Jennifer Haze Does Not Exist

[Mel Rose]

11:09pm

"Bretonia is your home, Jenny." Her father spoke in his standard, commandeering fashion. "It's the home of us all. It's a beautiful place that we ought to preserve at all costs. We might be of the nobility here, you know, exalted amongst men, but we are not kings. Oh no! Are we anything but mere caretakers of this place, so that future generations could live in a just and free society? If anything, it's harder for people like us, lords and dames, dukes and duchesses, kings and queens even!, marquises, baronets and counts to live with the weight of our responsibility."

The seventeen-year-old girl sat on a couch flipping through an old, paper book while Frederick, Lord Ashgrove went on his mindless speech about patriotism and responsibility. It wasn't like she did anything to particularly deserve it — she merely just talked to her governess that she found certain aspects of noble life just a little bit too boring, and the faithful servant must have reported her to her father.

She had not been alone during that lesson either. Ashgrove had a friend, an enigmatic and rather dandy gentleman by the name of Wellington, whose son participated in her classes quite often. The boy, John Wellington, was very sharp but, much like his father, a little strange. He would often interrupt the governess, often with disagreements about what she was saying. She did not mind that particularly, as she appreciated the discussion during their classes, but sometimes John would bring up left-field topics, like politics while the governess tried to explain the basics of the functioning of an animal cell. She would chastise John only to have him come back with another odd question a few minutes later.

Jennifer really liked John and they ended up being great friends, she especially appreciated his manifold insights into the nature of other people. Young as he was, he could read the intentions of everyone around him and exploit them for the benefit of the two of them. Initially these were harmless quips that yielded minor rewards, but as both of them realised that with John's cunning they could get out of almost any situation, they progressively started getting more daring. Theft, confidence tricks soon became their favourite pastime, giving a bit of spice to an otherwise boring life of minor Bretonian nobility.

Ashgrove continued talking for what felt like hours, while she drifted away.

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Jennifer Haze Does Not Exist :: Filing Cabinet :: Swords into Plowshares
Liminality :: Good in Red :: Past to Present :: Fish of the Sea