Chapter 47

   "Thank you for your insight," Emerick smiled. "It has been lovely talking with you, and I do hope you've enjoyed your time here."

   "It's always a pleasure, Prince Emerick," Kiara nodded. "I apologize again about that spectacle earlier."

   "Girls will be girls," Emerick shrugged and shot a wink to the indignant Farah and Orlanda. The rest giggled at his comment.

   "Indeed," Petunia agreed.

   Thanks to the efforts of lady Kiara, they had finally gained some traction with the nobles over the perfumes. Unfortunately, Emerick found that while the women were fascinated with whatever he presented to them, most viewed the items as little more than beautiful baubles. Each already had a preferred line, and while Titus's brews were something of a novelty, they fully intended to keep using their staple fragrances. All ten had said as much.

   "Sire, should I do something about the newcomers?" Sullivan questioned.

Emerick turned to regard him with some confusion. Everyone invited was present, and nobody else should've been permitted onto the grounds that would take interest in the affair. Had a few of his sisters gotten bored and decided to stop by, or perhaps had his father dropped in again? Glancing around, he realized Trixie wasn't among the ladies nearby.

   "Newcomers?" He questioned.

   "In the back," Sullivan gestured to the far corner of the garden. "I don't know if it's necessary for me to go, Jacoby is tending to them at the moment, and Trixie's gone to greet them, but I wasn't entirely sure if I was being tested."

   Curiosity piqued at the mention of Jacoby's attention to the newcomers, Emerick let his eyes wander in the direction Sullivan indicated. There was a new table set up to accommodate four ladies and the bunny maids tending to them. It took a moment for it to sink in, but ice filled his veins when he realized just who had decided to crash his party.

   "Why are they here?" Emerick gaped. "Oh, this can't be good."

   "Who are they?" Sullivan frowned, worried at his response.

   "My mothers," Emerick groaned. "Please continue seeing to things here… I'll be right back."

   Without waiting for a response, Emerick made his way over to the table in the back. His mind ran through numerous scenarios as he realized not only were his four mothers there, Trixie was talking to them. As his thoughts whirled, two questions beat around his head. What would they think of her? Did he care? He didn't like the calculating look on Esmyria's face. She was scheming. It always meant trouble whenever that woman started scheming.

   "Why, hello to you all," Emerick greeted through a tense smile. "What brings you here?"

   "We thought we'd stop by and visit," Esmyria replied with a cold smile, eyes full of accusation. "It has been ages since we've been to the estate, and neither you nor Jacoby has ever once come to visit. Imagine our surprise to discover you were hosting a tea party! Our son, who hasn't seen us in months, even before we went on vacation, because he never bothers to visit even though we're basically neighbors didn't think to invite us to a tea party he threw for a group of ladies. It's enough to make a mother think her presence is unwanted."

   "Indeed," Lyra agreed, eyes twinkling with mischief.

   Emerick truly hated it when they ganged up on him like that. As it was, he wasn't sure what he could say, but not saying anything was just as damning. Leave it to Esmyria to have him backed into a corner before the round truly started.

   "I apologize," Emerick settled for going directly into the apology. There was no point in throwing out excuses. "It was thoughtless on my part, but I am glad you came regardless."

   "I'm not convinced," Esmyria eyed him critically, "however I suppose I'll accept your insincere apology."

   "It wasn't insincere!" Emerick frowned. She dismissed him with a wave of her hand as the maid attending her brought one of the bottles of perfume to her.

   He watched in frustration as she sampled the item, then passed it to the others. Ignoring him, they huddled together and began discussing their thoughts in low voices. Trixie looked back and forth between him and them with great confusion and mild concern.

   "Should our hosts not be tending the other guests?" Jacoby reminded him with a raise of his brow.

   Emerick knew he was only trying to help, Esmyria would doubtless say as much herself if he lingered much longer, but it didn't change the fact he wanted to punch the smug butler in the face. Taking a breath to collect himself, Emerick returned to the party. The rest of the event went without incident, but never the less the knowledge that his mothers were lurking in the background, watching and criticizing his every act, had him on edge.

   "Are you well sir?" Sullivan questioned as the guests filed out and he began cleaning up.

   "I am," Emerick replied. "Don't trouble yourself over me, I'm just a bit stressed. How are the orcs?"

   "About as well as you might expect," Sullivan shrugged, carefully setting the remaining bottles of perfumes back into the crates they'd used to carry them. "I doubt you'll be able to catch their attention until it is certain Vicky has been completely removed from the grounds."

   "Understandable," Emerick nodded. "And how are you?"

   "I think I really like this butlering stuff," Sullivan replied with a crooked grin. "Now, I'd better let you be. Jacoby will box my ears if I don't hop to and finish soon."

   Emerick waved the young man off with a smile, then turned to his remaining guests with some dread. Trixie had remained at the table where Esmyria and his other mothers sat, and seemed to be engaged in conversation. They seemed to be having a pleasant discussion, but he could tell by the gleam in their eyes they were appraising the young hobgoblin.

   "Are you going to stand there all day?" Esmyria called, noticing his gaze. "I know you know it's impolite to stare."

   "No, no, make yourself at home," Emerick grumbled. Louder, so they could hear, he called, "How can I help it when there are five such beautiful flowers before me?"

   "Try all you like," Esmyria batted his nose with her fan the moment he was within reach, "We're immune to your flattery little boy."

All the same, she was obviously pleased with the compliment. Emerick smiled to himself as she held the fan in front of her face to hide her smile. Alicia was giggling shamelessly, and even Liliana seemed to perk up at his words. He supposed he could suffer through their meddling just to see those smiles. Troublesome or not, they were still his mothers.

   "While I'm all too happy to entertain you, I would've thought you'd be eager to see father after being away so long," Emerick chose his words carefully. "Is there any particular reason you stopped to see me first? You aren't l avoiding him, are you?"

   "We are," Lyra confirmed. "For several reasons."

   "You can smell the rot from here," Liliana frowned.

   "I mean, I'm all for a good brawl, but for it to still stink this bad after so long…" Alicia shook her head. "Yeah, I'm not too keen to go in there."

   "Then there's the matter of how long it took Arnwald to finally remove his 'examples,'" Esmyria huffed. "He will atone for making us wait so long."

   Emerick merely smiled through their explanations. Frankly, he couldn't fault them, though he felt bad for his father. He had his hands full dealing with Trixie. He couldn't imagine what it must be like to contend with four willful women, especially since they often rallied against him. He loved his mothers dearly, but he had decided from a young age that one wife was plenty for him.

"But enough about that," Esmyria regarded Emerick with a calculating expression. "How are things proceeding here? I am curious about these orphans you've essentially adopted, as well as this new business venture you're dabbling with."

   "Well…" Emerick wasn't sure where to begin. It didn't help that, growing up, Esmyria had been his toughest critic, and he didn't want to disappoint her or any of them for that matter. As a general rule, however, the others tended to follow her lead.

   "Emerick has been very helpful," Trixie put in. "Very generous as well. Perhaps too generous. He's teaching me a lot about owning and caring for a house, and he's been training me personally in other aspects as well."

   "I'm sure he has," Esmyria replied with a teasing smile and a suggestive tone that turned Trixie's cheeks quite red. "But I was speaking to him my dear. While I value your input, it is impolite to interrupt."

   "Oh," Trixie colored further at her gentle, but firm chastisement. Satisfied she'd made her point, Esmyria returned her attention to Emerick.

   "She speaks highly of you. I hope you've earned that amount of adoration through more than just your actions within your bed chambers," She stated. "You will need to improve her tutelage however, especially if you wish to officially introduce her into high society. She's still naïve to the ways of noble and royal court, and you know how cutthroat it can be. I would hate for her to fail because of your negligence."

"Of course," Emerick gave a strained smile. Yep, that was Esmyria for you. The woman held nothing back when speaking her mind. Not that she was wrong.

"Now, if you would be a dear, I believe I would like to see the condition of the rest of your estate," She decided. "The gardens are being well tended, but I imagine this is one area where Jacoby still provides a great deal of support. It is one of his favorite chores."

"Absolutely," He kept up his forced smile, though he felt his stomach plummet. "Is there any ware specific you would like to begin?"

"Let's start within the main house," Esmyria decided. "I would like to meet all of the children and ensure they're being treated properly. You haven't produced any grandchildren for me yet, so they are the closest I have or am likely to get for some years to come I suspect."

Emerick wasn't sure what to say to that, and a glance at Trixie confirmed she was coping with the comment even more poorly than he was. Esmyria was really bringing out the big guns today. In fact, it was the first time his lack of wife and children had even come up as he was still quite young. Never mind that a good number of his sisters, several of which were birthed by Esmyria specifically, were already married with children. In fact, last he checked he had nieces and nephews in the double digits now. Leave it to a dragon to be greedy.

"Additionally," she continued, ignoring the fact that she had created quite the awkward atmosphere between him and Trixie, "I am eager to meet the one who is responsible for the creation of those perfumes you displayed. Based on their presence at your soiree, I'm guessing it was one of those young orcish gentlemen. They seemed somewhat out of sorts, so I would like to give them some time before we approach them however."

"They would appreciate that," Emerick nodded, glancing to the orc brothers. They had finally stopped staring after the departing carriages and were now helping Sullivan clean up. "Will the rest of you be joining?" He directed the question at the other three.

"We are enjoying catching up with Jacoby and appreciating your lovely gardens," Lyra replied mildly. "We'll wait here for the time being, besides it would likely be best not to overwhelm your new staff too much. Esmyria alone is likely to excite them greatly."

"Very well," Emerick smiled fondly at his birth mother, then turned to Esmyria and Trixie. "Alright my dear, I will need your help introducing your family. As you may have realized, I am not the best with names, and I do not currently have my list on hand."

"I am most eager to learn more about you as well, young lady," Esmyria added.

"Ok," Trixie managed a smile and nodded. Emerick wondered what could be going through her mind at that moment. Mentally, he made a note to make it up to her once they had some degree of privacy.