Chapter 445: Gallowshill

Chapter 444: Gallowshill

Lyria’s POV

The servant moved first to Jacinta, who took her parchment with a small smile upon her face, and then to me. It was sealed and stamped as though it were an official letter, rather than a mere list of the names of towns.

"You shall each announce the town to which you have been assigned," the Queen said, snapping me from my thoughts.

Only then did I realise Jacinta had already opened hers, and she wasted no time in announcing it.

"Laminal," she said.

Honestly, I had quite thought Laminal would be more familiar to me, particularly as we had conveyed some of the commoners there ourselves.

But then, upon opening my parchment, I stared at the unfamiliar name. I knew of certain places under the Crown’s rule, though I had never travelled to them, and knew them by name alone. But the name before me was quite strange.

I studied the letters, taking them one by one. It was simple enough to pronounce.

"Gallowshill," I said aloud, just as Jacinta had done.

But unlike Jacinta, who was met with nods, I was met with a noise from Baron Fairmont, who stood upon my team. He stepped forward at once from where he had been standing.

He bowed low towards the Crown, his expression one of concern.

"Your Majesties," he said, "I must protest the location to which our team has been assigned."

The Queen’s gaze sharpened immediately.

"And why, precisely, should you protest?"

Baron Fairmont swallowed, but he did not retreat.

"It is no small matter, Your Majesty. The people of Gallowshill are known to hold nobles in great dislike. They sent the last one away with stones and rotten vegetables thrown upon him. They will not accept aid from any noble whatsoever."

"Are you saying, my lord," the Queen asked calmly, "that you do not possess what is required to lead?"

"No, Your Majes—"

The Queen continued. "I should hope not, for it would then be quite against plans to have two candidates eliminated. Though I must say, if you do not possess what it takes to lead, then you must step down from the competition. The position next to the Moon of the kingdom gives no room for cowardice, nor for those who lack within themselves the capacity to rule."

"For," she added, "what is leadership, if it is not caring for everyone irrespective of their..." She paused a while before speaking. "...attitudes towards whoever holds the mantle? Even you, in your own territory, have faced such, have you not?"

Baron Fairmont opened his mouth to speak again, but the King raised a hand.

"Let it be known that further argument puts your entire team at risk, and yourself at risk of being eliminated at once. This stage of the competition tests your capabilities as leaders. And do you mean to tell us that the dislike of a few towards you as a gentleman makes you afraid?"

Baron Fairmont’s jaw tightened, but he bowed his head.

"I apologise, Your Majesty. I spoke out of turn."

The King nodded, then addressed the ballroom.

"Since the instructions have been given, and every soul now knows his position, I must announce that this ball shall end here."

He rose, and the Queen rose with him, and every head in the ballroom bowed as they departed.

---

That night, I had matters to attend to.

I made my way through the corridors of the palace with Phineas behind me, and Debbie and Margery following close, all of us wrapped in cloaks with our scents masked. The library was dark and silent, and we moved through it quietly and expertly, for we knew precisely where we headed.

When we reached the abandoned corner, we lowered the hoods of our cloaks.

A single candle burned upon the table, and there were others already present.

Duke Valenridge sat with his head resting atop the table, his eyes closed. Duke Thorncrest reclined in his chair with an air of casual indifference. Lucian sat upright, his expression blank.

I settled into the chair I normally used whenever I came here — others had been added since — and then gazed upon Duke Valenridge.

"Y-your Grace," I said, "are you quite w-well?"

He did not open his eyes.

Duke Thorncrest rolled his eyes and sat up straighter.

"He is perfectly well," he said. "He merely takes any chance to nap, or to be idle."

Duke Valenridge spoke up then, his head still resting upon the table.

"Do you perhaps desire lessons in idleness, good fellow?"

Duke Thorncrest’s lips twitched, but he was given no chance to reply, for Lucian leaned towards me.

"I trust you have called us here regarding the competition?"

I nodded.

"Yes."

"If I am to be h-honest, a-amongst our team members, you are the ones I trust m-most," I said, "a-and I wished to understand s-something."

"What is it?" Duke Thorncrest asked me.

"D-do any of you, per c-chance, k-know what G-Gallowshill is like? I have never been t-there, and it is my f-first time hearing of it, and from w-what B-Baron Fairmont said—"

"Are you frightened?" Duke Valenridge asked at once, and then sat upright.

I swallowed.

"A little."

"Why should you be frightened," Lucian asked immediately, "when you have me at your side?"

Duke Thorncrest gestured to himself at once.

"And myself as well," he said.

My lips twitched, a smile threatening to break through.

"It is p-precisely b-because of you all that I am not very m-much afraid," I said. "But fear is n-not something that simply c-ceases to exist, is it?"

Lucian nodded slowly.

"No," he said. "It is not."

He paused, then spoke again.

"Gallowshill is, in a single word, neglected."

"Scorned," Duke Thorncrest supplied.

"Misunderstood," Duke Valenridge added.

The rest of us turned towards him.

"What do y-you mean by t-that, Your G-race?" I asked.

He was silent a moment, as though weighing his words, and then, after almost a minute, he spoke.

"The people who dwell there are neglected, yes. And they are scorned. They hate nobles because their land, their very livelihoods, were taken from them by those of noble birth. They objected to the building of the canal when the nobles first proposed it, but no one listened to their pleas. And so now, any noble who sets foot in that place is treated as though he were dirt beneath their shoes."