Chapter 47: The Duke Of Voltaire

"Your Majesty." He bowed at Cecil. Turning to Cedric he gave a nod. "Your Grace."

He inclined his head but said nothing to Talia and Devin since they had not yet been introduced.

Cecil gave a smile of acknowledgment that looked more like pursed lips.

Cedric turned to look at the man.

"Fancy meeting you here, Andre Kossova."

Andre fluttered a genteel set of fingers in the air.

"We all got caught in the same snow storm. The only difference between us is that I got here a half day before you did and was able to sleep in comfort whereas I heard you and your men had to sleep out in the barn."

Cedric nodded. "That is true. You and your men had taken up the entire inn and I could only procure several rooms."

He smiled with indulgence. "I sent all the children and womenfolk into the inn. The rest of the burly menfolk hung out at the barn, drank whiskey to keep warm and played poker all night. It was quite entertaining."

Andre laughed. "All's well that ended well. At the end of the day, the strongest survives."

"Indeed." Cedric agreed.

At Talia's questioning glance, Cedric cleared his throat and patted her hand.

"Darling, this is Andre Kossova, the Duke of Voltaire."

He turned back to Andre. "And this is my mate, the Lady Talia, Countess of Cerulea."

Andre Kossova turned his grey eyes appreciatively towards Talia.

"My my. I didn't know you had such a beautiful Mate." His eyes lingered on her upturned face and then turned to the tow-headed boy sitting on her lap.

"And already with an heir. I offer my congratulations! You work fast."

Cedric turned cold eyes at Andre.

"This is my nephew Devin. Lady Talia is caring for him at the moment."

"Oh?" Andre cast a look about. "Where is your twin sister?"

"She is currently away on business." Cedric responded without going into detail.

"I see. Well, I hope to meet up with her again in the near future since there will obviously be a wedding in two months."

Cedric gave him a questioning glance.

"I have just received an invitation to save the date." Andre rubbed his chin with a curious finger.

"The invitation I received clearly stated that your wedding to Lady Evelyn Larabee will be held in the second week of the new year." He stood there, with his head at a rakish cant.

"I wanted to come by and congratulate the both of you, but by the time I could get here, your bride had been escorted from the table." Andre's laugh bellowed through the dining hall.

"There will be no wedding in January." Cedric clearly enunciated each word. "No need to save the date."

"Hmm. I guess I can return the invitation then." Andre pulled out a creamy parchment envelope and tossed it on the table.

"You might want to inform the old Count Larabee though. He is under the misunderstanding that you and the Countess Evelyn are to be wed in the new year."

"And now, thanks to this lovely invitation that has been sent far and wide," Duke Voltaire gestured at the parchment on the table, "everyone else is also under the same false assumption."

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Cedric nodded. "I have been away from the kingdom on important business. Now that I am back, there will be many things which must be settled. This is but one of those things."

Andre turned the corners of his lips upward. The smile did not reach his grey eyes.

"Well, it was nice to meet you all again, especially the beauteous Lady Talia. I'm sure we shall meet again. We are neighbors, after all."

He bowed and turned away from the table.

For a moment, Cedric's face was a mask of indifference, but then he turned to his brother, eyes flaming, nostrils flaring.

"What is the meaning of this?" He cast an eye at the invitation that had been tossed onto the table by the Duke of Voltaire.

Cecil raised his eyebrows and heaved a sigh.

"Ahhh. I was hoping Count Larabee wouldn't be so eager to divulge this, but I guess it's a big deal to his family for his daughter to marry the Grand Duke of the Kingdom."

"Once we get back to the palace, I will send out a retraction notice in regards to this announcement that the Count has sent out." Cedric said under his breath.

"In the meantime, try to keep that nasty Evelyn woman out of my sight. She truly sickens me."

King Cecil gave a laugh. "All you are doing is using her for her father's military strength. She doesn't need to be desirable for that purpose."

"I told you I will not marry her."

"You fool. Without her, Andre Kossovo holds the upper hand on all the power in the kingdom." Cecil said through gritted teeth.

Cedric turned to Cecil with frosty amber eyes.

"I leave you for a year and you've given away all the power to Grand Duke Kossova's son?"

Cecil harrumphed. "I most certainly did not give it away."

His voice lowered to a whisper.

"It got taken away, bit by bit until I suddenly realized we were holding onto the minority shares of various—"

"Taken away?" Cedric sniffed. "Hold that thought. We will discuss it in-depth, but not at the breakfast table."

He turned back to Talia with a tender smile.

"Eat more. All I've seen you do is feed the boy."

Talia shook her head with a grin. "I ate while you were busy fighting all those fights."

Cedric stood up. "In that case, let's go take care of that clock tower, shall we?"

Talia nodded and stood up with Devin in her arms. Immediately, Portia and Anna moved towards her to take the young boy away to clean him after his breakfast grubbing.

Cedric reached out for her hand.

"Come. Let's go talk to the groundskeeper. I'm sure he can figure out something so that you will be able to sleep better tonight."

"The groundskeeper?" Talia frowned. "Wouldn't it be easier to talk to the innkeeper?"

Cedric shook his head. "He would only refer back to the groundskeeper, Darling. He is only the hired help to keep the inn running efficiently."

"What about the owner of the inn?" Talia asked.

"Darling." Cedric smiled with devotion.. "You ARE the owner of the inn."

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