Drone

21 Stanfleda.

Demi Paramountess Stanfleda had mixed feelings about returning to her grandfather's Soutfel estate.

On the one hand, Stanfleda was ready for a break from her studies after the past months at the university. She wanted to see her mother and father again, and she hadn't seen her friends in almost half a year. Paramountess Stanfleda missed the quiet of the country and the occasional gatherings where she would see her cousins and friends from the surrounding regions.

On the other hand, leaving her new friends was hard. Stanfleda knew she would see most of them again in a few months but wished to bring them all with her. That was implausible, of course. No doubt, most of them felt the same way about going home.

The most significant factor lingering on her mind was that Erik would be at the estate. She knew she could expect his continual, relentless, dull efforts to win her attention. She knew her twin brother would love for her to marry his best friend and such a renowned duelist, but she didn't like that Erik treated her like some game he had already won.

Paramountess Stanfledda briefly looked across the carriage at her three travel companions. Her cousin and best friend, Demi Paramountess Akelda, reclined in the pillows of her upholstered seat with her eyes closed. Based on her breathing, Stanfleda assumed she wasn't sleeping. Paramountess Akelda's handmaid, Ellen, stared stoically out her window. Stanfleda's handmaid, Sara, giggled to herself with her nose in a book. The distinction as to which attendant was assigned to which Paramountess was immaterial as both companions served both paramountesses almost interchangeably. Despite their station differences, all four women were bosom sisters and dearest friends.

The carriage dipped suddenly, causing a spike of vertigo in Stanfleda's stomach. The carriage was one of the new artifact air carriages that hovered several feet above the road. It was supposed to maintain a near perfect level while in motion.

"Good Kel, what was that?" Sarah cried.

"Do you have to shout, Sarah?" Demi Paramountess Akelda, Stanfleda's cousin and best friend, chastened through closed eyes. "You're loud. I could sleep through a highwayman attack better than through your noise."

"I am sorry, Paramountess," Sarah apologized. As a handmaid, the apology was expected, but as a lifelong friend, she could have gotten away without it. "I figured that we might actually be under attack. I thought these carriages weren't supposed to ride so roughly."

Akelda snorted, but somehow still in a ladylike way. "And who would have the audacity to ambush a guarded convoy so close to my grandfather's home?"

"The Rowan's," Stanfleda muttered.

Akelda looked at Stanfleda evenly. "They wouldn't dare!"

"You know that's not true, cousin," Stanfleda said. "They've attacked the manor once already. I hear known Roof Runners have been spotted in Soutfel to make another attack."

Sarah's eyes glistened in excitement at the idea. "That would be so exciting, don't you think? Guards and bandits fighting, those two dreamy Rowan boys smitten by our beauty and in love..."

Lady Standfleda had learned to filter out Sarah's silly fantasies. The two Rowan boys were the Alreds' enemies. The girl read too many romance books in a perfect waste of the free university tuition that came with being a paramountess' handmaid.

The carriage shuddered again.

"Kel, maybe we are under attack!" Sarah cried.

To ease her mind, Stanfleda looked out the window. Several workmen were digging and stacking sandbags to restore part of the road that the storm the previous night had washed out.