The Duke's Bed Warmer-Chapter 25: A World Beyond Ravenmoor

Days passed. Austin and Alina hardly spoke to each other.

At meals, they avoided looking at each other. When they passed in the corridors, he looked straight ahead while she lowered her gaze to the floor. At night, he came in after she had already fallen asleep and left before she woke.

He paid more attention to Audrey now. He walked with her in the garden in the evenings and rode with her in the mornings.

Audrey still greeted Alina when they crossed paths. But the warmth was no longer there. She was polite but still felt distant.

And the whispers returned.

"The bed warmer is being treated like a bed warmer again."

"The duke finally remembered who she is."

"I heard the wedding announcement will be made soon."

Alina heard everything but didn’t react. If there was one thing she had learned in Ravenmoor, it was how to wear indifference like armour, and she wore it perfectly.

One morning, Lady Talbot arrived at her room unexpectedly. Without a word, she walked straight to her wardrobe and pulled out a dress.

"Get dressed," she said. "We’re going to the market."

"The market?"

"To the town below the hill."

Alina shook her head.

"I’m not allowed. I can’t leave the castle without permission."

Lady Talbot smiled.

"I have permission from the duke."

"How?" Alina asked, surprised.

Lady Talbot’s smile widened.

"I have my methods." She tossed the dress onto the bed. "Now get ready. We leave in ten minutes."

Alina dressed quickly, her fingers fumbling with the buttons. Her heart was beating faster than it should have been.

She hadn’t left the castle since she had arrived at Ravenmoor except for that single ride with Austin. But this was different.

After she got ready, and they walked through the gates, she suddenly felt very light.

The road sloped downward, opening into the town below. There were stone buildings with slate roofs, a river flowing through the centre, and a market square full of stalls and people.

Women carried baskets filled with bread and fruit. Children ran through the streets, chasing each other and laughing.

Nobody here knew she was a bed warmer and cared about Ravenmoor’s social hierarchy. She was just another ordinary woman walking in the market.

The anonymity was staggering. She had been so visible in the castle that she had not realized how heavy that visibility was until it lifted.

Lady Talbot walked her through the stalls,

"That’s the fishmonger," she said, gesturing towards a man in a stained apron expertly gutting the fish. "His wife supplies the castle kitchen. Evelyn, the kitchen maid is his niece." 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

Alina followed her gaze, listening carefully. Lady Talbot was not showing her the market. She was showing her a network.

"Here’s the wool merchant," she said as they walked to another stall stacked with fabric. "He supplies the castle dressmaker. If you ever want to know which fabrics are arriving at the castle, he’s your man."

They keep walking.

"That’s the tavern." Lady Talbot pointed to a building at the edge of the square. "Every servant in Ravenmoor drinks here on their off days. Every conversation from the castle eventually passes through that bar."

They stopped at the edge of the square as Lady Talbot turned to her.

"The castle thinks power sits in the great hall. It doesn’t. Power exists here. In who supplies what to whom, in the conversations that happen in the tavern when no one from the castle is listening."

"You’ve built a network," Alina said quietly.

Lady Talbot smiled.

"Come. Let me show you something else."

She took Alina to a garden behind the tavern and sat under an old elm tree. The tavern keeper’s wife brought them cider without being asked, as Lady Talbot was a regular there.

"I’m going to be direct with you," Lady Talbot said, without wasting time. "Because nobody else will be."

Alina looked at her with curiousty.

"Everyone in the castle thinks you’re temporary, who is just here for a season." She put down her cup. "They’re wrong. You’re the most interesting variable Ravenmoor has seen in years."

"Variable?"

"In just a few days, you’ve received more of Austin Moore’s attention than Audrey has in the last three years. That’s not how he treats bed warmers."

Alina had no answer to that because she was right.

"Audrey knows it too," Lady Talbot continued. "She has been watching you more closely than anyone."

"Audrey is actually kind to me. And didn’t you say she has always been kind?"

"Yes. But now the situation is different. She can be genuinely warm and calculating at the same time."

"You think she’s dangerous?" Alina asked.

Lady Talbot sipped her cider before answering.

"She has been waiting for years for a wedding ring and suddenly a bed warmer is taking her place." She set down her cup. "I think what she does with that information will tell us about who she really is."

They returned to the castle as the sun was setting. Instead of parting ways, Lady Talbot led her to the kitchen.

"Evelyn," she called from the entrance. "Come meet Miss Ashworth properly."

A young woman emerged from the kitchen, wiping her hands on her apron. She had been at Ravenmoor for six years. She knew which servants were loyal to the duke, which were loyal to Audrey, and which were loyal to themselves. She also knew about the delivery schedules, the guard rotations, and everyone’s roster.

"Miss Ashworth," Evelyn said, politely.

"Alina,"

"I can’t call you that, miss."

Alina smiled.

"Then call me whatever you want to. But I need your help. And I’ll pay for it, not with money. But with something better."

Evelyn’s eyes narrowed.

"What’s better than money?"

"Access." Alina looked into her eyes. "You know everything that happens below stairs. I’m learning everything that happens above. Together, we can see the full picture."

Evelyn glanced at Lady Talbot and she nodded.

"Why didn’t you eat the fish last Friday," Evelyn asked, suddenly.

Alina froze.

"I was warned."

"By whom?"

Alina hesitated. She didn’t want to involve Austin in all this, not yet.

"By someone I trust," she replied.

Evelyn smiled.

"Three kitchen staff were questioned after the fish incident. One of them was dismissed. She had been hired six weeks ago through an agency in Aldmere. She had access to the fish preparation for about thirty minutes before service."

"Aldmere? The capital?"

"Yes,"

"Who has that kind of reach?" Alina asked.

"Very few people," Lady Talbot replied. "People with networks who operate through layers, and intermediaries. People who can’t be touched."

"Royal family?" Alina hesitated.

"It can be any family. We don’t have enough evidence to point a finger. We just know that someone is playing a longer game than we realized."

That night, she was resting on her bed thinking about everything she had learned, when a sudden knock broke the silence.

She opened the door and found Audrey standing outside.

"Audrey..."

"May I come in?"

Alina stepped aside. Audrey entered and stopped in the centre of the room, turning to Alina.

"I came to apologize," Audrey said.

Alina shook her head.

"You don’t have to..."

"I do," Audrey cut her off. "For how I acted at the party, how I came to Austin’s room and demanded you leave and how I’ve been distant since then."

She took a deep breath.

"You know...I’ve never seen Austin like that with any woman before," Audrey continued. "I was hurt and scared, and didn’t handle that well."

"I understand," Alina said. "I might have reacted the same way."

Audrey’s face softened.

"You’re kind to say that."

"I’m not kind. I’m just being honest."

Audrey smiled.

"But things are better now," Audrey said. "He has been more attentive. We’ve been talking about the future." She stepped a little closer.

"You don’t have to avoid us anymore, Alina. You don’t have to hide in your room or leave the table early or pretend you don’t see us in the corridors. I have full trust in Austin. Whatever happened before...it’s behind us."

Alina nodded.

"I’m glad."

"We’re going to announce the wedding soon. It’s finally happening." She said.

The words landed in Alina’s chest as stones dropped into still water. She had heard the whispers. She had known that it was coming. But hearing it from Audrey herself...made it real.