brother. I..." Fenneck looked away for a moment before turning back to him. "I never considered moving up levels before. Was it hard? You never really seem to hang out with your parents anymore," he observed. Erikur sat down next to Fenneck and leaned against him. "They're still the way they are. They believed that our place was there, with them. Catherine thinks they're resentful of me but... I don't know, I'd like to think there's some ounce of pride in them. I'm not really sure how to break the news to them about Catherine," he said sadly. Fenneck leaned his head against Erikur's shoulder. "I forget sometimes how lucky I am with my parents," he observed. Erikur smiled. "You have no idea." Erikur kissed him on the head and Fenneck looked up at him and sighed. "Why can't I just move in with you?" he asked Erikur sadly. Erikur smiled. "I don't want you sneaking your girlfriend in and out of my house." Erikur elbowed him teasingly. "Besides, you know why we can't do that. It'd be too suspicious." Fenneck shrugged. "We're just friends though." Erikur scoffed at him. "Oh, Fen. I love how innocent you are. They don't care if we love each other romantically or not. Two unrelated men living together is an abomination. Especially if they've done what we've done." Fenneck felt Erikur's hand start to rub his back. "If my parents knew about that they would have kicked me out long before I told them I was going to be a musician." Fenneck sighed. "Well they're foolish. You and Catherine are wonderful. Any parent would be blessed to have such good children." Erikur smiled. "Why do you think your parents keep me around?" he teased him. "Look, Fen, your parents are really happy for you. They want you to move out and to have a better life than theirs. They've worked hard for you to be able to do that. They'll always be here for you to visit. We've both been able to move up in our lives. That's not the case with most people here." "I know," Fenneck said. "I just feel... guilty... that I want it. That I want to leave. That I want to feel like I could be worthy of Evelyn. Of being around royalty. I want that." Erikur nodded sadly. "I know. I think you'd fit right in, honestly. It scares me to think that there might be a world in which you and Evelyn might actually make sense," he said, looking off into the distance with a woeful expression. Fenneck looked at Erikur, surprised by his calm demeanor about Evelyn. "You really think so?" he asked him. Erikur gave him a stern look. "It's still an awful idea," he told him. "It will help if you move up though, in case you do get caught. You're not a prince or a duke or any other fancy title you would need to actually court a woman of her position. But I think if you played your cards right you could possibly get away with being her lover or something." "I'd rather marry her," Fenneck commented wistfully. Erikur rolled his eyes. "You barely know her, Fen," he argued. "Has she really charmed you that much over these last few weeks?" he asked him, with a bewildered, confused look. Fenneck thought about Evelyn and smiled confidently. "She has. I don't know what to tell you, Erik. I love her." Erikur hesitated for a moment, avoiding Fenneck's eyes. "Does she love you?" he asked nervously. Fenneck shrugged. "I don't know. I haven't told her yet. I've been waiting for the right moment." Erikur sighed and laid down on Fenneck's bed mat. "You're a mess," he told Fenneck, who stretched out next to him. "I like the term 'hopeless romantic' better," Fenneck teased. Erikur smiled and scooted closer to Fenneck until he was wrapped up in Fenneck's arms. "Will your girlfriend be jealous if I cuddle with you tonight?" Erikur asked him, trying to sound like he was joking but his face couldn't hide his pain. Fenneck laughed and squeezed Erikur. "We haven't really decided to be exclusive or not," Fenneck realized, wondering if she would, in fact, get jealous. Erikur curled into him. "I'll take my chances," he said, curling into his arms as they started meditating together.