“As you like.” Vitus got the sense the request wasn’t just due to the distance, but for some other reason. He waited for Dagobert to make his way up the aisle, out the door, down the steps, and then they went along to the same bar as in the past. It wasn’t until they were seated, the drink orders taken and the privacy charms cast, that Dagobert spoke again. “Laudine is well. And both our sons. I appreciate you asking.”
“Would I be presuming if I said that it sounds like the last weeks have been harder than expected, in the circumstances?” Vitus said it cautiously, but the funeral had certainly been odd on several levels, all sorts of silences and distances visible.
“Oh, quite correct.” Dagobert rubbed his face. “I understand you were doing some work for my brother, though not what. I can’t tell you anything about that, except that I assume Florent will get some answer out of Sigbert eventually about whether to continue.”
“It must be a great deal to take on, and so suddenly. I hadn’t heard that Lord Clovis was ill.” That was not quite a lie. Vitus had known about the duel, about Thessaly’s guesses, but that was not an illness.
“The Healers are baffled. He’d had an injury, but he was mending from that. They’d actually seen him several times recently. And it is something of a shock. You have a brother, yes?”
“A younger brother,” Vitus said. “A different relationship.”
It made Dagobert nod. “You know how your brother must look up to you, in some way. Whatever other similarities or differences there might be, that age, the expectations of age and youth, whether real or comparative, they continue to hold weight.”
Vitus snorted, softly. “Oh, yes. Though Lucas and I are quite different in personality. He is endlessly patient with a horse, but never at a desk. I am the reverse. Not that I mind a horse, but well-mannered or on the other side of a sturdy pasture fence.”
Dagobert managed a slight smile at that. “And you are fond of him.” Before Vitus could respond, Dagobert said, carefully, “My brother and I had our differences. I miss him, but I miss what might have been more, at this point.”
“I’m sorry for that.” Vitus could say that honestly, earnestly, without any hint of subterfuge. “I’ve been very lucky with Lucas. Though he has had times when he’s thought me an idiot, and recently.” Then he took a breath and asked, “May I ask how Lord Sigbert is doing?”
“Ah. There are two things, one more general, and one more specific.” Dagobert didn’t pause, just went on. “There is some unpleasant gossip about the family. That there must be some curse, for there to be so many deaths within months. Childeric, Clovis, and some add Philip Landry and his mother onto that count. Certainly as connections of the family. Or there are mutterings about how Henut Landry was protecting the family, and since her death, she is not. That, at least, would be in line with some of the agreements I know about.”
Vitus nodded, unsure what else to say to that.
“That is one line of talk. The other, I gather, is that Thessaly is a common thread, and various people wonder how much is her influence. A curse, or something of the kind. Especially since so few have seen her at anything other than the funerals.”
“Ah.” Vitus looked down. “And what do you think?”
“There’s pressure on Sigbert to marry, and promptly. Maman is resolute about it, and there are not so many women she approves of. A matter of breeding, potential, having the proper sort of upbringing.” Dagobert shrugged. “I have been happy in my marriage, with those considerations. Sigbert isyoung. There are younger women than Thessaly, if he were willing to wait a few years. But as Lord, that is complicated.”
“Even though presumably he could name you as Heir.” Vitus offered it cautiously.
“That is on the agenda, yes. It’s me or a cousin, and Bradamante has been more distant.” Dagobert did not explain that statement, baffling though it was. “And Sigbert is sensible, if under a great deal of pressure and expectation.” Dagobert considered. “In that odd space, and you appreciate this more directly than I do, I suspect. A grown man, able in all ways of making his own decisions. And yet, a young man, who does not have as much experience of the world as he wishes. Certainly one who needs to make some decisions far more quickly than he’d prefer.”
Vitus nodded. “I have sympathy. Setting up my own workshop has had dozens of challenges of that kind. I suspect that’s far simpler than the land magics. Especially when Sigbert— pardon, Lord Sigbert— might have expected years, decades, to learn what he’d need.”
“Just so. And like all ancient families, we have a great many traditions.” Dagobert shrugged. At that point, their drinks were ready, and they paused for that service before continuing once the waiter was gone.
Vitus weighed his options, then said, “I couldn’t help noting some things at the funeral. Would you indulge a question or two? You needn’t answer anything private, of course. I wouldn’t expect that.”
“Now I am curious what you have questions about.” Dagobert took a sip of his drink, then nodded. “Go ahead.”
“The first was about the bees. A custom of some substantial standing, I gather? Back to the Merovingians?” Vitus offered the information Thessaly had told him.
“Yes. Gold for the men in the family, silver for the women, copper for anyone else. They’re rather a bother to have made, and especially in a rush.” Dagobert shrugged. “Why do you ask?”
“You might, in having more made up, look for a different crafter. They’re rather poorly formed and, pardon, I don’t know how much of the process you understand?”
“They are made in moulds, connected by thin rods of metal, and then those are broken off and sanded.” Dagobert replied promptly enough, looking engaged in a way he hadn’t so far. “You have a better idea?”
“Yes, and no. I agree the mould is likely the best choice, certainly in quantity. But the two I’ve handled, neither filled properly. It makes the shape lop-sided, incomplete. More care in the process, remelting any that did not form properly, that would be, er. More fit?”
“The gold and silver have been better, I think.” Dagobert considered. “I will mention it. I suspect Florent could suggest someone able to make the necessary changes.”
“Quite likely. He may not have noticed, of course, seeing as he’d be counted among the family.” Vitus considered. “I got the impression you get along well enough with him?”
“So long as I am treating Laudine well, yes, he finds me pleasant. He seems mild, but he can be quite fierce when it comes to his daughters. As a man should be, I suppose. You had another question?”
Vitus nodded. “I spotted that Lord Sigbert was wearing a ring, one I hadn’t noted before.” That neatly dodged the question of how long any of the family had been wearing it. One might not notice something. “The inlay, a gold band with what looked like turquoise and something else?” The thing of it was that once Thessaly had mentioned it, Vitus had wanted a look. And it had indeed matched the description he’d beengiven by Magistra Landry, what seemed like decades ago. It wasn’t anything Vitus could confirm, not without a proper examination, but it was not a terribly common mode of rings among the landed families.
