The Northern Gate: Two Worlds

II. - The Duchess Part 2

In the closet? she thought in disbelief. She knew that the walk-in wardrobe was enormous, but she didn't see any armors in it earlier. She followed after the elderly woman. Mathilde was a few steps ahead of her. For all Amy knew, the head courtier could be acting just as she was. All these acts of kindness and stories might just be a way to test her or prove her guilty. As she stepped further into her huge wardrobe, she wondered if she could wrestle with a heavy woman and make a run for it. Her eyes darted back and forth through the ocean of clothes, looking for something that could be used as a weapon. Stop it! You are just being paranoid, she whispered in her mind.

"We're here, Your Grace," announced Mathilde, standing in front of a wall at the end of the rows of clothes. A sculpture of a Lion's head made out of gold like a doorknob was attached to the glowing walls. Mathilde touched the lion sculpture and twisted it.

At first, nothing happened, then Amy heard a definitive click followed by a low, rumbling, grinding noise. As if by magic, an outline of a door appeared on the wall, and with a loud c***k, the stone retreated and revealed an entrance to a hidden room. "After you, Your Grace."

"Whoa..." Amy's mouth was gaping open. She swallowed her nervousness and dismissed her suspicions as she stepped into the room. It was a huge space, almost as huge as the wardrobe was. The room didn't have any windows, and the sides were made of the same glowing walls that lighted the entire Castle. Set against the facades were shelves made out of thick metal, and on them were various body armors that shone and gleamed under the wall's light. There were chainmail armors, breastplates, combat boots, helmets, and full-body armors. Hung on pegs across the walls were weapons of every assortment. Longswords, shields, katanas, broadswords, spears, and bows decorated the room like a museum. The air smelled metallic. "Is that my --" she said, letting her sentence fall away, pointing at one of the empty glass enclosures in the middle of the room.

"Yes, Your Grace," Mathilde said as she followed her inside. "That is where you keep your lance." Mathilde pointed out. "And behind it, that is Amadeus. Your war armor."

Amy turned her head, followed Mathilde's line of sight, and saw that behind the empty glass enclosure was another one like it, except that this one was occupied. Inside the glass case stood a full body armor made of something that seemed to Amy was porcelain. She walked toward it. Upon closer inspection, she saw that it wasn't-- what good would a porcelain armor be in battle? It's like wearing your dinner plates to war -- but something that resembled a white, earthly material. Every individual piece was whole, with no crevices and nooks as if it were hollowed out of one huge stone. It shone with a gleaming white light as the wall's glow reflected on it. A single red diamond inlaid at the center of the breastplate seemed to wink at Amy when the light touched it.

"Would you like to try it on, Your Grace?" inquired Mathilde as she saw Amy's mouth hang open in amazement.

"No," she answered and paused for a few moments. "Not now, I guess," she finally added. "It looks too heavy to be armor. I don't think I can carry that."

"Oh, silly child," Mathilde said in delight. "This is made from Auroll, Your Grace, a molten treasure mined in the far volcanoes beyond Robinsdale," she explained. "When cooled, it will never be melted again, and the result is this. It is light as a feather but is stronger than most steel. It is said to resist magic, too. There is nothing like it."

"Have I ever used it, Mathilde?"

"No, Your Grace. It has never seen the fog of war," she said, sounding hopeful. "And I pray it will never be called to arms."

"Amen," Amy said almost intuitively.

"Pardon, Your Grace?" Mathilde asked, her painted eyebrows raised in confusion.

"Never mind, Mathilde," she replied. As it turned out, they did not use the word 'Amen' here, and for a brief moment, she wondered if they believed in God or had gods here in Noira. "So," Amy, not wanting to talk about religion, attempted a different conversation, "When is the Duke coming home?" The thought of her saying 'my husband' sounded weird to her. It made her feel a little bit uneasy but giddy at the same time. She had never had a partner ever in her life, so having a husband seemed somewhat exciting. From what Mathilde had told her, Duke Henri Gustav sounded like a wise and respected young man. According to the stories, he was just as bold as the Duchess and just as noble. Mathilde had also made it clear that he was also handsome, lean, and muscular and that they would have lovely children should they decide to have them. Amy had felt her cheeks flush then. She did not care if the Duke was hideous, for she decided that she would not be here for long. She just hoped he was kind and would not be suspicious of her and that he didn't have bad breath.

"Are you eager to see your husband soon?" Mathilde teased. "Tonight, Your Grace. The Duke arrives tonight."