The Duchess' Enchantment

Chapter 7

I am so sorry for not updating earlier, I have been very busy preparing for my prelims in yr11. To all who have stayed with me so far, thank you so much! It means a lot to me. 

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Annalise could barely register the words, "Lord Branstein has requested Lady Annalise to meet him at his study." as her uncle's valet announced it, when she opened the door. She must have looked quite shocked for the valet enquired if she were feeling faint, after which she was finally able give a reasonable reply. The valet bowed deeply and held it for a few moments after she dismissed him with a wave for her hand and a few kindly words of gratitude.

Well, she supposed she should have expected a conversation sooner or later for she had learnt of his plans for her without his knowledge. Considering it factored her in his plans, he had to have a conversation with her eventually, and before she walked into whatever it was blindly. She never liked her uncle Lord Branstein, but she did pity him, even if he was a despicable man in many people's opinions, including her own. Being Bastard born didn't exactly help him, even if it wasn't talked about. The simple truth was the people knew his illegitimate birth, however elected to not voice it, simply because he was of a distant relation to her father, the late Duke of Goslar. And he'd become even more powerful, since her father's death, as he 'ruled it' as he liked to call it, in her stead due to her 'emotional and fragile physical state' due to her gender. She supposed it would have been worse as being infertile was most definitely another contributing factor to his bitterness, along with an unhappy marriage and an once unfaithful wife, leading to a child out of wedlock.

She walked along the endless corridors and staircases. Each had an infinite number of portraits of her own ancestors, male and female, those who married into her family as well as important officials and advisors to her family throughout the ages-something very unique only to her family. The gold spirals along the rich red walls, were another proof of her duchy's prosperity in the hands of the right people. The portraits were framed with gold and silver, each handles of the staircases with the rarest and strongest of red mahogany wood, with dark brown swirls flowing throughout the wood. The red painted walls transitioned into green, navy, amethyst and the patterns changed from spirals, to branches with leaves, to waves, to crisscrossed diamonds- and other patterns and colours. She loved the variety among her castle- her home, her birthplace. She loved losing herself in all the painting along the walls, of her home, her duchy, her people, faraway places, interesting peoples and family portraits.

She stopped by a section of the castle dedicated to only their family portraits. Generations of her ancestors on the wedding day, with their newborn child, with their entire family who. Lived when the pictures were created, this was what she loved the most. These pictures, with smiling faces, or grim ones, funny faces, strange ones. When she was younger she would imagine making up stories about their lives when they lived, and her father would indulge her and her little brother with his own stories, though she never knew if he was relaying their actual lives or creating them on the spot. She assumed that it was a little bit of both, for life could be entertaining when it desired and extremely mundane when it decided to.

Her oncle's study was on the other side of their enormous castle and neither of them liked each other much, so it had been a perfect arrangement for both of them. As she approached the doors of his study, she felt rather nervous. She knew what could perhaps be the subject of their discussion, however was nervous about how the whole encounter would go. Lord Branstein could be very cold and condescending when he wanted and every bi the generous and charismatic host if he wished.

As Annalise approached his study she felt a sudden apprehension and fear. She had some idea of what would possibly elicit such an unlikely meeting, thanks to certain hints from the villagers and Vera, but was still extremely underprepared for the actual meeting with him. She would be walking into the vipers nest. Ohh she hoped for the best, and that he would not ...well... be himself. Though that was a futile thought.