106 106. Invitations

The invitations were set and the couple headed for the capitol to deliver their invitations in person to a few of the people that they wanted to know that they actually wanted them to show up. The rest of the nobility would get their invitations from a deliver person. Novum was still not a lot for politics but he would invite all of them to avoid offending anyone as of yet. He also had a few people that were not in the nobility that he wanted to make sure got invited.

They stepped through the portal and appeared in the spare house that Aureus was looking after for him. She put a special alarm on the room, with Novum's permission, and was alerted when anyone entered the room. She felt the alarm and walked out to greet the person. More often than not it was Novum or Melissa but this time she saw something that stunned her. Novum was walking out with a woman that took her breath away.

"Lady Aureus, it is great to see you. Shannon this is Lady Aureus. Lady this is my fiancé Shannon. We will be getting married on the 1st and wanted to give you a formal invitation." He pulled out the quality invitation and handed it to her.

Shannon saw the look in Aureus' eyes and immediately knew what Novum was talking about. She could feel the look and knew if she was fair game Aureus would be hunting her. "Lady, it is great to meet you." She started to do the formal greeting that Novum taught her.

"Don't stand on that with me. A beautiful woman like you should never have to worry about such formalities. Wait, the first is only a couple of weeks. And why have I never heard about a fiancé?"

"We were engaged for a long time. She was drugged and kidnapped and I was shown a charred corpse and told that she died in a fire. We finally found each other again so there is not need to wait."

"That is horrible. I am so happy that the two of you found each other again. I love a good romance. Do you have a dress yet?"

"No, I was hoping to look around the city here in hopes of finding something that would be suitable for me." Shannon had enough people experience to know the next question that she should ask the lady who was close to her physical age. "Would you happen to know the best place in the city to get a dress for the occasion on this short of notice?"

Aureus' face lit up like a torch. "I know just the place."

Novum was happy the two seemed to be getting along but knew he needed to step in. "Hold on just a few seconds ladies. Let me take Shannon and introduce her to the duke and then I will swing by your parents house and then the two of you can go and do what you need to do. I will take the list that you and Melissa developed for me and take care of that. I am sure that the Earl will insist that we stay for dinner and we will meet back up there this evening."

"Are you sure Novum? That is a big list."

"If I have any issues I will track you down and figure out what you would like done. Most of it is ingredient lists for the cooks to prepare a few special things for us to pick out early so that we can make sure that we have everything for the wedding. I am fine with bear and spice cake."

"We will not be serving bear at our wedding. Okay, it may be an option but it will not be the main attraction."

Aureus giggled into her hand. "It is good to see someone making sure that he does not get to full of himself. I will go and wait for you at mom's. I will not say anything only that you asked me to wait there for you to get some news. I will also inform her that you have made yourself available for dinner. She was a little upset the last time you were here most of the day and then ran right before it was time to eat."

"I got word of something and it was time sensitive. I sent her a note and a bottle of wine as an apology. Should you invite your brother over or just leave his formal invitation with your dad?"

"Leave it with dad. His new wife is a sweet girl but sometimes it is like talking to a," Aureus blew out a long breath. "Never mind. She really is a sweet girl."

"I understand."

"Maybe I did manage to teach you a thing or two. Thank you for the invitation and we will both be there."

The three of them headed the same direction and the two ladies talked all the way until Aureus split from the couple and headed down the street to her family estate. Novum could already feel the eyes of the city on him and knew that Shannon's description was already going into the hands of a lot of people.

"Novum, does it feel like someone is watching you or is it just me?"

"Your skills are pretty good. Yeah, we are being watched. The urchins and even a few of the guards are paid very well to report anything like this in the city. I am sure that since the thieves guild learned that I have array here they have extra people in the area. They are probably headed to the guild right now to report you and your appearance."

"I hope they do me justice."

"I doubt it. They do not have words to describe how beautiful you are."

A little color rose up in her cheeks. "You are as corny as always but I will admit that it is nice to hear it after all this time. I love you."

"Love you too." The couple made it to the duke's office and were led right in. Novum was a little surprised that they did not have to wait. Normally he was so bust that even he had to wait most of the time.

"Novum, my young Baron. What brings you here today? I hope that it nothing bad."

"Did you get the report on that captain?"

"Yes, I did."

"Then I have no bad news. I am here to make introductions and deliver an invitation."

"An invitation?"

"Duke Ikers, this is Shannon my fiancé. There were some issues over the last year and we were forced apart but we have reunited. The invitation is to our wedding it will be on the first by the lake."

"That will be a beautiful spot. I am so excited for you. Just curious, but are you not afraid of announcing the wedding in the event that they will launch an attack?"

"They will either attack two or three days before or two to three days after. The say of they would not dare because there are going to be to many people that travel with their own guards and support personnel. If we are lucky to have you there then we also have your steward who could turn the tide of any battle that he decides to participate in. If you so decide it could change everything. Why would they take that kind of chance? There is the slight chance that they are after your seat and might try it but they will attack both places and I am confident in my people as you are in yours."

"That does make a lot of sense. And the two to three day buffer would fit for people traveling in or out of your area. I would lean towards that latter. They will assume that you and your people partied hard for the few days and are going to be hung over and slow to react."

"That was my thinking duke. If there is nothing else I will leave you to do what you are always doing and hope to see you at the wedding. I understand if you show up at the last minute since it is more secure that way."

"Thank you for the invitation. Enjoy you time is out city and barring anything unforeseen I will be at the wedding. Shannon if you ever need anything please do not hesitate to call on me."

Shannon gave him formal recognition. "Thank you Duke."

The two of them walked out and headed towards the Lyons household. Novum knew that he was not going to see her until dinner once Aureus and her mom got ahold of her.

*********************

"What do you think?"

"He is not under any enchantment and there was no hint of a lie when he was talking. I am not sure what was going on before but everything appears to be by the book. Without an enchantment I seriously doubt there would be a wedding this quickly without any history. Novum might be a lot of things and many would even call him brash but this is on a different level."

"That is the feeling that I get as well. Make sure our people our keeping an eye on things. Any updates on the elf Theren?"

"He is a huge flirt and a hell of shot from all that I have heard. The common knowledge is that they traveled together for a while and the elf did what rangers do and wandered off for a while and just returned. They are way to comfortable to not have spent a considerable amount of time together. The low level mage that is in the town checked him out and saw no signs of enchantment on him either."

"Okay then. Plan on us going to the wedding but do not tell anyone yet. Novum will be prepared if we show up or not so best to not show our hand yet."

"Understood duke."