The Duke's Bed Warmer-Chapter 43: An Unexpected Announcement

Audrey invited Alina to the main garden the next morning.

Alina had been avoiding the main garden since the day she wore the red dress. She hadn’t needed to return. The east garden had become her place now.

Audrey was already sitting on her bench when Alina arrived.

"Sit," Audrey said. "I have some questions I want to ask."

Alina sat and waited.

"Can you tell me about your mother?" Audrey said.

Alina looked at her in surprise. It was the first time someone had asked about her mother. The mother who was gone.

"Why? Why do you want to know about her?"

Audrey smiled.

"Just curious. I was thinking of my mother today. I thought of the time we spent together, the things she taught me. I wanted to share those stories with someone, and I thought of you. But then I realized, I don’t know anything about your mother."

Alina wasn’t convinced but she also knew there was no use in dodging the question. If Audrey wanted to know, she would find out. Better to tell her herself.

"I don’t know much," Alina replied. "She died when I was four."

"But you must remember something, right?"

"My father said she was from far away. I remember sometimes she used to sing me lullabies in a language I didn’t understand, saying I would learn it once I grow up," She smiled at the memory. "My father didn’t talk about her much after she died."

Audrey nodded and then shared her mother’s stories with her.

At lunch, the atmosphere of the castle shifted.

Austin stood at the head of the table, his presence enough to quiet the room before he even spoke.

"The king will be arriving at Ravenmoor in one week," he announced. "His visit was scheduled for spring, but circumstances have accelerated the timeline. We will be prepared to receive him with the full honour of this house."

The murmurs began the moment he finished. Alina’s eyes immediately moved to Audrey who looked very happy.

She’d be happy. After all, he is her father.

After lunch, Lady Talbot stopped her in the corridor.

"The king is coming to announce the wedding," Lady Talbot whispered. "His Grace didn’t visit him, so he is coming himself. He is not going to wait any longer."

Alina froze. The corridor felt narrower somehow.

King was about to do the wedding announcement of Austin and Audrey. If the king agreed with Audrey’s decision regarding my future... then even Austin wouldn’t be able to do anything. I’m running out of time.

Audrey immediately intensified her planning. She invited Alina to her protocol session in the evening.

"The king will enter first. You will bow when he passes. You will not speak unless spoken to. You will not make eye contact unless he addresses you directly. You will not..."

"I know all that," Alina said.

"Do you know which bow you need to do in front of the king? There are three types. One for royalty you’re meeting for the first time. One for royalty you’ve been introduced to. One for royalty who has shown interest in speaking with you. Each communicates something different."

Alina didn’t know that. She learned all three bows, the forms of address, the order of precedence for the royal dinner, and realized the king was not just a man. He was a system whose rules she had never been taught.

Audrey even taught her which fork to use for the royal dinner. Alina sat in her drawing room, her knees aching from the curtsies, and her head full of different forms of address. She was terrified.

After the session, she went to the library to relax. Emeric was already there, sitting in Lord Ashby’s chair. He noticed her exhausted expression and dark mood, and closed his book.

"What happened? You look exhausted."

"The king is coming... and I’m terrified. I need to impress him before he decides something I can’t change," she replied and sat beside him.

"For that, you need to learn protocol," he said. "You need to know how to move, how to speak, how to be in a room with royalty when you have no rank."

"Audrey is teaching me that."

"Really?" He smiled. "I’m not very confident in her teaching lessons. Let me teach you."

He taught her the forms of address Audrey had not mentioned. Then the etiquette of being presented to a king when you had no rank, how to stand so that the king would see you as a person, and how to answer questions without actually answering them.

He was patient and kind throughout the whole process.

"You bow from the neck," he said. "Not from the waist. That’s for equals. The king is not your equal. But you don’t have to bow so low that you disappear. You should let him see your face."

She practiced. He corrected. She practiced again and he corrected her again.

Their study session in the library looked like a courtship to others. He touched her arm casually when he corrected her posture and laughed naturally at each other’s jokes.

Austin who had been watching from the outside, finally stepped into the library before he could reconsider.

The sound of his boots interrupted their conversation. Emeric straightened and Alina turned.

Austin looked at her first, then turned to Emeric.

"Lord Emeric," Austin said.

"Your Grace." Emeric bowed but he didn’t step away from her.

Austin noticed.

"I didn’t realize the library had become a training hall."

Emeric smiled slightly.

"Only for those who need it."

The words were mild but the implication wasn’t.

Alina sensed the shift in the air before it fully appeared.

"I asked him to help me," she said, before either of them could push it further. "If the king is coming, I’d rather not embarrass your house."

Austin’s eyes moved back to her.

"You won’t," he said.

It should have sounded like reassurance but instead, it sounded like a decision he had made for her. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

His gaze lingered a second too long before he looked away.

"You’re done for today."

"As you wish, Your Grace," she replied.

She stepped away first and walked out of the library. Austin watched her go openly, until the door closed behind her.

Only then did he looked back at Emeric.

"Be careful," Austin said.

"Of what?"

Austin didn’t answer. He didn’t need to. He turned and left, his unfinished warning lingering in the air.