Home

Dropping off the cakes at 'The Godfrey's Home For Children' had been on a bit of a whim for Riley. The idea had sparked in her mind when she had bought Ilsa the clothes from the dress shop. From thoughts of Ilsa, her mind had wondered to the more serious issues of Girannon, particularly the hardships poorer children had to face. Although she could tell just by talking to Mrs Godfrey at the gate for a few moment that she was a good person, good person or not, Riley could tell that she was poor. Her clothes were tattered, and her skin had smudges and creases on it, her hands looked coarse and wrinkled, probably from doing chores, and her back was hunched which caused her to hobble slightly as she walked.

It wasn't only Mrs Godfrey, the Home was much smaller than Riley's mansion but was probably home to dozens of children. At a glance Riley could see the dilapidated state of the place: the crumbling stone walls, the sound of dripping water and leaking pipes, the mirky smell of dirt; the place was pretty run down. Riley was already making plans to have the place renovated, she was even thinking about becoming their benefactor and provide Mrs Godfrey with money and resources to better the place. In the meantime, she would just supply the children with cakes and treats every week from all the things that didn't sell out in the shop, she would make sure to instruct Briony and Matilda to deliver the cakes to the home at the end of the day of Lightning every week when the shop would close for the day of Dark.

Riley smiled happily, she would employ random acts of kindness to help the people of Gismead as well as long term plans such as building schools and women's shelters. Riley slouched back into the carriage and brought out her phone. She tapped on the camera icon and took a selfie with the peace sign and the same happy smile she had employed for many such selfies - a commemoration for this moment, the moment that she was really going to start making a difference in Gismead.

When Riley got home she found that Bard had brought in a large present box that was covered in red silk and tied with a copper colored ribbon, with a letter address to her, and it was from Alice.

Before reading the letter she asked Edna to put the sales book and the cash box into her favorite drawing room. It was one of the smaller drawing rooms on the castle but it was the coziest and had a stunning view of the harbor side of Gismead. Riley could sit there for hours and stare out at the city. It was located on the East wing of the house, right next to the safe room that she had cast a spell on. It was Riley's private sanctuary, the perfect place for doing things that needed to be done alone.

"It's rather heavy Milady, so its best not to try to pick it up." Warmed Bard sweetly, as he hovered behind her shoulder.

"Thank you Bard." Bard was like a sweet grandfather type figure, constantly doting on her and making sure she was safe and comfortable.

"Release!" She casted, then watched happily as the magic fire seal broke away from the letter. She took the letter out of the envelope and was greeted by Alice's beautiful handwriting:

'Dear Riley,

I was so sorry to see you leave so early last night, but I guess it couldn't be helped, you did faint after all and I hope that you have made a full recovery. Since you missed some of the best parts of the evening I thought that it was my duty to catch you up on everything. Yes I am simply the dearest!'

Riley smiled, grateful that she had made such a good friend.

'Firstly, after the prince loaded you into the carriage and bid you off (and don't think we won't discuss the matter of the prince holding you in his arms in great detail, you should come over as soon as you can to have a chat, and bring iced cream) in order to get everyone back in good spirits, Lady Von Esterheim and Queen Mirabelle began to judge the hunt. As it turned out Prince Geoffrey and Lord Alucard's team managed to catch something unbelievable: A sacred Golden Moose. The most rare animal in the whole of Girannon. It was incredible, my first time seeing such a beast actually.

It had stunning golden hair and huge majestic antlers that were made of solid gold. Sadly it was an impossible catch to beat, so our group ended up being second place and my brothers group placed third. So at the end of the day what really mattered happened. I beat Cornelius!'

Riley giggled out loud, Alice's want to beat her brother was reaching obsession level.

'Even though we did not place first I am ecstatic!

Secondly, it's the tradition of the hunt that the hunters keep their prey. I being a mistress of Fire have taken the Phoenix home with me, Arcadia took home the warrior shrew because her parents have apparently been studying the Shrew species for quite some time and would love the chance to have one, especially a warrior shrew. Since the Sorkinis Quailer has to live somewhere remote where it can sing freely without bothering anyone, we released it back into the forest, thus I have neatly packaged the remaining animal in a box for you, the crystalline snake is fast asleep in the package.'

Riley paused. She looked down at the large red gift box with a copper ribbon around it. She read over the last few lines of the letter again. Then looked back at the box. Then took a few steps back with a fearful grimace on her face.

"Is anything the matter Milady?" Asked Bard who was concerned to see the frightened look on his Lady's face. Riley laughed it off to reassure him.

"Oh no, it's nothing don't worry Bard!" She giggled nervously.

She felt a bit unsure as to what to do. She vividly remembered catching the crystalline snake in the wild. It was huge... Huge! And it was a snake! A dangerous meat eating predator, whose skin was as hard as rock, too hard to penetrate, thus Arcadia had to use her wood style magic to capture it because Alice's fire arrows literally bounced off its skin.

Not knowing what to do next, Riley carried on reading.

You don't have to worry though. Arcadia and I ended up having a chat with Horace and Hammon Romulus, who are level S adventurers as well as members of the Knights Order, so they are very knowledgeable about rare animals and other rare minerals that they go in search of. They told us that the Crystalline snakes are actually harmless and don't eat meat, they actually only eat rocks, usually precious metals and even gemstones. They grind down metals and gemstones and then eat them, and hence why their scales are made of crystals. Also when they defecate they produce a really rare and precious gemstone that is called Crystalline. This metal is so precious partly because of its beauty and partly because it is a mineral that is able to bond with magic forever! We thought you might find it useful.'

Riley grinned excitedly. Crystalline was the type of metal she was going to go to the guild to have them fetch for her. But now that she was in possession of a crystalline making snake, she wouldn't need to go and have them find some for her. She was also very relieved that the snake wasn't a meat eating one... one downside though was that she was going to have to buy lots of jewels and gemstones to keep the thing satisfied.

Riley turned over the page and saw that there was still some writing there.

'Riley also please note that the snake prefers to live in darkness and doesn't like the light or loud noise, however it will eventually like to warm itself up in the sun, so set up a home for it in a dark alcove in your house, but an alcove where the snake can get some warm light.

Much Love Alice

Also please remember that next week is Tyrion's birthday and he is still eagerly awaiting to try some of your cakes! And so are the rest of us, so don't Disappoint!'

I chuckled, I would have to remember to bring them some cake next week when I would go for Tyrion's birthday. As for right now, I would keep my new snake in the Safe Room. It was dark and cozy in there but he would also be able to get some sunlight by the windows at the top of the room. Also it seemed fitting to me since the snake was literally a slithering gemstone he would be happiest with all the other gemstones.

"Bard." I called out.

"Yes Milady." He replied gently.

"Could you please take this box up to the Safe Room." I asked.

"Certainly Milady." He bowed gracefully before calling for Rudyard and Auberon to help him lift the large red box upstairs.

I watched as Auberon and Rudyard took hold of the box, while Bard casted some wind magic on it so that the air would help lighten the heavy load and carry it upstairs.

They carried it up both flights of stairs and then to the farthest room on the east wing, the safe room. Bard was the only one who could enter the room out of the three so he used wind magic to do the final push inside. He pushed it to the center of the room and I walked inside to help, while Rudyard and Auberon stood outside.

"Milday?" Asked Bard as I was untying the copper ribbon from around the box.

I turned up to him and smiled. Bard blushed gently and stroked his grey beard.

"If I may ask... what is inside the box?" He said eyeing it curiously.

"Umm... Have you heard of a crystalline snake?" I asked him.

"A crystalline snake... My goodness me..." He said stroking his beard enthusiastically.

"A crystalline snake!" I heard Auberon call from outside the Safe room. "Those are impossibly rare! Is that what's inside the box?" Auberon was always excited about magical things but he seemed to love the idea of the snake.

"Yes Our Lady managed to capture one during the hunting party at the Von Esterheim soirée." I heard Edna's cool calm voice from behind him.

"Well done Milady!" Exclaimed Auberon.

"Yes, that was quite the find." Said Rudyard leaning casually on the side of the big wooden door.

"Thank you." I felt quite chuffed. Then I lifted off the lid of the red box and was reacquainted with the beauty of the snake I had helped catch. It was even bigger than I had remembered it, even while it lay all coiled up inside the box. It was about a meter long and each scale looked like it was made of opal crystal stones that shimmered different colors in the faint soft light seeping into the room from the window.

"It's extraordinary..." sighed Bard as he admired the snake.

"Unbelievable..." Said Auberon in a daze as he stared at the snake from the door. Even Rudyard was gaping at the creature from where he stood.

The snake was still sleeping happily inside the silk box and looked like it wasn't going to wake up anytime soon.

I quickly got up and then ran to my favorite drawing room which was right next to this room. I grabbed one of the wool blankets from the couch and also a small golden pot ornament that had been placed on the desk. I then went back to the Safe room. I placed the woolen blanket in the darkest corner of the room so that my snake would have a nice bed when it went to go and sleep in the dark corner and then I set the golden pot next to the box so that it could have a nice snack when it woke up from its sleep.

"Alright then, let's leave so that he doesn't feel frightened when he wakes up." I told everyone. I left the door open for it, so that it could go and explore the house if it wanted to.

Then everybody dispersed and went back to doing what they were doing. Bard went back outside to tend to the flowers, his favourite activity. Auberon and Rudyard went outside to clean the carriage from the long ride yesterday, Edna stayed close behind me so that she would be there if I needed anything. While I went to the next room in order to write a letter to the owner of the old guest house on the harbourside, telling them that I was interested in buying the property.

I settled into the chair next to the desk and wrote the letter. I offered the owners two gold coins for the property, way above the asking price, because I wanted them to sell it to me quickly so that I could establish the women's shelter as soon as possible.

Then I opened up the sales book for the café and read all the purchases. According to the book, the café had made a profit of one Gold coin and fifty silver coins, which wasn't terrible for its first week, but since the profit would be for paying for all the women's wages who I was planning on employing there, I needed the profit to be bigger. Thus I would need to find out what was selling the best and what wasn't selling very well in order to maximize the profit and stop producing the things that didn't sell.

From the sales book, I could see that Iced cream was the number one bestseller. Which was shortly followed by the strawberry cake (heart fruit cake), and then followed by the Gocan cake (chocolate cake). Looking through the things that were sold out very quickly, I noticed that they were things that weren't super sweet. Things like doughnuts and the cakes that required a lot of sugar didn't sell out quickly, while the less sweet things like the heart fruit cakes or things filled with cream and fruit sold out much faster. This was probably due to the fact that Girannon wasn't used to really sweet things, so I was already going to change the menu and the recipes to tone done on the sugar. More cream and fruit, less pure sugar. I immediately went onto Pinterest to look for more subtle less sugary desserts.

After satisfied with my readjustments to the menu I wrote a letter to Mr Frobisher, the owner of the farm where I bought my produce, to ask for a large delivery of certain goods and to lessen the load of other goods.

I also wrote a letter to Mrs Godfrey asking her if she would be willing to accept my patronage for the Children's home. When I was done I gave all the letters to Edna so she could send them for me. Edna went to go and send them, then came back shortly.

"Milady." She said catching my attention. I turned to her and gave her my attention.

"Milady a new trunk of gold has arrived for you from the palace. Should I tell Mr Bard to take it to the safe room?"

"A new trunk of gold?" I asked wondering what it could be for.

"The trunk was brought by a butler in the Royal

Palace uniform, so I presume that it is your share of the money made from Delton Healing potion business." She replied. I nodded my head, that made sense but to think that the business was doing so well that I was making a profit the size of a trunk of gold...

"Yes thank you, Edna, please tell him to put it into the safe room. But also tell him to lock the trunk because I don't want the snake to eat it." An image of my Crystalline snake literally chewing up my fortune popped into my head and it made me grimace.

Edna curtseyed and then left me to the study. When she left I took the opportunity to give Ilsa her new dresses.

I wondered into the kitchen to find Ilsa sweeping the floor. My heart and my conscience twitched painfully at the idea of a child doing my house chores.

Augustus was already busy with preparing dinner and seemed to be making some sort of pasta from scratch. His face was glowing with excitement and he was completely focused on his task.

"Ilsa!" I whispered just loud enough to capture her attention. When she saw me from behind the door her face lit up and she set the broom down quietly on the floor and skipped out of the kitchen and towards me.

"Milady." She grinned excitedly. "Are we going to have another reading lesson?" Her eyes were twinkling with hope.

"No, not today." I said feeling a bit bad that I had forgotten about teaching her to read. I told myself that I would carry on with the lessons tomorrow.

"Oh okay..." she said visibly disheartened.

"Don't be sad Ilsa. We'll carry on with the lessons tomorrow." I said stroking her curly ginger hair. She cheered up a bit but wasn't quite happy again. But I knew she would be as soon as she saw her new dresses. "Come with me, I've got some presents for you." I said as I took her thin wrist in my hand and lead her to the drawing-room next to the library.

"Presents... For me...?" she repeated sounding a bit confused.

"Yes for you." I giggled excitedly as I had her sit down next to me on the couch.

First I handed her the parcel that had the dark blue dress in it, the plainest of the four dresses. I would work my way up to the puffiest and the frilliest.

I watched eagerly as she carefully removed the tissue paper and revealed the dark blue dress underneath.

Ilsa's eyes went so wide and her face went absolutely red. She was silent for a moment but then pounced on me and gave me such a big hug.

"Thank you, Milady! Thank you so much!" She cried out as she squeezed my waist so tight.

"It's a pleasure." I smiled happily and hugged her back.

She held up the dark blue dress and her eyes glinted as she absorbed the dress. It was much better than the coarse fabric that she was wearing, and above that this dress was decorated with lace and even had a few jewels on it.

"This is the best gift that anyone has ever given me." She said looking up at me, as small tears were forming at the corners of her eyes.

"Ilsa don't cry..." I moaned down at her, "if you cry I'll cry!"

<----------------------<<<

Ilsa was completely in awe of Lady Riley. Ilsa knew without a doubt that Lady Riley was the kindest person in the whole world. She knew this because Lady Riley was teaching her how to read for free, and Lady Riley was always kind to her and pinched her cheeks and sometimes let her sleep in the drawing-room while she was working. Lady Riley always made sure she ate well and always let her take-home food for her brothers and sisters. And now Lady Riley has even bought her a dress...

Ilsa had always been so embarrassed by her clothes, she had even begged her parents to buy her new clothes because the other children in the town would always bully her because her skirts were ragged and torn and usually had cooking stains on them. But now, Lady Riley had been so kind as to buy her such a beautiful royal blue dress. Ilsa still couldn't believe her luck in getting to work for the best kindest Lady in the whole of Gismead. Ilsa suddenly thought of her older sister, Sybil, who would tell her horror stories about the evil Lady Lavinia, the mistress she worked for. Sybil had scarred her to death as a child when she recounted the many beatings she took because she made the smallest mistakes in front of Lady Lavinia. Ilsa squeezed her Lady even tighter filled with a sense of gratitude.

"Wait Ilsa don't get too excited there are still three more dresses."

Ilsa didn't even know what to say to that. All she knew was that her Lady was the most generous and kind Lady in the whole world.

She simply watched as Lady Riley pulled out each dress more beautiful than the last from the parcels. The sight of each new dress brought tears to her eyes.

By the time the last dress was unwrapped, Ilsa was a stuttering blubbering mess. She could only make out, "I-I-I Love Y-You Lady R-Riley!" Between her tears and sobs.

Riley was taken a back by all the emotion and was at a loss for words, all she could do was gently stroke Ilsa's hair as she cried.

Agnes, Edna, Mellie, Bard, Auberon, Rudyard, Augustus, Cecily and Anthea Maude watched Lady Riley and Ilsa from the hallway.

Agnes tutted, "She really spoils that girl..." There was no real criticism in her tone, it was actually more admiration than anything else. In all her years in service, for all the years that she had groomed and looked after "virtuous" young Ladies, Lady Riley, Who was practically brand new to noble society was the most virtuous and noble of all the girls she had looked after. Without a doubt, her favourite.

"That's just part of our Lady's personality." Bard sighed, he was deeply satisfied as he looked into the room. He was beyond proud to call Lady Riley his mistress.

Edna and Mellie who had both served extremely strict households before coming to work for Lady Riley were particularly grateful to be her servants. Watching her for the past few weeks had made them realize how lucky they were to be in her service. They too wished only the best for her.

Auberon's admiration for Lady Riley was beyond what he could express, having worked at the palace he had met all the nobles from the most notable to the lest notable, they all paled in comparison to Lady Riley. Not only a beautiful and virtuous woman but a strong and intelligent fighter. If he ever had a daughter, he wanted her to be just like Lady Riley. That was of course if he ever summed up the courage to ask for Alissa's (who worked for the Marcellus's) hand in marriage.

Cecily and Anthea Maude also admired their new mistress, although they hadn't gotten very close to her, she was always kind and polite to them even though they were just cleaners, and on top of that, they were earning more money working for her than they had ever earned before so they intended to be quite loyal to her.

Mr Augustus had once worked as a chef at the Royal Palace, and when he was told that he was being moved to work for a third rank noble, at first he was distraught, but then Lady Riley came with her masterful and delicious recipes and opened his eyes to a world of culinary mastery that he had never considered before. He was in bliss working for Lady Riley where he got to push his culinary skills to the limit. Not only had he become the greatest chef in all of Gismead, but he had also become a master dessert maker. He longed for the days when Lady Riley would come down to the kitchen with her miraculous artefact and "print" more recipes for him. He vowed to himself to always work for Lady Riley.

Rudyard who had watched her diligently for the past few weeks had always kept close to her. He had tried to read every letter, to listen in on every conversation, he had tried to uncover her secrets, he had tried to dig up her dirt. However to his complete befuddlement he had found nothing bad about her. She wasn't secretly trading with the other kingdoms or selling Girannon information to rivalling powers or even doing anything bad at all. In fact, she was doing really good beneficial things. The only thing that he could report that was somewhat suspicious was the magical device she carried with her. But the Royal family already knew about the existence of her artefact. He was scheduled to have a meeting with them at midnight tonight, but he wouldn't have very much to tell them...