109 109. Invitations (4)

The trio of ladies were followed by a guard as they left the house but he was stopped by a hand up from Lady Lyons. With the three of them there was not way that anything would happen to them. Especially since she had already heard about how Shannon dealt with the man that was sent to probe her power and ability. It did not end well for him. They headed straight for a small bakery that had amazing desserts as well as some of the best coffee in the region.

As soon as they walked in a young woman came over to them and gave a polite curtsey to Lady Lyons. "What can I get for you my Lady?"

"Daisy, sweetie how many times have I told you that you do not need to address me that way?" A little color rose in the girl's cheeks. "Never mind. I will take my usual."

Aureus spoke up. "I will as well but our new friend may need a minute." Shannon was looking at the shelves behind the girl.

"Oh, I guess you come here a lot. Um, I will take that iced bread right there and do you have tea instead of coffee. Not a real big coffee drinker."

"Of course lady."

"By the way Daisy, this is Shannon. She is Baron Novum's fiancé."

The old woman who had just walked up behind the girl let out a cackle that startled almost everyone. "That is going to be the cause of a lot of tears once the words gets out. Every lady in the city between 16 and 60 has had their eye on that mountain of man. If I was a little younger I would have chased him myself."

"Gertrude you mean one. Not every woman."

The woman laughed again. "Excuse me my lady." She gave her a wink. "But you and a few select others," she glanced at Aureus out of the corner of her eye, "have a lot more willpower and well love. Half the noble ladies I know would have poisoned their husbands by dessert if they thought that had a chance with that young man."

Shannon had not realized how big of an impact Novum had made on the area was until she started seeing it from an outside perspective. Aureus noticed the look of confusion on her face. "Please don't take this the wrong way Shannon. But Novum is not only an exceptionally handsome man who is powerful and strong. He has also already made a name of a man with a heart of gold."

Gertrude laughed again. "Freeing a warehouse of slaves and kicked the crap out of corrupt nobles one day and then just a couple weeks later he come back and beats that crap out of a few more nobles over some orphans. Orphans that everyone else in this city had been looking over for years. He shows up and it is as if a demon from the abyss has started tearing through the city."

Lady Lyons shook her head in sad agreement. "I will admit that I am as guilty as the rest. I read the reports that things were going well and never bother to actually look. It is shameful." Gertrude quickly realized what she had said and had a worried look on her face. "It is okay Gerty. It was not a direct attack and you are right. I am some happy that he did that and brought the issue to light. There have been so many changes in the capitol because of that."

Aureus smiled. "That and because all of the nobles realized after that dinner with him that they were not safe from his wrath if they crossed a line."

"I did not hear about the dinner."

An evil grin appeared on Aureus' face. "Did you hear about the lady from the neighboring region that oppressors tried to come and take her from Novum's land."

"I have met her and the sweet little girl."

"Okay, well after that a man acting as the Earl's proxy came to have a discussion and demand compensation for Novum's actions." Shannon snorted a little at the idea. "Exactly. Before the man could even lay out h is terms Novum said that if he was not here with an apology to get out. He was not going to play the political game and play host to let the man get an advantage."

"Bet that threw him off his game."

"It sure did. And then at the dinner Novum pretty much told any and all nobility, to include the Duke, that he would not play and stupid games with them. He just wanted to run his manor and have a peaceful life. If they tried playing that type of game with him he would simply use his sword to change the rules."

"Aureus he did not say it that way. I was there."

"Mother, how he said it does not matter. Everyone there knew exactly what he meant and they took it to heart. They all realized that this young man was not going to be a pawn in any of their political dealings."

"My husband was so proud at that moment that he even committed some soldier to be at Novum's disposal if he should need them. He earned his title and feels that a lot of the nobles are so corrupt that they do more harm than good to the region. We try our best to help who we can and now that we are a little higher on the hierarchy we have had a lot more success, especially since they realize that we and Novum share our outlook on things."

Gertrude put some stuff on the table with the help of the young girl. "We are examples of that." Shannon turned and looked at the older lady. "Oh, you did not know. This place was my son's. He was killed by some individuals that have yet to be apprehended. One of the nobles tried to bully my daughter and granddaughter into giving them this place for almost nothing. They were starting to use guards to put some pressure on us. When Earl and Lady l=Lyons heard about it, well things changed very quickly."

"Ridiculous fools. It was the son of a noble that was using family money and connections to try and take over a street so that he could expand his funds and run some illegal facilities under the street. Since it was stopped before he could get to much traction he was let off lightly but he still has a few people watching him." Shannon could tell by her tone that Lady Lyons was not a woman to be trifled with. She could feel the power radiating off the woman as she got annoyed.

Shannon finally took a bite of the lemon bread that she ordered and it melted in her mouth. This was one of the best things she had ever had in either of her lives. Before she realized it she looked down and the bread was gone.

Aureus gave her a knowing look. "Happened my first time here as well."

"Gertrude do you have the capabilities of doing a large batch of your pastries?"

"If I closed most of my shop with the exception of special orders I could handle a pretty big order. Why?"

"I would like your shop to do part of the catering for my wedding. I would like coffee and tea available throughout the entire process and your little pastries just like this available. I do not know how big the wedding is going to be yet since I am new to the area. Would you be interested?"

"I would be honored."

"Good. Ladies I was thinking a hundred each of five different ones. Do you thing that is enough?"

"It is going to be nobles and I know that Novum will invite the entire town of Three Mines."

"You are right. Gertrude, what is the most that you can provide me on the day of the wedding?"

"Give me just a moment. I have to do some math."

"Take you time. We are still drinking our tea and unlike the barbarous me they still have some of your delicious pastries."

"Are you going to even ask Novum about this?"

"Why? He is going to do what I want. Please don't take this the wrong way, I am not controlling or demanding but I know that if I mention this place he is going to do the same thing I am doing. I am just shortening the time. He wants absolutely nothing to do with the planning of a wedding. The honeymoon he is all for but the wedding, that is going to be all me. So why waste time and beat around the bush."

"Aureus, sweetie, she is not wrong. I have yet to meet a man that cared about the wedding. I should not say that it is not that they do not care but most, not all but most ladies dream about their perfect wedding and the dress and flowers and everything from the first time they see a wedding. Boys on the other hand, as soon as their voice lowers they are only thinking about the honeymoon or another way to get into a girl's bedroom. Now there are a few of both on the other side but not that many."

The younger lady was looking at her mother with a little shock on her face. "I guess that does make some sense. Brother did not have anything to do with his wedding other than show up, dance and eat the cake."

Gertrude came back out. "My lady. I am not sure that I am the best person for this. The distance is to much and I am not sure that they will remain good while I am traveling."

"You get the stuff you need and send it to the manor early and I will provide you with enough space in the kitchen to cook. I will have someone come and get you and the people that you need and bring you to manor the morning of, so you do not have to worry about your regular customers."

"If the kitchen at the manor is the same size as mine I am confident that I can get you eight hundred. The balance of pastries may be a little off but it will not be that bad."

"Then we have a deal." Shannon pulled out three of the heavy gold bars she had in her bag. "This is a deposit. Just let me know what the balance will be later. I will make sure that you are taken care of."

"This will be more than everything, my lady. This is way to much."

"Just in case you go ahead and keep it for now. We will worry about the rest of it after the wedding."

"Of course, my lady." Gertrude went back to the kitchen on the verge of happy tears.

Lady Lyons looked at her with a sly smile. "You don't plan on taking that back do you?" The question was asking a playful way, so Shannon knew she was not accusing her.

"Nope and neither will Novum." The three ladies laughed and finished the pastries.