April Events pt 2
You decide to:
[X] Persuade her that riding the borders is an important duty that only Chesna can currently perform, and that she can trust you and Ezti to keep her daughter out of trouble.
[X] Agree to help Lala figure out how to take Chesna courting. This might end up taking an action or two over the next few months, but could get you Lala and Chesna's friendship.
[X] Befriend Chesna. Show that girl a little excitement and you could have an ally for life.
Chesna proves fairly desperate for both entertainment and companionship, and eagerly accepts your overtures of friendship. It only takes a handful of conversations to get her thinking of you as her cool older cousin who lives a fascinating life of magic and adventure, and after that she's all in favor of running off to have an adventure with you. She eagerly turns her influence towards getting her mother to agree to it, while pestering you about regency magic, packing advice, tactics, archery and every other topic a slightly manic teenage girl can think of.
Lala is actually pretty reasonable once you explain to her that this has to do with establishing your regency. She completely tunes out your actual explanation, apparently regarding that as complicated 'men's business' that she wouldn't understand and doesn't need to. But after a few shared meals and private conversations she apparently decides that you've grown up into a sensible young man, and after that she's happy to take your word for it.
She's also quite relieved at your offer to help her sort out her problems, but we'll get to that later.
So three days after arriving at Castle Pisch you depart with Chesna grinning and chattering excitedly at your side. Her mother sends a maid and two men at arms with her, more to keep her out of trouble than out of any thought that she might need protection. Of course, you're pretty sure the maid is firmly in cahoots with Chesna and would happily cover for her if it came up.
Chesna starts flirting with you the moment you're out of sight from Castle Pisch. But she's pretty playful about it, and you suspect she's just trying to feel you out at this point. The ride down to Igal where you're supposed to meet Ezti is fairly pleasant, although you're starting to miss your mistresses by the time you get there.
Ezti arrives just when she said she would. Her party is all mounted, and consists of a pair of knights leading a half-dozen men at arms and three squires. Their gear is all well-maintained but worn, and the general poverty of their barony shows in the fact that even the knights wear only chain hauberks instead of plate armor. But their horses are of good quality, and the whole group is well-disciplined and quite serious about protecting their charge.
It takes the dilapidated ferry three trips to get the whole party across the Sava, so you have plenty of time to notice them and make your way over to the docks before Ezti arrives on the second trip. Your first impression of her is, well:
Is it something in the water out here? While not as exotic as Kat or as top-heavy as Chesna she's quite an attractive young lady. She also moves with a confidence you're not used to seeing in women, and holds that polearm of hers like she knows how to use it. Interesting.
Ezti spots Chesna waiting for her, and leaps off the ferry before it's even docked to sweep her up in a hug.
"Chesna! It's good to see you again, my friend. I hope your mother hasn't driven you mad yet?"
Chesna does an eye roll. "Ugh! One more day of needlepoint and I'm going to stab someone! But no, I'm finally out of the keep for a change so I'm fine. How are you? How's Dita?"
Ezti blinks in surprise. "Dita? You're the one she lives with, Chesna. How would I know how she is?"
Now Chesna looks concerned. "What? But, I thought… oh, that sneak! She made me think she'd talked you into her crazy plan so I wouldn't worry. She's been gone since the new year, Ezti. Vanished in the middle of a snowstorm, and Nikolai's been going mad trying to find her without letting n that she's missing."
"Oh dear," Ezti frowns. "No, in our last letter I was still trying to talk sense to her. But where would she have gone if not to Kiscun? I hope nothing has happened to her."
Chesna chews her lip. "Maybe she went chasing one of those stories about hidden wizards? The earth sorceress, or the mountain sage? I don't know. Oh, but where are my manners? Ezti, this is my cousin Dominic, the new lord of Corzu."
Well now, that was unexpected. Do you:
[ ] Let the girls know that Dita is hiding out with you, and see what they have to say about her.
[ ] Keep quiet about Dita, and risk having them get mad at you when they inevitably find out you knew where she was.
