The Lost Scribe of Justitia

The Beautiful Eternal Curse

The summons to Rykindella estate came in the form of a telegram, and Petrich Hollenburg made ready. His fellow scribes were unaware of his destination, which was not out of the ordinary. Until the Grand Showing of any contract or document, celestial scribes kept their clientele confidential to the end.
This did not mean his friends did not give him a proper send off, however. Up until boarding the train Petrich's slight hangover proved a menace.
The Duchess of Rykindella paid for his all inclusive passenger car, complete with a small study. It was here, as he was test mixing pigments for an experimental color palate that he heard a knock on his compartment door.
He was not expecting any sort of porter service, but then a slightly intoxicated voice from the other side said. "I've locked myself out of my compartment and only in a silk robe. Please take pity on an old man!"
Petrich opened the door to a man between 50 and 60 years of age, with tied back long black hair and a grey streaked trimmed beard. He was, indeed, in an expensive silk robe. Petrich knew him on sight.

(The Notorious Dietfried Baugainvillea)
"Captain Baugainvillea?" Petrich asked in disbelief.
"Ha! Well, if it isn't Petrich Hollenburg, Master Celestial Scribe!" cried former naval captain Dietfried Baugainvillea. He steadied himself by holding onto the threshold of the compartment door. "Believe me when I say that I am not as drunk as I may appear. But the lurching of this train does little to support my claim. May I come in or no?"
Petrich stood aside. "By all means! Please!"
Dietfried Baugainvillea took a seat on the overstuffed sofa as Petrich sat back at his desk chair nearby.
"Thank you for letting me intrude at this late hour."
"I'll ring up the porter to provide an extra key for you." Petrich offered.
Dietfried lifted his hand to halt the thought and chuckled. "Give it just a moment, dear boy, if you don't mind. You see, it will give the young lady I left in there the idea to up and leave without me having to be, well, blunt."
Petrich grinned. "Ah, I see."
"Right now I am far more interested in what you are up to being a guest on a Rykindella passenger car. He pointed to the insignia of the Rykindella family featuring an elegant white swan with an emerald on its breast.
When Petrich did not answer right away, Dietfried continued. "Let me just work out the puzzle by deduction." He clapped both hands audibly on his knees and concentrated, narrowing his green eyes in thought. "Well, being what you are, you've been summoned for a contract or a document of some sort. Given that I am familiar with the goings on with the Rykindella, I know the Lady Lydia has recently graced the Duke and Duchess with a grandson." He then laughed out loud. "That didn't take much deduction at all, did it? But I must admit. I am stumped as to why. . ." He spent a moment staring at Petrich, his arms crossed, his right hand smoothing the grey streaked hair on his chin.
"Amelia must have wanted to have you within her grasp for a short season. She has admitted more than once that she was intrigued with you, just by viewing your work." He stroked his short beard a moment longer, deep in thought. "But surly not enough to cause such a fuss with the extended family. . ."
Petrich offered nothing as far as clues. "Care for a drink, Captain?"
"Of course." Dietfried replied.
         Petrich poured the furnished wine, then Dietfried offered a toast. "To Petrich Hollenburg! May heavenly bodies forever guide you on earth as they do in the heavens!"
         "Here! Here!" Petrich laughed as Dietfried drank nearly the whole glass in one swallow.
         "May I ask of  YOUR destination, Captain?"
        Dietfried Baugainvillea was very much a free spirit and had the means to go wherever whenever.  So it did not surprise Petrich when the older man merely shrugged his shoulders. "My first destination is to the spa resort of Blyden.  Ever been there?" Petrich shook his head. "They have a salt/seaweed treatment that invigorates your entire being, perhaps even your very soul."
         "Sounds divine."  Petrich replied grinning.
         "You ought to come, my boy! Skip all this Rykindella family intrigue. They are forever wroth with it. Amelia married well for never a dull moment.  I should know! Known her since before her own coming out ball."
        Petrich began piddling with his color palate again, still listening, of course. "I must admit, I wish I could just forego this commission, but the Duchess was more than adamant that I should have it."
"Oh, THAT I am sure of." Dietfried chucked. "Whatever Amelia wants, Amelia gets. . . But I am quite sure she chose you for good reason. She's caught hold that you are no ordinary stargazing scribe. I've been to Grand Showings even when they were no more than Premieres. Your contract work is different from all others. It's in the details, and in them, your work is somehow alive. . .even though the one it is for is dead. . ." Dietfried Baugainvillea then fell silent, his face solemn as he stared into his now empty wine glass. He poured himself more, for Petrich had sat the bottle within his reach.
Petrich let Dietfried drink wine and brood as he himself mixed colors and doodle painted on a small scrap of parchment.
After what seemed a long time, Dietfried Baugainvillea asked, "How did you know?"
Petrich looked up from his work. "Beg pardon?"
"It was your first Grand Showing," Dietfried continued, "You could not have been any older than 17 years old. I didn't expect much from you. You didn't look nor particularly act the part of a celestial scribe, even one from Justitia. But I did not necessarily come to inspect your work as much as it was to pay homage to the one it was for."
Petrich Hollenburg remembered his first commission. Dietfried referred to the death document of the Baroness Alexandria Valryllian-Beaumont. She had been relatively young when she had passed away of a sudden illness seven years prior.
The Valryllian family was a great supporter of the Justitia Observatory and had asked for a scribe yet to have a commission. Petrich had just completed all the necessary evaluations and was chosen.
Other than meeting the Baroness's family to sign the commission contract, Petrich had no other knowledge of her.
"When I viewed your document, I saw in the fine details. . ." From a trinket pocket in his extravagant robe's sleeve Dietfried Baugainvillea produced a small jade statuette of a koi fish and held it up so Petrich could see. "This. . ."