| abstract | - Opening the door of Braidwood House, the steward found a waiting messenger. "Sorry to keep you waiting. How may I help you?" I have a message for the lady of the house. The message read: My dearest cousin, I was hoping that in a few days I would be able to visit. I have a matter that I need a womans advice on. Amzeel Could you please make sure that she gets it. The lady that employed me to deliver this letter said it was urgent. I ran almost all the way here from Lanark. I did really. She paid me one whole pound. She also said that there might be a return message, but wasn't sure.The messanger boy beamed with pride that he was able do to what he was asked. "Alright then, lad. Come inside to the kitchen and Elsie will fix you up with a drink and some cookies in exchange for such a fine and quick job delivering the message. I will see that the Lady Yuki gets it." After leading the young messenger to the kitchen, Albert climbed the stairs to find Yuki and deliver the message to her. Thank you kind sir. He then followed the man into the kitchen for his cookies that he could smell the moment the door was first opened. He was excited for such a kind gesture. Albert delivered a letter to her and Yuki broke the seal, reading the brief missive. She told her steward to hold a moment while she wrote a reply. Yuki wrote: Dear Amzeel, You are always welcome here, be it for advice or merely some of my cookies. I hope all is well with you, and await your visit. Sincerely, Yuki Sealing the letter, she returned it to Albert to give to the messenger before she got the girls from their cot and settled into the rocking chair, feeding them and talking softly to her daughters. "We may have a visitor soon, my girls... cousin Amzeel is going to come and see us." Yuki looked across the room, out the window at the passing day. "Daddy should be home soon, from the Castle... he'll be so happy to know that you've been good girls for Mama today." She hummed softly to herself as they fed, before softly speaking again. "Should we go see Marcus after your done with your meal, princesses? See what he's built with his blocks today." Eric was tired. Everything seemed to draw upon him these days. The Counties finances, the defence of the Castle, the endless issues with the legal corpus, the reformation of the constitution…and the plague of illness that seemed to have sent most of the working population into retreat. It all left him slightly dismayed…but exhausted in spirit and mind. So it was with some relief that he saw the drive way to Braidwood appear on the road from Glasgow City. Arawn seemed to show some relief too, perhaps the crowded Castle stables held their own stress for a horse now used to the luxury of open fields and comfort. Eric chuckled at that thought. “You’re growing old, fat and lazy…just like your Master!” He said, clapping Arawns neck who responded with a snort. Eric rode Arawn out to the stables and made his horse comfortable before slinging the bags of documents he had to read and work through before he returned to the Castle over his shoulder. Walking in through the kitchens, he snatched a carrot from the pile recently recovered from the gardens and began crunching on it as he went further into the house. Dropping the bags down into his study, Eric called out to his family…climbing the stairs two at a time before sticking his head into Marcus’ room. “Now that is a mighty castle indeed!” Eric said with a grin. "Wheres your Mama?"
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