Kadeus was enjoying himself upon the battlements of Castle Vicordropa. Lady Relana, the future Lady of Vicordropa, stood at his side. She'd recently begun joining him when he made his tours of the castle.
For what reason, Kadeus did not know, and he ultimately did not care. Lady Relana may have been his wife, but they were not lovers, as of yet.
As the two stood, conversing over the topic of Middlesse's shipbuilding skills, he heard the clink of a soldier's armor. Turning, he saw a soldier run up to them, kneeling frantically and spilling words out with no separation, like a drunk.
"AnArtisthasarrivefromtheIsleatonceyoucome!"
Kadeus snorted and replied, "Soldier, I'll need you to slow."
"Aye… An Artist has come! One from the Isles, says he's here to serve you, my lord."
Kadeus' eyebrows shot up. The soldier saw his cue and began running. Kadeus bolted after him, his ladywife in tow. They flew through the castle, moving swiftly towards the main tower's red door. The door was opened by the guards who saw them approaching, and so Kadeus entered to see who was there.
In the hall, where a few minor houses were attending to the Lady Rhaella, a single man stood separated from the others by soldiers. The person was wearing a hood, and their robes gave them wide shoulders. As Kadeus entered, the figure took off its hood, and Kadeus felt his heart drop.
It was not a man, contrary to what the soldier had told him. A woman, skin dark as a Bab tree, and eyes as bright as a star, stood. Black hair, clean as any respecting Queen rolled down the woman's back and stayed curled until it reached below her butt. He knew her.
It had been years since their first and only meeting. At the time, she'd told him she was a wayward Artist. One headed away from the Isle. He'd been a mere child when they'd met, but she had not aged a day.
When they'd met, his city had been suffering a terrible famine. The woman had arrived on time, and she'd done magic. From nowhere, the people's bellies were filled.
Meat for the muscles and grain for their energy, she'd provided it. She'd only asked for Kadeus' father to meet with her.
Even then, years later, Kadeus' father told him, she'd only thanked the man and gone on her way north. Yet here she was now, no less beautiful, almost a full decade later.
Lady Rhaella stood and spoke, "Ulum, Artiste of the North Isle. Says she's here for you, good lord."
Kadeus spoke in the manner she'd taught him, "Reverence is due."
Ulum was not her name. Kadeus knew that immediately, it was the title she'd been given as her name.
She replied with a curtsy and, "Reverence is received."
The woman wore white robes with red symbols. The robe was top-heavy, making her shoulders look large and giving her the appearance of a priest. Something that Kadeus was sure would not be liked.
Lady Rhaella asked the question needing to be asked, "Who is she to you? I can see your gaze lingering, good lord, despite your status as married."
Kadeus caught the accusation with deft swiftness, "Of course I am married, m'lady. She is an old acquaintance who served my father for a little moment."
Kadeus saw relief flood his wife, who was next to him. That relief was unwarranted; the woman would be given an advisory position on his council immediately. Within a day, Kadeus was readying himself to move back to his seat of power in Renous.
Lady Rhaella warned him that if it ever came to light that Kadeus was involved with the woman, she would bring flame to his city. Kadeus wondered if there was anything he could do to convince her that there would be no romance. He couldn't think of anything and so made his return to his city.
The journey was silent as they went back across the river. Lady Relana spoke only to her lord husband when necessary to maintain their appearance. She, too, had seen the excitement in her husband's eyes. An excitement that could spell the end of her potential love story.
She'd never seen the man with such a disposition. He spoke with the woman more and more every day on the journey. As they approached his city on horseback, she was beside Kadeus and not his lady wife.