The Duke's Decision

Two months earlier…

Rose watched as the boat approached. The steady clicking and clacking noises from the skeletons driving the paddlewheels blended into a nearly continuous sound.

Almost, she thought to herself, like the rattle of gravel in a tumbling chamber. The clicking slowed and then stopped as the boat reached the dock. There was a flurry of activity both aboard the boat and on the dock as a handful of passengers disembarked and workers moved barrels and bales off the deck.

Rose eyed her pile of luggage uncertainly. “Do I really need to bring all of that?” she asked, staring at the heap that had been just unloaded from the carriage.

Her mother nodded. “It's better to have and not need than to need and not have,” she said, repeating one of her favorite phrases. “There should be enough room on the boat.”

Rose frowned slightly. She knew she would miss her mother when they returned home, but this seemed excessive. It wasn't like they'd be gone long—surely only a few weeks at most. York was not so far away.

Still, her mother had pointed out that the news of the death of the Silver Duke implied that a new duke would need to be crowned. The coronation of the new duke would be a grand affair, so she needed her best clothing. And her mother wanted Rose to keep up with her studies every waking moment that she could, so she also needed her books.

But surely a big city like York would have better books and clothes to offer than what she already had – not like the little town of Leeds, where her family's servants regularly shopped on market days. Surely they’d want to buy new things in York – new clothes for certain, as the styles would reach York far more quickly than Leeds.

And if they were buying new things, why fill up her luggage with her older clothes, ones nearly ready to be passed on, and old books she’d read a dozen times? It simply wasn’t sensible, but there was no arguing with her mother. It wasn’t suitable for a young lady to act like she knew better than her elders. Trying to prove she really did know better would only earn another repetition of a lecture she’d heard too many times before.

“If you think of something that we forgot to pack, I can send it by courier after I get back home,” her mother offered.

Rose shook her head. “No, no. I’m sure I'll manage.” She stared at the two chests that held almost everything that belonged to her, shifting her small bag uneasily. There were a few letters she wished she'd written before their departure, but nothing urgent. Nothing pressing. Her mother could easily handle matters here while the rest of the family was in York. Rose smiled faintly.

Her brother and father between them had brought only three chests with their things, one of them mostly empty and the other two modest in size. The empty chest was for armor and weapons. There were reports of a disagreement over the succession to the ducal throne of York, so they were wearing their armor and had their weapons close at hand in case the boat was attacked as it traveled along the River Aire.

Rose imagined that there would be a ducal coronation of some sort regardless of which side won out.

“Time for us to go,” her father said to her mother. “We have to step lively or they'll fill the whole boat with moonapples without leaving space for us. Take good care of things while I'm away.”

Her parents hugged. Rose sighed and started dragging one of her chests towards the boat.

Rose woke with a start. Something had changed. She listened for a minute before realizing that she wasn't hearing the clicks of the skeletons driving the paddlewheels. She sat up quickly, clutching at her chest. Her heart pounded rapidly. Had they already reached York?

She glanced at the tiny window of the boathouse. Dawn light kissed a grassy riverbank, and the walls of York were nowhere in sight. A taller woman with dark brown hair and an older couple were standing on the bank, waving at the boat. They'd stopped to trade goods and pick up more passengers.

Rose sighed. As the only woman on board, she’d been granted the dubious privacy of the forward boathouse, which was already nearly full of sacks of moonapples. The starchy tubers needed to be stored out of the dampness of the spray from the paddlewheels and out of the sunlight, much like respectable young ladies. Too much sunlight and water would ruin a young lady’s complexion and get moonapples to start growing roots.

Impelled by a vague sense that it was required by etiquette, she rolled to her feet and made her way to the deck to greet the new passengers. From the man's armor and the women's dresses, she guessed they were probably gentry.

“Good morning!” The older woman smiled broadly after guiding her horse onto the deck of the boat. “My name is Lady Constance, and this is my husband, Sir Gerald, and my daughter Anna. We're headed to York. Are you going there as well?”

“Of course!” Rose said, smiling brightly. “I'm Rose. Over there is my father, Sir Walter, and my brother, also Sir Walter, or Walt for short. My mother stayed to take care of the estate.”

“A pleasure to meet you,” Lady Constance said, gesturing to the younger woman next to her. “You look to be around my daughter's age. Perhaps the two of you could keep company in the boathouse.”

Rose recognized a dismissal when she heard one, and ducked back into the boathouse. The taller girl followed, carrying a bag with her. They shifted a few sacks of moonapples around before finding a somewhat comfortable seating arrangement.

“Are you also going to York for the coronation?” Rose asked.

“Yes, of course,” Anna said. “But I hope you don't have all the same plans I do.”

“I haven't any other plans,” Rose said. “Mother is hoping I might find a suitable man, or at least some more fashionable dresses, but we're really just going because of the coronation.”

“I plan to find a husband,” Anna said, smiling. “I have one particular man in mind.”

“Who?” Rose asked.

Anna smiled enigmatically, silently refusing to answer the question. She pulled a game board out of her bag. “Do you play chess?”

“A little,” Rose said, moving a full sack of moonapples out of the way to make room for the board between them. “What about him? Your particular man?”

“I imagine he must be a very good chess player,” Anna said as she set up the pieces. “He's very handsome and strong, and he's brilliant. He's taller than I am, well-bred, and I've known for years that he'll fall in love with me the moment he sees me.”

“How can you know that?” Rose asked.

“A fortune teller once told me my future husband would ask me to marry him the very day I first met him,” Anna said. “And I've always known in my heart of hearts who my future husband had to be.”

“So, you haven't met him yet?” Rose asked, pushing a pawn forward.

“Not yet,” Anna admitted, pushing forward the opposite pawn in reply. “I’ve seen him from a distance before. I'd been hoping he would come to me. He never has, though, and I can't wait any longer. So, I'm going to him.”

“How do you know he wants to see you?” Rose asked, moving another pawn.

“Oh, he doesn't know about me at all. I was just hoping that destiny would bring him to me. But now he's going to be stuck in York for a while, and if I don't get to him quickly enough, someone else is sure to snap him up,” Anna said. She chewed her lower lip for a moment and brought a knight out. “So now things have become quite urgent.”

“Oh. Well, I wish you the best with that,” Rose said. She frowned and moved a ship to support her pawn along the diagonal. “I'm not even sure I want to get married. It seems like a lot of trouble.”

The morning after their arrival in York, Anna and Rose got up early to watch the sun rise over the walls of the city. The air was cool and crisp, and the sky clear. They sat side by side on a low wall near the edge of the moat surrounding the castle grounds. On the opposite bank, a group of ladies were strolling in the garden.

“Late last night, our fathers decided to rent the floor of a house together,” Anna informed Rose. “Mine convinced yours that it'd be cheaper than staying in an inn for a whole month.”

“A whole month? Really”" Rose goggled. “I thought we'd be back to Leeds by then.”

“Leeds? What sort of name for a place is that?” Anna snorted. “I've never heard of it. It must be tiny.”

“It is,” Rose admitted. “There are maybe a hundred houses down in the village. We live half a day's ride east from there, and it still it took us two days just to reach Ferrybridge and catch the paddlewheel boat. York is overwhelming. There must be thousands of buildings here.”

“London's even larger,” Anna said. “Not that I've been,” she added quickly. “But they say it makes York look small. Anyway, my mother says your father said he's staying in town until he's set matters for both you and your brother, and for a wedding this season if he can get one. You had to know that, that's why he had you bring your dower chest.”

Rose's bright blue eyes widened in shock. “I might not go home at all? But… but…” She sputtered, mouth opening and closing wordlessly.

“If he didn't want to find you a husband, he would have left you at home where you couldn't get into mischief,” Anna told her. “Haven't you always dreamed about getting married?”

“No,” Rose said. “I mean, I suppose I always figured I'd have a family of my own, but I haven't been forever dreaming about a husband like you. I don't even know what sort of man I'd like for one. Who is your mystery husband-to-be, anyway?”

Anna looked around carefully, and drew the shorter girl close, leaning in. Green eyes locked on blue eyes, and then dark brown hair fell against light brown hair as Anna tipped her head down so close that their noses touched.

“I'm going to marry the duke,” Anna whispered, then giggled a little bit, relaxing. “I've never said that aloud before,” she added. “I didn't want to jinx it.”

The duke? Marry the mere daughter of a country knight? It seemed unlikely, but Rose knew that Anna was brilliant and determined. The taller girl had ruthlessly beaten her at chess a dozen times in the last week and could talk for hours about military strategy. Anna also exercised relentlessly, spent an hour every day practicing her faces in the mirror, and knew the pedigree of every titled gentleman the two girls had spotted on the street.

Maybe, Rose thought to herself, it wasn't impossible for Anna to marry the duke. Anna was everything a duchess should be, except perhaps trained in wizardry. Rose felt a little intimidated.

“What's wrong?” Anna asked, sensing the change in the other girl's expression.

“Nothing,” Rose replied. “Just thinking about how much work you're doing to get married.” And, she silently added to herself, how little I’ve done to prepare for an adult life of my own.

“It’s worth it. Because I’ve made myself into the woman he should marry, he'll make me happy,” Anna said confidently. “You should try to do the same. Figure out who your husband should be and then you'll know what you need to do to be the woman he should marry. Destiny will take care of the rest.”

“I don't know,” Rose said slowly. “My mother told me that a woman should aim to please herself first, and only worry about pleasing others after that. My father told me that a man wants a wife who can cook and clean and sew and keep accounts, but his eye will always latch onto the prettiest girl his eyes can spy.” She paused, then smiled a little. “And then he'd tell me I would surely be the prettiest, but he's my father and he's supposed to say that.”

“Your father sounds like a sweetie.” Anna grinned. “He sounded like a sourpuss last night, but travel does that to some folks.” She paused, her expression suddenly turning serious as she locked eyes with Rose. “Never mind what a man wants, just mind what your man needs. Wants and needs are different, and men are all unique creatures formed with needs that are particular to them. Your father needs your mother. My father needs my mother. My future husband needs me, he just doesn't know it yet.”

Rose sighed. “And what does my future husband need?”

“If you don't know who that is, I can’t tell you," Anna said, breaking back out into a smile. “Maybe you should take up wizardry. Then you could tell your own fortune.”