C16 - Island Retreat

The stopper on Mona's emotions seemed to come undone and she burst into ugly tears. I'm sure her wails could be heard in the city. Duke Calo's intense, angry posture did not falter at this however. The Duchess maintained a calm demeanor but I couldn't see her face from Selahe's arms.

Mona sobbed for several minutes before collecting herself, "It's my damned son. It's all his fault.--" Duke Calo sat in silence as she continued, "He got into a bad crowd. I tried to tell him to stay away from them, that they were bad news. He refused, saying they were the only ones who understood him. That the nobility wasn't worth our service! I tried to tell him that you were a kind and benevolent employer but he wouldn't listen.--"

She couldn't help herself but pause, draw in a deep sobbing breath before continuing, "That's when they came to me. It was at the start of fall, after the high priestess came to examine the young master's condition. I had the day off and was running errands in the city. I was grabbed and had a sack put over my head. I was carried away somewhere. I tried to yell but no one noticed me. I don't know why no one came to help.--" She shook her head as if trying to clear the remembered trauma.

She continued, "When they uncovered my head I had already shouted myself hoarse. I was surrounded by the older members of my son's gang. They said another noble wanted the young master dead and they needed me to do the deed.--" Her tears had cleared enough for her to have an incredulous expression. "I told them that there was no way under Sol I would do such a thing. I love the young master! You have to believe me!"

The Duchess said, in a neutral tone, "We know you do, Mona." She couldn't help but start crying again at those words. She sobbed in silence for another few minutes. The Duchess prompted her, "What happened next?"

Mona was beside herself and between sobs she managed to get out, "They said if I didn't do it by the end of winter, they would kill my son." She couldn't continue speaking and just cried. The Duke turned around to look at Selahe. The expression on the Duke's face could strike fear in the heart of any battled hardened veteran. He nodded to Selahe, who handed me off to another servant.

Selahe said smoothly, "Mona, we were already aware of this and were taking steps to protect the young master. Hence the move here."

Mona was shocked out of her tears and croaked out, "How?"

Selahe shrugged and said with a slight smile, "Never underestimate the information network of one of the Five Dukes."

Duke Calo turned back to Mona and said, "I will give you two options. Option one, you and your son are executed to serve as examples to the others that would try to harm my family.--" Mona's tears threatened to burst forward but she held on for hope that option two was palatable. The Duke continued, "Option two is soul binding of you and your son to my son." Despite the tense atmosphere, I inwardly jumped for joy at being called his son. It had been a small victory in this tumultuous time but I savored it all the same.

Mona balked and yelled in astonishment, "Soul binding? My son will never agree!"

The Duke said with a smirk, "Maybe, maybe not. Let's ask him.--" He nodded at a guard who pulled a young boy from around the corner, just outside the room. The boy had tears in his eyes and had apparently been listening the whole time. He was a youth hardly older than six, clad in simple clothes with a pair of manacles around his wrist and ankles.

"Fazio!" Mona exclaimed. She jumped out of her chair and went to hug him. She cried on his shoulder and he on hers. After a moment's reunion, she turned and asked, "How?"

Selahe said, "We heard whispers about an assassination attempt from our information network. After some investigating, your odd behavior clued us into the vector. It made us examine you and your relationships more closely and we discovered the gang. And subsequently, the gang's relation to nobility in another part of the country."

The Duke smirked and asked the boy, "What do you say; will you save your mother from the mistakes of you and your friends?" He continued to cry and looked at his mother for guidance.

Mona said, "Honey, you know that soul binding has to be your own choice. I will say that Duke Calo is the kindest man I have ever met. His son, if raised correctly, will turn out just as well." The son looked conflicted, his prejudice towards the nobility was hard to just discard.

The Duke said, "You would be as Selahe is to me. I will allow you to talk with him to find out what sort of work you'd be doing. You must decide by the first bell of tomorrow." Selahe motioned Mona's son, Fazio, out of the room. Mona looked shaken and stumbled back to the chair.

She flopped into it and asked, "Is soul binding really necessary?"

The Duke turned to her with a firm expression, "It is. It's a Calo family tradition to have a handful of assets that are soul bound, starting at birth. Normally, his head butler or maid would have been selected and soulbound at time of birth. Due to the circumstances, that was unfortunately impossible. Your son, however, does tick enough boxes that he will make the perfect head butler."

Mona looked at the Duke in shock, "I beg your pardon, your lordship but I have to disagree. The only thing my son has ever been good at is sneaking around and getting into fights." The Duke just grinned. The seventh, or last bell, of the day rang out through the city.

The Duchess stood gracefully and said, "Let's retire from this stressful day and start again tomorrow to discuss the future."